GeneX - Soleanna Struggle
Chapter 6 - Tropical Tragedies

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.

"I'm holding you in my arms,
Loving you beneath the stars,
I don't want the night to steal you away..." - Sweet Dream, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)


After a few dead ends, Copter came up with a simpler solution. He found Mia once again, not far from the safe house. "Hey, Mia! I gotta ask you something!" Mia and Tommy were sitting in her cab, looking over some maps. "Wow, Soleanna's bigger than it seems..." she muttered before looking out the window at Copter. "What's up, pal? Find anything?" she asked. One look at Copter and Heather's faces gave her the answer. "Oh, hit a wall, eh? Me, I'm trying to map a route through the jungle. But it looks like there's no roads there..." she said. Copter raised an eyebrow. "The jungle?" he said. Mia leaned through the cab window. "Yeah, where the chopper that took Katie went. Didn't I tell ya? Oh, wait... That was Chet..." she replied. Copter frowned. "What's that jerk doing around here?" he growled. Mia frowned back. "Uh, hel-lo? Because of YOU and your kind, the police had us all hide out here. Thought you might attack us. Excellent hiding place they picked for us, too, wasn't it? Anyway, Chet's cool, don't talk mean about him." she said. Heather was a bit curious now. "Who's this Chet?" she asked. "Katie's boyfriend. Man, have they been through a lot..." Mia replied, "Matter of fact, he came to me first to get directions to try and rescue her. Come to think of it... He never did return from the jungle, and it's been hours..." Heather looked worried. "Think he's in trouble?" she wondered aloud. "More likely lost." Copter said gruffly. Tommy looked worried now, as well. "What if he is in trouble? Mia, we should do something!" he said. "Hold on a sec, kiddo..." Mia replied, pointing toward the exit to the forest. "You go that way ahead of us, skunky. We'll go pay a visit to Tommy's bro and get some backup." she suggested. Copter looked where Mia was pointing. "There? All right... but don't call me 'skunky!'" he grumbled. Mia laughed at him a little, then waved good-bye before starting the cab. "Good luck, smelly! Later!" Copter turned around and shouted to her as she drove away. "Not smelly, either!" He then turned to Heather. "Do I smell? Wait, don't answer that... Let's get going!"

Hovering over a rooftop some distance away, Zipp was watching them. The whole of Team GeneX had been sent to find Heather again, after they had returned to Shadow Arcangel to inform Bucky of Copter and Eggman's involvement. Bucky's orders had not changed, they were to return Heather to Shadow Arcangel alive. Zipp pressed the hidden button on his helmet to call Vortex. "I'm winning here, 2 - zip! I just spotted 'em again. Now it looks like Copter's traded Punchy for Experiment 7. It seems they're headed for the jungle. Sounds like they're looking for someone or something... But, that's probably not important. What shall we do?" he asked. Vortex was quick to reply. "I'll head for the jungle now. Locate Crassssh, and meet me there." he said. Zipp started scanning New City for any sign of Crash. "What about the others?" he asked. "The three of usss will be plenty. Bessssidessss... I don't much care for the otherssss." Vortex replied. Zipp let out a soft chuckle. "You're right about one thing, we don't need their help. See ya!" Zipp now turned off the phone and headed for the other area of Soleanna in order to search for Crash.


It didn't take long for Copter and Heather to reach their destination, Tropical Jungle. As they explored the area, Copter found himself with a few questions. "Umm... Heather? About that... black character..." Heather thought back. "Mephiles?" she said. "Was that his name? Whoa, sucks to be him. Anyway... he said something... About if I knew you better... What exactly did he mean by it?" Copter asked. It was clear the subject made Heather uneasy. "I... He... Hey, does it smell like burnt fuel here or what?" It did smell like that. Apparently, Eggman's robots had been in the area earlier that day, but Copter would not let the subject be changed. "The robots are gone. Tell me about what Mephiles meant. Did you... do something?" he asked, slightly suspiciously. Ever since Mephiles appeared, Copter had been feeling very uneasy. He had begun to worry that Heather may have been pursued by Bucky for a good reason. Heather was beginning to have doubts about Copter as well, and these questions did a lot to fuel those doubts. "Well... I... I don't remember very well, all right? Just... Just leave it alone. Please..." she said in response to Copter's questions. "She's hiding something... But what? And why?" Copter thought. He began thinking of a way to get the truth out of her delicately, when Heather gasped with fright! They were walking on a bridge built over the large lake in the jungle, and Heather was looking at the water for the first time since they arrived. "Water... so much of it..." she said shakily. Copter looked out at the water, then at her, confused. "So? What's in the water? Sharks?" he asked. Heather shook her head. "I... I'm afraid of the water. I can't swim." she explained. "Well, I can. Don't worry, if you happen to fall in, I'll help you." Copter said, "I promise." Heather grabbed Copter's hand. "I'd rather not fall in. Hold on to me until we reach dry land!" she said, pleading. "Aw, how touching!" Copter and Heather looked up at a ledge that bordered the next segment of bridge ahead of them. Guard was there! "Grrrr.... You've done well enough, Copter. Grrr... Now, turn her over to me, and I'll forget I saw you here!" Copter stood in front of Heather, blocking any possible attack from Guard. "What's wrong with you people?! Can't anyone leave her alone?! And what the heck does GUN want with her, anyway?!" he shouted. Guard wasn't entirely sure, but he attempted to answer. "Grrr... Dr. Eggman is after her. We must keep her away from him. GUN will do whatever is necessary to prevent Eggman from threatening the United Federation!" he replied. Suddenly, Guard was attacked from behind by a blue robot, Alpha! "Meanie! What did Dr. Ro-butt-nik never do to you? You pay for that! Fifty bucks, please!" Alpha might be a bit wacky, but it was pretty clear that Guard had offended him. Guard pointed his scythe at Alpha, glaring at the robot. "Grrrrr! Easy, pal! Don't do anything you'll regret!" he warned. While Alpha was creating a diversion, Copter realized that now was their chance to escape! Past the walled portion of the bridge was a large turtle. "C'mon, Heather! If we hurry, we can ride the turtle out of here!" he whispered. "Oh... OK... Just hold on to me!" Heather insisted. Guard and Alpha continued a rather unintelligent series of insults while Copter and Heather boarded the turtle. "Get the shell out!" Copter said, grabbing a branch hanging over them with a fruit on the end. He held it out in front of the turtle, and it began swimming after it, despite the fact that Copter was making sure to permanently keep the fruit out of the turtle's reach. "Wow, this move's too smart for me." Copter thought, somewhat proud of himself. 


The jungle was actually quite large, and stretched beyond the lake. (though Silver, who had been through the jungle earlier in the day, wouldn't know it. For details, play the Sonic the Hedgehog game that this story is based on) Team GeneX's primary members, Vortex, Zipp, and Crash, had visited the jungle through another entrance. They had searched individually for a short time, but now met up again to see if any of them found anything. "Sorry, guys, I haven't seen anything." Crash said, adjusting his hat. "Me neither. Just a bunch of eagles flying around, trying to eat me." Zipp reported miserably. Vortex's eyes narrowed. "Of coursssse you haven't sssseen anything! If you had, the phoenix would be here with you!" he hissed. "So, does that mean you didn't see anything either?" Crash asked. Vortex glared at him, as if to say, "What do you think!?" "Uh, OK... Just asking. Can't be too thorough..." Crash said. "Well, should we split up agai--" Zipp started to say, but Vortex silenced him. "Lisssten... Do you hear anything?" They were quiet a moment. Quite suddenly, a pair of Los Foxes appeared and attempted to attack them with their sword like tails! Zipp was quick to react, pulling out a pair of pistol guns and firing at them, while Vortex jumped into a tree so that he may use camouflage to hide until the time was right. Crash simply charged into one, knocking it over before it could land a hit! Once both the foxes were down, Vortex emerged from above to finish them. "Chaossss Inferno!" Vortex fired a pair of large, pink beams from his hands, straight down at the Los Foxes! The blast incinerated everything it hit, and Vortex landed gracefully to his feet. He then sat down, out of breath. "I need better battle tacticssss..." he muttered. "Those were the Lost Ones, weren't they?" Crash asked. He'd never actually seen any before, but Vortex and Zipp had described them to him once. "What could they be doing here?" Zipp wondered aloud. Vortex stood back up. "They may be sssearching for Experiment Ssssseven asss well. We better hurry, before they ssssucceed. We'll sssplit up and triple our sssearch! Let'sss go!" Crash saluted Vortex, then took off in one direction. "Don't kill yourself, 'Tex!" Zipp said before flying off in another direction. "No... I'll be doing the killing before thisss job isss done!" Vortex whispered before heading off in another different direction.


As Copter and Heather wandered deeper into the jungle, they soon came upon a smaller lake. It was a beautiful place, surrounded by trees covered with white flowers. The flowers were falling from the trees, almost resembling snow. At first, Heather recoiled away from the water, but after looking around a bit more, she was stunned by the beauty of the place. "This place... It's so... incredible!" she gasped. Copter had never seen such a place, either. "It really... makes you think..." Copter said silently. "About what?" Heather asked. "It shows us... Just what people mean when they call it a wonderful world. Such beauty, amidst all the chaos... It's strangely moving." Copter explained, "Why, the beauty of this place has even made you forget about the water." Heather looked down at the lake and backed away from it a step. "I'm being careful. I won't fall in..." she said. Suddenly, Copter heard a faint rustling coming from behind a nearby tree. "Someone's here..." he said seriously, running over to the sound. Heather followed, and in a moment, they both stopped and gasped with alarm! Chet was sitting against a tree, resting. He appeared to have been beaten up by something! "C-copter..." he said weakly. Copter leaned down to see how bad he was hurt. "Chet... What happened to you? Are you all right?" Though Copter disliked Chet, he couldn't help showing concern. "I... I was looking for Katie... She was kidnapped... I was attacked by robots. They came out of nowhere.... Barely escaped..." It appeared Chet was more tired than anything else, his injuries were minimal. "We came here to find Katie, too." Heather told him. With that, Chet climbed to his feet. "Then I'll go with you. If the robots come back, we'll have a better chance fighting together... By the way, Copter..." Copter knew what Chet was going to say. "Don't get excited, you're still a long way from being called 'friend' by me." he growled, "Let's go." As they started to leave, Chet looked at Heather and smiled. "Hello there." he said flirtatiously. Copter glared at him as though ready to fight. "What, one girl ain't enough for you!?" he growled. Chet chuckled nervously. "Wh-what? Can't say 'hello there'? Ah, wait... Are you two...?" Copter looked away and started walking. "Don't be ridiculous!" he growled. "Grumpy, isn't he?" Chet muttered to Heather. She chuckled in response, then followed Copter, with Chet behind her.


Crash had wandered far into the jungle. He saw no sign of Copter or Heather during his exploration, but he soon came upon a startling sight! In a hidden portion of the forest, he found a barbed wire fence circling a giant section of helicopter landing pads! A small army of red choppers were parked all over the area. It appeared to be some sort of air base! "Such an odd place to put things like this... Someone obviously didn't want these found. But this place... Though the choppers look like Eggman's sort of thing, the base has a decidedly different atmosphere. Who's behind all this...?" Crash pondered this for a few moments, when suddenly, Crash heard a jetpack zooming toward the area! Looking around, he spotted Alpha flying away from Guard! The robot was holding Guard's scythe, but apparently had grown weary of being chased by Guard, so he dropped the scythe near Crash! Guard stopped there to pick it up. Seeing Crash, Guard felt it necessary to question him. "Grrrr... Who are you, and why are you here?" he growled. Crash clenched his fists and glared at Guard. "How very impolite. And besides, none of your business! You just move along!" he shouted. Suddenly, Alpha hovered over to the area and addressed both of them from the air. "Nya, nya! I'm gonna catch the birdie fir-rst! So long, monkeys!" The blue robot then flew away, and Crash and Guard simultaneously shouted, "Experiment 7!!" before pursuing Alpha. The race was on!


Copter, Heather, and Chet's exploration soon brought them high into the treetops. There were some huge trees in the jungle, and in many cases, the trees served as better pathways than the ground below. At any rate, it seemed an unlikely place to encounter robots. Soon, they reached what appeared to be a dead end, with nothing but water below. "Looks like we need another route." Heather said shakily. Chet pointed to some vines that snaked around the area, ending on the other side. "They look fairly sturdy. We could always grind on those." he suggested. Copter was looking back for another route, but instead found bad news. "I'm thinking we'll have to try grinding... Look!!" As Chet and Heather spun around, they spotted Los Foxes a distance away. They were heading in their direction! Heather panicked suddenly. "B-but... Oh, my gosh! I... I can't... I'm too scared of falling... I can't grind across that!" she shouted. Chet looked out over the vines. "Not much choice. There's too many of those things to fight!" he said. "You're a bird... Can't you fly?" Copter asked. "I... I never really tried. And this isn't the best place to practice..." Heather replied. She didn't remember flying away from Shadow Arcangel the night she escaped. Copter took her by the hand. "I can fly. I'll cross right behind you, and if you fall, I'll catch you!" he assured her. Heather looked at him like he was nuts. "Y-you're a FOX! You can't fly!" she stammered. "Trust him!" Chet shouted, jumping on to the vines and grinding away. Heather was incredibly scared, even terrified. Still, she saw little choice. The Los Foxes were getting dangerously close. It was now or never. So, she jumped, landing on a nearby vine and clumsily grinding along. Copter followed, moments before the Los Foxes could stab their tails at the spot where he was standing! As Copter landed on the vine, he noted that Heather was wobbling wildly, desperately trying not to fall! Copter watched intently as she made it halfway across the vine, then lost her balance! She began to fall, and desperately tried to grab the vine as she did, but she missed! Certain she was doomed, she shut her eyes. Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her wrist! As she opened her eyes, she found Copter flying above her! Still terrified, she instinctively used her free arm to pull herself up Copter's arm, and in a moment, she wrapped herself around him, holding for dear life! "Told ya!" Copter said, changing his flight path so he was heading toward the edge of the water. "I'm ashamed to have doubted you..." Heather said, gasping to catch her breath.

Chet was waiting for them at the water's edge. "Awww, she looks so adorable, holding on to you like that, Copter. You should reconsider your stance on your relationship!" he said, half teasing, half serious. Copter set Heather down on the ground, then landed beside her. "Well, someone had to help her, Chet. Quit being dumb... if you can." he said. Heather was shaking, but that didn't stop her from letting out a small laugh. "You really think I looked cute?" she said to Chet. Copter began leading the two of them away. "He's demented." he commented.

It wasn't long before Chet stopped them. They had reached a small clearing in the woods. "This is where I was attacked..." Chet informed them. The three of them took a moment to look around. "No robots... Is that a good sign...?" Copter muttered. Suddenly, they heard a strange sound coming from above them. Looking up, they spotted a red helicopter flying high above them. It was the chopper that kidnapped Katie! It was flying away from the jungle! "That's it! I'm sure it is! Katie could be up there!" Chet shouted, "I can't let them get away!" Before Copter or Heather could say anything, Chet had taken off in the direction the chopper was headed. Copter and Heather started to try and catch up, but they suddenly found their path blocked as Vortex dropped out of a tree in front of them! "Leaving ssso ssssoon? But you haven't payed me a visssit yet! Sssstep assside, Copter, and I promisssse I'll make Ssssseven'sss death sssswift!" he snarled. Copter stayed firmly planted between Vortex and Heather. "She's not 'Seven!' Her name is Heather! And what happened to capturing her?" he growled. Vortex was glaring murderously at Heather. "Thissss I owe her. You will not interfere!!" he sneered. Copter glanced back at Heather. "Take cover." he instructed. Heather moved a few steps backward, out of the way. "Fine, then, Copter. I will desssstroy you, asss well!! Take thissss!!!" Vortex leapt into action, engaging Copter using lightning quick martial arts attacks! Copter attempted to block using his arms and tails, but had to retaliate. He swung his tails at Vortex, but wasn't fast enough to hit him. Vortex gave him a swift kick in the jaw, but Copter quickly recovered and kicked him back! Vortex unleashed a flurry of punches in response, but Copter withstood them easily. "You're fast, but not so strong!" Copter noted. "I'll sssshow you ssstrong! Chaossss Inferno!!" Copter barely managed to avoid Vortex's attack, which was really just a diversion so Vortex could catch Copter off guard with his ordinary attacks! However, Copter hadn't fallen for the ruse, and they both got a fair number of hits off each other. They ended by kicking each other simultaneously, both hitting each other in the chest. They then backed away for a moment before resuming their battle.

Heather looked on helplessly. She wanted to help, but was afraid she might lose control if she let loose her power. So, with nothing else to do, she simply watched. The distraction kept her from noticing that something was fast approaching from behind! Alpha had swooped down from the sky, and now grabbed Heather in his robotic arms. "Gotcha, birdie! Game over! Bwa ha ha!!" Heather struggled, but she couldn't get free. "Let... me... go!!! Copter, heeeeeellllp!!!!" Vortex and Copter stopped fighting abruptly and spotted Alpha escaping with Heather! Not far behind Alpha was Guard and Crash. Guard quickly took to the air to chase Alpha, while Crash joined Vortex. "Now what, 'Tex? She's gettin' away!" he said. "Thissss isss all YOUR fault!!!" Vortex snarled at Copter. Suddenly, another red helicopter flew to the clearing, piloted by Zipp! A rope ladder was lowered for Vortex and Crash. "Hurry up, guys! No time to lose!" he shouted. Crash started climbing the ladder, with Vortex close behind. "Thisss issssn't over, Copter! I'll get you back for thisss!!" he shouted as the helicopter took off. Copter attempted to follow on land for a while. "I gotta get in the air... But I don't know where the Hurricane is. It probably won't make it..." Realizing this, Copter took to the sky using his twin tails!

The helicopter soon got ahead of Guard, and Copter was soon flying beside him. "Grrrr... Give it up, Copter! She's going with someone in the end!" Guard shouted. "Yeah, well it looks like it won't be you, dog breath!" Copter shouted back. At least it seemed they might be able to keep up with Alpha. However, things were about to go from bad to worse. The rest of the red helicopters Crash had spotted earlier had taken off, and they'd spotted Copter and Guard! The choppers were equipped with small vulcan cannons, which they were firing on Copter and Guard with dangerous accuracy. "This isn't gonna work!" Copter realized. Guard nodded in agreement, but they weren't about to give up. Unfortunately, there wasn't much choice. Copter was soon struck in the head by one of the shots! The shots from the choppers weren't lethal, but it was enough to cause Copter to plummet to the ground! Guard, realizing he was likely to end up the same way, dropped toward the ground in defeat. Luckily, Chet had been watching from below, and managed to catch Copter before he hit the ground. Guard landed next to them, and they were soon joined by Razor, Mia, and Tommy, who had just arrived to help. They had also seen everything, and were anxious to pursue the rest of them. "Dang, that was a spectacle! Are you guys all right?" Razor asked. Tommy was scanning the sky. "Looks like they all got away..." he said worriedly. "Grrr... We must chase them!" Guard insisted. Mia gasped, seeing Chet carrying Copter. "Is he all right?" she asked. Copter's eyes slowly opened, and he soon jumped out of Chet's arms. "Put me down, you..." Before Copter could finish speaking, Razor grabbed his hands and cuffed him! "Good work, Chet! You've captured one of the experiments!" Mia, Tommy, and Chet exchanged worried glances as Razor pulled out his cell phone and called for a police helicopter to pick them up. Oddly enough, Guard seemed a bit concerned as well. "He was trying to help Katie..." Tommy told Guard. "Yeah, but it looks like I've failed miserably." Copter said sadly, "I have a habit of that..." It wasn't long before the police helicopter arrived, and everyone boarded it except Guard, who had left to avoid trouble with the Soleanna police. It was looking very bad in many ways, and instinct told Copter that it was only going to get worse from here.

To be continued...