AFTER THE METAREX: TAILS' STORY
Chapter Twenty-One
"The Return of Sonic"
Vector apologized again and again to Amy, Tails, Cream, even Bokkun, although no one had the slightest idea why he was apologizing to him. After all, he hadn't done anything to Bokkun, and the robot wasn't even there, having taken off when Vanilla glared at him. Most of all, Vector apologized to Vanilla.
"I think I speak for everyone here when I say that I am very unhappy and disappointed with you, Vector," Vanilla said. "I cannot believe that you would set poor Tails up with such a dreadful girl! And tying up Amy and locking her in an old house that was condemned years ago, and just leaving her there! What were you thinking?"
"Uh…I can't resist a bet?" Vector said. "See, Amy dared me, and…"
"Vector, you're not a child!" Vanilla said. "You can't just do whatever you want if it hurts other people!
"I'm going down to the castle and pressing charges!" Amy yelled. "Assault and battery! Kidnapping! You'll get twenty years for this, you freak!"
"But…we were playing a game!" Vector said. "I won! So you can't put me in jail!"
"You're nutty as a fruitcake!" Amy yelled. "Knocking me out wasn't a game! You need therapy more than Tails does!"
"That's a good idea, Amy," Vanilla said. "Maybe if you get help, Vector, we can talk again."
"Are you saying I'm crazy?!?" Vector yelled. "Hey, that's not nice!"
"I don't think I want to see you again any time soon," Vanilla said in a much too quiet voice.
"Hey!" Vector cried. "Are you breaking up with me?!?"
Vanilla gasped. "Vector! What are you…We're just friends!" She blushed. "You've helped out my little Cream so many times, and I appreciate that, but…that doesn't mean we're…" She decided to change the subject. "Seriously, what were you going to do with Amy?"
"I could have starved to death!" Amy yelled. "Nobody but you three idiots knew where I was!"
"We were gonna tell Tails where you were after Ginger became his girlfriend," Vector said.
"I can't believe this!" Tails cried. "She was conning me? And you helped her?!"
"Uh…do you guys have to yell at me?" Vector asked. "Couldn't you just hit me instead?"
"I can do both!" Amy yelled. Bam!
"Amy!" Vanilla cried. "No violence in my house! That's not the solution to everything!"
"My hand slipped," Amy said, trying to hide her hammer behind her back.
Vanilla sighed. "Talking to either one of you is like talking to a brick wall."
Tails had never seen Vanilla so angry. Maybe she really did feel something for Vector. Tails knew how angry Amy got when Sonic disappointed her. If Vanilla got like that, Vector was in big trouble. Tails decided he didn't want to hang around and watch anymore of this. This could get ugly.
"Um…I think I'm going to go home now," Tails said, looking towards the door.
"Bye-bye, Tails!" Cream said.
"Don't you want to help me press charges?" Amy asked. "He hurt you too!"
"I…you don't need me, Amy," Tails said, leaving.
Tails was relieved to get out of there. He decided that the next step would be to make sure Ginger didn't hurt Sonic in some way. He flew to the castle. Once at the drawbridge, he landed and called Nicole. The image of the lynx appeared in front of him.
"Good day, Tails," Nicole said. "How may I be of service?"
"Has Sonic checked in yet?" Tails asked.
"I'm afraid I still can't give out any information without Princess Sally's permission," Nicole said.
"And I suppose I can't speak with Sally either?" Tails asked. Red tape was going to drive him crazy!
"Please stand by while I check," Nicole said. She winked out.
Tails shook his head. He shouldn't be angry at Nicole. She was just doing her job. Or at Sally, either. She was always looking overworked these days. Maybe she'd broken up with Sonic because she just couldn't spend any time with him anymore.
While he waited, Tails thought about Vector. That idiot! And Ginger…He'd liked Ginger. Or, rather, the person he'd thought Ginger was. It was nice, thinking there was someone else out there who knew what he was going through. But it had all been a lie! He hoped he never saw her again. He'd never hit a girl before, not counting the training sessions he'd had with Sally, Amy, and Julie-Su, or that stupid tournament where Rouge had kissed him in order to win, but he thought he could make an exception in Ginger's case.
Nicole reappeared. "I can get you in to see her in about two hours," she said. "She's in a meeting right now with her brother, the king. Your mother's there, too. Something about pot holes in Main Street."
Tails sighed. "You do of course realize that getting rid of those pot holes is a waste of time?" he asked. "Eggman's robots will just make new ones."
"It's important to keep people's morale up, Tails," Nicole pointed out. "Everyone knows he'll strike again, but as long as our city looks safe…"
"I understand," Tails said, "but I'm no longer sure that lying to people about bad news is a good idea." Cosmo had done that so many times. Maybe, just maybe, if she'd been honest with him from the beginning…
"Tails?" Nicole said. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," Tails lied. "Um…would it be possible for you to check up on a girl named Ginger?"
"Ginger?" Nicole said. "Amy Rose asked me about a girl by that name awhile ago."
"Same one," Tails said. "It's a long, ugly story, and I'm sure Amy will be by soon to tell you more than you want to know about it."
"I see," Nicole said. "Is this the girl?" A holographic image appeared beside Nicole.
"That's her!" Tails cried. "She seems really nice, but she's not! Do you have anything on her?"
"Jaywalking, littering, petty theft, pick pocketing, shoplifting, vandalism, and she spray painted "Sonic Iz A Dumbbell," with a z, on three telephone poles," Nicole said. "That's all we've been able to confirm she's done, but she's been suspected of stealing a car and assaulting a boy for dumping her."
"Oog!" Tails said.
"I'm sorry?" Nicole said. "That word is not in my dictionary."
"Um…you may want to put out a bulletin on her," Tails said. "I think she's going to get very angry when she finds out her little scheme has been exposed."
"I…see," Nicole said. She of course didn't see anything. Tails hadn't given her much to go on. He really didn't want to talk or even think about Ginger anymore.
"I'm sorry I'm not being very clear," Tails said, "I assure you, Amy will give you all of the details, several times, probably."
"Do you want to wait for your mother and speak with Sally once the meeting's over?" Nicole asked.
"No," Tails said. "Just warn her about Ginger. I'll…I'll see you around, Nicole."
"How are you doing these days, Tails?" Nicole asked.
"Getting by, one day at a time," Tails said. It had become his standard answer.
As Tails left, he passed Amy. She was dragging Vector along the ground at the end of a rope. Vector had a black eye and a fat lip. Amy was whistling the theme to "The Bridge Over the River Kwai." That was one scary lady, and Tails dodged behind a mailbox so that she wouldn't see him.
"But…but I won!" Vector was saying. "Oof! Ow!" He'd just hit one of those pot holes. "Yeow! Hey! I think you just dragged me over a piece of broken glass!"
"Oh boo hoo!" Amy said. "Be glad I'm so generous and forgiving!"
Generous and forgiving?!? Tails hoped Amy was never that generous and forgiving to him!
Once they were well down the street, Tails took off towards Sonic's house. Maybe his mother could tell him something.
Sonic's house was a little cottage surrounded by flowers and bushes. It was painted white with blue trimming. Tails knocked on the front door. "Coming! Coming!" he heard.
Sonic's mother opened the door. "Oh, Tails! How are you dear? I haven't seen you around for ages!"
"Getting by," Tails said. "Have you heard from Sonic lately?"
"No, I'm afraid not," Brenda Parlouzer said. "Not since the princess sent him on a mission quite awhile ago." She sighed. "I know he's the world's greatest hero, but he's still my little boy, and I can't help but worry about him every time he goes out to fight that madman."
"I'm sorry I haven't been able to get to work trying to deroboticize your husband, Mrs. Parlouzer," Tails said. "But…"
"I know, dear, I've heard about your little friend, and I'm so sorry," Sonic's mother said. "Won't you come in and have some hot cocoa? I have marshmallows!"
"No thanks," Tails said. Mrs. Parlouzer could talk your ear off if given a chance. "If you hear from Sonic, will you please tell him I'm looking for him. Oh, um…so is Amy."
"That Amy!" Mrs. Parlouzer said, dragging Tails inside. "Everyday Nicky gets cards and letters from her. But not today or yesterday for some reason. Has she been ill?"
"Uh…she's been…tied up lately," Tails said.
"Oh, you young people!" Sonic's mother said, getting Tails to sit down. "Always so busy!"
It took Tails nearly an hour to get out of there. When he finally left, it occurred to him that he probably wouldn't have to wait too much longer if he went back to the castle, but he wasn't looking forward to telling his mother that Ginger had been lying to her. Rosemary Prower was as vindictive as Amy Rose. He wondered if the name had something to do with it. Roses were beautiful, but they all had thorns.
Tails decided to just go home. There was a note on the refrigerator:
"Miles,
"Gone to the castle to argue with Sally and her dumb brother. Be back soon.
"P.S. Please don't spend too much time hanging out with that Amy and Knuckles. They're questionable
"people. Be back soon. Hugs and kisses,
"Mommy"
Tails rolled his eyes, then went to his room. He opened the bottom drawer of his dresser and pressed a switch. A panel opened up. He pulled out a book. It was a journal that he'd started writing in when he'd first started having feelings for Cosmo. The earlier pages were as full of fantasies and daydreams as Amy Rose's diary, but then it changed. Some of the entries he'd made since Cosmo's death would get him put away if anyone read them. One page was nothing but him writing over and over, "I KILLED COSMO!"
Tails sighed. Then he remembered that among Cosmo's few personal affects had been a little book. Had she kept a diary onboard the Blue Typhoon? Could there be…something about him in it? He started after it, and then stopped. If Cosmo had wanted him to read her diary, she would have shown it to him. Besides, if there was something of hers he didn't know about yet, he didn't want to read it. Not yet. He wanted to know, or at least believe, that there was something about her that he didn't know yet. Something still ahead of him for him to reach out for.
Tails remembered the time he had gotten into Amy's diary. It had two kinds of entries: "Sonic is so wonderful! He plays hard to get, but I just know that the day will come when he will sweep my off my feet, and take me to our castle in the air! And we'll have seven sons and seven daughters, and hold hands and think about the good old days, and the sky will be blue and pink and rainbows will be everywhere and…" That entry had gone on like that for several more pages. Then there were the other entries: "That stupid Sonic! Imagine he forgot my birthday! I'll show him! He'll be sorry he messed with Amy Rose! Can't he see that I am his destiny, and he threatens to destroy the fabric of time and space by rejecting me?" That had also gone on for a few pages. Then, of course, Amy had caught Tails still reading. Man, that hammer hurt!
What Tails couldn't know was that he had just missed Sonic's phone call home to his mother, asking her to come to the hospital. She was too worried to think about Tails. She called her husband, and they met at the hospital. While they were asking a receptionist what had happened, Sonic came down the hallway.
"Son!" Brenda cried, throwing her arms around Sonic. "Are you hurt? Tell Mommy what's wrong!"
"Whoa, hey!" Sonic said. "I'm fine. It's not me!"
"Then who is it?" his father asked. "Chuck?"
"I didn't want to tell you over the phone," Sonic said. "Mom. You'd better sit down."
"Nikki! What's wrong?" his mother sobbed. She rarely called him Nikki anymore.
"Sorry," Sonic said. "I don't want to scare you, but…"
"Spit it out, son," Sonic's father said. "You're upsetting your mother. Me too, actually."
"Mister and Misses Parlouzer?" A doctor asked, coming into the waiting room just then.
"Is she gonna be okay, Doc?" Sonic asked. "These are our parents."
"Our parents?!?'" Sonic's dad repeated.
"She's going to be very weak for awhile," the doctor said, giving Sonic's father a nervous look. Most Mobians had trouble getting used to roboticized animals. "The poison was similar to rattlesnake venom. Deadly, but curable if treated in time. But don't worry. Your son got her here in time. Your little girl is going to be just fine."
"'Our little girl?!?'" Sonic's parents both cried out.
"I didn't want to tell you until I was sure she'd be okay," Sonic said. "I found her, Mom and Dad! I found Anita!"
"I have to see her!" Sonic's mother sobbed.
"Of course," the doctor said. He looked at Sonic's father. "Uh…"
"Dad," Sonic said. "I'm sorry, but…Anita was held prisoner by a robot duplicate of me. He's the one that hurt her. I'm afraid, well, if she wakes up and…"
Sonic's father bowed his head. "She'd be terrified of me," he said. "You're right. I-I can't risk it."
Sonic's father sank down into a chair. While his wife tried to comfort him, Sonic turned to the doctor. "I want to thank you for helping my sister," he said. "If there's ever anything you need…"
"Just doing my job," the doctor said. "Maybe you should sit down. You look don't look so good."
"Just relieved," Sonic said. "I…I lost somebody awhile back that I'd promised to protect."
"It's okay, Sonic," the doctor assured him. "You have to face the fact that you can't save everyone."
"Yeah," Sonic said, sitting down. "I know that, doc. But…it still hurts when you do your best, and somebody still dies."
"Yes, it does," the doctor agreed. "That's why it's best to concentrate on our successes, not our failures."
Sonic sat with his father while his mother went to see Anita. He didn't know what to say.
"This isn't your fault, son," his father said.
"I should have kept this from happening to you," Sonic insisted. "I wasn't even home when you and Mom and Anita were all grabbed. I was out having fun." Sonic knew he was lucky. His family was back together, even if his dad was still a robot. But the horror of coming home to a smoking crater, and no idea where anyone was would never leave him.
"You didn't do anything wrong," his father insisted. "You were a little boy who had fantastic powers and wanted to show off. Eggman's to blame for our problems."
"Yeah," Sonic said, "but still…"
"You did your best, son," his father said. "There are things nobody can do."
"Like bringing back the dead?" Sonic asked.
"Luckily, you didn't need to," his dad told him. He, of course, was talking about Anita. Sonic wasn't. Sonic didn't let close calls bother him too much. Anita was going to be all right, so he could finally stop worrying about her.
"She's still asleep," Sonic's mother said a few minutes later. "Nicky, dear, can you get me a pillow and blanket and a few other things? I'm going to spend the night here. Just in case."
"Sure, Mom," Sonic said. "I'll be right back."
"You don't have to come back to stay, son," his father told him as Sonic prepared to take off. "I'll be fine. Just frustrated now and then."
Sonic's mother gave him a list of things she needed. Sonic sped home, gathered him, then raced back. He checked in on his sister for a minute. She was muttering, "Stupid chicken! Take that and that and that!"
"Yeah, kid," Sonic said softly, "show that Scratch who's boss!" He said his good byes to his parents, promised to be back to check in after a few hours, then raced off to look for Tails.
Sonic never made it, because he happened to pass his Uncle Chuck's hot dog stand. The smell of chili dogs was his one weakness, and Sonic stopped for a couple.
"Guess what, Uncle Chuck?" Sonic said, taking his first bite. "I found Anita!"
Uncle Chuck dropped the second chili dog he was preparing. Sonic caught it in one smooth motion. "Sorry," Sonic said. "Didn't mean to shock you there, Unc!"
"Anita's home?" Uncle Chuck said, untying his apron. "I have to see her!"
"Uh…actually," Sonic said. "She's in the hospital. Whoa! Whoa! It's okay! She's gonna be out of it for awhile, but she'll be fine. Mom and Dad are at the hospital now."
"Then I'd better get down there," Uncle Chuck said, packing up his stand. "Your parents are probably nervous wrecks by now."
"Actually," Sonic said sadly, "Dad's pretty broken up. You see, Anita was held prisoner by Metal Sonic, so we're afraid if she sees him…"
"Well, I know what your poor father's going through," Uncle Chuck said. "I spent quite some time as a robot. I'll talk to him." As he started to leave, he said, "Oh, how's Tails these days?"
"That's what I've been wondering," Sonic said, grabbing one last chili dog for the road. "I'll be by the hospital after I check on him. See ya, Unc!"
Happy, content, and full of chili dogs, Sonic decided to walk to Tails' house. It was a nice change of pace to actually see the scenery he was going past for a change. And it was because he wasn't running like he usually did that Ginger saw him.
"Sonic!" she squealed. "Finally! This is my big chance!" She put herself back into her "poor me" mode and hurried after him.
"Excuse me!" she called. "Excuse me!" Sonic stopped and turned to look at her. "Are you Sonic the Hedgehog?" she asked.
"Why, yes, I am!" Sonic said with a grin. "Still got it, I see!" he said to himself.
"Good!" Ginger said to herself. "He's a stuck up jerk! Guys like that are so easy to manipulate!" Out loud, she said, "My name is Ginger. I spoke to your friend, Miles, about my poor boyfriend. He-he was captured by one of that awful Eggman's robots, and I never saw himi again!"
"And you want me to find and rescue him?" Sonic said. "No problemo! Just give me a few details!" Now that he had finally found and rescued his sister, Sonic allowed himself to revert to his old cocky self again. He was so proud of himself, and flattered by the attention, he allowed himself to forget about Tails for a little while. And that was his mistake.
Tails, not knowing that Sonic was back, decided to complete the last few finishing touches on his greenhouse. Then he'd get back to work on his pet project. With the Master Emerald still regenerating, it would be extremely difficult. But he had plenty of fake emeralds to practice with. And, he was sure, he could always try again once Knuckles said the Master Emerald was healed.
A couple of hours later, Tails at last finished the greenhouse. He decided to wait until the morning to ask Cream to come over and help him transplant Cosmo's flower. He prayed it would be all right. Sometimes plants didn't survive being moved. If that happened…
Tails went back into his house to wash off the mud and dust he'd gotten completing the greenhouse. When he came out, he intended to take a little rest, then get back to work on his big invention.
Unfortunately, his mother had other ideas.
"Hi, precious! I'm home!" Rosemary crushed her son in a bear hug. "How's my little man!"
"Mom! Please!" Tails said. Well, he might as well tell her about Ginger and get it over with. "Mom, there's something I need to tell you…" Then he saw the boxes. "Oh no…"
"I have something to show you!" she said, dragging him over to the boxes. As he'd feared, they were from clothing stores. And the clothes inside of the boxes were more outfits that would get him beat up.
"Well, well," his mother said as he came out of his bedroom wearing one particularly ghastly outfit. Even Cosmo and Cream would laugh at this monstrosity. "Aren't you the handsome man!"
"You're…kidding," Tails said.
"That one's fine, let's go!" she said.
Tails eyes bugged out. Go? Outside? In this thing? Where people could see him?
"Are we going to a costume party?" he asked.
"Don't be silly, dear," Rosemary Prower said. "We're going to meet your father for dinner!"
"Like this?" Tails asked, shocked. "Mom, no!"
But it was no use. Tails was dragged away to dinner in his pink, ruffled shirt, purple vest, and khaki shorts. And because he was dragged away just then, he missed Sonic's phone call.
"Huh," Sonic said, hanging up. "Voice mail. I hope Tails is okay."
"What about my boyfriend?" Ginger demanded. By this time, she half believed in him herself.
"I really need to check on Tails," Sonic insisted. He took off.
"Hey!" Ginger yelled. This was taking up far too much of her time!
"Hey!" came a squeaky voice behind her. "You still want to work for the doctor?" It was Bokkun.
"What have you got?" Ginger demanded.
"Him!" Bokkun said, pointing to a huge robot that was standing about fifty yards away. "He grabs you, and Sonic saves you. Simple, huh?"
"And your boss claims to have a 300 I.Q.?!?" Ginger said, disgusted.
At Tails' house, Sonic found a note.
"Gone to dinner. Be back after total mortification! Tails"
Sonic sighed. Tails' parents seemed to be doing him more harm than good. Maybe Sonic should have listened to his own advice he'd given Amy, and minded his own business!
Sonic decided to go back and try to help that girl out. He returned just in time to see the big robot pick up Ginger.
"Hey!" Sonic yelled. "Let her go!"
"Oh!" Ginger cried. Perfect! "Help me, Sonic! Mommy!" There. That sounded good!
"Hang on!" Sonic cried. He raced at the robot, spin dashed between its legs, then leaped, back flipped, and kicked it in the backs of its knees. The robot wobbled. Eggman was producing a higher quality of mecha these days. No doubt he'd stolen designs from the Metarex.
Sonic ran up a tree, flipped, and ended up on the robot's head. He kicked it a few times. The robot reached for him. Sonic ran about for awhile, until the robot did what he'd hoped it would do. It punched itself in the head.
Sonic jumped onto its wrist, causing its arm to snap back so that it hit itself again. Still stupid, he noticed. Intelligent robots tended to decide, "Who needs you, fatso?" At which point, Eggman usually started crying out for Sonic to save him. That was why Eggman rarely made smart 'bots.
Sonic leaped down and tried the knee trick again. The robot went down this time. Sonic jumped and caught Ginger, who was screaming for real now. Sonic landed on the robot and ran across it, bouncing off its head. He set Ginger down, then raced back to finish it off. It rarely took long at this point, and this time was no exception. When he was finished, he turned to Bokkun.
"Um…I…gotta be going now!" Bokkun said, taking off. "Bye!"
"My hero!" Ginger cried. She grabbed Sonic pretty much the way Amy did. Sonic realized he actually preferred Amy's hug. Maybe he was starting to like that wacky little pink hedgehog after all.
"Um, you can let go now," Sonic said. "You're safe."
Ginger started the tears next. "Just before you came, that awful little robot told me that,…my boyfriend is dead!" She cried on Sonic's shoulder.
"I'm sorry," Sonic said. "I-I was out of the country for awhile. Maybe…if I'd come back sooner…" But then it would have been his sister who would have died. "You can't save everybody," the doctor had told him. No, but his successes tended to all blur together. It was his failures that stood out.
"Is there--is there anything I can do for you?" Sonic asked.
"Well…your little friend is cute," Ginger said. "Is he seeing anyone?"
Sonic pulled away from her. "You just found out your boyfriend died, and you want another one already?!?" Something wasn't adding up here!
"I…" Ginger didn't know what to say next. "I mean…when I get over my boyfriend. I…nobody wants to be alone, right?"
"Uh, yeah," Sonic said. "I, uh…I have to go look in on Tails anyway. You should be safe now. Bye!"
As she watched Sonic race off, Ginger cursed herself. "Okay, calm down. You can still do damage control. Sonic's not as naïve as the foxes, but I can get sympathy from them."
After searching half the town, Sonic finally caught up with Tails as he was on his way home with his parents.
"Oh, it's you," Amadeus Prower said to Sonic.
"I suppose you're here to drag Miles off to fight some stupid robot," Rosemary added.
"Yeah," Sonic said to himself, "I definitely gotta learn to mind my own business!" Out loud, he said, "Actually, I just need to talk to Tails for a minute."
"You can see him in the morning!" Rosemary insisted, grabbing Tails' hand. "Let's go, dear!"
"But, Mom!" Tails cried.
"You heard your mother!" his father said. "Reveille is at oh five hundred hours!"
Sonic shook his head. Well, he was sure Ginger couldn't cause much trouble before morning. Sonic raced off. Tails was safe for the time being. His sister was going to be fine. Sonic didn't have a care in the world at the moment.
Naturally, it wouldn't last.
Ginger watched Tails and his parents head home. She was going to approach them, but then she heard Tails say, "Oh, um, Mom? About that girl, Ginger? I should tell you, I've found out that she…"
"She's a nice girl, isn't she, Miles?" his mother interrupted.
"But, Mom," Tails tried again, "you need to know that she's…"
"Don't interrupt your mother!" his father said.
Ginger ducked around the side of the Prower house. So Tails was onto her, but his stupid mother was still clueless. Well, if she couldn't get fame out of this deal, she'd settle for discord among friends. She watched the Prowers go inside of their house. After a few minutes, his mother came out. She starting inspecting the lawn. Ginger made her move.
"Mrs. Prower!" she sobbed, running up to her.
"Ginger! What's wrong, dear?" Tails' mother asked.
"I begged Sonic to find my boyfriend for me, and he said it wasn't worth the effort!"
"I always thought that boy acted a lot more out of self interest than he claimed," Rosemary Prower said.
"Not only that," Ginger sobbed, hugging Tails' mother. "But then…then he told Miles lies about me, because I wouldn't go out with him!"
"He did, did he?!" Tails' mother demanded. "Well, don't you worry, dear! I'll take care of him! You can count on Rosemary Prower!"
Ginger grinned. "I knew I could, Ma'am!"
Bokkun snuck back into Eggman's headquaters. Maybe the boss wouldn't be too angry that another of his robots had just been trashed. The fat man was in his lab, of course. Working on yet another creation. Curious, Bokkun went to see what it was. He gasped as he got a good look.
"Boss! What are you doing?!?" he cried.
"Why isn't it obvious?" Eggman demanded. "I'm building a new robot! One that will completely destroy that meddling Tails. Or, failing that, possibly cause him to commit seppuku. And Sonic's so eaten up with guilt over what he's done to the fox, with Tails gone, Sonic will make a fatal mistake, and the world will at last be mine!" He laughed. Not his usual ho ho ho, but a twisted laugh, similar to Dark Oak's. Eggman had finally gone too far.
Bokkun looked down at his boss' latest creation. At a slim figure with pale greenish skin and green hair, dressed in white and green. With flower buds for ears.
It was a robot duplicate of Cosmo.
To be continued!