Sonic GeneX: Doomsday
Chapter 55 - Project 30
Stage 25 - Robotnikland
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
"Well, I won't look back, I don't need to.
Time won't wait and I got so much to do.
Where do I stop, it's all a blur and so unclear.
Well, I don't know but I can't be wrong!
This fight is not for anybody, this is purely for myself.
There is no way I'm gonna give up 'til the very end!
I can't tell what is wrong and what is right, I've got to find the answer!
But until I do, there's no way I will ever give up.
Place all your bets on the one you think is right!" - It Doesn't Matter, Sonic Adventure
Previously on GeneX…
After the death of Skye, the timeline was starting to solidify, the Doomsayer's prophecy coming to fruition. As a result, all time travelers unprotected by spells vanished from existence, including Sonic and Lucky's children, while they could do nothing but watch. The Doomsayer appeared to gloat, and Sonic gave chase, with Amy following.
Eggman trapped them all with a machine that sent them to a new world, in which his dream of building "Robotnikland" had been realized. Metal Sonic ended up transported as well, and when guard robots attacked Amy, Sonic and Metal temporarily teamed up to defeat them.
Meanwhile, Eggman sent Firepaw back to fetch one last thing to complete his scheme. In the interim, he found the Eggman of Robotnikland, a rotting corpse, cause of death unclear. Despite seeing this, Eggman's resolve was unshaken. He would outdo this Eggman, and to do that, he would destroy Sonic first!
Now, our tale continues...
Sonic and Metal Sonic had been clashing for a few minutes, and Amy became a bit annoyed. "Stop it, stop it!!" she shouted, causing both Sonics to glance at her while grappling. "You okay there, Amy?" he asked. "Stay out of our battle!" Metal warned her. The pink hedgehog growled in frustration. "You two are so busy beating each other up, I think you forgot where we are, and what's going on with the bigger picture! We're trapped in an alternate universe and the Lost Ones are back in our world, creating a timeline where our kids will never be born!!" she shouted. Sonic nodded to himself. "Hm, yeah, when you put it that way, there probably are better uses of my time..." he murmured, releasing Metal from the grapple and speeding over to Amy. "Coward! Where are you going!? We need to finish this!" the robot shouted. Sonic scooped Amy into his arms. "Nope. Maybe you need to finish this, but I'm not a robot. I can choose to do what I think is right. And at the moment... That'd be finding us a way back home, fast!" he said. Amy held onto him tightly. "Any idea how we get back?" she asked as Sonic started to speed away from Metal, carrying her. "Well, Eggman sent us here. He oughta be able to send us back. Now, where did I leave that doctor again...?" Watching them speed away, Metal Sonic clenched his clawed fist. "No, you're a coward... I'm the superior Sonic..." he growled, firing up his engines to chase after Sonic. "...Come back here!!" the robot shouted. Sonic already had a pretty decent lead, however...
As Sonic ran along, searching for Eggman with Amy in his arms, a massive robot nearly dropped down on top of them, causing Sonic to stumble and drop Amy in surprise! He got up quickly, turning to see what looked a bit like a cross between the Death Egg Robot and a Metal Sonic! Instead of Sonic's eyes was a windshield, and Eggman could be seen piloting the robot inside! "Hoho...hohoho... HOO HO HO HO HO!!" the doctor laughed, "Now, Sonic! It's been a long day, but here we are, ready for the final clash! Does my machine look familiar?" he asked with pride. Sonic chuckled softly. "You keep tryin', doc, but you just can't quite capture my likeness!" he teased, "I hope that thing's equipped with the means to send us all home, though!" he added. Metal Sonic was arriving at this point, but stayed out of sight for the time being. "Home? Forget about that, Sonic. This is where you meet your end, in MY dream home! So many of my designs have failed, even Metal Sonic 20.0! But forfeit isn't in my vocabulary! So I've tweaked and perfected the design further, and now you see before you Metal Sonic 30.0! This is the apex mecha predator! Every encounter I've ever had with you, poured into this project, every imperfection weeded out! And once I prove my ultimate power with this robot by destroying you, nothing will stop me from conquering...every universe...in the MULTIVERSE!!" as he cackled, a familiar whirring sounded from inside the robot...a Phantom Ruby! Sonic turned to Amy, wanting to run her to safety, but the machine was already prepping a powerful laser powered by the Ruby! Before it could fire, though, Metal Sonic struck the robot with a homing attack, causing it to turn and shoot the beam at a building, blasting a massive hole in it! "What!? Metal!! How many times do I have to wipe your memory to keep you from betraying me!?" Eggman shouted. Metal Sonic stood beside Sonic while Amy fled for cover. "You betrayed me first, doctor... By your own admission, you erase my memory... And now you replace me!! But I'll show you your fatal mistake!!" the robot declared. Sonic shrugged. "Well, more Sonics the merrier, I guess."
Eggman growled. He wanted to focus on Sonic. So, with a few button presses, he activated the Phantom Ruby inside his robot, and created some backup! Other versions of Metal Sonic appeared; The prototype from the original Death Egg, Mecha Sonic, and even GUN's Techno Sonic were conjured by the Ruby! "You said it, Sonic! Hehe..." Eggman chuckled, letting the phantom robots go after Metal Sonic and Amy while his massive robot stared down the real Sonic. "Lost Ones give ya this Ruby, like Infinite?" Sonic asked. "Puh-lease! You didn't think I wouldn't create a backup of the ruby from my ultimate Death Egg Robot, did you? But that's not all this mean machine's got up its metallic sleeves!" Eggman smirked, various weapons popping out of hatches on the robots arms to demonstrate the point! "...Unfortunately, I ran out of space for a robotisizer, so... I'll just leave you as a blue smear on the road!!" Missiles started firing from the robot's arms, forcing Sonic to start running! Eggman followed after him, his machine impressively fast! The missiles crashed into the side of another building as Sonic dashed up the wall. "Get down here, you little blue pest!" the doctor snorted, pointing Metal Sonic 30's clawed fingers at Sonic and shooting black lightning up the building at him! Sonic swerved and then leapt off the building, startled by the attack! "Whoooa!! Your robot study under Despair??" Sonic stammered as he landed behind Eggman. The robot turned around, fingers sparking. "I had an opportunity to study the Darkseeker's abilities. Ophiuchus also lent me one of his magical stones!" he smirked, the robot's other hand snapping its fingers, and then the entire robot vanished in a burst of bright light!
Sonic looked around carefully. A shadow was cast over him, and was growing quickly. "Uh oh!" He rolled out of the way as fast as he could as a massive blue cube crashed down where he was standing, the shockwave caused by its impact sending him flying anyway! The cube then reverted back into the form of Metal Sonic 30! "Still equipped with the finest Wisp powers, as well! Wispon tech has helped me refine those weapons since last time, I'll admit!" Eggman snickered, firing some "meteor" Wispon projectiles from one of the many weapons attached to the robot's arm while Sonic staggered to his feet. "Ooff! Ahh, look at you! You're just like a kid playin' with your new toys! Do ya got Zavok powering that thing, too?" the hedgehog taunted, getting his momentum back as he started sidestepping Eggman's shots. "For your information... My takeaway from the Deadly Six was to Zeti-proof this thing so they couldn't control it. Not terribly relevant to this fight, but yes, I'm not kidding when I say ALL of our little adventures go into upgrading these ultimate Metal Sonic robots!" The Phantom Ruby whirred again, and Eggman summoned phantoms of some of his greatest robot creations to surround Sonic! The Egg Dragoon, the Ultimate Death Egg Robot, the Arachnoegg, and even the mechanized Time Eater! "What'll ya do about this, huh? Huh!? Just admit it for once in your miserable life!! I've finally outwitted and outmatched you, you smug little needlemouse!! You've got no way out of this one!! Even Metal Sonic 20.0 was about to kill you, but your friends swooped in! Where are they now, Sonic??" the doctor shouted, breathing hard, his hands trembling at the controls as he felt absolutely certain that this was it...his moment of victory at long last!
"You done, doc?" Sonic asked. All through Eggman's gloating, the hedgehog had been busily stretching, preparing himself, "I'll admit, you do have one over on me. If I do wreck your machine, for all I know, I'm stuck here in this world, and I'll never see my friends again. Congratulations, ya made me hold back a minute..." he said, lightly clapping. Eggman tilted his head. "What? Oh, don't kid yourself, Sonic! It's over! Holding back, hah!" the doctor scoffed. Sonic then crouched down, getting into a stance to prepare for takeoff. "What? Hehe...You think you're the only one who's grown stronger over the years? What do I do, sleep? But by all means...catch me if you can!!" As the phantom machines and Metal Sonic 30 started to open fire on Sonic, the hedgehog seemed to vanish from sight! He was moving at blinding speed, and as the doctor looked frantically for him, he occasionally saw a flash of blue before one of those phantom machines crumbled and vanished from existence! "I-I've clocked your top speed... You aren't...this fast!! Not without Chaos Emeralds!!" Eggman shouted, starting to shoot off all his weapons in random directions, trying to hit the blazing blue blur! A Chaos tendril whipped across the street, pink spikes jutted out far from the robot's back, the mouth seemed to spew a magical fire, and black lightning arced across the sky in front of the robot! "You can't get near me!! You'll perish if you try!! I'll have your head for real this time, Sonic!! I will!!" Eggman roared. "Look out belooooow!!" The doctor gulped at hearing Sonic's voice from directly above. He hadn't put any defenses up there! He had to reel back his other shooting weapons before he could move the robot's feet as well! "Come on, come on! Divert power!!" he shouted frantically. Sonic had raced up one of the buildings to dive back down as a blue wrecking ball, smashing through Metal Sonic 30's head!!
The Metal Sonic phantoms vanished as Metal Sonic 30 exploded. The Egg Mobile shakily staggered out of the wreckage, while Sonic sped out to find Amy, who looked a bit exhausted from fighting the phantoms. Still, she threw her arms around Sonic. "We...did it..." she huffed. Sonic nodded, gently returning her embrace. "Yeah... Juice'd be proud." Eggman growled as he watched them, but there wasn't time for threats of vengeance. Firepaw came running over in a panic. "MEOWR!! Time to go home, NOW!!" he shouted. Metal Sonic glanced in the direction Firepaw had come from. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of angry-looking robots were coming. "They appear indiscriminately hostile..." Metal Sonic stated. Glancing around, Eggman could see robots were coming from all sides, in fact. "I think the robots in this world actually aren't too fond of me..." he gulped. "Then send us all home!!" Amy shouted. Firepaw jumped in alarm. "Meowr! Right!" He produced an object similar to what Eggman had plugged into the Egg Mobile and now plugged it into his nose, which resulted in a conical laser popping out of his metallic chest! "Ughh, this feels nasty, but I had to get back here somehow..." he murmured. The conical laser then shot out another rift just like the one Eggman used to send them to this world in the first place. Metal Sonic wasted no time leaping into it, followed by Eggman's barely functioning Egg Mobile, and then Firepaw. Sonic held onto Amy's hand as they headed for the portal. "This time, we'll try not to get separated!" he told her. Amy smiled and nodded. "Let's go home!" she replied, the pair of them stepping into the rift before the robot hoards could reach them. The rift promptly closed behind them.
When Sonic and the others emerged, they were back home... In Eggman's first villainous "home," Scrap Brain Zone on South Island. "...Shouldn't we be on Demon Island?" Sonic murmured, "Ehh, never mind..." he sighed. "This was where I transported, hedgehog. Deal with it, meowr!" Firepaw grumbled. Interestingly, only Metal Sonic seemed to have landed elsewhere. Shrugging, Sonic motioned for Amy to follow him. "C'mon, I know the way outta this dump." he told her. Eggman growled, standing up in his seat. "It's no dump! I've revamped the facility! I had six months where you were out of commission to do things like that, if you'll remember!" he shouted, trying to retain some superiority. Amy glanced back at him and stuck out her tongue as she started to follow Sonic. They weren't impressed, and the doctor was once again defeated. "Rrrrgh... Go on! Turn your backs on me! I don't...care either... I'll be...fine..." the doctor scoffed, sounding more and more unsure of himself with each word. Despite Eggman's words, the base really didn't seem all that operational, and Sonic and Amy made their way pretty far without issue. However, they soon found their path blocked...by the Doomsayer. It was the future version of Sonic, and present Sonic groaned softly. "I thought you were sent to Eggman-world with us! How'd you get here? No, lemme guess, 'future knowledge' led you here..." he huffed. Once more, it was raining inside a building. "There's more than one way to traverse dimensions. Or did you forget?" He was alluding to a dark corridor, of course. "Perhaps you will understand me... If I tell you my story in full." the cloaked hedgehog sighed. Sonic shrugged, looking just a tad impatient. "I'll listen, but try and make it fast..." he replied.
"My timeline was...very different when the Lost Ones attacked. We weren't remotely prepared. One by one, my friends died... Apocalos wasn't even interested in consuming their souls. He took great pleasure in leaving the bodies for me to find. Ultimately, with nothing left to lose, I took him on in a final clash...or it was supposed to be. But as we battled, a bolt of lightning crashed down, and struck both myself and Apocalos while we grappled. It should have at least killed me... But instead, our powers mixed and merged. I gained the power of time travel that Apocalos had taken from Mephiles during the Time Eater incident. Apocalos gained my speed. Both of us, charged with lightning, gained power over the climate, the weather. But despite our power being nearly equal now, I could not do much to alter the timeline. I saved Tails here and there, delayed the inevitable now and then... but Apocalos had gained the favor of the Zodiac Council, and there were only so many changes I could make without them resetting the timeline with their magic. Apocalos was also held back by those limitations, but now that Zodiac is gone...he's amassed too much power to stop." the Doomsayer explained. Amy looked sympathetic as she listened. "You've endured so much, all on your own..." she sighed. Sonic tapped his foot impatiently. "Too much power to stop? Are you kidding? Now that there's no more time-resets, this is OUR big chance! We could save everyone still here, and everyone still to come...and maybe everyone transformed, somehow! We just gotta work together!" he said, offering a hand to the Doomsayer. The rain started to pour harder, and the glowing eyes of the alternate Sonic burned brightly. "I'll save myself the suffering... By taking you down here and now!!" he declared!
Lightning crashed through the base, surrounding the Doomsayer as Sonic and Amy backed away. "Stay back, Amy!" Sonic warned. She looked quite worried, she hated to see Sonic fight himself. The Doomsayer had grabbed a lightning bolt in each hand, ready to use them as crackling weapons against Sonic! As the black robed one sped towards him, swinging the bolts, Sonic leapt up and tried to hit him with a homing attack, only for the Doomsayer to leap in a balled up form as well, the lightning sparking from his curled body and knocking Sonic back! The younger hedgehog stumbled to the ground, but was quick to get back to his feet. He started to chase the Doomsayer through the base, both of them evading flamethrowers and buzz saws as they raced to try and find an opening, a vantage point to strike! Sonic eventually went for broke, bouncing off the wall and crashing toward the Doomsayer in his balled-up form! The Doomsayer saw him coming, and crossed the lightning bolts together to block him, electrocuting the blue hedgehog as he repelled him! "Aaagh!!" Sonic's body sizzled a bit as he stood up, the tips of his quills looking a tad burned. The Doomsayer pointed the lightning at him, but then scoffed, choosing to instead exert his control over the elements to send an icy blast of wintry winds blowing Sonic's way, trying to freeze him on the spot! "I control speed, time, and the very elements! All this power, and yet I can't save this world! What nonsense is it that makes you think you can do any better!?" he shouted as Sonic struggled against the wind, battered but not beaten. Sonic was standing his ground, step by step, marching towards the Doomsayer. "I... dunno..." he replied, not stopping, "But I still got somethin' to fight for...and that's enough!"
The Doomsayer halted the wind, and Sonic tried to charge him, only to be grabbed by the throat! He wasn't used to someone being as fast as he was, he wasn't prepared for the Doomsayer to simply outwit him like that. His legs kicked under him as his own future self carried him outside and threw him to the floor. Sonic coughed for air and glanced up to see the Doomsayer pointing a lightning spear at his heart. "It would be so easy to finish you..." he grunted. Sonic panted for breath, but started to chuckle softly. "You won't though..." he giggled. The Doomsayer raised the spear. "What makes you so sure?" he growled. Sonic had a light smirk. "You can't. Because somewhere deep, deep down, I know you still haven't given up, either. I think you're here, in this time, when you could be anywhere else... because deep down, you wanna see how this all ends. And you wanna see it end right!" The Doomsayer growled, lifting the lightning bolt higher, readying to strike. He started and stopped, and started and stopped again. Finally, he let out a frustrated snarl. "Aaaaaarghh!!" He hurled the lightning bolt into the sky, letting it strike where it would, and lifted his hood over his eyes. "What I want, what you want, it makes no difference!" he huffed. Sonic sat up, watching him. "We could work together, you know..." he stated. The Doomsayer shook his head, lightning booming in the background. "It's too late. Much too late. Demon Island has arrived..." he stated, motioning into the distance. Sonic turned around, looking out across South Island. His eyes widened. Demon Island had indeed arrived, and ominously loomed above. Of all skylines to park itself, the Lost Ones had brought the island to rest above Green Hill Zone. "It all ends...where it all began..." the Doomsayer sighed.
To be continued...
