Sonic GeneX - Tails the Fox
Arc 2 - Showdowns
Chapter 14 - Knuckles in Cyberspace
Stage 07 - EggmanEmpire.com

2BIT: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?

Back in Eggman's Control Room, which was the room with the holographic Chaos Emeralds, Copter gave Dr. Eggman the report of the battle in Station Square. Eggman seemed a bit annoyed. "I knew Alpha would screw up. I need to improve my E-X series robots."

Eggman seemed forgiving of Copter's failure this time. He turned his attention to his computer screen and pondered for a moment. Then he got an idea. "Punchy! Come here a moment!"

Punchy, who was asleep in his seat, suddenly woke up with a start. "I didn't touch your wife, I swear!" he shouted, apparently still drowsy. When he regained his senses, he rushed over to see what Eggman wanted from him. Eggman pointed to a map on his screen. "This base, located about 3 miles from Station Square, is a GUN facility known as the Security Tower. Housed there is the Chaos Emerald that GUN is saving for a rainy day. I say, it was raining this morning, so they don't need it anymore, if you get my drift."

Knuckles had infiltrated Eggman's base, and was listening from behind the holographic projector. "I knew it! That green echidna is working for Eggman! I bet they stole the Master Emerald together!"

"Punchy and Copter," Eggman continued, "I want you two to get the Chaos Emerald held by GUN, by any means necessary!" Copter and Punchy both gave a quick, unenthusiastic salute, and Eggman led them away to give them further details. Knuckles saw his chance and snuck over to the computer. There was a cyberspace terminal next to it, and Knuckles decided that he would search the computer world for any leads on the location of the Master Emerald. He slowly stepped into the terminal, and was digitized instantly!

(If you've played Shadow the Hedgehog, you know how cyberspace looks there, so I won't go through too much description here, if any.) Knuckles was now in the digital world. After some searching, he found a large area blocked by a big firewall. However, Knuckles had no idea what it was, so he tried to punch through it. Big mistake. "OWWWW!! HOT, HOT, HOT!!!" he screamed.

"You'll never get through the firewall like that!" came the voice of none other than Charmy Bee. "Don't you know anything about cyberspace, Knuckles?"
Knuckles was crying over his hand, which was actually glowing red. "What do you know about it? What are you even doing here!?"
"Looking for info on Eggman's plan." Charmy replied. "If you want to get in there, Knuckles, you'll need to find a terminal that'll open the firewall!" Charmy then flew over toward a bitstream leading across a deep chasm. "I've checked everywhere else already, so I bet the terminal's this way!"

Knuckles didn't know the first thing about bitstreams. "How do we get over there!? In case you didn't notice, I can't fly!"
Charmy flew behind Knuckles. "Don't you worry! I'll be your digital guide!" he said before pushing Knuckles into the bitstream! Knuckles landed feet first, and tried to keep his footing as the bitstream pushed him forward. Charmy followed in the air behind, laughing. After all, he's supposed to roll through the bitstreams! However, Knuckles instead struggled to maintain balance on his feet. (talk about surfing the internet!) He finally reached the platform on the other side and tripped off the bitstream, landing face-first. "I hate computers..." he grumbled.

"Over here, Knuckles!" Charmy called from across the platform. "The terminal is over here!"

Knuckles scrambled to his feet and ran toward the terminal. Halfway there, he was stopped by the sudden appearance of viruses! However, they appeared only to be harmless little black kittens. Knuckles wasn't concerned with them, and kept walking, completely oblivious to the fact that the kittens were surrounding him. Charmy called this to his attention. "Knuckles, what are you doing!? This is Eggman's computer! Are you so gullible to be fooled by the 'cute' act of those kitties?!"

"No." Knuckles replied. "I just can't hurt something that seems so harmless!" So, as if in response, the virus kittens had a quick transformation. They jumped up into the air and landed as vicious cat monsters! They had big, sharp claws, glowing yellow eyes, spikes lining their whiplike tails, and saber-teeth! A red one, apparently the leader, spoke with a voice that sounded sort of like purring. "We are Dr. Eggman's Ninja Purrr Virus Squad! Troops, get that hacker!"

The Purrrs charged at Knuckles with intense speed. Thinking fast, Knuckles jumped high into the air, leaving the Purrrs to run right into each other and knock themselves down! The red one smacked his own face and rubbed his eyes in annoyance. "Bloody morons! Looks like I, Firepaw, will have to deal with you myself!"

Knuckles landed in front of Firepaw. "Fine then, chump! Let's see what you got!"

Firepaw meowed excitedly and picked up his tail, which suddenly caught of fire! "They don't call me Firepaw for nothing. Meowr!"
"But that's not your paw, it's your tail!" Knuckles mumbled, them shook his head quickly. "Err, who cares! I'll show you!" Knuckles ran at Firepaw, who simply threw his tail at Knuckles. Firepaw's tail seemed to grow longer as it smacked Knuckles across the chest, causing him to fall over and yell in pain. Firepaw then retracted his tail and chuckled. "Child's play!"

Knuckles had recieved some nasty burns, but he couldn't stop now. He had to find the Master Emerald! He slowly rose to his feet, and noticed that Charmy was preoccupied with fighting the other Purrrs. Firepaw approached the injured Knuckles, and prepared finish the feisty echidna with his claws. Knuckles, however, was not so easily beaten. As Firepaw attempted to slash Knuckles, the echidna ducked under the attack and grabbed Firepaw's tail, causing the Purrr to trip! Knuckles then tossed the flaming tail towards the terminal, and missed it by a centimeter. However, it was close enough. The flames from the tail ignited the terminal and soon it was engulfed in flame. Flames apparently spread easier in the digital world.

Firepaw retracted his tail and stood up, his face seeming redder than usual. "You stupid son of a--"
He was interrupted by Charmy bashing him  over the head with one of his underlings. "There! That'll fix ya!"
Knuckles looked around at the unconscious Purrrs. "What the.. How did you fight off all those viruses?!"
"Aw, c'mon Knuckles! That wasn't hard! Quit playing around!

The destruction of the terminal was enough to destroy the firewall. Knuckles and Charmy returned to it and stepped into the next section of the digital world. After a while, Knuckles spotted a digital replica of the Master Emerald, as well as various other objects. "This must be where the data on Eggman's schemes is stored!" Charmy said.

Knuckles started walking in the direction of the data, but a large shadow appeared between him and it. Knuckles and Charmy looked up to see a giant virus cerberus falling from the sky! It's fur was red, yellow, and blue, with the left head yellow, the right head red, and the middle head blue. Sitting on top of the blue head, was Char the Chao! He laughed playfully. "That was cool how you beat Firepaw, but the game's up, hackers! The Virus Tri Demon will delete ya from the digital world! Ha ha ha!"


Chapter 15 - The Vicious Virus
Boss 09 - Virus Tri Demon


Char flew down from the Virus Tri Demon, laughing at the intruders. "You can't beat the Tri Demon! Each of his three heads has a different power! Fire, Ice, and Lightning!"

Knuckles looked up at the beast. It had a horn on each of its three heads. Sure enough, each horn was emitting its corresponding element. The fiery red head opened its mouth and shot some flame breath in Knuckles direction! Knuckles and Charmy each ran a different direction to avoid the flames. Knuckles ran behind the monster, only to find it had three elemental tails as well! "Ooops, forgot to mention that!" Char said playfully. "What're ya gonna do now?"
The lightning tail whipped at Knuckles and zapped him, causing his digital image to flicker somewhat. Charmy flew over to tell him why. "Knuckles! Don't let that monster shock you! Electricity can be more dangerous in here than in the real world! You could get deleted!"

At this point, the Tri Demon had turned around, and shot an icy breath at Charmy! "Yiiiiikes!!" Charmy screamed before being frozen solid! Now, Knuckles was mad. "All right, punk! You're gonna pay for that!!"

Char just laughed some more. "Tri Demon, just finish him already!"

Knuckles looked up at the three heads of the beast. Then, he got an idea. He jumped up at the middle head, grabbing its icy horn in order to prevent the monster from shaking him off. The ice was giving Knuckles hands frostbite, but his plan worked. The Tri Demon became angry, and tried desperately to shake the echidna off his head. The flame head, sick of this, opened its mouth to blast Knuckles with its fire breath. At this point, Knuckles jumped down. The fire head torched the spot where Knuckles had been standing, and melted the ice on the horn a little! This made the blue head angry and confused. It turned around and breathed icy breath on the fire head, causing its horn's flame to die down a little. The two heads began fighting amongst themselves, so Knuckles tossed the frozen Charmy at the ice head just in time for more flame to hit it. Charmy was defrosted, and quickly flew away!

"Stop that, Tri Demon!" Char said, chuckling sheepishly. He flew to the lightning head. "Are you just gonna sit there!? Do something!!"

Taking Char's orders to heart, the yellow lightning head turned on the other two heads and breathed a lightning breath on the two of them! The electric current now shot through the Tri Demon's entire body, and it began to flicker as Knuckles had done earlier! Char started panicking. "Hey, you stupid virus! Don't you know you'll be deleted! Stop fighting each other and get that intruder!!" So, the three heads stopped just in time and turned on Knuckles!

Charmy, thinking fast, grabbed Knuckles by the hand and flew them both to the Tri Demon's back. "Hey, ya big dummy! Try to get us now!" he teased.
"What do you think you're doing!?" Knuckles shouted. But it then became clear. With its heads unable to hit them, the monster tried to whip them with its tails! Knuckles and Charmy started dodging them, Knuckles in a complete panic. Each time the tails missed, the Tri Demon was injured. Finally, the virus had enough, and twisted its heads around (with great effort). It shot three elemental blasts at Knuckles and Charmy. Charmy quickly flew out of the way, whule Knuckles slipped and fell off the creature's back. The three blasts hit the virus's back, and it soon faded too far and exploded!

Char clapped his hands excitedly. "Great show! I wish I had popcorn!" It seemed nothing could put a damper on Char's good mood. "I guess you win this time. I'll catch ya later! Bye!!" Char then flew off toward the terminal exit.
"I'd better go, too." Charmy said. "I gotta look for that data Vector asked me to find! I'll see you later Knuckles!"
Knuckles waved good-bye as the bee flew off deeper into cyberspace.

After a while, Knuckles finally figured out how to read the data. "I knew it! Eggman DID steal the Master Emerald! That liar! He must be using it to make fakes!"
Suddenly, Knuckles noticed another shadow looming over him. He turned around quickly and struck a battle-ready pose. "Get back! I'm in no mood for more mon--" Knuckles stopped when he saw who it was. Gemini!

She was still in dragon form, which was why she cast such a big shadow. "Hey, Knuckles! What a surprise! What are you doing in here?" she said excitedly.
"I could ask you the same question." Knuckles replied.
"Well," Gemini began, "I found my spell book here in Eggman's base, but the page I needed was torn out! It was a transformation spell. It could change anything into anything..."
Knuckles started thinking. "Anything?"
"Anything!"

A light bulb went off in Knuckles' mind. "That's it!! That's why that Master Emerald was made of rocks!" (see chapter 7)
Gemini looked confused. "What's up, Knuckles?"
Knuckles started walking past Gemini toward the terminal exit. "No time to explain! We need to find a nerd...like Tails! Follow me, Gemini!"
Gemini turned around and looked at Knuckles with a puzzled look. "Follow you? Well, OK...but can't you explain on the way?"
So, the two set off in search of Tails...


Chapter 16 - Security Tower of Terror
Stage 08 - Security Tower



The Security Tower was just what it sounds like, a large tower, full of security! GUN troops patrolled the perimeter, and search lights would catch anything before it could approach. In the small, forested area around the tower, GUN beetles surveyed the area. There was no way to get in without being detected. One of the beetles was hovering in a lightly forested area. It searched the immediate area for movement. The tree branches shook! The beetle turned to look in the direction of the sound. Nothing. Must have been wind. Or not.

Copter burst out of the tree behind the beetle, landed on top, and smashed through the top of it with the claws of his right hand! Copter then quickly jumped off, just in time for the beetle to explode! Punchy stepped over from behind a tree. He handed Copter the glove he had removed in order to use his claws. "That's all well and good, Copter, but I thought we were in a hurry!" Punchy grumbled.

"Smashing those tin cans helps me think." Copter said. He put on his right glove again, then moved the cuff of his left glove so he could see a watch like device on his wrist. Punchy glanced at it. It looked a bit strange for a watch. "What's that for?" Punchy asked.

Copter responded, with utmost seriousness, "To keep track of the time." He then hid it under his glove again. "And you're right. We've no time for games."
"Right, so what's the plan?" Punchy replied. Copter flew up above the trees to get a look at the area. There appeared to be no easy way in. Copter dropped back down. "Security's tight..." The two glanced over at each other and gave each other evil grins. "Wanna do this the easy way?" Punchy chuckled.
"You mean no stealth? Great, let's go!"

Before they could leave, a wrongo dropped down in front of them. "What the heck?!" Copter shouted, startled by the odd creature. Punchy clenched his fist with rage. "Illusi..."
"I see you still remember me, Dark One. Not surprising. It's only been a few mere hours." Illusi said as a puff of smoke switched him with his wrongo. "I must warn you, it's not safe."
Copter made a strange face, looking like he was straining to remember something. "Do I know you?" he finally said. A wrongo popped up in front of his face. "Guess not." he sighed.
"What do you want?" Punchy growled. Illusi appeared startled by Punchy's attitude toward him. "Dark One, that's no way to talk to someone who tries to help you!"
"Help? You weren't very helpful back at the ruins!" Punchy growled, approaching Illusi as if he was about to fight him. Copter stepped between them and raised a hand to stop Punchy. "Let's hear him out. Maybe he knows something that could help us. I for one do not wish to die today!"

Illusi turned around and made a few movements with his hands. Suddenly, a blurred image of a metal door writhed in blue flames appeared in front of them. "The Chaos Emerald is located inside the vault. However, a dark force bars your path."
Punchy rolled his eyes at Illusi. "We could just put out the fire..."
Illusi waved his hands and increased the size of the illusion. "This is what's happening in there right now..." he explianed. Two GUN soldiers approached the door. One held a fire extinguisher in his hands, which he used in an attempt the douse the flames. It had no effect. The other soldier spoke, "It's not even hot..." To confirm this, the GUN soldiers reached out their hands to touch it....

What happened to the GUN soldiers is too gruesome to describe. Copter grimaced at the horrific scene, and Punchy seemed to turn even greener. Punchy could not take it, and he ran behind a tree to vomit in disgust. "A bit squeamish, are you, Punchy?" Copter said shakily. When Punchy looked back at the soldiers, all he could see were skeletons, with red lights where their eyes once were, wearing the uniforms of the two soldiers! Illusi then waved his hands to cause the illusion to vanish. "Terrible. Those soldiers have become Loskel!"

"So, touching the flames is DEFINETELY out!" Copter said, still shaken by what he had seen. "What do we do then?"

"Simple." Illusi said. "We must find the ghosts that created that Ghost Fire, and expel them from the tower. Such a flame must be powered by three spirits, so I suggest we split up and search the place." With that, Illusi snapped his fingers and vanished in smoke. "I'm already inside, Dark Ones! Get in, quickly!"

Copter and Punchy took off for the entrance of the Security Tower. Copter pulled a pair of pistols seemingly from nowhere. (how do the Sonic characters do that?!) "I detest the use of firearms, but I'm in a hurry!" Copter grumbled as they ran toward the front door. They were suddenly hit by a blinding light as the searchlights found them. Unwavering, they continued toward a small army of beetles commanded by six GUN soldiers. "Child's play!" Punchy shouted, and ran right past the beetles as they opened fire all around him! He grabbed the first GUN soldier, twisting his arm behind his back, causing him to drop his gun. Punchy grabbed the GUN, and, using the soldier as a shield, shot the other five soldiers down. Meanwhile, Copter had taken to the sky and was raining bullets down on the hapless beetles, causing a tremendous fireworks show as they exploded one by one. They finished their assault by each putting a bullet into the remaining GUN soldier. "The soldiers should live." Copter remarked. "They're wearing bulletproof uniforms."
"I know that, Copter! Don't have to state the obvious!" Punchy growled. "This means we have to get in and out before they wake up. So hurry up!"

Copter and Punchy split up and began searching for the ghosts. Easier said than done, for the whole tower was in an uproar. However, the soldiers appeared to generally ignore the experiment intruders. Copter would soon find out what was really scaring them...

Copter, after a long search, found his way into the calmer "Spy Network" center of the Security Tower. One look around, and he could see why it was so calm. The offices were completely empty! "Well, this looks like a ghost town..." Copter remarked. Suddenly, a gaseous blue creature flew out of one of the offices and approached Copter. It had a holes in its "head" representing eyes and a mouth, and two disconnected hands that flew in front of its main body. Copter fired his guns at it without thinking, wasting the last of his bullets as they passed through the gaseous creature. This action caused a slimy fluid to fall from the creature like rain until the bullets stopped, and it was now clear that the gas was "carrying" this slime! Worse, the slime that fell out took its own form as a pair of losol. The losol lunged at Copter, and he narrowly dodged the monsters. "Dang it! How can I stop this thing!?" Copter thought. He ran out of the way as the gaseous creature, a lospirit, breathed ghost fire in his direction. Copter then concentrated his energy on an attack. "I've had enough of this! Chaos Whirlwind!!" After calling the attack, a gust of chaotic energy burst forth from Copter's body and encircled the lospirit and losol. The three slime ghosts spun  around in a vortex of pure chaos energy, which soon collapsed on itself, leaving only a puddle of losol in its wake. However, with the lospirit gone, the losol appeared lifeless. Copter stepped closer to make sure they were dead, and the slime suddenly seemed to evaporate into thin air. "One down, two to go." he said after shaking his head in bewilderment at what he had been fighting. "I wonder how Punchy's doing." he added, heading in the direction he thought the vault was in.

Punchy was in a large warehouse. Ghostly blue wrongos were swarming all around the room, completely surrounding him. A ghostly illusion of Illusi was hovering overhead, laughing at him. "What's wrong, Dark One? Are all these illusion wrongos causing you trouble? Only one is real. Why can't you pick out the real one? Blinded by the dark side? Eh heh heh heh!!"
Punchy looked up at the swarm of ghost wrongos. Only one was real, and according to Illusi, it was one of the ghosts fueling the Ghost Fire. All these illusions were getting on Punchy's nerves. How could he stop them? He had tried punching them, but his punches just flew right through them, accomplishing nothing. Bullets wouldn't work. How does one kill a ghost? "If only one is real," Punchy said, "why are they all exactly the same? One has to behave differently..."
Illusi let out another laugh. "Running out of time, Dark One! They're getting angry!"
At his words, lightning began shooting out from all the illusions! Punchy tried to dodge it, but he soon found himself caught in the electric onslaught! But for some reason, the shocks didn't hurt as much as Punchy would expect. "This is painful, but it doesn't feel like an army of shocks." he thought. "I must only be feeling the attack of the real one!"
Punchy realized that the pain he was feeling seemed to be coming from a particular wrongo. It seemed to be coming from a wrongo hovering near Illusi! Punchy struggled, and broke free from the attack. He then launched an attack of his own. "Chaos Avelanche!"
At Punchy's words, the floor cracked in front of him, and pieces of it broke off and were flung at the wrongos by a chaotic energy! Illusi's illusion moved out of the way as the stones passed through the wrongos. Nothing happened. The chaos-charged stones did nothing to the wrongos, and now another shock slammed Punchy from behind! Punchy was knocked over, tumbling into the hole in the ground he had created! He barely managed to grab the edge before falling over, and slowly pulled himself up. "Why didn't that work? Even ghosts can't stand up to chaos energy. Unless those wrongos aren't ghosts..."
Punchy noticed that the attack had once again come from Illusi's direction. "That's not Illusi..." he thought, "That's the ghost!" He quickly jumped past another shock attack and called for another Chaos Avelanche attack, this time directed at Illusi. Illusi was too close to the attack, and couldn't dodge! The chaos boulders hit their target, and the fake illusi morphed into a lospirit before exploding into losol slime, all over Punchy! "Eeeew! Get it off! Get it off!" Punchy shouted, shaking off the slime, which vanished before hitting the ground. The ghost wrongos also vanished at that moment, and Punchy breathed a sigh of relief. "I hope they don't ALL imitate people I know..."

Meanwhile, the real Illusi had found the final ghost at the vault. A much more transparent version of the lospirit, turquoise in color, and without hands. Its face seemed disconnected, its eyes and mouth moved freely in its cloudy form, though they mostly stayed close, and resembled a face most of the time. The face kept moving to keep up with Illusi as he circled around it. Illusi knew this creature's name. "Lospector! I should have known you were behind this!" Illusi said.
Lospector laughed tauntingly. "What's the matter, shrew-boy? I'm just having a bit of fun!"
Illusi pointed to the loskels that were still standing by the door, keeping a silent guard. Lospector looked at Illusi quizzically. "I'm a monster! What do you expect me to do to people? By the way, you know I have to do that to the Dark One."
"I forbid it!" Illusi shouted. Lospector just laughed at him. "You and what army?"

"This army!" came the voice of Punchy, followed by Copter. "I don't know what you are," Copter said, "but you're not going to get away with murdering GUN soldiers!"
Lospector laughed like this was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. "You think so? Let's see what you say when they're trying to murder YOU! Ta-ta!" With that, Lospector vanished. The loskels in GUN uniforms then cocked their rifles and began to stir.
"Well, good luck, dark ones!" Illusi said before snapping his fingers and vanishing in smoke.

"Great... You take the one on the left, I'll get the right!" Copter instructed Punchy. "Time to crack some skulls!"


Chapter 17 - The Eggman Empire's Reach
Boss 10 - Techno Sonic


The loskels didn't waste any time, and opened fire on Copter and Punchy immediately. Copter flew out of the way, while Punchy was forced to roll past the shots. This allowed Punchy to get close to the first loskel and attempt to punch it. His attack hit its mark, and the loskel fell to the floor in pieces. Punchy laughed triumphantly. "Ha! Too easy!" However, it wasn't over yet. The broken bones quickly reassembled themselves right then before Punchy's eyes. "Aw, shoot!" Punchy had to quickly dive out of the way as the monster fired the rifle at him again, losing the last of its bullets in the failed attack. Meanwhile, the other loskel had wasted all of its bullets on Copter, who gracefully dodged them all as he flipped and spun about in the air. "What're you gonna do now, monsters?" he said in a mocking tone.

The loskels responded by reaching into their armor and pulling out golden sword hilts, without blades. They turned to the ghost fire and plunged the hilts into it, pulling out blades of blue flame! Copter dropped to the ground next to Punchy. "We don't have time for this!" Copter growled. Punchy smiled, and said, "Then maybe we should quit playing around and show them the true power of the experiments!"

The loskels interrupted their conversation by swinging their ghost blades at the duo, who very quickly rolled out of the way and called out their attack. "Chaos.... Blast!!" A chaotic explosion erupted from the two experiments, reducing the skeletons to...slime? "Are all these monsters made of slime?" Punchy grumbled. "They make me nauseous when they melt like that!"

With the loskel defeated, the ghost fire surrounding the vault door died out. Copter groaned at the realization that the vault was locked. "Don't tell me we have to find keys!"
Punchy responded by attacking the door with his fist. All that earned him was pain. "OWWW!!! What is this door made from!?" Suddenly, the door slid open, and Copter stepped into the vault, chuckling. "Guess what? It was password protected! Password was GUN. How pathetically simple." Punchy's jaw dropped in disbelief. "You couldn't do that BEFORE I broke my hand!?" Copter turned around and scowled at him. "Don't be such a baby! It's not broken, you fool!"

The two stepped into the large vault, where boxes of top secret weapons and other junk were scattered all over, piled up as high as Copter's height. However, the boxes were mostly out of the way, and Copter and Punchy soon located the Chaos Emerald in the center of the vault. "Mission complete!" Punchy said excitedly, "Now let's get out of here!" He turned to exit the vault when Copter ran in front of him and pushed him back. "Hold it, stupid! It's far too easy! This has gotta be a--"

"Freeze!" came a voice from behind a stack of boxes. Sargent Gunner stepped out from his hiding place and between the experiments and the exit. "--trap." Copter finished. Spy emerged from behind the boxes as well, standing behind Gunner, and sporting a pair of shades. "All right! We're such geniouses, waiting for you here!" he said triumphantly. However, they both appeared unarmed. "So, you're gonna stop me with your ugly face?" Copter growled. "Stand aside!"

"You know me better than that, Experiment 2!" Gunner said deviously. He quickly frowned, however. "Hey, where's Sonic? Who is that green echidna?" He then shook his head and resumed his stern expression. "Never mind! You're going to pay for everything you've done today!"

Copter clenched his fists as well as his teeth. "I'm not going back to Death Row, Gunner!"
Gunner grinned deviously. "Agreed. I'll just kill you both here, and never be bothered by you furry freaks again! Come on out, Techno Sonic!"
A pile of boxes behind Copter and Punchy exploded as a new Sonic mech emerged from its hiding place. Far more advanced than Metal Sonic, Techno Sonic's power armor concealed various weapons and gadgets. It's "eyes" were even quite advanced, including radar, tracking, targeting, night-vision; you name it, Techno Sonic had it. It's hands had been withdrawn into its arms and replaced with a pair of laser blasters. Techno Sonic also employed a special plasma shield that made it nearly impervious to attacks. Copter merely scoffed at the robot. "Big deal. Dr. Eggman has a fake Sonic, too. This is just another metal moron for me to scrap."

"We know Dr. Eggman has a Metal Sonic." Spy said, "He even made this one special for us."
Gunner turned around suddenly and slapped Spy. "You idiot! Why would you tell them a thing like that!?"
Spy rubbed his face where Gunner had hit him. "I just thought..."
"You don't think, don't give me that!" Gunner snarled. "Come on, we'll leave these pests to Techno Sonic!"
With that, Sargent Gunner and Spy ran out of the vault.

Once Gunner was out of the way, Techno Sonic fired its laser! Copter and Punchy barely managed to jump out of the way. In fact, the shot had burned the soles of Punchy's shoes. "Hey, these are brand new! You'll pay for that!"
Copter ran behind the stacks of boxes, leaving Punchy alone to fight the robot. "Hey, what are you doing, Copter? You can't leave me hangin' like this!" Punchy then jumped to avoid the next laser shot. "Try something original, Techno!" Punchy shouted. Techno Sonic responded by gathering the plasma energy of its shield and firing it as a shockwave on the ground, blasting boxes as it passed. Punchy, not knowing how to glide, was forced to run for the wall. But he wasn't going to make it! Luckily, Copter hadn't gone too far. He flew over to Punchy. "Grab my hand!" he instructed, but Punchy was in a panic, so he jumped and flung his arms around Copter, sure to lift himself completely over the plasma shockwave. "Hand! I said hand!!" Copter shouted. "That does it! Punchy, use Chaos Blast!"
Before Punchy could say anything, Copter had grabbed his arm and flung him toward Techno Sonic. Punchy quickly used Chaos Blast just in time to hit Techno Sonic! The chaotic explosion knocked the robot into a pile of boxes, while Punchy was flung in the opposite direction and landed in a panicked heap at Copter's feet. "Mommy, make it stooooop..." Punchy babbled.

The vault grew quiet. Confident that the threat had passed, Copter held up the shiny blue emerald. "That's two! Let's go, Punchy!" Wasting no time, Copter ran out of the vault. Punchy staggered to his feet. "Hey, wait up..."

Just then, Illusi appeared in a puff of smoke at the exit to the vault. "Well done, Dark One!" he said, clapping his hands. Punchy took a step in his direction, clenching his fists at the shrew for the second time that day. "Why do you keep calling me that?!" he demanded.
"Why, don't you know? It is what you are! A dark being!" Illusi replied. "If you weren't, I doubt you'd be helping a man such as Dr. Eggman!"
Punchy crossed his arms and scowled at Illusi. "What do you know, anyway!?"
"The truth." Illusi said, in the most serious manner. "I know the truth."
Before Punchy could say anything, Illusi was gone again in a flash of blinding light. "Illusi...Who ARE you!?" Punchy muttered.
"Hey, Punchy! Hurry up!" Copter shouted from outside the vault.
As Punchy ran for the exit to the vault, a metalic hand burst up from underneath the boxes where Techno Sonic fell...

Once they were well on their way back, Copter posed a question to Punchy. "Do you think Eggman really gave that robot to Gunner to stop us?"
"Right, that..." Punchy thought for a moment, then took on an expression of rage. "I'll snap Eggman like a twig!"
"Don't be hasty." Copter suggested. "Let's see how this plays out. Maybe there's still a way we can use Dr. Eggman."
"OK..." Punchy replied. "But so far, it looks like he's the one that's using us!"


Chapter 18 - War on Sonic!
Stage 09 - Aqua Isle
Boss 11 - E-3X Terra


Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and SPOT had all returned to Tails Workshop. Once there, SPOT informed them that he had detected a Chaos Emerald. It was on an island off the coast of the Mystic Ruins. Upon hearing that, Amy insisted upon going with them. "I've heard that Aqua Isle is really romantic!" she had said, "We gotta go together, Sonic!"
"It's too dangerous!" Sonic insisted, "What if Eggman attacks again?"
"Then you'll be there to protect me!" Amy said, lost in a romantic daydream.
"It sounds like fun!" Cream added, "I want to go, too!"

Thus, Tails had to make two trips with the Tornado. With a second seat added to it, and since Sonic always rode on the wings, Tails could take up to three people at a time, counting himself. So, he brought Sonic and Amy there first, then returned for Cream, Cheese, and SPOT.

Sonic, afraid of being alone with Amy, ran ahead to look for the Chaos Emerald on his own. Aqua Isle was actually two islands, a large one and a small one. They were joined together by a large bridge. It was a tropical island, with beautiful sandy beaches, palm trees, and, as its name implies, water. Rivers and lakes covered much of the island, and almost all of the island was also covered with sand. Not the best place for moving at high speeds. On the far side of the island was a large, icy mountain. The mountain was constantly bombarded by blizzards, and since GUN had built a base up there, it was called Blizzard Warzone.

At the foot of the mountain, there was a large lake. A waterfall crashed down onto it from the mountain. Next to the lake was the "gateway" to Blizzard Warzone. A GUN building that housed the starting point for the cable car that led up the mountain. A few feet from the door to the building, a sparkling white Chaos Emerald was waiting. After some time searching, Sonic had found it. But something wasn't right...

"The white emerald?" Sonic looked at the emerald they obtained from Glitter Casino. Also white! One of those emeralds was a fake!

Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and SPOT ran toward Sonic, since SPOT was detecting the emerald, they managed to get there quickly. "Sonic! Stop!!" Tails shouted. Before they could reach Sonic, a battalion of GUN Trooper robots dropped from the sky, blocking their path! Sonic turned around and shouted at the robots. "Have you blown a circuit!?" He then picked up the fake Chaos Emerald. "Or maybe this was some sort of trap!"

The door to the cable car building flung open, and Sargent Gunner stepped out, aiming a pistol at Sonic. "How observant of you, freak! This trap is payback for your treachery! You furry freaks broke Experiment 2 out of prison! Then you helped him take our Chaos Emerald from the Security Tower!" Gunner said with rage. Then, Spy's voice came from Gunner's walkie talkie, "We destroyed the bridge, Sarge! They left their plane on the small island, so now they're trapped!" Gunner smiled devilishly. "Excellent! You freaks are going to pay for all you've done!"
Sonic's eyes widened in disbelief. "I already told your Commander! I had nothing to do with any of that!"
"Save it!" Gunner snarled. "I've been waiting years for this..."

"And you'll have to wait a bit longer!" came a voice from the sky. Eggman's plane lowered from the air where he had watched the whole thing! "Go back to your board room, Gunner! Leave the exterminating to a professional!"
Gunner fired his gun into the air, getting Eggman's attention. "Ivo! We had a deal! You would provide that fake Chaos Emerald, and we would eliminate the furry freaks!"
Eggman stroked his moustache, grinning. "Why, Sarge, I thought you wanted the job done! Your troops already let Sonic escape once today, so why shouldn't I offer a little help? Like this!" Eggman turned to face Sonic again. "You may have beaten E-2X, but there's no way you can stop E-3X! Come on out, Terra!"

The purple and black robot, which had previously looked like Chaos Gamma, now resembled Beta Mark 2, but with more lasers mounted on its arms. It hovered from the sky to Sonic's position. "Target aquired! Destroy Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Gunner, not one to be ignored, called out to the Troopers. "GUN troops! Attack the other freaks! Don't let them get away!" The robots then caused a rain of bullets to soar towards Tails and the others. SPOT brought out its shield again, which they all ducked behind. "The shield won't last long at this rate!" Tails realized. "We gotta do something!"
Amy pulled out her hammer. "Something like this!" she shouted, tossing the hammer over the shield and smashing a robot. "Now what?" Tails said, "You lost your hammer!"
Amy pulled out another hammer. "I got spares!"

Meanwhile, Sonic was running circles around Terra, dodging laser fire from the robot. Terra was fast, but not fast enough, and he just couldn't hit Sonic. Gunner lost patience with this quickly, and tried to shoot the hedgehog himself. Sonic noticed this and then got an idea. He jumped onto Terra's large, cannon-like arms and stuck his tongue out at Gunner. "Freak!" Gunner shouted, "I'll show you!!" He fired at Sonic, who jumped off of Terra, causing the shot to take out one of Terra's eyes. "Bzzzzzt!! Damage taken! Anger levels rising rapidly! Must have vengeance!" Terra screeched.

SPOT's shield was soon destroyed, forcing Tails and the others to scatter. SPOT began firing lasers at the robots, damaging but not destroying them, while Amy would finish the job with her hammer. Cream and Cheese flew about, avoiding the shots of the robots while Tails attacked the distracted troops with his tails. However, they were greatly outnumbered, and even Terra was keeping Sonic on the run. It had become a war of attrition. Something had to tip the scales in someone's favor...

That's just what happened. Amidst the chaotic fighting, Gemini the Dragon dropped down into the middle of it, Knuckles sitting on her back. "Looks like they ran into some trouble here." Knuckles observed. "Gemini, take care of the enemies! Use your magic!"
Gemini flipped through the pages of her spell book in a panic. "I can't find anything... Wait, here! Abra-ka-Blastra!!"

Just then, a blinding flash of light erupted from Gemini's wand! It covered the entire area, and was the last thing Sonic saw before blacking out...

The first thing Sonic saw waking up was Amy's worry-filled eyes. "Thank goodness, you're awake!" she said, hugging him tightly. Sonic struggled to get her off him and then stood up, looking around. "What happened? Where are we?"

They were near the bridge that had been destroyed by GUN's troops. How did they get so far away? Amy looked as confused as Sonic. "I'm not sure what happened, but I think everyone was scattered all over the island!" she said. Sonic looked around. No one else was in sight. "We better find Tails and Cream before Eggman or GUN!" Sonic declared. "Try to keep up, Amy! We're going back to that lake! It's as good a place to start as any!"

So, their journey began. But with Eggman and Gunner's troops scattered all over the island, even Sonic would have a difficult time finding his friends...


Chapter 19 - Shadow's search for Truth
Stage 10 - Blizzard Warzone
Boss 12 - Metal Sonic


Shadow had been searching for answers to the riddle of the experiments. Where had they come from? Where were experiments one, two, and three? What became of their creator? The search for answers had led Shadow to Death Row, but he found no answers there. All he learned was that Sargent Gunner, who was in charge of recapturing Experiment 2, had gone to Blizzard Warzone, on the Aqua Isle. To reach the top of the mountain, Shadow had "borrowed" one of GUN's helicopters at Death Row. He landed on a large snowy cliff overlooking another cliff, which wrapped around that side of the mountain. Shadow looked down from the cliff he landed on and saw that various GUN robots were fighting with several different varieties of Eggman's robots. "What's going on here? Why would the doctor's robots be here?" Shadow thought.

He jumped down to the lower cliff, and all the robots abruptly stopped and aimed their guns at him. "Hey, what did I do?" Shadow said. The robots didn't even flinch. They began firing at Shadow immediately. Running out of the way, Shadow muttered to himself. "I have no desire or need to fight with these robots! I need to find Gunner or Eggman, right now!" Shadow took off around the cliff, and soon noticed a large military building was built up there. So was a large battalion of GUN mechs. Shadow was also being followed by the other robots that had fired at him before. "Nowhere to go but straight ahead!" he realized. He ran straight past the GUN mechs, which became distracted by Eggman's robots that had followed Shadow. "Not sure what's going on, but at least this is easy as a result."

Shadow approached the door to the building. There were voices speaking inside, and Shadow recognized one as Eggman's! Not wasting any time to think, Shadow kicked open the door and walked in. Eggman, in his plane, was with Metal Sonic near the door, facing Spy and Rouge on the other side of the room. The four of them turned their attention to Shadow. "Ah, Shadow." Eggman said, "I was just having a chat with the GUN Sargent's aide. It seems that GUN has something against me coming to help them."
"I don't pretend to understand anything the sarge says..." Spy said, "But I follow his orders! And I order you, Rouge, to fight off Eggman! I will be running for my life..." As Spy said this, he began running past Eggman and Shadow. As he passed Shadow, Shadow grabbed his arm. "One question. Where is Sargent Gunner?"
"In the Blizzard Warzone base. Good-bye!" Spy quicky pulled away from Shadow and ran off. "Coward!" Rouge said, irritated by Spy's behavior.
Eggman looked a bit perplexed. "How did that coward get to be a GUN agent? Strange..." Then, he remembered Rouge. "Well, bat girl, you've been ordered to stop me? Sorry, but I have better things to do than fight with you. Metal Sonic, you keep her company while I take care of more important matters! Bye now!"

Eggman flew past Shadow and out the door, briefly waving to Shadow as he passed by. Shadow, not about to let Metal Sonic hurt Rouge, ran into the room between them. "Listen up, you pile of scrap! If you want to hurt her, you'll have to go through me first!"
Metal Sonic slowly approached Shadow. "The Ultimate Life Form. At last we meet. I am Metal Sonic!"
"I know who you are! We fought once before. Back when Rouge awakoned me. Don't you remember?" Shadow said in an irritated tone.
"Incorrect data. Pathetic delaying tactic!" Metal Sonic followed up his reply by ramming Shadow with his fist, knocking him back slightly. Shadow was not affected much, and was only angered further by the attack. "Don't push me! I am not one to be forgiving!"
Rouge put her hands on her hips impatiently. "Are you two gonna just sit there threatening each other or are you gonna fight?"
Shadow looked over at her and shot her an angry look. "You know, I COULD just leave this to you!"
Metal Sonic took this distraction as an opportunity to hit Shadow with a forceful kick to the head that sent Shadow skyward. Shadow landed on his back, and Metal Sonic wasted no time chasing Shadow to where he landed and giving him a nasty punch to the gut. However, this was Shadow's chance to grab Metal Sonic's arm and flip him over his head! Both fighters scrambled to their feet and unleashed a flurry of attacks at each other, both taking damage but neither letting up. Finally, Metal Sonic launched a cheap kick between Shadow's legs. Shadow doubled over in pain, and Metal Sonic grabbed his arm and launched him out the door and into the snowy cliffside. The robot slowly walked to where Shadow had landed, not anticipating Shadow's retaliation. The black hedgehog jumped from the ground and kicked Metal Sonic accross the head in midair! This knocked the robot over, but only for a moment. Both seemed able to continue for a while still. At that moment, Rouge ran outside and tossed something toward them. "Shadow, catch!"

Shadow caught the object, a shiny white Chaos Emerald. Shadow could tell it was fake, but even a fake can be quite useful. "Chaos Control!!" Shadow shouted, vanishing and reappearing behind Metal Sonic. Shadow then used Chaos Spear to launch several spears of energy searing at Metal Sonic, knocking the robot forward, but not damaging it. However, the force of the attack combined with the slippery surface caused Metal Sonic to slide over the ledge and off the cliff!

Shadow looked down and saw that Metal Sonic, while still miraculously in one piece, was not moving. It had landed on a deep snowbank, and perhaps was rusting from the snow. Shadow then turned to Rouge. "Can you take me to Sargent Gunner?" he asked.
"How about a thank you!?" Rouge grumbled. "If it wasn't for me tossing you that fake emerald, Metal Sonic would still be pounding the brains out of you!"
Shadow just frowned. "Is that a no?"
Rouge heaved a heavy sigh. "Follow me. You did save me from having to do that myself..."

As the two walked away, Metal Sonic climbed out of the snowbank. "Massive internal damage taken... Must return to Dr. Eggman for repairs..."

Rouge led Shadow to the top of the cable car, which came out at GUN's Blizzard Warzone base. They found Gunner in his board room, looking over a large screen showing a map of the area. Before Gunner noticed them, he yelled at the screen in frustation. "Curse that Sonic! How could he have escaped me!?"
Shadow was shocked to hear a GUN agent talk about Sonic in such a way. So shocked, in fact, that he forgot about the experiments. "What did you say about Sonic?"
Gunner finally turned around and saw Shadow. As much as he hated animals, he tried to maintain an air of respect when speaking to Shadow. "Sonic has betrayed us, Shadow. He released a top secret experiment creature from our prison facility, then stole our Chaos Emerald! That freak must be stopped!" Gunner finished his speech by banging his fist on the table. Rouge sighed as though this was the millionth time she had heard this. "The sargent thinks Sonic broke Experiment 2 out of prison."
Gunner glared at Rouge with contempt. "I don't THINK he did, I KNOW he did!" he walked in front of the screen and continued, "Why do I waste my time with you freaks! I wouldn't be surprised if you were working with Sonic, anyway." He turned back around. "Leave my sight, both of you! And Rouge, tell Spy to hurry up with my coffee!"

Shadow walked down the hall, thinking over what Gunner had said to him. "Perhaps he mistook that robot for Sonic. It wouldn't be the first time such a thing happened..."
"That's probably it." Rouge said, "But what if Sonic did do it? What then, Shadow?"
Shadow stopped short. "I'll find out straight from him. If I don't like what I hear..." he paused, then, with fire in his eyes, he said, "I will make him pay!"

Spy suddenly ran past them, appearing flustered. Rouge stopped him. "Hey, Spy! Gunner's coffee is late!"
"Never mind that!" Spy exclaimed. "We captured a bunch of Sonic's friends, but I think he's already reached the cell where we were holding them! I need to tell the sarge, right away!"
Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Where are they?"
Spy started running down the hall as he shouted in response. "They're in a cell in the bottom cable car building!"
Shadow took off in the opposite direction, leaving Rouge behind. "Perfect. It's just a cable car ride away. Watch out, Sonic! Here I come!"


Chapter 20 - Showdown
Boss 13 - Sonic Vs Shadow


Sonic and Amy had reached the prison area in the cable car building after fighting through a veritable army of robots. All stuffed into a single cell were Tails, Knuckles, Cream, Cheese, SPOT, and Gemini. Knuckles was hard at work trying to punch through the bars, making no progress. "WHAT ARE THESE BARS MADE OF!?!?!?" He didn't even notice Sonic's presence until the hedgehog tapped on the bars of the cell, as though knocking at a door. "Hello? Can Knuckles come out to play?" he said teasingly.

Amy seemed in an unusually good mood. "Ha! I wasn't captured this time! Come on, tell me how cool I am and I'll let you out!" But Knuckles, tough guy that he is, wasn't about to let someone else get him out of there. "I can get myself out! Stand back! I'LL SMASH THOSE BARS!!!" He set about punching the bars even harder, trying with all his might to escape the cell. However, it was no use, and soon Knuckles had tired himself out. He collapsed in exhaustion. Gemini then called out a spell. "Abra-ka-unlockra!"

The cell door that Knuckles had been punching at swung open. Knuckles picked himself up to notice he was staring Sonic the Hedgehog in the face. Sonic was holding back laughter, as was Tails and Cream. Knuckles, having been totally humiliated, shouted at Gemini, "WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE!?!?!?"

Gemini looked at him sheepishly. "You kept blocking the spell trying to punch through the bars. I didn't have a shot until you collapsed..."

Meanwhile, Shadow had also arrived, and was waiting in a hallway just past the cell. Waiting and listening. "This sure doesn't look good." he thought. "Maybe Sargent Gunner is right..."

The group of cell-mates began to empty out of the room, toward the exit to the building. Sonic and Amy stood at the sides of the cell door. "We hope you have enjoyed your stay in jail!" Sonic said jokingly. "Don't come back again very soon!" Amy added.

As Sonic's friends cleared out of the room, Sonic remained behind. Amy started to follow the others, but stopped when she noticed that Sonic wasn't moving. Before Amy could say anything, Sonic spoke. "You're not gonna sneak up on me, Shadow. You might as well come out."

Shadow stepped into the room, grinning. "Very alert today, eh, Sonic? One might think you're up to something..." There was a sense of tension in the air as Sonic and Shadow locked eyes. "In fact, I'm told you have been up to something today. Why are you fighting with GUN, Sonic?"
Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "They started it."
Shadow's expression turned serious. "Don't joke around with me, Sonic! I want answers, and if you won't cooperate, I'll beat them out of you!"
Sonic frowned. "I guess you've been talking to that GUN sargent. He's nuts, you know."
Shadow grew angry. "Shut up! This isn't a game! Regardless of whether you did that stuff or not, I think you know something. Tell me what you know about the experiments, right now!"
"Chill out, Shadow! Why do you even care?" Sonic replied. 

Finally, Shadow snapped. "You smug little punk! Take this!" Shadow charged at Sonic and launched a punch at him. Sonic quickly stepped aside and dodged. Amy, enraged that Shadow attacked Sonic like that, ran at him with her hammer. "You don't touch my Sonic!!"
Shadow blocked her attack, grabbed her hammer from her, and threw it accross the room. "You stay out of it!"
Amy ran over to where her hammer was thrown, then looked to Sonic. "I'll be fine!" Sonic said. "You catch up with the others and tell them to head back to the Mystic Ruins!" Amy nodded in response, and ran out to catch up with the others. "I'm all yours now, Shadow! Where were we?" Sonic said teasingly. Shadow ran at Sonic and responded, "Right here!!"
Once again, Shadow tried to hit Sonic, but Sonic dodged. He decided to try a different tactic. "Chaos Control!" Shadow warped behind Sonic, kicked him in midair, then warped as Sonic turned around. Shadow emerged behind Sonic again and repeated the assault, warping again. "This is getting old fast!" Sonic grumbled as Shadow hit him again. This time, Sonic grabbed his own fake Chaos Emerald and used Chaos Control himself. This caught Shadow off guard, and Sonic managed to hit Shadow from behind with a homing attack. Immediately afterward, they both warped at once, appearing in the center of the room facing each other. They both attacked at once and sent each other flying in opposite directions. "You're right, Sonic. This is getting old!" Shadow growled. So, for a change of pace, Shadow launched a flurry of Chaos Spears at Sonic, which Sonic dodged while running at Shadow. "I thought he'd do that!" Shadow thought. "Chaos Blast!"

The blast erupting from Shadow's body engulfed half the room in fiery chaos energy. When the attack subsided, Shadow could not see Sonic anywhere. He knew that he couldn't have incinerated the hedgehog that easily, so he scratched his head, confused. It didn't take long before Shadow realized what had happened, but it was already too late. Sonic's attack knocked Shadow foreward into a heap on the floor. "Chaos Control sure does come in handy!" Sonic chuckled. Shadow climbed to his feet and gave Sonic a sly grin. "Can't believe I fell for that. Doesn't matter. I've been waiting for an opportunity to try a new attack!" Shadow closed his eyes and tensed his muscles. "Spear Storm!"

Thousands of Chaos Spears erupted from Shadow, shooting off in all directions. Sonic ran to try and escape the attack, but it was far too widespread, and Sonic soon found himself being pummled by many sharp spears of chaos energy! The frenzied attack subsided after a while, leaving both hedgehogs collapsed on the ground. Sonic was the first to get back on his feet. "Nice move, but I think it needs work, Shadow!"
Shadow struggled to his feet as well. "I'm far from finished!"

"Freeze!" came a voice. Spy had led a large group of soldiers and robots to Sonic and Shadow's position. "Both hedgehogs! Hands on your heads!"

Sonic and Shadow slowly raised their arms and shot each other a sly grin. "Chaos Control!" Shadow yelled, dissappearing from the building. The GUN soldiers immediately fired at the spot where Shadow had been, thinking that he had launched an attack. Sonic ran off for the exit while they were distracted. Spy ordered the shooting to cease, and then noticed both hedgehogs were gone. "Find them! Sargent Gunner consider's this a top priority!"


Back on the far side of Blizzard Warzone, Dr. Eggman was preparing to return to his base. Terra and Metal Sonic had arrived there at the rendezvous point, both having sustained interior damage, though showing no exterior signs. On a higher cliffside, Shadow had emerged from Chaos Control, and was now eavesdropping on Eggman's conversation with his robots.

"You both did your jobs." Eggman said. "This was a good diversion for Sonic and his friends while Alpha and Char search out the next Chaos Emerald. Now, we must return to base and see if Copter and Punchy have returned yet! Let's go!"

Shadow thought over what Eggman had said. "It was all a diversion for Sonic. Maybe Eggman's behind everything..." Metal Sonic looked up at the cliffside, so Shadow quickly fell back so he couldn't be spotted. "Unidentified object on radar..." Metal Sonic said to Eggman. The doctor just sneered at Metal Sonic. "You're so rattled up, Metal Sonic, that I don't trust anything your radar says! Let's just get going!"

As Eggman and his robots started on their way to their base, Shadow followed slowly and stealthily. "I'll find out what Eggman's up to, even if it's the last thing I ever do!" he thought.


Meanwhile, Tails had brought the Tornado to him using his brand new Tornado Remote, and with Gemini's help, managed to get everyone back to his workshop in one trip. After a brief chat, Knuckles explained why he came looking for them. "I have a theory that Eggman is making fake Master Emeralds using a transformation magic spell!" he said. "But he already has the real one. Any idea what he's up to?"
Tails thought a moment, and soon had a very puzzled look on his face. "Sorry, Knuckles. I can't think of anything..."

Knuckles was disappointed, but thanked Tails just the same, then left with Gemini to "find out the plan straight from the horse's mouth."

Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Cream discussed what had been going on so far that day. Eggman's bold attack on Station Square, GUN's capture and release of Sonic, the appearance of Copter, many seemingly random events, all connected by Dr. Eggman. Before they could come up with a plan, however, they spotted a trio of GUN's Bigfoot mechs heading for Tails Workshop! "They must be looking for me!" Sonic realized. "Tails, you get Amy and Cream to safety! I'll handle this!" Tails, always enthusiastic to help Sonic, led Amy, Cream, Cheese, and SPOT away while Sonic ran past the mechs, leading them away.

However, it was clearly not safe near Tails Workshop. So, they headed for the jungle. After a while, SPOT's alarm went off with a message for Tails. "Black fox detected!"


Chapter 21 - The Depths of Chaos
Stages 11 & 12 - Chaos Shrine
Boss 14 - Shadow Chaos


Having obtained two Chaos Emeralds, Copter was now ready. Eggman had explained to him earlier that with two Chaos Emeralds, he would be able to obtain a great power. It was located deep in the Mystic Ruins, and since Copter needed to get there quickly, Eggman gave him a black and red plane he had been working on. It was called the Hurricane. As much as Copter hated flying in planes, he was in a hurry, so he took the Hurricane and set out for the Mystic Ruins.

It wasn't long before he found the place he was searching for. A small, golden shrine, hidden deep in the Mystic Ruins. A few stone steps led up to the large, gold door. Copter tried knocking. Nothing happened. "It was worth a try..." he thought. Turning around, he noticed two statues that resembled Chaos, with their hands held out. On closer inspection, the hands were carved in such a way as to be perfect for holding Chaos Emeralds. Copter placed the red emerald, then the blue one, into the hands of the Chaos statues. Suddenly, the emeralds flashed with bright light, and the door to the shrine slid open! "Welcome..." came a voice from behind Copter, "to the Chaosss Sssshrine!"

Copter turned around to see a black, two horned chameleon. Copter jumped into a defensive position. "Who are you?"
The black chameleon's expression remained serious. "I am Vortex. Who are you?"
Copter, realizing that Vortex wasn't interested in fighting him, lowered his guard. "I'm Copter."
Vortex wasted no time. "I ssssuppossse you are ssssearching for sssomething here? May I be of assssssssisssssss....assssissss....err... Can I help?"
Copter shrugged his shoulders. "Do what you want. I doubt I need help, though."
The two of them entered the Chaos Shrine together, Copter being unaware that Vortex was Experiment 5.

The inside of the shrine was also covered in gold, though this gold was more tarnished. Despite being covered in gold, it was oddly cavernous. It seemed fairly small from the outside, but just accross from the entrance was a staircase leading deep underground. Copter and Vortex climbed down the stairs for what seemed like hours, though it was less than one hour. The stairs stopped at the start of a long, wide hallway. As they stepped down the hall, Copter noticed the statues that were placed along the wall. They looked like giant jellyfish with tenticles acting as feet. An eerie glow seemed to come from their heads, appearing to be three red eyes...

"Wait a minute..." Copter thought, "stone statues can't have a glow coming from within..."
Halfway down the hall, Copter and Vortex found that the statues in fact were not statues. The light stone shells that had covered them crumbled away, revealing the Chaos Guardians of the Chaos Shrine! They were blue squids made of pure chaos, much like Chaos himself. Their tenticles concealed sharp stingers, and Copter realized that these things might be tougher than the losol. "I don't have time for this!!" he muttered, and took off through the army of guardians, avoiding them in order to make it through the hall. Vortex simply chuckled at this developement. "I sssssuppossse you're on your own, Copter! Don't worry about me. I can handle thisssss!"

Copter soon found his way to the end of the hallway and reached a pair of large stone doors. These, however, were unlocked. They were heavy, but Copter managed to pull them open and step into the chamber, which the guardians seemed unwilling to enter. "Right! You better stay out!" Copter said.

The chamber was a large room with a stone pedistal in the center. Accross from the door was a mural with ancient heiroglyphs printed all over it. Copter tried to read the text, but he couldn't. "I sure hope there's nothing important written there..."

Just then, a huge, black drop of water dropped from the ceiling in front of Copter! "Yuck! What the heck is that?!"
The black substance began to move and take shape. It looked just like Chaos 0, with glowing yellow eyes. This creature, Shadow Chaos, was apparently the boss of the Chaos Guardians. Copter's expression turned aggressive. "You're nuts if you think you're gonna stop me!"

Immediately following Copter's threat, Shadow Chaos attacked, flinging its arms at him, much the way the real Chaos would when fighting. Copter jumped to get out of the way, but was hit by a second attack and knocked over. "So, you have a better aim than your buddies, eh?" Copter noted. Shadow Chaos ignored him and continued shooting its arms at Copter, who was forced to run. Attack after attack was launched, making it difficult for Copter to counterattack. Soon, Shadow Chaos got smart and shot an attack ahead of Copter, nearly hitting him. Copter stopped abruptly and grabbed the arm, so he'd be pulled back with it to Shadow Chaos. As he reached the creature, Copter let go and spun around, letting the momentum carry him the rest of the way to Shadow Chaos and smashing his tails into the monster. Shadow Chaos exploded into little pieces, only to re-combine with the pieces and emerge unharmed. "Aw, now that's just cheating!" Copter groaned. "Let's see how you handle this then! Chaos Whirlwind!"

The cyclone of chaos energy surrounded Shadow Chaos quickly, but Shadow Chaos was unaffected, simply stepping right through it and launching another punch, hitting Copter in the jaw. Copter fell backward a bit, but stopped his fall quickly. Now he was mad. "All right, smart-alec! Take this!" Copter launched himself from where he stood with terrible force, plowing right into Shadow Chaos, exploding the beast once more. Once again, it simply re-formed itself. "There's gotta be a way to beat this thing..." Copter growled. Then, he noticed something.

Shadow Chaos was standing more shakily than it had been standing before. "This creature's no ghost." Copter thought, "It's using up energy every time it regenerates itself! Since it's made of chaos, my chaos attacks are useless. But physical attacks still work!"

Copter took off after Shadow Chaos again, but this time the monster leapt over Copter's head, flipping over in midair and giving Copter a nasty smack with both its arms and its feet! Copter was flung into the wall, and fell to the floor in pain. "That's it! You've asked for it!" Copter snarled, struggling to pick himself up. Shadow Chaos ignored him, and charged at Copter. As the Chaos doppleganger approached Copter, it jumped at him. This time, though, Copter simply dropped to the floor, causing Shadow Chaos to smash into the wall, splattering against the mural.

Copter dashed out of the way as Shadow Chaos dropped to the floor and reshaped itself again. This time, it looked far too tired to continue. It dropped back to the floor as a mass of black chaos, and slithered past Copter and out the door. "Yeah, slink away, you coward."

As Shadow Chaos dissappeared from the room, an object on the pedistal in the center of the room flashed with a bright golden light! Copter approached the pedistal and looked down to see something that wasn't there when he came in. It was a pair of golden rings, with intricate patterns etched in them. Copter smiled triumphantly. "Here they are, just like Dr. Eggman said! The Tailbands of Chaos!"


Chapter 22 - Chaos and Doom
Stage 12 - Chaos Shrine
Boss 15 - Vortex


SPOT had tracked the "black fox" to a hidden shrine deep in the Mystic Ruins. Tails had left on his own to investigate, leaving Amy and Cream with SPOT. Surely, the three of them would be safe together. Without hesitation, Tails entered the Chaos Shrine.

Stepping into the entrance room, a terrible chill went down the young fox's spine. Something was eerily familiar about this place. The darkness of the temple seemed similar to something he had seen before, though he could not recall what. However, Copter was likely in here, and Tails felt he had to confront him. He headed for the stairway to the underground, but before he could get there, something flew in front of him! It was a black and red hornet, wearing a visor. "You're not thinking of going in there, are you?" the hornet asked. Tails nodded. "I'm looking for a black fox. Did you see him come through here?"

The hornet flew in circles around Tails. "You look like him. That's very interesting..." he stopped in front of Tails. "He went downstairs."
Tails started to walk past the hornet, but it blocked him again. "You can't go in there alone! Please, allow me to go with you. I'm called Zipp, by the way!"
Tails shook Zipp's hand. "Sure, I don't see why not. Let's go!"

The two crept down the long stairway leading to the hallway Copter had been through earlier. Entering the hall, Tails and Zipp immediately noticed something startling. There were Chaos Guardians everywhere! "And this is why you can't go in here alone!" Zipp shouted. "We'll have to fight our way through! I'll give those beasts a taste of my stinger!"

Zipp took off through the monsters, smacking any that got in his way with his stinger. Tails, on the other hand, realized that it would be foolhardy to try to fight them. Activating his Spring Shoes, Tails launched himself into the air and attempted to fly over the monsters. However, he soon found that the Chaos Guardians could also fly. "Uh-oh..." Tails barely managed to dodge an attack by a guardian's flailing tenticles. He quickly returned to the ground, rolling under the ones that were flying and taking off at a run, trying to escape through the long hallway. He suddenly noticed a pair of red spikes heading his way! Tails ducked, then looked behind him as the spikes smashed into some of the guardians. Looking back at where they had come from, he saw Zipp aiming his stinger and "shooting" it at the Chaos Guardians. "That's... different..." Tails muttered.

The two fought until they were close to the end of the hall. The Chaos Guardians were much too tough, and they had given up on fighting and were running away from them. Suddenly, Tails heard a voice in front of them. "Chaossss Hole!"
At those words, a black vortex emerged behind Tails and Zipp, sucking the Chaos Guardians in like a black hole! Soon, all of the guardians were long gone, and the vortex collapsed on itself. "Thosssse beassstsss are quite annoying."
Votex the Chameleon dropped down from the ceiling where the black hole had been. "Well, that'sss tiring. I won't be able to ussse that attack for a while..."

Zipp gave Vortex a high-five. "You're just the ultimate killing machine, Vortex! Well done! By the way, this fox wants to find the black fox!"
"Oh, doessss he now?" Vortex said, giving Tails an evil glare. "We'll jusssst ssssee about that!"
Tails was taken aback. "Wait a minute... You mean, you just led me here to,,,"
Zipp broke in, "Yes, I led you here so Vortex could kill you! Aren't I a trickster! Bye now!" the hornet flew off down the hallway, laughing manically.

Vortex hissed at Tails. "No one harmsss Experiment 2! I sssshall sssssee to that!"
Tails was shocked. "Experiment? What does that mean?"
Vortex gave Tails a puzzled look. "You didn't know? Experiment 2 isss the black fox. He wasss created by.... Ooopsss, don't wan't to give away the ending now, do I?" Vortex laughed. "Not that you'll live long enough for it to matter! Chaosss Inferno!!!" Vortex fired a laser beam of chaos energy from his hands, which Tails scrambled to get away from. The blast hit near Tails' feet, resulting in an explosion that threw him into a wall. Tails quickly picked himself up and, realizing that there was no way out of this fight, charged at Vortex, hoping to punch the fight out of him. Vortex caught his fist and kneed him in the chest, causing Tails to fall to his knees. "How can ssssomeone sssso ssssimilar to Experiment 2 be ssssso pathetic?" Vortex said in an irritated tone. "You're a wasssste of my time!" Vortex knocked Tails on his chest with a karate chop to the back. "That fool Zipp sssshould do thisss. He might jussst take pleasssure in it. Oh, yessss. He'd have fun with you." Vortex let out a sinister hissing laugh. "Time to end it!"

Tails couldn't believe what was happening. Why would Vortex be so intent on murdering him? But there was no time to think. Vortex was aiming his hands as if to use Chaos Inferno again. This would be Tails' only chance...

"Chaossss Inferno!"

Once Vortex called the attack, Tails quickly rolled on his side to get out of the way, jumped to his feet, rushed behind Vortex, and came at him with all his might, smacking Vortex off his feet with a powerful tail whip. Vortex fell to the ground and crawled backwards on his hands and knees, apparently hurt. "No, impossssible! Get away from me! Ssssstop!!" the chameleon whimpered. Tails was surprised how easy this was, but didn't give it a second though. "Now, tell me everything you know about Experiment 2!" he demanded.

Suddenly, Tails heard a loud buzzing sound behind him, and felt cold metal pushed against his back! Zipp's voice was heard behind him. "I've been itching to shoot something all day! I can't believe you fell for Vortex's fakey 'No, help, stop' routine, though!" Zipp clutched Tails' shoulder with his left hand, burying the barrel of the gun into his back with the right. The bloodthirsty hornet whispered in Tails' ear, "I hope you're a screamer..."

Tails' life flased before his eyes during the whole ordeal. It appeared that this was the end. Tears streamed down the fox's face. He wished in his heart that he could see his friends one last time...

Suddenly, a blast of cold air blew through the hallway. Snow and hail erupted from Zipp's right. The hornet removed the gun without firing and pointed it in the direction of the wind. The ice made it impossible to see what was causing the wind, but Zipp's helmet could make out a dark silhouette. He fired at the figure, but a wall of hail blocked the attack. Zipp released Tails from his grip, and both of them fled in opposite directions. "What is this devilry!?" Zipp shouted. Vortex shivered and a look of panic washed over him. "It'sss too dangeroussss, Zipp! I mussst retreat!"
"What!? No!" Zipp shouted back.
"I'm cold-blooded!" Vortex shouted back. "Too much cold can kill me!"

The pair took off toward the exit of the shrine in utter defeat. "Whoever you are, I'll get you for this!" Zipp shouted back, just before leaving. As the villains vanished from sight, the icy wind ceased, and the dark, cloaked figure of the Doomsayer was all that remained!

Tails was totally shocked by the events that had occurred here. "You... saved me?" he finally said. The Doomsayer glared at Tails with his piercing gold eyes. "Don't misunderstand. You will still die." he said in a grave tone. "I merely stopped my first prediction from coming true so that you may have a second chance. Escape this world! While you can." The cloaked figure turned to leave. "Vortex and Zipp were both experiments. That is what I meant when I warned you. Now I leave you with a final warning. The doom is still coming." 
"Wait!" Tails called. "You stopped your prediction once! We can do it again! Together! We can save the world!"

The Doomsayer let out a low growl. "So naive! Who even said I want to stop it? You may do as you please, hero, but do not expect me to save you again!" He turned to face Tails, and summoned up another hail tornado. "Farewell!!" When the hail subsided, the Doomsayer was gone once more.

Tails pondered all that was going on as he headed for the end of the hallway. "Who is the Doomsayer anyway? I wonder if he can be trusted. Who created the experiments? Why does that military guy hate us? I wonder if all this has something to do with the Doomsayer's prophecy..."

His pondering stopped as he reached the end of the hall. The stone doors at the end were still open as Copter had left them. Tails peered into the room. Then, he saw his nightmares made real...


Chapter 23 - Fox Fight
Boss 16 - Tails Vs Copter


Tails entered the chamber to see Copter on the pedestal in the center, a pair of golden rings circling around him. The very same rings from his nightmares! Tails gasped in shock at the realization that this was what his nightmares were about! If Copter was allowed to use the rings, there was no telling what power would be unleashed through him! Tails had to act fast...

Without thinking, Tails simply shouted at Copter, "Don't touch those!" Copter scowled at him. "You don't tell me what to do!" Tails, thinking fast, ran over to the pedestal and grabbed one of the rings before Copter could. However, Copter grabbed the other one. "Fast thinking, but I still got one!" Copter growled. Tails gazed at the patterns etched in the ring. "What exactly are these things, anyway?" he wondered aloud. Copter was shocked. "You mean to tell me you don't even know what they are!? These are the Tailbands of Chaos! Only a creature with two tails can wield all of their awesome power! And that creature is me!"

Tails glanced back at his twin tails. He had never thought much of them before, but now they had such meaning. He could use the tailbands with them! 

"Don't get any ideas about keeping that!" Copter shouted. "It's MINE!"
Tails mind was racing. He suddenly had so many questions. He asked the one foremost in his mind. "Copter, are you an experiment?"
Copter looked annoyed. "Not that it's really your business, but I'm Experiment 2!"
"Then, who created you?" Tails asked.
"That's enough!" Copter snarled. "You're just stalling! Give me that tailband! Right now!!"

Tails shook his head defiantly. "No way!"
Copter jumped down from the pedestal. "That wasn't a question! Do you really want me to hurt you? No more games! Hand it over!"
Tails glanced at the tailband, then at Copter. He had no choice now. Copter had to be stopped. Tails slipped the tailband onto his left tail. "You'll just have to take it from me!" he shouted. Now, Copter was angrier than he'd ever been. He thrust his tailband onto his left tail as well, and the two foxes felt their bodies surge with a new power. Copter felt he could face an army now, and he couldn't help laughing. "You don't seriously think you can beat me, do you!? Even with that tailband, I'll still beat you!" He charged at Tails, swinging his tails in a fury. Tails dodged, and Copter continued until he hit the stone door. With the power of the tailband, the door that was previously heavy for Copter to push snapped out of the wall, crashing to the ground and shattering to pieces! The black fox turned around and grinned. "I bet you couldn't do that!"
Tails looked at the other door that covered the other half of the doorway. Feeling a desire to prove something to himself, Tails ran at the door and pounded it with his tails. The door crashed to the ground, just like the other one. Copter clapped his hands. "Bravo, good for you. Still, this proves little. And my patience has run out!"

Copter quickly jumped at Tails and whipped him hard, knocking him across the room and into the wall. Tails fell to the floor, and landed on his feet, activating the Spring Shoes unintentionally. "Whoa-aaaaaaaaa!!" He was launched into the air and toward Copter, falling into him and knocking him down. "I hate you..." Copter grumbled as he rose to his feet. Tails stood up dizzily. "Looks like that invention needs more work..." he muttered. Copter let out a low growl. "Great. You're just as much a tech head as Eggman! You just keep finding new ways to annoy me!" Copter attempted to kick Tails, but he dodged quickly and retaliated with his own tail whip attack. Copter was launched across the room, just as Tails had been, but instead of just hitting the wall, Copter used his hands and feet to launch himself back off the wall in order to counterattack. However, Tails saw this coming. The two both launched a simultaneous tail whip attack, both hitting at the same time with extreme force! A small explosion resulted, hurling them both back into the walls. Tails struggled back to his feet, and Copter was standing a bit shakily himself. "That does it! No more holding back!" he said to himself.

Copter charged at Tails in a fury, but Tails simply jumped into the air and flew out of the way, landing on the pedestal. "That's enough, Copter!"
"It won't be enough until I have both tailbands!" Copter shouted back. He charged at the pedestal and smacked it hard with his tails, causing it to crumble to pieces, with Tails still on it! The young fox fell to the ground and landed on his back. Copter stood over him triumphantly. "Surrender!" he ordered. Tails reached for his tailband. "That's it." Copter said. "Just give it to me, and this will all be over." Tails stopped moving before touching the tailband. "What am I doing!?" he thought. "I can't give in to one of Eggman's supporters! I can't give up!" Copter realized that Tails wasn't going to give it up. "What in the world can possibly drive you to defy me so? Must I kill you in order to get that? If you value your life, give me that tailband!"
"I can't!" Tails said.
"What?!" Copter snarled.
"I can't give in! I won't let my friends down! If I let you take this tailband, you'll use it to help Eggman hurt my friends!" The tailband began to glow brightly. Tails rose to his feet using the power of the tailband, and it seemed as though fire was in his eyes! "I won't let you win!"

Tails charged at Copter and tackled him hard, sending the black fox hurtling into the wall! The impact damaged the wall badly, but when the dust settled, Copter was still standing, his tailband glowing as well. However, the glow faded with the dust, and Copter panted with exhaustion. "Curse you!" he yelled. "I guess I've underestimated your power!" he walked toward Tails, hatred burning in his eyes. "No, not your power. The power of the tailband!" The last attack had left Tails exhausted as well. "We're equally matched!" he pointed out. Copter chuckled. "Ha! I'm powerful enough with just one tailband, and my time is running out! You can keep that for now, but I'll be back for it later!" He then turned and ran out of the chamber. Tails was puzzled. "His time is running out? What does he mean by that?"

Copter ran down the hall, his mind racing. "How could this be? How could that pathetic child stand up to me!?" he thought. Soon, he found himself running toward a ball of pinkish light. "What the heck?!" Copter stopped a few feet from it, and it flashed brightly, forcing Copter to shield his eyes. Standing before him once the light faded was an orange echidna in an old tribal outfit. It was Tikal, the daughter of the ancient echidna tribe's chief. She looked over the black fox in front of her. "I can't believe it!" she said. "You defeated Shadow Chaos!"
Copter gave her a look of utter confusion. "Who are you, and how did you get there?" he questioned hurriedly. Tikal ignored his questions. "No one's supposed to be able to defeat Shadow Chaos except..." her eyes went wide as she realized something. "Could it be..." she said quietly. With another flash of light, Tikal vanished. "Wait!" Copter shouted. He looked around for a moment, then heard Tikal's voice in the air. "When darkness and light become one, The Chosen One will bring hope from doom..."

Copter began walking toward the exit of the shrine again. His thoughts were filled with questions. However, he didn't have time to ponder them. He checked the time keeping device on his wrist. "I have only a few hours left! I must complete my mission! Before it's too late..."

Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming his way. Copter flew up high so as not to be noticed, and a small robotic dog ran past him down the hall. It was SPOT! However, that wasn't who Copter had heard coming. Shortly afterward, Sonic the Hedgehog walked by as well, apparently following SPOT. Neither noticed Copter hovering near the roof. Once they were out of the way, Copter landed. "I better get out of here, and I better not forget the Chaos Emeralds." As Copter neared the exit to the shrine, he turned around and said, "Tails, stay out of my way. I don't want to hurt you..."

Meanwhile, Tails had taken notice of the mural on the wall of the chamber. Tails could not recognize the ancient text on the wall either. While he was studying it, pondering its meaning, SPOT and Sonic walked in. "Hey, Tails! What's up, pal?" Sonic said. Tails turned around, but not before Sonic noticed the tailband. "What's with the new accessory?" he asked. Tails took off the tailband. "I stopped Copter from stealing this. Hey, where's Amy and Cream?"
Sonic's eyes widened. "Weren't they with you!?"
An alarm chimed from SPOT. Tails checked SPOT's monitor. The text read, "Tails has 1 message(s)." Tails pushed a button, and SPOT stepped back, projecting a light from his mouth. The light took shape, and emerged as a hologram of...
"Eggman!" Sonic and Tails shouted at the same time.
Eggman cleared his throat and spoke. "Is this thing on? Good. All right, Sonic! I think you may want to stop in Station Square, and bring your Chaos Emeralds. That is, if you ever want to see Amy and Cream again! Mua ha ha ha! I'm sending my coordinates in a little while. Stick with the robo-puppy to recieve them, suckers!" With that, Eggman broke out with sinister laughter until he noticed the hologram was still on. "Turn it off already, Terra!"

The hologram vanished, and SPOT's monitor read "End communication."

Tails took on a look of horror at these developments. "No! I should never have left them alone!"
Sonic put his hand on the young fox's shoulder. "Don't worry pal. We'll get them back."
Tails looked thoughtful for a moment. "You're right, Sonic. And I already have a plan!"
Sonic smiled. "That's what I like to hear! Let's go, buddy!"
Sonic, Tails, and SPOT discussed the plan on the way out of the shrine. Sonic and SPOT agreed to set out for Station Square, while Tails left for his Workshop to obtain some supplies. "Time to bring the fight to Eggman!" Tails thought, before heading off to set his plan in motion. Eggman had caused enough trouble that day. Now, it was time to start setting things right!

To be continued...