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Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog, or any of its associated characters and lore.

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After the End

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A Brief, or Lasting Victory?

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The Remains of Doctor Ivo Robotnik's Retreat, Planet Mobius, 2000

Located far north of the Metropolis City Zone in a mountainous area, Sonic the Hedgehog, alongside his fellow Freedom Fighters, Amy Rose and Miles "Tails" Prower, and their allies, Knuckles the Echidna and Ebony the Mystic Mog, had stopped the Chaos energy-powered Drakon known only as Chaos, from using the power of the Chaos Emeralds to destroy Mobius followed by remerging Sonic with his own Chaos-powered split personality, Super Sonic, before the latter would have gone on the offensive on everyone present. With everything said and done, the five heroes took a brief moment to relax from the recent excitement and reflect on what they had experienced since Chaos was released from his imprisonment, and then turned to the two criminals responsible for the entire incident who were just about to escape separately before Ebony used her magic to conjure chains of energy to bind the officially as well as mentally fallen dictator of Mobius, Doctor Ivo Robotnik, and his just then resigned assistant scientist, Grimer Wormtongue, which prevented them from escaping.

The two villains tried to escape from their bindings, Grimer in hopeless fright from the consequences of getting caught, and Robotnik in sheer anger at being kept from witnessing the death of Mobius that he wanted to see happen at either Chaos, or Super Sonic's hands, but no amount of physical strength on their part was able to set them free from Ebony's magic, which left a grimacing Sonic to glare over them while Amy and the others watched in neither approval at Sonic's seemingly threatening stance towards Robotnik and Grimer, or disapproval at the same time. The three official Freedom Fighters and their two allies, old and new alike, were never tolerant of the evil Robotnik and Grimer had done over their lives, and right then, considering Sonic's facial expression and clenched fists had the look of murderous rage, it looked like Robotnik and Grimer had finally met their punisher at last.

"Before I decide how I want to end today, I want to know which one of you heartless jerks let Chaos out in the first place," Sonic snarled in anger, fully remembering his friend, Johnny Lightfoot's, death at the hands of Chaos followed by Knuckles's look of great loss upon the Floating Island he protected being sunken beneath the Mobian ocean it hovered over when he tried to keep the Chaos Emeralds away from the aforementioned monster's clutches.

"I can answer that one wholeheartedly, Sonic," the red echidna interjected before pointing at the cowering Grimer with an accusatory finger. "After you showed up from wherever you were at, Robotnik said that since Grimer was the one who released Chaos, he should've been the one to stop him somehow while you were catching your breath."

"I-I was only trying to rekindle Robotnik's dashed hopes," Grimer stuttered in terror. "I just didn't look up the fact that Chaos was completely uncontrollable any more than I realized Robotnik was irreversibly mad!" In panic, he then gestured to Robotnik with his head. "If anything, you should take it all out on him! He's the one who inspired me to be evil among other things in the first place!"

Unable to stay silent anymore, Amy approached Grimer in mounting fury as she exclaimed, "Oh, so it took Robotnik's second world destroying attempt to really wake you up? Is that it, Grimer?!" Folding her arms with a heavy frown, she added, "I almost thought that you'd finally abandon this monster after helping us out with the Plax, but that was just wishful thinking, wasn't it?"

No longer thrashing with his bindings anymore, Robotnik opted instead to glare menacingly at his former lackey upon realizing his earlier betrayal as Tails then joined his friends in condemning their age-old enemies. "If you were really concerned about your ex-boss's well-being, Grimer, you should've just turned both him and yourself to the authorities where you would've been placed in an asylum on one end and thrown in jail in the other. Either way, you would never need to run anymore, or be unprovided for simply from doing the right thing. Instead, you nearly destroyed the world and got a good Freedom Fighter, our friend, killed!" He then turned his glare toward Robotnik. "And you, Doctor, I never told anyone about this, even in my letters to my family in the Nameless Zone, but there was this one time I thought I actually had the chance to assassinate you a while back before Super Sonic's E.M.P. destroyed your empire!"

Robotnik merely raised an eyebrow while everyone in witness merely looked on in a mix of confusion and surprise at Tails admitted to being from the legendary magical dimension known as the Nameless Zone as well as his until then unknown adventure. Undeterred, however, Tails went on, "It turned out to just be an illusion, a test of character by this magical unicorn guy who told me that if I just followed my good instincts, you would be defeated eventually." Clenching his fists as tears spilled from his eyes, Tails then added, "But right now, I almost wish that motorcade thing was real and that I actually took the shot because no matter how evil I would've been for killing you, especially like that, at least all the misery that still happened even after you fell from power would never have happened!"

In sympathy, Amy placed her left hand on Tails' shoulder to support him while Sonic and Knuckles looked on in similar compassion mixed with grief, Grimer tried once again to escape his bindings, and a quiet Ebony raised her hands for calm before Robotnik chuckled cruelly and then burst out in maniacal laughter which startled everyone present until the five heroes' shock turned to outrage. "Oh, please, you imbeciles," Robotnik said as he laughed. "As far as I am concerned, all four of you do-gooding Freedom Fighters, official and otherwise, are to blame for my evil actions thus far! Sonic might as well have created me through time travel, Knuckles didn't catch onto my evil fast enough when we first worked together, Tails might as well have had many real opportunities to murder me before I did something worse, and Miss Rose's words to me after my attempt to destructively merge Shanazar with Mobius failed were what led me to end it all!" He then turned to Amy with a sharp, maddened look as he added, "In other words, Amy, you killed Johnny Lightfoot as much as Grimer and Chaos did!"

As Amy's anger turned to teary-eyed horror at Robotnik's mocking words, the insane Human continued to sadistically laugh at his enemies' pain before an impatient and angry Sonic used his super speed to run straight towards him and punch him in the face. Down, but not out, Robotnik chuckled at what was happening before Sonic brought his right leg on his windpipe as if intending to crush it.

"Sonic," Ebony called out in concern, but was kept from intervening by Knuckles who, despite having a similar look of shock as her, Amy, and Tails, nonetheless trusted Sonic well-enough to come to his senses on his own.

"Go ahead, spike ball," Robotnik demanded as best he could. "Your one-time friend no longer exists. Clean up you mistake at long last!"

Sonic, however, released his foot from Robotnik's throat and brought his face up close to the latter's. "I am not a killer, lard belly. Right now, I honestly wish I were, but I had a good friend who would not approve of me doing you in like this." Exhaling his breath, Sonic glared at both the angry Robotnik and the scared Grimer as he then said, "Good people like Johnny have suffered and even died because of you two monsters, but there's been enough of that already and I'm sure there isn't a police station, courthouse, or Zone Leader on Mobius who would hesitate in seeing the both of you rot in cells for what you've done."

Turning back to his friends, Sonic forced a hopeful smile which he felt in some degree and said to them, "Let's take these freaks to Metropolis, guys, then we can do the best we can in moving past this nightmare."

Reciprocating Sonic's expression and words, Ebony tightened her binds around the two estranged villains with Sonic helping to watch them while Knuckles and Amy gathered the seven Chaos Emeralds present and Tails got their vehicle prepped for the trip to Metropolis. Before they could leave, however, Ebony felt the need to bring up two points to Sonic.

"You seemed pretty stressed right then, Sonic," she said to the blue hedgehog. "Are you well?"

Having a realization himself, Sonic paused before eventually replying, "I didn't feel the urge to go Super then, Ebony, but I'm honestly not sure if that's good, or bad." Seeing Ebony's slight downcast expression, Sonic added quickly, "For what it's worth, if you actually did turn Super Sonic good, I hope that if and when I do transform, it'll turn out alright, but I can't be certain until then, that's all."

Showing a look of honest surprise, Ebony could not help but ask, "I'm sorry, but do I dare ask what happened to the usual Sonic?"

It was then the Hero of Mobius' turn to show a slight downcast look. "Well, he lost a friend, and after some lone-thinking, he's decided he wants to improve himself to be better than what he was, so that he won't lose another friend again."

Smiling kindly, Ebony said, "Well, if you feel that you must, but please don't forget to keep your loved ones close to you still." She then adopted a serious look as she added, "Speaking of keeping someone close, should we look for Chaos after Super threw him off the mountain?"

Recognizing the possibility of Chaos returning to power, Sonic nodded with his own serious face before turning to Tails. "You heard her, Tails. Let's make sure that ugly fish never comes back again."

Getting onto their aerial vehicle while Ebony used her magic to float herself and their two captives, the Freedom Fighters with their allies and captives hovered down to the bottom of the mountain where they saw a large, purple-furred cat of a Mobian fisherman starting to climb it himself before noticing the seven people approaching above him. Waving his left hand giddily, the burly cat walked up to them as Ebony floated down on the ground followed by the others landing.

"Wow, he's huge," Tails whispered to his friends considering the cat was taller than even the captured Robotnik.

"Be nice, Tails," Amy quickly chided before going to introduce themselves to the new person.

"Hi, there," the fisherman greeted the uncertain group optimistically. Catching a good look at the people, however, especially with the way he noticeably recognized the familiar faces of Sonic and Robotnik, the cat scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Looks like my catch of the day was telling me the truth when he said I wasn't noticing what was going on above me." Letting out a chuckle, he explained to Sonic and his equally curious friends, "Come out to a new place to fish and I find myself with what sounded like harsh weather, crocodiles in the lake I was trying to fish at, a screaming fish falling down and almost getting eaten by the crocs, and when I saved him, he told me that his house was under attack by thieves and begged me to help him save his jewel collection, but here you all are."

"You know who we are then," Sonic asked for the sake of argument, especially considering that if the cat had Chaos on him, he was not going anywhere.

"Well, sure! I may not be a big city kind of cat, but I do read newspapers every now and then as much as I hear stories from people I meet talking about the mean Doctor Robotnik out to rule the world and the nice Freedom Fighters stopping him every time." Noticing Ebony, he then added, "Although, I can't say I can put a name to you, ma'am. Sorry."

Smiling at her fellow feline's kind attitude, Ebony replied, "It's no trouble, my friend. My name is Ebony. I was mostly just at the right place and time to help. And you are?"

The cat then gestured to himself and said, "You can call me Big."

Not understanding what the cat said, Knuckles shrugged with his arms raised and commented, "Yeah, I'm sure anyone who looks at you can notice that, but-."

"Knuckles, don't make fun of him," Amy admonished, then turning to Tails added, "And that means you, too, Tails."

"You were probably thinking the same thing, too," Tails couldn't help but defend himself.

Shaking his head with a knowing smile, Sonic interjected, "Guys, I think Big was just saying that his name is Big the Cat, or something like that."

Big himself looked confused at the sight in front of him as he said, "Isn't that what I said?"

Taking a moment to process that, Knuckles and the two official Freedom Fighters responded awkwardly in unison, "Oh."

Deciding to get back on topic, Knuckles then said, "Let's save the meet and greet for later, everybody." Turning to Big, he then asked, "Do you have Chaos with you? Um, the talking fish thing?"

"Oh, yeah," Big answered with a nod as he then showed the fish basket he carrying on his right arm. "He's right in here." Opening it up, Big then showed Sonic and his friends the unconscious Drakon that was once Chaos to them. "He was getting pretty crazy with the begging and the anger issues, so I kind of knocked him out on the head, or the body whichever, as I was telling him that I would help, but something tells me he's not really a good guy at all, huh?"

Grimacing at the Drakon, Sonic replied, "No, he isn't, Big, but thanks for holding onto him. It will make bringing him to justice much easier."

"I like to help when I can," Big said as he then closed the basket and gave it, with Chaos inside it, to Sonic. "Just be sure to return it when you're done using it, please. I'd join you on the way, but I don't want to give Ebony, or that fancy flying machine of yours too much to carry."

Showing an appreciative smile alongside her friends while the two captive baddies rolled their eyes at Big's innocence, Amy replied, "If you love fishing so much, you're always welcome to come to South Island, Big. There's lots of nice places to fish and stuff like that. We can even give you your basket back there if we don't see each other sooner."

Returning the smile, Big shook Amy's right hand, saying, "I'd love to, Amy Rose! I'm sure I'll find my way straight to you guys – oh, look out!"

Quickly grabbed by the surprised cat, the Freedom Fighters alongside Knuckles and Ebony were pulled away from their spots just in time before an energy blast nearly took them all out. Unfortunately, with Ebony's concentration broken, Robotnik and Grimer were set free to either stand still in disinterest in the former's case or look in fear as was how the latter reacted.

"What the heck is going on now," Tails yelled in annoyance as a sizable group of robots sped towards them from the sky. All of them had spherical large heads with gold armor plating and eye-like visors while their hands were connected to them in a spindly fashion. It didn't take long for Sonic and Knuckles to recognize them for what they were.

"Red, your Guardian Robots have gone haywire again," Sonic exclaimed.

"These are the machines that Porker Lewis was helping Knuckles work with," Amy asked in shock at the menacing sight of them all.

Knuckles finally responded in disbelief, "I don't understand. We left all of mine back on the Floating Island when it sunk! How can they be here?!"

"Come, my old foe," the leading Guardian Robot commented with a masculine voice speaking through an electronic speaker. "Surely you'd know of only one genius scientist who could pull this off."

Recognizing the voice, Knuckles narrowed his eyes and growled just as the Robot's head opened to reveal a white-furred echidna with cybernetic implants smirking at them all in an evil way from the cockpit.

"It's that old creeper," Sonic exclaimed in angry recognition of the villain that once cooperated with Robotnik before the latter fell from power.

"Zachary," Knuckles identified in clear expectation of a fight with Sonic, Tails, Amy, Ebony, and even Big preparing themselves for combat.

"Well, well, if it isn't my fellow doctor," Robotnik commented with only slight interest at the sight of Doctor Zachary while Grimer looked about indecisively of what he should do given the standoff then.

Chuckling at the sight of rebellion from his primary adversaries, Grimer's fear, and even Robotnik's apathy, Zachary then said, "I hate to interrupt this cheery moment among victorious friends, but while I find Robotnik, Grimer, and Chaos to be a bit self-deluded, weak-willed, and typically Drakon-like in their behavior respectively, I believe I'll have a better use for all three of them then you fools, so hand them over to me, or things will get ugly very fast."

Letting loose an amused chuckle of his own, Sonic replied with a determined grin, "Hate to break it to you, Zac, but when it comes to 'fast', I've got everyone so far beat. Now let's go."

Zachary smiled wickedly as he then proclaimed, "My pleasure, Sonic the Hedgehog and company!"

It was then that another conflict would begin so very soon.

[AE]

From Sonic the Comic – Online to Sonic the Continuation, there have been some fan-comics over the years that have done what they could to continue where the original British Sonic the Comic left off at. From what I could see, though, there is very little fanfiction of Sonic the Comic, which is kind of unfortunate since it had some pretty interesting concepts back in the day and the two above fan-comics have realized just as much interesting ideas of their own to help adapt some other Sonic content from the games at least into what their creators' think a continuation of Sonic the Comic would go as. Therefore, looking back on Nigel Kitching's (who did a good amount of work on the aforementioned official comic book) Yahoo-posted plans for how he wanted Sonic the Comic to go from even before it met its unfortunate demise as well as my own personal thoughts, I figured that maybe posting a mini-series of what I think would have immediately happened after STC's 184 th  and final issue (not counting the reprints) would be helpful in giving me something to do while also inspiring some other Sonic writers to maybe write about Sonic the Comic themselves.

Although, as a mini-series, I cannot say that I will be making this a full long story in terms of introducing STC Sequel-exclusive characters, or even adapting Sonic game characters like Rouge the Bat and Shadow the Hedgehog into the mix partly because I have too many other things to work and partly because I want this to just be like the final episodes of shows like Warehouse 13 where its less about the action and more about the coming to terms of the approaching ending sort of thing as well as partly because I am not sure I have enough imagination to come up with original ideas for continuing Sonic the Comic without borrowing the ideas of others, which is something I am not comfortable with, regardless. Besides, in all honesty, if I wanted to write a full story about Sonic the Comic, I would go back to the beginning and make sure it's earlier issues were not so simplistic and that some scrapped ideas like the Sonic/Amy/Johnny love triangle among others were given the spotlight as I move forward working on the continuity issues here and there, but I am not sure if I would be able to do it all and then expand from it there, so you know. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy what I depict here and feel inspired from it.

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To Mix with the Chaotix

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Chaotix Tower, New Tek City, Planet Meridian, Special Zone

An entire dimension separated from the one where Mobius existed at, the Special Zone was originally connected to the planet through Star Posts left behind on Mobius during the days of the ancient Echidna Empire, who referred to the Special Zone as the Nightmare Country due to the surreal appearance of the Zone's outskirts that defied the laws of physics, although alternate methods of transportation had been made available in the past few years. Despite its absurd nature, however, to some Mobians that evolved after the fall of the echidnas, it was an opportune place for new lives to be found and had, which was why numerous dogs, crocodiles, bees, and other species had migrated to the odd dimension and overtime, laid the groundwork for civilization in certain parts of the Special Zone that were explored place by place from the Bee Kingdom of the Hive that possessed the secret of making gold to the planet Meridian.

Meridian's largest example of urban living, the capital New Tek City, was both famous and notorious for being the home for numerous superheroes, supervillains, and other eccentric characters that might as well have been born from the Special Zone directly rather than born in it. However, with the downfall of one certain individual's criminal empire as a result of his legitimate business corporation being bought by a more moral figure, life in New Tek had been remarkably quiet for almost a full year.

Perhaps the most symbolic example of that peaceful period was the lack of fighting at Chaotix Tower, headquarters of the Chaotix.

"Breaking news in New Tek," a female dog reporter was saying with a genuinely relieved smile on the television in the Tower's rec room being watched by the lone purple chameleon on the couch. "After several long months of investigations, court cases, and attempted appeals, Radcliffe Cobra, founder and former owner of Crimson Cobra Incorporated, has been sentenced for life in Meridian Correctional on account of the laundry list of trafficking, bribery, murder, and other crimes he had perpetrated under the Crimson Cobra alias. Although his vast wealth and the pull Crimson Cobra Inc. itself possesses had kept the New Tek City Police Department into launching a full investigation for many years, after his company was bought out by Hive Prince and Chaotix member, Charmy Bee, he had lost his protection and was no sooner taken in for questioning after Crimson Cobra Inc.'s records of his criminal activities were turned over to the authorities with Prince Charmy's permission."

"Ha, if the guys and I weren't still recuperating from his last crime, we'd have paid good money to see the look on his face through the whole ordeal," the chameleon ninja of the Chaotix, Espio, said in good humor at the news of the Cobra's fall from status.

The reporter than added onto the story with a recording of a previously held event, "Speaking of Prince Charmy, a press conference called for at Crimson Cobra Inc.'s headquarters, had the young Prince officially announce that, regardless of past events, the company would remain active and under his ownership with the name changed to Charming Helpers Incorporated with Appleton Cribbins as Managing Director. Upon receiving certain questions on his actions, His Highness had these to say."

With the TV showing a somewhat reluctant to be interviewed Charmy in his business suit, along with his portly yet visibly proud mother in her purple gown on his left, Queen Veronica, and the onetime gorilla yes-man of the Crimson Cobra himself on his right, Appleton Cribbins, in a similar business suit with his shades on, Charmy then spoke to the reporters on hand, "As much as I know that the old company was built on bad deeds, I want to believe that it can still do some good in the universe providing people with jobs and needs that would be hard for them to get elsewhere." Flying up to place his hand on the dutiful looking Cribbins' shoulder, he then added with a smile that Espio could tell was part genuine and part acting, "As for Mister Cribbins' "shady past" as you called it, he has been very eager in cooperating in the trial against the Crimson Cobra, and I cannot think of anyone else in the company itself to encourage trust between me and my indirect employees than him. Maybe someday I will take up leadership of either my company, or my Kingdom, but right now, I prefer being with my friends in the Chaotix. So please understand, yes siree?"

The reporter made a short laugh at Charmy's last sentence in a way that it sounded as if she never looked down on him from the beginning. "Delighted, Your Highness. Delighted. And I may just say, on behalf of us all, you did a wonderful job from start to finish. In other news, - "

Having heard enough, Espio turned the TV off with the remote and stretched back on the couch he was sitting on. "Yeah, not bad for a little joker," he commented with a small smile which did not take long to turn into a worried frown as he thought, 'But what are we doing wrong now?'

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In the same building, but on a lower floor from the rec room, Charmy, having changed from his formal attire to his casual aviator-like clothing, had arrived with his mother to give the latter a tour of his home away from home. Although the Queen was required to keep a security detail with her while on Meridian, she ordered them to keep watch from outside Chaotix Tower, so that she and her son could converse amongst themselves.

"And to our right, Mom, is where me and the Crew keep both our custom aircraft and our old satellite base," He was telling Veronica in an eager voice attributed to most tour guides.

Veronica absorbed the information with a knowing smile as she commented, "Now that your friends have cash to burn from C.H. Inc. and my own support, darling, I can imagine that either of those can be further customized to take the Chaotix to the heart of the Special Zone itself."

Laughing in a way that Veronica could tell that something was bothering her son, Charmy replied, "Yeah, I think that would be pretty neato, Mom."

Frowning in concern, Veronica asked, "Is everything all right, son? Is your choice for managing director giving you second thoughts?"

"Cribbins? No. I mean, sure, I can trust him to look out for his own best interests first, so, as long I keep paying him, he won't do anything stupidly criminal with the company."

"Then what is it?"

Exhaling in defeat, Charmy answered, "I think the guys have been kind of weird since I went public with my royal ties, Mom, yippy-tippy. I mean, they haven't been avoiding me, but they're acting a bit too nice for my taste. I don't know why, but it's as if my worst fear of them treating me differently actually happened."

Having been selected for the Chaotix in the earlier years of Doctor Robotnik's rise to power on Mobius, which threatened the Special Zone as well, by a powerful and intelligent energy field known as the Omni-Viewer, Charmy eagerly accepted the chance to become a superhero, but had requested Omni not to reveal his royal heritage to the other members. Having lived a privileged life in the Hive as Crown Prince, Charmy wanted to make friends who would view him as simply part of the group rather than as a superior like pretty much everyone at home did.

Granted, an earlier revelation might have spared him some awkward roommate tension, but despite the frequent yelling and insults Charmy received from his teammates and even the people they were supposed to protect, he carried on with the deception for years in the belief that they did care about him underneath the surface and that if there was a genuine sense of dislike, that he would earn their respect in due time. Therefore, aside from Omni and later Sonic the Hedgehog, Charmy had kept a charade until the Crimson Cobra drove him temporarily insane enough that, in order to take the fight to him, he used his family fortune to buyout his company, exposing his royal heritage in the process.

After that episode, and a little disbelief on the other Chaotix members' part for good measure, Charmy shortly received gratitude from them which felt nice for a while until the others started to act too supportive that reminded him too much of being spoiled by his people. They played music he liked frequently when he was around, they asked him about how he felt almost once a day every day, and they smiled widely enough that even Charmy could tell that sometimes it was a forced expression.

As Charmy was explaining this to his mother, however, the Queen slowly but surely grew a knowing look, prompting her to redirect the topic by suggesting, "Perhaps those three are just trying to get used to the lack of excitement that's enveloped Meridian after the crime rate went down? Although, I suppose another reason would be that they are concerned for Mobius since you haven't traveled there for almost a year."

Charmy shrugged in a lost way. "Maybe, but it's not like that stopped Vector's Equinox friends from messing around with both Omni and the Omni-Door." Scoffing in annoyance to hide his concern, he added, "Not like Omni talks much these days at all, though."

Although a bit harsh, Charmy's words were no less accurate. Upon the downfall of Robotnik's global dictatorship over Mobius three years earlier, Omni was later shown to have been affected by the Super Sonic-generated electromagnetic pulse that wiped out Robotnik's Badniks and made way for him to be removed from power. Although it did not threaten his "health" as one would call it, Omni had to shut down his higher functions nonetheless, in order to conserve his strength and hopefully recover in time, or risk losing his personality altogether.

While the crocodile scientists of the top secret laboratory, Equinox, who also mentored the Chaotix leader, Vector, were able to help draw power from the Omni-Viewer to open dimensional portals that allowed occasional trips to and from Mobius before they and Vector made a new portal device based on the Omni-Viewer known as the Omni-Door, which allowed Omni to continue recuperating until, a while after Charmy's victory over the Crimson Cobra, the Omni-Door short circuited into flames, and even though it was later repaired, it was discovered that Mobius was not detectable for travel. Thankfully, Equinox cleared up any worries the Chaotix had about Mobius' possible destruction, only that the planet was experiencing a strange dimensional blending with another planet which kept travel to it from the Special Zone a risky undertaking, but it did raise more questions than answers all the same.

Showing a saddened look, Veronica placed her hand on Charmy's right shoulder which prompted a small, grateful smile on her son's face. It was not much, but it at least made Charmy know that he was not alone.

[AE]

On another floor of Chaotix Tower in the middle between where Charmy was giving a tour and where Espio had been watching the news, four people were in the Tower's workout room with the older half observing their younger counterparts as they sparred.

Even though things on Meridian, if not in the whole Special Zone, had been relatively peaceful, the lone crocodile in the room, Vector, had no desire to slouch around during that timeframe any more than his opponent, teammate, and trainer for the past several months, Mighty the Armadillo, did. Which is why, after being temporarily transformed into a monster by the Crimson Cobra, Vector decided to increase his muscle strength through lifting weights and going hand to hand with more experienced fighters such as Mighty, who did not resist the temptation of having a fighting student of his own.

While Vector practiced his blocks from Mighty's super strong punches, the older men in the room watched from their recliners as they went at each other to see how both Chaotix members had gone far in their training.

On the left side, was Mighty's gold-helmeted, purple-wearing father, who, in a mix between affection and derision, was coined by the public in his youth as Blockhead Bill. And to his right, was the orange lizard in blue clothing that suited his spectacles known as Society Max. Both semi-retired crime fighters, the two had been lifelong friends and working together, fought numerous villains such as the Crimson Cobra and Root before later helping a young Mighty grow into an armadillo of great defensive power and bravery worthy to be selected for the Chaotix. Although their own fighting skills had dulled as they aged, they both had enough sense to recognize that Mighty's training of Vector had paid off.

When Mighty threw a final punch towards Vector, the crocodile grabbed the former's right arm and flipped him to the mat that they trained on, arousing polite claps from Bill and Max to signify that it was over.

"Well done, chap," Max praised as Vector slowly offered a hand to Mighty to get him back on his feet.

"You did good, Detector," Bill commented before turning to Mighty. "You taught him well, my boy!"

Seeing how his father misspoke his friend's name, most likely due to his senility, Mighty rolled his eyes as he said, "Thanks, Dad, but his name's Vector, not 'Detector' ."

Vector, on the other hand, laughed as he waved off Mighty's annoyance. "It's fine, Mighty. Truth be told, I wanted to be a private detective before Omni recruited me."

"Private detective, lad," Bill asked Vector in curiosity, prompting Vector to go in depth.

"I had a thing for solving riddles as a kid, and I liked the ideal of getting big paychecks from having such a job. Not that I would do anything illegal, though."

Chuckling in a good mood, Max replied, "Well, knowing you and your crew, Vector, you'd be pretty successful." Thinking it over, he added, "Now that I think about it, maybe that can be something you four can do during peaceful times like these."

Liking the sound of that, Vector shared a grin with Mighty as he responded, "Huh, I never thought about that until now, Society Max, but it could be something good and profitable to do."

"What would," a fifth voice asked as footsteps echoed by the workout room's entrance.

Turning their lines of sight to the source, they saw it was Espio with a questioning look.

"Hello, young Espio," Max greeted the chameleon and then gestured to Vector. "The four of us were just wondering how the Chaotix would function and be paid for as private detectives."

Showing a small smile, Espio replied, "That actually does sound like it would be both beneficial and challenging, guys." Briefly thinking over something with a frown, however, he then asked aloud, "There is one mystery, I think we should solve, though."

"Oh, really," Mighty confidently said in response. "And what's that?"

Espio showed the palms of his hands as he answered, "Why is Charmy acting a bit uncomfortable around us lately?"

Upon hearing that, both Vector and Mighty conceded to Espio's point with a defeated look, "Oh, yeah."

Sharing a confused look with Max, Bill asked, "Is there something wrong with your little princely pal, boys?"

"Well, not quite, Dad," Replied Mighty. "I mean, after our tussle with the Crimson Cobra, we decided to make up to Charmy for all the verbal grief we gave him, but then his mother called the three of us specifically to talk about how we treated him, and, well, let's just say that whatever she has for a stinger might not hold a candle to how well she can bark."

"That bad," asked Max.

Vector and his friends could not help but shudder as he remembered that episode. "Simply put, she said that if we didn't give one hundred percent at being Charmy's friends, losing him on the team would just be the start of our problems."

"Which we figured meant that she'd sue us, put us in a Hive prison, who knows," Espio further explained.

"Wait, wait, diddly-do-do wait," a familiar young voice instinctively sang out as the group of five turned to the entrance where a shocked Charmy and an embarrassed Veronica were at. "That's why you guys have been all weird for months on end?" Narrowing his eyes on his mother, who sheepishly smiled at him, he added, "And someone was just telling me it was something Mobius-related."

"Charmy, I just wanted to be sure they were treating you right," Veronica started to say, but her son showed a relaxed smile as he held his right hand up.

"Mom, I appreciate it, but let me handle my own friends, okay?" Flying closer to an uncertain Vector, Espio, and Mighty, he then said, "Look, guys, I know that it's never been easy between us since day one, but I will say this much. Trying to be too nice isn't really your thing. I never wanted things to be so spick and span in the Crew, what I really want is for you guys to recognize and care about me as your friend. If there's mutual trust and respect, all the merrier."

Clearing his throat with his right fist over his mouth, Charmy turned to Espio. "Espio, you're stubborn to a fault, a bit self-absorbed, and before you went back to your old dojo for a reunion and came back more relaxed, your temper was just as short as Mighty's."

While Espio was dealing with Charmy's accurate yet rude analysis of his personality flaws, the Bee Prince turned to Mighty. "Mighty, from the moment we met, you struck me as easily exasperated, lacking in caution, and very restless since you didn't get to travel around like you planned before Omni picked you up."

Leaving Mighty to fume a bit as well, Charmy at last turned to Vector, who was a bit stumped on how Charmy was analyzing their teammates as he was. "Vector, you're bossy beyond reckoning, money grubby, and a big eater as I'm sure the puddings I wanted to eat would attest to, if they were here and could talk."

Before the Chaotix could snap at their youngest member, Charmy's uncharacteristic downcast look and sigh got their attention as he said in conclusion, "And the less that's said about Nack, the better."

Looking back on their onetime member who then betrayed them, Vector, Espio, and Mighty turned to each other with a knowing smile as the latter placed his left hand on Charmy's right should saying, "And you're still the biggest royal nuisance in this or any other universe, kid."

Espio followed suit with his right hand on Charmy's other shoulder. "But the Omni-Viewer chose you for your skills, and you've turned out to be anything but a bad choice after all these years."

It was then that Vector used both of his arms to draw his teammates close together in a circle as he said, "And for whatever reason, the four of us are all friends."

Cheered up, Charmy then proclaimed in a way that was part hyperactive and part amending, "Best friends, rightly-tightly!"

"I'll drink to that," Max called out which reminded the embarrassed Chaotix that they had an audience of parents and one friend at the time, who looked at them with knowing looks.

"Oh, don't mind us, Mighty and friends," Bill tried to say in assurance. "We'll turn away, and you boys can have that group hug you're clearly aiming for."

"Honestly, I should have brought my camera," Queen Veronica admitted with a wide smile. "My little boy is making true friends at last."

"Mom," Charmy could not help but whine at his mother's doting.

"We're not aiming for a group hug, Dad," Mighty told his father scandalized.

Sighing, Espio confessed, "For once it's a good thing that Omni's been stuck to the wall in Vector's lab inactive for years, otherwise he'd be mocking us like you three are."

Forcing a laugh, and oblivious to a speck of energy forming from behind him and his teammates, Vector said, "Yeah, I'd die of embarrassment if that happened."

"Wanna bet, little buddies," a booming voice asked which startled the Chaotix that they ironically huddled into each other with a scream as they turned around to see the floating flat-panel TV with a moving force field for a face known to many as the Omnipotent Omni-Viewer.

"Omni, don't do that," Vector yelled while the others tried to catch their breath before he and his three friends recognized what was happening.

"Omni, you're back," Charmy cheered with Espio, Mighty, and Vector just as happy as well.

The Omni-Viewer laughed optimistically as he said, "Good to be back, Crew, and I'm loving how you all have matured on your own and together since the last time we really talked, but you better be ready."

Trading looks, Espio asked on behalf of the Chaotix, "Ready? For what?"

"Even when I was snoozing, I telepathically noticed a lot of crazy stuff happening from one dimension to the next. Some good, others bad, and a few that leave even me uncertain. Right now, though, I need to take you boys to Mobius. Long story short, Sonic and his buds will be needing all the help they can get for the days to come."

Getting the idea, the four then traded eager looks before Mighty turned to Bill, Veronica, and Max. "Sorry, old people, but you're going to have watch the place while we're gone."

Raising his right arm in the air, Vector declared, "Come on, Crew!"

And as the four ran straight into Omni's portal of a screen, they all cried out, "Let's get very Chaotix!"

Having entered straight into Omni, the Chaotix Crew and their benefactor disappeared in a flash, leaving the three older Special Zone natives to themselves.

Exhaling a happy sigh, Veronica muttered, "My son has grown up so fast."

Nodding in agreement, Bill added, "I can say the same for my own son, too, Your Majesty." He then added while scratching the back of his helmeted head, "Still, their battle cry at the end felt kind of forced. At least with the 'very' in it."

"Well, there are four of them, Bill," Max said in the Chaotix's defense before admitting, "But you have a point."

"Nonetheless, gentlemen, I'm confident they'll be exemplary," said Veronica.

[AE]

Sorry it took so long to update this, but on the bright side, After the End is being updated again as a full-length story rather than a mini-series, and I added a year of date for the sake of argument, which, in true Sonic the Comic tradition, will change overtime. Not sure when I will make a holiday chapter, though, but one good thing at a time.

Right now, however, it felt kind of tricky for me to continue where the first chapter left off at, so I figured I would experiment with the "three to four story strips" that Sonic the Comic used to do back in the day that I suppose the recommendable Sonic story, Time Trials, also does with its multiple points of view per chapter, which is why I wrote about the aftereffects of the Chaotix Crew's last story strip from Issue 154 in this one, but I will get back to Sonic and friends soon. Not immediately, of course, but soon.

As you can see from this chapter, I want to take this through a more impactful direction than what Sonic the Comic Online did in apparently keeping Charmy's royal family under wraps from his teammates even after the Special Zone became history, even though the better route would have been that the loss of their home dimension would have made the Chaotix become closer together as a group as they grieved together for all the friends and family that they lost. Additionally, I wanted to make an in-universe reason for why the Omni-Viewer did not make a more direct appearance after The Final Victory of Issue 100 as well as why the Chaotix were not included after their last story, despite Lew Stringer's original plan to have them help Tails and Knuckles out in the "suicidal Robotnik storyline" from Issues 171 to 174.

I hope no one minds how I depicted such "character development" in contrast to how the Chaotix in Sonic the Comic were very dysfunctional, if I might say, but I hope those of you who like this story can understand my reasons. I probably could have shown how the Chaotix tried to bridge the gap amongst themselves, but while I can imagine how that would happen, something tells me it would have been too much like the debut episode of 2011's The Looney Tunes Show, Best Friends, or at least its third half, so you know.

Also, I know that in Sonic the Comic, Cribbins among other characters were not given a definitive species, a full name when some characters probably should have had one like Queen Bee, or a real name for characters that were referred to with obvious aliases like the Crimson Cobra, so I will be experimenting with those topics in this story for the sake of argument. Cribbins looked like an ape to me just as how Charmy's mom in Sonic the Comic struck me as a bee version of England's Queen Victoria and I figured that the Cobra having a name that means "red" would be doable, so there you have it.

Chapter Text

[AE]

Reflection and Consideration

[AE]

The Groovy Train, The Neighbourhood, Metropolis Zone, Planet Mobius

Located in one of the more peaceful and progressive districts of the urbanized Zone that once served as the Robotnik Empire's capital city on Mobius, The Groovy Train was an uptown coffee bar complete with jazz music, a dance floor, and tie-dye-like décor in a style reminiscent of the nineteen-seventies period that both Mobius and its faraway sister planet, Earth, shared. Owned by the local cat magician, Ebony, she was assisted in her running of the place by the older sheep dog with limited psychic talent, Pyjamas, and later, unknown to the public, the reformed Super Sonic.

Dusting the floor of the bar with a broom while Ebony and Super Sonic were out of Metropolis right then, Pyjamas thought of how she initially distrusted Super Sonic due to the premonition she had of a great evil prior to meeting him with the later supervillain attack and her linking minds with him not helping matters at all. But thankfully, Super's genuine desire to change led Pyjamas to trust him and call the Chaos energy-based being her friend just after Ebony already did, and while there had been some close calls of Super either being discovered or relapsing, the three of them had been at peace for years until Super slowly started to die from a lack of Chaos power to sustain himself, prompting Ebony to look for a means to save his life.

At the time, Pyjamas wholeheartedly agreed that Super needed help, but hours after both he and Ebony had left, she started to have doubts about staying behind when they probably could have need of her psychic abilities to keep Super's old persona from returning as a precaution. Additionally, only a little while after Pyjamas was left alone, her powers acted up and she received another one of her vague visions of the future. As she had no control over it, Pyjamas could only describe it as two halves of a circle becoming one and then being looked after by an affectionate black cat, which left her confused and even worse, concerned for what would happen soon enough, if it had not happened by then, as it felt too coincidental that she had such a vision at the same time Super Sonic was not feeling well and was being led by Ebony, who Pyjamas had been speculating was slowly returning Super's secret feelings for her, to find a remedy.

Sighing uncomfortably, Pyjamas said to herself with no one around, "Super Sonic, Ebony, wherever you two young folks are, please be careful."

[AE]

Leaf Forest Zone

Traveling by a hovering Sky Scooter in the form of a blue-grey turtle shell, Shorty the Squirrel, popularly known across Mobius as the former Cybernik, Shortfuse, sat with a frown behind the driver and designer of the Sky Scooter herself, Tekno the Canary, as they flew through the edge of the Leaf Forest Zone. Although the immediate edge reminded him of the Hill Zones renowned on South Island, such as his native Emerald Hill, Shorty noticed that by going deeper, one began to see a more literal forest that was nice to look at. But even then, it did not lift his down spirits in the slightest.

After finally freed permanently from the Cybernik armor Robotnik trapped him in almost five years prior when he was in power, Shorty wanted to truly celebrate his release not simply with a party like on New Year's Eve of 1997, but by asking Tekno, who had long been his most trusted ally within the Freedom Fighters, out on a date, and she happily agreed. Persuading Knuckles to let them both have a picnic at the jungle area of the Floating Island, where they could enjoy good food, conversation, and radio music in a wide-open space with just the two of them together, Shorty and Tekno admittedly had a good time for a first date outdoors where they ate, joked about the more humorful times they had, danced, and even, from a spur of the moment on Tekno's part, shared their first kiss.

Unfortunately, the fun came to end while the happy couple were laying down on the ground looking forward to stargazing side by side until Knuckles, more solemn than usual, came to them to inform Shorty and Tekno of something bad that happened in Metropolis while they were on the Floating Island. When it was becoming difficult for him to put it to words, Knuckles led Shorty and Tekno to the Emerald Chamber where a new report by Sally Acorn was being played via a TV Porker Lewis brought to the place about a mysterious monster attack in the City Zone which, while thankfully ended by the Freedom Fighters in time, claimed the life of an individual that the media described as a "public aider" whose identity was to be withheld until their next of kin had been notified.

Although, given how vague the report was, both Tekno and Shorty initially assumed that a Metropolis police officer was the casualty before Knuckles shook his head negatively and in a broken voice admitted what Porker already told him via an earlier transmission, "It's Johnny, guys. Johnny Lightfoot's gone."

Immediately, Shorty tried to deny it, but collapsed on the floor in tears, Tekno having already done so. When a similarly grieving Porker later came to the Floating Island with data on how Johnny's killer affected Sonic's eyes, Tekno volunteered that she and Shorty should go look for Johnny's relatives to let them know of their fellow Freedom Fighter's passing, which was what brought the two of them into the Leaf Forest Zone.

Having been silent for most of the ride, Shorty was surprised when Tekno opted to strike a conversation. "We should be at the address Kintobor provided soon, okay, Shorty?"

"Assuming anyone is even there, Tekno," Shorty could not help but respond sourly.

A bit put off by how Shorty voiced his reply, Tekno said in affirmation, "This Zone is where Johnny's whole family was supposed to have moved to after all the craziness with the Shanazar merger. You know? Keep the family together during tough times?"

"Even so, the Kintobor Computer, which was built off the mind of Mobius' most rotten villain if I might add, has a history of either being messed around with, or not having all the needed details," Shorty argued as he saw Tekno tighten her grip on the handles.

"Johnny himself said that they were all doing fine here."

Shorty finally snapped. "Yeah, well, that was before Robotnik gave Mobius an anti-life virus or whatever that was awfully close to destroying it entirely! That was worse than the merger and you know it!"

Having had enough, Tekno pulled the Scooter over with such force that Shorty had to hold on tight to the seat to keep himself from falling off. At a good stopping place, Tekno had the Scooter power down and then turned to a stunned Shorty with a glare before pushing him off to have an argument with him on the grass. "All right, that's it! What's the matter with you? It's bad enough that you've been brooding to yourself since we left the Floating Island, but now you're being pessimistic for no reason?! I mean-,"

"No reason," Shorty yelled back with a fierce glare of his own. "Johnny lost his life while I was wasting time elsewhere, and you think that isn't cause enough for me to be mad?!"

Watching Tekno's expression change from one of anger to genuine hurt at Shorty's words made the latter feel guilty, but before Shorty could add anything apologetic to it, she stormed off straight for the Sky Scooter yelling, "Forget it! You can walk your way back to the Emerald Hill Zone for all I care!"

With Tekno quickly leaving on the Sky Scooter, Shorty was left alone to blame himself even more.

[AE]

Freedom Fighter Control Centre, Village of the Emerald Hill Zone, South Island

A tower that was modest in design, but no less well-maintained, the Freedom Fighters built their Control Centre in the village of the Emerald Hill Zone as soon as the Mobians who called it home were returning from their refuge on the Floating Island as well as when Sonic learned that the dreaded Dr. Robotnik was still active, even after his fall from power. Connected to early warning sensors scattered across the Zone as well as communication monitors that had given the Freedom Fighters the ability to respond to distress calls planetwide, the Control Centre's only biological occupant at the time the Freedom Fighters were either looking for the separated Chaos Emeralds, or missing in the case of their conflicted leader, Sonic, was the former member of their group, who had become more of a technical consultant to both his friends who remained Freedom Fighters as well as Knuckles the Echidna Guardian of the Floating Island, Porker Lewis.

With Knuckles, Tails, and Amy gone in search for the Chaos Emeralds, Shorty and Tekno looking for Johnny's family, and Sonic having disappeared in a flash without warning, Porker was left alone to pace around anxiously in the top of the Control Centre with only one other intelligence for company, who looked at him in concern with his holographic, Human head. Although technically not of Porker's design, the Kintobor Computer, aptly named for being based on the brainwaves of a genuinely good scientist known as Dr. Ovi Kintobor, had been a substantial supporter to the team ever since Porker transferred the brainwaves from a Mobius Ring and into a computer program for multiples uses in Sonic's fight against Robotnik among other threats to the world itself.

"Porker, with all due respect, you should take a break from your pacing," Kintobor gently told the Special Zone-born pig as a medical expert would tell his patient.

"I can't help it, Kintobor," Porker exclaimed in frustration. "Johnny's dead, the Floating Island sunk into the sea, Sonic disappeared, and it's only a matter of time before that Chaos monster gets the Emeralds!" Grasping his hands in discomfort, he added bitterly, "And while my friends are in the middle of it all, I'm stuck here being useless as ever."

"Porker, you were never useless, nor are you now," said Kintobor, trying to sooth the onetime Freedom Fighter.

Sniffling and on the verge of tears, Porker replied, "If that was true, Johnny would be here instead of me."

Looking downcast himself, Kintobor asked, "You blame yourself as Sonic blames himself?"

"He might claim that he's never taken the whole thing seriously, but if I wasn't so scared back in Metropolis, I could have dispersed Chaos on my own. But instead, I failed to act, and my best friend got killed." Wiping away his eyes, Porker added, "If anything, Sonic should just hate me like he did when I quit the team back during Robotnik's rule."

Kintobor spoke more firmly, "Porker, Sonic hated how he reacted back then more than most people give him credit for, but he never hated you, and right now, I don't think he realizes that he's not the only one who blames himself over Johnny's death."

Turning to the Kintobor Computer, Porker brought himself to ask, "And how can you be sure of that?"

With a reluctant expression, the artificial intelligence admitted, "Because my template regarded Sonic as more than a friend. If they had more time together, they would've regarded each other as father and son."

With wide eyes in surprise, Porker said, "I never considered that."

With a cheerless smile, Kintobor replied, "To be fair, I think Sonic has always been uneasy on what to view the original Kintobor as much as he does me. I am a machine for the most part, after all."

Looking guilty for a moment, Porker then told Kintobor with a slightly hopeful smile, "Well, Sonic says he wants to improve himself, so I guess there's still hope."

Before he could respond to that, Kintobor then looked distracted as he told Porker, "I'm receiving a transmission from Shorty's communicator."

"Oh, alright, patch him through."

With a nearby screen showing the white and orange fur of Shorty the Squirrel, who appeared more temperamental than solemn, Porker wanted to ask how things were going in the Leaf Forest Zone before Shorty demanded, "Porker, is the Ring of Eternity still available to use?"

"What," said Porker, with the Kintobor Computer behind him being no less confused himself.

"Answer the question, Lewis," Shorty demanded again.

Although put off by Shorty's demeanor, Porker did as he was asked. "As far as I know, no. The Ring of Eternity vanished after the Robotnik/Plax alliance was stopped from destroying Mobius and Earth."

"Then we'll have to use the Miracle Planet's Time Stones, make contact with the Chaotix's Omni-Viewer or whatever. I don't care what we use, but so long as we can time travel, that's fine by me."

Growing tired of how Shorty was misdirecting the conversation, Porker at last asked, "Why do you want to time travel, Shorty?"

"Why," the squirrel snapped in disbelief. "First Tekno and now you? I want to save Johnny! What else do you think I'd do with it?!"

Interjecting at last, Kintobor said, "Shorty, time travel can be a fickle tool, even if it's for well-intentioned reasons. And even if we had any of the means you spoke of, we don't know what kind of mayhem any of those can bring."

Turning derisively to Kintobor, Shorty said in scorn, "Does it look like I care, Computer? Johnny was a friend to all of us. He deserved better than to die without warning. If anything, Robotnik should've been stopped for good a long time ago. Maybe even before he took over, too."

In concern of how Shorty was acting, Porker asked, "What about Tekno? What does she have to say about any of this?"

Turning away, Shorty answered in a way that Porker could tell was meant to sound indifferent rather than feel indifferent, "She doesn't want to have anything to do with me anymore, Lewis."

"Is that seriously what you believe, Shorty," Kintobor asked in all seriousness. "Do you really believe that Tekno, a canary who is as brilliant in her mind as she is with her green feathers, would discount you simply because she seemingly doesn't share your pain?"

"I'm not in pain," Shorty snapped in denial.

"If you had to sacrifice the entire universe just to save one life, do you think Johnny would approve?"

Taken aback by Kintobor's new question, Porker could only stare back and forth as Shorty talked back coldly, "That doesn't matter."

"If you could finally and permanently claim your revenge on Robotnik for all the evil he's done, would Johnny support you killing him defenseless?"

"Shut up! I already said that doesn't matter!"

"And why is that the case, Shorty," Kintobor asked at last.

"Because Johnny's gone, Kintobor," the squirrel finally let out in grief. "He's gone! The least we can all do is make sure he can come back somehow!"

Allowing Shorty to cry out for a while, Kintobor turned to a startled Porker with a knowing look, which he nodded resolutely back at. Turning to the viewscreen, the pig called out, "Shorty, for what it's worth, you're not the only who misses Johnny. We all do. Some of us are even blaming ourselves for what happened to him."

Turning to Porker with tears in his eyes, Shorty said, "But I failed him from the start, Porker. It's like Amy said before V.R. Day, our mission was supposed to save lives, but I disregarded him then simply to settle a score with Vermin of all people."

"Does Tekno believe you're a failure," Kintobor inputted.

With realization in his eyes, Shorty answered, "I didn't really tell Tekno that I'm blaming myself for it. I didn't even ask her how she was coping with it, if at all. I just said that our date was a waste compared to being there for you guys in Metropolis, which went as well as you can imagine, I guess."

"It's never too late to make up for harsh words spoken, Shorty," Kintobor said to him kindly.

Porker showed a reassuring smile as well as he said, "I've never been good with people skills, Shorty, but even I can tell that Tekno will forgive you because she loves you. You should know that."

Slowly returning the smile, Shorty nodded as he responded, "You're right." Shaking his head in a knowing way, he added, "But I need to tell her how I feel myself." Exhaling and becoming more relaxed, Shorty turned to Porker and Kintobor saying, "Thanks for the pep talk, brain trust. I'll make it up to the both of you later."

"Our pleasure," Kintobor replied as the transmission then cut off.

Turning to the Computer with a broad smile, Porker optimistically said, "If even the onetime Cybernik can have a new perspective of you from just one conversation, then Sonic won't be far behind."

Showing a grateful smile, Kintobor replied, "That would be nice, Porker."

[AE]

Mobius Broadcasting News Company Building, Metropolis

At a typical office building belonging to the Mobius Broadcasting News Company, the largest news broadcast service on Mobius, Sally Acorn, one of M.B.N.'s leading and youngest reporters, was helping herself to a cup of tea in the building's break room. A Mobian squirrel in white and pink clothing, she had dyed her hair red after Victory Over Robotnik Day to make her look more distinct in a world recovering from Robotnik's dictatorship where she was sure many prospective reporters would emerge overtime. Not that Sally had anything against such competitors, depending on their manners, but in her line of work, outdoing others just as they would outdo her was a common, if sad, occurrence.

"Hi, sis," a familiar voice called out to Sally and she turned with a smile to see her younger brother and ever loyal cameraman, Tufftee, in his blue jeans and white sweater, join her on the table she was sitting at with a water bottle and a bag of chips for himself. "Care if I joined?"

"Not all, Tufftee," she said with a smile before coyly saying, "I actually wanted to talk to you about how Tux and I are getting married."

Having told him that while he was eating his chips, Sally watched with some concern as Tufftee began to gag with his mouth full and had to drink some of his water to push it down. Recovering, Tufftee finally turned to Sally with disbelieving wide eyes as he said, "Say what now?"

Snorting before laughing aloud, Sally replied, "Just kidding, Tuff. You should've seen your face." Seeing him glare at her for a bit, however, Sally then added sheepishly, "Sorry about the literal gag, though. That wasn't what I had in mind."

Rolling his eyes fondly, Tufftee commented, "And you said that I followed Sonic's example too intensely."

Sally laughed a bit at that remark before her expression turned downcast thinking about prior events. With a sigh, she said, "It's hard to believe that they finally lost someone, huh, Tuff?"

Looking down himself at Sally's words, Tufftee nodded with a frown. Although nothing public had been made about the latest monster attack's sole victim, as Mobians who watched Sonic's exploits since his earlier days in the Green and Emerald Hill Zones, it did not take long for the two siblings to discretely learn that their old neighbor and friend, Johnny Lightfoot, was no longer among the living.

"It's a shame, Sal. I was really hoping to learn about him having personal adventures of his own like Tails and Amy have done. Maybe even ask Amy out like he always wanted." With a sigh, Tufftee then said, "But those days won't ever come now, will they?"

"I'm just glad that the boss agreed to not blow the whistle until Johnny's family is in the know first," Sally replied. "Even Sonic looked devastated from what happened. I can't imagine how Johnny's cousins, second cousins, and all the rest would feel if they learned without warning."

"Well, Johnny probably knew the risks from the start, big sis," Tufftee said in a reasonable voice. "Now that I'm older, I guess I understand that better now than I did when I was a kid trying to literally fit in Sonic's Power Sneakers."

Showing a small smile at the memory, Sally responded, "True, and it's coincidental that you mentioned that episode, Tuff."

Tufftee showed a wide grin as he asked, "You're actually thinking of getting in touch with Sonic like you always wanted?"

Playfully scoffing to dismiss her own blushing face, Sally amended, "No, I've talked with the boss about the idea, and I'm thinking that, if Sonic would allow it, you and I can be the Freedom Fighters' news correspondents. Give the people of Mobius a chance to know their heroes and respect the dangerous work they volunteered for."

Whistling energetically, Tufftee said, "Now that is an early Christmas wish come true, Sal."

[AE]

Leaf Forest Village

Having ran straight for the village of the Leaf Forest Zone with purpose, Shorty took some deep breaths upon arriving before entering the village proper and then spotting Tekno sitting at an outside table, calmer than he last saw her, and chatting with a tall female rabbit with kind brown eyes and pink lipstick and wearing a light pink/purple dress and burgundy vest. Numerous other Mobian rabbits of all ages surrounded them, including some that reminded Shorty of Johnny and a young, lop-eared girl in a vermillion dress that he figured was the taller rabbit's daughter in recognition of the cream-colored fur they both shared.

Taking another deep breath, Shorty then brought himself to head over to where Tekno was at, and it did not take long for her to notice him. Excusing herself from the rabbits, she then awkwardly approached Shorty before he could make it to where she was sitting at. "Hey, Shorty," Tekno greeted unsurely. "I didn't expect you to actually come over so soon."

No less uncomfortable himself, Shorty forced himself to say, "Tekno, I'm sorry for taking my anger out on you. It was uncalled for, and I was just so blinded by my own grief, I didn't think about how you were dealing with it all."

Exhaling tiredly, Tekno replied, "I miss Johnny, too. And truth be told, I actually do regret not being there for him and the others like you do, but I couldn't really accept at the time that you said our date was a waste of time. Truthful though it was, it also hurt, all the same."

Embracing the canary with a small smile, Shorty told her, "You have never been a waste of anyone's time, Tekno. You're smart, strong, beautiful, and I think I love you."

Crying tears of joy, Tekno asked, "For real?"

"For real," Shorty answered and the two then kissed. Giving in to each other for less than minute, the two then broke apart to sheepishly see the rabbits look at them either happily or grossed out in some of the childish cases. "Uh, sorry for the hold up, everyone," Shorty said.

The rabbit with the burgundy vest replied nonchalantly, "Oh, don't mind us. Everyone should have the right to be happy about something. Wherever my younger cousin is at, I'm sure he's smiling at you two right now."

"Thank you, Miss Vanilla," Tekno said with a blush.

"No need to be formal, Miss Tekno, that's what my daughter and I do," the now named Vanilla half-joked which aroused some knowing laughter from her relatives before turning to the squirrel. "Would you like a cup of tea, Mister Shorty?"

"Sure," Shorty agreed gratefully.

Turning to Vanilla's daughter, Tekno said to Shorty, "Cream was just telling me about how she's the biggest fan Amy and I have."

The younger Cream looked away with a bashful smile saying, "I wouldn't say I'm the biggest fan, Miss Tekno. There should be lots of others in the world who applaud the work you and Miss Amy have done." She then added with a brighter, if somewhat begging look, "But can I please meet Miss Amy next?"

Exchanging a laugh with Tekno, Shorty affectionately petted Cream's head saying, "I'm sure she'd love to meet you, too, little lady."

[AE]

Was not really expecting to update After the End so soon, but the way I got the second chapter done left me wanting to do another. Next chapter, of course, we will go back to Sonic and friends.

Anyway, I may have spoiled somethings in this chapter if you read closely enough, and I may have to add on to how Johnny Lightfoot's death affected not just Sonic as I did with Tails in the first chapter, Tekno, Shorty, and Porker in this chapter, and, to a degree, Amy in the first chapter as well, but all will be made clear in due time. I hope no one will make a big fuss until more chapters come out, though, so be ready.

Admittedly, before I started the last chapter, I had some mixed feelings about including characters and concepts that were not made by Sega until after Sonic the Comic's last official story was published in 2000, which was a year before Sonic Adventure 2 and some more years before Sonic Advance 2 and Sonic Heroes, but considering that over twenty years have come and gone, and this is supposed to continue where Sonic the Comic Issue 184 left off, I guess it would not cause much major issues. As for dying Sally's hair red, I may have been influenced by Sonic the Continuation a bit, and I personally figured that the original comic could have adapted some non-game traits like how Robotnik's appearance was remodeled after the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Robotnik, so you know how that goes.