AN: Incredible! This must be my longest chapter yet. I own nothing that isn't mine, and vice-versa. Please R&R, and ENJOY! This chapter was fixed with help from Writer's Freedom. Thanks again!
Unknown Location
January-2-3457
11:03 Mobius Time
It was comfortably cold in a large construct. A window in a nearby room proved the construct not to be bound to Mobius as stars flickered in the window. A screen flickered on and a being turned toward the screen which showed a rotund man in a red jump suit.
"Karen, prepare the Kinetic Orbital Strike." The fat man said over the communication line, receiving a nod from the other being referred to as Karen.
"Sure thing Eggman, they won't know what hit them."
The screen then flickered off as the coms channel was cut, leaving the black fox inside a dank room of the large construct. She walked out, her boots creating a clomp with every step she took in the mechanical hallway. She practically pounded her way through the halls as she cackled maniacally, letting everyone hear her, not caring.
Soldiers of all types passed her as she made her rounds. Some were various types of robots, obviously of Eggman origin. Some were live, sentient Mobians that had defected against the "corrupt government." Sentient or no, they were all scared for the sanity of their commander, which seemed to be long gone.
Some were thinking of ways to help her while others were making bets on how long before she started cutting herself. "Greetings, Commander." One soldier finally perked up. "On what business are you traversing the K.O.C.S. today?"
She paused in her walking and breathed deeply, held it, and finally exhaled. Turning toward the opossum that spoke to her, she answered, "I want the mechanics at full alert. If there is any issue with the cannon's firing mechanism, I want to be notified."
The 'possum raised an eyebrow to the request. "May I ask the reason for this diagnostics check, Ms. Karen?"
She breathed in and out again before she glared at the opossum. She then got up in his face and jabbed him with her finger. "Soldier, I have explicit orders to prime the cannon for firing at an undisclosed location! Now get to work, IMMEDIATELY!" She barked, sending the other soldiers into a frenzy of work.
Leaving her lackeys to attend to their business, she entered another room. It basically held large dashboard on the far wall. Typing in a few keys on the dashboard, a screen above her turned on, revealing an aerial view of the ground below them.
She pressed another button and a screen in the bottom left corner appeared, displaying the rotund scientist once more. "Yes, what is it?" He asked.
"The cannon is charging, sir. May I have the coordinates of the target?"
Eggman nodded. "The coordinates are as follows… Green Hill, X 150.4, Y 120.6, Z 15.04."
"Copy, inputting coordinates now." She responded, typing in the said values all the while. When the numbers were entered, the crosshairs moved and zoomed in, showing a small house.
Karen was stunned for a moment. The house didn't appear special in any way, so she assumed that it was the person inside that was of importance.
Nonetheless, she asked, "Sir, what is so important about the house?"
"It is not really the house that is important. The person residing in it matters slightly more, but the real purpose is for… propaganda, so to say."
Karen sighed. Sometimes she wondered just what went through the old geezers head. "The cannon is charging, and moving into ideal alignment, but it will take time, as we are on the opposite side of the planet," She affirmed, "Karen out."
The screen fizzled out, leaving her to her thoughts in the dark room.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\|\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
…Syaoron the Fox Presents…
…The Third in the Series…
The Mobius Code
Tribulations
Chapter 6
More Primitive Measurements
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Military Establishment in Castle Acorn
January-2-3457
12:19 Mobius Time
Shane the Fox leaned up against the wall of the corridor, as if waiting for someone. He'd been there for quite a while, so waiting was the perfect assumption of what he was doing. A white echidna walked out of a room nearby and Shane walked forward.
"Hey, Alex, wait up!" He shouted at him, getting the albino echidna to slow down. He was wearing average military attire, as well as a black trench coat.
"I heard you had a meeting with internals. How'd it go?" He question Alex, who continued to walk with him.
"Oh, I'm not really supposed to talk about that." He answered nonchalantly.
Shane shrugged a little. "Come on, help me out here," He continued to plead, "I need to know if there's anything I can do to help."
Alex glanced back over to his compatriot and said, "Man, you saved me back at that Abstergo base. I think you've done a lot."
Shane just shook his head. "There's still has to be something I can do."
Alex sighed as he looked at the arctic fox. There was so much pain hidden in his eyes, he could tell, yet still a need to help. Mobians in the armed forces were running past them while they continued their conversation. "Well, don't worry. They didn't say anything about you. It was mostly details about the insurrection and the information that you guys recovered, and…"
He was cut off when a weasel in military uniform ran into him.
"What's going on?" Alex asked to the open before directing himself at the weasel. "Soldier, where is everyone running to?"
The weasel seemed eager to reply. "We got some new agent facing off against Shadow, Sonic and Knuckles in the training room. I'm going to watch!"
The soldier ran off, leaving them eager to see the fight themselves. "Three on one? I've got to see this." Alex said, before leaving for the training room's second floor; the observation level.
They got there just in time to see the round begin. All of them were holding a sort of Bo staff, called a Feujel Stick, which produced an electric shock when you were hit by it.
A monitor overhead showed the score and number of rounds. On the right were Sonic's, Shadow's, and Knuckles' names and on the left was… Cosmo? Yes it was, but she appeared to wearing a kind of black suit, probably for mobility purposes.
A female voice said over the intercom, "Round one begins in five… four… three… two… one."
The three charged at Cosmo and she just whipped the staff around, knocking them all off balance. Skillfully twirling the electric tipped rod, she battered them while they tried to get hits in. Sonic swung the staff overhead, trying to catch her off guard. She responded by bring her staff above and blocking it.
Deflecting Sonic, she smashed the rod into his side, throwing him down while continuing to twirl it into Shadow and Knuckles expertly.
"Whoa! I thought Cosmo was against fighting." Sapphire commented from above. All the other time travelers were here to watch the fight, as well as all of Sonic's company.
Tails nodded, looking at his girlfriend's fierce moves. "Yup. She's become the epitome of reactions and skill."
Cosmo was now carrying Knuckles on her back. With her staff over her shoulders, trapping the echidna's neck to her body, she confidently strode over to Sonic and Shadow, who were stumbling in their attempts to stand up. She let Knuckles go and whipped the rod around like a baseball bat, crashing into the other two.
As they stumbled, she twisted the rod as if it were a baton and smashed them with electric blows. Knuckles charged and swung a blow, but she redirected it and caught upside the chin. When Sonic came rushing in, she bent back, dodging a swing while using that momentum to forward a kick to his jaw while she put the Feujel Stick in his gut. With Shadow being the only one standing, she began up a combination of battering, leading to one final golf-club-like strike. Shadow flew back a few feet and landed on his back as the end of Cosmo staff broke off.
"Round over. Point, Cosmo."The intercom spoke, leaving Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles to stumble around before wobbling off to the rest area.
"Great job, Cosmo! You were amazing." Amy congratulated her when she arrived in the observation room.
To have beaten Sonic, Knuckles and Shadow single handedly was amazing, but she left them in a daze. Cosmo nodded but remained silent. It's not something I'm proud of…
The other three were resting on the other side of the room. "Well… that was impressive." Shadow simply put as Cream healed his wounds.
The young rabbit nodded. "Quite a change from the Cosmo we knew on the Blue Typhoon, huh?"
Rouge chimed in then. "Remember when she was that helpless, innocent little girl?"
"She's nothing like that now." Sonic said unconfidently. He was bothered, not by the fact that he was just put in his place by Cosmo, but by the question of why she would need to have such skills.
Shane was still awed by what his mother was capable of. He never knew she was such an expert at Bo staff combat. "Wow…"
"Wow is right, Shane." Durin said as he looked at his dad. Knuckles still wore a grin, seeing as it was nothing more than friendly competition.
"Would the fighters please return to the arena?" The female voice requested over the intercom, drawing Cosmo, Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles from their state of calm.
Moments later, they appeared on the floor, fists raised. "Hand to hand combat, begin."
"Alright, guys," Sonic said, "Shadow you're going to give me some cover…"
Shadow had already run forward and was subsequently knocked back. "Or, you could just run in and get immobilized first." Sonic sarcastically stated. "Alright, Knuckles, you and I should…"
He hadn't finished talking when Knuckles was thrown behind Sonic, on his back. He turned to face his fallen teammates and said, "What, am I the only one who knows how to talk?"
"I don't think talking's your problem."
Sonic turned around to be faced with Cosmo who was less than a foot from him. "What the…?"
He only managed to say that before she struck a blow to his abdomen. He stumbled back before she attempted a punch that Sonic only blocked. Knuckles had gotten back up by then and was charging toward her, fist flying forward. He aimed for her face, but she moved to the side and flung Knuckles into Sonic using his forward momentum.
Shadow had stood up and was exchanging blows and blocks with her by that point in time. Cosmo attempted a kick to the gut but Shadow blocked that and countered with a punch for the face.
She put up her arms for a momentary block before they both became off balance. Sonic and Knuckles came charging in afterward and she became surrounded. Using every sense she could, she expertly dodged all their blows and countered appropriately.
Finding an opening, she slid under Knuckles' legs and kicked him in the back. When he tried getting up behind her, she twisted around and planted a devastating blow to his gut.
With Sonic and Shadow coming after her, she jumped in the air and split-kicked them in the head, leaving them down for the count.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Knuckles attempting to get up. Deciding to put a stop to that, she whipped a round house kick around, colliding with his head and sending him into the ground.
"Round two, over. Point awarded to Cosmo." The intercom stated, allowing the fighters to leave the ring.
"Man, I thought we went through tough training." Shadow said in a disappointing manner.
Violet sighed and shook her head. "Well, she must have gone further." She then looked back over to Cosmo and shook her head again.
"The real question is how far they have to go," Ana interjected.
Their conversation was cut short when the intercom called them out to the arena again. Tails put his hand on Como's shoulder and asked her, "Cosmo, are you okay?"
She shook her head. "Why did things have to come to this, Tails?"
Tails was a bit taken back by the question, but he soon regained his composure. "I don't know, Cosmo, but our skills will be of use to for our cause."
She sighed before stepping back out into the arena. "Now resetting the stage for Lockdown paint simulation," The voice said while block like pillars rose from the arena ground.
"Ugh, I hate that paint," Coral complained, though she wasn't fighting, "It hardens and prevents movement."
Shane shrugged. "I wouldn't know. It's not so bad if you don't let it hit you."
Andy muttered something about being a showoff as the round started off.
Sonic hid behind one pillar while Knuckles hid behind one next to his. "Hey, Knuckles. Let's think this through," The blue speedster suggested. "You cover me, okay?"
Knuckles had already run out. He was thrown back, frozen and covered in purple hardening paint. "Or, you can run in and get yourself killed. Break. Great job, everybody."
To his left was Shadow, also frozen in place by the hardening paint. "This is going to be a long day."
He ran through the course, always expecting her to be around one corner. He would catch a glimmer of movement here, or a little flutter of sound there, but she was gone the next second.
Turning the next corner, he came face to face with Cosmo's hardening paint gun. The last thing he saw was her trigger finger squeezing before his vision blackened.
Soon after, the round reset and they were going at it again. Searching around, they attempted to keep their formation tight, but seemed to find no sign of her.
They turned one corner and it was all over.
Cosmo brought her paint ball pistol about and fired it at Shadow's head, being rewarded with his head encased in purple solid and he fell over.
She fought Knuckles at close combat while Sonic fired at her from a longer range, but she managed to dodge the flying paint pellets, all the while keeping Knuckles at bay. Knuckles finally managed to disarm her, but she had something else up her sleeve.
Twisting his arm around, but not enough to break it, she snatched his pistol and shot him where the sun doesn't shine.
Sonic took this opportunity to dash over to her and close the distance. This inevitably failed when Cosmo swept her leg across his travel path, tripping him up and leaving him on the ground.
She fired the gun at his head, leaving him immobile.
The whole thing turned into a form of montage sequence. They would attempt to fight her off, while she continued to put them in their place. Sonic hid behind a pillar and looked toward Knuckles, whose head was frozen by paint. "Hey, Knuckles, can you see her?"
It was the little he got out before he felt something metal pushed against the back of his head. "Never mind, man, I think I found her." His head was then frozen by a pellet of paint.
Another round began. Knuckles, Sonic and Shadow tried actually coordinating for once. They nodded to each other and came out. Sonic jumped over a pillar and the other two turned their corners… only to be anticlimactically met with a round of paint for each.
The eight paint rounds blurred by, leaving them with extra down time.
Stream stared at Cosmo as she walked into the lounge room, completely unscathed. "Wow, you won all ten rounds, three on one, like it was nothing!" He marveled, giving Cosmo a small smile.
"Thanks," She replied before running off and into the arms of her beloved.
"You did amazingly, Cosmo! I think that was your best yet." Tails complemented her. She smiled widely at the praise she was receiving.
"Still, I think I'm ready for a break." She modestly spoke while looking over to Knuckles who was still clutching between his legs and moaning. "And, I think they need a break, too."
Tails pulled his cloak over him, as did Cosmo, and they walked out of the room, accompanied by the others. Lunch was in great need after the quarrel they had just participated in.
Tails reached into his tail fur and pulled out his small white ball. He smiled at it while tossing it up and down in a continuous motion.
Sonic, unnerved by Cosmo's talent for fighting, asked Tails, "Why did you need to become so strong?"
Tails stopped and almost glared at his surrogate brother. "Sonic, you need to understand that we stand tall so that others can have their happy lives. We remain strong so that others don't have to." Tails then began walking again while Sonic stayed there, absorbing his words. "This isn't like it used to be, Sonic. No more nonchalant attitude. This is a war."
That said, Tails returned to tossing his ball up and down.
Some of the passing soldiers greeted them happily, as if not caring for Tails' extra tails. Then again, why would they? The kitsune asked himself. He did fight side by side with them, after all.
Alex meandered next to him and whispered, "The entire army is with you, Tails. We won't tell the Parliament."
Tails seemed visibly happier once he said that. He then decided to pull down the hood and expose his face.
They walked into a small cafeteria that the Armed Forces of Mobius had posted. It acted as not only a food dispenser, but a morale raiser as well. Soldiers in their downtime would chat about their lives, their reasons for fighting, and who they were going to be coming home to once the war ended.
Plus, with the revenue the army received from a blank check, it was all entirely free. While Tails and Cosmo preferred a large salad, most of the others had some kind of meat-based food, such as submarine sandwiches or fried chicken.
They pulled some tables and chairs together, making plenty of room for their party of more than twenty. Shadow started things off, speaking, "Well, Tails, what are you going to do next?"
Tails sighed while chomping into a piece of lettuce. "I don't know, Shadow. We'll probably wait for our next assignment from G.U.N. and remain under the radar as much as possible."
The black hedgehog then smirked. "Well, Tails, I have something you may want to see."
Tails twitched his ears slightly. "What may that be?"
Shadow folded his arms and closed his eyes confidently. "That's for me to know, and you to find out."
The kitsune pouted slightly for being denied the truth as Shadow laughed, thinking, I know something you don't!
Secret keeping aside, they had quaint lunch break, discussing their concerns on the war and recounting their triumphs over Eggman. Tails looked out the window and sighed. It's like an experiment, He thought, No amount of merely beating Eggman will put him down, but it only takes him one win to dominate everything.
He shook that thought off and tried positive thinking for once. He glanced back over to his girlfriend who was happily chatting with the other girls and he smiled. I still have her. That alone is worth fighting for.
When they walked outside and into a vastly deserted area of Green Hill, they decided on doing something that they hadn't done in a while.
Tails looked at the others with a cocky smirk. "Alright, I know some of you are impressed by what Cosmo can do," He began. Amy raised an eyebrow, wearing a facial expression that screamed, Of course we are!
"I assure you that, just like old times, Shadow and I can help train you."
Yup; it was combat trainings' glorious return.
Groans were volleyed about them as Tails smirked. He had neutral feelings for training; while he saw it as a way to improve himself, it also lead to injury in some respect. He put up a hand and they silenced themselves.
"This time, we will improve only through execution," he stated clearly. "There will be no practice. If you screw up, it's your well-being that you have to worry about."
He then directed his focus towards Shane and his company and nodded at them. "They will act as critiques, pointing out your flaws as I'm sure they can take care of their own training." He chuckled inwardly at the irony of what he said.
Cosmo gathered up the girls and divided them accordingly. Amy was paired off against Rouge while Cosmo took Cream for some more advanced medical training.
Amy and Rouge, having already had a grudge against each other, were eager to beat each other's faces into the ground until Tails stepped in and halted them and gestured over to where Knuckles and Sonic already were. Once there, he laid out five packs. He tossed each pack to the ground and they landed with a loud thump.
"You will all be fighting your partner…" He said while having each of them open their designated pack. Inside, they discovered four long, cylindrical metal bracelets, each about five inches long. "… You will also be wearing these."
Shadow raised an eyebrow at the trinkets. "What are these supposed to do?"
Tails only smirked more. "It's not what they do, but what they keep you from doing," He explained while picking up one of them and tossing it to Sonic. He caught it, needless to say, but it felt heavy for its size. "These are training weights. They each are made of a very dense metal alloy and they weigh approximately forty pounds each."
They all dropped their jaws for a moment. "You will attach one to every limb of your body; one for each arm and leg."
Shadow looked at Tails with what you could've identifies as shock. "So, where are your training weights?"
Tails heartily laughed at the question. "Well, I don't know if you can notice, but…" He then pulled up the sleeves on his cloak and pulled down his socks. "Cosmo and I are always wearing our weights, which already weigh twice as much as yours."
He also flared out his tails. "There's one on every tail as well. I just feel too light without them on." Everyone gapped at him while Cosmo waved from over where she was.
Sonic closed his eyes and looked down, putting up his hands, as if about to say something. "So you're telling me that Cosmo beat us three, while wearing eighty pound weights on her arms and legs?"
He bored his eyes into Tails, who was sweating. He had thought that it would encourage him. "Yes, Sonic. You five will each undergo the same training that Cosmo and I did, if not for the same amount of time.
Once everyone put their weights on, Tails asked them, "How do you feel?"
While they were having trouble lifting their arms and legs, or even standing at all, Rouge glared at Tails. "I feel one hundred and sixty pounds heavier." She blatantly stated.
Tails exhaled slowly. They obviously didn't see the importance of this training. "Look, I know this method seems a little primitive, but after a couple weeks of non-stop training in that, I guarantee that you'll already be moving at least four times the speed you can already move."
This obviously motivated them, as they began training afterward.
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Parliament Discussion Quarters
January-2-3457
15:21 Mobius Time
"This meeting is going to begin to assess a matter concerning Miles "Tails" Prower," A female falcon said. She was dressed plainly in a white robe, as the entire parliament was.
"Remind me, Persepolis, what concerns the kit?" An older walrus responded to her. The falcon named Persepolis glared slightly at him.
An old crow then stood from his spot at the round table and put his hands on the table. "Persepolis' reason for holding this meeting is that we believe the fox has infiltrated military forces."
Everyone at the table gasped slightly. "Surly you must be joking, Gerard!" The walrus tried to reason, but the crow named Gerard shook his head.
"I was given this information by a confident, who asked that his name not be spoken." He assured them. "Do you have any possible ideas on how to go about this, Lucifer?"
The walrus shrugged. "Undercover investigations aren't my specialty. Perhaps Juliet can suggest something?"
The female lemur gave a few skeptical glances to nowhere in particular before coming upon a conclusion. "I question why we don't just kill him, if he is that much of a nuisance."
The leader of the parliament, a middle aged grey rat smirked devilishly. He pointed at Juliet and widened his eyes while retaining the smirk. "One does not question an insane man's ability to rid himself of someone he despises."
"But, are you insane, Jeremy?" Gerard asked. The smile almost immediately disappeared off of the rat's face.
"That... is questionable…"