GeneX - Soleanna Struggle
Chapter 13 - Return To The Arcangel

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.

"Can you see all of me?
Walk into my mystery.
Step inside and hold on for dear life!
Do you remember me?
Capture you, or set you free?
I am all, and I am all of me!" - I Am, Shadow the Hedgehog


Shadow Arcangel was hovering off the coast of Soleanna castle town. Bucky the Rat stood in the control room, gazing out over the city from the window. From this high place, it was easy to spot the GUN helicopter approaching them. "Aha... A visitor... Experiment 4! Use your helmet's visor! Tell me who's in that chopper!" the rat commanded. Zipp flew to the window and pressed some hidden buttons on his helmet. "Oooh, this is interesting! It seems our old pal number six is bringing Copter and seven right to us! And... That fennec girl is with them, too! Shall I shoot them down?" the hornet said. Bucky looked a bit puzzled. "How... Unexpected. I very much doubt that Experiment 2 is here to simply hand over Experiment 7... Not after all the trouble he went to fighting us..." he muttered. Vortex and Spiny had also wandered to the window at this point. "Shall we bring them here? Personally, I prefer Zipp's idea..." Spiny said. Vortex was silent, glaring hatefully at the helicopter until Bucky asked for their attention. "Move in, but don't be seen. I want you to observe them... ONLY observe! Call me once you've figured out what they're up to!" he ordered. "What about the others?" Zipp asked, noting the absence of the other experiments. Bucky thought about it. "You should definitely relay my orders to Experiment 10. There's no telling what that one will do otherwise. As for eight... You may leave him be. I trust he will behave well enough. Now, quit standing around here! Get going!" he shouted. "Yessss, massster... Whatever you ssssay..." Vortex hissed, leading the other experiments out of the room. "I cannot believe I was so stupid..." the chameleon thought as he walked, "Thinking a phoenix could die from a gunshot... But now's my chance to correct that mistake!"


Soon, Copter and company had arrived at the entrance to Shadow Arc used when the ship was mostly underground. It remained pretty much unchanged from the last time Copter was there, just before the ship took off for the first time. "This place is even creepier than I remember... Then again, I was never in this room..." Heather said, looking around. Guard pointed to the gate leading to Experiment 3's old containment area. "Grrrr... If I remember correctly, my master's control room is that way." he told them. "Yeah, but I bet Bucky's expecting us. Probably sent the welcoming committee already. I didn't come all this way to be shot by Zipp!" Copter said, beginning to wonder if this wasn't a good idea. Gemini had been looking up the staircase that Shadow had opened on his first visit to Shadow Arc, and spotted someone at the top of the steps. It was too dark to see who it was. "Hey! Who are you, and why are you spying on us up there!?" she shouted. Guard walked over to see what Gemini was talking about, and was quickly forced to jump away as an energy blast was hurled towards him! "GRRRR!! You again!!" Guard shouted as the attacker began to run away. Gemini immediately guessed who it was. "The Deathbringer!? What's he doing here!?" she shouted with alarm. Guard began to run up the stairs. "Grrrr!! I'm not letting you get away again!!" he shouted. Gemini began to chase them. "H-hey! Wait!! Fighting won't solve anything!!" she yelled as she ran up the stairs. Copter had been observing this, but decided not to follow them. "They're going the wrong way... Bah, who needs them! Guard was just going to get in my way in the end, anyhow!" he reasoned. Heather looked a bit concerned. "Think they'll be all right? Think WE'LL be all right?" she asked. Copter smiled confidently. "For once, we're in a place we all know. We'll all be just fine! Come on, let's find that control room and teach Bucky a lesson once and for all!" he said, leading Heather through the gate towards the control room.

Guard and the Deathbringer were exchanging shots as they dashed through the halls of the ship. Guard's scythe could not only fire energy blasts at the Deathbringer, but it was fairly effective at deflecting the Deathbringer's attacks as well. Gemini followed behind as best she could, but the shots Guard dodged often almost hit her. "Guard, stop it! You're just antagonizing the Deathbringer! This is just going to get someone hurt! ...Probably me!" she shouted, hoping to convince Guard to stop. "Grrrr!! Don't follow me, then! Grrr... I need to stop this assassin before more die by his hand!" Guard shouted in response, never once looking back or slowing down. Gemini couldn't leave this alone, though. Both combatants had helped her in the past, and she had to try to save both of them! As they continued on, they soon reached the computer room where Shadow and Espio had battled a Losol Golem before. Gemini found them still hurling projectiles at each other when she entered the room. Since Guard would not listen to her, she decided to try talking to the Deathbringer. "You have to stop this! All fighting does is cause pain!" she shouted. The fighting paused for a moment while the Deathbringer responded. "That gargoyle is going to cause more pain if left alive than if I stop him now! You must not interfere!" it said, pausing to wait for Gemini's response. Guard, however, would wait no longer. He lunged his scythe toward the Deathbringer, who responded by stepping out of the way and then punching Guard in the chest, launching him across the room and into the computer terminal! The Deathbringer was about to fire an energy blast at Guard in an attempt to finish him, when Gemini ran between them to protect Guard! "I can't let you do this! I won't!" she yelled. As Guard stood back up, he accidentally pressed a button on the computer terminal, causing the wall next to it to open up, revealing a secret passageway! Seeing their chance to escape, Gemini grabbed Guard by the arm and led him into the passageway, which slammed shut behind them! The Deathbringer growled in frustration, and began searching for the button Guard pressed.


As Copter and Heather searched for Bucky's control room, they stumbled upon Bucky's laboratory. It had been left much the same as it was after Heather destroyed it during her escape. Only the hole in the roof had seen any attempt at repairs, and it was merely covered by wooden boards. Heather looked at the broken pieces of the table that Experiment 11 was sitting on before she escaped, and dropped to her knees, sobbing. Copter understood quickly. "You did this... Burned the lab... The place where I was born..." he gasped, in shock over actually seeing the damage. Heather looked around at the destroyed lab. "I remember... Zipp told me about our lot in life. How we were just science projects... I hated the thought. I struggled with myself... Practically argued... I didn't know what was to become of me, and it scared me... and angered me... So I eventually lost control..." she whispered, and recalled the night she escaped.

She'd entered the lab, even though Vortex told her not to. Bucky was busy checking the health of his latest creation, and didn't notice her at first. "Ah, Seven... I cannot speak to you now, I have to make sure 11 is healthy enough to leave the lab." he'd said. Heather didn't care in the slightest. "It'd be better off dying now! It's better than a life of slavery and being your personal guinea pig!" she'd growled, growing angrier by the moment. Bucky didn't understand, but tried to calm her. "Don't throw a tantrum! Have I ever asked anything of you? This is not slavery! I only want--" he didn't get to finish, though. Heather roared at him in her rage, flames bursting from her body! "I don't need your lies! Why else would a scientist create life!? You want me to exist solely to serve your every whim! To faithfully obey, like Vortex and Zipp!! But I will NOT be controlled!! I will live my OWN life!" she screeched, the flames from her body scorching areas of the lab already! "Calm yourself! Stop this now, Experiment 7!" Bucky shouted, vainly attempting to stop this madness. It was useless, and Heather only had one thing left to say. "I am not Experiment 7! I am no slave to be controlled! I am myself! ...And I shall henceforth be known as Heather the Phoenix!!" Experiment 11 had stood up on the table, and looked as though it desired to protect Bucky. Heather, consumed by hatred and rage, blasted through the lab, straight through the roof, and flew. She just kept flying, until she reached Soleanna.

"I didn't see what I did exactly... But I know I killed Experiment 11. A creature that merely wanted to protect its parent... I'm nothing but a monster..." Heather sobbed as she finished telling the story to Copter. He knelt down beside her and grabbed a piece of the table, examining it. "This was the table I was lying on when Bucky examined me... When he... Attached a bomb to my wrist." he crumbled the charred piece of the table as he remembered what Bucky did to him. "I woke up in a tube, originally. Filled with some sort of fluid... It was over there." Copter said, pointing to a corner. "Heh, gone now. I broke that one. Broke right out, and Bucky knelt down and pulled me up from the floor. He told me who I was, and introduced me to my original, Tails, who was passed out on another table, over there..." Heather was listening with interest. "You were a clone? I had no idea... And... Bucky attached a bomb to you!?" she gasped. Copter nodded. "He wanted to force me to obey him. And I did, for a while. But when the time came for the bomb to be removed... He tried to make me attack my original. It was a hologram, but I didn't know it. Still, despite all the fighting I'd done with the real Tails, I refused to do it any more. He blew me up, but I survived. In the end, I chose to join Tails to save the world from Kosmo, a monster Bucky had created. Another one he couldn't control. I had served Dr. Eggman. I'd fought with the government. I still haven't atoned for all my crimes... But I'm beginning to..." he said. Heather thought about Copter's story. "At least you didn't kill anyone. I can never make up for my crimes..." Heather said sadly. "Don't say that!" Copter said, "It is always possible to stop being evil. All that you have to do, is make a choice. You'll make it right someday, if you choose to." Upon hearing that, Heather began to stop crying. "I... I'm sorry. Sitting here in self-pity isn't going to get me anywhere..." she said. Copter helped her to her feet and led her out of the lab. "Thank you... For being here for me. I'll never forget it." she said as they began to search for Bucky again.


Meanwhile, Vortex and Zipp were searching for the intruders, while Spiny searched for Experiment 10 elsewhere. Vortex had a plan, but he realized it was likely to fail if the other experiments wouldn't side with him, so he had to convince them to help. "Zipp... What are your thoughtsss about the death of Experiment 11?" he asked. Zipp hadn't really thought about it before. "Maybe it doesn't count, since it was killed so quickly. Bucky can always try again!" he said. This wasn't what Vortex wanted to hear. "No, Zipp! It lived! However briefly, it lived! The next experiment will be 12! You know what thisss meansss? I'll tell you. 11 wasss murdered!" he yelled. Zipp crossed his arms. "OK, so it was murdered. Too bad. I coulda got some target practice with it!" he said, not getting Vortex's point. The irritated chameleon resisted the urge to swat Zipp. "It isss bad... Very bad. And what doesss Bucky want to do?" he asked. Zipp shrugged. "He wants her brought back. I guess he wants to punish her himself, or something." he said. "Bah! No, he wantsss her to rejoin the team! He wantsss usss to work with that traitor! I sssay we ssshould make her pay! Avenge 11! Wouldn't you want to be avenged if sssomeone killed you!?" Vortex asked. Zipp chuckled. "No one can kill me! I'll kill them first! But I see what you're getting at. I'm in! How do we do it, huh? Can I shoot her?" he asked, his wings buzzing excitedly. Vortex shook his head. "No, you dolt! Didn't you pay attention?! Sssshe can't be killed by gunsss! We mussst drown her! We can do it now, while the Arcangel isss over the sssea!" Zipp looked a little disappointed, but then had an idea. "Why stop there? Just tossing her in the sea seems kinda... Overly simple. C'mon, we're wanted terrorists! We gotta use that terrorist flair! And I know how to do it! With explosions! KABOOM!! But we can't do fun stuff like that here... So, we try someone else's ship... Get the picture?" he said giggling over his sinister plan. Vortex understood. "That'sss my sssick older brother. Bravo! But we need help. You find our intrudersss, and I'll convince the othersss to join usss! You get to blow ssstuff up, and I get my revenge! Ha ha ha ha!!"


As Gemini and Guard explored the secret passage, they soon discovered an army of Lost Ones! "I knew it! They're still in here! This ship must be how they came to be at Soleanna in the first place!" Gemini said. They had found the lost ones in a square room, with hallways on all four sides. The Lost Ones were moving like a river, preventing Gemini and Guard from moving forward. "Grrr... They're all heading in the same direction! Grrrr... Where could they be going?" Guard wondered. Some of the Lost Ones heard his words and stopped to look at him, but then continued back in the direction they were originally going. Gemini shivered at what almost happened. "They looked right at us, but they left us alone. Somehow, I feel more creeped out that they're not interested in us..." she said. Guard began walking in the direction the losol were going. "Grrrr... I see nowhere else to go. We might as well see where they're going!" he suggested. Gemini slowly began to follow him. "This has to be the worst idea ever... I hope they continue to ignore us..." she said.

The Lost Ones continued to ignore them as they followed the losol stream through a long, winding corridor. It staggered their minds to think of how large the ship may truly be. Eventually, the corridor ended at another square room with four exits, but this one was slightly larger than the last. In the corner, Gemini was shocked by what she saw. "No way... This has to be impossible!" she gasped, pointing to the creature in the corner. It was the Lost version of her dragon form, which she had become when she was lost in Shadow Arc before! Los Gemini appeared to be sleeping, and didn't move at all. "When I was a dragon, I almost became one of these monsters... I looked like that! How can this be here!?" she said. Guard scanned the creature with his sensors. "Grrrr... It appears to be made up of the same stuff the other Lost Ones are made of... Grrr... It would seem to be a mere copy." he said. It was a creepy thing to see, and Gemini didn't like it. "Let's get out of here... Before it wakes up or something..." she said. Guard agreed, and they resumed following the stream of losol.


Copter and Heather had backtracked to the room with the containment unit that once held Experiment 3. They had gone the wrong way last time, but Copter now remembered which way the control room was. Unfortunately, they found Crash blocking the way! "Shoot! I didn't know you two were aboard! How long have you been wandering around here?!" the rhino grunted, unsure of what he should be doing. "I dunno... I don't carry a 'watch' anymore!" Copter replied, recalling his wrist bomb. Crash had no idea what Copter meant, but he didn't like his tone. He raised his fists, ready to fight. "You're nuts if you think you're gonna fight Bucky! I'll stop ya first!" Crash threatened. Heather stepped forward. "You stop it, right now! We're not going to hurt our creator! We just want to talk to him! And... I want the opportunity... To apologize for what I've done... Not that it makes up for anything..." Crash backed down upon hearing her plans. "...Apologize? After all the fighting we've been doing?" he said in slight disbelief. Copter crossed his arms. "That's if Bucky'll hear us out. If he won't, I'll have to fight him." he said. Crash backed away a bit, still blocking the exit. He thought a moment, and then smiled at them. "You two are pretty honest... I like that. And I believe our maker is wise and benevolent. If you're being as truthful as I think, I don't think there will be any fighting here today..." he said. Copter was a bit surprised by how nice a brute like Crash could be. "That's... interesting... But I'd take a closer look at Bucky's history before calling him 'benevolent' if I was you." he said. Crash moved aside to allow them to pass. "Still, I've received no orders. He surely knows you're here, and since he hasn't called me, I guess I'm not supposed to fight with you. Go on ahead. But remember, if you DO cause trouble, I'll be coming for you!" the rhino warned them. "Yeah, good luck with that." Copter said a bit impatiently. Crash watched as the two of them ran off down the hallway. "I wonder if I did the right thing..." he thought, wondering what the other experiments would've done.

It was a good distance between the containment room and the control room, as Copter knew from the last time he made the trip. Still, the Lost Ones were no longer patrolling the halls, so it was a much easier trip than before. Soon, they reached the area where Copter had found Cream just before the battles with Kosmo. It was more or less the same as he remembered, though he really hadn't been paying attention before. There were two dragon statues at the entrance to a large room ahead. The room contained a large pool of lava, and a bridge leading across. When there were Lost Ones on the bridge, the trip seemed to take forever. Now, the bridge was empty. Since they had time, they stopped to look at the dragon statues. "Strange... I only remember there being one statue here..." Copter said, looking over the newer looking one. Heather stepped closer to examine it. "It looks so... lifelike..." she observed. This statue was smaller than the other one. It was orange, with large, red wings and some red stripes across its back. Strangely enough, it also appeared to be wearing white gloves and black boots. Seeing that, Copter wasn't completely shocked when he noticed its eyes open! Its amber irises quickly locked onto Heather! It was now made very clear that this was no statue, as the dragon let out a loud "RAWR!!!" As Copter and Heather backed away quickly, the dragon began flapping its wings and flying toward Heather, lifting her into the air before she or Copter could react! The dragon hovered in the air above the lava pond for a moment, and then spoke! "You're so stupid! I can't believe that worked! Awww, you look confused, though! Then, I'll introduce myself! I'm Experiment 10, but I'd rather be called Zeke the Dragon!" Zeke's voice and breathing was constantly accompanied by a strange noise that sounded almost like laughing. (Kekekekeke!) It was apparently a result of a mistake Bucky made in the construction of his body. Zeke began to fly away. "If you'll excuse me, I have to take this fellow creature of legends somewhere... But I'll leave my pals, Spiny and Vortex to keep you company!" Looking around, Copter quickly spotted Spiny and Vortex rushing towards him across the bridge! Copter tried to chase Zeke, but Spiny's Chaos Spears prevented him. "You're not goin' anywhere, punk!" Spiny shouted. Copter landed behind the real statue, and was soon greeted by Vortex and Spiny. "Ssssso, Copter, do you really think you can beat both of ussss?" Vortex hissed. Before a fight could begin, the dragon statue crumbled to pieces as Crash smashed through it and pushed Copter past Vortex and Spiny! "Get moving, Copter! I'll deal with these two!" he shouted, giving Copter his opportunity to escape. Spiny looked from Copter to Crash, puzzled. "Should I follow him, Vortex?" he asked. Vortex shot dirty looks at both of his companions. "Leave him. We've bought Zeke the time he needsss... Asss for you, Crassssh... Who'ssss ssside are you on!?"  he yelled. Crash looked as though he couldn't believe what he was being asked. "Bucky's side, of course. He wanted seven back, and Copter brought her back. Why are we interfering?" he asked. Vortex rolled his eyes. "Becaussssse... Sssseven murdered eleven!! Punissshment mussst be meted out! Who might be next, otherwissse? Why, it could even BE our massster! Sssshouldn't we protect him... Even from himsssself?" Crash thought about it, and had to admit that Vortex was making sense. "All right... Then what do we do?" he asked. Vortex started to walk away. "You explain it to him, Ssssspiny!"

Copter had begun frantically searching for Zeke, but it became apparent that he'd lost him as he reached the place where he had once fought Kosmo disguised as Bucky. The only one there to greet him this time was Zipp. "Hey, look, it's Copter the hero! How's business, boy scout?" he taunted. Copter swatted Zipp with his tails before the hornet could even realize he was hostile! "Yow! That's not very polite! Remember that golden rule!" Zipp shouted, flying above Copter to avoid being hit again. Copter shook his fist at Zipp. "Where's Zeke taking her?! Tell me right now, or else!" he snarled. Zipp pointed a gun at Copter's head. "Don't make a threat you can't back up! You should be thrilled! We're gonna do you a favor... And stop Dr. Eggman while we're at it. But if you got a problem, why don't you take it up with my master? After all, that's gotta be more constructive than getting shot by me, right?" he said, firing a warning shot at Copter's feet and laughing as Copter jumped away. "I'm off! Enjoy your visit here, bro!" Zipp flew away before Copter could say anything. "I hate him..." Copter muttered, looking ahead in the direction of the control room. "Looks like I'll have to fight after all... Saw that coming! Look out, Bucky! I'm not backing away this time!" 


The stream of Lost Ones that Gemini and Guard was following ended at an open doorway. The Lost Ones appeared to be gathering in anticipation of some event. "Whatever they're here for must be in that room..." Gemini said. Guard nodded. "Grrrr.... Let's check it out." he suggested. As they entered the room, they first noticed that it was rather warm inside. "Grrr! This is the engine room! Grrr!! Could they be planning to make the ship crash?!" Guard wondered. Gemini pointed to the ground. "What is THAT!?" she shouted in fear. It was a large puddle of slime, but it was different from the regular losol slime. It seemed to be bubbling with evil, and in the center of the puddle, there seemed to be a face. Gemini quickly realized what she was looking at. "Oh, my gosh! That's Losipher!" she shouted, horrified. Guard raised his scythe. "Grrrr!! What is it? Some kind of super Lost One?" he asked. Gemini raised her wand, trying to think of what to do. "The reason I'm here... The creature that killed my friends... How do I fight it...?" she said quietly, realizing that she wasn't ready for this. Unfortunately, there would be no putting it off! The puddle began to rise from Losipher's face, rising up like a giant snake! Guard and Gemini stood defensively as Losipher's incomplete form gazed down at them and roared demonically! There was no turning back. It was time for Gemini to attempt to end this once and for all!

To be continued...