GeneX - Soleanna Struggle
Chapter 20 - Battle For The Time Stones

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.

"Nothing can stop you now!
No ghosts can bring you down!
When there's nothing left to lose, you win!" - All Hail Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog


Punchy and Rainbow chased the Babylon Rogues' blimp far into Dusty Desert. It led them to a secluded, usually ignored area of the desert. In that area was what appeared to be another large temple. As Punchy and Rainbow approached it, however, they could tell that something was different about it. "All the other temples around here look old. This one looks almost brand new!" Punchy observed. "Maybe this one just doesn't get any tourists. That big stone door looks like it'd keep most people out!" Rainbow said, walking over to the door. As she approached it, it suddenly started rumbling! "What the...!? An earthquake?" Punchy shouted. It wasn't an earthquake, though. The large door slowly slid open, revealing the inside of the temple to actually be a highly advanced secret base! "Cool! That was an automatic door!" Rainbow said. "Just as I thought! This must be Eggman Nega's base. He tried to disguise it, but I bet he didn't expect anyone to come looking for him!" Punchy said, stepping into the base. As he and Rainbow entered, the black Egg Pawns they saw at Aquatic Base began rushing into the room through several metal doors in the sides of the room! "Wasn't that thoughtful? Tubby 2 sent us some playmates!" Rainbow said in a singsong voice. Punchy charged straight ahead, right into the middle of the swarm of enemies. "All right!! Make way!! Echidna comin' through!!" he shouted, bashing aside every Pawn in his path before they could retaliate! Rainbow simply jumped into the air in order to glide over the robots. As she met Punchy on the other side, they noticed that most of the robots were still behind them, and already turning to chase them! "Aww, they don't want us to leave! They'll be lonely without us!" Rainbow said. "Nah, I'll leave something for them to remember us by." Punchy grinned, "Chaos Avalanche!!" Using the power of chaos, Punchy caused a portion of the roof to collapse on top of the robots in the front, blocking the path of the other remaining enemies! "There, problem solved! Now, let's go after Eggman Nega!" Punchy said. "Right! Well, there's only one door this way! Let's go, One!" said Rainbow as she took off with Punchy close behind her.


Elsewhere in Dusty Desert, Shadow the Hedgehog, accompanied by Rouge the Bat and E-123 Omega, had managed to track down Mephiles. They charged into the large room where the Dark creature was waiting, perched on a high platform with his back turned to Shadow. "Mephiles!!" the black hedgehog shouted. Mephiles didn't move at first. "I was expecting you sooner." he said before turning around. "As you must know, you're already too late!" He held up a yellow Chaos Emerald to illustrate his point. Mephiles had previously tried to convince Shadow to join him, and now he gave the hedgehog one more chance. "But there's still time for you to change your mind. Join me, Shadow! Let us teach this world a lesson, and rewrite the future!" he offered. Shadow recalled what he had learned about the future. After Iblis devastated the world, Shadow was blamed, and eventually imprisoned. However, Shadow knew better than to trust Mephiles. "Don't try to deceive me!" he growled. "What?" said Mephiles. Shadow pointed an accusing finger at Mephiles. "You have no desire for revenge! You only crave destruction! Your only lust is to fuel Iblis until there is nothing left of time itself!" he said. Mephiles paused for a moment, glaring at him. "It's a pity, Shadow the Hedgehog!" he said, levitating the Chaos Emerald over his head. "Truly a shame that you wish to go against me!" The emerald flashed a bright yellow light as Mephiles tapped into its power! Shadow, Rouge, and Omega were thrown backwards by a shockwave, landing in the center of the room. Suddenly, the floor began to glow and transform, becoming a battlefield consumed with Mephiles's power! Mephiles flew towards Shadow and his companions, glaring at them with contempt and hatred. Shadow, however, remained undaunted. "Mephiles! I won't let you escape!" he shouted. "Oh, I'm through running!" Mephiles growled as a small army of his tiniest minions dove into the strange floor he'd created. As the last one dove in, Mephiles dove in himself! "Drown in darkness!!" he shouted. In a moment, strange, giant creatures climbed up from his dark battlefield! "Hey, hey, hey, that doesn't look good!!" Rouge shouted with concern. Shadow was ready for battle now. "Hmph! Mephiles is just cowering behind his minions again! Well, if I have to go through them to get to him, so be it!"


Meanwhile, Punchy and Rainbow made their way though Eggman Nega's base. It was large, but pretty straightforward, and for once Punchy and Rainbow weren't wandering around lost. Each room had a single exit, blocked by legions of Eggman Nega's robots. The trip was exhausting, but not all that difficult. It wasn't long before they began to get close to the back of the base, where they believed Eggman Nega was waiting. Just before the final room, Punchy and Rainbow found the Babylon Rogues waiting! Punchy clenched his fists. "So, you birdbrains are waiting here to ambush us, eh? All right, bring it on!" he shouted, running straight for Jet! Storm simply stepped into his path and blocked his punch. "Nice try, punk!" he growled. Rainbow ran over to Punchy and grabbed his arm, restraining him. "Hold it, One! They're not even on their board thingys!" she said. Punchy backed away from Storm and turned to Rainbow. "So?! That just means we'll be able to catch them for once!" he shouted. Wave stepped forward. "Listen, you dumb mutt! If we were going to attack you, we would've done it already!" she pointed out. Rainbow nodded in agreement. "That's right! They're dirty cheats! But I don't think they want to fight with us, One!" she said. Punchy turned to Jet. "Is this true?" he asked. Jet yawned. "It's too boring messing with you. You're easy prey. Besides, you're bringing the Time Stone straight to our boss yourself! Why should we interfere?" he explained. Punchy scratched his head. "Well, gee, isn't it supposed to be your job?" he asked. "If Nega gets all seven Time Stones, it doesn't matter if we get them or he does." Storm said. "We already collected most of them ourselves, anyway!" Wave added. "So, he'll have to pay us anyway!" Jet reasoned. Rainbow smiled at them. "Makes sense." she said. Punchy crossed his arms. "So, are you guys gonna let us through, then?" he asked. Jet, Wave, and Storm responded by stepping aside, clearing the path to the door. Punchy and Rainbow started to leave. "All right... I guess we shouldn't question this any further... Um... Bye bye, birdies..." Punchy said. "Yeah, sure. Have fun getting clobbered by Nega!" Jet chuckled as they entered the next room.

The final room in Eggman Nega's base was what appeared to be a gigantic robotics lab, with computers, gadgets, and miscellaneous robot parts organized neatly around the room. On the walls hung several blueprints, some resembling robots Punchy and Rainbow had smashed up on the way there. In the center of the room was Eggman Nega, seated at the controls of the Egg Timer! "Aha!! So, here you are, future Eggman!" Punchy shouted. "We're back, and don't even think about trying to send us back to the future again, because now we have a Time Rock!" Rainbow said, holding up the red Time Stone she used to get herself and Punchy back to the present. Eggman Nega grinned upon seeing the final Time Stone. "Yes, I knew you'd bring it back with you! So, I've been waiting here for you to bring it to me. I got bored during that time, so I made some adjustments!" he said, pointing to the hands of the Egg Timer, which were now holding large rifles! While Punchy and Rainbow looked at the guns, Eggman Nega pressed a button on his control panel, causing a robotic arm to shoot out of the Egg Timer's empty Time Stone slot and grab the last Time Stone from Rainbow's hand! "Hey!! Give that back, Tubby 2!" she shouted, running after the hand in a feeble attempt to catch the Time Stone! As the robotic arm retracted into the slot, the stone slid into it perfectly! "Finally, the first Time Stone returns to me! As the last, ironically!" Nega said. "You see, I'd taken this red Time Stone from that fennec before, but it was taken from me when someone I had working for me decided to betray me." Punchy shook his fist at Eggman Nega. "Well, you're gonna lose it again when we're through with you!" he declared. Eggman Nega chuckled at him. "He he he. Surely you know I can't be stopped now! It would be a waste for you to die here. Why don't you reconsider my generous offer for you to join me?" he said. Rainbow placed her hands on her hips. "C'mon, we smacked that thing around last time! We can do it again!" she said. Punchy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you only got away by sending us to the future! If we all stay in the same time period, your machine is toast! Besides, after everything you put us through, we'll never join you!" he shouted. Eggman Nega stroked his moustache as he glared at them. "I suppose your lack of a brain diminishes your worth to a considerable extent. I retract my offer! Instead, I'll take this opportunity to show you the true power of my Egg Timer! Prepare to die!"

The Egg Timer raised its rifles and began shooting at Punchy! Though they looked like giant versions of ordinary rifles, they were in fact lasers! Punchy and Rainbow both ran off in different directions. The Egg Timer pursued Punchy, keeping him so busy dodging lasers that he couldn't seem to find an opportunity to fight back! While Eggman Nega was busy, Rainbow tried to sneak up behind him. She jumped onto the Egg Timer's right arm and tried to grab one of the Time Stones, but the Egg Timer simply shook her off! "Trying to grab my Time Stones, eh? You'll be sorry you even tried that!" Nega shouted, turning to shoot at Rainbow! Punchy quickly turned and chased down the Egg Timer, launching a powerful punch at its jetpack! The force of the impact messed up the Egg Timer's aim, allowing Rainbow to escape, but didn't damage it. "It's too dangerous for you, Rainbow! Don't worry, I can take him myself!" Punchy said confidently. Rainbow ran out of the way of the battle. "All right, One! I'll just cheer you on from here! Goooo, One!!" she said. Eggman Nega turned his attention back to Punchy. "Fine! This'll end faster this way! Now, let's try a different tactic..." he said, pressing a button. The laser rifles in the Egg Timer's hands suddenly began to transform, becoming a pair of powerful missile launchers! "Now, try dodging this!" Nega shouted, firing a barrage of missiles at Punchy! They were homing missiles, but they moved slower than the lasers, and Punchy finally saw his chance to attack! Rather than avoid the missiles, Punchy ran ahead and jumped onto them, then jumping off quickly before they could explode! This allowed him to get closer and closer to the Egg Timer, until he made one final jump and attacked the cockpit, causing Eggman Nega to fumble with the controls and make the robot fall over! Rainbow began clapping and cheering. "Good hit, One! That's the way!" Punchy dropped back to the floor and ran after the robot while it was still down, but Eggman Nega was far from finished. "All right, wise guy! Take this!" Nega shouted, activating the power of the Time Stones! Using the stones, the Egg Timer slowed time, allowing itself to stand back up and fire several shots at Punchy before he could figure out what was happening! The blasts knocked Punchy backwards into a pile of robot parts, and left him struggling to stand up!

"Eeeek!! One, are you OK?! Quick, get up!" Rainbow shouted. Punchy stumbled around in the pile of robot parts. "What do you think I'm trying to do, Rainbow!?" he shouted. Eggman Nega chuckled malevolently as he aimed the Egg Timer's guns at Punchy. "Looks like I win!" he sneered. Suddenly, he was interrupted. "Did you say you win? Great!" Jet the Hawk flew into the room on his board, with Wave and Storm close behind. "Now that you've got all the Time Stones, it's time for you to pay up!" Wave said. "A deal's a deal!" Storm added. As he watched the three birds fly in front of him, Eggman Nega groaned in frustration. "If you don't mind, get out of the way! You're blocking my shot!" he shouted. Jet smirked at him. "OK, OK. Just give us our reward, and we'll be on our way!" he said. Eggman Nega growled angrily at them. It was apparent that he was in no mood for this. "You want your reward? Here, try this!!" he yelled, firing several missiles towards the Babylon Rogues! "Whoa!!!" Jet squawked as he and his companions dashed to get away! The missiles couldn't keep up with them, and crashed to the ground when they lost their targets. "That was uncalled for!" Jet growled. Eggman Nega ignored him. "Now, where was I? Oh, yes..." he said, firing missiles at Punchy, who was still struggling to stand up! As the missiles sped towards him, Punchy was suddenly picked up and carried off by Jet! "Whoa!! Hey, put me down!!" he shouted. "With pleasure!" Jet growled, dropping Punchy on his rear! Eggman Nega pounded his fists on his control panel in frustration. "You troublemaking bird brains!! All you're doing is making me glad I wasn't going to pay you for finding those Time Stones!" he shouted. "Y-y-you w-w-what!?" Storm stuttered. "I knew it..." Wave groaned. Jet flew over to Eggman Nega's control panel to shout at him. "So, you were lying to us all along, eh? I guess all you Eggmans are alike! Well, if you won't pay for 'em, we'll just have to take them back!" he shouted. Eggman Nega attempted to swat him with the Egg Timer's fist, but he flew out of the way. "That does it! I have had just about enough of all of you! Therefore, I'll just have to destroy the lot of you! And to do that, I'll just have to use the full power of the Time Stones!"

Eggman Nega quickly pressed a series of buttons on the Egg Timer's controls, and the seven Time Stones suddenly began to glow! "Oh, boy. I have a bad feeling about this!" Punchy shouted. In a moment, the entire Egg Timer began glowing with a bright white light, and took off into the sky with its jetpack, shooting a multitude of missiles as it spun around in the air! "Yikes!! Evasive maneuvers!!" Jet shouted, prompting everyone to start scattering to avoid the missiles! Punchy attempted to use the missiles as stepping stones once again, but as he neared the Egg Timer, too many missiles were flying all over the area, and he soon found himself tossed away from the force of an explosion! As he fell, Jet grabbed him by the arm and pulled him onto his board. "Those are some cool moves, but you'll never get to Eggman Nega that way!" he said. Punchy hated to admit it, but Jet was right. So, he thought of another idea. "Think you can get me to that jetpack?" he asked. Jet smiled confidently. "You mean, do I think I can outrun those missiles? Sure, I'm the fastest guy around with Extreme Gear! You just hold on!" he squawked, changing his course to chase the Egg Timer as it flew around the room. "Wave, Storm! See if you can trip him up a little!" Jet said. Wave and Storm gave him a salute and flew in closer to the Egg Timer, taunting Eggman Nega as they dodged his shots. "Wow, all those missiles and you can't even hit Storm?! You're pathetic!" Wave snickered. "All I gotta do is get a little closer and I'll knock those arms off!" Storm boasted. Eggman Nega switched the rifles from missiles back to lasers and began pursuing Storm and Wave. "Let's see you dodge these!" he yelled. As the missiles disappeared from the area, Jet found it easy to sneak around to the back of the robot. "Thanks a lot!" Punchy said, jumping from the board and grabbing onto the jetpack. "Now, let's try this again!" he yelled, smashing his fist into the jetpack repeatedly! It took some effort, but Punchy soon managed to punch through its powerful armor and destroy the jetpack! He jumped away from the Egg Timer as it fell to the floor, but Eggman Nega was ready. With a few minor adjustments, the Egg Timer landed on its feet, and it began glowing more fiercely! "You fool! Now that the Time Stones aren't powering the jetpack, the main robot will get even more power! Now, you REALLY can't win! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!" he cackled, shooting his lasers even faster than before! The Babylon Rogues were forced to distance themselves from the Egg Timer to avoid its shots, and Punchy wondered how he would ever get close enough to attack again. "Dang it! Now what do I do?!" he groaned.


Meanwhile, back at Dusty Desert, Shadow, Rouge, and Omega had managed to defeat Mephiles, whose crystalline body now appeared to be melting before their eyes! Seeing his opportunity, Shadow pulled out the Scepter of Darkness that he'd obtained in Soleanna, and activated it. It began to glow, and levitated in the air while Mephiles's slimy true form was drawn into it! However, something was wrong. Shadow's expression turned to one of shock as the Scepter of Darkness was shattered before his eyes! "It's destroyed!" Rouge shouted, also shocked. In front of them, Mephiles's smoky form was swirling in the air, slowly solidifying back into the form of a crystal Shadow. "The 'I' of now absorbed your power through your shadow in the past!" he proclaimed, still floating in the air as he returned to his previous form. "What may have worked ten years ago no longer does!!" he shouted, sending a powerful blast of energy down at the ground, causing the floor to crumble beneath the feet of Shadow and his friends! An additional, more powerful blast followed, tossing Shadow, Rouge, and Omega high into the air before landing with a crash! Having snatched the green Chaos Emerald away from Shadow, Mephiles now used its power along with the yellow emerald to surround Shadow and his friends with a multitude of copies of himself! As Shadow, Rouge, and Omega pulled themselves to their feet, they looked around for the lead Mephiles. "You must realize now that you cannot hope to defeat me with your... limited power." Mephiles sneered. Shadow turned to the source of the voice. "So you say..." he said. Mephiles scowled at the black hedgehog. "It's futile. The world will betray you. Why fight at all? Why risk your life for those who will persecute you later!?" he growled. Shadow reached for the rings he wore on his wrists, which he normally wore to restrain and control his power. "If the world chooses to become my enemy... I will fight like I always have!" he declared, removing the rings from his wrists! No more talk was necessary. The army of Mephileses began moving to attack them, but Shadow was ready. He tapped into his true power, and charged straight into the army, knocking out all in his path as Rouge and Omega followed him!


Back at Eggman Nega's base, the Egg Timer was keeping Jet, Wave, Storm, Rainbow, and Punchy all on the run. "Tubby 2 is crazy!! How are we supposed the fight back!?" Rainbow shouted as she ran over to Punchy. "How should I know!? The Time Stones let him slow down and speed up and... also seem to be giving that robot extra power, too! We can't get through!" he shouted, rushing out of the way of the rapid laser fire coming from the Egg Timer, which seemed to be moving faster and with more accuracy with each passing moment! Hoping to stop Eggman Nega before his machine could go too far out of control, the Babylon Rogues flew towards the cockpit of the Egg Timer at top speed, only to have each of their boards quickly shot down! As the Rogues tumbled to the ground, Eggman Nega slowed down so he could mock them. "No amount of speed or strength can stop the power of time! That is why, with all seven Time Stones in my possession, I can never be defeated! Ha ha ha ha ha!!" As the Babylon Rogues rose to their feet, and Punchy and Rainbow rushed to help them, they noticed something unsettling. The space around the Egg Timer had stopped glowing, but now had begun to appear twisted and distorted, like a strange gas was surrounding the Egg Timer. "You're a madman! You're using too much of the Time Stones' power, and the fabric of time itself is being torn up all around you! You gotta stop this before you destroy yourself as well as the rest of us!" Punchy warned. Eggman Nega glared at him through the distortion fog. "You're just trying to make me hold back so that you can fight back! Such a simple minded tactic won't work on me! But if you really think that time is in danger, then surrender, and I will shut down the Egg Timer!" he sneered. Jet and his companions looked at the mess Eggman Nega had caused with shock. "What have we done...?!" Wave gasped. "We've put a terrible power in the wrong hands!" Storm said. "We can't surrender! We have to fix this!" Jet squawked. While the birds were distracting Eggman Nega, Punchy and Rainbow were sneaking towards the Egg Timer. Unfortunately, Eggman Nega had spotted them, and swiftly kicked them away with the Egg Timer! "Give it up! This is growing quite tiresome!" Eggman Nega growled. "I agree!!" came a voice back at the entrance! Before anyone could react, a large, black beam of dark energy erupted from the entrance to the room and slammed into the Egg Timer with tremendous force! The blast rocked the machine hard, scattering the Time Stones around the room! Eggman Nega only had enough time to disconnect his Egg Mobile from the robot before Punchy took the opportunity to charge at the machine and slam it hard with the strongest punch he could muster, causing it to explode! A hatch in the roof opened above them, providing Eggman Nega with an escape route! "You'll pay for this! All of you! You haven't heard the last of Eggman Nega!!" he shouted in parting.

The time distortion had vanished, and the Egg Timer was destroyed. Wave examined her board along with Jet's and Storm's, and was quickly able to repair them. "Thank whoever fired that shot for us!" Wave said. "We don't want the Time Stones, so you figure out what to do with them!" Storm added. "Eggman Nega owes us, and we're gonna get our due one way or another! So long!" Jet squawked, leading the Babylon Rogues up through the hatch that Eggman Nega used to escape! Rainbow ran over to Punchy to see if he was all right after the Egg Timer exploded. Punchy was panting with exhaustion. "That was a close fight..." he muttered. "I wonder who helped us out there?" Rainbow said. "I did!" came the voice of Fera the wolf as she entered the room. "Oh, thanks a lot!" Rainbow said before wandering around the room to collect the Time Stones. Punchy glanced at Fera suspiciously. "What are you doing here?" he asked. Fera grinned as Rainbow returned to Punchy, holding all the Time Stones. "I was the one who betrayed Eggman Nega and took his first Time Stone. I couldn't leave something so powerful in the hands of that despicable human! I only joined him to learn about his plans. To be honest, I'm busy working to find a way to wipe out all of those inanimal humans!" the wolf explained. Rainbow frowned at her. "That's terrible! You can't just try to destroy an entire group just because you don't like them, Wolfie!" she said. Fera scowled at her. "Why not? They'd do the same to us! You saw the carelessness of Eggman Nega! That's how all humans behave! That's why I must insist that you turn over those Time Stones to me. I'll see they are used properly..." she said. Punchy looked at her with contempt. "No!" he said bluntly. Fera reacted by charging her dark powers through her hands. "It's utter foolishness for a fur to defend the humans! Have you no concept of the evil those humans are capable of!?" she snarled. Punchy raised his fists, prepared for another fight. "I know that quite well. But if we go and try wiping all of them out, that would make us just as bad, or worse than they are! That's why I'm not letting you take those Time Stones!" he shouted. Fera growled angrily at Punchy. "Fine! If that's what you want, you're in for a world of despair!!" she threatened. Punchy charged after her, determined to stop her plans. "Bring it on!!"

To be continued...