GeneX - Tails the Fox
Chapter 49 - Get the Chaos Emeralds!
Final Stage - Shadow Arcangel
Bosses - Amy?, Rouge?, Meta-Mammoth, Sonic?, Cream?, Bucky?, ?????

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

The group had split up into teams, and maintained radio contact during their search for the emeralds, courtesy of Eggman. Team Sonic consisted of Sonic (duh), Vector, Char, Alpha, and Dr. Eggman himself, and together they searched the southwestern portion of the ship. Sonic had gone ahead to search on his own, and once the Chaos Emerald was found, they'd all meet at a rendezvous point in the back of the area. Sonic discovered new varieties of Lost Ones during his search, which caused no end of problems. Lospides were spider creatures that attempted to use their slime webs to slow him down. Losoars were bats that tried knocking Sonic into the lava which was flowing all around Shadow Arcangel. Eventually, Sonic fought his way past them all and found the blue Chaos Emerald. He also found Amy there. "What are you doing here, Amy? You're not with this team..." he said. Amy had picked up the Chaos Emerald, and something appeared different about her. Her eyes were glowing yellow! She spoke with a creepy, sinister tone. "I found the Chaos Emerald for you, my darling!" she said. Sonic shook off the strangeness of the situation. "It's dangerous to go around here alone, Amy! You should come with me!" he said. Amy seemed a bit too happy to oblige. "Sure, Sonic! Whatever you say!" she said. Sonic sensed something was off again, and decided to test his theory. "You should stay behind at the entrance!" he told her. "Of course!" she responded. Now, Sonic was certain. "I knew something was off about you! Amy never wants to stay behind! You're not Amy!" he said in an accusing manner. Amy gave him a sinister grin in response. "Of course I'm Amy, your darling girlfriend, and I have a favor to ask. Please die!!" She swung her hammer and knocked Sonic accross the room, laughing evilly. Sonic didn't want to fight Amy, so he tried to get through to her. "Amy! Snap out of it! Don't let Experiment 3 control you!" he shouted, certain that was what was going on. "Amy can't hear you, hedgehog!" Experiment 3's words were spoken through Amy, who held up the Chaos Emerald. "Don't bother fighting that weakling! Bring me that emerald, my faithful pet!" he said using her voice. Sonic ran after her, but she smacked him aside with the hammer once more and retreated while he was reeling from the hit. "I can't believe this! I gotta stop her, quick!"

Sonic searched for her a while, but couldn't find her, so he decided to check back at the rendezvous point. There, Eggman, Alpha, and Vector were waiting. "So, there you are, Sonic!" Eggman said, a bit impatiently. "I can go zzzzzzt!! But I can't say cinnamum... cinarun... cimmermen...." Alpha said. Eggman looked at Alpha the way a father would look at his son when he's getting in the way. "Go play, Alpha." he said. Alpha skipped around the room, chasing his own shadow. "Did you find the Chaos Emerald?" Vector asked. "Yeah... But something's wrong with Amy! She attacked me and took the emerald! I think she's taking it to Experiment 3!" Eggman stroked his moustache and thought for a moment. "I believe she was with Tails' group. I'll ask them." he used the radio to call them. "Tails, where's Amy? Over!" Tails voice was heard over the radio. "We got separated. Why, did something happen? Over!" Sonic responded. "Experiment 3's controlling her! Everyone, watch out for her! Try to snap her out of it! Uh, Over!" All of the radio signals were connected at once, and Bucky had heard this as well. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised about this!" he said. "What is Experiment 3's power, anyway?" Eggman asked. "It doesn't matter! Just beware everyone! And get the Chaos Emeralds!" Bucky replied. BAS suddenly came on with an announcement. "Experiencing mild turbulence. Remain calm. Put on seat belts. All tray tables should be in their upright positions..." it said. Just then, the ship bagan shaking a little. "Bah! I hate this!" Bucky grumbled. "How did you get the Arcangel in the air, anyway? Over!" "I'm curious about that, too, doctor!" Sonic said. Char flew in before Eggman could say anything. "That vending machine wouldn't take my dollar!" he whined. "Just in time, Char! I was about to explain my plan to everyone!" Eggman said.

Eggman began to explain his plan. "It was all a stroke of genious and luck! It all started with the Master Emerald! It kind of fell in my lap. A sorceress had messed up a teleport spell and brought it right to me at my lava base!" Knuckles interrupted over the radio. "That can't be! Not Gemini!" Eggman ignored the interruption and continued. "This fennec girl was a bumbling fool! She tried to protect the Master Emerald, but messed up again and transformed herself into a dragon! The shock of the mistake made her drop her wand and spell book, which I took away before she could do anything! I even snatched the Master Emerald! Reading through the spell book, I found a spell, but I couldn't cast it myself..." "Morphicadabra!" Char said. "I turned rocks into a big gem!" Eggman smiled at the Chao. "That was when I decided to make Char a full member of the Eggman Empire! Using shards of the Master Emerald, Char made near perfect fakes! Just in case Knuckles came for them, I had him make the ones powering this ship now, out of scrap! And, well, you all know the rest of my plan from there!"


"Ha ha ha! One down, six to go!" Experiment 3 was talking to itself through Amy. As Amy ran through the halls of the Arcangel, she was spotted by Copter, Cream, SPOT, and Gemini. "Hey, you're one of Sonic's friends, aren't you?" Copter said. "That's Amy!" Cream said excitedly. "Who are you? I've never seen you before..." Amy responded. Gemini looked at her face. "Hey, why are your eyes glowing like that!?" she asked. "I'm sorry, but I need to go! There's Chaos Emeralds to find!" Amy said, leaving. She was gone before they could ask any more questions. "Something was definetely wrong with her!" Gemini said worriedly. "She didn't even recognize us..." Cream said sadly. "Something fishy sure is going on here." Copter said. "Let's get going!"


Punchy's team consisted of himself, Rainbow, Illusi, and Zipp. They were exploring the northwestern portion of the ship. Punchy went with Rainbow, while Illusi traveled with Zipp. After some exploration, and a few fights with the Lost Ones, Punchy and Rainbow found the green Chaos Emerald. However, Rouge had found it first. "I'll hang on to this! I've heard Experiment 3's been messing with people's minds, and you look pretty weak minded to me!" she said. Punchy wasn't quite that dumb, though. "Hold it! Let me see your eyes!" he said. "This is no time for getting romantic!" Rouge shouted. Rainbow appeared to agree. "C'mon, One! Batty's not that pretty!" she said, a bit jealously. Rouge kicked Rainbow away for that remark. "Not pretty? That's you, colorblind!" Punchy dashed between them and helped Rainbow up. He managed to catch a glimpse of her eyes after helping Rainbow up, and sure enough, they were glowing yellow. "So, Experiment 3's gotten to you?" he said. Rouge smirked devilishly. "No, I say he got to you!" She spoke to the others using her radio. "Attention everyone! Punchy's a yellow eyed traitor!" she said. "Don't let him get away! He might have the Chaos Emeralds!" Eggman replied over the radio. Hanging up the radio, Rouge jumped into the air and kicked Punchy from above him! "You'll pay for this, Experiment 3!" Punchy shouted angrily. Rouge laughed. "You fool! You can't beat me, and even if you could, your friends are going to kill you for being the traitor! You lose!" This time, Rainbow helped Punchy up, and faced Rouge. "No, you lose! You might have turned your radio off, Three, but I didn't turn ours off! Over!" she said, holding up their radio. Knuckles voice came through it. "You might as well give it up! We're not so easily tricked!" Rouge took on a look of rage. "Clever... But it still stands that I have two Chaos Emeralds, and you have none! No one will stop me!" With those words, Rouge ran off. Punchy limped after her. "Can't let her get away... No telling what might happen..." he said. "Right! Follow me, One!" Rainbow said, leading the way a short distance ahead of him. In a moment, she realized that Rouge's attack had really hurt him, and decided to help him along, slinging his arm over her back. "C'mon. We can't keep up. Let's get to the rendezvous point!"

At the rendezvous point, Illusi and Zipp were waiting. Illusi quickly ran over to help Rainbow carry Punchy. "Are you all right, Dark One?" he asked. "Just tired..." Punchy muttered sleepily. "I take it you ran into some trouble?" Zipp asked, juggling a pair of knives. "Three's got Batty! She...he...it.... took the Chaos Emerald!" Rainbow explained. Illusi nodded. "Yes, her group did mention she went missing. But I sense that all is not as it seems." he told them. Just then, Tails' voice was heard over the radio. "We found Amy! She says she got lost, and she doesn't have the Chaos Emerald! Over!" he said. "I can speak for myself!" Amy's voice was heard in the background, then directly, "I was wandering lost the whole time! I didn't see any experiment or Chaos Emerald! Uh, over!" Sonic was next to reply. "What about her eyes? They were glowing yellow before! Over!" Amy didn't know what he was talking about. "Yellow eyes?! My eyes are green, Sonic! How can you not know that!?!" She was about to say something else, but Tails interrupted. "Her eyes look normal now, over!" Zipp took the radio from Illusi. "I don't trust her! Keep an eye on her!" he said in a commanding tone. Taking the radio back, Illusi arrived at a decision. "I suppose I should share my story now." "Your story?" Punchy said curiously. "Yes. it all began with a mysterious cloaked figure..." he began. Zipp landed on the ground and sat in front of Illusi. "How ominous! Please, continue!" he said.

"Who was it, Mousy?" Rainbow asked. Illusi shook his head. "I never saw his face. All I could make out was his glowing yellow eyes. He came to me for help. He said that the Master Emerald was in danger. He instructed me to move it, or else it would be destroyed. I went over there and used my powers of illusion to coax Knuckles into leaving the island." Knuckles interrupted over the radio. "You dirty rat! I oughta..." Sonic interrupted Knuckles. "Let him finish his story, knucklehead!" Illusi cleared his throat and continued. "I moved the Master Emerald just in time. Just then, the fennec girl, Gemini, warped into the very spot the emerald had been previously. Two objects cannot exist in the same space at the same time. Had I not moved the emerald, both it and Gemini would have been lost... She'd messed up a spell she was trying. She's just an apprentice sorceress, you know. I asked her where she came from, and she attempted to use her magic to take us there. Not only did she get it wrong, but she took the Master Emerald with her! We found ourselves separated in Eggman's lava base. While I was there, I saw a vision of the future. I'm not sure how, or why, but what I saw convinced me. I had to help the Dark One..." Punchy's eyes went wide as he realized what Illusi meant. "You saw my future?!" he asked. Illusi created a check mark illusion, a Righto, to indicate that Punchy had guessed the truth. "However..." he said, snapping his fingers and causing the Righto to vanish. "I will not tell you what I saw. How we came to be here is no longer important anyway." Punchy understood. "Okay, but what should we do now?" he asked. Zipp hopped back into the air and hovered in front of all of them. "We should catch up with Eggman's team! Let's head for the control room!" Rainbow started to leave. "Follow me, everyone!" Zipp flew after her, and Punchy and Illusi followed. "No, follow me! I know the way!" Zipp shouted.


Copter, Gemini, Cream, Cheese, and SPOT had been wandering Shadow Arcangel for quite some time. They found themselves walking down a path surrounded on both sides by lava. Gemini tapped Copter on the shoulder. "What's up?" Copter asked. "What are we doing here? Really, what are we trying to do?" she asked him. Copter continued walking. "I thought you knew. We're trying to find the way out of here!" Gemini followed him slowly. "But... What about this ship taking off? And that girl who was acting strange?" Copter's pace did not change. "It's none of my business. I'm not getting involved." he said. Gemini grabbed his arm to stop him. "Come on! Don't you sense it? Something much bigger than all of us is going on here! Are you just going to stand here and do nothing!?" Copter pulled his arm free from her grip. "Maybe. You can do what YOU want. That's YOUR business!" Cream was reading text on SPOT's monitor while they were talking. Gemini wasn't through with Copter. "What about before! Why did you follow Dr. Eggman here?" she asked. Copter turned around. "This is rediculous! Stop asking me these things!" "No way!" Cream said, reacting to what she'd read. Gemini looked over at her. "What is it? What's wrong?" she asked. "SPOT found Chaos Emeralds! They're all over the ship!" Cream told them. Copter looked at SPOT's monitor. "Eggman, you butterfingers! How could you lose them so quickly!?" Gemini looked over to Copter. "So, what are your plans? Will you help us find the Chaos Emeralds?" she asked him. Copter turned and began to walk away. "I told you, I'm getting out of here! You're welcome to come with me, but I won't wait for you!" As Copter walked away, Gemini became angry. "FINE! Who needs you!?" She looked over at Cream and smiled. "Come on. You want to help your friends, right?" she said. Cream smiled and nodded excitedly. "Yes! Let's go!" They walked off in the opposite direction Copter was going, following SPOT's radar to find the Chaos Emeralds.


Shadow had teamed up with Vortex, Metal Sonic, and Guard to explore the southeast area of the ship. All four of them agreed to search independantly, feeling this would be more efficient. After a while, Shadow reached a room almost completely covered in lava. A few pieces of the floor still floated over the surface of the lava, but there wasn't much. On the other side of the room, where the floor was more solid, Sargent Gunner and Spy had found the Pink Chaos Emerald. "Stay back, Shadow! I'm taking this Chaos Emerald! You freaks can't have it!" Spy seemed much less confident than Gunner. "We could save ourselves a lot of trouble and retreat now..." he said. Gunner was sick of Spy's whining. "You just get out of the way! Who needs you!?" Spy happily obliged. "That's the best orders I've recieved all day!" he said. Shadow hopped on to the next closest platform over the lava. "I can't let you take that, Gunner! You'd be an easy target for Experiment 3 to get it from!" he said. "Why would I trust you? I've been listening in on your radio conversations! I'd bet you're under that monster's control! For all I know, you and that freak were always on the same team!" Gunner yelled. "Gunner..." Shadow said, "Why do you hate us so? And how do you know Dr. Eggman?" Gunner thought for a moment about whether or not he should tell Shadow anything, and decided to answer. "Robotnik was one of my friends. We had gone to school together. We both thought world domination would be easy, but I smartened up and joined GUN! As for you freaks, you're FREAKS! You're different, and cannot be trusted! Every time I see any of you, you all just prove to me that you're evil!" Having finally heard it from him, Shadow knew enough. "You're a deranged fool. I'll just take that Chaos Emerald and be on my way!" Gunner was not one to give up. "I don't think so!" A gigantic robot came forth from beheath the lava. It was a robotic mammoth, apparently fireproof, its "tusks" were actually missile launchers. "The Meta-Mammoth has no weaknesses! You're finished!" Gunner proclaimed. However, before the battle could even commence, a bolt of darkness shot through it from behind Shadow, obliterating it at once! Shadow turned to see the shadow of himself, which meant he was looking at Experiment 3! The dark creature sprouted wings and flew across the lava flow, a sight that terrified Gunner. He dropped the Chaos Emerald and ran off, with Spy following behind. "The freaks are going to destroy the world!!" Gunner yelled in a crazed voice. Experiment 3 picked up the Chaos Emerald and faced Shadow. "Time is running out for you!" it said. Shadow jumped from platform to platform to pursue Experiment 3, but by the time he got to the other side, it was gone. "Looks like I better check in at the rendezvous point." Shadow said.

Guard, Vortex, and Metal Sonic were waiting for him. "That experiment took the Chaos Emerald himself!" Shadow told them, "He must be getting serious!" Guard was holding the radio. "We got a call from the red echidna." he said. "They found the bat girl. She did not have the Chaos Emerald." Metal Sonic added. "Ssssshe alssso sssaid that sssshe dropped her radio in lava! And sssshe issss certain ssshe wasssn't captured by Experiment 3." Vortex reported. "Can't be sure about that. Memory can easily be tampered with." Guard said, "Metal Sonic knows." The robot looked strangely saddened, but shook it off. "She surely believes what she is saying. Her eyes are not yellow." he said. Shadow crossed his arms and spoke to Guard. "Who are you anyway? What's your role in this?" he asked. "I am Experiment 6, according to my master. The boss calls me Guard the Gargoyle." "How did one of Bucky's experiments come to work for Sargent Gunner?" Shadow asked.

Guard told his story. "Master was sealed safely in the ARK, with no transport back to Earth, but... Boss would not put Copter and master together. So he needed a way to prevent Copter's escape. He forced master to create me, an android. He told master not to program me, but he did anyway. He hid data about who I was and where I came from, so I would know. Boss never found the data, and GUN programmed me to guard Copter and to obey the boss." "But you can think for yourself, too." Shadow pointed out. "You disobeyed Gunner to help us." Guard looked at Shadow quizzically. "What's your point? This talk is pointless." he said. Suddenly, Bucky's voice was heard over the radio. "Team Shadow, head for the Arcangel control room! Others will be waiting there!" he ordered. "Follow me. I'll sssshow you the way." Vortex said, leading them away.


"How big is this thing?!" Copter said to himself, walking across a bridge with nothing under it. "Is there no way out besides jumping off? Where'd I park the Hurricane... I seem to be out of range, and the remote isn't working!" As he walked across the bridge, he noticed a light blue Chaos Emerald on the floor. "Wow. How do they get in places like this? Honestly..." he muttered, picking it up. "Maybe I should bring this back to the others... But what help could I be? I couldn't even get the tailbands... How can I help people? How can I protect my friends..." He realized what he was saying and slapped himself. "Friends?! Don't got any, Copter! And stop talking to yourself! I'll just take the emerald and keep going... I'll figure something out..."


Knuckles team was small. Aside from himself, he was joined by Rouge and Charmy. They were traveling together, but after a skirmish with the Lost Ones, Knuckles had been separated from the rest of them. Worse, the ship's power seemed to be growing weak, as the automatic doors stopped running. Luckily, Knuckles had found the Master Emerald along the way, and used it to power the doors. After a while, he found the red Chaos Emerald. "Well, there's no sign of anyone else here, so I guess I get to keep this one!" As he thought that, Sonic ran in and grabbed the emerald! His eyes were glowing yellow, but Knuckles didn't notice. "Sonic? Weren't you with Vector and Eggman?" he said, confused. "Thought you could use some help." Sonic said. Suddenly, static came from Knuckles' radio. "Huh? It looks like someone tried to call us, but the radio isn't working!" he said. "No big deal. We can take care of ourselves." Sonic said. "At least... I'll take care of you!" Sonic smacked Knuckles with a homing attack, taking him completely off guard. He even dropped the Master Emerald! "Hey, what's wrong with you, Sonic?!" Knuckles shouted. Sonic laughed at the gullible echidna. "I can't believe you didn't even notice my eyes! But it looks like I was mistaken, that's not a Chaos Emerald you have. I have no need of the Master Emerald! Just the remaining Chaos Emeralds! Farewell!" Sonic ran off far faster than Knuckles could follow. "I can't believe how stupid I am! I guess I'd better find the others..."

Knuckles, Rouge, and Charmy met at the rendezvous point, but heard some yelling nearby. Knuckles punched his way through a locked door that the yelling was coming from and found Bucky! "Hey, how'd you get in there?" Charmy asked. "And how long have you been there?" Rouge added. Bucky stepped out of the room he had been locked in. "That blasted Experiment 3! He captured me as soon as we split up! He's powerful and sneaky!" he growled. Knuckles, Charmy, and Rouge jumped in shock. "That's not possible! You've been giving us instructions over the radio all this time!" Knuckles said. "Blast!" Bucky exclaimed. "Experiment 3's been using his tricks on you! I knew he would. It's probably why he took my radio!" "You mean that wasn't you on the radio?" Rouge asked. Bucky took Knuckles radio from his hand. "It's not working... That can't be good..." he whispered. Charmy held out his radio. "Mine's broke, too! And Rouge's fell in lava!" Bucky had a grave expression. "We have to catch up with the others! They must be warned about Experiment 3's power!" he insisted. Knuckles, Charmy, and Rouge all spoke at once, "What is his power?" Bucky sighed regretfully. "His power... is..."


Copter was still lost in Shadow Arcangel. He heaved a heavy sigh. "I wonder where I should go now..." As he wondered this, he felt an icy wind behind him. Turning around, he saw someone quite familiar to him. "Doomsayer! You're back again?" The Doomsayer stood there with his arms crossed. "You're leaving, aren't you?" he asked. "What do you care? I'm through with you!" Copter growled, "I told you before, the end of the world is no concern of mine! I'm a clone! I don't even have the right to be here!" "Oh, don't you?" the Doomsayer whispered. "What do you want from me!?" Copter demanded. The Doomsayer ignored his question. "Beings who do not belong in this world cannot harness the powers of chaos. The tailbands will not work for them." he said. Copter took his tailband from his tail and looked at it. "That's absurd! I've been using this one since I found it!" he grumbled. "Yes. It chose you. It saved you from the jaws of death... With my help." said the Doomsayer. "What's your point?" Copter said, truly not understanding. "Everything happens for a reason. Nothing is mere chance. You were brought here for a purpose. For good or ill, that's up to you. But you cannot escape your destiny..." was all the Doomsayer had to say. Copter was utterly frustrated. "Stop speaking in riddles all the time, you cloaked black shadow! Who are you, anyway!?" Before Copter even finished speaking, the Doomsayer vanished into his hail storm once again. Copter, unable to order his thoughts, could only scream at first. "What is the MEANING of it all!? Why am I here!?" He dropped to his knees and pounded the floor with his fist. This action caused him to drop his tailband and the Chaos Emerald. He picked them both up, and gazed at the glowing gem. "Maybe... the Chaos Emeralds are the answer..." He was finally convinced. He had to stay. "Grrrrrrrr! Doomsayer!!! Now I CAN'T leave! Are you happy!?!"


Tails had teamed up with Espio and Amy, but after a fight with the Lost Ones, he found himself alone. When he tried to call the others to check on them, he found that the radios were broken. "Looks like I'm on my own..." he said worriedly. His group was exploring the darkest section of the ship, and aside from a few losol roaming the area, it was eerily quiet. Eventually, Tails found himself at a large bridge leading to a small platform, with another bridge leading from the platform to the back of the ship. On the platform was the yellow Chaos Emerald, as well as Cream. Cream had already picked up the Chaos Emerald, and was admiring its beauty. Oddly, Cheese was nowhere to be seen. Tails couldn't see her eyes, as he was approaching her from behind. "Cream? I didn't know you were on this ship!" he said, happy but wary. "C'mon, you need to get to a safe place. There's a monster on the ship!" Cream didn't turn around. "There's a monster? How scary..." she said, not quite sounding right. Tails looked around for Cheese, and came to a realization. "You are the monster, aren't you? Cream never goes anywhere without Cheese! Where is he, Experiment 3?!" Cream finally turned around, and sure enough, her eyes were glowing yellow. "How should I know where that Chao is? I don't even know where this silly rabbit is!" she said in a monotone voice. "So, you're not even Cream at all!" Tails said. Whatever it was, the fake Cream laughed in Cream's voice. "I must say, you're much smarter than your idiotic friends! But even so, I have still obtained the fifth Chaos Emerald! Just two more, and nothing can stop me!" Tails jumped at the fake Cream and pinned her to the floor. "I'm not gonna allow that!" he shouted. The fake Cream let out a sinister laugh. "What are you going to do? Kill me? How do you know I didn't lie, and that this really is that rabbit? Ha ha... How do you know I didn't just want to watch you kill her!" Tails loosened his grip on her, not sure of what to do. This allowed the fake Cream to struggle free, knocking Tails over in the process. "Ha ha ha ha! Yes, there's no way you can be sure! So, you must choose! Will you fight me, or allow me to destroy you!" she cackled. Tails looked up at her, gazing into her eyes searchingly. The fake Cream took the hesitation as a surrender. Producing a dagger, she flew at Tails in an attempt to finish him. However, Tails had seen enough. He jumped into the air, flew over the fake Cream, and kicked her down as she passed under him. Tails landed on top of her and held her down. "You can make a fake, but it can never imitate the real thing perfectly! Even if you were controlling her, that would just account for the glow in the eyes. But why don't your pupils have color?" Tails said. It was true, the fake Cream had black pupils, but the colored part around the pupils were missing! When they had found Amy earlier, Tails recalled that she still had the green color of her pupils! If it were removed, it couldn't be restored afterwards, as far as Tails knew. The fake Cream didn't care what Tails knew, and proved its power by knocking Tails away again, despite the fact he had been using all his might to hold her down! Tails slid along the ground and fell over the ledge, barely catching the platform before plummeting to his doom. The fake Cream looked down at Tails from the ledge. "Don't worry, I won't kill you yet. You're such a weakling, that it just wouldn't be any fun at the moment. I'll just leave you hanging for now!"

By the time Tails pulled himself up, the fake Cream was long gone. He sat there on his hands and knees and rested a moment. "I failed... It got away, and I was powerless..." he thought as fear began building within him. It was worse than his nightmares. His best friends could now easily turn out to be his worst enemies. Even if he knew they were fakes, it still didn't seem right attacking Cream earlier. After resting a moment longer, he rose to his feet. "I won't give up! There's gotta be a way!" he said with determination. As he spoke those words, a bright light flashed before him, replaced in a moment with Tikal. "Well done, Tails! You've faced your fears and become stronger!" she said in congratulations. Tails looked at his feet, a bit worried. "But it isn't helping. Experiment 3 is winning..." he said. Tikal looked down from the ledge, gazing at the city shrouded in darkness. "Even in the deepest darkness, a light shines through." she said, "Even in people." "Like Copter?" Tails asked. "Maybe even in Experiment 3." Tikal replied. "Who knows? But this light cannot succeed on its own. It needs help from brave souls, like yours." Tails spirits lifted a little from her words. "Tikal... I need to ask you something..." he started to say. Tikal guessed his thoughts. "You want to know about Experiment 3 and those yellow eyed creatures? Have courage, Tails. You can beat this thing. But first, you must know what it is. Experiment 3 is a...."


Copter had started on his way to the Arcangel's control room, guided by his own instincts. "All right! I don't know what I can do... What my destiny is... But I must do something! Watch out evil forces! Copter's coming in!" he broke into a run, and passed someone. Hearing what sounded like crying, Copter turned around to see who it was. "Cream?" It was Cream and Cheese, and they had apparently been separated from Gemini and SPOT. "Copter! I'm so glad to see you!" she jumped into his arms, crying over his shoulder. Copter patted her head to try to calm her down. "What's wrong? Where's Gemini?" he asked. Cream calmed down a bit and began to explain. "SPOT led us to a Chaos Emerald, but this rat came and... Gemini told me to run... It was scary!" she told him. Copter looked down the dark hallway before them. "That's gotta be Bucky! Stick with me, Cream! We'll stop him, and save our friends!" Cream dried her eyes with her gloves. "Thank you Mr. Copter! Cheese and I will do our best to help out! Right, Cheese?" The Chao made a few excited chirps in response. Cream led the way, with Copter and Cheese close behind.

Eventually, they made it to where a yellow eyed Bucky had been fighting with Gemini and SPOT. They hadn't been doing well, and Copter ran between Gemini and Bucky just in time to intercept a bolt of lightning! It hurt Copter a lot, but he withstood it through sheer force of will. This time, he would not be beaten so easily. "Experiment 2! I've been waiting for you!" the fake Bucky said. Copter ignored him, turning to the injured Gemini, whom Cream was helping to her feet. "Are you all right?" Copter asked. "Don't turn your back at me!" Bucky shouted, shocking Copter again. Copter slowly turned around, and saw he was holding the white Chaos Emerald. "Leave my friends alone, Bucky!" Copter demanded. Cream pointed to the emerald. "What are you going to do with that?" she asked. The fake Bucky admired his find. "This is the sixth Chaos Emerald. When I find the last one, I'll destroy this planet at last!" he said. "That doesn't sound like you... But who even cares! I won't let you harm my friends!" Copter shouted. "Your pitiful friends mean nothing to me! I'll destroy the world with one fell swoop when I get what I need! Something that, conveniently, is being held by you, Experiment 2! Give me that Chaos Emerald!" he demanded. Copter waited for Cream, Cheese, Gemini, and SPOT to get out of the way, then faced the fake Bucky. "I've had enough of you, my former master! You'll just have to pry that emerald away from my cold, dead hands!" he declared, slipping the tailband back onto his tail. Bucky cackled hideously. "That can be arranged!" He fired ten streams of lightning at Copter, one from each finger, which Copter valiently attempted to dodge, flying over it and diving at Bucky! The fake rat seemed to anticipate this move, and grabbed Copter by the throat, still shooting lightning from his fingertips. "Fool! The world shall crumble under MY power!!" Bucky declared, tightening his grip.

"Not if we can help it!" Right when it seemed Copter was going to be killed, Sonic the Hedgehog ran into the room at the speed of light, blasting between them and knocking them apart! Copter and the fake Bucky fell to the floor, and the Chaos Emerald Copter was carrying was hurled to the floor, caught just in time by Sonic. Tails was right behind Sonic and managed to catch Copter. The fake Bucky stood up and glared at Sonic with hate. "Bah! The hedgehog!" he growled. "Is everyone OK?" Tails asked, looking over everyone and helping Copter to his feet. Copter looked at Tails ashamedly. He'd tried to kill him earlier, yet now he came with Sonic to save his life.

The insane laughter of the fake Bucky got everyone's attention. "You pitiful fools!" he snarled. Tails looked at his glowing eyes and realized it wasn't Bucky. "Look at his eyes! That's not the real Bucky!" "Yellow eyes again!" Sonic said. Copter finally looked at the eyes. "What the heck?" was all he could say. "No... It couldn't be..." Gemini gasped, seemingly knowing something. Tails pointed an accusing finger at the fake Bucky. "He's Experiment 3!" The "rat" laughed at the accusation. "Prove it! You can't, can you?" he said. "They can't, but I can!" a voice called out from the entrance to the room. It was the real Bucky! "That clever fox is right! He is Experiment 3!" Bucky told them. "He's a morph!"

Experiment 3, still looking like Bucky, let out an ear piercing laugh in his own voice. "Allow me to make my own introduction!" The fake rat's body erupted into a bright white light, that slowly bended and transformed until it took a new shape and the light slowly faded. Experiment 3's true form was a furry purple creature, with a hairless muzzle. It wore red gloves and turquois shoes. Between its foxlike ears, four spiky hairs stuck out in a row. It had a long, slim tail, and its most notable feature was its glowing yellow eyes, with colorless pupils. "I am your executioner, Experiment 3. Your devastated world shall know me as Kosmo the Morph!" he cackled triumphantly. "A morph?" Copter said questioningly. Kosmo chose to explain. "A truly special creature! I can take any form I choose!" he said. "But his eyes continue glowing yellow!" Bucky added. Kosmo's back produced two bright lights that became purple, leather wings. He hovered in the air and looked over his foes. "Well, Sonic! I hear your friends are waiting at the control room! Perhaps I should pay them a little visit!" As he started to fly off, Sonic ran off in pursuit, followed by the others. "Don't let him get away!" Bucky shouted, bringing up the rear.


The control room was actually quite large, and the seven emerald terminals holding the fake Master Emeralds circled a large area that was empty except for a dragon statue in the center. Everyone was waiting behind Eggman's control panel, even Sargent Gunner and Spy, and they all spotted Kosmo as soon as he entered. Kosmo retracted his wings and morphed into a purple and red hedgehog, similar to Shadow. "Chaos Spear!" he shouted, using the spear to destroy the dragon statue. Morphing back into his winged form, he produced a scythe, and looked like a gargoyle. "I am the angel of death, Kosmo the Morph! It's judgement day, natural beings!" he proclaimed. Atop the rubble of the dragon statue, Shadow had already rushed to meet his challenge. Sonic, followed by the others, were right behind Kosmo. Tails, Copter, Cream, Cheese, SPOT, Gemini, and Bucky ran over to join the others, and waited to see what would happen next. "You must be Experiment 3's true form." Shadow observed. "It's time to give back those Chaos Emeralds, one way or another!" he shouted. Kosmo landed between the two hedgehogs, facing neither of them. "Very confident, are you?" he growled, glancing at Sonic. "You're definetely not getting the last Chaos Emerald!" Sonic vowed. Kosmo chuckled softly. "You truly haven't a clue what you're up against. I can become anything! That grants me limitless power! Yet you dare to stand against me?!" Eggman laughed from his seat at the control panel. "Take it from me, Kosmo, you severely underestimate those two!" Gunner agreed. "They are the strongest freaks I've ever encountered." Bucky wasn't as confident. "Sonic and Shadow! Don't think this will be easy! Morphs are immensely powerful! He's been toying with us so far, so be careful!" Knuckles began to head in to join them, but Illusi stopped him. "Corner the morph, and his rage will be the end of us! Leave it to Sonic and Shadow!" he suggested.

"Now, let me show you why my own creator fears me!" Kosmo growled, ready to fight. Sonic and Shadow ran toward him, and he dashed out of the way, morphing back into his hedgehog form. "Let's see who's top hedgehog! Chaos Blast!" Kosmo caused a large explosion, which Sonic had to quickly dodge, while Shadow was able to simply Chaos Control away. When the explosion subsided, Kosmo had morphed to his gargoyle form, and flew after Sonic. Sonic used a homing attack to try to hit Kosmo, but he simply smacked the attack aside. However, that was just a diversion, Shadow had gotten behind Kosmo and was able to knock him down with Chaos Spear. "Nice try!" Kosmo snarled, morphing into a purple two tailed fox. "How about this! Chaos Whirlwind!" The whirlwind caught Sonic and Shadow off guard, and tossed them both away. They both landed on their feet, and jumped after Kosmo with their homing attacks, which Kosmo skillfully dodged. "Oh, please! Those feeble attacks don't really work on your other foes, do they?" he said, mocking them. While Sonic and Shadow turned to chase him again, he morphed into an echidna. "I am everything! You cannot hope to defeat me! Chaos Avelanche!" Kosmo used the power of chaos to lift the broken pieces of the dragon statue and hurl them at Sonic and Shadow. The two hedgehogs glanced in each other's direction and nodded. They jumped straight to the rubble Kosmo was tossing at them, and used it as stepping stones to reach Kosmo himself! First Sonic, then Shadow smacked Kosmo with their homing attacks! Kosmo dropped to the floor and reverted to his normal form. "Smart aleks! You still don't get it!" Kosmo morphed the tip of his tail into a spikey ball, and flung it at Shadow like a mace! His tail appeared to be elastic, as after Shadow dodged the attack, Kosmo's tail snapped back to him. He continued this tactic for a short while, keeping Sonic and Shadow on the run, but soon he morphed his tail back to normal. "You two sure are fast." he said, "But it'll take more than speed to stop me!" Sonic and Shadow were both in front of him. "Enough running, then." Shadow said confidently. "Let's finish this!" Sonic agreed. The two hedgehogs ran after Kosmo, who grinned smugly at their approach. "Just try not to bore me!"

To be continued...