"Oh my…this is amazing!" Tails smirked as he listened to Cosmo say the same thing for the third time. They had just arrived at the grand square in the shopping centre, which was packed with people of all ages, shapes and sizes.

Tails was actually slightly disappointed that so many others were around. He wouldn't have minded if there were about the normal amount of people, but the place was getting to the point where you nearly had to shout to be heard; not exactly an ideal setting for the quality time he wanted to spend with Cosmo and his friends. "I agree, but to be honest it's not usually quite this full."

"It's a Friday afternoon, buddy!" came Sonic's barely comprehensible remark through a mouthful of chilli dog he'd bought at the entrance. "Combine that with this baking hot weather and you've got yourself a recipe for mobs of girls buying summery dresses and mobs of guys staring at the girls! What did you expect?"

Tails sighed. "Probably should've thought of this beforehand. Sorry Cosmo."

She looked at him like he was crazy. "Why are you apologising? This is wonderful! So many people! It must be like having one big family!"

Knuckles shook his head at her naivety. "Not really. Believe me, you need to stick with your friends. You can't trust anyone these days, and some species hate each other by default simply because of things that have happened in the past."

Cosmo looked crestfallen. Tails shot the echidna an angry look. "Be considerate, Knuckles! Cosmo isn't familiar with civilisation on this scale. It's true you've got to be careful, but most people are sincere. In a lively atmosphere like this you'll find near enough everyone's in a good mood anyway." he assured her.

Cream piped up. "I still can't believe you're here Cosmo! It's so great you're still the same polite-natured plant!"

Cosmo smiled sweetly. "You're really nice to be around too, Cream. Thank you!"

"So Cosmo, where do you want to go first?" Tails asked.

"She wants to go shopping for outfits with me!" Amy cut in. She wasn't one to stay quiet for long.

Tails knew Cosmo's peaceful demeanour wouldn't allow her to refuse, even if she didn't want to try on the fifty million items Amy would undoubtedly force upon her. "She can make up her own mind!"

Amy's eye twitched. "I said she's coming with me!" Cosmo backed off a little, visibly afraid that a huge hammer might materialise from nowhere.

Usually Tails would have backed out from the moment the pink hedgehog opened her mouth, but when it came to Cosmo's independence and pride he would stop at nothing to defend her. "Amy, this is Cosmo's first full day back! So we're doing whatever she wants to do!"

Amy narrowed her eyes and growled in a way that would make a serial killer tremble. Cosmo held her head in her hands and moaned. "Please stop! I want you to stop fighting! I can't stand conflict anymore! It - it hurts my heart…" She bit her lip.

Tails knew terrible memories of her past were flooding through her. He abandoned the unwinnable argument against his impossible opponent and pulled her into a hug. "Push the pain away, Cosmo. No tears today, alright?"

He heard her suck in a deep breath. "No tears." she repeated. "Thank you Tails."

The fox glared at Amy. Amy glared back. This psychological battle raged until Cosmo finally said, "Amy, I was going to say I wanted to go with you anyway."

Amy twirled on the spot. "Oh good! Now I don't have to go all smashy-smashy on your boyfriend!"

"Boyfriend?!" Tails and Cosmo chorused. They glanced at each other but quickly turned away, neither one wanting the other to see their tinted cheeks.

"Oh come on, don't act like you haven't thought about it! Am I going to have to physically push you together?" Amy grilled them. "I remember that time when -"

"SO KNUCKLES, ARE WE GONNA GET YOU SOME NEW DIGGING CLAWS OR WHAT?" Sonic yelled over his admirer. "GREAT, LET'S GO!"

"Wait, what the -" Knuckles began, but the rest of his sentence was lost to the wind as Sonic had grabbed his arm and sped off.

After a few tense seconds, Amy began to shake. "He was supposed. To come. With me. So he could tell me. How I looked. In a new dress."

"Um…Amy?" Cream said in an unstable voice.

"…It's not fair. IT'S NOT FAIR IT'S NOT FAIR IT'S NOT FAIR!" Amy bawled until she had tears running down her face. "WHY?! SONIIIIIIIIC!"

To Tails' immense surprise it was Cosmo who hurried forwards and hugged her. "Please calm down, Amy. One day Sonic might see what a wonderful heart you have, even if you get a bit…upset sometimes."

"There are people here too." Cream added in a whisper. "Don't make a scene."

Tails was stunned again when this somehow pacified Amy. She wiped her eyes. "Oh Cosmo, you're just saying that to make me feel better. And annoyingly it's working. So let's shop before I start thinking about that blue wonder again." She walked away to the nearest clothes store with Cream close behind.

"I can't believe that worked!" Tails said to Cosmo.

"Neither can I!" She giggled and extended a hand towards him. "So, are you coming? Will you tell me if I look nice in what I try on?"

"You'll look beautiful in anything." he thought. "How could I refuse?" he asked aloud before taking her hand and following the two girls into the shop. To his relief he saw Amy already deeply infatuated with a shocking pink dress; perhaps she'd love it more than Sonic and stop babbling on about him.

"Looks like I'm fending for myself…" Cosmo said sadly. It was evident that it would take a long while for Amy to stop thinking about her own appearance.

"Here, I'll help you Cosmo." came a high-pitched voice behind them. They turned and spotted Cream holding a predominantly green dress that would no doubt make Cosmo shine even more than usual.

She clapped her hands together in happiness. "Thank you so much, Cream! I'll put that on right away!" She went off in search of the changing rooms. Upon finding it she left Tails and Cream stood outside, waiting for her to emerge.

They exchanged jokes about Amy's unpredictable persona, but soon found themselves standing in an unsettling silence. Tails didn't know the reason why he felt so uncomfortable; something about it just made it feel like the air itself had stopped moving. He could tell Cream was sensing it too, and he feared she had picked out a dress quickly so she could talk to him about something she couldn't voice in front of Cosmo. Unfortunately he found he was correct a moment later when Cream attempted to casually ask, "So Tails, um…do you, uh, like Cosmo?"

"Of course I like her." he replied just as nonchalantly, deliberately avoiding the deeper connotations of the question. "She's one of my best friends."

"No, I mean…do you like her?"

"I just told you."

"Stop it Tails! You know what I mean! I'm not a baby anymore! I want to be included in grown-up conversations now and I want to know how you feel!"

This sudden outburst shocked Tails. Cream had battled through far more than anyone her tender age should have to endure, so she was naturally a little more mature. However, he definitely hadn't expected her to actively go against him. She was in the right, of course, but Tails couldn't remember the last time the rabbit had stood up for herself when everyone else, including her own friends, had passed her off as unprepared. "Cream, I understand you're not as innocent anymore but please don't shout. And why are you so interested?"

Now it was Cream's turn to go defensive. "N-no reason! I just know you both like to spend lots of time with each other." Her face hardened again. "But I still want to know! Do you like – no – do you love Cosmo?"

Tails had no idea how to respond. Of course he loved Cosmo, he loved her with every fibre of his being, but he wanted to be the one to tell her that first. It wasn't that he didn't trust Cream's honest standing; it was that he couldn't risk Amy's gossiping mouth worming that same honesty out of her. "Look, I -"

"Ta-da!" He was saved by the newly clothed Cosmo springing into sight. And what a sight she was. Tails instantly forgot the argument about the avoidance of his feelings towards the girl in front of him. His heart skipped so many beats he thought he might be having a heart attack. He knew he was staring, but his eyes couldn't stop drinking her in. Cosmo eventually approached him nervously. "W-what do you think, Tails?"

Every synonym of the word 'beautiful' fought to get out of his mouth at the same time. He swallowed to gain control of himself before simply saying, "You look stunning."

Cosmo blushed heavily. "I like it too." And so she bought it.

During the next two hours, Tails' face was like a traffic light: he intermittently turned red whenever Cosmo tried something on, orange was his face when it went back to normal and although he knew he probably didn't physically go green, he certainly felt like it after seeing some of the things which Amy showcased. By the time they'd reached the final shop Cosmo had a healthy number of items all courtesy of Amy's purse, Cream had a few things courtesy of herself, and Tails guessed that Amy's tremendous strength when wielding her hammers was owed to many hours of hefting fifty bags at a time around in public.

It was in this final shop where Cosmo herself chose a deep blue dress to try on. When she emerged with another "Ta-da!" Tails nearly fainted. He barely stopped himself from blurting out the three words he wanted to tell her so badly right there and then. The dress was simply amazing. It wasn't just how it fit her figure so perfectly or how the detailed flower patterns went hand in hand with her heritage; in fact the most striking feature wasn't on the dress at all. It was her eyes. The effect with which the dress matched and complimented Cosmo's already beautiful ocean blue eyes was hypnotising. "How do I look, Tails?"

"…There aren't words." he answered honestly. "Please let me buy this for you."

"I don't want to be a bother, Tails…I've already been selfish enough to allow Amy to get me so many wonderful things."

"This won't bother anyone, least of all myself! I really want to buy this for you; you've made me so happy today, I need to give something back. Please, Cosmo."

She looked like she might resist again, but then suddenly hopped up and down on the spot beaming at him. She ran towards him and literally jumped into his arms. "Thank you! You've made me so happy so many times today too! You always have done…"

Tails left the shop high as a kite.

In the end the four of them returned the main square. He vaguely realised he hadn't actually got anything for himself, but he didn't care. Unfortunately the peace didn't last for long when Sonic and Knuckles returned. They were still out of earshot, but it was obvious Knuckles was yelling. "– that guy talking about, you can't trial the claws on the shop walls?! What a ridiculous rule! I should have trialled them on his face!"

Tails was more worried about Amy. He could practically feel the rage growing stronger for every step Sonic took. "YOU!" she screamed when he was close enough to make a lunge for and grab. "YOU LEFT ME! NOW I'M GOING TO DRAG YOU TO MY HOUSE WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO WATCH ME TRY ON EVERY! SINGLE! OUTFIT!"

Sonic couldn't pull free, such was the grip Amy had achieved. "C-come on Ames, let's just talk about this...how about if I buy you a pretty necklace?"

"How dare you try to bribe me?! Just for that you're going to have to give me even more detailed opinions when I try them all on TWICE!"

Tails thought Sonic might actually cry. "No! Please!"

The fox saved him when he remembered something. "Amy, wait! I need Sonic and Knuckles round at my house to help clean up my workshop. That's if you two aren't doing anything else, of course."

Knuckles shrugged. "Alright, I don't mind. So long as I'm back on Angel Island by nightfall so I can guard the Master Emerald. It's him you're gonna have trouble getting hold of."

Amy cackled. "That's right, 'cause I've got hold of him! So Tails, what's in it for me?"

Tails smirked, already having prepared for a ransom. "I'll tell you who wrote all those notes and left them in your house."

Amy's evil grin dropped faster than a burning Egg Carrier. "You know who was insolent enough to do that?! TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME!"

"Hang on. Notes in Amy's house?" Sonic was predictably confused. Cosmo looked lost as well and Knuckles shook his head, accepting that this was just going to be an antic he'd never get his head around.

"I'll explain later." Tails said. "So Amy – do we have a deal?"

Ever so slowly, Amy released her grip on her hero. "Fine." she said grudgingly. "But remember this. If you fail to deliver the truth…" She walked towards him and stopped only when her face was inches from his. She spoke the rest of her threat in a terrifying whisper. "…smashy-smashy..."

Tails watched her pick up her bags and calmly walk away. "So I can say I did it or not say anything at all. Great. I've got a feeling I'm going to get smashed whether I tell her the truth or not…"

"Phew!" Sonic wiped his brow. "Way to get me out of an impossible situation! First Eggman and now even Amy; you've got some nice negotiation skills, bud!"

"Can I come your house too Tails?" Cream asked. "It's just nearly everyone else is."

"Yeah, why not? And I suppose it'd be really unfair to leave Amy out."

Sonic's eyes widened. "Tails, I really don't think -"

"It'll be fine; I can always threaten to not tell her about the notes."

"Yeah, tell me about that while we go back to your place! What's all this secrecy with notes in her house?"

Tails smiled. "You're gonna love this…"


Rouge kicked open the door to an old storage room. It was the perfect spot for hiding things; a place where no-one would look and a place where near enough anything was easy to conceal. Eggman's mobile base had quite a few of these rooms, but she had no idea what he did with them. More than likely they'd been relegated to a scrapyard for failed robots which couldn't defeat Sonic or make satisfactory sandwiches.

"Sure is dusty in here." she said aloud. Rouge hoped that she was talking to herself because of how eerie the room was and not because she was insane. In here she had already hidden the Mowarium that Knuckles had successfully smuggled out for her. Now that she also had the bands of jewellery into which the small pieces of Mowarium would be inserted, she just had to collect it and carefully attach the pieces. "I'll be even more gorgeous than ever before."

Of course, the copious amounts of dust gathering on the Mowarium pieces would never do, so she'd put them in a safe that looked about as ancient as some of Eggman's jokes. Still, it was functional and would keep the fragments glowing a lovely green.

As she crossed the room to the safe, Rouge thought back on her journey through the base to get to this room. For her it was very uneventful, but from what she could hear, someone else certainly had a lot going on. A voice that sounded similar to Tails' had been screaming curses and sobbing. It was obviously Heads being subjected to some horrific experience by Eggman that would somehow make him hate the real Tails.

Aside from all the yelling, she had also had no choice in hearing truckloads of banging on some sort of metallic surface. Was Eggman teaching him to fight? She shuddered. "I don't know what Eggman's doing to him up there and I don't want to know either…but the fat man's plan is definitely working. God only knows what sort of stunt he'll pull with Heads when he's finished with him." She was a thief and very manipulative, yes, but being ecstatic about torturing an animal so it hates its own twin? She wasn't sure if she should just grab the Mowarium, get out and never go near Eggman again.

She pushed the unpleasant thoughts away and forced herself to be positive. Rouge twiddled with the safe's dial until it reached the correct combination. "Here I come, my pretties!" She opened the safe door.

And gasped. "W-what?! How the hell?!" she spluttered.

The Mowarium was gone.


"This is the place? A bit modest, don't you agree?" Octotto said at a volume that, considering the circumstances, might as well have been a passing jumbo jet.

"Quiet!" Deczehn scalded him in a whisper. "We can't afford to make any noise until Septsiet confirms there are no life forms nearby. And you shouldn't be focusing on the setting; notice how some of the house looks like it's been burned? Perhaps the people operating the machine couldn't keep it under control and it blew up."

"Yeah, thanks for the heads-up, gramps." Octotto snapped. "I really would never have noticed that half the place looked like the site of a nuclear meltdown."

Deczehn and his pathetic excuse for a subordinate were hiding in some tall grass mere feet away from where the regeneration energy had originated. He had to admit, Octotto had a point – he'd also been expecting a huge laboratory that would be nightmarishly difficult to infiltrate, but all they'd found was this small house in the middle of nowhere. As of yet Septsiet had found no-one living near it either, although Deczehn could hardly blame them now, since there had obviously been a recent incident of some sort. "It's almost too easy…"

"Good for us. Let's get in there, salvage whatever technology we can find and fly merrily back home where we'll be congratulated with medals and tons of money and faster spaceships and all the women we can -"

"Silence! The secret to being a good commander is to prepare for every eventuality." Deczehn lifted his communicator to his mouth and spoke into it quietly. "Novemnine, is everything alright on your end? Any tactical advice?"

"I've got you on radar." he heard the reply. "The ship's in good shape for a quick escape, and you're doing a fine job so far on your own, Commander. I feel the only thing I should say is that I honestly think it would now be best to lie in wait until a resident arrives, seeing as the machine will probably be wrecked. Then capture and question them. In my opinion this is a much more efficient method than gathering shattered remains and trying to piece them back together. It's up to you, Commander."

"You are the expert thinker. I trust in your judgement, Novemnine." Deczehn lifted a second communicator. "Septsiet, slight change of plan. We're only going in to have a look around, but don't touch anything whatsoever. When someone returns, we'll ambush them and use whatever measures necessary to gain information about the machine. Can you confirm there's no-one around?"

"Understood about the plan change. And yes, I think it's all – no wait, negative! Negative! Several life forms are approaching from the east!"

Deczehn lifted himself up a few inches to get a better view before cursing under his breath. "Grrr! Why are there so many? Hedgehogs, a fox, a rabbit…where did they all come from?! Damn! There's no way we can take them all out without being spotted!" His mind whirled, trying desperately to form a new plan, although for some reason all his brain was doing was wondering why the natives were carrying so many bags.

Then, just when things couldn't get worse, Octotto started complaining. "There's got to be six of them at least! I told you we should've gone in earlier! What do we do now?!"