Sonic GeneX - The Series: Countdown to Doomsday
Episode 4 - The Fall of GUN
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
Previously on Sonic GeneX - The Series...
During an attempt to capture Copter/Aries last year, General Gunner encountered Fera the wolf. He attacked her and broke her glass eye, which triggered the return of her memories, and caused her to slice off his arm in retaliation. Gunner now has a laser-cannon grafted onto the stump where his arm used to be.
In the time since, Fera has been gathering followers to form a new Covenant of Despair, under the guidance of Howler's voice, which calls to her from her Despair Seal.
Meanwhile, Gemini, Astra and a few others have been training a group of heroes to prepare for the looming threat of the Lost Ones. After a misadventure, they now know of Fera's new Covenant of Despair, and seek more heroes to prepare for the growing dangers ahead...
Now, resuming the countdown to doomsday...
Richard Gunner stood in the war room of the GUN Headquarters, a prosthetic hand attached to his gun arm enabling him to hold both his coffee and a marker at once as he wrote on a dry-erase board, thinking over how to accomplish his goals. Spy and Guard were sitting nearby, while Dr. Nammad had just delivered a report on the invasion by the Covenant of Despair that led to the loss of the Phantom Ruby. "Damn the Commander... His shoot-to-capture policies are letting the freaks win..." Gunner grunted, turning around, "Who among us are ready for that blasted Ruby to allow another maniac to take over our world?!" he growled. "Technically that last maniac was your buddy, wasn't it?" Spy pointed out. Gunner glared at him. "Ivo Robotnik is no longer my 'buddy' after he threw in his lot with that freak, Infinite!" he snapped. Nammad raised his hand like a kid in a classroom. "Question, uh, General... Can I go now?" he asked. Gunner scowled at him. "No... Ivan, the time has come. I'm high enough in rank, and we've let this country stay under threat from those furry freaks long enough. If you're with me, I'm going to seize control..." he said a bit quietly, glancing around to be sure the wrong ears weren't listening. Guard looked over at him with surprise. As important as he was as Gunner's top agent, he had no idea he was planning something this extreme. "Rrr... Grruhh... S-sir, are we sure that's wise?" he stammered. "Don't talk back to me, Guard, I can have Ivan here rewire your brain any time I feel the need!" Gunner snarled. "Yeesh, you sound like me, Guard..." Spy whispered. Ivan Nammad glanced around as some stray GUN Agents walked by, and once they were out of earshot, he spoke up. "Naturally, I'm, uh, on your side in this. When the likes of Sgt. Murten wanted to lock me up like Bucky, you were able to see my, uh, value. But how can we pull this, uh, off?" he asked. Gunner set down his coffee on a desk and picked up a file that was sitting there. "I'll think it over, but for right now, I've got intel that requires immediate attention... An informant has sent word of where the Covenant of Despair is camped out. Seems they're out of luck without their floating island of terror! If I can get the go ahead to blast them out of existence right now, we'll never have to worry about those pests ever again!" he said with a devilish smirk. Spy stood up with a salute. "Yes, sir! I'll run it by the Commander!" he said. "No... I will..." Gunner stated, popping the prosthetic hand off his gun arm and smirking to himself.
The Covenant of Despair were in the process of moving from Troblusk Plateau to a new base of operations. Gargoyle muscle had been hired from the nearby city to move their things. It was a bit of an exhausting operation to oversee, and Fera needed a break, and a wash. Fortunately, she'd discovered a small mountain spring while setting up camp here, and set up a large tent around it for privacy. She took off the Despair Seal before entering, leaving it just outside the opening of the tent. This was one place she didn't want Howler in her head. Once she was inside the tent, though, Conan crept over, whistling nonchalantly. He picked up the seal and hastened away, soon meeting with Anubis. "Here ya go. One Howler-possessed seal. Enjoy." he said. Anubis nodded. "You have proven a valuable asset... You'll get what you desire by the end of this, I'll see to it..." Anubis stated before slipping the Despair Seal onto his wrist. "Master Darkseeker... Are you there? I beseech you...!" the jackal called out. The seal glowed softly, and Howler's voice spoke in his mind. "Anubis... Perfect. I have need of you." he said. The jackal smirked. "Of course you do." he replied. Howler continued, "I have tried to build my prized agent back up, but she is broken. Weakness has taken hold in her heart, and I cannot purge this other personality, this Felicia... She is no longer of use to me. Anubis... I feel, a change of leadership is in order..." the voice spoke. Anubis covered his body in flames, laughing as Howler told him precisely what he wished to hear. "This was always my Covenant... I am ready to take my place as leader!" he growled. Howler's whispers continued. "Yes... I see that you have endured the sort of pain that will make you a fine leader... With me to guide you, Despair will be unstoppable... But proceed as though nothing has changed for now. The troops are moving, a change in leadership would be jarring now..." he stated. Anubis nodded, and removed the Despair Seal, returning it to Conan. "Put this back where you found it. When the time is right, we will dispose of Fera, and the Chaos Cards will be yours." he said. Conan accepted the seal and tipped his hat to Anubis. "Pleasure doing business... I also saw to it our location got to Gunner's ears. I know you wanted to make Fera look weak, but it looks like you didn't have to..." he snickered. Anubis nodded as Conan scurried away. "...It also helps if I look strong..." the jackal mused.
Gemini, Timothy, Copter, Astra and Illusi had gathered the holders of the Chaos Relics at Raisol Sanctuary for some serious training. Sonic and Violet had been called in to join the session, as well. "Alright, listen up!" Gemini announced, "We're all here to train for practical battle now, since the Covenant of Despair is back!" she said. "Despair is back?? Aw, great, Fera's leading them, isn't she..." Sonic sighed, a bit sad that the Rookie who helped fight off Infinite was back to being that evil wolf again. "This is what I've been waiting for... I'll save Patch and Daisy from their control!" Violet announced. Astra nodded. "I like your spirit." she said. Illusi stepped forward. "Now, we know that not all of you have mastered your Chaos Relics, but time is of the essence. We'll be splitting into sparring pairs, and hopefully the heat of combat will be the best teacher." he announced. "Sonic, you're with Punchy. Maybe you can teach him a thing or two about speed." Gemini said. Sonic glanced at Punchy with a chuckle. "A fast Knuckles? Now I've seen everything!" he said. "Hey! I'm not slow!!" Knuckles shouted. "You're with Shade, Knuckles. Hmm... We'll figure this out... Who wants to spar with me?" Gemini asked. Violet raised her hand. "I'll kick yer butt, Gem! Hehe..." As the group split off into pairs, Copter backed off into the shadows. "I should sit this out... I've got no flashy relics or super speed or magic... I've got nothin' to offer... Not even smart..." he sighed. "Cut that out and fight me, Copter!" said Tails, who had followed him. Copter turned to face him, sweating a little. "Guh... You've got both tailbands, and you kicked my butt when we were even!" he stammered. Tails crossed his arms. "I remember us being even when we were even. You gotta stop under-valuing yourself, Copter!" he said. "Yeah, yeah..." Copter sighed, only to be thwacked by a tail whip from Tails! "Ow! My nose! ...Hey, you're not even using the tailbands!" he grumbled. Tails smirked. "If you're so weak, I don't need them!" he teased, lightly pushing Copter to rile him up. The black fox wagged his finger at him. "I see what you're trying to do..." he said. "Is it working?" Tails asked. "...We'll see... Chaos Whirlwind!!" Copter shouted, blowing a familiar chaotic wind Tails' way! He spun his two tails and flew over it, landing punching-distance from Copter. "Alright! Let's see how much we've grown, Copter!" he said, ready for a long-awaited rematch!
General Gunner headed for the command center, where the Commander himself was directing the troops on various missions all over the world. Spy, Guard and Nammad followed behind him, interested to see how this would go. Gunner plopped the file on the desk in front of the Commander. "Here it is, boss. The location of the Covenant of Despair. What say we send a warship and blow those terrorists off the map?" he grinned. Several agents perked up at hearing Despair mentioned, and the Commander picked up the file. "Where are they located? Who is your source on this...?" he asked, paging through the file, "...This is too close to Troblusk City. We can't risk open warfare. There's no law against assembly, and we can't prove the ones who broke into the Hopebringer Center to release that hyena are there." he said. He was unaware of the Phantom Ruby...Gunner had kept that off the books. "This is bull, Commander! They're planning something, and we can't ignore it!" Gunner shouted, drawing more attention...
As Fera stepped out of the bath tent wearing a towel, Conan was standing nearby, arms folded across his chest. "There are traitors in your ranks, ma'am..." he said bluntly. Fera held the towel tight around her body and gave him a bit of a glare with her good eye. "Takes one to know one, doesn't it, Conan? I'm told you were only using us for our supply of Chaos Relics before..." she huffed. He shrugged. "Guilty... And I still have the same aspirations. So, if you hand over your cards, I might tell you what I know about those traitors plotting against you... Otherwise, you're on your own, I really couldn't care less either way." he said. Fera's body glowed with dark energy. "You'll not be laying a hand on the Chaos Cards... And no mind tricks you can think of will change that. If that's all you're here for, you'd best consider leaving now, because I won't tolerate any treachery from you in the future!" she warned before heading back into the tent, likely to get dressed. Conan shrugged and drew his Chaos Sword, pointing it up at the sky casually. "Oh, sweet irony... Can't say I didn't try to save you, love..." he murmured, "But my Emily comes first, and if I have to let you fall for her to be reborn...so be it..." he whispered.
"End of discussion, General... We monitor the situation, and nothing more!" the Commander refused to launch an attack on Despair the way Gunner wanted. However, after so much war and strife had torn their country apart in the past decade, this decision couldn't sit well with everyone in that room. "I think we should discuss it!" said the green-shades wearing Agent 32, "We're barely recovered from the last two wars with Eggman and Despair! We can't just let them prepare to start another one!" he protested. "Yeah!" added the purple-shades wearing Agent 77, "You have any idea what Despair put us through last time, Commander?" Gunner smirked as the discussion started getting louder. "Richard Gunner led us to, uh, victory! Not you!" Nammad shouted. "Blow up someone else! Not me!" Spy chanted. Gunner stepped up to the Commander, and Guard flew up behind him to cut off his escape. "R-richard! What are you doing!? This is... This is mutiny!" he stammered. Gunner pointed his gun arm at the Commander's head. "I thought I'd have more of an elaborate plan, but it seems I already have the hearts and minds of our organization... I'm in command now, SIR!" he sneered, to which Spy started clapping awkwardly. "Yaaay, this is totally gonna end well..." he muttered. Guard grunted and tugged the Commander's arm. "Grr... This way... HURRY!" he shouted, yanking the Commander aside as Gunner fired, barely missing the Commander! "Oh, my itchy trigger finger... But wait! That traitor is escaping! He's going to warn Despair! Stop him!" Gunner yelled. The Commander tugged away from Guard and stopped at a seemingly empty wall. "Activate Hostile Nest Protocol! Authorization: Tower!" he shouted. "Acknowledged..." a robotic voice stated, the wall opening up and revealing an escape tunnel! He then grabbed Guard by the arm. "Get in!" he said, shoving him. Gunner was about to fire again, when the blue-shades wearing Agent 64 shot off a round at his gun arm, messing up his shot! Agent 64 and a couple other allies covered the Commander as he entered the escape tunnel, and hurried in behind him before the wall sealed shut again! Gunner rushed to the wall and slammed it with his gun arm, then shot it a couple times to no avail. "Someone figure out where that leads! Don't let them escape! Nammad!! Can you hack Guard!?" he shouted. "Uhm, uhh, I uhh..." Nammad babbled, twiddling his thumbs, "That link was severed when Infinite, uh, killed him. I didn't have the budget to, uh, fix it..." he murmured. Gunner glared at him furiously. "Keep sight of the bright side, boss!" Spy pointed out. Gunner nodded and smirked. "Agent 32, prep me a GUN Warship! I'm going to wipe out those Despair freaks once and for all!" he announced amid cheers from GUN's battle-weary agents...
Some agents of Despair had left for their new base, but several of their most powerful agents were still at the camp, keeping a vigil in case any humans came sniffing around. It also helped that Nack the weasal had procured a military-grade radar system, which he had running on the Marvelous Queen's battery considering there was no power on the mountain. His ears drooped as he noticed a blip on the radar...too big to be a commercial airline. "Guuuuys... This is a GUN Warship headed our way, it is." he called out, drawing the attention of Fera along with several others. The wolf looked around for Conan, but didn't see him. "Traitors... He was right. They gave away our location..." she growled. Anubis stepped over and pointed a flaming finger at the she-wolf. "You are weak! Your weakness has led GUN right to us! If we leave you in charge, we'll all be destroyed!" he snarled. "I second that emotion..." Basker said, standing beside him with a glare in his now-robotic eyes. Patch hopped over to Fera's side. "Hey! Hee hee! No mutiny! You don't wanna see what I'll do to muties!!" he snickered. Daisy seemed to agree with him. "We've seen Despair under your command...well, Basker's. We're not going back to that!" she said, holding up her katana. Tabitha hovered between the two groups on her broom. "Idiots! We can't fight among ourselves now! We have to deal with those foolish humans! Give me a few minutes and I'll disable that heap's weapons, forcing them down to our level... I'd bring the whole ship down, but I take it you prefer not to have it land on your heads?" she said before flying off. Anubis glanced at Basker. "Don't think I forgot what you did to me when you were in charge..." he grunted. "If we take Despair from that pretender, it can be water under the bridge..." Basker whispered, which Anubis nodded to. Nack jumped to his feet and disconnected the radar from his hover-bike. "Well, if you guys survive, I'll find ya! Everyone take cover!!" he shouted, driving off as the Warship arrived, and started firing down on the mountainside callously, wiping out some of the more unlucky birds, dogs and other miscellaneous animals caught in the blasts! "My battle birds!!" Kukku shouted, flapping backward to avoid the shots. Gunner sat on the bridge of the Warship, a wicked grin on his face. "Eradicate them all... This is just the beginning..." he sneered. However, the ship rocked as Tabitha hurled spells at it, targeting the weapon systems. "No one rains death on the masses but me, fool!" she cackled. Gunner looked over the status of the ship on the screens in front of him and snarled. Tabitha rapidly took out their weapons. "Damn it! I want troops on the ground now! We do this the old fashioned way! Don't let them escape!" he shouted. "Aye aye, Sar...Colo...Gen...uhhh...Boss!" Spy stammered, rushing to relay the order.
Some simple Hunter robots dropped down from the Warship first, but they were quickly joined by the latest in GUN's android program headed up by Dr. Nammad. More robotic versions of Guard were among them, as well as upgraded Shadow androids, and androids based upon Infinite designed to strike fear into the enemy. Some classics were sprinkled in, too; Androids based on Copter and Punchy, which GUN had used to infiltrate Darkegg Fortress quite a long time ago. As the robots charged up the mountain, Nova was quick to meet them in battle. "Oh, what fun! I can pry the heads off those guys that tried to keep me from this beauty..." he said, placing the mask of Enerjak on his face. In that moment, he was filled with power, and holding out his hand, shot a charged burst of water that decimated a Copter android with ease! "Hahahaha!! Enerjak lives!!" he said, his voice twisted by the mask's evil. Tabitha flew down and started zapping the Guard androids from the air, while Dark Copter charged in, whipping his tails to send out dark shockwaves that tossed the Hunter robots like broken action figures! Gunner watched from above with an unpleasant expression. "This is exactly what I was worried about. Escalation. They've got more powerful freaks with them this time. Nammad!! Get those weapons back online! And send everything we have at them in the meantime!!" he shouted. More robots dropped down, forcing the other agents of Despair to join the fight! The battle birds formed up a wall and shot flamethrowers down as Punchy androids tried to climb up to them! "Mua ha ha ha!! Alright, but find me one of those fox robots... I have frustrations I want to work out on it..." Battle Lord Kukku mused. Patch and Daisy crept up on an Infinite robot. "Hee hee... Don't worry... Without the Phantom Ruby, he's weak!" Patch chuckled, only to have to run as the android began chasing him, firing a high powered beam from the eye hole on his mask! "Aaaa!! Not weak! Not weak!!" he shouted. Daisy sighed and charged after him, slicing off the jackal robot's head with her blade! "Stay focused, Patch...never mind, that's impossible." she murmured. Fera saw the fighting going on, and was prepared to join as well. "I should warp onto that ship and take out the human responsible for this attack... I bet I know who it is..." she said. At that moment, however, Conan stepped before her. "I'm afraid I can't let you leave with the Chaos Cards..." he said. Fera scoffed. "You were telling the truth, but all to serve your own self-interests. I'll root out the traitors myself and take the appropriate action..." she said. "No need..." Anubis growled from behind her. Black mummies began to rise around the wolf, and she clenched her fists. "I should have known..." she scoffed.
Fera warped behind one of the mummies and swiftly snapped its neck, then covered her hands in violet flames and shot those flames at the other mummies! "Foolish girl! Know when you're beaten! Chaos Spear!" Conan shouted, shooting spears from his sword to soften her up, but they didn't seem to faze her much. She shot dark electricity in Conan's direction, his blade acting like a sort of lightningrod, which he had to grip tightly to avoid getting zapped himself! Anubis came after her in the meantime, shooting a jet of flame from his hands, which Fera leapt to avoid. Basker then came up behind her and grabbed her arm. "You won't be needing this..." he said, grabbing for the Despair Seal! As Fera struggled, she heard Howler's voice one last time. "You are a disappointment... If you are not fit to spread despair... you will feel it!" Her eye went wide as she realized that even Howler had forsaken her, and in that moment of hesitation, she allowed herself to be assaulted by the trio. Conan pelted her with Chaos Spears, Anubis burned her with his flames, and after yanking the seal from her wrist, Basker shot her in the back with his laser eyes! She collapsed to the ground, badly injured and beaten, and Anubis wasted no time in seizing leadership. "Agents of Despair! Fera has fallen! Follow me to safety... We have illusions to cover us..." he said as Eddie the hyena emerged from a tent nearby, cackling excitedly. "Eeee hee hee hee! I've been awaiting my cue! Time to make a fake-Despair!!" he smirked, using his powers of illusion to duplicate everyone on the mountain in a burst of smoke and light! Gunner looked in bewilderment...the illusions even fooled their scanners. "What... NO!! They... they're escaping!!" he shouted as the illusions set about destroying the rest of the robots. "Commander Gunner! We should regroup, sir!" Agent 32 suggested. Gunner sat down and swung his gun arm angrily. "Damn it, that anonymous tip must have been a trick! They wanted us to waste manpower on this battle! Well, there's plenty more where this came from! Mankind is NOT at the mercy of those furry freaks! We will not be pushed around!" he shouted. "Sir, while you were yelling, our robots were pushed around and trashed, and Despair escaped." Spy reported. "Arrrgh!!" Gunner groaned. "...Except one." Spy added. Gunner rushed to the window to look, and recognized the battered body of Fera immediately. "...Take her... What luck... I need a replacement for Guard anyway..." he mused.
Punchy was a bit dizzy after spar-racing with Sonic for a while. "I hate that hedgehog..." he groaned. The entire training group was a bit pooped at this point, in fact. It took some effort for Tails to get Copter into the spirit of sparring, and as usual their match ended without a conclusive victor... just two tired foxes. Violet and Gemini were resting on a bench outside the hut the fennec was staying at, when Violet's cell phone rang. "Huh? Who would be calling me, Rainbow's right around the corner..." she murmured. Answering, she heard Mitch the weasal's voice. "Yo, dis is Violet's number, right? Don't ask me how I got it..." he murmured. "Aaa! Mitch! You... You have news?" she asked. The next voice she heard was Daisy's. "Vy! It's me... Whoa, it's been a dog's age!" she said. "Daisy!! You're alive! I'm so relieved..." Violet sighed. She was a bit loud, and drew the attention of Copter and Punchy. "She still with Despair?" Copter grumbled. "Shh..." Violet hushed him. "I need to tell you and your friends something... First off... Fera's been betrayed..." Daisy began. The skunk recounted everything that happened, and finished off with what would be happening next. "We've moved our operations to the tower that Eggman was operating out of with Infinite. Vy... Anubis is going to lead the covenant in a retaliation against GUN soon. They killed some of our people, so there's no stopping this violence... But, maybe you can help prevent more death. You can reach out to people that can help!" Daisy pleaded. The call was on speaker by this point, and the whole group was listening. Sonic crossed his arms and looked worried. "Fera... I hope she's okay... Whatever else she's done, she also helped us beat Infinite..." he sighed. "Nova's with Despair...and he has the mask that killed my people..." Shade growled. "Are we sure we're enough to stop these Despair guys?" Timothy asked. Violet nodded and responded to Daisy. "I've got a team here myself. And if I can count on you, Patch and Mitch, we can do this!" she said. "Whoa, I ain't agreed to nothin!" Mitch stammered. "You're in this now, like it or not!" Daisy huffed. Astra looked around at the group. They looked a bit nervous, rightfully so. "Training time is over, everyone. It's time for the real thing. Prepare yourselves, because we'll be taking on some of the deadliest villains of this era soon..." she said. "Not your best pep talk." Knuckles muttered. Tails had a look of greater worry on his face than the others. "How could Gunner get away with such an attack? Where's GUN's Commander? Where's Shadow? I've got a bad feeling, guys..." he said.
He wasn't wrong to worry, but Shadow was perfectly fine. That night, he warped into White Base, the President's home and office, and was accompanied by Guard and the Commander. The President was up late with paperwork, and stood up with a start as they arrived. "Mr. President... You're in danger, sir." the Commander announced. Shadow nodded. "The Commander contacted Rouge, who then called me. It seems our old friend Gunner has finally lost the last shred of his sanity." he said. The President gasped softly, stepping back from his papers. "I suppose I always suspected Gunner was capable of flying off the deep end... He has followers?" he asked. Guard nodded. "Grrr... Agents who are discontent with the escalating dangers the world has faced since Sonic emerged on the scene." he said. Just then, alarms blared, and explosions could be heard coming from somewhere in the base! "Mr. President! We need to go! As we suspected, Gunner isn't satisfied with control of GUN alone!" the Commander warned. They hurried together to the door. "I trust you two...but isn't the gargoyle Gunner's...?" he murmured. Guard grunted. "My mind is my own, it seems." he said. Nodding, the President followed the others as they rushed to escape Gunner's impending attack. Before long, White Base had fallen, but Gunner could find no sign of the President. It didn't matter to him as he sat in the President's chair, kicking his feet up. "I've done what Robotnik never could, Spy... I've seized control of this nation!" he smirked. "Uh, didn't Eggman have control of the world for six months?" Spy pointed out. "Stop bringing up the past! The future is mine!" Gunner smirked, "Now, where's my pet? Have Nammad send her in..." he snickered. In a moment, Fera was led in wearing a power-dampening collar. Nammad had seen to her injuries, too, but her expression was anything but grateful. "You..." she growled, "Just kill me now. I refuse to work for you again." she snarled. Gunner hummed to himself, pointing his gun arm at her. "Hmmm... Eventually, yes, you will die. First, you're going to lead me to the freaks that left you for dead. How does that sound?" he grinned. Fera's eye darted around. "You'll kill them all. I owe some of them that debt, but others... No, I refuse." she sighed. Gunner laughed softly. "You presume I'm giving you a choice in the matter. Oh, Fera... You won't even be able to take your own life... We'll keep you alive, until I get what I need from you..." he sneered. With that, the wolf was led away, and Gunner started to laugh as all his plans were coming to fruition. Outside, rain beat down on the roof of White Base, and the Doomsayer stood, looking over Central City. "Shadow covers all... Evil poisons the world... Hope has no home here. It is time for one last prophecy..."
To be continued...
