Epilogue
“So in conclusion,” King Acorn said into the television camera, “I would like to thank Sonic Hedgehog, Miles Prower, and Amy Rose Gardner for their excellent service as citizens of our Sovereignty. I would also like to thank the Guardian Knuckles of the Floating Island for his service as well.
“However,” the king continued, his regal smile turning to a serious face, “I must say that damaging private property is illegal and cannot be condoned by this administration. I have talked with Chief of Security Goldman, and he believes that criminal charges should be filed against said parties. I must, despite my objections, agree with him.
“In the future, however, do not let this deter you from serving your country, for I will see to it that no good deed worthy of recognition will go unrecognized as long as I am in power. Thank you.”
The king stared into the camera for a few more seconds until an aide said, “Okay… and we’re off.”
Sally led the increasingly dumbfounded Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles into the studio. The King had his crown off and was mopping his forehead with a handkerchief.
“Before you say anything,” he said, seeing the looks on their faces, “let me say this: I, King Acorn, hereby pardon Sonic Hedgehog, Miles Prower, and Amy Rose Gardner from any criminal offenses, felonies, or misdemeanors they may have committed while sabotaging the Cosmic Angel. Any questions?”
“Yeah,” Knuckles said with a smirk. “What about me?”
“You?” The king said, cracking a smile. “You’ve got diplomatic immunity.” He got up and began to walk out of the room, motioning for the group to follow. They walked into what appeared to be his office. The king sat down behind a large desk, and the group sat into the five chairs conveniently positioned in front of it.
“Well, Sally,” the king began when everyone was seated, “did I pardon Sonic from something good or just more wanton destruction of Doctor Eggman’s devices?”
“Something good, you’ll be happy to know,” Sally said, pulling out a sheet of paper. “Intelligence has reported that Robotnik was planning to use the Chaos Emeralds to build a large-scale teleporter. For what purposes we have no clue. Also, Tails has made a few discoveries that you should probably know about.”
“Tails?”
“Well…” Tails shifted nervously. “I’m probably just going on a conspiracy theory right now, but— well, I believe the security of our nation has been severely compromised.”
“You mean Goldman hasn’t been doing a good job? Tails, tell me something I don’t know.”
This response prompted light laughter from everyone in the room. “Well, sir,” Tails continued, “Goldman hired Minitech to run the security systems here, correct? Sir, Minitech security is the brunt of many a joke online. Their software is riddled with security holes, and when one is discovered it takes them at least a week to release a patch to fix the hole.
“That’s not what I’m worried about, though. You see, when we were on board the Cosmic Angel, I found a computer running Minitech software that was free of security holes.”
The king scratched his chin. “Are you sure Robotnik doesn’t keep his computers up to date?”
Tails shook his head. “This was a hole that was discovered yesterday. As far as I know, Minitech hasn’t released a patch. I think Robotnik had… well, he basically had a clean version of their software.”
The king nodded. “Are we running this same software? It could easily be that Robotnik is paying extra for a clean version.”
“We’re not. I tried the trick on the palace mainframe right after the hole was discovered and it worked. In fact, the hole from two weeks ago still hasn’t been fixed.”
“Very well,” the king said. “I’ll talk this over with Goldman, though I doubt this will fix anything. Keep your fingers typing, Tails. I’m trusting you to be my eyes and ears on this since… well, Sally can tell you about my experience with computers.”
Sally blushed slightly.
“What about the Chaos Emeralds?” the king said.
“We’ve got six,” Sonic said, handing the king his medallion, “and one of the Great Master’s servants has the green one.”
“Good. If one of Them has it, then I know Robotnik won’t get it. I’m not so keen on giving these back to G.U.N, especially if Robotnik has one of our keycards—”
“That explains a lot!” Tails blurted. Immediately he shrunk down into his chair and squeaked, “Sorry.”
“Right. How about this: Knuckles, you did a good job with the red one, so you keep that. Sonic and Tails, you can each take one, and I’ll find a place for the other three.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Sally said. “Were you going to give one to Amy?”
“No,” Amy said flatly. “I’d lose it or wear it for jewelry.”
“Very well,” the king said. “That seems to be it, so everyone have a good night.”
Everyone got up to go except Knuckles. “I need to talk Constitution,” he said to Sonic.
“What was he talking about?” Sonic asked Sally once they were outside.
“Knuckles is trying to have the Floating Island recognized as an independent country. That way he can form alliances, trade with other nations, and keep from getting taken over by some rogue country with no respect for traditions.”
-
- *
A black hedgehog moved like a shadow down the darkened side street. At the end was a fire escape ladder which he began climbing. At the top was a tall lion dressed in a simple white robe.
“So how was your day, Shadow?” the lion asked.
Shadow walked slowly to the lion and kneeled down on one knee. “I’m still learning, Master,” he said.
The lion smiled and motioned for Shadow to get up. “But are you willing to learn?”
Shadow turned his face away. “Part of me wants to, and part of me just… doesn’t.”
“But you do trust me, don’t you?”
“I don’t know. It’s just… well, I still can’t understand why if we have the power, and we know who the good guys and the bad guys are, why don’t we just get the whole struggle done and over with?”
The lion laughed slightly. “Because it’s not time yet. Just think, if I had decided to get it ‘done and over with’ two months ago, you would have been lost in darkness for all eternity. This isn’t a situation where there’s an easy solution.”
“But why can’t I fight with Sonic and Tails? I could have easily trashed that—”
“Shadow, I have no doubt that you could have. But you are still learning. If you had taken care of Robotnik yourself, Tails never would have found out about his computer and Amy wouldn’t have grown up as much as she did. And besides, if you know the outcome and you always take the quick and easy way, where’s the fun in life?”
Shadow smiled. “This is where that whole ‘You’ll know what you need to know when you need to know it’ thing comes from, isn’t it?”
“Right. I want you to serve me, Shadow. I want you do fulfill this purpose. But I want you to have fun while you’re doing it!”
Shadow nodded and looked back at the lion. “I still can’t tell you how thankful I am for what you did for me.”
“Well, Shadow,” the lion whispered, “let’s just say I’ve got a plan that should make everyone happy, and having you die wasn’t an option. Now if I were you, I’d stand to the far corner of this rooftop.”
“Why?”
“You’ll see.” In a blink the lion was gone. Shadow slowly ambled over to the corner of the roof. After a few seconds Emech climbed up the ladder. He and Shadow exchanged greetings.
“She should be here any second,” Emech said, looking around at the sky.
“Master said to stay in the corner,” Shadow said.
Emech laughed out loud. “I don’t care what the intellectuals say; Master has a sense of humor. Look out, here she comes!” Emech ran to Shadow’s corner.
After a second a turquoise dragon was seen flying straight towards the rooftop. To the bystanders she appeared to be coming in at a very sharp angle, and with a loud dragon scream she crashed into the roof and slumped onto the ground, unconscious.
Emech walked over to the dragon’s head. “Let’s see… fainted dragon calls for…” He revealed one side of his trenchcoat and glanced down the line of tubes, vials, and packets strapped to it. “Aha! Sulfur matches.”
He pulled out a small matchbox and held it close to the dragon’s nose. Quickly he struck the match and made sure to get the first whiff of smoke in the dragon’s breathing range. When the dragon smelled the burning sulfur, it woke up with a start. After it got its bearings it glared at Emech.
“Sorry, Dulcy,” he said. “How else was I supposed to wake you up?”
Dulcy only breathed smoke out of her nostrils. Slowly she closed her eyes and concentrated, and a bright light began to glow from her body. Finally it flashed, and Dulcy the dragon was replaced with Dulcy the trenchcoat-wearing squirrel.
“I hope you enjoyed that,” she said, pointing a finger at Emech. “Next time I can’t say I’ll be able to keep from roasting you.”
“Fair deal,” Emech said.