Reflections of the Past
Part 2


        Sonic struggled to get up.  "You don't understand!  Let me 
explain!" he shouted.
	"You can explain yourself when ze trial has begun!" Antoine 
said. Two guards handcuffed Sonic and took him away.  They put him in a
cell in Robotnik's old prison.  
	"The trial of Sonic the Hedgehog will be held tomorrow.  The 
location of the trial will be announced soon," Sally said and walked 
off in tears. I too had to admit that I felt sorry for Sonic, but what
he did was wrong.  

        The next morning, I was awakened by loud beeps and swearing.  I 
looked up from my sleeping bag and saw Rotor at Alisha's control panel.
He turned around and said he was sorry for waking me up.  "I'm trying 
to see what I can do about this roboticization problem we have," he 
said. Sally's computer, Nichole, sat by Rotor.  She was connected to 
Alisha by some wires.  I looked at a clock on the wall.  It was 7:00 in
the morning.  I rubbed my eyes. 
	"Why are you in here so early?" I asked Rotor.
	"So that way I can work on this in more time," he said. "Did 
you hear that Sonic's trial will be on the South side of Mobotropolis, 
in one of Dr. Robotnik's old factories?" Rotor asked.
	I shook my head.  "No.  When did they say that?"
	"This morning at breakfast.  A bunch of us cleaned up the 
place. It looks real nice," Rotor said.
	"What time is the trial?"
	"Today at 3:00."
	I got up and rolled up my sleeping bag.  "I'm going to go get 
breakfast.  I'll be back later," I said to Rotor as I walked out.  I 
walked down to the old palace kitchen.  I sniffed the air and I could 
smell sizzling eggs and bacon.  I licked my lips.  The Chaotix Team sat
at one table, with Selena and Knuckles.  They were arguing if they 
should stay for the trial, or go home.  Knuckles pounded a fist onto 
the table.  
	"I'd like to stick around to see that hedgehog get what he 
deserves, but we also need to protect the Island," he said.
	"Heh!  The trial of the century and we have to go off and keep 
an eye on a floating piece of rock?  What is this world coming to?" 
Mighty said.
	Espio sat quiet, poking at his scrambled eggs.  Vector had his 
head phones on and was tapping the table to the beat.  
	"Why don't we just sit for half of it and then leave?" Charmy 
asked.
	"We could, but then we'd miss to see if Sonic was quilty, or 
not," Mighty said.
	Selena sat stirring her orange juice with a straw.  "I just say
we forget the whole thing and go home.  I need some action," she said.
	I sat down next to them with my plate full of bacon and eggs 
and a glass of orange juice.  They looked up at me as I sat down.  
	"You could just go and wait for the paper to come out and tell 
you what happened," I said.
	Espio gave me a puzzled look.  "Paper?  Tails, we don't get the
Mobotropolis Times on the Floating Island," he said.
	Vector pounded harder on the table.  Mighty leaned over and 
kicked him in his shin.  Vector jumped. "Yo, dude!  What's with the 
'tude?" he asked.
	"Do you mind keeping your claws from pounding on the table?  
We're trying to eat, not have you give us a roller coaster ride!" 
Mighty said.
	Selena giggled.  I ate my breakfast as they argued on.  I had 
to admit, it was funny to see them like this.  Knuckles turned to me. 
	"So how are you taking this?  Upset that your hero turned out 
to be just another creep on Mobius?"
	"No.  I do feel sorry for him, though.  Everything is changing 
so fast.  We don't even know if Sonic will be found guilty, or not.  It
all depends on how good the evidence is and if Sonic is able to defend 
himself."
	Espio looked up.  "Does anybody even know who Sonic's lawyer 
is?" he asked.
	We looked at each other.  "Does he even have one?" Charmy 
asked.
	We all shrugged.  "Maybe the Princess knows.  Isn't she the one
that set this whole thing up?" Mighty asked.
	I nodded.  "What time is it?" I asked.
	Selena looked at her watch.  "7:45 am," she said.
	The door to the palace kitchen flew open and Rotor ran in.  
"Tails!  Alisha is doing some weird stuff!!  You better come take a 
look!" he said.
	I jumped up.  "Guess I'll have no time for seconds," I said.
I ran out of the kitchen with Rotor.  "What's wrong?" I asked him.
	"Don't know.  One minute everything was fine, then the next 
thing I knew, the computer was doing crazy thing!"
	I ran into the lab and Alisha sat there.  Her screen was 
screwy.  Colors  flashed and she beeped.  Numbers flew by as I sat at 
the controls.  "Heh! Looks like we have a hacker!" I said.
	Rotor looked at me.  "I...I knew that!" he said, half 
stuttering. I typed in a couple of codes to see if I could throw him 
off.  I sat back in the chair.  
	"And a pretty good one too," I said. I got back at the controls 
and did my best to shut him out.  Finally, after five minutes, the 
hacker left.  I looked trough Alisha's files.  "Hmm... He wasn't after 
anything big." I looked back at Rotor.
	"The hacker was after your files you were doing on 
deroboticization," I said to him.
	"Why would they be after my files?" he asked, scratching his 
head.
	I shrugged.  "Maybe they're doing the same thing you are and 
thought you were on to something.  They didn't take anything, just 
copied it.  It's strange that he didn't go after anything else, 
though." I got up from the controls.  "Well, he's gone now.  If this 
happens again, come get me.  Well see if we can catch him," I said as I
left the lab.

        I took a walk around the palace for a while and found myself in
front of Sonic's cell.  He was sitting on a bench and looked up at me.  
"Why are you doing this to me?" he asked. I didn't answer.  "How did 
you find out?" he asked again.
	"I was there when you made the deal, Sonic.  I was there," I 
said. "Why'd you do it anyway?" I asked him.
	"Because I was saving us all!" he said,
	"Saving us?  You got Knothole destroyed and Robotnik the 
emeralds he needed for the Death Egg!  You didn't save us.  You 
condemned us to death!"
	"Hey!  If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be standing here!" 
Sonic said.
	"What about Bunnie and Dulcy?  You got them roboticized!  And 
what about Uncle Chuck!  You got him dismantled!"
	"It wasn't my fault!"
	A tear ran down from Sonic's eye.  "I was doing what I thought
was right!  I didn't know any of that would happen!"
	I turned away.  "I used to look up to you, Sonic.  I used to 
trust you and now I don't know what to do.  I guess the only way this 
will be solved will be at the trial.  I.....I'll see ya later," I said 
and walked off.

        A few hours later, I left Mobotropolis with the Choatix Team 
to the Floating Island.  We had lunch at the Go-Go Club.  As usual, 
Vector was teaching Selena more dance techniques.  I sighed.  "Is there
any dance that Vector doesn't know?" I asked.
	Espio smirked.  "Nope!  He knows 'em all!" he said. We sat at a
table.  I held a root beer in my paws and a chili dog sat in front of 
me.  Julie and Amy had joined us.  They sat down next to us and both
grinned like heck.  Knuckles looked over at them.  
	"Okay!  What are you two up to now?" he asked them.
	Amy giggled and Julie tried to hide her smile.  "We... We just
got back!" Amy said laughing. 
	"From what?" Mighty asked.
	Julie held up a red short shirt and a pair of blue shorts.  
"From the mall!!" she said.
	Knuckles rolled his eyes.  
	"So what's the big deal?" Espio asked.
	"You should have seen the outfit Amy had on earlier!" Julie 
said. "This guy walked by and couldn't keep his eyes off her!"
	Amy laughed even harder.  "And he was the cutest Echidna I've 
ever seen!!"
	"Oh, brother!" I said.
	Julie and Amy looked over to where Selena and Vector were 
dancing.  "They're dancing awfully close," Amy said.
	"That's how the dance goes.  You're supposed to dance close!"
Espio said.
	Amy nudged Julie in the arm and whispered something in her ear.
Julie got up from the table and walked up behind Knuckles.  He looked 
up as she tapped on his shoulder.  Julie cleared her throat and opened 
her mouth, but then quickly shut it.  
	"Go on!" Amy said, trying to keep at a whisper.
	"Would...  Would you like to dance?" Julie quickly asked 
Knuckles.
	Knuckles raised an eyebrow.  "Sure!" he said as he got up. The 
two walked out to the dance floor as a slow song started to play and
they traded spots with Vector and Selana.  
	"Looks like love is in the air!" Vector said as Selena and him 
walked over.  
	"Aww!  They make such a cute couple!" Selena said.
	"I'm surprised she did that!" Amy said.
	"Why?  You were the one that told her to do it," I said.
	"I didn't tell her to do it!  It was a dare!" said Amy.
	"Yeah, right!  Did you see the look in her eyes as Knuckles and
her came out there?" Vector asked.
	"She had hearts for eyes!  I think she's got a crush on him!" I
snickered.  Selena looked over at me.  
	"How come you're not out there with a hot girl?" she asked me.
	"Because I don't have a hot girl to go out with and I don't 
like to dance!" I said.
	"Oh, come on!  What happened to that girl that met you in 
Knothole when we came out of Limbo?"
	I looked down at my drink.  "She and I broke up a few weeks 
later..." I said.
	Selena's mouth dropped open.  "You guys looked like you had it
going there. What happened?"
	"We did, but she got upset that I was never around and was 
always gone.  She complained that I never went to meet her pack, or 
anything," I said.
	"Cheer up, Tails!  There's others out there for yas!" Mighty
said.
	I sighed.  "Yeah, but where?"
	Vector jumped up at looked at his watch.  "Yikes!  Look at the
time!  Sonic's trial's gonna start in an hour!  We better get back to 
Mobotropolis!"
	"Aww!  Do we have to go and spoil Julie and Knux' time 
together?" Amy asked.
	"Sorry, but if we wanna see the trial, we gotta get there so we
can get good seats!" Charmy said.
	Amy sighed.  I jumped out of my seat and flew over to Knuckles 
and Julie.
	"Yo!  Time to go!  Sonic's trial is gonna start soon!" I said 
to Knuckles. We all left the Go-Go Club and took off to Mobotropolis. 
I walked to the south side of Mobotropolis to an old factory.  I 
noticed that the windows of the building were cleaned off and you could
see inside.  I stood in front of the doorway, admiring what they had 
done to the place.  I reached for the door handle and it flew open.  An 
opossum ran out and knocked into me.  
	"Hey!! Watch where you're going, kid!  I've got some expensive 
stuff here!" he said. The opossum was holding a lime green laptop as he
ran off.  Knuckles walked up behind me and I turned to face him.  
	"Who was that guy?" I asked him.
	"You don't know?  That's Rob Opossum.  One of the best computer
geeks around here.  He used to work as a security guard on the other
side of South Island."
	"What's he doing here?"
	Knuckles shrugged.  "Nobody knows what he does now.  He quit 
his job and started working for himself.  I just see him every now and 
then."
	I scratched my head.  "Oh, well.  Any seats left?"
	"Sure is!  We saved ya one."
	I walked in with Knuckles and sat down next to the rest of the 
gang.  I looked up front at Sonic, who was sitting at a table on the 
left side.  Next to him was his lawyer, Quincy Rat.  To the right was 
Francine Ferret.  She was against Sonic in this trial.  The jury, which
was made of five people, were Bunnie, Dulcy, Polly Parrot, Grumpy 
Hedgehog, and Lilly Skunk.  Everyone got quiet as Antoine closed the 
doors and walked up to the front of the court room.  
	"All rise for ze honorable judge, Howard Penguin," he said as a
short, black penguin, dressed in a black robe came out.	We all stood 
up.  He took his place at the stand and rapped the gavel.
	"Please be seated," he said.
	We all sat as he looked over at Sonic.  "Do you know why you 
are here?" he asked him.
	Sonic nodded.  "Good.  Mrs. Ferret, you will be the first to 
start.  Please call your first witness," the judge said.
	Mrs. Ferret stood up and walked over to the stand.  "My first
witness I call upon is Mr. Miles Prower, or "Tails" as he is called."
Sonic growled and put his head in his paws.  I walked up to the stand 
and Antoine walked over with a bible.  
	"Do you swear to tell ze truth, ze whole truth, and nothing but
ze truth?" he asked.
	I put my right paw on the book and said, "I do." I sat down and
Mrs. Ferret walked over.  
	"Tails, you claimed to have been at the scene when Sonic made 
the deal with Dr. Ivo Robotnik.  Can you tell me all that you saw and 
heard?"
	I nodded.  "It was late in the afternoon.  About 6:00.  I was 
out in the Great Forest playing around.  I saw Sonic run by.  I tried 
calling to him, but he didn't stop.  I decided to follow him and see 
where he was going. I followed him to Robotropolis and saw him run into
Robotnik's throne room.  I jumped into an air vent that led into that 
same room.  Down below I could see Sonic standing in front of Robotnik 
and Snively was standing beside him. Robotnik asked something about a 
deal and Sonic asked that him and four of his friends will be saved for
the price of five Chaos Emeralds.  Robotnik agreed and Sonic handed him
five Chaos Emeralds.  The thing is, I thought we locked up the Chaos 
Emeralds we had.  Sonic also handed Robotnik a piece of paper. Robotnik
unfolded the paper and it turned out to be a map.  A map to the 
location of Knothole.  
	After the deal was sealed, Sonic ran out and Robotnik gave 
Snively the Emeralds and told him to prepare the Death Egg.  That's all
I remember," I said.
	Mrs. Ferret smiled.  "Thank you, Tails.  You may go."
	I jumped down and ran back to my seat.  "Your honor, I now call
on Knuckles Echidna," Mrs. Ferret said.
	Knuckles got up and Antoine did the same thing to him as he did
to me.  I could tell Knuckles was about to slap him silly, but he held 
back.  "Knuckles, it was heard that Robotnik had said something to you 
about Sonic the time before he was banished to the Zone of Silence by 
Snively.  Can you tell us?" Mrs. Ferret asked him.
	"Yeah!  It was when he had Selena.  Not before he fell through
the gateway. Mighty, Charmy and I had caught him and we told him to let
Selena go.  He said I was dumber then that Hedgehog, Sonic.  Then he 
mentioned that Sonic had made him who he was.  I didn't really get it. 
He didn't tell us much, just that," Knuckles said.
	"Is that all?  He didn't say any more?" Mrs. Ferret asked.
	"Yeah!  That's it!  No more!" Knuckles said.
	"Very well.  Thank you, Knuckles," Mrs. Ferret said as Knuckles
left.
	Mrs. Ferret turned to the judge.  "I have no more questions at 
this time," she said.
	"Very good, Mrs. Ferret.  Mr. Rat, I believe it's your turn to 
defend your client," Judge Howard said.
	Quincy Rat stood up and smiled.  "Your honor, I would like to 
call my client up to tell his story," he said.
	Judge Howard looked at Sonic.  "Mr. Sonic Hedgehog, please take
the stand." Sonic mumbled something and got up.  Antoine met his at the
stand with the bible.  Sonic swore in and took his seat.  Quincy walked
over.  
	"Sonic, I'm sure everyone would like to hear our side of the 
story.  Please tell."
	Sonic cleared his throat.  "It was actually 5:54 when I left 
Knothole.  I saw Tails sitting in the forest.  He called my name, but I
couldn't stop. Robotnik had called me and said he wanted to talk.  We 
agreed that there would be a bargain.  I wanted all the Freedom 
Fighters saved, but Robotnik only wanted a limited number.  I tried for
ten, but he just wouldn't go for it. We had finally decided on five.  I
said that he could take a part of Mobius, but he had to let the Great 
Forest and Knothole be.  In exchange, he wanted five Chaos Emeralds and
the location of Knothole.  He said it was so he wouldn't mistake it as 
part of his territory.  I didn't want to, but he threatened he'd take 
down the whole forest until he found it.  I knew it was stupid, but I
didn't have much of a choice!  I met Robobutt in his throne room in
Robotropolis.  
	I had the five Chaos Emeralds, that I got out of the Knothole 
treasury, and the map to Knothole itself.  I made the deal with 
Robotnik and left, hoping he'd finally get lost.  But the next day, he 
attacked with the Death Egg.  It wasn't my fault that he double crossed
me!!  And that's all I have to say!"
	"Thank you, Sonic!  Now, I'd like to call on Princess Sally 
Acorn!" Quincy said.
	Aunt Sally took the stand.  "Now, Miss Acorn, when you and the 
others left Mobius, leaving the rest of us behind, you had a thing for 
Sonic.  Is there anything you could tell us?"
	"Well, I did have an attraction to him and I still do a little.
I noticed, though, that every time I mentioned Knothole, or Robotnik, 
he'd jump a little. He never wanted to talk about what happened that 
seven years ago.  He tried to forget it.  I thought it was because he 
was shocked as much as I was that it ended so quickly. I also noticed 
that he had a hunger for the Emeralds.  He always had to be by them.  
We used to live in a hut by ourselves and every time we moved them to a
better spot, he'd throw a fit!  A couple of times he tried to merge 
with them, like he did when he became Super Sonic.  I stopped him, but 
he wouldn't give up.  I finally had to knock some sense into him.  That
was when we had that fight over the Emeralds!"
	A tear ran down Aunt Sally's face.  "Thank you, Miss. Acorn," 
Quincy said.
	Person after person was called to the stand.  Some questions 
were about Sonic and their feelings towards him, others were about what
happened in the past. We sat there for four hours.  Judge Howard looked
at his watch and banged on his stand with the gavel.  "I think we have 
heard enough for now.  Since it is now going on 7:00 and I know a lot 
of us are hungry, I will call a recess, so we all my have dinner.  That
is all."
	We all left the court room.  The jury went into a private room,
while the rest of us left for the Palace Kitchen.  I got a couple of 
slices of pizza and sat down at a table.  The Chaotix Team had left 
Mobotropolis a few hours ago.  I was left alone, except for Amy, who 
wanted to see how it would end up.  She sat across from me and sighed. 
	"What's wrong?" I asked her.
	"It's just... Well...  This is so depressing!  I don't really 
think there's enough evidence to say Sonic is guilty, but lots of 
people have the same story of what happened.  I don't think this trial 
will end," she said.
	I looked down at my pizza and poked at it.  "I have some very
hard evidence, but I don't think I should tell anyone..." I said at a 
whisper.
	"Say what?" Amy asked.
	I looked up and nodded.  "I found a note written by Robotnik 
himself telling his whole plan to destroy Knothole and the deal with 
Sonic," I said.
	"WHAT!?  Tails!  Don't show that!  That will definitely prove 
Sonic guilty!"
	"Well what do you want?  For Sonic to go free, or be found 
guilty!?" Amy didn't answer.  "See!?  Nobody knows!  We all have mixed 
feelings!!" I said.
	"Look, we have to be back in the court room in 15 minutes.  
Let's just forget this and see what they come up with," Amy nodded.  
        
        Time came and we all hurried back to the court room.  Sonic was
munching on a chili dog like mad.  He probably thought it was the last 
one he'd ever get. Howard Penguin rapped the gavel three times and we 
got quiet.  He looked down at Quincy Rat and then at Mrs. Ferret.  "The
two of you can have one more witness to call before the jury comes to a
verdict," he said.
	Quincy stood up.  "I have no more, your honor.  I think my 
client is well taken care of!" he said, grinning.
	"Your Honor, I have one!" Mrs. Ferret said.
	"And who is that?" Judge Howard asked.
	Just then, the doors to the court room blew open and smoke 
filled the room. Everybody jumped up and the smoke from the blast 
cleared.  Two EggBots hovered in.  Close behind them was none other 
than Snively himself.  Next to him was Mecha Sonic.  "Your Honor, I 
call Snively to the stand!" Mrs. Ferret said.
	Everyone gasped.  "What!?  You can't do that!!" Sonic yelled.
	"Quiet!  Mrs. Ferret has a right to call who she wishes as a 
witness, even if it's Snively!" the judge yelled.
	Snively's EggBots and Mecha Sonic stood behind me.  I got 
shivers down my back as I felt their cold, lifeless faces watch me.
Snively snickered as the approached the stand.  Antoine met him with 
that book again.  "Do you swear to tell ze truth, ze whole truth, and 
nothing but ze truth!?" Antoine asked.
	"Well, usually I wouldn't, but because this trial involves 
Sonic, I do," Snively said and sat down.
	Mrs. Ferret walked over.  "Snively, many people claimed that
you were there the day Sonic and Robotnik made a deal.  Tell us your 
story."
	"Yes, I was there!  I stood by that hated uncle of mine when 
Sonic came running in with a backpack on his back.  He held his gold 
ring, just in case we made a move.  Robotnik and Sonic agreed on the 
trade for five Chaos Emeralds and the location of Knothole for the 
lives of Sonic and four of his friends!   Sonic had fear in his eyes 
and I could tell he wasn't sure if this was the right thing, or not.  
After the deal was done, Uncle Julian gave me the Emeralds and told me 
to power up the Death Egg.  I did just that and you know how the rest 
of the story goes.  If that doesn't satisfy you,  Tails has a note 
telling you Robotnik's look at this!"
	I gasped.  The judge looked at me.  "Tails, is this true?  You 
have a note by Robotnik about this?"
	"Y...Yes.  I do," I said.
	"Do you have it with you now?" the judge asked.
	"Y...yes." Before we returned to the court room, I had gotten a
copy of the note and I had a tight grip on it.  
	"Will you bring to the jury?" Mrs. Ferret asked. I brought it 
up and the jury looked it over.
	"Your honor, I think that about wraps it up here," Mrs. Ferret 
said.
	Judge Howard turned to the jury.  "From this note and what the 
witnesses have said, I hope that you have reached a verdict and decided
a punishment." 
	Lilly Skunk stood up.  "We have, your honor!" she said. 
Everyone held their breaths.  "We find Sonic guilty of the charges and 
is to be sent to prison for three years!"
	Snively snickered as he got up.  The two Eggbots and Mecha 
Sonic followed him closely as they left. Two officers hand cuffed Sonic
and took him away.   People watched as he walked out.  Some of them 
happy, others were sad.  I didn't know what I felt. I was happy that 
Sonic didn't get off with that deal and sad that he was found guilty.  
I guess most of this was my fault.  If I hadn't told anyone what 
happened, Sonic wouldn't be in this mess.
	I felt as if I deserved Sonic's punishment more than he did.  I
looked up as a heard yelling.  "Help!  Sonic broke free!!" someone 
yelled.
	Everyone raced outside. The two officers that had taken Sonic 
were lying on the floor and one was knocked out.  Handcuffs were laying
on the ground and were broken.  "He...He knocked out Gunthor and broke 
free from the cuffs!" said the officer that was still conscious. He 
pointed off to a direction.  "And he took off that way!"
	"Great!" I said.
	"From a trial, to a man hunt!"
	Sally walked up next to me.  "We have to send a group after 
him!  There's nothing out there but the Zones," she said.
	"And he could be in any Zone.  Mobius is full of them," I said.
	"I'll try to get a hold of Knuckles.  I bet he'd be more than 
happy to go after Sonic."
	I took off to the Floating Island.  "If it's one thing I hate, 
it's chasing after a hero gone bad!" I said to myself.

The End