The Other: Epilogue

It took slightly longer than a week, but after all of the trials and fighting Team Sonic did indeed recover from their most recent battle. Just as Jaran Kai had predicted the lead poisoning had purged itself from Cosmo's body and Tails had required only minor surgery to initiate his recovery process. After a long period of rest the team was in fair spirits again returning to their everyday tasks with little to no difficulty. It was late in the evening and Tails had spent the entire day working on a frame for what was to be the newest version of the X Tornado. After the destruction of his last fighter jet Tails required a new method of air transport. In his courtesy Kai had provided Tails with blueprints and technology from his far-off realm giving the fox some new toys to play with. He was determined to make this "X Tornado Mk. II" the most advanced craft he had ever built. As per usual he had locked himself in his workshop for most of the day in his excitement. As the sun began to set over the hills Tails began to tire slowing his work to a leisurely pace. After a while the sound of the hanger bulkhead swinging open caught his ear as he turned to see Cosmo enter the room. The fox immediately placed his wrench back in his toolbox closing it and walking over to Cosmo. The seedrian greeted him with a quizzical look as she spoke glancing up and down his body and taking note of his dirty oily fur.

"Tails, you've been in here for hours! Your dinner would be cold now if I hadn't put it in the oven. What are you working on that's so important?"

"Hours? Has it really been that long?" Tails asked seeming slightly disoriented, "What time is it?"

"It's nine thirty-two." Cosmo said pointing to the obvious wall clock near his desk, "You've been working for eighteen hours!"

"Wow," Tails said rubbing the back of his neck, smearing oil along his scruff, "I didn't realize. Sorry honey, I didn't mean to."

"I know, but you should really keep up with the time. I worry about you when you work that long without stopping." Cosmo said with a slight smile reaching out and running her hand behind his ears, "What is this contraption exactly?"

"This is going to be my new plane!" Tails said excitedly, "Jaran gave me some schematics so I can add on some of his advanced weapons and engines! This is going to be the fastest, most powerful X Tornado yet!"

"I've always wondered, what is the 'X' in it's name for?" Cosmo inquired, "I know it means ten in roman numerals. It that it?"

"Um, no." Tails said scratching his head, "The 'X' is for- you know… I really don't know. I just thought it sounded cool, I guess."

"Oh," Cosmo said letting out a giggle slightly amused by this, "well I'm sure this one will be very 'X' worthy! You need to come inside and eat though. You can finish tomorrow."

"I guess I should stop, huh?" Tails said, "Sorry I didn't get to eat dinner with you."

"Oh, nonsense!" Cosmo said with a smile, "Mine's in the oven too."

"You… waited for me?" Tails asked tilting his head to the side, "Cosmo, you didn't have to-"

"Tails, I ALWAYS wait for you! You know that!" Said the seedrian with a sweet laugh.

Tails could not help but smirk at this kind gesture from his girlfriend. Any ordinary person might overlook this act of kindness as common courtesy, but Tails knew better than that. Cosmo had held her appetite at the expense of her own discomfort simply so she could sit with her love and share a meal. Just the thought that she wanted to eat with him warmed his heart. It was those simple devotions, those simple acts of kindness that so many took for granted which defined their relationship. Best of all both of them were mutually aware of this fact making what they had all the more beautiful. Tails simply reveled in that fact as he reached out to Cosmo stroking her pale cheek gently with a smile on his face.

"TAILS, YOUR HANDS!" Cosmo yelped, "You got oil all over me!"

Tails quickly retracted his hand yanking his gloves off as he tossed them to the side. Immediately he walked over to her attempting to wipe off her dirtied cheeks with his hands. "I am so, so sorry! I didn't mean to! Here, let me help you."

Cosmo proceeded to walk away from Tails and over to the plated frame of the X Tornado Mk. II gazing into the reflective metal. After a few moments a smile began to spread on her face as she burst into hysterical laughter. "I look like a pirate!" Cosmo laughed then approached Tails again. This time she reached out to him grabbing both sides of his head and pulling his face closer to hers. Tails held her by the waist as they both locked lips again exchanging a deeply passionate experience that both knew only they had ever shared. Cosmo stroked his whiskers as he ran his hands through her hair, both letting out contented moans as they held their embrace. Interestingly enough Cosmo began to feel the sensation of something exploring her mouth letting out a yelp as she realized it to be Tails' tongue. Soon enough she began to relax however as she did the same taking their kissing further then it had ever gone before. After all was said and done Cosmo drew back letting out a few soft breaths before smiling contentedly.

"I love you." She whispered simply.

"I love you too… so much." Tails replied wrapping them both in his namesakes as they held each other for a moment longer.

"We should go eat dinner." Cosmo giggled kissing his nose as she stepped back, "You're going to starve yourself working like you have been."

"Okay, go on in the house. I just need to shut down the lab and everything will be good." Tails said with a nod.

"Alright, hurry up then!" Cosmo said as she skipped off to the lab exit, "I made a new dish I think you'll like!"

"Can't wait!" Tails shouted back watching as she exited the hanger. The fox waited for a moment until he heard the bulkhead close then made his way over to the fusebox mounted on the wall. He gave the master switch a flip as the power to the hanger killed casting the massive room into darkness as rows of lights shut themselves off one-by-one. After making sure that all of his devices had been powered down the fox walked over to his desk dropping down into his roll-away chair and flipping on his desk light. The fox sat there in silence for some time staring out into space as he seemed to be lost in thought. After a few minutes of silence the fox leaned forward propping himself on his elbows as he began quietly monologuing to himself.

"You know, when Sonic handed me that seed ten months ago I really believed for a while that nothing would ever be happy again. Funny how you can spend so long with some people and never connect with them, but then spend such a short time with others and they just… light up your whole life. You did that for me, Cosmo; and when I lost you… I guess I thought all my happiness went with you. I tried to chase after it, and we all know how well that went. I just can't believe how wrong I was. You encouraged me to find happiness apart from you, and it was so hard at first, but I did it. I found a zest for life that I never, EVER had before. You get all the credit for that."

At his next words Tails felt a tear run down his cheek as he proceeded to vocalize his inner thoughts. "Then… you came back. What I always regretted most when you died was that I would miss the chance to experience all of those great things about being in a relationship with you, but you came back! I got a second chance! How many people can brag about that! A lot of people say that kids don't know what love is and that you and I are too different to work out, but we're not kids anymore. We've seen too much ugly in our lives to be kids. Yeah, you're different. I'd even say you're the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life… but that's what makes you so great! I don't care how many universes or how many alternate versions of us Jaran has seen. You're my Cosmo; MY Cosmo, the most amazing and beautiful girl in all of the omniverse, and I'll always believe that no matter what. If you can cheat death just for me then how can ANYONE say it isn't meant to be?"

Tails then proceeded to reach into his desk drawer removing the small box he had gazed upon so many times before, shuffling it between quivering hands as he continued to speak. "I know… we're really young, and maybe I'm being an idiot for thinking this way, but right now I really don't care. We're NOT kids, and we've looked after each other all this time… I want to be with you forever, Cosmo. I'm sure of it. I've never been more sure of anything in my life! I don't care what the rules say. The rules said plants and animals don't usually get along. The rules said you could never come back to me. The rules say kids can't feel for each other like we do. All of them are WRONG! It's not that I'm impatient. I can wait if I have to, but I guess… selfishly, I just don't want to. I want you Cosmo. Now there's just one last step to take…"

With that Tails flipped the lid of the velveteen box upward gazing at the contents as it glittered under the small lamp light. Cradled in his hands gently, nestled safely inside the box was a small, but perfect diamond ring…



Within his lab alit darkly sat the slumped form of the scientist, Doctor Eggman, his fist resting under his chin as his eyes seemed frozen on the terminal in front of him. Carefully his tall golden servant droid approached him standing in front of him as it tilted its head to the side in curiosity.

"Doctor?" Decoe asked in as soft a voice as he could manage, "You've been sitting here for hours… Shouldn't you eat something?"

Eggman was completely silent continuing his blank staring as he disregarded the presence of the tall golden drone. After a long while Decoe began to back-pace, slowly creeping his way toward the door to avoid being in a room with Eggman for any longer than he was required to.

"I'll just… leave you alone then. You probably want to-"

"He lied to me…" Eggman said in a murmur catching the attention of Decoe.

"He what?" Decoe asked.

"Xemus… double-crossed me." Eggman said sitting up in his seat, "He said that I had no way to lose, and he LIED!"

"Well, the Beskar did work." Decoe pointed out, "It was just that Omega!"

"Yes, but that's the point, Decoe! He had to have known the beskar wasn't enough!" Eggman pointed out, "He knows Kai better than anyone! He wanted me to 'almost' win! He knew that if I aggravated that human enough then he wouldn't come to my defense when Xemus came for me. Now I have no one to protect me… and he KNEW that!"

"Maybe you're just being paranoid, sir?" Decoe said sounding uncertain, "No one has that kind of- um…"

"Foresight," Eggman interjected for him.

"Yeah, no one has that kind of 'foresight'! Besides, nothing can get through the new beskar frame you placed on the door so you're safe!"

"I'm not sure, Decoe… The way that Kai talked about Xemus, he made him sound like some kind of demon. If he's as powerful as Kai says then I'm not entirely convinced that he can't breach my base. Perhaps it's time to make a move. What do you think, Decoe?"

Eggman pivoted around in his chair to face his droid, but found that the room was empty of sentients save himself. The scientist darted his head about as he attempted to locate his bot, but to no avail. Only the silence of the room met his ears. Surely Decoe would not have left during one of his speeches. Eggman proceeded to turn in his seat and press down on the intercom button.

"Decoe, I was not finished speaking with you! Return to the command center immediately!" Eggman blasted.

Upon finishing however, the scientist found that not only had his message not broadcast, but the power to his console and the rest of the command center appeared to be cut. Eggman stared through the dim light at his console in shock as he slowly stood from his seat. An increasing anxiety began to overcome the man as he backed away from the computer wondering what could have caused such a disruption.

A low clang was heard coming from the hallway as Eggman jumped with a start. The scientist immediately approached the door and attempted to open it, but found that it also lacked the power to function. The scientist grumbled to himself as he walked back over to the console prying the panel off and gaining access to the internal components. After a moment of crossing wires he found the ones to disengage the electromagnets so he would be able to open the door by hand. Finishing this he stood back up and turned toward the door again only to face a dark clad figure.

"BAH!!!" Eggman screamed aloud calming down as he recognized the figure's familiarity, "KAI! YOU IMBECILE! YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK! I knew you wouldn't abandon me with that… thing hunting me!"

"How could I possibly dismiss you?" Replied the humanoid as he remained in the shadows, "Your contributions have been at most adequate, and I felt they deserved my attention."

"Look, you've beaten my best robot today. Can we leave the sarcasm for another time?" Eggman asked irritatedly, "I need to know what to do so I can keep out of Xemus' way. I think you're right, he'll be after me."

"No sir, he has you." Replied the figure, "No need to give chase."

"What are you talking about?" Eggman asked tilting his head to the side.

"You've made very clear the limitations of your abilities," spoke the robed character as he stepped forward slowly, seeming to glide along the floor, "and I'm afraid they simply aren't up to par with my expectations. I'm afraid you're usefulness has expired, Doctor Julian Ivo Robotnik the Eggman."

"My limitations? I honestly have no idea wha-" Before the scientist completed his thought he stopped, looking down at the robes this figure wore. Nary a footstep had he heard when he approached and his robes seemed to meld with the very shadows at his feet. Something was wrong with this man, and Eggman knew exactly what it was. "You… aren't Kai, are you?"

"How very perceptive." Replied the figure moving forward again this time at a slow but constant pace.

"X-X-Xem-mus?" Eggman said shivering backing up to avoid getting any closer to this uncomfortable presence, "Hehe… you- it's a pleasure to meet you in person! I had hoped that we might broker a deal in each other's presence!"

"No deal will be brokered here today," Xemus replied as he drew closer, "nor had there ever been one."

"B-but, you promised!" Eggman said backing up until he fell into his chair, "You said you would aid me in destroying the Freedom Fighters!"

"And you believed me!" Hissed the figure tainting his voice with a slight chuckle, "Your mistake, not mine. Do you honestly believe I care anything about those pre-pubescent twats you have called your 'enemies' for years now? You're a washed-up, decrepit old codger who entertains a rivalry with children because he has made nothing of his life and has nothing better to do until the day he dies!"

"Washed up?" Eggman asked sounding almost pitiful in his fearful state, "What do you want with me?"

"Absolutely nothing! That's why I'm here." Xemus replied leaning down so as to loom over Eggman, "Now that you have no use you are simply a pestilence. Unfortunately for you I like to play with my food."

"You… what?" Eggman asked finding something oddly terrifying about that statement, "What do you want!? Tell me that much! What do you want!?"

"The one thing you who's value you can not fathom…" Xemus said reaching a clawed gauntlet out hovering it over Eggman's face, "I want her."

"Her? H- no… NO, YOU CAN'T!" Eggman said squirming as Xemus reached toward him, "She's just a child!"

"Not for much longer." Xemus said grabbing the scientist's face and covering his mouth. Eggman's form began to wain almost immediately as his skin began to lose its tint while Xemus whispered into his ear. "This is only half of what she'll be receiving." He chuckled, "ENJOY YOU STUPID CUNT!"

And throughout the halls piercing the silence was a long, bloodcurdling, almost childish scream from the great Doctor Eggman…