Cosmo was on the bridge and Sonic came with a few boxes.
"Oh, this isn't the cargo hold." Sonic said.
"Oh... Hi, Sonic." Cosmo said.
"How's it goin', Cosmo?" he asked and spun off the bridge.
Tails and Chris were on the Runway finish erecting the palm trees on the ship.
"That's the last one." Tails said.
"I've been meaning to ask you, what's the point of having these artificial palm trees? It's not exactly tropical out here in space." Chris said.
"Yeah, I know, but it's all because of your grandfather. Chuck once told me that it's important to make a ship like home to keep up the crew's morale."
"Really?" Chris said. "His ideas sure are original."
On the Blue Typhoon Amy hammered a dent until it was repaired. Sonic arrived with his stack of boxes.
"Hiya, Amy. Watch this stuff for me, will ya?" Sonic said and He set the boxes down and started to leave.
"Wait Sonic!" she said and he stopped. "Uh, do you think Shadow is okay?"
He saw Shadow diving after the Crimson Egg.
"Don't worry. He's always makin' a comeback." he said and left.
"Hey! What should I do with this stuff?"
She sighed in frustration as Sonic continued running.
At the Engine room Cream and Cheese were helping Knuckles with repairs on the ship. Knuckles was tightening a nut with a wrench.
"It's lucky for us you can control the Master Emerald. It saved the ship!" Cream said.
"Chao!" Cheese said.
"Do you think that Rouge is going to be okay?"
The Crimson Egg descending into the gravitational field.
"Who cares about that bat? It serves her right for fluttering around where she doesn't belong!" Knuckles said.
On the Bridge using tongs, Chris placed a chip into a circuit board.
"I'm almost done..." Chris said and felt a pain blossoming in his leg.
"What's wrong?" Tails asked.
"Just a little sore."
Tails stood up.
"That was a tough fight." he said.
"The Metarex are totally relentless." Chris said sa the crystallized Planet Egg. "They keep collecting Planet Eggs. I know they're transforming them somehow, but I can't figure out why."
"Planet Eggs and Chaos Emeralds all have huge amounts of power. I bet the Metarex want to use that energy to take over the galaxy."
"How are we ever gonna defeat them? Red Pine said there were three other commanders out there with armies of Metarex ready to fight!"
"I don't know if we can win, but if we give up, the galaxy is doomed."
On Yellow Zelkove's Battleship Metarex General Yellow Zelkova pondered Red Pine's death. He was flanked by Metarex Troopers.
"How could Red Pine have been defeated? He was almost as strong as Me!" Yellow Zelkova said communicating with the two other Metarex Generals, Black Narcissus and Pale Bayleaf.
"What you and Red Pine never understood is that strength must be balanced with intelligence and skill." Pale Bayleaf said over the Radio and Bayleaf fiddled with a red Chaos Emerald. "You're far too proud of your power. Your strength is your weakness."
"You're calling me weak?!" Yellow Zelkova said.
On Black Narcissus' battleship Black Narcissus was also flanked by Metarex Troopers. His ship had landed on a deserted planet.
"This bickering is pointless. We should be fighting our enemies, not each other. We will not win this conflict unless we are unified." Black Narcissus said.
On Pale Bayleaf's battle unlike the other two generals, Bayleaf is seated in his command chair.
"We're not fighting. Just having a difference of opinion of our tactics." Pale Bayleaf.
"Argue if you want, but my focus will stay on our foes, especially on Sonic." Black Narcissus said.
On the Black Narcissus' Battleship there was an entire legion of Metarex Troopers standing behind Narcissus, who had landed his ship on a destroyed planet.
"He is far more dangerous than you realize. The fact that he defeated Red Pine is extremely disturbing. I must learn the secret of his speed and discover his weaknesses. I will not feel at ease until that hedgehog is eliminated."
On Zelkova's battleship the transmission ended with the other two generals.
"I'm tired of all this talking!" Zelkova said. "Why don't we go find him and fight him now?" he said and his troopers turned to him."
On Pale Bayfield's battleship.
"I will not be intimidated by a hedgehog. He and his fellow fighters were weakened by their recent battle." Pale Bayleaf said and tossed the Emerald into the air and caught it with the same hand. "The powers at our command are more than enough to finish off Sonic forever!"
On the Blue Typhoon bridge.
"There's an unidentified spacecraft directly in front of us!" Chris said.
"Have you picked up their ID code?" Tails asked.
"They aren't sending any." Amy said.
"Put a visual on the main monitor. Maximum zoom!"
"Roger." Chris said.
"Is it a Metarex?" Cream asked.
"Chao chao!" Cheese said.
An image of the detected spaceship appeared on the jolo-monitor. The crew recognized it as the Chaotix' spaceship.
"It's Vector!" Sonic said through gritted teeth.
On the Blue Typhoon Hangar Chris, Sonic, and Tails were meeting with the Chaotix.
"We're not sure how it happened exactly, but we got lost in space." Espio said.
"And there was no place to stop and ask for directions." Vector said and laughed.
"You mean you've been lost since you delivered those packages to me? But that was weeks ago!" Chris said.
"Well... outer space is a big place." Vector said. "Plus our warp engine gave out, and we didn't have any jumper cables to restart it."
"You should've sent out an SOS, and we would have picked you up sooner." Sonic said.
"Our transmitter got broke thanks to a certain bumblin' bee."
"It wasn't my fault." Charmy said.
"I can probably repair your ship, but it will take some time, and until I'm done, you will have to wait on board the Blue Typhoon. While you're stayin' here, I don't want any trouble, okay? Captain's orders." Tails said.
"No problem." Espio said.
"Eh? Forget it! I'm not gonna let you boss me around!" Charmy said.
"Fine! Then I won't fix your ship!" Tails said.
"Don't listen to him. I give you my word, we'll be on our bestest behavior." Vector said. "And since you're makin' repairs anyway, why don't you install a multi-functional auto navigational system? That way we can get home!" he said and put a hand on Tails shoulder.
Everyone else but Tails sweatdrop.
"...No problem." Tails said.
Later, Tails was at work on the Chaotix' spaceship as Cosmo wheeled a cart of food to him.
"Lunch is ready." she said and looked around. "Hey, where did Chris go?"
"He's finishing the repairs on the Blue Typhoon for me. I've got my hands pretty full fixing Vector's ship." Tails said.
"We sure keep you busy, don't we?"
"Ah... It's nothing I can't handle. And besides, I like making repairs."
Vector, was watching them, chuckled when Espio approached him.
"What do you know!" Vector said.
"What's going on, Vector?" Espio asked.
"Now I see why Tails didn't want us around while he fixed our ship. That little fox sure is foxy."
"Huh?" Charmy asked as he entered.
"Tails has a crush on that green girl. He got rid of us so that he could be alone with her, and I'll bet that he'll ask her for a date or invite her to take a spacewalk so they can gaze at the stars!" Vector said.
Meanwhile Tails was taking a break.
"I think you and the others have been pushing yourselves too hard lately." Cosmo said.
"At least we have time to take it easy now." Tails said and took a sip of his tea.
"This would probably be a good time to spring my surprise on everybody."
"What kind of surprise do you have in mind, Cosmo?"
"I'm not going to tell you."
With the Chaotix...
"Look at 'em. Tails is too shy and insecure to tell that girl how much he cares about her! I know exactly what that feels like!" Vector said teary.
"I think you drank too much swamp water when you were a baby." Charmy said while Vector sobbed.
Later they walked down a corridor.
"Tails says he doesn't need help fixin' up my ship, but wanderin' around doin' nothin' while he sweats away makes me feel like a freeloader! I've been thinkin' that since Tails is scratchin' our back, maybe me oughta scratch his back!" Vector said.
"It's itchy?" Charmy said.
"That's just an expression!" Vector shouted out.
"Sor-ry..."
"We'll repay Tails for what he's doin' by helpin' him with the heart of that green gal!"
"We're detectives, Vector, not matchmakers." Espio said.
"I've come up with a someone I call "Dame in Distress". Here, let me tell you how it'll work." Vector said as they huddled.
At the Engine room Knuckles was polishing the Master Emerald and looked up when he heard a noise.
"Hey, who's there?" he asked and Charmy appeared.
"It's me. I'm getting bored of waiting for my ship to get fixed. Do you wanna play tag with me?" Charmy said.
Knuckles looked weary before getting back to work.
"I've got more important things to do." he said.
"Knuckles can't catch me! Knuckles can't catch me! Knuckles can't catch me! Naa naa naa naa naa naa!" Charmy said raspy and made another face.
Knuckles chuckled.
"You're gonna be sorry you said that, buzz boy!" he said and ran towards Charmy, but he sprayed him with a floral-scented spray.
Then he fainted, and Charmy lowered him to the ground. Vector and Espio emerge from behind a wall.
"He weighs a ton!" Charmy said.
"Good work, Charmy! Now I'll take over." Vector said and opened the case of markers. "When I'm through, his own mama won't recognize him!" he said and drew on Knuckles' face while Charmy laughed. "You take it from here, Espio."
"Right." Espio said. turned and picked up Knuckles while Vector and Charmy smiled.
Meanwhile Cosmo walked down the same hall the Chaotix were in earlier.
"I hope everybody enjoys my surprise." she said. "I hope everybody enjoys my surprise." she said.
Suddenly the heavily-modified Knuckles, hefted by Espio, appeared in front of her.
"Cosmo!" Espio said intimidating and Cosmo screamed. "I switched sides. I'm fighting for the Metarex now! I'm going to take you prisoner!" he said and accidentally dropped Knuckles but picked him up. "Resistance is useless. Th-th-the Metarex rule!"
Cosmo looked less scared and more confused. Vector and Charmy watched from upstairs.
"Growl or something!" Vector said and Charmy motioned for Espio to scare Cosmo.
"This is ridiculous." Espio said.
As Espio moved Knuckles' arms, Tails emerged from another room.
"All right! Tails to the rescue!" Vector said quietly.
"What are you doing, Knuckles? ... Cosmo?" Tails asked.
Vector and Charmy looked surprised that their plan was failing.
"Don't ask me. He jumped out, said some crazy things, and started dancing." Cosmo said.
"Knuckles, why do you have makeup all over your face?" Tails asked while Espio violently shook Knuckles.
"Is that ballet?"
"I don't know." he said and approached Knuckles.
"Forget it, Espio! Run for it!" Vector said quietly.
"This isn't over yet, Cosmo!" Espio said and fled with Knuckles.
"I thought Knuckles was always serious. I didn't realize he was secretly a practical joker." she said and giggled, as Vector and Charmy sweatdrop.
"Unfortunately, I think Knuckles came out ahead in this round." Charmy said.
"Yeah, at this rate, he's gonna give Tails some competition!" Vector said and the laughed.
On the Crimson Egg Decoe and Bocoe were repairing each other's damaged bodies with hammers.
"That gravity field we fell into really bent me out of shape!" Decoe said.
"Well, what about me? Are my dents almost done?" Bocoe said.
"You never had any damage. I just enjoy striking you with this." Decoe said as Bokkun tapped him.
"Hey, look at me?" Bokkun said.
Decoe and Bocoe turned to him to see that the gravity field had made him taller, taller than even Decoe.
"You really better stand out of my way!"
"How did you turn into a big shot?" Bocoe asked.
"The gravity field must have stretched him out." Decoe said.
"We can fix that." Bocoe said and they turned on Bokkun with their hammers.
"We'll pound you down to size!" they said together and chased him around the cockpit with their hammers.
"I like being tall! You shrimps are just jealous 'cause you from now on! Can't we settle this on a basketball court?!"
In Shadow's room Eggman and Rouge were looking at Shadow's stasis chamber.
"Well, Rouge, you got more than you bargained for when you stowed away on my ship." Eggman said.
"That's an understatement. All I wanted was the Chaos Emeralds." Rouge said.
"I suspected it all along."
"What happened to us, anyway?"
"It would appear we were swallowed up by some kind of gravity field, and spit back out into an unknown part of the galaxy."
"You're joking, right?"
"It may take us a little while to get our bearings. With luck, we'll be able to return to our own region of space without too much difficulty."
"I hope so." she said and they looked at Shadow, who was in the stasis chamber. "But what'll we do about sleepyhead here?"
"Shadow needs some time to recover. He's still knocked out because he released all his energy before he transformed into Super Shadow, and now he's completely run down. I just hope it hasn't had any other interesting effects on him."
"Could he get his memory back?"
"Maybe." he said as Shadow slowly opened his eyes.
"What happened to me, Doctor?" he asked.
"You passed out, but you're fine." Eggman said.
"Did everybody else make it out safely?"
Eggman grinned.
"You saved us all! Thanks to that ring on your wrist, you overpowered our enemies."
"...Really?"
On the Blue Typhoon Tails and Cosmo were carrying piles of boxes. They approached each other at a corner and accidentally ran into each other, causing them to drop the boxes.
"Sorry..." Tails sad and Cosmo started to restack he boxed.
"It was my fault! I should've looked where I was going." Cosmo said.
"Are you okay?" he asked while he helped her.
"I'm fine, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
Tails noticed a pink box on the ground.
"Huh?" he said and picked it up and opened it with a flower in it. "Cosmo must have dropped this when I bumped into her."
Meanwhile, the Chaotix were walking together.
"Guys, my new plan's sure to do the trick!" Vector said and they stopped in front of a door.
"I'm afraid to ask what your plan entails." Espio said.
"Well, it's still a work in progress." Vector said and pressed the button to open the door.
Tails ran past them not seeing them.
"Where's he goin'?" he said while Tails entered another room.
Meanwhile Cosmo was decorating a room. There was a stage with stage lights, and a sign that says "THANK YOU EVERYBODY!" She was on a ladder, trying to reach something. Tails entered the room.
"Cosmo!" he said and she turned around.
"Now it won't be a surprise." she said as Tails came closer.
"Why did you decide to throw a party for everybody?"
"I know fighting the Metarex can be exhausting, so I thought you all deserved to have a little bit of fun."
"It's not easy to put a party together all by yourself. Why don't you let me give you a hand?"
"But you have to repair Vector's ship."
"It' wasn't in bad shape. I'm already done. I'm all yours now."
"Then I'll take you up on your offer."
"Great! What would you like me to do?"
"Let me see..."
The Chaotix watched them from outside the room.
"Tails is doin' pretty good on his own." Vector said.
"Then there's no need for us to get involved. Let's go." Espio said.
"We can't leave yet! You're completely clueless when it comes to this stuff, Espio. This romance still needs a little push, and since I'm naturally pushy, I'm just the one to make sure Tails wins that girl game, set, and match!" Vector said and walked into the room. "Ahem! Why, hello!"
"Oh, Vector!" Cosmo said.
"We were passin' by when we overheard ya talkin' about the surprise party. If you don't mind, we'd like to help out too!" he said as Espio and Charmy entered.
"Oh, thanks a lot."
"I'm not so sure this is a good idea." Tails said. while Vector wrapped his arm around him.
"We're repayin' you for fixin up our ship, foxy-woxy! All we ask is that you and the missus remember to invite us to the wedding." he said. "D'oh! Never mind." he said while Tails set up garland. "Seein' how Tails is so shy, I have a hunch he won't be anywhere near Cosmo while he's helpin' her." he said to himself
Then the lights turned off in a shot.
"So we're gonna stage a bogus blackout." Vector said to himself.
Espio pushed Cosmo, and Vector pushed Tails together.
"That's when me and Espio make our move and give 'em a helping hand." Vector said to himself while Tails and Cosmo blushed. "After Tails and that girl stand close to each other for a few seconds, I guarantee that sparks will really start flyin'!"
They held hands and smiled.
"We'll call it "Project Date on the Dark"!" he said to himself and laughed quietly.
"Okay, you can help us if you promise to back off." Tails said.
In a moment, Espio stood by Cosmo as she set up garland, and Vector stood by Tails as he tinkered with the sound system.
"It's just as I suspected." Vector said and signaled to Charmy who turned off the lights.
"Let's move!"
"Okay!" Espio said.
Then they accidentally grabbed the wrong objects and ran into each other in the dark. The lights are turned back on, and Tails and Cosmo approached the unconscious Vector and Espio.
"Are you all right?" Cosmo asked.
"Don't you guys know it's dangerous to run in the dark?" Tails said.
"Even the best plan can blow up on ya..." Vector said with his eyes closed.
Then he opened his eyes, showing fireworks. Later, Vector and Espio were sitting at a table while Tails, Cosmo, and Charmy worked on decorations.
"Are you ready to give up now?" Espio asked.
"I'm just starting' to get warmed up, old buddy. No matter what it takes, I'm gonna make sure that true love triumphs!" Vector said.
"You should let their relationship develop naturally."
"My next scheme's so perfectly planned it can't fail!" Vector said. "All I need's for you to disappear!" he said then suddenly had another idea.
"But Vector... ...I'll do it."
Espio was invisible, ready to drop the handkerchief.
"Hey, Cosmo!" Tails said and Cosmo turned to him from atop the ladder. "Do you have any more streamers for me to put up?"
"Go!" Vector said quietly and Espio dropped the handkerchief, making it look like Cosmo dropped it.
"You dropped your hankie, Cosmo." Tails said and picked it up.
"But that's not mine." Cosmo said.
"Well, whoever this belongs to really needs to drop it in the washing machine."
"Hey, look, something is embroidered there."
"V-e-c-t-o-r." he said and Espio fainted, knowing that the plan was bust.
"Vector! I think you'd better have this thing disinfected."
"Yeah, I'll do that." Vector said blushing.
Later, the Chaotix were back at the table.
"I'm not gonna get involved in any more of your hankie-pankie!" Espio said.
"I can't believe how Tails keeps blowin' the opportunities I've given him!" Vector said.
"For a detective, you certainly are clueless.
Meanwhile, the decorating was nearly finished.
"It looks great, Cosmo!" Tails said.
"I never would have finished without your help, Tails." Cosmo said. "I really owe you.
"You don't have to thank me, Cosmo. I like being with you."
"Ah, really? ... Me too, Tails. It's been fun to work together. We make a pretty good team. Don't you think so?"
"I agree!"
"Well, Vector, I'd say there's no need for you to turn up the heat, unless you want to get burned again." Espio said.
"I guess it's true bein' a love detective ain't exactly my speciality." Vector said.
"So your matchmaking mission is finally over, Vector?" Charmy asked.
Vector stood up.
"Not yet, Charmy." he said. "Those two squares sill need to learn how to have a ball!" he said and kicked a disco ball, and it bounced around the room before heading right for Cosmo.
"Cosmo!" Tails said and tackled her out of the way. "You weren't hurt, were you, Cosmo?"
Her eyes opened, and she blushed slightly.
"I'm fine, Tails, thanks to you." she said.
"Sorry." he said and found himself blushing too.
"Oh... that's okay."
They saw the Chaotix standing there and Tails sat cross-legged, trying to ignore what's going on.
"Don't you have something better to do?" Tails asked.
"No, not really!" Vector, Espio and Charmy said.
Cosmo was holding the disco ball and looked up at the spot where it was supposed to go. Tails lifted her into the air.
"You look like you could use a lift." he said and helped her with the disco ball.
"It's lucky for me you know how to fly."
"I've been thinking...
"What is it?"
Tails averted his eyes, hesitant to admit his feelings for Cosmo.
"Uh... Maybe... we could do this more often." he said.
The Chaotix looked on.
"Their relationship's taking off!" Vector said.
"Time to party!" Tails said.
The disco ball was switched on, and it casted its light around the room.
"Whoa! Wait 'til the others see this!" he said.
"It's amazing! Now we have to figure out how to get everybody in here."
"What'll we do?"
"We'll bring all your guests to the surprise party courtesy of the Chaotix Detective Agency!" Vector said and the saluted.
Later the Chaotix once again walked down a hall.
"Lemme see... How can we get the crew to the party?" Vector asked.
"For starters, we could promise you won't be there." Espio said.
They were shocked to see that Knuckles was awake and walking.
"If I ever run into those clowns again..." Knuckles said through gritted teeth and turned on the Chaotix. "You messed up my face!" he said and revealed his Shovel Claws. "And now I'm gonna return the favor!" he said and the Chaotix backed away.
"Come on! I can explain!" Vector said. "Let's go!"
"Get back here!" Knuckles said and chased the Chaotix down the hall.
The Chaotix ducked back into the party room. Knuckles opened the door, and didn't even see the party.
"It's payback time!" he said and attacked them, damaging the party in the process.
Then Sonic, Tails, and Cosmo entered.
"What have you guys been doin' in here?" Sonic asked.
A moment later.
"Cosmo wanted to do something special for us, so she was gonna throws us a surprise party. I guess it's off now." Tails said.
"Whoops." Knuckles said.
"Do you hafta cancel the party?" Vector asked.
"Of course you don't! We don't need any fancy decorations to have a good time. All that matters is we're together." Sonic said.
This lifted Cosmo's mood.
"Right, Sonic!" she said.
"Thanks for the party!"
Vector thought that Sonic was in love with Cosmo instead.
"Great. She likes Sonic now. It's back to square one!" he said to himself.
Knuckles returned the favor of what was done to him earlier by painting Espio's face. Charmy, whose face was also painted, laughed. Amy twirled around in a new floor-length dress.
"Well, Sonic, what do you think? Do you like my party dress?" she asked.
"You look gorgeous, Amy!" Cream said.
"Chao chao!" Cheese said and approached Sonic.
She approached Sonic.
"I wore this dress just for you. Now you can tell me how pretty I look. I know. You're too stunned for words." she said.
Sonic sweat profusely.
Soon, everyone was in the party room seated at the party.
"So there I was, flushed down the sewer with no hope of escaping, except for my superior brainpower." Vector said while Espio and Charmy emerged and struck poses, causing everyone else to laugh.
Tails saw Cosmo standing by herself near the window so he get up and approached her.
"Cosmo?" he said.
"Hi, Tails." she said.
"It wasn't quite what we expected, but the party turned out great."
"I'm glad everybody's having a good time.
"Oh yeah... Here." he said and handed her the flower she had dropped earlier. "You dropped this before. I polished it up for ya. I hope you don't mind."
Cosmo is overly delighted.
"I think it's just wonderful! she said overly delighted. "Thank you so much!"
"I was hoping it would make you happy." he said. "Cosmo certainly is special. I only wish I could tell her how I feel." he said thinking.
After a moment of looking at Cosmo, he blushed.
"You're so beauti- Whaah!" he said and realized what he was saying and panicked.
"It's true; the stars are beautiful. I'm so happy right now. I feel like I could stand here staring at them forever."
"So do I." he said and chuckled embarrassedly.
Sonic and Knuckles looked at them smiling thinking about a friend Sonic loves and Sonia for Knuckles.