AN: Finally I get this done! There's something you guys should know. When Miles is talking about the time he modified Cosmo's room, it's a flashback and that's why the writing style changes. Something else you guys should know: I like reviews, so please leave some. They don't even have to be positive (just don't curse me out). Must have the precious reviews!
Renegade
Chapter 8: Cosmo
Well, after Miles's tirade last night, we all just fell to not talking. The night drew to a close in silence. We woke up the next morning. Still nothing. Finally, my boss called.
"John, where the hell are you? You haven't come in in two days!" he yelled.
"I know, I-"
"Don't give me excuses! And what about the kidnapping story? A mutant fox comes and saves the day, and the Station is the only paper that doesn't run the story! Are you trying to get fired?"
"No, chief. I've just been busy."
"Busy? What could be more important than a chance at the biggest story this city's ever seen? Now get out there and find that freak show! I want name, origin, age, everything!"
"First: he's not a freak show. Second: his name is Miles Prower, he's from an alternate dimension, and in Earth years, he's fourteen."
He laughed. "Yeah, sure. Fourte…Wait, how do you know all this?"
Oh, boy. I was dead. "Well, he's sorta…staying…at my house-"
"He's staying at your house and I have nothing on him? Are you kidding me?"
"He's just a kid, and he needs hel-"
"Oh, no. Here we go again. John, you're a reporter. You need to stop trying to fix every little problem you find. Objectivity, man."
Suddenly I remembered a quote from possibly the most stupid movie in the world. It kinda felt wrong to quote it in this serious conversation, but I had to. I put on my best Mexican accent. "Maybe I am not meant for this duty. Reporting duty. Maybe it's time for me to get a better duty!"
"Are you seriously quoting Nacho at me? Your job is at stake! What are you going to do without the Station? I made you into who you are!"
He just kept setting himself up. Honestly, that job had gotten on my last nerve. "You gave me no eagle powers. You gave me no nutrients."
"You continue?"
"Yeah right. Then I'd get kicked out of the monestary."
"Well you just did! You're fired!"
"I'm not listening to you, you cracy." With that, I ended the call. I felt strangely free, free to do what I had felt called to do for a while. I'm going out into the Wilderness. Probably, to die. I really have seen that movie too many times.
After that, I looked for Miles around the house. I was a little worried when I couldn't find him. I was a lot worried when I couldn't find him in my second search. "Nick, do you know where Miles is?"
"He's probably outside somewhere. He likes to be alone and think sometimes."
"Thanks." I checked my yard. Still couldn't find him. Now I was freaking out. I thought maybe he had gone after Cassie. Then I looked up. I gave an audible sigh of relief. I climbed up to where Miles had been sitting on the roof. He didn't even seem to notice me. "Miles?"
He sighed."What?"
"Can I talk to you?"
"You can try."
I wondered what I could say that wouldn't trigger a negative reaction. It was really hard to find something. "Why don't you tell me a little more about Cosmo."
"There's nothing to say. Words will never be able to describe her."
That gave me an idea. "Then don't use words. Why don't you give me a play by play of your relationship? From the beginning."
Miles hesitated, then relented. "Well, it all started when she crash landed on Mobius. Every chance I get to help people, I take it. This was one of those chances, only it was different. She wasn't just being attacked by some giant robot. She had real problems. She was insecure, and she was always so depressed, so I made it my mission to help her with those issues." He looked out at the horizon, smiling. This wasn't one of his sad smiles, though. It was one of pure joy. "She never wanted to be a nuisance to anyone, and sometimes, that could be a problem. About a week after we took off in the Blue Typhoon, it was obvious that Cosmo was getting sick. Unfortunately, no one could figure out what was wrong with her:
When Cosmo walked onto the bridge that morning, everyone stared at her in shock. Her pale green skin was now almost as dark as her hair, and she looked like she hadn't slept the entire trip. "Why…why is everyone staring at me?" she asked in a weak whisper.
"Cosmo, are you sure you're not sick?" asked Cream.
"No, honestly, I'm fine. I pro…probably just have space sickness." From there the conversation turned to other things, but Tails confronted Amy later in the day.
"Amy, do you have any idea what's wrong with Cosmo?"
"No, I wish I did. She's really sick, but I don't know anything about their race or their anatomy? It's strange to think what it must be like, seeing as she's a plant."
"Yeah. I just wish I could do someth…Amy, you're a genius!"
"Wait, what?"
"Can you get Cosmo to sleep in your room tonight?" Tails looked excited.
"Umm…okay, I guess so. Does this mean you found the problem?"
"Yeah! I just can't believe how stupid I was being. It's so simple! Alright, I'm going back to the bridge. Remember, I need Cosmo out of her room the whole night." So the day passed without any other notable occurrence. That night, however, Tails was hard at work remodeling Cosmo's room. He turned the room into a giant sauna, which would provide Cosmo with all the nutrient-enriched water she needed. He also added fluorescent lighting on the ceiling above her bed, allowing her to undergo photosynthesis while she slept. Now all he had to do was wait until after tomorrow night to see if it worked.
The next day passed uneventfully, and Tails awoke early the morning after, anxious to see if his solution had worked. The others joined him on the bridge as they arose, and sure enough, when Cosmo appeared, she looked even better than she had when she had first arrived on Mobius.
"Are you feeling better, Cosmo?"
"Actually, yes, I'm much better. I don't know what you guys did, but thank you." Later that day, she approached Tails. "Tails, Amy told me what you did. Thank you."
"Don't mention it, Cosmo. I'm just glad I could help. Why didn't you tell us what was wrong?"
"Well, I didn't want to be a burden to anyone."
"From now on, don't be afraid to voice your problems. You've got a ship full of people who are ready to help."
Cosmo smiled. "Thank you, Tails."
"Needless to say, that was one of the best days of my life. It was just…" He gave a contented sigh. "I can't even describe the feeling I had. She was happy, which made me happy."
I could tell Miles was enjoying these memories. "Did you have any more experiences like that?"
"Oh, yeah! I could go on all day about it." And so we did. Miles told me about one time when he and Cosmo were trapped in an underground cave system, how they had wound up finding a chaos emerald and shutting down a chaos emerald factory that the Metarex were running, and how he had insisted that Cosmo had made it all possible. Then he moved on to when the most powerful mortal being in the universe had tried to kill Cosmo. Then, of course, came the end. I found it sadly ironic that Miles had been willing to give his own life to save hers, and yet he had to take hers to save the universe.
"Miles, you said you died that day. What were you like before that?"
His mood had declined as we had reached the end of the story. "Well, I was happy, optimistic. You know, I had a nickname back then. People used to call me Tails."
"Really? That sounds…"
"Happy and optimistic?" he asked with a sad smile. "Yeah, that's why I dropped it. My voice was different, too. I never knew countenance had any effect on voice." I tried picturing Miles without the hoarse, Batman-ish voice, but it was difficult. "Unfortunately, my control over my emotions also apparently died with Tails. Now I have to keep myself on a leash."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, when I killed those two guys, it was because my body moved before I could think about what I was doing. That happened because I was able to tap into as much of the energy of my ES system as I wanted to. I couldn't let it happen again, so I modified the system so that I can only use 20% of it at any given moment. The inhibitor has an emergency cutoff switch. Just push down the lightning bolt and I have my full power. Never, ever do that, no matter how hard I beg."
"Speaking of, what's your battery at now?"
"32%. It charges about 20% every day."
"Alright. And how much charge do you think it will take to heal all of your wounds?"
"Probably about 15%. I can be fully recovered and recharged by Saturday afternoon."
"Great, that's when we'll go after Cassie. Who is Cassie, by the way?"
"Oh, boy. That story will have to wait until tomorrow. Right now, I feel like getting some sleep. Goodnight, John."
"Goodnight, Miles."
I started to climb down off the roof. Miles just laid down where he was. "And John," I looked back, "thanks for the talk."
"No problem." I smiled, knowing that I had finally made some progress.