O. I. S. Beware!!

    It was a beautiful day for doing nothing.  Cerebral Fox knew that all too well as he basked in the hot sun.  He lay there, on the grass not too far from his hut, with his eyes closed and his mind blank.  Suddenly, the voice of his girlfriend, Roxy the Fox, broke the silence.  Cer leaned on his shoulder and watched as Roxy came running up, calling his name.  He sighed at the loss of his rest, but still got up to greet her with a kiss on the cheek.
   "Hey, Rox, what's happening?" he asked calmly.
    "Well, Snowy and I were wondering if you would like to give my cousin Cortex a tour of the isle.." she began, "and maybe help her find a place to live in??"
    "Sure, no prob!  It's not like I have anything better to do, anyways," Cerebral answered, grinning.  Roxy thanked him and hurried off the fetch her cousin.  While she was gone, Cerebral began thinking.  He was feeling sorta..... different around Roxy lately.  He didn't feel quite the same emotions as when they first got going together.   He couldn't tell for sure, but he thought Roxy felt the same way too.  He caught a glimpse of movement in front of him, and looked up to see Cortex approaching, and suppressed his thoughts for later.  He greeted her amicably.
    So, Cortex, I hear you're in need of a place to call home." he said.  Cortex nodded.  "Well, then, I guess we'd best get going," Cer prompted, and headed off in one direction, checking that Cortex followed.  Cer let his mind wander, and was soon thinking of roxy again.  Simply put, they were drifting apart as a couple, and he was sure Rox realized it too.  He reasoned that they would probably beak up within the week.  Best to get it over with soon and less painfully.
    "CEREBRAL!!!  For the third time, stop!!" Cer broke out of his train of thought with a start and turned to face an exasperated Cortex. "Geez, are you always this deaf??"
    "Sorry, Cortex, I was thinking about something.. kinda.. serious.. " apologized Cer. "What was it you wanted me to stop for?"
    Cortex pointed. "Over there, Cer!  That looks like as good a place as any!"  Cerebral looked over at a huge hollow tree, then back at his own hut, less than half a mile away.
    "Boy, was that ever difficult..." Cerebral mumbled, sarcastically.  "Well, it definitely needs some work, but it'll be easier than building a house from scratch.  I'll run and get my tools from the hut!" he called as he dashed back.  When he returned, Utah was tagging along.
    "I presumed that I could be of some assistance," Utah explained.  When he saw the looks on the faces of Cerebral and Cortex, he explained, "I was flipping through a dictionary, OK?"  They were even more astonished.  "OK, ok, I thought it was Cer's cookbook, happy??"
    "For a minute there, I thought that Utah was actually learning.. " muttered Cer, but he shook it off.  "ALL RIGHT, PEOPLE!  Let's get to work!"  Cortex sat back at the two began to work.  It was exhausting work for the two furries, and by then end of the day they had managed to clean out the inside of the tree and make openings for a door and two windows.  Cortex thanked them for their help, and went back the Sparx's hut for the night.  Cer and Utah, in turn, returned to their hut and rested up for the work to come the next day.  Just before Cerebral went to sleep, he began thinking of Roxy again.  "Tomorrow's the day," he thought to himself. "Tomorrow, I'll officially be single again... "
    The next day, as predicted, Cerebral and Roxy broke up.  Neither were heartbroken, although both were a little depressed that it hadn't worked out.  They managed to keep their friendship, though, and Cerebral felt lucky for that.  The other members of the IFF were not extremely surprised about the breakup, either.  They seemed to sense the gap that had formed between Cer and Rox too.  Serious matters of the day done, the entire IFF went over to the hollow tree, which Cortex had named Blade Oak Tree, to help with the building.  They had assembled the lumber needed, and began construction.  Cerebral acted as foreman, working and supervising. Cortex watched as they worked and told Cerebral how she wanted her house to look, so he could tell everyone else.
    About 3 days into the work, something strange happened.  During work, a small fox, walking on all fours, appeared and walked up to Cortex. She looked at it and gasped.
    "JOEY!" she cried in joy.  Everyone stopped work to look at Cortex and her new little 'pal'.  She looked up, and explained.  "Well, erm... Joey is just a.... friend... from a long time ago.  We were really close, but we were separated.  He doesn't talk, though."  The group took that as an explanation, and greeted their newfound friend.  They soon resumed work, as they knew they had to finish soon.
    The work took another week to finish, and the last couple of days, only Cerebral, Utah, and Snowy were allowed to enter because of the fumes from painting and other touch-up jobs being done.  Finally, though, Cortex was allowed to enter her new house, and approved what she saw.  Cer, Utah, and Snowy went over to Sparx's hut to pick up Cortex's belongings, and when they returned, Cortex was fast asleep, lying in the sun on the grass, with Joey also snoozing beside her.  Cerebral smiled as he recalled how he had been relaxing just like that one week earlier, just before this building had begun.  He knelt down and shook Cortex softly.  She stirred, blinked a couple of times, then looked up at Cer who was smiling over her.  She blushed.
    "Oh.... I must have drifted off... " she muttered, embarrassed.
    "Hey, it's no problem, Cortex!" Cerebral reassured her.  "I can understand how tempting it is to sleep on a day like this, " Cer added, a little wistfully.
    "Yeah.... " Cortex smiled, and got up.  She looked over at Joey, and woke him up too.  "You've got my stuff?"
    "Yup... just tell us where ya wannit!" Cerebral replied cheerfully.  Suddenly, Cer felt that he knew exactly where she wanted the stuff, without her telling him, and by the looks on Utah's and Snowy's faces, he figured they did too.  So, without a word, the three went inside with Cortex's stuff and began unpacking, putting everything where they thought that Cortex would want it.  When they were finished, Cerebral pulled Cortex aside, and Joey followed.
    "OK, exactly how did we all know exactly where you wanted this stuff, anyways?" Cerebral asked.  Cortex just tapped her forehead. "Telepathic abilities." Cerebral heard inside his head, and Cortex smiled.  "So, that's it, huh?  Cool!  We both have powers of the mind and such!"  Then he heard Utah calling.
    "Come on, Cer!  Snowy's already left for supper, and I'm starving!!" he beckoned.  Cerebral turned to go, but Cortex pulled him back and kissed him on the cheek.  Cerebral looked stunned.
    "That's for helping with the house," Cortex whispered, and walked inside Blade Oak Tree.  Cerebral smiled, slightly, rubbed his cheek, and started back off toward his hut to think.

    During the next couple of months, there was an unusual lull in the action that the IFF normally faced.  Sparx began noticing that Cerebral and Cortex had similar interests, and they always seemed to have a good time when they were together.  She decided that it would be her 'job' to get these two together, and with a little prodding, she got Ace to help out too. Ace and Sparx sat up one night,  and contrived a plan to get Cerebral and Cortex together, alone, in a romantic setting.
    A week later, Ace magically appeared in front of Blade Oak Tree, and knocked on the door.
    "One minute!" a familiar voice from inside called.  Then he heard a large thump and Cortex's voice yelled out, "OUCH!"  A second later, Cortex, blushing, opened the door, rubbing her knee.  "I just bumped it on the chair," she explained.
    "I just found something I want you to see!" Ace said, a hint of anticipation on his voice. "I'll teleport us there!"
    "OK, just a second, I'll see if Joey will stay put." Cortex disappeared inside her house for a second, then came back out and closed the door behind her.  "All right, I'm ready!" One second later, Cortex was no longer standing in front of her house, but instead she found herself on top of a roof building. There were four lounge chairs in the middle of the roof, and one of them was occupied by Sparx.
    "Just sit down in that chair there," instructed Ace, pointing to one of the outside chairs, "and I'll be right back."  With that, he disappeared again.
    "Char, char!!"
    "Pi, Pikachu!"
    Charmander and Pikachu were happily munching on some food that Cerebral had brought outside.
    "I wonder why Sparx wanted me to look after her Pikachu tonight... " mused Cer as he fed his pokémon a little more.  Suddenly, Ace appeared out of nowhere with a large cracking sound.
    "CHAR!" A large blast of flame shot at Ace from a startled Charmander. The blast whips by Ace's head, just missing him by half an inch.
    "WOAH!" Ace cried, ducking.  Then he smiled. "I guess I deserved that.  Hey, Cer, I got something I wanna show ya!"
    "Can't go, Ace.  Gotta watch after Sparx's Pikachu." Cerebral replied.
    "She's already there!  Just bring it to her!" Ace informed Cer.
    "OK, fine then!  Charmander, Pikachu, RETURN!" The two pokémon beamed back into their respective pokéballs.  Ace grabbed Cer's shoulder and suddenly, they were gone.
    On the roof, Sparx and Cortex were engaged in some small talk, waiting for Ace to return.  Suddenly, a large cloud of smoke rose from the rooftop.  Then they heard a confident voice. "I am the terror..." There was a loud WHACK heard, and a thump as something hit the roof.  When the smoke cleared, she saw Cerebral standing over Ace, with his fist extended, and Ace rubbing his jaw.
    "Stop it with that stupid routine!" Cerebral cautioned.  Then he looked over at Sparx and Cortex in the lounge chairs and asked, "What is this anyways?"  Ace grabbed Cerebral's arm and sat him down in the lounge chair beside Cortex.  Then Sparx stood up and  moved beside Ace.
    "Well, Sparx thinks.." Ace started, but was interrupted by Sparx's elbow in his side.  "Err... We think that you and Cortex would make..... erm..... "
    "You would make a good couple," Sparx finished for Ace, who was obviously uneasy about setting them up.  Cortex stared at Sparx, then Ace, then looked in Cerebral's direction, to find he was already looking at her, with a quizzical expression on his face.
    "Hey, I had nothing to do with this!" Cortex said.
    "It was just me and Ace... but mostly me," Sparx cleared it up.  "You two just.. seem to have so much in common..."  Cerebral was still looking at Cortex, and when she turned to look at him again, he stared right into her eyes.  Cortex saw what Sparx and Ace were talking about.  She really enjoyed spending time with Cer, but she just hadn't realized it until now.
    Cerebral leaned over and whispered into her ear, "So, how about it?  Wanna go out to dinner sometime or something??"
    Cortex just looked at him and smiled.  Cerebral heard a Yes inside his head, and recognized it as Cortex's telepathic 'voice'.  He grinned.  Sparx, noticing how things were going smoothly, motioned for Ace to teleport them away.  He was just about to leave Cer and Cortex alone, when Cortex called both Ace and Sparx over.
    "There's something I have to tell you, all, about my past... " she started, somewhat uncomfortably. "You see, I've been... no, that's not it." she took a moment to think of how to word what she was about to say.  "I was a member of the Organization of Intel.." Suddenly, screams broke out from the street below.
    Sparx, Ace and Cerebral rushed to the edge, but they couldn't see anything below, as they were 30 stories up and a thin fog had rolled up.  Ace turned around and saw Cortex, still standing back from the edge, concentrating -- hard.
    "People are being attacked, but the attacker's mind is clouded.... let me..." she spoke as if in a trance. "THERE!" she cried triumphantly, "Something, or someone, named K'Yan weh is attacking.  Since that mind was clouded, I had to pull the name from one of the bystanders, but,... " she stopped short noticing the look on everyone else's faces.  Sparx and Cerebral looked at each other, and as if by some unspoken agreement, leapt of the roof at the same time.
    "Nooo!!!" Cortex ran to towards the edge of the rooftop and was about to jump off when Ace grabbed her arm and pulled her back.  Cortex looked at Ace with a look of fear and surprise on her face to see that he was simply grinning.  "What's with you, Ace?" she demanded.
    "You don't know the full extent of their abilities, do you?" Ace asked.
    "Well... no, I haven't checked.." she replied.
    Ace grinned again and teleported them both to a nearby alley.  "Let's just wait here, and watch to see if they need backup."
    Meanwhile, Cerebral and Sparx were plummeting down the thirty stories to the ground.  Cerebral slipped Sparx's pokéball to her as they fell, and Sparx took it, nodding to Cer.  Through a combination of hand signs and gestures, Cerebral and Sparx quickly worked out a plan.  As they came close to the ground, they saw K'Yan.  Sparx leveled out, so the wind could catch in her dreadlocks, and she glided at incredible speeds at K'Yan weh.  K'Yan was caught off guard and just managed to duck the blow in time.  Cerebral, glowing with telekinetic energy, drifted softly to the ground on one side of K'Yan, while Sparx landed on the other side.   Sparx shot a shower of sparks at K'Yan, who simply dodged.  Cerebral telekinetically took hold of K'Yan and threw her back a dozen or so feet, towards the alley where Ace and Cortex were.  Ace waved his hand and fire sprung up around K'Yan weh.  She did not look pleased.
    "I've healed since we last met, Ace Echidna." she menaced.  K'Yan gestured with her hand and the flames died down to nothing.  From behind her, Sparx and Cerebral had called upon their pokémon, and Charmander was growling at K'Yan.
    "Charmander, Flamethrower!"
    "Pikachu, Thundershock!"
    K'Yan didn't even look at the two creatures.  She made a sweeping motion with her hand, and Sparx, Cerebral, and the two pokémon flew backwards under an incredible wave of magical force and hit the wall of a building.  K'Yan then whipped around and made the same motion at Ace, but Ace used an equal amount of force to negate the blow.  Then K'Yan stopped and looked extremely confused.  K'Yan shook her head, then shook it again.  She took several steps backwards, and looked around with a frightened look in her eyes.  Before anyone could do anything, K'Yan weh screamed at the top of her lungs and teleported away.
    Sparx and Cerebral recalled their pokémon, picked themselves up, and walked over to where Ace was standing.
    "What'd you do?" asked Sparx with a confused look on her face.
    "Well, nothing." Ace replied.
    Cortex stepped out from the shadows of the alley and explained, "It took a while, but I trapped her mind in a memory.  Eventually, she'll get out of it, but..."
    Cortex was interrupted by the sound of clapping from behind her.  All four turned around to look at the source of the applause.
    Cortex let out a small gasp.
    "You're getting a little rusty, Cortex.  I'm disappointed."  The newcomer was a brown fox with a red headband and white clothing.  Joey was right beside him, and began heading towards Cortex.
    "Meridian!  How did you..." Cortex began.
    "I was sent to find you.  You did leave rather abruptly, after all."  interrupted Meridian, with a smirk.
    "Who is this guy?" Cerebral asked Cortex.  Cortex didn't look like she wanted to answer.
    "I'm Meridian Fox, second of command of the Organization of Intellectually Superior beings, or O.I.S.B.  I was sent to 'retrieve' Cortex," Meridian answered, still with an annoying smirk on his face.
    "Retrieve?" quizzed Cerebral.
    "O.I.S.B.?" questioned Sparx.
    "Huh?" said Ace.
    "I'm not going back!" Cortex said rather stubbornly.  Little Joey let out a menacing growl.
    "You don't have a choice," Meridian's eyes grew dark.
    "I think she does," Sparx interrupted, striking a decievingly relaxed pose and twirling her pokéball on her finger.
    "Back off!  This doesn't concern you!" snarled Meridian.
    "Oh, I think it does..." said Cerebral, who had also pulled out his pokéball and was throwing it up and catching it again.
    "You think you can take me?" Meridian said with a conceited grin.  "You guys were barely able to take care of that halfling with no talent.  I just happen to be a first-rate telekinetic who has never been defeated!  You're best shot is to attempt to negotiate with me!"
    "Oh, yeah?  You wanna negotiate?  LET'S NEGOTIATE!"  Cerebral yelled at him.  Cortex was about to step between them when Sparx grabbed her elbow and whispered something in her ear.  Cortex nodded and stepped aside.
    Cerebral and Meridian circled each other.  Meridian telekinetically shattered the pavement in between them and manipulated the pieces so they flew at Cerebral.  Cer used his shield to easily deflect the shards of pavement.  He jumped at Meridian in a jump kick stance.  Meridian dove to the pavement to dodge the blow and used his TK to shove Cer towards a brick wall.  Cer used his own ability to turn himself around and push himself back toward Meridian.  It was a telekinetic power struggle, and the Chaos Emerald on Cerebral's headband was glowing with an intense blue light.  Cer was moving ever so slowly at Meridian as his force was stronger.   Meridian's face showed the strain he was under, but suddenly, he stopped.  Cerebral, under his own force, flew through a plate glass window, shattering it.   Luckily, he put up a small force shield just in time to deflect the shards of glass.  He stood up, pissed.  He leapt back through the window, and closed his eyes tight in concentration.  His hands were balled up in tight fists at his sides.  A ball of crackling blue energy appeared around him.  It expanded in all directions at blinding speeds.  Any glass caught in this shattered.  The wave stirred up dust and dirt and made it almost impossible to see.  Cars shook as the field passed over them.  Ace's eyes grew wide at this force wave, and he seriously hoped the magical shield he just put up would shield him and the girls.  When the wave hit Meridian, he flew back and crashed into a brick wall.  He fell to the ground just as Cerebral collapsed from exhaustion.  When the air cleared, Cerebral could see the Ace, Cortex, and Sparx were all right.  He sighed in relief, then struggled to his feet, noticing that Meridian was having a hard time standing, too.  Cerebral stood up straight, and watched as Meridian tried to stay on his feet.
    "Cerebral!!  Are you okay??" Cortex ran over to Cer, concerned, as Joey ran to Meridian.
    "Any more of your Superior friends wanna 'negotiate', Meridian, just send 'em to me!" Cerebral's voice was steady, Meridian's wasn't.
    "Screw you!  Cortex, get over here, now!!" Meridian snarled.  Joey looked at Cortex pleadingly.
    Cortex shook her head and said, "I left the O.I.S.B. for a reason.  I'm not going anywhere, except home!"
    Meridian shrugged non-chalantly.  "I have one of the reasons I was sent here, Cortex.  By refusing to come back with me, you've simply made yourself and your friends enemies to the O.I.S.B."  Meridian's eyes grew dark as he looked at Cerebral.  "You and I aren't finished!   I'm gonna kick your butt when I'm not pressed for time!"
    "Ooh, I'm scared!" Cerebral shot back sarcastically.  Meridian snarled, and in a flash of light, he was gone with Joey.
    "Cortex, you have a lot of explaining to do..." Ace said.  Cortex turned to face them, and took a deep breath to clear her mind.
    "The O.I.S.B. is the Organization of Intellectually Superior Beings, as Meridian said.  I joined their group about two years ago because they promised to help me find my brother."  Cortex paused to take a breath.
    "I found out about 6 months ago that they were simply using me to retrieve a weapon that's very powerful, a special sword I found when my parents sent me to the Labyrinth Zone all those years ago."  Sparx nodded, remembering the sword that Cortex told her about years ago, the one that sent Cortex back to Mobius.
    "When I realized that they were using me, I left." she finished.
    "But what about Meridian and Joey?" asked Sparx.
    "Meridian is all he says to be.  He is second in command to the O.I.S.B. and has powers that were never before defeated.  Joey, on the other hand, is someone even I don't know everything about.  I met him shortly after I joined the O.I.S.B. and he was a great friend for me.  I just figured he was a normal fox, even though he stands on four legs, but now I realize that he may have been a spy for the Organization, and may have some great powers of his own..." Cortex explained.  Everyone took this all in, and Cerebral seemed a bit startled.
    Cerebral pulled Cortex aside, leaving Ace and Sparx to talk things over, and said, "Why didn't you tell us this all earlier?"
    "Well, I didn't know how to bring it up, and I am embarrassed that I joined such an evil group to begin with.." Cortex mumbled, and lowered her head.
    "Hey, I'm here for you, OK?" Cer said, putting his index finger under Cortex's chin and gently raising her head.  "We're here for you." he motioned towards Ace and Sparx.  "You shouldn't be ashamed to tell us about this kinda stuff.  We'll help you.  I'll always be there." he said, softly.
    Cortex just looked at him and smiled, a small, warm smile.  Cerebral turned back to the group, stretched, and yawned.  "I don't know about the lot of you, but after today, I'm gonna need some serious shut-eye!  I'm beat!" he exclaimed.  Everyone laughed.  As Ace huddled everyone up to prepare to teleport them back home, Cerebral heard Cortex's voice in his head, 'Go home, and get some rest.  You've definitely earned it.'

THE END