Destruction of the Innocent

Epilogue:

      Tails raced to the edge of the factory roof and stared down.  It was
  six stories up from the dark alley below.  He whirled around and looked
  back.  The SWATbots saw him, and they were closing in.  He could've sworn
  he heard them speaking to him... "Kill the little baby!"  "Yes, destroy
  the child!"  "Murder the kid!"  They were taunting him.  Calling him baby.
   Child.  Kid.  He looked back over the roof.  Then peered back over his
  shoulder.  He saw one of the SWATbots raise a laser rifle at him, ready to
  fire.  "Does the baby want a pacifier?" it asked mechanically.  Tails
  leapt off of the roof.  Falling down.  Down.  He SLAMMED into the ground
  hard.  He couldn't move.  He felt his blood spilling out from within his
  wounds.  Forming a pool around him.  It was warm... no, it was cold.  Cold
  and wet.

      Tails opened his eyes and looked up.  He saw Knuckles splashing water
  onto him from a nearby pond.  He was now lying down on the ground beside
  the pond in the center of the clearing.  And he realized that he was
  covered in water.   Drenched.  Cold and wet.  But the sun was out now.
  The dark clouds that had filled the sky were gone.

      "Good morning, sleepy-head," said a familiar voice from behind him.
  Sally walked up.

      Her hair was red again, and, though still a little raggedy in some
  places, it was, for the most part, combed back into its usual place.  Plus
  her eyes were blue again and she had spoken in her normal voice.  The only
  major difference Tails noticed from before was an ugly bruise on the side
  of her head.  Sally pointed at it and smirked.  "I understand that this is
  YOUR doing?" she asked.  All Tails could do in response was smile and
  laugh.  Sonic then strolled up.  He had a bandage around his head now,
  apparently for the injuries he sustained from being pushed back into the
  rock after the blast.

      "I thought I told you mugs to stay OFF of this island?!" Knuckles
  challenged Sonic.  "Relax Max, we'll be juicin' out as soon as we can,"
  Sonic answered.  "Tails and I just came to pick up a friend," he
  continued, looking at Sally.  She smiled back at him.  Sonic knelt down
  beside Tails.  "How ya doing big guy?" he said with a smile.  Tails spoke
  in a raspy voice, "I'll be fine.  And if I have a choice... stick with
  'big guy'."  Sonic's smile widened.  "You got it.  I usually called you
  that anyway... guess it was a slip of the ol' hedgehog lip.  The... other
  time I mean.  So... we're cool now?" Tails slowly nodded at his best
  friend.  "Yeah... cool," he answered.

      Sonic got back up on his feet and started to walk over to the biplane.
   Knuckles said something Tails didn't catch and followed him.  "Sally?"
  Tails said, weakly, looking up at her.

      "Don't talk," she said.  "We've got to get you back to Knothole and
  take a look at you."

      "No," Tails said, "I'll be fi --"  He shifted slightly.  And he felt
  every joint in his body aching when he did it.  Looking down, he saw for
  the first time that he was covered in scrapes and bruises.  And he noticed
  that his right hand and left elbow had both been bandaged up.

      "Unfortunately," Sally continued on, "I don't know HOW we're going to
  get back to Knothole.  You're too injured, so I'm not letting you fly the
  plane or try to carry anyone home.  And neither Sonic or myself can fly
  that biplane, so I guess we're sort of stuck here for a little while," she
  sighed.  Knuckles overheard her.  "Oh, that's just WONDERFUL!" he cried
  out.  Sonic, Sally, and Tails all laughed.

      "How much do you remember?" Tails asked Sally.

      "I... I remember," she began, "I guess I remember walking in the woods
  last night.  I heard a voice... and then I found the ring."  She paused
  for a moment, thinking.  "Not much after that," she said finally.

      "Sally," Tails said, straining to speak, "What if someone finds that
  ring again, wherever it is?"

      Sally just smiled at him.  "Don't worry about it baby."

      "Not... not a baby," Tails barely managed to whisper.  Knuckles had
  walked farther away now, inspecting the trees that Sally... or the Demon
  of Chaos... had created earlier in the clearing.  Sonic was enjoying
  himself running circles around the echnida.  Knuckles cursed him, and all
  he did was laugh in return.

      Sally just smiled even more at Tails' words.  "Besides, maybe you'll
  get the chaos emeralds before anyone else can, right?" she said.

      Tails looked at her closely.  "What are you talking about?" he asked,
  curiosity in his voice.

      "Well," she responded, "You never know.  You might just end up the
  being 'The Chosen One'."

      At these words another memory shot sharply through Tails' head.  Tails
  stared at her wide-eyed.  He looked amazed, confused, shocked all at once.
  "How... how did you... "

      Sally just put her index finger up to her lips and smiled knowingly.
  Tails watched her curiously as she strolled over to join the others.

      THE END