Calm down Tails, Marrow is still alive and Nicole disabled the cells. Everything will be fine Tails repeated this to himself in his mind, doing his best to not panic. He said he had a family. Will it be my fault if- No damnit! Stop that. One thing at a time. Break Eggman's toys, then feel guilty.

Tails almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the four Mechas coming to meet him and Nicole half-way. No Seedrians or injured Porcupines in sight meant any collateral damage would be restricted to Eggman's buildings. Tails was surprised to see that all of the remaining Mechas had taken noticeable damage. Tails used himself as a distraction so Nicole could disconnect the camp from the Eggnet, but it seemed Marrow had taken on the other half of the squad and had done well. Four-on-one were never good odds, but Marrow done serious damage to the Mechas he fought; one was even missing an arm.

Two of the Mechas were flying at them with their built-in jet boosters, but the other two were using the jets in their feet in a similar fashion to Shadow's jet skates. If they both stuck to the ground, they would get flanked from the air. If they both took to the sky, then they would be flanked from down below. Their best odds at winning was for one to go high while the other stayed low.

"Top or bottom?" Nicole asked.

"I'll take top," Tails replied, "Give'em hell Nicole!"

Tails adjusted his namesake to fly. Tails could see that Mechas' hands were splitting open like the one from earlier, "Enemy fire incoming!"

Tails and Nicole wove in between the blasts of energy, the missed shots either blew holes into the buildings around them or in the concrete. Tails drained ten Rings from his PSG to create a pair of small Dummy Rings. They were smaller than the palms of his hands and wouldn't do much damage on their own, but Tails could keep them concealed on approach and strike a weak spot.

The airborne Mechas distanced themselves from each other and changed altitude to prepare for a cross-strike. Perfect Tails thought. Tails played dumb and did nothing as the Mechas started to flank him. The blazes shooting from their jets grew as their increased speed. Tails stopped flying and let himself fall. The Mechas were moving too fast to catch Tails and he was able to grab onto the ankle of one of them. Tails' shield absorbed the burn as he slammed one of the Dummy Rings into one of the sole jets of the Mecha.

Tails could see arcs of electricity emanating from the Mecha as it spazzed out and its jets flickered on and off. Tails might have lacked the strength Nicole had, but he did have the Mecha's own momentum. The Mecha slowed down enough that Tails could spin himself around its leg like a wrecking ball. Tails elected to crash his knee into a Marrow spine that was lodged in its stomach, completely shattering the reinforced glass. Tails tossed the second Dummy Ring into the Mecha's exposed core before it could recover from the last Dummy Ring.

Tails could hear the other Mecha flying at him. So, he angled the Mecha in his grasp above him and kicked off it. Tails sent himself towards the ground as the working Mecha caught its partner, just in time for it to explode in its face. Tails shielded his eyes with his hands as he started spinning his tails again. Having slowed his descent into a more controllable speed, Tails watched the buildings as he fell. Tails spun in the air as he was just above the ground, letting him run close to his top speed from a dead stop. Tails ran up a building and took advantage of his speed and the Mecha's disorientation to kick off the wall and Spindashed into its side. They both went hurtling into the side of another building, but Tails used the machine to break his 'fall.'

The building was sturdy enough that the Mecha hadn't gone through it, so Tails pulled it out and let it fall. Knowing that it was still functioning, Tails followed it down with a Stomp Attack. Tails used the Mecha as a trampoline, as he bounced off it again and again. Eventually, the lights in its visors died out. Making sure it wasn't playing possum, Tails pried open its damaged head casing and tore out its skull.

It doesn't look like it will detonate, good Tails thought We can take this with us when we leave and get insight into Eggman's newer designs. I might even be able to upgrade Nicole, she'll need it if these are the new grunt ranks.

Not hearing any more fighting, Tails turned to see that Nicole had similarly dismantled the pair of Mechas she was fighting. Tails couldn't keep the smile off his face at the thought of having more research subjects. Tails the thoughts from his head, there were still people who needed help. Nicole, still having access to the prison's camera feed, was able to lead Tails to where the Seedrians were being held. Not having nearly enough lesser robots to guard the cells and the cells being unpowered, the Mechas had simply left the Oak Clan surrounded. They weren't being actively attacked, but it was a safe assumption that anyone who tried getting past the Egg Pawns would get lanced.

Tails and Nicole needed no discussion to split up and take down the last of Eggman's Robots. With ease and haste, the two Mobians rejoined at the other end of the crowd and left no Eggman Robots standing, "You were amazing Nicole!"

Tails turned to the Seedrians to tell them they were free, but was shocked to see the state of them all. Their skin and flowers were sere like dead plants; the thorns of the males even looked decrepit. There was no way these people were going to cross the desert like this. Another issue was that many of them were looking at Nicole with disdain and fear. Eggman's crazed schemes and near takeover of the world had caused most people to develop a fear of advanced technology, and Nicole's cybernetics were heavily based on Eggman's android technology.

Tails opened his AugRI and started typing, "Nicole, I'm calling the Pteropodidae. Can you take Marrow back to Newfound Sanctuary for help?"

"I certainly can," Nicole replied. Without another word, she flew over the crowd to get to Marrow that much quicker.

Tails could hear cries of 'machina' as Nicole flew overhead. Oh great, they have their own epithet for technology. Getting these people back to the city is going to be a pain.

The Pteropodidae set itself down in the middle of a nearby intersection and lowered a lift from its underside. The lift was designed for a single person instead of cargo, even having a headrest built into it. The Pteropodidae didn't have the room for a medical suite to be built into it, but Tails and Nicole were able to fit an armored compartment that would keep someone still. Tails had never been on an adventure where someone got hurt badly enough to need a hospital visit, but Marrow was lucky that Tails had prepared for this scenario.

Nicole landed by the Pteropodidae and gently set Marrow on the lift. As he was brought onto the plane, Tails could see that Nicole had broken off much of Marrow's spine-armor. Probably for the best Tails decided. Nicole had seated herself in the Pteropodidae's pilot seat and closed the pilot canopy by the time Marrow was secured. Tails watched as the Pteropodidae flew towards Newfound Sanctuary Get well soon.

As Tails turned to watch the Pteropodidae, he saw that a Seedrian was approaching him. The woman in question was clearly someone of authority in the Oak Clan. The red broach set over her chest was much larger than the other broaches the other Seedrians wore. She wore a snow-white kimono with golden cuffs and trim over the upper half of her body. She also wore a white dress with a light green grass pattern that went from the trim to the knees. Her cotton cady-blue hair was topped with a massive daisy with a pair of vines sprouting from it. Her deep blue eyes were kind and had an odd pacifying effect on Tails; it was like his worries bled away when their eyes meet. Despite being as sickly as the rest of her people, this Seedrian moved with the most grace of anything Tails had ever seen. He would bet anything that this was the leader of the Oak Clan.

She cleared her throat and gave a polite bow, "Hello, I am Terraminae Rhodoreae, one of the Elders of the Oak Clan. On the behalf of my people, I thank you for your brave rescue."

"Oh, you're welcome, Lady Rhodoreae," Tails had just barely stopped himself from calling her 'Elder Rhodoreae.' Years of forced etiquette lessons with Amy and Cream would have haunted him if he had called someone old to their face.

Then, a realization hit, "Rhodoreae? Are you related to Cosmo?"

Terraminae looked shocked one moment, then relieved the next, "Oh, thank the All Mother. My Cosmo really did get away."

"Yes, Cosmo is the youngest of my children," She said as she regained her composure.

Terraminae's expression fell, "You have already done much for us, but pray: can you do anything more for us? I do not think we can make the exodus across the sand."

Tails stayed silent for a moment, "Maybe, but I'll need a few volunteers first."

"And what do you need them for?" A new angry voice demanded.

Tails and Terraminae both turned to see a large Seedrian female making her way over to them. She stood more than a head above Terraminae and had a pair of pinecones growing from her wood-brown hair. She wore a purple vest with sleeves that covered her arms down to the wrists. The trim of her white dress was a softer shade of purple than her vest, but too dark to be lavender. Tails could just see her white tights covering her ankles as she walked. She had a striking yellow broach over her chest that was just as large as Terraminae's. She was glaring at Tails, but he wasn't sure why.

"Chrys," Terraminae started with an annoyed tone, "He just saved us from Eggman, he has more than earned our trust."

"No one who uses machina and wants to experiment on us can be trusted," Chrys argued.

"I, for one, will hear him out before making assumptions," Terraminae retorted. Then, she appeared to realize something.

"Oh, how terribly rude of me, I didn't ask your name," She stated.

"My name's Miles Prower," Tails answered, "And your friend might be right to be upset with me."

"I have developed a new power source recently, and I even got it to where its emissions can help heal the environment," Tails continued, "However, it is perfectly fatal on all known forms of fauna and some fungi. I didn't have any way to determine its effects on Seedrians, so your guess is as good as mine as to what it will do to you."

Terraminae nodded solemnly, "I see. I think I can get many of our Withering to volunteer."

"He just said this might kill us, and you want to us the Withering as guinea pigs!?" Chrys yelled, "Have you gone mad?"

"We will all die if we try crossing the desert and Eggman's machina will come for us again if we stay here," Terraminae argue, "Mr. Prower has not only freed us, but is offering us a chance to see another day. If you have another suggestion, Chrysanthemum, I will gladly hear it."

Chrysanthemum looked at her in silence for a short while, trying to think of something to say to that, "This is arrant madness."

"Many of us would agree with you, including me," Terraminae admitted, "But I do not see what alternative we have. I will be among the volunteers, so I expect you to help guide Galaxina in her new position if something goes wrong."

"I… understand," Chrysanthemum replied. She turned her head to Tails, "Do you really need more than one volunteer?"

Tails nodded his head, "Your people are as varied genetically as mine. So, we need to make sure that the emissions affect everyone the same way. If we use a single volunteer and they have some kind of recessive gene or other biological quirk that the rest of you don't have, it could end poorly for everyone else."

"Well then, you can count me in," Chrysanthemum stated.

"You should not," Terraminae replied, "Between our imprisonment and Eggman spiriting away a third of our people, we cannot risk losing more than one Elder. I am only allowing myself to do this because I will be the one seeking other volunteers."

"Chrys, I want you and the others to work with Mr. Prower," Terraminae said, "I need to speak with my family."

Tails spent the next several minutes organizing the emissions exposure with the Oak Clan Elders. They were unanimously upset at this proposition, but they didn't have an alternative and there turned out to be enough volunteers that Tails was confident they wouldn't need to force anyone to participate in the experiment. Nicole finally returned to the camp in the Pteropodidae in the middle of the discussions. She had taken it upon herself to track down Marrow's family and guide them to the hospital where he was being treated. The emissions were heavier than air, so the Seedrians ascended the walkways and fire escapes to stay out of range.

Tails had also asked Nicole not to be in the Pteropodidae when they did the experiment. She faces enough discrimination and mistrust for being a cyborg, I won't let her take any blame this gamble hurts someone Tails thought. It was clear on Nicole's face that she didn't like this decision, but did not argue against it. The Seedrians that were at ground level were all clearly older than the rest of the Oak Clan. Their skin was more wrinkled, and many were having more difficulty walking than the rest of their people. If I don't kill them all, I'll have to ask what the difference is between 'the Withering' and an 'Elder' is. Tails believed the Oak Clan would not be interested in sharing their culture with the person who killed their venerable in front of them.

"First IES cylinder primed, are we good for venting? Oh, right," Tails had gotten so used to having Nicole behind him, confirming things, checking the radar, and speaking in general, that he forgot she wasn't in the cockpit with him.

Tails pressed the button, and the plane began venting. Tails and Nicole had been venting the Pteropodidae at national forests, cropland, and the edges of places Eggman's reckless industrialization had damaged; Green Hill Zone was wholly green again thanks to them. But they had never risked exposing the emissions to other people before. They had enough data on Mobius' Animal Kingdom that they could use simulations for almost everything. But all they had for the Oak Clan was blind faith, and Tails couldn't help but hold his breath as he watched the steely-grey fog of the emissions vent beyond the Pteropodidae and over the gathered Seedrians.


Cosmo didn't think she'd ever be more afraid than when she was breaking out of Eggman's prison, but today had eclipsed that event twice. First, was the bunch of robot Sonics that had ambushed Marrow and started leading the remaining Egg Pawns. Metal Sonic was widely known as the greatest and most dangerous creation of Eggman. While these new robots didn't look like Metal Sonic, the fact they were still robot Sonics and there was more than one of them spelled trouble. Now, standing on the walkways suspended above the concrete roads in Eggman's prison, Cosmo was witnessing what may be the last moments of her parents' lives.

She found her father, Lucas, first. He had light purple skin and dark purple hair. There used to be a pair of massive thorns sprouting from his head diagonally, but one of them had been broken off since Cosmo escaped. She didn't get to see him up close before the Elders started ordering people to higher ground, but she could still make out his sky-blue eyes despite the distance. He wore a navy-blue coat with maroon trim, yellow cuffs, and an orange broach. He was sitting down at the edge of the gathered Seedrians. Cosmo didn't know why some of her people were more badly injured while she was gone, but it was clear that her father was worse off than most of their people.

Eventually, Cosmo found her mother in the crowd, "Sister, look," She said pointing her out.

Neither Cosmo nor Galaxina were surprised to see that their mother was already looking at them. Their mother had an encouraging and hopeful smile on her face, and Cosmo didn't know why. Both Miles and the Elders had made it clear that this was a gamble that could go either way when they were asking for volunteers. Cosmo was gripping her sister's hand tightly, a habit she had when she was only knee height and scared. But now, watching many of the oldest and most respected members of the Oak Clan prepare for what could be their demise, Cosmo had never known such deep fear.

"You're doing very well to put on such a brave face," Galaxina whispered, "If you weren't crushing my hand, I would think you had total confidence in this."

"If I wasn't holding onto you, I would be having a mental breakdown," Cosmo admitted, "What will we do if this doesn't work? Even if it doesn't cause any harm, Eggman was quick to send reinforcements and we've already been here for so long."

"I have been wondering the same thing myself, Rosebud," Galaxina said, using Cosmo's nickname, "You have already told me you and Marrow were working on a plan to liberate us, right? Were you able to figure out getting us to safety before Newfound Sanctuary was attacked?"

"We did!" Cosmo exclaimed, "That's right, they have many transport vehicles they can loan us." Between the tension of the operation with Miles and Nicole and situation with her parents, Cosmo had forgotten about nearly everything else.

When Cosmo started thinking about other things, she remembered something very important, "Sister, what happened to our brother?"

Galaxina grimaced, "I will tell you when we are all at the city."

That did not sit well with Cosmo. Cosmo was about to press her sister for more information, but a loud hissing sound snapped her attention back to her parents and the Withering. Miles' plane was letting out an odd grey fog. To Cosmo, it looked more like a storm cloud than smoke. Cosmo and Galaxina looked into their mother's eyes as she mouthed 'I love you both,' still with the hopeful smile on her face. Then the cloud blocked her from view. Next, they kept their eyes on their father. He had a neutral expression, but there was only so much you could do when you had Facial Paralyze. Their father looked like he could barely keep himself awake, but he kept his eyes trained on his daughters as the cloud swallowed him as well.

The cloud quickly thinned out into a carpet of gas, just as Miles had said it would. No one dared move from where they were standing until the cloud had moved past the lifts. As the Seedrians made their way down the lifts, the cloud thinned so much that it couldn't even be seen. Cosmo opted not to take the lifts down, but to jump off the railing, "Cosmo!" Galaxina called after her. Seedrians made most things out of plants, including their clothes. Cosmo, in particular, was a prodigy when it came to Plant Weaving. Her skirt puffed out as she fell, allowing her to float gently to the ground. Cosmo landed on the ground before any of the lifts touched down, and she ran to her father's side.

"Father! Are you okay?" Cosmo asked, her expression and voice wrought with worry.

Cosmo's father met her gaze with blatant shock, not only surprised to see her but to find that she was the first one to meet the volunteers, "Frankly, I haven't felt this good since you were little," As if to emphasize his statement, Lucas stood up off the ground by himself.

Now that she was closer, Cosmo could see that her father's missing thorn appeared to have been severed with a blade of some kind. He was still wabbly without a cane or crutch to support him, but there were some days he needed help getting out of a chair. Cosmo couldn't even remember seeing him run at any point in her life. To see him get up from the ground without aid was nigh miraculous. All of the volunteers had gone from looking like death warmed over, to simply looking old again. Days of forced labor and extremely limited water and sunlight undone in a moment.

I hope Miles is proud of himself Cosmo hadn't heard the Mobian Fox explain his plan or the risks himself, but everyone who had talked about how nervous he was. Miles thought there was a very real chance of this killing the people he was trying to help and it couldn't have gone better. There were many in the Seedrian Clans who believed they completely isolate themselves from the intelligent fauna, the existence of this healing smoke would be a massive step towards killing this belief.

"Lucas! What are you doing here!" Cosmo could hear her mother's voice demanding.

Despite her being upset for some reason, it was reassuring to hear it when Cosmo thought she may never hear it again, "I was supposed to be the only Elder in range of the cloud. We're missing a third of our Clan, we cannot lose multiple Elders in one day."

"Defending the Clan is my purpose, Terraminae," Lucas replied passively, "I should have died before letting this happen to us. I was not going to stand by and watch our Withering fall."

Terraminae gave an exasperated sigh, "Cosmo, my Rosebud," She said, getting Cosmo's attention, "I am happy to see you again and proud to see you step out of your comfort zone, but I think you will kill your sister if do something like that again."

Cosmo looked behind her to where her mother was pointing, to see her sister running up to them. Oh right. I probably shouldn't have jumped like that Cosmo thought nothing of her sister or the twelve-foot drop from the walkways, her only thought at that moment was the wellbeing of her parents. Here comes the older sibling lecture Cosmo thought. Being the baby of the family had more drawbacks than advantages.

"Cosmo Primrose Rhodoreae!" It was never a good thing when an older member of your family used your full name when addressing you, "That was extremely dangerous! The smallest tear or hole in your skirt could have-"

"Galaxina," Lucas interrupted, "I still have a headache from this," He said, pointing at his missing thorn, "All three of us can yell at Cosmo when I feel better."

"I can't wait," Cosmo replied with a sarcastic smile and a monotone voice.

"May I please have everyone's attention?" Miles' voice rang out.

Though Cosmo didn't know where they were, Miles was speaking from some kind of speaker system built into his plane, "The volunteers should make their way up the lifts and out of range of the next emissions wave. Overexposure causes expiration in other flora, and it is not a risk we are going to take."

That had Cosmo taken aback Some of the Withering look younger than they used to, how does it kill plants? Cosmo had a moment of thought before she decided something I probably don't want to know the answer.

"My partner and I are willing to help anyone who wants or needs assistance up to safety, please don't feel afraid or ashamed," Miles called out.

"I saw that machina woman fly around, but how does Mr. Prower plan on helping us up?" Terraminae asked.

"He can fly as well," Cosmo answered, "You three would probably know him as 'Tails the Fox.'

"I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me earlier when I saw the end of his other tail," Terraminae said, "Does he use machina to fly?"

As if to answer her, Miles flew overhead carrying a different Seedrian with his arms wrapped around their chest, "How on Mobius does he do that?" Lucas asked.

"I watched his Tails spin, and I still haven't the slightest idea," Cosmo admitted.

Galaxina, being an older sibling, took the opportunity to tease her sister, "Have you spent much time looking at his rear end?"

Cosmo felt her face turn green, "It's not like that! His tails are longer than he is wide."

"So, it was his body were admiring then?" Galaxina asked.

Galaxina knew her sister well enough to turn and twist her own words into whatever she wanted, so Cosmo stayed silent and did her best to hide her now evergreen blush. Like any other family would, Cosmo's family laughed at her embarrassment. Fortuitously for Cosmo, a distraction arrived to spare her further teasing.

"Beg pardon," Nicole's voice said from out of nowhere.

The Rhodoreae all yelped in surprise. Nicole was either too polite to comment on it or didn't care, "Would you two like help?"

"What makes you think either of us need it?" Lucas asked.

"The fact you can barely stand," Nicole answered, "I can safely lift both of you, should it please you."

"Father, it's okay," Cosmo assured, "She risked herself to save us and brought me back here. I wouldn't have been able to free anyone without her help."

"I will take your kind offer," Terraminae declared, "I know not what you are or what your story is, but you have proven yourself an ally to my people. You have my complete trust."

"And you sir?" Nicole asked, giving Lucas another opportunity.

"You know what? I don't feel like walking over there," Lucas said.

Minutes later, the Withering were safe in the walkways and the rest of the Oak Clan were gathered around Miles' plane. Cosmo and Galaxina had spent the intervening time helping people to the lifts. Nicole and Miles had quickly run out of people willing to accept their help. Most simply felt so good they couldn't resist moving like they were younger, others felt they were already doing enough for the Oak Clan and getting airlifted was an exploitation of their kindness, there were a few who resented needing the aid of machina and rudely brushed them off. Cosmo wanted to opt out of the 'treatment,' but her family and other Seedrians within earshot insisted that she deserved to get back to full health more than anyone else among them.

Cosmo and Galaxina stood next to each other at the edge of the gathered, for their parents' sake. Galaxina's reaction when Cosmo asked after their brother bothered her deeply, but she tried to set it aside for now. His being here or not had no effect on Cosmo's sense of responsibility and dedication to the Oak Clan, she could worry about her brother when everyone who was here was safe. Thinking of the Oak Clan made Cosmo realize something: there was a massive number of them missing. Cosmo didn't know everyone in her Clan by name, she wasn't even sure how many Seedrians were a part of the Oak Clan, but the crowd around Miles' plane should have been larger. The implications were not pleasant.

Cosmo was once again holding Galaxina's hand. She wasn't concerned about the emissions cloud, but it did make Galaxina feel better. Despite the wide age gap between them, Cosmo comforted her sister as much as she did Cosmo. Your parents being two of the leaders of your Clan was a good way to grow up fast. Galaxina's grip tightened as they could see the cloud coming in between members of the crowd.

"I love you Galaxina," Cosmo stated. She doubted anything was going to go wrong, but she thought the same thing before Eggman attacked.

"And I you, Rosebud," Galaxina replied, nearing a panic attack.

Finally, the cloud engulfed the Seedrian Sisters, and it felt incredible. They could feel plant, animal, and even fungal life through the ground, but this was something entirely different. The smoke itself was like a fog you could feel; cold, wet, and blinding. But once it had been inhaled, it filled the body with a comforting warmth strong enough to overcome the fog's touch. It was so euphoric that Cosmo stopped being consciously aware she was holding onto anything. The cloud brought with it a supernatural Zen that was almost divorcing the mind from the body, and it was an outstanding feeling.

Then, moments later, it was gone. Cosmo couldn't stop her whole body from shivering all at once. Now that she wasn't being pacified, Cosmo was confused and afraid. She was aware of the people talking around her, but she couldn't focus on what anyone was saying or put thought into recognizing voices. Cosmo felt like she needed to race around the whole Angletic Island but was too scared to do so. Her body felt alien and restricting to her, like moving too suddenly or too much would cause her to shatter like glass.

"Cosmo?" Galaxina said, voice full of concern, "What's wrong?"

Cosmo didn't reply, she didn't even hear her sister. Cosmo had all of her senses, but she was too focused on living. She was certain breaking that focus would be the death of her. She didn't know what to do and didn't feel like she could do anything. What's happening to me?