GeneX - Tails the Fox
Chapter 43 - Lospecter's Quiz Mania!
Stages 23-24 - Darkegg Fortress

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

From the roof of Darkegg Fortress, Eggman had watched several characters enter his base. "I suppose Sonic and Copter are headed this way." he said to himself. "Knuckles may have gotten hold of the Master Emerald, but at least the remaining fakes are safely stowed away! As for Bucky the rat, I can't imagine what he's doing here, but I'm sure he won't stir up too much trouble. The important thing to deal with is Copter. He's not acting very loyal, stealing my space shuttles without telling me! It's time I silenced that troublemaker! Ha ha! Nothing can stop me now!!"

Meanwhile, a few floors down, Bucky was talking to Vortex and Zipp via walkie talkie. "I think Eggman's moving slow enough! You two head back to the base, and I'll take care of a few last minute loose ends!" he said. "Yes, sir, master, sir! We won't let you down!" Zipp said over the walkie talkie. "All the pieces are in place now." Bucky thought. "I'll show GUN what happens when you try to imprison me! Ha ha!"

Tails and Cream had just reached the base, and Tails insisted that Cream stay behind. "According to SPOT, Copter's at the top of the tower. I need to go after him! I want you to go home with SPOT, Cream!" Tails had said. "But I want to help you! I can't let you go in there alone!" she insisted. Cheese also seemed intent on going as well. Tails, however, wouldn't be swayed. "Are you kidding!? This is Eggman's base! It's dangerous here! Don't worry about me. Sonic's here. If I get in trouble, he'll help!" Cream didn't like it, but she agreed to leave with SPOT.

However, as soon as Tails's back was turned, she started to follow him. SPOT didn't like it, but since it couldn't reason with Cream, it decided to at least protect her along the way.

At the same time, Espio and Charmy were looking for Vector, whom they had been separated from. Instead of Vector, they soon found that Eggman's base housed the green Chaos Emerald! "Lucky find!" Charmy exclaimed. "We'd better go find Vector and give it to him." Espio decided. "Right! Lead the way, Espio!" Charmy said excitedly. "I'm sure we'll be lost for weeks!"

Tails was certain that Copter would be somewhere towards the roof. However, he found that the elevator to the roof was locked. "Now what? There's gotta be a way up there." he thought. "Maybe there's a way nearby! I'll find it!" Tails headed down the hall and into a dark passageway. What he didn't notice was a sign near the doorway. "Danger! Monsters have taken over this passage! Enter at your own risk!"

Copter had fallen asleep waiting for Tails. Since he was unsure once he woke up if Tails was already in the base, he returned to the control room to ask Char. After a talk, Copter realized where Tails would end up. "So, the elevator is locked on that floor? Perfect! I'll catch him, easy!" Char wasn't so sure. "But that floor's teeming with monsters!" Copter laughed. "Monsters? Who cares! They can't kill me! I'm already dead!" Alpha, who was spinning around in circles nearby, started talking to himself. "Wheeee!! Robots don't get dizzy! Except me!!" Copter looked at Alpha, puzzled. "I think you need to fix him, Char." he said. Alpha then started singing. "This is the song that ne-ver ends! Yes, it goes on and on, my friends!" Copter, covering his ears, ran off in a hurry. "I hate that song!!!"

The passage Tails had entered split into two directions. As fate would have it, Tails and Copter each went down a different path.

On the way, Tails found that Cream had somehow gotten there ahead of him. She was accompanied by Punchy, Rainbow, and Illusi. However, SPOT was nowhere to be found. "Cream!? I told you to go home! And where's SPOT?!" Tails demanded to know. "Easy, little guy." Punchy said. "She had a rough trip." Illusi looked down the dark passageway. "Those vile fiends, the Lost Ones, have been making mischief throughout the tower. She was attacked by them, but we managed to help her. It would appear that this robot she was with became separated from us amidst the confusion." Tails was still a bit confused. "But what were you doing here in the first place, Cream?" Cream and Cheese glanced at each other, then at Tails. "We just couldn't leave everyone behind! We had to help!" she said. "You should probably turn back, you two." Punchy advised. "Nothing but monsters back there..." "And computers with big important looking buttons!" Rainbow added. Tails looked down the passage and pondered what to do. "Computers, eh? Maybe I can use them to unlock the elevator..." He started to head down the path, when Cream stopped him. "You aren't going to leave me here, are you?" she said. Illusi shook his head. "He can't leave you behind. He's going to need you. The monsters in the passage are Lost Ones. Those spirits, which emerged at the same time as the experiments, are ever on the lookout for beings to add to their ranks. You will need to keep each other safe in there." "We'd love to help you," Punchy added, "But we have... other things to worry about...." It seemed apparent that Punchy was not entirely sincere. "All right, stay close to me, Cream!" Tails instructed, and the two ran for the passage.

Meanwhile, Copter had run into Vector, Sonic, and Amy. The three of them had been chased out of the passage by the Lost Ones. Noticing Copter, they immediately became defensive. "What are you up to, Tails clone?" Sonic said. "None of your business! Out of my way!" Copter shouted. "Yeah, right, like we're just gonna let you go find Eggman and tell him we're here!" Amy yelled. Copter was rather annoyed. "I'm not really on Eggman's side, you know. As it happens, I was just using him to help someone I thought was my friend. It seems to me that he was just using me, as well, so now that I'm through being betrayed, I'll give Eggman what's coming to him the next time I see him!" he said, getting a bit worked up. "Wow, did you just figure out he was using you? Where does Eggman find you dopes?" Amy commented. "You shut up now!" Copter snapped. Vector, who was quietly listening to this exchange, spoke up. "Don't worry about this guy, Sonic! I'll go with him, to keep an eye on him! If he puts a foot out of line, pow!" Copter glared at him. "I'd like to see you try!" Considering his options, Sonic decided that it was more important to find Eggman than to fight with Copter. "All right, you two go that way and we'll look for Eggman somewhere else! C'mon, Amy!: Sonic and Amy took off for the exit, while Copter and Vector headed deeper into the passage.

Heading into their respective passages, Tails, Cream, Vector, and Copter soon ran into a Lospecter on each path. Interestingly, the two Lospecters appeared to operate as one, they both said the same thing to their visitors. "Hello, and welcome! You've all come very far into this tower, and fought very hard, so I, Lospecter, have graciously decided to call off the Lost Army. Instead, you will be contestants! Welcome to Lospecter's Quiz Mania!!"

Tails and Cream were relieved that the monsters had been called off, while Copter and Vector thought Lospecter was nuts. "Here are the rules!" Lospecter continued, "I and my others will ask you questions for passage further into this hall. Answer correctly, and I'll let you pass! Get it wrong, and you'll feel my wrath!" So, the quiz began.

"Question 1, for 'Team Tails!' OK, this should be simple for you. Who's older, this little rabbit girl, or the bee I saw in the lower levels?" This question had Tails stumped. "That must be Charmy, but I don't know how old he is..." Cream, however, knew the answer. "We're the same age! Neither of us is older!" The first Lospecter disappeared, but another was a distance further in the passage.

"OK, Copter, Question 1! So, how many of you experiments are there?" Lospecter asked. Vector and Copter answered simultaneously, "Six!" Copter was surprised Vector could answer. "How can you know that?" "Detective work! It's what I'm good at!" Vector said proudly. Lospecter number 1 vanished.

"Alright, boys and girls, question 2! Who was it that created Shadow the hedgehog?" Cream looked at Tails worriedly. "I'm not quite sure." Tails thought back to the recent Black Comet incident. "It was a collaboration between Black Doom and Professor Gerald!" "Correct!"

"So, then, Copter, who created you?" Vector answered first again. "Bucky the Rat!" Copter looked at Vector suspiciously. "I thought I was the only one who knew that..." Lospecter laughed. "Come to think of it, that was too easy... I'll try to stump you next!"

"Number three, Mr. Prower! What group of thieves was led by Jet the Hawk?" Once again, Cream didn't know. "I don't even know any Jet..." Tails thought back to the time he raced Wave. "Let's see... We wound up in Babylon Garden... Aha! The Babylon Rogues!" Lospecter grinned. "Interesting.... Err, I mean, correct!"

"Maybe you know my good friend, Illusi. What species is he?" Vector was finally stumped. "Never heard of him. I guess not all the questions are about this case..." Copter thought back to the Security Tower. "Looked like a mouse... No... A shrew!" Lospecter flew in a circle. "Righty-o! Until the next installment! Meet you there!"

"Fourth question, blue eyes. What is Copter's original name?" Cream looked confused. "He has a different name?" Tails nodded. "Yeah, he's Experiment 2! I learned that in the Chaos Shrine!" Lospecter looked Tails in the eye. "Chaos Shrine, eh? How interesting..."

"Blaze the cat was looking for which gems?" This one had both Copter and Vector stumped. "Blaze the who? That's no fair, we never met this person!" Vector shouted. "Sol Emeralds!" a voice called out. It was Gemini the Fennec! Lospecter frowned. "That's cheating! You're not playing!" Copter glared at Lospecter. "You never said we couldn't get help. That was not in your rules!" Realizing Copter was right, Lospecter vanished in a huff. Gemini gave Copter and Vector a friendly wink. "Glad I could help, but since you're here, I guess this isn't the way out of here. Gotta go, bye!"

"Final question for today, kiddos! Just how many Chaos Emeralds are there?" It was an answer Tails and Cream knew well. "Seven!" they both replied at once. Lospecter formed a pair of smoky "hands" and clapped. "Bravo, kids! You've won my quiz for now! Until we meet again, bye bye!" This left just one Lospecter in Darkegg Fortress, though Tails and Cream were not aware of him. "That's great! The rest of the passage is clear!" Tails cheered. "It was kinda fun, too!" Cream added as they ran for the end of the path.

"So, my last question, and I hope you'll answer it yourselves! What group did the alien Black Doom lead?" Vector recalled the alien invasion, and what Black Doom had called his army. "It was the Black Arms! Is that all you want to know?" Vector said, looking at Lospecter suspiciously. Copter looked from Vector to Lospecter, and realized what Vector meant. "Yeah, you didn't know all of those answers, did you?" Lospecter cackled menacingly. "You are a good detective, Vector! These little bits of trivia may be useless, only time will tell, but it was a great ruse, and you fell for it! So long, suckers!" Lospecter vanished as though he was never there, and Copter felt a bit stupid. "Can't believe all that was just to get information out of us..." he muttered. Vector pat him on the back. "That's all right! He would've learned all that stuff at some point anyway, I'm sure. Hey, the rest of the way is smooth sailing for now, so let's take advantage of it while we can!" Copter gazed down the dark passageway. Vector was right, this was no time for beating himself up. He had others to beat up, after all! The two ran for the end of the passage. There was no way for either of the two groups to know what waited at the end...

To be continued...