Sonic GeneX - Tails the Fox
Arc 5 - Super Tails
Chapter 47 - The Rise of the Arcangel

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

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

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


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

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


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

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

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


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


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

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


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

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


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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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


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


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


Chapter 48 - Experiment 3
Final Stage - Shadow Arcangel


At the end of the hallway Shadow had been traveling through was a small room that led to another hallway. The gate to that hallway was barred, and Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Punchy, Illusi, and Rainbow were all standing in front of the gate, wondering what to do next. "What's going on here?" Shadow asked everyone. "Eggman and Gunner are both on this ship." Sonic replied. Tails stepped to the middle of the room. "I think they must have the other five Chaos Emeralds! That's gotta be what's powering this ship!" he said. "Nope. That's not it!" Illusi insisted. "He's using fake Master Emeralds!" Knuckles and Punchy both looked confused. "I thought we got them all!" Punchy protested. Illusi nodded. "Yes, you got all the ones made from Master Emerald shards. The rest are made from something Eggman had plenty of: scrap metal. It's not as powerful as the others, but it obviously was powerful enough!" Sonic looked at the barred hallway. "So, we gotta get the fake Master Emeralds to stop this ship." he noted. Tails found a flaw in this plan. "If we do that, this ship will crash! We should try to land it first!" he suggested. Shadow stepped to the barred gate. "At any rate, it appears we all share the same destination." He smashed the bars using Chaos Spear, and they all headed down the hall.

At the end of that hall was a huge room with five exits, excluding the path they came in through. In the center of the room was a large containment unit, which had eight slots on its door; One for each Chaos Emerald and a larger one for the Master Emerald in the center of the door. Standing before the containment cell was Sargent Gunner, accompanied by Spy, Rouge, and Guard. As everyone entered the room, Gunner turned around and glared at them all. "So, here you all are! The furry freaks that plague my life so!" he growled. Spy grinned at them smugly. "Good timing, dopes! Now you get to watch the Sarge take over this dump!" Guard growled at them, then introduced himself. "I am called Guard the Gargoyle..." Before he could say anything else, Gunner silenced him. "Not now!" Shadow crossed his arms and glared at Gunner. "Right. So why are we freaks, but Guard there isn't?" Gunner shook his head in reply. "Make no mistake, Guard and Rouge are freaks as well. But they're obediant freaks." he said coldly. Rouge scowled at Gunner, but said nothing. "So, what are you doing here, Sarge?" Sonic said, getting back to the point. "There's a reason Dr. Eggman wants the seven Chaos Emeralds!" Gunner replied. Rainbow raised her hand like a student in a classroom. "Oooh! Let me guess! Is it insanity, Gramps?" Both Punchy and Spy snickered at Rainbow's choice of names for Gunner, which caused Gunner to give Spy a dirty look. "Uh, I wasn't laughing..." Spy lied. "I don't know why Eggman wants the emeralds, but I know someone who'd better know by now!" Gunner declared.

Just then, Team Chaotix barged into the room, pushing past everyone to get to Sargent Gunner. Rouge and Spy hid behind Gunner as Vector approached. "We're here, boss!" he said cheerfully. "We've solved the case!" "Case closed!" Charmy cheered, twirling in the air to Vector's left. Espio slowly stepped to Vector's right. "It wasn't easy..." he muttered. Gunner looked at them quizzically. "Who are you three?" "Looks like Gunner isn't their client." Tails pointed out. Vector held out the Chaos Emerald that Espio and Charmy found earlier. "We even found this, too!" Gunner turned around and scowled at Spy and Rouge. "Who is this freak talking to?" he demanded to know. Rouge's face had turned bright red. "What are you dopes doing here now!? Can't you see this is a bad time!?" she shouted. Gunner was stunned. "Rouge, what is the meaning of this!?" Spy looked thoughtful. "Is she a double agent? Coooool... I mean, baaaaad...." Rouge placed her hands on her hips and stared angrily at Gunner. "You've had me totally overloaded today! You wanted me to find out about Eggman, then you gave me endless other orders! How else was I supposed to get to the bottom of Eggman's plans?!" she complained. Gunner looked about ready to explode. "You freak! All those other freaks are the ENEMY!! You're a traitor!" Knuckles found this amusing. "Smooth move, bat girl!" he chuckled. "That Sargent guy's the real freak!" Amy muttered. "We're not the enemy here!" Sonic was getting bored with this. "So, Vector, you solved the case?" he asked impatiently. Vector smiled proudly. "Of course! You're talking to the world's greatest detective!" "Yeah, me!" Charmy chuckled. Espio also seemed impatient. "Let's get to the point, Vector." "Right..." Vector said. "The Chaos Emeralds aren't what Eggman's after! He just needs them for..."

Before Vector could finish, Eggman's voice interrupted. "Allow me to finish that thought!" Eggman, Char, Alpha, and Metal Sonic dropped down from a hatch in the ceiling, landing on top of the containment cell. "Hahahaha! We're gonna win!" Char cheered gleefully. "Bad people! You're under a rest! Go to sleep!" Alpha ordered. Eggman frowned at Alpha's moronic babble. "Why I brought that robot I'll never know..." Suddenly, BAS's alarm went off. "All seven Chaos Emeralds have been gathered!" it announced. Sonic's eyes went wide. "All seven!?" Tails seemed equally surprised. "We only have two... So Eggman has FIVE?!" Vector held up his emerald, and Tails realized his error. "Excuse me, four..." "Three!" Gunner corrected. "I've got the last one!" Eggman let out an evil laugh. "Thanks for sharing. Char, Alpha, Metal Sonic! Get those emeralds!" he commanded. "Not so fast!" Gunner wasn't about to give up. "Spy, Rouge, Guard, get the emeralds for me!"

Thus, a chaotic battle ensued, with everyone fighting over the seven Chaos Emeralds or the Master Emerald. It was a short lived struggle, however, as everyone mostly ignored Char, and he was easily able to snatch the emeralds one by one and insert them into the slots on the door of the containment unit.

"Looks like I win, despite your efforts!" Eggman gloated. "No way! How'd he do that!?" Sonic shouted. "He even got the real Master Emerald!" Illusi gasped. Gunner looked absolutely horrified. "What are you going to do with them, Ivo?!" he asked fearfully. Eggman approached a control panel beside the containment unit's door. "With these seven Chaos Emeralds, and the Master Emerald that controls them placed in the power terminals, the ultimate weapon can be released! Experiment 3!" he explained. "Three's a weapon?" Rainbow gasped. "Impossible! Bucky wouldn't leave his most powerful creation just lying around!" Punchy shouted. "Doctor! You can't release that!" Shadow warned. Eggman scowled at him. "Why not? According to the report 'X Experiments,' Experiment 3 is a device that can destroy the world! A device! There's no harm in releasing it, just in using it! And I won't...as long as the world submits to my rule." Eggman turned to the door. "So, seven emeralds! Grant me the power to control everything, at last!"

"I cannot allow it!" Metal Sonic jumped between Eggman and the control panel. "What?! What are you babbling about, you twit!" Eggman shouted. "You have stood in my way of being the ultimate overlord for far too long!" Metal Sonic declared. Char flew over to Metal Sonic and kicked him in the head, to no effect. "You traitor! You're worse than Omega!" Char scolded. Eggman pushed Char aside and chased Metal Sonic across the room. "You idiot! Do you know who you're talking to!? I'll make you sorry you were ever built!" While everyone else was busy watching this, Sargent Gunner approached the control panel himself...

"Eggman! You tampered with my memory! I'll tear you apart!" Metal Sonic vowed. "No, I believe I'll be the one taking things apart!" Eggman insisted. Tails was the first to realize the significance of this. "Quick! Now's our chance to get the Chaos Emeralds!"

"Ha ha ha ha! Too late, scum!" Gunner shouted, having placed commands into the control panel. "Unlocking containment cell..." BAS announced. Hearing this, Eggman rushed to Gunner's side, leaving Metal Sonic to watch the next events with everyone else. Shadow Arcangel began to shake violently as the door to the containment cell began to open. It appeared stuck, so Knuckles decided to try to stop it. "I'll appeal to the Master Emerald!" he shouted. Sonic gave him a thumb's up. "Good luck, Knuckles!"

"The servers are the seven chaos!"
Punchy ran up to Knuckles side, and joined him. He remembered the poem through his memories from Knuckles as they continued.
"Chaos is power, enriched by the heart!"
"The controller serves to unify the chaos!"
"Master Emerald, use your power to stop the Chaos Emeralds!"

Eggman just laughed at them as they realized what he was about to tell them. "You're wasting your breath!" Sargent Gunner appeared to share Eggman's excitement. "Now, with Experiment 3, we'll wipe out those freaks together, Ivo, my friend!" The ship ceased shaking suddenly, and the torches lit along the walls blew out. The Chaos Emeralds were suddenly warped out of the room, and the door slid open. As they peered inside, all they saw was darkness. "Where's the big weapon?" Gunner whispered to himself.

A black silhouette could be seen rising in the containment unit. In the darkness, it was difficult to make out what it was, but from Tails' point of view, it looked just like the dark fox from his nightmares! In fact, the silhouette seemed to look like the shadow of the person looking at it. "Heh heh heh... Free at last..." the creature said, in an almost alien sounding voice. Tails was more scared than anyone at this moment. "Is that the Dream King? It can't be... What IS it?" he thought to himself. Sargent Gunner was the first to speak. "Ivo Robotnik, you fool! That's not a device! That's another furry FREAK!!!" Everyone was silent as Experiment 3 stepped out of its containment unit, still shadowy and impossible to actually see clearly. "Ha ha ha! Bucky was a fool to think he could contain me! And what's this? The Arcangel is in the air? Then there's no escape for you fools!" the creature snarled. "Who or what are you?" Sonic asked. Tails was backing away slowly, pointing shakily at Experiment 3. "It's a monster! Everyone stay away from it!" Guard pointed his scythe at the creature. "You look like me, but that can't be right! Master never made the same creature twice! It was a rule of his!" he growled. "What are you talking about, fool? I'm your master!" Gunner yelled. Experiment 3 looked around the room at everyone there. "I shall enjoy this. I shall pick off you fools one by one! You'll all be powerless to stop me! I'll kill you all, and Bucky as well! Then I'll reshape the world... into MY world!" he exclaimed. "You're crazy!" Knuckles shouted. Experiment 3 shook its head. "No, but you soon will be! Imagine the looks on your faces when you find yourselves killing each other FOR me!" he hissed. "In your dreams, monster!" Vector said. Experiment 3 payed little attention to what anyone was saying. "The seven emeralds aboard the ship... That's how I'll do it! I'll find them all and destroy this pitiful, horrible planet!" he seemed not to care that he was giving away his entire plan. "No way! We'll get those emeralds first!" Sonic declared. "You can try, but you'll just end up handing them to me yourselves!" Experiment 3 growled. Then, the experiment launched itself high into the air and exited through the hatch Eggman had come in through!

"He's loose in the ship!" Amy cried. "No kidding!" Punchy groaned. Eggman looked confused and devastated. "This doesn't make any sense! The report specifically stated that Experiment 3 was a device! What's going on here!?" he yelled in frustration and confusion. "The report we found called it a monster!" Vector said. Espio glanced at Vector, a bit miffed. "You mean the report I found!" he said. "I wonder why the reports were different?" Charmy said.

"I can explain everything!" Bucky's voice came from the main entrance to the room. He was accompanied by Vortex and Zipp. "Whoa, are you guys troublemakers!" Zipp said. "Experiment 3 wassssn't ssssuppossssed to be releassssed!" Vortex added. Guard waved to Bucky. "Hello master!" he said. "I should've expected to see you here." Sonic said. Apparently, Sonic had encountered Bucky before. "You escaped?! Impossible!" Gunner shouted, totally perplexed by Bucky's presence there. "Yes, I escaped!" Bucky said, proud of himself. "It was all part of my plan! Everything that has transpired today was part of my plan!" Shadow looked from Bucky to Eggman. "You even planned what Eggman's been up to?" he asked. Bucky smiled, recalling what he'd done. "I planned everything down the the last detail..."

Bucky revealed the details of his plan, "I long dreamed of unlocking the secrets of life and death. My discoveries would have been a godsend to everyone on Earth. So I toiled away... with little success. After Shadow's victory over Black Doom, something came to my attention. I went to Angel Island..." He paused a moment, ordering his thoughts, and continued, "You see, I had discovered a faster method of cloning. I hoped to learn to create life that way as well. My find was the life gene, the very fuel for life. I called it Gene X, or GeneX for short. Hoping to embark on an experiment, I tricked that red echidna and clipped some of his hairs..." Knuckles stepped forward. "You dirty rat! Do you know how silly I looked after that!?" Bucky chuckled. "Indeed. Using those hairs, I completed my first life creation experiment. Experiment 1." Punchy shook his head. "It's a lie!" he protested. Bucky glared at him. "Let me finish my story!" After another pause, he continued, "Experiment 1 was flawed. He had memories from his original. He disbelieved the nature of his existance, and ran away. But my hope, which had been gone for ages, was restored! My first life creation experiment would now become Experiment 2, but I could not complete it yet. I needed someone to complete the DNA gaps, but no one would be as easy to trick as that red echidna. At any rate, I decided I would kidnap Miles Prower in order to further my research. But I needed accomplices, and I knew GUN would come for me. So I created Experiment 3. But he was also flawed, badly. He came to hate creatures born naturally and threatened to destroy the world, so I was forced to seal him away. But I would not give up. I created Experiment 4 and 5 then, completely from scratch! I accomplished more than I'd ever dreamed! But I wanted Experiment 2..." Rouge had a question. "Why go to all the trouble of kidnapping for an experiment that you'd already gone beyond?" she asked. Bucky sighed. It seemed there was likely more to the story than he was telling. "I had come to feel as though this creature was my son. I had to finish him. For that, Vortex and Zipp were invaluable! Together, we made our plans. Vortex was a computer wizard! With his help, we created a fake entry for professor Gerald's diary, and planted it in Eggman's database, where he'd find it. I knew Gerald well, and I could easily fake his words. I made sure the diary would lead Eggman here, to Shadow Arc, where he would read my diary and the fake X Experiments report I left out for him!" Vector guessed the next part of his plan. "You lied about Experiment 3 in the fake report!" Bucky nodded. "I knew that Eggman wouldn't release Experiment 2 to help him search out the Chaos Emeralds if it didn't help him take over the world. I told him it was a weapon! And it was true, a living weapon! I did not disclose to him the location of the experiments, but I knew he'd find Experiment 2. I left Vortex and Zipp hidden in a secluded area of the lab. Then, I kidnapped Tails, completed Experiment 2, and attatched a bomb to his wrist, concealed by his gloves! An extra incentive for him to release me! The cloning process took a lot out of Prower, and he did not remember any of it later. Just as I completed my experiment, Sonic reached my laboratory, and GUN's troops weren't far behind! Both myself and Experiment 2 were arrested. I knew it would happen, so I made sure Eggman found Experiment 2 and instructions for operating this ship. But just now, my plans went drastically awry! Eggman collected the seven emeralds faster than I thought he would, and he found an alternate power source for the Arcangel! It was supposed to run on the Chaos Emeralds! Now, the emeralds were used to unlock the containment cell, and were warped to their predetermined locations on the ship, which I had prepared just in case this happened, so that Experiment 3 wouldn't get the emeralds right away! If he manages to find them, he'll be able to destroy the world! We have to find them first!"

"No problem!" Sonic said confidently. "We're all experts at finding Chaos Emeralds!" Zipp flew up to Sonic. "Think you're so great, eh? It won't be so easy!" Vortex pointed to the five exits to the room. "The trapsss along the way were not ssset by ussss!" Bucky explained why. "I did not build this ship! It was built by an ancient, magical race, and now the Lost Ones infest it! It's not looking good!" Vector knew the dangers better than most in the room, having read Bucky's report. "We can't just give up!" he said urgently. "Of course not! Do you people always have to state the obvious?" Shadow said. "We can do it together!" Tails added. "You'd like that, wouldn't you, freaks!?" Gunner pouted. "No thanks, I'll get those emeralds myself!" Illusi chuckled at him. "It'll be pretty tough on your own, won't it, old man?" Vortex hissed at Gunner. "Sssstupid sssargent! Let him do asss he pleasssssessss!" Spy let out an exasperated sigh. "I'd like to, but he's my boss..." Guard pushed past Spy. "I'll lend a hand finding those emeralds!" he offered. Knuckles stepped forward next. "You can't possibly consider going without me! It'll be a piece of cake after all those Master Emerald shards!" Rainbow raised her hand excitedly. "Don't forget us! We'll go, too! Right, One?" Punchy didn't look very enthusiastic. "Uh... sure... but don't expect me to do everything!" Alpha fired a shot into the air. "Find the gems, win a cookie!" he cheered. Char chose to translate. "Uh, Alpha says we're in, too!" Amy ran to Sonic's side. "It'll be easy with both of us together, right, Sonic?" Sonic, not wanting to answer, turned to the nearest person, Espio. "Uh, you in?" he asked. "I guess I could be of some help..." Espio replied. Charmy flew over next to him. "All right! I'll get past those traps! Leave it to me!" Metal Sonic had joined the group as well. "My revenge will have to wait! New target: Experiment 3!" Rouge pushed past Spy as next to join the crowd. "Sorry, Sarge, but I'm with them this time!" Eggman walked over to Bucky and shook his hand. "Don't worry, Dr. Stein! Those emeralds are as good as found!"

Bucky looked over the incredible team that had assembled before him, and felt that maybe they had hope after all. "All right then! We'll split up into teams! Let's get to work!"


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


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!"


Chapter 50 - Final Chapter - Super Tails
Final Boss - Kosmo the Morph - The Kosmogon


After fighting for a while, Sonic and Shadow had managed to land a good hit on Kosmo, causing him to drop the six Chaos Emeralds he'd been carrying. However, Kosmo was still not defeated, and Sonic and Shadow had worn themselves out fighting him. "It appears I did slightly underestimate you hedgehogs..." Kosmo said, slightly impressed. Sonic was panting from exhaustion, but managed to speak. "Yeah... And I think we underestimated you... But..." Before finishing what he was saying, Sonic grabbed one of the Chaos Emeralds Kosmo had dropped. Shadow grabbed two of them at the same time, and since the fight appeared to be over, Tails, Knuckles, and Bucky ran in to grab the last three. Between them, they now had all seven emeralds, since Sonic also had the seventh one. "Since you're out of emeralds, it looks like we win!" Sonic said. Everyone else who'd been watching now crowded around Kosmo, surrounding the morph. "N...No..." Kosmo muttered.

"It's over, Experiment 3! Abandon your murderous plans, now!" Bucky commanded. Kosmo was full of rage, fear, and above all, hatred. "You... natural born... FREEEEEAAAAKS!!!!" he screamed, giving everyone around him a look of pure hatred. Gunner couldn't pass up arguing with this. "Natural born freaks!? How backwards can you get!? YOU are the freak, you furry, lab created monster!" Illusi ran in front of Gunner and tried to restrain him. "Stop it, you old fool! Don't fuel his anger!" he shouted. Vortex pushed Illusi away. "Ssssshut up, sssshrew!" he hissed. "Let him have his fun!" Zipp added. Gunner pushed past all three of them. "I can say what I please! You, Experiment 3, are the biggest FREAK of them all!" he growled, sounding even more hateful than Kosmo. Char, hovering in the air above the crowd, couldn't help feeling sorry for the defeated morph. "What a jerk! I say Gunner's the freak!" he said quietly. Alpha jumped around, pointing and laughing at Kosmo. "So is purple monkey! Freaky, freaky, freaky! Tee hee hee!" the robot taunted. Kosmo shot a terrible look at Alpha. "SHUT UP...!" he growled. "I agree." Cream said with pity. "I don't think we should make fun of him...." Amy shrugged her shoulders. "I don't think it matters anymore, Cream! He can't hurt us now!" she said. Rouge laughed. "I don't know. He could make us throw up with his ugly face!" Spy started cracking up, too. "Nya, nya, stupid monster!" he teased. Metal Sonic crossed its arms. "Don't be cruel." he said. "Yeah, leave Three alone!" Rainbow shouted to everyone, stepping into the middle of the crowd and shooing everyone away. "There is such a thing as bad winners, you know!" she told them. Kosmo had collapsed on his hands and knees when they started teasing him, but at Rainbow's words, he glared up at everyone. "Winners... WINNERS?! Is that what you think?!" he growled defiantly. Gunner responded as though Kosmo had said something offensive. "Quiet, you abominable freak! You have no right to speak to anyone! You shouldn't even exist! You ugly, twisted monster!!"

This was it. The last straw. Kosmo sent a shock wave of darkness erupting from his body, knocking everyone away! "Freak, they call me!!" he roared, his rage taking over. "Whoa! What's going on!?" Sonic shouted. Kosmo's body was lifted into the air as he sent another shock wave at them. "Monster, they say!? I'll show them a MONSTER!!!" Everyone ran to get out of Kosmo's way, confused and panicked by what was happening. "What's he doing!? Where is he getting all this power!?" Eggman shouted. Seven beams of light shot from the fake Master Emeralds to Kosmo, and his body seemed to become that light! Bucky pointed to the out of control experiment. "He's transforming! And it looks like a big one this time!" As the light erupting from Kosmo grew brighter, BAS had one final announcement. "Energy is being drained from the fake Master Emeralds! Po...wer... fa...il....ure.....zzzzt!!" BAS fell silent and the lights went out as the fake Master Emeralds shattered into dust! "This is terrible!" Eggman shouted, "We're going to crash!" "Into Station Square!" Shadow added. "Not if I can help it!" Knuckles yelled, running to the nearest power terminal and placing the Master Emerald into it. "If it can keep an island flying, it can keep this ship flying! Master Emerald, we need your power!"

Kosmo's body began to grow, bend, twist, and change. The light he had become began molding itself into a huge, new creature. Powered by the fake Master Emeralds, its power was unbelievable! As Tails watched the transformation, he realized that this was what the monster in his nightmares began to transform into! In a few moments, the light flashed brighter than ever, then subsided. In its place was a giant purple and red dragon, the Kosmogon! It let out an ear piercing roar. "I'll kill you all!!" it screeched. Sonic and Shadow immediately ran to try to stop the monster, but were blasted back by a beam of fire shot from the Kosmogon's mouth! "Get back, you fools! I'm no longer playing around!" it roared. The Kosmogon spun around in midair and flew for the window. "Experiment 3!!!" Bucky shouted, futilely tring to stop the beast. The Kosmogon crashed through the window and caused the shards of glass to rain down on the streets below!

"He got away!" Sonic said shakily. He and Shadow had been hurt pretty bad by the Kosmogon's attack, and struggled to stand back up. "That was incredible!" Eggman said, gazing through the open window at the Kosmogon flying around nearby. "I can't believe how powerful Kosmo is!" Bucky climbed up in front of the broken window and faced the crowd. "Kosmo was based on all the powerful monsters that have shaken the foundations of our world in recent years! The Biolizard, Metal Overlord, Black Doom, Chaos... I researched them all while working on Experiment 3!" Bucky fell to his knees as he came to a horrific realization, "He cannot be stopped.... My god... What have I done!?" The seven Chaos Emeralds had landed near the center of the room, tossed there by Kosmo's shock waves. Sonic and Shadow walked over to them. "The fight here took a lot out of me..." Sonic said, "I don't have enough energy to change into my Super form!" "Me neither..." Shadow admitted. "What are we going to do!?" Amy gasped. Alpha had a suggestion. "Put your heads between your knees and kiss your butts goodbye!" Char kicked Alpha in the head. "No potty talk, you!"

As everyone was running around panicking, Tails looked out the window at the Kosmogon, which was shooting fire into the air aimlessly, apparently too crazed to even target anything. "The doom... Could it be..." he whispered. During all of this, Copter had been sitting in a corner, watching. Now, he was awestruck by what had occurred. "This isn't possible..." he muttered. "You furry freaks have doomed us all! Curse you, you monstrous fiends!!" Gunner was shouting. Guard smacked him over the head with the blunt end of his scythe. "You were the one who had to egg him on!" he growled. "Someone has to do something." Gemini declared. "But who can stop Kosmo if Sonic and Shadow can't..." she trailed off.

Amidst the confusion, Tails came to an important decision. He grabbed up the Chaos Emeralds and ran for the broken window. There was a large balcony a bit below it, and Tails jumped down to it, using his tails to hover down safely. The Doomsayer was waiting there. "What are you doing?" he grunted. "If Sonic's too exhausted to use the Chaos Emeralds, maybe I should try!" Tails told him. The Doomsayer turned to face the young fox and glared at him fiercely. "Nonsense! You cannot possibly stop the doom! Surely, you cannot use the Chaos Emeralds!" he shouted in fury. Tails looked at the emeralds in his arms. "Maybe not... But I have to try!" he said, looking the Doomsayer in the eyes. "Running off to your death alone? I forsee that you alone cannot defeat the morph!" the Doomsayer declared. Tails showed no more fear. "If someone doesn't do something, Kosmo will destroy the world!" he insisted. "Alone you shall fail!" the Doomsayer yelled.

"He's never alone!" came the voice of Sonic the hedgehog! Everyone had gathered around the broken window, and were looking down at them from there. The Doomsayer's eyes went wide with shock. "Sonic the Hedgehog!?" he gasped. Sonic gave Tails a thumb's up. "We'll be right here, rooting for you, buddy!" he said. "I don't know about this. But if you want to try, I won't stop you." Shadow said. "I'd go myself," Knuckles shouted, "But I need to keep the Master Emerald powering this ship until we can land it!" "Go for it, Tails!" Rainbow shouted, not actually knowing that it was his actual nickname. "I say we're doomed. Please prove me wrong!" Punchy begged. "Sure he will! You can do it, Tails!" Amy encouraged him. "But please be careful..." Cream said worriedly. Gunner looked down at Tails with contempt. "Don't look to me for support...freak." he grunted, walking away. "That's as close as Gunner gets to encouragement!" Rouge told him. "Only a strong heart can change the course of fate. I believe you may have what it takes!" Illusi said encouragingly. "Kosmo is formidable, but no one is invincible!" Bucky shouted. "We're all behind you, kiddo! Don't let us down!" Eggman cheered. Tails looked from his friends to the Doomsayer. "You see? I'm not alone! I can do this!" he said excitedly. The Doomsayer closed his eyes a moment, lost in thought, then chuckled softly. "Best of luck, Prower..." he whispered, dissappearing into the rainy wind that had started up after the Kosmogon broke out.

The Chaos Emeralds hovered into the air and spun in circles around Tails, lifting him into the air as well! The emeralds spun faster and faster around Tails, until finally they were replaced by a shimmering light! When the light faded, Tails fur was now glowing golden, and he was able to maintain flight without spinning his tails! He had become Super Tails! "Go get him, buddy!" Sonic cheered, as the others shouted out their own words of encouragement. "All right! Here I go!" Tails thought as he flew off after the Kosmogon.


Copter was the only one not cheering Tails on from the window. He sat atop the rubble of the dragon statue, watching. Tears had begun to form in his eyes. "I guess I have no purpose in this world. All I can do is sit around and watch, while everyone else get to be heroes. No place to go...no place to belong..." He sighed heavily. "Everyone would have been better off had I not been born at all..." he said solemnly. Tikal's voice suddenly rang in his ears. "How can you say that? Your life has had a large impact on what has transpired today!" Copter didn't look for the owner of the voice, just replied sadly, "But nothing ever goes the way I plan. All I wanted... was to live like anyone else... But Bucky made me do terrible things... No matter what, that will never change." Tikal was at a loss. "That's so sad..." was all she could say. Copter dropped his tailband on the floor and shut his eyes, just wishing he could dissappear entirely...

"Mr. Copter!!" Cream's voice snapped him out of it. Copter opened his eyes to see Cream and Gemini standing before him. "Aren't you going to cheer Tails on?" Cream asked. "We were worried about you." Gemini told him. Copter looked at them like they were crazy. "Worried about me...?" he said, surprised. "You looked so sad when I saw you before..." Cream said. "Cheese and I wanted to give you something we found after Kosmo turned into that dragon!" Cream held out the other Tailband of Chaos for him! Tails had dropped it when Kosmo's shock waves hit everyone, and Cream had found it. "Isn't it pretty?" she said, smiling. Copter struggled to find words to express what he was feeling, but found none. "I don't know what to say..." he said, smiling a little. "I thought that might cheer you up a little, Mr. Gloomy." Gemini said, chuckling softly. Tikal's voice was heard in Copter's head as he picked up the two tailbands. "You are the chosen one! You can wield the Tailbands of Chaos!" Copter looked up to find the voice, but couldn't. Then he looked at Cream and Gemini, and started to cry a little. "You both have been so kind to me... And I've been so disgraceful..." he sobbed. "I don't like seeing people sad." Gemini said. "Me neither." Cream added. Copter dried his tears and looked at the tailbands for a moment. It didn't take long for him to make up his mind. "I'm going in." he said, slipping a band onto each tail. "Let's see what these tailbands can do!"

The Tailbands of Chaos glowed brightly, and lifted Copter up as though a whirlwind had caught him! The bright glow spread from the tailbands across his body, until he was covered in bright light. Then, the light produced a blinding flash, leaving Copter floating in the air with the tailbands securely strapped over his twin tails. His black fur now glowed a stunning silver. He had become Super Copter! "Hang on, Tails, my brother! Help is on the way!" Copter shouted, flying through the window after the Kosmogon. "Good luck, Copter!" Gemini cheered.


As the clocks in Station Square struck midnight, Super Tails and Super Copter flew out to the edge of space, where the Kosmogon had flown. It roared defiantly as the two foxes reached it. "Think we can do this?" Tails said, looking over to Copter. "I know we can!" Copter shouted. Suddenly, the Kosmogon was joined by four ghostly, smoky heads. They looked almost like pumpkins, and they were known as Losolanturns. Lospecter was hovering over the Kosmogon. "Go on, Kosmo! Destroy the world, and cast the souls of those natural born curs asunder! Then, they can join the ranks of the Lost Ones!" he cackled. "You wish!" Copter yelled, more determined than he'd ever been in his life. Lospecter scoffed at Copter, then flew back toward Shadow Arcangel, which was now changing course in an attempt to land back where it started in the Mystic Ruins. Copter had grabbed one of Eggman's radios on the way out, and would use it to communicate with the others. Through the miracle powers of the Chaos Emeralds and the Tailbands, the radio could work again, even from this far away!

"Welcome, foolish children!" Kosmo growled. "Now you have the priveledge of being the first deaths of the end of the world!!!" Super Copter flew ahead and swung his tails at a Losolanturn, destroying it easily. "Not a chance, Kosmo! I don't care what anyone says! The future is not written in stone!" he said courageously. Tails followed suit, destroying the second Losolanturn. "Doomsday won't come as long as we can help it!" he vowed. "Enough! Now, you shall die!!" Kosmo roared hideously. "Copter, look out for those Lost Ones!" Eggman warned over the radio. "Those are among the most powerful of them!" What Eggman didn't realize was that while he was talking, Tails and Copter easily defeated the remaining ones. "If that's their best, I feel sorry for their worst!" Copter laughed. Kosmo shut him up by smacking him with his large tail. "Quit attacking those ghosts! You're about to join them, you know!" 

Tails and Copter flew after the Kosmogon, attacking it with their tail attacks. Kosmo was too powerful for this now, and simply smacked them away. He roared fiercely, and it sounded like laughter. Tails and Copter swiftly flew out of the way as he shot beams of flame at them, in an attempt to knock some rings from them. "Be careful, guys!" Knuckles said over the radio. "If you run out of rings, it's over!" Tails looked around and found rings floating around the area. "He has a good point, Copter! I'll go collect rings for now! When you get in trouble, I'll switch places with you!" he said, leaving the battle area. "Cowards! Then I'll destroy you one at a time!" Kosmo growled. Copter looked a bit worried for a moment, when he heard Tikal's voice once more. "Believe in yourself! You are the chosen one!" Shaking off his fear, Copter went after Kosmo again, but wound up smacked away by his wings. Still, Copter remained determined, and tried again. This time, he went for the Kosmogon's head, and caused it to howl in pain. Copter had hit it right in the eye, but this mostly just served to anger the beast. "Allow me to put out YOUR eyes!" he screamed, blasting fire at Copter and knocking several rings from him. "Tails, I think it's your turn!" Copter shouted, flying off to get more rings.

As Tails rejoined the battle, the Kosmogon was ranting. "They call me a freak! They say I'm unnatural! When I'm all that's left, I'll be the natural one!" As Tails flew after the Kosmogon, Sonic's voice was heard over the radio. "I should be up there with you... But since I'm not, I'll be cheering you on!" With those words fresh in his mind, Tails flew after the Kosmogon and kicked it in the head. He was nearly scorched by the following flames, and Kosmo couldn't help laughing. "Is that the best the Chaos Emeralds can do? Why did I ever want them! Power is far stronger when it's created artificially!" he growled. "That's not true!" Tails shouted. "How things are created has nothing to do with anything! True strength comes from the heart!" Kosmo spit fireballs at him, apparently very skeptical about that comment. "The heart is nothing! Power is everything! Now, allow me to break your 'heart' with my power!" The fireballs knocked Tails around a bit, and he dropped a lot of rings. "I'm in trouble! Copter, I need to switch with you!" he shouted.

Vector's voice came over the radio during the switch. "The Master Emerald can't hold up Shadow Arcangel much longer! We gotta land this ship now!" Other voices were heard in the background. "We're gonna crash!" Amy shouted. "This is bad!" Cream said worriedly. "Hang in there, everyone!" Copter told them. "I'll stop this creep quickly and come down to help!" Kosmo smacked Copter with his tail again, following up with a shot from his flaming breath. This time, Copter wouldn't let him get the best of him so easily, and held on to his rings tightly. He broke free of the attack and retaliated by dashing toward the Kosmogon as fast as he could, slamming the morph dragon in the chest hard. Kosmo flinched a bit from the pain of the attack, but still wasn't affected much. "Why do you fight me, Experiment 2? Don't you see? Those natural born, 'superior' life forms will just destroy you, too! You have too much power, and they'll fear it. They'll stab you in the back as soon as they've gotten what they want from you!" Kosmo snarled. Copter flew up to Kosmo's head, looking him square in the eye. "They shall do as they must. And so shall I! For if I don't help those in need, then my life will have been worthless after all!" Copter flew at Kosmo and hurled a punch at his head, knocking him backward a little. Kosmo quickly twirled in the air and slashed his talons at Copter, knocking away a few of his rings, but not enough to make him worry. Illusi called over the radio next. "His power is merely an illusion, as fake as the emeralds he absorbed! Don't give up!" Copter snickered at him. "Do you really think I had such an intention? I came to win!" Copter flew close to the Kosmogon and unleashed a Chaos Blast attack, which Kosmo withstood with some effort and retaliated by trying to bite Copter. In his haste to avoid being bit, Copter was an easy target for another fireball, which knocked away almost all of his rings! Copter scrambled to grab the rings he'd dropped, grabbing just enough to sustain him during the next switch. "I gotta get a lot of rings! Hold him off, Tails!"

As Tails flew in to face Kosmo, Bucky reported their situation over the radio. "We're over the Mystic Ruins now! We have to put the Arcangel back where it belongs!" The Kosmogon flew around, looking back toward Earth. "How much you want to bet I can blast that ship from all the way up here?" Tails got his attention by slamming him in the back, causing him to fall a little. "If I fall, I promise you I'll be landing on Shadow Arc!" Kosmo growled, firing jets of flame at Tails from his mouth. Tails very carefully avoided them, then tried to hit Kosmo again. However, Kosmo had become much more violent, and it was difficult to approach him. Tails realized that he couldn't risk a direct attack on the Kosmogon, because if he had to switch with Copter now, they wouldn't stand a chance with Copter's small ring count. So, Tails flew circles around Kosmo, keeping the experiment busy trying to hit him with fireballs. This went on for a few minutes, until Gemini called over the radio. "We landed Shadow Arc back where it was, but the Lost Ones are everywhere! They seem to be reacting to Kosmo's power, and are growing very violent!" Tails was distracted by the call, and Kosmo managed to hit him with a fireball! Tails was now very low on rings, and Kosmo had him cornered. Just when it seemed the dragon would finish Tails off, it was interrupted by Copter's voice. "Chaos Whirlwind!" A huge gust of wind knocked the Kosmogon away from Tails. "You look like you need some help!" Copter said. "Go get yourself some rings! I'll handle this!"


As Tails and Copter's battle against Kosmo raged on, a new battle had begun back on Earth. "Those silly foxes will never defeat that monster!" Lospecter had said, "And once Kosmo destroys the world, the Lost Ones shall rise from its ashes and dominate our dark new world! Ha ha ha!!" Of course, Sonic and the others weren't about to let the Lost Ones start their little coup. The entire group had followed the Lost Ones into the Mystic Ruins and were now fighting them with everything they had. "Yuck! All of the Lost Ones are made of slime!" Punchy noticed as he fought with a few different varieties of them. "They're making me sick!" "No kidding! You're all green, One!" Rainbow said, quite seriously. 

A short distance away, Rouge was fighting alongside Vortex and Zipp. "Disgusting monsters! Where did they come from?!" she shouted. "Chaosss Hole!" Vortex shouted, creating a black hole that swallowed up several losol. He then used his power to close the hole and turned to Rouge. "The Losssst Onesss mussst have been created by sssssomething the massster did. The appeared ssssshortly after we experimentssss did." he explained. "Vortex, look out!" Zipp shouted, shooting a Loskel behind Vortex. "You missed one!"

Sargent Gunner was shooting at the Lost Ones as well, but bullets had little effect on the creatures. Full of anger, he pulled out a radio he'd stolen from Eggman. "Listen to me! You furry freaks will never atone for your sins! Go ahead and die up there!" he shouted. Spy ran over and grabbed the radio from Gunner. "The Sarge does not speak for all of us! Heeeeeelp!!!" Guard, who was nearby, knocked the radio out of his hand with the blunt end of his scythe. "Don't yell like that! It's very unnerving!" he growled. Spy chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry, buddy. Hang in there, don't stop fighting those monsters!" he begged. Guard grunted at him and resumed slicing losol golems into smaller pieces.

Even Dr. Eggman had joined the fight against the Lost Ones. Using what he called the "Arachnoegg Mark 2," he was putting up a very good fight. Whatever Sonic had done to Alpha earlier had also made the him a better shot. "Happy Halloween, monsters! Trick or trick!" Alpha laughed, blasting as many enemies as he could. "Halloween? It's not... oh, never mind..." Char said, following closely behind the robot. "No one can stop Metal Sonic! No one!!!" Metal Sonic had taken on a large group of Losohsts, and was getting beaten up a little. Luckily for him, SPOT came to his aid. "Robots must stick together!" the text on SPOT's monitor read.

Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles teamed up to fight Lospecter himself, along with a horde of Lospides and Losoars. "There may be too many of them." Shadow said calmly, "For you, anyway." Knuckles laughed as the enemies surrounded them. "Nah, I can take this, as long as that smoke cloud doesn't keep up his annoying chatter!" he said, pointing at Lospecter. It was holding its tarot cards, shuffling them as he laughed at his challengers. "Fools! I am Lospecter the Lost! My cards read your fate, and they tell me you're about to die!" Sonic looked around at Lospecter's small army, then back at Lospecter. "Sorry, lost loser, but you're gonna have to fold that hand when we're through with ya!"


Both battles raged on for some time, and soon, Tails and Copter had collected enough rings to attempt to double team the Kosmogon again. It didn't seem to be weakening, in fact its attacks only grew more violent. Now, Kosmo decided not to hold back anymore. "I'll crush you! Face the power of Kosmos!!" This was his most powerful attack. Kosmo's eyes shot out a terrible beam of violet light, which exploded violently on contact. He hit Copter with it, and the effect of the attack kicked in. Copter's dark thoughts took over, his hatred consuming him. He could not control himself any longer, he tried to attack Tails. "Copter, what are you doing!?" Tails barely managed to avoid Copter's attack, and now tried to snap him out of it. "We're fighting Kosmo, remember?" Copter ignored him and attacked again, though his rage blinded him and he couldn't land a hit on Tails. "It's no use! Kosmos fills the victim with only his darkest thoughts. It would seem he's been wanting to kill you!" Kosmo laughed. Tails believed he knew better. "This isn't you, Copter! This is what Eggman twisted you into! You know you're better than this!" Copter was deaf to Tails' pleas, and instead followed his voice in order to grab by the throat. Kosmo was enjoying this. "Friendship... Heart... It's all nothing! As soon as you open yourself to trust, you die from it!" he declared. Tails struggled against Copter, and managed to loosen his grip on him. "Remember... your friends..." he pleaded quietly, unable to speak louder because of Copter's grip on his throat.

Copter heard Tails' last plea, and it created an internal struggle within him. "My friends... don't have any... He's a lier.... Wait... Cream? Punchy, Rainbow, and Gemini! I... remember..." his thoughts filled him with confusion, and he grabbed his head as the confusion shocked him. Tails breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly pulled Copter out of the way as one of Kosmo's fireballs soared toward them. Copter shook his head quickly and looked around. "You... saved me?" Copter muttered to Tails, who gave him a thumb's up. "We're a team! Now let's finish this!" Copter nodded in agreement, and they resumed their fight against the Kosmogon, flying out of the way as another Kosmos attack flew at them. Tails and Copter's bodies glowed brighter than ever as they tapped into the full power of their super forms. "Kosmo... You're finished!!" they both shouted as they shot forth for the final blow! Either Kosmo would be defeated, or they would be...


A massive explosion could be seen high in the sky above Station Square and the Mystic Ruins. The explosion obscured any possible sight of Tails, Copter, or Kosmo. As the fire and smoke cleared away, they still could not be seen, but all assumed that Tails and Copter had succeeded. The Lost Ones suddenly retreated, vanishing whence they came, and everyone in both Station Square and the Mystic Ruins bagan cheering at the defeat of the threat. Bucky, Vortex, and Zipp watched the sky from Shadow Arc's entrance. "Wow! Those losers did it!" Zipp said in shock, "Maybe they're not such losers after all..." Vortex jumped excitedly. "Of coursssse not! That'sss our brother, Copter!" he said. Bucky turned and headed inside Shadow Arc, tears of joy forming in his eyes. "That's my son." he whispered to himself. "The secret to life... GeneX... I've learned so much, but it seems I still have much to learn..."

Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, Cream, Cheese, SPOT, Punchy, and Rainbow had gathered at Tails' Workshop, and looked in the sky for them. "All right, Tails! I knew he had it in him!" Sonic cheered. "I don't see them! You think they're all right?" Amy asked. "Of course they are!" Cream said happily, hugging Cheese. "Master is a great hero." SPOT's monitor read. Punchy began to walk away slowly. "Gee, I guess we should go get the Master Emerald out of Shadow Arc, since old Red forgot it..." he said. "Righty-o! Follow me, One! I know the way this time!" Rainbow shouted, running off ahead. Knuckles looked around and realized they were right, that he did forget the Master Emerald. "What the? COME BACK HERE YOU CROOKS!" he shouted, chasing after them.

Sargent Gunner had regrouped with Spy, Rouge, and Guard near the Mystic Ruins train station. "Those freaks fought together... to save everyone...?" he muttered quietly to himself, "Nah, it was just to save their own hides! How I loathe them!" Spy pat Gunner on the back. "Look on the bright side, boss! At least Dr. Eggman was defeated!" Rouge began to walk away. "You know what? I'm off the clock now, so I'm going home!" she said. Guard watched her leave and began asking himself questions. "Umm... Do I get to go home, too, boss?" he said, causing Gunner to break out laughing. "Yeah, right! Just as soon as you get a home, freak!"

Dr. Eggman was flying back toward his base on the Arachnoegg 2, with Alpha and Char sitting in a back seat he'd installed. "There's another plan down the drain..." he muttered. Char was laughing playfully with Alpha. "OK, Alphie, I'm sure you won't fall apart now! You're just crazy!" he said. "I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs! And Lucky Charms! May I have breakfast now?" Alpha said. Char giggled at that remark. "Whatever... I'm just wondering if we can fix Terra..." Eggman let out an irritated sigh. "Better luck next time, I guess..." Metal Sonic watched Eggman fly away. "Farewell, forever, doctor." he said. "I'll make my own life now, like Copter did. And no more working for deranged lunatics!"

Illusi and Gemini were looking out at the stars from the top of the Mystic Ruins pyramid. "So, where will you go now, Gemini?" he asked her. "Who knows? Maybe I'll just hone my magic skills for a while." she replied. "I'm sure you'll be an excellent sorceress someday!" Illusi said encouragingly. Gemini laughed. "Yeah, and if anyone gets on my nerves, I'll turn into a dragon again! Grrrr! Ha ha!"

Shadow, satisfied that he had finished his work for the day, was exploring the jungle again. "Once again, the world has been saved from disaster. And now, I return to my aimless wandering... for now..." he thought to himself. He passed Team Chaotix as he explored. "Case closed again!" Vector said proudly to Charmy and Espio, "We did great!" Espio's eyes narrowed. "But great jobs don't pay the rent. Who do we charge for this?" he said. Charmy flew in circles around them. "There's always the client!" he said. Vector shook his head. "Nah, we weren't the ones who told her what she wanted to know... We can't charge for that..." The three of them hung their heads in sad frustration. "Maybe we can talk to the writer..." Charmy muttered. (how dare he break the 4th wall like that!)


As Kosmo had promised, he landed on the roof of Shadow Arc, but now he was back to his normal form. He backed away from Tails and Copter as they walked toward him. "N-no... How can it be.... How could you... beat me?" he cried out in despair. Tails couldn't help pitying him. "Kosmo... There's no reason for all the hate you have for us." he said. Kosmo looked away from him. "I can't... stay here..." he whispered, morphing into his gargoyle form, "Farewell, Copter... And... Tails the Fox..." Kosmo hurled himself off the roof and flew into the dark, vanishing from sight. "Kosmo!" Tails shouted, to no avail. "I guess he needs to find his own place in the world..." Copter suggested. As the two foxes looked out over the world they had saved, a beautiful sunrise began. "A new day dawns..." Copter said quietly.

Tails and Copter began walking through the jungle, having a little chat. "Strange... I never thought you and I could be friends... Until we fought side by side." Copter said. "Why don't you stay with us, Copter? I'm sure everyone would like that." Tails suggested. Copter thought about it for a few moments. It sounded wonderful, but it wasn't really for him. "Sorry, I can't do it." he said at last. "Why not?" Tails asked. Copter stopped walking and gazed up at the sky. "This is a big world. You've lived a while and found your place in it. But I've not truly lived a day in my short life. I need to see the world for myself... and discover where I truly belong..." he explained. It saddened him a bit, but Tails understood. "I guess you're right..."

After a while, they came to a crossroads. "I guess this is where we split up..." Tails realized. "Guess so..." Copter said. "Tails, hold out your hand." he requested. Tails did so, and Copter placed something in his hand. "I want you to have this." Copter said. As he took his hand from Tails' and began to walk away, Tails gasped at what he'd been given. "A Tailband of Chaos?!" he exclaimed as Copter broke into a run. "I'll be back for that someday! It's a promise!" Copter shouted back as he disappeared from sight. Tails waved to Copter as he left, clutching the gift tightly. "All right, Copter! I'll be waiting!" As Tails waved, Sonic appeared on the other path. "Hey, Tails! Looks like you made it!" he said proudly. Tails turned around and smiled admiringly at his hero. "Ready to go home, champ?" Sonic said, giving a thumb's up. "Lead the way, Sonic!"

As Sonic led Tails away, the Doomsayer stepped on to the path from behind a tree, watching him leave. Tikal's spirit appeared next to him. "Hope has found the world." she said to him. The Doomsayer remained as bleak as ever. "But the doom will return. The world can never be permanently saved." he insisted. Tikal gave him an encouraging smile. "As long as heroes like the chosen one remain, this doom will never prevail!" she declared. The Doomsayer walked off in the direction Sonic and Tails had gone. "We shall see." he hissed. Tikal took off in Copter's direction a moment before vanishing, her voice on the wind. "We shall indeed. But for now, we must rest... until the next adventure..."


As I said, Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and Sonic Team.
GeneX and related fancharacters are (c) me, 2BIT.


The End...?



Sonic GeneX - Tails the Fox
Chapter 00 - The Lost Prologue

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


The young fox slowly opened his eyes. It was dark. Very dark. He cautiously looked around. He seemed to be in some sort of laboratory. He couldn't remember how he got here. He was lying on some sort of metal table. He sat up to get a better look around. He was a yellow fox with blue eyes, red and white shoes, and a pair of big, fluffy tails. A brown rat in a lab coat was in the room. He had yellow eyes, purple shoes, and appeared to be busy with some medical equipment. He was standing over a nondescript black fox. The fox appeared to be dead! "Oh... You're awake. Relax, Miles Prower." said the rat. Miles, or Tails, as he was more commonly known, was understandably nervous. "Wh-who are you? Where am I? Did you kidnap me?!" he asked. The rat nodded. "I did kidnap you... Allow me to explain why." He turned to Tails calmly. "My name is Buck Stein. They call me Bucky. I am a scientist, and I am working on my greatest experiment right now..." He motioned to the lifeless fox beside him. "This is my pet project... No, my 'son.' As you can see, he is completely lifeless." he said. Tails scratched his head. "How did he die?" he asked. Bucky chuckled. "Die? My dear boy, he has yet to live! I created him! But, I made some errors... His DNA has some fatal flaws." he explained. Tails looked curious. "And you kidnapped me, so... Why? How can I help?" he wondered. Bucky wore a serious expression. "Your DNA. Obviously, you are alive. You have fox DNA that works. My son doesn't. Therefore, I am going to try to copy your DNA and merge it with his. Then, with the power of my greatest breakthrough, GeneX, I will bring him to life!" he declared. Tails looked a little surprised. "But... How will you copy my DNA?" he asked. Bucky looked even more serious. Deadly serious. "It will be an extremely painful procedure... It has to be done just so, or my son won't be able to be brought to life. The procedure will do a number on you... At the least, you will have no memory of it. At the worst... you could die! And once you die, that's that. I don't have sufficient knowledge to revive one who has died once before. So you see why I had to kidnap you... No one would volunteer for this." he said. Tails was a bit frightened, but did not try to run. "Your son... He looks... sad." he observed. He felt a certain stirring in his heart. This fox deserved to live, as anyone does. Tails came to a decision. "I'll do it!" he said. Bucky looked at him with surprise. "He... he needs me..." Tails added. Bucky smiled and nodded. "Such a pure heart... I knew you were the perfect subject!" he said.

Tails and the black fox were each hooked up to several strange machines. They were strapped to their tables, and after some minor tinkering with his devices, Bucky was ready to perform the experiment. He typed up some notes on a nearby computer. "Finally... GeneX Experiment #2, my fifth experiment into the mysterious Gene X... Commencing with test subject Miles Prower..." He stood up and approached the two tables, holding his hands out over each table. "Extracting essential life data and merging it with subject 2... NOW!!" Tails let out an anguished scream as bolts of electricity flew from Bucky's hands, striking both him and the black fox! "Hang on, young Prower! I need you to survive long enough for the transference to be completed!" Bucky shouted, keeping the flow of electricity going. The electricity traveled through the wires attaching the two foxes to the machines, and the black fox soon started to react to the experiment! The lifeless body started to shake violently, its tail flailing under it! Bucky watched in wonder as the tail began to split, a second tail emerging! Not only that, but the fox's body started to take on more of Tails' features. His fur, which was previously all black, started to turn white in certain places! Bucky gasped at these changes. "It's turning into a clone! I didn't imagine the body would change so drastically!" he thought, continuing the experiment anyway. Tails' screams grew more desperate, but Bucky ignored them. "The transfer isn't complete!! Can't stop now..." he growled, not much caring if Tails lived or not! However, the black fox started to react more violently. Its fur started standing on end, and the fur on the end of its twin tails started to become very spiky! Sparks flew from the wires and the machine, and Bucky realized that the experiment was going out of control. It may destroy both foxes! "No! It's nearly complete!! Hold on just a bit longer!!" The experiment continued, and as the DNA transfer neared completion, the black fox's fur slowly started to turn white in more places. Three strands of white hair over its right eye jumped up, and the body shook more violently than ever! Finally, Bucky ceased shooting the electricity from his hands! He panted heavily; he had put a lot of his energy into the experiment. Looking at his machine, he saw that the DNA transfer was complete. Enough for his purposes, at any rate. He examined the black fox. It looked so much like Tails now, but that was no problem. "Experiment 2... Now, you will be able to live..." he said before glancing at Tails' somewhat charred body. He walked over and took his pulse. "Hmm... He may live after all..." he said, "Now, it's time to complete this experiment at last..."


Darkness. Pitch black darkness. "Where... am I? Who am... I? What... am... I?" A voice, or was it thoughts? A black and white fox stood in the darkness. Actually, he felt like he was floating. "Where am I?" he thought. It was a sort of alien looking room, much like the interior of the Black Comet, but the black fox didn't know anything about that. There was another fox in front of him, and two golden rings floating beside it, circling it. The fox looked familiar. It looked just like him, only with streaks of blue fur in some areas! The fox had an evil look on its face. It grabbed the floating rings, and a blinding light came from them, covering everything, making it all fade into white! "Who am I?" the black fox thought as a new scene unfolded in front of him. He was in another dark room, though decidedly less alien looking. Blobs of bluish green slime were slithering everywhere! He saw a door at the other end of the room. He ran for it, desperate to evade the slimy creatures! As he ran, he saw strange figures in the room. They were almost zombie like, covered in the same slime, but they were people. An egg shaped man with a mustache. An elderly man with a GUN uniform, and a hateful scowl. Hooded figures with their faces hidden. As he reached the door, it seemed to turn into a mirror. He saw himself, a two tailed black fox. Thunder crashed around him, and the figure in the mirror turned into the sinister fox with blue streaks in his fur. "What am I!?" the fox cried. The images started swirling around him, a horrible tornado of uncertainty. He closed his eyes tight. He heard strange sounds. Beeping sounds? Footsteps? He slowly opened his eyes again. He was in the laboratory of Buck Stein. Was everything he'd seen before a dream? Now he was inside a glass tube, with wires attached to him and a mask over his nose and mouth, allowing him to breathe, since he was submerged in some sort of fluid. "What... am I? ...Why....?" he thought. Bucky was looking into the tube at him, jotting notes in a book. "Let... me... out!!" the fox thought, focusing all his energy on his desire to leave the tube. The energy turned to chaos, and a chaotic explosion erupted from his body, destroying the tube and causing him to fall to the floor! Bucky was startled, but ran to help him up. "Incredible! A Chaos Blast! Here, let me help you up! Welcome to the land of the living, Experiment 2!" he said.

Experiment 2 sat down on the metal table while Bucky passed him some "gifts." First was a strange device, sort of like a watch. Bucky attached it to his wrist. "I am your creator, Bucky Stein. I created you for a few purposes... Time may be short, so I'll start with the most important. You see, I have enemies... and by extension, so do you. They're coming for us, Experiment 2. They will have me imprisoned, and maybe you as well. You must escape and free me, or this bomb I attach to your wrist will destroy you!" he said, covering the bomb with the cuff of a white glove that he slipped on to Experiment 2's hand. He gave him the other glove and sighed. "I know, it's a lot to put upon you so soon after your birth... As such, I can't be sure I can trust you to get it done. That is why you have this extra incentive. I wish it didn't have to be this way..." he explained. Experiment 2 nodded, but said nothing. Bucky handed him some blue and white shoes, as well as some socks. "To aid you, I leave you with these shoes. They look like your original's, but they are unique. Tap the heels together, and something special will happen... I say I'm leaving you with them because I must leave you now. If we're lucky, you won't be captured along with me..." he said, shutting off his equipment in preparation for leaving. Experiment 2 put on the shoes and glanced at Tails. He stared at the unconscious fox for a moment before opening his mouth to speak. "T-tails... Two tails... like me..." he muttered, his first words. Bucky glanced at him and nodded. "Yes... I used that fox to make you. You were cloned from him, partially. I suppose I should take him with me. Don't want him messing with my equipment when he wakes up..." he realized, walking over to the table Tails was laying on. As he neared it, he heard footsteps behind him. "Aha! Found you! Now let Tails go, or you'll have to answer to me!" Bucky cursed under his breath and turned around. He'd been found! Before him stood a blue hedgehog in snazzy red and white sneakers. Sonic the Hedgehog!

Bucky scoffed at Sonic. "Marvelous timing. At least you weren't fast enough to stop my experiment!" he grinned. Sonic charged at him. "I'm fast enough to stop YOU!" As he was about to attack Bucky, Experiment 2 jumped in front of him, and he stopped in surprise. "Whoa!! W-what are you supposed to be!? You look just like Tails!" he noticed. Bucky chuckled. "Perfect. A test of his fighting skills! Sonic, meet Experiment 2, my latest creation! I cloned him from Tails' DNA, but he is so much more than a mere copy. Two! Why don't you show Sonic just how powerful you are!" he commanded. Experiment 2 lunged at Sonic, who jumped back to dodge him easily. "I don't wanna fight you, pal! I just want to save Tails!" he said. Two ran at him and spun around, striking Sonic with a tail whip! Sonic blocked it, and wasn't really hurt. "Heh, well, you're about as strong as the real Tails. Seriously, though, cut it out!" he said. Experiment 2 ran after Sonic, but the hedgehog was way too fast for him, and easily put some distance between them. He thought about how he'd broken out of the glass tube and decided to try using his chaos energy. Rather than use Chaos Blast, though, another idea came to his mind, though he had no clue where the idea came from. He waved his hand in Sonic's direction and focused his chaos energy. Suddenly, a chaotic wind blew from him and struck Sonic, sending him flying a short distance before landing on his back! "Whooooa!! What was THAT!?" Sonic groaned, standing up. Bucky clapped excitedly. "Excellent! A Chaos Whirlwind! I'm impressed, Two!" he said. Sonic did a little stretching in preparation for the inevitable battle. "OK, now we've got a fight. Just remember, you asked for it!" he said. Experiment 2 shook his head. "No, YOU asked for it! You attacked my creator! I'll make you pay!" he shouted. Sonic shrugged and took off, dodging Two's Chaos Whirlwind attacks before jumping into the air and hitting him with a homing attack! Two fell over, but quickly got back up. "Try that again, I dare you!" he warned. Sonic came at him again, but as he got close, Two focused his energy and shouted. "Chaos Blast!!" The blast caught Sonic off guard and knocked him onto his back! Two jumped on to him, pinning him to the floor! Bucky clapped some more and stared at Sonic with an unpleasant grin. "Well done, Experiment 2... Now, kill him. Make sure he doesn't get in our way again!" he ordered. Experiment 2 hesitated. "Kill...?" he said uncertainly. Was it a conscience stopping him, or did he simply not understand? Either way, Sonic took advantage of his hesitation to shove him aside! They both got back up, ready to continue the fight. Bucky frowned. "Too slow, Two! But you can do it. Kill him!" he shouted.

They continued to fight, but now that Experiment 2 no longer had any surprise tricks, he rarely got any hits on Sonic. However, he quickly got good at blocking and dodging Sonic's attacks. Bucky watched the fight with interest; it seemed to him that his experiment had a good chance of winning. "Yes! That's it, my boy! Kill him!" he cheered. If Experiment 2 could take out Sonic, there would be no doubt that he would defeat any who challenged him. However, Two really couldn't keep up with Sonic. He had to think of a strategy. He still had one possible trick up his sleeve, but he wasn't sure what it would do. As Sonic came at him, he tapped his heels together. Nothing happened at first. He wondered what it was supposed to do, and jumped in place a bit. After jumping hard enough, the shoes bounced him high into the air, catching both himself and Sonic off guard! Sonic skidded to a stop, looking up at Two, who had started spinning his tails like helicopter blades in order to fly! Sonic jumped after him, but Experiment 2 used his shoes to bounce off of him, knocking him to the ground! He tapped his heels together again to turn off the bounce effect, and dropped on top of Sonic! He had another opportunity to kill him, now! "Well, the Bouncy Shoes work... Now grab his throat! Choke the life out of him!" Bucky shouted. As Experiment 2 made sure he had Sonic securely pinned to the ground, Tails began to stir on the metal table. He was no longer strapped in, so he started to get up. "What are you waiting for? Kill Sonic!!" Bucky shouted, getting Tails' attention. He hopped down from the table and looked at Experiment 2. "Gotta... save... Sonic..." he said weakly, raising his hand in Two's direction. He focused his energy, though he didn't have much at the moment. "Tails Wind!!" he shouted. A strong, yellow wind came from him, blowing in Experiment 2's direction! The wind knocked him off of Sonic, and he went flying into the wall with a loud smack! Two fell to the ground, unconscious, and Bucky turned to Tails furiously. "How dare you! Well, at least I know where Two got the Chaos Whirlwind ability. But now, I think I'll kill YOU to make sure you don't get in my way again!" He started shocking Tails with bolts of electricity from his hands, this time trying to kill him!

"Tails!!" Sonic shouted, scrambling to his feet and charging at Bucky! He somersaulted into the rat, knocking him away from Tails, who collapsed in a sparking heap! Bucky turned his attention to Sonic, shooting jolts of electricity in his direction. "If you had only stayed away... No one would have to die! But I can't have you attempting to stop my revenge! GUN ruined my life!! So I'll destroy theirs! And I'll snuff out anyone who gets in my way!!" he yelled as Sonic ran to avoid his electricity. "Hold still, you little pest!!" After a few moments, Bucky shot out his electricity in a wide area, catching Sonic and sending jolts of lightning coursing through his body! He laughed as Sonic screamed, and briefly stopped the attack to gloat. "Pity, Sonic... You had been so helpful to the world. Well, maybe one of my experiments can take over the fight against Dr. Eggman. Now, hold still and die..." He was about to finish Sonic off, when the hedgehog held out his hand and called out one more attack. "Sonic Wind!" A blue wind came from Sonic and blew around Bucky in a circle, spinning him around before tossing him aside! "Whoooooaaaaaaaahhhh!!" Bucky shouted as he landed next to Experiment 2! Sonic chuckled as he stood up. "Where do you think Tails learned that move?" he said, running over to his unconscious friend. "Don't worry, little buddy. I'll take care of you." he said. Suddenly, an alarm started blaring in the lab! Bucky stood up and growled. "No!! The sensors detect robots! GUN is here!" he shouted, somewhat panicked. Sonic lifted Tails into his arms and turned to Bucky. "Well, have fun explaining all this to them. I've gotta go." With that, Sonic ran out of the lab with Tails. Bucky, in the meantime, started examining Experiment 2, making sure he wasn't too badly injured. "Good luck, my son. Remember... set me free. Only I can disarm the bomb on your wrist..." he said.

Soon, the military stormed into the lab, led by a somewhat elderly looking man with a somewhat large nose, white hair, and a GUN sergeant uniform. Bucky gave himself up when they arrived. He had a plan, and it involved letting GUN think he was subdued, for now anyway. The GUN sergeant had Bucky taken away, but hesitated to leave, having seen Experiment 2 passed out on the floor. "That freak... It looks like Sonic's sniveling friend, Tails..." he muttered. A brown haired man in sunglasses and a black suit approached the sergeant, saluting. "Sgt. Gunner! Should we be on our way, sir? Some of the men think we should look around this temple first..." he said. Sergeant Gunner glanced at the man angrily. "I do the thinking around here, Spy! And based on this freak's resemblance to Tails... I think maybe Tails is in cahoots with Dr. Stein. And by extension, Sonic must be in cahoots with him!" he said. Spy scratched his head. "That sounds kind of farfetched, sir." he said. Gunner nodded. No one would believe his theory without proof. "Nevertheless, this black fox should be taken in. Bring him, but keep him separate from that rat. It might be just what he wants." he ordered. Spy called to some GUN soldiers and had them carry Experiment 2 away. As they all left, Gunner stayed to look around the lab for a moment. "Your insane experiments are finished, you freak! I'll make sure you NEVER see the light of day again!" he growled, turning and exiting the lab.


Tails slowly opened his eyes. He was sitting on the ground in the Mystic Ruins, not far from his workshop. Sonic was standing beside him, a look of concern on his face. "Ohhh... My head... What happened, Sonic?" he asked dizzily. Sonic crossed his arms. "You don't remember?" he asked. Tails shook his head. "The last thing I remember is wrapping up my tests on my new robot..." he said. Sonic thought about telling Tails what had happened, but with Bucky and Experiment 2 behind bars, what need was there to worry him? "Well, you had a little accident... But everything's OK now." he told the young fox. Tails slowly stood up. Despite everything he'd been through, he didn't seem to be permanently injured at all. Sonic started to feel relieved and stopped worrying. "I had a heck of a time finding you, though. Let's just say you were kinda off the beaten path..." he remarked. Tails looked thoughtful. "Sorry about that, Sonic... Tell you what, I have an easy way for you to find me in the future. I've got a robot with really advanced radars and sensors: the robot I was working on before my memory... uh, goes blank. Come on, I'll introduce you to SPOT!" he said, taking Sonic by the hand and leading him to his workshop. The danger was over, for now, and things were back to normal for Sonic and Tails.


Experiment 2 awakened in a cell. A small squadron of GUN robots were hanging around outside the cell. He was left there alone for some time, unable to think of a way out of his predicament. Eventually, however, Sergeant Gunner and his spy entered the room. Gunner grinned as he approached Experiment 2's cell. "Welcome, Experiment 2, to Death Row! I trust the accommodations are to your liking?" he asked. Two grabbed the bars of his cell and growled at Gunner. "Who are you? Where's Bucky!?" he shouted. Gunner laughed at him. "He's alive... for now. Me? I'm Sergeant Richard Jackson Gunner, recently promoted, I might add. I had the brilliant idea of locking up your creator where no one will ever see him again... Space Colony ARK!" he said. Experiment 2 looked puzzled. He had no idea what Space Colony ARK was, but he'd be sure to find out quickly after escaping his cell. Gunner motioned to someone standing in the doorway. Experiment 2 couldn't see him well in the dark room, but the silhouette looked somewhat demonic. "I want to introduce you to your guard. He's a powerful agent of mine, and he will see to it that you never escape from here! You and your creator were plotting against mankind, weren't you? You wretched furry freak! You're just the beginning! It is my life's mission to eradicate your kind, all of your fellow furry freaks! Only then will mankind be safe from you monsters!" he yelled. "Uh, sarge?" Spy whimpered nervously. Gunner glanced at him. "Errr... I just got a bit carried away, Spy." he said, giving Experiment 2 a smug wink. Two stepped back and glared at the sergeant. "I'll escape. I promise you that!" he said. Gunner shrugged. "Even if you do escape, where will you go? We're on an island, miles from the shore. What are you gonna do? Swipe our Chaos Emerald and use it to power your rocket shoes? Oh, that's right, you got no rocket shoes! Ha ha ha ha!" he laughed, walking out of the small room with Spy and the guard in tow. Experiment 2 sat down and looked around, trying to come up with a plan. "Well... Perhaps the Chaos Emerald could come in handy... but how will I get out of this cell?" he thought. Outside the room was a ledge, a balcony that went around the entire building, one of which was on each floor. As Sergeant Gunner was making his way to another door accessible from the balcony, a hooded figure watched him from the roof. The figure was completely covered in his black cloak, but a pair of large spikes could be seen on his back. He wore blood red shoes, and the only feature of his face that could be seen was his glowing golden eyes. "He has arrived... Experiment 2. Now... what will he do? Sit tight for now, dark fox. This is only the beginning......"


Thank you for reading! Stay tuned! There's more to come soon!