Wow. The last chapter of the entire series. I'm really going to miss this series So, here's some things you should know about this chapter. Please, PLEASE read this note first, otherwise the rest of the chapter will be VERY confusing. This entire chapter is written in present tense because everything in the series leads up to this moment. Anyway, enjoy the last chapter!

XX

Keiko's POV…

And that's how we got here. Now we're all just huddled around on the ground of this space-time distortion thingy, bored out of our minds. Haru's still cheering Silver on, yelling things about this Blaze person and how happy she'd be if she could see him right now. Same thing with Tails and Amy, except with Sonic and Silver. Elise is sitting a little ways away. She looks exhausted. Why? It's not like she did anything… Rouge and I got tired of cheering on Shadow a while ago. We both know he'll be fine. At long last, Haru, Amy, and Tails finally sit down with us. Maybe they wore themselves out cheering Sonic, Shadow, and Silver on. There's now an awkward silence. "So Haru, what did you want to talk to me about?" I ask suddenly, breaking up the awkward silence. Haru jerks his head upwards.

"What?" he says dumbly. "Oh…" his face falls. "Yeah… that… You know what, you go first." It takes me a while to remember what I was going to say to him before.

"We can't go back," I whisper. I expect him to start freaking out, but nothing like that happens. He's just sitting there calmly. The corners of his mouth twitch upward, and he bursts out laughing.

"That's it?" he yells in between laughs. "That's what you wanted to talk to me about?" I glare at him and smack him upside the head.

"You idiot!" I yell back. "I just told you we can't get back and you're laughing about it? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing!" Haru yells, still laughing. "Anyway, continue. What were you going to say?" I sigh. Haru's really an idiot.

"Mephiles brought us here in the first place," I say. "He's the reason we're here right now." Haru stops laughing almost immediately.

"Wait, you mean he's responsible for you being there in all the games?" His tone is more serious now. About time.

"No…" I say slowly. "At least, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure the reason I got sucked into the other games was because we had a glitchy Game Cube, but—"

"Ohhh… I get it. That X-Box 360 was brand new, and so was that game. So it couldn't have been a glitch that brought us here."

"Exactly. Not to mention, hardly any time passed in our world while I was here during the other games."

"And I still got sucked in, so obviously some time passed after you got sucked in."

"That makes sense… so why were you laughing about this earlier?" Haru looks embarrassed, but kind of nervous and happy at the same time.

"I'm glad we can't get back," he says unexpectedly. My eyes narrow into slits.

"You're happy about this?" I say in a low whisper. Haru shrugs.

"Well… yeah, I mean…" He pauses, as if contemplating what to say. "I was going to ask you if you wanted to stay back here anyway." So that was it. "And even if you didn't want to, I was going to anyway." His face brightens up. "But that doesn't matter anymore!" I sigh. Haru's crazy.

"Right…" I mumble. "Are you going to stay with Silver?"

"Yup," he answers almost immediately. "You're staying with Shadow, right?"

"I guess so…" I say uncertainly. "But you'll live two hundred years in the future. We won't be living in the same time." Realization crosses his face.

"Oh snap, that's right!" he says. "But I don't even know Shadow!"

"And I don't know Silver either."

"Um… excuse me…" I hear Tails say meekly. I turn around, and he's standing right behind me. "Did I hear that right? Are you guys really staying?"

"Yup," Haru says happily. Knuckles walks forward as well.

"Wait, so who are you?" he asks Haru.

"Everyone," I say. Everyone looks up, and I slap Haru on the back. "This is my brother Haru." There's a chorus of "Oh!"'s and "Oh, that Haru!"'s. Haru leans towards me.

"Wait, so they all know me?" Haru whispers to me. "You told them about me?" I smile sheepishly at him.

"Sorry…" I mumble. Soon enough, Sonic, Shadow, and Silver return. "Shadow!" I yell, running up to him. "How did it go?"

"Fine," is all he says.

"Where's Sonic?" Amy asks.

"I'm right here," Sonic says as he descends down next to Shadow. "Whew! Glad that's over!"

"You're not done yet," Shadow reminds him. Sonic scratches the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh yeah…" he mumbles. "Right. So Elise, will you come with me for a second?" Elise nods happily and takes his hand, and then they both disappear in a flash of light.

"Wh-Where did they go?" Tails stutters.

"To the time when Solaris was just a tiny flame," Shadow explains. "They're going to extinguish Solaris, so none of this will ever happen."

"They're going to… change time?" Rouge asked. Shadow nods. "That's impossible!"

"Probably not," Haru refutes. "This entire universe is pretty crazy."

"I agree," I add.

"So what are we going to do after this?" Knuckles asks.

"Didn't you hear a word he just said?" Rouge yells. "We won't know, because all of this never will have happened!"

"This is all so confusing," Knuckles grumbles, groaning in frustration.

"Well it could be worse," Tails says. Suddenly, the whole room is engulfed in a glowing white light.

"Shadow!" I scream as I grab his arm.

"Keiko!" Haru yells as he grabs my arm. There's something latched onto Haru's other arm, but I never get to see who or what it is. The light floods the room and everything goes black.

Haru's POV…

I'm sitting in Soleanna's town square, and Silver and Blaze are standing on either side of me. We stare up at the fireworks illuminating the sky. "See?" I say to them both. "I told you coming here was worth it."

"It's so beautiful…" Blaze muses.

"It's so nice," Silver adds.

"So who exactly are we meeting, Haru?" Blaze asks. "You said your sister and—"

"Her friends," I finish.

"Her friends being…" Silver prompts.

"Shadow, Rouge, Tails, Knuckles and Amy," I say, counting them off on my fingers.

"Amy's coming too?" Silver asks, his face brightening up a little. I ruffle his quills.

"Yup," I reply. This seems to put Silver in a much better mood. Blaze just smiles sentimentally and shakes her head.

"Come on, Shadow, you promised!" I hear someone whine. I turn my head to the right and I see Keiko and Rouge heading over here, each yanking on one of Shadow's arms.

"Work, work, work all the time," Rouge chastises him. "Seriously Shadow, you need a break."

"Everyone gets the day off today!" Keiko adds. "But you have to work!"

"Why am I getting the feeling that you're lying to us about work just to get out of this?" Rogue asks him.

"Well it's not going to happen," Keiko says stubbornly. "You're watching the fireworks with us and you're going to enjoy them." Shadow sighs as both Keiko and Rouge push him so that he's sitting next to Silver on the ground.

"Fine," the grumbles.

"Hi everyone!" Tails yells from my left. He's waving his arms over his head. Amy's waving too and Knuckles is just standing there with his arms crossed. Keiko laughs and waves at them, motioning for them to come sit with us. Tails, Amy, and Knuckles run over here and sit down. "This is going to be so great!"

"Hi Silver!" Amy greets.

"H-Hi," Silver stutters, his face turning slightly pink. Amy just giggles and looks up at the fireworks.

"It truly is beautiful," a new voice says.

"Hey!" Knuckles yells. Dr. Eggman stands next to us with his arms crossed, staring up at the fireworks in the sky. "What do you think you're doing here?"

"What?" Dr. Eggman asks. "An evil genius can't take a day off to enjoy the fireworks?"

"Leave him alone, Knucklehead," Rouge snaps at him.

"Why you…" he grumbles. Suddenly the wind picks up as something blue whizzes past us.

"Was that… Sonic?" Tails asks as he regains his composure.

"I think so," Shadow replies. Sonic's now at the other end of the lake. He slows down slightly, and we see him and Princess Elise exchange a smile.

"What the hell was that?" Rouge asks. "It's like they know something we don't."

"So nosy, as usual," Knuckles comments.

"Oh shut up," Rouge snaps at him.

"I don't know…" Keiko drawls out. "I feel like we forgot something really important."

"Just sit and enjoy the fireworks," Blaze advises her. "Worry about that tomorrow." Keiko smiles brightly up at her.

"You're right," she says. "Thanks Blaze!" She stares up at the fireworks and she grimaces. "Oh great. I have school tomorrow."

"What, you didn't finish your homework?" I ask. "Don't be a procrastinator, Keiko."

"I did finish my homework," she tells me. "I just don't want to go to school tomorrow." She looks up at Dr. Eggman. "Ivo, do something." No one really knows why she always calls him by his first name.

"Do what?" he asks.

"I don't know," she replies. "Anything. Blow up a building. Kidnap the princess. Do something totally crazy. That way I won't have school tomorrow."

"Now that's not very nice," Rouge reprimands her, smacking her on the head.

"Ow!" she yells. "What was that for?"

"You don't just ask Dr. Eggman to commit a crime just so you can get out of school!" Tails whines.

"Yeah, whose side are you on anyway?" Knuckles asks. Keiko shrugs.

"I'm on no one's side," she replies. "I'm just here for the ride." Silver grins broadly.

"No worries," he says. "Things are peaceful now. We'll all be fine."

"I sure hope so," Blaze mumbles.

"Way to be pessimistic, Blaze," I say sarcastically.

"Maybe I should go hunt the Master Emerald again," Rouge muses.

"Don't even think about it," Knuckles growls at her.

"I was just kidding," Rouge says, giggling and winking at Knuckles. Knuckles face turns slightly pink.

"Why… Y-You…" he stutters. Keiko bursts out laughing.

"Hey guys!" Sonic greets as he skids to a stop in front of us.

"You're late," Shadow accuses him.

"Always knew how to make an entrance," Knuckles comments.

"Hey, Eggman," Sonic greets as he lays down on his back. "Come to watch the fireworks with us too?" Sonic doesn't wait for an answer. "Ahh, this is the life. No chasing around insane robots, no stopping space stations up in space from crashing to Earth, no evil metal fake me trying to take over the world, no evil alien invasions, no stopping an evil sun god from destroying time itself."

"What was that last part?" Shadow asks.

"Nothing, nothing," Sonic replies nonchalantly. "Just forget about it. Nothing you guys need to worry about."

"What evil sun god?" Blaze persists. She puts a hand to her chest and stared down at it, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Seriously guys!" Sonic yells. "Just forget it!" Blaze sighs.

"Fine," she gives in reluctantly.

"So what are we going to do after this?" Sonic asks.

"You'll have to stop the doctor again," Shadow tells him.

"Keiko just asked him to do something crazy so that she can get out of school tomorrow," Rouge explains.

"Well I won't do it," Eggman refuses stubbornly. "I don't do commission jobs, Keiko. Not without pay. And I don't come cheap." Keiko just sticks her tongue out at him.

"You people suck," Keiko grumbles, and everyone bursts out laughing. Silver just frowns up at the sky.

"This is bugging me," he mumbles. "What am I forgetting?"

"Trust me," Blaze tells him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You don't want to know."

XX

… AND IT'S DONE! I'm sorry it took so long to finish. Hopefully I improved my writing style since the first one three years ago. PLEASE REVIEW!