Super Sonic Squad

Season Five, Episode Eight

In Our Midst, A Traitor!

By Cole Bezotte

"Sorry, Tails," Sonic said, walking with his furry fox friend throughout the village. "Someday, you will remember everything that transpired, then you won't have to worry about it anymore."

"Why should I worry?" Tails replied, brushing Sonic's hand off his shoulder. "I'm fine, really! What is there to fuss about? Please, Sonic, I'd better go out by myself; I need some time alone."

"He doesn't realize what he's dealing with," Sonic thought as he watched Tails walk away. "If Courtney sees what's wrong with him, she'll be VERY upset! I hope nothing else screws all this up. I must find a way to bring Courtney down here!"

Though Tails found a spot where he could stop and think for a while, little did he realize where he even was. He sat a a table placed in the dining area of Meh Burger, a restaurant that was more or less of great service. And who would have known that a beaver villain known as Dave the Intern would run such a place, filling out orders and serving the neatly-made food? Tails did not mind sitting here; he only needed a place to be alone and ponder over what he was to do next.

"I hope it's not amnesia…" Tails thought silently to himself. "I remember all my friends from the Freedom Fighters, and I know all the villains we've faced. But something is still waiting for me to 'reach for,' and I can't seem to find out what it is."

"Tails?" a familiar voice suddenly spoke up. "Is that you?"

Tails looked up to see the figure of a yellow female fox in a formal red dress. "Where have I met you before?" he spoke to her.

"You don't remember me?" the female fox replied. "I'm Zooey… I first saw you at that sing-off with Justin Beaver. Since then, we've had such a crush on each other. You saved me from Dr. Eggman's Super Robot with your high-flying plane; you were amazing!"

"NOW I remember! Come sit with me! Why don't we share today's special?"

"It will taste like nectar with you here with me!"

Already, Tails and Zooey began to live their days just like old times. They already carried on a friendly conversation that may have lasted the entire day; they had so much to say to each other, so much news to spill.

"So tell me…" Tails began as he sat down with his lunch. "Where have you been lately? You haven't been around here for a long time."

"I had to move out with my family," Zooey explained in reply. "My father found a new job at that peaceful continent Apotos as an ice cream vendor. But his boss pointed out to him that he was having to replace the original manager Morshu. My dad hates having to replace someone who already works, even if it is someone mediocre…"

(Note: Sorry, Link. I can't give credit. Come back when you're a little...mmm...richer!)

"I thought Morshu worked at Hyrule," Tails replied. "Link told me all about him while we ventured through that new realm created by Master Hand…"

As they continued on with the conversation, the manager of the restaurant-Dave the Intern-eavesdropped for a while. From the look in his eye, it seemed that a sign of success had appeared as he left his stand. "It worked!" he thought. "I can't wait to tell the others!"

After taking several passageways while he put on his special red cloak and fez, Dave made his way to an abandoned skyscraper-the secret hideout of his fellow Lightning Bolt Society.

Inside waited a purple walrus with thick tusks sticking out on each side of his mouth, wearing the same uniform as Dave and the other members, which were basically weasels. "It's about time you got here!" Willy Walrus spoke up in greeting. "It's a good thing you did not keep us waiting."

"Why would I?" Dave replied. "After all, thanks to our two new members, I'm back in action! My mom said that these new guys are as nasty as can be, contrasted to Dr. Eggman."

"You are correct!" said the recognizable voice of Wario. "Now dat my brother Waluigi and I are in dis group, we can show you all what it REALLY takes to put dirt on every good guy in existence!"

"So far, our plan has worked!" Waluigi spoke. "We managed to create a fake Corlon in all its ancient style! That King Reginald and all those other Corlonians were robots, in which their material was stolen from Dr. Eggman's leftover robot parts. But that Straggon captive was REAL! It was so generous of Rech to help us out by retrieving the guy from Straggo's asylum."

"So Prince Rech is now our new leader…" Willy Walrus agreed. "Ever since you two had this idea, he has been willing to help us in our next move. Now that the fox and the princess of Corlon are no longer together, we can sabotage our fake realm and get rid of the last Corlonian once and for all!"

"But remember…" Wario continued, "...we still have Sonic and his gang to deal wid. It should not take us long to get from Bygone Island to Knothole Village. I tell you, da speed boats are priceless…"

Meanwhile, at Knothole Village-the Lightning Bolt Society's next destination-Sonic began to grow more uneasy than ever. Pacing the floor for about an hour, he worried when he saw Tails come home with Zooey. "What is with me?" Sonic thought. "Why can't I think of a way to bring Courtney back down here? Do I not have clearance to Corlon? And...why does the planet look so close to here? That's not right! There's something fishy going on here, and I'm going to find out!"

The first person he went to go find help from was his friend Rotor Walrus, the quick-thinking and inventive scientist. He found him in his new shack, building what looked like a scanner for life forms. Next to him was Christopher Thorndyke, human scientist and co-inventor of the portal that led between Earth and Mobius.

"I need you guys' help," Sonic spoke to them once he made it there. "And I hope you noticed that big thing in the sky…"

"That's exactly what we're dealing with," Rotor interrupted. "That's why Chris and I are making this special scanner that will detect life forms on that thing. It's already functioned, but I can't seem to read anything."

"What does it say?"

"It only sees ONE person on that planet! A lone man can't populate an empty place!"

"That doesn't seem good! Can you zoom in to see who's there?"

"I'm afraid I can't… Only a mighty telescope can see who's on that thing. But I'll check it out at Tails' workshop."

Once Rotor left to take a look through Tails' special telescope, Sonic suddenly thought of a question that someone must know the answer to: "Chris, please tell me… Does Tails remember anything that happened with Cosmo earlier this week?"

"He told me that he remembers Cosmo and how she was reborn…" Chris answered in reply. "He remembers the time that he and Cosmo were hostages of Prince Rech, but he does not remember the other person that was held. He doesn't know that Courtney was put in on the situation."

"Do you know what caused Tails to lose his memory of Courtney?"

"No… My readers can't identify what made him lose such a big chunk of his memory."

"Looks like I'll have to see Ratchet and Clank again if I want more answers. Open up your portal, and I'll speed my way to Los Angeles."

Nodding, Chris used his new portable remote to open his special portal, which easily led Sonic to Earth. Now was his chance to find the fastest route to Los Angeles, other than with his speed, and find what was behind this terrible plot.

But suddenly, without warning, Chris was startled to see Rotor running back to the lab, shouting something that was hard to hear because he was out of breath. "Sonic!" he exclaimed. "Don't look now, but there are EXPLOSIVES on that planet. Courtney will die if she doesn't get down here fast enough!"

"I'm afraid you're too late," Chris replied. "Sonic has gone to get some help. But as for us, it looks like we've got ourselves a mission. Let's cross that artificial bridge and make our way to that fake planet before it blows up!"

Chris and Rotor-the two geniuses-made their way to the "planet"'s entrance, hoping to get Courtney out of there before she could fall victim to the diabolical plan of Rech. They were only a few yards away from making it there before they were met by the Lightning Bolt Society, standing in their way.

"Step aside!" Chris exclaimed. "Don't make us attack you!"

"Who did you expect?" Wario teased in reply. "Heimdall, guardian of Asgard's rainbow bridge? Sorry to burst your bubble, but dis place is now closed. Da whole place is about to blow, and we don't need guys like you to interrupt our victory!"

"I never intended to carry one of these…" Chris said as he pulled a pistol from his pocket, "...but I guess I have no choice now…"

"Put that gun down!" Willy exclaimed. "Why would a softhearted genius like you be carrying one of those things?"

"Cut the excuses, Willy!" Rotor interrupted. "We don't want to kill you; it's that machine of yours we're trying to deteriorate. We know it's your fault that Tails lost some of his memory!"

"Indeed, my cousin, indeed! King Reginald's scepter was actually borrowed from King Plague of Straggo. Because Prince Rech controlled the robot king, he willed the scepter to cause such a command to remove a portion of the fox's memory. Now is our chance to rid the universe of the Corlonian race forever!"

"I'll kill you if that's what it will take for this plan to end!" Chris exclaimed as he almost squeezed the trigger of his pistol.

"I don't think you should do it…" Rotor whispered to him. "It isn't just for you to do such an act…"

"Shut up!" Chris snapped in reply. "I know what I'm doing! If we want to save Courtney, we'll have to do it this way! I only have one bullet in this thing, so we'll have to make the best of it."

"Go ahead, be my guest. But don't say I didn't warn you when you get arrested for this…"

Chris almost hesitated, but he finally shot his only shell...at the remote that set off all the explosives. It was immediately deactivated, but that did not make the members of the Lightning Bolt Society upset. They already had a backup plan from the help of Rech; he currently had another remote to set off all explosions, and so he pressed the fateful button to start it off.

"I'm glad that my hand is bleeding for the prince of Straggo," Dave exclaimed. "We shall still make this place fall!"

Right then, Chris and Rotor already saw an awful explosion occur behind the gates of this artificial realm. At what was supposed to be the palace, Courtney felt the whole place crumble all around her.

"Come, Courtney!" the robot King Reginald said to her. "We must escape while there is still time!"

"I can't," Courtney replied. "There is still something that I must attend to!"

"Why now? What is it that occupies your thoughts?"

"It's YOU!" Courtney exclaimed as she pulled at the robot's neck. She realized what was happening right when she saw the Lightning Bolt Society at the entrance. Making her last effort of escape, she took the robot's head with her to the nearest ship and took off. She managed to escape the chaos, but there was still something that needed to be fixed.

Chris looked up and saw Courtney escape right when the bridge was ready to fall apart. "Come on, Rotor!" he shouted. "She made it out! She's safe!"

"Stop dem!" Wario demanded. "If we're too late, Rech will not be pleased!"

The bridge suddenly cracked and split into two, allowing Rotor and Chris to easily escape as it landed on one side. The other side, however, was connected to the artificial realm as the villains stood upon what was falling to the ground. They had to make a jump for it anyway, landing hard upon their limbs, breaking them.

"And I thought you had the plan!" Dave exclaimed at Wario. "The only thing that's inside your head is a thick skull that squeezes your brain too tightly."

"But I have a HARD HEAD!" Wario replied. "No one can hurt my beautiful noggin! I'll show you dat I'm da best; once Rech leaves us because he dinks we're so stupid, I'll take charge and give a REAL order!"

"Would you like fries with that?"

"DAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN!"

Back at the village, Tails and Zooey saw the mysterious ship land upon the ground in a very rough manner; the flames of the ruins reached the ship's engine, causing it to go wild.

"Who's in there?" Zooey said, startled.

"I don't know…" Tails replied. "We should go check it out. If it's someone deadly, I suggest we run right when we see him."

It was right then that Sonic returned to Mobius, this time with Clank with him. The little robot thought that he could solve the mystery to Tails' mind and help restore the memory. "Look!" Sonic said as he pointed towards the ship. "Courtney is in there! Let's go before she realizes what happened to him."

"I'm afraid she already knows," Clank replied. "I just made a quick memory scan on her. She already planned something out with him."

"Yeah, but if Zooey ever finds out, she will freak out!"

The ship's cockpit opened, revealing the Corlonian princess with the severed head of the robot portraying her father. She did not say anything at first, which may have freaked Zooey out for a moment. But then, at the tenth second of her escaping the ship, she suddenly clasped her hands on both sides of Tails' head and concentrated hard.

Many years ago, before Courtney was abandoned to Earth, her father granted her the special power of controlling memory. It was only on very rare occasions that a Corlonian was given the scroll of a certain power that he or she could learn. The scroll was sent with Courtney to Earth, where Agape taught her everything from it. Now Courtney was willing to put all effort into harnessing this power, giving Tails back the memory of having met her.

"Courtney…!" Tails whispered as a tear formed in his left eye. "It's you…! I don't know why I had forgotten you…"

"Corlon WAS destroyed," Courtney replied. "It was then that I was overconfident in what we did. I am too old to be your true love, so I'm leaving you with this other fox here. She seems more fit for you."

"Then what about the mark on my forehead?"

"I'll keep it there to serve as a reminder that our fighting team is more like a family. We'll never give up on each other…"