GeneX - Tails the Fox
Chapter 47 - The Rise of the Arcangel

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?

Copter ran through the jungle back towards Shadow Arc, with Gemini following. "Wait up! Where are you going!?" she asked. Copter stopped to answer her. "None of your business, witch girl!" Gemini took great offense at that remark. "WITCH girl?! How dare you! Did you not notice how I saved your life back there!?" Copter laughed. "No you did not. I was FINE!"

Just then, they were interrupted by the demented laughter of Dr. Eggman as his plane flew past them. "Ha ha ha ha!! No one can stop me now!" he shouted to no one. Since Eggman didn't see them, they followed him from the shadows so he wouldn't catch them. "Where's Eggman going?! Not to Shadow Arc?!" Copter said under his breath. "What would he want in there, to go back again?" Gemini whispered. Copter was surprised to hear he had been there before. "What is he scheming..."


Meanwhile, near the roof of Darkegg Fortress, Shadow was still following the Doomsayer around. Just then, BAS came on with an announcement. "Attention all robots! Attention all robots!" Shadow stopped to listen. "New mission data recieved! All robots must head to the new base for further instructions!" BAS said. "A new base..." Shadow muttered. The Doomsayer turned to face Shadow. "You wish to know where this base is? It is in a place you have visited. The dark lair of the experiments..." Shadow knew what he was referring to instantly. "Shadow Arc... Right?" The Doomsayer nodded. "The final chapter in this struggle is about to begin. Will you join the struggle, or remain a wanderer, aimless, without a cause or goal?" he asked. "What's that supposed to mean?" Shadow wondered. "You decide... You choose..." the Doomsayer quietly responded. Shadow still didn't understand. "Choose what?" "Your destiny."

Shadow was silent for a moment, thinking. After a while, he grinned at the Doomsayer. "Well, I can't just sit here and watch the world fall apart around me!" He turned to head for the bottom of the tower. The Doomsayer did not seem impressed with Shadow's answer. "How very 'noble.' Or very foolish. Do you think you can stop Armageddon?" Shadow turned to the Doomsayer. "The question is, 'Can Armageddon stop me?'" With those confident words, Shadow ran off in search of the exit to Darkegg Fortress. The Doomsayer chuckled to himself after Shadow was gone. "Just as I predicted. Fine by me, I didn't really want him following me anyway. And now, it's time to go!" Once again, the Doomsayer vanished in a gust of sleet and hail.


Much lower in the tower, Cream, Cheese, and SPOT were busy searching for Sonic, in hopes of bringing the Chaos Emerald they found to him. "Sonic!? Where are you!?" Cream called out, only to be answered by Sargent Gunner. "Aha! Look what we have here, Spy!" he said, pointing a gun at Cream. "Awww, it's a cute little bunny!" Spy said, to Gunner's annoyance. "It's a furry freak with a Chaos Emerald, idiot!" he growled at Spy. Next, he turned his attention to the scared rabbit his gun was pointed at. "Hand it over, or I'll shoot!" SPOT attempted to tackle Gunner, but the cowardly Sargent merely grabbed Spy and used him as a human shield. "Ow! Bad dog!" Spy shouted. Gunner pointed his gun at SPOT. "Pitiful machine!" he snarled, about to shoot. Just then, Cream spoke up. "Wait! I'll give you the emerald! Just leave him alone!" Gunner stopped aiming the gun to take the emerald. "Finally, some luck!" he snickered, pointing his gun back at Cream, "And you really thought I wouldn't shoot you? Time to die, freak!"

Just then, Knuckles arrived, and very quickly ran over and smacked the gun out of Gunner's hand before he could shoot! "Leave her alone, ya jerk!" he shouted, shaking his fist at Gunner. Spy, coward that he is, immediately ran away. "Yikes!! Sneak attack! I'm getting outta here!!!" Gunner quickly picked up his gun and tried to shoot at Knuckles, but discovered that the trigger was broken from Knuckles's attack. "Bah! I don't have time for this!" he muttered. Knuckles was shocked at what Gunner had almost done. "What kind of coward are you, pointing a gun at a helpless little girl!?" he yelled. "Helpless? Right, and I'm a rodeo clown. Enough of your nonsense! I have places to be!" Chaos Emerald in hand, Gunner took off in the direction Spy had run off.

"So, what are you doing in a place like this?" Knuckles asked Cream. "Looking for Sonic." she replied. "I was going to give him that Chaos Emerald, but that scary man took it!" she started to cry, which made Knuckles very uneasy. "Hey, wait, don't start crying on me! Look, it'll be fine! I'll take you back to land, where you'll be safe. I bet that thieving bat girl's flown the coop already anyway, so I have to be going, too." Cream calmed down slightly. "Thank you, Mr. Knuckles...." "No problem! Let's get outta here!"


Punchy and Rainbow had gotten totally lost. "How the heck do you get out of this tower!?" Punchy shouted in frustration as they passed through the library for the ninth time. "I'm sure the exit is this way, One!" Rainbow insisted. "That's what you said an hour ago!!" Punchy pointed out, exceedingly frustrated. Sitting by a bookshelf, reading a book on ancient civilizations, was Illusi. "Back again, Dark One?" he said, looking up from his book. "This crazy tower's a maze! Would it have killed Eggman to draw a map of the dump!?" Punchy groaned. Illusi looked around the room. "Maybe he stashed the blueprints to this base in here." he said. Rainbow immediately started rummaging through the book shelves. "Good thinking, Mousy! I'll find it!" Illusi stood up and stepped toward Punchy. "It may interest you to know that the Master Emerald is no longer here." he said. "I thought as much." Punchy replied, "That's why I'm trying to get out of here!" Illusi held up an illusion emerald. "Fascinating, the powers of chaos." he said to himself. After a moment, he looked back to Punchy. "I think it would be in your best interests to head for the Mystic Ruins when you get out of here. I'll be heading there myself about now." Illusi started toward the door, when Punchy stopped him. "Wait up, Illusi! Do you know how to get out of here?" Illusi smiled. "Like this." He snapped his fingers and vanished in a puff of smoke. Punchy's jaw dropped. "ILLUSI!!! WHAT ABOUT US!?!?!" he shouted. "Don't worry, One!" Rainbow said confidently. "I can't find any blueprint, but I know the way out from instinct! Follow me!" As Rainbow led Punchy out of the room, he heaved a heavy sigh. "We're doomed..."


Tails found Sonic outside the entrance to Darkegg Fortress. "Hey, Tails! Good to see you're OK! I would've gone looking for you myself, but we ran into a few dilemmas." Sonic said, "Uh... You wouldn't happen to have seen Amy or Eggman would ya?" Tails shook his head. Just then, the door to the tower opened and Amy stepped out. "AHA! So HERE you all are!!" she shouted, apparently frustrated from a long search. Sonic appeared oblivious to her frustration. "Heya, Amy! Have you seen Eggman?" Amy answered in a very annoyed tone. "You didn't hear the announcement?! They're going to a new base!" She glared into Sonic's eyes. "More importantly, HOW COULD YOU LET US GET SEPARATED!?!?" An uneasy silence followed, broken by Tails. "So... A new base? I wonder where it is?" The three of them thought a moment, until Sonic came up with an idea. "I'll just bet that red Chao knows! Let's go find it, quick!" "But where do we look?" Amy wondered, already forgetting her anger from moments before. None of them had any idea where to search, but they felt that the tower would be the best place to start. As they began to head for the door, a voice called out to them. "Looking for someone?"

A black winged creature in a black cloak dropped from the sky between them and the door. It was the very same creature that defeated the Diablotron for Shadow earlier. "Oh, how rude I am. You can call me the Deathbringer!" Before they could respond, the Deathbringer continued. "Char the Chao is in Station Square. He will be there for a short while before leaving for Eggman's new base." Without wasting any time, the Deathbringer immediately took off into the sky, flying far out to sea. "Who was that?" Amy wondered. "Don't know, but it doesn't seem to be a fan of Eggman." Sonic said. Tails had been using the Tornado Remote while the Deathbringer was talking, and now the Tornado arrived. "We better get moving if we're to catch that Chao! Let's go!"


Sure enough, they found Char at Station Square's burger shop, along with Alpha and Metal Sonic. "Do the robot!" Alpha shouted as Sonic entered the shop. "Didn't you fix that robot yet?" Sonic said, now finding the crazed robot a bit annoying. "Hey, Metal Sonic is here, too!" Tails said in surprise. "I can't believe you're working for Eggman again!" Sonic said to Metal Sonic. The robot just sat there, not responding. "He doesn't talk much since Knuckles beat him up." Char explained. "Now go away! I'm taking a midnight snack break! Uh, except it's only around 11:00..." Amy threatened the Chao with her hammer. "We'll leave as soon as you tell us where Dr. Eggman's going!" Char was up far past his bed time, and had gotten cranky. "I'm not scared of you! Besides, I don't know! Do you think the great Dr. Eggman would tell his strategic secrets to a Chao! What do you take him for?" Amy wasn't convinced. "Don't give me that! You're Eggman's right hand rat today! You must know something!" Metal Sonic looked up at Amy, his robotic eyes seemingly searching for something. "What are you looking at, you Sonic copycat!" she shouted. "Do you know where Eggman's going?" Tails asked the silent robot. "Yeah, I bet you robots already have the location of his base in your memory!" Sonic realized. "Except Alpha..." Tails noted, watching the robot do a goofy dance. "Everybody dance! Dance like my life depended on it! Because in fact, IT DOES!!!" Alpha shouted, laughing manically.

"Hahaha! You're wasting your time! Metal Sonic wouldn't betray Dr. Eggman! Don't tell them anything!" Char chuckled. Metal Sonic was indeed silent, at first. "So, you're back to being Eggman's pawn, huh?" Sonic said. "We're wasting our time..." Amy sighed. They turned to leave, when Metal Sonic muttered something. "My creator... betrayed me..." He stood up, patting Char on the head. "Sorry, Char. Dr. Eggman's going to the Mystic Ruins. A place called 'Shadow Arc.'" Sonic turned and winked at Metal Sonic. "Thanks a lot! See ya later!" As Sonic, Tails, and Amy ran out of the shop, Char groaned in annoyance. "Can't we trust anyone? Oh, well, at least I can get a burger." Metal Sonic shook his head. "No, you can't. The shop's closed."


Deep in the Mystic Ruins jungle, Knuckles, Cream, Cheese, and SPOT were searching for either Sonic or Rouge. "Argh! Didn't I see that tree already!? We're totally lost..." Knuckles shouted, kicking the tree and hurting his foot. "YEOW!!" While Knuckles jumped in a circle holding his foot, SPOT emitted a beeping noise. Cream read the text on SPOT's monitor. "SPOT's Tails Tracker is picking something up... But it can't tell if it's Tails or the black fox..." Knuckles stopped jumping around to read the message for himself. "Works for me! At least it MIGHT be Tails. Lead the way, Fido!"

Not far away, Rouge the Bat was wandering the jungle as well. "I guess Eggman would be going this way..." she thought to herself, heading in the direction of Shadow Arc. Coming up from her right was Punchy and Rainbow, arguing over something. "I told you, One! This is the way we came from! You have no sense of direction!" "Shut up!" Punchy growled before noticing Rouge. "Hey, it's the bat girl!" Rouge suddenly became tense. "What of it? What do you want?" she said angrily. Knuckles voice responded from in front of them. "The Master Emerald!!" Knuckles ran through some bushes with Cream, Cheese, and SPOT behind him. "Great, I'm surrounded by idiots!" Rouge groaned. "Hey, Rainbow, look who it is! Heeeey, Red!" Punchy called. Cream exchanged puzzled glances with Cheese. "I get the feeling I missed something..." Knuckles shook his fist at Rouge. "Give back the Master Emerald THIS INSTANT!"

A puff of smoke burst nearby, and Illusi emerged from it. "Hey, Dark One! Eh, huh?" Illusi looked around a moment, startled by the others in the area. "Did I come at a bad time?" he said. "Hey, Illusi, wait!" Punchy shouted, to no avail. Illusi snapped his fingers and vanished again. This frustrated Punchy. "Thank you very much, Red, for scaring him away! I needed to talk to that guy!" Rouge started to walk away toward Shadow Arc. "The Master Emerald is mine now, and I have a mission to complete. See ya!" She broke into a run, and Knuckles took off after her, leaving Cream behind. Punchy looked to Rainbow. "I'm gonna give that jerk a piece of my mind! C'mon!" As Punchy and Rainbow took off after Knuckles and Rouge, SPOT started to head in the same direction. "I guess SPOT's sensing Tails that way, too. Let's go, Cheese!" Cream said hurriedly.


Shadow entered Shadow Arc, and discovered that the gate which was previously barred on his and Knuckles' previous visits was now open. It led to a long tunnel, but before he reached the end of it, Shadow felt a tremor...

Deep inside Shadow Arc, there was a hidden control room. In it were seven terminals, each one holding a fake Master Emerald. At the back of the room was a large window, overlooking the horizon of Mystic Ruins. A few feet from that window was a control panel, and seated at that control panel was Dr. Eggman. Behind him, Metal Sonic was watching Char attempt to fix Alpha. "There, now how are ya, Alfie?" Char asked. Alpha responded in song. "I'm lookin' over a four leaf clover that I overlooked be-fore!" Char giggled at the song. "Maybe I should just leave him the way he is! He's kinda funny!"

Eggman broke into laughter as he finished inputting his commands on the control panel. "With these seven artificial Master Emeralds in place, the ultimate fortress can now rise! Ha ha ha ha!!" This got Char and the robots' attention. "Ooooh, this should be cool!" Char gasped in awe. "Wheeee! Time for eggplant pie!" Alpha cheered, causing Char to make a face. "Eggplant pie?! Yuck!" With a few beeps, the new Shadow Arc BAS program was installed. "BAS here! All installed and ready for orders, your Eggship!" the alarm system announced. "Now, all I need are the remaining four Chaos Emeralds..." Eggman grinned. "Which our radar already detects on board! Ha ha ha ha!! Time for takeoff! Now it's time for the rise of the Shadow Arcangel!"

In one of the hallways of Shadow Arc, Copter and Gemini had stopped to rest. They had lost track of Eggman, and were now trying to decide what to do next. It was to their location that SPOT's tracker led Cream. "Hey, look, a lost bunny." Copter said. Cream and Cheese tried to hide behind SPOT, scared of Copter. "Th-that's not Tails!" she stammered. Copter chuckled. "Oh, I don't think you'll be seeing Tails anymore! We were both blasted earlier. I doubt Tails could have survived!" This was deeply upsetting to both Cream and Gemini. Gemini even smacked Copter over the head with her wand. "How can you say something like that!?" Tears were welling up in Cream's eyes. "It can't be so! You're lying!" she shouted. "It's true! He was weak, and I was strong!" Copter insisted, which earned him another hit on the head from Gemini. SPOT's alarm beeped at that moment. Looking at the monitor, Cream stopped crying. "He's alive! SPOT senses the real Tails!" Copter kneeled down to see SPOT's monitor for himself. "Holy macaroni! I can't believe it! I guess I'm not giving him enough credit..." he admitted. Gemini looked around. Indeed, Cream and Cheese appeared to be alone, except for SPOT. "Hey, are you lost?" she asked.

Before Cream could answer, the entire laboratory shook violently! "Whoa! What's happening!" Gemini shouted. "It feels like we're moving!" Cream observed. Sure enough, it seemed to be so. "So, anything is possible today, is it?" Copter shouted in disbelief. "I'm scared..." Cream said to SPOT. Copter looked accross the room into her fearful eyes, and suddenly felt something he'd never felt before. He had to help her. "Don't worry, little girl! Stay with us, and you'll be safe!" Gemini nodded in agreement. "We'll get you out of here!" she promised. "Th-thank you!" Cream cried.


The entire Shadow Arc laboratory rumbled. The trees to the back of the building were incinerated by the sudden blast of hidden rocket engines, and the huge laboratory carried an even larger battleship out from under the ground! The great wings of the craft lifted chunks of earth up with them, and even more rockets were mounted to the lower body of the battleship, which had been buried completely until now. Once the impossibly large black ship took flight, it began covering all of the Mystic Ruins in terrible darkness, which subsided as the ship picked up speed. Within moments, the ship had closed the distance between the ruins and Station Square, and stopped above the city, eclipsing the sun as it passed overhead. Eggmans triumphant voice rang all through the city. "Mua ha ha ha!! Attention Station Square! I am the mighty Dr. Eggman! Now that my Shadow Arcangel has reached your city, you will be forced to submit to the rule of the Eggman Empire, or I'll have your city razed to the ground!" The announcement sent the entire city into a terrible panic. People who had spotted Eggman getting blasted from the construction site now watched as he blotted out the site with darkness. Eggman couldn't help letting out insane laughter as his plans finally began to reach fruition.


At the entrance room of Shadow Arc, now Shadow Arcangel, Bucky, Vortex, and Zipp had gathered. Vortex gazed out the door, watching the city below. "Thisss isss incredible!" Zipp flew up behind him, looking as well. "I wonder if this cruiser has some cool super lasers!" he said with glee. Bucky let out a victorious laugh. "I knew that fool doctor would do this! Now, my plan has come full circle! There's just one remaining loose end. The pests running around Shadow Arcangel must be eliminated!" Zipp flew over to Bucky's side, pulling a pistol from his vest. "This is always my favorite part! Let's hunt some hedgehog!" Vortex looked over at them and nodded in agreement. "Then, we sssshall wreak our vengeance on the military fortresssss!" Bucky smiled, proud of his two experiments. "Vengeance will soon be ours! Team GeneX, let's move! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!"

To be continued...