Sonic GeneX: Doomsday
Chapter 38 - The Dark One
Stage 19 - Darkegg Fortress
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
"He's the one who understands when the tides will swing,
So he's breakin' down doors, never following.
C'mon and psyche yourself up, 'cause its time to play.
Bounce to the beats and the rhymes, 'cause they're here to stay.
The one and only marathon man, livin' the day.
Movin' up, comin' fast and he'll blow you away!
Because the pressures of this world, they can take their toll.
And it's tough to get away when they take their hold.
The only way to break free is to break the mold.
You can't stop now, lock and load.
Don't stop now, c'mon, rock n' roll!" - His World, Sonic the Hedgehog 2006
Previously on GeneX…
With Demon Island on the move, Punchy, Heather, Guard and Rainbow left Prof. Pickle with Team Chaotix, taking the Scepter of Darkness with them as they searched for a way to get up to the island clearly lifted by the Chaos Crystal's power. Illusi gave them a ride to Darkegg Fortress via an illusion boat; Surely there would be a plane they could use to reach Demon Island there.
Eggman contacted them on arrival, asking them to activate a "Doomsday Protocol" while he remained stuck on Demon Island. They were about to work on this with Hoover, when a vengeful Terra activated the base's defenses!
Heather and Rainbow covered Hoover while Punchy and Guard went after Terra. Though Hoover was able to start the Doomsday Protocol, Rainbow was captured by Punky, "Dark Punchy!"
In the Control Room, Punchy took on Terra in a final showdown. Realizing the E-X robots have souls now, Punchy merely crippled Terra, sparing the robot's life. However, as he was about to leave to catch up with Heather, the lights went out!
During all this, Aurora left her friends in search of her parents, tracking Punchy via a device she'd planted on his shoes some time ago...
Now, our tale continues...
Rainbow was being carried off by Punky, but the colorful echidna wasn't hanging idly in his arms. She was trying to focus her energies and manage the same shockwave attack she'd used back at Raisol Sanctuary. "You're unusually quiet... Guess you get the sitch." Punky snickered. Rainbow growled, and thought about how Punchy would race into danger to save her. "No... I won't be your bait!! Hyaaa!!" She swatted him with her palm, and a shockwave emanated, causing Punky to drop her as he stumbled! "Son of a- You can't escape!" Punky growled, only for a Wrongo to pop in front of his face! "What!? The shrew!!" he snarled, smashing the Wrongo with a punch, only to find Rainbow missing! "Damn you! Fine, who needs ya!? I'll just improvise a way to get at my pathetic half..." Punky growled, continuing on his way.
Outside the tower, a small boat pulled up to the island. Aurora climbed out, huffing softly. "Why'd I have to use a rowboat?" she asked herself. Char floated up to her curiously. "Hey, do you know Punchy? You sure like like him. Like a girl-Punchy!" he asked. Aurora looked at her ProwerPhone, and sure enough, Punchy's signal was inside the tower. "Yeah... Uh, any idea what my... What Punchy is doing here?" she asked. Char shrugged. "I was hoping he'd convince Eggman to let my family back in, but there was talk of a Doomsday thingy, and then an intruder alert, and then the lights went out!" the Chao explained. Aurora looked up the ominous tower anxiously. "Alright, then... Stay here outta trouble. I'll check it out..." she said.
Heather and Hoover met up with Punchy and Guard at the main elevator. "Lights're off but elevator's workin'... What in tarnation?" Hoover grumbled. "Dark Punchy's made places go dark before...though not quite like this." Punchy stated, "Oh, and why aren't you chasing after Rainbow??" he asked Heather. She frowned. "We...we lost her. We lost Illusi, too." she said. Hoover hobbled into the elevator. "Anyone care ta reach the buttons fer me? I gotta wrap up the Doomsday Protocol." he stated. They all followed him into the elevator, just barely missing Aurora as she walked into the tower and found the elevator doors closing. Punchy looked at the elevator buttons thoughtfully. "Remind me which floor Chao Chambers is on? BAS always operated the elevators usually..." he muttered, noting the Base Announcement System had fallen silent. "Rr? The Chao are outside..." Guard noted, holding up Hoover to press the buttons. "An' that ain't where I gotta go, niether!" the robot grumbled. "You can wrap up your protocol with Firepaw. I gotta get my wife. And if my dark side is aiming to lure me, where else would he go but the place he first emerged? ... His illusion that appeared first doesn't count, does it?" Punchy asked, looking at Heather. "How should I know? I just learned I have my own dark side like, an hour or two ago. Anybody got a watch? I have no clue if this day has been really long or just feels that way..." she murmured. At any rate, the elevator soon opened at the floor Chao Chambers was on, and Punchy and Heather stepped off, leaving Guard and Hoover behind. "Grrr... I'm going to search for transport to Demon Island. One of us should stay on-mission." he grunted, holding the door open. Heather glanced back at him. "Be careful on your own Garen. I need to get Rainbow back since she was caught under my watch." she stated, the gargoyle nodding in understanding. "...Right, couldja quit holdin' the door? We gotta git movin!" Hoover griped, prompting Guard to back into the elevator, keeping his eyes on Heather until the door closed.
In order to get to Chao Chambers, Punchy and Heather had to pass one of the exterior balconies of Darkegg Fortress. Out there, they found lospides crawling around, weaving slimy webs. "How much you wanna bet dark me brought these bugs with him?" Punchy groaned. The spiders looked in their direction and hissed threateningly. "You'd better not tear the walkway apart, Rainbow will have to go back this way. Let me deal with this..." Heather suggested, to which Punchy politely bowed. "They're all yours, sis." he smirked. Heather ignited her hands and charged ahead with a yell, and Punchy watched her work out some personal frustrations on those spiders. He jumped back nervously as webbing sprayed in his direction, slimy webbing that he was sure he didn't want touching him. He then ducked as a fireball whizzed toward his head! "You know, sitting on the sidelines like this sucks! No wonder Rainbow would grab a stick or something and run into battle like an idiot!" he stated, "Well, I don't need any stupid stick! Come here, bugs!" he shouted, running in if only to split the attention of the lospides and make it easier for Heather to strike them with fire! Every so often, Punchy would get close enough to give one a good punch, which might not destroy it, but did send it sailing over the edge of the balcony and toward the Chao below...something Punchy failed to think of. "Yaaaah!! It's raining monsters!!" Char shouted as the Chao scrambled to get away from the beasts! "No monsters are gonna eat my family!!" Char growled, flying into the tower quickly, then flying out with some Chao battle-armor that Eggman constructed some time ago. It functioned a bit like the Cyclone mech Tails once used, and Char quickly targeted the lospides in his sights. "Pasta la pizza, bugsy!" he said, mimicking an action hero is old movies he watched on Eggman's computers. The other Chao cheered as the mech fired on the lospides, sending them on the run!
Punchy and Heather soon reached Chao Chambers, which had been quite a pleasant area of the base when the lights were on. Now, with the lights out and the Chao gone, it sure hit differently. Heather held a fireball in her hand to light their way. "Creepy... Guess I should expect that of an Eggman Chao Garden..." she murmured. "It really wasn't...GAH!" Punchy screamed when he suddenly felt himself grabbed from behind! "It's me, One! Why are ya always so jumpy in this place?" giggled Rainbow, hugging him. "R-rainbow! Geez, ya almost made me drop the scepter!" Punchy stammered, clutching the Scepter of Darkness tightly. Rainbow blinked, looking at it. "Whatcha bring that for?" she wondered. "Bucky told me to seal the Darks. Where best to start than dark me?" he explained. Another unexpected voice startled him again. "If you think that can contain Dark One..." Punchy jumped to see Illusi standing very close by. "Clear your throat or something!! We just bashed through an army of Lost Ones to get in here!" he stammered. Illusi shrugged. "Well, it's quite a reunion we have shaping up here. Shame Knuckles and Gemini can't join us." he mused. Heather looked around the dark area. "Yeah, shame... So, where do we go to find this Dark?" she wondered. Rainbow grinned and grabbed Punchy's hand. "There can only be one place, right, One? Follow us!" she shouted, dragging Punchy with her as she sped ahead into the dark. "R-rainbow! We don't know this place so well that we can just-" he protested. "Owie!!" Rainbow yelped, followed by the sound of a crash! Heather and Illusi hurried their way, illuminating the area to see that Rainbow had somehow stumbled backward and fallen on top of Punchy. "Urrgh... Maybe let's follow Heather?" he groaned.
Guard and Hoover had moved fairly quickly. They sent Firepaw to one side of the tower while Hoover led the gargoyle to his garage. "I wouldn't let ya in here, but this is part of the Doomsday Protocol! I gotta interface wit the terminal in here at the same time as Firepaw!" the beaver grumbled. Guard looked around. The place had the feel of one of Tails' workshops, but with Eggman's resources. He found something large covered by a tarp, and curiously reached for the tarp. "Hey! Keep yer grubby mitts to yerself!" Hoover snapped as he climbed on a stool and plugged his tail into a socket attached to a terminal on the wall. Guard ignored him and threw off the tarp. "Rrr... We need a ride, and this looks... perfect!" he said, looking over the aircraft in front of him. It was a high-tech plane with the Hurricane's black and red color scheme. "That's mah new baby, the X-Hurricane!" Hoover said with pride as Firepaw appeared on the monitor behind him. "Meowr! Oh, nice, I get to look at your BUTT!" he complained. There was some beeping, and then the tower began to shake! "Grr?? What's happening?" Guard questioned. "Meowr! It's part 2 of the Doomsday Protocol!" Firepaw said. "Yup, and all's gonna be left is voice authorization, but none of us can do that step." Hoover added. Outside, the Chao watched as part 2 of the Doomsday Protocol was enacted, the the balconies that twisted around the tower's upper floors began turning and aligning! "Wha-wha-what's this?! Dr. Eggman never told me the tower could transform!!" Char stammered from the seat of the mech he was still piloting. It was quite a sight, but the purpose of it all was still unclear. And it likely wouldn't be made clear without Eggman making his return.
Unfortunately, the darkness wasn't the only problem as Punchy's group journeyed through the Chao garden. More robots possessed with Lost Ones emerged, just like what Heather and Rainbow had faced on the ground floor. "Why'd Tubby let monsters into his robots? That's nuts even for him!" Rainbow commented. Heather held two fireballs in her hands, but she was tasked with illuminating the room, so tossing them at the robots could be problematic. "Well, any bright ideas, because I'm being as bright as I can..." the phoenix sighed. Illusi waved his hands up, summoning a number of Wrongos that went zooming at the erratically-moving haunted robots! "I'll hold them off! Go and take care of the Dark One, lest he wreak further havok on the world!" the shrew shouted. "Lest? Wreak? Are you okay, Illusi? Should Heather stay and light things up for you?" Punchy stammered, only to get nudged forward by another Wrongo. "Hurry, before they surround us!" he warned. "Dad!!" Aurora came racing in from behind them, her ProwerPhone's screen lighting her path! "Aurora!?!" Punchy and Rainbow shouted at once. "Argh, we don't have time for this! Go find Guard and stay with him, young lady!" Punchy yelled. "Excuse me!" Aurora huffed, taking out a futuristic Wispon and blasting a possessed robot as it approached the group, "I can handle myself, and I'll help out against these bots, and don't tell me not to!" she snapped. Her parents started hurriedly following Heather off through the opening created by the felled robot. "Kay, thanks, bye daughter! Hugs and kisses!!" Rainbow shouted, waving back as the trio disappeared into the darkness. Aurora blinked a bit. "Well, you could parent me a LITTLE, I mean..." she murmured. "Phone light, please!" Illusi requested, and Aurora yelped as she lifted the phone and saw the robots bash through the Wrongos easily! "I hope you got a plan, Grandpa!" she gulped. "...It better be Rainbow that made you call me Grandpa..." Illusi grumbled.
Soon, Punchy, Rainbow and Heather arrived in the relaxation area at the back of Chao Chambers where Knuckles and Punchy once battled it out for the Master Emerald, and where Punchy nearly succumbed to his dark side for the first time. Due to nobody really caring much, the room was still a mess from the mini-quake Dark Punchy had caused back then. Now separated from Punchy's body, his dark self, "Punky," awaited in the center of the room, his body crackling with dark energy. He was also wearing the Chaos Boots. "Hey! Aurora was supposed to have those!" Punchy gasped. "It doesn't look good on you, Dark One! It clashes with your fur!" Rainbow shouted. Punky growled softly. "Colors, weakling... Good of you both to come to die. The darkness you see this tower shrouded in, that's the result of my power growing, unrestricted by your frail body! My power is the most honed out of all the Dark sides, after all..." he snickered, pointing his hands towards Rainbow and Heather to send jolts of dark energy in their direction, causing them to be tossed back into the wall, groaning as they fell to their knees! "Let's keep the ladies out of this for now. It's always been between you and me. We're the same, but only one can live... A third clone would be redundant, after all!" Punky sneered. Punchy glanced back to see that his friends were alright as he produced the Scepter of Darkness. "I'm not here to fight you, I'm here to put you away! Into the lamp, genie!!" Punchy shouted, holding the scepter towards Punky! The Dark snarled and dashed at him with the Chaos Boots, swiftly knocking the scepter to the floor! "No!! ...Whew, not broken..." Punchy sighed, only to gasp as Punky gave him a hard punch to the gut! "Why don't I kill you, and then we'll lock YOUR soul away in a scepter?!" the Dark One growled. The chance to end this without a fight was gone. It was time for Punchy to face his dark side once and for all!
Punchy's disadvantage was absurd. Not only did Punky have his dark powers unlocked and unrestricted, but the Chaos Boots would make him too fast to counter. Punchy stood up from his dark side's attacks, lightly tightening his headband and giving him a serious glare. "All your dark power, and yet you need even more to beat me. Pathetic." he huffed, glancing at the boots. Punky leered at him with a sinister chuckle. "You can try appealing to my ego, but you know as well as I that we're not that red idiot!" he said, tearing off into a dash around the room, too fast for anyone to really see what he was doing, but the result was jolts of dark energy shooting into Punchy from all sides, making him shout out in pain! "P-punchy!!" Rainbow stammered, her concern growing enough to forego his nickname. Heather ignited her body in fire, growling at the despicable Dark. "Not about to watch him get murdered!" she yelled, holding up her arm to hurl a stream of fire into Punky's route, the dark echidna shouting in anger as he passed through the fire! He patted himself out, and then sped over to the phoenix! "I may not be able to kill you dead... But I can delay you long enough!" he snarled, starting to pummel her viciously with punches powered by his immense dark energy! Punchy grunted, turning in their direction and gasping as he saw Heather fall to the floor in an unconscious state! "You bastard! Get away from her!!" he shouted, clenching his fists tightly! Punky smirked, dashing back in his direction, planning to work him over, too. Punchy inhaled deeply. "Remember...our training..." he thought. Rainbow tried to run in, desperate to do something, letting out a panicked scream when there was an impact! Dark energy swirled around the echidnas... But when Rainbow could see, it was Punchy's fist that had connected with Dark Punchy's jaw! "I may not be wearing the boots... But I know their speed... Hurts running that fast into my fist, don't it?" he smirked.
Punky growled, rubbing his jaw. "That was just a lucky shot!" he spat, dashing around and making an attempt to strike Punchy from behind! He calmly lifted up his elbow and knocked the Dark in the face, causing him to stumble backward! He glanced at Rainbow and pointed her to Heather before making a shushing motion, signaling that he wanted her to keep her head down. "We did share a body for a long time, Dark One! Guess what? You've become predictable!" he remarked, stepping aside as Punky launched a powerful wave of dark power across the spot he stood! "My name is PUNKY!! And don't you DARE mock me!!" he roared, dashing toward the green one and hanging back a couple feet away to avoid a surprise strike. Punchy turned to him and smirked. "Alright, let's settle this fist-to-fist, then!" he suggested. As Rainbow crouched beside Heather, hoping to keep her safe from any ensuing chaos, she looked back to see the green and black echidnas locked in a brutal fist fight! Their punchy were swift, hitting the gut, the jaw, even connecting fist-to-fist! Punky tried to strengthen his attacks with darkness, but it didn't seem to bother Punchy any more than his hits bothered the dark echidna. Eventually, Punchy grabbed Punky by the wrists and gave him a mighty headbutt! "Y-you can't be...doing this!!" Punky grunted, "You idiot! The only way either of us can be free is if I kill you! If you destroy me...my darkness will only return to you!!" he shouted desperately. Punchy nodded. It was tragic, but since that was how Punky saw it, there was only one solution. "Your darkness is MINE, always has been, always will be! And I'll keep you buried where you can't hurt anybody... Because you have no hold over me anymore! Chaos Avalanche!!" The ceiling began to collapse around them, and Rainbow watched with wide eyes as both echidnas vanished beneath the rubble! "Punchy!!" she cried, coughing softly as the dust slowly settled, "...One?" she murmured, hearing no sounds of struggle anymore.
The lights flickered back on as Punchy slowly shoved bits of rubble out of his way. "Somebody catch!" he said, tossing the Chaos Boots out of the rubble! They fell into Illusi's hands. "Good work, Dark One." the shrew smiled. Rainbow frowned. "Aww, Dark One's inside him again?" she murmured. Aurora stepped into the room following Illusi. "Hey, look! Cool scepter!" she said, hurrying to pick up the Scepter of Darkness. BAS gave a yawn before speaking. "All passengers, report to the garage! The X-Hurricane is preparing for takeoff!" the AI reported. Heather also started to stir, rubbing her head. "Well, I feel mildly better than after a resurrection." she grumbled. Punchy hopped out of the rubble and shook off some dirt. "Well, back to the first point of coming here. Guess Guard found a plane at the garage. When Hoover had the time to build a new one, I dunno. Honestly I thought we were gonna take that random space shuttle. Everyone comin' with me?" he asked, headed straight for the exit. Rainbow helped Heather to her feet, and they started after him. "Guess we are, One! You sure you're okay, though?" she asked. Punchy shrugged. "Well, I pity the poor idiot who makes me turn into Punky, put it that way." he muttered. "Oh, Dark One, you're not seriously calling it that now?" Illusi said with an amused chuckle. The five of them soon met Guard at the garage, and though Hoover was hesitant to give his blessing, the X-Hurricane soon took off, setting a course for Demon Island. There still weren't quite enough seats, so Guard was flying himself. As they left the tower, they all noticed the new shape of the balconies and let out curious murmurs. "Whatcha suppose the Doomsday Program was?" Rainbow asked. Aurora shrugged as she piloted the plane. "None of us were a voice match to activate it, so guess we'll never know..." she murmured. With that mystery going unsolved for now, the team set their sights on Demon Island, and the Chaos Crystal...
To be continued...
