Antoine D'Coolette and the Alternative Freedom Fighters.
Second Episode: Diplomatic Mission.
Chapter 1: Holidays and Mercenaries, Part 1.
It's 11:00 AM in Station Square, and the passenger ships take off and land at the Airport. This is one of the city-states that make up the United Federation, which is one of the main nations of Mobius, and now the only one made up mainly of humans instead of mobians.
12,000 years ago, the planet Mobius was known as "Earth", and humans were the dominant species on the entire surface. Their technology wasn't as developed as it's now, but nuclear power was already being used for electricity, and the fastest ways to travel were either through trains capable of traveling at 300 kilometers per hour, or through airplanes that worked with turbines and could travel at speeds several times greater than that of sound. Not counting the billions of animal species on the planet, there were almost 8 billion humans, distributed in approx. 200 completely independent nations. By convention, most humans were governed by a calendar where each year was divided into twelve months that coincided with the cycles of the phases of the Moon, and according to which were approx. in the year 2000, although humans had already begun to exist at least 100 thousand years earlier.
Shortly after the year 2000 in the ancient human calendar, a powerful alien race called "Xorda" had come to Earth to establish contact with humans. However, one of the scientists, Dr. Ivan Kintobor, came up with the idea of taking the Xorda ambassador and "studying" him. When the Xorda learned of what happened, they decided to give an unjust punishment to the entire human race: the Earth was bombarded with "gene bombs", customized to exterminate the human race exclusively. As a result, not only did this breed almost disappear, but many animals evolved and became the various races of the mobian species. Despite the deadly bombing, some groups of humans survived: some groups mutated and became the aggressive Overlanders, while several other groups were sheltered in special shelters...
"The humans of these shelters created the city-states that make up the United Federation today." Tails is narrating, as briefly as he can, the story of the most recent 12,000 years of Mobius's history, and explaining the origins of the United Federation and its inhabitants. His audience are his parents, Amadeus and Rosemary, and so are his girlfriend, Fiona, and his teammates, Bunnie and Antoine. "Central City, which is the capital, Empire City, Westopolis, Spagonia, the Duchy of Soleanna, Apotos, Shamar, Chun-Nan, and the Republic of Station Square, which is where we're now."
That group of six mobians, the Alternative Freedom Fighters, are walking through the central hall of the Airport, after arriving from the Kingdom of Acorn. The two-tailed fox carries several backpacks, bags and suitcases, all of which are full, and some of them are carried with the help of their teammates, who also carry their own luggage with them.
"A year ago, that is, six months before you arrived, we went on a mission to Station Square, where a destroyer god named 'Chaos' was destroying the city." Bunnie continues the story, being heard by the Tails' parents. "The monster was powered by the power of the Super-Emeralds, which previously supplied electric power to the city. Therefore, Sonic, Tails and an echidna named Knuckles used the original Chaos Emeralds to transform into their respective Super forms, and thus defeated Chaos. When Eggman resurfaced, the then President of Station Square pledged to help us in the war, and now the rest of the Federation is considering joining us as well, especially now that the President of Station Square became the President of all the Federation. The Heritage Project was also launched, thanks to which the Overlanders became citizens of the Federation's city-states, especially Station Square. This was how Commander Abraham Tower became the Chief of GUN, the Guardian Units of the Nations, which serve the role of the Armed Forces within the Federation." Bunnie turns and speaks to Antoine. "Regarding Chaos' attack, I must mention that Antoine did an excellent job at that time, by assisting and evacuating the people of the city."
"Oh, allons donc, Bunnie... I didn't do a very important job..." the coyote responds modestly.
"I still have a question: How did our calendar originate?" Rosemary asks. "According to the calendar we're using, it's now the year 3237, and our year isn't divided into months."
"Our present calendar was created by the Echidnas." Says Antoine. "According to how little I know about Chaos, the Echidnas were the first to worship him. From them emerged the Brotherhood of Guardians, to which our ally Knuckles belongs, and who's in charge of protecting the echidnas of all Mobius, as well as guard the Master Emerald, which is a powerful magic artifact, similar to the Chaos Emeralds, which is stored on Angel Island. In short, it happens that there were a series of cataclysms that, supposedly, happened throughout the twelve thousand years of Mobius' history. The echidnas called 'Days of Fury' to each of them, and they count the years from the most recent event; they count the days one by one, without dividing the year in the form of months. And that's the origin of our current calendar. We are only counting the last 3237 years, being twelve thousand years in total; therefore, when a new 'Day of Fury' is to occur, the account should be reset to zero and the calendar should be restarted, theoretically. Am I right, Tails?"
Tails smiles, satisfied by the "lesson" of the coyote. "If I were a teacher, I would approve you with a grade of 10. Look, there are the GUN agents that the President sent to receive us."
Tails points to one of the gateways to the airport. Indeed, there are a group of humans, three men and three women, waiting for them. The six agents wear tag suits, guns and GUN plates.
When the AFFs arrive, they and the GUN agents shake hands. "Welcome to the United Federation." Says one of the female agents. "The President has provided this car to transport you six safely to Soumerca Grand Hotel, where you will meet with him." The agent shows them a huge black limousine, which is parked in front of the entrance of the Airport, and is large enough to transport the six mobians, in addition to the driver and his companion in the front seats; the limousine carries, in the front part of the hood, two small flags, which undoubtedly are of the United Federation: each flag has a dark blue stripe on each side, and a crimson stripe in the middle; at the same time, in the crimson strip, there are eight white stars that surround a sort of cockade, which consists of a white ring, a blue ring next, and a large white circle in the center. There were two more cars as an escort, one ahead of the limousine, the other behind it. The AFFs are surprised by this.
"He sent us... his presidential car?" Says Fiona in disbelief. "This is incredible! What kind of things will be inside?"
While the group of mobians is heading for the limousine, one of the male agents tries to help them with their luggage and take a part to the trunks of the two escort cars. However, the two-tailed fox prevents it.
"Wait, please. We trust you, but some suitcases have things of a particularly great importance and we prefer to take them ourselves." Says Tails, holding with him some of the bags and suitcases, while giving another piece of luggage to the agents. "These others only have clothes, toothbrushes, toothpaste and stuff like that. Take them to the escort cars and put them in their luggage rack."
When the AFFs enters the car, they find something more like the room of a house than the interior of a car: the seats, covered with red velvet and very fluffy, are located around a small table, where there's a great variety of foods, both sweet and salty, and different drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. In the front of the "mini-room", there's a small computer connected to the Data Network of the United Federation, and there's also a music player, along with several CDs of different types of music, mostly with songs of the human civilization previous to the Xorda attack.
The car starts its trip to the Soumerca Grand Hotel. While everyone eats and drinks, Antoine checks the CDs, until he grabs one and addresses his teammates. "Alors, What do they want to hear? Je found this. I've heard music from this band before, and it's of excellent quality." Says the coyote, showing a CD of a rock band called "Queen".
"That's what I call "good taste" in music, Tony." Says Fiona. "I'm more attracted to heavy rock, but that band of humans is great too."
"Queen?" Amadeus asks as he looks at the CD. "What's that?"
"You'll see. More precisely, you'll listen." Says Tails, while putting the disc in the music player.
[Soundtrack: Another one bites the dust – Queen]
When the music starts to sound, Tails and Fiona begin to sing along with Bunnie, and Antoine also sings with his Mercia accent. Despite the genre of music, the young soldier sings with considerable talent, and even finds this activity pleasurable.
Meanwhile, Amadeus and Rosemary listen to the music and keep looking at that quartet, finding this situation strange.
"Confirmed: I'm getting old." Amadeus says to himself.
Half an hour later...
In the central hall of the hotel, the President is sitting, waiting for someone. As part of the security measures, there are GUN agents stationed on doors and windows, watching everything with great attention.
Finally, their presidential limousine arrives, and the AFFs are present in the hall, carrying all their luggage with them. The President sees them and walks towards the team to receive him.
"Antoine! Tails! It's a pleasure to see you!" He says, shaking hands with them.
"Au contraire, monsieur le Président. Honor is ours." Antoine answers as he curtsies.
"Reverence isn't necessary, Antoine. I'm not a king. And you can call me "João" or "Falcão", if you want."
Next, President João Falcão and the AFFs, with their luggage still in hand and accompanied by two agents of GUN, go to a closed room, where there's a circular table and several chairs.
Meanwhile, they're observed from different places of the hall by other mobians: a purple weasel, a green duck, a polar bear, a gorilla, a lynx, a blue hawk and a frog dressed as a pilot. The seven individuals seem to be coordinated. When the President, his escort and the AFFs enter and lock themselves in the room, the seven mobians begin to move.
Another two hours later...
"So you take your guns and your uniforms in those suitcases." Says the President to the AFFs. "That was the reason you kept them with you in the car."
"That's right, monsieur João." Antoine replies.
"Honestly, I think this issue of maintaining secret identities is very complicated. Sooner or later, in one way or another, some enemy will know who you are and will spread that information or sell it to someone else."
"Alors, is there any job you need us for?"
In response, the President gives some files to the team. "These are your goals, the Kingdom of Acorn was already chasing some, and the King gave us some of the information about them. GUN will give you everything you need."
The AFFs grab the files and open them, reading the information written on them. Fiona reads some of the files, and addresses her teammates.
"Ha! Look what the wind brought..." The vixen says, proceeding to read to them what is written in those files:
Hooligans: team of mercenaries specialized in thefts, with little success in the work they do, led by Nack Weasel, aka "Fang the Sniper"; they've performed works in the service of various subjects, including the magician Mammoth Mogul and Doctor Eggman.
Current members of the Hooligans:
Nack Weasel, aka "Fang the Sniper":
Age: unknown, estimated in about 20 years.
Gender: male.
Place of origin: unknown.
Species: mobian, weasel-wolf hybrid.
In addition to being a thief, he's also a treasure hunter.
Described as someone who's not very intelligent, he has a very low success rate, both solo and in work with the Hooligans; despite this, he's still very dangerous, besides being expert in shooting and riding.
Bean, aka "the Dynamite Duck":
Age: unknown, estimated in about 15-20 years.
Gender: male.
Place of origin: unknown; some sources cite an experiment of the Battle Bird Armada as the origin of Bean.
Species: mobian, duck.
He usually works as an associate of Bark Polar Bear. He's a deserter of the Battle Bird Armada.
Described as a clumsy, talkative, mocking and especially crazy; despite this, he's still dangerous because of his talent for handling explosives, which includes the ability to make bombs appear, apparently, out of nowhere, as well as the ability to control their detonation, by methods still unknown.
Bark Polar Bear:
Age: unknown, estimated in about 25 years.
Gender: male.
Place of origin: unknown.
Species: mobian, polar bear.
Generally, he works as an associate of Bean, alias "the Dynamite Duck".
Described as someone calm and of few words, very different from his associated Bean; his physical strength makes him a formidable opponent.
Fiona finishes saying aloud the data of her three files.
"When I was a criminal, I worked with those three. In fact, those 'Hooligans' are useless." Says the vixen.
"Eh bien, these others seem to be more worthy rivals for us." Antoine says, reading another group of files:
Destructix: team of mercenaries specialized in thefts, although they also carry out various types of work, acting as a command group. Originally, they were the "Fearsome Foursome," a group of subordinates from Mammoth Mogul, who gave them new abilities or enhanced abilities already in them. After the fall of Mammoth Mogul, the composition and alignment of the team changed several times, as well as their employers, among which we can mention the echidna Doctor Finitevus and Doctor Eggman as the most important of all.
Current members of Destructix:
Lightning Lynx:
Age: unknown, estimated in about 20-25 years.
Gender: male.
Place of origin: Dragon Kingdom.
Species: mobian, lynx.
Formerly, he was a ninja of the Raiju Clan, one of its fastest and strongest members, until he was defeated in a duel by the leader of the Clan, and expelled accordingly.
Described as someone very loyal to his team and a follower of a "Honor Code"; he's very fast, being this ability enhanced by Mammoth Mogul later, and thanks to his training like ninja of Raiju Clan, also has great ability in the close combat; he also has a refined sense of hearing, which allows him to even detect chameleons and other objects and beings that wouldn't be visible to the naked eye.
Sergeant Simon Simian:
Age: unknown, estimated in about 25-30 years.
Gender: male.
Place of origin: Gorilla Colony, Northamer Great Jungle.
Species: mobian, gorilla.
He left the Gorilla Colony for differences of opinion with his compatriots: Sergeant Simian wanted to participate in the war against Eggman, unlike the other members of the Colony, who initially refused to abandon their traditional pacifist policy. Occasionally, he has performed functions comparable to those of a leader in Destructix.
Described as someone very loyal to his team, and a fighter very focused and disciplined, but at the same time very careless. In addition to having his great physical strength, enhanced by Mammoth Mogul later, he's dangerous in close combat, being able to repel the "Spindash" attack of Maurice "Sonic" Hedgehog, and also carries with him, at all times, an arsenal consisting of ammunition, grenades and various utensils; he has extensive knowledge of weapons and is a great tactical mind.
Predator Hawk:
Age: unknown, estimated in about 20-25 years.
Gender: male.
Place of origin: unknown.
Species: mobian, falcon.
He was one of the best soldiers of the Battle Bird Armada, but he was dissatisfied with his work and he deserted; later, he was united to the group "Babylon Rogues", deserting later by the same reasons.
Strategist and most unpredictable member of Destructix, he's described as cold, arrogant, exclusively loyal to his team, who believes in personal merit, and who always seeks challenges that motivate him; added to his natural ability for flight was enhanced by Mammoth Mogul, he's also a specialist in assassinations and hunts, because of his strong love of hunting live prey; as a former soldier of the Battle Bird Armada, he's versed in tactics and in the use of firearms, although he prefers quick air strikes in combat.
Flying Frog:
Age: unknown, estimated in about 20-25 years.
Gender: male.
Place of origin: Mercia.
Species: mobian, frog.
He was a buffoon in the Kingdom of Mercia. He usually terrorized residents by attacking them and even entering their homes, committing several murders during their "games."
Described as someone malevolent, mad, sadistic and without moral limits, he's mentally unstable, becoming the most dangerous and violent member of Destructix; he can plan in the air with the folds in his arms and legs, he has a flexible body that allows him to contort and enter into confined spaces, and has great ability in using his tongue as a weapon and as a tool.
"I also worked with them." Says Fiona in a bored tone, when Antoine stops reading. "They're better than the Hooligans, but not much better."
Meanwhile, Bunnie is reading another file, and then shows it to Antoine.
"This guy is a lot like you, do you think he has anything to do with you?" Says Bunnie, pointing to a photo. In it, a robian (robotized mobian) coyote is shown, leaving a castle with a platoon of SWAT-bots accompanying him; he was the High Sheriff of Snottingham, Grand Master of the DEL (Dark Egg Legion) in Mercia.
Antoine looks at the photo, and is stunned. He then gives the file to the other team members.
Fiona sees the High Sheriff in the picture. "This robian is the Mercia guy who claimed to be Robotnik's successor. His robots almost caught me, especially because my ex-boyfriend ran away and left me alone." The vixen ends, being evident her annoyance.
Then Colonel Prower sees the picture, and adresses to Antoine. "Tony, you know who he is. Do not you?"
"Oui, I know." The coyote says in a serious tone, then pausing. "He's General Armand D'Coolette, my father, robotized."
The other four members stare with surprise, especially Fiona.
"I'm sorry, Tony, I shouldn't have said that about him."
"You don't have to apologize." Antoine answers.
"If you want, you can let someone else handle him." the President proposes.
"No." The young soldier responds immediately. "We'll handle the High Sheriff. Are you agree, mes amis?"
"If it doesn't affect you..." says Tails, who then resumes the reading of the files, until he finds someone in particular, and approaches the President to speak in his ear.
"Mr. Falcão, is this guy really committing crimes right now, here in the United Federation?" Asks the child prodigy, showing the file to the human.
"Here, and everywhere in Mobius." responds Falcão, also quietly.
"And how serious are they, in exact terms?"
"The worst crimes you can imagine. They're written right here."
Tails then turns to his girlfriend, speaking still in a low voice. "Fiona, there's something I must show you." Then, he gives her the file.
When Fiona sees it, she maintains a "frozen" face. "Tails, are you serious?"
Her boyfriend nods. Fiona, disturbed, drops the file on the table. All this catches the attention of Bunnie.
"Fiona, is something wrong?" Then the cyborg rabbit grabs the file, and she and Antoine read it together. "I get it..." she says, giving the file to Tails's parents.
"Who's he? He looks like Sonic." Says Rosemary, looking at the photo. Next, the Prowers start to read the file:
Maurice Hedgehog, aka "Anti-Sonic", aka "Scourge" (don't confuse with Maurice Hedgehog, aka "Sonic"):
Age: 16 years.
Gender: male.
Place of origin: Moebotropolis, capital of the planet Moebius, somewhere in a parallel universe.
Species: mobian, hedgehog.
He's originative from a parallel universe, which is a sort of mirror of our universe. In this universe, the planet Mobius is named "Moebius", Dr. Robotnik's counterpart is benevolent and never develops his empire, the robotizer has never been invented, and the Freedom Fighters are replaced by the "Suppression Squad", a group of juvenile evildoers, associated with the Moebius Monarchy, who seek to make disorder and chaos by any means, and whose leader is "Scourge" Hedgehog, the counterpart of "Sonic" Hedgehog in Moebius.
"Scourge" is the son of "Anti-Jules" Hedgehog, a Moebius aristocrat who theoretically would be the counterpart of Jules Hedgehog, the mobian warrior who was the father of "Sonic"; however, in Moebius, "Anti-Jules" totally ignored his son, which surely was the motive of his murder, of which "Scourge" is the main suspect today. Unlike other members of the Suppression Squad, "Scourge" seems to have ambitions beyond the universe of which he's native, which leads him to commit the most aberrant crimes in several parallel universes, including the universe where we find ourselves; for this reason, this criminal is sought not only by GUN and the Acorn Kingdom, but also by the "Zone Cops Corps", a security corps operating in interdimensional space, and whose jurisdiction ignores the boundaries between parallel universes. He's accused of murder, collaboration in genocide, armed theft with hostage-taking, kidnapping, rape, fraud, terrorism, vandalism, involvement in acts of corruption, extortion, and various minor offenses. He also temporarily led Destructix, so this team was his accomplice in several of his crimes.
Described as egocentric, violent, volatile, manipulative, contemptuous and disrespectful towrds his subordinates, he's known because he tends to "use" his romantic partners, showing them as "trophies" when he compares himself to other men. "Scourge" Hedgehog shares with "Sonic" Hedgehog the ability to run at close to light speed, and at first, "Scourge" looked exactly the same as "Sonic", until his pelage's color changed from blue to light-green, as a result of an accident in the handling of the Master Emerald, a year and three months ago; in fact, the DNA of "Scourge" and the DNA of "Sonic" still coincide in a percentage of 99.99%, and to find the difference between them, it has been necessary a careful examination of the elementary particles of their atoms, thanks to which it has been discovered that the origin of "Scourge" is in a universe different from ours.
Because of how dangerous this individual is, it's recommended to use lethal force against him.
"This guy, Scourge, seems to be a quite... important criminal." Rosemary says as she finishes reading the file.
"Fortunately, we're prepared to face these people." Says Amadeus, showing his saber.
Meanwhile, Fiona is staring at the floor, while Tails wraps a hand on her shoulder.
"You don't know what Scourge is capable of doing." She says in a low voice.
"What do you mean?" Asks the Colonel.
"I was his girlfriend, Mr. and Mrs. Prower." Says the vixen. "Scourge is the ex-boyfriend I told you about." Fiona's voice begins to choke, while she does her best to not look at anyone in the face.
"Fiona..." The fox tries to calm his girlfriend, hugging her tightly and caressing her. "Don't worry, we'll find him, and we'll give him an exemplary punishment. Right, friends?" Says Tails, now addressing his teammates.
"I'll do what you say, Tails." Says Bunnie.
"Me too. Fiona's enemies and your enemies are also my enemies." Says Antoine.
"We would love to accompany you, son, but..." says his mother. "Are not you planning... to kill him?"
"You've read the file, Mom: we must use lethal force to defeat him."
"Your son is right, Mrs. Prower." The President intervenes. "He has escaped even the highest security prisons, both those of GUN and those of Zone Cops Corps. Scourge Hedgehog is too dangerous to let him live."
Meanwhile, one of the two GUN agents takes a call to his cell phone. Then the agent shuts down his phone and goes to the President.
"Sir, something is happening in the central hall of the hotel. It seems that a group of mobians attacked our agents, and now we're surrounded. We can't get out."
Upon hearing this, the President makes a phone call through a landline phone inside the room, activating the speakerphone mode.
In the central hall of the Soumerca Grand Hotel, all the access doors are closed, GUN agents guarding the place are unconscious, unarmed, tied and leaned against the walls, and there's a group of seven mobians surrounding the room where the President and the AFFs are in. These are the Hooligans and Destructix, who, for some reason, are together for the first time.
Suddenly, a landline phone rings. It's the phone at the front desk. Sergeant Simian answers the call.
"Who are you?"
"The President of the United Federation."
Sergeant Simian hands the phone to someone else. "The President is calling, Weasel."
"Give me the phone." Orders Nack. When he has the phone in his hand, he's about to speak to the President.
"Hi, Mr. President! Are you enjoying this?" Nack's greeting is heard inside the room.
"Who are you?"
"Nack Weasel & Associates- Auch! Okay, okay, I got it, Hawk... Hooligans, Destructix & Associates- Auch! Okay... Destructix, Hooligans & Associates."
"What is this about? Now you work as lawyers?"
"We come in search of Fiona Fox. If they don't deliver to her, Bean will blow up that bunker where you are."
"Great. Just great." Says Fiona sarcastically. "What do you want from me, losers?"
"I would love to answer you, but we can't do it, because we haven't the slightest idea. You'll have to ask our client, Mr Scourge, who seemed very eager to see you and kept calling you 'doll' when he mentioned you."
"Oh, yeah? Well... Tell 'Mr Scourge' that he will have to settle for another 'doll'. Although, now that I remember, he was always dating some other 'doll' while he said that I was the only one; therefore, my absence shouldn't affect him. In short, tell him 'f*** you' from me, ok?" Immediately after this, Fiona ends the call.
Tails sighs after hearing all this. "Destructix and Hooligans, together on a mission to the service of Scourge. This will be interesting."