Sonic GeneX: Doomsday
Chapter 29 - Face My Fears
Stage 15 - Omochao's FEAR Factory
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
"We can break this wall that divides us.
I know you're sincere.
We'll just take our time in this moment.
Your voice will come clear.
Speaking from nowhere else except your heart,
You'll never know if you don't try!
Listen and see the voice I carry with me:
Speak with your heart! Speak with your heart!
If you could tell me how to lend a hand,
I would try to understand.
No words could say how much I care!
Together we can take a stand!" - Speak With Your Heart; Sonic Colors
Previously on GeneX…
Tails, Fera and Lucky joined Whisk and the group of everyone's kids from the future in returning to Central City to search for the specific Chaos Emerald that powered Skye's time machine. With a duplicate of the same emerald from the past, Skye believes he can supercharge the time machine, go further back in time, and prevent everything the Lost Ones have done.
They found that Omochao had converted Eggman's Gimmie Shelter into a battle tournament arena, with the Chaos Emerald as a prize. While the tournament played out, Skye led a few of his friends in search of the emerald...and fell into a trap.
Tails and Fera faced one another in the final round, but the Covenant of Despair interrupted them. Anubis had led them in an escape from the Lost Ones, and they sought to both settle the score with Fera and to end Tails' life in order to prove their worth to the Lost Ones once again, and prevent their own souls from being devoured. They quickly captured the tournament competitors, leaving Tails and Fera on their own...
Now, our tale continues...
Lucky and Whisk were surrounded by Anubis' black-clad mummy minions as they were led through the darkened halls of the old Eggman base. "They're gonna kill Miles- I mean- Tails... We gotta get outta this, Whisk." Lucky murmured. "What are they going to do to our kids?" Whisk stammered, blushing as she glanced at Lucky. It was still pretty weird that they had kids. "Nothing, 'cuz I'm gonna... Ungggh!! I'm g-gonna...!!" Lucky kept flicking his wrist, straining his concentration as he attempted to summon his key. "From what I understand, it's confused because it also recognizes Junior as its master." Whisk stated. "Why didn't his just come along from the future!? Or is the future-key confused, too? Me-yooow..." Lucky groaned. Whisk took his hand. "Don't worry. I'll protect us!" she smiled, and with a flash of light, the pair of them vanished, leaving the mummies confused and enraged! They reappeared elsewhere in the base, somewhere they'd passed earlier. "Gosh, I'm pushing it, teleporting in the dark somewhere I only vaguely know where I'm going..." Whisk sighed. Lucky looked down the hall nervously, hearing the angry groans of the mummies ahead. "I think we'll probably have to go through them if we want to find where they took our friends and the kids..." he murmured. "Are you scared?" Whisk asked him, holding her wand under her face and shining a light under her like a flashlight, illuminating her features in an ominous fashion. Lucky looked at her with an awkward chuckle. "No way, I'm a were-cat, remember! Rrrraaaarrr!" he chuckled, recalling their previous creepy adventures. Whisk started to walk away from him. "Keep your fleas away from me, then!" she giggled. "Me-yooow!! Wait up!" Lucky shouted, following after her.
Tails and Fera had split up to search for their captive allies. (Clearly this Tails had never read a certain book on the Dos & Don'ts of Scary Scenarios.) As he stepped down a long, dark hallway, Tails was unnerved. He was being watched by ghostly images of red-eyed Omochaos lining the walls, occasionally whispering disparaging remarks. "O-owie! Whyyyy are y-y-you being such a b-b-bully? I'm not gooooing to help y-y-you anymore..." It was almost like his conscience was tormenting him for some past heinousness. Or not. "Not real...not real..." Tails murmured, stepping forward cautiously. His steps slowed as a familiar silhouette approached. "Sonic?" he asked. However, shuffling forward, the figure revealed itself to be a slimy, Lost One version of Sonic! Behind him, Knuckles, Amy and Cream crept forth, groaning, red-eyed and slimy! "Y-you were too late...Tails..." Cream moaned. "Too slow..." Sonic gurgled. "You failed us!!" Knuckles added. Tails covered his ears and backed up a step. "Not...real!! No! I've fought this illusion before! You can't fool me!" he shouted, whipping his tails at "Sonic" and causing a mummy to fall over instead! The illusion faded and Eddie laughed over a PA speaker. "Eee hee! Smart boy, very brave! But the mummies are very real!" he taunted. Knuckles, Amy and Cream had disappeared, three more mummies in their places, all coming toward the fox! "Fortunately, I still have this!" Tails said, whipping out his boxing glove-on-a-chain and using it to swiftly smack the mummies off-balance! He then sped past them, hurrying on his way. "Some monsters, they're really, really slow!" he smirked. Before he got far, Pepper and Minnie appeared in a flash of light in front of him, giving him a start. "Yaah!! W-what are you girls doing here!?" he stammered. Minnie yawned. "We're looking for the Chaos Emerald. We fell into a trap with the others but we warped out." she said. Pepper nodded. "It'll be okay, Skye can science his way out of it." she stated. Tails groaned. "But now we got bigger problems! Why couldn't you take the time to warp them out!?" he frowned. Pepper and Minnie glanced at each other. "Bigger problems than this blackout...?" Minnie asked.
The others were all sharing a cell at this point. Even Alpha was locked up with them. "I'm lonely... Go away, people." the robot complained. "I would be delighted, so use your robot privileges and OPEN THE DOOR!!" Battle Lord Kukku shouted. Police chief Paynson had other ideas. "We're dealing with undead mummies now! I say we stay put and await rescue!" he said with authority. "Sounds like you're a coward." Casey smirked. "I dunno about him, but I am..." Dave murmured. There was naturally a lot of talking with so many people in the cell. "Quiet! I'm trying to pick this electronic lock!" Skye growled. Lara tapped him on the shoulder. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but...we have Venice in here now." she pointed out. "Yeah, hey! How'd you get caught, Venice??" Argyle questioned. The hedgehog shrugged. "Snuck-attacked in the dark... Ow, my head... Ah, but I can surely get us out. Stand back, everyone!" he stated, trying to focus on the door. "Alpha! Could you please put me down?!" shouted the real Omochao. "Shh, be quiet, Teddy-Char!" the robot babbled. Shrugging, Venice's hands started to glow, and using his psychokinesis, he pushed the door out of the wall, sending it crashing into the next room! "Sweet! Let's beat feet outta here!" Juice smirked. "It...it won't be that easy..." Cosmo murmured, pointing outside the cell. A swarm of mummies were positioned to guard them. "Do you suppose they knew we were going to bust out of here?" Lucky Jr. asked. Lara's eyes narrowed, and she held up a Wispon. "Anyone who can't fight, get to the back. Anyone that can... let's work together and get out of here!" she shouted. "I definitely can't fight..." Dave murmured, "...how did I get roped into that tournament, anyway?" he wondered.
Using a search spell, it didn't take long for Lucky and Whisk to track down their imprisoned friends, even as they were battling to escape their cell and get past the mummies. "Whoa! How does he even find so many mummies so far from the desert??" Whisk gasped upon seeing the scene, "Never mind! They need our help!" she added, clutching her wand and flying into the fray. "R-right behind you..." Lucky stammered, not sure what he could even do now. As he stepped into the room, the darkness seemed to grow darker, and he gulped. "Guys? H-hello?" he murmured. A scream was heard, and Lucky gasped to see Whisk being dragged out of the shadows, unconscious. It was the one dragging her that really shocked him; the green anti-Sonic from Moebius; Scourge the hedgehog! "You just can't do anything right, kitten! Now you've gone and what, LOST my key?! Only thing is, I still have my speed and the darkness without it! What have you got? Pathetic!" he scoffed. "L-let Whisk go!!" Lucky stammered. "Or you'll what?!" This voice made Lucky back up a step. His eyes widened to see Tails, or rather Miles, stepping out of the shadows, carrying an injured Lucky Jr. before tossing him to the ground! His bangs were dyed black again, and he was looking decidedly dark. "You let us down, Lucky! I have to turn to Scourge to save my world, and I see now that his way is right! Look at you...love has made you weak!" he spat. Lucky covered his ears, whimpering. "Y-you can't mean that! Not after all we've been through!" he shouted. Scourge and Miles smirked, each pressing a foot on the injured members of Lucky's family on the floor. "You're useless... Completely useless without your key!" Scourge declared. It was all too much to bear. Lucky didn't know what to do, because he feared that Scourge was right!
Of course, all of this was an illusion, a manifestation of Lucky's fears created by Basker from wherever he was in the base. In reality, Whisk was perfectly conscious, and her own greatest fears were tied to losing her memory, something Basker couldn't replicate. She still had her wits about her, but unfortunately, the others mostly had succumbed to their own fears, making it easier for the slow mummies to attack them! This left Whisk largely on her own to battle the mummy swarm. Alpha certainly wasn't helping. "Aaaaa! Eeeek! We are yelling! Woooo!" The robot just seemed to relish everyone else acting as crazy as him. Whisk started to panic herself as the mummies surrounded her, and she saw Junior, Casey, and Skye struggling in the monsters' grip. "Snap out of it, everyone! W-we need help! L-lucky!!" she called, looking to see him on his knees and seemingly broken. "Lucky?? Aaahh!!" A mummy smacked her forcefully, causing her wand to go flying! It rolled across the room, penetrating Lucky's fear vision as it tapped his knees. He looked at it, brushing tears from his eyes. He could faintly hear Whisk's voice through the darkness, but it was quickly blocked by Scourge. "You wanna hit me, kitten? You know I'd destroy you..." he sneered. Lucky nodded. "You probably would as I am now... But... You're not Scourge!" he said suddenly, picking up the wand and pointing it at the hedgehog, "FIRE!!" A burst of flaming magic shot from the wand and set the mummy posing as Scourge aflame, shattering the illusion! "Boy, I'm glad Whisk let me practice with her wand!" he murmured. "Great! Good! Get to zapping!!" Whisk shouted. Lucky started by burning the mummy that had posed as Miles, and then a sudden flash of light in front of him startled the cat. "Me-yow!! Uhh... Miles?" he questioned, seeing Tails appear with Pepper and Minnie. They looked around and gasped. "Hang in there, Skye! Melody!!" Tails cried, racing to help his kids. "Ahh, right! I'm coming Whisk! Junior!" Lucky stammered, rushing to join the fight!
Fera had taken another path through the base. She was unimpressed by the ominous Omochao projections, unlike the others. In fact, she occasionally took the time to blast one here or there with dark magic, just trying to silence their chatter. "Idiocy. When did Despair reduce itself to hiding from a fight!? Show yourself, Anubis! You pathetic little traitor!" she called. "When did the mighty Fera decide to reduce herself to name calling? But if we want to talk of traitors, what of you? Your military masters, your found father figure, those who took you in when you lost everything... Your history of betrayal is long." Anubis growled from the shadows. Fera stepped out of the hall into a large room that appeared to be for manufacturing robots, though it was a bit dark to see clearly. Fera crossed her arms. "I could argue they all betrayed me first. But I'm here to kill you, honestly, so who cares." she scoffed. Creating fire in his hands, Anubis gave away his position. "You think you can kill me? I control death!" he snarled. "Let's see if you do!" the wolf snapped, launching jolts of black lightning in the jackal's direction! He struck back with jets of flame, and the two attacks passed one another and forced both combatants to dodge! Fera then dashed towards Anubis, and started to engage him with martial arts skills she acquired during her time with GUN. Anubis took her initial blows, hitting back with a flaming punch to make her back away! Fera lunged at him again, and he kicked out her legs, knocking her down! "You've been weakened, Fera... You let sentiment in. Your heart is soft!" he taunted. Fera shot back with lightning on her way to her feet. "You know nothing!" she shouted. Red eyes glowed in the shadows, accompanied by a crazed chuckle as Basker and Eddie arrived on the scene. "I know what he speaks of..." Basker sneered, "Because sentiment leads...to fear!" Fera backed up, watching as the darkness seemed to close in around her. An emotion she hadn't felt in ages, hadn't ALLOWED herself to feel. Fear was creeping in!
The lights suddenly came up, and Fera found herself back in Resistance Headquarters. The temporary home that Felicia had settled into while battling Eggman's forces, being here was a bit confusing. "Fera..." She turned with a start, finding Illusi. "Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked. Illusi folded his arms. "Everything that you've endured has been my illusion, Fera. I had to test you, to see if you were worthy." he stated. "Worthy to rejoin the resistance!" added Sonic, stepping beside him. "We sure could've used you." added Tails, joining them. Fera looked among them anxiously. "Could've?" she asked. The room went dark again, spotlights shining around Sonic, Tails and Illusi as they looked on her with scorn. "You failed. You abandoned your allies to chase your vendetta! Just like you!" Illusi said with a scoff. "How could you..." Tails frowned, "I'll never forgive you!" Fera backed up, a look of shock in her eye. "B-but Tails, we agreed..." she stammered. "Don't pretend we're friends! That was an illusion!" he shouted. Sonic gave her a superior smirk. "Why would we ever be friends with you? You're a villain! You'll always be a villain! You can't change for real!" he said, mocking her. Fera gritted her teeth. "I... Why would you... I-illusi!!" she babbled, trying to appeal to the shrew, her father figure. Illusi turned his back to her rather than listen. "I never should have took you in. You were tainted by Gunner from the start. You can never move past the hate he burned into you. You were unworthy then, and you always will be!!" he snapped. Fera held her head, dropping to her knees. "NO!!!" she screamed, tears starting to drop from her eye. In reality, Anubis, Eddie and Basker watched her in victory, the darkness of her fear gelling with her own dark magic to form a cocoon around her, trapping her. "She never used to feel fear. It always gave her the edge over me." Basker mused. "Eee hee! How fortunate that she made some friends, then!" the hyena snickered. "Indeed...they've made her weak!" Anubis smirked.
Having wrapped things up at the cells, Tails was able to arrive on the scene, finding Fera trapped in a cloak of darkness. "No, Fera! ...What did you do to her!?" he shouted as Lucky stepped in behind him. "Darkness!" the feline gasped. Basker pointed at Tails. "I've done nothing more than what I did to you... The darkness consuming her is the shadow cast from your light." he told them. "What?!" Tails shouted. Anubis clarified. "Fera could never be impacted by Basker's fear powers before she met you. Your friendship made this possible!" he sneered. Lucky stepped forward defiantly. "You're wrong!" he snapped. "Eee hee, we're not. If she still lived without fear, she'd be safe." Eddie taunted. Tails stomped forward as well, a faint light seeming to shine from him in opposition to Fera's darkness. "I don't believe that! You can't... You can't live without fear! Trying to do that is what made her vulnerable. It made her cold and unable to make friends... Unable to see that YOU were going to betray her!" he said, pointing back at Anubis angrily. Lucky stepped closer, too, and the light emanating from them glowed brighter. "I bet you three don't have any real friends. You'd stab each other in the backs to serve yourselves!" he growled, making Anubis glance at Basker darkly. Fera's eye opened, peering through the dark, and she saw Tails, walking towards her. It clashed with the illusion of her friends turning their backs to her, and weakened the cocoon. Tails continued forward, each step seeming to dispel more darkness. "Fera's not weak, and she's not vulnerable now... She's got me! I'll get her out of this!" he declared. Lucky nodded. "She's a part of your heart... Just as you've become a part of hers!" The light glowed bright enough to surprise Basker by now. "This...has never happened before! They...they're turning my power back! Casting it out! It's impossible!!" he stammered. Tails reached a hand out to Fera, and the wolf pierced through the cocoon as she reached back! "Haha!! I knew it! Our friends are our power!!" Lucky cheered. "Aahh... D-don't ruin the moment..." Fera grunted at him as Tails helped her to her feet. She then turned to Anubis, whose body was burning with angry flames. "I'm still going to kill you..." he snarled. "You'll have to go through us, first!" shouted Lara, leading her allies and the others into the room, ready to take on the Covenant of Despair!
Well, it seemed Basker, Eddie and Anubis were really all that was left of Despair. Anubis' mummies crept out of the shadows to fill their ranks, and the likes of Kukku and Alpha certainly weren't going to help the battle, but overall it was just those three they needed to worry about. Lucky, Whisk, and their kids charged into battle together, quickly finding themselves surrounded by copies of Eddie. "Eee hee hee! I always have you outnumbered!" he taunted. Whisk tossed Lucky her wand, and her wings started to glow. "Let's blow 'em away!" she smirked, flapping her wings lightly, but kicking up a magical wind that knocked out a few of Eddie's illusions! Lucky zapped a few with fire spells as well, while his kids had Wispons ready to fend them off. Soon, Eddie appeared to be gone. "Hey... None of them were real!" Minnie gasped. More of the hyenas copies crept out of the shadows, snickering menacingly. "He's hiding out there somewhere! Let's find him!" Junior shouted.
Tails, his kids, and Cosmo went up against Basker. The hellhound fired lasers at them from his robotisized eyes as they attempted to approach. "Getting close to me will do you no good... Your terrors will manifest!" he sneered. Cosmo had snuck behind him, and was ready to bust out those tricks that had gotten her through the tournament, but when she tried to touch him, fear struck her. She saw visions of her home planet, and of the terrors that had befallen it. "N-no... Get away!" she gasped, stumbling backward and falling over! Basker turned to point his laser at her, but Tails smacked him away with his boxing glove weapon! "We don't have to get close!" he shouted as Melody and Skye stood beside Cosmo, pointing their Wispons at Basker. He smirked and waved his hand at them, placing his fear spell on Tails' kids. They wavered, and turned their weapons on one another. "G-GUN!! You monsters!! You killed my dad!!" Skye shouted. "Stay away!" Melody gasped. "Stop it! Let them out of your spell!" Tails cried, leaping at Basker to whip his tails at him! The hound sidestepped him and laughed softly. "Do I detect a fear in you?" he smirked.
While Lara and the others took on the mummies, this time uninhibited by Basker's fear spell, Fera faced off against Anubis one more time. If she could defeat him, the mummies would collapse as well. They traded fiery blows for a bit before Anubis closed the distance between them, grappling with her. "You think you're some kind of hero now? As if one like you could ever live in the light!" he taunted. Fera started to push him back, a fierce look in her eye. "It doesn't matter... I'll always... be better than you!!" she cried, kicking him in the chest to knock him back, and then jolting him with dark lightning as he cloaked his body in flames to filter the damage! "You can't kill me, Fera!!" Anubis snarled, taking those built up flames and launching them as a jet toward Fera! She sidestepped the attack, smirking at him. "I don't need to kill you. There's no saving you from the blackness in your soul." she said, "I have no further interest in following you down that road." The dark energy surrounding her faded, and Anubis lowered his fiery guard in confusion. "You fool! I will kill you if you don't kill me!" he snarled, "You think I will give you honor!? I AM the Covenant of Despair!!" he roared, charging at her with flaming fists!
A ghostly light in the darkness illuminated a massive carved face. "You dared to take control of our children?" a voice boomed. Before anyone quite knew what was happening, tendril-like vines pulled up Eddie by his foot, lifted Basker by his neck, and wrapped around Anubis tightly, causing his focus to break and the mummies to collapse! Casey pointed at the face in the shadows in surprise. "P-pumpkin!!" he stammered. It was Loscream! "I should thank you for leading us to the fox, though... Now there's no escape for any of you!" the pumpkin cackled. The remnants of Despair let out screams as Loscream squeezed them in his grip, and then tossed them one by one into his mouth that was filled with ghost fire! "...Good luck surviving that..." Fera murmured. "Me-yooow!! Lost Ones in the dark!!" Lucky shouted, pointing as Kukku was grabbed by a losol golem! "Noo!! Agh!! M-my armada!! Whyyyy!?" he wailed as he was pulled into the slimy creature! Dave, Paynson, Alpha and the others gathered in the center of the room, watching in panic as creatures surrounded them. "Get us outta here, Pepper! Minnie!!" Lara shouted. "But the Chaos Emerald!" Skye yelped. "Emerald? I got a rock..." Alpha babbled, holding up the cyan emerald that he'd somehow gotten ahold of. "Great! Good! You win the tourney! Let's GOO!!" Omochao babbled. "Yay, I win, I win!" Alpha cheered. Loscream was watching with an eerie grin as the fire "digested" the victims inside him. "You can't get away. We have the city. You will die in terror while your friends watch..." he laughed, only to see Pepper, Minnie, and Whisk all glow and warp most of the people out of the room! "What?! I want to see your terror!!" Loscream roared. Tails and Fera were left with Melody, Skye and Alpha. "Dad... I hope we have a plan..." Melody whimpered. Tails nodded, looking at Fera. "I trust you..." he told her. The wolf nodded. "Everyone goes a different way. Chances are they can't capture us all..." the wolf stated. Loscream lunged his vines at the remaining group, but they held on to Fera, and together vanished in a cloak of dark magic! "Weeeee! I can go pooof!!" was the last thing Loscream heard, from Alpha, before they were gone.
Libra had also been in Central City for a while. She had aided some survivors in fleeing the city, and remained for a while to search for further survivors. Losing hope to find any, she started to wonder what she should do to avenge her fallen friends. She was quickly realizing that alone there was little she could do, and so she found her way to Tails' ransacked Central City Workshop, attempting to find something she could use to get a message out and find help. Unfortunately, her search through the workshop was proving fruitless. The Lost Ones had taken some time to wreck anything of value within, as far as she could tell. She was starting to feel useless again, and that was when the door swung open! Surprised, she hurled a bolt of darkness at the intruder! "Yikes! Were you always able to do that!?" grunted Copter, guarding his face against the attack. The relieved fennec quickly hugged him when she saw who it was. "Sorry, sorry! I've been alone out here for so long! Gemini? Where's Gemini?" she called, only seeing Chopper stepping in behind his father. "Wow, she really does look exactly like her!" Chopper stammered. Copter had a grave expression as he stepped away from Libra, holding up Gemini's wand. "I found you with this... And it wasn't easy, I'm not exactly magically inclined." he sighed. Libra started to look worried. "Why didn't...Gemini use it?" she asked nervously. "She was taken!" Chopper shouted, rather distraught, "The Lost Ones are gonna experiment on her!" With that, Copter handed Libra the wand. "I need to rescue her, but I'm not betting everything on myself. I need your help... I need the Deathbringer!" he pleaded. Libra clutched the wand to her heart, a deeply serious look in her eyes. "What are we standing around for, then?" she asked.
To be continued...
