GeneX - Soleanna Struggle
Chapter 5 - Battle At White Acropolis
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.
"We all danced in fire,
Trapped in this machine,
Don't know how long we've waited,
As the Eggman's watching." - This Machine, Sonic Heroes
Despite their best efforts, Heather and Copter had lost Eggman. Mia's diversion for Alpha had actually disoriented them, and try as they might, they couldn't find Eggman or Sonic again. So, Copter found himself with little alternative other than to ask the people around town if they'd seen anything. Luckily, a blue hedgehog and a fat guy in a giant plane are rather hard to miss, and Copter soon found plenty of people who had seen them. While Copter was asking a group of people some questions, Heather was keeping her distance. She feared everyone, she felt she had no choice. Anyone could be among the people out to get her, or to punish her. She vaguely remembered what had taken place when she escaped from Bucky, and was fairly certain that she'd killed someone. So great was her fear, that she'd found herself backing away from Copter and the people he was speaking to, until she was a good distance away and out of their sight. She had unwittingly hid in an alleyway. Behind her, someone touched her shoulder. She panicked, screamed a bit, and then ran a few steps away, turning around to see who it was. "Such fear... For one so powerful." Mephiles was there, still disguised as Shadow. His mouthless face seemed to be smiling somewhat. "Don't worry. I have no desire to harm you. I merely wanted to meet you." he said. Heather stepped back into the alley, curiously looking at Mephiles. "Wh-who are you?" she asked. "A friend. Unlike all the other pitiful scum who desire to hurt you... To use you. To force you to do their bidding. Ultimately, they would destroy you..." Mephiles said. Heather looked worried. She felt certain this was true. "They want me to hurt people... I know it. I don't want to hurt people." she said. "Oh, don't you? You did once. No one twisted your arm there. That poor creature never even had the chance to harm you..." Mephiles said. He wasn't finished, but Heather couldn't help interrupting. "Shut up! You... You don't know me!" she snapped. "Perhaps not... But I know what you should do. You had the right idea. Kill. Before anyone can try to force their will upon you again, destroy them. They'll all try to destroy you eventually, anyway. Better them than you!" Mephiles shouted. "Stop it!! I don't like this kind of talk!" Heather shouted back. Suddenly, Copter appeared at the alleyway. "Leave her alone, you Shadow wannabe!" he growled. Mephiles let out a menacing laugh. "Well, well. Your so-called protector. Tell me, Heather... If he knew you better, would he really continue 'helping' you?" he asked, covering himself in a dark vortex which caused him to vanish. The vortex itself vanished moments later as well. Copter walked over to Heather. "Are you OK? What just went down here?" he asked. Heather had burst into tears. She didn't know what to say, or who to trust. "I... I don't want to talk about it..." she said, running out of the alley. Copter followed her. "OK, we don't have to talk about it. C'mon, we have some things to check out now!" he said. Heather quickly got ahold of herself and stopped crying. "Right... We should help Katie..." she said, following Copter away.
Meanwhile, Punchy, Rainbow, and Gemini had followed Knuckles, who was later joined by Sonic and Tails, to Eggman's base in White Acropolis. Unfortunately, the base's outer defenses made it impossible for Punchy and company to pursue Knuckles without being discovered, so they soon lost him. Taking cover underneath a searchlight tower, Punchy, Rainbow, and Gemini planned their next move. "They're definitely heading inside the base, so we need to make our way inside as well." Punchy reasoned. "But which entrance will they use? The base is pretty huge." Gemini realized. "It's snowy out! We'll just follow their footprints!" Rainbow suggested. Punchy looked around and noticed that despite the fact that they'd been running all over the snow, no footprints were being left behind. "There ARE no footprints! What kinda freaky snow is this? You'd think this was a poorly made video game..." he groaned. Gemini was actually a bit relieved. "There's only one alternative. We'll have to split up and try to find Knuckles on our own. I can use my magic to call you if I find him!" she said. In reality, she wanted to find Knuckles first so she could warn him about Punchy and his plans to steal the Master Emerald. After all, she was still his friend, and what were friends for? At any rate, splitting up seemed a good idea to Punchy. "We won't have to fight ALL the robots to get in that way, they'll be split up between us. Which'll make this a cinch since ol' Red and his pals have already busted up about half of them!" he said, pointing in opposite directions, "You two go those ways, I'll take the dangerous way straight through the most robots. It's also the fun way!" As expected, Rainbow protested. "You can't do that, One! If you're going the dangerous way, I insist I go, too! I can fight! Remember how I took out Firedog?" she said, referring to Anubis. Punchy had hoped she would've just listened to him, but now that she protested, he realized he was stuck with her. "Fine, 'Colors!' Lead the way, you always do anyway!" he grumbled, marching off with Rainbow in the lead. Gemini smiled as she watched them leave. "They deserve each other. I wonder if they're ancestors of Adam. Punchy sure reminds me of him..." This line of thought led her to remember what she was doing in the past in the first place. "Hang on, my friends... I won't let you all down..."
At the White Acropolis control room, things were fairly quiet. Eggman had gone to confront Sonic, and left Char in charge of the control room. With little else to do, Char was playing online video games, using Firepaw as his avatar. This gave him an unfair advantage over other players (whose avatars couldn't move by themselves). Living with Eggman certainly had a bad influence on Char. "Wheee, take that you silly dopes! No one can stop the mighty Firepaw!" he said, laughing playfully. Suddenly, he heard a familiar alarm sound. "Ooooh, BAS has found something! Better check it out!" Char said to himself, exiting his game and pressing some buttons on the nearby control panel. "Intruders have been located!" BAS informed him. "Cool! Can you show me?" Char asked. The large monitor over the control panel flickered on, displaying video footage of Punchy and Rainbow making their way through a group of robots as they headed for the base. Char rubbed his hands together with glee. "Oh, boy! Punchy's come back to play with me! Time to get some payback for what he did to poor Terra! Now, what should I do to him...?" He thought a moment, then clapped his hands excitedly as he came up with an idea. "Perfect! I'll send our new recruit to smash up our old recruit! BAS, give our new pal a call!" he ordered. "Yessir, Mr. Chao, sir! Calling now!" BAS replied. Char jumped out of his seat and did some aerial somersaults. "Yaaay! This should be much more fun than some game! Tee hee!"
Gemini had managed to get into the base mostly unnoticed. It was much easier to sneak around now that she was a fennec again. However, the easy part was over. Now, she had to find Knuckles, despite having absolutely no idea where to look. She found herself wandering aimlessly, until she found a large room, mostly empty, with little more than a few boxes and poorly hidden cameras inside. It was there that she spotted an old friend, Illusi! "Now, what would a peaceful girl like you be doing in a dangerous place like this?" he asked her. "Illusi! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes! Have you perhaps seen Knuckles?" she asked, running over to him. "He's here... Someplace... Gemini, I've been wondering something..." Illusi said. "Uh... OK, what is it?" Gemini replied. Illusi paced back and forth in front of her as he spoke. "I often wondered... Why did the Doomsayer contact me? Why did he send me to Angel Island? Was it really just to protect the Master Emerald? I accepted that answer for a time... But now I find I've changed my mind." Gemini was getting curious now. "Who's the Doomsayer? What do you mean, he SENT you there? He knew I was coming... And where I'd end up?" she asked. Illusi continued pacing, though more slowly. "I don't know much more than you do, but now I think he did know about you. I think he wanted me to save you, not the Master Emerald. And so, I come to my question.... Exactly who are you?" As he asked the question, Illusi ceased pacing and glared at Gemini. It made her uneasy. "Wh-what do you mean? I'm Gemini, I told you..." Suddenly, a new voice was heard in the room. "Eeeeh, wrong answer! Or should I say, incomplete answer. Want me to help you out? My cards told me quite a bit..." Out of nowhere, Lospecter materialized in the middle of the room behind Gemini! She turned around and backed behind Illusi, fumbling through her pockets to grab her wand. Illusi shut his eyes and hung his head, looking defeated. "I'm too late..." he muttered.”How right you are! And now, I give you another quiz! Why did the Loskull cross Soleanna?" Lospecter said, leaving no time for an answer, "To eliminate the fennec on the other side!" Just then, a large group of ghostly skulls rose up through the floor! They were covered in Ghost Fire, and were obviously the Loskulls Lospecter had spoken of! Illusi called forth some Wrongos that stood between Gemini and the Lost Ones. "What did you mean about your cards? We both know your cards can't really predict anything! Why are you targeting Gemini!?" he shouted. Lospecter held up some of his cards and hovered in the air, shuffling them. "Ye of little faith, my cards do tell me much. Heh heh... And they told me all about her. How she's plotting genocide against my kind. They tell me she's dangerous. Or she will be, unless we can reason with her. How about we just turn you both into Loskel? They're rather high ranking Lost Ones. Sure, you have to give up a few things, like, say... Your soul! But you lose so much weight! Don't take my word for it, touch the flaming Loskull now!" The Loskull began soaring toward them, but they weren't going down without a fight! Gemini fired bolts from her wand at the monsters, while the Wrongos did their part as well. As for Illusi, his powers weren't simply limited to summoning a few flimsy Wrongos. He called on the power of illusion to create a sword, with a black hilt and silver blade. "Time to crack some skulls!"
It took some doing, but Punchy and Rainbow soon reached another entrance to Eggman's base. However, before they could get inside, they had to pass a large gate, an outdoor area enclosed by large walls. The walls formed a square around the area. It was an ideal place for Eggman to send his larger robots to attack intruders, but no such robots were there at the moment, so Punchy and Rainbow hurriedly attempted to take advantage of this chance. However, as they passed a searchlight tower by one of the four corners of the area, the light stopped over them, and a laugh was heard atop the tower. Punchy glared through the light to see who was laughing at him. "What's goin' on here? Kill the light, so I can see who I'm gonna clobber!" Punchy yelled. The light resumed its normal movement, and Punchy could see what appeared to be a blue hedgehog. "Sonic! Being a wise guy, are ya? Where's Knuckles!" Punchy shouted. "Squint a little, cuz. I ain't no hedgehog!" the stranger shouted back. On closer inspection, it was a blue porcupine! It had many large, sharp spines, sunny yellow eyes, grey gloves, and black sneakers. "I can't abide being compared to, or mistaken for, that goody-red-shoes hedgehog, Sonic! I'm Spiny the Porcupine! I work FOR Dr. Eggman!" he shouted. Rainbow waved at him. "Nice to meet ya, Spikes!" she said happily. Spiny grew angrier. "SPINY!! Not Spikes! What, he's blind and you're deaf!? And what kinda break-in is this? Not even hiding from the searchlights here, I'm insulted! You're trespassing on the great Dr. Eggman's base! Did you think we'd just let you waltz right in!?" he screamed. "Could you?" Rainbow asked. "NO!!" Spiny shouted. Rainbow shrugged her shoulders. "Ah, well. It was worth a try." she said. Punchy nodded to himself. "Yeah, well, we're going in anyway. This guy has a nice set of lungs on him, but I bet that's all he is, hot air." he chuckled. Spiny jumped down from the searchlight, then attacked it. "Chaos Spear!!" He attacked the searchlight with a rapid-fire blast of spears, toppling it in seconds. The light burst into flames as it landed, and Spiny turned to Punchy smugly. "Not just air, spikes, too." he said. Punchy scoffed at him. "That's not impressive. Shadow can do that, too. And Copter tells me this guy Conan can do it as well. Big deal." Spiny didn't like being mocked, and he retaliated by shooting a spear at Punchy. However, there was plenty of distance between them, and Punchy quickly ran out of the way. "No sweat... huh!?" Just as the spear reached where he was, it turned abruptly and smacked him in the chest! "Yikes! One!!!" Rainbow shouted, running over to Punchy. He picked himself up and looked over at Spiny in surprise. "H-how'd you pull THAT off?" he grunted. Spiny chuckled. "There's more to me than meets the eye! My spears answer to me, just like my fist!" he said, punching the air in front of himself. "Care to surrender? I mean, you're just Experiment 1. Last year's model. Not worth a pile of puke now... One." Punchy's eyes seemed to catch fire that moment. He grinded his teeth and clenched his fists, itching for a fight. "Stay out of this one, Rainbow. This jerk's MINE!" he said. Spiny grinned malevolently. "Bring it on!" The snowstorm that had been going on since they'd arrived was now turning into a blizzard, but neither Punchy nor Spiny were about to back down. Rainbow was a bit worried. "Hey, One! Remember what Mousy said! Don't get too mad!" she shouted before running off to find shelter from the snowstorm. Punchy, heeding Rainbow's advice, calmed himself a little. "I don't need blind rage to beat you. I just need this snow... Chaos Avalanche!" He concentrated his energy on the snow falling around him, and managed to catch it as it fell, creating snowballs in the air! He used the power of Chaos Avalanche to fling the snowballs at Spiny, who was too stunned by this maneuver to avoid them. In moments, he was buried, but he escaped just as quickly by firing a barrage of spears through the snow. "So, you have some tricks. But you're still outdated and outmatched! Take this!!" Spiny began concentrating his own energy, and as he did so, the spines on his back began to glow! "Spear Storm!!!" At his command, the spines on his back fired a barrage of Chaos Spears which then turned around in midair and flew right at Punchy! He fought back using Chaos Avalanche, and the snow colliding with the spears created an icy explosion that both Punchy and Spiny were caught in! As the dust settled, Spiny and Punchy began using fists instead of powers. As tough as Punchy was, though, Spiny appeared tougher, and faster. He dodged most of Punchy's blows, then retaliated with fast hits to the chest. Punchy began wearing out fast. He had to come up with some sort of retaliation, fast!
Elsewhere, Illusi and Gemini were fighting an equally tough battle. While they were doing a fine job of keeping the Loskulls away, Lospecter had called in batlike Losoars, which were harder to hit, and therefore, harder to avoid. The Wrongos Illusi had summoned were destroyed quickly, and the overwhelming numbers they were facing had begun to wear them down. Illusi and Gemini stood back to back, and the Lost Ones had begun to close in around them. "C'mon, pals, this is just sad. Give in, already!" Lospecter suggested. Illusi and Gemini both had the same answer, "Never!!" Lospecter yawned as though bored. "Suit yourselves. Eat up, my hungry minions!" Just as the Lost Ones were about to swoop in to finish their prey, several energy blasts came flying from behind Lospecter and destroyed several of the Lost Ones! "Whuzzuh!? Who dares interfere with us! The idiotic impudence!" Lospecter yelled as he turned to confront the meddler. Another energy blast flew right into his face as he did so, but he didn't seem affected by it. The cause of the blasts was the special scythe belonging to Guard the Gargoyle! "Grrrrrrr!! Take your fiends and leave, or I'll have to get rough!" he threatened. Lospecter stuck his tongue out at him. "You don't scare me. You're so unscary, my cards don't even mention you!" he said tauntingly. Guard, unamused, fired more shots at the rest of the Lost Ones, sending them crashing to the ground instantly. "Stupid weaklings! Should've brought some Losohsts! I'm outta here!" Lospecter quickly dashed through the air and exited through a wall. On his way, he dropped something shiny, which Gemini quickly ran to and picked up. It was a purple Chaos Emerald. "I should probably hold on to this..." she said to herself. Guard approached her and Illusi. "Grrrr... Are you two all right? What was all that about?" he asked. "Oh, nothing you need concern yourself with." Illusi replied. "Thanks for helping us, though." Gemini added. "Don't mention it. Seriously." Guard grunted, stepping away and using one of his android functions to call Sargent Gunner, who was displayed in front of him through a holographic projector in his eyes. "What's the word, Guard? Report!" Gunner said. "Grrrr... I've infiltrated Eggman's base, but I see no sign of the princess. Still, it's a large base. Grrrr... She could be held deeper inside." Guard reported. Gunner remained ever tense as he spoke to Guard. "Forget the princess. Let Soleanna worry about that. We're from the United Federation. I want you to find the phoenix that Eggman is looking for. Capture her, and bring her to me. Spy will find you and tell you where you can find me. Just keep away from Soleanna police. It seems they have placed you under arrest." he said. Guard looked surprised. "Grrr? Wait. Are you... here? In Soleanna?" he asked. Gunner glared at him. "That's not really your business, now is it? I'm on my way there now, actually. I will personally see to it that our nation's security is kept safe from Eggman. Gunner, out!" With that, the hologram vanished, and Guard began to make his way out of the base. "We'd better be going as well." Illusi said to Gemini. "Right. I have to warn Knuckles about Punchy." she said. Illusi looked very serious. "Be careful, Gemini. I'm not sure why, but the Lost Ones have decided you are a threat to them. They might stop at nothing to destroy you. Practice your teleporting, when you have the chance. You might need it." he said. Gemini nodded in response, then waved good-bye as she continued on her way. "Be safe, pure one." Illusi whispered as she left. Once she was gone, he took out his strange key and used it to open a portal in front of him, which he used to leave the base.
Punchy had been trapped in a desperate battle against Spiny, and was only able to get very few chances to hit back. "It's sad, really. Not even a year old, and already useless as a relic. Come on, show me why anyone bothered to create you!" Spiny taunted. Punchy was keeping his distance at the moment, thinking about how to fight back. "I can't help but wonder how you know so much about me." he said, "Did Eggman tell you?" Spiny grinned at him. "I think I prefer to remain a mystery for now." he said. "Ehh, Eggman wouldn't tell you that sort of stuff anyway. In fact, I'm surprised he even hired you. He never offers Sonic a job, and I bet he thought you WERE him!" Punchy said. This touched one of Spiny's nerves. "I'm not Sonic!! Not even a hedgehog! Shut your primitive face!" he growled. This gave Punchy an idea. "I bet you're just bitter because you wish you were Sonic. After all, he’s great. Everyone likes him. Well, 'cept Eggman. Or maybe you wish you were Shadow, using all those spears. Haven't got an original bone in your body, do ya? At least my Chaos Avalanche is different!" he said. "Shut it, clone!! How DARE you compare yourself to me! You're not even worthy to be mentioned in the same SENTENCE as me!!" Spiny yelled. "Fine. Have it your way... Sonic." Punchy taunted. This was all Spiny could take. "SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH, KNUCKLES!!!!!" he screeched, lunging after Punchy in his fury. "Chaos Avalanche!" As Spiny approached, Punchy caught him off guard by grabbing up the snow from beneath his feet with Chaos Avalanche and tossing it up into the air, sending Spiny flying with it! As Spiny began to fall back toward the ground, Punchy jumped up after him. "Name's Punchy, not Knuckles, punk!" he shouted as he smashed his fist into Spiny's chest, sending his flying across the snowy area and into one of the searchlights. Spiny crashed into it, and it toppled over on top of him. "I ain't no clone, either!" Punchy shouted once he landed back on the ground. Since it seemed Spiny was beaten, Punchy started to make his way towards the entrance of the base, where Rainbow was waiting. Suddenly, Spiny's voice came thundering through the rubble of the searchlight. "SPEAR STORM!!!" The remains of the searchlight exploded as what appeared to be a thousand spears erupted from beneath it, which were then hurled towards Punchy! Since the attack was unexpected, Punchy soon found himself being completely overwhelmed by the furious attack! In moments, the assault was over, and Punchy fell to the floor in pain. By now, Rainbow had already started running over to him, and by the time she reached him, Spiny was coming back as well. However, before any of them could do anything, the Base Announcement System gave a loud announcement. "Spiny! Report to the control room for new orders! Immediately!" Spiny kicked up some snow in annoyance at the interruption. "Immediately... Of all the... Probably wants me to unclog a drain or something. Moron!" he muttered, "You're off the hook this time, Punchy! But next time, you're mine!" Rainbow helped Punchy to stand up. One thing could be said for him, he was resilient. "That... Hurt like heck... But I'll be fine." he said. "Wow, One. You can sure take a beating. C'mon, we'll go inside and rest a bit." Rainbow suggested. Punchy shook his head. "No, we better move. Let's find Knuckles before he leaves!" he insisted. Rainbow looked a bit worried, but respected his decision. "OK, One. Whatever you say. Let's go!"
Punchy and Rainbow got lucky, the entrance they had chosen wasn't far from where Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles ended up. However, they weren't too lucky. As they wandered down a hallway toward a room where Punchy sensed the Master Emerald, they noticed a chaotic pink light flashing through the room! Punchy had a bad feeling about it, and ran to the room as fast as he could, with Rainbow close behind. They got there just in time to watch as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles vanished into the light! Moments later, the light faded, and Punchy and Rainbow stood by the entrance of the room, listening to a voice coming from within. The voice they heard was unmistakably Eggman! "Rest assured, they're not dead... Yet." he said. Punchy and Rainbow didn't know who he was speaking to. "They've just been teleported by my glorious invention to another time! Who knows where they'll end up? It could be the distant past or far future! But my machine still requires some fine-tuning. In fact, what my machine needs in order to be complete...is your power." As Eggman finished saying this, another voice, belonging to Princess Elise, was heard. "My power?" she asked. "Yes. I can finally complete my plans, now that I have the Chaos Emeralds, and you... the princess of Soleanna. That's all I need to revive the Flames of Disaster. And with its power, I will be able to control everything, and rule the world! So, you would be wise to remain on my good side!" That was the last words Punchy and Rainbow could hear, and moments later, Eggman left the area with Elise in tow.
Once Punchy was sure they were gone, he walked into the room where Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles had been sent away. "Great... Now the Master Emerald's not even in this TIME!" he shouted in frustration. "But Eggman lied. He doesn't have all the Chaos Emeralds." came a voice from behind Rainbow. It was Gemini! She had arrived shortly after Punchy, and had been listening to what Eggman was saying as well. She was holding the purple Chaos Emerald in her hand. "Whoa, Wanda! You're really sneaky, aren't ya!" Rainbow said, startled. "Wanda?" Gemini muttered. Rainbow apparently gave Gemini that name based on the fact that she always carried a wand. Punchy waved to her and then looked around. "Now what do we do? Can't exactly follow them, can we..." he said dejectedly. "What about that thing... What was it called... The Time Rock!" Rainbow suggested, stepping into the room. Gemini followed her in, shaking her head. "Stone, Rainbow. Anyway, it won't work. We have no idea what time they were sent to. Too risky." she said. Punchy held out the Time Stone. "I don't know. Maybe it knows the way!" he said. They were all silent a moment as they thought about it. Then, without warning, the machine was reactivated! The same pink light that had transported Sonic now surrounded Punchy, Rainbow, and Gemini! "Wh-what's this? Who turned the machine back on!?" Punchy shouted, looking up for the culprit. Unfortunately, whoever it was didn't want anyone to know, and had already run off. Gemini frantically flipped through the pages of her spell book. "Gotta get out! Gotta get.... Aaaah!!" It was too late. The three of them were lifted up by the machine, and in mere seconds, they were gone! However, one thing remained as the machine powered down. The Time Stone! "The machine has no power over the stones..." said the mysterious activator of the machine as he returned to the room. "Perfect!"
When Punchy regained consciousness, he found himself still inside the machine. Rainbow and Gemini were looking around nearby. The room had somehow been destroyed, and Gemini knew how. "Punchy... Rainbow... I hate to say this, but I welcome you to my home.... To you... it is the future!" she said fearfully. Rainbow didn't look surprised. "Yeah, we all live in the future of seconds ago. What's your point?" she said. The room certainly did look old, though. Clearly, no one had been there for years. Punchy was shocked, but got over it quickly. "So... this is...how far into the future?" he asked. "About 200 years." Gemini replied, "But it's fine! We can just use the Time Stone to go back!" she said. Panic suddenly came over Punchy. "No, we can't..." he said as it dawned on him, "The Time Stone's gone!" Gemini looked more worried than ever now. "I was afraid of this. The same thing happened to me when I went to your time.... But we still have a chance!" she said, holding out the Chaos Emerald that had remained with her. "That's not a Time Rock!" Rainbow pointed out. Gemini rolled her eyes. "I know that! But if we find another one, and then someone that can use Chaos Control, we can go back! I researched this, because I knew I'd need to come back here someday." Punchy had one more question. "Think Knuckles is in this time, too? Maybe he left already..." he said. Gemini thought a moment. "It couldn't hurt to be sure. We should probably get Knuckles and the others home, too, if we can." she reasoned. Rainbow didn't need to hear any more. "Right! First, we find a gem that matches that one! Follow me!" With Rainbow leading the way, Punchy and Gemini charged into the dark, dangerous future under the rule of Iblis. It wouldn't be easy, but they had to find a way back. Otherwise, Gemini would never be able to stop Losipher, and her friends were as good as dead!
To be continued...
