----Flashback of Three Years Earlier...----

'Tails, you have to fire the Sonic Driver atme to destroy Dark Oak.'

'Cosmo, I can't...'

'Tails, you have to. It's the only Way. Besides, my seeds will be spread out throughout the galaxy. Don't worry. It'll be okay.'

Sobs.

'Hey Tails? Sonic and I are ready. Are you sure you want to do this?'

more sobs. ' ... Yeah. Go ahead. Get ready.'

Boom!!!!

...

Where Am I?

"Hey, Dad? Someone's over here. Well, Something, I think..."

Footsteps.

"Hey, jack, you're right. But it - she - looks familiar..." The voice sounds familiar, too. Then a gasp from the second voice.

"What, what is it dad?"

"Jack, go get in the car. Now."

"Daddy, what's that?" Another voice, female, possibly around 4 years old.

"I dunno what she is, kayla. But could you get in the car? we gotta go somewhere."

"'Kay."

a faint shadow darkened her already blackened sight. Although, closed eyes didn't help, though she couldn't open them yet.

"That's Who you are. I knew you blooked familiar. Can you here me?"

She couldn't move to respond.

"Guess not." The man said, picking her up and carrying her to the Audi A5.

The creature flinched as she realized that the man was Chris.

Chris placed her in the back seat, next to Kayla. "Kayla, don't pull her hair, please?"

The girl sqirmed in her seat. "But her hair's green."

Chris sighed.

Driving to the lab, Professor Thorndyke was worried. Why did she come back? Didn't she die about 36 years ago? Wow. Can't believe it's been that long. Of course, to Sonic and them, it's only been about 3 on their world.

"Dad, why are we going to your work?"

Chris turned to his son. "Well, I got to do some tests to see if it's radioactive or something, and then I'll need to use the Ring."

Jack nodded, but Kayla didn't understand. She started whining, and Chris tossed a lollipop into the back seat. Kayla shut up.

...chris' POV...

Shit. A liscense check. What if he sees her?

"Jack, do you have the Visioray in the glove compartment?"

There it is.

"Yeah."

"Alright, can i see it for a moment?"

...Jack's POV...

I hand over the visio thingy, and dad shoots his arm. Not like I'm worried or anything. Just seeing his arm literally dissapear can spook someone for a second. Then he reaches back and hides the ray thing out of the officer's sight.

that's why he shot his arm. So the officer think's he only has one arm. To see a two-armed man hide one hand behind the seat can be suspicious. But if they have one arm...

"Good morning, officer!"

the officer looks bored. he hardly notices the lack of one of dad's arms. " Liscense and registration, sir."

Dad searches in the side door pocket, then pulls them out.

"Thank you." Then the policeman jumps. "Uhh, sir? What's that in the back seat?" He bellows sternly.

Dad quickly aims the Visioray at the bundle of... whatever it is in the back seat. Perfect aim, as usual. Even without looking. Wow.

"What do you mean, sir? The only thing back there is my daughter." Dad asks with genuine confusion.

The officer glances back as a look of astonishment crosses his face. "I'm sorry professor. I must be mistaken." he manages to say after stammering for a while.

"Well, mr," dad leans out the window a bit to view the officer's id badge. "Mr. Lawson. I need to get to my lab because I'm afraid that one of my colleagues left some dangerous experements active when they left earlier, and the entrance is on a timed lock you see, so only my key can open the door after the timed lock activates. And because traffic is pretty bad right now down there, I am sure glad to see an officer. So I was hoping you could give me a police escort."

The Officer Lawson's face brightened. "Right away, Professor Thorndyke!"

The Mr. Lawson turned towards his partner, stopped, and turned back. "Umm, where exactly is your lab, sir?"

Within minutes, they were under police escort down to the lab. Thankfully, Officer Lawson wasn't one of the escorts, nor did he mention the Professor's lack of an arm, which made it easy for Chris to turn his arm visible again. They walked up to the door, and Chris thanked the officers and issued them away. Then the three ran inside, carrying the creature, and stopped when they reached the room with the so-called Ring. here, Chris placed down the cardboard box that he projected around her, disabled the projection, and brung her out of her higher frequency, down to a level of visibility.

"Dad, you aren't going to run tests are you?"

Chris smiled an unconvincing guilty smile. "No, but Kayla, can you go get me a wet wash rag?"

Kayla jumped around then looked at her father. "Can I touch her hair?"

Chris sighed. "Only if you hurry. oh, AND USE COLD WATER!" he yelled after her as she ran down the hall.

Jack leaned over the body. "Dad, do you think it's alive?"

Chris glanced at his son. "Yes, she's alive. Just not awake. Yet."

... ... ...

The girl felt small fingers rummaging through her hair. Then a cold cloth rest on her forehead, and she could suddenly move. Her eyes shot open, and she sat up and stared at the little human girl who pulled her hands away with a frightened whimper, eyes as big as dinner plates.

"where am I?" she inquired, looking around the concrete and metal environment.

A man who is probably close to his fifties - not like he looked like it - bent down in front of her. "Am I glad to see you alive. Tails must be worried about you."

She stared at the man, with her head cocked to one side. "Chris? Is that you?"
She stared at her feet, turned her head away. "how long has it been since...?"

Silence.

Chris gently turned her face back. "It's been thirty six years. Well, technically, three according to the Mobian calendar."

"Tails must miss me, doesn't he?"

Chris smiled. "Don't know. Hadn't tried going back since I came back 36 years ago. Well, let's see if the Ring still works."

He walked over to the giant metal contraption that did, infact, look like a ring. He sat down at the console and bagan to type furiously, as a steady whine began to resound through the room. The noise got louder and louder, but only slightly, so she could still hear the four-year-old's starled cries, and the shushing of the boy, who probably was about fourteen.

Suddenly, the ring glowed, and the girl walked over to the computer and stared over Chris' shoulder. Chris glanced at her, then asked if she could set it up for his immediate return after the transport trip.

"Yeah, i think so." , then "Wait, yes, I can."

Chris nodded with a grim smile. "Alright, here I go." He walked to the transporter, looked back at boy, and waved at the little girl. "Jack, whatever happens, keep Kayla away from the Ring, unless, - when, - I come back."

"But how will I know if it's you?" Jack asked, with a hint of fear in his voice

"Just ask me the question."

Jack nodded, as Chris turned around, and stepped into the ring. he immediately dissapeared, and the alien girl turned to the console monitor and typed for about half a minute, and the glow came back to the ring, as a figure fell out onto the floor.

The girl gasped, the figure was Chris. not the 48 year old, but one who was only three years older than the one she met as Tails' friend back on Mobius. She ran over to the figure, and knelt down beside of Jack, who was also there over Chris.

"Dad?"

Chris coughed. "Well, ask the question, already Jack."

Jack chuckled lightly, and asked the question: "Who's Cosmo?"

Chris sat up, looked at Jack, and replied "Simple. Tails' lover. Salvation of the galaxy. Oh, and the Seedrian kneeling beside you."

Jack looked over at Cosmo,who nodded, reached out, and helped Chris to his feet. "Did you see tails?"

Chris shook his head, then smiled. "No, but it still leads to Mobius."

Cosmo smiled back.

Wow. 1,587 words above this line. Pretty darn good prologue.

I'm not yet going to tell how Cosmo came to Earth for at least a couple of chapters. Yet.

Or how she's even alive after getting blasted by the Sonic Driver. Which she did get hit by, BTW.

Let the fun begin.

Xorik