GeneX - Soleanna Struggle
Chapter 2 - Sun Festival Showdown
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.
"Is it me, you say, you're lookin' for?
Let me show you who I am and what I'm here for." - What I'm Made Of, Sonic Heroes
The Green Freedom had made port in the afternoon, and Copter, Punchy, and Rainbow began their search for Experiment 7, with Gator's assistance, after lunch. They had searched New City, without luck, and now it was getting dark. The Sun Festival had begun, and the four of them were taking a break by a fountain near the shop. "This would be so much easier if we knew what we were looking for." Punchy said. "You sure you don't know anything about Seven, Two? Like whether it's a boy or a girl? Or its species?" Rainbow asked. Unfortunately, Copter didn't know anything. The Doomsayer had left out all the details, and gave Copter little chance to ask questions. Still, he had a hunch. "I think the only creatures here that aren't human are us and the experiment. Bucky don't make humans, so lets just look for anything else." he suggested. Gator shook his head. "No more for me, thanks. Gator must get to pirating! Finding treasure and such. I think I'll start at the nearest bakery..." Gator began to run off. "Let us know if you see anything unusual!" Copter shouted. A second later, and Gator vanished in a puff of purple smoke. "So, if he heard you, I guess he'll come find us if he sees himself in a mirror." Punchy chuckled. "Ah, well, good riddance. He was kinda annoying anyway." Copter said, "Still, he did have a good idea just now. We should split up to search for Experiment 7. You and Rainbow look around near the crowds at the festival. I'll look elsewhere." Punchy groaned a little. He did not want to be left alone with Rainbow. "C'mon, Copt, I think we're doing good in a group." he argued feebly. "Are you kiddin', One? If we were doing so well, we'd have found Seven already!" Rainbow pointed out. "Bye, guys!" Copter shouted, already heading off on his own. Since Punchy saw no way around it, he came up with another suggestion. "Fine, then we'll split up, too, Rainbow." he said. Rainbow grabbed him by the arm and started leading him toward the festival torch. "Don't be rediculous, One! Remember how we found the shards of that big gem? Just follow me and we'll be OK!" Punchy stumbled along behind her, shouting in frustration all the way. "Lemme go, lemme go!! I don't need you to hold my hand! And stop calling me One already!!!"
Copter's hunch, however, was wrong. They weren't the only non-humans visiting Soleanna that night. Up on a rooftop nearby, Zipp the hornet was watching them through his visor, which could also grant him binocular vision. "Looks like they're trying to double their search. Guess I'd better quit following them and begin looking myself." he said to himself. He pulled out a gun and polished it with a handkerchief. "Looks like my little baby here might be getting a workout tonight. I don't know how 'Chopper-Boy' and 'Fist-Freak' found out about Experiment 7, but they're dreaming if they think they're gonna get in our way!" He holstered his gun and pressed a button hidden on his helmet. "How're things on your end, Vortex?" he asked via his helmet's phone. "I think I've ssssspotted her, Zipp. Let'sss meet up here and bring her home." Vortex replied. Zipp released the button and started flying off. "Over and out! Don't start the party without me!"
Crowds lined Soleanna's central canals, watching a large boat approach the large torch used in ceremonies such as tonights Sun Festival. Dancers twirled and pranced gracefully on the boat, while fireworks lit up the sky. A very important passenger was being transported on the boat, Soleanna's current ruler, Princess Elise the Third. Copter felt slightly dissappointed that he had to miss the festival for his search, but the Doomsayer had made it seem quite urgent that Experiment 7 be found. He was wandering near the gate between this portion of Soleanna and New City when suddenly, he spotted her. A red phoenix, wearing a black coat with orange stripes, and loosely fitting yellow pants. She wore a pair sneakers colored a fiery pattern of red and orange. Her orange eyes spotted Copter immediately, but she didn't know him, so she thought nothing of him. She simply walked toward the area with the torch, ignoring Copter completely. Copter followed her. His intuition told him that his search was over, and he quickly caught up to her and began walking beside her. "Hello. Beautiful night for a festival, isn't it?" he said in greeting. The phoenix simply ignored him and kept walking, so, Copter continued following her. "First time to Soleanna? It's my first visit, too. Come here for the festival? Or something else?" he asked, knowing the answer. "What do you want with me?!" she said, stopping in her tracks and glaring at Copter. He crossed his arms and glared back. "Well, excuse me for bein' friendly. I'll just ask one more question then. Do you know they're after you, Experiment 7?" Her eyes went wide at the mention of her experiment number, and she started backing away toward the gate to New City. Copter watched her as she recovered enough to speak. "You- You're one of THEM, aren't you? I- I don't.... STAY AWAY FROM ME!!" She turned to run, but smacked into someone who immediately grabbed her by the wrist. It was a large grey Rhinocerous, with a big white horn at the end of its snout. He wore metallic blue shoes and light blue gloves. On his head he wore a yellow bowler hat. His eyes were green, and fixed on the phoenix. "Watch where you're going, sparrow." he growled. Behind him, Vortex and Zipp were approaching. Copter realized that the rhino was probably with them. "Ah, another new experiment, aren't you? Experiment 8, I presume." he said. The rhino nodded. "You presume correct. I am Crash. I bet you already know my associates, Vortex and Zipp." he said. Though he appeared brutish, Crash spoke in a fairly educated manner. Vortex stepped between Copter and Crash. "Thisss isss none of your concern, Copter. Why don't you jusssst sssstay out of our bussssinesss." he suggested. "That is something I can't do. It seems, from my point of view, that you're attempting to enslave her. I can't let that pass." Zipp fired a warning shot at Copter's feet. "Make me aim higher, please!" he said, excited at the idea. "Let her go!" Copter demanded. "Make me!" Crash snorted. Things were getting rather tense, and it was about to get worse.
Princess Elise had approached the festival torch. She held in her hand a lit torch. It was her job to light the larger one, by touching the flame to the base of the torch. A large, intricate display would carry the flame up to the sconce. However, Elise seemed a bit distracted after being handed the small torch. She was imagining something, but she snapped out of it in a moment. "We give thanks to the blessed flames. May we continue to live in peace." she said, "Sun of Soleanna, guide and watch over us with your eternal light." With that, she lit the base, and the flames quickly climbed up the display and into the sconce for a dazzling effect. Elise waved to the cheering crowd, when suddenly an explosion went off behind her! It was missiles! More missiles hit in the area around the festival torch, causing the crowds in the area to panic and run away. A large ship was hovering overhead. The bottom of the ship slid open, reavealing a group of dangerous looking robots. The robots dropped from the ship and surrounded Elise and the others standing there with her. Another group of robots had also been deployed, and they were now surrounding Copter, Vortex, Zipp, Crash, and Experiment 7. Landing to Vortex's right was a familiar blue and green robot, with the number "E-2X" printed on its side. It was Alpha! Accompanying the robots was the small red and black Chao, Char. Startled by the events unfolding, Crash released Experiment 7 from his grip. "Freeze, ice cubes! Or I make you cookies crumble!" Alpha warned. "You didn't fix him YET!?" Copter groaned. Char chuckled. "He's a little better... More focused... That's enough. Now listen up! We're takin' the red birdie! Any objections, and you gotta answer to us!"
Meanwhile, a large ship dropped from the sky in front of Elise. A man was standing on it, bowing to the princess. It was Dr. Eggman! He rose and addressed her. "A pleasure to meet you at last, princess of Soleanna. I am Dr. Eggman. I've come here to obtain the secret of the Flames of Disaster from you, and to take the miracle gems that are the key to its secret..." he pointed to Elise, who was clutching a blue gem in her hands. "The Chaos Emerald!" he said. Eggman motioned for Elise to board his Egg Mobile. "Now, princess, this way, please..." Elise backed away a few steps, silently protesting, when suddenly a blue wind flew around the area and landed on one of the small pillars surrounding the festival torch. The blue wind was none other than Sonic the Hedgehog! "My, that's a pretty snazzy performance there!" he said. Elise looked up at Sonic in surprise. At first, she thought he was another hedgehog that she vaguely recalled from her youth. "You... It can't be..." she muttered. The surrounding robots quickly targeted Sonic and fired at him, but Sonic was quicker. He tore around the area, taking out the robots as he went. As he knocked out the last one, he observed that it was still standing on the ledge, so he lightly tapped it with his foot, sending it into the water. Next, he jumped over to Elise. "I'm Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!" he said, carrying Elise off in his arms. Eggman threw a small tantrum at the sight of his nemesis. "Not that irritating hedgehog again! Attack!!" More robots appeared immediately and began firing missiles at the fleeing hedgehog, but the missiles couldn't catch him.
In the meantime, the experiments faced Alpha and the squad of robots he was commanding. "So, any objections?" Char asked, grinning. "As a matter of fact..." Crash growled, charging at a nearby robot. Vortex jumped into action, catching a gun Zipp tossed him. Zipp pulled out the gun he'd been polishing earlier as well. "Fun time!" he said with glee. Experiment 7 attempted to run, and with the robots scattering to fight Team GeneX, she might have succeeded, if not for the fact that Copter and Alpha had spotted her escape attempt. "Hold it, Tweety!" Alpha shouted. Copter kicked Alpha away and continued chasing Experiment 7, when Char suddenly smacked him in the head from above. "Hurt Alphie, will ya? C'mon, Copter, I ain't afraid of you!" he said, pretending to growl. Copter smirked a bit. "That's nice, but your target's getting away." he said. "Huh?" Char muttered, turning around. "Uh-oh!!" he yelped, flying after Alpha. "Get in gear, Alph! She's getting away!" Copter looked around. Since Team GeneX was being distracted by the other robots, all Copter had to do was keep Alpha busy. That would buy Experiment 7 the time she needed to escape. It was a good plan, but it went bad fast when Copter heard a familiar scream. Cream and Cheese were nearby, and surrounded by robots. SPOT was also with her, which told Copter that Tails must've been in Soleanna. Unfortunately, Tails was nowhere in sight now, so Cream would need help. "Well, I sure hope Experiment 7's as tough as everyone seems to think, because I can't leave Cream like this!" Copter groaned.
Elsewhere, Punchy and Rainbow had observed the spectacle of Sonic rescuing Elise from Dr. Eggman. The retreating crowds meant that they had more room to move, true, but they had also been spotted by someone who knew Punchy was an experiment. Someone who'd seen the wanted posters issued back at Station Square. Officer Razor the Porcupine! "Freeze, punks!" he shouted, aiming a gun at Punchy. "Caught red handed! Helping Eggman pull off his job here, huh?" he said accusingly. Chet the Cheetah, who was nearby, ran over to Razor. "What's up?" he asked. "He thinks our hands are red." Rainbow said, looking perplexed. Razor would not point his gun away from Punchy. "Him, that green guy. He's an experiment! They followed us here!" he said. Punchy wore a stupified look on his face. "H-hey... Chill out! I'm just as surpised to see Eggman as you are!" he said, a bit flustered. Just then, more of Eggman's robots dropped from the sky around them. "Is that your backup?!" Razor growled, moving his gun from robot to robot. Punchy chuckled nervously. "Well, they might recognize me, but I don't think they're here to help me..." he said, noting that the robots were aiming at him and Rainbow as well. "What's the plan, One?" Rainbow asked. "What are you asking me for?" Punchy said, "You're the one who beat the last nut who tried to kill me!" Chet cracked his knuckles and grinned. "All right, looks like it's up to me! Oh, and you, Razor! Let's get 'em!" He sprang into action, leaping from robot to robot and using his claws to slash at them as he went. Razor ran for cover as the robots began shooting, doing his best to shoot back when he could. Punchy and Rainbow distanced themselves from Chet and Razor, fighting the robots in their own ways. Rainbow used her gliding skills to knock the robots about, while Punchy's fists were all he needed to knock these robots to pieces! Soon, he and Rainbow landed next to each other again, while robots hovered around them. "We'd better try to catch up with Copter again!" Punchy said. "Right. I think he went this way! Follow me, One!" Rainbow shouted, gliding into a robot to clear a path. Punchy followed her as best he could. "Not so fast Rainbow!! Wait up!!!"
Sonic continued running with Elise in his arms. "Um... Why are you helping me?" Elise asked. "No special reason." Sonic replied without stopping. Suddenly, robots landed in front of him, forcing him to stop. Sonic put Elise down and made short work of the robots, but it turned out they were merely a diversion. Sonic turned around upon hearing Elise scream, only to see a pair of giant robotic hands carrying Elise to Eggman. "I'm afraid our little game ends now!" Eggman said. Elise struggled until one of her arms got free, then tossed Sonic the Chaos Emerald. "Sonic! Take this!" she shouted. Sonic caught it. "I've got it! And don't worry! I'll rescue you!" he assured her. "I know..." she said a bit unsurely. "It's only a matter of time before it's mine!" Eggman declared. "Until then, you can hold onto it for me!" With that, the Egg Mobile rose up into the opened underside of Eggman's new Egg Carrier. Once aboard, Eggman brought up a hologram displaying Alpha. "We have the princess. Alpha, bring in the phoenix." he ordered. Alpha saluted. "Yes tubsy, but we have a situation! A widdle wabbit with that puppy-bot is here! Gotta make sure no rabbits take our cereal!" he explained. Eggman rolled his eyes. "Whatever, just don't let Experiment 7 get away!"
Sonic watched as the ship flew out of sight. Little did he realize that someone was also watching him. Up on a rooftop nearby was a silver colored hedgehog, wearing black boots and gloves with glowing greenish circles on the palm and back of his hand. "I've finally found him... The Iblis Trigger!" he said to himself. His glaring eyes showed a determined sense of purpose within him. He jumped from the rooftop. Just as he was about to go after this "Iblis Trigger," he heard someone yell "Now I've got you, Sonic!!" Before he knew it, a pink hedgehog in a red dress had thrown her arms around him excitedly. It was Amy. "It's about time I finally caught you again!" she said, looking up at him. As she did, she backed away from him quite suddenly. "Hey, you're not Sonic!" she said, hitting him on the back and nearly knocking him over. "Um, I'm sorry..." she added. The silver hedgehog took a moment to compose himself. He then decided to introduce himself. "Ah, I'm..." he began, when suddenly he noticed that Sonic was gone. "Hey, where'd he go... He must've run off!!" he shouted in frustration. Amy looked a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry. Did you miss someone bacause of me?" The silver hedgehog looked over at her. Maybe it was her fault, but there was no sense getting angry with her. "Ah, it's okay. I'm sure the guy I'm looking for is still on the island. I'm sure I can still find him." he said. Amy grabbed his hand. "Then I'll help you!" she insisted. The silver hedgehog was a bit surprised, and could only say "Wha?" in response. "Two heads are better than one when looking for someone!" Amy explained. "Hey, wait a second!" the hedgehog said. "What's your name?" Amy asked, ignoring him. The hedgehog paused a moment, then said his name. "Silver." Amy smiled at him. "That's a nice name. I'm Amy Rose. It's nice to meet you!" she said, leading Silver away.
During all the confusion, Experiment 7 had run off in search of a place to hide. Her run took her to New City, where she soon passed by Gemini. The fennec stopped her as she ran by. "Hey, what's the hurry? Are you all right? What's your name?" she asked. The phoenix took a look at her. She didn't appear threatening, so she stopped to chat. "I'm Heather. I was just running... umm... See, there was this explosion... And a bunch of robots... That'd scare anyone, wouldn't it?" she said, trying not to let on the real reason she was running. Gemini gasped at this news. "Explosions? I thought they were fireworks! That sounds like the work of Dr. Eggman! I should do something!" Heather thought for a moment. If Gemini went back there, she might be asked if she saw her. So, she had to stop her. "Wai-wait! You... can't go back there... They... uh... told everyone to evacuate the area. They won't let you in." she insisted. Gemini shrugged. "I gotta help though. I've got it! I'll use my wand to teleport in!" she said, pulling out the wand Fred had given her. Heather panicked, and without thinking, she grabbed the wand from Gemini's hands, running off with it. "You can't do that!!" she shouted as she ran off. Gemini chased her. "That's mine! I can't replace that!! Come back!!" Heather wouldn't stop. She was too consumed by fear at this point, so Gemini was forced to chase her for a while.
Alpha had captured Cream and carried her off toward the shop. Copter was smashing his way through the robots on his way to rescue her, and since he was headed that way, Crash followed, believing he was heading in the direction Heather was in. Since they both shared a common enemy, at least for the time being, Crash had decided to help Copter. "It is much more sensible that we join forces right now." He had said, "But make no mistake, Experiment 7's coming with us!" Copter figured it was best not to argue, under the circumstances. Crash truly lived up to his name, though. He would charge horn first into anything that got in his way, knocking everything to pieces as he crashed through them. Copter was a bit slower fighting, but not quite as clumsy. Soon, they reached where Alpha had Cream hostage. When Crash saw that Cream wasn't Heather, he took off in a huff. "I can't believe it! You were going after that runt!? How wasteful of you. And you wasted my time, too! You'll pay for it later!" he growled as he left. Since there were no other robots left, it was just Copter and Alpha. "Let her go! She's not who you're after!" Copter shouted. Alpha glared at Copter with his glowing red eyes, shutters on the eyes closing a bit so that he looked angry. He let out a low robotic growl. Then, he reopened his shutters and flew off without Cream. "You're right." he said, "Silly rabbit, getting captured's for birds!" As Alpha flew away, Copter scratched his head and raised an eyebrow. "That was too easy..." he said to himself. Cream ran over and gave Copter a hug. "Thank you so much! Those robots came so suddenly and I was so scared!" she said. Cheese flew over and hugged Copter's head as well. "Hey, get offa me!" he said, lightly pushing her away. SPOT scampered over as well. "Yay! Yay!!" he said in a robotic voice. The text on his monitor read "Thank you, Copter!" as well. "I see Tails has been upgrading that thing." Copter observed. "Stick with me kid, until we find your friends." Copter suggested. "Thanks again!" Cream said, following Copter away.
The robots that weren't destroyed were now gone, at least for now. Razor and Chet had rushed to the New City, where Razor called a cab. Mia was the driver. "Where to, my witness protector pal?" she asked. "Police station. I think we may be in trouble." Razor said. As he got into the cab, he spoke to Chet. "Find the others. They should be warned. Soleanna's not as safe as we thought it'd be." Chet nodded. "Right. I'm off!" The cab drove away, and Chet took off at high speed in the opposite direction.
Punchy and Rainbow searched, but they couldn't find Copter or Heather. "Gee, where do you suppose Two went?" Rainbow asked Punchy. "How should I know." he said. They had stopped near a restaurant, and Punchy was staring hungrily at the building. "Is it time for dinner yet?" he asked. Suddenly, Punchy heard a splash behind him. He turned around and noticed Rainbow was missing. "Wha... Hey, Rainbow! Where are ya? You OK?!" he shouted. In a few seconds, Rainbow climbed out of the water, holding a shiny blue stone. "Think Bluehair will like this?" she said, showing Punchy what she'd found. "Hey... That looks like a Chaos Emerald... But it can't be. The lady Sonic carried off was holding the blue emerald. And... well... Chaos Emeralds are shaped differently. What do you suppose it is?" he said. Rainbow handed it to Punchy. "It's your lucky day! You can hold on to it, One! Now, let's eat! Two will be fine without us for a while!" she said cheerfully. Punchy followed her off, gazing at the gem in his hand. "It certainly has a strange energy in it, though..." he noted.
Copter looked for a while, but couldn't find Heather. "Drat! I hope she's all right!" he said in frustration at one point. Cream patted his back. "It's OK, Copter. I didn't know you were looking for someone, but if you describe her to SPOT, I bet he can help you find her!" Copter looked surprised. "That thing? With just a description? Well, I guess it's worth a try. It's a phoenix. How many of those you see running around? Just find a phoenix, OK, Fido?" SPOT let out a high piched "Hey!!" The text on his monitor read "I'm called SPOT, not Fido! However, I will comply. Sensors detect an odd creature. Follow me." SPOT ran off toward New City, so Copter and Cream gave chase. "I sure hope this works!" Copter said worriedly. One thing was quite clear, his next great adventure was now underway!
To be continued...
