GeneX - A New Beginning
Chapter 2 - The Jackel
Stage - Red Mountain
Battle - Punchy Vs. Anubis

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

"I've had ENOUGH!" Knuckles had caught Punchy attempting to steal the Master Emerald for the umpteenth time. Punchy leaned against the emerald while Knuckles shouted at him. "What is this to you, a game!? It's bad enough I have to live here at this lonely shrine, but I have to have you giving me grief constantly, too?!" he shouted. Punchy snickered at him. "Gee, Red, wouldn't you be bored without me?" he chuckled. Knuckles pushed him away from the Master Emerald. "It was peaceful before you were created! Now, I can never rest! Well, that's it! I'm taking a vacation!" he declared. Punchy looked at him quizzically. "Vacation? You're going to leave the Master Emerald here?" he asked. Knuckles replied by lifting the Master Emerald and stomping off. Punchy followed slowly behind. "Now, hold on! You can't just take off like that! What about Angel Island? What about..." Punchy found himself at a loss for words as Knuckles crossed the bridge toward the Red Mountain area. "The island will be fine. I'm outta here!" Knuckles muttered. "You know I'm just gonna follow you, Red!" Punchy shouted, still following Knuckles. "Right, sure, you're gonna chase me through Red Mountain without gliding? Good luck, Green!" Knuckles chuckled. He had a point, too...

Punchy found himself lost with Knuckles out of sight in no time. In the attempt to keep up, he'd gotten himself lost in the mountain caves. Now, he'd be content just to find an exit. "Who made these caves so big... and full of lava? Stupid Knuckles..." he mumbled, frustrated. He wasn't used to the heat, and didn't take to it very well. So, he hurriedly searched for a way out, heading on an upward path to distance himself from the lava.

"That's him!" A black and brown jackel was comparing Punchy to a sketch of Knuckles, which was in black and white. "The guardian of the Master Emerald. My mission begins now. Prepare yourself, echidna, to face the fiery wrath that is me! Anubis the Jackal!" Anubis waved his hands over the ground before him. "Arise, my servants! The time has come to bring despair to the denizens of the light once again!" Responding to the jackal's call, several arms burst out from beneath the ground, clawing their way to the surface. "I just wish there was a way to hurry this up. I grow weary waiting for the carnage to commence." Anubis complained as his minions dug themselves out of their resting places.

Punchy reached a dead end, a cliff at the peak of the path he was traveling on. The cliff overlooked a sea of lava, seemingly endless. "I guess I better turn back." he sighed, really wishing he hadn't followed Knuckles this far. As he turned to leave the area, he discovered that a group of black mummies had followed him! "What's with the black toilet paper? Who are you guys?" he growled, clenching his fists. Anubis stepped past them and stood in front of Punchy. "We are the agents of despair! I, Anubis, shall be taking the Master Emerald to its new home, guardian!" Punchy looked at the group he was faced with, and gave Anubis a confused look. "Guardian? No, I'm the guy trying to steal it. And I seem to have lost track of it myself..." he explained. Anubis stared blankly at Punchy. "Your lies are amusing, but far more amusing will be your cries of agony! Break him, my servants!"


Knuckles was pretty pleased with himself as he made his way to the Mystic Ruins train station. He needed this vacation, and he was glad Punchy wouldn't be following him. As he reached the station, a train from Station Square arrived. "I wonder if there's a train to Soleanna from here..." Knuckles thought. He hoped to make it in time for the Sun Festival. As the passengers cleared off the train, Knckles spotted a familiar face, Rainbow's. She spotted him quickly. "Hey, there, Knucklehead! What's up? Where's One?" she said cheerfully, looking around for her friend. She looked behind Knuckles, over the nearby railing, and then lifted up Knuckles' foot. Knuckles jumped away from her. "I'm not STANDING on him, crazy! He's not here!" he said, flustered. Rainbow scratched her head in confusion. "Then where is he?" she asked. Knuckles pointed to Angel Island. "I lost him in the mountains on my island. He can't glide, so it was pretty easy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to catch a train!" Rainbow shook Knuckles' hand before taking off. "Thanks, Knucklehead!" she shouted back as she left. Knuckles shook his head. "I can't help feeling a bit sorry for Punchy... Having to put up with HER..."


"Hi-ya!" Punchy smashed the last of the mummies to dust after a bit of a fight. "If they already died once, what makes anyone think I couldn't kill them again?" he muttered, looking around and seeing no one in sight. "Looks like that weirdo got scared and ran! Ha ha!" As Punchy started to head back the way he came, a wall of fire blocked erupted in front of him, blocking his exit. "How in the..." he started to say, when Anubis dropped from the sky behind him, cackling loudly to get his attention. "That was merely a test to guage your power. An infant could have defeated those mummies. Now, you face my fury! Burn in my Hellfire!!!" Anubis held out his hand and produced a flame from his palm. "Despair, for your miserable existance is about to end!" The flame burst into a large fireball, which Anubis hurled at Punchy. Punchy scrambled to get out of the way, but Anubis merely shot a jet of flames in front of him, cutting off his escape! "It's no use. You would be wise not to resist. The pain shall end faster." he insisted. Of course, that was out of the question. "You think you're so tough? I'll show you!" Punchy shouted, jumping high into the air. "I hope this works..." He lunged foreward in the air, attempting to glide, but he couldn't. He tumbled to the floor and rolled over the ledge, barely grabbing the wall before falling. Anubis slowly turned around and watched him pull himself up. "Or perhaps you'd prefer to destroy yourself, oaf." he said. Punchy climbed to his feet and smirked at Anubis. "No thanks. I think I'll show you my true power! Chaos Avelanche!" Punchy lifted up chunks of the ground using his Chaos powers and threw them at Anubis. The jackal did not panic. He slowly and skillfully stepped left and right, dodging the rocks effortlessly. "Mere trifles. You cannot hope to harm me. Still, you're welcome to try. Approach me, imbecile!" Anubis growled. Punchy ran at him and attempted to punch him, but Anubis simply caught his fist in his hand, retaliating with a swift, flaming kick to Punchy's chest! Punchy was knocked away, but not shaken much. Anubis didn't waste a moment, and quickly shot two fiery pillars from his hands toward Punchy. Seeing no easy way to dodge the attack, Punchy flung himself over the ledge and grabbed the wall as the flames passed by him. "It is futile to hide!" Anubis slowly walked toward where Punchy was clinging to the wall. "I am not exiting this abyss without the great controller! As for you, you will never leave this place!" Punchy was climbing along the side of the wall, desperately trying to come up with a strategy. Soon, Anubis had reached the ledge, and spotted Punchy trying to escape. "Burn to ashes!" Anubis shouted, spouting flames at Punchy from his mouth! Punchy quickly pushed himself back to the top of the ledge and climbed to his feet while Anubis was busy. "You sure like to talk!" Punchy grunted, running after Anubis once again. Anubis was too slow turning around, and Punchy managed to push him over the ledge! However, Anubis wasn't caught off guard, and managed to grab Punchy's hand as he fell! Punchy grabbed the ledge with his other hand, and tried to drop the jackal into the lava. Anubis climbed up Punchy's body to reach the ledge and within moments stood over the echidna, ready to deliver the final blow. "Any final words, guardian?" he asked as he created another fireball in his palm.

"You leave One alone!" Rainbow's voice shouted from behind Anubis. The jackal quickly turned around to see Rainbow gliding toward him at high speed, fists forward. She flew right into Anubis and knocked him over the ledge! As he fell, he attempted to drag Punchy down with him, but Rainbow managed to grab Punchy's arm just as Anubis pulled him off the wall! Punchy kicked Anubis away from him, and the fiery jackal plunged into the lava as Rainbow pulled Punchy up. They looked down to catch a final glimpse of a flaming Anubis as he sunk beneath the sea of lava. Anubis let out a terrible shriek and left them with some final words. "My death is nothing! Soon, you and all the world will succumb to the ultimate despair!!" With that, Anubis was gone.

Rainbow waved farewell to Anubis. "Um... Sorry... I didn't mean to..." she started to say before beginning to cry, "Oh, my gosh... I just killed that guy..." Punchy looked out over the sea of lava. "Yup, looks like it. You'd think a pyrokinetic would be able to survive in lava..." he said, They were silent a moment, when Punchy suddenly realized something. "You just saved my life..." he said, stunned. Rainbow's crying subsided somewhat at his words. "He was about to kill you...? Then it serves him right!" she said, her cheery demeaner returning. "How'd you know I was here, anyway?" Punchy asked as they started to leave, since Anubis' flames were no longer blocking the path. "I saw Knucklehead on my way off the train! He said you were here!" she explained. "He must be long gone by now..." Punchy realized, "Well, maybe he went to Station Square! At least if I'm wrong, I can spend the night at your place...um...maybe?" Rainbow smiled and nodded. "Sure! Follow me, One!" she said excitedly, running ahead to lead the way out.

Of course, Knuckles wasn't in Station Square. However, Punchy did run into Copter during his search. They both shared the stories of their recent adventures while chatting in front of the train station. "Sounds like you really like this Katie gal, eh, Copter?" Punchy chuckled. "Well, I only just met her... But, yeah. I think so." Copter said, "Hey, I bet Rainbow likes you, Punch! She saved your life, what, twenty times already?" Punchy shook his head. "You've got it all wrong. I'm the one who normally saves her!" he insisted. Copter laughed. "Ah, so you're the one who likes her?" Punchy smacked Copter in the back of the head. "Shut up! I barely even like her as a friend!" Copter continued chuckling. "Really? Could've fooled me." he said. "Whatever. I gotta go." Punchy muttered, walking away. Copter waved as he left. "Nice talking to ya, One!" Punchy hurled a rock at Copter. "Fine, fine. Mr. One!"

After a while, Punchy gave up the search and found his way to Rainbow's underground home. As he walked down the roads of the hidden city, he noticed that little had changed. Remnants of the robots he had fought on his first visit were still scattered about. The hole in the library where Terra had crashed through it was still there, as well as the hole where Rainbow's doorway used to be. "I guess she can't fix this stuff by herself." he thought, feeling some remorse for the damage that he'd caused by leading Terra to her home. Rainbow ran out to greet him as he approached her home. "Hey, One! How'd the search go?" she asked cheerfully. Punchy ignored her question and pointed to the damage he'd observed. "Still in ruins, eh?" he said. Rainbow looked surprised, as though she'd only just noticed it. "Wow, that robot jerk sure made a mess. I never had time to see the damage, what with how crazy the last few days have been!" she said. "I could fix it for you... maybe..." Punchy offered. Rainbow shook her head. "No, you don't have to do that. I don't even notice it!" she said. Before Punchy could reply, she ran inside saying, "Follow me!" He hesitated a moment, taking another look at the damage. "I probably can't fix it anyway..." he realized. "Oh, well. Maybe I'll try anyway..."

To be continued...