"What ?!" asked Sonic, still stunned by what he had just heard
"That creature has just kidnapped Cosmo!" repeated Tails, in tears and still socked.
Amy approached in her turn to Tails and she knelt down next to him.
"What he meant was how it looked like?" added Amy
Tails looked at Amy, the eyes full of tears, and he nodded, drying his tears and sniffing.
"Oh, Yes." He said, calmed down a little, "He looked like a hedgehog, as Sonic or Shadow, but with a silver fur".
Amy and Sonic looked at each other, dazed by this new. But the worst was still to come, and they were no prepared to hear that. In fact, Tails continued his revelation.
"… and he was levitating into the void when I saw him, about 2 or 3 yards from the house, holding Cosmo. And after a minute in wich he glared at me, he teleported himself in an unknown place".
"What?!" cried Amy, stunned by this announcement.
Sonic had swung to a sitting position so the news had surprised him. He looked at Tails, unable to believe what he had just heard. The only other hedgehog who be able to teleporting was Shadow, and it was a Chaos controller. So be it to another Chaos controller, or it was a being who possessed these powers naturally, and if it's that, he is very more dangerous. Especially since this one seems to levitate and destroy a wall with disconcerting ease. Moreover, this enemy had taken the pot containing the seed left by Cosmo. But why? What could such a powerful being have to do with it? All these questions jostled in his head, which made him remain frozen, his gaze staring at the void, like his two companions, who wondered about what had just happened.
Tails was especially worried about Cosmo: what could she have become? What could that hedgehog want from her? What was he going to do to her? All these thoughts could be seen on his worried and sad face. Sonic, out of his reflections, could see it well. Although he believed, unlike Tails, that it was a simple plant and no more Cosmo, he knew how much it meant to him. Moreover, if someone has gone so far as to steal it, it was because it must hide a secret and that he planned to use it badly. They need to find her. To find out who this person is, what were his goal. But they also had to do it for Tails. Sonic stood up, stood in the middle of the room and looked at Tails with a determined look and a confident smile, which erased for a moment the sadness of the kitsune's face, giving way to astonishment.
"Don't worry Buddy, we'll find her," Sonic exclaimed with determination. "You can't leave her in the hands of an unscrupulous kidnapper. And then, I want so much to find out who is this third Chaos controller »
Amy looked at Sonic with surprise, while Tails still had tears in his eyes, but looked at Sonic with intensity. He eventually got up and ran to Sonic in tears to jump into his arms. Sonic initially had a surprise reaction, but soon returned his embrace to the fox.
"Thank you Sonic!" cried Tails, weeping more and more.
But this time it was a mix of tears of sadness and joy. Sad, because he was always worried about what might have happened to Cosmo. But also with joy, for now that he had Sonic by his side, he already knew that Cosmo was saved in advance. Little by little, he let joy and hope prevail over fear and sadness, comfortably huddled in the arms of his older brother.
At the same time, as Tails not looking in her direction, Amy turned to Sonic and looked at him, incredulous at what had just happened. Sonic immediately understood Amy's incomprehension, and signalled that he would explain it to her later. At this moment, Tails loosened his grip on Sonic, meaning that he wanted to break the embrace. Sonic dropped him and walked a small yard away. He then saw a smiling Tails, looking confident and determined. Sonic couldn't help but smile.
"Well," Tails began, "I think I know how I can locate her easily."
"Who?" asked Sonic, "Cosmo? But why didn't you tell us instead? And why did you start crying then? »
"Well ..." Tails began, scratching the back of his skull and his tails wiggling nervously, "I think the surprise of the moment didn't make me think about it. »
"It doesn't matter Buddy," says Sonic, "the important thing is that we can spot this patient quickly and save Cosmo."
"Okay Sonic, I'm going right now," Tails said.
Then, before Sonic could say anything or hold him back and ask him to wait for them, he left the room and rushed into his lab. Sonic had a little laugh when he saw him so excited, and he was about to follow him, when he felt an arm resting on his shoulder to stop him. He stopped, turned around, and saw that Amy now looked at him with a reproachful look. Sonic immediately understood and began to justify himself.
"Look, Amy, I know that we were planning to talk to him about a potential adoption, and that encouraging him to think about Cosmo won't help. But it's not by depriving him of the last thing left of Cosmo that we will help him. »
Amy seemed to calm down a little, acknowledging that Sonic had scored a point. But she was still relatively upset.
"I know, but did you need to maintain her obsession with her?" she asked.
Sonic glanced interrogatively at Amy, really not seeming to understand where she was coming from. Amy then began to get a little more upset.
"You keep calling this plant Cosmo! But it's not her! How do you want him to turn the page if you keep identifying him with her?! »
Sonic, in turn, began to get angry, not really understanding why Amy was reacting.
"Sorry I wanted to give Tails hope! By the time we got there, he was desperate, and thought he'd lost everything from Cosmo! I wanted to hang him on hope and tell him we would find her. How do you think he would have reacted if I had treated him as a simple lost object?! »
"I would have reacted very well."
Sonic and Amy startled when they heard this voice coming from the entrance to the room and he knew very well. They turned around, hoping deep down that he was not the person they were hanging from. But unfortunately for them, this was the case: Tails stood in the door, and he had obviously heard everything, given a cold and serious look at them.
Sonic and Amy petrified and turned pale when they saw him, unwittingly confirming to Tails that they had something to hide from them. Sonic stepped forward a little, wanting to talk to Tails and, hesitatingly, he launched himself.
"How long have you been here Tails?" asked Sonic.
"I heard everything if you want to know," Tails replied, in a cold, direct tone, "I forgot my Miles Electric in my room."
Amy and Sonic looked ashamed of themselves for being found to conspire. For, even if it wasn't quite true, Tails must have taken it that way.
"What are you two up to? Do you think I'm stupid? I know it's not her anymore unfortunately. But I need this seed to recover, in fact. And that's all I mean to you? A helpless little being, weak and nothing more? What makes you think I need you! »
These words, Tails had yelled them in the room, with a thunderous anger, which had surprised Sonic and Amy to the highest extent. They were also shocked by Tails' words, which did not look like him. It must be said that what he said was true, and there was something to be angry about. They both blushed with shame, not knowing what to answer. Moreover, they sincerely hoped that ...
"And what's this adoption story?" added Tails, still very angry.
Precisely the point that Sonic and Amy hoped he hadn't heard. They turned pale again and did not know what to answer. But now the damage was done. Then Sonic gathered all his courage and launched himself, with a voice that became determined, but benevolent and reassuring as well. Tails, meanwhile, was still angry, but was ready to hear Sonic's explanations.
"Listen Tails, we all know that this plant is not Cosmo. If I wanted to help you, it's because having it helps you grieve. And also, to find out if this new force you had described to us was not in the wrong hand. »
Tails was still angry, but seemed to have calmed down a bit.
"I knew that," he says, dryly, "I'm not stupid. I want to talk about this adoption story. You're trying to decide what would be best for me for me, right? »
"No, not at all, we were planning to ask anyway, and it would be Vanilla, she is ... »
Sonic could not finish, for he was immediately interrupted by Tails.
"Well, my answer is no."
After that, under the incredulous eyes of Sonic and Amy, Tails fetched his Miles Electric and walked out of the room violently slamming the door, which had the effect of shaking the walls of knocking a piece of damaged floor behind Sonic into the void. Sonic was a little unbalanced, but Amy caught up with him in time.
"Thank you, Amy,"
Amy straightened Sonic, then dropped him. They then looked at each other, ashamed.
"But what did we do?" asked Amy rhetorically
"All we want is his good Amy. And now that we've started, we have to finish and at least try to insist a little. »
"What?! But did you hear it? Added Amy
"Yes," Sonic replied, confident, "but he didn't give us time to finish. We have to at least try to explain to him that it would be good for him. »
"But," Amy began, hesitantly, "what if we were wrong?"
"No, I didn't think so," Sonic replied, suddenly more serious and sadder, "I know what it's like to lose a loved one, and parents are the only way to fix it, which I didn't get. He needs it, believes me."
Loved ones? Loosing? yet another facet of Sonic's past that Amy did not know. But what surprised him more here was that Tails himself didn't seem to know, considering how Sonic presents it. When she looked at Sonic again, he was about to cry. Amy was actually surprised to see it as well and didn't know what to do. She decided to approach him and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Is it going Sonic?" she asked, "What's wrong?"
Sonic suddenly stood up, shook off the tears that had begun to form on his face and sniffed, before turning to Amy, a forced smile on her lip.
"Nothing Amy," he says, his voice falsely playful, "we should join Tails and apologize."
Sonic began to walk towards the exit of the room, leaving Amy behind, perplexed. At first, she hesitated to insist but then thought that it should not be better for now. She followed suit and the two hedgehogs left Tails' ruined rooms.
They proceeded cautiously down the stairs, lest Tails yell at them again, and saw Tails handle the Miles Electric rather brutally, showing that he was still angry. They approached him to apologize. But he turned abruptly and spoke before them, now more surprised than angry.
"I spotted her," he began, strangely calm.
"And ... Where is she? Sonic asked
"In the Eggman's base!" replied Tails.
"What?", Amy added, "That means Eggman has a new hedgehog under his command with Chaos Control abilities?"
"Yes," replied Tails, who had regained his composure due to the gravity of the situation, "and besides, he also has Cosmo now. But what does he want from him in the end? What could be more powerful than Chaos control? »
"I don't know, but we'll soon find out and rescue Cosmo," Sonic replied, reassuringly.
Tails' face became grave again, showing that he had not forgotten what he had just done.
"You don't have to lie to me Sonic, if you want to come, it's for this mysterious hedgehog, and I couldn't face him alone, so you can go with me. Otherwise, I would refuse your help."
Tails then walked to the hangar door of his workshop, to free the voice at the Tornado. Without turning around, he said again:
"Well, get in the back, I'll join you," he says dryly.
Sonic and Amy executed immediately, aware that they had crossed the line and that things should not be made worse. Tails continued to walk towards the door, being immersed in these thoughts.
"Maybe I shouldn't be so angry?" he thought, "They're just trying to help me? Maybe it's just stress"
He was now at the door, and he activated the opening system.
"No, it's this shenanigan about me and Ms. Vanilla. How can they decide what I should do with my life behind my back! I don't need parents. I already have Sonic, my big brother, and that's more than enough for me. I'm not a baby anymore! »
He walked to the X-Tornado, climbed into the cockpit and settled down. Once assailed, a new thought came to him:
"Yes, but Mrs. Vanilla is kind, and such a good mother to Cream. She might be a good one... ».
He abruptly waved his head, as if trying to hunt an insect, to try to drive out the idea. Under the wary eyes of Sonic and Amy
"No Miles, Push this idea out of your head. You had a family, but she abandoned you. I don't want to have a new one at the risk of losing it again. »
"Uh, Tails?" asked Sonic, worried.
Tails came out of his thoughts and turned slightly backwards, to glimpse Sonic leaning towards him.
"Sorry," Tails replied, "Let's go."
He pressed the start button, then pushed the accelerator. He crossed the row of leaning palm tree that served as his take-off runway, and when he reached the end of the runway, he pulled the lever to take off. The X-Tornado flew into the sky towards the Eggman base.
But near the base, in the shadows, someone had everything to observe and listen to.
"Could this be the truth? Wouldn't they have anything to do with what he predicted? If that is the case, I must now warn them of the danger they face. »
The dark shape moved a little away from the house and into an open space. He held in his right hand a green gem which he held forward.
"Chaos Control!"
The hedgehog disappeared and left the place of Tails' workshop empty.
Silver was still standing in the great hall of the Eggman complex, in front of the majestic pedestal which was supporting the Eggmobile, on which Eggman was still laughing.
Silver hesitated for a moment, then took a few steps forward and slit his throat to mean that he had something to say. Eggman stopped laughing and turned to the silver hedgehog.
"What?" he asked dryly
"Well," Silver began, "I wondered how this plant could help me defeat Sonic. I first found it ridiculous when I saw that I had to steal a simple plant, but I thought you could give me an explanation? »
For a moment, Silver would swear that Eggman was surprised and embarrassed by the question, but as the phrase dissipated quickly enough to give way to a big smile, he thought he was imagining stuff and focused on what the doctor had to reveal to him.
"Well, my dear Silver, this "plant" as you call it is all that remains of an alien's civilization now gone."
Silver couldn't hide his surprise when he heard these words:
"Alien's, you say?" he exclaimed.
"Yes Silver. A breed of plant alien with the same biological property as the mobians. They were called the Seedrian and ... »
"Wait a minute, did you talk about aliens/humanoid plants? So, it's too risky to wake her: who can say if that it's not the threat I moved for, and that instead of solving the problem it is created by bringing it back to life? »
Eggman looked at Silver as he widened his smile. But he was cut off in his tracks by his two robots, who took Eggman's place to speak.
"No, not at all. On the contrary. It can't be her you're looking for. This Seedrian was way too nice to be just hurting someone," Says Decoe.
"This girl was an angel," Bocoe added.
A third robot came from behind Eggman: a small robot flying with a black carcass carrying a kind of bag. He also spoke:
"And even when she died, Tails ... »
"It's good, we understood Bokkun! Cosmo was way too nice to be the girl you're looking for Silver. Maybe there are other Seedrian alive after all. »
When he had finished his sentence, Eggman began to smile again, but that smile was tense that time. Silver looked at him strangely.
"And so, she's dead? and who's that Tails and what did he do? Are you going to explain to me what you know at the end? »
Eggman seemed distraught. He had not planned a story to tell Silver until the time of Cosmo's resurrection, and his version was far from perfect. He thought for a second and improvised something.
"Yes, she's dead, and Tails ..." Eggman began, looking for something to answer to make up for Bokkun's mistake, "… Tails is a young fox who killed her! »
"What ?!" Silver replied, shocked, "But how can a child do that?"
"He killed Cosmo in cold blood because he and his friends wanted to annihilate the Seedrian, who were just waiting to live in peace with us. Cosmo tried to protect the planet from its people by merging with it to block the firing of Sonic's ship and his friends, but the shooting destroyed Cosmo and her planet. And now they want to attack Mobius by an army of artificial seedrian on the model of Cosmo, to making the seedrian guilty and thus justify their annihilation. And that's why they need this plant. They have thousands like this. »
Silver's eyes were wide open because of the surprise. These beings are horrible, even more so than they were in his vision, and the threat was far greater than he had imagined before.
"But they're monsters! Should we stop them? Where's that army? " threw Silver, panicked and shocked by what had just been said to him
"Slow down Silver. Let's not rush things. I don't know where is it, and that's why I asked you to get this plant back: it will allow us to defeat Sonic with her powers, regardless of the size of the army. Powers you can't even imagine. Now go get your friend, I'll get her alarm clock ready. »
At these words, Eggman pressed a button that caused the Eggmobile to fly away. He rotated it 180 degrees and made them head out of the room, followed by these three robots that were chasing him. Silver watched them walk away and when they had walked through the door, he walked to the private quarters there, behind a smaller door to his left in the room. He began to walk, and walked through this door, which led down a small corridor.
Eggman was still watching at him, on a screen on his Eggmobile, and he began suddenly to laugh. His three robots didn't understand, and looked at each other perplexed. Finally, Bokkun decide to ask the doctor:
"Why did you laugh?"
Eggman stopped laughing, but keep a big smile on his face:
"Simple: this hedgehog is so naïve. When he Cosmo will be my slave and him won't be useful to me, I will took all his power and energy and transfer it in Cosmo, creating a more powerful entity and ally."
"You're a genius" said Bocoe.
"Yes, I know." He replied.
And then, he began to laugh again arriving in his lab.
Silver walked in search of Blaze's cabin among the many rooms that overlooked this corridor. He then thought about everything that had just been said to him. Children and teenagers decided to attack an entire planet and its people just because they were disturbing them, and now they want to smear its image? and this Tails, how could he kill in cold blood a poor innocent child who wanted to save his people. Besides, Silver had seen this Tails when he stole the plant, and he looked sad, but why?
"Probably because his plan was falling through the cracks," Silver thought without question.
It's been a week since Eggman went after not wanting to tell them, and now he understood why: the truth was so horrible. He had to stop this disaster right away where then the same thing would happen in the place where they came from, Blaze and him. He didn't want that to happen. He didn't want their world to disappear. He did not want Blaze to disappear, for he was the most caring person of his life. He finally arrives in front of Blaze's cabin. He took a deep breath, always being nervous at the time when he had to speak with Blaze in such a formal way. He didn't know why, but he always did. Then he topped.
"Yes?" asked a female voice from within.
"It's Silver!" cried the hedgehog
He heard someone get up, and then the sound of heels approaching. The heel slams eventually stopped, and Silver opened the door. Then appeared in the door of a purple the size of Silver. She was wearing purple clothing, heeled shoes and a red jewel adorning her forehead. Silver was in awe of Blaze's beauty every time, and this time was no exception. But he had to hide it as much as possible. He blushed a little.
"Who does Silver have?" asked Blaze
"It's Eggman, I brought him the object he wanted."
"So, what was it?"
Silver told him everything that had happened to him: from the theft of the plant on his return, the history of Cosmo, and the role played by the protagonists of this morbid affair in their missions. Blaze was obviously shocked by all the unpacking of violence described by Silver, but also extremely perplexed in some respects.
"Wait, Silver, do you mean That Eggman hesitated when he told you the story of this Cosmo?"
"Yes," Silver replied, "but what does it matter?"
Blaze got a little angry when he heard Silver say that
"What?" she shouted, "But it's crucial as information. Who tells you he wasn't making up when he was talking to you? »
"I'm sure he was telling the truth!" said Silver.
"And how can you be so sure?" asked Blaze in return.
Silver began to get angry, which he rarely did in the presence of Blaze.
"I remind you that only the doctor was willing to house us and help us," he replied dryly.
"And do you believe all the people who welcome you into their homes?"
Silver calmed down a little and conceded this point to Blaze by nodding negatively.
"Well, that's it. And besides, you told me that Tails was scared and sad when you left, right? »
"Yes, it's true" conceded Silver
"And you really think someone like him could have done what you're describing to me."
Silver thinks a little, with his head down, and ends up raising his head, nodding negatively.
"Well, what's the conclusion?"
Silver suddenly became determined again:
"I conclude that I saw that Sonic, Tails and all the others were protecting this being who destroyed our world. Whatever I have seen or heard today, it does not change what I have seen. They're trying to fool us. »
This time it was up to Blaze to concede this to Silver
"On this occasion, you are right," she began, "but if you were wrong? What if you misinterpreted your vision? »
Silver sighed and turned to the inside of the hallway where he had stayed, ready to go.
"I'm sure of what I've seen. But if I was wrong about the interpretation of this vision, I am prepared to pay the consequences. ».
He then began to walk away, under the anxious gaze of his friends, gnawing away with doubt. She was sure Eggman was lying to them now: a week of silence, a shameless lie, and a frightened enemy in front of Silver. Nothing matched what they had imagined. But Silver, stubborn and naïve, preferred to believe the doctor at the risk of being wrong because he was a beautiful talker. She had to do something, open her eyes. And she was going to get down to work now, not leaving Silver: So if Eggman tries to fool him, she can update her speech inconsistencies or her hidden stuffed shots and show Silver that she was right. She ends up running to join him.
"Sorry Silver," she began, "But I'm sure the doctor is lying to us. Maybe you're right about Tails and his friends, but for Eggman, promise me to be careful and not to believe it systematically."
Silver turned his head to Blaze and, seeing his eyes restless, he finally gave in.
"Okay," he says with a smile, "I'd be careful."
Relieved, Blaze smiled back and the two mobians headed to the main hall of the complex, before returning to the door through which Eggman passed earlier. They entered a long corridor, in which they walked along to a large metal door. They passed through it and arrived in what appeared to be the doctor's laboratory: there were plans and diagrams all over the walls, blackboards filled with formula, test tubes and other chemistry utensils, as well as mechanical parts, on the many of the room. And in the middle, on what appeared to be the main work table, was the flower that Silver had brought back, just under a laser. They saw behind Eggman, watching them arrive with a big smile.
"Hi Blaze." said Eggman
"Hello doctor," Blaze replied coldly.
Eggman seemed surprised to see Blaze's reaction. She was suspicious of him, it was obvious. Distrust had to be put to sleep as quickly as possible by speeding up the process.
"Okay, stop chatting, let's start," he says, starting to make the final adjustments
Meanwhile, Silver and Blaze approached the machine, intrigued it was a kind of very imposing laser, whose generator had a diameter of 2 yards, but the tip through which the radius came out was only a few millimeters long and was oriented towards the flower. It was Silver who broke the silence.
"Wow, awesome!" said Silver, admiringly.
Eggman was glad he got them obsessed with his machine. He smiled broadly and began to explain.
"Thank you. But it's just a Chaos ray generator. Do you know the Chaos Emerald? »
"Yes, of course," said Blaze, suddenly interested, "why?"
"Because this machine works by extracting energy from emeralds and extracting it from emeralds and concentrating it. And with a filter, I can choose the power I use, like here the Chaos Regeneration. »
"Impressive," Silver repeated.
Eggman pressed one last button, and everything was finally ready. He asked Silver and Blaze to step back a little, before pressing the snap button. A high-energy Chaos laser then came out of the machine to hit the plant, but as it was a healing power, it did not explode. On the contrary, it grew more and more. The stems and leaves intertwined to form legs. Then the pot exploded, forcing the spectators to bend over to avoid the projectiles. When they got up, they saw that the Seedrian's body was almost whole, in a horizontal position, close to the table. Then, in a flash of light, what was only an interlacing of leaves and stem became a real body: that of Cosmo. Eggman turned off the machine and left Cosmo's body back on the operating table. Eggman then checked the girl's vital constants and discovered that she was normal. Eggman gloated.
"I did it! She's come back to life! »
Silver and Blaze approached the table, still reeling from the feat they had just achieved.
Silver turned to Blaze and began to whisper.
"See," he said, "you may have been afraid for nothing."
Blaze became serious again and turned in his turn to Silver:
"It doesn't prove anything at all."
At that moment, while Eggman was busy turning off the machine, Cosmo awoke. Everyone looked at her immediately, but Blaze was already looking at her face before she woke up. And for a split second, she saw in her eyes hatred, wickedness, cruelty. It soon gave way to a normal look, but it was not an innocent look, but a look imbued with evil that preceded it, and which probed Blaze's soul, while Cosmo was only a child, according to Eggman pure and innocent. Their eyes crossed, and it was enough for Blaze to conclude that something was wrong.
Meanwhile, the X-Tornado was approaching the position of Eggman's base. A frigid atmosphere had been ringing on the plane since their departure, and not a word had been spoken. But it was no longer anger: Sonic and Amy blamed themselves for what they had done to Tails, while Tails began to realize that there was no point in staying angry and that they had only thought of his own good. Sonic and Tails both had the idea of speaking at the same time, to express their thoughts.
"Listen Sonic ... »
"Tails ... »
The two quickly stopped to let the other speak, but neither wanted to speak. It was Amy who took it.
"We're sorry Tails, we shouldn't have taken care of your future and your life for you, it's up to you."
Sonic nodded as confirmation. Tails then spoke:
"It doesn't matter. And I'm sorry I took it like that. You just wanted to help me. »
"Thank you Tails," Sonic thanked him.
Tails was happy that things were going well again. Moreover, Sonic was not entirely wrong: although he was always against it, he liked the idea of having a mother. Tails then refocused on his flight line and GPS, indicating that they were approaching the Eggman base.
"Be careful everyone, we are approaching ... »
At that moment, a loud bang was heard to the right of the plane, which was spinning towards the ground, without Tails being able to control the smoke coming from the destroyed right wing made it impossible to fly by dirtying the cockpit. They were running for disaster.
"Watch out, we're going to spit."
As he uttered these words, the plane struck the ground, but not so violently as that. They did not even lose consciousness and were not hurt.
"Is everyone okay?" asked Tails.
Sonic and Amy nodded, which reassured Tails. Strangely, there was nothing that was broken in the aircraft either, only the wing. He then began to open the cockpit, which miraculously led in the right direction, like the rest of the aircraft. When he got out of the plane, he could see that the aircraft was as if it was lying on the ground. And in front of the plane stood a black hedgehog, a green emerald in hand.
"Shadow," said Sonic, who was also now leaving the plane. "Did you do that?"
"Yes," Shadow replied, "You must not reach this base, I will stop you."
"If you wanted your master to be satisfied," Sonic mischievously told him, "you shouldn't put a cushion under the plane."
"You don't understand!" said Shadow, exasperated, "you must not go or you will die."