x
Back on Earth, Danny, Frances, and Helen were poring over Chris' computer. Helen was typing. "We have to find out how Chris' transport works," she said.
"Try typing in a different password," suggested Danny.
"I know!" said Frances. "Maybe the password Chris used was 'Sonic'!"
"Let's see…" said Helen, typing it out.
"Please work!" begged Danny.
Helen stopped her typing. "I think we better face facts," she said. "We'll never log into Chris' system."
"Man, Chris made it impossible for anybody to follow him to Sonic's world!" said Danny.
"He didn't want us to take the risk," said Helen.
"It'd be worth the risk to see Sonic and the others again," said Frances.
"I wish Chris had talked to us before he left so we could decide for ourselves," agreed Danny.
On the desk rested a photo of Chris, Sonic, Tails, and Amy. It had a new glass frame after the other one had shattered. "I'm sure Chris is having a blast in Sonic's world right now," said Helen.
"I wonder why Chris hasn't tried to contact us yet?" said Danny.
"I bet he's having so much fun that he just forgot," said Frances.
"Probably," Helen agreed.
Soon, the three of them were outside the building. "Thanks for the help, guys," said Helen. "Try not to worry."
"Bye, Helen," they said in reply.
As the three parted ways, Helen rolled off on her own towards the city. Chris, I hope you're alright… she thought before adding out loud, "I miss you."
………………………………………………………………………
Meanwhile, in the Blue Typhoon, Cream and Cosmo were watching as Chris searched the galaxy for any signs of Chaos Emeralds. Sunset was looking out the window, feeling more determined than ever to defeat the Metarex for Molly's sake. "It doesn't look like there are any Chaos Emeralds around here," said Cosmo.
"Chris, are you sure the scanner is working okay?" asked Amy.
"Yeah, I am," answered Chris. "But there's a lot of interference in this part of the galaxy."
"Why is that?" asked Amy.
"It looks like this entire region of space has been warped by some kind of gravitational force," Chris replied as he continued his search.
"Do you think the Metarex are responsible for this?" asked Cream.
"Probably are," said Chris. "If the warping continues at this rate, it'll soon spread across the whole galaxy and beyond."
"Yet another reason why they must be stopped," Creecha added, looking up from her Bible.
Everyone agreed. Amy was cross. "First the Metarex go around stealing Planet Eggs," she complained, "and now they're bending all of outer space out of shape. Those creeps!"
"Look," said Cream, "the sensors spotted something!"
But Amy didn't listen at first until she looked up. "Those Metarex have to be stopped once and for all. Uh… Huh?"
On the radar, there was some sort of object approaching the ship. "I think we found a Chaos Emerald," she said. "Hey, Tails!"
"I see it!" said the little fox. "Ready to intercept!"
"Hey look!" said Chris, pointing ahead. "Something's coming towards us!"
Sure enough, they saw what they thought was a meteor up ahead. "What is it?" asked Grace.
"It's a small asteroid," said Chris.
"The Chaos Emerald is inside the asteroid," said Amy.
"I'll pull it in," said Tails.
Butch just groaned in annoyance, which Shanti took notice of. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"I just can't believe we've had to start all over again," Butch answered. "Ever since that whole Metarex station incident, we've been back on square one. It's as if the Metarex had taken all our hard work and dashed it to the ground like it was a rock."
"I'm sure we'll get 'em all again," said Shanti, patting his shoulder.
Butch looked up and smiled at her. "I hope you're right," he said.
………………………………………………………………………
A pair of claws extended out of the runway of the Blue Typhoon and reached towards the meteor. It grabbed the meteor, which started to move.
………………………………………………………………………
"Weird-looking asteroid," said Chris.
"Hey, it's trying to move away!" exclaimed Cream.
That's when Tails realized something. "That's no asteroid, you guys!" he said. "That's a spaceship!"
"Whoa…" said Sonic, amazed.
………………………………………………………………………
After bringing in the ship, they found who was inside it: three small aliens known as Marmolims. The first one was orange, the second was green, and the third was blue. "We were afraid that you were going to crush our ship," said the orange one.
"I'm really sorry," Tails apologized, "but we thought your ship was an asteroid."
The blue one, hands on her hips, looked offended. "Our ship is a highly advanced space vehicle with ion propulsion engines and a hyper-drive!" she said.
The other two aliens nodded. "Seriously?" said Sunset, surprised. "Great. Now I'm jealous."
Wallflower giggled amusingly. "So, what brought you to this part of the galaxy?" asked Chris.
"Our world is sick," explained the orange one. "We must find somebody who can heal it. I'm Lue, the ship's captain."
"My name is Lylem," said the green one.
"And I am Momo," said the blue one.
"It's nice to meet you," said Chris. "You didn't happen to find a Chaos Emerald during your trip, did you?"
"What's a Chaos Emerald?" asked Lue.
"It's a really beautiful gem about this size," explained Tails, holding up his hands so he could form the approximate size of a Chaos Emerald, "and it glows sometimes."
They looked at each other in confusion. "Are you talking about this?" asked Lue, holding up a cyan-colored gem.
"It's the Chaos Emerald!" said Cream.
"They did find it!" said Cosmo.
"Thanks a lot!" said Tails as he reached out to take it.
But Lue backed away, confusing and surprising everyone. "What's the matter?" asked Tails.
"We didn't say that you could have it," said Lue.
"We spotted this gem during our trip," explained Lylem, "and we thought it looked beautiful."
"So we picked it up and decided to keep it!" finished Momo.
Knuckles quickly lost patience. "That's our Emerald!" he yelled, lunging forward angrily. "Hand it over!"
Soon, he was chasing the Marmolims around the hangar. "Stop! Hey!"
Creecha shook her head, looking like she was used to it. "Why am I not surprised?" she said.
Grace was confused. "At what?" she asked.
"There's a lot of people out there that always live by a rule: 'Finders Keepers'," Creecha answered. "Basically, it means that whenever a person finds something, they think they can keep it, even if that something belongs to someone else."
"And you've seen that sort of thing before?" asked Grace.
"Yep," Creecha answered, nodding. "More times than you can count."
Meanwhile, the Marmolims were still trying to get away from an angry Echidna. "No! You can't have it!" cried Lylem.
"We found it!" added Momo. "It belongs to us!"
"I want that Chaos Emerald now!" Knuckles yelled.
Thankfully, the Marmolims were saved thanks to Chris and Tails restraining Knuckles. "Whoa, Knuckles!" Tails exclaimed, trying to calm down his oldest brother.
"You're just making it worse," Chris added.
"Let's try to work it out!" suggested Cream.
"Some of us are civilized around here!" agreed Amy.
"Fine!" snapped Knuckles. "Then you get the Emerald!"
"That's enough from you, Knuckles," said Creecha firmly. "Yelling at someone and lunging at them like that isn't gonna get us anywhere at this rate."
Sonic stepped forward. "That Emerald's important," he said. "We really need it to save the galaxy."
"I'm sorry," said Lue, "but we like this gem."
"We don't want to share it," added Lylem.
Sonic smiled and extended a hand. "Please, give it to me," he said.
"Finders keepers!" replied all three Marmolims, causing Sonic to fall face-first on the floor in exasperation.
They were all beaming. "We're going to take it home!" said Momo.
"We can't wait to show it to our friends," added Lue.
Sonic didn't say anything. He just tapped his finger on the floor impatiently. Tails rubbed his shoulder to help him stay calm. "So… what do we do now?" asked Chris.
………………………………………………………………………
Eventually, everyone was back on the bridge, including the Marmolims. "I don't see why we're taking these pipsqueaks home when they won't give us the Chaos Emerald!" Amy grumbled while typing.
"We want to find out why their planet's sick and see if there's something we can do to help," explained Chris.
"Planet Marmolim is a magical place that once you visit, you'll never want to leave!" said Momo, holding up a few coins. "We have fortune tellers, magic charms, and even love spells!"
The instant she heard "love spells", that got Amy's attention. She was smiling, blushing, and even her eyes were twinkling. "You have love spells?" she asked.
"Yes," Momo answered, "and they're extremely powerful."
The Guard groaned inwardly. They knew what that meant. "Oh boy," said Robyn. "There goes her Sonic obsession again."
Quickly, Amy typed in a few coordinates, then put her foot on the control panel. "What are we waiting for?" she said, pointing ahead excitedly. "Let's go full speed ahead to Planet Marmolim!"
Tails sweated and closed his eyes, smiling nervously. "Sure, Amy," he said hesitantly.
………………………………………………………………………
Soon, the Typhoon had landed on the "funky-colored planet" as Grace called it. The other Marmolims who lived there were happy to see that their fellow Marmolims were back safe and sound. "I'm sorry if we worried you," said Lylem.
Lue held up the Emerald. "We're giving you this to thank you for the ride," he said.
"It's about time," said Knuckles as Sonic placed his hand on the Emerald.
"Thanks," said Chris. "We really appreciate it."
Amy rushed up to Momo with a big smile. "So, where can we find this love spell you told me about?" she asked.
"Right this way, please!" answered Momo.
"OK!" said Amy excitedly. "Come on, Sonic!"
She grabbed Sonic's hand and ran off, causing him to accidentally toss the Emerald into the air. Luckily, Knuckles caught it. "Amy! Wait!" called Cream.
"Chao chao chao!" said Cheese.
But Amy was already out of earshot. "Boy, is she hopeless," said Chris, causing Grace to chuckle in agreement.
Meanwhile, Amy was rushing Sonic towards a matchmaking hut. "Before we try out that love spell, let's go visit a fortune-teller!" she said, storming inside.
Soon, she was seated with a Marmolim with a crystal ball. "Well? Do we have a future together?" she asked, blinking expectantly.
Sonic just yawned.
………………………………………………………………………
Meanwhile, Knuckles, Chris, Grace, and Creecha were all following Lylem through the marketplace. "They sell magic here?" asked Knuckles.
"Visitors used to come here from all over the galaxy to find out their fortunes or buy magic charms 'til our planet started getting sick," said Lylem.
"Hm…" Chris wondered, blushing as they stopped at one of the stalls. "What do they sell at that stall?"
"They have charms and potions that can cure anything!" answered Lylem. "You can find headache amulets, hiccup remedies, and even spells that fight athlete's foot."
Chris was examining one of the charms. "Chris," asked Knuckles, "you have a problem with athlete's foot?"
"No!" Chris panicked.
Grace burst into fits of laughter, much to her mother's annoyance. "Sorry, Mom," she said, still laughing. "I couldn't resist. Hard to keep a straight face sometimes."
Creecha rolled her eyes. "I've had that problem more than once," she said.
Elsewhere, Tails, Cosmo, Cream, and Cheese were following Lue towards the palace. "I'm not sure about this…" said Tails hesitantly.
"I've never had anybody tell me my fortune before!" said Cream as they stopped.
"You can ask him any questions you want about your future," said Lue.
"How exciting!" exclaimed Cream. "What do you think we should ask him, Cheese?"
"Chao!" Cheese answered.
Cosmo looked around. "Something's wrong here…" she said. "Their planet is sick, but they don't seem to care."
They advanced nearer to the palace. Ghana, the Marmolim leader, was standing outside, leaning on a cane. "Lue!" he said.
"Greetings, Ghana!" Lue replied.
………………………………………………………………………
Soon, everyone was seated at the table. "The coins are clear," said Ghana. "They predict that you will part with a large sum of money."
"Do they say how much?" asked Lue.
"Yes," answered Ghana. "Ten fleebos, which is exactly what you owe me for this prediction."
"That's the same prediction as last time I came here!" said Lue.
The other Marmolims laughed. "This is no time for jokes!" said Cosmo as she stood up concerned.
Ghana just continued to shuffle his coins. "We have the power to look into the future," he said, "but we cannot change it. What will be, will be…"
"But…" Cosmo tried to say.
"I see you are always rushing into action," said Ghana, holding up a coin, "but your haste is going to cause great sorrow to those who are closest to you. These magic coins predict it."
Holding up another coin, he flipped it over, revealing a skull. Cosmo appeared spooked and started to walk away. "Wait, Cosmo!" called a concerned Tails as he immediately got up and ran after her.
Cream was also concerned. "Will she be OK?" she asked.
"Her future is too cloudy to predict with any certainty," answered Ghana. "But I do see romance in her future. Strange; plants and animals don't usually get along."
Cream blinked in surprise.
………………………………………………………………………
Outside, Cosmo was walking alone through the marketplace when Tails finally caught up with her. "Hey, slow down, Cosmo!" he called. "Don't let that fortune-teller upset ya. After all, nobody can really predict what'll really happen in the future."
Cosmo stopped. "I've never felt so helpless in my entire life," she said. "I know I don't want to harm you or our friends, but that fortune-teller says I'm destined to."
"Cosmo…" said Tails, wanting to help her.
But Cosmo was too stressed to listen. "It can't be true!" she cried.
"It'll be OK," Tails tried to reassure her.
But Cosmo just ran off. "Wait!" called Tails.
It was no use. Cosmo didn't reply. Tails watched helplessly as she ran away, out from the marketplace and towards who knows where. Tails was sad. He wanted to help her, but how? As he stood there trying to figure out what to do, a hand patted his shoulder. "Give her some time alone," said a voice. "She'll be alright eventually."
Tails turned his head to see Knuckles standing there. "I don't know how to help her, Knuckles," he said. "I want to, but I don't know how."
Knuckles just smiled comfortingly and drew Tails backwards so he could hug him from behind, showing a soft side that was only reserved for his little brother. "Just be there for her," he said. "We do the same for you."
Tails smiled a watery smile before turning around so he could hug him properly in return, crying softly. Knuckles just smiled back and rubbed behind his little brother's ears, causing him to purr. The older smiled at how cute his youngest brother's purrs sounded and nuzzled him, purring back in return. Tails sighed as he felt Knuckles' chest rumble, beginning to calm down at the soothing vibrations. Sensing that Tails was feeling a bit better, Knuckles nudged him, causing him to look up. "How about you hang out with me today?" he asked. "How does that sound?"
Tails nodded. With that, Knuckles stood up, picking up Tails and placing him on his shoulders and walked back through the marketplace. Tails leaned forward so he could rest on Knuckles' head. "I love you, Knuckles," he said.
Knuckles smiled and patted Tails' hands. "I love you too, little bro," he said.
………………………………………………………………………
Meanwhile, Momo had taken Amy and Sonic to a place with two rocks side by side atop a cliff. "This is called Romance Rock," she said.
"Oh, I love this place!" said Any excitedly.
"If you want the love spell to join you both forever," said Momo, "first you'll have to break this rock."
Amy was so happy that she bear-hugged Sonic. "Joined forever?!" she exclaimed. "Oh Sonic, I know we can break it! I know it!"
She raised her hammer. "Sonic and I will never be apart again!" she declared. "Here goes!"
But while Amy smashed the rock, Sonic immediately ran away at super speed. "Where's he going?" asked Amy.
………………………………………………………………………
At a fortune-telling hut… "Well…" a fortune-teller was saying, "according to this crystal ball, you are about to do something foolish."
Knuckles covered his mouth. "Something foolish?" he said. "Is there anything I can do to stop myself?"
"There's only one thing," said the fortune-teller, holding up a towel. "Put this magic cloth on your head and run through town clucking like a chicken."
Tails laughed and Grace instantly snorted, the two finding this solution both ridiculous and hilarious. "I'll try it!" said Knuckles, taking the towel and shaking the fortune-teller's hand. "Thanks. I hate making a fool of myself."
"I don't know," said Chris. "That sounds pretty foolish to me."
"And now you know why I don't rely on fortune-tellers or any of that stuff back home," said Creecha, who was leaning against the wall.
"Once again, Ghana's prediction will come true," said Lylem.
………………………………………………………………………
Later, the group was seated at a roadside café when a blue blur raced past them. "That was Sonic," said Chris.
"Come back, Sonic!" called a voice.
Creecha looked behind her… and stood up quickly at what she saw. "Good gravy!" she exclaimed. "Just how many charms does that girl have on her?"
Sure enough, there was Amy, who was covered in charms, running after Sonic. "Where are you going?" she called. "We broke Romance Rock, but we still have to go visit the Lake of Love and Matchmaker Mountain!"
She passed them. "Well, one thing's for sure," said Creecha. "You're never gonna get a future love interest if you act like Amy."
"Yeah, Amy would probably have better luck if she didn't push so hard," Chris agreed.
"It's a pity you don't have anyone to bring to Romance Rock," said Lylem.
"Uh… I sort of do," said Chris, "but she's back on my planet."
"Who is it?" asked Grace curiously.
"I can tell you really like her a lot," said Lylem. "So, what's her name, huh?"
"Hey…" Chris chuckled.
"Hey, Chris!" someone called.
Cream ran up to him, Cheese fluttering beside her. "Hey, what happened to Cosmo?" asked Chris. "I thought she went with you."
Cream and Tails looked at each other. "Chao chao chao chao," said Cheese sadly.
Chris sighed. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
Tails explained what happened, feeling sad himself. Knuckles didn't hesitate to hug him, which the younger gladly returned. Upon hearing the story, Grace jumped up. "I gotta go find her!" she said, turning to Creecha, who was talking to someone on a hologram. "Can I, Mom?"
Creecha just nodded at whoever she was talking to and turned off her hologram. "I was about to say, Grace," she said, "you can go do that. Take Cream and Cheese with you. Tails, you, Chris, and Knuckles get back to the Typhoon. Twilight just found something while doing some investigating some time ago, and she figured that it would explain why this planet's the way it is now."
The group nodded and went to do their respective assignments, Knuckles giving Tails another ride on his shoulders in the process.
………………………………………………………………………
Meanwhile, Cosmo was sitting alone atop a cliff (NOT the same one containing Lovers' Rock), looking up at the sky with tear-filled eyes. I want to save the galaxy from the Metarex, and help my new friends, she thought. But it seems I am going to make things worse for everybody.
Now feeling even worse than before, she drew her knees up to her chest, buried her face into them, and sobbed. She cried like that for sometime as the sky changed color to a much darker hue. She didn't know how long she'd been there until she heard a pair of footsteps behind her. A shadow loomed over her. "Hey, Cosmo," said a voice.
Still in tears, Cosmo turned to see none other than Wallflower standing there, a sympathetic expression in her features. "Figured I'd find you here," she said as she approached her. "Felt your sadness and guilt coming off in waves."
Cosmo just looked down, not responding. "Did something happen?" asked Wallflower, kneeling down next to her.
"Am I really going to cause you trouble?" asked Cosmo in a sad voice.
Wallflower was surprised. "What? Of course not," she said. "What made you think of something like that?"
"Because a fortune-teller told me that," said Cosmo and she explained what Ghana said.
Wallflower sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He's wrong," she said. "There's no way in heck that you're gonna cause us trouble. You never do. Just because something bad happens to us, doesn't mean you have to blame yourself. It's not your fault. Don't apologize for stuff that's beyond your control."
Cosmo was still troubled. "But don't the people care about their planet?" she asked. "Earlier, I thought that they didn't."
"They do care about their planet," said Wallflower. "They're just staying strong."
"Staying strong?" asked Cosmo in confusion.
Wallflower nodded. "It means that they're trying not to let it bother them too much," she explained, "because they know that we can fix it in the end. We just gotta find the source of it and then, *boom*, problem solved."
"I wish I were like that," said Cosmo, sadly looking down at the ground.
Wallflower sighed. "Trust me, some of us know how it felt at one point," she said.
After a while of silence, Cosmo sniffed. "So… you like being around me?" she asked.
Wallflower looked at the little girl. "Of course I do," she said. "Why would I think otherwise?"
Cosmo's lips wobbled. "And I'm not a bother to you, right?" she whimpered as she buried her face back into her knees.
Wallflower's heart shattered. "Oh, no, no, no, Cosmo. You're not a bother," she said.
As she scooped her up from the ground, Wallflower could feel just how tiny, light, and fragile her little sister felt in her arms. Shushing her gently, she sat down on the ground and placed Cosmo in her lap, her arms gently wrapped around her. "Why do you think that?" asked Cosmo, breathing shakily. "Why do I even matter to you?"
Wallflower smiled down gently at her. "Because you're my little sister," she said softly, almost cradling her like a two-year old. "And I love you. That's why you matter."
That hit Cosmo hard in the feels. Burying her face into Wallflower's chest, she cried and cried, her tears soaking through the older one's shirt. Wallflower just rocked her back and forth, whispering comforting words to her and shushing her gently. After a while, as Cosmo finally started to calm down, another voice rang out. "Cosmo!"
And there was Grace racing over to them. "You're okay!"
Cosmo accepted Grace's hug, giggling a little as Grace peppered her face with kisses. "There you are, Cosmo!" said another voice. "I'm also glad you're okay. We were all worried about you."
And there was Cream and Cheese also approaching them. A happy Cheese flew over to Cosmo with a happy "Chao!" sound. "Hi, Cheese," said Cosmo, embracing the little Chao. Already, she was starting to feel better.
The five watched the sky together, with Cosmo and Cream holding Cheese between them. "Thanks for checking up on me, guys," said Cosmo. "You're all such good friends."
"Aww, thanks Cosmo," said Grace, ruffling Cosmo's hair. "You're a good friend too. And also the best little sister I've ever had."
Cosmo giggled at the touch. "After you left," said Cream, "that fortune-teller said that most plant and animal species don't get along as well as we do. I wonder why they find it hard to make friends."
Cosmo thought about their previous successes over the course of their adventure. "I guess it's because we're so different from each other," she said. "In all the galaxy, it's hard to find different kinds of beings getting along together. That's why Sonic and the rest of you are special, because you can make friends with almost anybody."
"Yeah," agreed Wallflower, "but it's not always easy. Sometimes, there are some people that take a while to befriend because of certain reasons."
"True," Grace nodded, "but I always remember something that my Sunday school teacher back home once said: 'Sometimes, differences can be good… if we just take the time to get to know each other'."
"And what that means," added Wallflower, "is that it doesn't matter who you are on the outside. It's your actions and who you are on the inside that counts. If you show who you really are in a good way, your actions will help strengthen relationships and friendships, make others' lives better than ever, and your inner self will shine bright in the darkness like a much-needed beacon of hope."
Cream agreed with it all. "If a friendship like that is rare," she said, "that makes it extra special!"
"Chao!" Cheese cheered, causing everyone to laugh heartily.
Cosmo was feeling so much better. "I feel the same way as you all do!" she said.
Wallflower smiled. "There's that smile I was looking for," she said.
"Group hug!" said Grace cheerfully.
They didn't hesitate to join in.
………………………………………………………………………
Meanwhile, Amy was still looking for Sonic, to no avail. "Sonic! Sonic! Sonic!" she called.
"Maybe this means Sonic doesn't like you so much," suggested a concerned Momo.
"That isn't true!" protested Amy. "Whenever I get into trouble, Sonic always comes running to save me. I'll never forget when we both got back from Chris' world. Sonic picked a flower for me! He said, 'This is for you, Amy!' Oh, Sonic!"
She remembered that day as if it were yesterday...
..............................................................
Amy was at Cream's house with Cream sleeping on her lap when suddenly, a flash of light caught her attention. Looking from the window, she saw Super Sonic flying by. Happiness and relief flooding her, she eventually came out and ran after him. "Sonic," she said. "You finally came back!"
Joyful at seeing him after who knows how long, Amy continued running after Sonic, nor even bothering to stop. Up ahead, Super Sonic landed in front of Amy's house, returning to normal. As dawn broke over the horizon, Amy continued running down the path, never stopping until she herself arrived at her home.
At that point, Sonic turned around, surprised to see her. A long silence filled the air between the two hedgehogs as they looked at each other and didn't say anything at first, Amy panting from lack of breath from all that running. Finally, Sonic broke the silence. "Hey!" he greeted.
Amy snapped at that moment. "Well...!" she exclaimed, surprising the speedster. "What took you so long? I was worried. I wondered... if you were ever going to come back. It scared me to think that... I was never gonna see you again. Day after day I waited for you to come, but you never did. I didn't know where you were. I couldn't stand not knowing. I told myself... I should give up hoping. I was convinced... that you'd forgotten all about me. I thought you were gone forever!"
She sniffed, trying to control her emotions. "But then I realized," she continued, "that you would never abandon me, and I decided... that I would wait for you. Even if it took the rest of my life to see you again. Now you're here."
No longer holding it in, Amy collapsed to the ground on her knees, tears running down her cheeks. "I'm so glad to have you finally back, Sonic, it's such a wonderful feeling!" she cried. "I don't think I've ever been as happy as I am right now."
She cried and cried, not bothering to wipe away her tears. "Idiot," she said quietly. "Don't you ever leave me again, Sonic the Hedgehog."
When she looked up, she was surprised at what she saw next: there was Sonic, kneeling down to her level and presenting a light lavender-colored rose to her. "Don't you worry Amy," he reassured her with a wink and a smile, "I never will!"
With tears of joy, Amy pounced on Sonic and hugged him. With a mixture of joy and awkwardness, Sonic nevertheless didn't hesitate to take and return the embrace.
..................................................................
"Amy!" called a voice.
Amy looked up to see Cosmo, Grace, and Cream running up to her; Wallflower had gone back to the ship. "Hey Cosmo," said Amy, "aren't you curious if there's romance in your future?"
"I guess so," said Cosmo.
"What are you waiting for?" said Amy. "Let's go! You'll love it, Cosmo!"
She grabbed Cosmo's and Cream's hands and ran off with them, Grace and Momo following. Cosmo, Cream, and Grace all smiled at each other. After some time of getting their fortunes read and generally having fun with each other, the four friends were soon standing at the top of some stairs. "So Cosmo," asked Amy, "what's going on between you and Tails?"
"I don't know what you mean," said Cosmo, confused.
Amy smirked. "Well," she said, "it's obvious you and Tails like each other."
"Really, Amy…" said Cosmo, blushing, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You're lying," said Amy, folding her arms and looking away.
"That isn't true, Amy!" Cosmo insisted. "I'm sure Tails couldn't possibly be interested in me. I have a feeling he finds me annoying."
"You're not annoying, Cosmo," Grace chuckled as she shared an ice cream bar with Cheese. "You're an amazing friend. And I highly doubt that Tails finds you annoying either."
"And besides," added Cream, "if Tails doesn't like you, then why are you two always together?"
"Chao chao!" Cheese agreed.
"Well…" said Cosmo, trying to come up with another excuse.
Grace giggled. "I knew it," she said. "One of the reasons why they call it a 'crush'."
"Huh?" Cosmo was confused.
"A crush, Cosmo," said Grace, smiling big. "You got a crush on Tails."
Cosmo was surprised. "What?!" she exclaimed. "No I don't! I–"
"Sis, you totally do," Grace interrupted. "You're getting all flustered up, and you're blushing."
"Forget about Tails and me," said Cosmo, dropping the subject as she turned to Amy. "How are things going with you and Sonic?"
Amy looked upset. She looked away from Cosmo in embarrassment, broke into a cold sweat, and fell on her hands and knees. "Judging by that reaction, not so well," said Grace.
"What's the matter?" asked Cream.
"I'm sorry," said Cosmo. "I shouldn't have brought it up."
But Amy let out a deranged laugh, looking up with a malicious smile on her face. "Everything will turn out okay," she said, "because Momo gave me a magical spell so that I can make Sonic mine forever!"
Momo gave a thumbs-up in confirmation. "I'll catch Sonic in a trap and his heart will burn with love!" Amy declared, a fiery aura surrounding her as she laughed evilly again.
To say that her friends were spooked was an understatement. "Um, since when did Amy get that scary?" whispered Cosmo.
Grace and Cream could only shrug. Luckily, at that moment, Cosmo's communicator buzzed. "Tails?" she asked.
It was indeed Tails. "I found the cause of the sickness," he said.
Cosmo didn't see it, but Grace was silently giggling.
………………………………………………………………………
In the ship, Tails, Knuckles, Chris, Twilight, and the others had found something interesting. A hologram picture was showing it. "So this is what's causing the planet so much illness?" asked Knuckles.
Tails nodded. "Since the Planet Egg was removed," he said, "a section changed into something resembling cancer cells. Removing it should work."
"Yuck," Twilight grimaced. "Cancer cells? Sounds gross."
"I hope it's not too late," said Chris. "How will we even get down there?"
"Leave it to me," said Sonic, who was leaning on the wall.
………………………………………………………………………
Later, the gang was helping the Marmolims lay down sandbags and torches.
………………………………………………………………………
In the engine room, Chris was seated in a chair Knuckles usually sat in. Sonic, meanwhile, was sitting on the floor behind him with several charms. "What's all that stuff, Sonic?" asked Chris.
"The Marmolims gave me these charms to protect me when I try to save their world," Sonic answered as he stood up. "You want one, Creecha?"
"No thanks," said Creecha (she'd be helping Sonic with this one). "I'm good. I don't work with that sort of thing."
"I guess it can't hurt," said Chris as he turned back to the holo-screen. "There's some kind of disease growing underground where the Planet Egg was. You both have to destroy it. The only problem is there's a lot of water in that area."
"Gotcha," said Creecha, nodding.
Sonic, however, instantly got nervous at the mention of that W word. "Water? Are you kidding?" he said.
Immediately, he began searching for a certain charm. "Let's see…" he said.
He ended up locating a certain ring. "The Marmolim who gave me this charm told me it works against water," he said, slipping it on his left arm.
Chris and Creecha chuckled.
………………………………………………………………………
Outside, the Sonic Power Cannon rose out of the Typhoon.
………………………………………………………………………
"Route all energy to the Sonic Power Cannon!" said Tails.
………………………………………………………………………
"Load the cannon and get ready to fire at my command!"
"Here we go!" said Knuckles, stretching forth his hands to the Master Emerald.
………………………………………………………………………
"Proceed with takeoff!" said Tails.
………………………………………………………………………
The Typhoon lifted from the ground.
………………………………………………………………………
"Adjust cannon angle," said Tails.
………………………………………………………………………
The Cannon lowered a little bit to line up with a line of torches that had been set up. Sonic and Creecha both waited on the spin platform. "Sonic, you and Creecha get set for launch!" said Tails.
Nodding, the two started their spin. Everyone else watched from inside a barricade of sandbags.
………………………………………………………………………
Then… "Sonic Power Cannon, fire!"
………………………………………………………………………
The Cannon fired Sonic and Creecha into the earth ahead. Their speed immediately blew out all the torches. They quickly descended into the ground. After burrowing through tons of earth, they found the infected cell. Plowing into it, they got to work. In a short time, the infected cell glowed and exploded, water splashing everywhere.
………………………………………………………………………
Watching the screen, Chris saw the whole thing. "Sonic and Creecha did it!" he cheered.
Knuckles smirked in success.
………………………………………………………………………
Outside, water gushed out of the ground in giant jets and covered the parched ground. "I think it worked!" said Cosmo.
"Sonic and Creecha saved the planet!" Amy cheered.
"Thank you, Sonic and Creecha!" said the Marmolims, happy their planet was feeling better.
Sonic and Creecha were both being carried by the water. "How're you holding up, Sonic?" asked Creecha.
"This stinks," said Sonic, disappointed. "I thought this charm was gonna keep me dry, but if you ask me, it's all wet!"
The two were soon launched from the earth by a water jet. "Whoa!" exclaimed Sonic. "Somebody shut off the faucet!"
Creecha just laughed as she decided that it would be best to use her waterbending to get them both down.
Later, everyone was celebrating. Well, everyone except Cosmo. Said girl was watching from a cliff. "What's wrong, Cosmo?" asked a voice. "Why are you here by yourself?"
Cosmo turned to see Tails standing there. "Oh. Hi, Tails," she said as he approached her. "The Marmolims are really happy their planet was saved. You must be pleased too."
"I just feel lucky to be working with such terrific teammates," Tails replied as he stood next to her, "especially with you."
Cosmo blushed. "I-I didn't do anything," she stammered.
"You're wrong, Cosmo," said Tails. "You found us to help you stop the Metarex. Don't ever forget that. You're not sorry you found us, aren't ya?"
"Huh?" Cosmo was a little startled as she shook her head. "Of course I'm sorry! How could you think that?"
Then, she got flustered as she realized what she just said. "That came out wrong," she said frantically, blushing and waving a hand. "I mean I'm not sorry I met you!"
Tails laughed heartily. "Don't worry," he said, "I know what you meant. See you later!"
With that, he took off. "Hold on, Tails!" Cosmo called as she started to run after him.
However, she ended up tripping over a rope. Tails caught her, but they were suddenly sprung into the air by a hidden spring. As they were thrown over a lake, that's when they saw it in each other's eyes– just how much they loved each other. They landed in the shallow lake, which had turned from a pretty pink into a beautiful blue. "Are you OK?" asked Tails.
"I'm fine," said Cosmo. "I wonder what that was."
They then saw the moon in the sky. It appeared to be much bigger to them than the moon on either Earth or Mobius. As they watched the moon together, their eyes shimmered. Then, as they looked at each other, it was as if they were struck by love. Leaning forward, they had their first kiss under the moon.
Meanwhile, the others knew about this because of Creecha's necklace, which had glowed a beautiful white at the center where the heart was. "Wait a minute," said Chris. "Let me get this straight: You gave Amy a love spell?"
"It's the strongest one we have," said Momo. "The couple dives into the Lake of Love, and afterwards looks at the full moon, and then they'll be joined together forever!"
"It sounds like Amy is finally going to see her dream come true!" said Cream happily.
"She can't fail!" said Momo. "Amy even set up a trap so that she and Sonic would fall into the lake at the exact moment the moon rose!"
Cream and Momo celebrated. "So they must be together right now," said Chris.
Creecha looked down at her glowing necklace– and smiled. "I wouldn't be too sure about that, Chris," she said.
"What do you mean?" asked Chris.
"Because if you think that Sonic and Amy are gonna be together right now, then what's Sonic doing over there?" asked Creecha in reply, pointing over to a stand.
Chris looked over. "Huh?"
Sure enough, Sonic was there, buying something from a Marmolim and eating it. "Thanks, pal," he said. "This should hit the spot."
Chris was confused. "Sonic?" he said.
Sonic turned around. "Somethin' wrong?" he asked.
"Not much," said Creecha. "They just thought that you were together with Amy at that Lovers' Lake place."
"Wait…if Sonic and Amy aren't together, then who is?" asked Cream.
Creecha chuckled; she knew the answer, and she loved it. "Take a lucky guess," she said. "It's two certain people who aren't with us currently that had fallen into Amy's trap by accident."
Grace was the first to figure it out, a big smile spreading across her face. She looked over at her mother, who just nodded wordlessly. "Yes!" cheered the young girl, jumping up and down. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!"
"Knew what?" asked Cream.
"Tails and Cosmo!" said Grace happily. "They're in love with each other!"
The group was surprised– except Sonic, who had a proud smile on his face. "How long have you known that?" asked Momo.
"Ever since they were trapped in the underground caves a while back," Grace explained. "At first, I wasn't sure because I didn't want to jump to conclusions. But the events that happened previously until now only strengthened that bond between them. Now my suspicions are officially correct!" She was brimming with excitement.
"So you knew the whole time?" asked Chris. "How?"
"Simple," answered Grace. "When love is in the air, I'm pretty good at figuring it out, depending on who's in love. I got a pretty strong sense for it."
"Tails and Cosmo together," said Wallflower with a smile. "Now that's a healthy relationship to support."
Sonic looked into the distance, smiling happily. Way to go, little buddy, he thought. I knew that someday, you'd get your dream girl.
"So Mom," Grace was asking, "how do you think Amy's gonna react? Like, when she finds out her trap didn't work the way she intended it to?"
Creecha chuckled lightly. "Honestly, I don't think she'll be so pleased with it," she said.
………………………………………………………………………
And she was right. Amy saw that instead of her and Sonic, her trap had gotten Tails and Cosmo, who had by now separated from their kiss, into Lovers' Lake via accident. Now the two lovebirds had continued looking at the moon with content smiles, arms around each other.
Seeing this, Amy was furious. "Every time I try to win Sonic's heart, he makes a last-minute getaway! This is totally unfair!" she exclaimed before she suddenly started shrieking: "THAT TRAP WAS SET FOR SONIC! I WANTED TO GET MY ROMANCE GROWN, AND NOW I HAVE TO WATCH YOU TWO GO GAGA OVER EACH OTHER! THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! GO FIND YOUR OWN PLANET TO FALL IN LOVE ON!"
………………………………………………………………………
Sometime later, everyone was back on the ship, getting it ready for takeoff. Creecha went to find Amy, who was sitting in her room sulking. Tails had gotten worried about Amy's whereabouts since he hadn't seen her anywhere, so Creecha had volunteered to go find her. Arriving at her room, she knocked on the door. "You in there, Amy?" she asked.
"Who is it?" asked a sad voice.
"It's Creecha," answered Creecha. "I need to talk to you about something. And I'm not letting it slide by anymore."
Getting no response, Creecha took that as a sign to come in. Doing so, she found Amy sitting on her bed, staring at the wall in a sulking manner. Knowing that she had to get it over with, Creecha came over and sat next to Amy, shutting the door behind her. "You probably know why I'm here to talk to you," she said.
Amy didn't look up. "It's about what happened earlier, isn't it?" she asked.
"Yes, it is," said Creecha. "This can't go on anymore, Amy. This obsession you have for Sonic is unhealthy."
"I just wanted to have a romance with Sonic," said Amy. "It's been my biggest dream my whole life ever since we first met."
"I know you do, Amy," said Creecha. "And there's nothing wrong with that. But have you ever stopped to think that maybe Sonic isn't ready for that sort of thing yet?"
That question hit Amy hard, because she froze, eyes wide as if she hadn't realized it yet. "He– He's not ready for it?" she asked.
Creecha nodded. "Plus, you're letting your obsession with Sonic take over your better judgment," she added. "That's not good. It's been going on for sometime, and it has to stop. Sonic runs away like that because he's not ready for it. Don't get me wrong; he does care for you, just not in the way you've always cared for him. If you want to continue hanging out with Sonic and be in a relationship with him someday, that's okay, but you have to let it grow naturally. You can't rush through it like that; it's not how it works."
The realization of it hit Amy like a ton of bricks. "What have I done?" she said shakily. "I'm an obsessive monster."
Creecha rubbed her shoulder. "I know you feel guilty over it," she said. "But there's still a chance for you to make it up to him."
"How?" asked Amy.
Creecha smiled. "When the right time comes," she said, "talk it out with him. Until you're both older, it's better for you two to be just friends. You'll find your true love someday. Might be Sonic, might be someone else. Until then, you just have to be patient. I know it's hard, but it'll be worth it in the end."
Amy thought about it before smiling. "You're right," she said. "And I guess I need to work on my obsession, huh?"
Creecha chuckled. "Something like that," she said. "In fact, that'd be a great thing for you to work on."
She stood up. "Now let's help the others get the ship ready for takeoff," she said. "We'll be leaving soon."
As the two left, Amy looked up at Creecha's for the first time since their talk started. "Thanks Creecha," she said. "For the advice, I mean."
"You're welcome," said Creecha, smiling down at her.
"Also," Amy added, "I'm curious: how did you know what to say?"
Creecha chuckled. "I promise to explain later," she said, "but in a way, I've been in a similar situation."
ns 15.158.61.42da2
