AN: I think that this is my longest chapter , by far.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sega, or Alexa the Hedgehog and Melodi the Cat. They are my friends OC's.
Claimer: I own my OC's and this plot.
Kinetic Orbital Cannon Station
February-1-3457
15:19 Mobius Time
"All personnel, prepare to fire the Orbital Cannon in approximately two hours. This is not a drill."
The announcement rang throughout the space station as Mobians and robots alike rushed to and fro to operate their station. Everything had to be just right so that the cannon could fire properly. There was always something that could go wrong in a situation like this. A gear could jam, or a part could be rusty, but any minor issue could cause a total systemic collapse.
Karen walked through the station, examining everything and asking herself, why? Why go through all the trouble, and what for? World domination? Look at where that's got me…
She shook the thought off as she made her rounds, making sure everything was in order. Mechanics rushed about in the bowels of the station, checking and double checking all systems to assure that they were in proper condition. The black vixen smiled at her crew of advanced operators and smiled. It wasn't every day that you were charge of such a spectacular group of individuals.
A raven rushed up to her and saluted. She returned the salute and said, "Go ahead, soldier. What's the situation?"
The raven returned to attention and spoke, "All systems are operating to standards, ma'am. We are now waiting for the proper alignment with the target."
She smirked and eyed the soldier eerily. "Excellent."
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…Syaoron the Fox Presents…
…The Third in the Series…
The Mobius Code
Tribulations
Chapter 7
Out With a Bang
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Sky Sanctuary, Angel Island
February-1-3457
15:30 Mobius Time
In almost no time at all, a month whizzed by. Newly grown flowers were beginning to peak out of the melting snow on the floating island. The flower was crushed by someone accidentally stepping on it. Knuckles backed up slowly, his fists raised at his target, a blue hedgehog.
He shifted his body forward, attempting to strike his target, but it zipped away at the last moment. He saw this coming and snapped a kick out to the side, striking Sonic square in the chest. Sonic tumbled backward but quickly regained his footing, launching a couple of strikes of his own. They traded strikes and blocks until Sonic grabbed Knuckles' head and pulled him in for a knee blow to the face. Knuckles reeled back and held his face while Sonic spun and planted a side kick in his abdomen, launching him backwards.
Knuckles got back up and lunged forward for a punch. When Sonic replied with a punch as well, they both struck each other in the face, leading to them both being unconscious. A nearby kitsune looked upon them with glee.
"That's the third time today." He said before moving on to Amy and Rouge.
Amy jumped forward, performing a flying side kick that Rouge easily dodged. The bat then whipped a round house kick at her and caught her in the back. Amy, distraught with anger, got back up and shot out a couple more uncoordinated punches and kicks.
She might as well have been blind.
Rouge parried her fourth punch and placed her fist into Amy's gut, leading to Amy coughing up a drop of blood or two.
Tails sighed, seeing that Amy would need to remain calm in a battle situation, no matter how frustrating. It was a rather disadvantageous of her anger issues. "Alright, girls, you can stop now."
They continued fighting, regardless of his words. He then put his hand to his temple and shook his head. "When I said, 'you can stop now,' I meant, 'you will stop now!'" He growled angrily. The feuding girls took notice of this and gulped, deciding they'd rather stop than face Tails' wrath.
He didn't like making threats, but he always seemed to be the least respected person in the group, regardless of age or strength. Shadow walked by him and put his hand on Tails' shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"
Tails nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Once Cosmo had helped everyone to recuperate, they met over by a rock to discuss their weaknesses and strengths. "Sonic, I've come to notice that you tend to rely on your speed too much," Tails pointed out, "Your attacks tend to be sloppy, and unplanned, as if you're improvising too much. You need to learn to focus more on strength and form, because speed won't get you everywhere."
Tails then moved his gaze over to Knuckles. "On the other hand, Knuckles, you have impressive form and strength, but you need to train your agility so you don't get caught in one place too long."
He looked over to Amy and raised an eyebrow. "I'm gonna be honest, Amy. You have good strength and good agility, but you have poor form. You let the enemy anger you and you attack blindly out of frustration. Keep a level head when fighting, okay?"
Amy nodded meekly in understanding. Tails grinned and looked at Rouge. "I think that, out of all of us, you have the best control over your agility and strength. However, like Amy, you are easily angered when things aren't going your way."
Finally he shifted his gaze over to Shadow. "And you… I've got nothing to say to you, Shadow." He concluded. Having fought the black hedgehog himself, Tails knew that he only needed to continue training.
Tails looked at Cosmo and smirked. She winked at him, giving him the okay. "Alright, guys. Take off your training weights."
Though confused, they followed orders anyway and removed the weights from their arms and legs. Knuckles was the first to point out, "Wow! I feel so light!"
They all tried moving, and it almost seemed unnatural to them. It even took them a while to get their center of balance affirmed again. Tails then said, "I want all of you to run to that rock over there, as fast as you can."
Without question, they all ran over to the rock. While Sonic and Shadow were the first to make it, of course, they all covered the one hundred meter distance in record breaking time. Each of them had done it in less than five seconds, Sonic and Shadow having done it in less than two second.
They all gawked at the speed they were running at, even Shadow and Sonic, whose speeds were already unnatural. Tails ran over to them and raised a finger, as if preaching. "See, when you train for a month with an extra one hundred and sixty pounds added, and then remove that weight, you can see the difference."
While they were still gawking at their own speed, Shadow had to ask, "What's your speed without the weights on, Tails?"
The kitsune shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I never take them off."
That said, Tails unclamped all of the eighty pound weights on his body, including the ones on his tails. Shadow did a quick math check and figured that he was wearing a total of one thousand and forty pounds. How much faster can he move?
Tails looked at the rock he was racing for and made his move. It's too bad you couldn't see it happen. Tails practically disappeared from the spot and reappeared next to the rock in an instant.
Several sonic booms were created in his wake as Tails turned around to see the expression on their faces. All of them held faces of complete shock, except for Cosmo.
"Well, I'd say that's a good couple thousand kilometers per hour." Tails summed up while walking back and putting his training weights on again.
They continued to stare at him for a moment before Shadow broke the awkward silence. "So… what are the kids doing?" He asked, bringing attention to the time-travelers.
Tails was quick to answer. "Don't you remember? They left four days ago to find another chaos emerald."
Tails' emerald radar had stated that an emerald had found its way into their vicinity. Since Sonic's company was training, it was up to their offspring to find it.
"Yeah, but you'd think they'd be back by now." Knuckles pointed out.
Sonic sighed and looked in a random direction. "We'll just have to wait till they get back."
Before departing, Tails turned around and said, "Remember to keep your training weights on at all times!" Everyone groaned slightly.
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G.U.N. Headquarters
February-2-3457
15:47 Mobius Time
General Felix O'Donnell sat down at one end of the large conference table. To his left was Alexander Zednanref, leader of Explosive Search and Destroy team Alpha and to his right was Syaoron Prower, ally from the distant future. Shane's friends sat around the table, joining in on the conversation.
"It has been brought to my attention that the Parliament has become aware of Miles' presence in G.U.N. We believe that there is an informant in our ranks that is blabbing to the Parliament." Felix stated, receiving a gasp from everyone.
"But, have we identified the informant?" Shane asked, to which Alexander shook his head.
"Not as of yet. For all we know, there could be multiple informants."
Renna stood from the table and almost shouted, "That defies G.U.N.'s right to secrecy, though!"
Felix nodded. "That, it does. We're having our lawyers confide in Queen Sally about this. This doesn't solve the problem of Miles' existence becoming known."
There was a period of silence as they attempted to figure out the problem. The door to their conference room then burst open. A chipmunk and a leopard came in while keeping a grey cat restrained. "Sir, we noticed this one eavesdropping." The chipmunk said while Felix nodded.
"So, I was correct to place you on guard. Thank you, gentlemen." Felix dismissed them while the grey cat stood in front of them.
The grey cat was quivering when they all glared at him. "Look, I have no clue what's going on, so…"
"Wrong!" Andy yelled at him. He began poking him forcefully and said, "You know exactly what's going on. Now, why are you relaying these messages to the parliament?"
There was a moment of silence before the cat burst out into psychotic laughter. He pulled his military jacket open and revealed his chest, which was strapped with several plastic packages. Each had a small red light, blinking every second. The speed of the beeping became faster all of a sudden.
"Everybody, get down!" Shane shouted. They all barely made it under the table before the soldier violently exploded. The explosion destroyed the front portion of the table, but it kept everyone safe. All that was left of the informant was a disfigured body and a puddle of blood.
Coral looked in fear at the body before hiding her face in Shane's chest, who held her understandingly. Everyone else was equally disgusted and preferred to turn the other cheek, wishing not to lay eyes upon such madness.
"Well… so much for interrogation." Felix muttered while diverting his eyes.
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Knuckles' House
February-1-3457
16:01 Mobius Time
Clouds were beginning to form over the horizon as Cosmo and Knuckles began preparing a rather large proportion of Fettuccini and Alfredo sauce. The noodles boiled and softened in a pot of water while Knuckles melted cheese in another pot, adding in seasonings to the paste.
Oh, it smelled marvelous, even from the other side of the house. Maybe it was the small amount of garlic that Knuckles but it the Alfredo sauce, or the perfect amount of salt that was grinded into the pot. Whatever it was, it smelled heavenly.
It tasted even better as Knuckles, Cosmo, Tails, and their two new guests, Shadow and Rouge, ate the cheesy, slim noodles. Some slurping was involved as they scarfed down their meals, enjoying it with gusto. Tails was able to resist the urge to take another bit and raised his glass, as the others did soon after. "I think it's fair to say that this is the best meal, ever… of all time." Tails complemented, such did others around the table. Proposing a toast to health, they all clinked glasses and took sips of their sparkling grape juice.
Once their plates were emptied and cleaned, they sat in the living room. Tails sat with Cosmo in what else but the love seat, while Knuckles, Rouge and Shadow sat on the larger couch.
There was nothing but silence for a few minutes. They looked back and forth between one another until Shadow finally said, "This is awkward."
They all nodded. "So… is life treating you good?" Cosmo asked in an attempt to start a conversation.
Most of them shrugged or muttered something to themselves, but Knuckles responded with, "Depends; are we winning to war?"
"Yes."
"Then my answer is also yes," Knuckles stated confidently. He fidgeted in his spot to try to get more comfortable. "How do you guys go through everyday wearing these training weights?"
"After a while, it just becomes routine." Tails answered.
Shadow raised an eyebrow to the kit that was his protégé and frowned slightly. "You know, Tails, with all this training, when do you ever apply it?"
Tails answer was firm. "Only when I need to."
There was silence before Tails noticed something. Everyone seemed to be moving slower, for some reason.
Hello again, kit. A voice told him.
Tails swished his head around, trying to find the source of the voice. It chuckled in his head momentarily. Have I not visited in so long that you've forgotten my voice?
He immediately knew who it was. Go outside for a moment. I need to talk with you.
He wore a puzzled face when the world returned to speed. "Hey, guys, I'm going to step outside for a while." He excused himself while walking out.
Once he was a fair distance from the house, a glowing orb of white appeared in front of him. Tails smirked at the blowing ball and said, "It has been a while since we last met… Lady."
A laugh came from the orb. "Ah, so you do remember me." The Lady confirmed. The ghostly figure of a kitsune about Tails' height with a thousand tails appeared soon after.
"You said I would discover my true potential eventually." Tails recalled. "What exactly are you referring to?"
The Lady adopted a teacher-like expression and said, "Your potential is found everywhere, Miles. You just have to know where to look."
Tails sighed and brought his hand to his temple, massaging it. "Do spirits like you always have to give cryptic answers?"
She then poked him in the stomach, but her finger phased right through him. "Of course! It would be no fun, that way!"
She noticed Tails rolling his eyes and she breathed a sigh. "That is not the reason I wanted to talk to you."
Tails smirked and raised his eyebrow. "Surly, you jest?" He noted sarcastically.
It was the Lady's turn to roll her eyes now, as she said, "No, I wanted to give you a heads up. You will be brought somewhere, soon. I can't tell you where and I can't tell you when, but it will be soon."
"Is that so?"
She sighed. "I wish I could, but I made a bet."
Tails gave her a skeptical look and continued to stare until his ear twitched. "Someone's coming, Lady." He whispered, to which she nodded.
"I'll see you another time, Miles." She finished before she disappeared into thin air.
There was some rustling in the grass before Rouge came out from behind a tree. "Who was that?" She asked. Tails began to sweat. His gaze shifted to the left, and then up as he thought of a lie.
"Oh, I was just talking to myself." He replied.
Rouge stared him down. "You know, that might've been convincing if you hadn't shifted your gaze." Tails widened his eyes. "People tend to look to the left if their thinking of something."
The vulpine inwardly cursed. "Now, who were you talking to?"
Tails sighed and replied with the only cryptic answer he could think of. "My mother."
Rouge gave him a look, indicating that she didn't buy it. Tails shook his head. "It's… complicated."
The bat thief rolled her eyes at him as she headed back toward the house. Instead of following, Tails walked the steps of the shrine ad gazed at the glimmering green stone. Though natural, it looked cleanly cut, as if some extraterrestrial being had crafted it.
Whatever the origin, it was still a magnificent thing, the Master Emerald. It shimmered and glowed, as if in response to the situation. Sometimes, against all logic, Tails thought it was a sentient being all on its own. He brushed the smooth surface with his gloved paw, pondering over many things that had come into his life.
Where will I be going soon? Will it be dangerous? These are some of the thoughts that swam through his mind as he continued to feel out the majestic gem.
There was more rustling in the nearby bushes and Tails drew his sword. He spotted a nearby bush, swaying in the wind, and returned his sword to its scabbard. Perhaps I am getting a little too paranoid…
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Parliament Discussion Quarters
February-1-3457
16:30 Mobius Time
All the Parliament members were stressed, a rather unbecoming trait of the average politician. Each of them poured over piles of important documents, trying to make it appear that each one had some kind of importance. The leader, Jeremy, seemed sidetracked, though.
"What's the issue, Jeremy?" Persepolis questioned while continuing to eye the paper she was given. "You seem… disturbed, to some extent."
The rat sighed in response. He had it on his mind since he had received the report. "One of our informants has been found out."
A unanimous gasp was given and Gerard widened his eyes. "When?" He asked plainly.
"It was earlier, this afternoon. He was supposed to be taken in for interrogation."
Lucifer was clearly taken aback. He couldn't believe that one of the soldiers he had once trained would fail at such an important task. It practically spelled the end of their covert operations.
"What if he blabs about our intentions?" the walrus suggested. "Suppose he exposes us! Then what'll happen?"
Jeremy swiped his hand in a random direction, dismissing the thought. "He can't, remember? It's no longer possible for him to talk, at all."
Upon realization, they all held a moment of silence for their undercover informant, hoping he died as quickly as possible.
It was after the brief silence that they returned to their papers, pondering the counter-measures they'd need to take.
Many thought crossed their minds in the place of silence. Be they about the information they were supposed to be reading about, or about the threats that they were potentially under, they all circled around back to their main issue.
Miles Prower.
The documents were holding many important findings and hour-to-hour updates on the activity of G.U.N. and their subject. Originally, some of the informants had rejected this mission, saying that, "We're special forces, not babysitters." However, upon the presentation of 100,000 dollars in cash for completing the mission, the selected officials jumped at the chance for the job.
How easily a mind is swindled with the use of money. Jeremy thought while continuing to brush through his papers.
Without notice, a Mobian polar bear burst through the door to the room, startling the parliament members.
"What is the meaning of such an intrusion?" Juliet demanded of the bear, as they all regained their composure.
"I'm sorry, sirs and madams, but we have our radar has detected an unknown anomaly." The white omnivore excused himself while reporting the situation.
Gerard raised an eyebrow to this. "Where has the so called anomaly occurred?"
Their guest gulped audibly. "It's in outer space, sir!"
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Knuckles' House
February-1-3457
16:46 Mobius Time
Everyone formed a semi-circle around small table holding a laptop. Cosmo stood in front of it and everyone was listening to what she had to say… or what had already been said.
"What do you mean you've detected an energy spike, Cosmo?" Knuckles shouted, forcing everyone to cover their ears.
Not so loudly, Knuckles. Just because it doesn't look like you have any ears doesn't mean you get to be loud. Cosmo thought while rolling her eyes. "I mean exactly that. There is a huge energy reading that continues to rise, coming from outer space."
Tails looked skeptically at the radar screen. Walking up to it, he switched the view to an orbiting camera that was high above the atmosphere. "Where did you say the energy signature was coming from?"
She pointed to right of the screen. "It was a bit due west, I think."
He maneuvered the camera's angle slightly to the left… and almost immediately wished he hadn't. There, smack in the center of the screen, was a very menacingly appearing space station. It had two parts to it. The top half, which was shaped similar to a sardine can with some part jutting out, while others sank in. This is where all the operations took place.
Attached to the bottom of the actual station was a spire that appeared to have several constructed segments of metal gravitating around the spire. The spire was a very long, thin cone in its self, probably spanning half of a kilometer. Running through the column was shaft. From the places where the spire had glass on it, you could see energy pulsing through it like atoms in a particle accelerator.
The station operated in a similar way.
Tails widened his eyes and took two steps back, gawking at the station. "Th-th-that's a kinetic cannon!" He stuttered as everyone looked at him.
"Uh, Tails," Shadow spoke up, "What's a kinetic cannon?"
Tails widened his eyes further and began flailing his arms in a sporadic way. "The cannon magnetically accelerates the atoms into an overcharged state where the protons and electrons separate from the nucleus, giving you supercharged particle beam!"
There was a massive silence until Shadow said, "I'll take the easy version, please."
Tails mentally cursed himself. "Do you remember the Magnetic Accelerator Cannon from Halo: Reach?"
Shadow nodded. "This is the same thing, only ten times better."
That was when everyone started freaking out. "What? How could you tell us like that?" Knuckles squealed.
"It's like ripping off a Band-Aid!" Rouge panicked. Only Tails and Cosmo remained calm.
"You know what?" Tails started, "Go and die. Stupid people get to live a life of worry and fear… you're all doomed." He said this while maintaining an exasperate look.
Cosmo looked at the screen again in dismay. "The real question is; what is the cannon aiming at?"
Tails moved up to the keyboard and typed in a few components. The screen showed a triangulation process occurring, and when Tails received the results, he gasped again. "IT'S VANILLA AND CREAM'S HOUSE!
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Vanilla and Cream's House
February-1-3457
17:03 Mobius Time
Evening was settling in for the evening, ready to have a genuine meal, courtesy of Vanilla. To serve the large group of people, there was a turkey set out on the table with a bowl of salad on the side. They had given their grace and were taking their first bites when their front door was slammed open.
Tails, Cosmo, Knuckles, Rouge, and Shadow came charging in the house. "What do you think you're doing?" the Cream scolded them as they continued moving in.
Tails was quick to respond. "We need to get you guys out of here! This place is going to become dust in a couple of minutes!"
Everyone, while not understanding, took up his offer and ran out of the building. Vanilla, while reluctant to follow, came along as well. When they were a good half kilometer from the house, Vanilla asked, "So, tell me again why you've dragged us out of my house at meal time?"
"It's an Orbital Kinetic Cannon, and it's aiming straight at your house!" Tails practically screamed.
Shane understood the situation and began a head count. "Okay, we have Renna, Sam, Sen, Sapphire, Stream, Coral, Andy, Ana, Durin, Violet, Gary, Alexa, and… where's Melodi?"
Tails' eyes widened and he began rushing back toward the house. The clouds began parting overhead, showing the Kinetic Cannon in its final stages of charging. He was quickly running out of time when he arrived at the house and noticed Melodi coming out of the bathroom.
Tails heard a high-pitched ringing and new it was firing. Rapidly and painfully, he elevated to the Solar Wind stage of inhibitor unlocking, turning his fur golden and his aura a bright green. With seven gates unlocked, he prepared for a counter to the laser.
He shouted, "TEMPEST RAY!" and shot up a beam of pure green, rushing to meet the Kinetic Cannon's orange beam.
"Tails, what's going on?" She screamed in fear. Tails was straining to keep the beam up all the while
"That's doesn't matter, Melodi! Get out of here!" He yelled while holding off the beam.
Sam warped in with a chaos emerald for a moment and said, "It's time to go, girl." She nodded, while not quite understanding the situation.
They warped out of range and Tails continued to supply the beam with power, attempting to cancel it out. It was truly a show to behold, as the quasar of light burst out, attracting much attention from all over the region.
Tails knew he was beginning to lose this fight as his beam retracted at the Kinetic Cannon's mighty power. All seemed lost when a voice said, let go, child.
It was in that moment of epiphany that the kitsune figured out where he would be going. He let the energy go, allowing the beam to destroy the house and everything within a quarter of a kilometer.
To him, it all went black, and, just like his dreams, there was nothing.