Sonic GeneX: Doomsday
Arc 3 - Struggles of the Dark Side
Chapter 32 - Sonic's Nightmare
Stage 17 - Dream Temple
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
"On a Sunday, riding my bike,
I notice, I notice, different things that look alike.
On a Sunday, riding my bike,
I notice, I notice, many many look alikes.
On this planet, drinking my coffee,
I notice, I notice, different things that are alike.
On this planet, drinking my coffee,
I notice, I notice, many many things that are alike." - Look Alike, from the Sonic OVA
Sonic stood up, rubbing his head with a groan. "Alright, last thing I remember is getting thrown off the ship by ME... Am I okay?" he murmured, shaking off some grass, dirt and leaves before taking a look around the area. He was in the forest, and at first glance he appeared very much alone. "Maybe I shoulda stayed on the ground with the others. Made a plan. Took the fight where it matters... Lose more friends 'cuz we're up against so much that even I can't keep up..." he murmured, frowning. He didn't like thinking like that, but seeing that other him... it seemed likely the future him... and that seemed like a pretty definitive defeat. While he wondered what to do next, he heard rustling in the trees and looked up. To his surprise, he saw symbols. Check marks, circles with lines through them. They were Wrongos and Rightos, and they were flying through the forest, passing through the treetops, coming from all over and heading in the same direction. Sonic watched them in awe for a second. "Where are these critters goin? It's almost like they... wanna lead me somewhere..." he murmured, starting to follow their trail through the woods. The rustling of the critters hid some rustling in the bushes nearby, and Sonic didn't notice something blue and metallic peer out of the shadows at him, its red eyes glowing in the dark. "My loathsome copy..." Metal Sonic murmured silently, stepping out and carefully starting to follow after Sonic. "I will find out where he's going. Perhaps he will lead me to Eggman..." the robot reasoned. The same interference that plagued SPOT's signals earlier had prevented Metal Sonic from making contact with his maker, so he required any clues he could find to locate him.
Following the Wrongos and Rightos, Sonic found himself in front of a large, crystalline temple. The Dream Temple. The creatures were circling about the temple, which certainly had Sonic curious, but he didn't approach. "I don't have time for detours. What am I doing? I've gotta get back to the others..." he said, turning to run off only for a pair of Wrongos to drop into his path! "Hey! What's with you guys?" Sonic wondered. Looking behind the creatures, he noticed some motion in the trees from the direction he'd came. He caught sight of a glimmer of metal. "Get back, quick!" he shouted, moving around the Wrongos and taking a defensive stance as Metal Sonic came spinning out of the tree and struck him with a homing attack! Landing on his feet, Metal Sonic pointed a clawed hand at his fleshy doppelganger. "Sonic! I demand answers from you! Tell me what you know! Where is Dr. Eggman?! Speak, or be destroyed!" he warned. Sonic shrugged off the attack and looked at Metal, laughing softly. "What, you're not on speaking terms?" he teased, "Funny how you get your voice and he stops talkin' to ya!" Metal Sonic didn't find that amusing at all. "I should expect such a response from you. I'll have to beat the answers out of you!" he yelled. Sonic glanced back at the Wrongos and shooed them away, for their safety. "I just fell from Eggman's battleship. Before it blew up. That enough for ya? Or do you not know he's helpin' the Lost Ones by combining them with robots?" he asked Metal Sonic. The robot clenched his metal fists. "Don't lie to me. My creator would never betray his creations to the Lost Ones!" Sonic knew a fight was coming, and readied himself to move. "Talk to Omega about creator loyalty. Or Copter. I don't have time to convince ya!" he said. "Enough!!" Metal roared!
The robot expelled an electrified shockwave, which Sonic sped to get some distance from. Then, when it subsided, Sonic charged at Metal Sonic, curling into a ball and smacking him back towards a tree! The robot's eyes flickered, but he quickly regained his composure and began firing lasers at Sonic from his palms. Sonic zipped back and forth to dodge them. "I can't help takin' pity on you. How many times Eggman's wiped your memory now, I wonder?" he asked, a question that goaded Metal Sonic to dash towards him angrily, clawed hands attempting to grab his throat! Sonic backed just out of his reach, then jumped into a spinning kick, knocking the robot back! "Your lies won't save you! Eggman is my master... He would not betray me!" Metal declared, charging his power up for another shockwave now that he was closer to Sonic! The hedgehog wasn't interested in running. He leapt up and launched into repeated homing attacks, knocking Metal Sonic away from the Wrongos and Rightos. This was leaving the robot unsteady on its feet, but not enough to stop him from firing off his shockwave! Sonic was jolted and tossed onto his back, gasping for air for a moment while Metal Sonic took a knee, his systems working on some quick repairs. Slowly, Sonic staggered back to his feet, grinning at the robot. "Eggman would never let ya go... You're his best creation. So of course he wipes your memory... Every time you think of striking out on your own." he stated. Metal Sonic held his polished head. "That's not... true!" he protested. "Metal Overlord don't ring a bell, hm? How about Eggman takin' over Shadow Arcangel, and you turnin' on him? What about those years you were without a voice chip? He took your voice to stop ya from questioning him." Sonic could tell bringing this up was causing conflict in the robot. He wanted to see the result.
Metal Sonic sparked as he held his head. "Events... missing from memory..." he admitted. Sonic nodded. "Eggman doesn't care about you... He only cares about how he can use you." he stated, stepping toward the robot. Metal Sonic's eyes fixed on him and glowed brightly, and suddenly the robot had grabbed Sonic by the throat! "I do not require those memories! It's all useless data! Just like your existence!" he snarled, Sonic's feet kicking under him as the robot lifted him up! Before the robot could cause any serious harm, however, he himself let out a surprised shout as he was jolted with shocking attacks! Sonic landed on his feet as Metal Sonic collapsed, smoke rising from his back! Floating behind where Metal Sonic had stood were the Wrongos that Sonic had protected, a bit of an angry look in their eyes. They had shocked Metal Sonic, and now the robot appeared deactivated on the ground. "Gah!" Sonic grunted, rubbing his neck, "Not how I expected that to go, but thanks... You guys aren't as bad as ya look!" he smiled, the expression in the Wrongos' eyes softening. Sonic glanced at the collapsed Metal Sonic, nudging him with his feet to roll him over onto his back. "Too bad. I would've liked to talk him into helping us like he did back when Eggman first took over Shadow Arc. But Eggman must've completely wiped his old memories this time. Not even a backup in his system to be found..." he said thoughtfully. It was a shame. At that time, Metal Sonic had indeed planned to strike out and become his own being...but Dr. Eggman recaptured him in time for plots involving Onyx Island and an interdimensional Ifrit creature. Sonic shook his head and looked around, considering where to go next. He knew he shouldn't linger in the forest.
As Sonic started back towards the forest, a wall of Wrongos flew into his path. He turned to try another direction, and found the same problem. Glancing back, he found the Rightos hovering around the Dream Temple. "Well, I guess this is about as blunt as you could get if ya can't speak." Sonic sighed, "Guess I better see what's inside, then." he murmured, walking up a crystal staircase to the temple doors, and opening them to find a deep darkness within. "There wouldn't happen to be a light switch on the wall, would there?" he asked a nearby Righto. The creatures didn't even acknowledge his question. Sighing, Sonic stepped into the dark room, the door shutting behind him. Once inside, he saw a light in the distance. He watched it rise. His eyes widened. It was the sun. He found himself surrounded by a grassy plain. The door behind him was gone. Instead, there was a dirt path, which seemed to go on endlessly both in front of him and behind him. It didn't make sense. "I just walked inside, so why am I outside? ...Know what? I'll just roll with it. At least there's plenty of space to run here, no obstacles or anything... Might as well see where the road takes me." he said to himself, taking a moment to stretch a bit before he started to break into a run. It was such a peaceful place, with nothing but grassy fields, a soft breeze, and the open road. For a moment, Sonic found he could forget his troubles as he ran along the road, speeding up, testing the limits of his feet. "Wahoooo!! Been a while since I could really cut loose like this! Better stay outta my way! I gotta go faaaaaaaaast!!" he cried, two trails of fire starting to be left behind him as his speed reached levels he hadn't dared approach in quite some time, for fear of causing damage.
It was nice to cut loose, for a while, but no matter how far Sonic ran, nothing changed. The path was going on forever, and once the excitement of all that open space to run had worn out, the hedgehog's thoughts began to run along with him. "Tails, Amy... everyone... hang in there. Just stay safe until I find ya..." he thought, the image of Razor's charred body popping into his mind at that inopportune moment. He stumbled a bit as he ran, but he didn't stop, growling in his anger. "I can't let that happen again... Gotta move faster!!" he grunted, pushing himself to run harder, not considering for a moment that he simply wasn't getting anywhere. He could do this. He'd stopped countless villains before. The Lost Ones would be no different, right? But then, Sonic remembered the Doomsayer. Not the one revealed atop the clock tower, but the one revealed just before he fell into the forest. The one with his face. There were a couple possibilities for how this could be. He could be from another dimension, but that wouldn't explain his words to Sonic. "Once your pain ends, so too will mine..." his cold, raspy words rang in the hedgehog's mind. It implied what Sonic feared to believe. "My future... He can't be my future! I'd never turn my back on everyone like that! Never!!" Sonic shouted, continuing his run, onward and onward. It was all he could do. Keep moving forward, even not knowing where that would lead. But no matter how far he ran, he couldn't escape his thoughts. He couldn't escape his fears. He couldn't escape...himself. Eventually, he started to gradually slow down as the futility of it all began to sink in. That, and it was also starting to get dark, the sun setting over the horizon. Tripping in the dark at such breakneck speeds would be pretty counterproductive.
Ahead, Sonic saw a dark figure. It looked just like himself. "Doomsayer... Come here! I'll teach you to kick me off a cliff!" he shouted, charging towards the figure, launching into a homing attack! However, the hedgehog in front of him vanished and the attack missed. "Seeing things?" a voice called. Turning around, Sonic saw a jet-black hedgehog who was like a shadow. "I am the Dream King. I welcome you to the Dream Temple..." he said with a polite bow. Sonic looked around the dark field. "Temple? Right... I did walk into a temple... I sure hope I didn't leave the exit door way back there..." he sighed. The Dream King waved his arm to guide Sonic's eyes across the field. "This is your nightmare. Quite interesting...yet understandable. A vast road, endless. One would think a free spirit, loving to run as you do, this would be a dream. But running becomes meaningless if there is no destination." he explained. Sonic tapped his foot arrogantly. "I have a destination, I just can't get there!" he protested. The Dream King gave a light chuckle. "That's what makes it a nightmare." he pointed out. Sonic was in no mood for this game. There were enough nightmares going on outside the temple, and he didn't need something like this adding to his problems. "Alright, I'm guessing you're in control of this trap. What is it ya want from me?" he snapped. The Dream King slowly stepped around him. "What do I want? Silly hedgehog. You're the one who walked into my temple. What were YOU hoping to find here?" he asked. "I dunno! These creatures corralled me into this weird place! It wasn't my idea!" Sonic shouted in frustration. The Dream King was now blocking the path forward, rather than standing at the path Sonic had came. "How amusing..." he taunted.
Sonic was not having any of this. There was enough to deal with today without being trapped in a weird transforming temple. "Look, low-rez Shadow, this whole thing's just an illusion, I get it. I ain't got time for it, though. So, let me outta here already!" he demanded impatiently. The area started to get even darker, the moon in the sky seeming to flicker and fade slowly. "I can't do that, Sonic. Only you can get yourself out." The Dream King's voice seemed to falter. Sonic thought he heard another voice mixed in with it. A familiar one. "Hey! Where are you! Turn the lights back on!" Sonic shouted, feeling around in the darkness. He felt a wall in front of him, and as light slowly returned, Sonic saw that the wall was made of crystal. He glanced around to see that he was in a sealed crystal room, sparkling with a blue shine. The Dream King was in the center, holding his head, his shadowy body seeming to melt slowly. "Hey, what's happening to you!?" Sonic wondered. "M-my sleep... Restless... I know this... voice... speaking to me..." the Dream King grumbled, the second voice mixed in with his grim vocals growing more pronounced. It was like someone else taking control. Sonic watched, and listened to the sound of the familiar voice. "Wait... I know you... Assuming this isn't another illusion. You're...!" Sonic's eyes widened as he realized who it was, and saw the shadow taking shape to confirm it. A small being. Fairy-like, with tiny wings, and a slightly large head. The black color began to fade into purple and white fur. It was a tiny dog. "Sonic... Is that really you?" the soft voice murmured sleepily, rubbing his eyes. Sonic stepped towards the fairy-dog with a smile. "Good to see ya... Chip!" he said.
Sonic naturally had a lot of questions. "What are you doing here? Were you the Dream King? Or are you an illusion, too?" he asked quickly. Chip waved his arms excitedly. "Whoa! Slow down! So many questions, and you didn't even bring me any chocolate! ...Wait, I don't think I can eat. I think I'm still sleeping, actually..." he said, looking thoughtful. Sonic chuckled softly. Seemed like the same old Chip. The fairy started to circle around Sonic as he pieced together what was happening. "I'm gettin' it... Yeah, I'm the Dream King. Or rather, Gaia as a whole is the Dream King. Or rather-rather, the Dream King is the slumbering consciousness of Gaia, given form by the power of the Dream Temple, a major nexus into the world of illusions, which neighbors the world of sleep and dreams." Sonic raised an eyebrow while watching Chip. The little guy's explanation wasn't making a lot of sense. "Basically, this is a special Gaia Temple! And it lets me keep busy during eons of sleep. Dark Gaia has a lot of sway over the Dream King, hence his obsession with nightmares. But as Light Gaia, I try to harness that obsession as a means of testing people who come into this temple. To see the strength in their hearts. Having someone I know so well seems to have brought out more of...well, me, hehe!" Chip said, smiling. Sonic looked around at the sealed room. "It's great catching up, Chip, but I gotta get outta here. People are counting on me." he told him. Chip nodded. "Oh, I'm well aware, Sonic! I may be asleep but I've got ways of knowing. These are the biggest stakes you've ever faced. Not just the world, but the soul of the world! And other worlds, too! You've gotta be ready... So, it's a good thing I'm here to test ya!" he winked. Sonic let out a soft sigh. "Well, if you say so, pal. What do I gotta do?" he asked.
Outside the Dream Temple, Metal Sonic laid still. The Wrongos and Rightos floated over the robot, looking at it with cautious expressions. When his body suddenly sparked, the creatures flew off in different directions, panicked! Metal Sonic's red eyes flickered back on, and the robot slowly, shakily returned to its feet. "Rebooting systems..." he murmured, glancing at the Dream Temple. The building meant nothing to him, his memory banks held no data on it. Metal Sonic began to walk off into the forest, scanning his memory to determine why he was there. Sonic's words popped up in memory. "I can't help takin' pity on you. How many times Eggman's wiped your memory now, I wonder?" The robot paused his steps. He raised a clawed hand and created a fist. "Mission determined... Locate Dr. Eggman. Commence mission..." he said, starting to dash into the forest at high speed! His body sparked a little, but overall, he was in stable condition. "I will locate the doctor... And I will get the truth from him. If he has betrayed me... He will regret such miscalculation!" And so, with Metal Sonic off on his way, Sonic was left completely alone to take on the test of the Dream Temple. Would the test be safer with Chip taking the reigns? Or was Dark Gaia still waiting in the wings to exert control?
Chapter 33 - Sour Dream
Stage 17 - Dream Temple
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
"I will give my word that I will come in time to rescue.
My heart will always be with you.
I'm so glad I met you being with me wherever,
We're made for each other forever." - Dear My Friend; Sonic Unleashed
A staircase appeared in the crystal room that Sonic and Chip were in. Sonic looked up to see it continue through the wall and up into darkness. "Guess I gotta go that way..." he murmured, glancing at Chip, "You comin?" The fairy-pup rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Uhhh... Yes and no? I'm everywhere and nowhere in this place. For the most part, you gotta face these tests alone. It's all about facing your inner demons... That's why typically these tests are framed as nightmares by Dark Gaia's consciousness. Good dreams don't make much of a test, normally." he stated. Sonic smirked at him. "I dunno. I think dreaming about a world of sweets and treats might be a good test of YOUR self-control, hehe!" he teased. Chip pulled a chocolate bar seemingly out of nowhere and gave it a munch. "Hey, I spend eons asleep! It's only fair to let me indulge my sweet tooth while I can! ...Too bad this is dream chocolate..." he sighed. Sonic chuckled again and started up the steps. "Guess I'll make this quick so you can get back to sleep. Hey, there's no chance of waking Dark Gaia while I'm in here, is there?" he asked, "Cuz that'd be the absolute last thing we all need right now." That was certainly a question worth asking, and Chip looked a little awkward to hear it. "Aaahh... Well, it's never happened before, but... I've also never manifested like this before. Sorry, I don't have all the answers. I'm just dreaming here. Better ahh... b-be careful up there." he said with a nervous chuckle. Sonic resumed heading up the stairs, looking up into the darkness above. "All right, then, inner demons. Let's see what you guys look like... Eggman, I'm betting." he mumbled to himself. Chip watched him. "Reach the top, Sonic... You'll find the strength and clarity you need..."
Eventually, the staircase came to an end, and Sonic found himself, oddly enough, in the underground Raisol Sanctuary, which he recognized from Punchy and Rainbow's wedding. "Okay, I'm under Station Square somehow... Just roll with it, Sonic..." he murmured, looking around to see Punchy, Rainbow, Heather and Guard all camped out in the middle of town. They were roasting marshmallows on a fire. Quite odd...but then again, it did seem darker in the city than usual, so the fire was a good source of light. Sonic hurried over. "Hey, guys. Good to see you're okay." he said, slightly cautiously. Rainbow giggled and waved. "Hey, Speedy! Pull up a seat and have a marshmallow!" she offered. "They're sweet, just like my Garen..." Heather cooed, snuggling up to the purring gargoyle. Sonic scratched his head. They were being way too chill. Sonic saw something move in the shadows, and raised his fists. "Watch out! Somethin' sneakin' this way! C'mon, guys!" he said, dashing forth to combat the intruders! "Chill out and enjoy the calm, Sonic. Everything's good..." Punchy sighed. "They're oblivious! Hiyaaaa!!" Sonic cried, launching into a homing attack...that knocked down Rainbow? "Sonic, what are you doing!?" shouted Punchy, rushing to help her up. "Wait, if you guys are in the shadows, then..." Sonic murmured, glancing back to see Punky and Soleil, the Darks, sitting by the fire and holding the Chaos Crystal with Darks of Rainbow and Guard cackling beside them! Before Sonic could chase them, they faded into the darkness! "Grrr! Way to go, Sonic!" Guard grunted, helping Rainbow up in the shadows. Sonic glanced back to see his four friends vanish, the room turning to crystal around him. "Don't run too single-mindedly into action, Sonic. Slow down, see the bigger picture." Chip's voice stated, though Sonic couldn't find him. Instead, he found another staircase. "So, am I starting over?" he asked. "It's not a driving test, Sonic. It's more in your mind. Every step is progress if you let it be." Chip told him. Sonic shrugged. "Whatever you say... But I hope the next part makes sense..." he stated, heading upstairs.
It grew dark again as Sonic climbed upward. As he popped his head up out of the opening at the end of the staircase, Sonic saw a foggy place with a dirt ground. He felt almost like he was climbing out of a grave as he stepped out of the stairway. Close by, he saw Silver and Blaze standing within the fog. Sonic cautiously stepped over. "Hey, guys... You really...you?" he asked. Blaze was holding Silver, sobbing into his chest. Something was wrong. Sonic looked in front of them, and the fog lifted slightly. At the feet of Silver and Blaze was a small tombstone. Etched on the stone was the name "Marine." Sonic's eyes widened. "Ohh..." he said softly. He knew that the Sol Dimension had fallen, so this made a certain sense. Looking beyond the stone, Sonic gasped louder. It wasn't one grave, but a whole graveyard. The faces of koalas and polar bears were carved in the stone. These were the graves of everyone from Blaze's world. Sonic glanced at Silver and Blaze. "I-it's all my fault..." Blaze sobbed. "We all failed them..." Silver sighed, holding her gently. Sonic couldn't disagree, and really, he had no idea what to say or do. As they stood in their grief, Sonic heard sound coming from the dirt below. Hands dug their way out, and grabbed at Silver and Blaze's ankles! "Guys! Move! Get away!" Sonic gasped. "We deserve to join them..." Blaze sniffled. "No, you don't!" Sonic shouted. "Yes, you do..." Sonic froze, looking to see the source of this voice. There was a grave behind him. "Astra" was etched on it. The fennec was rising from the ground, her body quite rotted. "You let me die, Sonic..." she hissed. Hope the raven, the Nocturnus echidnas, and others Sonic knew to be dead started to rise from nearby graves as well. Even sparking versions of Gamma and Emerl emerged, wires exposed throughout their bodies. Sonic backed away. "No... Your deaths weren't our fault!" he stammered, grunting as his ankle was grabbed. He looked down to see Razor clawing out of the ground under him. "You failed us all... You failed me! You failed my brother!!" he snarled. Sonic looked to see Silver and Blaze sinking under the ground. "No!! No!!" he shouted, holding his head, "It wasn't us! It was the Lost Ones! Eggman! Despair! Zodiac! They're the ones who killed people! It's not our fault!!!" As Sonic cried this out, light flashed through the room, and when Sonic opened his eyes, he was in another crystal room. "Good realization, Sonic." Chip said cheerfully as another staircase appeared before the hedgehog.
Sonic found himself in some sort of fighting arena. "Hey... Is this from the Tournament of Chaos? ...sponsored by GUN..." he murmured, looking around. He hadn't exactly participated in that tournament; he had his own problems that year and he was all too eager to take the L when his round came up. As he looked around this arena, he heard footsteps charging toward him. Leaping aside, he avoided a punch from Knuckles! "Whoa! What's the deal, Knux?" he stammered. "You hit my sister, that's what!!" came Violet's voice, a blast of dark energy following that Sonic also had to hurry to avoid! "What? I didn't...oh." He'd struck Rainbow two floors down. "Hold on, though..." he began, only to be interrupted by someone in the stands. "Don't let him lie his way out of this one!" It was Eggman! "That hedgehog's a menace! He left Silver and Blaze to their doom, like so many others before!" Seeing Eggman up there, talking about him like that, when he was responsible for Razor's death, had Sonic seeing red. When Knuckles came at him again, he leapt up and slammed back down onto the echidna's head with a homing attack, growling as he struck him again and again. "Always wanna fight me, Knuckles!? Always wanna believe the bad guy over me!? Fine, then!!" he shouted, dashing over to Knuckles after knocking him down and grabbing him by the scruff of his neck. Violet was staring in shock, while Knuckles growled defiantly. Sonic raised a fist to strike him, but his eye caught sight of someone else in the stands. Lara, Knuckles' daughter, was sitting there holding her face in her hands, looking frightened. Sonic gasped, glancing back at Knuckles. "...What am I doing?" he said, lowering his fist and placing Knuckles on his feet. "You're not the bad guy here..." he sighed, turning toward Eggman with a growl. "Well, Knuckles? Hit back!" the doctor shouted. Sonic pointed up at him angrily. "Don't test me, Egghead!" The scene started to fade like the others, and Sonic found himself staring up another crystal stairway. "Careful with that anger, Sonic." Chip warned. "I get it... I'm fine... What's next?" Sonic sighed. The anger was still there, but he knew he had to keep things in perspective going forward...
The next floor didn't transform at all. It remained a simple crystal room. However, Sonic found Copter and Gemini waiting for him there. Chopper and Skye, the future sons of Tails and Copter, were also with them. "Hey, I didn't think you guys were in the temple! You, uh... You know Chip?" Sonic asked. Copter shrugged. "Probly, I met everyone at some point or other, feels like." he said. Skye ran up and tugged Sonic's arm. "We have to hurry! With a time-duplicate Chaos Emerald, I was able to perfect my time machine! Now we can go back and save everyone!" he explained. Gemini nodded. "And Ophiuchus from the past won't notice, either! We can fix this safely!" she smiled. "All we need is a guy fast enough to make the changes needed before we're noticed!" Chopper added. Sonic smiled wide. "What are we waiting for, then! Let's save Blaze's world, Razor, and everybody from this nightmare!" he replied, seeing no downside. Before they could go, however, a portal opened at the stairway leading down! Out jumped Copter and Gemini... their bodies slimy and their eyes glowing green. They'd become Lost Ones, and quickly they charged at their normal selves! "Gaah! Wh-what the hell? What's a slimy clone of me doing here!?" Copter yelled as he struggled against himself! Lospecter flew out of the portal with a maniacal laugh. "Caught ya sneaking around the past! You sealed your fate the moment you decided to go!" he taunted. Sonic looked between Lospecter and the others and tapped his foot in an annoyed fashion. "Fine, fine, we won't time travel, then." he grumbled. After he said this, everyone in the room vanished except Sonic, and he looked up at the ceiling as though searching for Chip. "These tests are getting kinda silly." he grumbled. "I don't have all that much control over the dreams, Sonic..." Chip said with an awkward chuckle, "But I'll see if I can't make the next test be the last... It might take letting Dark Gaia in a bit, though..." he warned. Sonic nodded. "Long as you don't wake him, I don't mind this gettin' a little dangerous. Wait, you're telling me Dark Gaia had nothing to do with zombies??" he questioned. Chip chuckled awkwardly. "I...don't know..." he said, voice trailing off as the next stairway emerged.
A familiar scene unfolded in front of Sonic as he found himself on a rooftop. The scene before him was Troblusk City, swarming with Lost Ones. Shadow and Kosmo were surveying the scene from the same rooftop. "About time, Sonic..." Shadow grunted. Kosmo pointed to a central point in the city, where Sonic gasped to see the twisted form the Clock Tower had taken before it blew up. "We've been betrayed." Kosmo told him, "And now one of our allies is fighting for his life up there." The scene was pretty familiar, although Shadow hadn't been there for the last assault on the Clock Tower. It might be an illusion, but to Sonic, this felt like a second chance to get this right. "Okay, Shadow. Let's get in there and save our guy. Any intel?" he asked. Shadow looked grim. "The city's in enemy hands. Don't expect any part of this to be easy." he stated. Sonic shrugged. "Yeah, yeah... Race ya to the tower, Faker!" he said quickly, leaping over the edge of the building and starting into a run down the wall! Shadow and Kosmo started to follow in their own ways, but Sonic wasn't too concerned with them. As he headed straight for the Clock Tower, Kosmo's words hung heavy on his mind. "I probably know who's up there. Dunno if I wanna face what I'm gonna find..." he thought, speeding through the streets without giving much thought to the Lost Ones glancing in his direction. "Just gotta get up there fast... If I can just be fast enough... I need to be fast enough!" he told himself, determined not to allow this Clock Tower to be the site of tragedy again!
With Shadow and Kosmo joining him, Sonic raced up the floors of the Clock Tower. The irony of climbing a building within a building was a bit lost on him; he was too immersed in the situation. Additionally, there were distractions on the way up. Rather unusual Lost Ones, in that they were in the shape of Dark Gaia's Nightmare spawn. Tough customers, as Sonic's homing attacks barely made them flinch. Kosmo led a few of them on a chase through giant turning clock gears, morphing wings onto his back to fly up before running into the place the gears linked, and causing the confused slime creatures to get caught between the gears and gum up the works. Shadow took out a Lost Nightmare with a Chaos Blast, but saw more swarming into the area quickly. "Sonic, you should go on without us!" he suggested. Sonic glanced back and nodded. If he was simply evading the creatures, he could slip by easily. "You two sure you'll be alright?" he asked. Kosmo morphed into his own rendition of the Werehog form, ripping off one of those gears and using it as a weapon to smash approaching Lost Ones. "What do we look like? Some starry-eyed Wispon-toting rookies?" he shouted. Sonic chuckled softly. Of course, he knew full well Shadow and Kosmo could hold them off. That's why he didn't question the idea of sending them off on a solo mission to the Gaia Remnants when the comms were still working. Sonic slipped between the two Nightmares blocking his way and sped up the stairs of the Clock Tower, building enough speed to swerve up the walls if he needed to pass more adversaries, which he inevitably did. He had to hurry and wrap this up so he could get out of here and stop the Lost Ones for real...
Sonic arrived quickly at the roof, but even with all his speed, he was too late. "No...!" The scene he feared to see was laid out before him. Tails was on the floor, unmoving. Fera was kneeling before the Doomsayer, his hood up and concealing exactly which Doomsayer it was, but did it matter? Both seemed to want their dire prophecy to come to pass. "Welcome, Sonic the Hedgehog..." the golden-eyed figure said in his raspy voice, "As you can see, Prower has fallen. Now, the prophecy is begun. The world will crumble next!" he declared, thunder crashing around him. Sonic rushed to Tails, lifting the fox in his arms. He wasn't breathing. Sonic closed his eyes tightly, clutching his friend in his arms. "He was just a pawn to you...just a name in a prophecy and nothing more...but you're wrong!" he shouted, tears starting to fall from his eyes, "He was my friend! He had a life! He laughed, he loved, he played and yeah...he got scared, too. Unlike you and those Lost Ones, he had a heart!" he shouted, gently setting his friend's body down and standing before the Doomsayer defiantly, "You wouldn't understand heart, whoever you are. You lost it a long time ago... But for the sake of Tails...and everyone who's fallen...I won't allow myself to become you! I refuse to lose my heart!" he cried. Fera scoffed at him. "Your funeral... I choose to live, and such sentimentality was holding me back..." she huffed. The Doomsayer glanced her way. "Now you're holding us back... You've served your purpose!" he declared, launching a bolt of lightning at the shocked wolf that pierced her body and caused her to collapse in a heap! "Fera!!!" Sonic shouted in shock. Despite her apparent betrayal, she was still the Rookie to him. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists. "You'll pay for that!" he yelled. The Doomsayer caught a bolt of lightning in his hand, chuckling softly. "You cannot defeat destiny. I AM your destiny!!" he roared.
The usual storm that accompanied the Doomsayer grew in intensity. As Sonic shielded his face against fierce rain-filled winds, the hooded figure leapt onto a small cloud. That was surprising, but it was the Dream Temple after all. Of course a cloud could be solid. And this created a vantage point for the Doomsayer to hurl bolts of lightning down on the wet roof, forcing Sonic to dash and leap for safe places as electricity spread across the roof from the points of impact! "Stay up there, then... Be right back!!" Sonic shouted, leaping down the side of the building! The Doomsayer looked around, glowing eyes narrowing in the darkness. In a moment, Sonic came speeding up the side of the building, and then leapt up high, launching a homing attack at the cloud! His attack was stopped as the cloud dropped an icy blast of hail Sonic's way, the wind blowing him back while the cold caused chunks of ice to form along the side of the building...which formed a series of cold platforms for Sonic to land on. Another bit of dream logic, but Sonic took it as a means to climb his way back up, leaping from icy platform to icy platform. The Doomsayer worked to destroy those platforms, hurling lightning down to smash the ice! Though the footholds were crumbling under him, Sonic bounced up them anyway, leaping up once again above the Doomsayer's cloud! "The world will go on... without you!!" he cried, his homing attack smashing through the lightning spears that the Doomsayer tried to use to block him, and then smashing through the Doomsayer himself! Sonic leapt from the cloud back to the roof and turned around to see a shadow where the Doomsayer stood. "It is no longer will against prophecy. It is will against destiny. You know your future... Can you stop it?" asked the voice of the Dream King before the shadow faded away.
Sonic knelt down next to Tails' body. He patted the fox on the head. "The prophecy is the future..." he murmured, scared that this was an unstoppable truth. Two hands reached out to him, and he looked up to see Amy, and their son, Juice. "We're here for you, dad." Juice said. "You don't have to face this alone..." Amy added, a look of sympathy in her eyes. Sonic took one last look at Tails, and then accepted their hands, letting them help him to his feet. "Thank you..." he said, looking at Amy with a soft smile. Around him, the scene was changing back into the crystal room of the Dream Temple. Amy and Juice faded, and Sonic found that he was holding Chip's hand. "You've accepted what's inevitable. And you're ready to fight for what will be left behind." the fairy said in summation. Sonic nodded, brushing a tear from his eye. "I accept... that Razor's gone. I may not be able to save everyone. It'll hurt, but we can't give up." he smiled, "If I give up, then the future of the Doomsayer will be set in stone. I need to keep going, for everyone still counting on me... I'll find a way to save everyone that I can! Even...if it seems impossible. I get it, we'll lose people. But it ain't over for anyone 'till it's over! And if I can change my destiny, I can change it for my friends, too!" he declared, holding out his fist to Chip, who chuckled and gave it a bump in return. "That's the Sonic I know! No more doubt! Now listen, you need to hear this... Those Lost Ones, they're raising a huge fortress. A flying fortress! It rose from the ocean near Station Square! Your friends need you, Sonic! Now!" he said, snapping his fingers to cause the exit door to appear! "Hey, aren't I on a really high floor?" Sonic asked. Chip laughed. "The Dream Temple has no floors!" he winked. Winking back, Sonic ran for the door, heading out into the forest outside! "Run, Sonic! Never stop running..." Chip said with an enthusiastic wave before yawning and fading away, returning to his long sleep once more...
Chapter 34 - Prisoners of the ARK
Stage 18 - The ARK
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
"Head straight for your goal by any means.
There is a door that you've never opened.
There is a window with a view you have never seen.
Get there, no matter how long it takes.
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk,
Throw it all away!
No-one can break you, nobody can tear you.
You live an endless life forever." - Throw it All Away; Sonic Adventure 2
Previously on GeneX…
Shadow and Kosmo returned from the Gaia Remnants to find a chaotic situation unfolding in Giant Jungle. The Lost Ones and the Deadly Six were there, hunting the Chaos Emeralds while menacing Knuckles and friends. It culminated in a climactic showdown with Losipher, during which the Cacophonic Conch was destroyed, freeing the Deadly Six to join the fight. However, the Lost Ones were poised to overwhelm the group with Losipher there, so Shadow used Chaos Control to warp Losipher and the Deadly Six away with himself, leaving Kosmo, Rouge and Omega behind.
Now, our tale continues...
Though disconnected from the river of slime, Losipher still retained the massive imposing form that he had changed into, and he still had most of the Deadly Six coiled up in his tentacles as Shadow and Zavok struggled to free them. "It was a miscalculation to transport us away. Now your demise is assured!" Losipher snarled, drawing the tentacles holding Zor and Zazz close to him. "Oh, well. At least I told ya so..." Zor sighed. "You said NOTHIN about a giant slime monster!! Get me outta this, boss!! GAAAHH!!" Zazz screamed, railing against his fate. But it was useless. They were pulled into Losipher's slimy body, doomed to lose their souls to him. "You...bastard!!" Zavok shouted, punching forcefully at Losipher with his powerful fists, trying to bore his way back to his friends! Shadow was backing up to take in his surroundings, trying to calculate a winning strategy. That was when he heard friendly voices. "There he is! Good tracking, Omega!" said Rouge, swooping onto the scene with Omega and Kosmo following behind! "Chances of victory still low." the robot said grimly, "Opponent is resistant to light Chaos energy." More to the point, the Deadly Six were rapidly dying. "N-nooo!! I love me too much to die!!" Zeena cried. "Hah! Eat me if you want, but you'll get sick!" Zomom laughed unconvincingly. "D-destroy this...monster!" Zik strained to say. Zavok saw each of his allies sucked in, and rage burned in his eyes. "Spit them out, or you'll be eating souls through a straw!!" he warned. It was around this point that Lospecter flew in through the trees. "Seriously? These guys are still alive? You gotta be kiddin' me! Well, time's up, Gunny! Rexy wants ya elsewhere!" he reported, pointing the Chaos Key and using it to summon a portal behind Losipher. "If I must..." the demon growled, turning and heading into the portal as Zavok leapt in after him! "Don't turn your back on me!!" he yelled. Shadow and Kosmo started after them. "Wait! Let them go!" Rouge stammered. Lospecter dropped in front of the pair as they ran. "See ya around!!" the ghost cackled, turning the Chaos Key to open a portal directly in front of them, leaving Shadow and Kosmo no time to change course before running through it! Lospecter closed the portal behind them, gave a salute to Rouge, and took off through the first portal before it, too, vanished. "Wh-what just happened??" Rouge stammered. "Readings of the portal indicate that Shadow has been sent...home." Omega reported.
Shadow looked around, and his eyes briefly widened, then narrowed. Kosmo turned back to see the portal closed behind him. "I feel like we actually should have seen that coming... So, where are we now?" the morph wondered. "It's the Space Colony ARK." Shadow said blankly, pointing out a nearby window. Kosmo looked to see twinkling stars, and the Earth down below. The blue planet had a bit of a sickly look to it, dark clouds covering large areas and some of the blue turned a bit pale green. "I have so many concerns, but now I guess we should think about getting back down." Kosmo said awkwardly. Shadow crossed his arms. "Lospecter put us here to get us out of the way. The chances of finding a spacecraft to take us back aren't good. I mean, this is near the Space Prison. I imagine the only reason he didn't dump us directly in there is that he must already have a prisoner there." he reasoned. Kosmo raised an eyebrow. "A prison? What exactly was this colony for?" he questioned. Shadow started walking towards the prison itself, Kosmo following. "I was born here. This was a science colony. Gunner refurbished an area to use as a prison for Dr. Stein; His sick joke since Stein used to work here." Shadow explained. "Bucky... Huh, he was caged up himself. Kind of poetic..." Kosmo mused, "But alright, let's say you're right... Who would Lospecter wanna lock in the prison more than us?" he wondered. Shadow shrugged. He was silent as he walked through these somber, abandoned halls. He thought he'd left this behind him, but here he was back again. Kosmo scratched his head, thinking it over. "Well, guess I should be glad we're not at the Sun. I'll assume Lospecter's dumping major threats to the Lost Ones' plans up here." he figured.
Elsewhere in the Space Colony was Starr. She had been transported by Lospecter as well, and she wasn't pleased by it. "Why me of all people?" she grumbled, to be startled as a trash bin by one of the doorways suddenly glowed and transformed! "Who, what!?" she yelped, calming only when she saw that it was Ozzie. "Hey, sis..." he yawned, stretching. Starr crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "I ain't your sis and that wasn't funny. What are you doing here, besides being trash?" she remarked. Ozzie cracked his knuckles and looked around. "Aw, nuts, it wasn't a dream. Well, ghost boy put me here. Said he wants all the morphs to fight to the death or somethin'. Nothing like that's gonna happen unless Nova's up here, though." he chuckled. Starr bit her lip. "You idiot! Nova probably IS up here, along with my dad! I mean, if that was the ghost's plan. I've gotta find dad!" she said, turning to leave. "Or, we could find Nova first and get the jump on him." Ozzie suggested, "Keep daddy dearest out of the line of fire?" he smiled. Starr rubbed her chin like she was considering it. "Uhhh, no. Three against one will be better odds. Or do you WANT to not have a future? Y'know, 'cuz future you disappeared?" she said, pointing at him as she proved her point. Ozzie shrugged. "Impossible to argue with that logic, but let's just see who we find first. Neither of us know our way around this hunk of space debris." he pointed out. "Space debris?" Starr questioned as she and Ozzie headed out a door together, only to see the vast expanse of stars through a large window beyond. Starr's eyes near popped out of her head. "I thought we were just LOST, not LOST in SPACE!!" she shouted, a bit freaked out. "No big deal. You got the immortality crown, right?" Ozzie asked. Starr looked at him without a change in her freaked expression. She'd put the Chaos Crown away...stashed for safekeeping.
Apparently, during Gunner's short tenure in office, he'd refreshed the supply of guard robots in the space colony. He was likely planning to reuse the Space Prison. As a result, Shadow and Kosmo found quite a few androids patrolling their path to the cell. Shadow angrily tore through a few androids of himself with a violent spin dash. "I cannot begin to describe how fed up with fakers I am..." he growled. Kosmo was caught between androids of Vortex and Crash. "Hey, this is just therapeutic for me..." the morph said, shifting into the form of Copter and flying up above as "Crash" charged at him, crashing horn-first into "Vortex" and resulting in an explosion. "Well, guess they're slightly dumber than the real deal..." Kosmo murmured, landing on the ground only to feel the barrel of a gun against his head! A Zipp android was behind him, ready to blow him away! "L-look out!!" a voice cried, "Zipp" suddenly being grabbed by psychic energy and forcefully flung across the hall, smashed against the wall! Kosmo looked around to see Carrie appear out of nowhere. She'd been with them, invisible! "Heeey... How long have you been here?" Kosmo questioned. The fork-tailed girl looked at the ground awkwardly. "I've been following you since the jungle. I was ashamed to admit, I uh... I chickened out on going back! All those Lost Ones... I've always been a bit of a coward. Letting Talon show off while I let him pretend he had my powers. Never wanted to be in the line of fire..." she murmured. Kosmo raised an eyebrow and Shadow scoffed. "I knew she was here the whole time. Let's keep moving." the hedgehog grunted. "But you followed me up here into space?" Kosmo questioned. Carrie started following after Shadow. "Yeah, yeah, don't let it go to your head, Kosmo." she said with a soft chuckle. The morph smiled as he changed back to his normal form and followed after her. "Good to have ya back..."
There wasn't much any androids could do to stop the three of them, and before long they'd arrived at the prison itself, with its cell that was covered in rubber to block Bucky's electrical powers. That wasn't the strangest thing in the room, though. Mephiles the Dark and Infinite the Jackal were squaring off, apparently ready for a fight with one another! "Okay, what the heck?" Carrie exclaimed. The villains glanced at the intruders briefly. "Lospecter put us up here, the same as you." Infinite stated, adjusting his mask. "There's no time for our dance of darkness today, Shadow. But if you seek to interfere as I settle things with this pitiful follower, we have something to keep you occupied..." Mephiles stated, motioning to a trio of LoShadow ghosts at the back of the room! Shadow clenched his fists, ready to charge in, but Kosmo placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "No need to take 'em all on at once. Let's see how this plays out." he said calmly. Shadow glanced at him and nodded. Mephiles and Infinite could both be a great deal of trouble on their own, much less together. But if they fought one another first, both of them may be weakened and easier to dispatch. Infinite scoffed at Mephiles. "If I'm a follower, than what are you? Slave to the Lost Ones! But your Time-Eating powers won't work against the Phantom Ruby!" he shouted. Mephiles floated up in the air. "All I need is mere darkness to triumph over a weakling like you." he said matter-of-factly. This set Infinite off. "I am NOT weak!! RRRRRAAAAGHH!!" With the Phantom Ruby and Mephiles' dark powers both going active, the room started to fill with red energy and pools of darkness. "I think I'll be in the hallway..." Carrie squeaked, going invisible while Shadow and Kosmo backed away from the sinister energies.
The enraged Infinite surrounded Mephiles with a dozen or so phantom laser cannons, while the Dark summoned a small swarm of mini-Mephiles minions from the darkness, which quickly blocked the laser blasts. "Childish..." Mephiles scoffed, hurling orbs of dark energy from his claws towards Infinite! The jackal held his mask on his face as he endured the hits. "Is that all you have?" he scoffed. His Ruby whirred, and then he changed into a warped giant, his body snake-like and his arms ending in broad clawed hands. "Huh, like Operation: Big Wave... but he can only go so big in here..." Kosmo murmured. The warped Infinite tried to catch Mephiles in his giant hands, but he dove into the darkness, laughing as he vanished. "I'm one with the shadows. You can't even harm me." he mocked as hulking purplish-black beasts started to rise from the pools of darkness! They surrounded Infinite, but he quickly set to work swatting them down while they charged energy in their single purple eyes. One managed to finish charging and fired a laser, which went through Infinite's illusion, his true self flying out of the large mask as it faded! "Your toys are useless!" the jackal shouted, using the Phantom Ruby to cause spikes to erupt from all around the beast, skewering and destroying it! Mephiles popped out of the darkness behind Infinite. "My power is still far beyond yours!" he sneered, raising his hand to fire a massive beam of energy towards the jackal! Infinite spun around and responded with a similar beam erupting straight from the Phantom Ruby, clashing with Mephiles' shot! They strained, and rather than overpowering one another, the beams shot out in a different direction as they turned away, striking the cell and blasting it open! When the smoke started to settle, who should step out of the cell but the witch, Tabitha the Cat!
Tabitha held an orb of green magical energy in her hand. "Good timing. My little payback spell for you fools is complete. Enjoy settling this in the vacuum of space!" she cackled, tossing the spell in the direction of the distracted Mephiles and Infinite! Though no one could see, the pair reappeared outside the Space Colony, but neither seemed troubled by the lack of air or gravity. The flew at one another, eager to finish their showdown...but this left Shadow, Kosmo and Carrie with Tabitha at the cell. "Oh, look who it is. Guess the blue guy's here, too..." Carrie realized. Tabitha nodded. "The spirit thought sending me into space would keep me from rising up and overtaking the Lost Ones as the true mistress of evil! But I've merely been biding my time in that cell... This is a minor setback, and even without Nova or his mask, I'm more than a match for you feeble mortals!" she announced, twirling her broomstick before mounting it. The LoShadows were assessing the situation, and started hissing angrily, glaring at Shadow at the same time as Tabitha was rising into the air on her broom. "Tell me, why did we come here again?" Carrie questioned. "Just in case someone we LIKED was in the cell..." Kosmo replied, "In retrospect, there had to be a better way to find out." he murmured, glancing around for any sign of cameras in the room. Shadow cracked his knuckles and grinned at Tabitha. "For someone putting herself above the Lost Ones, you don't seem to have qualms using them as backup right now." he mocked. The witch cackled softly as she watched the LoShadows approach him. "Why dirty my hands if they'll take care of you for me? I can eliminate any Lost One with the greatest of ease once I need to..." she smirked. Kosmo and Carrie stood with Shadow, ready for a fight!
As the LoShadows charged at them, Carrie vanished once again, attempting to move without being noticed. Kosmo shifted his form into that of Vortex the Chameleon. "I may not like the guy, but he's sure got good Chaos powers." he muttered, "Come at me, ghosts!" Carrie emerged near the debris of the cell doors, using her psychokinesis to lift the pieces as Kosmo started firing lasers of Chaos energy from his hands. Those two would be enough to occupy the ghosts for now, so Shadow leapt up at Tabitha. "Chaos Spear!!" The witch waved her hands, and a barrier of orange energy surrounded and protected her. "So very impatient!" she smirked. Shadow glared up at her as he landed. "I don't trust you to just wait on the sidelines." he huffed. Tabitha started casting some smoky green spells in her hands. "It doesn't matter. I've seen you and your friends killed before in my original world, and I've only held back so far out of caution after my own near-demise! Now, meet your doom!" she cried, cackling as she poured the green smoke down onto the ground below, the spell spreading through the room as a wave of fire, which Shadow, Kosmo and Carrie each had to jump quickly! Tabitha then flew her broom at Shadow in the distraction, kicking him forcefully as she passed! She then hurtled a sparking red spell towards him, but Shadow warped out of the way, and the spell exploded uselessly against the floor! "Such a pest! Where are you?" the witch growled, laughing as she heard a strike against her shield from behind. "Forgot you can't get me!" she laughed, turning and shooting purple lightning from her fingers at her attacker, only to hit debris held up by Carrie's powers! "What!?" she snarled as she felt someone land on her broom. "Need to open the shield to attack, hm? Hey, something about this feels familiar, too..." Kosmo said, smirking as he sat beside her.
Tabitha groaned as she was knocked off her broom and crashed down to the ground below. She looked to see Shadow busily occupying the LoShadows, warping around them and hitting them with spears as much as he could. "The old 'switch partners' routine? You're dealing with the mistress of nightmares!! I'm far from finished!" she shouted, holding another green spell above her head and tossing it skyward, sending balls of fire raining throughout the room! Carrie hurried to block with the pieces of the door, while Kosmo struggled to control Tabitha's broom, swerving away from the fire only to get tossed to the ground! Shadow headed away from the ghosts, dashing past the fireballs towards Tabitha. "Alright, then... Let's finish this on the ground!" he shouted as Tabitha's hands started glowing once again. Before either launched an attack, however, an alarm started to blare out through the Space Colony! Shadow leapt over Tabitha in his surprise, and she tossed her spell at the LoShadows that were following behind him, vaporizing them with ease! The alarm was followed by a screen turning on over the exit to the room. It showed a certain recording of Gerald Robotnik, Shadow's creator. "I p-plan to give you a t-taste of my revenge... O-once all the seven Chaos Emeralds are co-collected. Once I initiate this pro-program, it cannot be disabled. All-all of you ungrateful humans, who to-took everything away from me, w-will feel my loss and despair!" The recording sounded distorted these days, but it was clear that Gerald's revenge program had been activated again somehow. Tabitha summoned her broom to her side. "Nova! What have you done?" she grumbled, mounting the broom and hastily flying out of the room! Kosmo and Carrie looked at one another before looking at Shadow. "She says Nova did what??" Carrie questioned. Shadow stared at the screen in surprise. "It's impossible... The Chaos Emeralds aren't here. How could he?" he questioned, "How could he activate the Eclipse Cannon??"
Starr and Ozzie happened to see Gerald's message on a screen as well. "Okay, sure, that's not ominous at all..." Starr murmured. Ozzie nodded. "Guy looks like old man Eggman... Doesn't bode well." he agreed, "So, what now?" That was a good question, seeing as they were still lost. Starr jumped as her ProwerPhone started ringing. "What the?? Can we get a signal all the way up here!?" she stammered, picking it up and answering the call. "You guys won't believe where I am!" she said, only to get static in response. "...re you? ....me mach... Hurry!!" The voice sounded like it was Lucky Jr. to her, but she couldn't make heads or tails of his words. "Hey, it's impressive you can even connect." Ozzie chuckled. "C'mon, we gotta get back to Earth! They could be in trouble!" Starr said with concern.
Once again, Mephiles and Infinite had their powerful beams clashing. Now they were on solid ground, settling things on the normally peaceful backdrop of Green Hill. Infinite grunted his last defiance. "No!! M-my Ruby!! I c-could win this, damn it!!" Sadly for him, there was only one way this could end, as the Phantom Ruby's power was once again running out. The jackal took a dive to avoid Mephiles' beam as his power left him, his mask clattering to the ground a few feet away. Mephiles floated towards him as he frantically clawed for the mask, only to find the dark holding it down with his foot. "You don't lose because your power is limited... You lose because you lack conviction. I will see everything ended no matter the cost...but look at you, clawing at vanity. Pitiful." he said, kicking the mask over to the jackal. Infinite looked at the mask, and then looked up at Mephiles with his scarred face. "I...lack conviction? You think I will falter when the time comes?! You think I'm that weak!!" he shouted, climbing swiftly to his feet, "I will crush all who oppose me beneath my feet!" he shouted, stomping the mask and shattering it under him! Mephiles stared at him with his soul-less eyes, but laughed softly. "Perhaps you still have use to us, then... I look forward to seeing that rage directed properly." he said, floating up and turning into smoke before flying off into the distance. Infinite looked down at the broken mask and growled. "All who see this face...will suffer..." he vowed.
Chapter 35 - Enerjak
Stage 18 - The ARK
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
"No more gods.
No more graves.
Are you friend or fiend?
No more life.
No more death.
Somewhere in between..." - Almost Dead; Shadow the Hedgehog
Lucky had emerged from a teleport somewhere in Central City. Junior was with him, along with Whisk, who teleported them, and also Lara and...Omochao. "I hope the others are okay..." Lucky murmured as they wandered the largely empty city. Had Loscream's threats earlier been empty? It didn't seem as though the Lost Ones were looking for them. Whisk patted Lucky on the shoulder. "Well, it's our daughters who 'ported the others out. I'm sure they knew what they were doing." she said. Omochao started heading off on his own. "Well, thanks for getting me out. I'm going to rethink my programming now..." he sighed. As he left, Lara pulled out her ProwerPhone. "We should contact the others. With any luck, Skye will be setting up his time machine..." she stated. Junior nodded. "Right, right! I'll call Starr! We haven't seen her in a while!" he noted, taking out his own phone to attempt to call her. Lucky and Whisk looked at the screen as the phone attempted to connect, but when the call was answered, they couldn't get any visual. "...uys won... ...re I am!" Starr's voice was very staticky. "Oh dear..." Whisk whispered. Junior groaned softly. "Starr! Where are you? Skye's gonna finish his time machine! We're gonna ditch this dumb day! Hurry!! Don't wanna stick around here...Starr? Starr!" Unfortunately, the call disconnected. Lara cleared her throat. "Well, I got Pepper here. She's heard from Minnie. But Tails and Skye aren't with either of them..." she reported. Whisk teleported beside her and waved at Pepper on the screen. "Heeey! I knew you'd make it!" she smiled. Lucky looked around nervously. "But why can't you find Tails and Skye? Doesn't that kid have a phone, too?" he pointed out. They all glanced at each other with anxious eyes. It would be best to get their group back together as soon as possible...
As it turned out, Starr and Ozzie were already on the path to the Cannon's Core, which happened to be where Shadow, Kosmo and Carrie were going. The five of them soon met up, all the morphs talking at once in their excitement to find each other. "What a relief! Ozzie said that Lospecter said-" "-Us morphs are here to fight to the death!" Starr and Ozzie both said quickly. "No time to stop, there's a planet-wrecking laser maybe charging to fire!" Kosmo said at the same time. "Silence, all of you!" They turned in surprise to see Tabitha nearby. A magical projection of her, in actuality, as they could see through her like a ghost. "Ignore her, she's not even here." Carrie sighed. "You'd do well to listen!" the witch warned, getting the impatient Shadow's attention as well, despite the fact that he'd actually started to leave without the others. Tabitha folded her arms. "Better. Let's understand the situation here. That foolish spirit transported Nova and I up here while I was working on spells to aid Nova in controlling the mask of Enerjak. Since my spells were interrupted...Nova may be quite mad at the moment." she stated. "You mean insane." Kosmo scoffed. Shadow glanced around. Screens lining the halls were still depicting Gerald's final message. "My theory is that Nova is using the power of the mask to charge the Eclipse Cannon. This may have triggered Professor Gerald's program...but not fully, as it was supposed to be accessed by the Chaos Emeralds. That's why the message is playing, but the space colony doesn't appear to be moving." he stated. "Well, that's good, isn't it?" Ozzie asked, "No crash-down to Earth?" Tabitha let out a groan. "The Eclipse Cannon could still blow the planet to Hell. Not good for any of us. I propose we split up to stop that lunatic! Farewell!" she said, he projection vanishing. Shadow turned to resume heading for the core. "I know where he'll be. It just might be a pain getting there..." he stated.
"Without the Chaos Emeralds, Nova can only be powering the Eclipse Cannon with the Enerjak mask." Shadow had explained as he led the way, "He and the mask must be in the core of the cannon. Hopefully the defenses leading there haven't been reinstated by Gunner..." Little did anyone in the group realize, their journey was being watched. Sitting in the Eclipse Cannon control room, watching them through a monitor, was someone who looked much like Shadow. It was Dark Spiny, and he was typing at the controls quickly. "As passwords go, 'Maria' really isn't that effective by today's standards..." he muttered, growling as the camera zoomed in on Shadow. "Sick joke. My weaker half looks like Sonic, but I couldn't escape that doppelganger curse, either. Well, Lospecter placed me here to make sure those guys don't get back to Earth. Never said anything about making sure there was still an Earth. I say we buy crazy old Nova some time... Might be the best way to free me of everyone cursing my existence!" he smirked, activating the defenses for the Cannon's Core with a few keystrokes! He then switched the camera view to the core itself. There was a structure there that resembled the Master Emerald shrine, and Nova was standing about where the Master Emerald would go, the tribal mask of Enerjak covering his face, and his hands holding his head as he groaned, his mind fighting the mask for control. Dark Spiny rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, he's looney toons. He might change his mind any moment and blow up the Space Colony instead. Guess in the interest of self-preservation, I should get down there and try to get the situation under control. I'll just fiddle with security to give myself the best shortcut..." he snickered, typing at the controls a bit more as he planned his big move.
The doors leading to the direct route to the core had closed thanks to Dark Spiny's interference. "Yeah, there's no time to figure out how to open this..." Carrie grumbled, tearing the first door right out of the path using her psychokinesis. Beyond it, GUN robots were now active and swarming. "...I don't remember this much resistance when I last went down to the core..." Shadow muttered. "Must be something Gunner left for us..." Kosmo growled. It didn't really matter. As they headed into the hallway, Carrie was quick to grab and dispose of the nearest Beetle robots. Shadow leapt into homing attacks, taking out artificial Chaos machines attached to the walls. Kosmo's body morphed a metallic armor around itself as he ran forward, the armor repelling lasers as he went after Hunter robots in the path. Ozzie whistled calmly as he and Starr casually followed behind them. "Well, whoever put all these robots here sure didn't realize what they were dealing with." he murmured. "Maybe someone just wants to slow us down?" Starr questioned. "I know I do!" Glancing back, they saw Tabitha flying their way, laughing softly as she tossed a spell at the broken robot pieces! She caused them to reassemble and surround Ozzie and Starr! "Hey! What's the big idea!?" Kosmo shouted as he saw these robots restored to working order. Tabitha smirked. "I've determined where Nova is now, so I'll be getting myself to the mask first! Ta-ta!" she said, tearing off ahead of the group, leaving the morphs and mirage to battle the same robots again. "Stop right there!" Shadow shouted, chasing after her, the pair of them exiting the hallway into a chamber filled with rushing liquid and odd time switches. Tabitha cast a spell to blast open the next doorway, passing through it before the ceiling collapsed, blocking the direct route before Shadow could get through! "...There'd better be another way..." he grunted.
Of course, the same robots again really didn't delay the others very much, and they soon found Shadow peering into a large tank of liquid in the center of the room. All of that rushing liquid was flowing into this tank. Oddly, said tank looked more like a massive chamber with connected rooms inside. Noticing the rubble in the doorway, the morphs and Carrie were quickly brought up to speed on the situation. "You think there's an alternate route down there?" Starr asked. "Maybe..." Shadow murmured. "That's all well and good, but unlike most of us, I can't grow gills." Carrie pointed out. Kosmo jumped into the liquid, his lower body shifting into a merfolk tail. "I'll scout ahead. You all just stand here and look pretty..." he said, diving down into the chamber below. Starr gave a pout in his direction. "He never wants me to go along. Humph..." she groaned, looking for a place to sit. She was about to sit on one of the odd time switches, which Ozzie quickly decided was a bad idea. "Hey, th-that's not a chair!!" he stammered, trying to tug her away from it only for him to get caught in the effect as well when the switch stopped time around them! Shadow and Carrie were stuck in their poses, and even the liquid stopped rushing. "...The science was sure advanced here, huh?" Starr murmured. Ozzie looked around with a grin. "Hey, I got an idea..." he smirked. When time resumed for Shadow and Carrie, the duo were missing. "Hm? Oh, great, what'd they just do?" Shadow grumbled. Kosmo appeared from the liquid a moment later. "These dumb lasers blocked me..." he grumbled. As he spoke, something dropped onto his head! "Ow!!" Looking up, he saw a sort of mechanical pulley had been lowered, leading to an upper area. It looked like it might lead to a ventilation system that'd get them past the door. Moments later, Starr and Ozzie appeared at the surface of the liquid! "Man, it's a good thing another of those switches was past those lasers..." Ozzie said, coughing up the liquid, which he seemed to find distasteful. Starr grinned wide and waved. "Hey, dad. How was your swim?" Shadow had a very bemused look on his face. "Moving on, then..." he sighed, glad he didn't seem to have kids.
Tabitha and Dark Spiny each arrived at the Cannon's Core at about the same time. Tabitha ignored the Dark, each of them racing to the replica of the Master Emerald shrine where Nova was feeding energy from the mask into the Eclipse Cannon. The morph saw them approach and folded his arms across his chest, floating above them. "Fledgling creatures of mortal darkness! Pledge your allegiance to the mighty Enerjak, and perhaps I will grant you mercy!" he said in a deep voice. Dark Spiny chortled a bit. "He serious? Oh, boy, he's loonier than I imagined." he stated. Tabitha rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I have a counterproposal for you, 'Mighty Enerjak.' Since your vessel has become a liability, I'm going to kill him and take your mask!" she sneered, creating spells of different colors in her hands and hurling them at Nova without delay. "Good idea, lady!" Dark Spiny added, "Spear Storm!!" The dark let loose with Chaos Spears erupting from his back quills, which he controlled and sent at Nova relentlessly! Nova's body simply turned translucent, however, and their attacks passed right through his watery form. "Blasphemy! You defy your lord?! Then you shall face my wrath!!" Nova declared. Energy surrounded the morph, channeled by the core of the Eclipse Cannon, charged, and now being redirected by Enerjak! Dark Spiny gulped and hid behind Tabitha, who erected a shield around herself as the Eclipse Cannon's laser fired directly into the chamber, the beam focused directly on Tabitha and Dark Spiny! "All who deny my power... shall be reduced to nothing but ashes!!!" Enerjak declared as the powerful beam filled the room!
Naturally, the Eclipse Cannon going off inside the Space Colony was bound to create a bit of a racket. It also caused quite a bit of damage, and rocked the colony pretty hard. Shadow, Kosmo and the others couldn't help but feel it and hear it. "We all just HAD to blindly charge after the big bad Lost One..." Carrie groaned, recalling how they got into this mess. Kosmo's eyes darted around a bit nervously. "No matter how this works out, I think we need to find a ship to get outta here..." he stated, "Also, I think we should take out this death trap as we go, too." His words gave Shadow pause. "Destroy the ARK?" he murmured, thinking it over for a moment, "...You're right. The Space Colony has served its purpose, and can only bring destruction if left alone. The Eclipse Cannon is too much power for anyone..." he said in a melancholy tone. The three "adults" nodded in agreement and continued forward. "We still need to deal with Nova, however..." Shadow noted. They didn't seem to notice Starr and Ozzie hanging back. "Dad's right... We gotta find a ship! I mean, did you feel that! This Space Colony is probably already toast!" Starr pointed out. Ozzie looked at her with a frown. "It's not like any of us came up here in a ship, though. I don't think there is one." he told her. Starr took his hand and started to lead him back the way they came. "Maybe not, but I mean we've been largely a couple of third wheels so far. Who really thinks Shadow the Hedgehog is going to have any trouble with some kooky morph under the control of a mask? Especially with my dad with him?" she pointed out. "Way to make me feel like I've wasted my time coming here..." Ozzie grumbled, following after Starr reluctantly.
Finally, Shadow, Kosmo and Carrie had reached the Cannon's Core. There was a quite visible hole in one of the walls from the Eclipse Cannon shot, but surprisingly, Dark Spiny wasn't dead. In fact, he stepped towards Shadow with a smirk and a slow clap as he entered. "At last, you've arrived! Now, Shadow, it is time for our fated clash! I will defeat you and claim the title of Ultimate- agh!!" Rather than listen to anything Dark Spiny had to say, Shadow walked right up to him and gave him a decisive slap across the face. "I could not begin to tell you how little I care!" he scoffed, heading directly for the shrine at the core while Dark Spiny rubbed his cheek. "H-how dare you! I am not above thrashing you while your back is turned!" he shouted. Kosmo rolled his eyes. "Sic him, Carrie." he said, making the mirage smirk widely. All that was heard was Dark Spiny's pathetic yelps and cries as Kosmo caught up to Shadow at the shrine. There, Tabitha was slumped over on her knees, panting as Nova- or Enerjak- loomed over her. "You have resisted well... Yet your power is incomplete. Something was taken from you, wasn't it? Yes... You were once strong, fearless... A ruthless killer. But that was another life... A pity..." Enerjak said with a mocking chuckle. Tabitha held a small sparkle of orange light close to her chest. "This life has been for naught as well..." she said with a cough, "Yet, it may not be in vain... My last power... Can secure my vengeance!" she huffed, turning toward Shadow. She took the sparkle from her chest and gently sent it to the black hedgehog, levitating what appeared to be a small orange gemstone to him, which he casually took in his hand. "Use that...to avenge me!! Or I shall haunt you!!" the witch declared before her body suddenly crumbled into dust before their eyes, blowing away from Nova along with her pointy hat! Kosmo looked at Nova with a glare. "So... I take it you're too nuts to remember killing me?" he growled. Enerjak gave a hearty laugh. "If it comforts you, I shall commit it to memory when I kill you this day!" he vowed.
Enerjak's gold armor appeared on Nova's body, the god's great spear appearing in his hand. "You merely had a brief taste of my power last time, mortals..." he warned. Kosmo grabbed his own tail, which morphed a claw at the tip as he started to swing it. "All we need is to take off that mask!" he pointed out. "Easier said than done!" Enerjak sneered, swinging his spear broadly and sending a shockwave of energy down to knock Shadow and Kosmo away! They took a tumble down the stairs, but quickly got back on their feet. "Distract him, I got the mask..." Kosmo said, adding wings to his form and flying back up, but keeping his distance. Shadow leapt back up the stairs and tossed Chaos Spears at Enerjak, only for them to pass through Nova's watery body! "Your powers are futile against me!" the masked morph bellowed, pointing the spear at Shadow and firing powerful beams at him repeatedly, cracking and breaking the steps of the shrine as Shadow leapt back, evading those beams! During the diversion, Kosmo swung his clawed tail and tossed it at Enerjak like a lasso from above! Enerjak moved quickly to grab the tail with his free hand, jolting Kosmo directly with the mask's powerful energy! "Gyaaaaahh!!" As Kosmo frantically tried to morph his way out of this one, the clawed part of his tail ripped off in Enerjak's hand, causing the morph to fall to the ground as the other morph clutched the bloody appendage. "Since you brought it up, and dared touch me, I sampled your memories. But it seems you are the one who has lost who you were. Pitiful." he stated, tossing the claw aside. Kosmo grunted as he stood up, clutching his tail as it painfully morphed back to normal. "At least I got over MY god complex, NOVA!" he snapped. Shadow nodded. "The past is irrelevant. What we choose to do today makes all the difference." he said. Enerjak threw the spear aside and charged at Shadow. "There's no escaping your past! I, your god, shall punish all your sins for ALL time!!" he roared!
Enerjak clutched Shadow by the wrists, the pair struggling, each of their bodies sparking with different energy. "Ch-chaos...!!" Shadow tried to call out Chaos Control, but Enerjak squeezed his wrists and jolted his body, preventing him! "Show me your sins! Show me your past!" he laughed, using the same ability he'd just used on Kosmo to view Shadow's history. Shadow was expelling Chaos energy to try and fight him at first, but when that was failing, he tried a different tact. "You want to know me? Take my memories then! Take them all!" he shouted, headbutting the mask with all his might! In that moment, Nova's head turned to liquid, and the mask sank inside him. His mind was swimming in three different sets of thoughts and memories now. His own history was faint, already overwhelmed by Enerjak. The god's mind, however, was reliant on the mask being properly affixed to a face, so Enerjak was quickly going insane as well. Shadow's memories ran through Nova's mind. "Mariaaaa!!" A gunshot. A murder. "I-I just don't know any-any-more.... I often wonder why I w-was...created." Created? Androids? No... "Faker? I think you're the fake hedgehog around here!" A fake, yes. A fake Shadow. Mephiles. In a crater on the moon? "I left the past behind me... But is it a useless effort? Am I doomed to become the monster Black Doom intended me as...?" ...Black Doom? "You were created from MY blood!" Shadow had been released by Nova, who was holding his head and shouting these random lines from the Ultimate Life Form's past while Carrie caught up to the group. "Uhhh... Is he okay?" she asked. "He's never been okay..." Kosmo sighed. Nova began to glow, twisting and transforming before their eyes. Shadow let out an audible gasp as he recognized the shape. Nova was taking on the hideous alien form of Black Doom! "I...gave you life!! Now, I'll take it back!!" he declared, now speaking in Black Doom's demonic voice!
Chapter 36 - Burying the Past
Stage 18x - The ARK: Finalhazard
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
"Suffer long and it will set you free.
Only through trial do we
Find the strength we need.
It's never over, just another day,
Of hope and tragedies,
And everything that comes our way.
Determination of the strong.
Found the meaning that you
Searched for so long!
All hail Shadow!
Heroes rise again.
Obliterating everything
That's not your friend.
Nothing can stop you now;
No ghost to bring you down.
When there's nothing left to lose,
You win!" - All Hail Shadow; Shadow's Theme
Gator's Crazy Adventure!!
The Lost Ones' armies were spreading further and further across the land. Avoiding them as best he could, Gator ended up at GUN's bunker. Somehow Big had beaten him there, but Gator was tired of interacting with Big, so he ignored him, Amy and Cream. "I'm not talking to the crybabies, either." he murmured, passing by Tommy, Ridley and their friends, who gave him a bit of a glare for calling them crybabies. Gator doesn't know Razor's dead, but he'd probably be a jerk anyway so let's move on. "What's a Razor? It's dead? Aww..." he murmured, annoyingly replying to the narration again. He passed by the gargoyle refugees and the Central City refugees, who seemed to be getting along alright. Zooey was even having a nice chat with Rick the gargoyle, which Gator wasn't interested in. "This is a weird convention. Why's everyone here sitting around like they're scared?" he wondered. "What are ya, stupid!?" asked Storm the albatross, who had also taken shelter here, "We're hidin' out from the Lost Ones!" he grumbled. Gator scratched his head. "But if they're lost, then they can't find us, so why hide? WAIT A SECOND!! THIEVES!!!" he shouted, pointing at the Babylon Rogues furiously, "You made me sink my boat! And you stole my Time Stone!!" he yelled, referencing events he really shouldn't be able to remember. Jet and Wave briefly glanced at him before returning to their own conversation. "Yeah, the blimp's toast. Speedy's toast. Armada's toast." Wave said with a defeated sigh. "Grrr!! Those distracting foxes and gargoyles!! And...and those Lost Ones!! Is there any way we can make 'em PAY for this?!" he growled. The birds silenced and looked surprised as the one in charge of this bunker approached, the GUN Commander. "Funny you should mention that. We could use some aerial support. If we keep running, this world is lost. So, what say you?" he asked, looking out over the crowded bunker, "What say all of you!?"
"I say this smelled like filler for a shorter chapter. Also I want my Time Stone back!" - Gator
Shadow and Kosmo stood before the amalgamation of their nemesis, Black Doom's body composed of Nova's watery being. "If you won't finish what we started, Shadow, then I will! Say goodbye to the world you have chosen, Shadow!!" Nova declared in Black Doom's voice, his body glowing once again as he began to change into an even larger shape! "Are... are his crazy shapes being powered by the mask inside him??" Carrie whispered, gasping loudly as she saw the form he took! It was Black Doom's nightmarish final form, Devil Doom! Shadow stared in shock, taking a step backward. Even he was unsure if he could stop this without the Chaos Emeralds. "Cower in fear over your final moments! Chaos...Control!!" Nova Doom roared, suddenly vanishing before their eyes! Kosmo looked around with a frown. "And of course, my no-good daughter and that Ozzie are missing. Well, we'd better find them and bail before Nova destroys this Space Colony for us!" he said, taking Carrie's hand and heading back for the exit. Shadow looked towards them. "As if there's anywhere to go. We need to find a way to stop Nova here, or the world could be in even more trouble than it's already in." he reasoned before breaking out into a run to catch up, and then pass Kosmo and Carrie. "You can try to run if you want, but if you want to help fight Nova, then follow me!" he shouted, not slowing down. Kosmo glanced at Carrie. "Well, you know I'm going. Less a revenge thing and more a 'don't mess with my family' thing. Can't have him blow this place up with my daughter here...or her probable mother." he said, smiling at Carrie with a light blush before quickly turning to chase Shadow. Carrie looked at him with wide eyes, her own face red. "Hey, wait! Come back! We gotta talk about that before you kill yourself! KOSMO!!" she shouted, rushing after him!
Starr and Ozzie found themselves wandering the walkways of Final Rush, out in the space around the colony. "You know... If we were going to find a ship... I'm pretty sure this is the wrong way." Ozzie sighed. "Well, I didn't see you coming up with great directions..." Starr pouted. Their little discussion was interrupted by a terrible roar, and when they turned toward the source, they saw "Nova Doom" flying through space! "What in the unholy name of Metarex is that!?" Ozzie shouted, pointing. Looking, Starr could see that the creature was hurling blasts of water at a set of rails connecting areas of Final Rush. She gasped when she realized that their friends were grinding on those rails. "Dad's in trouble!!" she shouted, looking for a way over there. "We're about to be in trouble! That thing's getting closer!" Ozzie stammered. As Nova Doom was floating through space in their direction, Kosmo transformed into his dragon form and leapt off the rails! The mighty Kosmogon was dwarfed by Nova Doom, but Kosmo still spouted flames from his mouth to keep the attention of the beast away from the younger morphs. Shadow leapt from the Kosmogon's back and into a homing attack, but a watery tendril grew out of Nova Doom's body and whipped him away, to be caught by Carrie's psychokinesis as she passed on the rail. "Well, this is going great... Kosmo, look out!!" she gasped as the tendrils lashed out, grabbing and squeezing his dragon form! "No!!" Starr cried, grabbing on to the railing of the platform she was on and frantically looking for any means of helping him. Kosmo shifted into an eagle to slip out of Nova's grip, though, and as Starr sighed in relief, Ozzie placed his hand on hers. "Keep it together, Starr... We got this..." he said.
Nova swatted the rail with the powerful arms of Devil Doom, sending Shadow and Carrie flying into the air! Kosmo flew out and caught Carrie, while Shadow tried warping behind the beast. "Oh, right... He's two-headed..." Devil Doom had a second head on his back, and unlike the real thing, Nova had a glowing eye watching from each head rather than a detached eye swapping between both! "Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted, stabbing at that eye as he landed on the next rail below! Kosmo spotted Starr and Ozzie, dropping off Carrie with them. "You three get out of here!" he shouted, returning to the battle. Despite getting shot in the eye, Nova didn't seem very much bothered, and Starr watched the situation with great fear in her eyes. "Th-they'll die..." she stammered. "Wait, what's Shadow doing?" Ozzie questioned, the three of them looking at the end of the rail where Shadow arrived at a platform. He was looking at a sparkling object in his hand. "I have no idea." Carrie murmured, "But he'd better have a plan!" Nova was closing in on him, and simultaneously keeping Kosmo busy with watery blasts which the flying morph had to avoid. The sparkling object Shadow was looking at was the orange gem Tabitha had left him. "This power feels... familiar. Alright. I'll put it to use. But not for revenge... I'll use this power to lay our demons to rest!" The orange light glowed brighter as Shadow invoked its power, holding it over his head! Nova held one of his wings in front of his eye to shield him from the light. "This... It's not possible!" he groaned in Black Doom's voice. Shadow was now floating in the air, his body glowing gold with power. The last of Tabitha's power had transformed him into Super Shadow!
Kosmo smirked as he saw Super Shadow launch into the offensive, his first instinct being to go for the eyes, which Nova indeed was quick to block with those broad wings again. Looking back, Kosmo saw the others still hanging around, and flew back to check on them. "What're you all standing around for?? I said get outta here! I'll do better helping Shadow fight if I know you guys are safe!" he shouted. Starr was about to say something when Ozzie grabbed her hand and gave Kosmo a salute. "You have my word, I'll get everyone to safety!" he promised. Kosmo nodded, and then gasped as he heard explosions behind him. Nearby pieces of the space colony were breaking off and seeming to orbit around Nova Doom! "Can he use Psychokinesis now!?" Kosmo shouted, starting back in the direction of the battle, "Get the heck outta here!" he shouted in parting. Carrie looked around nervously. "Never mind that there's literally no way back to Earth, right?" she murmured. Ozzie stepped to the edge of the platform they were standing on. "There's one way. Only one way. And it's up to me..." he said, heaving a heavy sigh, "Don't question it, sis. Just climb aboard..." he said, giving Starr a brief smile before he jumped off the platform! "Ozzie!? What are you-" she gasped, a bright flash of light cutting her off! A white spacecraft hovered up to the platform in the next moment, looking a bit alien in its construction. Its glowing yellow headlights looked almost like eyes, and the hatch on its side opened to let Starr and Carrie aboard seemingly on its own. "Get in!" came Ozzie's voice through a speaker. Carrie tugged her collar awkwardly. "Is it REALLY safe inside you?" she murmured, walking into the Ozzie-ship nervously. Starr followed slowly. "This is crazy, Ozzie... B-be careful, alright?" she said as the hatch closed behind her. "Fasten your seat belts, this might be a turbulent ride!" Ozzie said via the speaker.
Kosmo landed on one of the bits of debris orbiting Nova Doom, shifting into his default form and leaping from object to object as he looked for a means to strike their foe. "We need to get that mask out of him!" Shadow grunted as he flew past, charging a Chaos Spear before hurling it at one of Nova Doom's faces! The crazed morph snarled angrily at being zapped in the eye. "Such petty tactics! I will end this the way you ended my Black Comet!" Nova declared, still speaking as Black Doom, "Chaos Control!!" He vanished from Final Rush, and Kosmo shifted wings onto his back as the debris started to fall. "Did he just go back where he started?" he questioned. Shadow grabbed Kosmo by the arm. "Chaos Control!" Warping them both, he brought them to the exterior of the Space Colony, where the barrel of the Eclipse Cannon pointed down at the Earth. Nova Doom was affixed to the tip in a manner similar to how the Biolizard previously tried to control the Space Colony, great watery tendrils sprouting from the bottom of his alien form and wrapping around the length of the cannon. Sparks ran along those tendrils, feeding power from Enerjak's mask to the Eclipse Cannon! "Once my power feeds this weapon... Your beloved Earth will crumble in a final destructive blast!" Nova declared, cackling in Black Doom's demonic voice. Shadow and Kosmo glanced at each other. "Not a chance in hell that's happening, Nova!" Kosmo shouted. "Black Doom, and my past, are already dead. Maybe I've had trouble letting go... Held on to nostalgia while telling myself I'd moved on... But no more. I'll bury you once and for all, Black Doom!" Super Shadow declared. "Do attempt it... I could use a final amusement!" Nova sneered.
Super Shadow attempted to charge straight into Nova's liquid body, gaining as much momentum as he could in hopes of breaking through to the mask. Unfortunately, Nova's body simply solidified and hardened just before impact, preventing Shadow from penetrating. He then fired a powerful energy beam from one of his eyes, knocking Shadow back and costing him rings! "I take it Chaos Controlling inside him isn't a good option?" Kosmo asked. "Not if he can turn solid like that at will!" Shadow grunted. Nodding, Kosmo flew around to the other side of the beast. "Hey, ugly! Which eye's the front and which is the back?" he shouted to catch Nova's attention. The morph's hands turned into sharp pendulum blades, which he swung at Kosmo in an attempt to slice and dice him! He kept just out of Nova's reach, though, watching the mask float inside his watery head. "Love to fish that out, but I ain't throwin' my tail at him again..." he murmured, noticing Shadow approaching from behind again. Kosmo decided to distract Nova, morphing into a variation on the Death Egg Robots he'd seen during Eggman and Infinite's world takeover not too long ago. One key difference was the arms ending in swordlike blades, enabling him to clash with Nova's own hand-blades directly! Of course, Nova's other eye could see Shadow coming, so that eye fired more powerful beams his way, forcing the hedgehog to dodge in order to maintain his ring count! "Wait, if he can do that to me... Kosmo!!" Shadow gasped. As if on cue, Nova fired a mighty Enerjak energy beam from his other eye, causing the robot Kosmo to explode! "K-kosmo!!" Shadow cried frantically. Within the wreckage, Kosmo's ordinary form floated limply, burned and wounded. He wasn't moving, and Nova turned his focus to Shadow. "The end is here! The Eclipse Cannon is nearly charged! Prepare your farewells, Shadow!" he snarled!
Super Shadow looked from Nova to the Space Colony. "There is one way I can stop you for sure." he stated, soaring past the imitation of Black Doom and heading directly for the Space Colony itself, "...I can bury Professor Gerald's legacy... Lay his demons to rest, once and for all!" he declared with determination! "Stop! You can't do this! I will tear you apart first!" Nova Doom snarled, sprouting more tendrils from the tendrils holding the Eclipse Cannon and trying to catch Shadow with them. However, he was distracted by a brilliant flash of light from Kosmo's body, the morph changing shape, growing into a long, powerful form. He became a purple serpent- dragon, similar to what Ozzie had done at Casino Park, and swiftly coiled his body around Nova Doom, shocking the Morph's system and preventing him from sending his tendrils after Shadow! "Y-you fool!" Nova growled, his watery body splashing and squirming in a panicked effort to escape Kosmo's grip, "Y-your friend will kill us both! What is your love for this planet!?" he shouted, now in his own voice. Kosmo squeezed him tight, looking back as Shadow propelled himself into the base of the Eclipse Cannon at destructive speed! "You made two mistakes, Nova... One was threatening the world of my future wife and daughter!" he growled. Nova's eyes widened as the Eclipse Cannon, and the Space Colony ARK, started to explode from Super Shadow's attack! "...Your other mistake was shoving a giant stick up your butt. Bye!" Kosmo snickered, uncoiling from Nova and flying away as quick as he could while the bulky form of Devil Doom struggled, securely attached to the tip of the Eclipse Cannon! "No, no!! I was supposed to be... a god!!!!" he wailed as the explosions enveloped his body, sending sparkling Twilight Shards tumbling into the vacuum of space in the aftermath... the last lost remnants of Enerjak.
Starr and Carrie could see the exploding Space Colony from the Ozzie-ship. They watched it go up in a huge ball of fire with wide eyes. "Dad..." Starr murmured, "Wait, I'm still here!" she realized. The ship's door opened up in a moment to let Shadow and Kosmo in, the hedgehog carrying the rather exhausted-looking morph. When the door closed behind them, Shadow's Super Form wore off, and he took a knee as well, panting softly. "Let's get back to Earth now..." he huffed. Kosmo nodded, but Starr shook her head. "W-we can't! Ozzie...he'll burn up and die when we enter the atmosphere! He's the ship!" she said frantically. Kosmo, Carrie and Shadow glanced at one another, as though searching for ideas. Ozzie, however, didn't wait, and started towards the Earth right away. "Ozzie, don't! Th-there must be another way!" Starr cried. "There isn't, sis. Sure, when Shadow's got his energy back he could warp us, but until then we're sitting ducks up here, and we know the Lost Ones planned on us never coming back. I've gotta get you all down there to disrupt their plans...this is what I was sent to do!" he said via the ship's speakers. Starr stammered, not wanting to accept this, but unable to think of any way to convince him. Already, it was getting hot in the ship. "Kosmo..." Ozzie said, "I'm glad I found you... It's no mistake I've been calling Starr 'sis,' ya see." he said with a soft chuckle, making Kosmo's eyes widen. "Wait...you're saying... B-but then, no! I should be doing this!" Kosmo stammered. "It's okay, Dad..." Ozzie said peacefully, gasping a bit as the heat started burning his hull, "First you disappeared, then Mom's sickness got her... You only enlisted to pay for her treatments... I know you don't remember. I searched for you...so long. I'm glad I found you... And met my sis, too. You stay alive so she gets born proper, alright, Dad?" he said with a pained grunt. "Ozzie! B-brother!!" Starr cried, tearing up and hugging Carrie tightly. There wasn't time to answer all of Kosmo's questions. "I'm glad I found you too, son... I won't forget you..." he said, a tear falling from his glowing eye. Ozzie wheezed as the atmosphere burned the life out of him. "Best ditch me when we get past this burning... I'm gonna crash... It's an honor to die saving you..." These were Ozzie's final words.
Starr and Kosmo both had gargoyle wings as they flew from the falling ship, Kosmo carrying Shadow and Starr carrying Carrie. They followed the ship as it fell, seeing a brief flash of light as Ozzie reverted to his true form. His body impacted the sands of Emerald Coast, and the others landed near him, the family rushing to Ozzie's side while Shadow stayed back, looking up at the sky where the ARK once orbited. "Rest in peace, Gerald...Maria... I know I'm all that's left of your legacy now, and I'll do my best to do you both proud." he whispered to himself. Kosmo and Starr were both kneeling beside Ozzie. His eyes had lost their yellow glow, now pale and lifeless. Carrie gently flicked her fingers, closing his eyes with her psychokinesis. "It's a beautiful place..." she said with a sniffle, looking out over the ocean, "I wonder if he'd have liked it here?" Starr huddled close to her father, and he placed a gentle arm around her as they shared a silent moment with their fallen family. As much as a funeral seemed the proper thing to do, an ominous sight on the horizon soon drew Shadow's attention. "What the... Demon Island??" Floating above Station Square was the island headquarters of the Covenant of Despair, raised from the depths by the Lost Ones. Carrie looked that way first, followed by a reluctant Kosmo and Starr. "Those Lost Ones are responsible... They put us in space. It's only right we bring them down to honor Ozzie's sacrifice!" Kosmo said with a growl. Starr nodded, standing between Kosmo and Carrie, taking the hand of each of them. Shadow looked at them and nodded. "Of course. The battle isn't over. But to avoid further unnecessary death, we'd better make contact with the others and prepare for the coming battle." he reasoned. They weren't sure where to start...but they wouldn't let Ozzie die in vain.
To be continued... Oh, one more thing...
"You're lucky I even bothered to rescue you..." Lospecter grumbled from somewhere within Despair Castle, hovering over Dark Spiny as he held his throbbing head. "I was just supposed to run interference, and I did. Anyway, the dumb planet-killer-laser's gone now, so that's...good?" he questioned. "Well, they can't blow up this island with it..." Lospecter shrugged, "And three overpowered chumps died to boot. Seems like a good day. Too bad Mephiles was too busy to collect their souls..." he murmured. "I'm not too busy now..." said Mephiles as he slowly creeped out of the shadows, "And I'm interested to hear more about this Soleil person that's surfaced..." he said with a sinister chuckle.
Chapter 37 - The Doomsday Protocol
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.
"I walked so very long
Always on my own
Somebody came along
And from that moment, I wasn't lone
I found a friend... Someone who stood by me
Until the end... No matter what, unconditionally
I became more than a clone
My destiny...
I'll find it with my friends
What I will be...
Broken hearts in time will mend
And I will find my way to my destiny" - Destiny of a Clone; Original Punchy Theme, by 2BIT
Previously on GeneX…
Despite putting up a valiant battle to protect the Chaos Crystal, Punchy and Heather were unable to stop it from being stolen by the Lost Ones (with the aid of their Dark allies, including "Punky" and "Soleil," Punchy and Heather's own dark forms.
Heather displayed new powers in order to protect her friends, however...but this was the diversion Lospecter needed to warp the Chaos Crystal away.
Using the Crystal's power, the Lost Ones raised Demon Island from the depths of the ocean! Our heroes may be unsure of the Lost Ones' plan, but they know they need to get the Chaos Crystal back!
Now, our tale continues...
Minnie the divine had gotten a call from her brother, Lucky Jr, to check in after they were all split up to escape the Lost Ones at "Omochao's Battle Factory." It was time for a quick roll call. "Well, we got Aurora, Argyle, Venice, the burger shop dude, and the police chief guy." Minnie reported. "Hey! I'm not just a burger guy! I was interning in that building Eggman took over..." Dave murmured. "Fine, you're burger guy the intern, then." Venice replied. Lucky Jr's voice came through Minnie's ProwerPhone. "So, no Skye? Why can't we reach his phone?" he questioned. They all shrugged, and Aurora pulled out her own phone. "Well, gimmie a call if you guys find him. I'm gonna check in with my dad..." she told them. Argyle raised an eyebrow at that. "How? You can't call him! He don't got a ProwerPhone!" he pointed out. Aurora turned her phone around to show a map on the screen. A flashing red dot indicated someone she was tracking. "Dad made me get his shoes... Don't ask. Anyway, I attached a tracker to them since I knew we'd be separated." she smirked. Minnie did a facepalm and groaned. "Why aren't we ALL tracking each other?? We'd know exactly where Skye is!" she sighed. Argyle chuckled awkwardly. "We could probably track his phone... If any of us WERE Skye..." he muttered. Aurora shrugged and started following the tracker to find her father. "I'll give you a call if I run into him. Nobody's accomplishing anything standing around here." she grumbled. "...Should someone go with her?" Chief Paynson asked, only for everyone to continue ignoring his presence. The chief frowned and stood beside Dave the Intern. "We're such third wheels, aren't we?" he muttered. "Speak for yourself! I'm invested in this. Will they find Skye or won't they? What happened to him? Who even is he...or she?" Dave rambled. Most of those were good questions...
Punchy, Rainbow, Heather, Guard, Team Chaotix and Professor Pickle all looked up and watched as Demon Island passed overhead. "Wh-where's the island going??" Charmy stammered. "Wherever it's going, it's taking the Chaos Crystal with it!" Rainbow realized, "I gotta get it back!" Thus, their current problem presented itself. "How do we get up there? Garen can't carry all of us." Heather pointed out. Vector looked around a bit uncertainly. "Don't think we're all goin' anyway. The professor could use an escort to safety." he reasoned. Punchy was also looking around. Unfortunately, Spy had taken Mia's flying cab out of the city. "Only thing I can think of is checking Darkegg Fortress for a plane. But I don't think the ferry's gonna take us there now..." he sighed. A Wrongo flew past his face, and Punchy knew who had just found them. "There isn't a single problem that can't be solved, young ones!" Everyone turned to the voice, seeing Illusi the shrew approaching from the shore, a fanciful boat with a Wrongo motif floating in the ocean behind him, likely an illusion itself. "Oh, fantastic, but...uh...how 'bout an illusion plane?" Punchy asked. The shrew folded his arms. "Now that would be terribly unsafe. You all CAN swim by the way?" he asked, making Heather look rather nervous. "Rrr... I'll stay close in case you need a lift." Guard told her. With all this conveniently settled, they were about to leave, but Professor Pickle hurriedly rushed after Guard. "If you're going, take this with you!" he said, handing off the Scepter of Darkness to the gargoyle, "I've finished repairing it. Hopefully it will be of some use sealing away Darks." he stated. Guard nodded and joined the others while Team Chaotix motioned for Pickle to follow them. "So, was that shrew just waiting here for us?" Espio questioned. "We're off this case, Espio..." Vector sighed.
Fortunately, the boat ride went very smoothly, carrying the group swiftly to the island where the ominous tower, Darkegg Fortress, stood. This had been Punchy and Rainbow's home for quite a while, but now the base was back in Eggman's control. What was more, the Chao that once lived in the tower were found milling about the coastline, including a distraught Char. "What's goin' on here? Androids run amok again?" Punchy asked. Char sniffled sadly. "Dr. Eggman kicked us all out! I th-thought he was my friend! Why would he do this to meeeee?" he wailed, falling into Rainbow's comforting arms. "There, there, Charlie. It'll all be okay..." she said calmly. Before they could get closer to the tower, a small drone approached them, displaying Eggman's face on a screen to communicate with them. "Ah, Punchy! Welcome back! You're not still cross with me, are you?" the doctor asked. Heather stared at him blankly. "What do you think?" she asked. The doctor chuckled nervously. "Well, beggar's can't be choosers. The Lost Ones are keeping me on a tight leash here on Demon Island. So, I'd like to ask you fellows a favor and prep Darkegg Fortress' Doomsday Protocol for me." he said with a sincere smile. Guard pointed his scythe at the drone. "Why would we trust you? Grrrr!" he growled. The doctor shrugged with a nervous chuckle. "How about a deal? I shut off the base's defenses if you do this for me... Look, I don't have much time here, the Lost Ones'll catch us!" he said urgently. Shrugging, Punchy nodded. "How can we refuse?" he stated. "Excellent! Godspeed, my friends!" Eggman smiled before the drone hovered away. Everyone looked to Illusi as though asking what he thought. "He does seem afraid of the Lost Ones now, doesn't he?" the shrew mused, "Maybe the Doomsday Protocol is less to help them and more to help him?" he hypothesized.
"Well, don't look at me, I have no idea about any Doomsday Protocol. I lived here but I didn't build the joint." Punchy said as the group entered the familiar tower. Familiar to most of them, anyway; Heather not so much. "Well, this place looked huge from the outside. Any clue where we'd find a plane or a ship?" she wondered. Exiting the elevator across from the entrance, Hoover ran out to greet them. "There ya are, ya dad-gum idjits! Why ain't any of ya brought back my Hurricane yet?" he shouted. "Heya, Scooter, how'd you get back here?" Rainbow replied cheerfully. Hoover groaned. "Not that name agin... Uh, I done hitched a ride with Eggman when things got scary. Sue me!" he said with a bit of a pout. Guard tapped his scythe against the ground in Hoover's direction. "Grr! Robot! What is Doomsday Protocol?" he demanded, getting things on-topic. The beaver robot reached for his swiss-army tail and grabbed a screwdriver. "No idea, but it's ringin' some bells in the program. If'n we gotta set it up, I know whut ta do." he stated. Illusi nodded. "With the defenses down, we can do this task while looking for transport to Demon Island..." Of course, it wouldn't be that easy. The alarm went off, and BAS had an announcement for them. "Defenses reinstated by order of E-3X! Sorry, guys, he threatened me!" the A.I. squawked. Punchy took a moment to recall what E-3X was. "Ugh, Terra! He overrode Eggman's orders? He can DO that??" he said in bewilderment. "He's willing to deactivate the defenses again... But only after Experiment 1 has faced him!" BAS reported. Punchy tapped his foot. "BAS, how long did we live here? You still don't know my name??" he grumbled. "It's not like anyone talked to me while you were squatting!" BAS retorted.
Punchy was quick to head for the elevator, planning to find Terra. Guard followed after him. "Grrr... You can have your personal battle. I'm going to see if Dr. Eggman's communications equipment can restore contact with our allies." the gargoyle grunted. "Be careful, you two!" Heather said with a wave as the elevator shut with both of them inside. "Well, at least we got Mousy to help us out... Uh, Mousy?" Rainbow looked around to find that Illusi had also left them alone. Exactly where the shrew had gone was a mystery. "How's he do that now without his old key?" Rainbow questioned. Hoover twirled the screwdriver in his hand and motioned for the girls to follow. "Let's git this show on the road! I gotta release some locks 'ere at ground level as step one in the 'ol Doomsday Protocol! An' since defenses are online, you gals are gonna have ta watch my tail while I work on that!" he explained, heading for a side door that Rainbow had never bothered to explore before. "Ah, well, it's the old Tubby Tower! How bad could these defenses be?" Rainbow chuckled, pushing the door open to see a pack of armored Egg Pawns hunched over a table, seemingly playing poker or something. "Ha! See? It's just the same old goons!" she pointed. Then, the slimy face of a Lost One poked out of one robot's head, twisting around to peek at another robot's cards. Rainbow's expression turned grim, and she hurried behind Heather, shoving her forward. "Teehee! They're all yours, Seven!" she said nervously. Lost One heads poked out of all the robots and glared at the girls, making Heather yelp. "Not this again! Try to remember how you used that crazy power back at the Sanctuary, Rainbow! I may need backup!" the phoenix stammered. Hoover scurried ahead carefully. "Jus' keep 'em busy fer me! 'Kay, good luck!" he cried.
"Chaos Avalanche!!" BAS had forced the elevator to stop at a lower floor on Terra's orders, leading Punchy and Guard into a hall full of robots. Punchy made quick work of a bunch of them by collapsing the ceiling on top of them with his Chaos power. With that creating an opening to the upper floor, Guard picked the echidna up and flew him through the hole, leaving the other robots behind. "Make up your mind, Terra! You wanna face me or not!?" Punchy shouted as Guard dropped him on the ground. The gargoyle was quick to spot someone in their path, lunging his scythe toward him! "MEOWR!! Cease! Desist! I mean you no harm!" It was Firepaw in his robotic body. Guard kept his scythe pointed at him. "Grrrr... Forgive me if I don't trust you... I didn't exactly enjoy having you in my head! Grrrr!!" the gargoyle snarled, remembering the time his android brain was compromised by the virus. "I'm on your side! Dr. Eggman asked you to get Doomsday Protocol started, yeah? Meowr?" Firepaw asked. Punchy placed a hand on Guard's scythe to lower it slightly. "Yeah, any chance you could clue us in about that?" he questioned. Firepaw shrugged. "Classified above even my computational permissions. Meowr, I get the idea that it's a last resort function of this base. Anyway, I can get you to the Control Room good and fast. We all know you're bound to get lost if you don't use the main elevator!" the fiery feline snickered. Punchy turned a little red with embarrassment. "I'm sure my sense of direction's improved...but seeing as we're pressed for time, guess we'll follow your lead. RIGHT, Guard?" he asked, nudging him. Guard grunted grouchily. "I'm watching you, virus..." he snorted. Firepaw then tapped a concealed switch on the wall, and a secret door opened. "After you, fellas! Meowrrrr..." he purred, grinning to himself smugly.
From there, it was a fairly quick to reach the Control Room. Gone were the homey touches Rainbow and Gemini had applied to the room while they lived there; Eggman had redecorated for his own operations, adding some bronze statues of himself to either end of the room to menace any who enter. At any rate, the monitors were set up in essentially the same way as before. Punchy saw Rainbow and Heather via the security monitors, Heather burning up some possessed robots while Rainbow was trying to get her powers to work again. "Great, I gotta wrap this up quick. Where the heck is Terra?" Punchy grumbled. Guard sat at the control terminal and started typing, looking to establish communications with anyone he could. "Grrr... Can anyone hear me? We're at Darkegg Fortress! Grrr, over!" he shouted. One of the monitors flickered, and the face of Zipp the hornet appeared. He poked at the screen. "Hey? What're you doing in there?" the hornet asked. Vortex and Crash peered into the screen from behind him. "I ssssee Punchy. Let'sss hang up." Vortex hissed. "Why you gotta be like that, guys?" Crash grumbled. Punchy shrugged. "They're right, hang up, Guard." he muttered. "Don't you dare!" shouted Bucky, who shoved past his experiments to get in on the conversation, "One! Six! Where are you, what's been going on?" he shouted. "Only Rainbow can call me One!!" Punchy snarled. Guard rubbed his forehead in annoyance. "Rrr... We need a ride to Demon Island." he said simply. Bucky folded his arms. "Impossible, I'm far too busy figuring out how best to mobilize Gideon's power to cure the Lost Ones... Hey, is that the Scepter of Darkness!?" the rat asked, seeing it in Guard's hands. The gargoyle held it up, and Bucky nodded. "Yes, I recognize that from my time in Soleanna. Six! ...Punchy! I have a request. Use that scepter, and seal away all the Darks you can with it. Most of them are my doing, my sloppy experimentations splitting your hearts in two. It would put my mind at ease very much to see their evil stopped!" he stated. Punchy glanced at Guard and shrugged. "Sure, what's another thing on my to-do list...?" he mumbled.
During the fighting with the processed robots, Hoover had hobbled over to a hatch in the wall, close to the floor. He opened it with his screwdriver, finding an electronic lock inside, which he plugged himself into and activated, causing mechanisms along the walls of the base to shift and unlock in response. The whole thing had taken about the length of time it took for Heather to deal with the robots, as Hoover had to do a bit of hacking with the lock. "Right, gals, there's step one finished. Ready fer step two?" he asked, turning towards them before gasping with alarm! "What's the matter, Scooter?" Rainbow asked, only to yelp as someone snatched her in his arms! "Colors! Been lookin' for ya!" It was Dark Punchy, or "Punky" as he was called now! "Put her down!" Heather warned, hands burning. Punky laughed softly. "No, we'll settle this with my weaker half. Go bring him! Ha ha ha!!" he laughed, dashing off with Rainbow struggling, held over his shoulder!
Punchy caught sight of this in the security monitors. "Damn it, damn it!! Terra can wait, then!" he shouted, grabbing the Scepter of Darkness from Guard hastily and stuffing it in his pants pocket. "COWARD!! You will face my wrath, NOW!!" Glancing at the main exit, they saw Terra stomping his way in! Firepaw's eyes darted back and forth. "Yooo, Terra! Meowr, how's it hangin?" he asked awkwardly. Terra looked at Firepaw coldly. "Keep the gargoyle out of my business! Or I will delete your game saves!" he warned. "Meowr!! Y-you monster! Then I have no choice!" Firepaw shouted, turning to Guard and baring his claws. The gargoyle stood up and twirled his scythe. "Grrr!! I was just waiting for an excuse!!" he grunted.
Terra opened fire on Punchy, who tore up chunks of the floor with Chaos Avalanche and blocked those bullets quickly! At the same time, fireballs crashed into one of the Eggman statues, missing Guard as he flew up above the attacking Firepaw! In response, Guard slung energy blasts down from the blade of his scythe, but Firepaw simply erected a heated shield around himself to block them! "Meowr ho howr! You can't get past my firewall!" the robot taunted, only to yelp as Guard brought down his scythe hard, knocking Firepaw back even with his shield intact! "Grraah!! Not so tough when we're face to face, are you!?" the gargoyle growled! Firepaw gripped his spiky tail and ignited it, snarling as he ran at Guard, parrying his scythe by swinging his weirdly elastic tail! In the meantime, Punchy was doing his best not to waste any time with Terra. "You done with the bullets? Let's settle this with fists!" he shouted, tossing the chunks of floor at Terra's large, gun-toting arms to knock them aside, allowing him to run up and unleash a flurry of jabs at the robot's chassis! "DIE, echidna!! Firma will be AVENGED!!" Terra roared, retracting the guns and swapping his clawed hands back out, which he used to attempt to smash Punchy! The echidna's fists were held out to meet both hands, and he grunted, straining to hold them back. "You're tougher than the first time I wrecked ya... You came back from that, wasn't any reason... I'd think Firma couldn't!" he grunted, managing to push the claws back enough to leap backwards and avoid being crushed! "But if you do got a soul, I'm not here to murder ya! Just to stop ya from hurting my friends! Chaos Avalanche!!" Punchy started to tear up pieces of the control room with his Chaos power, hurling them strategically at the slow-moving robot! Terra tried to punch the rubble away, frustrated growls coming from his voice box. "Enough!! I need... VENGEANCE!!" The robot fired up his thrusters in his rage, charging straight for Punchy!
Punchy appeared to be blocking with large chunks of rubble again, but as Terra smashed through the rubble with his fists, he found Punchy missing. "WHERE ARE YOU, COWARD!?" he shouted. Then, a pair of swift, mighty punches smashed into the robot's legs, breaking the joints from behind! "Wh-what!? NOOO!!" Terra fell backwards, and rotated his head to look around, seeing Punchy simply start to walk away. "What are you doing!? We're not finished!!" Terra shouted, trying to point his arm only to fall over a bit, "One of us must DIE!!" the robot shouted. "No, we don't. C'mon, Guard. That's enough cat and dog play." he said. Guard and Firepaw glanced in his direction a bit awkwardly, but then Firepaw started running to Terra. "Hey, big guy! Can I get ya anything? Meowr?" he asked. "Don't patronize me!!" Terra growled. Guard flapped over to join Punchy, and they were about to leave when suddenly, the lights turned out! "What NOW??" Punchy groaned. BAS hastily put out an alert. "Oh, the black echidna intruder is still at large in the tower, by the way. Might be nice if somebody, you know, maybe does something about it. No pressure." That was enough to make Punchy figure the darkness was in fact his dark self's doing. Fortunately, being part-android had its benefits for Guard, and light beams emitted from his eyes like a pair of flashlights. "Rrr... Follow me. We'll regroup with the others." he said, heading out the door. "What others? Rainbow's caught so it's just Heather, can't count on Illusi to hang around..." Punchy complained, forgetting that Hoover was still with Heather. Not that he'd care. Right now, the important thing was getting Rainbow back safe...the mounting list of other problems could be dealt with later.
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
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...
Chapter 39 - Solenix Strikes Back
Stage 19x - Despair Depths
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
"Ever since I met you, I want you by my side.
Should I go on my way now, let you go for a ride?
If I ever worry, then I will run to you.
You gave me your everything, and my heart can be true.
Can you stay forever more?
Or are you gonna leave from me?
No matter what it takes for me, I'll find you,
Just to be with you one more time." - My Destiny; Sonic the Hedgehog 2006
As the X-Hurricane approached Demon Island, they noticed that the Lost Ones were not reconstructing the island quite the same. In addition to the pieces that were raised from the depths of the ocean, chunks of other locations were being grabbed up by massive ectoplasmic tendrils and affixed to the floating island as it moved across the sky. "It's like... They're trying to build a... floating kingdom!" Aurora remarked in shock. Rainbow rubbed her head as the plane passed over the island. "Yup, the 'ol not-so-secret relic is down there! We gotta land this thing!" she murmured. "Land...riiiight..." Aurora replied awkwardly. She didn't have a lot of landing experience. Needless to say, their landing was a little bumpy, but they arrived in one piece and all exited the plane as Guard landed close by. "Grrr... Impressive. This island is even less hospitable than before..." he remarked, noting the dead trees around them that used to form the woods surrounding Despair Castle. Punchy nodded in agreement. "Never wanted to come back to this place... So, let's grab the Chaos Crystal and ditch! Getting it should cause this island to fall down again, right?" he asked. Everyone just shrugged, uncertain. "Couldn't hurt to try it." Heather sighed. They all looked to Rainbow, and Illusi cleared his throat. "Well, you're the guardian, Raisol daughter. Not even I can lead us." he pointed out. Rainbow nodded. "Feels like it's still below us. It must be in the underground caves... Ahh, follow me?" she murmured uncertainly. Punchy walked up and took her hand. "Don't worry, I definitely remember how to get in those caves. Come on, everyone!" he said, leading the way side by side with his wife. "Grrr... Be cautious... The Lost Ones are surely waiting for us..." Guard pointed out.
The gargoyle was right, of course. As they reached the cave entrance that would lead them down into the Despair Depths tunnels, the Doomsayer blocked their path, and the group quickly noticed Lost Ones start to surround them! "I see you have taken on the darkness once again, Punchy!" the Doomsayer stated, "But of course, we both know such paths of self-destruction are inevitable!" he added, throwing back his hood to reveal the face of Sonic the Hedgehog! "S-speedy!?" Rainbow stammered while the others gasped in shock. Punchy stepped defiantly toward the Doomsayer. "It's only self-destruction if I let it be! Now move aside, you fake!" he snapped. The Doomsayer laughed softly. "A fake calling me a fake. Good one. Go on, then, challenge your fate. I'll be watching!" he smirked, lighting striking the spot he was standing, which caused the heroes to shield their eyes, but Illusi managed to notice the Doomsayer speed away before the lightning could strike him! "He is Sonic... Maybe not OUR Sonic..." he murmured. As Punchy, Rainbow and Heather ran for the cave entrance, Guard, Aurora and Illusi stopped there, each launching attacks at the approaching losoars, losol and loskel seeking to chase them! Rainbow glanced back in concern. "Aurora! Mousy! Come on!" she cried. A Wrongo appeared in front of her, and Illusi shook his head, holding two spiked Wrongos in his hands like chakrams. "You need to continue, and we need to protect the exit!" he stated. Aurora looked back with a smile, pointing her Wispon down at her feet. She was wearing the Chaos Boots again. "I'll be fine Mom... And even if I'm not, remember...your real baby girl is still down below!" she pointed out. Rainbow's eyes were a bit tearful, but she nodded. Guard grunted as his scythe struck a skeletal loskel away. "Grrrraaah!! Hurry! Go with them, Heather!!" he shouted. The phoenix nodded and followed after the echidnas. "I'll be back, and you'd better be here, Garen!" she shouted.
There was a winding network of tunnels running through Demon Island, as well as chasms that would drop a careless person all the way back down to Earth. Punchy, Rainbow and Heather all had been through these caves before, but this time there was a new wrinkle. The massive tethers of slime that held the broken pieces of Demon Island together were strung through these caves, blocking some of the passageways. "What if Seven just burned these slimy things away?" Rainbow suggested. Heather sighed. "If that worked, the island could break apart and kill any living people on OR below it..." she stated. Certainly not a good idea. Punchy crouched under one of those slimy tethers and on the other side found a narrow bridge running over a chasm, a familiar sight from their last trip to these caves, but now the bridge had crumbled in places, making it more dangerous to cross. "Wait, Rainbow should be picking the route!" he reasoned, only to gasp as she passed him and started skipping across the unstable rocky bridge. "C'mon, One! I feel my relic this way!" she said cheerfully. Heather joined Punchy at the start of the bridge. "She's got nerves of steel... At least we're not finding any more Lost Ones down here, though." the phoenix shrugged, cautiously following behind Rainbow. Punchy looked around the vast, dark caverns with a tense expression. "The silence is kinda eerie. If the Chaos Crystal is down here, shouldn't there be guards defending it?" he questioned. Especially considering Lospecter's seeming omnipresence with that Chaos Key, it really felt like they were waltzing into a trap with nothing obvious standing in their way. Rainbow snapped Punchy out of his thought by calling out from across the chasm. "Hey, One! You're not scared to cross, are ya? Hurry up!" she called. Punchy sighed and started slowly across. "Easy for people that can glide or are birds... 'course I'm nervous..." he grumbled.
Despite the treacherous terrain, the trio had a fairly uneventful journey until they found the Chaos Crystal in a deep chamber. There appeared to be a small altar there just for the crystal. Behind the altar stood Heather's dark counterpart, Soleil, and floating beside her was Mephiles the Dark! "Ugh, this guy again!" Punchy groaned, while Heather reacted in a much more alarmed fashion. "M-mephiles!? No! Stay back! You won't use me again!" she shouted, her hands bursting in flames as she took a defensive stance! "One, the scepter!" Rainbow suggested. "Right! Say good night, Darks!" Punchy smirked, lifting up the Scepter of Darkness toward Mephiles and Soleil! The duo each gave Punchy an eerie laugh. "How cute. The smoldering firebird thinks we have any use for her power, and Punky's vessel expects to seal us away!" Soleil smirked. Mephiles sneered at them, the reds of his eyes becoming tainted with sickly blues and greens, a color that also spread into Soleil's eyes. "The Scepter of Darkness is for Darks. We are no longer mere Darks! Each of us met our ends... our return coming courtesy of Apocalos' power! We are...a part of Apocalos!" Mephiles explained, "This is why I haven't traveled in time... Apocalos took that power from me when I fell. But the Time Eater remains within me... darkness enough to merge with the flames inside dear Soleil... And together with my new partner, Solenix will rise again from the ashes!" he declared! Punchy grit his teeth, still clutching the scepter. "Starting to feel real stupid here... Now what do we do?" he asked. "Stop them before they merge!" Heather shouted, leaping up and hurling fireballs at Mephiles, only for Soleil to intercept and absorb them! "How dare you... You never appreciated sweet Mephy's offer of power! Now, I'll destroy you with that power you denied! Or perhaps, turn you into a Lost One!" she cackled, taking Mephiles' crystal claw in her hand, the pair starting to dance together as their bodies glowed with bright light! They were Lost Ones, but they were also two halfs of Solaris...and they could become LoSolenix!
Fire surrounded Mephiles and Soleil, and as they rose into the air, the ceiling seemed to dissolve and give way to a purple distortion! Punchy, Rainbow and Heather watched in shock as the dark duo transformed not only themselves, but the landscape around them, creating a time-space rift that would spread and consume the world if this wasn't stopped! The result of the fusion was a great phoenix beast, comprised of a glasslike crystal substance that was coated in a pale, slimy green. A red sphere on its chest contained the consciousness of Mephiles and Soleil, and the phoenix's demonic eyes glowed a sinister red. LoSolenix screeched loudly as it flapped its great crystal wings, stirring up a blue flame around itself! Rainbow looked around to see that the floor was dissolving in places, too, giving them increasingly fewer places to stand. However, the space around the Chaos Crystal appeared safe for the moment. "We'd better move, One, or we'll fall into all that purple space!" she warned, leaping into a glide as she headed for the crystal! "R-rainbow, wait! It's dangerous! Agh, what do we do now??" he grunted, looking at Heather questioningly. "What? I've never been on the other end of this!" she shouted, "And I'm not inside it to take over and crash it into the ocean, either!" More to the point, there would be no ocean by the time they could figure a way to get LoSolenix to it. Punchy pocketed the Scepter of Darkness for now and looked around for any remaining pieces of the cavern. "Well, we're what's here. We'll have to be the ones to fight it! Ready to give it everything you have, Heather?!" he asked, cracking his knuckles. Heather looked up at the screeching creature and clenched her fist. "Let's fight fire with fire, then! This is MY power... and I won't let it be used to hurt my friends anymore!!" she declared!
The duo charged ahead, leaping to any footholds they could use to get closer to Solenix. "Chaos Avalanche!!" Punchy grabbed up what pieces of the cavern he could that remained of the walls & ceiling, hurling those chunks of earth at the crystalline bird! It screeched and swatted the stones aside with its broad wing, starting to flap towards them while stirring up fire around itself! Heather was unsure if tossing more fire at Solenix would do any good, but seeing Rainbow alone with the Chaos Crystal, she started in that direction, hoping to keep her safe! Some of the rubble swatted away by Solenix came flying towards her, and Rainbow yelped in alarm, knocking it back with her shockwaves! "Hey, I'm gettin' the hang of that! ...I think being near the crystal helps! Haha!" she giggled excitedly, raising her fists with a grin as she prepared to do her part, "C'mon, ya big canary! Bring it on!" she yelled. "Rainbow, don't!!" Punchy shouted, his face turning pale as he saw the monster turn to glare at his wife! "Full of yourself, aren't you girlie?" Soleil's voice said, echoing through the area. "It's time that color and life left you...forever!" Mephiles added, a beam getting charged from the beak of Solenix as he spoke! Rainbow's eyes widened. "Uh-oh...." she gulped, glancing to see Heather racing toward her. "No, seven! Stay back!" she shouted, holding out her hand in a motion to ask her to halt, but accidentally sending a shockwave her way as well, sending Heather flying into space! "Eeek! I'm sorry!" she gasped. "Rainbow!!" Punchy cried, too late to do anything as the beam was fired, reducing Rainbow to a frozen white statue, trapped in time! Solenix still had the Time Eater's power, too! Furious, Punchy clutched the Scepter of Darkness, and felt power channeling through it. He looked at it with a nod. "Let's do this... Together!" he cried, embracing the dark power flowing through the scepter! His body was enveloped in shadow, and he emerged once more as Dark Punchy!
Punchy had become Dark Punchy before, but this time was different. With the scepter enabling the transformation, it was almost as though their two minds had merged. "You Lost Ones... Pushed us around for long enough! Yeah, you're Lost...and that's your weakness! Comin' for ya!!" Dark Punchy shouted, leaping high into the air and swinging his fist at Solenix to send a blast of dark energy flying towards the red orb in its chest! Even that didn't seem to bother Solenix a great deal, and making matters worse, Dark Punchy remembered he couldn't fly. "Gah, right, I had the Chaos Wing to fight the Darkseeker!" he shouted as he started to plummet! He landed on something warm, and looked down to see it was Heather! Her arms had burst into fiery wings, which she was using to fly through the weird distorted space around them. "Since when can you do that??" Punchy asked. "Since always. How do you think I even got to Soleanna the first time??" Heather chuckled. She'd always been at least a bit afraid to utilize her full power, but now there was no reason to hold back. "Now, what do you say we get your wife back?" she smiled. Punchy made a 50/50 motion with his hand. The Dark Punchy side wouldn't mind letting her die, but both were in control now. Either way, he and Heather were in it together. Which made them a singular target for Solenix. The crystal bird screeched and started charging another beam to attempt to cease time for the pair of them. "Any ideas?" Punchy grunted. Heather's body burned hotter as she sped up. "Don't get hit would be a start!" she shouted. The beam shot from Solenix's beak, and Heather spun in the air to dodge it while Punchy held on tight! "Your time will run out, regardless!" Mephiles and Soleil declared in one voice, motioning their wings to the platform Rainbow was on, which was shrinking as the time-space rift was consuming everything!
With so much on the line, Punchy and Heather started to trade blows with Solenix as best they could. Punchy's dark energy shots were cloaked in Heather's flames for added punch, but even with Solenix technically being a Lost One, it didn't seem to particularly bother it, and then Solenix responded by sending a hail of dagger-like crystalline feathers at the duo with a mighty flap of its wings! Punchy repelled those feathers as best he could with a dark shockwave, but one still got through and left a nasty gash on his arm! "Gaah!! This is hopeless!" he snarled. The voices of Solenix laughed. "Of course it is. Our power is united. You'll never be one like us..." they taunted. "Actually... It's three against two." Punchy smirked, noting that he and Dark Punchy were truly one. "Four... Rainbow's still with us!" Heather added. "Ha, seven then! Don't forget Illusi, Guard and Aurora!" Punchy laughed as Heather flew around Solenix in a circle. Mephiles and Soleil scoffed. "They're nothing! Already long gone! Observe!" True enough, the distortion was starting to eat away at Rainbow herself! Punchy growled, but Heather chuckled. "All we have to do is destroy you... Something never done before, granted... But you're not really Solaris! Now, Punchy! Let's use our full power!" she cried. Solenix turned toward them, already having charged a time beam to fire! "It's...over!!" Mephiles declared. "Chaos...BURN!!" Heather cried, while Punchy added, "Dark Chaos Avalanche!!" Darkness and Chaos combined to create an earthy cocoon around the pair, which was struck by the time beam and turned white! Then, an object burning with chaotic flames burst through the cocoon, charging straight for Solenix's orb weak spot in the shape of a great firebird! The firebird pierced and shattered the orb, and the chaotic flames seared through the slimy crystal, burning a brilliant green color as Mephiles and Soleil wailed in defiance! "I-it's impossible!! We are a god!!" Soleil shrieked. "All of time...is mine!! My time cannot...run out! NOOOOO!!" Mephiles howled, the time-space distortion fading away and the caverns returning as Solenix and the pair who formed it burned to inert slime amidst the green flames...
Rainbow rubbed her eyes and looked around. "One? Seven? Mephistopheles?" she babbled, looking around. Heather staggered over to her, smoke billowing from her body. She coughed before giving Rainbow a light smile. "I-I'm alright. Looks like things are normal again..." She gasped as Dark Punchy stepped over to them. He held up the Scepter of Darkness, and in a flash, Punchy was restored. "I think Punky and I may have come to an understanding... He may finally be at peace. Let's not jinx it, though." he chuckled. Rainbow giggled softly and turned to the Chaos Crystal. "Well, hold on tight! This island's about to fall down!" she said, lifting the crystal from the pedestal it was affixed to. However, nothing happened. "...Will it take a minute to fall?" Heather asked. Suddenly, the inner light faded from the Chaos Crystal, and it appeared clear and dead in color. "Ohhhhh no..." Rainbow gasped, "I think it was here too long. The island's absorbed the relic's power!" she gulped. Punchy had a bewildered expression. "B-but it's a controller gem! It can't run out of juice! Th-the Master Emerald doesn't!" he protested. Rainbow looked at him grouchily. "Does this LOOK like Red's big green rock?? My relic could be used to control the others, but it was never the same thing! The relics were made, the emeralds were natural!" she explained. "Good to see being frozen hasn't made you tired, Rainbow..." Heather chuckled. The eerie whispers of Lost Ones started to sound in the depths of the caverns, and the trio gulped. "Now that Mephiles is gone, I think the army's out to get us..." Punchy murmured. "We'd better go meet up with Garen and the others..." Heather nodded. Rainbow let out a sigh, clutching the Chaos Crystal as the three of them started to flee back whence they came. "Yup, we're still not done. Can I follow you for a change, One? This relic's heavy!" she grunted. As Punchy led the way, he felt oddly at peace. There might still be danger ahead, but he and Heather had nothing to fear from their powers, or their darkness, any longer...
Apocalos sat upon a great throne within Despair Castle, holding the Scepter of Despair in an almost regal manner. In front of him stood Howler with a scowl, Infinite with a bored expression, and Dr. Eggman with his best poker face on display. Whispers of Lost Ones creeping in the shadows of the room kept the trio in line as Apocalos gave them a sadistic grin. "I imagine each of you fancies yourself more deserving of this throne. Yet you've all failed to destroy a simple hedgehog." he stated, riling Howler and Infinite up a bit. "You haven't exactly stamped out their resistance, either!" Infinite pointed out. "Now Mephiles is gone." Howler grunted, "And the snake, surely you realize he plans to betray you..." he added. Apocalos held up his free hand, and it crystallized before their eyes, resembling the claw of Mephiles the Dark. "I created that Mephiles. Everything he was, came from me, because I devoured the original...oh, it seems like eons ago to me now." he said with a toothy smirk, his claw reverting to normal, "Ophiuchus is more predictable than he thinks he is. He will serve our purpose...as will you three." he sneered, standing up from the throne. Dr. Eggman shrugged. "Overconfidence is our occupational hazard. I'm the only one with the knowledge and experience to put an end to Sonic!" he stated. Apocalos let out a raspy chuckle. "Are you, now? By all means, let us pit your mere decades against my eons of experience! You can handle Sonic. The rest of you, I do believe you have your own scores to settle with the echidna and the fox?" he asked, grinning widely. Howler nodded, lifting his red-streaked hood up. "Knuckles took everything from me. It will be my great pleasure to do the same for him!" he snarled. Infinite touched the ruby on his chest. "That insignificant fox destroyed my perfect Phantom Ruby. And that wolf he's traveling with... I've a score to settle with her, too. And when Eggman fails, I'll crush Sonic next!" he declared, balling his clawed hand into a fist. Apocalos nodded and waved his scepter. "Go, then! Earn your place in the new world...or suffer Mephiles' fate!" he declared, lowering the scepter to watch as souls swirled inside its spherical prison...
Chapter 40 - The Final Experiment
Stage 20 - Lost Hive
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
"Just a walk or a journey.
Don’t stop reaching high.
Don’t let the time pass you by.
So many ways that you can, try to forget.
So many ways that you’ll find, you wake up to regret.
Someday, One Day,
We’ll say live life, I know!
Hold on, Hold Tight!
Don’t let go, Don’t lose sight." - Live Life; Sonic & the Black Knight
Previously on GeneX…
Key to the Lost Ones' schemes was the capture of Gemini, who after surviving nearly becoming a Lost One long ago, became immune to the creatures' powers. With her and Copter sent on the run by the destruction of the Troblusk Clock Tower, they were eventually cornered, and Gemini was forced to give herself up to save a train full of refugees, leaving Copter with her wand. Desperate to save her, Copter tracked down her sister, Libra, and together they set out to find and rescue the fennec.
Meanwhile, Bucky's efforts to find a cure for the Lost Ones bore fruit, with Gideon, Experiment 20, proving key in reviving the previously Lost Capricorn the Ferret. Next, a way to mobilize the cure is in order...
Now, our tale continues...
Copter, Libra and Chopper followed a search spell to Angel Island, which floated above them, and so they would need to warp to get up there. "I have no confidence warping. You sure you can't sprout your wings back?" Copter asked the former Deathbringer, Libra. "No, Copter, I don't have a spell for wings. I'm really more of a dark mage, anyway." she sighed. As they bantered back and forth, Chopper was looking around, and noticed something in the sky, approaching fast. "G-guys... Either of you remember an even bigger floating island?" he stammered. Copter and Libra looked with alarm. "Demon Island?! Oh, come on! What's next, a swarm of Doomlings gonna fly outta Despair Castle to surround us!?" Copter complained, a bit fed up with every evil they'd ever faced before seemingly coming back in one day. Instead of Doomlings, the great slime tendril swooped down from the island as it passed near Angel Island, scooping up a certain building and adding it to Demon Island's landscape. Libra could see the search spell following this activity from one island to the other. "So... Good news, Demon Island's stopping its movement for a bit. Bad news..." she murmured, voice trailing off. "Gemini's up there..." Chopper finished. Copter growled in frustration, but as he turned his gaze toward Tails' Workshop, thinking of swiping a plane, he spotted Shadow Arcangel in the sky, heading toward Demon Island. "Huh... Looks like Bucky's on it..." he murmured. Chopper's ProwerPhone rang, and when he answered it, he saw Sonata the Unicorn of all people. "Uhhhh... Who are you and how'd ya get this number?" he asked. Sonata scratched his head awkwardly. "I-I'm up on Shadow Arcangel. Zipp handed me this communicator and asked me to tell you... Stay right there? Yeah. Anyway, I'm Sonata, hello..." he smiled. While they talked, two figures flew toward them from the ship...
The trio were soon being flown up to the ship, Chopper and Libra clinging to each arm of a straining Talon the Griffin, while Copter was being grudgingly carried by Conan the Raccoon, who was flying using the Chaos Wing that Darkosmo had neglected to steal when he took the Chaos Sword. "We never speak of this again..." Copter growled. "Don't bring this nasty attitude in front of my Emily. I will drop you, ingrate!" Conan grunted. "Don't mention dropping, I am too ready to drop!" the exhausted Talon huffed.
At any rate, they met up with Bucky near his lab aboard Shadow Arcangel. The experiments aboard the ship were rushing back and forth, apparently preparing for something. "Thanks for the ride, but what the heck is Conan doing up here?" Copter asked, earning a scoff from the raccoon. Bucky was talking to Capricorn the Ferret, but turned to address Copter. "Everyone aboard this vessel has their place. Without Conan, you would be stuck on the ground, there simply isn't time to stop." he stated, "And without Capricorn here, I wouldn't be poised to end the scourge of the Lost Ones once and for all. She was patient zero." Copter looked at the ferret and laughed. "Guess Experiment Zero wasn't ever gonna be a thing! So I take it you don't know anything about Ophiuchus taking Gemini, eh?" he asked her. Capricorn rubbed her head with an awkward expression. "Sorry, kinda feel like my soul's been in a blender since this morning. You're telling me Ophi's back?" she groaned. "And performing experiments on my sister!" Libra snapped, "How soon can we land on Demon Island?" she asked. Bucky motioned for the group to follow him. "We need to check the team's progress. We're trying to prep the ship's mega-gun to fire a wave of the GeneX cure over the island, rendering Ophiuchus and his sort the only real dangers there." he explained as they walked. "GeneX cure?" Chopper asked. "Experiment 20, Gideon, is a being of pure GeneX -or creation- energy. Its power, properly channeled, can restore the Lost Ones to living beings." the rat stated. As they walked, they soon found Lospecter floating in the hall, blocking their path! "There ya are! Makin' a cure for a whole species... And you call yourselves the heroes! Oh, well. Time for the fiery crash!" he announced, pointing the Chaos Key over his head to create a portal through which Lost Ones began to swarm into the ship!
Bucky quickly struck back against the invading creatures, shooting a massive burst of electricity from his fingers to roast them up! Lospecter poked his head out of the open portal when the coast was clear again. "Such a tough old rodent. But you can't be everywhere at once, hehe!" he taunted, popping back into the portal as it vanished! The ship suddenly shook violently, and Bucky pulled a walkie talkie out of his coat. "It's the worst case scenario. Time to evacuate!" he said hastily, breaking into a run! The others started following behind him. "Evacuate how?? You only had two guys to fly us three up here!!" Copter shouted. "You'll just have to put those silly tails of yours to use...or die!" Conan told him. They all headed for the control room, where Vortex and Zipp were busy fending off losol with their Chaos attacks! "I can finally use my flamethrower but I left it in the rumpus room!" Zipp complained. "Copter?? Where'ssss Crassssh??" Vortex groaned. Bucky turned to Talon and pointed, making the griffin salute him quickly. "Aye aye! I'll find him!" he stammered, rushing off! At about the same time, Sonata, Bolt and Emily fled into the room, and Gideon actually seemed to phase through the ceiling to join them! "Th-th-there's monsters chasing us!" Bolt stammered. Indeed, Talon had to flap his wings and fly past the Lost Ones as he embarked on his search for Crash. Chopper and Libra looked back at the approaching creatures nervously. "How do we get out now??" Chopper gulped. Bucky calmly stepped to the front windshield, and then smashed it with a strike of lightning! "Fly through there! Look, we're as close to the island as we can get!" he told them. Zipp held some pistols in his hands, firing at a few Lost Ones in the corridors. "I can fly myself! I'll stay and buy time!" he smirked. "No, you won't." Bucky told him, rushing to the entrance of the control room and laying an electrical barrier to prevent the Lost Ones from entering! "I will hold them here! Get off this ship and find a way to defeat them!!" he shouted, grunting as he strained to maintain the electric barrier as various monsters crashed against it! Copter looked at him like he was crazy. "What are ya doin', old man!? This ship is falling!!" he shouted. "What are YOU doing, Two? Save your girl! Do what I couldn't!" the rat growled, "All of you, go now, while you can!"
As Zipp flew out, he was followed by Conan carrying Emily in his arms. Chopper took Capricorn, who could no longer fly herself without her Zodiac powers. Vortex was waiting beside Copter, and Libra used her dark magic to warp Sonata and Bolt to safety. Gideon took Bucky's form, and with electricity sparking from its glowing body, it hovered through the window itself. Vortex and Copter watched Bucky strain against the Lost Ones with worry. "Y-you won't be able to essscape..." Vortex stammered. "You didn't have to do this..." Copter said, gritting his teeth as tears started to escape his eyes. The rat looked back and gave them a smirk. "Yes, I did. I failed you all in so many ways... This is my penance! Now get out of my lab! Go, and live! That's a final order from your creator!!" he shouted, pouring on the juice as the Lost Ones started fiercely clawing at the electric barrier! Copter looked away with a grunt, rushing to the broken windshield with Vortex. "You are all my sons and daughters... Numbers in my notes...but never in my heart. Fly, Arthur!!" the rat cried! Copter took Vortex and leapt from the ship, spotting Talon and Crash as he started spinning his tails with all his might! Bucky's power started to weaken, and a single tear dropped down to his shoes as he groaned, giving everything he had. "Th-they're safe, Hope... I'm...coming..." he huffed. As Copter landed on the island, he turned toward Shadow Arcangel, and gasped to see the massive tendril of Demon Island whipped at the ship, piercing into it, and starting to tear it apart from inside! "B-buck... DAD!!" Copter cried, only to see Shadow Arcangel explode before his eyes, the fiery remains of the ship crashing down into the Mystic Ruins and burying the creator of the Experiments within. Just like that, Buck Stein was no more.
It was confirmed through the combined powers of Sonata and Gideon. "I could feel him until the ship exploded..." the unicorn sighed, "He was...oddly at peace." Gideon was still in his form for a moment, but shifted to its default hedgehog form. "His life force is gone. I believe he is in the beyond..." it said. Everyone took a seat in the dead forest they found themselves in, giving Bucky a moment of silence while they considered their next move. "...Well, Bucky said for me to...save my girl? He mean Gemini?" Copter questioned. "Nooo, he meant Rainbow! Of course he meant the girl you're practically joined at the hip with!" Zipp snorted. Copter had an awkward look, but he nodded. "Well, it's what we came for. Who's comin' with?" he asked. "Honestly? I want a ride to the ground where it's safer. I have no powers!" Capricorn pointed out. "You leave with the rest of us!" Crash grunted. "Can we all just leave?" Bolt asked nervously. Vortex hissed angrily. "Our father died to get usss up here! We're going to avenge him before he leave!" he insisted. "Vengeance was furthest from his mind..." Sonata stated. "He wanted to save the Lost, not destroy them." Gideon noted. Copter shook his head hopelessly as he watched them bicker. "It's just the three of us. Come on, Libra, Chopper!" he scoffed, turning only to nearly walk into Conan. "Uh, heya. I don't got no tailbands." Copter grumbled. Conan held the Chaos Cards in his hand. "I'm keeping the relics I have in order to protect Emily. She is now your experiment sister, and that... it makes you family." he said, drawing a gold-backed card and offering it to the fox. "Take this. It can summon nearly any single thing. Don't waste it." the raccoon said. Copter hesitantly took it, glancing at Emily the Squirrel behind him and waving. "Hey, new sis..." he murmured. Emily smiled and waved back. "Good luck, and I hope to have the chance to know you better...and your girl." she said. Copter started to walk off with the card in hand. "She's not MY girl..." he mumbled. "Whatever you say..." Libra shrugged.
Copter, Chopper and Libra didn't take too long finding the chunk of Angel Island that was affixed to Demon Island. It was the Lost One nest that had been built there the previous year, where Gemini went to get a piece of Loscream and enable Astra to break the curse on the Chaos Claws. The building was atop a slight ledge, a bit of a climb needed to reach it, and to the trio's surprise, Richard Gunner and Dr. Nammad were waiting atop the ledge! Gunner was wearing a sort of power armor, likely built by Nammad, and he clutched the Chaos Sword in his good hand! "Well, well. He's finally lost what little he had." Copter said, shrugging at the sight of Gunner as he pointed the sword down at him. "Furry freaks! I care nothing for my doomed presidency! You are in my way...barring me from taking my vengeance on Sonic! Once I prove myself by ending you, those creatures will find Sonic for me, and I will finally put an end to that disgusting fleet-footed freak!" Gunner shouted. Chopper scratched his head. "His timeline's been messed up so much. Should I have new memories now or what?" he questioned. Copter started toward the cliff. "Put down that sword before you hurt yourself, dumbass! Don't you realize that the Lost Ones will EAT you if you succeed??" he pointed out. Gunner laughed. "They're the dumbasses! They gave me the Chaos Sword! With this...THIS...I can destroy them afterwards! Ha HA!" he cackled, turning his gun arm on Copter and firing several shots at his feet! "Come and get me if you can, 'Copter the Freak!' It's about time I did what I originally should have done and ended your fake clone existence!!" While Gunner was shouting at Copter, Libra tried to follow him to lend support, but a giant dragon suddenly landed in front of her! Lospecter laughed, floating next to the slimy light green dragon. "Came to find your sis, eh, Libby? Well, here she is! I love a family reunion!" the ghost chuckled, while Los Gemini let out a roar in front of Libra and Chopper!
Copter spun his tails to fly up that cliff after Gunner, swerving to evade the shots from his gun arm on the way up! Dr. Nammad backed away from the ledge, looking around nervously. "So now we are, uh, literally battling against our best chance of escaping the, uh, undead creatures, uhhh, alive??" he babbled anxiously. "You knew what the armor was for! Shut up and save your thinking for when I ask it of you!" Gunner snarled, switching arms to fire Chaos Spears from the Chaos Sword at the approaching fox! Below, Chopper and Libra were face to face with the corrupted version of Gemini's dragon form. "How is this my sister??" Libra gasped, backing up while charging dark energy in her hands. Lospecter floated casually around the dragon, almost looking like he was laying in an invisible hammock as he moved. "Gemma fumbled her magic a lot when she first came to the past. Somehow landed on this form. Then she stumbled on our boss, Apocalos, disguised as the Doomsayer, inside our old base/prison at Shadow Arc. He tried to finish her, Zodiac be damned, but Knuckles showed up and somehow managed to stop her from transforming! All this time, we kept a piece of her soul. We've been able to summon this bad girl at will. Might have a bit to do with her immunity to us? Dunno. But whether it kills you or you kill it, doesn't hurt me!" the spirit laughed. Libra tossed the orbs of dark energy she'd been charging, but they did little to the slimy dragon, which retaliated by spewing blue flames towards her! She grabbed Chopper and fled the flames quickly. "M-maybe we shoulda held onto Gemini's wand instead of Dad!" Chopper yelped. Lospecter shrugged. "Well, if ya survive, I'll be in the Lost Hive up there. See ya around!" he waved, flying off toward the very building they were trying to enter!
As Copter tried to land on the ledge, Gunner swiped the blade at him, forcing him to back away quickly! "Kinda spry for a man your age!" the fox remarked, making Gunner snarl. "The suit has enhanced my natural ability. We can't all be freaks like you!" he shouted, tapping his gun hand with the back of his good hand, which caused it to switch modes, enabling him to shoot fireballs at the fox with it! Copter blew the fire back with Chaos Whirlwind, and Gunner showed the prowess of the suit by leaping over the flames! "Truth be told, this suit was designed to kill Stein! But I hear that's been taken care of already... At last, Joseph Murten has been avenged!" the old man smirked, pointing both his weapons at Copter to keep him on the run with repeated shots! Copter flew up above him and whipped up another whirlwind to knock Gunner off balance! "Bucky was ten times the man you'll ever be! All he ever wanted was to bring lives together, while you wanna kill anything that's different!" he cried, diving down to close the distance between himself and Gunner! The man kicked him back, his attack enhanced by the power suit to nearly send Copter over the ledge! "You want to know why I hate you freaks?? All those absurd powers you were gifted with! Speed, flight, strength... the power to move things with your damn minds! You didn't earn it, but it trumps what the best and brightest of humans can ever aspire to! My goal...has always been...to level the playing field! And if that means destroying you all, then so be it!" he shouted. Dr. Nammad suddenly helped Copter to his feet, much to Gunner's surprise. "That's been your reason? A lifelong tantrum because you weren't born with superpowers?? And that's why you'll let those Lost creatures consume the world to get your way!?" the scientist growled, a tear dropping from his eye as he turned to the bully, "Buck Stein was a hundred times the man you are! More human than you'll ever be!" Gunner knocked him down with a Chaos Spear, then turning his blade on Copter. "Ivo has it right. Machines are superior beings..." he scoffed. Copter growled and charged at Gunner, shrugging off the Chaos Spears as he approached. "You aren't worthy of that sword! You ain't gonna hurt me with it!" he shouted, spinning his tails and knocking the blade from Gunner as he stepped back in surprise! "I'll kick your ass old-school then, freak!" he growled, swinging his gun arm like a big metal fist at the fox! Copter ducked it and grabbed the Chaos Sword, hurling it off the ledge! "Slay that dragon, Libra!" he shouted.
The Chaos Sword clattered to the ground, and Libra dashed past the dragon, ducking its flames and going into a slide as she grabbed for the blade! Chopper shot the dragon in the face with his Wispon, blinding it for a moment. "Go for it!" he shouted. Libra clutched the sword, the blade glowing faintly in her hand. "By the power of the Deathbringer... I end you, demon!" she shouted, leaping up and tossing the blade into the dragon's chest! It let out an agonized roar, and stumbled towards the ledge, spewing a final blast of blue fire before its slimy body started to melt away from the creation energy flowing from the Chaos Sword! The burning Ghost Fire left behind made it dangerous to approach the hive, but that was the least of their problems. Libra suddenly collapsed, Lospecter floating behind her with a karate stance! "Snake dude says we need ya to finish the experiments. C'mon, Libby!" he said, scooping the unconscious Libra into his arms and flying to the Chaos Sword, creating a portal under it and tossing Libra in before following behind, all while Chopper frantically chased him to no avail! Above, Copter had been distracted by the scene. "Libra, no!!" he cried, jumping in alarm as he heard a shot from Gunner, turning to see that Nammad had pushed him and messed it up! "Ivan, I literally don't need you anymore!" Gunner snarled, turning the gun on him! Copter leapt at him, tugging at that arm! "I will rip this armor off ya, old man! I need to save Gemini and Libra and you're in the way!!" he shouted as Gunner struggled against him! "Let them die! All you disgusting freaks are the same! I hate you!! I hate all of you!! HA!!" he laughed, tossing Copter into Nammad. However, he now teetered over the edge of the cliff! "Gaah!! The hell!?" he growled, flailing his arms! Copter ran over, reaching to pull him up, but Gunner slapped his hand away! "Never!! I don't surrender to disgusting, degenerate, furry freeeeeeaaaaks!!" Before he'd finished his words, he was falling, and Copter, Nammad, and Chopper all watched the despicable man plummet into the blue flames below, lost to his own hatred. Chopper spun his tails rapidly, flying up over those flames to meet his father. "We've gotta save Libra!" he panted as he landed on the ledge. Copter nodded, glancing over at Nammad, who shrugged hopelessly. "I'm, uh, screwed. I'll just await my fate, uh, here..." he murmured. Copter shook his hand. "We'll try to come back for you. Be careful." he said.
Gemini was strapped to a table in a chamber that looked like a cross between a lab and an observatory. Images of the Zodiac constellations adorned the ceiling, while chemicals bubbled on another table close by. This was where Ophiuchus had been tormenting and torturing her for the preceding couple hours. She had the burns on her fur to prove it, and there were tears in her eyes as she'd resigned herself to the fate of ultimately becoming a Lost One when this was all over. She heard activity in the room, and looked up to see Lospecter and Ophiuchus placing Libra on another table, strapping her in. "Now, I will be able to compare the data of the two... And my conclusion should answer all the mysteries of how Gemini became immune... Then, they both die." the snake sneered, holding a wand over Libra and placing a sort of barrier around her. Gemini renewed her efforts to struggle. "No... I won't let you hurt my sister! No!!" she cried, only for Lospecter to float over and stick his tongue out. "I'm gonna kill your boyfriend and your maybe-maybe-not son, too! And look at yooou, just a snack on my plate..." he taunted. Gemini grit her teeth. "Copter...Libra... No... You will NOT!! NOOO!!" as she lunged forward towards Lospecter, glowing wings erupted from her back, tearing the straps that held her down! She stood up from the table, her true power once more unlocked! "Im...impossible!! Zodiac Station is gone! You can't access this kind of power!!" Ophiuchus shouted. Gemini went for Libra, only to be repelled by the barrier. "...Copter!" she gasped, spreading her wings and speeding out of the room, using them to fly! Lospecter watched her with wide eyes. "She's such a firecracker! Why, if I were 5000 years younger or she were slimier...!" he said with a low growl. Ophiuchus looked to the table of bubbling chemicals. "Go get her, just in case... But I may not need her..." he said with a sly grin.
Chapter 41 - Family
Stage 20 - Lost Hive
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
"I can't remember,
What I used to be.
Something's turning me upside down!
You made me,
And I love you.
But I can't change the things I've done! (I'm the chosen one)
Wish I may,
Wish I might,
Be someone else tonight.
Sometimes I wish I was never born at all.
And I'll try to save the world,
'Cause in the end I know...
I'm the chosen one!" - The Chosen One; Shadow the Hedgehog
Fred Leo, Timothy the fawn, Adam the bat and Evelyn the fox had all arrived on Demon Island, following their own search spell to find Gemini. Before finding her, however, they found the experiments milling about the area. "Halt! Who goes there? I'll shoot!" Zipp warned. Evelyn pointed a laser at him. "Put it down, we're not Lost Ones!" she growled. Zipp rushed to her, examining her futuristic weapon with interest while a few of the others took notice of them. "Hey...how did you get up here?" Emily asked as Conan stood close to her, watching the strangers warily. Adam wiggled his wings. "If magic's beyond your comprehension, just say I flew us up!" he snickered. "We're looking for Gemini." Fred stated, cutting to the chase, "Anyone here know of her?" Vortex looked annoyed by the interruption, and pointed in the general direction Copter had gone. "Sssshe had been captured by the Losssst Onessss. Copter left to resssscue her." he explained. Timothy's eyes widened. "Aaah! I shouldn't have left them! Come on, we gotta help!" he said, a bit frantic. Gideon stepped to the center of their collective group and raised a hand. "No one go anywhere yet... Lost Ones are planning to ambush us. I sense their energy..." it warned, prompting Talon and Bolt to gulp in unison. Fred pointed his wand about, a faint light emitting from its tip. "Then we fight out of the trap together. Any objections?" he asked. "Yes. I want to trade guns!" Zipp grumbled. Conan grabbed the deck of Chaos Cards and took Emily's arm, pulling her behind himself. "Their whispers... I hear them. Stay close!" he huffed. Out of the shadows, dozens of losol, lospides and loskel started to emerge. "Solare!!" Timothy shouted, blasting the nearest creature with a beam of light from his wand, prompting all the creatures to charge! "Chaossss Inferno!!" Vortex and the experiments jumped in to join the battle, but now that the Lost Ones had found them, escape might not be easy...
"Chaos Whirlwind!!" Copter was blowing away any Lost Ones in his path as he wandered the dark corridors of the Lost One nest. He was a fox on a mission, and he would waste no time in finding and rescuing Gemini and Libra. So far they only appeared to be dealing with a few minor advance scouts, though; The powerful Lost Ones were likely deeper within. Chopper was concerned they may need more firepower. "You wanna maybe try using the wand, Dad?" he asked. Copter patted the pocket where Gemini's wand was being kept safe. "I'd just mess it up, anyway. I wasn't exactly trained in magic, I just picked up a few things...and being Aries gave me some magic-affinity so the wand works for me, but... This is no time to be experimental!" he grunted, turning a corner and filling the hall with more chaotic wind to clear the path! "But you ARE an experiment..." Chopper babbled. Regardless, the pair soon came to a room that stopped their progress. The chamber was flooded with slime, flowing like a river from one side to another. It seemed a bit far to fly across, and swimming was absolutely out of the question. "Wand time?" Chopper asked. "Or, we find another route..." Copter muttered. That idea was cancelled when they saw Gemini emerge at the other side of the chamber, across the river of slime! "Ahh! Copter!! You're here!!" she cried, waving to him. "G-gemini!?" Copter gasped. "Where's Libra?" Chopper questioned. "I had to leave her! Do you have my wand?" she cried. Copter nodded. "I'll try to fly it over to ya!" he suggested. "You'll do no such thing!" the fennec shouted, "You might fall!" Chopper cleared his throat. "Maaagic..." he stated. They'd have to work something out, because the voices of approaching Lost Ones made it clear they wouldn't be able to linger for long!
Gemini made a motion with her hand. "Just use Galaporta! Picture yourself arriving next to me, and it'll be fine!" she told him. Copter held the wand in his hand, looking at it uncertainly. "I'd trust you with this, Gemini... But what if I mess up? No, there's gotta be a safer way!" he said, looking around anxiously. Gemini could hear the voices of her pursuers. She needed her wand to be able to fend them off. "There isn't time, Copter! Hurry!" she called out. Copter felt a panic wash over him. He'd never felt anything quite like this before. It was as though all his fears and insecurities were attacking him, holding him down. "I...don't know what to do!" he stammered, hearing the voices of Lost Ones closing in behind him. Chopper grabbed the wand out of Copter's hand. "Maybe I can do it... Uh, what was it... Galaberta!" he shouted, waving the wand about. Nothing was happening, however, not even a misfire. "...Dad, I don't think I have that magic-finity you mentioned!" he stammered. Among the whispers of standard Lost Ones, the voice of Corky was also heard approaching the father and son. "Gotcha cornered 'ere, don't I? I'm fixin' ta wrap my tongue around yer neck!" the undead frog laughed. Gemini heard a familiar voice gurgling behind her, too. "Trying to escape your fate, as always, Gemini? Pathetic... You should give up and join us... Why die miserable and alone when you can live eternal?" Turning around, Gemini confirmed that this was the corrupted form of Cuthburt leading a swarm of creatures to recapture her! She turned back to Copter, a desperate look in her eyes. "Copter, they just want to recapture me, but they'll kill you now! Don't let them! Copter!!" she shouted, recognizing a similar panic on her friend's face even as distanced as they were. They were trapped on both sides!
Copter attempted to use Chaos Whirlwind, but true to his word, Corky's tongue lashed around his throat before he could do it! "D-dad!!" Chopper cried, fumbling with his Wispon only to get a sharp pain in his chest as Copter was choked by Corky! "L-let him go...!" he groaned, shakily trying to aim the weapon. Copter's life being threatened also threatened his own, and the situation was looking so dire, he could feel the ripple effect through time. Gemini could see this unfolding, and tried frantically to think of something. "I can't lose him... No! Come on, powers, get me out of this again!" she gasped, shutting her eyes tight and trying to focus her energy. Surely if she focused hard enough, her wings would reappear once again! She was interrupted, and screamed as Cuthburt grabbed her by the arm! "Enough! It's time to return, Gemini... Return to your sister!" Cuthburt snarled. Copter heard her scream and growled, clawing at the powerful tongue and trying to remove it! "Ah ah ah! 'ou 'annah 'eshape!" Corky laughed, unable to sound too coherent with his tongue stuck out. Chopper fell to the floor as the tongue squeezed tighter, starting to turn Copter's face blue as the frog turned him to be able to see Gemini getting dragged away! "Ish 'ime 'oo die!" even muffled, Corky's voice sounded sinister. Copter reached a desperate hand in Gemini's direction, and she did the same. "C-copter... Copter!! I won't lose you!! NO!!" Copter couldn't speak, but anger burned in his eyes, and his hand balled into a fist. As their emotions hit peak desperation, glowing divine wings burst forth from Gemini's back...and Copter's! A wave of magical energy erupted from each of the two foxes, repelling the Lost Ones, and also causing a reaction as it washed over the river of slime! The river seemed to freeze solid, becoming a glistening crystal walkway! Chopper rubbed his head as he slowly sat up. "Wh-what happened?" he murmured.
Not thinking about anything else, Copter and Gemini each ran straight towards one another, meeting in the center of the magical path they'd created. They threw their arms tightly around one another, so relieved to be reunited that they didn't care what the other might think of the mushy display. Gemini felt Copter's tears pelt her shoulder. "I... I lost you... I didn't think I... I could get you back!" he choked, burying his face against her neck as he felt her hand hold the back of his head. Tears flowed down her cheeks as well. "I nearly lost you...again..." she whispered, "No more... No more!" she cried, surprising Copter with a sudden kiss on the cheek! Copter drew his head back, his crimson eyes gazing into her sweet cyan. Their lips met in the next moment, their wings glowing even brighter as their love manifested in a passionate kiss. A kiss that Chopper was left awkwardly watching, his cheeks flushed as red as theirs. "Aaahh, Daaaaad... I don't wanna be indelicate, but... Th-they're coming back!" he stammered, pointing a hand at either exit, where Corky and Cuthburt were each angrily leading their forces back in pursuit of the foxes! Copter and Gemini withdrew from the embrace, but kept hands entwined as they turned in Cuthburt's direction. "Let's go get your sister now!" Copter said with a newfound confidence. "No one I'd rather charge into the jaws of doom with!" Gemini said, smiling warmly. Cuthburt barred their way with shambling Lostalkers following him. "You still can't escape! If you try, we'll kill your sister!" the zombie alligator warned. "Just have to kill you, then!" Copter snapped. "Our combined power is unbeatable! Later, gator!" Gemini added, both her and Copter rising via their glowing wings, and then charging ahead, magical energy surrounding them and tearing right through the Lost Ones as they went, carving a path for Chopper to follow! Even Cuthburt was splattered as the duo went by! "Whoa! What kinda power is this...?" Chopper wondered, following after them, "Is it... could it be... love?" he whispered, looking at Gemini with wide eyes. ".....Mom?"
Unfortunately, the power Copter and Gemini were tapping into had to fade eventually. It was a special power neither of them fully understood, so how could they maintain it? Still, Copter was able to return Gemini's wand, so continuing through the Lost One nest wouldn't be too difficult....they thought. Of course, they soon came upon a chamber where Lospecter awaited them. "Tiiiiime for Lospecter's Quiz Mania! Tell me chaps, what do you get when a fox purges the darkness from his heart? A magical princess, maybe?" he laughed, making Copter growl softly. "Still sore that you lost your puppet version of me? Sorry, the darkness didn't return to me! It's gone!" he snapped. Lospecter wagged his finger. "Not the answer to the question, and wrong anyway! What you get is what the big boss man will show you... Take it away, boss man!" he shouted, motioning to the exit corridor through which Apocalos was entering. He was wearing the Doomsayer cloak. "Some years ago, Copter, you were betrayed. Your maker blew you away. Killed you! My prophecy to you came to pass... Yet, you were still necessary for my plans, and Ophiuchus' plans. So, I gave your life back to you!" he stated. Gemini glanced at Copter. "What? You...died?!" she gasped. "Before we met..." Copter told her, "You expect a thank you, Doomsayer?! Can't believe you were a slime bucket like THIS all along!" he growled. Apocalos scoffed. "No need. I got what I needed. In returning your life, I gained access to part of your soul..." he said, snapping his fingers. This signaled an armored figure to leap out of the shadows and smack Copter backward with a staff, pointing the staff between him and Gemini before blasting that space with a wall of blue flames, separating them! Gemini gasped to see who it was. It was Dark Copter, clad in the Aries armor that Copter had used in the Zodiac Council! Copter sat up and looked at him in surprise, and his dark form laughed. "Surprised? I'm a Lost One now, but this armor and my darkness, both powers you rejected, will empower me like no other Lost One!" he cackled, turning to Gemini with a sneer, "Don't worry, Copter. Aries will make you stronger, too. I'll cut the weakness of love right out of your heart!" he shouted, pointing the staff at Gemini! Chopper, trapped behind the wall of flame with Copter, helped his dad to his feet. "How do we get past this?" he asked. Copter smirked. "We don't. Gemini can kick my ass easy. I know it!"
While Apocalos was taking his leave, Aries charged at Gemini head-first, planning to pin her against his helmet's horns! "Proplasmar!" She blocked him with a barrier, so he pointed his staff at the barrier. "Old tricks. You're failing to evolve!" he snarled, firing a powerful beam of dark energy from the tip of his staff, which pierced her barrier and knocked her backward a couple steps! Before she could act, Aries charged her again, this time striking her with his two tails, an added shock of dark energy causing her further pain as she stumbled! However, Gemini was far from done. "Oh, I've evolved. Nothing wrong with honing the skills you know! Cleviso!" With a wave of her wand, she became invisible, and Aries looked around cautiously for her. "Got you on the run already?" he scoffed. Small light balls shot from Gemini's wand as she moved around him, pelting the dark fox and irritating him quite a bit. "Those spells won't stop me!" he snarled. "Miniatina!" Gemini cried, casting a spell that shrunk Aries down to a miniature size! Her invisibility wore off and she bent down to smirk at him. "How adorable!" she teased. Aries looked up with a growl, but then snickered as dark energy enveloped him, and in the next instant he was the one standing over her! "Childish... Now, have a taste of my Dark Chaos Whirlwind!!" he shouted, chaotic wind whipping around him, lifting him slightly off the ground as it formed a small cyclone! Gemini yelped as the cyclone picked her up, tossing her across the chamber! Her wand landed several feet away, leaving her defenseless! Lospecter clapped as he sat in the wall of flame, further barring Copter's way. "It's all over... By the way, we don't need her anymore. Off with her head!" he ordered, making a slicing motion across his neck with his finger!
Copter tried to fly over the wall of fire, but it burned too high! "Sorry, chump, nothin to do but watch!" Lospecter taunted. Growling, Copter landed and pulled the Chaos Card that Conan had given him out of his pocket. "I have one move! ...Better make it count!" he said, holding the card up. Lospecter laughed. "As if you know how to use one of those! ...What!?" Depicted on the card was a wand, just like Gemini's. The card then transformed into a wand in Copter's hand! He grabbed Chopper with his other hand, glaring at Lospecter. "No one...and I mean no one...touches my family! Galaporta!" This time, he wouldn't cower. He warped past the fire...overshooting perhaps a bit and landing near the exit. "Ooop...! This is harder than Gemini makes it look...Gemini!!" he gasped, turning to see Aries lifting her by the throat! Chopper distracted him with a Wispon shot to the face! "Put her down!" he warned. Seeing them, Aries tossed her aside and started in their direction. "I was hoping I'd get to thrash you! Dark Chaos Whirlwind!" he shouted. "Chaos Whirlwind!!" Copter replied, their chaotic breezes clashing while Chopper backed up, fearing Copter would be overpowered. "Streeze!" Gemini called, casting a spell of her own making that caused wind from the other side, her wand having been recovered! The wind striking the tornado from both directions cancelled it out, leaving dark energy crackling around the frustrated Aries! "I'll destroy all of you!!" he shouted, turning his staff around and firing its dark beam in a sweeping circle, aiming to strike them all quickly! Copter and Chopper flew over it and met Gemini on the other side, lifting her out of the way, too! "You're just all the weak parts of me, Aries! I've got my strength right here!" he said, placing Gemini on the ground and landing beside her along with Chopper! Aries turned their way and aimed his staff as Copter and Gemini aimed their wands. "Solare!!" they cried at once, their twin beams of light combining together, becoming a force that overwhelmed the Lost One known as Aries, reducing him to naught but inert slime! When the light faded, Chopper hugged Gemini tightly. "Great to have you back... Mom..." he whispered, making Gemini blush.
The wall of fire dissipated and Lospecter lowered down with a bemused expression, holding his own single Chaos Card. "Oooh, I hope I can think of something as good to use... Nah, I'll use this instead!" he smirked, pulling out the Chaos Key, ready to call for backup! However, a number of shots, both magic and laser, suddenly seared through his body and tried to knock the key from his hand! Yelping in alarm, Lospecter flew up and escaped through the ceiling. "We need an alarm system!" he shouted on the way out! Looking at the chamber's entrance, Copter and Gemini saw old friends arriving; Timothy, Adam, Evelyn and Fred Leo! The three foxes all collapsed to the floor in a mix of relief and exhaustion. "Ah! You alright, guys?" Timothy gasped. Gemini took Copter's hand in hers, looking at him with a warm smile. "Yeah... For the first time in a while, I think we will be..." she said. Copter held up the wand he'd used in the battle, watching it fade away now that its work was done. "Figures..." he murmured. Fred observed this and nodded. "I see... You used a wand itself constructed by magic. I see now why you could be one of the Zodiac Council. You truly do have promise as a Divine Sorcerer." he stated. Copter slowly rose back to his feet, helping Gemini up as well. "I'd rather leave the spells to her. I only did what I did...to keep her safe." he smiled. Adam held his hands casually behind his head and sighed. "There's that familiar feeling that we missed something!" he chuckled. Evelyn shrugged. "I'm happy to miss as much danger as possible..." she sighed.
Fred surprised Gemini with a tight hug. "Uhhh... T-teacher?" she stammered. He released her from the embrace and patted her head. "I'm sorry, Gemini. Working for Zodiac, I kept things from you, and you've a right to distrust me... I only hope to one day earn your trust once again." he told her. Gemini wiped a tear from her eye. The emotions of the day were getting to be a bit much. "You raised me, Teacher Leo. I... I know enough of your true heart to know where you stand. I just... when I kept seeing you in this lion form... it kept bringing the evil Ophiuchus had done back. But I forgive you... You kept me safe for so long. How could I not, in the end?" she smiled. Chopper tapped his dad's shoulder, and Copter nodded, clearing his throat. "This is all very sweet, but there's a problem. Y'see, I brought Libra along to help rescue Gemini...and they nabbed her." he said, pointing to the exit, "She's kinda gonna die if we don't get a move on." Fred's body stiffened, and he looked at Copter seriously. "Why are you letting us stand around, then! Let's go! I... I'm not failing one of my daughters again!" he said quickly, rushing for the exit while the foxes all stood with wide-eyes, bewildered expressions. Adam, however, did a quick fist pump. "Ha! I knew it! Daddy Leo! So, the fennec's his true form after all?" he asked. "No, he's still a lion." Timothy groaned, rubbing his forehead as he tried to process this. Gemini slapped her own forehead to snap her out of her shock, and started to follow after Fred. "Wait UP! We're gonna talk about THAT!!" she yelled. The others started to follow, and Chopper scratched his head. "So, is he my Grandpa, then?" he questioned. "Kid, we're still not sure I'm defying the timeline trying to make Gemini your mom... Ack, that feels super weird to say!" Copter babbled. One thing was certain; This quest wasn't over yet!
Chapter 42 - Love's Light
Stage 20x - Doomworld
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
"Your shadow captured in the silent night.
(In the silent night)
I feel your breath-it whispers like a breeze.
Oh baby, please be mine,
Till the end of time!
I'm holding you in my arms,
(Hold you in my arms)
Loving you beneath the stars!
(Beneath the stars)
I don't want the night to steal you away!
(Steal you away, steal you away)
Hold me close, I want you so,
Don't you know that, baby?
Your love has touched my very soul.
Can you feel it baby? Oh!
Never let me go darling 'cause we're so in love
And we can dream on,
Sweet dream!" - Sweet Dream; Sonic the Hedgehog 2006
Fred had a bit of explaining to do as the group traveled together through the Lost One nest, searching for Libra to rescue her. "The Zodiac Council were supposed to be guardians of the cosmos. This involved watching over the entire timeline, so we were supposed to avoid distractions...such as family." he began, glancing at Gemini, "But when I met your mother... I broke our code. She was a beautiful fennec, and I fell deeply in love. But Ophiuchus...he found out. Despite my efforts to hide my bride and our twins from the council, it was futile. Ophiuchus gave me a choice...either you girls would be groomed as Zodiacs yourself, or my family would be purged from the timeline. You, Gemini, were selected to be trained... while Libra was left to be raised by my wife, whose memory of me was erased by Ophi... I changed my form when I took you to the future because...because I could not live with myself, having to abandon your mother and sister..." Copter was listening as well, and he couldn't help bringing up a question. "What's her real name? Becoming Zodiacs made them Gemini and Libra, so what are their real names?" he asked. Fred looked from Copter to Gemini awkwardly. "They've been known by their Zodiac names since they were toddlers... But ahh... Libra was meant to be named... Brittney. You, Gemini, were named for your mother...Gwen." he said, as though straining a bit to remember. Gemini held her wand close to her heart. "My...my mom's name... My name..." she murmured, lightly gasping as she felt Copter's hand on her shoulder. "Hi, Gwen, I'm Arthur." he chuckled. She had a slight blush. "Ahh, let's stick to Gemini and Copter, okay? Mom can keep her name, seeing as I never got to use it..."
Adam growled softly now that the story had been told. "How could that snake do that to Gemini's family?" Evelyn nodded, placing her arm around him. "Just be glad we weren't Zodiac material." she sighed. Timothy's eyes widened at that. "Hey, wait, why were you training me, then?" he asked. Fred didn't look at him as he continued onward. "Gemini needed a friend. Ophiuchus needed her to have a friend, too. Her journey to the past was part of the plan, you know. She was meant to leave her mark on the timeline... But I think Ophi underestimated the strength of the bonds she'd forge with people." he explained. Gemini gasped, glancing at Copter and Chopper. "Wait, Libra lives in this time! That means this is my time!" she declared. Fred stopped walking. "It doesn't matter when you're from, Gemini. You spent too much time growing up in the future. If the future were altered too drastically, you would cease to exist. It...might be best for everyone if you returned when this is all over." he sighed. Gemini took hold of Copter's hand, looking at her father desperately. "You don't know that! I could be meant to stay here!" she shouted. Fred glanced back at her, a light smile on his face. "You're right, I don't know. You must be the one to decide. I trust your decision won't be a selfish one..." he stated, returning to leading the way forward. "Selfish?" she questioned. Copter shook his head. "You're the least selfish person I know, Gemini. Don't read anything into that." he said, lifting his hand and yelping to notice it was holding hers. He let her hand go and continued onward, chuckling nervously. At the end of the hall they were walking, they arrived in an area where the walls actually resembled slimy honeycombs. Now they understood why Lospecter called this place a hive!
Of course, a hive meant bees, and out of the honeycombs came blue and green striped loswarm bugs, which did indeed swarm after them! "Ha! Bugs! That's it?" Adam laughed, twirling his laser. "Shaddap!" Chopper groaned, pointing lower as slimy losol were rushing to pool their power together and form losol golems! "Oh..." Adam gulped. Copter leapt into action, blowing Chaos Whirlwind at the loswarm before they could get their stingers into them. Adam and Evelyn backed him up with their lasers, while Chopper had a Wispon to work with. "Hey, are those guns just super-advanced Wispons?" Chopper asked, "How far in the future are YOU from??" he stammered. "Far enough that we needed a spell to stay stable here!" Evelyn chuckled. Gemini, Timothy and Fred were slinging spells at the losol golems to blow them apart, when Eve's words reminded Timothy. "Hey, doesn't Gemini need that spell?" he asked. Fred grunted, twirling his wand in an upwards arc to zap a loswarm bee as it came at him. "Hang on! Gemini! I need to place a protective spell on you!" he shouted. "Wait!" Chopper shouted, "You sure I don't need a protective spell? What protective spell? How's time got to do with it!?" he babbled. Gemini cast a barrier around herself and Fred as he neared her. "Think of it as a vaccine against the timeline breaking..." Gemini murmured. "Yes, but it's only a temporary protection, really. If time changes enough to stop our future existence, we will fade away eventually." Fred explained, casting his spell, "Chronokazam!" While Fred treated Gemini with the spell, Timothy poured on the power and zapped away the losol quickly! "Aaahh...hahh...gyah... So, I'm just a pawn and a hostage, huh? Not...worthy to be a Zodiac, huh? Well, how bout that?" he huffed. "Great, kid!" Copter shouted, "Don't get cocky..."
Working together, they passed the hive and soon found their way to the lab, where Libra was strapped to a table. She seemed to be passed out. Fred and Gemini ran to her side. "Libra! Is she...?" Gemini whimpered. Fred sighed in relief. "She's alive, just out cold." he murmured. Copter looked around at the lab equipment uneasily. "...Let's get her outta here, fast." he suggested. Fred lifted his wand to cast a spell, but before he could, he gasped in pain, and Gemini shrieked to see a deadly bolt of energy pierce her father's chest! "T-teacher!! Dad!!" she cried as her friends gasped in alarm. Fred clutched his wound. "G-gwen..." he breathed out, his last breath. The lion collapsed to the floor dead, and Gemini turned in rage to see Ophiuchus blocking the exit. "Zodiac traitors... I pass my judgement upon you!" he shouted. Copter looked from Fred to Ophi and gulped. "That attack... That was Deathbringer's..." he stammered. Ophi raised his hand, energy surrounding it. "My experiments are complete. Through rigorous torture, some of it just for fun, I have extracted Gemini's immunity to the Lost Ones, and applied it to myself! Then, I dug deep into Libra's mystical energies and recovered the power of the Deathbringer! With these powers combined, I can safely go and contact my past self, and set my history right!" he declared, holding up a wand in his other hand. Adam and Evelyn grit their teeth and aimed their lasers at him. "You think we'll let you after you killed Fred!?" Evelyn shouted. "He's about to kill us, too, isn't he?" Adam gulped. Ophi twirled his wand. "Morphicadabra!" he cast, transforming the lasers into snakes in their hands! As they freaked out, Ophi turned and cast another spell. "Chronokadabra! Fear not! When I overwrite time, you won't live to see this future!" he cackled. "You won't live to see any time!" Copter growled, chasing after him along with Gemini! Before they could enter the time portal, Timothy pointed his own wand at it. "Chronokadabra!" he shouted, altering the destination of the portal as Ophiuchus, Copter and Gemini vanished inside it! Chopper looked at him with alarm. "Where'd they just go??" he stammered. Timothy's eyes narrowed. "I sent them home..." he said.
Copter and Gemini stumbled into a desolate landscape. The world, for miles, was burning in blue flames. The ground they stood upon seemed to be part of a large mass of rubble. Unrecognizable. Gemini looked around. "This isn't the past, this is the future... But it's changed!" she said. Copter realized what rubble they were standing on. It was the remains of Shadow Arcangel. They were in the Mystic Ruins. "Looks worse than the last time I saw the future, even... Hey, where's Ophiuchus??" he grunted. They heard a furious howl to the left. "What have you fools done!? Why won't you let me do what must be done!? Don't you understand!? Look at this world!!" Ophiuchus shouted, holding up his arms to the horizon, "Look at it crumble!" Indeed, looking out into the distance, they could see the earth itself was breaking apart and slowly rising into space. Ophiuchus turned towards them. "Only I have the power to shepherd a dimension to safety... To protect a populace in a realm outside of time, where the Lost Ones cannot destroy them! Only my world can live forever..." he declared. Copter stepped towards the snake with clenched fists. "I've seen how you rule. Any world of yours...won't be worth living in!" he shouted. Gemini stepped to Copter's side, wand at the ready. "Besides, we'll stop this future! We'll create a world of freedom and peace!" she promised. Ophiuchus stared at them a moment, then started to laugh, loud and maniacally, as he backed himself into the blue flames, which did not burn him since he had taken the immunity from Gemini. "Idealistic fools! Just like Astra! Just like all of them! I'm going to do to you children what you did to me, now!" he cackled, holding up his wand which glowed brilliantly, as did his eyes. "I'll leave you for dead in this nothing world... Never to be seen again!!"
As Copter and Gemini looked on, Ophiuchus began to transform, rising into the air and letting out a roar as his body twisted and grew into that of a massive serpent monster! His eyes glowed yellow, but unlike a morph there were no pupils to be seen now, his draconian face snarling in a crazed manner! He no longer had arms and legs, but glowing wings sprouted at various sections of his back, spread out several feet and blowing small whirlwinds with each flap! Copter and Gemini held onto one another, standing their ground against those whirlwinds together. The monstrous serpent laughed at them with a deep voice. "You're in over your head, younglings! I trained for centuries to hone my power! How could you possibly hope to match my strength!?" he snarled. Gemini brought her wand to Copter, and the pair of them held it together. "There's one power you never found in all that time, Ophiuchus!" Copter smirked. "Oh? And what's that!?" the snake scoffed, leering down at them. Gemini looked at Copter, eyes meeting, and she gave him a confident smile. "A spell more powerful than any other..." she said softly, turning toward Ophiuchus and raising the wand along with Copter. "Love's Light!!" They spoke it at once as though casting a spell, and in response, the wand glowed brilliantly, enveloping them in a warm light. Then, Gemini's wand vanished in a small burst of sparkles, and Ophiuchus snorted at them. "Pathetic. Pitiful... Eh?" his insults were interrupted, as Copter and Gemini each started to glow themselves, their own divine wings sprouting once more, not only at will this time, and not only intangible glowing wings... They were glowing angelic wings, resembling those of Whisk or other powerful Divines. They flapped those wings and rose up, staring Ophiuchus in his glowing eyes. Their full magical power had awakened. "Zodiac traitor... We pass OUR divine judgement on YOU!!" they shouted, pointing at the serpent defiantly.
The blue flames surrounding Ophiuchus swirled around his serpent body, and collected around his head before he blew it at Copter and Gemini like a dragon's breath! The pair were forced to separate, their wings carrying them in opposite directions! Ophiuchus had said he "took" the immunity from Gemini, but whether that meant she'd actually lost it was a question they didn't want answered. Instead, they moved to the side of the giant snake monster, and raised their hands toward it. "Solare!!" They both cast powerful beams of light at once, but it only seemed to irritate Ophiuchus, who flew in a circular path to attack both of them with his jaws! Each fox evaded the attack and added more spells to the assault. "Poppration!" Copter shouted, striking him with fireworks! "Oblastion!" Gemini cried, hitting the snake with a large explosion! Ophiuchus roared angrily, glaring at them. "Childish games! My magic is far beyond yours... Hypnoconquera!!" he shouted, attempting to control their minds and end the battle instantly! Copter grunted as the spell struck his mind, grabbing his head. "That's it... Obey me! Aries, kill Gemini, now!" the serpent ordered. Gemini looked at him with worry as Copter lowered his hand, staring off into space. He turned slowly towards Gemini. He raised his hand. He...winked at her. "Chillazim!" he shouted, turning toward Ophiuchus suddenly and hurling a freezing spell his way! The snake erected a barrier and snarled in aggravation. "Impossible! Your mind is too weak to resist my control! You're a being ruled by primal urges and dark impulses, the shadow of the fox you're copied from!" he growled. "Oh, you're thinking of Aries, dude... He's dead now." Copter smirked, "My name is Arthur Prower, and I've got a light to guide me away from your darkness... Her name is Gwen Leo!" he declared. Gemini tilted her head, but then blushed a bright red. "Oo-oh! Y-you're talking about me! R-right!" she stammered.
Ophiuchus rolled his eyes. "You persist with this love narrative? Fine, perhaps it grants you the strength of will to avoid my mental control. But know this!" he shouted, flying up and coiling his body in the sky above them, "I can cast invented spells using mere words, too! And you're breaking Zodiac's law in choosing love... So I end you with... Divine Judgement!!" Glowing halos surrounded Ophiuchus, and they glowed brighter with terrible, crackling energy as they charged power! Gemini and Copter glanced at one another anxiously, unsure what to expect. "I end you...now!!" Ophiuchus snarled, sending the halos spinning towards the pair, homing in on them! Copter and Gemini took off, trying to escape the attacks, but the powerful halos were fast! Copter was struck in the back, then the leg, tearing his pants! Gemini wasn't faring much better, getting cuts and nicks in her clothing as the apparently sharp halos struck her! "W-we have t-to do something!" she gasped, looking towards Copter with eyes widening as she saw the halo pierce one of his wings! He started to fall, and she cried out. "Copter, no!! Ack! G-get away!!" A shockwave of magical energy burst from her, and without speaking her spell, she warped out of the halo barrage and appeared under Copter, grabbing his hand as he fell! He started to twirl his tails to carry himself a bit, and looked at her with a smile. "Sorry, Gem... Don't mean to always drag you down..." he sighed. Gemini hugged him into her arms and kissed him deeply, but quickly. "You don't drag me down. You lift me up." she told him. Watching this display, Ophiuchus groaned. "Divine Judgement!! Finish them!!" he roared. More halos were being charged, and the duo couldn't let them surround them. Gemini looked at Copter and smirked. "Ya still got one wing. Let's power up together! Charize!" she started to fill Copter's body with magical energy, his single wing glowing brighter. "Two can play this game. Charize!" he grinned, charging up her power as well!
The powerful halos started to home in on them, but the duo quickly warped away, right in front of Ophiuchus! "You dare look me in the face!? I'll devour you!" he snarled, opening his jaw in preparation to do just that! Copter and Gemini's wings glowed brilliantly with charged power, and they pointed a finger each into the serpent's gaping maw. "This is for my Father..." Gemini whispered, "Abra-Kadabra!!" she cried, Copter following suit without knowing why. The result was spectacular and terrible. It was as though casting every spell at once, concentrating them all into a beam of light, fire, ice, wind, explosions, fireworks, balls transforming into plasma, all kinds of magic swirled into Ophiuchus' gaping mouth! He groaned and roared in pain, his serpent belly expanding from all the magic filling it! Finally, Ophiuchus exploded in a burst of fireworks...hiccupping fireworks, somehow! This took all of Gemini and Copter's divine power, and Copter was forced to fly her back to earth with his tails, though she did find her wand returned to her free hand. As they landed, Gemini jumped in a giddy fashion. "Haha! I always wanted to use that spell! ...but it doesn't work unless your magic power is strong. Super strong!" she said, looking at Copter with a big smile. Copter smiled back, but the destroyed world around them brought down the mood quickly. "Better head back..." he said. "Right... Chronokadabra!" Gemini said, creating the portal that would return them to the present.
Libra was awake, and helping Adam, Evelyn, Chopper and Timothy to fend off the Lost Ones charging into the lab as Lospecter watched. "Just a matter of time, chumps..." the ghost taunted. However, Gemini and Copter emerged from the portal in a moment, and Gemini slung a spell at Lospecter to distract him while the group gathered around Fred's body. "Too bad, Ophi's gone! And now so are we!" Copter taunted as Gemini cast the spell to warp the group out of the Lost One Hive! Lospecter rubbed his eyes, but snickered. "Still got what we needed from him..." he grinned.
They picked up Dr. Nammad at the entrance, and together the group found a quiet spot to lay Fred's body to rest. Adam, Evelyn and Chopper were busy digging a hole while Gemini and Libra knelt by the body to say their goodbyes. "It isn't fair... I never even knew him. But he was our father?" Libra sniffled. Copter nodded. "He said your name is Brittney." he told her. Libra shook her head. "I appreciate that, but... I'm always gonna be Libra." Gemini nodded. "And I'll always be Gemini... But I'm glad we know now. He did what he did to protect us, and though he couldn't protect us fully... I'm gonna miss him..." she sniffed. Timothy wiped a tear from his eye. "He was like a dad to me, too..." he murmured. "Unngh! Well, that oughta be deep enough..." Adam grunted. "I'm not sure Demon Island's the right place to bury him..." Evelyn sighed. Gemini looked at the lion's body and took his hand in hers. "Goodbye, father... Thank you for taking care of me..." she said tearfully. As her tear dropped onto his hand, Fred's body glowed, and vanished into a thousand particles of magic before their eyes! The group watched this in awe, and then Adam groaned. "Bury me in the hole, then..." he whined. "Leave it. We, uh, may have further use of it..." Nammad said ominously. All that remained of Fred was his wand, which Gemini picked up and handed to Libra. "He'd want you to have it." she said. Libra hugged her. "Thanks, sis... Now, how do we beat those monsters?" she asked. Copter frowned. "...I wish we knew..."
Gator's Crazy Adventure!!
The GUN Warship shook. Though GUN had attempted to launch a counterattack on the Lost Ones, they were the ones caught by surprise instead. While heroes aboard the ship scurried about battling the invading undead creatures as best they could, Gator sat in front of a computer screen scratching his...hood. "Stupid machine! Order my pizza! Oh, and I need to make a call." Gator said, smacking the keyboard as if that would make it listen to him. Zooey fell backwards into his chair, holding one of GUN's artificial Chaos Swords in her hands. "What are you doing?! Now's not the time for social media!" she shouted, swinging the sword to knock back a loskel as it approached. "You're just jealous 'cuz I have a bigger role in this story than you!" Gator said a bit smugly. Watch it, Gator, you may never have a role again. At any rate, Agent 77, or "Steven," poked his head out from behind the computer terminal, having been hiding. He'd made it this far from the Death Row facility, but, "I wasn't trained for monsters! What do I do??" he stammered. Gator looked up at him. "Hey, purple-glasses, can you get this thing to call someone?" he asked. Steven gulped, cautiously stepping around the computer, watching Zooey fending off the Lost Ones as best she could with merely a sword. "Ahh... Who are we calling?" Steven asked, quickly bringing up a communications app. Gator looked around at the chaos in the area. Zooey wasn't the only one fighting off monsters. "I gotta call 2BIT. This whole zombie apocalypse thing isn't funny anymore." he murmured. Steven scratched his head. "Ahh, 2BIT? That a codename? Err, what's the phone number?" he asked. "Phone number??" Gator babbled, "Umm... There's this blocky guy, I think his name is...Blocky, and, uhh..." Steven could just stare at him blankly, and even Gator realized that this wasn't working. "Well, I'll figure out how to call them! Gator, away!" he cried, suddenly vanishing in a burst of smoke! "WE WERE IN THE SKY!!?" he could be heard yelling outside. He'll be fine. With the computer free, however, Steven sat down and typed at the keyboard, engaging a security protocol that slammed the doors to the room shut. "That should keep more of those monsters from getting in..." he sighed. "Great, great... I think we're gonna crash, but great..." Zooey grumbled, backing away from approaching creatures with sword in hand...
To be continued...
"Hey, wait, I'm supposed to comment something! Uhh... Where's my pizza?" - Gator
