- - - -
Chapter Eight
Traitors
by Felix Xavier Jinx
- - - -
Time line - October 18, 3237
- - - -

     Morning. The snow had fallen again last night, giving the forest a good
eight inch blanket of white. In the dense foliage, Felix was walking slowly,
with a large, black rifle in hand. He work a thick coat, and snowshoes. His
breath turned into white clouds before him.
     "Man, where are they?" Felix mumbled to himself. Suddenly, about ten
yards away, a twig snapped. Felix swung his rifle into the direction of the
sound. A figure's head rose up in the shadows. Felix fired three times,
hitting the target. The figure dropped, and Felix trotted over to investigate.
He jumped a hedge, and landed next to his quarry. In the snow was Tails, lying
face down in the snow. Crimson covered the back of his head.
     "Tails! Oh, man! What have I done?" Felix exclaimed as he looked at the
red drip from the back of his head.
     "Ya went and shot your partner!" Bunnie exclaimed, and appeared out of
the trees. "You okay, sugar?" Tails sat up.
     "Man, Felix!" Tails whined, rubbing the back of his head. "Paint's hard
to shampoo out!" The fox pulled back his hand, soaked in red paint.
     "We win! We win!" Sally cried, and jumped out of the bushes.
     "Now hold on. You didn't really win!" Felix retorted.
     "Now come on. Don't be a sore loser." Sally said.
     "Yeah, yeah." Felix mumbled. "Tails, you should go home and wash that
out." Tails stomped off, mad that the game had drawn to a close due to
friendly fire.
     "Even if it was Tails, it was a good shot." Bunnie said. She picked up
Tails's paintball gun. Rustling could be heard in the distance.
     "What was that?" Sally gasped, turning around. Rustling again, this time
closer. "Sonic?" Sally called. Out of the bushes jumped a blur, and tackled
Felix. Felix rolled and kicked him off. Both stood up. The attacker was
another cat, but about a foot taller, and fifty pounds heavier. It was white,
and had a roboticized arm. The two cats stood five feet apart, with ears
folded back, and claws out. They growled and hissed. The white cat then slowly
lowered to the ground, and lunged. The two felines both flew into the bushes.
Fighting and more hissing could be heard. As Sally and Bunnie ran over to
assist, the white cat flew out of the bushes, and hit a tree a good fifteen
feet away. Felix jumped out. His coat was torn to shreds, and four deep claw
marks were slashed across his face. One of his ears was split down the middle,
all the way down to the skull. Felix was more then mad.
     The white cat jumped back to it's feet, fairing no better then Felix
was. Felix charged, and the attacker threw it's metallic fist, smacking Felix
dead on in the face. He fell to the ground, unconscious. The white cat then
turned to Sally, and walked slowly toward her. Bunnie raised Tails's paintball
gun, and hit the cat's face four times in the eyes. It screamed and tried to
wipe the paint off. While the cat was blinded, Sally jumped into the air, and
planted her foot in the neck. The cat grabbed it's neck, and fell to the
ground, coughing. Felix awoke and held his nose.
     "My node!" He cried. He stood up, and the coat fell off. Claw marks were
raked across his chest as well. He looked at his attacker, and kicked him hard
in the side of the ribs. He did nothing. He was knocked cold.
     "Who in the name of..." Bunnie quietly asked, standing over him.
     "Felix, can ya get back to Knothole okay?" Sally asked.
     "Yeah, but I can't tmell!" Felix exclaimed, and limped off to Knothole.
Bunnie draped the fiend over her shoulder, and the three followed right behind
Felix. When they all arrived to Knothole, Bookshire and Charles ran to assist
Felix.
     "My goodness, son! What happened to you?" Charles exclaimed. Felix could
only point to the three behind him. Felix was escorted to Bookshire's hut.
Charles went to see what was going on.
     "This fool jumped out of nowhere and started something with Felix!"
Bunnie informed.
     "Yes, it looks this one got his share of the punishment, also." Charles
answered. The cats entire head was pink with blood.
     "Tie him up to a tree until he wakes up, Bunnie." Sally commanded.
Bunnie tossed the cat against a tree and tied him to it. Sally went to find
Sonic to inform him of the situation. Sonic sat in the hut, playing with
Julayla and Miles.
     "Sonic, something's happened in the forest. You'd better come out."
Sally said.
     "Sure. Get Felix." Sonic replied, standing up.
     "Felix is what happened. Tails will watch them." Sally called for Tails,
and he came to the door.
     "Sure I can babysit. Why?" Tails asked.
     "I'll tell you later." Sally explained, and trotted over to Bookshire's
hut. Inside, Bookshire was stitching together the split ear. Sonic cringed in
pain just watching.
     "What happened?" Sonic asked.
     "An attacker came out of the woods and attacked us. Felix caught the
brunt of it." Sally explained.
     "You bet he did! Two broken ribs, about three hundred stitches worth of
cuts, and a fractured skull." Bookshire chimed, patching Felix's ear together.
Sonic and Sally went to the dining hall to examine their prisoner. Bunnie and
Charles were with him. They had tied him up to a chair, and managed to detach
his arm. He was still out cold. His head was now bright red from blood.
     "Now, can you explain what happened in the forest, my queen?" Charles
asked.
     "This guy just jumped out of nowhere, and started to attack Felix. He's
in bad shape."
     "Who, Mister Psycho or Felix?" Bunnie asked.
     "Both." Sonic said. The cat started to stir. He opened his eyes, and
gazed at his captors.
     "Where am I?" he asked.
     "You're in Knothole, and in a lot of trouble. Who are you?" Sally asked.
     "I'm saying nothing." he snapped.
     "Fine. I can wait as long as you." Sally snapped back. "In the meantime,
you are charged with assault." the cat laughed.
     "You have no authority." he growled back.
     "I'll have you know I am Sally of Acorn, queen of Mobius."
     "Ha! You are nothing but a rodent. PACKBELL is emperor of Mobius!" he
shouted.
     "It's evident who he works for." Charles said.
     "Packbell, huh? You are now charged with assault and treason!" Sally
snapped. "Keep watch over him!" She stomped out.
     "First bats with rocks, now this..." Bunnie moaned.
     "Yeah, something's goin' on. Why are we being attacked by other animals,
and not bots all of a sudden?" Sonic asked.
     "Don't you get it, idiot?" the cat said to Sonic. "A bot can't think, a
bot can't compromise, or improvise. I do."
     "Don't you get it?" Sonic retorted. "Packbell wants to make us all bots!
Why, do you think you will be spared!?"
     "All traitors will suffer the same fate. To serve as Packbell's slaves.
The same will happen to you, rodent!" the cat hissed. Charles smacked the cat
in the back of the neck, knocking him out again. He was obviously tired of
listening to the fool speak.
     "Great. What are we gonna do now?" Bunnie asked.
     "We will need a cell for this one, and if I do not miss my guess, more
like him." Charles replied.
     The rest of the afternoon, about three quarters of Knothole was busy
putting together a make shift jail, built to hold four prisoners. The cat, who
still hadn't divulged a name, was the first resident. While still tied to a
chair, Bookshire begun to patch up his wounds.
     "Looks like our Felix tore you up pretty good, huh?" Bookshire chuckled.
     "Shut up, old man." he hissed. Bookshire jabbed him with the needle he
was working with in the back of the neck. The cat meowed in pain.
     "You shut up. I don't have to do this." The rest of the patch job was
done in silence. As Bookshire packed up, the cat turned to him.
     "Thank you." he said. Bookshire looked surprised.
     "What?"
     "You heard me. I hate what you fight for, but common courtesy is the
same on both sides."
     "Well, you're welcome. Good night, Pinky." Bookshire started to leave.
     "Don't call me "Pinky"." the cat snapped. His head was still pink from
blood.
     "Well, until you give us a name, it's Pinky." Bookshire slammed the
door, and locked it.
     "He doesn't need to, Book." Sonic called. "His name is Brutus."
     "Appropriate." Bookshire grunted. "How did you find out?"
     "He's been hitting all the villages. He's a fugitive for five murders."
Bookshire gasped.
     "Five?!" he exclaimed. "My god! No animal can be that cold-blooded."
     "He will get a trial, but other animals from the other villages will be
coming in to discuss this problem." Sonic explained.
     "I don't know how he could get a defense." Bookshire said.
     "He might know somebody, I don't know. It's time to eat. Let's wash up."
Bookshire followed Sonic over to the dining hall.
     Later that evening, Felix walked over to Brutus's cell. Felix was
dressed in bandages on his head, face, and around his chest. His attacker was
almost identically patched up.
     "What do you want?" Brutus grunted.
     "What do you want?" Felix asked. "Why did you attack us?"
     "It's war. What did you expect?"
     "You fool. What are you getting in return?" Felix asked.
     "Rank of Brigadier General in Packbell's Army." Brutus replied. Felix
laughed.
     "And what do you think he's going to do after this so called war, huh?"
Felix stuck his face into the cell. "He's not going to need an army anymore.
He'll either turn you into bots, or douse you with lasers." Felix walked away.
"You are a fool, Brutus. Now you will die, no matter how the coin flips."

- - - -
Timeline- October 20
- - - -

     The morning was begun with the sound of the old siren that Charles used
before Felix volunteered alarm clock duty. After breakfast and the normal mode
of early morning activities, Sonic and Sally were in their hut, getting ready
for the conference of animals from surrounding villages to discuss what will
happen to Brutus, and other pressing matters, like the sudden attacks from
other animals. Sally dug around in the closet, while Sonic was spinning his
crown around his finger.
     "I don't see why we have to put on the dog for a trial." Sonic moaned.
     "Sonic, I told you!" Sally's voice called from the back of the closet,
muffled. She emerged with a medium sized trunk. "We are the rulers of Mobius!
We have to look like it. And that means wearing a crown once in a while."
Sally snatched the crown from Sonic's finger, and tossed it on his head.
     "Okay, okay." Sonic replied straightening his crown. Sally opened the
trunk, and inside was her royal dress, with a long, thin scarlet cape. It bore
the coat of arms of the Acorn family.
     "Are you ready yet, my lord?" Sally asked Sonic.
     "No..." Sonic said, and retrieved a uniform from the Royal Mobian Army,
made for him a few weeks after the wedding. It looked like Antoine's, except
with a scarlet sash running across his chest. Sonic made faces of pain when he
put it on.
     "What's wrong?" Sally asked.
     "I'm still sore." Sonic grunted. The wounds on his chest were healed,
but pain takes awhile to get rid of.
     "Oh, honey, I'm sorry." Sally said, and pecked Sonic on the cheek. "I'll
see you out in the dining hall." She turned toward the door, with her long
robe swinging around and floating behind. Sonic retrieved a cape from the
closet, one similar to Sally's, and put it on. He left his hut, his cape
flowing behind him. Tails flew down from a treetop and greeted Sonic.
     "Hiya, Tails! How you doing?" Sonic cheerfully greeted. He had not seen
him in a good couple of days because he was so busy with Sally.
     "Good!" Tails barked. He lighted next to Sonic. "Why are you dressed up
like Antoine?"
     "Tails, do you know about Brutus? The cat that attacked Knothole?" Sonic
asked.
     "Yes. Why?"
     "He has the right to a trial, and I have to be there."
     "What's gonna happen to him?" Tails asked, with a touch of concern in
his voice.
     "I don't know, bud. That's up to Aunt Sal. I have to go now. Goodbye."
Sonic said. He entered the dining hall, where Sally sat at the head of a long
table, and on each side were representatives of villages within the Great
Forest's bounds. Sonic and Sally were out of place in the meeting. All the
other animals were at least fifty years older than the king and queen.
     "Our king has arrived, we may now begin." Sally announced. Sonic sat
down at the head of the table next to Sally.
     "Man, do these clothes itch!" thought Sonic.
     "Yes, let us begin." croaked an ancient fox. "We must strike vengeance
on this scoundrel swiftly and surely! If he is allowed to live, there will be
more victims!" The other animals chattered, seeming to agree with the elder
fox.
     "I agree, but not an eye for an eye! There must be better ways to deal
with traitors of the crown." Sally said. "I cannot have a public execution!
It's too much!"
     "My queen! Your cowardice will be the death of you!" the fox said.
     "It's not cowardice! It is mercy!" Sally said.
     "Will the accused have anything to say in his defense?" one asked in the
back.
     "I think so." Sonic answered. "Hold on." He left, and in a minute, he
brought Brutus, his arm bound to his side, to the dining hall. Every eye was
focused on him with cold hatred.
     "Brutus, do you have anything to say on you behalf?" Sonic asked.
     "I joined Packbell regime in order not to get roboticized, well, not
entirely." Brutus started his defense. His voice was a little softer than it
had been. "If a soldier questions an order, he is dead, right? I was told to
find Knothole at all costs, even my own. My only defense is the fact I was
forced to do this."
     "Didn't you attempt escape?" Sally asked.
     "Yes, once. That is why I have a robotic arm."
     "It doesn't sound like Packbell, just finding anybody, and turning him
into a soldier." Sonic commented. "I don't see the logic..."
     "My queen..." Brutus started.
     "What?" Sally snapped. "Your queen?! Why just a...."
     "I request asylum." Brutus interrupted. Sally fell silent. She opened
her mouth, and closed it again. Everyone stopped and looked at her. She didn't
know what to think.
     "I will render my verdict tomorrow." Sally said. "As my guests, I invite
you to stay in Knothole until that time." Sally left the dining hall, as did
the other animals. Sonic escorted Brutus to his cell. Sally went over to
Bookshire's hut.
     "Sally, what's wrong?" Bookshire asked.
     "Brutus has requested asylum, and I don't think I can refuse his
request." Sally said, and flopped into a chair. "Now I must contact Packbell
and tell him I have a prisoner of war."
     "Oh, Sally, I don't think I can get a hold of Packbell alone. Williams
helped me last time." Bookshire replied. "Sonic will have to go get him."
Sally stood up and walked to the door.
     "Sonic!" Sally called. Sonic obediently came. He had already gotten out
of his uniform.
     "Yeah, what goin' on?" Sonic asked.
     "I need you to get Williams. Can you please?" Sally asked.
     "Sure." Sonic said, and took off in a brilliant blue flash. Within a
minute, Sonic brought Williams and his little computer back to Knothole.
     "Do you need to talk to Packbell again?" Williams asked, hooking up his
computer to Bookshire's.
     "Yes." Sally answered.
     "Okay. Computer, get Packbell on the horn." Williams called. It whirred,
and the computer immediately chimed in "Access denied."
     "Use Cryptosmasher." Bookshire commanded. The computer still chimed
"Access denied."
     "Version two point oh." Bookshire replied.
     "Oooh! Where'd you get it?" Williams asked, but didn't get a reply. The
image of Packbell's long, pale face appeared. He smiled.
     "My queen." he greeted.
     "Packbell, we have a prisoner of war." Sally announced.
     "Who?" Packbell roared, surprised.
     "A white cat named Brutus." Sally answered.
     "Oh, yes. Brigadier General Brutus. I suppose you want a trade, or
something...." Packbell answered, half interested. He waved his hand in the
air.
     "No, Packbell. He will be executed in the morning." Sally answered.
Packbell's face got very serious, very fast.
     "You wouldn't..." Packbell growled. Packbell hated it when other people
called the shots.
     "If any other fighters in your glorious army wish to attack us, they
will receive the same fate." Sally said. Williams detached his computer,
causing Packbell's face to blink off, and ERROR blink on. Bookshire turned his
computer off, and looked at Sally.
     "You're not serious, are you?" Bookshire exclaimed.
     "I haven't decided yet." she answered grimly, and turned to walk out.
Her cape floated behind her.
     That evening, the delegates from the other villages were up, walking
around Knothole. A old, fat rabbit was walking around the garden. There was
nobody around, so he was enjoying the silence. He sat down on a stump, and
yawned. A twig snapped, and he jumped to turn around. Nothing behind him. He
sat back down, and was snatched from his seat from the darkness.
     "If you say anything old man, you'll be sorry." a voice from the
darkness whispered. He had his hand over the rabbits mouth. The rabbit opened
his mouth, and bit into the hand. A scream of pain followed, and the rabbit
bolted for town.
     "Help! There's somebody in the woods!" he cried. Sonic and Bunnie went
to find out what was going on.
     "What are you yellin' about!?" Bunnie exclaimed.
     "Somebody... out in the woods!" the rabbit panted. Sonic and Bunnie went
to the garden. When Sonic stopped at the edge of the forest, Bunnie dived
right in. Rustling was heard by Sonic for a second, then a laser shot could be
heard. Bunnie emerged from the forest, holding a struggling badger by the
scruff of the neck.
     "Let go!" he cried.
     "Not likely." Bunnie replied, and carried him over to the jail.
     "My goodness, who was that?!" the rabbit asked Sonic.
     "Looks like one of Packbell's goons tryin' to get Brutus." Sonic
replied. After Bunnie deposited the young badger into jail, she got Sally.
     "Guess what?" Bunnie asked.
     "Oh, no. What?" Sally moaned.
     "Looks like Packbell is sending in troops to get Brutus." Bunnie
answered.
     "Great. Let me go look at him." Sally got up, and walked over to the
prison.
     "Woodrow?" Brutus asked.
     "General Brutus! Sir!" the young badger said, snapping his heals, and
saluting Brutus.
     "Are you the rescue party?" Brutus asked.
     "Yeah!" Woodrow replied.
     "Great..." Brutus said. Bunnie walked into the jail, with Sally behind
her. Woodrow hid behind Brutus.
     "Okay, kid. C'mon out." Woodrow slowly rose out of Brutus's shadow.
     "My goodness! How old are you?" Sally asked, kneeling.
     "I will not divulge that information!" Woodrow announced.
     "Fourteen." Brutus answered.
     "Do you know what Packbell does to innocent animals?" Sally asked.
     "No, but he finds all traitors of Mobius, and..." Woodrow started.
     "Uh, oh. Ignorance seems to be a space on the job application for the
army." Bunnie said.
     "Son, you have no idea what you're into! Do you know who the queen of
Mobius is?" Sally asked.
     "No, but the emperor is Packbell." he chimed.
     "We need to talk." Sally led Woodrow out of jail to have a talk.

- - - -
Timeline- the next morning
- - - -

     Reveille. Felix seemed well enough to play again. Many residents wished
he wasn't. After a lot of moaning and groaning, everybody got up to eat. After
breakfast, the chores started. Felix and Tails had kitchen duty.
     "Man, I hate washing dishes." Felix groaned.
     "Why?" Tails asked, tying an apron around his waist.
     "I did them for four months straight in one village. After I left, I
swore to eat on napkins from then on." Felix said, and filled up the sink.
     "Why did you have to wash dishes for that long?" Felix stopped and
looked at Tails.
     "You don't want to know. With Felix's knowhow on the subject on
dishwashing, the entire load was done in ten minutes.
     "Okay, who's going to take out the trash?" Tails asked.
     "We'll flip for it." Felix said, taking out a coin from his vest pocket.
"Okay, heads or tails. Oh, excuse me. I shouldn't ask." Felix let the coin fly
from his hand, and land on the floor. A picture of King Acorn stared Tails in
the face.
     "Aw man!" Tails whined, and grabbed the trash bag. Felix stooped to pick
the coin up, and examined it. In the reflection of a dish, he could see both
sides of the coin. Both were heads. Felix smiled and slipped it into his vest.
Just then, Tails cried "Help!" Felix rushed outside to see what was the
matter. Another badger, older and meaner then Woodrow, had grabbed Tails.
Felix ran over, and stopped in front of Tails and the attacker.
     "Stop right there, kitty cat, or I'll break the kid's neck!" the badger
growled. He placed his arm across Tails's forehead, ready for Felix to react.
     "Go ahead." Felix said, and crossed his arms.
     "What?" Tails and the badger both said in unison. The badger was
surprised, and loosened his grip. Tails then swung his leg and hit the badger
hard in the... uh.. you know. He dropped Tails, and fell to the ground,
grabbing the afflicted area.
     "Get Bunnie. Now!" Felix ordered. Tails flew off at top speed. Felix
went over, put the badgers arms behind his back, and sat on him until Bunnie
arrived.
     "Not again!" Bunnie exclaimed, and picked the badger off the ground. She
went over to the jail, and tossed him in. He hit the opposing wall before he
landed. Sally entered.
     "Now what's your story, hot shot?" Sally asked.
     "Another one of the rescue party, and they will keep coming. Just give
it up, queenie." Brutus replied. Sally glared at him.
     "C'mon." Sally said. Brutus followed her into Bookshire's hut.
     "Bookshire, I need you to patch this message to every monitor, every
screen, every video relay in Mobius, and I want a connection to Packbell." she
ordered.
     "My queen, I don't know if I can do that." Bookshire said. A toilet
flushed, and Williams walked out of the bathroom.
     "I can, though." Williams said. "Bookshire, let's do it." Williams
hooked up his computer, and turned it on.
     "Okay, computer, I need every video screen in Mobius to be watching us."
Williams said. The computers whirred in unison, and flashed LINK ESTABLISHED a
couple of times.
     "And Packbell if you please." Bookshire asked. "Don't bother asking for
password. You know I can break it." The computer beeped, and Packbell's face
came on.
     "You're starting to annoy me, squirrel. Speak." Packbell snapped.
     "For treason and murder, I have sentenced Brutus to death." Sally said
in a grim voice. Brutus looked surprised.
     "He is a Brigadier General of Packbell's army. Any soldiers found by the
Freedom Fighters will be charged with treason, and also be sentenced to
death." Sally continued. She walked away from view, and brought back a laser
rifle. She aimed, and before Brutus could react, shot him square in the chest.
All in the room, except Sally, jumped in surprise.
     "Heed our warnings, citizens of Mobius. End link, computer." Sally said,
and all connections around the planet went black. She turned to Brutus, lying
in the corner, lifeless.
     "My god! You actually KILLED him!" Bookshire shrieked.
     "No. The laser was set on stun." Sally said. "I am no executioner."
     "What are we going to do with him, then?" Bookshire asked.
     "I will announce that when he wakes up." Sally said. Bunnie came over to
the hut, and carried the unconscious Brutus back to the jail.

     Four hours later, the guests from the other villages and all the other
residents of Knothole gathered to hear the fate of Brutus and the badger
announced by Sally.
     "Brutus, are you ready to hear sentencing." Sally asked.
     "I am." Brutus replied.
     "You are hear by banished from the reaches of the great forests and
Robotropoils, to the Lost Desert." Sally said. "Sonic, take the accused to the
Lost Desert." Sonic nodded, and grabbed four Power Rings. He picked up Brutus
over his shoulder, and left Knothole at five thousand miles an hour. In two
minutes, they arrived at an oasis in the middle of the Lost Desert, on the
other side of Mobius. Sonic dropped Brutus in the sand.
     "Goodbye, dirtbag." Sonic said, and ran off again at five thousand miles
an hour. Upon returning, he heard the sentence handed down to the other
prisoner.
     "You are hear by sentenced to return to Robotropoils and inform Packbell
of your failure, or return to your home and never leave." Sally said. The
badger got up, and walked off into the forest, never seen again.
     "Hey, what about the small fry!" Sonic asked.
     "He will be sentenced to go home with our guest from Red Rock Village."
Sally answered. Woodrow, after hearing the truth about Packbell, would go to
live with another badger in another village. After sentencing was read, Sally
and Sonic gave their goodbyes.
     Later that evening, Sally and Sonic were in their hut, just putting
Miles and Julayla to bed.
     "Sally.." Sonic asked.
     "Shh! In the other room." Sally whispered. They went in to the living
room.
     "Why were there such contrasting sentences, Sally?" Sonic asked.
     "You wouldn't believe me..." Sally replied, changing out of her royal
garb.
     "Go on." Sonic said.
     "Well, it seemed that the badger had a family. I don't know why. I just
felt that he wasn't assassin material." Sally replied, putting her crown in
the box it was presented to her in.
     "Then what about Brutus?" Sonic asked.
     "The same reason I thought that the badger was the family type. Brutus
was too vicious." Sally explained.
     "You need a better definition of laws, Sal." Sonic replied, and left to
go see Tails. In Bookshire's hut, Rotor was pulling apart Brutus's roboticized
arm. Unfortunately, it only provided spare parts.
     In Robotropolis, Packbell still sat at his desk, brooding over the
message Sally had sent him. Behind him, a bot silently rolled in.
     "Your Excellency..."it droned.
     "What!" Packbell snapped.
     "The Robotropolis army has disbanded...." it replied. Packbell swivelled
around to face the bot. Packbell jumped over the desk, and picked the bot up
to look it square in the eye. A good five feet off the ground, the bot didn't
react.
     "What did you say?" Packbell whispered in a rage stricken voice.
     "Lieutenant Bluetail, third in command, has announced the army has
disbanded." Packbell flung the bot against the wall, effectively smashing it
into scrap metal. He sat back down, and observed the screens.
     "That's the one variable I didn't figure into the formuli." Packbell
thought. "Fear of the consequences."