Onward to Cocoa Island

"Now do we all have to be cramped togetha inside a shipping crate?" Bunnie asked the other four. She, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were all inside a large crate and Amy was illuminating the inside of the crate with her psy-flame.

"We know that we have to enter Cocoa Island unseen, because West Side Island is now at war with the Battle Birds." Amy explained. "We have to be smuggled onto Cocoa Island and this crate will be shipped there. At least, we have the security info we got from the data files found on that mech." Then, they heard the door for the cargo area open.

"Can you guard the crates for a little bit?" a voice asked. "I thought I heard something in here."

"I can do it." Another voice replied.

"Shh, quiet." Amy whispered to them as she such off the flame.

The group had to stay quiet as they heard footsteps echoing from outside. Tails looked outside the little hole the crate had and saw a stork with a flashlight. He saw the figure point the flashlight towards the crate and walk closer to it.

Tails gave the signal to completely duck under the blanket. They got under the blanket that they found in there. The footsteps got louder and louder until they heard a stomp from right above them. Then, there was nothing.

"Find anything unusual?" the first voice asked.

"Nope, it was your imagination." The stork stated.

"I really hate being on guard duty."

"Yeah, I don't like it either. The extreme gear users have it even rougher, especially the Babylon Rouges." The stork replied. They saw the stork get off of the crate and walk away from it.

"Since nobody's in here, want to get some gyros?"

"Sure." The two birds went off and they heard the door to the cargo area shut. Amy relit her psy-flame again.

"That was too close." Knuckles asked.

"I'm starting to hate this espionage stuff." Sonic said. "I should be out on the field smashing robots."

"But we need the info, sugarhog." Bunnie replied. "How else are we going to get it?"

"Fortunately, I have come prepared with a psychic illusion trick." Amy said.

"What will that do?" Knuckles asked.

"I'll so you right now." Amy said. She muttered some words with her eyes closed. The flame shut off, she spread her hands. "Shaaa." Then, she relit the psy-flame. The group saw that they were still their selves.

"Uh, Ames." Sonic said. "I don't think your trick did anything."

"It did." Amy replied. She turned to Bunnie. "Say Bunnie, you have that mirror on you."

"Why'd you need it?" Bunnie asked. "This isn't time to fix your hair."

"That's not what I need it for." Amy said. Bunnie reached back and pulled out her mirror; she gave it to Amy. "Can you look in the mirror, Sonic?"

"What for…?" he asked. Amy handed the mirror to Sonic and looked into it. When he looked, he didn't see a hedgehog. He saw a blue toucan. "What in the…?"

"We look normal to ourselves because we are under the effect, but to everyone else we appear as what we see in the mirror." Amy said. "It can fool all basic senses."

"Not bad, Amy." Sonic answered. "I wonder what the others would look like." He handed the mirror over to Tails. They saw a yellow penguin in the mirror. They got the mirror back to Amy Rose and they saw there was a pink swan in it.

"I want to see what I look like." Knuckles said as he got the mirror. They saw a red flamingo in the mirror. The rest began to giggle. "Oh, ha ha, very funny."

"The illusion just picks the thing at random." Amy replied.

"I'm gonna wonder what I got." Bunnie stated as she got her mirror back. She saw that she was a kiwi, but her legs were still cybernetic as well as an apparent wing.

"I doesn't work well when hiding machinery." Amy pointed out. "But will make it consistent."

"Figures." Bunnie said. They heard the sound of a mechanical crane activate. Then, they heard the roof open up. "Something tells me we've reached our destination." Sonic looked out of the hole and saw some birds wrap some lifting straps around the crate.

"Okay, lift it up." A bird said. The crate was lifted up into the air, the five had to consciously keep their mouths shut as the crate was being moved. It was later set down among other crates they waited until the crew went to another section before opening it up to let the five out.

The five got out of the shipping yard and onto Cocoa Island. They ended up in the city of

Batman, the battle bird's current capital. They saw the surrounding wall around the city and the minaret towers to watch over it. Due to Amy's illusion trick, the surrounding birds didn't give them a second glance. As the group of five went through the gates, the saw the building were made from sedimentary stones with wooded trim. The roofs were made either of stone or terra cotta tiles. There were birds of many types in the city proper.

The five continued to walk around the bazaar until they found the Babylon Rogues on the street, all five of them. Then, Jet and Wave went up and saw the five of them. She walked towards them and went to the food place right next to them.

"That was close." Sonic said. Then, Wave went up to them.

"Well…" Wave said. "How's it going, handsome?" Sonic was stuuned while Amy gave the swallow a sour look.

"Never mind her." Jet said to them. Then, he looked at them. "You're not from around here, are you."

"Not really, we're new recruits for the janissaries." Sonic lied to the hawk.

"Oh… okay." The hawk replied with a grin. "My name is Jet, the leader of the Babylon Rouges. Of course, you probably already heard of me."

"Uh yeah." He answered.

"So, what's your name?" Jet asked.

"I'm S…am. Sam the Toucan."

"Where are the fruit loops?" Knuckles asked. Bunny just did a facepalm.

"Cool."

"I'm Wave." The swallow said holding out her hand. Sonic noticed Amy wasn't looking to cheery. He turned to her. "Now, Ammmelia. I'm not going to leave you."

"So, you're Amelia?" Wave asked. "I'm Wave." She stuck out her hand.

"Hi." Amy replied. Wave peerked up.

"Wait a second… I know that voice." Wave stated. Amy was now getting scared. "You were one of the girls at the spa Techno and I met. I didn't think we would actually be fighting in the army together."

"Wait, you abandoned your post to go to a spa?" Jet asked a little annoyed.

"It was going to be a one-time thing." Wave rebuked back at Jet and turned back to Amy.

"I was going to have a girls' night out later tonight." Wave said. "Want to come?"

"I guess if S…am doesn't mind." Amy stated.

"Now that we know you, let's introduce you to the others." Jet exclaimed, guided the group over to the table. "These are the other three Babylon Rouges, Storm, Techno, and Soar."

"Nice to meet ya." Storm answered as paused from eating his mutton.

"Hello there." Techno added.

"Greetings." Soar stated.

"So…" Jet said but was interrupted.

"Look, it's Jet the hawk." A female's voice said.

"Be right back." He answered. He, then, ran off being chased by a group of fan girls. The others stood there in confusion.

"Here we go again." Soar commented.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

"Never mind the fact he's a Babylon Rouge," Soar explained. "He is the most popular member in the entire military and a symbol of patriotism and national pride for the battle bird."

"So, he's on par with Sonic?" Tails thought. "No wonder he acts arrogant around Sonic."

"The girls want to be with him and the gentlemen want to be him." Soar continued. "And he is considered a role model for the children."

"How do you know of this?" Amy asked.

"I have to work with the public media." Soar stated. "So, I learn about this stuff." He looked at the other three. "By the way, I haven't gotten to know your names."

"I'm Tommy." Tails stated.

"My name is Bulma." Bunnie replied.

"And I'm Nikki." Knuckles answered. Storm finished eating his mutton and his drink; he ended up burping.

"Excuse you." Techno said to him.

"Sorry about that." Storm replied. "Well, I need to work off that meal." He turned to Knuckles. "You look rather tough for a flamingo, work out a lot?"

"A bit, yes." Knuckles replied.

"Well, Nikki…" Storm stated. "How about we duke it out in the ring?"

"Alright." Knuckles replied. "Lead the way." Then, the two headed off with Storm guiding them to the arena. Jet came back.

"Sorry about that." Jet said.

"That's fine, Jet." Sonic said.

Then, the group turned on their comlinks before they spent time with the Babylon Rouges. They made sure to not let their covers blown. Tails went with Techno to work on some stuff; Bunnie went with Soar; Amy went with Wave to join the girls' night out; Sonic went with Jet.

"So, I'm not sure what happened." Bunnie pointed out to Soar. "What happened with the Battle Bird Armada?"

"It's been here for quite a while." Soar answered.

"I mean about the Great War." Bunnie asked.

"Oh, that." Soar said with a frown. "I remember all too well about the Great War. I was the youngest member of the Babylon Rouges at the time, a spitfire like Jet. But then, we were called to the front at the Battle of Medereck Pass."

"That's the final battle in the Great War." Bunnie thought. "He was there?"

"We were facing off against the Coalition Navy led by the King of the South Island himself." Soar said. "We were to rally the birds for the hedgehogs were well known for their navy." He began to shake. "I have seen every last one of my fellow Babylon Rouges… die in that battle… and the sea below… had turned black from the oil that leaked out… and red from the blood of soldiers." He put his eyes to his face beginning to tear up. "Please don't make me remember."

"I'm sorry; I didn't know." Bunnie answered.

"You didn't know." Soar said. "I can sympathize." He paused. "What happened afterwards seemed like a miracle."

"What happened?"

"We retreated to here after the war." Soar explained. "But then we heard about Robotnik's coup and braced ourselves for an invasion. I'm not sure whether it was luck or skill, but we were able to repel Robotnik's invasion twice. He never attempted a third one."

"Wow, I've seen you been through a lot." Bunnie answered.

"And the funny thing was, you were the first to hear my story." Soar said. "I'm glad to have gotten that off my chest."

Meanwhile, Knuckles was getting ready to wrestle against Storm. They had put on some black wrestling pants.

"What are these things for?" Knuckles asked.

"It's a kispet, Nikki." Storm stated.

"Why do we need it?" Knuckles asked again.

"We're going to get drenched in oil soon and the kispet is going to protect your dignity." He paused. "Now, you might want to hold your breath."

"What for?" Knuckles asked. Then, the two were splashed with oil to the point they were soaked. "Oh geez."

"It's all the preparations." Storm said. Then, they came out to the field of battle where a crowd was watching. Knuckles and Storm got into the position to being wrestling. Once, they heard the bell. The two pressed their hands on the opponent's shoulders. And they wrestled to a draw.

Tails was with Techno in her laboratory. She showed him the machinery that see was working on impressing him.

"Wow, you are a busy little canary." Tails commented.

"I'm the one who does the maintenance on the Battle Birds equipment and the extreme gear." Techno said.

"I see that there is a huge contrast here." He said.

"What do you mean?" Techno asked.

"I mean, on the outside, there is barely any tech visible." Tails explained. "But on the inside, there is advanced tech."

"We don't live in the classical age anymore." She stated. "We, battle birds, have a long history with technology even though we don't appear that way."

"Just asking, can anyone be a Babylon Rouge?" He asked.

"No, you have to be the best of the best." She answered. "Which there is a large pool to choose from, so you have to be extremely talented."

"How big a pool are we talking about?"

"The entire youth."

"Holy cow." Tails replied. Techno saw a camera on the table and picked it up.

"Like take this camera for example." Techno said. "I am able to pick this up, take it apart, and reassemble it." She put up to her eyes and took it down. "Huh?" She put it down. "This camera is extremely faulty."

"What makes you say that?" Tails asked.

"Because when I point the camera at you, I see a two-tailed fox and not a penguin." Techno said. Then, the young fox got extremely frightened but didn't show it. "There must be something wrong with the optics lens."

"Hold on, I'm getting a call." Tails stated. Techno turned around to work on the camera. Tails pretended to have a conversation. "I'm sorry, Techno. I got to go."

"What happened?" she asked.

"My mom asked me to come home immediately." He added.

"Okay, then." Techno said. "Bye." Then, Tails ran off.

It was the evening while Sonic was with Jet, they were walking around nearby the palace. The two were able to be in the exterior around the place. It was painted a bright blue on the sides and some reflective glass was on the sides.

"I'm surprised that you actually can go up to the palace so casually." Sonic said.

"Well, I am a friend of Prince Speedy." Jet replied.

"Prince Speedy?" Sonic asked.

"He is the heir to the sultanate." Jet explained. "And he is one of my closest companions."

"I can tell." Sonic said.

"Things were going so well." Jet said. "Until that one character showed up."

"Which character?" Sonic asked.

"That hedgehog everyone calls Sonic." Jet replied to him. "He's getting in the way with what we have to do."

"What are you trying to do?"

"I guess you don't know about Babylon Garden either."

"No, I haven't."

"When we were Babylon, we were the brightest among mobian nations." Jet explained. "But once the sultans became focused too much on themselves. The hedgehogs came in and sunk our greatest treasure into the sands. That treasure was Babylon Garden."

"Oh…"

"It's never been the same since then. The first Battle Kukku arose after the fall of Babylon to aid with keeping the population under control until the sultans got their act together again." Jet explained. "The most recent one has helped repel Robotnik. But I and the other rouges, we want Babylon to return and the only way we can rise it from the sands again is the use of the chaos emeralds."

"I didn't know Jet." Sonic replied feeling a little bad.

"Of course, you didn't know, obviously. We just met today." Jet answered.

"No, you haven't." a voice stated. The two looked towards the source of the voice. They saw Nagus standing right there before them.

"Oh Nagus, what are you doing out here?" Jet asked.

"Nagus? What is he doing here!?" Sonic stated in anger.

"He's helping out the Battle Bird Armada." Jet replied.

"But you shouldn't trust him." Sonic rebuked.

"No, it is you who can't be trusted." Nagus stated. "For I can right through you."

"You're joking me." Jet said. "You clearly can't be serious."

"I do not lie." Nagus said. Then, he zapped Sonic. "Behold, the truth reveals itself." Jet stood there in horror from the shock that the toucan, he was talking to was actually his enemy.

"What is it?" Sonic asked him. Then, he noticed on the reflective surfaces that he showed as a hedgehog. "Oh, crap…" Then, he bolted out of there while Jet stood there with his mouth agape and he did absolutely nothing.

All the while, Amy was with Wave and her friends. As Amy conversed with her, she recognized the mysterious voice she was hearing from the spa. She began to understand why the faculty were laughing hysterically. But then, she picked up emotions of panic coming from Sonic. She sensed he was running for his life. She turned to Wave.

"It's late. I need to head home." Amy said. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice meeting you too, Amelia." Wave replied. "You mind if I call you, Amy."

"That's okay." She answered. Then, Amy left the area and called Sonic. "Sonic, what's going on?"

"Nagus zapped me with something and my cover's blown. We have to get everyone out of here asap." Sonic said. "I'll meet you guys back at the docks."

"Okay, Sonic." Amy said. "Over and out."

They were hiding in another crate that was in a cargo ship heading away from Cocoa Island. Amy had removed the illusion from everyone since they were now hiding.

"I think from what he were able to get, along from Sonic getting his cover blown…" Knuckles said.

"It wasn't my fault." Sonic rebuked him. "Nagus zapped me."

"Guys, keep your voices down." Tails whispered. "We could get heard."

"Other than that, I can say this turned out successful." Knuckles answered.

"We know enough about the Battle Bird Armada to fight back against them." Bunny added.

"But know too much about the Babylon Rouges." Sonic replied. "We should get some rest; it's been a long day." But as they slept, the memories of that day echoed in their heads. But they were unaware of their effect on the rouges.