Sonic GeneX: Doomsday
Chapter 45 - The Stolen Sol Emeralds
Stage 22 - Chaos Shrine
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
"What am I doin' now
By comin' back for more?
Is it me,
Or have I been here before?
I want to go somewhere,
That we can explore.
Just take me away from here,
To somewhere that's nowhere near.
So take me back in time,
To another world,
When you can be mine.
We don't have to worry,
When you're by my side.
There's nothin' I don't know.
There's nothin' to decide,
Apart from where we want to go." - Back in Time; Sonic R
Previously on GeneX…
Silver and Blaze left the desert by sneaking aboard a ship that Eggman Nega was stealing from Eggman's base. They escaped that ship before its destruction, and found their way to Eggtopia, where they helped Sonic fight of Dr. Eggman before the Doomsayer emerged and caused Sonic to fall down into the Forest of Dreams. Silver & Blaze escaped along with the Hurricane, which was being piloted by Lara with Juice also aboard. When we last left them, they had seen the Doomsayer's identity...
Where the heck have they been for 20 chapters???
Now, our tale continues...
Blaze and Silver had reunited with Marine after Riley (aka Spy) had landed Mia's flying cab near the Hurricane's landing area. "Hurry up! We gotta find my dad!" Juice said hurriedly. However, Lara was getting a call on her ProwerPhone. "Juice, I think we have more important matters. Your dad can handle himself...even if he is..." her voice trailed off. "The creepy dude in the hoodie." Marine finished. Silver thought this revelation over. "He must be Sonic from the future! We should track him down!" he suggested. Blaze looked at him grouchily. She still didn't have all the Sol Emeralds. However, it was hard to argue that a future Sonic's knowledge could prove invaluable. So, they left Juice and Lara to join their friends entering Omochao's Battle Factory, and set about their search for the Doomsayer.
They went on a wild goose chase for a time, but eventually the Doomsayer thought to humor them and make an appearance. "I understand you're looking for me." he said as they met near the Mystic Ruins. Silver gave his hood a psychic push to make sure it was Sonic. "Where did you come from? The future? An alternate world?" he asked. The Doomsayer shrugged. "Same difference. You should know as well as I, Silver, that the future cannot be saved. How many do-overs have you had to endure since your time-hopping quests began?" he questioned, "Don't waste your time looking for me. Take solace in each other during your final moments..." Before they could question the grim Sonic further, he sped away, taking his ever-following rain storm with him. "Well, that was a bust. Shall we get back to the Sol Emeralds?" Blaze sighed. "Think the last one might be up there??" Marine asked, pointing with alarm as Demon Island passed overhead!
While they thought about how to get up to Demon Island, which certainly seemed suspicious enough to check out, they were distracted by the spectacle of Shadow Arcangel being torn apart by the massive tendril from the island! "Gaia, Chaos and Solaris! Th-that was brutal!" Silver exclaimed. "Blaze, did we just watch people die?" Marine asked shakily. Blaze was silent, unsure. While they were distracted, a set of robotic claws sneaked behind Blaze, and Silver and Marine turned as she screamed with alarm! The cat dropped to the floor while the six Sol Emeralds were pulled by the claws to the Egg Mobile of Eggman Nega! "You've done so well for me, princess! Wait, there's one still missing! Ugh, the Lost Ones must still have it!" the scientist grunted in frustration, "Oh, well, I'll go fetch it myself!" he said, starting to fly the Egg Mobile toward Demon Island straight away! However, Silver, Blaze and Marine were quick to leap onto the side of the Egg Mobile, clinging tightly to it! "You're not getting away with those Emeralds!" Blaze shouted. Nega growled, and started spinning the Egg Mobile to try to shake them off. "Where'd you learn to fly, doc? Here, let me!" Silver shouted, reaching his glowing hand toward the controls and seizing them with his powers, fighting against Nega's shaky flying and steering on a straighter course towards Demon Island! "How dare you! You're not qualified to operate one of these machines! Cut that out!" Nega shouted. "Streeeeewth, I'm gonna hurrrrrl!!" Marine whined, the Egg Mobile zooming shakily toward their destination! Once they were over the island, Nega shook the vehicle hard, and the trio fell off of it! Silver was forced to catch Blaze and Marine, placing them gently on the floating ground as Nega started to cackle, making his escape!
Naturally, Blaze took off after Eggman Nega immediately, with Silver and Marine close behind. However, their pursuit was halted as Nega flew over a patrolling swarm of Lost Ones, mainly losol and losolanterns. "Out of our way!" Blaze growled. "Hey, Mr. Mustache just got to fly right past these creepos! Why aren't they chasing him?" Marine complained. Silver gulped as he noticed more Lost Ones surrounding them. "They might not want to go near his Sol Emeralds, but they sure want us!" he said with alarm, raising his hands to grab some creatures with his psychokinesis as they approached! Blaze threw some fire at the approaching losolanterns, but there were too many for the two of them to handle on their own. Fortunately, they were far from the only ones on the island. "Chaos Stinger!!" Crash ran up holding Zipp, pointing his stinger at some losol as the hornet fired Chaos shots from it! Talon flew up and slashed his glowing talons at some of the losolanterns, and Conan landed on the other side, his Chaos Wings turning back into a cape as he touched ground. He drew a Chaos Card, summoning an icy blast to freeze several of the slimy losol solid! Lastly, Vortex arrived to decimate the rest of the Lost Ones with his Chaos Inferno beam. Behind them, Emily, Bolt, Sonata, Gideon and Capricorn followed, all the survivors of Shadow Arcangel. "Whew! Thanks, cobbers! 'Ol Captain Marine nearly had to bust out her secret battle moves... an' then they wouldn't be a secret! Yeah..." Marine babbled. Blaze and Silver thanked them as well, but they couldn't stay long. "We need to get back on Nega's trail. He took all the Sol Emeralds..." Blaze explained. The experiments glanced at one another uncertainly. "There'sss no time to aid them. Massster sssacrificed himssself in order for ussss to get Gideon to cure thesssse creaturessss." Vortex stated. Gideon nodded in agreement. "Somehow..." it murmured. Sonata looked at Marine searchingly, the unicorn frowning to himself. "You guys go on, then. I'll help them out." he offered. This alarmed Bolt, and he tugged Sonata's arm. "N-not without me!" he stammered anxiously. Silver shrugged. "Any help would be appreciated." he murmured. "Ugh, don't slow us down..." Blaze sighed. And so, the trio was accompanied by the unicorn and the shelled creature. Capricorn watched them leave with a sigh. "Without my powers, I'm no good to anyone..." Despite that, she started to follow after them. Silver and Blaze seemed more welcoming than Team GeneX any day...
Blaze could sense the Sol Emeralds to a degree, and she followed those senses to the entrance of a golden shrine. This was one of several pieces of the world that the Lost Ones had pulled up and added to Demon Island; It was the Chaos Shrine from the Mystic Ruins. What use the Lost Ones could possibly have for the shrine that once held the Chaos Tailbands and Shadow Chaos, none could say, but the door was open and it was apparent to Blaze that Eggman Nega had gone inside. "D-do you think it's d-dangerous in there?" Bolt stammered. Blaze rolled her eyes. "Yes, so stay out here if you're scared." she said bluntly. Marine stood tall. "Ha! I'm not afraid of any spooks in there!" she declared, "...especially since there's more spooks out here..." she added with a whisper. Sonata nodded, observing her. "Don't worry, Bolt, I'll be right here with you..." the unicorn promised. Blaze shrugged, lighting a fire in her hand to brighten up the entrance room as she led the way inside. They looked around to find a chamber covered in tarnished gold. There was a staircase leading down directly ahead. "Seems like there's only one way to go..." Silver murmured. Blaze nodded, leading the way down the staircase to find the long hall that would lead to the tailband chamber. She gasped upon seeing what was in store for them in that long hallway; jellyfish creatures composed of the same watery substance as Chaos! They were moving in erratic patterns as though something had riled them up. "Yes, I think Eggman Nega was here...and woke up the guards!" Blaze stated. "They're Chaos Guardians!" Capricorn told them from higher up the staircase, "Beings created by Astra to help guard the Chaos Relics! Be careful!" the former Zodiac warned!
Silver tried to grab the guardians with his powers, but it was no use. "They're resisting my powers...and I don't see anything else to use!" he gulped. Blaze leapt ahead, evading the stinging tentacles of the Chaos Guardians and then giving them a flaming kick to their watery heads! The flames were doused by their water, but the force of her kick still seemed to do a little damage at least. But she was knocked back by another guardian's tentacles! "Unnhh! Well, ferret, you followed us, you know these creatures, do you know how to beat them?" she asked Capricorn. The ferret shrugged. "Without magic? I have no idea!" she exclaimed. Nervous, Bolt drew most of his body into his shell, unable to draw in his full head due to the bolts sticking out of it. Sonata looked from Bolt to the jellyfish creatures and then to Silver. "I have an idea! Bolt, we need to build a charge!" he said, giving his friend's shell a kick! As Bolt's shell started to spin, he cried out with alarm, and sparks started to fly from the bolts on his head! Unfortunately, the shell simply passed under the floating Chaos Guardians. "Silver! Guide his shell!" Sonata cried. "Ah, of course!" Silver gasped, dashing into the swarm of jellyfish to get close to the sparking shell! One of the guardians wrapped its tentacles around him, and he yelped in pain from the stings, but his eyes and hands glowed, grabbing Bolt's sparking shell and lifting it into the air as it continued to spin! The shell soared through the hall, shocking each Chaos Guardian as it struck it, and the electricity caused the creatures to shriek and back off, one by one! Silver was freed, and carrying Bolt along with him, he led the others through the hall toward the door at the end! "Watch out, Nega! You can't run!" Silver cried. Blaze rubbed her head, looking uncertain. "My senses are off... I'm not sure we're in the right place..." she murmured.
They arrived at the main room of the shrine, where a dizzy Bolt sat down as Sonata sang softly to calm him and stop him from sparking. The room contained a stone pedestal that once held the Chaos Tailbands and a wall of hieroglyphs written in an ancient echidna language, likely the Raisol language. "The text on the wall describes the events that led to the tailbands being placed in this shrine... The origins of Apocalos and the Darkseeker." Capricorn stated, "The Zodiac Council was well aware of all of this, of course..." she added. "Careful! We're not alone..." Blaze warned, pointing at three figures walking up onto the stone pedestal. "Team GeneX?" Bolt murmured. "Not quite!" said the hornet in the group; Zapp the hornet! "You can call us Dark Team GeneX!" Thrash the rhino sneered. Vanitas the chameleon looked down at the heroes with a smirk. "What did you think you were looking for in here? A golden treasure? A shadowy water demon?" he snickered. Seeing the three Darks, Marine backed away a step, and Sonata placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know you've been hiding your growing fears... It's okay to be scared." he said softly. Silver looked at the Darks apprehensively. "Wait, never mind what we're doing here, what are you three doing here?" he asked. Zapp twirled a pair of guns in his hands. "You guys were out of the way up to this point, but now you're on the wrong island." he sneered. "The Lost Ones want all you hero types eliminated so their plans can't be wrecked." Thrash added. Vanitas' hands glowed with Chaos energy as he sneered at Silver and Blaze. "We don't really care about their plans. We just can't stand our weaker halves, always obeying 'Master Bucky.' And clearly, you're working with them..." he said, glaring at Sonata and Bolt, "So, we'll wipe you all out!"
Thrash charged into the fray first, and Silver quickly picked him up and threw him against the wall with his powers! "Finally, some normal opponents!" he chuckled. "I'll show ya 'normal!'" Zapp growled, his guns glowing with dark energy before firing shadowy bullets at him! Silver stopped those bullets in midair, but the dark energy burned brighter and started pushing back against his psychic grip! "You guys might wanna stay out of the way!" Silver said to Sonata, Bolt, Marine and Capricorn as he attempted to redirect the bullets. While Blaze leapt into action against Vanitas, Sonata tried to lead Bolt to a safe corner, only to run into a groaning Thrash. "W-where ya think you're goin?" he growled. Marine got in front of the experiments and held out her arms. "L-leave 'em alone, or you'll have to face Captain Marine!" she warned. "W-what's she doing?" Bolt stammered. "Volunteering for first thrashin'!" Thrash snarled, holding onto his hat as dark energy collected in his horn before shooting out as lightning and zapping the raccoon! "Aaaaahh!! C-crikey... I didn't know he c-could do that!" Marine whimpered, doubled over in pain. "Stay down, girl!" the rhino warned. However, Marine struggled back to her feet. "N-no... The cobber's right, I'm scared... But I can't hide behind Blaze forever. I won't watch another world go through what mine did!" she shouted. Watching her, Bolt's bolts started to spark, and he growled a bit. "She's right... If I stay in my shell, I could...lose Sonny..." he whispered, suddenly hobbling past Marine and throwing a punch at Thrash! "Ha ha!! What was that!?" the rhino laughed, "You wimps are gonna be too easy!" he sneered, firing more dark lightning at Bolt, only for it to be absorbed by his bolts! The creature growled angrily at him, his whole body sparking. "Y-you... just MESSED UP!!" he roared, expelling that lightning from his bolts and giving Thrash a mighty shock! "Alright! Let's gang up on 'em!" Marine shouted, the "wimps" surrounding the stunned Thrash!
The stone pedestal was dragged into a black hole summoned by Vanitas' Chaos Hole ability. It was hurting the structural integrity of the room, but Blaze was fast enough to avoid getting pulled in, and the white chameleon was forced to close the hole before it became forceful enough to start pulling his allies in. "Fine, the easy way won't work. I've got other tricks, though..." he sneered, heading after Blaze. Feeling the pull of the black hole gone, Blaze turned to face him again, creating fireballs in her hands. "I just want to know if you've seen Eggman Nega or the Sol Emeralds!" she shouted. Vanitas cracked his knuckles. "Don't care enough to keep track! The Lost Ones just knew that intruders would wanna check this place out, and that's why we're here! Now I give you... Dark Chaos Inferno!!" He launched a huge beam of dark energy towards Blaze, which also had a flame trail snaking around it! Though the flames wouldn't bother the princess, she leapt to evade the darkness, and as she ran to continue avoiding the beam, the room shook from its impact against the walls! "You're going to bring this chamber down on top of us!" she warned. Vanitas stopped his attack and took on a karate stance. "Oh, fine, you have disarmed me with your logic. Now we fight hand-to-hand!" he said. Blaze doused the fire in her hands and ran to engage him in the fair fight she expected, but that was a bit much to expect. "Dark Chaos Camouflage!" His body seemed to change into pure dark energy, and Blaze's initial kick went straight through him! Vanitas smirked, grabbing her arm and starting to give her a swing...but then her entire body burst into flames! "Light cuts through shadow!!" she shouted as Vanitas released her, recoiling like a vampire exposed to the morning sun!
Overall, the battles seemed to have come to a bit of a stalemate. Zapp had especially gotten frustrated, his bullets unable to strike Silver fast enough, even charged by darkness. "Fine, I won't even bother shooting at you!" he growled, pocketing his pistols and somehow producing a rocket launcher instead! "Time to bring down the house!!" he shouted, firing a rocket at the back wall behind him so Silver couldn't stop him! The ceiling started to crumble, and Silver quickly tried to hold it up with his powers! "Agh!! W-we gotta get outta here!" he shouted. Thrash and Vanitas growled and ran for the exit, followed by Zapp. "Enjoy your tomb!" the chameleon shouted while Blaze and the others rushed to Silver's side, not wanting to leave him behind. "Wh-what do we do now?" Marine stammered. "We get YOU out first!" Capricorn suggested. There wouldn't be time even for that, however, as the floor suddenly caved in underneath them! As his friends screamed and started to fall around him, Silver glanced down and zoomed down after them, grabbing Marine and Blaze with his powers as fast as he could to slow their descent! They landed in a chamber below the tailband chamber...apparently the Chaos Shrine was larger than it appeared! The crumbling ceiling above plugged up the hole they'd fallen through, meaning they would have to find another way out. Capricorn and Sonata stumbled to their feet, and found Bolt wobbling around on the back of his shell, so they helped him up. Blaze looked around, and then turned to Silver with a sigh. "Thanks for breaking our fall, Silver... I think I sense the Sol Emeralds down here, so...that cave-in may have been fortunate." she murmured. There was a single door leading out of this chamber. They would have to see where it leads...
Vanitas, Zapp and Thrash had no trouble passing the Chaos Guardians and returning to the entrance. "Easy breezy, scratch one batch of heroes!" Zapp laughed, pleased with himself. "We weren't supposed to trash the place..." Thrash grumbled. "Yes, and I'm sure the big bads would prefer bodies to possess, but who really cares what they want?" Vanitas scoffed. The three of them suddenly cried out as they were lifted up by the ankles by powerful vines, and Loscream dropped from the ceiling, hanging the trio in front of his pumpkin face! "We could almost forgive your sloppy work... If you had actually killed those heroes! But you fools merely let them into the basement!" Loscream told them, the fire in his pumpkin shell burning blue! "H-hold on!" Thrash yelled. "Y-yeah, we'll make it right!" Zapp stammered. Vanitas crossed his arms. "Don't cower! It's not like we have our own souls for them to steal anyway!" he huffed. Loscream grinned at them in a wicked manner. "Oh, you will make it right...in a way. Tell me, if you don't have souls...how is it we were able to bring back other Darks... Mephiles, Soleil, Aries? Ohh, you poor fools... You can't have your own bodies without having your own souls!" As the giant pumpkin finished speaking, the three Darks' eyes widened, and they struggled against his vines, shouting in protest! Zapp and Thrash were tossed in Loscream's gaping mouth first, while Vanitas tried a last-ditch escape! "Dark Chaos Camouflage!!" Making his body an intangible shadow, he fell out of Loscream's grip...but directly into his jagged pumpkin mouth! "Noooo!!!" he cried as the blue flames enveloped him the same as his brothers! Loscream cackled and turned towards the Chaos Shrine's hall. "No escape...for anyone!!"
To be continued...
