The Fox and the Seedrian: A Taismo Story Prologue

Sonic couldn't remember a time when he felt so angry at himself. This rising heat built up in his chest and the back of his throat as he not so much saw but heard his best friend on his hands and knees at his feet get torn to pieces from the inside by his grief.

“Cosmo... Cosmo...” Tails' barely whispered out hoarsely.

Hearing the fox's breaths come to him in shorter bursts got the hedgehog to open his eyes and look down at him, noticing that his arms were beginning to quiver, and struggle to keep him up. Sonic knelt down, and caught Tails by his armpits just before he passed out and collapsed completely to the floor. As he began to pick him up, he noticed the white seed slip out from between his fingers. With the utmost care, he carefully picked it up from the deck and kept it safe as he headed for the nearest entrance back inside.

Sonic turned to head to the medical bay, and ran into just as he was looking for when Chris came around the corner.

“Oh my gosh, is he okay?”

“I'm not sure. Let's get him to the medical bay.”

Chris barely had time to nod as Sonic ran by and trailed him to the medical bay which was one floor down. When they came through the door, Sonic laid him on the bed while Chris went to the PA panel on the wall.

“Hey everyone, Sonic and I have got Tails down in the medical bay.” He announced, in case everyone else began to worry, before going over to the patient readout panel, and began conducting medical scans on the unconscious fox. Meanwhile, Sonic went over to one of the side counters where microscopes and other research equipment was kept. Tails had built the Typhoon to be prepared, even for a rather unexpected voyage out in space.

By the time Chris had conducted his initial scans, the observation room was crammed with everyone else aboard.

“Poor Tails...” Cream mused, leaning up against the glass.

“Chao chao...” Cheese agreed,

“He's... He's not comatose, is he?” Amy asked fearfully.

“Heart rate... Good. Blood pressure... Slightly elevated but returning to normal. Body temperature... 37 degrees.” Chris read out the results of his scans. He made his way through the others, passed through the observation door, and leaned over Tails with a small flashlight, and gently opened one eyelid.

“No coma. He's got rapid eye movement. He's just sleeping. Deeply. It must've done quite a number on him...”

No one needed specifics. They had all seen what just happened.

“I don't want to make the situation any more dire, but I don't trust Eggman as far as I can throw him, and the last thing we need is for him to beat us home. He's already got a head start, and our main power source is in pieces after that blast. The Driver Cannon is a burnt-out melted heap too.” Knuckles reported.

“Then that's one less thing we need power for. Everyone stay here, on the mess deck, or the bridge. I'll start cutting power to non-essential systems and unoccupied decks, see if we can start the Warp Field Driver with that. If that's not enough, we'll see how many rings we have left.” Chris instructed, before leaving the medical bay to begin preparations.

“I'll stay here, keep an eye on him, wait for him to wake up.” Sonic said, turning back from the adjacent counter, holding a petri dish.

“Is that a... Seed? Where did that come from?”

“I... I used every bit of Chaos Energy I had left to try and save her. This was all I got.”

No one said anything, as tears threatened the eyes of several of them. Cosmo hadn't been the only loss; Shadow wasn't anywhere to be found either, and was the reason they had gotten away safely from the explosion.

“Look everyone... Try to get something to eat or some sleep, even if you don't feel you need it right now. This has taken a lot out of everyone. Constantly worrying about Tails won't do you or him any good. He's pulled himself through a lot, and he'll pull through this too.”

With that, Sonic pulled up a chair next to Tails' bed, and sat silently, setting the petri dish gently on the end table next to him. One by one, everyone else filtered out, leaving the hedgehog alone with his thoughts and one silent, unconscious fox.

'Chaos is power... Power is enriched by the heart...'

He had thought of Cosmo... Happy and healthy, when he threw that orb of healing light towards the remains of the tree. The chaos emeralds turned thoughts into power. So what was it? Was the power not enough, or were his thoughts and heart not enough?

“I'm sorry, pal. I know what she meant to you. I'm so sorry...” He whispered to his friend next to him while he stared at the inanimate seed resting safely on the table.

He wanted to keep telling himself that they didn't have a choice, but they did; Cosmo or the universe. It was an impossible choice; especially to the one laying next to him who had pulled the trigger. But it was still a choice. One they would have to learn to live with one way or another.

He couldn't remember the last time a victory felt so hollow.

He was taken out of his train of thought when the lights in the ceiling noticeably dimmed. Chris' voice came over the PA system.

“I've begun power transfer procedures. Again, everyone please keep to the bridge, mess deck, and medical bay. It's gonna get pretty cold everywhere else.”

Sonic sat in silence. He wasn't sure how much time passed, but he felt the ship vibrate momentarily as it passed into a warp field. They had done it, and would be home in a few days.

“Hey, Sonic.”

Sonic looked up, and saw Amy coming through from the observation area carrying two trays of food.

“Thought you might want something to eat. He's still...?”

“Not a peep. Not even a murmur... Thanks.” He said, accepting the tray of two chili dogs and a glass of milk. He looked up at the clock and saw four hours had passed. Amy set the second unneeded tray on the table next to the petri dish that contained Cosmo's seed.

“I can't even imagine what that must have felt like...” Amy said sadly, looking at the sleeping fox next to Sonic. Her gaze slid over to the seed resting on the table. “What do you think it means?”

Sonic saw where she was looking.

“I wish I knew, Ames. I really do. Because I don't know what I'm gonna say to him when he wakes up.”

When he finished his pair of chili dogs, he gave a yawn.

“You've been through a lot too. Go get some rest. I'll keep an eye on him for now.”

Sonic nodded and got to his feet, picking up the other tray, and made his way back to the mess hall, the usually brightly-lit corridors now dim and somber. It probably wasn't doing any good to the general morale aboard the ship, but it was getting them home. He couldn't argue with that.

Amy wasn't the only one to take over watching Tails. Chris had gotten a few hours sleep after they got under way, then relieved her, and Cream came in and took her turn. Sonic came back in at the 18-hour mark, and he still had hadn't stirred.

Sonic awoke to a hand on his shoulder, and saw that he had dozed off in the chair. Super transformations did a number on the body, and it usually took more than one nap to recover. He saw Amy had come in with another tray of food. He looked over at Tails. No change.

“It's been 24 hours... Nothing?”

As if on cue, Tails took in a quick breath as his eyes slowly opened. His eyes glanced around, and knew where he was, and his gaze went to Amy and Sonic at his bedside.

“Hey, buddy. You feeling okay?”

Sonic mentally kicked himself for phrasing the question like that. What did he think?

“The lights?” Tails asked at a whisper, also noticing the dimmed lights.

“With the Master Emerald out of commission, Chris had to cut the power from a lot of the ship to get enough power for warp drive. We should be home in a day or two.”

Tails' gaze continued moving left, and fell on the seed safely inside the petri dish, and everything came bubbling back up to the surface.

“Are you hungry?” Amy asked, offering him the tray of food.

“No, I'd like to be alone.” Tails whispered, barely holding back the flood of emotions rushing forward.

“Okay, I'll come back later, hun.” Amy told him with a sympathizing smile, which he didn't notice or ignored. When she turned to leave, he closed his eyes as the tears flooded over and ran down to his pillow, his lips trembling.

Not having any words, Sonic silently place his hand on his best friend's left heaving shoulder. Sniffling, Tails reached his quivering opposite hand over, and brushed Sonic's hand off of him without a word.

Sonic got a sharp stinging pain in his chest, and felt like he had been punched in the gut. His stomach churning, he slowly and silently got up out of the chair, and walked out of the medical bay. Amy was at the corner of the hallway when she heard him leave as well, and turned to see a look of defeat on his face she had never seen before.

“Sonic...?” She asked, turning and walking back towards the hedgehog, as he leaned against the wall opposite the entrance to the medical bay. He placed a hand on the wall to support himself, and that wasn't going to be enough.

He balled his hand into a fist and slammed it into the wall as his legs gave out from under him and he dropped to his knees. Amy rushed forward, knelt down next to him and set the tray down. She was beside herself when she saw tears fall from Sonic's closed eyes as his shoulders heaved. She scooted up next to him, and pulled him into a hug, which he returned tightly.

“He's gonna get through this...” She told him as confidently as she could, still half-shocked at the fact that the most confident and unshakable person she knew had broken down in the first place.

“He's gonna get through this...” She repeated, to Sonic as much as herself. “Just wait and see.”