GeneX - Tails the Fox
Chapter 0 - The Lost Prologue
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
The young fox slowly opened his eyes. It was dark. Very dark. He cautiously looked around. He seemed to be in some sort of laboratory. He couldn't remember how he got here. He was lying on some sort of metal table. He sat up to get a better look around. He was a yellow fox with blue eyes, red and white shoes, and a pair of big, fluffy tails. A brown rat in a lab coat was in the room. He had yellow eyes, purple shoes, and appeared to be busy with some medical equipment. He was standing over a nondescript black fox. The fox appeared to be dead! "Oh... You're awake. Relax, Miles Prower." said the rat. Miles, or Tails, as he was more commonly known, was understandably nervous. "Wh-who are you? Where am I? Did you kidnap me?!" he asked. The rat nodded. "I did kidnap you... Allow me to explain why." He turned to Tails calmly. "My name is Buck Stein. They call me Bucky. I am a scientist, and I am working on my greatest experiment right now..." He motioned to the lifeless fox beside him. "This is my pet project... No, my 'son.' As you can see, he is completely lifeless." he said. Tails scratched his head. "How did he die?" he asked. Bucky chuckled. "Die? My dear boy, he has yet to live! I created him! But, I made some errors... His DNA has some fatal flaws." he explained. Tails looked curious. "And you kidnapped me, so... Why? How can I help?" he wondered. Bucky wore a serious expression. "Your DNA. Obviously, you are alive. You have fox DNA that works. My son doesn't. Therefore, I am going to try to copy your DNA and merge it with his. Then, with the power of my greatest breakthrough, GeneX, I will bring him to life!" he declared. Tails looked a little surprised. "But... How will you copy my DNA?" he asked. Bucky looked even more serious. Deadly serious. "It will be an extremely painful procedure... It has to be done just so, or my son won't be able to be brought to life. The procedure will do a number on you... At the least, you will have no memory of it. At the worst... you could die! And once you die, that's that. I don't have sufficient knowledge to revive one who has died once before. So you see why I had to kidnap you... No one would volunteer for this." he said. Tails was a bit frightened, but did not try to run. "Your son... He looks... sad." he observed. He felt a certain stirring in his heart. This fox deserved to live, as anyone does. Tails came to a decision. "I'll do it!" he said. Bucky looked at him with surprise. "He... he needs me..." Tails added. Bucky smiled and nodded. "Such a pure heart... I knew you were the perfect subject!" he said.
Tails and the black fox were each hooked up to several strange machines. They were strapped to their tables, and after some minor tinkering with his devices, Bucky was ready to perform the experiment. He typed up some notes on a nearby computer. "Finally... GeneX Experiment #2, my fifth experiment into the mysterious Gene X... Commencing with test subject Miles Prower..." He stood up and approached the two tables, holding his hands out over each table. "Extracting essential life data and merging it with subject 2... NOW!!" Tails let out an anguished scream as bolts of electricity flew from Bucky's hands, striking both him and the black fox! "Hang on, young Prower! I need you to survive long enough for the transference to be completed!" Bucky shouted, keeping the flow of electricity going. The electricity traveled through the wires attaching the two foxes to the machines, and the black fox soon started to react to the experiment! The lifeless body started to shake violently, its tail flailing under it! Bucky watched in wonder as the tail began to split, a second tail emerging! Not only that, but the fox's body started to take on more of Tails' features. His fur, which was previously all black, started to turn white in certain places! Bucky gasped at these changes. "It's turning into a clone! I didn't imagine the body would change so drastically!" he thought, continuing the experiment anyway. Tails' screams grew more desperate, but Bucky ignored them. "The transfer isn't complete!! Can't stop now..." he growled, not much caring if Tails lived or not! However, the black fox started to react more violently. Its fur started standing on end, and the fur on the end of its twin tails started to become very spiky! Sparks flew from the wires and the machine, and Bucky realized that the experiment was going out of control. It may destroy both foxes! "No! It's nearly complete!! Hold on just a bit longer!!" The experiment continued, and as the DNA transfer neared completion, the black fox's fur slowly started to turn white in more places. Three strands of white hair over its right eye jumped up, and the body shook more violently than ever! Finally, Bucky ceased shooting the electricity from his hands! He panted heavily; he had put a lot of his energy into the experiment. Looking at his machine, he saw that the DNA transfer was complete. Enough for his purposes, at any rate. He examined the black fox. It looked so much like Tails now, but that was no problem. "Experiment 2... Now, you will be able to live..." he said before glancing at Tails' somewhat charred body. He walked over and took his pulse. "Hmm... He may live after all..." he said, "Now, it's time to complete this experiment at last..."
Darkness. Pitch black darkness. "Where... am I? Who am... I? What... am... I?" A voice, or was it thoughts? A black and white fox stood in the darkness. Actually, he felt like he was floating. "Where am I?" he thought. It was a sort of alien looking room, much like the interior of the Black Comet, but the black fox didn't know anything about that. There was another fox in front of him, and two golden rings floating beside it, circling it. The fox looked familiar. It looked just like him, only with streaks of blue fur in some areas! The fox had an evil look on its face. It grabbed the floating rings, and a blinding light came from them, covering everything, making it all fade into white! "Who am I?" the black fox thought as a new scene unfolded in front of him. He was in another dark room, though decidedly less alien looking. Blobs of bluish green slime were slithering everywhere! He saw a door at the other end of the room. He ran for it, desperate to evade the slimy creatures! As he ran, he saw strange figures in the room. They were almost zombie like, covered in the same slime, but they were people. An egg shaped man with a mustache. An elderly man with a GUN uniform, and a hateful scowl. Hooded figures with their faces hidden. As he reached the door, it seemed to turn into a mirror. He saw himself, a two tailed black fox. Thunder crashed around him, and the figure in the mirror turned into the sinister fox with blue streaks in his fur. "What am I!?" the fox cried. The images started swirling around him, a horrible tornado of uncertainty. He closed his eyes tight. He heard strange sounds. Beeping sounds? Footsteps? He slowly opened his eyes again. He was in the laboratory of Buck Stein. Was everything he'd seen before a dream? Now he was inside a glass tube, with wires attached to him and a mask over his nose and mouth, allowing him to breathe, since he was submerged in some sort of fluid. "What... am I? ...Why....?" he thought. Bucky was looking into the tube at him, jotting notes in a book. "Let... me... out!!" the fox thought, focusing all his energy on his desire to leave the tube. The energy turned to chaos, and a chaotic explosion erupted from his body, destroying the tube and causing him to fall to the floor! Bucky was startled, but ran to help him up. "Incredible! A Chaos Blast! Here, let me help you up! Welcome to the land of the living, Experiment 2!" he said.
Experiment 2 sat down on the metal table while Bucky passed him some "gifts." First was a strange device, sort of like a watch. Bucky attached it to his wrist. "I am your creator, Bucky Stein. I created you for a few purposes... Time may be short, so I'll start with the most important. You see, I have enemies... and by extension, so do you. They're coming for us, Experiment 2. They will have me imprisoned, and maybe you as well. You must escape and free me, or this bomb I attach to your wrist will destroy you!" he said, covering the bomb with the cuff of a white glove that he slipped on to Experiment 2's hand. He gave him the other glove and sighed. "I know, it's a lot to put upon you so soon after your birth... As such, I can't be sure I can trust you to get it done. That is why you have this extra incentive. I wish it didn't have to be this way..." he explained. Experiment 2 nodded, but said nothing. Bucky handed him some blue and white shoes, as well as some socks. "To aid you, I leave you with these shoes. They look like your original's, but they are unique. Tap the heels together, and something special will happen... I say I'm leaving you with them because I must leave you now. If we're lucky, you won't be captured along with me..." he said, shutting off his equipment in preparation for leaving. Experiment 2 put on the shoes and glanced at Tails. He stared at the unconscious fox for a moment before opening his mouth to speak. "T-tails... Two tails... like me..." he muttered, his first words. Bucky glanced at him and nodded. "Yes... I used that fox to make you. You were cloned from him, partially. I suppose I should take him with me. Don't want him messing with my equipment when he wakes up..." he realized, walking over to the table Tails was laying on. As he neared it, he heard footsteps behind him. "Aha! Found you! Now let Tails go, or you'll have to answer to me!" Bucky cursed under his breath and turned around. He'd been found! Before him stood a blue hedgehog in snazzy red and white sneakers. Sonic the Hedgehog!
Bucky scoffed at Sonic. "Marvelous timing. At least you weren't fast enough to stop my experiment!" he grinned. Sonic charged at him. "I'm fast enough to stop YOU!" As he was about to attack Bucky, Experiment 2 jumped in front of him, and he stopped in surprise. "Whoa!! W-what are you supposed to be!? You look just like Tails!" he noticed. Bucky chuckled. "Perfect. A test of his fighting skills! Sonic, meet Experiment 2, my latest creation! I cloned him from Tails' DNA, but he is so much more than a mere copy. Two! Why don't you show Sonic just how powerful you are!" he commanded. Experiment 2 lunged at Sonic, who jumped back to dodge him easily. "I don't wanna fight you, pal! I just want to save Tails!" he said. Two ran at him and spun around, striking Sonic with a tail whip! Sonic blocked it, and wasn't really hurt. "Heh, well, you're about as strong as the real Tails. Seriously, though, cut it out!" he said. Experiment 2 ran after Sonic, but the hedgehog was way too fast for him, and easily put some distance between them. He thought about how he'd broken out of the glass tube and decided to try using his chaos energy. Rather than use Chaos Blast, though, another idea came to his mind, though he had no clue where the idea came from. He waved his hand in Sonic's direction and focused his chaos energy. Suddenly, a chaotic wind blew from him and struck Sonic, sending him flying a short distance before landing on his back! "Whooooa!! What was THAT!?" Sonic groaned, standing up. Bucky clapped excitedly. "Excellent! A Chaos Whirlwind! I'm impressed, Two!" he said. Sonic did a little stretching in preparation for the inevitable battle. "OK, now we've got a fight. Just remember, you asked for it!" he said. Experiment 2 shook his head. "No, YOU asked for it! You attacked my creator! I'll make you pay!" he shouted. Sonic shrugged and took off, dodging Two's Chaos Whirlwind attacks before jumping into the air and hitting him with a homing attack! Two fell over, but quickly got back up. "Try that again, I dare you!" he warned. Sonic came at him again, but as he got close, Two focused his energy and shouted. "Chaos Blast!!" The blast caught Sonic off guard and knocked him onto his back! Two jumped on to him, pinning him to the floor! Bucky clapped some more and stared at Sonic with an unpleasant grin. "Well done, Experiment 2... Now, kill him. Make sure he doesn't get in our way again!" he ordered. Experiment 2 hesitated. "Kill...?" he said uncertainly. Was it a conscience stopping him, or did he simply not understand? Either way, Sonic took advantage of his hesitation to shove him aside! They both got back up, ready to continue the fight. Bucky frowned. "Too slow, Two! But you can do it. Kill him!" he shouted.
They continued to fight, but now that Experiment 2 no longer had any surprise tricks, he rarely got any hits on Sonic. However, he quickly got good at blocking and dodging Sonic's attacks. Bucky watched the fight with interest; it seemed to him that his experiment had a good chance of winning. "Yes! That's it, my boy! Kill him!" he cheered. If Experiment 2 could take out Sonic, there would be no doubt that he would defeat any who challenged him. However, Two really couldn't keep up with Sonic. He had to think of a strategy. He still had one possible trick up his sleeve, but he wasn't sure what it would do. As Sonic came at him, he tapped his heels together. Nothing happened at first. He wondered what it was supposed to do, and jumped in place a bit. After jumping hard enough, the shoes bounced him high into the air, catching both himself and Sonic off guard! Sonic skidded to a stop, looking up at Two, who had started spinning his tails like helicopter blades in order to fly! Sonic jumped after him, but Experiment 2 used his shoes to bounce off of him, knocking him to the ground! He tapped his heels together again to turn off the bounce effect, and dropped on top of Sonic! He had another opportunity to kill him, now! "Well, the Bouncy Shoes work... Now grab his throat! Choke the life out of him!" Bucky shouted. As Experiment 2 made sure he had Sonic securely pinned to the ground, Tails began to stir on the metal table. He was no longer strapped in, so he started to get up. "What are you waiting for? Kill Sonic!!" Bucky shouted, getting Tails' attention. He hopped down from the table and looked at Experiment 2. "Gotta... save... Sonic..." he said weakly, raising his hand in Two's direction. He focused his energy, though he didn't have much at the moment. "Tails Wind!!" he shouted. A strong, yellow wind came from him, blowing in Experiment 2's direction! The wind knocked him off of Sonic, and he went flying into the wall with a loud smack! Two fell to the ground, unconscious, and Bucky turned to Tails furiously. "How dare you! Well, at least I know where Two got the Chaos Whirlwind ability. But now, I think I'll kill YOU to make sure you don't get in my way again!" He started shocking Tails with bolts of electricity from his hands, this time trying to kill him!
"Tails!!" Sonic shouted, scrambling to his feet and charging at Bucky! He somersaulted into the rat, knocking him away from Tails, who collapsed in a sparking heap! Bucky turned his attention to Sonic, shooting jolts of electricity in his direction. "If you had only stayed away... No one would have to die! But I can't have you attempting to stop my revenge! GUN ruined my life!! So I'll destroy theirs! And I'll snuff out anyone who gets in my way!!" he yelled as Sonic ran to avoid his electricity. "Hold still, you little pest!!" After a few moments, Bucky shot out his electricity in a wide area, catching Sonic and sending jolts of lightning coursing through his body! He laughed as Sonic screamed, and briefly stopped the attack to gloat. "Pity, Sonic... You had been so helpful to the world. Well, maybe one of my experiments can take over the fight against Dr. Eggman. Now, hold still and die..." He was about to finish Sonic off, when the hedgehog held out his hand and called out one more attack. "Sonic Wind!" A blue wind came from Sonic and blew around Bucky in a circle, spinning him around before tossing him aside! "Whoooooaaaaaaaahhhh!!" Bucky shouted as he landed next to Experiment 2! Sonic chuckled as he stood up. "Where do you think Tails learned that move?" he said, running over to his unconscious friend. "Don't worry, little buddy. I'll take care of you." he said. Suddenly, an alarm started blaring in the lab! Bucky stood up and growled. "No!! The sensors detect robots! GUN is here!" he shouted, somewhat panicked. Sonic lifted Tails into his arms and turned to Bucky. "Well, have fun explaining all this to them. I've gotta go." With that, Sonic ran out of the lab with Tails. Bucky, in the meantime, started examining Experiment 2, making sure he wasn't too badly injured. "Good luck, my son. Remember... set me free. Only I can disarm the bomb on your wrist..." he said.
Soon, the military stormed into the lab, led by a somewhat elderly looking man with a somewhat large nose, white hair, and a GUN sergeant uniform. Bucky gave himself up when they arrived. He had a plan, and it involved letting GUN think he was subdued, for now anyway. The GUN sergeant had Bucky taken away, but hesitated to leave, having seen Experiment 2 passed out on the floor. "That freak... It looks like Sonic's sniveling friend, Tails..." he muttered. A brown haired man in sunglasses and a black suit approached the sergeant, saluting. "Sgt. Gunner! Should we be on our way, sir? Some of the men think we should look around this temple first..." he said. Sergeant Gunner glanced at the man angrily. "I do the thinking around here, Spy! And based on this freak's resemblance to Tails... I think maybe Tails is in cahoots with Dr. Stein. And by extension, Sonic must be in cahoots with him!" he said. Spy scratched his head. "That sounds kind of farfetched, sir." he said. Gunner nodded. No one would believe his theory without proof. "Nevertheless, this black fox should be taken in. Bring him, but keep him separate from that rat. It might be just what he wants." he ordered. Spy called to some GUN soldiers and had them carry Experiment 2 away. As they all left, Gunner stayed to look around the lab for a moment. "Your insane experiments are finished, you freak! I'll make sure you NEVER see the light of day again!" he growled, turning and exiting the lab.
Tails slowly opened his eyes. He was sitting on the ground in the Mystic Ruins, not far from his workshop. Sonic was standing beside him, a look of concern on his face. "Ohhh... My head... What happened, Sonic?" he asked dizzily. Sonic crossed his arms. "You don't remember?" he asked. Tails shook his head. "The last thing I remember is wrapping up my tests on my new robot..." he said. Sonic thought about telling Tails what had happened, but with Bucky and Experiment 2 behind bars, what need was there to worry him? "Well, you had a little accident... But everything's OK now." he told the young fox. Tails slowly stood up. Despite everything he'd been through, he didn't seem to be permanently injured at all. Sonic started to feel relieved and stopped worrying. "I had a heck of a time finding you, though. Let's just say you were kinda off the beaten path..." he remarked. Tails looked thoughtful. "Sorry about that, Sonic... Tell you what, I have an easy way for you to find me in the future. I've got a robot with really advanced radars and sensors: the robot I was working on before my memory... uh, goes blank. Come on, I'll introduce you to SPOT!" he said, taking Sonic by the hand and leading him to his workshop. The danger was over, for now, and things were back to normal for Sonic and Tails.
Experiment 2 awakened in a cell. A small squadron of GUN robots were hanging around outside the cell. He was left there alone for some time, unable to think of a way out of his predicament. Eventually, however, Sergeant Gunner and his spy entered the room. Gunner grinned as he approached Experiment 2's cell. "Welcome, Experiment 2, to Death Row! I trust the accommodations are to your liking?" he asked. Two grabbed the bars of his cell and growled at Gunner. "Who are you? Where's Bucky!?" he shouted. Gunner laughed at him. "He's alive... for now. Me? I'm Sergeant Richard Jackson Gunner, recently promoted, I might add. I had the brilliant idea of locking up your creator where no one will ever see him again... Space Colony ARK!" he said. Experiment 2 looked puzzled. He had no idea what Space Colony ARK was, but he'd be sure to find out quickly after escaping his cell. Gunner motioned to someone standing in the doorway. Experiment 2 couldn't see him well in the dark room, but the silhouette looked somewhat demonic. "I want to introduce you to your guard. He's a powerful agent of mine, and he will see to it that you never escape from here! You and your creator were plotting against mankind, weren't you? You wretched furry freak! You're just the beginning! It is my life's mission to eradicate your kind, all of your fellow furry freaks! Only then will mankind be safe from you monsters!" he yelled. "Uh, sarge?" Spy whimpered nervously. Gunner glanced at him. "Errr... I just got a bit carried away, Spy." he said, giving Experiment 2 a smug wink. Two stepped back and glared at the sergeant. "I'll escape. I promise you that!" he said. Gunner shrugged. "Even if you do escape, where will you go? We're on an island, miles from the shore. What are you gonna do? Swipe our Chaos Emerald and use it to power your rocket shoes? Oh, that's right, you got no rocket shoes! Ha ha ha ha!" he laughed, walking out of the small room with Spy and the guard in tow. Experiment 2 sat down and looked around, trying to come up with a plan. "Well... Perhaps the Chaos Emerald could come in handy... but how will I get out of this cell?" he thought. Outside the room was a ledge, a balcony that went around the entire building, one of which was on each floor. As Sergeant Gunner was making his way to another door accessible from the balcony, a hooded figure watched him from the roof. The figure was completely covered in his black cloak, but a pair of large spikes could be seen on his back. He wore blood red shoes, and the only feature of his face that could be seen was his glowing golden eyes. "He has arrived... Experiment 2. Now... what will he do? Sit tight for now, dark fox. This is only the beginning......"
Continued in Chapter 1 of "GeneX - Tails the Fox".
Thank you for reading! I hope you've enjoyed the past 5 years of GeneX!
Stay tuned! There's more to come soon!
