AFTER THE METAREX: TAILS' AND COSMO'S STORY
Chapter 10
"The Shopping Trip"
"Aw come on!" Knuckles yelled as the girls came out of yet another clothing store carrying packages. Amy and Anita dumped theirs on Knuckles without even seeming to notice the echidna. Cream and Cosmo were apologetic about it, but not for long. Amy tended to become obsessive in whatever she did, whether it was chasing Sonic or a bargain. She grabbed the two younger girls by the hand and dragged them behind her towards yet another store.
"Let's go! Let's go!"
"I don't remember signing up to be a pack mule!" Knuckles complained to Tails, who was carrying several packages himself.
"Maybe Amy will get tired of this soon?" Tails suggested hopefully, knowing the unlikelihood of that happening. Amy didn't stop shopping once she started for at least three or four hours unless Eggman attacked or Sonic ran by and distracted her. Knowing she was on the loose, Sonic was probably hiding, and Tails seriously hoped the doctor didn't show up so soon after Cosmo's return.
"And maybe I'll flap my arms and fly to the moon!" Knuckles snorted, as he drudged along behind the girls. "How did I let myself get talked into this?"
Tails shook his head. "I don't know," he said, "Amy has a way of persuading people to do what she wants. I just hope it's not too much for Cosmo, getting dragged around like that. Amy can be pretty exhausting to hang out with."
"You think?" Knuckles cried.
"Knuckles, please," Tails said, "you know how arguing upsets Cosmo."
"Yeah? Well being turned into a beast of burden upsets me!" the echidna yelled, causing them to get stared at by the crowd of Mobians in the shopping center. Life on Mobius gave one an unusual mind set. Enjoy yourself while you can, get what you want and can when it's available, and hide or bury it while you have the chance, because you never knew when some metal hulk might come crashing into the store you were shopping in, not to mention your house, and smash everything in sight. Yet, thanks to the efforts of Sonic and his friends, as well as those that came in afterwards to perform damage control on the homes and other buildings, people were hopeful the good times would outweigh the bad, which they normally did, and eventually permanent peace would come.
"Let's see what we can find for those freaky feet of yours!" Amy said, dragging Cosmo into a shoe store. The constant slapping of her flip-flops was starting to annoy the pink hedgehog. Getting the plant girl some shoes that didn't try to drown her out would be a relief.
"Are my feet really that 'freaky?'" Cosmo asked, wriggling her toes.
"You look like an advertisement for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!" Amy said, looking through the shoes on display.
Cosmo turned to Cream. "Uh…turtles?"
"Michaelangelo was funny but Raphael was scary," Cream said, nodding. Cosmo turned to Anita, who just shrugged.
After all this time, I still don't understand them! Will I ever?
Fortunately, while the same shoes that fit Amy or Anita or Cream wouldn't fit Cosmo's feet, different species on the planet had different sized and shaped feet, so it wasn't too difficult to find something Cosmo could wear.
"How's this, Amy?" Cosmo asked, trying on a pair of blue and white running shoes. Green shoes seemed to be unpopular, the few they saw unusable by the Seedrian.
"Try walking around in them a bit, Cosmo," Amy said, looking them over. "You'll probably be doing a lot of walking in them." She grinned. "Especially with Tails."
Cosmo blushed and looked away. As luck would have it, her eye caught sight of Tails and Knuckles, who were slowly making their way through the shoe store towards them. She turned away shyly for a moment, then decided to try the shoes out by walking over to him. They felt very different from her slippers, and certainly sounded different. Not bad or annoying, just not what she was used to. Kind of springy in the heels. She gave an experimental leap, lifting herself a couple of feet off the ground. Amy's skirt billowed around her as she came down. She couldn't be sure, but it seemed like her landing wasn't as slow or as soft as it had been before. She really needed a skirt more like the ones she had worn all her life. Wait. Hadn't she had a spare petal skirt? What had happened to it? It should still be on the Blue Typhoon, unless Tails or Cream or Amy removed it. Well, she could ask Tails in a second.
Unfortunately, since Cosmo was lost in thought, and Tails could barely see over the boxes of clothing he was carrying, neither noticed just how close the other was becoming until Cosmo walked into him. The boxes began to slip. For a few seconds, the two of them attempted a comical looking juggling act. Then the boxes fell, and the two of them went down with them.
"Oof!" Cosmo said as she fell on Tails. "S-sorry…"
"You two going to keep doing that?" Knuckles said. "Honestly, get a room!"
Tails felt his face grow warm as he helped Cosmo up. Leave it to Knuckles to make a bad situation worse. Then Amy, hurrying over, decided to get in on the act.
"Wow, Cosmo!" the pink hedgehog said, grinning. "Running and jumping on Tails when you see him? Been hanging out with me too long!"
Cosmo covered her face with her hands. "Oh, please, stop it, Amy!" she begged.
"Yeah, leave her alone," Tails said. "It was an accident!"
"Hmm…" Amy said, rubbing her chin with her index finger. "What do you think, Knuckles?"
"I think I want to go home now!" the echidna said. "Will you take your stupid boxes already?"
But Amy wasn't paying attention. As usual. "We should plan a big skiing trip! Everybody get some skiing outfits! Cosmo! You'll need skis!"
Cosmo blinked. "What?" she asked. Amy's sudden changes of thought moved too quickly for her to keep up with.
"Skis?" Knuckles cried. "Hey, I didn't agree to no…"
"Sir," a female bear said, walking up to them, "if you can't be quiet, I'll have to ask you to leave."
"Yeah, Knucklehead," Amy said, "what are you trying to do, cause trouble on Cosmo's first full day back?"
"What?" Knuckles said, pointing at Amy, then the employee, then back at Amy again. "But I didn't…but she's the one…but I…"
"He's a little high strung," Amy said to the woman. "I'm sure you know guys like that…"
"Says the woman who carries around sledgehammers!" Knuckles retorted.
Amy smiled innocently. "Sledgehammer? Little ol' me? Why, Knuckles, how you talk."
"But Amy, you do have your pikopiko hammers…" Cream pointed out. Amy quickly placed her index finger on the rabbit's mouth.
"Isn't she just the cutest thing?" the pink hedgehog asked, giggling. "Don't worry, ma'am. I'll make sure my friends all behave themselves here."
The woman walked away, looking unconvinced. Knuckles had grabbed a dreadlock in either hand and was yanking on them like he was just about to come unglued. Tails made a face. This was not going to go well.
"I still don't understand," Cosmo said, looking around. "You invited Tails and Knuckles, but they're not buying anything for themselves, Amy. They're only carrying what we get. That's not fair."
"I've been wondering when you'd get up the nerve to mention that, Cosmo," Anita said, leaning on a display of cargo pants. "What a performance, Amy! You almost had me fooled!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Amy said, ignoring the group now to look at the pants. "We should get some of these for adventure trips. How would I look, exploring secret caves with my Sonikku?"
Knuckles muttered something that sounded like, "Like a freak of nature." Luckily Amy didn't hear.
…
The opossum walked through the snow, hat pushed down over his eyes and collar turned up almost to his nose. He hated the cold weather. Ever since the human had destroyed his home, forcing him to flee into the wilderness, he had lived like his ancestors, foraging for food in the forest. The nuts and berries he found weren't that great, but they kept him from starving. It had never occurred to him to try to return to civilization. As far as he knew, those robots were still out there, ready to grab any stray Mobian that got too close.
He heard sounds of an engine and hid behind a snow bank. He watched as a truck stopped nearby and released its contents unto the snow covered ground. It drove away. The opossum stayed in hiding until it was out of sight. It had been driven by a Mobian, a hamster or guinea pig, he was fairly sure, but he took no chances. They were probably servants of that monster. Well, might as well see what he could scavenge from the new leavings. He's once found a blanket that was warm and not too dirty.
He began to pick through the junk. Much of it he didn't have any use for. Some unsold books. He had never been much of a reader. An electric razor. He allowed his fur to grow wild. It helped keep him warm. A deck of playing cards. After looking through it, he noted the fifth of spades was missing, but there was a joker. He could use that as a substitute. He had gotten pretty good at solitaire.
What was that? An old tree branch? No. A cane. Looked pretty fancy, too. Some old fellow had passed away, probably, and they'd thrown out his stuff. Well, the opossum could use it. He picked it up, noticing that it somehow felt kind of warm. Maybe it had been too close to the engine or something.
"Well, Eddie," he muttered as he continued to search the junk, "you've at least found yourself a nice little walking stick.
…
"So you're having trouble flying today?" Knuckles asked. "Sounds weird. You have that kind of problem often?" They were sitting on a bench outside of a large department store. Cosmo's protest that she had enough clothes for quite awhile had fallen on deaf ears.
Tails shook his head. "No, never," he said. "I just can't understand it."
"Maybe you broke something when you kept falling down during the party," the echidna suggested. He looked away to hide the grin that suddenly broke out on his face. "So are you going to fall on Cosmo next or is she going to fall on you?"
Tails held up the boxes he'd been carrying to cover his own face. "Cut it out, will you?" he said. "It's not funny! Cosmo must be awfully embarrassed. I know I am!"
"You've been a basket case all the time she was gone," Knuckles pointed out. Tails colored. He didn't like having that pointed out to him. He'd been trying to forget he'd ever been that way. He certainly didn't want Cosmo to know how bad he had been!
"What are you implying?" Tails demanded.
Knuckles leaned back on the mall bench they were sitting on. "She came back," he pointed out. "She's alive and well, and yet you're still complaining. You should be too happy just to have her back with you again to be whining about a couple of silly accidents."
Tails made a face. He was right. He'd prayed for months, promising that he'd never ask for anything again in his life if he could have Cosmo with him once more. He thought about all of the people that lost loved ones and never got a second chance. He chewed on his lower lip.
"You're right," he admitted at last. "You're absolutely right, Knuckles. I should stop letting things upset me and make sure Cosmo is happy." He looked over at the store. "Which probably would mean getting her away from Amy."
"Good luck doing that," Knuckles said. "Kid, we're stuck here all day. Get used to it."
Tails sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Still, there was the fact that Cosmo was just outside of his sight. Alive and well and probably wondering what he was doing and how she could get away from Amy. That girl was going to drive them all up the wall one of these days! But as long as he knew Cosmo was safe with her, since few would dare to cross that pink hedghog, he could put up with a few petty annoyances.
He leaned back and shut his eyes. He could see the two of them going on a sleigh ride together. Teaching her how to ski at that party Amy was probably already mentally planning out in more detail than anyone would want to hear. Picking flowers with Cream and Cheese in the Spring. Going to the beach with her in the Summer. Teaching her how to surf. Maybe show her how to play tennis or golf or take her bowling. So many things he'd wanted to do with her, and now he finally had the chance.
"Why the heck are you grinning like an idiot when we're stuck here?" Knuckles suddenly demanded.
Tails shrugged. "I just decided to listen to your advice," he said, looking surprised. "I thought you said I should be happy that Cosmo's alive?"
Knuckles thought about this for a moment. "Oh yeah," he said finally. Apparently he'd also been lost in thought, and not about anything good. Probably about Rouge. "That was sure a surprise yesterday, wasn't it? I mean, I know the Master Emerald can do almost anything, but that was really something, huh? Once it's back together again, you should thank it and the chaos emeralds for making that possible."
Tails raised an eyebrow. He knew the emeralds were extremely powerful sources of energy, but thank them? Well, why not? They had brought Cosmo back to him when that should have been impossible. He suddenly felt something like icy fingers running down his spine. It really had been a miracle, her coming back at all. Tails suddenly hid his face behind the boxes. He didn't want Knuckles to see him cry.
Oh, man, my emotions are really on a rollercoaster today. Come on, got to snap out of this.
But that wasn't as easy to do as it sounded.
…
Merlin sighed as he sat in the entertainment room. The couch sagged, the back was too low for his head, and whatever it was that girl Heather was watching on that screen at the far end of the room, calling it a "music video" was horribly inaccurate. Whatever that racket was, it lacked rhythm, melody, and apparently anyone with the ability to sing. And since when were trousers worn so low that one could trip and fall on them? Some odd customs from that other dimensional world, no doubt. He wondered if older humans ever felt concerned about where the next generation was headed?
"So what do you think?" Heather suddenly asked without looking away from the screen. Since he was the only other person there, Merlin presumed she was speaking to him.
"Give me a stick and I'll kill it," he said, only half joking. The constant banging of the percussion instrument that was playing far too loudly was giving him a headache.
Heather, seated in a chair, leaned far, far back, holding onto the chair with two hands and the arm of the couch with a third to keep from falling off the chair or tipping it over. "You're a cranky ol' cuss, aren't you, grandpa?" She said this with a brilliant smile.
"Are you only playing that to annoy me?" he demanded. She'd spent about twenty minutes getting him to leave his room, then turned that caterwauling on. What was her game, anyway? Sometimes she seemed almost friendly, other times it was as if she were attempting to pick a fight with him.
"Just bored," she said. "If I turn it off, will you tell me something about magic?"
Oh ho…so that was her little game! The thought of allowing such a clearly unbalanced individual to learn true magic was a frightful thought. There was no way he was going to make her any more dangerous than she probably already was!
"I believe I'll be heading back to my room until the doctor returns," he said, pushing down on the couch to get to his feet. Unfortunately, the cushion sagged sideways, nearly throwing him to the floor. He struggled to regain his balance. Suddenly there was a pair of hands supporting him. Two pairs, actually.
"You okay?" the girl asked. "You gotta be careful at your age. You could fall and break a hip or something."
"I'm quite all right, young lady," Merlin assured her. "But thank you for the assistance anyway."
"You don't have to leave, you know," Heather told him. "I'll turn it off."
"That's quite unnecessary," Merlin said, starting across the room. "I was just leaving anyway."
"You just want to get away from me," Heather said, shutting off the tv. "I understand. I won't bother you again." She sat down on the couch and tried to straighten out the cushion. "Stupid couch!" she yelled, as it bent in the middle. "Cheapskates bringing junk like this in here! We had better furniture last year before they got this 'new' trash!" She leaned on the back of the couch, which suddenly sagged, flipping her over it. Merlin hurried towards her, but was too late. She turned a somersault and ended up on her back on the floor.
"This is inexcusable!" Merlin cried, bending over to take two of her hands and help her up. "To think they would have such a defective piece of furniture in a place with ill people…I am outraged. I…"
Heather had thrown her arms around him and was wailing in much the same way his nephew had a few months ago.
"Hey…" he said softly. "What is it? What's the matter?"
"I…I want to get out of here…" she sobbed. "I want to go home…but I don't have a home…please, when you get out…t-take me with you?"
…
"Hey, you okay, kid?" Knuckles asked. He'd been imagining snoozing next to the Master Emerald, once again in one piece, and had been snapped out of his daydream by a strange sound from Tails.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Tails said, rubbing his eyes on his glove. He'd been crying because he was happy, not something he wanted somebody like Knuckles to know about. Tails had been teased and picked on a lot for showing his feelings in public. Well, he couldn't help it if he wore his emotions on his sleeve. That was just the way he was.
"S-so why did you agree to come with us when you know what Amy's like?" Tails asked, hoping to change the subject.
Knuckles shrugged. "Had to do something. The Master Emerald's not completely healed yet, Julie-Su's not speaking to me, and I haven't heard from Rouge since the party."
Tails couldn't see what Knuckles would still like Rouge after what she'd done the day before, but he didn't want to start a fight. Instead he asked, "It can't be a good idea, dating two women."
Knuckles shook his head, making a grimace. "You got that right," he said. "Especially difficult when you invite both of them to the same place. Make sure you don't make that mistake, kid."
Tails sputtered. "I have no intention of asking two girls out," he insisted. "I'm only interested in Cosmo. What about you? Which one do you like most?"
Knuckles shrugged. "Hell if I know," he said. "Wish I did. That would make things a lot simpler."
They sat there for awhile in silence. Finally Tails remembered something that had completely left his mind yesterday when Cosmo came back.
"Uh, Knuckles?" he said sheepishly, hoping he wasn't about to get yelled at. "Could you excuse me for a few minutes while I go look for something?"
"Something for Cosmo?" Knuckles asked. "Didn't you get her enough stuff yesterday? Or are you just trying to ditch me with all the packages?"
"Um…actually, there was a video game that came out yesterday that I forgot all about," Tails admitted. "I just wanted to see if it was still available."
"Sure, I don't mind," Knuckles said, closing his eyes and smiling slightly.
"Really?" Tails asked, placing his packages on the bench where he had been seated. "Thanks, Knuckles, I'll be right back."
"Of course you will," Knuckles said, nodding his head several times. "Because if you're not back by the time slave driver Amy starts yelling at me to move out again, I'm going to tie your tails in a knot."
"Uh…yeah…" Tails said, backing away from the echidna. Knuckles seemed to be joking, but one could never tell with him. "I'll…I'll be right back!"
Knuckles listened to Tails' footsteps as they grew fainter and fainter, then opened his eyes and looked around. Nobody was paying him any attention. He started whistling an old Earth sailor song Hawk had taught him. Hawk. Wonder if the old guy was okay? He'd been the most interesting person in that other dimension that Knuckles had met. Not that strong, but definitely tough. Too bad he'd probably never see him again. But he wouldn't fit in here on Mobius, and Knuckles didn't want to go back to that other place again even if a way was possible. Way too strange. Far too many rules and regulations.
Tails entered the video store and looked around. He didn't see the game on display. Probably sold out. He'd ask about it, but first he decided to browse around a bit. Hopefully Knuckles would have pity and not cripple him in front of Cosmo.
He didn't see anything that particularly interested him, but there was a program for making your own video games. That sounded like fun. He knew Cosmo and Cream didn't like violent games. Maybe he could come up with something they'd both enjoy. Maybe it would help their friendship if they could play something with cats or unicorns of something together.
Blast that Amy! Cosmo and Cream had been like sisters. They seemed to be getting along fine now, but he knew Cream had to still be hurting at least a little. She'd made it clear for such a long time that she was interested in Tails. Should he have tried harder to convince her he wasn't interested?
Tails remembered Debbie, the girl Amy had set him up with. Poor Cream. Now that she was on the rebound, Amy Rose would probably play matchmaker again. Well, maybe she'd set her up with Charmy. He was a bit weird, probably from being raised by Vector, but he'd promised he'd learned his lesson with the whole lock Amy up in the old house thing. And Cream was definitely tough enough to take care of herself. Certainly the bee would be a better choice for his friend than, oh, Bokkun.
…
Pink Andromeda walked along the corridor of her ship. It was a small vessel, given to her by her father on the day he'd assigned her on her mission. As far as she could remember, this was her first mission. Had there been others? Why couldn't she recall them?
As the doors opened, leading to Red Pine's flagship, Andromeda looked around for her father. Where was he? Surely he should be here to congratulate her on doing such a find job on carrying out his orders!
The girl sighed, clenching her fists in frustration. Why? Why was he treating her this way? He was all she had. She reached inside of her top and pulled out the little locket she always wore, even in the shower. It was made of a totally waterproof substance after all, so there was no chance of the contents being damaged. She clicked it open and looked at the picture of the teal-haired girl with a single white flower bud on her head. If only…if only she could be there. But she wasn't. Never would be. But at least her slayer was dead. She clicked the locket shut and pushed it back inside her shirt.
"Ah, princess, you're here." Willow. What was even the point of talking to her? She was a machine. She couldn't know how Andromeda felt. Sometimes she felt so angry she wanted to hit something, while other times she just wanted to curl up into a little ball and cry herself to sleep.
"Yeah, I'm here," the Seedrian girl said at last. "Where else would I be? It's where Daddy-I mean-where the Red King commands me to be, isn't it?"
"I'm certain he appreciates your efforts, princess," Willow said.
Andromeda looked off into the distance. "Yeah…" She shook her head. "Where is the king?"
Willow seemed to consider her next words very carefully. "He's…very busy at the moment, Princess," she said. "But I'm certain he's eager to see you again, even if he doesn't always show it. Some people have trouble showing emotion, you see. But he's always thinking of you when you're not here."
"Are you being honest with me?" Andromeda demanded. "Or are you just telling me what you think I want to hear?"
Actually, he was interested in knowing where she was and what she was doing, but only in regards to her completing his plans. Why he had bothered to have the child removed from her incubator, she didn't know. Surely some Metarex drones could have done what he'd demanded of her. Perhaps he simply felt her very existence showed his importance. Of the Four Kings, only Red Pine had actually produced an heir. True, it was a female heir, but that had been more than the other three had accomplished.
"Why would I lie to my princess?" Willow said at last, avoiding the issue. She waited to see if Andromeda would fall for it. She was both relieved and saddened when the little Seedrian girl's face fell.
"It's because I'm a girl and not the warrior son he wanted, isn't it?" she asked, sitting down on the floor.
"Princess…" Willow said softly, trying to compute something to attract the girl's attention. She'd learned the hard way that Andromeda's bouts with depression would quickly lead to tears then to a fit of rage if not headed off. She still had a slight dent on her back from when the child had lost control and kicked her.
"Don't I do everything he asks of me?" Andromeda went on, now lying on the floor. "Didn't I do good?"
"You did excellent, Princess," Willow said, trying to help her up. "Come now. You don't want to get your pretty clothes all dirty, do you?"
"Who cares?" Andromeda said, clenching her little fists. "He doesn't. Does he?"
"Of course he does," Willow said nervously. "You just need to be patient, and…"
"I don't believe you!" Andromeda cried, kicking and punching the floor. "Liar liar liar!"
"Please stop that," Willow said, picking up the little girl, who started shrieking and kicking her shins.
"I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you!" Andromeda screamed, finally breaking free. She ran across the room and out the door. There was a crashing sound, then a sound like the wailing of a baby. Willow sighed and hurried after her. The Red King would literally have her head if Pink Andromeda had injured herself.
…
"Hey! Where'd Tails go?" Amy demanded as she and the other girls left the department store with more packages of clothes. "Don't tell me he ran out on us?"
"He said he was going to look at a video game," Knuckles said, rolling his eyes at their new purchases. "Don't you lot think you've had enough shopping yet?"
"Buying video games?" Anita asked, grinning. "Something about killer robots maybe? Don't you guys fight enough of those in real life?"
"Boys and their toys," Amy said with a giggle.
"But, we've been getting things for ourselves all day," Cosmo said, thoroughly confused now. "Why shouldn't Tails and Knuckles be able to do the same?"
"They're welcome to look for clothes with us," Amy said, trying to sound like she was doing them a great favor. "Honestly, Tails looks like a dweeb. You don't want to be seen in public with someone dressed like that, do you?"
Cosmo looked at Tails. "What's wrong with the way he's dressed?" she asked. "And if you didn't like it, why are you only just now mentioning it?"
"I think she only just now really looked at him," Anita confided to Cosmo. "Sometimes Amy sees only what she wants to see."
Cosmo nodded. She'd noticed that during their time in space. The way she'd yelled at Tails not to help her find Sonic when he was lost on that jungle planet. Her plans to use charms to get Sonic to fall for her on Marmolim that had ended with Cosmo and Tails falling in the lake together. She remembered the legend about that lake. If two people fell into it together and then looked at the full moon, they'd be bonded together forever. Cosmo realized she'd already developed a bond with Tails before that. She remembered the party he'd helped her with that Knuckles and the Chaotix had nearly ruined. That beautiful gift Tails had given her that day. Oh! Where was it? Since she no longer had an amulet, she felt odd not wearing something on her chest. Perhaps she could wear it instead.
She remembered Galaxina telling her to never take it off. She hadn't explained why, only that it was very important. She hoped she didn't need it. It hadn't come back with her, and she had no idea how to find another one, or if that was even possible, even if Tails took her back to Greengate.
Back to Greengate. She'd have to go back there some time, of course. It was the home world of her people. They'd landed there but she'd been in no mood at the time to look around. Besides, Amy had described it as being "a spooky ghost world," and she wanted to imagine her home world as something wonderful and beautiful, not as something frightening.
"Shouldn't Tails be back by now?" Cosmo asked, looking around worriedly. "Maybe we should look for him. In case something happened…"
"Nah, he's fine," Amy said, grabbing the Seedrian's arm as she started to walk away. "I'm sure he just got all nerdy and forgot what he was doing."
"He's not a nerd!" Cream said loudly, then placed her hand over her mouth.
"Doesn't that word mean something bad?" Cosmo asked, trying to remember where she'd heard it before.
Cream started to answer her when suddenly a red light started flashing on the wall and a siren started wailing.
"Eggman!" Anita cried!
"Ho ho ho! Submit to the Eggman Empire!" suddenly echoed through the mall. There was the sound of music in the background. Tails would have identified it as Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries if he had been there.
"Stupid Eggman!" Amy yelled, pikopiko hammer suddenly in her hands. "Can't we even have one day of fun without him and his stupid ho ho ho? I'll submit this hammer upside his head!"
"Finally!" Knuckles yelled, jumping up. He released the boxes he'd been carrying, causing them to fall on his feet. "Ow ow ow!" What the heck? Clothes didn't hurt when they hit you? What were they buying?
"Hey, don't damage the merchandise!" Amy yelled. "Cream! Make sure Cosmo doesn't get herself hurt. She's out of practice for this sort of thing. Lead her to the underground tunnels where she'll be safe. She doesn't know where they are, and she's really not of that much use in a fight."
Cream nodded, putting an arm around the plant girl. "Leave it to me, Amy!" she promised. The little bunny looked at Cosmo, who was looking as if she wanted to protest. "I know you have new powers, but you're just learning how to use them. You should stay out of the fighting for awhile."
"What about Tails?" Cosmo asked.
"Actually, you should stay with her, Cream," Amy added, not hearing Cosmo's question.
"What?" Cream said, staring at the pink hedgehog. "I've been helping you guys fight Doctor Eggman for years now." She gave Cheese a hug. "We're not afraid of him, are we, Cheese?"
"Chao chao!" Cheese said, giving Cream a thumbs up.
"Well, okay," Amy said. "But make sure Cosmo is safe, and don't attack until you join up with me or Knuckles or somebody, got it? I don't want you fighting him alone."
Cream sighed. "Yeah, I got it," she said. After all this time, she was still the baby of the group, and no one took her seriously.
"Let's go already!" Anita cried, racing off. Amy hurried after her. Knuckles had already disappeared.
"I know you're both right about me," Cosmo said, bowing her head. "I wish I could contribute more to the group. I hate feeling useless…"
Cream wagged her finger at Cosmo. "Don't you start thinking that way again!" she said angrily. "You're not useless. And the best way you can help is to come with me. Come on!" She held out her hand. Cosmo took it and let Cream lead her through the mall towards the exit closest to the tunnel entrance.
"Do you think Tails is all right?" Cosmo asked, hoping Cream at least would listen to her. "He never came back."
"I'm sure he's fine," Cream promised her. "He probably got interested in something mechanical and lost track of time."
"Well…he has done that sort of thing before," Cosmo admitted. "But isn't he in danger?"
"Tails knows what he's doing," Cream assured her. "He's an old pro on Eggman attacks."
Suddenly they heard cries and the fast movement of many feet. "What's that sound, Cream?" Cosmo asked. They rounded a corner of the mall and immediately wished they hadn't. A large group of panicking shoppers, trying desperately to hide from Eggman's attack. Cream and Cosmo were quickly separated in the stampede.
"Cream?" Cosmo cried, as an elbow hit her on the shoulder. "Ouch. Excuse me!" Cosmo tried to get out of the way, but it was nearly impossible to move in any direction other than the one the crowd was moving in, and she didn't want that to carry here away with them. They were going in the wrong direction. She was jostled back and forth. Someone stomped on her foot, much harder than Tails had the day before. She was glad she'd put on those running shoes. Even with them on it really hurt! Then something smacked her upside the head and nearly knocked her down. She had a mental image of falling in that mob and being trampled. She cried out. Then suddenly hands grabbed her under her arms and she felt herself being lifted over the crowd.
"Thank you, Cream!" she yelled over the cries, smiling up at the bunny.
"Don't mention it," Cream said, smiling back. Then her face grew serious. "Why is your face red?"
Cosmo suddenly noticed her cheek was stinging a little. She touched it gently. "Ow. I think Someone hit me with their purse."
Cream winced. "That looks really painful!" she said, flying Cosmo through the mall towards an exit that didn't have a crowd pushing and shoving each other to get through. They'd simply have to go around the mall to get to the tunnels.
"I can't believe how scared those people were!" Cream said. "Grown adults, and they nearly knocked us down and stepped on us! I mean, I don't blame them for being scared, of course. I used to be scared of a lot of things that don't bother me now."
"Me too," Cosmo agreed. "After what I've been through, I'm not afraid of much of anything. I'm not even afraid of dying now, not really, but there's so much I don't want to miss. It would be awful to get killed again, so soon after coming back!"
"Don't talk about dying again!" Cream admonished her. She put her arms around the plant girl. "It's all right, Cosmo. You're okay."
"Thanks to you," Cosmo said. Then her eyes grew wide. "Oh! I have to find Tails! If we got trampled, the same thing might have happened to him! And he's all alone!"
"No," Cream corrected her. "We have to find Tails. Come on."
…
"Hey!" Tails yelled as panicking Mobians stampeded towards him. He'd heard the alarm and Eggman's threat, and was rushing back to the store he'd last seen the others in to check on her. How could he have forgotten about her? He tried to get out of the way, but it was too late. The first animals ran into him, knocking him down. The ones behind them proceeded to trample on him.
"Hey!" he yelled. "Ow! Ow! Stop stepping on me! Ow! I'm trying to…ow!…to help you people! Ow!"
Finally they were gone. Tails moaned and sat up. He winced, placing a hand on his lower back, just above his tails. Now it really did hurt back there. Arthritis? At my age? Can't be. Maybe I threw my back out. That's all I need, Cosmo comes back and I end up crippled. His eyes grew large with fright. Cosmo! What if the same thing happened to her?
Tails forced himself to his feet. Man, he was sore! He spun his tails. This time, not only did he go around in circles, but it really hurt. He landed on his hands and knees. What was wrong with him?
Tails are an extension of the spine. A back injury would affect my flight. But I didn't fall that hard yesterday. I could see if the problem happened just now after I got trampled on, but…Oh! Forget about it for now! Find Cosmo!
Ignoring the pain in his back, Tails searched for Cosmo. He couldn't find anyone. Well, of course they wouldn't have stayed around with a crazed mob. Would they be hiding someplace, or…
"Amy!" Tails said out loud. "She'd rush off to fight Eggman, and drag the others along with her!" Tails rushed for the next closest exit. The best way to make sure Cosmo was safe was to help finish off Eggman's latest creation fast and drive the mad scientist away to lick his wounds. If only he could be of some use. He couldn't fly, and he hadn't brought along the X-Tornado, or, he realized, his phone or radio-controlled device to call his plane. He'd have to get his act together. Since Cosmo's death, he'd practically been a zombie for months, and now that she was back, he was in a cloud. He pushed open a door and stepped outside. Loud clanging noises told him the scene of the battle was coming from the left. He ran down a cobblestoned path with flowers growing on the right hand side and under an archway. He stopped before rounding the corner at the end of the path. The sounds of fighting were much louder now, and he'd learned the hard way in the past not to rush onto the field of battle. There could be a robot, or Amy's swinging hammer, right around the corner, just out of sight until it was too late for him to jump out of the way. And the way he felt, he doubted he'd be very good at jumping at the moment. He stepped to the far left edge of the path and cautiously peered around the corner.
Amy was there, swinging her hammer, about twenty feet away. He saw Knuckles further to the right, both of them confronting a red and yellow machine maybe thirty feet tall. He couldn't see Cosmo or Cream or Anita anywhere.
"Let's get this thing!" Amy yelled to Knuckles. "And you'd better not have damaged anything I bought today! We'll have to hurry back after we've finished and hope nobody stole anything!"
"Don't bother me about your stupid packages!" Knuckles yelled, giving her a glare that would have terrified Tails, but that didn't seem to phase Amy Rose in the slightest.
In fact, Amy just snorted and rushed for the robot. She swung her hammer in an arc, connecting with its ankle. Her hammer shook, the vibrations running up her arms. Ouch. This thing was tougher than Eggman's run of the mill robots. Must have ripped off Metarex technology when he was working with them, the copycat. So far her attacks hadn't seemed to do anything to it. Well, she'd just have to hit harder then! Amy spit on her hands then leaped into the air, swinging her hammer in a complete circle. "Ka-Boom!" Again the vibrations ran up her arms, but it seemed to affect the robot as well.
"Hey, Knucklehead!" Amy yelled, knowing making the echidna angry would translate into him using more muscle against his opponent. "After this fight, I think I'll buy my complete Summer wardrobe!"
"What?" Knuckles yelled, bringing his fist down onto the robot's foot with a loud clang. "You're out of your blinking mind if you think I'm going to follow you dames around all day!" He dodged as it bent over to grab at him, punching its hand. It pulled it's arm back.
Okay, why let Knucklehead have all the fun? Amy leaped high into the air and hit the robot in the joint that was the equivalent of a knee, hoping to knock it off balance. "Why are you always so hotheaded!"
"Me?" Knuckles yelled, throwing another punch. "What about you and your yelling about Sonic Sonic Sonic!"
"You sound jealous," Amy said, hitting the robot's other foot. It reached down to swipe at them. Amy dodged, Knuckles didn't. He went flying into a trash can. "I think this robot's trying to tell you something,"
Amy said.
Knuckles struggled to get out of the trash can. Gross! What was that? Gum? Did he have gum on his elbow now? Yes, he did! Disgusting! "Oh be quiet!" he yelled, trying to pull the chewed gum off. Great. Now it was stuck to his glove, and…why was it suddenly so dark?
The robot had lifted its foot to step on the trash can, complete with still struggling echidna. Suddenly there was a blue blur that bounced into the machine's shin.
"Sonic!" Amy cried, hearts in her eyes. "You came to rescue me!"
"Hey!" Knuckles yelled, finally getting out of the trash can by tipping it over and landing on his face. "Come back down to Mobius! We have a job to do!"
Sonic's keen eyes searched the battleground. He noted Tails, who was still trying to figure out how best to help, standing some distance away.
"Where are the girls, Amy?" he asked.
"Cream is helping Cosmo to shelter," Amy explained, racing to Sonic's side. She leaned over, making Sonic a bit uncomfortable, but only whispered, "Your sister's gone to the roof of the department building. She's planning to jump on the robot's head."
Sonic nodded, hoping Eggman didn't have some sort of listening device that might have picked her explanation up. He still wasn't comfortable letting his sister fight, even if she had become a fairly experienced fighter.
"I'm taking the fight to the big man," Sonic said, looking around. His keen sight had picked up an odd shape far off that could only be the Eggmobile. "Scuse me, Ames! Time to juice!" He took off, running up the side of the building then springing to a tree. He ran to the top of the tree and made a leap to the rooftop, where he nearly ran right into Anita.
"Show off!" she muttered, pushing past him.
"Be careful, sis," Sonic said as she sprang from the roof to the tree, not making the leap as well as he did, but probably better than pretty much anybody else other than Shadow could have. She grunted in reply, then leaped to the head of the robot.
…
Colin sighed as he ran over several pages of notes and calculations. He hated checking and double checking everything, but it was important to look over every bit of information. There was something he was missing. The Thorndyke brat had managed to get to that other world by somehow making a connection with this Master Emerald thingy. Yet Colin's uncle had managed to complete a trip going in the opposite direction despite the fact the Emerald was shattered, and no such object existed on Earth. What had he done? And how could they duplicate it? Blast it all! If only he could get his hands on Uncle Julian's ship. He just knew he could figure it all out then!
"What's the secret?" he wondered. He pored over the notes again. Maybe if he could figure out exactly what Chris had done to contact this Master Emerald, even if it wasn't there anymore, he could figure something out.
About half an hour later, Colin realized Chris' notes were incomplete. He hadn't explained why he was so sure he could get his machine to interact with a glowing rock in another dimension. At some point while the animals were on Earth, the pest must have seen it, touched it. He was just a kid then, but maybe the old man had also handled it. Or at least those smaller so-called chaos emeralds. Red and blue emeralds! How childish! Those animals might have been intelligent, but they seemed somewhat simple. Naïve. From what he'd read, politics and debates confused them, even the brainy fox with the two tails. Mutant? Or one of those Japanese monsters that came out of plastic balls in that silly cartoon show he'd seen on tv one morning when he was bored and had nothing better to do than channel surf.
"Blast it!" Colin muttered. "Must I do everything myself around here?" Now he had to go see the twerp. And if there was one thing Colin Robotnik simply could not stand it was Christopher Thorndyke.
…
"Tails!" the fox heard. He turned to see Cream and Cosmo hurrying towards the scene of the battle. He was relieved to see they were all right, but something about Cosmo looked odd. Then he realized she had a bruise on her cheek. He raced towards her.
"Cosmo!" he cried, putting one arm around her and reaching towards, but not touching, her bruise. "What happened to your face?"
"Everyone panicked when they heard the attack," Cosmo explained. "Someone hit me with their purse. It came at me too fast to be sure, but I think it had a metal buckle on it." Then she took a good look at Tails. The fur on his head and tails were scruffy and dusty. She reached up and gently wiped the dust from his hair. She noticed suddenly that he was holding his left arm limply at his side.
"Tails?" she said, reaching for his arm. He winced as she bent it. His elbow was purple. "Oh, Tails! Why didn't you say you'd been hurt! And…Tails? Why does it look like there's a footprint on your back?"
"It's nothing," Tails said, dismissively. "I'm fine."
"It's not nothing," Cream said, shaking her head. "You got knocked down and stepped on, didn't you?"
Cosmo gasped. "Is that what happened?" she asked. "Oh, Tails, I'm so sorry! That nearly happened to me, but Cream grabbed me and pulled me to safety just in time."
"I'm glad she did," Tails said, giving Cream a thumbs up. "Thank you, Cream."
Cream forced herself to smile. He hadn't even asked if she was all right. Well, why should he? He'd seen her go into battle before, she hadn't been killed the last time she got into a conflict, and-of course-he didn't love her. Cream clenched her fists and turned towards the battle. She motioned to Cheese. "Cosmo, you take care of Tails!"
"I don't need taking care of," Tails said, coloring. To his surprise, Cosmo grabbed his other arm and pulled him over to a nearby bench.
"Yes you do," she said. "Sit down, Tails. I know you want to help fight, but you're hurt." She used the same no-nonsense voice she'd used when she'd insisted on bandaging that cut he'd gotten on his forehead falling into the Snake Metarex caverns.
"Yes, ma'am," Tails said. He'd forgotten how forceful she could be if she wanted.
"You should take her to the tunnels so she'll be safe, Tails," Cream said, flapping her ears. Hopefully once there, Cosmo would be able to talk him into staying in the tunnels. He looked terrible! She turned to Cheese. "Let's go! Our friends need us!"
"Chao chao!" Cheese said, flying around her waiting to be thrown into combat.
"Be careful, Cream," Tails said. Well, at least he sounded a little worried about her.
"Always am," Cream said, flapping her ears and flying towards Amy. Maybe a fight would help her to forget what she was feeling at the moment.
…
Some distance away, at the bottom of a mountain, lights used for seeing suddenly flickered and came back on. Slowly, laboriously, a black and grey and red collection of metal parts, leaking fluid, struggled to stand on its mangled legs.
"Statement: This unit has been defeated by target, Shadow the Hedgehog. Analyzing damages…"
Lights flickered in its eyes for a few moments. Finally they returned to a dull red and orange.
"Analysis: This unit has suffered 25% damage to left arm, 38% damage to right arm, 30% damage to left leg, 45% damage to right leg, and 55% damage to body. Possibility of malfunction: 26%. Suggestion: This unit must return to Master for emergency repairs."
Calculating in what direction to go, Omega began to slowly but surely limp his way back to Eggman's headquarters, his jets a twisted, useless mass. It would be a long and grueling journey with his diminished capacities, but nothing could stop E-123 once he had made up his mechanical mind. He would return to his creator, receive the necessary repairs, then track down Shadow once again and finish him off this time.
Or so he believed.
…
Cream flew at Eggman's robot, kicking it with both feet. "Take that, you mean old robot!" She kicked again, then again. "Ow. This robot's pretty hard." She looked at Cheese. "I'm glad I didn't throw you at him."
"That's okay," Cheese said. At least, that was what Cream heard. "I don't…look out, Cream!" The chao flew over her head and struck the robot, which had been about to hit Cream from behind.
"Oh no!" Cream cried out. "Cheese! Are you okay?"
Cheese shook his head. "Yes, but you're right, hitting this robot doesn't feel so good."
"I guess Doctor Eggman's getting too good for us to fight," Cream said sadly, swerving around the robot's head. She considered the possibility of no longer being able to help her friends. It was a sad thought. "Well, only one thing to do. We're both going to have to start working out and improve!"
Cheese looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. "You can count on me!"
…
Bokkun grabbed an ice cream maker off the shelf of a store and calmly walked out. He'd just avoided getting trampled on, and had decided to hover near the ceiling until everybody went away. Mobians were the craziest peoples!
Knuckles rushed past him, nearly crashing into him. Bokkun looked up at the giant killer robot. Darn it! He'd come out the wrong exit into the middle of the battlefield. He ran around a store to get out of the way, and came across a battled fox and a girl with green hair and pink flower buds, sitting on a bench.
"Cosmo?" Bokkun cried. The box fell from his hands and landed on his foot. "Yeow! There goes my ice cream maker! And my foot!" He grabbed his big toe, lost his balance, and fell over backwards. He started rolling back and forth in agony. "Owie owie owie! I'm crippled for life!"
Then his eyes bugged out as he realized he easily could be crippled for life. If not worse.
"If the doctor sees her…ack! I'm dead!" He looked around for Eggman. No sign of him. Maybe he was already fighting Sonic. That guy seemed to be everywhere! And no sound of the doctor yelling out the messenger robot's name. Okay, maybe he could keep them from running into each other…
Then he heard a voice from the large robot. "Ho ho ho! Surrender, you pathetic dolts! If you don't, I'll get mad in a minute! " Oh man! The boss was probably watching everything from a camera in that robot! He had to get Cosmo out of there before the big tub of lard saw her! He hurried towards the bench, hoping Tails would listen to him instead of picking a fight.
To be continued.