Sonic GeneX: Doomsday
Chapter 58 - Apocalypse Part 3
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
The Keyblade & other Kingdom Hearts elements are (c) Disney & Square-Enix.
Moogles are (c) Square-Enix.
Super Mario, Pokemon & hylians (c) Nintendo
The Mobius Stomp song is from Sonic Underground
"Heaven can't save us,
Hell is a joke,
No place left to go!
What you see,
You cannot believe,
But when we rise, you'll know...
Well, we're almost dead,
Almost dead,
Almost dead to the world!
Almost dead,
Almost dead,
Almost dead to the world!" - Almost Dead, Shadow the Hedgehog
A desperate battle raged across Green Hill Zone, as all surviving allies had banded together against the tremendous army of Lost Ones. Sonic was busily keeping Apocalos occupied atop a huge loop, although his efforts weren't enough to stop the Scepter of Despair as it was feeding soul energy into Demon Island. Meanwhile, Classic Sonic was speeding about, gathering up the Chaos Relics with Skye and Classic Tails following to offer guidance. He sped by with roughly half of them gathered, passing the scene of Gaia Nightmares, Resistance Rookies and Chao all fighting alongside one another, clashing with loskel, losohsts and lostalkers, neither side letting up, though the Lost Ones were gaining ground as they struck down some Rookies and converted them into Lost Zombies. At the same time, Knuckles had gathered the seven Chaos Emeralds for Dr. Eggman, and with Lucky's help opening a portal, the doctor was taking those emeralds and Experiment 20, Gideon "the GeneX," back to Darkegg Fortress to enact a plan. Though Knuckles had elected to remain with the battle, Vortex had chosen to accompany Gideon. Some robots were joining Eggman as well, including Metal Sonic and Alpha, whose inclusion got Char to tag along. Little did Eggman know, one more stowaway followed behind him, too distrustful to let the scientist take the Chaos Emeralds without following...
Meanwhile, battles continued to rage across Green Hill. The Babylon Rogues were doing their best to provide air support with their weaponized boards, and found themselves battling the undead Battle Bird Armada. "Well, now we know exactly what happened to these guys!" Storm grunted, smacking away some of those slimy birds with his fist as they got too close. Flying up on a jetpack, Speedy arrived, glaring at the Rogues. "You let me down... Now, it's time to pay!" he said, his voice a bit demonic. Wave scoffed at him. "You let us down, too. Where's our blimp, huh??" she asked, turning her board to shoot at some Battle Birds as they tried to sneak up on her! Speedy chuckled softly. "Ohh, you can have it back... once you've joined us!" he hissed. Jet fired some shots from his board at him, giving a taunting smirk. "Catch me if you can, ya slimy slug!" he squawked, taking off as Speedy began to chase after him!
Illusi the shrew found the skeletal form of Eddie the hyena, cackling manically as he used illusions to chase frightened Chao towards him! The shrew sent his Wrongos to strike the fearsome, shadowy illusions down, and the Chao escaped! Turning to him, Eddie cast an illusion over his form to appear as his former blue-furred self. "Eee hee hee... It's an illusion duel you want?" he snickered. Illusi held a pair of spiked Wrongos like chakrams in his hands. "I don't know where you learned these powers, but I studied for eons... Have at me!" Eddie smirked and created some blades in his hands, and the pair started to battle... Little did the undead hyena know, the real Illusi was casually chatting with Classic Sonic behind a large boulder. "Ah, yes, I took the Chaos Boots for safekeeping amid all the chaos on Demon Island. Here you are..." he said, holding out his hands, the boots suddenly appearing! Classic Sonic nodded and took them. He still had a few more Relics to gather...
GUN's forces had formed up around the warship they'd flown in on, forced to land due to the poor weather conditions caused by Apocalos. "There are refugees aboard that aren't able to defend themselves, so we make our stand here, everyone! Hold this line!" the Commander ordered. Riley and Steven, or "Spy" and "Agent 77," both shakily held their guns, joined by Chief Paynson. "Steady, men..." he murmured, glancing to see Ridley and Chet rush up to the front lines. "Officer! Where is your partner?" Paynson asked. Ridley glanced back at him. "...Fallen in the line of duty, sir. I'm going to fight on in his memory!" he stated, holding up his hand and creating a Chaos Splash ball to illustrate his point. "Here they come! For Razor!!" Chet shouted, speeding ahead to take on the incoming Lost Ones! Mia's taxi rolled onto the scene as well, carrying Katie, Tommy, Bill and Bob. "How my car wound up on the warship, I'll never know, but I'm glad it did!" Mia sighed. Tommy hopped out of the cab, clutching a Wispon. "Coming, Katie?" he asked. She hopped out, shakily holding an artificial Chaos Sword. "I'll do my best..." she murmured. Bill and Bob nervously followed them. "Why we even here, Bill?" Bob asked. "Moral support... And I'd rather throw some rocks at 'em than do nothin' at all!" he babbled. Riley felt a hand on his shoulder, and he gasped to see the President. "S-sir! Shouldn't you be in the ship?" he asked. "We can't protect you out here!" Steven added. The President armed his own pistol, looking out at the incoming monsters. "I belong out here with my people..." he said, "Let's win this together!"
Mephiles had moved on from Shadow and was now terrorizing Silver, Blaze and Marine with dozens of tiny copies of himself. "All your efforts to save the future, time and again, always in vain... How does it feel, knowing I will always win!?" the Dark taunted, floating ever out of reach. Blaze yelled furiously, burning through those mini-Mephiles creatures as she charged towards him! "You monster! You were the Iblis Trigger all along!" she shouted. Marine glanced at Silver awkwardly. "Any idea what she's yammering about?" she questioned, kicking a mini-Mephiles as it approached her. Silver was using his powers to hold the creatures back from doing any real harm to her. "Weirdly, she seems to know some things about time that I don't..." he said. Mephiles tossed Blaze back with a powerful dark blast, and Silver leapt up to catch her, while Mephiles started charging a stronger blast to strike them with! However, a blue ball struck him from behind, and he growled, looking to see Classic Sonic, as well as Classic Tails! "Waah!! What is that thing!?" Classic Tails stammered. "Amusing. Your small selves have forgotten me. And so, you'll meet your end to an unknown shadow...!" Mephiles snarled, only for the Kosmogon to fly in front of him, blasting him into the distance with a powerful flame blast! "Run away from Shadow, will ya!?" he yelled, morphing back to normal next to the Classics. He then passed the Chaos Crown towards them. "My daughter was holding this... Run it to where it'll do the most good." he asked as Classic Sonic accepted it, smiling at him reassuringly while Marine led Silver and Blaze in chasing after Mephiles again. "No one runs from Captain Marine!! After 'em, mates!!" she cried.
Back at the warship, Howler was leading an army of undead Despair agents in an attack, planning to claim the warship for the Lost Ones! They were tearing through the robots on the front lines, the beetles and hunters proving ineffective at stopping the Lost Ones, especially with Howler there to wreck them with his dark power! "Steady... Fire!!" the Commander shouted, bullets and Wispon blasts raining from behind their cover as humans and Mobians alike attempted to hold the line! Ridley and Chet were out fighting the slimy dogs and bears more directly, though the odds were against them. "Chaos Splatter!!" Ridley shouted, using a massive burst of Chaos-charged water to knock away several foes and free up some breathing room! "Agh... Never thought I'd die like this..." he huffed. Chet sped next to him and patted his shoulder. "Don't quit on me, yet! I got a score to settle..." he growled as Howler approached. "...Didn't I kill you once?" the wolf said, snorting at Chet. "Well, this time it's my turn!" Chet yelled, charging at him only to be knocked onto his back by a jolt of dark energy! "Chet!! Hey, careful!! Razor would kill me if I let you die!" Ridley stammered. "Too bad..." Howler growled, "Now, any last words?" he sneered. "We've got a few words for ya!" shouted Rick the gargoyle, flapping above the two experiments. Guard flew beside him. "Grrrr!! We are, all of us..." more and more gargoyles joined them in the air as his voice trailed off, and with one voice, they finished his sentence, "Guardians!!" Together, the gargoyles charged the Agents of Despair, and against these numbers, even Howler found himself backing off, enabling Chet to get back to his feet! "Let's gooo!! Let's win this war with Despair once and for all!!" he shouted.
"Eggmaaan!! What are you planning to do with those Chaos Emeralds!?" shouted Amy, the stowaway who followed Eggman through the portal to his base. She smacked Orbot and Cubot aside with her hammer as they tried to restrain her. "Welp, we triiiied..." Cubot whimpered as he rested on the ground. Eggman shrugged and motioned for Amy to follow as he climbed out of his Egg Mobile. "See for yourself, but first I need to activate the Doomsday Protocol here. I trust preparations have been made?" the doctor asked Hoover as the beaver robot munched on an iron bar. "Yeah, yeah, but we didn't know what voice was needed for authenticatin'." he murmured. The doctor nodded as he led them all into the main elevator. "Goin' uuuup!" BAS announced. "Wheeee!!" Alpha cheered. Amy stood awkwardly between Metal Sonic and Vortex, and all three of them stared at Eggman curiously. "Alright, I'll explain. Bucky's message, which he left when he contacted this tower earlier, explained the cure he concocted for the Lost One condition. It involves charging the creation, or GeneX energy, of one Gideon the Experiment... That's what the Chaos Emeralds are for, but Gideon itself won't be fast enough to carry all that charged creation energy everywhere it needs to go. Fortunately, Bucky developed a device capable of copying a being's abilities into another vessel. You'll recall it being used by GUN to give Sonic's speed to Techno Sonic once." he explained. Vortex cocked his head. "But that machine isss gone. Dessstroyed." he stated. Eggman chuckled. "Bucky's a scientist. Of course he had a prototype he kept for himself... And I helped myself to it during my tenure as world ruler." he said as the elevator came to a stop. Gideon nodded. "This is why I was created... I will do what I must, no matter the cost..." it stated. Metal Sonic followed Eggman out of the elevator. "This is why I am here... Only I could be fast enough..." he realized. "That's assuming your metal body can handle the energy..." Eggman stated. Metal Sonic clenched his fist. "I can do this! I'll prove I'm the ultimate hedgehog!" he declared.
Copter and Gemini were heading for Apocalos with Timothy, Adam and Evelyn following after them. However, before long, Ophiuchus stood in their way. "Are you kidding me? I thought he was left dead in the future!!" Adam shouted. "It doesn't matter where the Lost Ones have to look... All will bow to their will! ...Also it turns out death renders Lost One immunity null and void." he sneered. Beside him, Capricorn and Cuthburt approached, both prepared to assist him. "Now, you will at last join us..." Cuthburt snarled. Timothy was quick to knock him over with a burst of magic. "Copter, Gemini! You both need to keep going! Just leave these losers to us!" he shouted. "What? No! I can't let you end up like Cuthburt!" Gemini stammered. "You won't! You'll win!" Evelyn smirked, firing her laser at Capricorn as the slimy ferret dodged out of the way! Copter grunted. "Chaos Whirlwind!!" he shouted, using his wind to force Ophiuchus out of the way and clear a path! "Come on, Gemini! Let's end this, once and for all!" he said, reaching his hand out to her. She took it, smiling as Copter spun his tails and flew her past the snake! "Where do you think you're going! Don't you turn your backs on me!!" Ophiuchus shouted, only to be struck in the back by Timothy's magic! "They're finished with you! ...But I'm not!" he said. Ophiuchus turned, holding his own wand. "You will be...very quickly!" he growled.
Eggman Nega found Slash and Sting, two of Eggman's old robots, being chased about by possessed Egg Pawns. "You're pitiful. I should leave you both to your fate!" he growled. "Aw, c'mon, future-boss!" Sting whined. "My claws just bounce off 'em!! Heeelp!!" Slash wailed. The doctor growled in frustration. "Just watch out..." he muttered, glancing back. From the direction he was glancing, Bolt's shell came spinning onto the scene, a frantic Sonata chasing after him! "Careful! Careful! Bolt!! Aaah!!" the unicorn cried, hiding his face as Bolt's electric-charged body crashed into the possessed robots, causing them to explode and splatter the slime inside all over, forcing Eggman Nega to float out of the way! His Egg Mobile was then struck by a stray boulder, causing him to spin out! "Whoooa!! Who threw that!?" he shouted, looking to see Punchy squaring off against Soleil. He pointed at her. "It was her fault!" he shouted. "Hah! Too cowardly to fight me on your own?" she laughed. Eggman Nega growled, pressing some buttons quickly. "I'm fed up with this... I'll blast anyone who gets in my way!!" he shouted, popping numerous weapons out of his vehicle! Punchy sighed. "There's gotta be a way to catch up with the others at the big boss battle..." he grumbled.
Tails had gotten separated from Fera and Violet on his way to get his Tailband to Sonic, and now his path was blocked by all the Zeti that had been previously devoured by Losipher. "Haha! Looks like we got ya cornered again, runt!!" Zazz shouted as Tails backed up, pointing his hand-cannon around. "I won't go down so easily this time!" he warned, but the Zeti kept closing in on him anyway. "You might as well give up. The Apocalypse is inevitable..." Zor mumbled. "And you can't possibly beat all of us..." Zeena added with a smirk. "But maybe I can!!" came a deep voice. To Tails' surprise, Zavok leapt over his head and slammed his fist into Zomom's gut, making the gluttonous Zeti cough and choke on some chips he was munching! He was then swiftly swatting away his other possessed allies, knocking Zik and Zor across the grass! "Yeaaaah! Zavok, Zavok, he's our man!!" Zim cheered from close by. "Waah! H-he could use some help!" Tails stammered, charging in to fire some shots at the angry Zazz as he leapt about! Zim sighed, realizing he was right. "Alright... Heartless! Aid me!" he cried, trying to summon the dark creatures to his aid. Instead, Zeena stomped over to him, swiping her sharp nails his way! "Yaah! You dare strike ZIM!? I'll do this myself!!" he shouted, suddenly headbutting Zeena to kick off their battle!
Classic Knuckles was having a fist fight with Thrash, who had become a skeletal rhino after Loscream devoured him. "Hyaa!! Get back, ya bone head!" he shouted, giving his opponent a good uppercut that twisted his skull backwards! While Thrash staggered to twist his head on straight, the bony forms of Zapp and Vanitas emerged to gang up on Classic Knuckles. "Oh, that's fair..." he grunted, backing up slowly as Zapp pointed a gun at him. "Hey! Leave...me alone!!" shouted Modern Knuckles, rushing in to smack the gun from the weird skeletal hornet! The bony chameleon leapt at Classic Knuckles anyway, but Lara jumped in and gave him a powerful karate kick, scattering his bones to the floor! "Uhh... You okay...dad?" she asked awkwardly. Classic Knuckles looked at her in surprise. "Umm... Confused, but whatever! Let's give 'em some triple trouble!" he smirked, the three echidna's standing together as the skeletal Dark Team GeneX reassembled, ready for a rumble!
8BIT, floating in midair and filled with dark power, shot 2BIT down with a powerful strike of black lightning. "Stay down... You are beaten..." he sneered. The rest of BIT Squad weren't looking much better. Their battles had run them ragged. So, it was all on 2BIT, and the fox strained to his feet, lifting his Power Glove to block 8BIT's next black lightning strike! He strained to push back against the power 8BIT had built up, moving only through sheer determination. "I... won't stop!" he panted, even as the sparks seared and burned his fur! 8BIT growled. "You will!" he yelled, pointing a finger-gun and firing to crack reality around 2BIT, causing him to stagger as the world beneath his feet shifted in uncanny directions! 2BIT's jetpack fired up, and he started into the air to pursue 8BIT. "Unlike you, I can't quit... Unlike you... I have...everything to fight for!" he declared. 8BIT struck at the flying fox with more lightning, laughing as the dark energy covered 2BIT and seemingly trapped him in the air! "And I have power fighting for me!" 8BIT snarled. However, a light erupted from the version of Tails that had arrived with 2BIT, who was frozen in time below, and that light started to counter some of that darkness. This was followed by a light from each member of BIT Squad, and 2BIT broke free, flying up towards 8BIT as he glowed with that light! "Gah! You unoriginal hack! You're copying me, drawing power from them!" 8BIT shouted, having drawn power from "allies" of his own. 2BIT looked around in confusion. "No...I'm not. See, 8BIT, you stole your power." he said, charging at the black fox and slapping his Power Glove against 8BIT's own, starting a cosmic arm-wrestling match right there! Blue and black colors swirled around them, and each tried to overcome the other fox! "You think...you can rub off on me, huh? Haha, I'll turn you instead!!" 8BIT shouted. 2BIT clutched his rival's fist tight, struggling against him. "We'll...see!" he grunted. Light erupted from other allies that 8BIT had frozen in time... each adding their power to 2BIT! "Stop...stealing that weak light energy to gain an edge!" 8BIT snarled. "I'm not stealing it... My friends...are giving me strength, 8BIT! And I have plenty more where that came from...where's yours?" 8BIT's eyes widened as the truth of 2BIT's words revealed itself. Lucky, Rainbow, Mario...not just their energy, but more beams of light raced across Green Hill. Every friend 2BIT had summoned but landed elsewhere, every Mobian, Pokemon, human, hylian, or other being that happened to arrive either by 2BIT's power or Lucky's portals, any with ties to 2BIT's heart now lended their aid! And with their power mingling with 2BIT's, the blue light spread into 8BIT's body, and overcame his evil! The cracks in reality began to restore themselves, and the villains summoned by 8BIT began to fade away into dust from whence they came. Furthermore, the Power Gloves also faded into dust, as 2BIT and 8BIT gently lowered to the ground...hugging. ".....I feel like we missed a whole extra story here." Gator murmured, "Naaah, couldn't be..."
Atop the loop, Apocalos had knocked Sonic down onto his back as the hedgehog once again attempted to get at the Scepter of Despair. As Sonic tried to pick himself up, Apocalos pinned him with a lightning spear! The villain sneered, and without a word prepared to strike... But then, another lightning spear blocked him, and forced his spear back! Looking, Sonic could see himself as the Doomsayer, golden eyes glaring at Apocalos! "Haha!! 'Bout time you showed up!" Sonic laughed, hopping to his feet and standing beside the Doomsayer. "We finish this once and for all, then!" Apocalos growled, and together the trio started a tense battle, Apocalos grabbing another crashing lightning bolt to swing at Sonic while parrying the Doomsayer's spear! Their clash of speed and power seemed to put the pressure on Apocalos, but the villain let out a laugh as a mystical beam shot up from the Scepter, feeding all of its energy to Demon Island! "You're too late! Haha... You're too late!!! Now, all worlds end...and my world begins!!" he snarled, hurling his two spears right at Sonic and the Doomsayer to force them back! He then leapt up and grabbed the Scepter, his toothy grin widening all the way across his face. The bridge of his oddly linked together hedgehog eyes rose up, and his two glowing pupils merged, his two eyes becoming one bulging eye, resembling that of a Doomling! "Now...watch as everything you love...withers and dies!!" he growled, his one eye glancing up and drawing Sonic and the Doomsayer's gazes. The slimy tendrils contained within Demon Island suddenly burst out from all sides, seven massive tendrils reaching out from the barely-held-together island! They were so giant, they were able to start snaking around the entire world...and they were seeking out the sites where the Temples of Gaia once stood...under which were the Gaia Wellsprings!
Everyone could see what was happening, but it didn't mean the battles below were over. It did mean that everyone had to fight harder. Manic and Sonia found themselves trying to pass a group of Battle Birds led by their leader, Lord Kukku. "Hey, outta the way, uglies!" Sonia snapped. "We gotta try to get to our dimension-bro! ...Ah, they listen like Sleet and Dingo. Ready, sis?" Manic asked. They summoned their instruments in preparation. "And a one, two, three!!" Sonia counted off, ready for a...song?
"We’re gonna tear down the house,
Rip up the joint,
Doin’ the Mobius Stomp!!
We’re gonna shake up the street,
Blast out the beat,
Doin’ the Mobius Stomp!!
Gonna turn up the amp ‘til the speakers are blown!
Rock off the roof ‘til the cows come home!
Come on, come on, come on,
The thing’s ready to bloooow!!"
The noise sure aggravated the undead birds, most of them holding their ears with their slimy wings. However, Kukku was unimpressed. "I didn't get humiliated by that fox's friends and left for dead just to be deterred now by a little screeching!" he growled, leaping towards the siblings! He was knocked out of the sky by a homing attack, and Juice the hedgehog landed between his dimensional aunt & uncle! "Hey, ugly! I liked the song!" he shouted. Melody the mongoose flipped over the Underground and landed next to him. "Need a backup singer? Hehe!" she giggled. Kukku pointed at Melody with a shriek. "Prower!! I'd know one anywhere!! Stop holding your heads and get them, ninnies!!" he shouted to his minions. Sonia and Manic smirked at each other. "All right, bird brains..." Sonia said. "...let's rumba!" Manic chuckled.
Team Chaotix took cover from the Lost Ones they'd been dealing with and gazed up at the giant tendrils erupting from Demon Island. "Don't gotta be a detective to know this ain't good..." Vector grunted. Charmy buzzed about frantically, feeling a bit panicked. "What's gonna happen!? Is the world actually gonna end!? No way! We gotta do something!!" he babbled. Espio looked around at the chaos still unfolding. "Right, break time's over..." he said, "Let's start there!" He pointed out the slimy form of Dragon Gemini, atop which Aries was riding! Charmy gulped. "Do we have to?" he questioned. Vector saw that the dragon was chasing a scrawny young crocodile, and he grit his teeth. "Yeah, we have to! Hey!! You leave my kid alone!!" he shouted, charging out to get Aries' attention! "Huh?! H-how'd you know!" Argyle stammered. Vector chuckled. "It's obvious! Now stand back!" he shouted. Aries looked down at him, unimpressed. "Even if either of you manage to beat my Los Gemini, how do you expect to beat me at my fullest potential?!" he growled. Argyle chuckled softly. "Because we're just the diversion!" he stated. "Huh??" Aries questioned, suddenly crying out as he was lifted off the dragon's back and hurled into the distance by the psychokinetic powers of Venice the hedgehog, who'd snuck up behind him! "There, now it's just a mindless dragon!" he chuckled. "...JUST!?" Charmy yelped. Espio watched the trajectory of Aries and started after him. "Someone's got to take care of that knockoff Copter..." he mumbled. Vector glanced at his son and nodded. "Alright, kiddo! Let's show this oversized lizard who's boss!" he winked, happy to fight alongside him, whatever would happen next.
Booster the reindeer flew about, gawking up at the frightening image of the massive tendrils. "Ohhh, this isn't holly or jolly. I don't like having nightmares before Christmas!" he stammered, looking ahead and gasping as he nearly ran into Lospecter! "Hey! You know where everyone is all the time, don't ya? I got a quiz for you! Lospecter's Quiz Mania! Lightning round! Tell me where that punk took the Chaos Key! Ehh, I'll settle for the location of Gemini. No one deserves to feast on her soul more than me!" he said, floating toward Booster threateningly as the reindeer backed up. "Whoa, there! I-I don't see people all the time, that's Santa's thing! Besides, we don't help n-naughty list punks like y-you!" he stammered. "Aw, shame. You know, I actually will miss all this when it's over... But regrets or no, I can't go back now! C'mere, you snack!" However, before Lospecter could lunge at Booster, a beam of energy grabbed his ghostly form! "What-the-who-the-huhhh!?" he yelled, tugging against the energy beam as a second beam grabbed him from another angle! "Lospecter!! Back again, huh?!" came the voice of Tails from the universe of GeneX Spectre, wrangling the ghost using his PCD and the help of Sonic's PCD as well! "There may only be two of us now... But no matter what... We ain't afraid of no ghosts!!" Sonic smirked. Lospecter struggled, shouting frantically. "You can't touch me!! Aaah, that's cheating!! That's...that's... Gahhh...well played." he huffed, his intangible form starting to be sucked into Sonic's PCD as he gave up. "Forgive me...Astra..." he could be heard sighing as he vanished inside the device! Booster approached slowly, and shook Sonic and Tails' hands one at a time. "The North Pole won't forget this!" he smiled. "Ahh...thanks?" Sonic stammered. "Whoa. I knew ghosts were real, but SANTA??" Tails gasped.
Indeed, the massive tendrils caught everyone in Green Hill's attention, including 2BIT and 8BIT's. "Oh, what have I done? We could have used the Power Gloves to stop this!" the now-reformed 8BIT said with great fear and regret. Tails and Dogson ran up to them, time having been restored for them. They noted the worry on the blue fox's face. "2BIT... We're all still here." Tails told him, grabbing his hand. 2BIT nodded. "That's good, cuz this world may need our help! Dogson, go with 8BIT, rally the others!" he told them. As the others raced to regroup their forces, 2BIT stood alone with Tails for a moment. "Stopping 8BIT took all my power. Maybe some will come back, but I fear it's going to be up to mere mortals to save this world." he said to the kitsune, "I gotta admit...I'm a little scared." Tails squeezed his hand and smiled at him. "Don't worry. We mortals will show you our stuff!" he winked. 2BIT chuckled softly. "Alright then...lead the way!" he said. There was still so much more left to do.
Left without Vortex, Zipp and Crash continued the fight together, the rhino's horn bashing into losol golems and bursting them into dozens of smaller losol for Zipp to shoot at. "Ughh... I shoulda gone with Vortex." Crash groaned, trying to shake off some of the slime residue he was getting all over himself. Zipp became distracted, shooting up at the tendrils in the sky. "Aaaaahh!! Take it, ya bastards!! Rrrgh, if I still had my arsenal!!" the hornet snarled, enraged at those tendrils for destroying Shadow Arcangel and taking his guns - and Bucky - from him! In the distraction, Crash was grabbed by a losol and shouted in alarm! "Agh!! Zipp!! N-noo!!" he grunted. Zipp pointed his gun at Crash's head. "I...I'll kill ya rather than let 'em take you! I...I will!" He was hesitating, though. As Crash struggled to pull away, Talon the griffin landed beside him, and slashed his glowing claws at the losol! "I gotcha, bros! Hey, Zipp, watch it!" he shouted. Zipp lowered his gun hastily. "Aaah, right! I-I've trained you well, kid! ...Just not so much with the guns." he chuckled. The losol were surrounding them, so Talon stood behind Crash to cover him. "It's gettin' tough, but if we let up, we'll just add to everyone's problems! Let's do this!" he said, the rhino and hornet nodding, ready to fight with him.
Cosmo and Zooey found themselves back to back, fighting off Phantoms of Chaos and Metal Sonic using whatever they had at their disposal, be it the Wispon Zooey had taken with her after leaving the GUN Warship, or the fighting skills Cosmo had developed through her years fleeing enemy pursuit across the galaxy. The Seedrian kicked away a Phantom Metal Sonic while Zooey blasted Chaos into a puddle. "Where are these coming from, anyway?" Zooey asked. "Does it matter?" Cosmo sighed. Infinite floated over to answer their questions. "You are...weak... Frail, fleshy bodies... All of you, weak!!" he proclaimed, summoning more Phantoms to surround the girls! A shield flew into the area, bouncing between the Phantoms to knock them aside before returning to Miles. "And how fair is ganging up on the 'weak,' huh?" he shouted. Infinite glanced at him. "Impossible... I broke you! You were weak, too... All of you, weak!!" He seemed a bit one-track as a Lost One. Zooey and Cosmo rushed to Miles' side. "Looks like someone broke you, and all your strength is an illusion!" Cosmo snapped. Zooey looked at Miles with a blush. "Hey, you're a different Tails?" she asked cutely. "T-taken!" he babbled, holding up his shield toward Infinite, "Err, now's not the time for chitchat!" he added.
Tails, Knuckles, Copter, Punchy, Shadow, Silver, Blaze, Gemini, Fera, Violet, Heather, Kosmo, and Lucky were all racing to meet Sonic under Demon Island and help him finish things up. However, Losipher stood tall in their path, clutching the Chaos Sword in his claws, keeping this final Chaos Relic from their grasp! "Use all the power you possess! I cannot be destroyed, my power has been molded to make me an unstoppable force of death!" he proclaimed as an additional pair of limbs burst from his sides, holding blazing swords, his back sprouting broad wings and his lower body becoming a horrifying mass of tentacles! "Ugh, he's always gross... I could just teleport us by, but the Chaos Sword!" Gemini pointed out. Copter and Tails were both holding up the remotes for their planes. "Either way, we'll need a way up there..." Tails stated, gasping as a tentacle came lashing out towards him! Silver pulled him back with his psychokinesis, floating out of reach. "We failed to beat you last time, but this will be your end!!" he shouted as Losipher laughed in response. Violet and Fera tried to warp in and grab the Chaos Sword, only to be blown back by the flapping of his great wings! "Unghh!! Something's gotta work!!" Violet grunted. Shadow tried to blind him with Chaos Spears, while Heather and Blaze poured fire into the monster's chest, but little seemed to matter as his tentacles wildly lashed out, grabbing up Knuckles and Punchy! "Gaah!! Why'd I hand off the Chaos Claws, anyway!?" Knuckles groaned. It was then that Classic Sonic sped onto the scene, slashing the tentacles with those claws to free the echidnas! "...That's why." Punchy mumbled. Kosmo morphed into the Kosmogon and flew behind Losipher, grabbing at his wings to stop the breeze. "Ewww, he's so slimy!!" he groaned. Seeing an opening, Lucky portaled up to his hand with the Chaos Key, and used his Keyblade to slash that hand, knocking the Chaos Sword free! "Enough!!" Losipher shrieked. His tentacles snaked out after each hero. "You will NEVER assemble those wretched Relics!! I will feast on your souls!!!"
Losipher was quick to grab Lucky in his freed hand, and despite this danger, the cat tossed the Chaos Key down with the sword! Classic Sonic sped by, grabbing them up before Losipher's tentacles could reach them, and then sped over to collect the Tailbands as Tails and Fera held them out. "Get them to Sonic, quick!" Tails shouted. "He means our world's Sonic." Fera added. Nodding, Classic Sonic zoomed out of Losipher's reach and started toward the loop at incredible speed. "Graaaaaaaaahh!! You gnats!! Get off me! I'll crush you all!!" Losipher shouted as the heroes teamed up, magic and flames and Chaos techniques raining on him as Lucky wriggled free of his grip! Meanwhile, Classic Sonic ran straight up the wall of the loop, reaching his other selves at the top, and dropping the Chaos Relics to the ground at their feet! "Whoa! You've been busy, little me!" Sonic gasped. The Doomsayer's attention stayed on Apocalos. "Hurry and equip them... They may be our only chance!" he said. However, Apocalos just laughed, his eye peering down toward the collection of Dark Chaos Relics that Lospecter dropped off before his battle with Sonic began. Slime extended from Apocalos' feet, pooling under the Dark Relics and dragging them back to his body, pulling them inside him one by one! "You merely wield power... I become the power. I am one with it... And the multiverse will be one with me!! Every world...every soul...is MINE!!" As the Dark Relics were absorbed into his body, Apocalos rose into the air, lifting up the Scepter of Despair, which glowed with sinister energy! The Sonics watched with wide eyes as Apocalos floated up, and passed inside the mass of tendrils holding the pieces of Demon Island barely together. Then, the slime started to churn, and grow into a gigantic creature, as Apocalos was merging with the tendrils and Demon Island itself!! His twisted, monstrous body grew massive, his one-eyed and dinosaur mouthed head looking down on creation below and roaring as spikes burst from his back, and the island his waist was stuck to burst forth with tentacles and other horrific Lost One appendages! He had become the Harbinger of the Apocalypse... This was the final form of Apocalos!
Eggman was still trying to get the Doomsday Protocol going while Orbot, Cubot and Hoover had left to fetch Bucky's power-transferring invention from the doctor's storeroom. "Alpha, could you bring Char here, please?" the doctor asked from his seat in the Control Room. Alpha carried Char over as he struggled. "Hey! Put me down! I have nothing to say to you, meanie! You threw out my family!!" the Chao shouted. "Did I recycle?" Alpha asked. Eggman turned to the Chao with a miserable sigh. "I... need voice authentication." he murmured. "From who? Who would you pick besides yourself? You only love yourself!!" Char shouted as Eggman held the microphone up to him. "Voice authentication accepted. Doomsday Protocol, ready to activate!" BAS announced. Char blinked a couple times as Alpha released him, letting him hover in place, staring at the doctor. "Why...me?" he murmured. The doctor turned back to his controls. "...You've been...my only real friend, Char. The only one I didn't build. Now fly away from here, quickly. The odds aren't in our favor for survival..." he said, the Chao gasping as he finally understood why his family was vacated from the tower. Said tower started to shake, and Vortex stepped over to Gideon. "If you give up your powersss... You will likely disssappear. You aren't like the ressst of usss, you know." he told it. Gideon glanced at him with a light smile. "I won't be gone... I will be a part of each life restored, always." it stated. Amy heard this, and stepped over, holding Gideon's hand. "It's okay...to be afraid, though." she said. Gideon nodded, giving her hand a squeeze. The tower started to shake more as Char protested, Alpha dragging him off to an exit. "No!! I can't let you go!! D-doctor!! Please!!" he cried as Alpha flew him out of a hall window! "You ride with me! Come on, let's watch the fireworks!" Alpha cheered. Once they were clear, Char looked back in wonder as the massive tower that was Darkegg Fortress started to lift off the ground, propelled by huge thrusters! Eggman was bringing the tower and the cure straight to where it was needed, as fast as he could!
As Sonic looked up at the monstrous form of Apocalos looming above, plane engines could be heard approaching. Sonic looked to see the Tornado, the Hurricane, and a certain flying taxi approach! Of course, Tails and Copter were piloting their own planes. Knuckles stood on the Tornado's wing while Punchy stood on the Hurricane's. Silver and Blaze were riding with Mia, and their friends warped onto the loop with Gemini and Fera's magic along with Shadow's Chaos Control! "Well, I'm up here. Now what?" Violet said to herself, glancing at a shrugging Heather. The Tornado and the Hurricane began to circle about with the flying taxi. "If they could magic you up, WHAT AM I DOING HERE!?" Mia yelled, her heart thumping and her face pale. "Maybe I should drive..." Blaze suggested, being the much cooler cat at the moment. Sonic looked around at his friends assembling and smirked. "Alright, guys, now that you're all here, I think it's time to bring out the big gun!" he declared. The Doomsayer stepped back next to Shadow. "How can you not see that it's too late?" he asked. Shadow chuckled softly. "It's 'cuz he's still Sonic..." he murmured. Sonic started to assemble the Chaos Relics, slipping on the Gauntlets and the Claws over his gloves, wrapping the Chaos Wing cape around his neck, the Tailbands dangling on his wrists since his tail was too small to carry even one of them. He hesitated with the Boots, but handed Classic Sonic his shoes to put them on. He knew his sneakers would be safe with him. Next, the Crown was placed on his head, and in one hand, the Chaos Key, while the other hand held the Chaos Sword. "What about the cards?" Fera wondered. As if in response, the Chaos Cards rose up, twirling in the air and approaching the key as Sonic held it, as though drawn to it in the presence of all the Relics! The gold-backed cards attached themselves to the key, spreading out until they formed up a Chaos Shield, with the key for a handle! Sonic stood with the Relics assembled like armor, his body starting to glow with bright, gold light! "Aaaaah!! All right! I'm ready!! Let's see what you got, Apocalos!!" he shouted, taking to the air on golden wings! Knuckles watched him in awe. "Is that... Super Sonic?!" he stammered. Tails looked with wide eyes. "More than that! I'd call him... Legend Sonic!!" he cried. But would Legend Sonic be enough to save all worlds from Apocalos?
To be continued...
