SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: SUPER SONIC Z
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO: THE THING ABOUT COSMO, PART I

Thing had finally been looking up for our heroes. Eggman was dead, the Central Badnik Battery was disabled and their families were released from their imprisonment from the Badnik suits, after which a joyful but somewhat bittersweet reunion had taken place.

The heroes were cleaning out the HQ, as they wouldn't need it anymore with Eggman gone. Though a lot of cleaning up needed to be done in the cities first to make them habitable again, the heroes already were making preparations to move out, since they wanted to live in a real house, a real home they could call their own, the HQ no longer their living quarters, no longer being underground but living in above ground in a city with clean airs, green and people that could be happy.

They were inside the remains of a city that now was now being cleaned out by the heroes and their families. Muttski stood in front of a large piece of machinery, spat in his hands and rubbed them together and tried to lift it, and he did briefly, but then he lost his footing and he toppled over.

Bunnie shook her head as she moved in and lifted the machinery with one hand and carried it off while a dazed Muttski recomposed himself. He saw how Bunnie passed her boyfriend Antoine, who playfully slapped her butt, making her squeal. As Antoine walked on and moved a distance from Bunnie, she used the stretch function of her arm to return the favor and playfully smack Antoine's butt in return.

Muttski looked around and saw how his friends, whom all but Nicole had a romantic partner, a soul mate. He saw how Sally was overseeing some work, while Sonic, thanks to his super speed could use it to steal a few quick kissed from Sally in between work.

Tails was going over some blueprints with Fiona, letting his hands float over the blueprints, until his hand was put on top of Fiona's. Fiona then pulled Tails towards her, embraced him and kissed him fully on the lips. Then they let go and went over the blueprints again.

Muttski saw how Rotor comforted Dulcy. She had been brooding since her trip to the arctic, but when she was with Rotor, she seemed to be a bit happier. Rotor was the only one who could make her open up at the moment.

Muttski saw how Amy was climbing up a ladder, only to slip, but Lily to catch her in time. Lily was oddly enough the dominant one in the relationship (Amy didn't mind), and also 'the boy' for lack of a better term, and Amy's knight in shiny armor. They stared in each other's eyes for a while before Lily finally put Amy down again.

Muttski sighed. How he was jealous at his friends, to be touched upon by Cupid's arrows, to have found that special someone. What does it feel like, being in love? Would you like to hug the world, sing silly songs to yourself all day? Okay, Muttski already did that, but would be in love make it different.

Often people think Muttski is a goofball. But he was a lot smarter then he looked and he was actually one to catch on things others would miss. People think Muttski is simple and has no worry in the world…wrong again. Muttski has a lot of worries, but it's all hidden behind the mask he wears.

The heroes didn't know that they were being watched. Several figures in the shadows watched our heroes from afar. "You see those guys? Those are the Freedom chumps we're hired to kill." One voice said.

"Why would anyone want them dead? They're the heroes of Mobius?" another one, this one female replied.

"Not everyone is glad the Eggman's gone! The Big Five contacted Ms. Silent's old man to send us." The first voice replied, motioning to another one among the group, before he continued: "It's because of them their criminal empire is now falling apart. But why would you care, you're an assassin like us. Or you'll be when you make your first kill, and what better way than to start off with a bang and immediately shoot off the big birds." The first one replied.

"I'm not sure we can handle them, they're strong and skilled. We are too, but not as much as they are." The female replied. She was having cold feet for multiple reasons, and one of them is she has some respect for the heroes of Mobius, even if they are her targets.

"That's where the plan comes in, we soften them up a bit and…you know the rest if you have been paying attention to what the boss said." The first voice said. Two more guys behind him growled softly. "We better get ourselves going, because the big guys are getting anxious, it has been some time since they have tasted blood."

The second person was hesitant. But she couldn't show weakness, if she didn't pass the test, she'd lose everything she has worked for all her life. However, she masked her insecurities and doubts behind a stoic face as she said: "Then let's do it."

The heroes and civilians were doing pretty good with the clean-up jobs, and if they continued to work at this rate, the city would be habitable again in a month or so. However, they got from one job to another when they heard a scream for help in the distance, outside the city in the forest. "Sounds like someone's in trouble." Sonic noted.

"Then we suggest we go help!" Tails replied. Everyone agreed as they dropped their materials and headed out for the forest, to the source of the disturbance.

She ran…she had to run…the forest should give her cover…her lungs were burning and her legs ached, but she couldn't stop now. If she stopped now, for even a second, she'd be done for. She jumped up and grabbed a branch and started swinging from branch to branch, her feet already hurting so much she has to continue using her hands.

She briefly stopped to catch her breath when she heard no one chase her anymore. She closed her eyes and listened closely, to hear if they truly were gone. She then barely dodged a ray of light that zoomed past her, if it had been just a few inches higher, her ear would have been blown off, and any lower her shoulder would have been pierced.

She jumped to the next tree as she continued to swing through the treetops of the forest to avoid her pursuers. Only to see a fireball head towards the tree she was about to jump to and was forced to drop back on the ground level and continue running. "You can't forever! You know you have to fight us head-on…not that it won't do you any good." A voice, one of her pursuers said.

The heroes reached an open spot in the middle of a forest, and how they saw the one they needed to save. It was a monkey girl who had her head fur, or hair if you will in a bowlcut-esque haricut with bangs and two pigtail-esque knots in her hair. She wore a green leotard with short sleeves and a red jewel like a crest on her collarbone as part of her costume.

She did some backflips to dodge some energy blasts, which came from one of the attackers. The attacker was another female, an Mobian girl to be exact, who wore a white coat with a high collar that covered her face except for her eyes, and she had spiky blonde short hair. It was hard to tell what species she was. On her arms were gauntlets that shot rays of light with destructive powers. One of the blasts hit the ground right behind the monkey girl, the shockwave knocking her of her feet.

Muttski moved in and saw how the girl was sent flying through the air, and caught her in his arms. Though he lost balance and fell on his butt, she was okay. She opened her eyes, and Muttski noticed how beautiful her blue eyes were…alongside the rest. "Er…hi, the name's Muttski?" he said awkwardly.

"I'm…" she said, but she stopped mid-sentence. It appears like she was hesitant to say her own name, but then quickly added: "Cosmo…yeah, I'm Cosmo she added quickly.

"Hand over the girl. We have a bounty to collect and we don't need a bunch of hormone-crazed teens getting in our way." One of the attackers said. He was a green Mobian spotted lizard wearing a trench coat, but his most notable feature was a pair of goggles he wore.

"Who are you to think you can attack a helpless girl like that?" Sally berated. Sally knew they were after her for some reason, but whatever it was, it was clear the lizard's group were the bad guys.

"We're the Serpentine Society. I'm Proctor Speckle, but you can call me Specs. These are my companions: Lightmare…" the white-coated girl raised her hands and they glowed with destructive light energy. "Mr. Fry…" a Mobian toad in the background pushed a disc of sorts that was fused to his chest, and it caused him to expand to ten times his size, as well as gaining a fiery mane and a red, lava-like skin. "Grimer…" He pointed at a green skinned Overlander in a lab coat and who wore a breathing mask around his mouth. "And Bio-Hazard!" he finished as he pointed at a squid in a bio-suit. He spat a green glob at a tree and it started to eat through the word like acid. "And we're here for the girl. Now step aside or we'll utterly destroy you." Specs finished.

"Go and hide. We'll deal with them." He whispered to her. Cosmo did as told. Muttski then stood up, and then spoke to the Society: "Muttski doesn't like how you treated her. Muttski should teach you some manners."

Specs laughed. "You? Teach us some manners? I'd love to see you try! My comrades, it's playtime!" Specs said as he snapped his fingers and his crew rushed towards the Freedom Fighters, Cosmo watching on as hell broke loose.

Lightmare just tilted her head and she vanished into thin air. Amy, Lily, Tails and Fiona looked around nervously to see where she could have gotten too. It was then that an invisible force hit them, like they were being hit by punches and kicks. Fiona felt being punched and swings her fist in that direction, but only succeeds in punching the air. Amy was hit by a light blast and knocked back, as Lily tossed a dart in the direction the blast of light came from, but hit nothing. "She's bending the light around her to turn herself invisible…" Tails stated.

"Do you have any ideas on how we're going to hit her, if we can't see her? We're getting our butts kicked out here!" Fiona said as she barely dodged a light blast performed by the now invisible Lightmare.

"Just listen…" Tails said as he closed his eyes and trusted his ears. He heard something spark, like machinery and rushed at the source, and swats Lightmare with his namesakes, making her blow her cover and becomes visible again as she was knocked in a tree. Amy and Lily aim their arrows and darts and toss them at her, but Lightmare puts up a shield of light to protect herself.

Lightmare then surprised everyone when she split into a dozen copies of herself. "They're light constructs…created to fool with us." Tails explained.

"So we have nothing to fear." Fiona said, but then all the Lightmares fired light blasts at her, Fiona backflips to dodge. "Or maybe we have." Fiona said annoyed. Two of the clones rush at her as they created blades of solid light, which Fiona blocked with her daggers. Fiona pushed them away and slashed one of them, which shattered like glass into tiny bits which soon faded away.

"They are solid light contructs, any punch they throw or any blast they fire is as real as the one the original one throws at us." Tails said as he had to fly up to dodge an energy blast created by another Lightmare clone. Tails creates a wind scythe, blowing it away and knock it in a tree, as it shattered.

Amy and Lily fired their projectiles at the light clones, and they shattered. But they noticed that every time they destroyed one light clone, there were two more taking its place. "Tails, if you have another idea, now's a good time!" Amy said as she ducked under a light blast and fired another arrow at a light copy.

"They're made of light, I know that…how do we keep the real one apart?" Tails thought. It then hit him: "Light!" he looked around, observing each light clone as he at the same time carefully dodged their attacks. He then noticed only one Lightmare had a shadow. "Amy, lunch time's overdue!"

That was a code talk that the heroes used to tip each other off in battle without the bad guys noticing what they were talking about. Amy fired her arrow at three o' clock and hit one of the gauntlets of the real one, short-circuiting it as the clones all faded.

"Payback time!" Fiona said as she rushed at Lightmare and tried to kick her, but Lightmare grabbed her foot and tossed her into a tree, and agilly dodged when Tails tried to slice her with his namesakes. But she wasn't fast enough to dodge Lily as she used her hoverboard to smack the back of her head. Then Amy punched her in the face, Fiona kneed her in the stomach and Tails kicked her in the jaw, sending her flying.

Mr. Fry was a huge fiery toad, so touching him would not be a good thing. Dulcy knew her fire power wouldn't work so she decided to use her wind power on him, but that was only strengthening him. He inhaled deeply and breathed a stream of fire at the two, who jumped aside to dodge. "Geez, what a hothead!" Rotor said as he tossed some bombs at it, but the fire from the explosion only made him stronger.

Mr. Fry breathed an even stronger stream of fire from his mouth, as Dulcy jumped in front, held out her Hand of Fate, the red crystal glowing as she blocked it, though she sweated heavily. "Rotor, please think of something fast, I can't hold him off forever!" Dulcy moaned.

Rotor knew his bombs had no effect and physical contact wouldn't be a good idea since the thing was a walking volcano. And Dulcy couldn't use any ice powers since she was in an emotional state that prevented her from playing cool, and since her ice powers were connected to the fact she had to shut down her emotions to do so…

Rotor had a few bombs that didn't combust, like EMP bombs, but nothing that would stop a hulking behemoth like Mr. Fry. He had a few bombs with extinguishing foam in case they needed to save people from burning buildings…but those only would be effective on the inside of the thing, since his skin was like lava…but if he only could get it inside Mr. Fry's mouth, at a moment he wasn't breathing fire…

Rotor got an idea. "Hey, big guy! You know what Eggman says to a normal egg? 'We are family'!" Rotor said. Mr. Fry stopped breathing fire and started laughing real hard at the joke, as Rotor tossed his extinguishing bomb inside the brute's mouth, the icy cold foam doing his job from the inside as Mr. Fry coughed, the disc on his chest short-circuited and he shrank down to an ordinary Mobian toad.

Both Rotor and Dulcy then punched him hard in the face, and he was knocked out instantly. Without his boost in buff and fire he was all croak and no bite. "Haven't you noticed how anti-climactic these kind of guys are when you take away their trademark?" Dulcy noted.

Bio-Hazard spat acid all around, and Sonic was forced to make sharp turns as the mutant squid continued to aim his acid globs at him. Sally snuck up and slammed him with her bo staff, but after a few strikes, the squid reached with one of his tentacles out of his suit, lifts Sally up and tosses her away, but this gave Sonic the chance to spin-dash in the back of his head.

Bio-Hazards staggered as the two made their way towards him, but he performed a spin attack with his tentacles outstretched, knocking them down before he spat acid at them, only to roll out of the way. Sonic ran around in circles around the giant bio-suited squid and trapped him in a tornado, the creep spitting around his acid aimlessly, but inside the tornado he couldn't aim properly and missed our heroes.

The tornado started dying down, and Sally jumped up in the air and slammed hard with her bo staff and send the squid-faced creep crashing into the ground. He reached out with his arm briefly before dropped limp. "I wonder what that guy eats…" Sonic stated.

Grimer looked like a meek little green skinned scientist. So Bunnie didn't think he'd be too much trouble. She approached him as he pressed a button on a gauntlet on his wrist, sending out a magnetic pulse that sent her flying in the opposite direction. Antoine tried to move in with his sword, but it was bent out of shape in the proximity of the magnetic field.

Bunnie aimed her arm cannon, but Grimer pressed another button on his wrist, which created a forcefield that blocked the attack completely. Antoine realized he couldn't get close with his sword and instead tried relying on hand to hand combat as he moved close, but two mechanical arms slipped out from under Grimer's lab coat from the back and grabbed Antoine as he started pulling hard. "Make a wish…" he said in his distorted voice (thanks to the mask).

"Leave ma man alone!" she said as she rushed at Grimer, despite the magnetic field still being on, and instead forced herself through, like someone trying to pull himself through a heavy wind. She didn't let the magnetic field get the best of her even as her limbs started to spark, Grimer surprised at how she weathered the storm.

Grimer reached out for his gauntlet, but as he was distracted by Bunnie he lost concentration on Antoine so the coyote pried himself loose from the arms and karate chopped the scientist in the face. Then Bunnie pulled off the gauntlet and the mechanical arms and crushed them. "In da stomach or in da face?" Bunnie asked as she smacked her fist in her palm.

"Isn't there a third option?" Grimer asked scared. Bunnie kicks him in the nuts, the green skinned scientist doubling over in pain, tears in his eyes as he dropped down. "Ouch!" he said in a high-pitched voice even clearly audible through his rebreather mask.

Specs was true to his name as his goggles were able to fire devastating eye blasts. He started firing at Muttski, but everyone's fav wacky dog guy used a variety of dances to dodge the attacks. First he did a limbo to dodge the first blast, then a tapdance to dodge some blast directed at his feet, then a Russian dance to hope form side to side. "Stand still! And stop acting like a moron and fight me!" Specs growled angrily as his eye blasts missed.

Muttski then changes clothes in a puff of smoke again, this time dressed as Yugi from Yugioh: "It's time to duel!" He grabs out a duel disc, but when it appears he was going to put the thing on, he tossed it at Specs' head, hitting him in the forehead. "Too bad Muttski can't summon real monsters." Muttski stated. Specs growled as he fired more energy blasts from his eyes, Muttski ducking under it, but his Yugi wig was fried.

Cosmo looked on from the bushes. Though all the fights were intense, she was intrigued by Muttski's fighting style. It was so random, so wacky, so funny…she actually found herself giggling at it. "He's intriguing. I never knew you could fight that way…" she thought.

Specs was growing impatient at his inability to hit Muttski and the weird antics of his target. Now Muttski is in a Johnny Brave outfit. "Ha, hoo, ha! Oh yeah, little momma, give it to me!" Muttski said in an imitation of Johnny Bravo's Elvis-like voice as he posed and looked in a mirror. Specs fired again at him, but Muttski held out the mirror in front of him, deflecting the laser blast.

Specs' goggles were fried and they sparked. "Ah, my eyes!" he growled. Those goggles were not only his weapon, they were cybernetics. He wandered around aimlessly, reaching out with his hands in front of him, not seeing where he was going, stumbling up Amy and blindly grabbed her boobs, making her squeal. "Oh, good merchandise but whose are these?" Specs noted, only to get slapped by Amy, making him stagger. Then Lily moved in rolling up her sleeve as she angrily began beating upon Specs in off-screen cartoon fashion while Muttski and Amy flinched at the display of violence as Specs let out screams of pain.

The four bounty hunters pulled themselves together, and they regrouped. "These dudes are too strong, they wrecked my goggles. Light, you can provide us some cover?" a battered and bruised Specs asked. Lightmare nodded as she raised her hand and projected a huge burst of light and blinded our heroes, and when the flash died down, they were gone.

"Darn, they got away…oh well, they're not much of a threat as Eggman was, even despite those odd and dangerous gimmicks." Sonic noted.

Cosmo crawled out of the bushes, and immediately headed towards Muttski. "That was amazing what you did!" she said. Normally the ones the Freedom Fighters saved would have turned to Sonic, Tails or Sally first, but Cosmo turned to Muttski first, which even surprised the dog boy himself. "I never knew someone could fight that way. So…different. I've seen many martial displays, but what you did was unique." She complimented.

Muttski blushed, he felt flattered. Most of their enemies ignored him and thought his antics were annoying and unnecessary, but Muttski never had anyone heard him compliment his fighting style. Heck, most people don't even call his antics a fighting style. "Oh…er…it's a thing Muttski does." He said.

"Do you always talk that way?" she asked curiously.

"Does it bother you?" Muttski asked, thinking that she might be losing her interest.

"No, I think it's cute. Adds to the uniqueness." Cosmo replied. Muttski blushed a bit again. "Oh…how rude of me, I forgot to acknowledge your friends. Hi, I'm Cosmo. Nice meeting you." she said as she gave a polite bow.

"Hi, I'm Sonic. And these are Sally, Tails, Fiona, Dulcy, Rotor, Lily, Amy, Bunnie and Antoine. You already know Muttski." Sonic introduced the group.

"Where are you from, Cosmo?" Sally asked.

"I'm from Chun-Nan, I used to be part of the Saru Clan. But then these bounty hunters showed up. They were hired by a rival clan to disable as many Saru ninjas in a hope to get an edge. They were hot on my trail for a while." Cosmo said. The heroes knew about the vicious clan wars going on in Chun-Nan.

"But why are you so important to them?" Fiona asked.

"I did something to tick them off real bad. As you see they have short fuses." Cosmo said quickly.

"But now Cosmo doesn't need to fear. Freedom Fighters sent the bad guys away and now Freedom Fighters make sure they won't lay a finger on Cosmo ever again. Muttski promises!" Muttski said happily.

"That's so sweet. Er…can I have a place to stay for a short while, I need to lay low until it's time for me to return to Chun-Nan." Cosmo explained.

"Sure, Muttski and friends will make sure you'll be comfy. Muttski was just about to cook something for lunch. You want to join us?" Muttski asked.

"Er…sure, I'm kind of hungry." Cosmo said as she rubbed her stomach.

"We were just busy rebuilding the city. We can't ask you to help us since you've already dealt with those five creeps." Sonic said.

"No, it's fine. I want to help, so I can repay you for your help earlier." Cosmo said.

Muttski offered his arm as he said. "Will you allow Muttski to escort you?" Muttski asked.

"Sure!" Cosmo replied as she hooked her arm into Muttski's.

Sally and the girls giggled. "I think that Muttski might stop being the only single guy very soon." Sally stated.

"How can you be sure?" Tails asked. Tails didn't tell anyone yet, but he had an odd feeling about Cosmo…and not in a good way. But he gave her the benefit of the doubt because of those creeps they faced earlier.

"Girls have a sixth sense for that, Tailsy. Come, let's go and join the lovebirds for lunch." Fiona said. They all headed back for the city, right behind Cosmo and Muttski.

From a distance, the five bounty hunters have watched the heroes, Specs grinning evilly as he did (he was blinded at the moment but Grimer had told him what was going on). He grabbed a communicator as he said: "Yo, Sidewinder! Everything is going according to plan…though I wish my goggles weren't trashed."

"Excellent…now let's see she'll pass the test." A voice said from the other side.

TO BE CONTINUED