ZAVTRA
(Tomorrow)




The power approaches.

The creature watches as the light approaches the beautiful blue rock. It can feel the power emanating within. The being which holds the power.

The creature wants the power. But it knows that there are those who stand in its way to getting it.

The creature takes out the book, carressing it once more. It cannot attack Earth again....yet.It knows this. At least not in the way it had attacked before. But there are other ways.

It caressingly goes to the last page, a song almost on its lips.

One way or another, it will obtain the beautiful planet. Divide and conquer. The best method of action. Without a truly united front, there would be no defense.

On Mobius, the guardian, the only one of two living souls on Mobius who knew the truth, is on his way to death. The other, no one will believe. No one can accept such a truth.

The soldiers of Earth, on the other hand?...They are too busy with the diversion, they are preparing themselves for the fall as well. None the better for them. Even with the Kinmokians, who couldn't stop the creature before. What chance do they have of stopping it again?

The worlds will fall. The creature is sure of it. After tonight, in Mobian time, the troops will march again.

To victory.


-----------------------------

Locke sat down on the bed, his mind numbed from revelation. He had not slept for over forty hours. He had just returned from his visit, and he was still uncertain as to his options. Even with...

"Mmm.....Locke......"

A lump next to him writhed.

"Dear."

The hand with the papers went quickly to his pocket. As foolish as the words sounded, Athair was not the type of echidna to simply waste words.
Even if he did betray...

"Did I wake you?"
"No...I was awake." .......hair had frizzed on her pillow. "Are you certain you're all right, Locke?"
"Of....of course."
"Running off like that indicates otherwise."

"........come to...."
"Of course, dear. Hang...."

Locke went into the bathroom, and hung his clothing......

papers went to his pocket.....

into.......

"Time for bed."


........
I have to do it. For my son.

-----------------------

Locke shuddered, closing his eyes.
Something was missing. Not anything so important, he hoped. Yet.......what was her name....
Lara-Le.

Locke felt his mind force another memory of his ex-wife into the forefront, one where he remembered her name. He rubbed his eyes uneasily.
Something is wrong.
Something in the past week had attacked his brain - he was certain it could have been whatever he had caught from the little boy - and it had done something to it.
I....I'm losing my memory.....

"Locke?"

Locke turned to see Rei open his door. He slowly got up, his legs still slightly unsteady from his illness.

"Did I startle you?"
"No."
"I was just seeing how you were doing..." Rei looked up at Locke's face. "Is...is something wrong?"
"No, no. I just...." I just realized I'm losing myself.....
"You just....look confused."
"Oh. I was...just wondering where the shower was."
"Heh." Rei sat down in the chair. "Its out there. Open, too if you need to use it."
"Thank you."

Locke looked over towards the door and began to walk towards it. Before his hand reached the knob, however, he felt a grip on his arm.

"Madam..?"
"I guess I should be a little more truthful." Rei looked up at Locke. "Truth is, Kakyuu wanted me to check on you. She's really worried because you've been acting a little confused since you woke up."
"Have I?"
"Well..." Rei looked to the side. "It's not my place to tell you, but Ami's mother told Kakyuu to look out for you also for anything wrong, with the chickenpox and…..and all. And...I guess you should be wary. If something's wrong. You should tell someone, know what I mean?"
"Of course I do."
"I know it's ridiculous....that a kid's telling you this stuff..."
"Heh." Locke chuckled. "I think some children are better equipped than I."
"Well..." Rei felt her cheeks slightly redden. "Just remember, Kakyuu'll be there for you if you need to talk about something. As will I."
"........Thank you."

Locke nodded slowly. For a moment, there was only silence between the two.
Say something... Rei looked down. Say anything.

"I have to go now..."

Without another word, Locke walked out of the room, leaving Rei with nothing but her thoughts.

------------------------

"Tails!"
"Sonic."
"Get me that other shoe."

Without another word, Tails handed Sonic the other hover shoe, which Sonic immediately snapped on over his normal shoes.

"Sonic..." Antithesis looked around nervously. "I do not want to sound like a hypocrite...."
"You've already done it, so shoot."
"I just don't think aiding Knuckles is a good idea." Antithesis' face darkened. "I don't know what my boss is going to do to him-"
"Which is why I have to help him. You said yourself, she's not going to listen to Knuckles. She thinks he's a genocidist!"
"But that power! What can Gala-Na do to him?"
"I don't know." The hedgehog stood up. "That's why I have to help him!"
"Sonic...." Tails slowly shook his head. "I don't think its something you can do."
"And why not?"
"You're not ready. You must control your powers before you fight!"
"Not ready?" Sonic growled. "Look, I'm getting sick and tired of your nonsense! I'm going to help him, and THAT'S FINAL!!"
"Sonic, I-"

Ignoring Tails, Sonic threw his hand up.

"Take me to Knuckles!! CHAOS..........CONTROL!!"

Everything shifted again, all in front of him, turning from lush green and yellow and orange.....to......

"SONIC!!!!!"

A scream, then a slap. Sonic tumbled onto the ground, a shadow looming over his black body.

"What....are you..."
"Sal?!"
"........doing IN MY TENT?!"
"W-wait!!"

Sonic jumped up and threw his hands up, Sally's hands hitting him.

"Don't ever...EVER...do that again!!" she snarled.

Sonic took the opportunity of her talk to jump away and bolt from the tent.
Aw man! His face was red, a handprint welting up upon it. I should just run after Knuckles instead of this...


"You must control your powers before you can fight!"


....but.......

Sonic stopped, his feet on the ground. His ears twitched.
A sound.
Like thunder.
What is...

*THOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*



A shout. Screaming ensues.

"USAGI!!"

Sonic's head jerked up. She fell, red lines falling up from her body...


"AAAAR!!"

Sonic gave a shout, his head flying to his side to confront the location it began. But all he saw was forest.

An illusion.... Sonic's heart began to beat again. Maybe I'm not ready to fight.....yet......that looked so real....

"Sonic."

Tails turned to see Tails behind him, his arms crossed.

"Tails?"
"That was what I meant." The fox turned around and walked back towards his tent. "I have to do something, but before I leave I need to talk to you....."

-------------------------

"......Hello?"

Fortinbras' shadow loomed on the wall of the shrine as he pressed the phone to his ear.

"Do you know who it was?"
"No." Seiya looked at the diplomat warily. "All I got was that he wanted to talk to him."
"What did he sound like?"
"......I don't know."
"You're not well traveled, are you?"
"I...." Seiya looked at Oji-san, his eyes widened. "I beg your pardon?"
".....Of course." Fortinbras' tone changed from diplomatic to surprised. "I will make sure of it. Yes. Yes!.....I shall see you then as well. Of course.....good bye."

Fortinbras slowly put the phone on the receiver. He turned to Seiya and Oji-san, a smile on his face.

"You're not going to believe it," his voice cracked. "That was Iskandar from Sweden."
"Eh?" Oji-san looked at Fortinbras. "What did he want?"
"Tomorrow." Fortinbras' voice was both relived and excited. "We start the summit tomorrow. We have the go-ahead from the president of the United States."
"The President?" Seiya crimped an eyebrow.
"Yes." Fortinbras chuckled. "He's supposed to come and such, but with all of this attacking and inclement weather he hasn't been able to arrive. He said for us to start without him."
"According to the Swedish representative?"
"Yes." Fortinbras looked at Seiya. "I will need you to come with me, of course. I can't be by myself - with all the Arab countries and such, you never can tell..."

Oji-san's eyes crimped up a bit at the remark as Fortinbras left the room.

"My." Seiya shook her head. "You'd think there'd be some unbiased opinions in this household..."

-------------------

The soft churning of the wheels made Knuckles shift uncomfortably. He truly wished he had thought over his actions a little more.

"Hey," he heard one of the forest fighters whisper in front of him. "Did you hear about..."

The guardian slowly tuned the two guards out, looking upon himself instead. His hands and feet were bound in chains.
Again. The night was upon the forest, which was slowly becoming no more in the distance. Again, I'm bound because of who I am. First in Knothole....when I was no one....now again...where....


"You are Knuckles the Echidna??"

Knuckles suddenly felt the prodding of a gun behind his back as he turned to face a helmet. Around him, with the tents of Albion darkened, Knuckles could have almost thought that he had been led into a cemetery.

"........Yes. I come on-"
"We know who you are." A sharp jab from the gun. "And we are under orders to place you under arrest, guardian. "

The cuffs were not thorns, as those from the rehab workers had been. But it was still painful to feel the metal slap onto his wrists, as well as his legs. Knuckles could only sigh in resignation as the soldier continued.

"You will be extradited to Albion ASAP." The soldier turned to a cart and put a thumb up. "Is that ready yet?! He's here!!"



".....and the husband came and found the wife with his stepson. You know what they were doing then."
"Oh! That's just nasty!!"

Knuckles' head cocked up at the laughing. Whatever seeming animosity there might have been between him and the soldiers was, in some way, not there. In fact, other than the rough arrest, his captors had been somewhat mutual towards him. He knew, however, such captors were not the only ones he could have today.

"Oh, hey..." The soldier lowered his voice. "Did you hear about those Legionaires?"

Huh...

"Yeah." It was obvious they didn't want him to hear it, but his power of hearing wasn't so easily intimidated, nor was it dimmed. "I heard about it too."
"Like a hundred of them, hidden in a secret compartment at the DL base in Twilight Zone. Alive." There was a bit of horror in the soldier's tone. "I mean, they said they were really scared and crap. Surrendered to the police the instant they were questioned. Said something about the attack on the Island, how Overlanders did it."
"But its a rumor, right?"
"Nope. My friend works for the police." The soldier glanced at Knuckles. "Supposedly holding them under the Hall of Justice, awaiting trial, under Gala-Na's order."
"Damn weird."
"Yeah." The soldier shrugged. "Then again, Gala-Na's a metal case. She's just...I don't know. Why we're bringing this guy if the DL says it was Overlanders."
"DL can't be trusted."
"How would you know?"
"Come on. Did you ever hear about the one time...."

Knuckles tuned out. His mind was reeling.
Alive. There are survivors. They know the truth....

"Hey, we're here!"

The ride ended all too soon. In the dark, the guardian could see nothing of where he was. All Knuckles could do was close his eyes as he felt himself being picked up by the soldiers, and lofted onto the ground.

"There. Good luck." The cuffs came off of him. "It wouldn't be a good idea to leave, you know." The soldier chuckled. "We'll be around if you try to go back to Knothole, and I doubt you'll get a good reception in Albion. Ah well. See you!"

With a shout and a groan of wheels, the guards were gone.

Taking a deep breath, Knuckles allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness. As he lay upon the ground, he found himself staring not at the starry night sky, but at a canvas ceiling.
A tent...
The chirping of birds began a Knuckles began to look around even more, his eyes becoming more accustomed to the black. He knew he was in a tent, an unusually small ten, and there seemed to be a railing on the other.....

No.

The sun began to slowly appear, its light turning everything from black to dark grey. The shadow of the railing began to take form, as did the apparatus behind it.

Gala-Na....

Knuckles began to tremble as the metal seemed to glimmer menacingly, even in the dawn's hazy light.

You....FOOL!!....

It was a siphon design that Knuckles had never seen before. It was much larger than the last one Gala-Na had used. But it was shaped like a person. Like an echidna. Like him.

"You're right on time."

Knuckles' head swerved to the back to see Gala-Na, her face darkened in the dawn's light.

"I'm happy you kept up your side of the deal. A first." The siphon began to glow. "Now I'll keep mine..."

-----------------------

Water was all that was below them.

"NEPTUNE!!!"

Uranus struggled to keep consciousness as she fell, faster than she could have ever imagined, to the sea. The warp had been in thin air, led into the sky, and gravity was doing its work with the soldiers.

"Aaah!!" Neptune screamed.
"Neptune!" Pluto held up her garnet rod. "Dead Scream!"

The attack shot down into the sea, fizzling in the water. The water crested from the orb of energy, creating a bull-eye under the falling soldiers.

"Now!!!"
"Tidal................DIFFUSION!!!"

The water attack slammed into the bulls-eye, creating a huge tidal wave which swept the soldiers into the sea, breaking their fall.

"Huaaah!!!"

Nearby, the Albion ships rocked from the attack which suddenly had disrupted the placted condition of the water.

"We're hit!!"
"Man the stations!"

Huh?

Uranus' eyes opened as she struggled to break towards the surface. Blood seemed to trickle from her sword, which had floated out of her hands and was slowly sinking...
My sword....Must get.... Uranus shut her eyes tightly. ....my sword!!!
Fighting the urge to open her mouth, she kicked downwards, her hand grasping the sword before it could sink any further. Her arms and legs limping, she allowed herself to float up to the surface. Looking down again at her sword, she found it cleaner than herself.
The blood..... She closed her eyes in wonder. Why was there blood on it...?
When she finally re-surfaced, Pluto and Neptune were floating on the sides of her, talking.

"....I'm positive."
"Swim past the line of ships." Pluto nodded. "It won't be far to shore..."
"Hmm?"
"We will swim to Albion." Pluto looked at Uranus. "That is where our first task lies."

Uranus, though confused, slowly nodded. With another gasp, she submerged herself again, the sea her cloak against the Albion fleet.

--------------------

"....Luna!"

Artemis could only stare at the papers as Luna brought them out.

"Where did you..."
"Locke."
"Luna." Artemis looked at Luna, his eyes slightly narowed. "This isn't a good idea."
"It isn't?"

The two talked in whispers in an empty room of Hikawa, the sun set, and the foggy night upon it. Artemis looked down at the paers with a degree of disdain.

"I doubt," he muttered. "Locke even has an inkling of what these are."
"Which is why we must tell him." Luna looked at Artemis. "It's high time some truth come out. About what I know, and what you know."
"But this isn't just something we can talk to just anyone about!" Artemis protested. "This is a creed, a sacred text, which if it falls into the wrong hands-"
"Then yes, the already fragile world that we know of will be destroyed." Luna finished. "I know. He told me himself before he left. And if...this is..."

Luna's voice trailed off. Artemis shook his head.

"....we'll do something." Luna's voice was firm. "We'll find a way to stop the enemy."
"You really think the enemy..."
"It could be a part of it." Luna stooped down. "Unless...they have anothe-"
"Princess, please listen!"

The two cats' ears shot up at Yaten's approaching voice, Quick as lightning the papers, Luna and Artemis ran under the bed, unseen by Kakyuu and Yaten as they entered the room.

"This is truly a mistake, I swear."
"What is a mistake, Healer?"
"Princess, I beseech you, no good will come with your interference in that...that echidna's life."
"And how would you know?"
"I know! Princess, remember what race stole the Tskintsu from us!"
"Tskintsu...?" Luna's eyes widened.
"He is of the race, yes." Kakyuu's voice sounded slightly angry. "But the race does not neccessarily make the man."
"If you knew the race..."
"Do you, Yaten?" Kakyuu turned away. "Why, why do you always do this? I care very much about him, Yaten. He saved my life! The debt I owe him is to large for me to pay back simply by avoiding him."
"It's the best thing to do-"
"I can't just abandon him. I......"
"You..........................."

Kakyuu stopped. For a moment, Luna couldn't see what was happening, but she could tell, from her stance, that Yaten was becoming more and more disbelieving at the princess's words.

".....LOVE him?!?" The tone of Yaten's voice more than obliged his disgust and hatred.
"I......I love him." The princess finally found the word. "Yes. I guess that's what I feel for him. If that's the only word to describe it then that's the truth."
"You...." Yaten's voice was completely flay. "No. You can't."
"What?!"
"You can't. You can't love that man!" Yaten began to angrily pace. "An acknowledgement like that would ruin you! You couldn't inherit the throne, or your full powers, if you have love for that demon! Aren't you thinking?!"
"Thinking?!? O-"
"It would bring a plague on your children!" Yaten's voice was shaky. "They'd be mongrels. Freaks. Who ever would think of an arrangement li-"

Yaten was suddenly interrupted by the opening of the door.

"Princess? Are you..." Seiya's voice blanded as she saw Yaten. "Oh. Yaten."
"Seiya?"
"Tomorrow." Seiya continued. "Tomorrow, we are going to the summit at Endo Heights."
"Tommorow?!"
"All of us," Seiya repeated. "Portinbras has put us all in as his security detail. You, I, Yaten, Taiki...Locke...."

It was obvious Seiya had saved the disgraceful name for last, in respect of Yaten, who was in the room.

"We have to get ready." A yelp came from Yaten as Seiya pulled her out of the room. "Come on, Yaten....You need to be ready as well, princess...."

The door slammed, leaving Kakyuu and the cats alone. Luna watched as Kakyuu's feet shuffled to the bed. She winced at the creaking sound of her body falling upon the mattress.
Tomorrow....

Another sound came from the bed, a more human sound. Artemis' ears pricked up.

"We should leave..."

Luna listened, then slowly nodded. As quietly as they could, Luna and Artemis padded to the window, leaving Kakyuu by herself, sobbing on the bed.

------------------------

*BAAAAAM!!!!!!*

The siphon suddenly collapsed, the bullets tearing through it. It brought a piece of the tent with it, and the entire cloth of the covering was ripped from its poles.

"What the..." Gala-Na's eyes widened as the two were exposed to open field. "Who in..?!?!"

Knuckles turned slowly to see a figure standing behind them, a gun smoking from his hand.

"What the...."
"I made it in time, didn't I?"

Knuckles could only nod in shock as Antithesis turned, the gun pointed to Gala-Na. The rejected Councillor's eyes widened.

"Antithesis...!!"
"Gala-Na..." Antithesis' voice cracked. "You must listen to him. Please."

------------------------

The sound ringing.

The soul falling.

Sonic sees its only a matter of time, but he does not know when. Or where.

He does. The man who will seal fate.

With an affectionate stroke, the bodyguard flanks the Russian. That man, Russian - of Earth - knows nothing. Nothing of what will happen. Tomorrow.

Tomorrow it will happen.

Today.