A/N: I don't even know where to begin introducing this story, so I'll just jump right in.
This oneshot is a special birthday gift for my friend Olivia, also known on this site as SuperTailsFan0812. We have been best friends since August, and possibly even longer than that. Olivia has been reading Chaos on Earth even before she made her account, and it is by far her favorite story on the whole site.
Even though she was nervous, she eventually posted her very first story, called Astraphobia, and it immediately attracted my attention, not just because it was set in the Sonic X universe, but because it focused on Tails and Chris. And even though I tended to procrastinate on reviewing stories back then, I was the very first person to review it, and... you can probably imagine how shocked she was when I reviewed her story.
She always replied to my reviews on her stories, and one such review reply grew so big that it stands at 779 posts long! We became such good friends since then. I can't believe it's been four and a half months already!
Now, we chat every day, watch SonicSong182 videos and live streams, and even play Among Us together!
Happy birthday to my bestest friend in the whole wide world! :D Everyone, please go check out her story A Special New Friendship: An Author's Adventure, as well as all her other stories and oneshots; they are amazing!
About the story itself, it has an interesting conception. There will be more on that in the ending author's notes, because I don't want to have any spoilers before the story!
I will say, though, that Olivia was the one who came up with the name of this story, since I couldn't think of anything. And also, I'm pleased to announce that this is my very first collaboration story!
Also, this is one of my rare stories to be written with no backlog or reference material at all. The only other stories I did this with were Logical Mario and The Lament of Waluigi. Let me know what you think of the quality in this story, because I may consider having less of a backlog for Chaos on Earth for less stress.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic or Sonic X; SEGA and 4Kids does... or rather, 4Kids USED to before they went under. I don't know if TMS owns Sonic X now, but I can check.
Without further ado, let us begin...
Evil Cosmo Arises: A Sonic X Story
Tails was in a panic. Cosmo was nowhere to be found.
He had searched the entire Blue Typhoon through his state-of-the-art surveillance equipment, but there was no sign of his Seedrian friend anywhere. It was almost as if she completely vanished off the ship.
The Typhoon was parked in one of the valleys of a desolate planet, laid to waste by the ruthless Metarex. They had just picked up a Chaos Emerald from a Metarex fortress, and were nearly ready to take off and leave the planet. However, Cosmo was unaccounted for.
Sonic entered the bridge, and seeing Tails' panicked expression, immediately felt concern for the young fox.
"Hey, whoa, what's wrong, buddy?" he asked.
"I-It's Cosmo!" exclaimed the flustered Tails. "She's gone! I-I can't find her anywhere!"
"Well, maybe she's just by herself somewhere on the ship," suggested Sonic.
"No, I know that's not it!" explained Tails. "The Typhoon's surveillance covers every square inch of the ship. If she was here, I would have seen her already!"
Sonic frowned. "Think we might have left her behind?" he asked with concern.
"I don't think I would have done that, but... maybe I did...?" Tails wondered. "No matter what happened, I'm not leaving without her!"
As Tails sat down in the command chair once more and began remotely opening the airlocks outside, Sonic smiled.
"You know, I've been watching you two lately," he said. "You care so much for each other. In fact... I remember you crying your poor little heart out when Black Narcissus captured Cosmo."
"I know..." Tails said with a hint of sadness. "I never want that to happen again."
"Me too, bud..." Sonic said, ruffling Tails' bangs, making him giggle.
"Hey, has anyone seen Cosmo?" Chris' voice rang out as he entered the bridge. "I noticed she wasn't with us when I counted heads just now."
"I think I might have accidentally left her behind..." Tails said nervously. "I-I guess I was too anxious to get off this planet after we got the Chaos Emerald that I forgot to check if everyone was here!"
"Hey, it's okay, Tails," Sonic assured his friend. "I'm probably one to talk right now, but... it's okay to slow down a bit, because- What do they say on Earth, Chris? Slow and steady wins the race?"
"Yup, you got it!" Chris confirmed.
Just then a notification icon appeared on one of Tails' touchscreens at his controls.
"I think we're getting an incoming transmission... and it's not from any of our known contacts," reported Tails.
"Then why don't we see who it is?" Chris suggested.
Tails tapped the icon to answer the call. When he saw who appeared on the jumbo holo-screen at the front of the ship, he immediately felt a sense of panic, fear, and dread. In fact, his pupils began to visibly shrink. Chris had a similar reaction, like a sudden pang of fright in his chest and a pit in his stomach, where he had been impaled by the very same individual who was addressing Tails now.
"Leaving so soon, child?" came the silky-smooth voice of Black Narcissus.
Tails began stuttering in his fright, and Sonic instinctively stood in a defensive position next to Tails while laying a protective hand on his back.
"What do you want, Narcissus?" Sonic demanded.
"I thought I would let you know that you seem to have forgotten some of your... precious cargo," Narcissus spoke.
Tails tried to work up some of his inner determination, but Narcissus scared him too much. The very sight of the slender Metarex general sent fear into his core ever since he had used Cosmo as bait for Sonic.
"Wh-wh-what did you do with C-Cosmo?" he asked, voice quivering.
Narcissus laughed softly. "Your level of concern is admirable, a rarity to behold in this galaxy. Rest assured your friend is unharmed. Though, I will ask you to come and collect her yourself, as I cannot spare any of my troopers to deliver her to you."
Tails attempted to take a deep breath, shaky as it was.
"I can go get her for you if you want, Tails," volunteered Sonic as he turned to go.
"C-Can I go please, Sonic?" Tails asked as he stood up. "I-I... I want to see her again myself."
Sonic gave a nod of understanding. "Yes you can, buddy, but I'm gonna go with you anyway, just in case it's a trap."
"And I want to go too," volunteered Chris. It was very brave of him to say in spite of his new fear of Black Narcissus.
Narcissus laughed again. "You really do know how to humor me," he commented. "But that begs the question... what can a pitiful human child possibly do to an infinitely stronger army of Metarex?"
Chris felt anger rising at being belittled. "I... I-I'm a pilot," he said. "Maybe not a very good one, but... I can fly a spaceship, and... and I know how to fight!"
"Pure hyperbole, and a ridiculous one at that," scoffed Narcissus. "But you do entertain me so very much. It's a sight for sore eyes these days."
"Where do we pick up Cosmo?" Sonic asked, preventing any further drama.
"Return to the front room of the fortress where you thought you so stealthily obtained the Chaos Emerald. She will be waiting for you there," instructed Narcissus.
"He knows about the Emerald..." Tails lamented.
"Of course I do," Narcissus spoke. "I will let you have it for now, but do not expect to keep it forever. Not when we require all seven to bring tranquility and order to the universe!"
With that, the transmission ended. The room was silent once again, except for the ambient sound of various pieces of equipment and machinery that powered the Blue Typhoon.
Sonic snorted. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm gettin' really tired of hearing all this 'tranquility and order' propaganda these days."
"Yeah," agreed Chris. "Hey Tails, are you okay?"
"To be honest... no..." Tails responded as he looked down at the ground. "But I need to make sure Cosmo is safe. I..."
"It's okay, Tails," Sonic reassured him. "We're gonna be by your side the whole time. We're not gonna let the Metarex do anything to you, all right?"
"Hang on, I just had a thought," Chris said, and Sonic and Tails turned to him. "What if I stay here, and Sonic can let me know if you guys need air support? You know... in case it is a trap?"
Sonic winked. "That'll work just well. Let's go, Tails!"
Sonic sneezed as he ran at breakneck speed toward the distant Metarex fortress. Tails was not nearly as fast as his brother, but he was still able to use his tails to propel himself forward to match Sonic's pace.
"Hey Sonic," called Tails. "There doesn't seem to be a lot of plant life at all here, so... I don't think there's anything here that would cause allergies. Are you okay?"
Sonic slowed down a little to let Tails catch up. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm okay, just... my Sonic Sense is tingling."
Tails knew that when Sonic sneezed at a random time, that meant he sensed danger up ahead. Sonic didn't really have a name for it at the time, but after he got to see a Spider-Man movie in the theater with Chris and his friends, he came to call it the Sonic Sense.
But since Sonic sneezed now, Tails assumed the worst.
"So that means it's a trap?" Tails asked.
"I don't know," replied Sonic. "I mean, I have been wrong some of the time in the past."
"But think about it," said Tails. "Narcissus didn't even ask for the Chaos Emerald back."
Sonic frowned. "Yeah... I just hope he keeps his end of the deal-"
"Sonic, look!"
Following where Tails was pointing, Sonic could see that the front entrance to the Metarex Fortress was left wide open.
"Man, if that doesn't spell T-R-A-P, I don't know what does," Sonic commented as he gradually slowed down.
"But Sonic, we have to go in there!" begged Tails. "Cosmo's in there, and... and I don't even want to think about what Narcissus will do to her if we don't get her out!"
Sonic frowned.
"Fair enough," he said. "But we gotta be careful. This is not Eggman we're dealing with."
"That is so true..." said Tails as the two heroes cautiously entered the Metarex fortress.
Even though he had his ultra-soft fur to keep him warm, Tails still shivered as he followed Sonic into the gigantic front room of the fortress. It was so dark inside, and so ominous. There were a few mirrors lining the wall, one of Narcissus' favorite decorations.
"So, uh..." Sonic started to call to Narcissus, pausing a moment to listen to his voice echoing off the walls and cathedral ceiling. "You gonna bring Cosmo out any time soon or what?"
As an answer, there came the sound of something heavy unlocking from the ground on the other side of the room. After a few seconds, two parts of the floor began to move apart from each other like a hidden door.
Tails and Sonic took defensive stances. Both of them expected an army of Metarex to attack them.
"So Narcissus can't just give us Cosmo straight?" Sonic marveled. "I should have known."
Black Narcissus' voice rang throughout the chamber from seemingly everywhere.
"I deliver to you Cosmo, the last surviving Seedrian, as promised," he announced.
In front of the two heroes, a platform slowly rose up out of the floor. What Tails saw made his heart break and sent floods of conflicting emotions coursing through his entire body.
As the heroes expected, the entire platform was filled with Metarex Troopers, except for the very front. But what terrified Tails the most was that Cosmo herself was standing in the very center of the platform.
Only she wasn't Cosmo anymore.
All of the white parts of her dress were now a dark gray, and her grass-like hair was now a darker shade of green. The rose-red petals adorning her head were now white, and even her eyes were now red. But the most defining feature that this evil version of Cosmo had was that the red jewel she always wore was replaced with a shrunken Planet Egg.
"C-C... C-C-Cosmo..." Tails tried to speak, taking a few shaky steps toward Cosmo. Sonic tried to hold out his hand to stop his friend, but he couldn't bring himself to move.
"Tails, careful..." he said.
"C-Cosmo..." Tails whispered, tears threatening to form as he got closer. "What did they do to you...?"
But Cosmo was not moved.
"I am called White Seed, and you will address me as such," she stated in an uncharacteristically authoritative tone.
Now Tails started to begin crying because this was not like Cosmo at all.
"Please... please don't do this!" Tails took a shaky breath. "I'm your best friend, Cosmo! Don't you remember me?"
Cosmo only stared blankly as Tails held back a sob.
"Remember... when we were in the cave... a-a-and we found out the Metarex's plans together? Remember the L-Lake of Love...?"
"You are delirious," Cosmo stated. She snapped her fingers. "Seize them."
Two of the troopers fired stun rays at Tails and Sonic before they could react, and they slumped to the ground. They were still conscious, but very much dazed. Several others troopers roughly picked them up, and Sonic was brought over next to Tails. They were held in place as Cosmo addressed them.
"The old Cosmo you remember does not exist anymore," she said. "Now I am White Seed, humble servant and emissary of Dark Oak. I exist only to aid him in his goal to establish tranquility and order throughout the universe."
Sonic desperately tried to will himself to wake up more. He struggled against his captors with everything he had, but it wasn't much due to his drowsiness.
"You would not be in this situation had you heeded Dark Oak's warnings and remained on Mobius," she chided. "And please know that you cannot struggle. The stun rays' effects can last for as long as ten minutes, and even if you do escape, this army of Metarex Troopers has been programmed to study your movements and react accordingly."
Now she turned to Tails. "Do not worry, Miles. You do not have to face the same fate as the rest of the galaxy."
Tails felt a strong sense of anger, as well as something else awakening within him - one that had not been tapped into in a very long time.
The real Cosmo NEVER calls me Miles! his brain screamed.
Cosmo gave a sickeningly sweet smile. "You can still join us. It is not too late. We can still do many great things together, as flora and fauna."
NEVER!
Her commanding voice was fading into the natural airy voice of the same Cosmo Tails had always known; soft, and light as the wind. It was extremely tempting for the young fox to give in to the transformed Seedrian's wishes.
"Tails... you can join us... no more fighting... no more violence... only a destiny of eternal peace."
Suddenly, something snapped within the young fox. He was suddenly overcome with so much inner Chaos energy that his body almost couldn't handle it. His fur immediately began to darken until it was pitch black. His eyes were now glowing white, and a black mist emanated from him.
Cosmo took a few steps back in shock and surprise as Tails fully woke up in an instant.
And then suddenly, Tails gave a scream of agony, sadness, and anger as raw Chaos power ripped its way out of him. Cosmo had only blinked, and the Metarex Troopers holding him in place were reduced to nothing more than scrap metal.
"Oh dear..." Cosmo noted. "This was not accounted for..."
In the moment that followed, Dark Tails ricocheted off several of the troopers behind Cosmo at a rate that exceeded even Sonic's top speed. With this distraction, Sonic shook himself loose from the troopers' grasp and kicked them aside.
Sonic was extremely shocked that Tails had this ability within him. He remembered when Tails had used the Emeralds to go super a long time ago. However, their power was so great and overwhelming that he almost died from being consumed by their energy. Sonic had promised that it would never happen again, and that was the first and only time Tails went super.
But that didn't explain how Tails had tapped into a Dark form when he wasn't nearly as Chaos-sensitive as Sonic was. There was, however, an excess of emotional trauma present. Tails' new best friend was now transformed into a pawn of the Metarex. This in itself made Sonic extremely angry, but not quite enough to turn dark yet, though he could feel his own fur deepening in color slightly.
He ran over to Cosmo and placed his hands on her shoulders in one quick movement.
"What did they do to you?!" he exclaimed in agony as he ducked under a broken piece of a trooper's arm that nearly clipped his ear.
Cosmo's Planet Egg amulet glowed, and a vine tore its way out of the Planet Egg and wrapped itself around Sonic.
"Do not touch me," she warned.
Sonic blinked. He had not expected that to happen at all. He cast a worried glance up at Tails, who was still mercilessly ravaging his way through the entire army. Dozens met their fate every second at the hands of the darkened form of Sonic's little brother.
Tails was so consumed with emotion that he couldn't even think straight. The only thought running through his mind as he spin-dashed through lines of Metarex was to destroy this army and avenge Cosmo.
He felt a few Metarex lasers striking him, but they only seemed to tickle him. Even though he was normally calm, shy, and even a little naive, full-blown anger was not in his character at all. Even Tails himself was shocked that this was happening to him.
But he was so absorbed with destroying the army that he almost didn't see Cosmo herself. Her Planet Egg amulet was wrapping a vine around Sonic and suffocating him. This made Tails even angrier, and tears pricked his eyes and threatened to blur his vision. More black mist rose off his shadow-like fur as he made a beeline for both of them.
Meanwhile, Cosmo was taking a few menacing steps forward, with the vines from her Planet Egg wrapping themselves around Sonic and squeezing him.
"Y-You..." Sonic tried to speak, anger rising within him. "You used a... Planet Egg... as... a weapon..."
"That is right," Cosmo smiled malevolently. "It is an experimental instrument developed by Dark Oak himself. He has graciously chosen to bestow me first with this gift." Her eyes narrowed. "I am sorry to say this, but Sonic, you are a hindrance to the path of tranquility, so you must be destroyed."
It was so strange for Sonic to hear Cosmo speaking like this, or even for anyone conveying the message of the Metarex to sound anywhere as light and soft as Cosmo.
He kept glancing at Tails, and he smirked when he saw that, even though he was fifty feet away, he made eye contact with him, even with Tails' lack of pupils. But he also caught the tears in Tails' eyes. It was almost as if Dark Oak had broken Tails using his own best friend. And that made him livid.
Sonic ducked as Tails sped toward him and Cosmo. In less than the blink of an eye, he sheared through the vines that were emerging from Cosmo's weaponized Planet Egg, causing her to gasp in surprise.
It was only then that Sonic realized all the Metarex Troopers were laid to waste by Tails. Sonic hadn't even done anything. It was all Tails.
But Cosmo wasn't about to quit even though all of the troopers under her command were destroyed.
Her Planet Egg began spraying a hailstorm of thorns in Tails' direction. Tails immediately saw it and maneuvered himself so quickly that not a single thorn could even so much as graze him.
The rain of thorns continued to be launched upward at Tails, who was all the way across the room and keeping himself aloft by spinning his namesakes. Not only could she not keep Tails back, but he was actually gaining ground.
Meanwhile, Sonic got an idea. If he could somehow remove the Planet Egg that was attached to Cosmo's dress, she would be rendered powerless. But it wouldn't be easy, even with her preoccupation with Tails.
So Sonic raced forward, arms out to pry the Planet Egg loose, but Cosmo saw him coming and summoned a vine to restrict his efforts.
"I commend your effort, but I can handle both of you at the same time," she said.
Sonic looked back up at Tails, who was busy dodging left and right while slowly gaining ground, being careful to not get impaled by any of the high-speed thorns.
However, it seemed that he was starting to lose speed.
"Sonic, my heart!" he shouted in agony. "It... it hurts!"
Sonic felt a pang in his own chest as he realized this was almost exactly the same thing that happened when Tails went super.
"Tails!" Sonic called. "Tails, listen to me! You gotta get this Planet Egg out of Cosmo! Then we might have a good shot at saving her!" He struggled against the vines, which seemed to only get tighter. "But only you can do it!"
"Your sentimentality will not save your friend," taunted Cosmo.
Sonic grinned confidently. "We'll see about that."
Tails could feel himself gradually getting weaker as his dark form was wearing off. The pain was getting worse in his chest as he was closing in on Cosmo. And now he had a new pain. Since Sonic was physically restricted, there was nothing he could do to help. Only Tails could save Cosmo.
He had another chance to be the hero.
Every time he looked at the evil Cosmo, she looked very wrong. This Cosmo was the complete opposite of the Cosmo he knew and platonically loved.
But if Sonic was right, and there was an opportunity for him to change her back... he would do it without a moment of hesitation.
Taking a deep breath, Tails sped forward, spinning his namesakes for extra speed. Only he could save Cosmo and Sonic, and his own sanity too while he was at it.
The thought that Dark Oak did this... he turned Tails' own friend against him... this made him even more upset than before. Large tears began spilling out of his glowing white eyes and falling onto the metallic floor below. His vision was obscured by his own emotions as he advanced toward his adversary, and he was grazed by a few thorns as a result.
At last he made it close enough to Cosmo so that the Planet Egg was within reach. Cosmo was backed against the wall. She could not move to the left or the right without Tails cornering her again. And before she knew it, he had ripped the Planet Egg right out of its socket.
Immediately the storm of thorns ceased, and the vines surrounding Sonic fell limp. He stepped out of them, free once again.
Tails landed on the ground in front of Cosmo, feeling weak as his black fur slowly faded back to its normal yellow-orange hue. He started crying harder.
"C-C-Cosmo..." he begged. "Please..."
Cosmo was glancing in surprise and shock at her chest where the Planet Egg had been. Now her gaze fixated on Tails' pleading expression.
Tails didn't even bother to wipe away his tears as he looked into Cosmo's eyes.
"Please remember me, Cosmo!" he sobbed. "I... I-I saved you wh-when you crashed on Mobius...!"
Sonic looked on in intense worry. He wanted to step in and comfort his best friend right then and there, but this was Tails' moment to shine. Tails would receive his comfort afterward, that was for sure.
"A-a-and..." Tails sniffed. "And the party... You helped me s-set up for the big party..."
Cosmo's look of bewilderment changed to one of deep thought. She was now penetrating deep through the layers of her mind to search for the memories that this fox child apparently had of her.
Tails looked like he was about to completely break down entirely now since Cosmo didn't seem to respond right away.
"And Planet Marmolim..." he said. He tried to say something more, but he couldn't through all the tears.
And then something happened within Cosmo.
She started to remember bits and pieces of some things. She remembered a bright light in the sky, and her sitting in a lake of waist-deep water. There was someone next to her in the water, holding hands with her, but she couldn't place a face on it.
"Cosmo..." Tails pleaded, taking her hands in his own. "Please don't do this...! It's..." He took another shaky breath. "W-we are your friends...! You gotta remember us! Please!"
Cosmo turned her head to the left to see Sonic looking at both Cosmo and Tails in incredible concern. There seemed to be something about him that seemed... oddly familiar... but she couldn't figure out why.
Furthermore, the feeling of touch was familiar too. The hands that were holding her own... she felt like she had felt that warm, caring touch somewhere before.
"Cosmo, it's gonna be okay," Sonic said giving his signature wink and thumbs-up. "I know you can do this. Just dig a little deeper. I'm sure you've got a bunch of memories of us in there somewhere."
That gesture of confidence... she had seen it too... This was almost coincidental...
And then, in her mind's eye, where she was still sitting in the lake, she looked up, and now recognized the bright light to be the moon in the sky. And then she started to recognize the figure in the lake with her.
The face was the same.
The sense of touch was the same.
Even the twin tails were unmistakable.
Cosmo let out a startled gasp and grasped her head as all the memories suddenly flooded back to her in a rush. It even started to give her a headache. As a result, the color of her dress began to fade back into its normal colors, and her petals gained their rose-red color back. Cosmo was back to her old self again.
Tails was so overcome with relief that he burst into tears all over again. Cosmo looked extremely confused at everything that was going on, but mostly concerned that her best friend was this upset over her. Sonic took a step toward Tails.
Tails looked up at his friend, the incredible grief written on his face breaking Sonic's heart.
"S-S-Sonic, I..." was all he could say.
Sonic bent down to give him a hug, rubbing his back in slow circles to try to calm him down.
"It's okay, Tails... It's okay, it's all over now. We won."
"It... it was so scary!" exclaimed Tails. "I... m-my heart still hurts!"
"I know..." Sonic said in a soothing voice as he allowed Tails to freely cry into his shoulder. The tears moistened his fur and dripped onto the floor, but Sonic didn't mind. All that mattered was that his little brother was safe.
Cosmo seemed to have recovered from her ordeal, but she had no idea why Tails was crying. She too stepped toward Tails, and the hug turned into a group hug.
"Don't cry, Tails," encouraged Cosmo. "You're safe now. Like Sonic said, it's all over, and no one is hurt."
"True," Sonic said. "But I still think it would be a good idea to get you to the infirmary to get checked out. I mean... that was really bad, what happened to you just now."
"I..." Cosmo started to process what happened before all this started, and started to become upset. "It... i-it's my fault this happened to you, Tails!"
Tails started to look up, but he looked even more worse for wear when he saw that his friend was upset too.
"I couldn't keep up when we were fleeing this fortress... the Metarex captured me, and... and the general placed a Planet Egg..."
She couldn't finish her sentence either. Seeing both Tails and Cosmo so upset almost made Sonic shed tears of sympathy too.
They stood there for a long moment. If it weren't for his friends' emotionally fragile state, Sonic would have told everyone that it was time to head out and go back to the Typhoon. But no words came. They needed this time to let their tears out. Tails had gone through so much more grief than Cosmo.
Sonic's ears twitched at the sound of approaching footsteps, and he almost broke the hug because he thought it was a Metarex. But the footsteps sounded too organic. Looking up, he saw that it was only Chris.
"Sorry I missed all the action!" he apologized. "I accidentally flew south for about twenty miles instead of southeast and..."
His steps slowed when he saw how distraught his friends were.
"Uh..." Now Chris sounded worried. "What happened...?"
"Sonic..." came Tails' muffled voice. "C-can you tell him...?"
"Sure thing," said Sonic. "You gonna be okay with me breaking the hug?"
There was a slight nod from Tails, and he stepped away from the others. Tails glanced at Cosmo to make sure she was okay. She seemed to have recovered from her ordeal, but Tails still looked extremely heartbroken over what had just happened.
Now Chris looked worried when he saw Sonic's expression as he made eye contact with him.
"Long story short, we came here and found out that Cosmo got turned into a Metarex agent," Sonic said. "She had a Planet Egg in her chest, and..." his voice dropped. "Remember that time I went dark and attacked Narcissus' test Metarex? Well... the same thing happened to Tails just a few moments ago. He's still dealing with the aftermath."
Tails was still crying, but not loudly like before. He was sitting against the wall, and Cosmo was sitting next to him, holding his hand for security and comfort. She looked extremely empathetic for him, as if she could almost cry herself.
And before Chris even knew it, it was almost as if his legs had a mind of their own, for he started stepping toward them, and sat down against the wall on the other side of Tails. He leaned in and hugged the distraught fox. He would never get tired of how unbelievably soft his fluffy fur was.
"Tails... I'm so sorry..." he said.
Tails had been looking at Cosmo to make sure it really was her and not the Metarex agent she was moments before. Now he turned his head to the right to face Chris.
"Don't be," he said, sounding a lot calmer now. He was smiling even through the remnants of his tears. "It's not your fault."
And then his namesakes began twitching. Before Chris knew it, Tails' right tail had wrapped itself around his back, and his left one around Cosmo in a hug. Chris couldn't help the smile. He and Cosmo were literally enveloped in love in the form of what had to be the softest living thing in the universe.
Tails was officially back to his old self again.
Sonic looked on, unable to help his smile. He wished he had a camera so that he could capture this precious moment forever.
After a couple minutes, Sonic extended a hand down to them, and Tails grasped on to it, and let Sonic pull him to his feet. He did the same with Cosmo, and Chris stood up on his own.
"Everything worked out in the end," Sonic said. "Sure, this might not be the best turnout in the world, but we're okay, and no one's hurt or anything." He looked at Tails. "Hey Tails, is your heart still hurting?"
Tails paused to check if it still was. "Just a little, but not as much as before..." he said.
"Tails... I'm gonna do everything I can so that nothing like this ever happens again, okay?"
Tails nodded, a smile forming on his muzzle as he wiped his tears. "Okay, Sonic."
"All right then... everyone ready to get back to the Typhoon? I don't know about you guys, but I'm itchin' to get off this planet."
"Me too," Chris admitted.
So Sonic, Tails, Cosmo, and Chris all walked toward back toward the exit of the fortress, leaving behind a deactivated Planet Egg and an entire army of five hundred destroyed troopers - evidence that a massive battle had been fought there. Though none could tell that every single Metarex unit had been single-handedly wiped out by an eight-year-old fox Mobian.
Black Narcissus was sitting in the command chair of his battleship, watching the four heroes run or fly back to their starship. The capture had gone as planned, except there had been a huge setback.
"It would seem the disruptors of tranquility and order have a second warrior of light among them..." he mused. "I think Dark Oak would want to hear about this."
He pressed a few buttons on his command chair. The sight of them all comforting each other was a tad sickening to him. In a moment, his master appeared on the dimly-lit bridge's largest screen.
"Make it fast," Oak demanded. "I am in the middle of a briefing with Bayleaf concerning the Planet Egg extraction from Galaxy 32X."
"Oh, that sounds like a party," said an amused Narcissus as he reached for his staff, which was equipped with a mirror for gazing at himself in, which he did at the moment. "I would perhaps join you, but I'm afraid I have news concerning the... interlopers. You know the ones."
Oak's silence sent a chill down Narcissus' spine.
"Did they take the Chaos Emerald you were supposed to be holding on to for me?" he said with slight agitation in his voice.
"They have, my lord," Narcissus reported. "They broke through the outer defenses I had set around the planet and made the heist look like a cakewalk."
"...And you let them escape."
"Not without taking one of their own as a hostage, of course," he said, stifling a sadistic chuckle. "And I must commend you for figuring out how to weaponize Planet Eggs. I was able to utilize one such Egg to make Cosmo into my willing, obedient servant." He glanced into the mirror on his staff before turning his head back to Dark Oak. "A pity it didn't last."
There was a pause. "What do you mean?" queried Oak.
"It... it would seem they have a second warrior of light among them," a hesitant Narcissus replied. "He used the power of darkness, very much the same power that Sonic had exhibited during my... testing session."
While he was saying that, he had thoughts on how to harness that negative Chaos power and make living weapons out of Sonic and Tails, but that could be saved for another time.
"Most intriguing," Oak said. "Even so, it will not help them when the forestation stage is set. As you are well aware, nothing can stand between us and eternal peace in the universe. Not even a second warrior of light."
Just then Narcissus glanced at another monitor nearby, and caught sight of his adversaries closing in on the Typhoon.
"My lord, they are preparing to leave the planet. Shall I chase them down?"
"No, let them go for now," Oak responded. "Their victory has been earned. They may hold onto the Chaos Emerald for a little longer... then, when the time is right... we will strike, and they will not see us coming!"
"Are you sure you're going to be okay, Tails?" Chris asked as he and his friends filed into the infirmary.
"Yeah, I... I think I'll be okay," he reluctantly said.
Tails' voice sounded shaky still, and Chris knew that he wasn't going to let Cosmo out of his sight at all any time soon.
"Are you sure, buddy?" asked Sonic. "Because... I mean, you were really shaken up back there. I... I've never seen you that angry and sad before. I mean, even I'm shaken up by it."
Tails stared down at the floor as he slowed down in the middle of the room. "I didn't know I could even get that angry and sad," he admitted. "I... I feel like it's my fault this all happened..."
Tails' voice broke, and it sounded like he was about to cry again. Both Sonic and Cosmo moved over to him and gently guided him toward one of the infirmary beds, where Tails sat down at the edge of the bed.
"Please don't cry, Tails," Cosmo spoke in a soothing voice as she sat down next to Tails. "Everything is okay, just as Sonic said."
"I know, but..." Tails took a shaky breath. "I-it was... that was too much..."
"I know, buddy, I know," Sonic whispered as he sat down on the other side of Tails. He gently rubbed his back in an effort to calm him down. "Cosmo's right. Everything worked out in the end. Sure, we almost lost Cosmo, but at least we got ourselves a Chaos Emerald!"
"Hey, yeah!" Tails looked up and smiled. "I almost forgot about that."
After another moment of silence and reflection, Tails looked up at Chris, who was looking on with an expression of relief that Tails was okay after everything.
"Hey Chris...?" began Tails. "Can you take over the controls for now? I want to do something real quick."
"Sure," agreed Chris. "How much time do you need?"
Tails glanced at his Miles Electric that was sitting on a nightstand next to the infirmary bed he was sitting on. "Um, I would say no longer than five minutes."
"Okay, that'll work," Chris said as he turned to leave. "See you in a bit!"
As Chris left the room, Sonic got up, and Cosmo followed suit.
"I think we should head back to the others," Sonic told Cosmo. "Amy and Knuckles are probably worried sick about you."
"Right," agreed Cosmo. But before she followed Sonic out of the room, she turned back to look at Tails.
"Will you be okay on your own, Tails?" she asked. "After... everything today?"
"Yeah, sure," replied Tails as he got up and reached for the Miles Electric. "I'll only be a couple minutes. I just want to do something for a friend of mine. Her birthday is coming up really soon."
Cosmo smiled, which made Tails blush a little. "That is very sweet of you," she complimented. "I will see you again very soon."
As the Seedrian left the room, Tails sat there a moment, then he turned on his custom-built tablet and opened his video-recording software. A single light activated on top of the device, indicating it was recording.
Tails cleared his throat.
"Hi Olivia!" he began. "I honestly can't believe you're turning 20 already! It feels like just a couple days ago that we met and became best friends, even though it's been... what, seven years already? The time is really flying!
"And... I'm sorry I can't come back to Earth to celebrate your birthday with you this year because we kinda have a situation on our hands now... and also with the virus going on on your planet... Sorry about that...
"But I wanna wish you a really happy birthday from me, and from Sonic, and Knuckles, and Amy, and all my other friends. You're the bestest friend ever, and thank you for being my biggest fan. Keep on being awesome, and I hope you have a really great year!"
Smiling in satisfaction, he was just about to end the video when Sonic skidded into the room, the other right behind him.
"Did someone say birthday?" he quipped with a broad smile on his face.
"Waah!" exclaimed Tails, nearly dropping his tablet. He immediately clamped his hands over his heart.
Sonic's smile dropped. "I'm so sorry, Tails! But I just had to round everybody up cause Cosmo told us it was your friend's birthday."
"Yeah," Tails said, picking up his tablet once again. "Hey, I just thought of something! Do you want to all wish her a happy birthday together?"
"Definitely!" Sonic answered for everyone. "That's a way past cool thing to do!"
"Okay!" an eager Tails said, setting the Miles Electric upright on the nightstand and running back to join the others. They all took places within view of the Miles Electric's camera range.
"Okay, on three!" he announced. He was a little nervous doing this, but he was doing it for one of his best friends ever.
"Three... two... one..."
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OLIVIA!"
The end!
And that's that! I hope you all enjoyed this story; it was surprisingly fun to write. This is my first time writing a story that focuses on the Hurt/Comfort genre; even though I sprinkled Hurt/Comfort throughout Chaos on Earth, I've never written a story that focuses on it.
Like I said in the opening author's notes, this story had an interesting conception. One day Olivia and I were chatting about fanfictions in the live chat, and she mentioned a concept idea of a Dark Tails story, and wondered if I wanted to do something with it. I was a little hesitant at first, but then I realized that I could flawlessly combine it with my Evil Cosmo concept idea that had been sitting idle for months.
Also, I want to credit my friend CrestlineIceberg from the Team182 Discord server for adding a last-minute idea! I was going to end the story after Tails wished Olivia a happy birthday, but Crest suggested that I also added Chris and Sonic too, since they are also Olivia's favorite characters. I took that to the next level and also added in Amy, Knuckles, Cosmo, and Cream (even though Cream was not once mentioned in the chapter).
Olivia, if you're reading this, I know that you knew I was writing this story, but you had no idea I wanted to eventually release it for your birthday. Happy birthday, my dear friend! I hope your next year will be the best one yet!
Now that I have finished this story, I can get straight to work on chapter 23 (episode 26) of Chaos on Earth!