Chapter Four: He Returns
It was now near the end of November. Light, cold breeze started blowing through naked tree branches as classes started going back in session at school after Thanksgiving break.
Tails was sleeping on the couch with Cosmo. His alarm went off, and it gave Cosmo a shot of adrenaline. "Tails!" She blurted out as she awoken. She then sighed in relief after the fact. "It's just the alarm clock.." She chuckled to herself. "Tails, it's time to get up." Cosmo shook him awake. Tails was a very heavy sleeper. He didn't even hear his alarm clock.
"Mmh...will you marry me...?" The fox mumbled in his sleep. Cosmo blushed a bit, and shook him again. "Tails!" She shouted playfully to wake him up. "COSMOTAKECAREOFTHEKIDS!" He shouted as he woke up. "Oh...'Morning, Cosmo!" He chuckled nervously, and yawned.
"Today's the big day, Tails!" Cosmo reminded him. "...Huh? Oh, right!" Tails remembered, and rushed to get ready. It was "Best Friends Day", basically the day that was meant for the two.
Tails put on his shoes, and grabbed a scarf to keep warm. "So, what did you want to do today?" He realized they didn't really have anything planned. "Hmm...I dunno. Maybe go to the mall or something?" Cosmo asked. "Alright, then. We'll walk there." Tails said. "Okay." Cosmo replied as Tails locked the door and started walking while holding his hand with hers.
"Oh, y'thought I was done with'ya, huh? We'll see about that." A familiar voice laughed devilishly behind the bushes. Tails started to hear rustling. "Wh-What was that?" Tails said as he turned his head toward the bushes behind him. "What?" Cosmo asked. The person that was hiding behind the bushes jumped out. It was the bully that Tails and Cosmo had encountered back in the Summertime. He attacked Tails by giving him a sucker punch.
"Aah!" Tails screamed in pain. "Yeah, how's it feel, freak!?" The bully said. "Hey, you leave him alone!" Cosmo yelled at him. He got up and started walking towards her, he picked her up and threw her to the ground. She cried out from the blow. Tails heard her, and got up to start walking towards the bully. "You didn't learn, huh?" He said in almost a deadly voice. He went to throw a punch, but the bully blocked it and kicked him back in the shin. Tails fell.
"Ya think you're so strong? Meet me in front of the Mobius Elementary School. Tonight. At 6 o'clock." The bully stood on top of him. "I'll be there." Tails stood back up. "Good. And make sure to bring your pathetic girly-friend with'cha!" He said as he pointed at the poor seedrian who was still crying.
"No! Never!" Tails yelled at him. The bully picked him up by the neck and lifted him upwards. "Bring her with you, or I'll tell everyone that you're nothing but a pathetic, two-tailed fox freak with a weird flower girl that you walk around with!" He said threateningly and threw him on the ground.
"Grr...I'll fight you right now! COME ON! PUT UP YOUR DUKES!" Tails yelled, then started charging at him again for a punch. The bully dodged it, kicked Tails upward, and punched him two feet away. "Yeah, right." He looked at him pathetically. "Tonight, 6 o'clock, Mobius Elementary." He reminded Tails. "Ha, this is gonna be so easy!" The bully laughed to himself as he started walking away. "The name's Diablo, by the way." He added.
Tails recovered, and immediately ran to Cosmo. "Cosmo, are you okay?" He panicked. She clinged on to Tails and cried hard. "Shh..." Tails caressed his arm around her. "It's okay..." He said quietly. Tails then picked her up bridal style, and ran back to the house. He didn't bother flying, because his house was only a block away, and he wanted to make Cosmo feel safe as possible.
When they got back...
Tails put a bandage on Cosmo's forehead, and gave it a kiss. A half-hour later, Cosmo had been sitting on the couch with a blanket wrapped around her with tears starting to brim from her eyes. That bully had really scarred her.
"...Cosmo? A-Are you feeling any better?" Tails came into the room she was in, and asked her worryingly. "...Inside or outside?" She answered with a whimper. "Wh-What do you mean?" He asked again. "I-I...I don't want you to fight against him! I don't want you to lose!" She started crying again. Tails had lowered his head in dejection, until he thought of an idea. "Don't you worry, Cosmo! I just might have an idea!" He announced. "...What?" She asked. Tails grabbed the blueprint he had lying on the kitchen counter to show to Cosmo. It was a blueprint for an arm cannon.
"With this cannon, I can pretty much make the effect of a million blows at once! I'll use it on Diablo, then BOOM! He'll leave us alone forever!" Tails answered. Cosmo started crying harder. "Wh-What's wrong, now?" He asked. "You don't have to shoot him, Tails!" Cosmo yelled. She didn't believe in using violence to solve problems. "Cosmo, would you rather let me defend myself, and protect ourselves from that bully? Or risk him not learning his lesson, and try to KILL US!?" He accidentally shouted back at her. "...Why are you yelling at me!?" Cosmo cried even harder.
"Oh! Uh, I-I didn't mean to say it like th-that! Uh!" Tails stuttered. "...Tails, you idiot!" He mumbled to himself. He then sat on the couch with her to calm her down again. "Shh, shh, shh...I didn't mean it like that..." Tails caressed his arm around her once more, and explained everything in a tone she would understand.
"Yeah, I-I wouldn't really shoot the guy. I mean...Sure, he's, not a nice guy, but...i-it's just a way for me to tell him to leave us alone, and never bother us again. Okay?" He said. Cosmo sniffled, but she understood. "Okay..." Cosmo answered. "Here..." Tails lied her down with her head on the arm of the couch. "...You should take a nap for a while, just to calm down." He said.
"Alright...I'm so sorry I got upset earlier, Tails." Cosmo apologized. "No! No no no, you had every right to be upset! I mean...I-I'd be the same way about you, if you got into a fight..." Tails replied as he blushed. "Thank you, Tails..." Cosmo said as she fell asleep. Tails kissed her on the forehead again, exactly where the bandage was. "You're welcome, Cosmo..." He smiled, and flew out to his workshop to build his contraption.
A few hours later...
It was 5:19PM; less than an hour until the big fight. Tails was still in his workshop, tuning up his arm cannon, and Cosmo was still inside, sleeping. Eventually, she woke up, and looked for Tails. She went into the kitchen to get some cereal, and looked at the clock. "Hmm...I hope poor Tails does okay out there..." She said to herself. Speaking of which, she then heard electrical, drilling noises from the backyard. "...Hm? What's that?" She opened the back door, and followed the noises.
Tails had a little plushie that he was practicing with as a target. It was blue covered with purple spots, it wore a green shirt, and had a big grin on its face. "You mess with me and my Cosmo, hmph...You're just asking for it, buddy..." He charged up his arm cannon. "There you are, Tails!" Cosmo shouted. "Aah!" She scared Tails, making him accidentally shoot at a tree. The shot left a wide open hole in the center of the tree. "Well...now at least I know it works...Heh..." Tails said awkwardly.
"Are you okay, Cosmo? You slept for quite a while in there!" He then immediately went back to worrying about Cosmo. "Yeah...I'm feeling a lot better. I'm just so worried about you." She replied. "There's no need to worry about me, Cosmo. With this on my side, I'll win for sure! I'm gonna use it on him when he leasts expects it!" He said in a brave voice. "Hmm...If you say so, Tails..." Cosmo replied worryingly.
At 6:00PM...
Tails and Cosmo both arrived in front of the school. "Alright, wish me luck!" Tails said as he was running. "I wish you the best of it..." Cosmo sighed to herself. Tails looked at the crowd of kids that were standing by Diablo. One of the kids had a whistle around his neck. "Wow, they even have a referee here! Should I be worried? ...Nah. Come on, Tails! You got this!" Tails thought to himself. "Well, well, well, look who has arrived. If it ain't the two-tailed fox freak. To be honest, I never thought you actually were gonna show up!" Diablo chuckled. "I'll do anything to protect my friends!" Tails shouted back at him.
"Alright! In this corner, we have: Diablo D. Evil!" The referee shouted. "You're gonna go flat like a pancake." Diablo said as he pounded his fists together. "And in this corner, we have: Tails The Fox!" The referee shouted again. "Mess with me and my Cosmo, we'll see about that!" Tails said as he crack his knuckles."Okay! On your marks! Ready...GO!" The referee announced one last time as the fight began.
Diablo went for his usual attack, but Tails dodged it and punched him in the back. "First hit from Tails The Fox!" The referee stated. "C'mon, Tails! You can do it!" Cosmo shouted, as she was watching him from the other side of the gate. "What!? Grr...RAAAHHH!" He went for his kick-punch attack, but Tails dodges it. "Too slow, Egghead!" Tails taunted with the same attitude as Sonic's, as he punches Diablo just as rapidly multiple times. Diablo fell on the ground. "And Diablo is DOWN!" The referee exclaimed. "One...two...three...four...five..." He then started counting with his fingers, but Diablo got up and punched Tails right in the chest, leaving him to land on his knees.
"First attack from Diablo!" The referee stated. Diablo then put Tails in a headlock and kicked him in the skull continuously. "No! Tails!" Cosmo shouted. Diablo picked him up and threw him on the ground. "And Tails is DOWN! One...two...three...four...five..." The referee counted. Cosmo looked like she was about to cry, and Diablo looked at him pathetically. " Tch, tch, tch, you're such a stupid little freak." He said as the voice echoed through Tails' mind. "...Six...seven...eight...nine..." The referee continued counting.
"AAAAAHHHHH!" Tails got up and shouted. He kept preforming every kind of attack on Diablo. Punches, kicks, shoulder charges, body slams, everything. Eventually, he jumped off of Diablo's shoulders, and flew in mid-air to charge up his cannon. "I...am not...a...FREEEEEAK!" He shot the cannon, causing a huge electrical explosion. Diablo was three feet into the ground. Everyone stood in awe. Even the referee was shocked, but he counted anyway. "One...two...three...four...five...six...seven...eight...nine...TEN! It's a knock-out!" He announced. "Tails The Fox is the winner!" The referee lifted Tails' cannon hand in the air victoriously. Everyone cheered and applauded.
Eventually, the principal of the school came out, and saw the damage that the fox had caused. "What is the meaning of this!?" He shouted. "Uh-oh...here comes the real blood..." One of the kids in the audience said in guilt. "Well, uh, Diablo challenged this fox kid to a fight, sir." The referee replied to the principal. "And as you can see, he, uh...kinda won." He added. "Diablo, huh?" The principal knew the kind of student he was, but Tails took it as a threat.
"L-Look, sir! I-It's not what it looks like! He almost tried to kill me and my girl- I-I mean...best friend. So I had to do what I had to do." Tails said. "Did you kill him!?" The principal asked. "N-No, sir! Of course not! This weapon isn't lethal! Although, he's...probably gonna be hurting for quite a while." Tails replied. "I see...Look, I'll handle everything. Just go home, boy." The principal said. "O-Okay..." Tails questioned to himself.
"You got rid of Diablo!" A little girl came up to him. "The king of mean!" One kid said. "The ruler of violence!" Another kid added. "And the biggest dunce at school." The principal said. All of the kids laughed.
"Diablo, you should be ashamed of yourself! Coming up to a kid you don't know and almost kill him!? Quite frankly, I think you did deserve that. Once you recover, you will be expelled from this school forever!" The principal stated in a strict manner. "Good! I'd rather that! That kid's got a gun!" Diablo pointed at Tails in fright. "Oh, shut up! It's not like it killed you!" Tails added before he left. "Grr...Ow!" Diablo cried as he tried to get up.
When they left...
"...I guess you were right, Tails. It really didn't kill him!" Cosmo said as they were walking. "See, I told you. Now, he'll never bother us again!" Tails said, proving his point. "Here, Tails. I...I think you deserve this." Cosmo said. "What?" He asked. Cosmo gave him a kiss on the lips. "That was very brave of you, Tails." She added. "Duh...uh-huh!" Tails exclaimed in a goofy voice.
"Now, let's start this Best Friends Day over again." Cosmo said. "Duh, yeah-yeah...Go-mall!" Tails said, with 'mall' being the only word that was distinguishable. "Alright, then. Let's go to the mall!" Cosmo started walking while grabbing a hold of Tails' hand. Tails gripped her hand back in his. "I love you..." He said somewhat normally. "...I love you too, Tails." She said as they both nuzzled each other, and then continued doing what they should have done in the first place...
Going to the mall, and having the best Best Friends Day the two ever had.