GeneX - Soleanna Struggle
Chapter 8 - Extreme Gear Surfing

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.

"Danger is lurking around every turn.
Trust your feelings, got to live and learn!
I know with some luck I will make it through.
Got no other options, only one thing to do!" - Escape From The City, Sonic Adventure 2


As the light faded and Punchy opened his eyes, it was immediately clear that the Time Stone had worked! Looking around, he found that himself, Gemini, and Rainbow had arrived back from the future, and were dropped off on the coast of Wave Ocean. "....We made it..." Gemini said after looking around for a moment. "But... What'll happen to the others?" Rainbow asked, concerned. Punchy and Gemini looked equally worried. "Even if they do escape... Their future doesn't look good." Punchy observed. Gemini noticed that the Time Stone they had used was still with them this time, though she had dropped it. She picked it up. "I can't go back home... Until I stop the Lost Ones. That will set things right, and save my friends." she said, looking at Punchy as if to ask what he would do. "Um... Well... That's swell, but... I have stuff to deal with, too. Like warning Copter..." Punchy said. "Huh? Warn Two? About what?" Rainbow asked. "He's gonna die along with Heather... Whoever that is... On Eggman's battleship!" Punchy explained. Rainbow gasped with alarm. "We can't let that happen!" she said. Gemini looked a bit shocked as well, but was more concerned. "What, during this incident? He dies? Hmmm... Then you need to help him. I guess that means we gotta split up now. After all, lives are at stake in both our times!" she said, a bit sad knowing she'd be alone again. Since none of them were quite sure how much time they had, they quickly said their goodbyes and left in different directions.


In the skies above Wave Ocean, a large, red blimp could be seen. This blimp, owned by the Babylon Rogues, was flying circles around Soleanna, searching for the Time Stones. Jet was sitting in his small office on the blimp, examining the green Time Stone he and his gang had taken from Heather. "They're awfully big rocks, aren't they..." he said to himself. "Don't even think about it, Jet!" Wave said, entering the room. "Remember, if we keep the stones for ourselves, we don't get the big treasure!" Jet sighed grumpily. "I need to get a lock for that door..." he muttered under his breath. "What's up, Wave?" She had her hands on her hips, and looked rather cross. "You know, the other Time Stones aren't going to find themselves! Shouldn't you be doing something more important than eyeing that rock!" she said grumpily. "Chill out, Wave. I'm not wasting time. I'm thinking." Jet claimed. "That would be a first!" Wave snapped. Jet placed the Time Stone on his desk and looked out the window. "I'm just wondering... What does our employer want with these stones?" he said. Wave looked thoughtful for a moment. "Let's see... They're called Time Stones... So maybe they can be used for time travel..." she said. Jet held back a chuckle. "You're joking, right? Time travel's not real!" he said. "B-b-boss!!" Suddenly, Storm burst into the room excitedly. "The radar's going off! The next Time Stone is close!" he exclaimed. Jet grinned as he grabbed his Extreme Gear board, which was propped up against the side of his desk. "All right! Just keep them away from Wave. She'll try to build a time machine with them! Hehehehe..." he said, pushing past Storm and Wave on his way out the room. "Time machine?" Storm said, glancing at Wave. "It's just a theory! Let's just go!" she yelled, stomping off after Jet.


Punchy was quieter than usual as he and Rainbow made their way through the beach toward Soleanna Castle Town. He was watching Rainbow through the corner of his eye, looking for signs of mutiny, but finding none. It simply didn't add up. Rainbow seemed incapable of even getting angry, much less shooting someone. Also, why were there two of them in the future? It was centuries into the future, so they couldn't possibly have survived the way Guard had. Punchy realized that it must mean they would end up going back, but why? Thinking about it just gave him an increasingly bigger headache. "Something wrong, One?" Rainbow asked after a while. "I hate time travel..." was the only response he could come up with. As Punchy continued walking along the shore, he wasn't watching where he was going, and soon fell into a hole! "Whoa! One, are you OK?" Rainbow shouted, looking down at him. "What jerk would dig a big hole like this in the middle of the beach!?" Punchy grumbled, climbing out of the hole. Rainbow helped him up, then looked around. The entire coastline ahead of them was dotted with deep holes. "Wow... Looks like cheese." she observed. One hole, not far from where they were, was having sand tossed out of it. "All right, I'm gonna give this jerk a piece of my mind!" Punchy exclaimed, running over to the hole. He dove in, hoping to catch the digger off guard, but instead landed on his face. "OWWW!!! Where's the digger?!" he shouted. Looking up, he saw Gator looking down at him. "Teleported." he said, grinning. Rainbow ran over to Gator as he helped Punchy out of the hole. "Hey, Bluehair! Do you know us today?" she asked. Gator nodded. "Well, of course I do. You're my crew! And that means you should be doing the digging! Not me! I have captaining duties!" he said. "What the heck are you digging for?" Punchy asked. Gator looked at him with surprise. "You can't guess? Treasure, of course! I AM a pirate... I think... Look, look! I already got some great finds!" he said, leading them to a green chest he'd apparently brought with him. "Lookie, lookie! Isn't it pretty?" The chest was filled with mostly bottle caps, but also various shiny bits of litter. "Wow! Who knew the beach was so full of treasures!" Rainbow said, eyes lighting up. "It's nothing but garbage..." Punchy muttered. "Not so!" Gator shouted, wagging his finger at Punchy. "It may not be gold or jewels, but you gotta work your way up to gold from somewhere! When all this is collected, there'll be nothing but cash left!" he declared. Rainbow gazed at the litter excitedly. "Wow, you're so smart. And you're helping clean up the beach, too! It's such an honor to work with such a great pirate!" she said. Punchy decided to take advantage of this silly situation to gain some time to think. "Right, Rainbow, he's soooo smart. Listen, that box is looking mighty full. Captain Gator will need to empty it to carry all the loot he'll... find... Anyway, he'll need help taking this back to the ship. I'd love to help, but... um... I think I may have gotten more hurt than I think when I fell into those holes!" he said. Gator took all this very seriously, despite the hint of sarcasm in Punchy's voice. "Oh, pie! This is a disaster! How will Gator carry all this treasure back to the ship!? Cruel fates! Why does you mock Gator!?" he shouted in a panic. In his panic, he'd begun jumping around and kicking the sand. Rainbow tried to calm him down. "Hey... hold it! Stop that! I'll help ya!" she shouted. Punchy had already used the distraction to begin walking away. "Yeah, I'll meet you guys in Soleanna. I know I'm hurt... but I'll just walk it off." he muttered as he left them behind. "Now that dumb and dumber are out of my way, I can try to make sense of this crazy day..." he thought to himself. As he wandered further toward Soleanna, he continued to wonder about the events of the future. Try as he might, he could not come up with any answers. "This is all just so weird... The Lost Ones... Copter dying.... Guard dying... Me dying... before my own eyes! What should I do!? What CAN I do!?" he shouted in frustration. In response to his cries, Punchy heard the voice of an old friend. "Troubled, are you?" Turning around, Punchy saw a cloud of smoke, which Illusi emerged from. "Aw, Illusi... There's been so much insane stuff today, I don't know where to begin..." Punchy sighed. Illusi crossed his arms and smiled at him. "Why don't you start with the most pressing issue. The one that's bothering you the most." he suggested. Punchy thought a moment, then told Illusi his problem. "It's about Rainbow... See, I... have reason to believe that she might... kill me. Trouble is, I can't figure why." he said, thinking that the whole time travel thing might not be good to tell anyone about. Illusi raised an eyebrow. "Kill you? Rainbow? Ho ho ho... What in heaven's name would give you such a notion?" he asked. Punchy continued to avoid the truth. "Well... Let's just say I'm fairly certain it's going to happen. What should I do?" Illusi thought for a moment, and quickly came up with an answer. "It's probably best you don't worry too much over this. Whatever will be, will be. All one can do is their very best. Perhaps your fears will prove to be unfounded. And, if I may say so, I very much doubt that she would do something like that on purpose." he said. Punchy thought it over, then realized Illusi might just be right. "You know, Illusi... I think that's EXACTLY what I needed to hear. Now, if you'll excuse me, I better go. There are others in danger right now, too!" Punchy then started running back in the direction he'd come from. It would be too difficult to find Copter on his own, and the only person he could turn to was Rainbow! Illusi watched him go with a tense expression on his face. "He never ceases to surprise me... But where did he get that idea, I wonder?"


Meanwhile, Gemini was exploring a different part of the beach. She had decided to practice her magic as she tried to think of what to do next. She knew she had to stop the Lost Ones and Iblis, but she had no idea how. Practicing her magic was all she could think of. She tried several spells, but none quite worked the way she expected them to. She attempted a freezing spell on the water, but it instead caused waves. She tried a shield spell, but instead caused a small sandstorm. However, she took it all in stride. She had to get something right eventually, right? One thing she missed from her dragon form was flying, so she attempted at levitation spell on herself. "Aeroft!" Suddenly, her body was lifted into the air. "Yay, I did it! I knew I wasn't hopeless!" she cheered, but then she noticed that she was still rising, and that she couldn't seem to control where she was going. "Wh-whooooooa!! Not that way, that way! Not up, down! Aaaaaah!! Ceaszam!" Using a general magic de-spell, she stopped her levitation and fell face down in the sand! "I AM hopeless..." she muttered in defeat. Suddenly, she heard laughter nearby. Looking around, she spotted Jet, sitting on his board, which was hovering over the ocean. "Yep, I'd have to agree. That was just awful. Flying takes talent, which is something you clearly don't got!" he said. Gemini glared at him. "What do you know? Magic is complicated!" she shouted. "So is riding Extreme Gear, but you don't hear me whining. Oh, wait. That's 'cuz I don't suck!" Jet replied tauntingly. "What are you saying? I... I don't suck! Take that back!" Gemini yelled. "I might... If it wasn't true." Jet chuckled. Gemini fired some blasts from her wand at Jet, which he swiftly avoided with his board, then landed gracefully on the beach in front of her. "Your aim's bad, too!" he added. "Grrr! Shut up! You're a jerk!" Gemini growled. "Not jerk, Jet. By the way, you wouldn't happen to have a Time Stone, would ya?" Jet asked, already knowing the answer. "Sure, but I'm not gonna give it to YOU!" Gemini replied angrily. Jet laughed sinisterly. "I don't need you to GIVE it to me... When I can take it!" Of course, Gemini wasn't about to let that happen. "You want it, jerk? Catch me if you can! Abra-ka-warpra!" Since she didn't know the Divine spell for teleporting, and she had no time to look it up, she simply used the Abra equivalent. She was covered in a bright light, and then vanished before Jet could catch her. "I see... Maybe this will be a challenge after all!" he said to himself excitedly.


Punchy had caught up with Rainbow back at the shore, where she and Gator had just returned from their trip to the Green Freedom via a motorboat. "Hey, captain, I'm sorry, but Rainbow and I have friends to help. You'll be fine without us, won't you?" Punchy asked Gator. Gator smiled and nodded. "Aye, mates! Gator's not alone! Watch! Abra-ka-clone-da!" As Gator shouted a spell, two more Gators appeared in a puff of purple smoke! Each of them were wearing pirate hats on top of their alligator hoods. "Tee hee! Clone 1 here! What's up, sirs? Oh, the Sun..." one of the clones said. Punchy began leading Rainbow away. "OK, let's get out of here, Rainbow. His ability to clone himself is something I didn't need to know about. He's scary enough alone..." Rainbow waved to the Gators as she followed Punchy. "See ya, Bluehairs!" Gator's clones immediately set to work digging for treasure, but soon started arguing. "That not how shovel dig! Like this, stupid!" Clone 2 shouted. "No, no, no! You'll tire youself out that way!" Clone 1 replied. In moments, a fight broke out. "Hey, no fighting on my time!" the original Gator shouted, jumping in to settle the fight. However, his clones were incapable of taking punches, and they vanished in another puff of smoke as soon as Gator touched them. Gator, however, thought they were still hiding in the smoke left behind, and was left fighting himself for some time.

Punchy and Rainbow ignored the ruckus behind them as they started back on their way back to Soleanna. Suddenly, Gemini appeared nearby in a flash of light! She spotted Punchy quickly and ran over to him. "Great, you're still here! I need your help!" she told him. Punchy looked a bit irritated. "Didn't we already agree to split up? If you're still in Soleanna when I'm done with my own problems, then we can talk. Now scram!" He really was sick of the beach, and didn't want to spend another minute there for anything. "Sorry, Wanda. Two's trouble is gonna happen first..." Rainbow said. "Yeah, but you're not listening!" Gemini said urgently. "There's no time! Until we get back to Soleanna, we won't even know what DAY it is! This thing happens two days after the Sun Festival! That could be now, for all we know!" Punchy insisted. Gemini opened her mouth to try to explain once more, but it was too late! All three Babylon Rogues arrived, and quickly surrounded them. "Hey, what's goin' on here!? Get outta our way!" Punchy growled. "Tried to tell you..." Gemini muttered. Suddenly, Storm charged at Gemini! Before he could get to her, Punchy stepped in and knocked him off his board. "Ooof!! I hate when this happens!" he grumbled as he stood back up. Storm, however, was just a diversion. Wave dashed in next, and snatched the Time Stone away from Gemini! "She got the Time Rock!" Rainbow shouted, getting Punchy's attention. Now, Punchy was mad. He grabbed Storm's board before Storm could, then jumped on to chase Wave and Jet as they attempted to make their getaway! "My board!! Not again!!!" Storm grumbled. Rainbow got an idea as she watched the boarders take off into the water. "Hey, Wanda, follow me!"

Punchy had absolutely no experience with Extreme Gear, as was evident with how clumsily he was chasing them. To make things more complicated, the commotion was attracting a lot of sea creatures, particularly dolphins and whales. The playful dolphins seemed to think the chase going on was a game, and kept jumping out of the water in front of them just for fun. This actually worked to Punchy's advantage, because Jet and Wave were being slowed down by them as well. However, Punchy wasn't quite as good at avoiding them as Jet and Wave, and found himself steering into whales, which acted as ramps sending him into the air! Luckily, this also helped. When he landed, he was right between Jet and Wave. "Very unorthodox style. You're either really good or extremely lucky, but it doesn't matter! You're nowhere near as good as us!" Jet said. Punchy ignored him and attempted to catch Wave in order to get the Time Stone. Just when Punchy was getting close, she threw the stone to Jet, who caught it and stuck his tongue out at Punchy. "Nya nya! Too slow!" Jet taunted. "Grrrr, that's a cowardly move! Come back here!" Punchy shouted, steering back toward Jet, who then passed the stone back to Wave. "We can do this all day, mutt!" she teased. "Did you just call me mutt!? That does it!!" Punchy turned after Wave much faster this time, and she was forced to use a dolphin as a ramp in order to get out of his way. She then passed the stone back to Jet. "C'mon, give it up! No wingless loser's gonna catch us!" he said. Punchy may have been slowly improving, but it was pretty apparent that Jet was right. This was getting them nowhere. In fact, all it had done was cause them to grow distracted. Since they were paying too much attention to each other, they didn't see that they were about to hit a whale that had surfaced in front of them! The three of them were launched into the air as they hit the whale, but Jet and Wave recovered quickly, using this moment to turn around in midair and go off in a different direction. Punchy, however, had started spinning in midair, and could barely keep himself on the board. Still, he managed to land facing the same direction as Jet and Wave, though he nearly fell over and thus lost some time. "Stubborn, isn't he?" Jet said, a little annoyed. Suddenly, a motor was heard ahead of them. Gator was rapidly approaching using his motorboat, accompanied by Rainbow and Gemini! "Stupid thieves! The seas belong to pirates, not you! Take this!" Gator shouted, charging the boat toward Wave! Taken by surprise, Wave was unable to get out of the way in time, and was knocked off her board! Rainbow tossed Wave a life preserver as they passed by. "There ya go! We don't want ya to drown, after all!" she said. "Thanks a lot, guys!" Punchy said as they turned and joined the chase to catch Jet. The sneaky hawk had quickly come up with a plan, and although he could simply leave the motorboat far behind right away, he instead maintained only a slight lead. Punchy and Gator were so concerned with chasing him, they didn't pay attention to where he was leading them. "Captain! Whoa! Stop! Look out!" Gemini shouted, pointing ahead. Jet suddenly broke ahead of them and jumped with his board, landing smoothly on the beach ahead. Of course, the motorboat wouldn't work on land, but Gator tried to chase him anyway, and soon crashed onto the beach! The surprise caused Punchy to stumble as he reached the beach as well, and he fell off the board! "Dirty thief!" Gator shouted, shaking his fist. It was futile, though, as Jet had quickly flown out of sight.

Storm, seeing his chance, grabbed his board back from Punchy. "I can't stand to see someone who reminds me of that red echidna using my board! Especially when he totally stinks!" he growled. Wave arrived at the beach around the same time. "So long, losers!" she said as she and Storm took off on their boards. Punchy watched as the Babylon Rogues switched their boards to flight mode, and flew off toward their blimp. Gemini and Rainbow jumped out of the boat and looked as well. Once the Babylon Rogues were on board the blimp, it began flying toward Soleanna. "I'm going to need a Time Stone in the end to get back home." Gemini realized. "I can't let them get away!" Without waiting for Punchy, Gemini ran off in pursuit of the blimp. Next, Gator jumped out of the boat. "Looks like it isn't broke, really. I'll just need to get it back in the water somehow..." he was saying to himself. Punchy walked up to Gator and shook his hand. "Thanks for the help. It seems I've under estimated your usefulness... Even though they got away. Tell me, you wouldn't happen to have seen Copter around lately, would ya?" he asked. "Ummm... No. No Copters. Then again, Gator was not looking. I prefer looking for pie!" Gator replied. Without any leads, Punchy decided to go back to his original idea. "Oh well. We'll check around Soleanna. Later, Gator!" he said. Rainbow waved good bye to Gator and then ran in front of Punchy. "You've been wandering lost on this beach since we got here! I'll lead the way this time! Follow me, One!" she said energetically. "Slow down Rainbow! Where the heck do you get all that energy?!" Punchy shouted, trying to keep up, as usual.


Meanwhile, at the Soleanna police station, Razor was waiting for the Soleanna police to track the red helicopters, which they were unable to pursue in the helicopter that picked them up. It was an annoying wait, though, because Tommy was continuously arguing with him. "Come on, Raze, don't you get it? Copter's not a bad guy!" he said, leaning on the desk in the lobby, which he could only do standing on tip-toes. Razor stood with one hand on his hip, and the other reading the newspaper. "Oh, yeah? Then what's GUN after him for? Jaywalking? This is the MILITARY we're talking about, Tom! They don't go arresting people without cause." he insisted. "They made a mistake, then! You said everyone makes mistakes once. And Copter..." Before Tommy could finish his argument, Razor interrupted. "Yes, everyone. ONE. The government is not one. It's a group. You're going to say a group of trained professionals are wrong? I've read the report. Copter escaped Death Row! He robbed Security Tower! He worked for Dr. Eggman! See any sort of criminal pattern here?" Razor's voice had grown angry as he made this argument. "But he tried to help Katie..." Tommy replied weakly. Chet, who was nearby listening, spoke up. "He was trying to help Katie. He even helped me. And he was escorting another lady, a friend of Katie's, who I think was in some sort of trouble. He's like Sonic!" he told him. "Sonic never worked for Eggman." Razor said matter-of-factly. Mia, who was also still there, backed them up. "Yeah, but GUN wrongfully arrested Sonic once. And Shadow... He worked for Eggman, too, but changed his ways." Razor was growing highly annoyed with all of this. "Shadow was pardoned!! Now, this may shock you to hear, but heroes are NOT above the law! This experiment... Copter... He may not actually be a bad guy. But it still stands that he has broken the law, repeatedly! And if you break the law, you must be punished. End of story! If you don't like it, wait and see if GUN allows for bail!!" Just as Razor finished this rant, Spy walked in and called to him. "We've tracked the helicopters, officer Razor! Could you come back here a moment?" Razor placed his newspaper on the desk, then started toward Spy. Halfway there, he turned to Tommy, Chet, and Mia. "Look, I'm sorry. I really am. It's really nothing personal." he said before following Spy out of the lobby.

Copter was being held in a cell located inside the police station for the time being, until transport could arrive to take him back to Death Row. However, Copter was determined not to go back there again. "Lucky for me, they didn't confiscate my tailband. I'm getting outta here! Hang on, Heather!" With this thought foremost in his mind, Copter charged at the bars of his cell, then attempted to smash them with a tail whip. Instead, he simply banged into the bars, merely hurting himself rather than breaking the bars. "Owwwww!!! What the....?! Why didn't it work?!" Two guards, who had heard the sound of Copter hitting the bars, ran over to investigate. "Hey, stop bangin' on the... What the!? He's gone!?" Copter slowly backed away from the bars as he realized he'd become invisible. "Uh huh... That's not the power I wanted... Does this tailband have a mind of its own?!" he thought as he watched the guards open the cell and walk in. "How do you suppose he pulled off this escape?" one of the guards asked. Copter grinned as he seized this opportunity. "Like this!" he shouted, jumping into the air and kicking both guards in the head, knocking them out. "Sorry, pals, but I don't know how long this invisibility will last. Can't have ya blowin' the whistle on me!" he thought to himself, slowly and carefully sneaking out of the prison area...

To be continued...