Cosmo Rosacea slowly opened her eyes, her head aching and fuzzy and her limbs feeling stiff and unresponsive…A queasy feeling present in her stomach and her ears ringing like a great cathedral bell…

"Get up." A familiar voice spat, filled with hatred, scorn and disgust.

Any semblance of fatigue melted away as the Seedrian shakily got to her feet, her blue eyes wide and frightened as she gazed upon the landscape around her…What the young and sole surviving member of house Rosacea saw…Chilled her to the core…

It was…It was a Seedrian city…All buildings in beautiful and thriving condition…But, no sign of life was present in them at all…The air was still and odourless and cold…Yet as the young girl looked around, she could feel a sour taste building In her mouth…Something was wrong here, seriously wrong…A Seedrian city such as this should not be so…Desolate and dead…

Dead…The word echoing in her mind as she slowly began to notice something about her surroundings…Something that was…That was horrible and wrong…Her eyes turned to the flora around her and saw only…Death, the trees that would once stand proud and emerald green, lush and lively were cold and dead, devoid of any leaves exposing their bare branches below…

The flowers…the flowers were droopy and marred with disease and plague, clinging on desperately as their lives fizzled out and slipped away if they weren't dead and brown already…

But it wasn't just the trees, or the flowers, it was the very grass under Cosmo's feet, every single blade of it was dead and brown…Like all life in the plant had been squeezed out, leaving only a lifeless husk…It horrified Cosmo.

She slowly began to walk through the empty, desolate and silent streets of the city…Her terror growing more and more as she saw the extent of whatever had done this to the plants, entire shrubberies were just…Lifeless and barren, waterways were stagnant and around them lingered the stench of death and rot…Even the sky itself seemed to be affected by this mysterious plague, the sun was not it's usual brilliant yellow, but instead a dull and sickly white…Like the cold, accusing glare of an interrogator's light.

But then, she heard…The voice…That voice…His voice chuckle darkly as she began to see not just non sentient flora and fauna dead in droves…But other Seedrians as well…Their bodies were…They were horrific, withered and plagued…Like they had been inflicted with the most horrific plagues possible while severely malnourished…

Their faces too were twisted in agony, their final moments of unimaginable torture and pain frozen on their deceased faces…Maggots, Aphids and flies already picking away at the dead flesh of Cosmo's kin…

"You could have prevented this…Daughter…" the voice said, it's tone dark and rich like good wine, yet malevolent and laced with fake sweetness so intense it was nauseating…

Cosmo could feel her self grow cold at the mere sound of her father's voice…Just what had he done?!...Was this what he had been doing on Greengate? Was this why her mother wanted to send her and Galaxina away to live on the other side of the galaxy?

"If only you had joined my side…Tis a great shame that our capital had to fall because of your failure now, isn't it?"

Cosmo saw a shadow lurking by a dead tree just in the corner of her eye, she twisted her body to face whatever it was that was there, but it turned out to be naught…Just a trick of the eyes, surely.

"You know…I would have thought you out of everyone would have joined my side Sapling…You were very much a "daddy's girl" and yet…Your mother poisoned your mind with the idea that I had gone mad!"

Another shadow gathered in the corner of Cosmo's eye, this time being present atop a large flower shape building…Her heart slowly began to beat harder as she turned to face it, being met by nothingness once more…

"But oh no…OH NO…My dear daughter…What I am doing…is for the greater good…We are forging the galaxy into it's rightful state, a better state…A greener state…Free of the parasitic animals that plague it's worlds like a Crown Gall tumour…"

Cosmo began to hyperventilate now…The voice…The voice! It was so…so…so horrible…She wanted it to stop…She needed it to stop…the shadows were expanding now…Surrounding her, she looked frantically around herself, her vision causing them to halt their advance but only barely…

"I will make sure that OUR people ascend to rule OUR galaxy…And if we must wage war to do so…Then let the galaxy BURN!"

Cosmo began to cry now, her breaths coming out in ragged grasps, her hands clutching at the gem on her dress...Desperately…Pitifully hoping it would offer her solace and protection from the nightmarish torment of what was happening around her…

She wanted it to end, she wanted this horrible…HORRIBLE illusion to finally be over and done with, so she screamed,

"WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Her eyes frantically darted around the area, silhouettes slowly beginning to march towards her, coldly, evilly, and slowly…Like a spider playing with a fly caught in it's web, savouring the smell of fear before bringing swift and bloody slaughter upon it…

"SHOW YOURSELF!" Cosmo shrieked once more with terror, slowly backing against a dead tree trunk, clutching at her gem even more tightly, creating a vice like grip around it…

The silhouettes charged at her, surrounding her and sealing her within a pitch black void…Dark ash like sand stretching out below her…Cosmo began to feel faint now, her heart beating far too quickly for it to be healthy, her legs and brain indecisive on whether to run, hide or fight back…

"Awww…My dear Cosmo…Still scared of the dark?" the voice spoke again, filled with the horrible sickly sweetness it had previously spoken with…But Cosmo wasn't going to take it anymore so she screamed out,

"WHERE ARE YOU FOR GAIA'S SAKE! LEAVE ME ALONE! J-just…J-just leave me be…"

The Seedrian curled up on the floor, sobbing her eyes out…her terror fully taking hold of her as she realised just how utterly pointless it would be to try and get away from her father…

He answered in kind…From behind her…

"Here little sapling…"

Cosmo's eyes shot open as she heard the crackling hiss of a heat blade being activated…Her head turned to face him, but all she saw was Beast-Cleaver being held high above the shadow obscured figure of her father…

The Seedrian threw her hands up in a feeble effort to defend herself but it was too late, in an orange blur quicker than a heartbeat the blade came falling down towards her...Aiming at her neck…Cosmo could only scream at such a manoeuvre.

"ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"

"ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"

Cosmo shot upright…Hyperventilating with terror and her heart thunderously beating like a drum, she was terrified, delirious, queasy and ached all over…She wanted to be home…She wanted to be home so badly…For everything that had happened over the last couple of days to be erased…She wanted her father…she wanted her mother…She wanted her sister...

However her panicked pining for her lost kin was cut off when a foreign and unknown voice spoke out in a calm, caring and kind manner…

"Shhh all of you! She's awake! Ummm…Hello there Miss, are you alright?"

Cosmo then shot open her eyes…And almost fainted from shock right there and then…She was laying down on a sofa, a thick blanket pulled over her up to her chest…Being stared at by three complete strangers, none of them Seedrian in appearance at all.

The closest to her was a strange feminine humanoid, with light, cream coloured fur with brown spots dotting the ends of the almost comically sized ears…Whoever she was, she was dressed in a light purple long skirted and floral patterned dress, a look of concern and worry on her face, her brown eyes filled with sympathy and understanding.

The second amongst them looked like a monster, torn straight from ancient Seedrian legend, it was a crimson mountain of muscle, with piercing amethyst eyes and a cream coloured muzzle…His closed fists were covered by spike white gloves and his expression was one of mild concern, he didn't seem to be particularly bothered with the situation he was in at all really.

And as for the final one? It was a smaller figure, shorter than the other two, with golden yellow fur that had snowy white areas around the muzzle and tail tips…Their eyes were an ocean blue and filled with sympathy and care…Their garb was like that of a mechanic…Whoever they were, they seemed like the least intimidating one of the bunch…Not that it took the edge off of her fear though.

She squeaked in fear and pulled the fuzzy grey blanket up to her face, shrinking away against the back of the sofa, trembling with fear…Fear that these strange people may hurt her, torture her, eat her even! She tightly squeezed her eyes shut, a few frightened tears running down her face…

"Please don't hurt me!" she whimpered, scared out of her mind…

"Hey…It's alright, we wouldn't think of it…We're the one's who found you unconscious in a field next to the burning wreck of your ship…Honestly, you have to be the luckiest person alive to come out of that crash unscathed." A younger, friendly sounding voice stated, from what Cosmo could make out it was coming from the yellow one.

However…then something hit her…She hadn't been alone in the escape pod…Galaxina had been there as well…Oh sweet Gaia…What had happened to her sister?! Was she in another room perhaps? Was she in another building? Cosmo had no idea, so…Easing up slightly and opening her eyes to face the strangers she whimpered sadly.

"Have…Have any of you seen my sister?"

The yellow and white stranger cocked his head slightly, curiously…And he answered her question, with one of his own.

"Ummm…Perhaps, what did she look like?"

"Tall, blue hair, purple eyes, wore a dress like mine…Had a flower on her head and an orange gem…Have you seen her? Please…I need to know…"

The Seedrian's answer caused the yellow one's ears to flatten against his head with sadness, pain was wretched on his face as he answered, trying to be as gentle as he could…

"Oh…Listen…Miss…I am so, so sorry…But…Well…"

"Well what? Please…I need to know what happened to my sister!"

"She's dead…When we found you at the shipwreck…There was only one other girl there…And she was…She was gone by the time we found her…I'm so sorry…" he whispered, bowing his head sadly.

Cosmo…Cosmo felt as if her entire world was going to collapse…Like her heart had been ripped out of her chest and thrown into a roaring fire…Galaxina…The only living family she had left…Her best friend and the one who she could always go to for emotional support…Was gone…It couldn't be happening…This couldn't be happening…First her mother…And now this…This had to be some…some joke, this had to be a cruel jest made by the gods just to torment her further…

Her face was white as snow…Her eyes bulging, red and puffy and her body violently shaking now…

"No…" she croaked out…Her voice so quiet it was no louder than a faint whisper of the breeze…

"No…No…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She exploded, anguish, pain and sadness filling her cry…Tears practically flooding from her eyes now…

She collapsed into a tortured, dirty, injured and now uncontrollably sobbing mess, every single individual torture that fate had inflicted upon her that day finally breaking her down and making her cry once more…At this rate it was a miracle that her tear ducts hadn't shrivelled up and dried out…

Vanilla and Miles were shaken up by the sudden emotional outburst, but they…Miles especially, knew how it felt to lose someone…And they would make sure that the alien girl could calm down as quickly as possible…Quickly Vanilla snapped her head around and called to Cream, still outside and tending the front lawn.

"CREAM? GET INSIDE AND MAKE SOME CHAMOMILE NOW!"

Considering the rapid footsteps that sounded out from the garden and into the kitchen that followed not even five seconds later…Cream had understood exactly what her mother wanted and likely the context of the situation as well…

Vanilla then turned back to the alien girl who was uncontrollably sobbing into her hands…Now, she was prepared to stride headlong into the situation and soothe the girl in the way only she could…But…Miles got there first.

Immediately the fox had rushed over to the alien, gently placing his hand on her arm and giving it a gentle squeeze, sympathetically telling her,

"It's alright…Breathe…Just breath okay? I know It hurts…I know…"

The alien however kept crying as if he wasn't even there, oblivious to the fox's empathy and kindness…too situated with her hysterical grief and emotional agony…

Miles didn't let up though, beckoning Vanilla to come and help, then the two of them together began to start trying to calm the girl down…Encouraging her to take deep breaths, think of something happy and other kind-hearted however useless attempts at consoling the alien…

However…Slowly but steadily…The girl's sobbing began to subside…However it may have been due to the fact that her body was physically incapable of releasing tears by this point, but…Progress was progress and steadily she began to start shakily breathing…clutching at the gem on her dress and squeezing her eyes shut…Trying to block out the memory of what had been happening as best as she could…

She heard a door creak open and a new soft voice speak up,

"Here's the tea mum…Is she okay? She really doesn't look it…"

"No…She's lost her sister from what we can tell…Hey…Look at me, look at me please…" The voice of the older stranger gently whispered to the upset alien.

Cosmo opened her eyes, looking towards the older stranger who was gently pushing a small cup of a strange, golden coloured liquid that appeared piping hot, the steam that was rising from it being proof of such…

"Right, here you are dear…It'll help calm you down okay? Just make sure not to drink it too quickly, it's piping hot. Got that?"

Cosmo meekly nodded in response, wiping her eyes on her sleeve before taking the small cup and taking a small sip…It was like lava had been poured into her mouth…The liquid burning hot and scalding her tongue…She almost spat the liquid out but was thankfully able to stop herself from doing it…Instead swallowing it, feeling the mixture burn her throat…

The Seedrian let out a ragged gasp…Finally being able to breathe in some cool air to help relieve the burning in her mouth…Only one word escaping her mouth from the gasp.

"H-hot…"

Vanilla chuckled at the alien's visible discomfort, shaking her head slightly as she said,

"I told you it was hot sweetheart…Now…I think something we have to know is…What's your name flower girl?"

The alien felt butterflies in her stomach materialise as she began to question whereabouts in the galaxy she really was…Had these people heard of the Seedrian Empire or had been affected by it in any way? If they found out about her father…They could hurt her or despise her…Maybe even imprison or kill her…But, it wasn't as if she had much to left to live for at this point anyway…So, solemnly and ashamed she whispered.

"Cosmo…Cosmo Rosacea…"

She had decided on taking up her mother's surname, wanting to distance herself from her father but she wasn't sure if they'd fall for it, if this was Rusan then chances are that they'd know all about her…Then would come the hateful comments or abuse she'd get…Then she'd likely be dragged before some judge and sentenced either to death or a lifetime of imprisonment, so she'd deliver her warning of her father's madness before awaiting whatever horrible fate she would get…She braced herself slightly…Awaiting the comments to begin…But they never did…

"Oooooh, that's a lovely name, fitting too considering your species…Whatever that species may be Cosmo. I'm Vanilla, the owner of this house…That yellow and white fuzz ball is Miles Robotnik, the red giant is Knuckles and that over there is my daughter Cream…Welcome to Knothole."

The Seedrian tilted her head in confusion…They…They didn't know? How had they never heard of Seedrian's had these people ever been outside their home system before? Just where in the hell was she?

"I'm a Seedrian Ms Vanilla…Can I ask though…What planet am I on? Is Knothole the name of your planet or is it just somewhere on Rusan?"

It was the fluffy one called Miles who answered her question, tilting his head in confusion as he said with curiosity,

"No…You're on a planet called Mobius Cosmo…We've never even left our solar system before, let alone go to other inhabitable planets…But could I please ask…What's so special about this "Rusan", is it your home world or something?"

"No…It isn't…Rusan is the capital world of the Rusani Federation…The nearest civilisation and biggest rival of the Seedrian Empire, the place where I'm from…I need to get there…Because…Because war is coming…Not just to them…But the entire galaxy…And the Rusani are the only civilisation I know that's strong enough to take us head on in a war…I need to warn them…For this isn't just a petty war of resources or territory…it's a campaign of extermination…"

A look of concern, intrigue and fear spread across the faces of everyone present in the room…They were curious…They wanted to know what in Gaia's name was happening outside their humble little solar system…Wherever that was…Cosmo's puffy eyes turned to Miles, who asked her calmly, but with a twinge of nervousness in his voice being present,

"Uhhhhh…Extermination? Surely your people aren't that bloodthirsty right?"

"No…Not usually…You see, years ago…Our peoples were at war with each other…It was a long, horrible and gruelling war that claimed the lives of billion of Seedrians…Eventually however an armistice was signed that would end the war, at the cost of a few systems on the outskirts of the empire…A lot of us were outraged…We saw the armistice as honourless and hollow…

It was my father that was the angriest though…He's the Seedrian Emperor…And according to my mother…He's planning on waging war against all animal kind…Wanting to destroy all fauna in the cosmos so that flora can eternally rule…So…me, my mother and…and Galaxina went off to Rusan…To…to try and warn them…But…But…The army found our ship and…and…"the Seedrian began to tremble as she recounted the tale of how she ended up on Mobius…The memory of the horrible tragedy resurfacing.

Miles could see that the poor girl clearly wasn't in the right headspace to be explaining her backstory at the moment, and so nudged the chamomile towards her, indicating she should drink some.

"It's alright Cosmo, we don't have to know everything…However from what I can tell…You desperately need some help at the moment…So try and drink, get a hot bath and rest up okay?"

The plant girl shook her head, despite taking a small sip from the cup yet again.

"No, you don't understand Mr Robotnik…I really need to get going…I have to warn the Rusani Federation before it's too late!"

She tried to get up, but both Miles and Vanilla gently forced her back down onto the sofa yet again, Vanilla telling her with a relatively stern voice,

"Not in a state like that you're not, besides you don't have a ship to get off this world…The only one we currently have in the works is the Blue Typhoon and that isn't even finished yet…So whether you like it or not Missy, you'll be staying here for a while okay?"

Cosmo's face went white with the realisation…No way off-world and her only actual method of getting to Rusan not even finished yet? That was disastrous, utterly disastrous…Stranded on an alien world with seemingly no way off…

Cosmo looked down, her heart sinking horribly…She wasn't going to be able to get to them in time…She was going to fail…So, solemnly she asked,

"Could I at least borrow the ship once it's finished? I really need to get to Rusan as quickly as possible…"

Vanilla narrowed her eyes at the Seedrian's question, she knew she was going to say no…but before she gave her answer, she wanted to ask a question of her own.

"How many days are in a year on your home world Cosmo?"

"Three hundred and sixty five Ms Vanilla…"

"Okay, and how old are you in terms of years Cosmo?"

"Twelve…"

Vanilla's eyes went wide at the response…Twelve years old…The poor girl was no older than Miles or Cream…And yet she wanted to go out into the big wide galaxy that was likely filled with horrors she couldn't even comprehend…Cream was a daughter and Miles was like a son to her…And she would never…EVER let them do such a thing at their age…

"Absolutely not! You're not going out into that Galaxy alone you hear me?! If you're going out there then you're not doing it alone!" she exclaimed, her sudden rise in volume causing Cosmo to shrink back against the sofa…

"O-Okay…" Cosmo whimpered, clearly frightened at the Mobian's display.

Miles merely grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it, soothingly whispering to her,

"It's alright Cosmo, she's not angry…She just gets very protective…Motherly instincts and all that."

It didn't help much, but it did take the edge off of her shock…So Cosmo meekly nodded in response. However…The relative peace and quiet of the room was interrupted by a loud crashing noise as the front door flung open, a myriad of new and loud voices talking as they burst into the front room…

The first of them inside was a Mobian with styled pink quills, dressed in a crimson and white dress with large boots and gold bands around her wrists, her hands covered by white gloves.

The second to come in was another Mobian with sapphire blue quills instead, his own garments being white gloves and shoes that were primarily red but had stripes of white.

As for the other two they were…Humans? Cosmo was filled with curiosity as she gazed upon the quartet from her hiding spot behind Miles…The first of them was a tall and rather rotund fellow, dressed in a red jacket, black trousers and boots with white gloves and red tinted goggles resting on his head like Miles, a fiery red moustache resting above his lip, his face warm, red and slightly jolly in appearance.

the second of the pair was shorter, thin and spindly, dressed in a suit with a number of medals emblazoned on his chest, his face was rather sullen and pale, looking like someone who hadn't seen the sun in years, the ebony black hair and piercing nigh black eyes only being more proof of this…

"Where is the alien Miles? I know you've got them in here." The spindly man spoke, his voice stern, cold and calculating in nature…Making Cosmo feel uneasy and frightened slightly.

"She's behind Miles Mr Reddick, she's a bit shaken up after the crash but we've been able to find out some stuff about her, firstly we now know what her name is and that she's a part of a plant based species known as Seedrians…As for why she's here…Well, that's for her to tell you all…Cosmo you can come out now, they're friendly too." Vanilla spoke calmly, her face directed towards Miles.

Reddick and Robotnik watched intensely as a small pale hand placed itself on Miles's side, all before the alien slowly emerged from her small hiding spot and revealed herself…Her expression visibly nervous and frightened…The alien gave an extremely anxious smile, her hands trembling slightly as she squeaked out,

"H-H-Hi…"

The pink Mobian's emerald green eyes widened at the sight of the girl…Looking the alien up and down…All before she squealed out excitedly,

'OH MY GOD! SHE'S SOOOOO CUTE!"

Cosmo was taken aback by this reaction, not expecting those words to come out of her mouth at all, but she was hardly given the time to even introduce herself properly as the pink one rushed forward and gave her a bone crushing hug,

"OMG you look so precious! I'm Amy, Amy Rose!"

The pink Mobian pulled away from the hug, slightly blushing as she noticed the utterly shell-shocked, wide eyed look the alien gave her, her whole body beginning to tremble now,

"Sheesh Ames, no need to terrify the poor girl…Hey there, I'm Sonic. Sonic the hedgehog. Fastest thing alive and Mobius's greatest hero…So far at least. Sorry about Amy by the way, she can be like that sometimes…Hell when Miles first arrived here, she was all over him and smothering him with hugs…So don't feel scared of her." The blue one said, stretching out his hand in a greeting manner…

'It's okay…" Cosmo responded meekly, shaking his hand.

Then the tall human came forward, shaking the young alien's hand like Sonic did as he introduced himself,

"Dr Ivo Robotnik, pleased to meet you Cosmo. I see you've already met my boy then have you? That's good, he's a good kid…More than willing to be friends with you I'm sure…Besides, I'll be very interested in learning about you and your culture, technology…Basically everything about your species."

Cosmo smiled bashfully in response to the Doctor's words, however as the final man stepped forward, the warmth she felt from the friendliness of the others slowly melted away as he spoke.

"Elijah Reddick, Commander of G.U.N…It's a pleasure to meet you Ms Cosmo…I look forward to being able to study your kind further and assess whether or not you can be trusted." He spoke, his voice rather cold, and his hand even colder as they shook.

"Well…Thank you, all of you…For being so welcoming to me…I, I suppose I should explain why I'm here now that you four have come in…" Cosmo spoke up, rather shy in her demeanour and her body language suggesting this wasn't something she wanted to do…

"Yes, I believe it would be for the best if you did…it should help me decide on whether or not you can be trusted." Reddick responded, his voice rather serious and cold yet again.

Cosmo took a deep breath, trying to fight back her nerves, taking yet another sip of the chamomile tea, the hot liquid slowly taking effect, soothing her nerves and allowing herself to stop trembling with anxiety…And slowly but steadily, she began to explain everything…From her background as a Seedrian and a very heavily summarised version of the events of the past twelve years, her father's betrayal and how she ended up on Mobius in the first place...Steadily taking sips of the tea in between to control her emotions…

The newcomers in the room were shocked, saddened and frightened at all they had heard…Amy was shivering slightly in fear, Sonic's face was cold and serious like Reddick's, Robotnik's was full of sympathy and sadness and Reddick's?

The Commander's expression was cold and grim…He approached the young Seedrian who slowly began to shrink away under his shadow…However his words were not the ones she expected to hear coming from him…

"You're a very brave girl Cosmo Rosacea, being able to endure everything you've went through and still go through with your duty is respectable…Apologies for my previous demeanour though…Now, I have a proposition for you…What if we helped you on your way to Rusan?"

The Seedrian's face went white in response to the Commander's question, surely he wasn't being serious…Them? Help her? A group complete strangers she hadn't even known for an hour? It was…It was…It was brilliant…Really brilliant!

"Sure, but…Vanilla said that the only ship capable of getting off world isn't finished yet…So, what am I meant to do then?" Cosmo asked, feeling a little more comfortable to ask questions now…

It was Robotnik that answered her, patting the Seedrian on the back and saying kindly to her,

"I tell you what, tomorrow…You, Vanilla, Cream, Amy and Miles can go into Station Square and do some shopping…Nothing too much, just basic supplies for the voyage as well as getting you some more clothes while Reddick and I work on the Typhoon, it only needs a few more little tweaks before she'll be ready to take to the stars…however…She doesn't have a power source yet…"

"You won't need to worry there Dr Robotnik." Said Knuckles proudly, a smirk spreading across his face.

"The Master Emerald should provide plenty of power to the Typhoon. The protection of the galaxy from xenophobic plants I feel goes above my duty as the Emerald's protector…So…Just this once, I'll allow it's usage."

Miles, Sonic and Robotnik turned to the Echidna warrior…Shocked at the Echidna's sudden willingness to save the galaxy, believing that nothing they did or said would ever be able to get the warrior to give up the emerald…

"Why thank you Knuckles…I'll make sure it's put to good use, Miles you don't mind going shopping with the girls tomorrow do you?" The Doctor asked.

Miles shook his head in response, turning to face Cosmo, a warm smile on his face,

"Absolutely not, it'd be nice to get to know Cosmo a bit more."

Cosmo smiled back…At all of them this time, she may have arrived on Mobius under tragic circumstance…But she wouldn't be alone in her journey to Rusan…For she had friends now who would help her journey into the void…All she needed now, was to ask one question.

"Okay…Does anyone know where the bathroom is here? I'd like a shower please…"