Surprised, I opened my eyes.

Sitting up from the position where I’d apparently been laying flat on the ground, I tried to assess my situation. Given what had just happened, I’m not sure what I expected to see (Maria? Dr. Gerald?....Something else entirely?), but an increasingly familiar island wasn’t one of them. Stunned…and confused, I took in the surrounding jungle, gently rolling waves, and the very familiar sandy beach I seemed to be sitting on, possibly even the exact same one I had enjoyed so much in Rouge’s company earlier.

This really wasn’t anything I had been expecting.

For a moment, I just laid back down, not caring about the sand that got into my fur and spines (though my tactical gear still seemed intact, so it wasn’t so bad), and looked up at the familiar blue sky.

Today, if it still was the same day it had been when the doctor and I had headed to the ARK Station (and, really, at least one day probably had to have passed by now, right?), had not gone how I’d wanted it to. Just as I’d feared, there had appeared to be no safe way to remove my father’s programs from the station. He was just too good at accomplishing whatever he set his mind to, even if this was the one time I’m sure he would have preferred that he hadn't been as capable.

Still, in the end, that hadn’t been a surprise. Somehow I’d always known that I would need to be the one to resolve my father’s misguided attempt at revenge, and that just applying a ‘programming’ fix was never going to cut it. I can’t say I still wasn’t sad when the doctor had turned to me and admitted, with an air of actual apology, what we had both realized…that the programs couldn’t be safely removed. I knew then, with no further doubts or thoughts of ‘maybes’ about what my future could have been, that the only way to stop things, without putting the Earth at tremendous risk, would be through the complete destruction of the station, and I only knew of one sure way to accomplish that with the resources we had.

In a way, it seemed kind of poetic. My life had begun in the ARK Station, and it looked like that was where it was also going to end. There was even something comforting about that, knowing that I would be ‘departing’ in the same place as Maria, while ensuring that everything she had loved and so much wished to experience (that both of us had loved and wished to experience) would be preserved and that Dr. Gerald’s, my father’s, legacy wouldn’t be tarnished by an act I am sure he would have abhorred had he been anywhere near in his right state of mind.

So, while I was sad, I was also kind of happy…even at peace…..and that’s when the station’s perimeter alarm had sounded, announcing the approach of an unidentified, but to me very familiar looking ship (if strangely ‘pinker’ than anything I would have expected). With the timing and the design being just too similar to some of the other things I had seen that the kid fox had built, especially his plane (though why it seemed he’d tweaked the color scheme, I wasn’t quite sure), I knew that it almost certainly had to be Sonic and his friends approaching in it, though I was surprised at just how quickly it seemed they had detected our raids and come in pursuit.

I didn’t even for a moment hesitate to give the stand down authorization to the station’s defenses, even with the potential risk (to the whole planet) it seemed I might be taking if I gave them the opportunity to interfere. As important as it was…I couldn’t make that kind of choice…even with the risk.

When they’d finally walked into the Eclipse Cannon’s main operations center, I couldn’t say that I was…happy…to see them, which I think I made clear, as little good as it did. In the end, I just became so angry. I had tried so hard to protect them…to stop them from getting involved in this, as much as I had hated what I had to do to accomplish that, and, in the end, it hadn’t done any good. Now, it was too late. I couldn’t let them interfere or take any further risks, not even the slightest chance now that they could do anything to trigger the trap my father had left behind before I could deal with it.

I decided…as much as it tore me apart…I didn’t have time to ‘play around’ this time, and not even Amy or Tails could be spared…in some ways, especially Tails. Letting someone like him even on the station, let alone into this vital room, could easily have been a terrible mistake, a weakness of mine that would ensure everyone suffered.

So, I didn’t give Tails, or any of them, much time to do anything. I can say that moment was the most grief I had ever experienced in my entire life (other than the moment when I saw Maria die), as I wondered if I might have pushed even Knuckles’ ‘durability’ too far with my Chaos-infused kick, or whether I might have thrown Rouge too hard into that wall, or if I hadn’t been ‘careful’ enough as I tried to ensure that neither Amy nor Tails would be able to interfere, but also without causing them any real harm. Then, as I stood there treating Sonic a bit ‘roughly’, my anger and grief at this terrible situation nearly overwhelming me over this horrible ‘choice’ I’d been forced to make to harm those who were truly only trying to help and didn’t actually deserve any of this, I wondered what horrible reality I may have left behind me and whether, now that only Sonic was left and I could think of only one way I could be sure he too would be unable to interfere, I would still manage to be as ‘careful’ as I needed to be with him. What if, this time, when I couldn’t take the chance that he would recover too quickly, I pushed it too far…and this time he didn’t wake later. There was a part of me that worried that my pain-filled and tear-streaked ‘goodbye’ to him would be final in a way I never intended it to be.

After Sonic collapsed, I fell to my knees and just sobbed for at least five minutes, not even having the strength to check on what I may have done to him, what the results of my actions would be for the blue hedgehog, or any of them. I only came out of it when I sensed a new presence nearby and, to my surprise, it was my father’s grandson, who, in complete contrast to anything I would have expected from him at this moment (considering his enemies had all just been beaten…or worse), only looked tired.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

He’d gone on to assure me, courtesy of a medical scanner he happened to have, that everyone would almost certainly be fine and that he’d ensure, with the help of some robots he had available, that they were placed, safely, back on their ship and sent off…while I did what needed to be done.

It surprised even me that I believed him when he promised this, and while he had his robotic assistants gently gathering up the unconscious Sonic and his similarly unconscious (and, in two cases, noticeably bruised) friends, I took a few moments to gather myself back together.

The doctor and I didn’t say anything further beyond an unexpected additional offer he made that I surprisingly accepted, and he then departed with his ‘cargo’ in silence. It was really all the goodbye we needed…or could bear.

I spent the next few hours recovering my strength and gently pushing the initial charging process along for the cannon, my Emerald having left its chain and having been placed in what I suppose was its final resting place, at least with respect to me, in the cannon’s powering matrix.

Then, a chime sounded and one of the station’s communications systems activated, showing that the doctor had indeed made good on his offer. I couldn’t begin to overstate the relief I felt, still seeing them, well, still alive, if not all in the best of conditions. I really hated having done that to Rouge in particular…but I just couldn’t spare the energy or time for a ‘Chaos burst’ just yet.

I began with what was probably the most necessary, an apology, and then because, selfishly, I just hadn’t wanted to go forward without telling them…why…I did so. It was amazing to finally, finally have someone besides just the doctor know why, why this was so important, why it needed to be done.

I could see they weren’t taking it well…but still I was finally, truly, beginning to feel happy. To know that they would be safe, including someone who so reminded me of Maria, and also a certain bat-winged ‘almost’ friend, who regrettably it looked like I just wouldn’t have the chance to fully get to know, even if, somehow, I think we already understood each other. To know that they would be safe, and that I would be the one helping to make that so, and that the Earth would remain protected in their care afterwards…it just made me happy, really, truly, happy.

So, it was with far more peace than I ever thought would be the case that I began to pull on my abilities much more than I ever had before, holding nothing back, until I could be sure that my mission, the mission, would be accomplished.

As I sensed the swell of the Chaos energy reaching a tipping point, one that I was sure would be enough that the station could never be a threat to anyone again, I let it go. The maelstrom of Chaos energy that I released was unlike anything I had ever felt before, and yet, as I felt reality itself seemingly burning away around me, in the indescribable inferno of destruction I had unleashed, I felt at peace.

My last thoughts were of Maria, Dr. Gerald, and the very brief moment of calm I had enjoyed on that island, where it seemed I’d finally accomplished something Maria and I had so much longed to do, before it seemed I too was burned away.

…Yet, here I was.

Sitting back up again, I patted at my front for a moment, having noted an odd and unexpected sensation, then, in another moment of surprise, pulled out my chain from underneath my tactical suit to see my purple Chaos Emerald returned to it. Had it not glowed momentarily with a purplish golden light and I also clearly remembered having acquired the chain after my little ‘break’ on the island (and having worn very different clothing on my earlier visit), I might have been tempted to think that it had all been a dream.

Still, the sight of that unforgettable light and various other signs I began to notice reassured me that it had been anything but.

So…now what?

It occurred to me that I was alive…that Sonic and his friends were alive…that the planet was finally safe from the threat my father had left hanging over it for so long.

I felt free.

….I no longer had a ‘mission’. There was nowhere I had to be or any further sacrifices I felt I was obliged to make to redeem my father’s terrible mistake. I could just go somewhere, anywhere, and…have fun…if I wanted to (and if G.U.N. showed up to bother me while I was doing so, that would just mean some more ‘fun’). Even try to make some…friends. My life finally…possibly…could be something like what Maria and I had planned for so long and which I knew she wouldn’t want me to hesitate one second to go out and enjoy to its fullest. It…IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!

I honestly just fell on my back again and probably laughed for ten minutes. Sitting back up later, with tears (of joy this time) in my eyes, I took one further look around me at the beautiful, wonderful island (and life) that seemed to be waiting for me.

“Thank you, Maria….I’ll…I’ll make this count….for the both of us and Dr. Gerald too.”

Smiling to myself, I decided that I would need to inform Sonic and his friends, including Amy and Rouge, that (somehow) I was still alive. I wouldn’t, couldn’t, do something like that to them, to leave them falsely believing I was dead.

…But first.

“Rouge, your idea of an island ‘vacation’....it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.”

Looking out as the sun glistened upon the water, the wind ruffled my fur, and birds danced about in the sky, I decided that, no, it didn’t seem like a bad idea at all.