GeneX - Knuckles the Echidna
Chapter 29 - Foreboding Dreams
Stage 17(Hero 9) - Dream Temple
Minor Boss 13 - "Shadow Tails"
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 story thus far:
Knuckles met up with Sonic at Eggman's Troblusk City base after leaving the sewer. Knuckles decided to check out Eggman's Tree Fort, which he heard about from Rainbow, while Sonic checks out another lead.
After a disastrous conclusion to checking out that lead, Tails decided to go find Knuckles while Sonic heads for Central City to stop Eggman's latest scheme.
Meanwhile, Gemini managed to reclaim her wand at GUN's HQ and rescue her friends again. Now, she's made a hasty escape after witnessing dramatic events unfold in GUN's laboratory...
Now, on to the next chapter!
After emerging outside GUN Headquarters, Gemini bade farewell to Copter, Punchy, Kosmo and Heather, and hastily started to make a retreat before her teacher could catch her and try to make her change her mind about her mission to the past. However, Shadow soon appeared in front of her. "Wait..." he said gruffly as she stopped short. "Huh?? What do you want?" she stammered. "You can use magic... Could you locate the President?" Shadow said plainly. Gemini sighed. "Not really... I'm not great at tracking the Lost Ones when they don't want to be found." she admitted, "You'd think I'd be able to track Lospecter's cards or something..." Shadow looked thoughtful. "Hm... What about Sonic or Knuckles? Could you find them?" he asked. "Knuckles has Master Emerald stink all over him. I bet I could find its residue on him even if he lost it." she chuckled. Shadow nodded. "His treasure-hunting abilities might be useful right now... Take me to him."
Since arriving at the Mystic Ruins, Knuckles had been wandering lost for what seemed like ages, trying to find a "Tree Fort" that he figured had to have been built somewhere overnight. "I stumbled into what's left of Final Egg a couple times... I wonder if that was it?" he mumbled as he kicked his way through some bushes frustratedly. Suddenly, some Chaos Spears struck the ground at his feet, making him stumble back a little! "Whoa!!" He fell backward as a blade slashed towards his chest, barely missing him! As he hit the floor, he dropped the Master Emerald, and as he turned himself over to see where it tumbled, he saw a blue boot stop it from rolling. "All I had to do was wait for you to let your guard down..." said Conan, his blade pointed down at Knuckles while he lifted up the Master Emerald with his other hand. "You...put...that...DOWN!!" Knuckles warned. "If you had anything else on you, I'd stick around, but I've got places to be. Ta!" Conan said, fleeing into the jungle! "Come back here!! CONAN!!" Knuckles roared, scrambling to his feet to give chase!
While on the chase, Knuckles ran right past Tails. "There you are! Wait! Knuckles!!" the fox shouted, following after him. Knuckles had kept running straight in the direction Conan had gone, and was entering a section of forest bordered by fog. Beyond the fog was a dense maze of trees, and beyond it, a crystalline building could be glimpsed. Knuckles looked around in a fury. "CONAN!! Argh!! I've lost him!" he shouted. Tails glanced around awkwardly. "Way to go. You found the Forest of Dreams. Um, Knuckles? Sonic sent me to find you. Eggman's invading Central City to steal a doomsday weapon from GUN!" he said. Suddenly, Gemini and Shadow appeared beside them in a flash of light! "Knuckles! We found you!" Gemini sighed. Knuckles grunted angrily. "I can't be bothered. I have to get back the Master Emerald!" he growled. Shadow sighed. "Can you give that thing a rest for a minute? The Lost Ones have kidnapped the President. I could use your expertise finding them. They've got plans to wipe out all life on the planet, so I think that's more important than your rock." he said. Tails looked a bit shocked. "Whoa... Well, at any rate, we'd better get out of here. This forest can play tricks on you..." he said. Suddenly, a loud crash of thunder could be heard as rain started pouring across the forest! "Great... As if things couldn't get worse." Knuckles groaned. "I see a building over there! We'll just wait out the rain!" Gemini shouted, leading the group toward the temple beyond the trees. "Wa-wait!! Magic us across the jungle or something! DON'T GO IN THERE!!" Tails yelled frantically. However, he was ignored, and the four of them soon arrived at the mysterious Dream Temple. They climbed the stone steps and hurriedly entered the crystal doors to get out of the rain. Inside the dark entrance, they found Rouge the bat and Omega drying off as well. "Huh...? When did you get here?" Shadow gasped. "You disappeared without saying anything! I figured either you had a lead, or the Lost Ones got you!" Rouge growled. The darkness within the temple took form as a crystal room, and in the center, a black shadow resembling Tails appeared!
"Shadow Tails!" Tails gasped as the red eyed spectre glanced about the room. "Ahhh... So many new faces... Full of dreams. Full of nightmares!" he mused. Knuckles glared at Shadow Tails threateningly. "Not in the mood, creature. You better reconsider whatever deviousness you're thinking of." he growled. Shadow Tails chuckled. "You're free to try to leave..." he said. However, a quick look back revealed that the door was missing. "Why did I know that was a lie?" Gemini gulped. Shadow stepped to the front of the pack. "I'll take care of this. Put the door back, or I'll use you to bust open a new door!" he threatened. Shadow Tails's body swirled and shifted into a new form. "It's adorable how little you comprehend what you're up against..." he said, emerging as a shadow of... Shadow! "I did try to warn everyone..." Tails sighed. "And yet you returned inside this temple... But I am no longer interested in you, fox." the shadow said, altering his form again into a red-eyed shadow of Knuckles. "What are you interested in? Shadow puppets?" Knuckles asked. "My interest... Is your nightmares!!" his voice echoed, seemingly causing the temple to quake! "Emergency!!" Omega shouted as the quake made everyone stumble. The room was soon consumed once again by darkness, Shadow Knuckles vanishing into this darkness, leaving only a pair of glowing red eyes for a moment, before they, too, blinked out of sight! The temple continued to quake, and the ground seemed to be splitting apart, forcing everyone to move in order to keep their footing! "Waaaugh! This didn't happen last tiiiiiime!!" Tails wailed, apparently plummeting into the darkness! "Everyone watch your footing!" Knuckles yelled, jumping into a glide so he could try to seek safe ground. "I'd warp us outta here if I could see...ANYTHING!" Gemini said in panic. Shadow could tell from the distance of the voices that they were being split up. "Omega... track everyone you can with your sensors... if you can still hear me." he suggested. Some faint lights started to glimmer around him. Shadow looked around in shock. "...SPACE!?" He was gazing at stars, and the entire Earth hung above his head!
Gemini saw the temple take a different shape. She stood once more deep in the darkest corner of the forest on Onyx Island. "What....? No! How can I be here!?" she gasped. In front of her was the dark temple of the Lost Ones, the shadows around its door dimly lit by torches of ghostly blue flames. From the doorway, the turquoise vampyrical being, Losipher, emerged! He cackled, coming at her with a clawed hand! "N-noooo!! Stay away!!" Gemini wailed, raising her arms defensively, not having time to do much else! A body thrust itself between her and Losipher, quickly pierced by the demon's claws. "...TIIIIM!!!!" Gemini shrieked, tears streaking down her face as she once more watched the young fawn sacrifice himself, once more witnessed the death of her friend. Ordinarily, this was the part where she'd wake up in a cold sweat. However, the scene continued. Timothy fell to the ground, and Losipher's attention returned to her. "You will be lost forever!!" he snarled, approaching her. However, the island started to shake, surprising them both. "...Shouldn't my teacher be showing up at this part?" Gemini wondered. Instead, the door of the temple burst open again, and slime started flowing out, seizing the landscape. BONDING with it. Slime took the trees, poisoned the soil, even reached back to the mountains and other landscapes on the horizon. Losoars and Lospirits flew out of the temple and out to every corner of the land, screeching in victory, while Gemini felt the slime beneath her feet grab at her, pulling her down! "Wake up!! Waaaake uuuuup!!!" she whimpered, struggling against the bluish-green gel quicksand she was stuck in. "All is lost... All is sorrow... All is now part of ME!!" Losipher moaned, a crooked, toothy smile crossing his hideous face! "No... This isn't right... I went to the past... To stop you!" Gemini cried, holding her ears and closing her eyes, trying to shut this world out. "You cannot succeed. Each move you make... causes this future to become more real." the voice of Shadow Tails rang out in her mind. Her eyes flung open, and she was at the edge of Onyx Island. She could see. The entire world was consumed by the Lost Ones' slime!
"This isn't real... You're trying to deceive me!!" Gemini said weakly. Shadow Tails emerged beside her, arms crossed. "It is you who deceives yourself. You pretend to believe you are making a difference. But in your nightmares, it is clear. Oh, yes..." he said. Gemini tried to turn in his direction, but her feet were still stuck in slime. She could only turn her head. "You're... wrong! I know I've done good... I've saved people!" she protested. "You know there are also terrible consequences that resulted from your actions. Just look at that doomsday weapon, crafted from YOUR wand." Shadow Tails pointed out. Gemini gasped slightly, but did not question his knowledge. If he could conjure Onyx Island, clearly he had his ways of knowing. "I can still fix it..." she whimpered. "You? You can't even keep yourself safe. Or your friends. Your weapon gets stolen. You get captured. Your friends... fall. When have you EVER had any hope of preventing disaster?" the shadowy spectre mocked. The trees behind her cracked and fell over, and Losipher emerged behind her! "You!! Last spark of life!! I shall snuff out thy soul!!" he roared. Gemini struggled to point her wand, but it seemed useless as long as she was stuck. She was about ready to give up. "You're right... I'm no hero... I'm a klutz. Everyone would be better off... if I just fade into the darkness here..." she sniffed. However, this was not the end. The sound of a propeller cut through the darkness. "Gemini! Hang on!!" Tails was flying up from below, and as she saw him, her spirit was instantly lifted. She reached out and grabbed his hands, pulling her own legs as he pulled her up. Together, they broke her free from the slime, and Tails continued to fly her high into the air, searching for safe ground! "You have chosen to interfere... How predictable, hero of light." Shadow Tails hissed. Suddenly, Losipher moaned loudly and furiously. Massive wings burst from his back, and his arms exploded into tentacles ending in sharp points! "Aaaaugh! I did NOT think he could do that!!" Tails yelped. "Don't gawk at him!! FLY AWAY!!!" Gemini yelled.
Shadow found himself walking across a sort of lunar surface, like a pathway made of meteor materials. Rouge and Omega had caught up with him, and together they were searching for any sign of the others. Yet, all they could see for miles were stars and blackness. The Earth and the Moon hung in the sky above, lighting the ground below them and casting their shadows upon the lunar pathway. However, something was odd about Shadow's own shadow. Where Rouge and Omega's shadows followed behind them, Shadow's was cast in front of him, eerily glaring up at him as he walked. Glaring... Shadow could swear he could see eyes in his shade. "The infinite blackness of space... A fitting comparison for the darkness within you." Shadow looked around for this voice when it spoke, but he quickly knew where it had come from. He looked to his shadow and saw a pair of red eyes leering up at him from it! "Are you that creature?" he wondered. His shadow ignored the question. "Even on Earth, you often find yourself staring up into the night sky, its infinite abyss of darkness beckoning you... Why do you suppose that is?" the voice mused. Rouge and Omega made sounds of alarm as Space Colony ARK appeared overhead, and as Shadow gazed up at it, he found himself inexplicably pulled inside! Scenes flashed before his eyes. He awoke beside Professor Gerald and Black Doom, and watched the two shake hands, their bargain struck. He was then pulled to another area of the ARK, and watched as lightning crackled through a sealed laboratory door, a frantic Bucky in a tattered lab coat banging against the glass window as scientists panicked! Suddenly, he was pulled away again, and saw vision after vision of his time with Maria. "Enough... Stop!!" he growled, only to hear the voice's laughter in his ears as GUN forces landed on the colony. A soldier pointed a gun at Maria... "ENOUGH!!!" Shadow screamed through tears, shutting his eyes tightly as the gunshot rang out! When he opened his eyes, he was watching a scene of himself, Rouge and Dr. Eggman in the Eclipse Cannon Control Room. "What...? I have no memory of this..." He watched himself toss a Chaos Emerald into the machine. "You are a weapon of destruction... Thus was your original purpose, and thus you shall always be..." the voice sneered.
Shadow found himself in a massive crater. Where was he now? He looked up and saw the Earth above. A memory triggered in his mind. He realized where he was. "This is... The hole in the moon! Eggman... blew this hole with the Eclipse Cannon..." he gasped. His shadow stretched out before him, and seemed to rise into the air, taking form! "And who showed him how to use the Eclipse Cannon? Who's plan was it... to turn this weapon on the world!?" The shadow took a twisted form, a jagged, red-eyed silhouette. It was a shape Shadow recognized, though he was unsure why. The name "Mephiles" briefly passed through his mind. "Take a good look at me, Shadow! I am your destiny! A harbinger of endless darkness and destruction!!" Shadow Mephiles declared. "No... It can't be!!" Shadow grunted, clasping his head. A jumble of memories he'd thought were lost now plagued his mind. He could see a furious, vengeful version of himself, desiring nothing more than the destruction of the Earth. "I left the past behind me... But is it a useless effort? Am I doomed to become the monster Black Doom intended me as...?" he panted, dropping to the floor. "Of course...You know the answer." Shadow Mephiles sneered. As Shadow struggled with his memories, a voice called out to him. "Snap out of it, Shadow!" It was Rouge, and she was rushing into the crater with Omega! "Target located! ...Failure to identify entity..." Omega stated. Shadow Mephiles chuckled. "It's no use. Shadow has already realized the truth... His fate is sealed in the dark..." he said. Rouge scratched her head. "Uh, yeah... Whatever. Come on, Shadow!" she shouted. However, Shadow remained motionless. Shadow Mephiles glared at the intruders and raised his hand, briefly charging energy before swinging his arm in front of him and unleashing a wave of energy that hurtled Rouge and Omega into the air! The lack of gravity caused them to start floating out into space! "Aaaugh! Shadow... we need you!! GET UP!!" Rouge yelled. "System error!!!" Omega babbled. The voices of his friends caused Shadow's ears to prick up. His eyes slowly opened.
In a flash, Shadow was on his feet, and his fist came hurtling toward Shadow Mephiles. "Leave my friends... ALONE!!" he snarled, knocking the creature back a bit! However, Shadow Mephiles simply seemed amused by this. "A weapon doesn't have friends." he stated. Shadow stared at the creature intently. "I'm done with your mind games. You see, I decide who my friends are... and you just attacked them!" he said, growling softly. An eerie smile seemed to twinkle in Shadow Mephiles's eyes. "We seem to have hit upon the key theme of your nightmares..." he said, flicking his wrist to send Rouge and Omega screaming further away! "Stop it!!" Shadow yelled, charging at Shadow Mephiles! The creature responded by conjuring meteors above him, directing them toward Shadow with his strange power! He jumped the first one, but was soon knocked into orbit along with Rouge and Omega! "Ngggh!! M-mariaaa!!" The impact seemed to force his mind to replay the memory of his friend's death once again. "Shadow...why are your nightmares merely your memories? Is it your terror to repeat the past?" Shadow Mephiles mused. Shadow shook his head to snap out of it, and then started to warp. Using what energy he could muster without a Chaos Emerald, he warped from meteor to meteor, and leapt at Shadow Mephiles when he was as close as he could get. The spectre raised his hand in preparation to hurl Shadow away with energy, but the hedgehog acted fast. "Chaos Spear!!" He tossed a single spear at the creature's eyes, forcing it to shield them while he closed the distance. "Now... Take this!!" Shadow had tossed aside his restraint rings, and set to work pummeling the dark creature with a flurry of punches and kicks, taking advantage of the weightlessness of space to keep him on target. With a final kick, he sent Shadow Mephiles soaring into the distance, and the environment around him shifted back to the lunar path they had been walking before. "So... Bad dreams about the past, huh?" Rouge asked, standing safely behind him. Shadow picked up his restraint rings and gave a passive "Hmph." There was still more to be done. Where were the others in this temple?
Knuckles, for his part, was quite perplexed. He was walking through an endless crystal maze. Some doors led back to the same room. Stairways took him to the walls and ceilings, where gravity would shift to allow him to walk upon them. Then there were random trap doors that would drop him into an even more complex variant of this maze. "I wanna punch this building's architect in the face..." he grumbled. This wasn't a peaceful maze for him to puzzle out, either. Reproductions of enemies he had faced in his past would emerge, composed entirely out of what appeared to be living crystal. The annoying lead EggRobo, Robo-Robotnik, would fly about in a crystal Egg Mobile and drop the very same type of bomb that once gave him a rude awakening at Mushroom Hill Zone. Crystalline Boom Boos would pop out of nowhere, prompting him to throw a punch to shatter them into shards. And of course, there were crystal Egg Pawns, the most recurring annoyance Knuckles had ever had the displeasure of encountering over and over again. He took out his frustrations on these and other fragile apparitions, until he came across a door that was larger than the others. He pushed it open, and the entire temple seemed to change shape around him! "Ugh... Not this again... Hey! Shadow! Tails! Gemini, you in here!?" he shouted. As the area began to take shape, he stared up in surprise as he realized where he was. He was now staring up the stone steps of the altar of the Master Emerald! "....I'm home!" he gasped.
To be continued...
