AFTER THE METAREX: TAILS' AND COSMO'S STORY

Chapter Four

"Good Times, Bat Times"

"Cosmo?!?" Amy and Cream screamed.

"What the hell?!?" Knuckles cried.

"Um…it's a pleasure to see all of you again," Cosmo said, as Tails helped her to her feet. She'd lost the flip-flops, but no one noticed.

"Cosmo?!?" Amy screamed again. "You're not dead? You're not a robot?"

Cosmo shook her head. "No, Amy, I'm alive."

Amy stared at her. "But…but we thought…" She gritted her teeth. "You had us all crying our eyes out for you! And you weren't dead?!"

"But I was, Amy," Cosmo assured her, taking a couple of steps towards her. "I really was. I know that sounds strange, but…"

"Cosmo!" Cream sobbed, throwing her arms around the Seedrian. "You're alive! You're alive!"

"Please don't cry, Cream," Cosmo begged, stroking her friend's hair. "You're going to make me cry!"

"I don't know what to say," Vanilla said hoarsely. "I…how are you feeling, dear?"

"A little tired," Cosmo admitted. "But very happy." She doesn't hate me! Cream still wants to be my friend! Despite her attempts to hold back her tears, they began to make trails down her face.

"Hmm," Vector said to Espio and Charmy. "Very interesting!"

"Of course it's very interesting," Espio said, trying to keep his face blank, although the moment was starting to get to him. "It's a miracle!"

"Yeah," Charmy said. "Now it's really a party!" He blew a noisemaker right in Vector's ear.

"Not so fast!" Vector said, swatting the noisemaker away. "There's something suspicious about this!"

Amy was still staring at Cosmo. The plant girl looked nervously at her. "Amy? It's me! It's really me!" She held out her hand. Amy looked down at it. "Why is your hand bandaged?"

"I cut myself," Cosmo said, making a face. "Isn't that just like me? Back only a few minutes, and already having clumsy accidents!" She laughed nervously. Then she gasped as Amy grabbed her wrist. "Amy? What are you doing?"

Amy stared at Cosmo's hand. She ran her index finger across it. "Hmm…" she said.

"What?" Cosmo asked. "Amy…"

"What are you doing, Amy?" Tails demanded, hurrying over to them.

"Quiet, both of you!" Amy said. "Same lines as far as I can see. The bandage is in the way though. Let me see your other hand."

"All right," Cosmo said, holding out her other hand. Amy examined it carefully. Then she placed her hand on Cosmo's chin. She stared into her eyes.

"Open your mouth," Amy said.

Tails clenched his fists. "Leave her alone, Amy!" he said. "I mean it!"

Cosmo opened her mouth. "Wider," Amy said. She peered inside.

"Uhahoooig, Ehee?" Cosmo asked. Tails wasn't sure, but it sounded like she was trying to say "What are you doing, Amy?"

"You have a missing tooth in back," Amy said. "The same tooth Cosmo was missing." She blinked. "It-it is you! You're really Cosmo!"

"Yes," the plant girl said, her voice hoarse. "It's really me, Amy."

Amy threw her arms around Cosmo, lifting her off her feet. She swung her around and around. "You're alive! You're alive! You're alive!"

"Uh…thank you for believing me," Cosmo said, "but I'm getting dizzy."

Amy clutched Cosmo to her and started wailing like a baby.

"Okay, I'm embarrassed," Knuckles muttered. Rouge giggled. Knuckles turned around from her and faced the wall.

"Uh…you through yet, Amy?" Sonic asked.

Amy, finally realizing she was making a scene, let go of Cosmo and rubbed at her eyes. Since she was wearing eye shadow for the party, this was not a good idea. Amy now looked something like a raccoon.

"So did you miss us a lot while you were gone, Cosmo?" Amy asked, trying to act cool.

"Oh yes, very much," Cosmo said, looking about her. She wondered about the people she'd never met before, but decided it might be rude to ask who they were. "I used to look down on you often, my friends."

"You looked down on us?" Rouge asked. "That sounds kind of rude." She grinned, showing her fangs.

"Where were you looking down at us from?" Charmy asked.

Cosmo smiled. "Heaven."

Everyone except Tails and Sonic stared at her. Cosmo looked at Tails. "I guess I shouldn't have mentioned I was in Heaven, huh?"

"Uh…probably not right off the bat, no," Sonic suggested.

Cosmo bowed her head. "I am sorry for upsetting all of you, my friends. If it makes you feel any better, I remember very little of what happened to me while I was dead."

Now everyone except Tails, Sonic, and Cream were backing away a little. Tails put his arm around Cosmo. "Come on, you guys!" he said. "Cosmo's back with us! You're all acting like she's some kind of…of…"

"Vampire?" Amy suggested.

"She's not a vampire!" Tails insisted.

"Well, better safe than sorry," Amy said, reaching into her collar. She pulled out a cross on a gold chain and held it right in Cosmo's face. "Does this bother you in any way?"

"No," Cosmo said, confused. "I think it's very pretty, Amy."

Tails pushed Amy's arm away. "She is not a vampire!" Tails cried. He put his other arm around Cosmo. "Leave her alone, Amy!"

"Whoa, calm down, little buddy!" Sonic said, stepping between Tails and Amy. "She didn't mean anything. You got to admit, this is all kind of overwhelming."

Cream had watched all of this without saying anything. Once, she would have rushed to defend Cosmo, but it had just hit her what Cosmo's return meant. The tears of joy that were already rolling down her cheeks were joined by tears of another kind as she watched Tails put his arm around the plant girl.

What's wrong with me? Cosmo's my friend! And she came back! I'm happy for her, but…why does my heart hurt? When Tails put his other arm around Cosmo, she knew. I lost him. No. No, I never had him at all. Mom warned me, but I wouldn't listen.

"What's a…vampire?" Cosmo asked.

"The walking dead," Charmy said. "You know, neither really dead nor really alive." He held his arms out stiffly and walked like a robot.

Cosmo watched Charmy for a minute, then turned back to Amy. "You…you think I'm a walking corpse?!?"

"Or possessed," Sonic suggested.

"Possessed?" Cosmo said. "You mean like when I took over Cream's body?"

Now everybody really looked at her funny.

"She's not possessed!" Tails cried. "It's not funny, Amy!"

Amy bit her lip. "I wasn't being funny, Tails. I just wanted to be sure…"

"Sometimes I think Amy's possessed," Vector muttered to Espio. They were still by the front door.

The chameleon motioned for him to be quiet. But Amy had excellent hearing.

"Are you saying I'm crazy?!?" Amy said, piko-piko hammer suddenly in hand.

"Okay, she's definitely scarier than Cosmo," Vector said, backing into the doorway, ready to run if Amy came any closer.

"I'm still the same person I used to be," Cosmo sobbed, burying her head in Tails' chest fur. "I'm not a monster! I'm not!"

"Of course you aren't!" Tails assured her, patting her on the back. He glared at Amy. "Now look what you've done! Shh…it's okay, Cosmo. Please don't cry."

Amy took a step towards them. As Tails' eyes narrowed further, she held her hands up defensively. "Hey, hey! Calm down, both of you. I didn't mean anything by it. Come on, Cosmo. Still friends?"

"Of course," Cosmo said. "I just don't want to be a bother to anyone."

Amy pulled her away from Tails and crushed her in a bear hug. "Let's not start that again!" she cried.
"Amy…can't breath…" Cosmo gasped.

"Well, that's a good sign," Amy said, loosening her grip. "Vampires don't need to breath." She motioned to Cream. "Come on! Team Rose group hug!"

Cream rubbed at her eyes, then threw her arms around both of them.

She won fair and square. I won't be angry with her! I won't!

The others finally began to move towards them, welcoming her back.

"Thank you!" Cosmo sobbed. "Thank you, one and all!"

"Don't mention it," Knuckles said, patting her on the head. "Glad to see you're back okay, Cosmo. Don't scare us like that again, okay?"

"Yeah, what he said," Rouge said.

"Good to be back," Cosmo said.

"It's wonderful to see you again, dear," Vanilla said, putting her arms around Cosmo. "We only knew each other for such a short time, but Cream has told me so much about you, I feel like we've been with us for months."

"I felt the same way about you while we were on the Blue Typhoon," Cosmo said, hugging Cream's mother back. "Your daughter told me so much about you, I felt like I knew you very well."

After she'd said hello to all of the people she already knew, a hedgehog she hadn't seen before suddenly grabbed her hand and shook it. "Hi, pleased to meet you, I'm Anita."

"Uh…Cosmo," the plant girl said, bowing her head. "I'm sorry, but…we haven't met, have we?"

Anita looked over at Sonic. "Sonic didn't tell you about me?" she asked. "I'm his sister."

Cosmo blushed. "Oh, that's right! I'm sorry! He told me about you a few minutes ago!"

"A few minutes ago?" Anita said, pouting. "And you guys were in a ship for how long together, seeing each other every day?"

"Uh…didn't see any reason to mention you on the Blue Typhoon," Sonic said. "My bad."

Anita pulled down her eyelid and stuck her tongue out at him. "Bleh!"

"Oh yeah?" Sonic said, pulling down both eye lids, crossing his eyes, and sticking his tongue out. "Well nyah to you!"

"You win," Anita said, "you're uglier!"

Cosmo had been looking from Sonic to Anita and back again, her expression showing she didn't have the slightest idea what was going on. Wait. He did mention her a few minutes ago, didn't he? I'm going to have to stop daydreaming and pay attention to what people are saying to me.

"Hey, that's pretty good," Sonic said, giving his sister a thumbs-up. "I've done a good job of corrupting you, sis!"

"You're joking, aren't you, Sonic?" Cosmo asked. "You don't really want to corrupt your little sister, do you?"

"Huh?" Sonic said. He waved his hands nervously. "No! I was just kidding. You need to learn not to take everything so seriously, Cosmo."

"Oh yeah, you're Cosmo all right," Amy said. "Just can't stand seeing anybody fight, even if they don't mean it."

"I used to fight with my sisters sometimes," Cosmo said, her eyes suddenly looking far away. "I wish I hadn't now. They know I'm sorry about it, but still…"

Sonic looked at Anita. He'd very nearly lost her for good, the same way Cosmo had lost her sisters. "Sorry 'bout that, okay?"

"No biggy, bro," Anita said. She turned back to Cosmo. "But don't mind us. Nikki and me have always fought like this. It's what we do."

"Like Sonic and Knuckles," Cosmo said softly."So…you enjoy fighting with people that you care about, Sonic?"

"I don't care about him!" Sonic and Knuckles both said at the same time.

Everyone except Cosmo laughed. "Don't expect guys to admit feelings," Amy said. "The male animal considers that a sign of weakness."

Cosmo looked down at her feet. "Yes," she said quietly. "I suppose…in some way, animals and plants aren't really all that different."

"Hey, that's right," Vector said. "Those Metarex crumb bums were male…whatever you guys are."

Vanilla winced. "Vector, may I have a word with you, please?"

"Sure," Vector said. The rabbit went into Tails' kitchen, the croc following.

"He's in the doghouse again," Amy muttered.

"Huh?" Cosmo said. "Doghouse?"

"Later," Amy assured her. She leaned over the younger girl and hissed, "I'll explain it to you after the party. Let's just say, sometimes guys need to be given…proper direction on how to behave." She looked over at Sonic. "Because most guys don't grasp the whole concept of manners."

Cosmo stared blankly at her. "What?"

"Never mind," Amy said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, Cosmo," Charmy said, floating over to her. He had his arm around another bee. "This is Saffron. Saffron, this is Cosmo."

Saffron bowed. "Pleased to meet you," she said.

Cosmo bowed back. "Pleased to meet you," she said. "Are you Charmy's sister?"

Saffron gasped. Charmy sweat dropped. "No," the female bee said. "We're not related."

"Oh," Cosmo said, blushing. "You're his girlfriend. Sorry. I'm a little slow sometimes. Please don't mind me."

"Oh, no," Saffron said. "That's all right. You couldn't have known. We'd barely met when he took off into space with his friends."

"Speaking of friends," Espio said, hoping to change the subject, "I'd like to introduce our part time members, Mighty and Ray."

"Pleasure to meet you, miss," Mighty the armadillo said, bowing. He nudged Ray.

"Ow!" Ray said, rubbing his arm. "What'd you hit me for, Mighty?" Mighty leaned over and whispered something in the squirrel's ear. "Oh, right." He bowed. "Pleased to meetcha."

"Pleased to meet all of you," Cosmo said, bowing. "I hope we'll all become good friends."

"I'm sure we will," Mighty said. "Right, way?"

"Uh…yeah," Ray said. He gave her two thumbs up. "Totally!"

"Ahem," Julie-Su said, nudging Knuckles."

"You should do something about that cough," Knuckles said.

Julie-Su stepped on Knuckles' foot as she crossed the room and shook Cosmo's hand. "I'm Julie-Su. Heard a lot about you from Knuckles."

"Hello," Cosmo said, bowing her head. "Good to meet you."

"Hey, I was going to introduce you two!" Knuckles said.

"We can't wait for spring," Julie-Su muttered. "In case he hasn't mentioned, I'm sort of his girlfriend."

"No way!" Rouge said, knocking Knuckles back against the couch. "He's my guy!"

"Oh dear," Cosmo said. "Please don't fight."

Rouge and Julie-Su looked daggers at each other, then turned away, Rouge stepping to the left of the couch, Julie-Su to the right.

****

Bokkun had returned to Eggman's hideout after his incident in Cream's kitchen. He looked around, wondering where the big man was. He flew to a security door.

"Password?" the door said in a tinny voice.

"Sonic's a slowpoke!" Bokkun said. The password was simple, and a lie, of course, but it was the sort of crude, childish joke a petty man like the doctor enjoyed.

"Password confirmed," the door, sliding open. "Have a nice day."

"Uh, yeah," Bokkun said, walking through the door. "You too, uh…door."

The door slammed shut behind him. Bokkun jumped, then reminded himself that happened every time he went through the door. He passed several large machines, the functions of which he could only guess, but didn't really want to. A huge press opened, giving off a disgusting steam that nauseated him, even though he was a robot. There were too many steel pipes overhead for him to fly in the factory. His feet made soft clanking sounds as he walked.

Bokkun came at last to the doctor's main lab. This one had no password. The doctor didn't want anyone getting in when he wasn't there, and when he was, no one entered without him opening the door for them. Bokkun pressed a buzzer and waited.

A mechanical red eye finally switched on. No matter how many times Bokkun saw it, it still gave him the creeps. "Don't do that!"

"What do you want, you ninny?" came Eggman's raspy voice. "I didn't summon you!"

"Sorry, your immenseness," Bokkun said. "I just wanted to know if you would be needing me for anything today. Otherwise, I thought I'd just…er, look for somebody to annoy." He wasn't about to mention that Cream and her mother were doing a lot of cooking, no doubt for a big party. That was just the sort of thing that Eggman might decide to crash just for the sheer meanness of ruining somebody's fun.

Eggman snarled. "Get lost, you freeloader! I don't have time for you today!"

"What?" Bokkun cried. "Of all the gratitude! And after I came all this way, too!" Oh, wait. He wanted to get out of there, didn't he? He clamped his hand over his big mouth and hurried back across the factory. Maybe he'd get to Cream's house in time to snatch some food that hadn't been ruined. He had no doubt that lousy Cheeseball had pulled some kind of a trick on him! Well, he'd show him how to play tricks!

"Where are you going, Bokkun?" Decoe demanded as the little messenger robot left the factory.

"Yes, we can tell that you're up to something," Bocoe added.

"Uh…nothing!" Bokkun said, grinning sheepishly.

"You're going to go hang out with Sonic and his goody-goody friends, aren't you?" Decoe demanded. "You know the doctor will be angry."

"He might decide to have you taken apart and reconstructed into a toaster or something," Bocoe said.

Bokkun made a face. Those two were idiots, but they were starting to catch on. If they ever told the doctor how much time he was spending hanging around Cream and the others, let alone that he had a crush on her, Cream would be in trouble, and he'd be in no shape to help her.

Bokkun dug through his bag. Ah! He pulled out a tv set. "I'm just going to give this to Sonic," he said. "I…recorded the doctor yelling at me, and erased my name, so it'll sound like he's yelling at Sonic. And then…ka-boom!"

"Oh, well then, that's different," Bocoe said.

"See you around, Bokkun," Decoe said.

"Yeah, um…so you two keep watch and make sure Sonic doesn't break in here!" Bokkun said, hurrying away. Phew! He didn't know how much longer he could keep seeing Cream and not get into big trouble. He did know that he had a big decision to make, and needed to make it soon.

Back in his lab, Eggman connected several servers to the center of the project he was working on, a large red and grey robot. "Finally!" he gloated. "My greatest E-Series creation, is nearly completed! Tails thinks he's nearly my equal, but I'll bet it never occurred to him to 'borrow' Metarex technology to build a better robot! After this, there'll be no need for me to build another, so I should give him a name that describes his role in the future of Mobius!" He stroked his mustache. "Hm…Apocalypse? No, too difficult to spell. Oblivion? Nah, sounds like a hair care product!" His eyes narrowed as he grinned. "I know! Continuing from Alpha, Beta, and Gamma and the others, I'll just jump down to the end of the alphabet. Omega! Yes! You shall be the last and the greatest of my creations! Mwahahahahahah!"

It would only be later that Bokkun would notice the doctor was taking things much more seriously than he had been.

****

Vanilla and Vector returned from the kitchen. Charmy left Saffron to fly over to the croc.

"Miss Vanilla got on your case for being tactless again?" he asked.

Vector placed his hand over Charmy's mouth. "Charmy's such a kidder, isn't he, Espio?"

The chameleon looked away. "I am not getting involved in this, Vector."

"Here," Sonic said, hoping to change the subject. He had been cooking hot dogs and chili, and now handed Cosmo a chili dog. "Your first chili dog. See what you think." He said it like he was offering her a solid gold crown.

Cosmo looked at it. "This is a chili dog?" She looked at it carefully. "Does it always have cheese and onions in it?"

"Nope, only if you want to make them right," Sonic said.

"Oh," Cosmo said. She took a bite. "It's nice."

"Nice?" Sonic said, staring at her. "Nice?! Chili dogs aren't nice! They're stupendous! Colossal!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Cosmo said. "Of course they are!"

"Now I see what your problem is, Amy," Vector said to the pink hedgehog. "Sonic doesn't notice you because he's in love with chili dogs."

Amy glared at the croc. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! There's no way that…" She watched as Sonic picked up a chili dog. He looked at it the same way Knuckles did when he was talking about the Master Emerald. Vector was nutty as a fruitcake, but maybe he had another point besides the one on the top of his head.

"Tails?" Cosmo whispered, holding up the chili dog. "What is this exactly?"

Tails thought about it for a moment. "Uh…probably best to not ask what's in a hot dog," he said at last.

Cosmo's eyes grew big. She looked at it. "Should I really be eating it then?"

"Not if you don't want to," Tails assured her.

"Oh, I couldn't hurt Sonic's feelings," Cosmo insisted, taking another bite. "It's pretty good, actually."

Vanilla walked over to Cosmo. "Do you have a place to stay, dear?"

"What?" Cosmo said. "Oh, well, I…I thought that…um…" she looked over at Tails.

Vanilla noticed and smiled sadly, gently shaking her head. "I'm sorry, dear, but I don't think Tails' parents would approve."

Cosmo blushed. "Oh! Oh, of…of course."

"Cream was coming over to my place tonight for a slumber party," Amy said, "so you can join us."

"I thought you were afraid that she was a vampire," Knuckles kidded.

"I think you've got your own problems to worry about," Amy pointed out. She had put on music for everyone to dance to, just as Rouge and Julie-Su returned from getting punch.

"Here, Knuckie, have some," Rouge said, holding a cup in front of his face.

"They're playing our song!" Julie-Su told him. "Let's dance!"
"Oops!" Rouge said, pouring her punch on Julie-Su. "Clumsy me!"

"My dress!" Julie-Su yelled. "Knuckles, say something!"

"Uh…that's too bad?" Knuckles said.

"Oops!" Julie-Su said, spilling her punch on Rouge's head. "Oh, my, how did that happen?"

"That did it!" Rouge yelled, leaping into the air. "Screw kick!" She began to spin like a top as she shot down from the ceiling towards the echidna girl. Julie-Su dodged at the last second. Knuckles didn't quite make it. He went flying backwards, turned a flip, and landed on his face, sliding across Tails' rug into the coffee table.

"You hit Knuckles, you witch!" Julie-Su yelled, leaping at Rouge.
"You got out of the way, you coward!" Rouge cried, jumping out of the way and starting to spin in the air again. "Screw kick!"

"Not in my house," Tails cried, as everything in the living room started to fly around, pulled by the wind the bat was creating.

"My chili dogs!" Sonic cried as he watched the food go flying. Pretzels, cheese puffs, peanuts, potato and corn chips, all flew about the room. Amy and Cream squealed as punch splattered them. Sonic ran about wildly, grabbing chili dogs first, then trying to catch the rest of the food.

"Somebody stop her!" Tails cried, as the punch bowl bonked him upside the head, sending him falling onto his easy chair face first. The chair flipped over.

"Stop!" Cream sobbed as more punch hit her in the back. "I've had enough punch please, thank you!" She looked around. "Where's Cheese?"

"Chao chao chao chao chao!" Cheese cried, spinning about Rouge like a moon around a planet.

"Vector, do something!" Vanilla cried as she grabbed her daughter and dived behind the couch.

"It was a windy day," Vector said, watching everything spin, about the living room. "I had been sent to investigate a party held for a classy dame along the waterfront…"

"Oh cool, Vector's lost it," Charmy said from his position behind a foot stool.

"Ow!" Ray cried as he was hit by pretzels, then walnuts, then m&m's. "Mighty, do something!" The armadillo threw himself in front of the squirrel.

"This is a little more than I signed up for, Vector!" Mighty said as he was buffeted by food.

Cosmo tried to help Tails out of the chair. The wind blew her over and she landed on top of him. "Sorry!" she cried.

"Mom, I got to get Cheese!" Cream sobbed, struggling to climb out from behind the couch. Her mother held her tight, but Cream was so strong, she began to drag her across the floor.

"Cream! Honey, you're giving Mommy rug burns!" Vanilla cried.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Mom!" Cream said, just before they were both covered with cheese puffs.

"That does it!" Sonic yelled, throwing himself into Rouge's wind. He allowed it to carry him right to the bat, and tripped her. Rouge spun about once in her own wind. Then it died, and she fell on her face.

"My house!" Tails cried, looking around. Food was everywhere: the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the furniture, his guests. "Cosmo! Are you okay?"

"I think so," Cosmo said. She was covered with punch, and chips, candy, and other snacks were stuck to her back.

"Cheese! Where are you?" Cream sobbed. The little chao flew over to her, so covered with snacks he looked like a granola bar.

"Chao chao!" Cheese wailed. "Chaaaooooooooo!!!"

"You idiot!" Julie-Su said, kicking Rouge where she lay. "You've ruined Tails' house!" She looked up at Knuckles. "Well? Do you still prefer this floozy?"

"What did you call me?!?" Rouge yelled, swiping the echidna's feet out from under her.

"That's enough!" Knuckles yelled, waving his fist. "Am I going to have to get tough with both of you?" This, of course, was a serious mistake. Rouge and Julie-Su proceeded to beat the tar out of him.

"You sure do throw a lively party, little buddy," Sonic said, eating a punch soaked chili dog.

"How can you make jokes about this?!" Tails cried, picking food off of Cosmo's back. "Look at my house! Look at Cosmo!"

"I feel like an apple tree," Cosmo said as Tails continued to pick chips and puffs off of her. "But shouldn't someone help Knuckles?"

"He needs to learn not to invite two girls out on the same date," Amy said, picking popcorn out of her hair. "Don't try to help him, Cosmo. You'll just get yourself beat up too. And he deserves it, anyway."

Cosmo shook her head. "No one deserves to be beaten," Cosmo said. She made a face. "Did I really help you and Cream attack him last year? I must not have been thinking straight."

"You attacked me too!" Charmy pointed out. "And Espio. And Vector. Of course, Vector kidnapped Cream, so you guys are even there."

"Right," Vector said, nodding his head. "I kidnapped Cream, so…hey, shut up!"

"You did what?!?" Vanilla cried. She had been trying to pull out the food stuck to Cream's ears.

"Uh…well, I thought you'd want her to come home," Vector said. "You know, 'cause she was your baby, and she was gone for such a long time, and…"

Vanilla shook her head. "We are going to have to have another long talk later, Vector."

"Thanks a lot, Charmy!" Vector said.

"You're welcome," the bee said, grinning.

"I'm going home!" Saffron said. "My hair and my dress are ruined! Good bye, everybody!" She flew off towards the front door, Charmy following her.

"Oh, dear," Cosmo said, watching them leave. Then she turned and looked at Knuckles, who was just picking himself up off the floor. Julie-Su was pretending not to look at him.

"I am so out of here!" Rouge said, walking past them. When she reached Tails and Cosmo, she turned to the plant girl and said, "You have any sense, you'll keep your fox boy on a short leash."

"I beg your pardon?" Cosmo said, picking a sour ball out of her hair.

Rouge flicked her hair, which would normally have been easier to do, since it was now sticky with punch. "Keep him away from other girls if you don't want him cheating on you!"

Cosmo gasped. She straightened her shoulders and raised herself up as high as she could without getting on tiptoe. "I trust Tails completely!" she said.

"A woman who trusts a man is a fool!" Rouge insisted, walking past her.

Cosmo bit her lip. "That's not true!" she cried. "Don't insult Tails, just because you can't make Knuckles happy!"

Rouge stopped in midstep. She spun around on her heel. "What did you just say?"

"Cosmo…" Tails said, placing his hand on her shoulder. He shook his head, but she didn't notice.

"I don't believe that men are like that!" Cosmo said. "And Knuckles is a good person. If he doesn't love you, that's not his fault. I saw you hitting him just now, you and…" She looked over at Julie-Su, trying to remember her name. Jewel? No, that didn't sound right. She looked back at Rouge. "Maybe you just don't know how to treat a man right!"

The house became so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

"What…did…you…SAY TO ME?!?" Rouge demanded, shrieking the last three words in Cosmo's face.

"Oh dear, that was rude of me, wasn't it?" Cosmo said.

Rouge took a step towards Cosmo. "Who do you think you are, lecturing me?!? I'm not taking that from some weird alien plant thing!"

Tails stepped in front of Cosmo. "You leave her alone!" he cried. Rouge growled at him. Tails caught a whiff of her breath. She smelled like beer. "You're drunk!"

"Stay out of this, boy," Rouge said, giving Tails a push that sent him colliding with the table the food had been on before the bat had sent it flying all over the place. "This is between me and the rosebush! You think--you think you're better than me?"

Cosmo took a step back. "What? No, I never said that."
"Put up your dukes," Rouge said, raising her fists.

"Please, Cosmo said, backing up further. "I don't want to fight."

"Okay, that's enough, Rouge," Sonic said, grabbing the bat's arm. "I think you need to go someplace and sleep it off."

Rouge pushed Sonic into Amy. They went crashing to the floor together. "Mind your own business!" Rouge said, turning back to Cosmo. "You little spy!" she yelled. "Letting that freak Dark Oak know everything we were doing!"

Cosmo turned pale. "That wasn't my fault!" she sobbed. "I didn't want to tell him anything! I couldn't help it! But you, you helped Dr. Eggman on purpose!"

"Shut up!" Rouge yelled.

"Please stop this," Cosmo begged. "Haven't you ever wondered if maybe your temper is hurting your relationship with Knuckles?"

Rouge slapped Cosmo's face. "Hey!" Tails cried, taking a swing at her. Rouge dodged and sent Tails crashing into the table again. This time, it turned over, knocking Tails to the floor.

"Tails!" Cosmo cried, trying to run to him. Rouge grabbed her by the hair.

"What's the matter?" the bat demanded. "Can't defend the guy you love?"

Cosmo glared at Rouge. The house began to shake. Then the floor burst open. Vines came up, grabbing Rouge, and lifting her into the air.

"If you want to fight me, go ahead," Cosmo cried, "but I won't let you hurt Tails!"

"You can't hold me!" Rouge yelled, struggling violently. "I'll break free in a minute, and when I do…"

"You won't do anything!" Sonic said. "Let her go, Cosmo. She's out of control. I'm taking her to jail!"

"No!" Rouge shrieked, breaking free. She flapped her wings, rising to the ceiling. "Now, I'm going to…" She suddenly collapsed. Sonic caught her just before she hit the floor. Her eyes were spinning around and around.

"Tails!" Cosmo cried, helping the fox to his feet. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Tails said. "What's wrong with Rouge?"

"I don't feel so good," Rouge said. She looked around, her eyes not focusing on anything.

Amy stepped around a vine and walked up to Sonic and Rouge. "You've ruined Cosmo's welcome home party, you freak!" Rouge responded by throwing up on her. "Ahhh!!! Ewww!!!" Amy backed away, feeling nauseous. "My dress!"

"I'm sorry!" Cosmo sobbed. "I didn't know she was sick!"

"I feel awful!" Rouge moaned. "Why is the room spinning?"

"It's okay," Sonic said to the bat. "I'll take you to the hospital. I'll be back, everybody." Sonic was gone in a blur of motion.

****

Merlin awoke to find himself in a small room, painted a dull grayish-green. He sat up, extremely confused. "Where am I?" He looked around for his cane, but didn't see it. "No! There's no telling what harm someone could cause with my staff! I have to get it!" He leaned on the bed post to push himself to his feet. What had happened? The last he'd remembered, he'd seen a soldier or guardsman and asked him for help. Why was he wearing yellow coveralls?!?

"Oh, good! You're awake!" a blue jay called, entering the room. "And how are we today?"

"Where am I?" Merlin demanded. "Is this the palace?'

"If you want it to be," the girl said. "I'm Treble, pleased to meet you, Mister…"

"Prower," Merlin said. "Miles Prower."

"Of course, I can see the resemblance," Treble said. "You're a relative of Miles, aren't you?"

"You know my nephew?" Merlin asked. "Please, can you tell me where I am?"

Treble smiled at him. "Don't worry, you're in a safe place," she said. "Would you like to watch a movie? There's a nice one playing in the common room now."

"What?!?" Merlin cried. Despite his back problem, he hurried from the room. He found himself standing in a long corridor. "Oh no," he whispered. He turned back to the blue jay. "I have to get out of here!"

"Now, now, Mister Prower," Treble said, placing her hands on his shoulders. "You just calm yourself, and I'll get your doctor. What's his or her name, please?"

Merlin shut his eyes and concentrated. He could feel the power around him, but without his staff, the effort of using chaos control would be severely debilitating, if not fatal at his age. "My staff…" he said. "I need my staff!"

"That dirty old walking stick that was brought in with you?" Treble asked, making a face as she guided him back to his bed. "I'll get you a nice new cane, sir. That thing was filthy."

Merlin sputtered as she forced him to sit on the bed. "But I need it! It's value is inestimable!"

"Yes, yes, that's nice," the girl said, not listening. "Now you just stay put while I get a doctor. Please don't go wandering around by yourself, sir. You might run into Henry, and he isn't a very nice person I'm afraid. Oh, not that he'd hurt you of course, but he might decide to strap you down to the bed."

"I have to speak to my nephew!" Merlin called as Treble hurried away. "Please! It's extremely important!"

But the nurse was already gone. Merlin sighed. Well, surely a doctor would be more reasonable.

"Ah, you're just in time for your manicure!" Merlin looked up to see a girl with a blank smile enter his room. She was carrying beautician instruments in a box. She sat down next to him on the bed and took his hand. She started filing his nails.

"My good lady," Merlin said, staring at her in shock, "I don't have time for this! The whole world may be in terrible danger!"

"Well that's no excuse for having grubby nails!" the young woman said. "I was just telling my girlfriend this the other day, I said 'Gladys, the problem with the world these days is that no one considers common niceties like proper hygienics important anymore.' And that's really such a pity, don't you think?"

Merlin shut his eyes. Something told him this was going to be a very, very long day.

****

Tails sighed as he righted his lamp. "I'm sorry Cosmo," he said. "I wanted your return to be special!"

"That's all right, Tails," Cosmo said, brushing food off the coffee table. "Do you have a broom?"

"I'll get it, dear," Vanilla offered. "Come help me, Vector." Vector looked like he was about to argue, then changed his mind and followed her.

"Wow, Cosmo," Cream said. "Since when could you do that? I mean, you did it one time, but you had a planet egg, and you said you couldn't do it without one."

Cosmo shook her head. "I have no idea, Cream," she admitted. "I guess I've gone through some changes since then."

Sonic returned about a minute later, looking disgusted.

"What happened?" Knuckles demanded, looking around. "Where is she?"
"It was all a con!" Sonic said, sitting down in a chair. He folded his arms. "I was about halfway to the hospital when she suddenly kicked me in the face and flew off, shouting "And the Oscar goes to me!"

"I knew it!" Julie-Su said. "I told you not to believe a word she said, Knuckles!"

"What a liar!" Amy yelled, piko-piko hammer suddenly in hand. "I ought to go track her down, and…"

"Whoa, hey," Sonic said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You don't want to get into a fight with that girl. She's dangerous!"

"So am I," Amy insisted. "But I'm sure we can get her later. Okay, everybody! Party's back on!"

"Uh…but there are giant vines, and big holes in the floor," Espio pointed out. "And the food is all over the place. And us."

"You're right," Amy said, considering this. "Hmm…party at my house! Let's go!"

"Don't be silly," Sonic said. "We're going to fix up Tails' place before we do anything else, right, everybody?"
"Oo, look at the time," Vector said, looking at his wrist. It might have been more convincing if he'd been wearing a watch. One look from Vanilla, and he froze in his tracks. "Never mind."

As everyone cleaned, Cosmo walked up to the vines and shut her eyes. Go back. Please go back! Please! She heard a rumbling. Opening her eyes, she watched the vines go back under the floor. But the floor was still broken.

"Well, I fixed part of the problem, anyway," Cosmo said, wiping perspiration from her forehead.

"Good work, Cosmo!" Tails said, patting her shoulder. "You're getting better at it."

"Yes, but…your poor floor, Tails," Cosmo said, pouting.

"No problemo," Sonic said. "I'll get some board and nails and we can have the floor fixed up good as new in a jiffy! I'm off!"

"See?" Tails said, putting his arm around Cosmo. "Everything's going to work out fine. And we'll still have that party yet, right, Cream?"

"Yeah," Cream said, watching Tails hug Cosmo for a moment, then suddenly becoming very busy with sweeping. "We'll have a…great welcome home party for you, Cosmo." She turned away, hoping no one would see the tears that suddenly filled her eyes.

Miles away, Rouge landed heavily in a tree. "Well, you've sure done it this time, you moron!" she cursed herself. "Who would have thought that wimpy little Cosmo had that kind of power?" She fumed, wondering what would be the best way to get even. "I could tell Eggman she's alive, but I promised Knuckles I wouldn't have any more dealings with him." She bit her lip. "Not that it really matters anymore, though. I doubt he'll speak to me again after this."

"I'm not even sure why I did it. Guess she's right. I really have been blowing it, trying to make him choose me over that stupid echidna girl by yelling at him and punching him out when he sees her. Yeah, but She had no business just saying it to my face like that! How rude! We're not even friends, either!" She clenched her teeth. "She'll be sorry she ruined my relationship with him, though. Very sorry. I'm gonna get that little green flower fairy. Get her good!"

*****

Far off in space, a figure in red armor laughed. "One that might have been your friend is now your enemy!" he said. "I wonder how many more can be turned against you, little Cosmo? How many times will your heart ache before I come for you?"

"Master?" Willow said, approaching him. "I have just received an important message. 'All is in readiness, Red King. Awaiting your final orders.'"

Red Pine rubbed his hands together. "Perfect timing! Relay this message back: 'Take the item of power any way necessary. Destroy all opposition! Just bring it back to me!'"

Willow bowed. "As you wish, Master." She turned and hurried away.

Red Pine leaned back in his throne. "Soon! Soon I will show Dark Oak for the loser he truly was! And what of you, my beautiful Galaxina? Cold and dead for more than a year now. But you can still hear me, can't you? And you know what is about to happen. Yes, you know only too well. Hahahahah!"

And from farther than the most distant galaxy, yet, at the same time, as close as the next heartbeat, Galaxina looked down on the madman she had once loved…and cried.

To be continued…