Chapter 49: Tails and Cosmo
"Tangle's Log,
Oh gosh… we almost died like… twice since. I wrote in here. Like, ACTUALLY died!
I am starting to doubt that Eggman is ACTUALLY on our side… but he did kinda save our bacon the other day… UGH.
Ok, let me explain.
It all started when Eggman lured us into a trap and revealed to us that he's working with the Metarex now… at least, that is what he WANTS everyone to think, but he's actually on our side stealing intel from them… I guess he has to be convincing to them or something? I dunno…
Point is, that trap almost completely destroyed us, and it was only through Tails' quick thinking that we got out of there. Sonic and Knuckles got REALLY beat up in the process too.
Of all the things he could have done, Eggman HAD to give them the tech to counter the Sonic Driver?! Like, COME ON DUDE! Cut us a little break here! The Metarex are tough enough as is!
That being said, he kinda saved our bacon afterwards… at least I think he did, he said that there was a trap waiting for us but there wasn't one? Did he like, get rid of it somehow? I really don't know.
I also don't know why I am trusting him so much… this is the guy that tricked Knuckles how many times?! And yet he expects me to believe that he's still on our side yet is not willing to tell anyone BUT me?! Sus! Big sus! MAJORLY SUS!
Oh! And then there was the fight against that Yellow dude again! Yeah, remember him? The guy I got to debut my new and improved Tail Hammer against? Yeah, he came back, and we completely wrecked him!
See what happened was…
—
"HAAAAAA!" Tangle shouted as she tried launching a tail hammer, only for Zelkova's plasma shield to send her flying into the air and onto the deck of the ship.
"Tangle!" Jewel shouted, before flying over and helping her to her feet.
Tangle was slow to get up, but managed regardless.
"Ow… ok, that hurt." Tangle said.
Then, she noticed something.
A piece of armor…
Her souvenir from the last time she fought this guy.
It must have fallen out of her tail…
"Say Jewel, why did you say it was so hard to break a diamond?" Tangle asked.
"Huh? Uh… because you need something equally as hard, which there really isn't much… why?" Jewel asked.
Tangle picked up the piece of armor and smiled.
"I just got an idea."
She then went to the edge of the ship, and waited.
Waited for a chance to strike.
Zelkova was distracted by Knuckles, and didn't really notice her.
And finally, his back was turned.
"Now!" She said, before jumping off the ship, holding the shard with her tail.
She then launched a tail hammer, aiming straight for the plasma shield generator.
With Zelkova never even seeing her coming, the attack hit its mark, and the piece of armor pierced it, before the whole thing began to crack.
Zelkova's armor was strong, but it had its limits!
"Huh?!" Zelkova asked. "Oh! You again! Hold on!"
He tried to use the plasma shield again, but it shorted out from the damage, and exploded on his back, causing cracks to form on his armor.
"HUH?!"
"HAHA! TAKE THAT!" Tangle cheered before giving Jewel a thumbs up. "Thanks Jewel!"
Jewel seemed surprised by this, and just gave Tangle a small wave.
"I see, so that dung beetle gave you the idea to disable my awesome shield! Impressive!" Zelkova said.
"Yeah, she is pretty gre- wait what did you just call her?" Tangle asked.
Zelkova tilted his head.
"A dung beetle, isn't that what she is?" He asked.
…
"What's a dung beetle?" All the Mobians present asked.
They had never met or heard of a dung beetle before… simply because Dung Beetle Mobians did not exist.
"Oh! They are beetles that roll up poop! Hence: Dung!" Zelkova said. "Surprised you don't know that!"
"… What…" Tangle said, a shadow being cast over her eyes.
…
At that moment, everyone felt a chill up their spines…
Suddenly, the ground beneath her began to crack, the planet around her began to shake, and a nearby volcano erupted.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL MY BESTIE?!" She screamed, her eyes blood red.
Zelkova suddenly felt very nervous.
"I… feel as though I made a mistake here…"
Knuckles just put his hands up defensively and backed away slowly.
Not even HE wanted to get caught up in what was about to happen.
Suddenly, Tangle charged at him looking ready to kill.
Zelkova screamed in fear as he threw a punch, hitting Tangle straight in the head…
The armor on his fist shattered.
He screamed again.
And Tangle began to absolutely pummel him.
"THAT'S FOR INSULTING JEWEL!
THAT'S FOR BEING A JERK!
THAT'S FOR PUNCHING ME IN THE FACE!
THAT'S FOR USING TOILET HUMOR! THAT AIN'T FUNNY!
AND THAT IS FOR INSULTING JEWEL, BUT AGAIN!"
Everyone watched in bewildered amusement as Tangle completely trounced Yellow Zelkova…
It was on this day that they learned a valuable lesson: Though she doesn't get super angry often, when she does…
No-one is safe from her wrath.
When she was done, she walked away, clapping her hands to get rid of imaginary dust on them.
As for Zelkova, he was on the ground, his armor completely ruined.
"That… felt good." Tangle said as she went back into the ship.
—
"Knuckles pretty much finished the job after that… No-one gets to insult my bestie and get away with it! NO ONE!
Zelkova is… well, dead… It wasn't me I swear! He tried to fight some more, but it resulted in him falling in a pit of lava… I hate the guy, but he didn't deserve to die like that…
Still though, now that I know for sure that the best way to fight these guys is by using their armor as weapons, I got Tails and Chris to help me with a little surprise I have brewing!
Here's a hint: It involves the remains of Zelkova's armor that I broke… oh man, if they can get this to work, it will be SO COOL! Dark Oak won't know what hit him!
Anyways, Tails and Chris have been doing a check up on the security on the ship, so imma nap until that's done. Talk soon!"
"INTRUDER ALERT! AREA A-12! COSMO'S ROOM!"
"WHAZZAT?!" Tangle shouted as she fell out of her bed. "IMMA PUMMEL EM! HOW DARE THEY INTERRUPT MY NAP!"
She then got up and ran out of the room.
"Wait here Jewel! Stay safe!" She shouted as she ran away.
Before long, she made it to Cosmo's room, and saw that Sonic, Chris and Tails were already there…
And Shadow?!
"Tails! Take Cosmo and run!" Sonic shouted, before Shadow dragged him off into the distance.
Tails nodded, took Cosmo and ran.
"Tangle! Good luck!" Tails said as they left, the door closing behind them.
Tangle never felt so clueless on what was going on in her life before now.
Regardless, it was clear that Shadow was an enemy, so she got ready to fight.
Shadow began walking towards her, and she noticed that Sonic was out cold on the ground behind him.
Not the best odds of winning… but…
"Alright, I've been itching for us to have a fair fight since Prison Island! So bring it!" She shouted.
Shadow's expression didn't change, as he sped right up to her and, before she could realize what was happening, she was tackled through the door Tails just closed.
He then jumped up, and charged a Chaos Spear.
"… Nerts…"
The last thing she saw was a Chaos Spear heading straight for her face before everything went black.
'I have to protect her… I have to get her somewhere safe… no matter what!' Tails thought.
The two of them were currently crawling through air ducts, trying to avoid being spotted by surveillance cameras…
Tails had no idea how Shadow was so easily able to get access to this, but it didn't matter at that moment.
The only thing that mattered to him was keeping Cosmo safe.
"I… I don't understand…" Cosmo said. "I thought Shadow was our friend… why would he…?"
"… I don't know…" Tails said sadly. "It could be Eggman's orders… it could be because of the Metarex…"
Cosmo seemed worried about that…
Tails noticed it, and realized that she was probably terrified right now.
So… he tried to reassure her.
"But none of that matters…" Tails said. "Whoever wants you dead… it doesn't matter, cause it's not going to happen…"
"How… can you be so sure?" Cosmo asked. "Shadow is…"
"Strong, I know…" Tails said. "But there's one thing I know for sure… that you are not going to die."
He then turned to her, and looked her dead in the eyes.
"… Cause I am here to protect you."
Her eyes began to shine, as she looked at him in wonder and smiled.
'I have to protect that smile.'
The two walked out onto the bridge and looked out into space.
Tails had just sent Shadow flying using the Sonic Driver, and believed that it'd be very unlikely that he'd return before they were able to warp away.
"Tails… thank you." Cosmo said, before giving him a hug.
Tails' face went completely red at the hug.
"But… you didn't have to do that…"
Tails hid the blush and looked at her.
"Of course I did… you're special to me…" He said, before going red again. "A-and all of us! We'd all do anything to protect you!"
Cosmo stared at him, before laughing a bit.
Her cheeks also turned slightly red, but Tails didn't notice.
"Yeah… you're right."
Tails smiled, and took her hand.
"Now come on, let's get the ship out of here!"
The two began to walk, hand in hand.
"It was touch and go for a bit… but I did it…"
At that moment, a bright light began to shine in front of them…
Shadow was back.
"OH COME ON!"
Deciding that waiting for Shadow to attack, Tails charged while urging Cosmo to run…
He didn't stand a chance.
Shadow pummeled him, and when Tails got up to try again, Shadow just pummeled him again.
And now, Tails was grabbing his leg in a feeble attempt to get him to stop.
"Please… I have to… Protect… her…"
Shadow smiled at that, he at least respected his resolve…
Regardless though, he went to knock Tails out…
And then the glass above them shattered.
A shadowy creature barged in, took the Chaos Emerald and just… left.
But Tails didn't notice.
What he DID notice was Cosmo being sucked out into space.
So, he mustered all of his strength to get up and grab her arm, holding on tight until the auto-repair unit fixed the window.
When the two fell back to the ground (in each other's arms) they looked outside to see a large Metarex ship.
"You did well… White Seed." They heard Dark Oak say before the ship flew away.
'White… Seed…?'
Tails looked to Cosmo… who looked just as confused as him.
Then… her eyes went wide in realization…
And she screamed.
It was at that moment that Tails knew… he failed to protect her.
Tails was just sitting there… unsure what to do.
They had just found out what Shadow's motive for attacking was: to spare them of knowing that Cosmo was unknowingly a spy for the Metarex, everything she ever saw or heard was sent directly to Dark Oak.
They had landed on a nearby planet to repair the damage to the Typhoon. Sonic wanted to go for a run, but Tangle and Jewel convinced him to stay around, saying that he should be here to support Tails, to which he agreed, under the condition that Shadow went and confirmed the planet was safe, which he reluctantly agreed to.
As for the repairs… they hadn't even been started as far as Tails knew. Chris went to start it, but he just felt lost.
Eventually, Tangle walked in.
"Hey bud, you doing alright?" She asked.
"… Not really." Tails said. "Feeling… really lost right now."
Tangle sighed.
"Yeah, I get that." She said as she sat next to him. "Cosmo pretty much shut herself off in her room… we all keep trying to talk to her but…"
Tails just leaned back in his chair.
"What can we do for her?" Tails asked. "Sonic said you're good at this kind of thing… do you have any ideas?"
Tangle thought for a moment, but sighed.
"Sorry kiddo… I got nothing." She said sadly. "Fact is, other than what she told us and what we learned, we know… well, next to nothing about anything… the Metarex, the Seedrians… all of it."
Tails sighed.
"And how can we help her come to terms with it all… if we don't know any of it…?" Tails asked.
…
"Then we just gotta find out."
Looking to the door, they saw Sonic there.
"Ok, how?" Tangle asked. "I mean… Cosmo isn't talking and…"
Sonic smiled.
"Tikal."
After a moment, the other two's eyes went wide.
"Of course! She can just SHOW US what happened!" Tangle said excitingly. "Tikal, can you help us?"
Tikal popped out and frowned.
"Not unless we find out when exactly this all started…" Tikal said.
"… Right, that's important…" Tangle said.
…
"Ten years ago."
Looking to the source, they saw Rouge there.
"That's how long the resistance said they've been fighting them… willing to bet it's when this all started." Rouge explained.
Tangle got stars in her eyes.
"Resistance?!"
"Wiped out sadly…" Rouge said with a frown.
Tangle's excitement quickly went away.
Tails looked to Tikal.
"Think that's good enough?" He asked.
Tikal seemed to contemplate this, and nodded.
"… I think so…" Tikal said. "Ok… let's do this."
Tangle nodded.
"Alright, lemme sit down and…" She started.
"Wait!" Tails said, getting up from his seat. "Let me do it!"
The others looked at him surprised.
"Please… I just… I NEED to do this… for her…" Tails said, bowing his head.
"… Alright kiddo." Tangle said. "Take a seat… cause you're gonna pass out from this."
Tails nodded, before getting back in his seat.
"You ready?" Tikal asked.
"Ready."
Tangle then put a hand on his shoulder.
"Just a warning… the past few times we did this we found out about Tikal's past… Shadow's and well… mine." Tangle said. "If the pattern continues then… well…"
"It's going to be heavy stuff." Sonic finished for her. "Be ready for that."
Tails nodded, and looked to Tikal.
The two joined hands, and Tails' vision went white.
When the light cleared, they were high above some civilization.
"Huh, so I guess this is Cosmo's home world?" Tails asked.
Tikal's eyes went wide at that.
"… So… I may have forgotten needing to know WHERE this all started…" She said sheepishly.
Tails frowned.
"Tangle's rubbing off on you…" He said dully.
However, the sight of a large creature in the distance, which looked somewhat similar to Yellow Zelkova without his armor, fighting some aircrafts, caught their attention.
"… So uh… where are we?" Tails asked.
"… The planet we were on… before we went to the past…" Tikal said.
The two flew over and watched as the large creature fell over, dead, with a nearby Seedrian grieving his loss…
"… Oh my gosh…" Tails breathed out. "The Metarex and Seedrians… used to inhabit the same planet."
"... The Metarex ARE Seedrians!" Tikal concluded. "Females look like Cosmo, and Males look like Yellow Zelkova!"
Tails then began to ponder.
"So… wait… what caused them to be at war with themselves…?" He asked. "I mean, they clearly aren't at that point yet, and fighting some other war right now so…"
"Not only that… why did this one die?" Tikal asked. "I mean, he didn't seem to suffer from any injuries just now…"
Deciding that answers wouldn't just come to them, they began to explore, and came across a large building in the center of the city.
"Huh… this looks like some kinda board meeting…" Tails said, observing a group of important looking figures enter the room. "Guess they gotta talk about this war they are in…"
It was during this meeting that they learned a bit about what was happening.
First of all, the Seedrians were at war with what they called "Beasts."
"Wait, doesn't Dark Oak call US beasts?" Tails asked. "So… they are being attacked by animals from other planets?"
"It would appear that way." Tikal said.
They also learned about what happened to that Seedrian outside.
"Mover mode… so in exchange for the rest their life force, they temporarily gain incredible power." Tails said. "And that pendant that Cosmo wears… prevents her from doing so…"
"We should make sure she never takes that off…" Tikal said.
Tails didn't even want to consider the idea of Cosmo sacrificing herself through Mover Mode…
And then, of course… came the main conflict.
A male Seedrian, Luchs, wanted to stand his ground and fight back, while Earthia, the one who seemed to be the leader of the Seedrians, suggested that they leave the war ridden planet.
That was all the info that the two were able to get, so they began to fast forward a bit.
"WHOA!" Tails said as he saw everything speed up. "You can do this?!"
Tikal nodded.
"Always could… in the past, we've always knew exactly what year to go to… since we don't this time, I figured this was the best course of action." Tikal explained.
"Cool!" Tails said, stars in his eyes.
Eventually, they began to notice the planet slowly dying as Earthia and the others were putting the finishing touches on their space station.
And soon after… they found out why.
When the confrontation between Earthia and Luchs, the two paused to put everything together in their minds.
"Ok… so Luchs was using the Planet Egg to allow them to use Mover Mode without dying… Earthia tried to stop him, but it was already too late." Tails said. "… They were also married."
Tikal sighed.
"A love story that leads to this…" Tikal said sadly. "I… don't think we have to guess who Luchs is though…"
Tails nodded.
Dark Oak.
"It makes the most sense… using the Planet Eggs, hating animals like us so much… and seeming to be the ring leader of all of this… it has to be him…" Tails said. "He probably felt abandoned after Earthia and the others left… which could of lead to… well, yeah…"
Tikal nodded.
"That… is as good of an explanation as we could get." Tikal said sadly. "His mind seems to be pretty unstable at this point already… it might of become even more so after using the Planet Egg like he did…"
"I agree…" Tails said. "Ok… let's follow Earthia then."
The two did just that, and began to fast forward again.
Things… actually seemed very quiet for quite some time for Earthia and the Space Colony. They lived peacefully, though trying to avoid any conflict with what they assumed was a combination of the Metarex and the beasts they were already at war with…
Then… Earthia did something… wild.
She turned into a tree.
From this tree, many seeds sprouted… turning into baby Seedrians.
And then… they saw her…
Cosmo.
The final seed Earthia created, was Cosmo.
"… That means…" Tikal started.
"… Dark Oak is Cosmo's father…" Tails said in disbelief.
The one behind everything… leading the Metarex, destroying the Seedrians, killing Cosmo's family, and turning her into an unknowing spy…
Was her own father.
They continued to watch, saw how it all happened, how Dark Oak had the Space Colony destroyed, and his confrontation with Cosmo…
And just like that… they knew everything.
Deciding that just floating around in space was not the best conditions for the two of them to process all of this, Tikal took them somewhere else.
Her own past, the old shrine of the Master Emerald, where and when Tangle first met her… though the lemur wasn't exactly there at the time.
Tails went over to the stairs leading to the Master Emerald and sat down…
"How could he…?" Tails asked.
Then, he punched the step he was sitting on.
"HOW COULD HE?!" He asked again, yelling this time. "HIS OWN PEOPLE! HIS OWN DAUGHTER!"
Tikal just watched, as he continued his actions, while yelling out in anguish.
It wasn't like he could actually hurt himself here… so she decided that letting him get it all out was the best solution.
Eventually, he calmed down enough to stop.
Tikal walked over and kneeled down.
"Sometimes… blood or origin doesn't matter to people." Tikal said sadly. "Sometimes… the need for power or change can lead someone to doing something drastic… something terrible to their own people and family.
It doesn't make them right… far from it… but it happens…
And all we can do… is help pick up the pieces…"
Tails knew… she was speaking from experience.
Her own father had attacked her at this very shrine after all.
"... Tikal? Can you keep a secret for me?" Tails asked.
Tikal nodded.
"Of course."
"… I'm… not as bad with my emotions that the others seem to think…" Tails admitted.
Tikal was confused… then she realized.
There was only one thing he could be talking about…
"… You know that you love her."
Tails was silent for a second, before nodding.
"… Why haven't you said anything?" She asked.
Tails sighed.
"At first… I told myself it was because I wanted to focus on the task at hand…" He explained. "But… that's not it… I think I'm just plain scared... scared of what would happen if I told her…"
"… I see." Tikal said. "Sorry, I… don't have any romance experience myself."
Tails shook his head.
"It's fine… I just… needed to get that off my chest." Tails said. "I do think now… that the first thing I need to do is help her… to save her from all of this."
He got up from his seat, a determined look on his face.
"And I know exactly how."
When Tails woke up, he shot out of his seat and ran out of the room.
"Whoa! We missed SOMETHING!" Tangle said, startled by his actions.
"Come on, let's follow." Sonic said, before the two began to pursue him.
Little by little, the rest of the group began to join them in chasing after Tails.
They noticed that Cosmo wasn't in her room anymore, and grew worried, but that worry went away when they saw her in the hanger.
They watched, and saw as Tails tried to convince Cosmo to not go off on her own to face Dark Oak…
Then, Tangle stepped in.
"So, what exactly did you have planned Cosmo?" She asked. "He would know that you're coming, you know that right?"
Knuckles stepped in.
"We'd rather you not die for nothing… not when we still have a fighting chance together!" He said.
And finally, Sonic.
"He may know what we are able to do… but that just means that we gotta hit him harder than anything he could prepare for!" Sonic said. "That's all!"
Tails smiled.
"As long as we're together… we can overcome anything." He said with a smile. "I promise you… we'll face Dark Oak and win!"
At this, Cosmo began to tear up, and pulled Tails in for a hug.
"Thank you…"
Tails hugged her back.
"I promise… I… no… we'll save you from this… from all of this."
Tangle couldn't help but smile while watching this.
They couldn't protect her from what already happened… but they sure as heck could save her from it.
End of Cha-
A sudden crash outside interrupted their thought process.
Rushing outside, they saw Bokkun climbing out of a tree pile.
"Please… Shadow… everyone… SAVE EGGMAN! HE'S BEEN CAPTURED!" He shouted.
"WHAT?!"
End of Chapter 49
A big, Tailsmo centric chapter, focusing on Tails himself! I HAD to have a chapter with Tails in the starring role, especially when we were about to dive into Cosmo's past!
I… honestly kinda feel bad that I relegated the Yellow Zelkova rematch to a log entry, but I simply couldn't think of anything I could do with it other than what you saw here. Not enough for its own chapter.
That being said though… this means that we are actually just three chapters away from the end.
The next chapter will be the Eggman Rescue, which is part 1 of 3 for the finale.
I said this before, but I will be releasing all 3 parts of the finale in a row, from next Tuesday to next Thursday.
This all comes to an end next week.
So… see you all then, cause it's time for a rematch.