Cosmo had finally gotten a hang on the Extreme Gear, now to the point where she could have fun on it. She, under Tails' watchful eye, was trying tricks with her board.
"I think I can challenge you Tails!" Cosmo said jokingly.
"You might, but before you can, I wanna see if you can use the flying feature on your Gear." Tails took off, and Cosmo followed him.
"How do you fly?" Cosmo asked, as she caught up to Tails.
"It's really quite simple. Just go up to a surface that you could use as a ramp, and boost right as you leave the ramp. Then lean back and try to control the movement of air by positioning your board. It sounds a lot more complicated than it really is. Try it, like this." Tails sped up and headed to a fallen rock slab. He sped up and went flying up into the air. He slowly angled his descent to the point where he was level with the ground again; he then slowed to let Cosmo catch up to him.
"Wow. That is cool. How did you land exactly?"
"It will come as instinct to move your board to the right level."
"But what if I fall?"
"Then I'll be there to catch you."
Cosmo looked through her goggles into Tails eyes, still moving at fast speeds, the two almost lost control of their boards. He really meant it. He is so bold when he is with machines… And he doesn't even realize it.
Four words. C'mon Tails, you dummy, four words that can change your life, you know you want to say them. Just say them… Now! But what if she says no? Tails moaned as he thought. C'mon Tails, four words, 'Will you marry me?' Just say it! I-I can't. Not yet… But why not? The time just isn't right. sighs Well, I can wait a bit longer. Tails watched as the wife of his dreams took off, her hair waving around in the high winds, as she rocketed off the ramp and into the air. She seemed to understand what Tails told her; she didn't seem to have any problems.
Cream skated over to Tails at her high speed. She made sure that Cheese was doing his job.
"Hi Tails." She said sweetly.
"Hi Cream. Having fun today?"
"Yeah, but Cosmo take too long doing things, she doesn't seem fit for some of the stuff we do."
"That may be, but she seems to be getting a good grasp on Extreme Gear, so, there's one thing she does well. And she's good company. And makes my house smell a lot better."
The conversation was not going as Cream planned. Tails was supposed to see Cosmo's faults and begin to dislike her. She glanced over at Cheese. Cheese had just done what he was told to do. Cosmo's board was about to break. Cream smirked at this.
"So, after this, do you want to come over to my house?" Cream asked innocently, to try to keep Tails' vision away from Cosmo.
"Maybe- Oh my goodness. Cosmo!" Tails bolted off. Cream smiled as Cosmo plummeted from her broken board towards the ground.
Cosmo screamed as she fell. She had done everything that she was told. So why did the board mess up and break? She continued to fall. She said her last words, and could only pray for a miracle.
"Tails, I love you so much."
Tails put his Gear into over speed, as he rushed to falling Cosmo. He held out his arms when he got close enough. Just before she fell into his arms, he heard her say something.
"Tails, I love you so much."
The impact of Cosmo made Tails slow down. He slowed the Gear around and stopped. Cosmo was in a fetal position in his arms.
"Cosmo? Are you alright?" Tails asked her with care. Cosmo responded by jumping out of his arms and hugging him tightly.
"That was so scary. Thank you so much." She kissed tails on the forehead multiple times before letting go.
"That's what I'm here for." Tails smiled at her. "What went wrong?"
"I don't know, I did everything you said, but something sounded like it broke."
"Hmm, my things don't break easily. Though, it was likely just a freak accident. Trust me, these things don't often happen." Tails assured her.
"I want to try that again." Cosmo stated boldly, unaware that her assailant was approaching her.
"Wow. I saw what happened. That was a really brave thing to do Tails. The others are here. They want to race now. So do you two wanna come?" Cream asked innocently.
"Cosmo?" Tails asked.
"Sure. We'll come."
Sonic was filled with rage. Knuckles had just beat him and Sonic wanted a second try to beat him. This win caused Knuckles to be a bit boastful.
"Are you sure that you can beat this raw power?" Knuckles said while flexing his muscles.
"Shut up and race you knucklehead!" Sonic growled.
"Hey we're racing too!" Cream shouted as Tails, Cosmo and Cream arrived; Tails was holding Cosmo in his arms while riding.
"What happened Tails?" Amy asked.
"Cosmo's board broke. We're gonna get her a new one."
"Broke?! I didn't think that your stuff broke Tails." Sonic added.
"I know. This is one of the first items that I built that broke without sabotage." Cream felt guilty now, but did her best not to show it, and more importantly, not mess up the next time.
XT had completed all of the flying robots, and started working on three advanced machines, that would be a sort of leader to the armies. When he was done, he dismantled himself and reformed into his humanoid shape. Cracking his knuckles, that didn't really exist, he approached Dr. Eggman.
"All parts accounted for sir. Here is the remote for the armies. But, first, I recommend that you get Cosmo first, and then tell them that you have Cosmo, and plan to kill her unless they give you the chaos emeralds. Then send the armies to kill Sonic and then Tails."
"Good job my little friend. You have served me well. No I shall go get Cosmo and then start these plans to rule the world!" Dr. Eggman laughed as he got in his small hovercraft and headed to the city.
XT smiled as the evil doctor left. Everything was going according to his plan. Dr. Eggman couldn't possibly outsmart him. He had planned the robots to be weak against Tails' attacks. Tails would succeed, and save Cosmo, and then save Sonic, which would glorify him further. And, to finish the job…
"Now, to set some more gears in motion." XT's wrist twitched as his arm transformed into a radio wave transmitter.
"This should be enough to reach Shadow, and all of the others at G.U.N. But even if it isn't it wouldn't matter too much."
XT spoke into his arm, which sent the message into space, to be redirected to Shadow's communication wristband, which he should be wearing.
"Shadow and any other G.U.N. member that might hear this. Dr. Eggman has amassed an army of over 10,000 mechanical beings. They will strike in about three hours. Be ready. Who am I? That is unimportant, compared to the knowledge that I possess."
XT grinned wildly as his arm reformed. He sat down and waited; while trying to find a good place for the chaos emeralds.
Everybody was set to race; lined up in an orderly row.
"Everybody, get ready. The race will begin in 10 seconds." Tails announced. Everybody began counting down.
"Ten," Cosmo adjusted her goggles.
"Nine," Everybody got onto their boards.
"Eight," the roar of everybody's engines could be heard from town.
"Seven,"
"Six," Tails smiled at Cosmo, in a sportsmanlike manner.
"Five" Cream began to plot how she could get Cosmo.
"Four,"
"Three," Sonic and Knuckles glared each other down as they spoke the next number.
"Two,"
"One," Everybody stared at the path ahead of them.
"GO!" The engines blasted off as everybody left their place in a blur of light.
Sonic and Knuckles flew farther than anyone else, leaving a trail of dust behind them. Tails and Amy were then fighting for third and fourth place. But Cosmo, and Cream, the most inexperienced at riding, were left behind. Cosmo wasn't incredibly good at riding, but she managed to keep Tails in her sights, mimicking his movements, following him, and steadily gaining on his drift.
Cream on the other hand, stayed behind Cosmo. Following her like the predator that she wasn't. Cream could go faster, but purposely stayed behind to try and ruin Cosmo's chances with Tails.
Cosmo had just caught up to Tails. She waved at him, while still keeping his balance. Tails waved back. Cosmo then did something Tails didn't expect. She put on a cute face, and Tails was caught in it. He lost his balance, letting Cosmo get ahead of him. Tails, regaining his balance, laughed at what he fell for, and followed Cream, who was now getting ahead of him. Using both of their turbulence, Tails got ahead of them. He smiled widely as he passed Cosmo. As Tails caught himself into Amy's turbulence, Cosmo had more and more trouble seeing him; he was getting to far away.
Cream figured that this was her chance. She caught up to Cosmo and was skating right besides her. She glared at Cosmo, who was innocently smiling back at her. Cream positioned herself in such a way, that Cosmo was forced to turn to stay balanced. The new path that she was on, was bumpier, and had various places where flying would be nice. Cosmo tried flying over the debris, and succeeded. But Cream caught on and flew up right next to her. In the air, Cream had more control, she could fly, and Cosmo could only float. She then tried knocking Cosmo off of the board.
Cosmo was in disarray. Cream, who seemed friendly in every way, was now trying to knock her off her board, onto a ground, that at the height she was at would kill her. Scared for her life; Cosmo screamed and hoped Tails might hear her as she clung to the board and began to descend. Cosmo did what she remembered and angled the board to try leveling it with the ground, but the terrain was too rugged. Her board broke as she hit one of the rocks. She lay there, in between two rocks, cut up and bruised, waiting for Tails, who couldn't possibly hear her screams.
Cream nosedived from the air straight onto Cosmo, injuring Cosmo more. Her frenzy of beating up Cosmo was stopped though. Dr. Eggman had arrived and picked Cosmo up from underneath her, and began to fly away.
"Here, Cream, you give this to Tails." Dr. Eggman laughed as he through a square plate at Cream.
Cosmo fell unconscious to the beatings. She could feel something rough lifting her into the air, away from the raging rabbit, Cream. The last thing she could remember before she passed out, was an evil laugh from the thing above her.
At the finish line, Sonic had just passed Knuckles and beat him by a barely noticeable distance.
"Yeah! I beat you Knuckles!" Sonic cheered.
"But barely at all!" Knuckles retorted.
"A loss is a loss my friend." Sonic burst out into a little dance, just before Amy arrived, followed closely by Tails.
"Who won?" Amy asked.
"I did!" Sonic and Knuckles both said.
"No you didn't! Knuckles, I beat you! Fair and square."
"Using your brilliant friend Tails to trick your board out is not fair!" Tails was enjoying the two arguing about how his invention won Sonic the race. But his thoughts were distracted when Cosmo didn't show up at the end of the race.
A small, hovercraft was floating away in the distance at a fast speed.
"Sonic! If you can hear me, please reply to me in a day with all seven chaos emeralds, if you don't I shall set my army lose on you and kill you!"
"Dr. Eggman. Wow, for once I'm happy to hear him. If you all don't mind, I want to go after him."
"Go ahead Sonic…" Amy muttered. Sonic hesitated for a moment.
"I'm gonna give him fifteen minutes to run. In the mean time, I shall rest up in town. Goodbye." Sonic jetted off to the city.
As the three watched Sonic leave, they began to wonder where Cream and Cosmo went to.
Three minutes went by, they still waited. Tails began to get antsy. Amy noticed this and went to his side.
"She's fine Tails. After all, she was riding one your boards." Amy said reassuringly. Tails calmed down a little. But Amy didn't she had begun to realize that Cream and Cosmo might have gotten into a fight or something. Cream did after all have some distaste for Cosmo, but Amy found it hard to believe that Cream would actually harm her. But still it was a possibility. For now, the trio waited. Tails felt like he was waiting for an eternity.
Cream was a bit confused. The adrenaline that she used to try to kill Cosmo distorted her thinking, and she was lost. She could barely remember what happened. She still was angry at Cosmo, not enough to kill her, but enough to hurt her. She also had something in her hands; a flat, square disk. She knew that it was to Tails. But she couldn't remember exactly how she got it.
Her skates were out of air, and she aimlessly walked through the canyon. Looking for somebody, or something that could help her. Cheese was flying near her, and seemed to be guiding Cream to the rest of the group. But she was afraid to go there. If the rest of the group asked what happened to Cosmo what would she say? That she tried to kill Cosmo and didn't know where she is? That wouldn't be good. Maybe she could lie her way out. She could see in the distance, the group that left her behind.
Knuckles noticed an orange colored spec in the distance.
"Hey look! I think it's Cream!" Tails' ears perked up, in any hopes of Cosmo to be behind her.
"Is Cosmo there?" Tails asked as he ran over to Cream. The other's followed him. Cream was a little beat up, she had a bump on her head, and a panel in her hand.
"Cream are you ok?" Amy asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Cream answered tiredly.
"Cream," Tails asked, nearly begging, "where's Cosmo?" Cream didn't answer for a little bit.
"Cream? What happened to Cosmo?" Tails asked again, more desperate than last time.
"Dr. Eggman took her. Here, this is for you." Cream gave Tails the panel. Tails quickly activated it, and an image of Dr. Eggman appeared on it.
"Tails. I have your Cosmo, and unless you give me your secret to making fake chaos emeralds, Cosmo shall die. I will be on this island waiting for you. You have two hours. Tails took the panel and through against the canyon wall.
"Dr. Eggman! Cosmo! N-No! Why does this always happen to me? Cream! How did Cosmo get caught by Dr. Eggman? How did you get his message?" Tails asked through tears. Cream bit her lip while trying to think up a plausible story.
"I-I saw him take Cosmo while she was doing a jump, I tried to get Dr. Eggman, but he got away, and through this at me." Cream hoped everybody bought her story. Tails did, Amy did as well. Knuckles, as was his nature, was a bit skeptical.
"You mean to say, that Cosmo was ahead of you enough for you to not be able to stop her from getting caught by Dr. Eggman? I find that hard to believe, she wasn't that fast. Tell the truth now." Knuckles stated.
"Cream? Was that the truth?" Tails asked, on his knees in front of the little rabbit.
"Not exactly," Cream trailed off.
"What happened Cream?" Tails asked, feeling a sense of agitation.
"Well," Cream couldn't hold it in any longer, "I couldn't stand how you and Cosmo acted around each other. She is an alien, and I'm another animal like you. I should be the one that you should be caring about, not that flower girl. I got angry, and tried to split you up. I hate Cosmo, and want you to forget about her. She got beat up by me, then Dr. Eggman took her. The only thing I regret right now is letting Dr. Eggman take her away before I was finished!" Cream growled. Tails didn't know how to act. Suppressing his anger, he picked Cream up by the collar and glared into her eyes. She was trembling with fear. Tails said nothing. He didn't need to. His eyes did all the talk for him. He let Cream down and she began to cry. Tails took his gear and rocketed off to town, where his plane was kept.
"Cream. You have a lot of explaining to do to your mother. Because of you, Cosmo, Tails and Sonic are in danger. You'll be lucky if the cops don't send you to a juvenile delinquent center." Amy stated coldly, as she took Cream's hand and escorted her to her mother.
Knuckles stood there, near the wagon with the Extreme Gear, deep in thought. That Cream, this time she went a bit too far. Odd. This plan seems a bit too complicated for Dr. Eggman. Why does he need Cosmo? He ought to know Tails won't give in to his demands. Tails will go after him. Tails ought to be able to manage himself. But if he doesn't. Then… then Sonic wouldn't be able to help him! Wait. I don't think Tails can lose. I know he can't. Why do I think that? Aw, who cares right now? I don't think that I should intervene. Heck, if Tails pulls this off, he might find the courage to ask Cosmo to marry him. One step at a time. First, this wagon can't just stay here… Knuckles loaded up the wagon, and began to walk it over to Tails' house.
