GeneX - Soleanna Struggle
Chapter 3 - Mysterious Capers

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.

"Come along for the ride.
Truth can run, but not hide,
For long, the game is on, now..." - Team Chaotix, Sonic Heroes 


Shadow's mission had gone exactly as it was supposed to. He had infiltrated Eggman's base easily and soon located Rouge. They had even fought off Eggman's Egg Cerberus, and were now on their way to the GUN rendezvous point in Kingdom Valley. For Guard, his mission to follow Shadow was about the most boring mission he'd ever embarked on. Gunner had instructed Guard to take out Shadow if he did anything he wasn't supposed to do, but Shadow had been on his best behavior since... well... ever! Not that Guard had a problem with this. He really had no particular desire to fight Shadow, but he also didn't like "baby-sitting," as he called it. However, he would not be bored much longer.

They soon reached the rebdezvous point. Guard stayed out of sight and awaited the arrival of the GUN agents that were supposed to meet them there. Rouge was talking to Shadow while they waited. "The former king of Soleanna used to reside in this castle. But a major accident occurred 10 years ago, and no one's lived here since. I think the name of the plan was..." Before Rouge could finish speaking, Eggman finished for her. "The Solaris Project." The mad scientist lowered into the area on his large Egg Mobile craft. "It was an ambitious project named after their eternal Sun God!" Guard began watching more intently, but he couldn't act until Shadow did something wrong. "Doctor!" Rouge gasped. "It's been a while my dear Rouge. And of course, Shadow. Now, if you'd be so kind as to hand back the Scepter of Darkness you took from me!" Eggman said, signaling his robots to surround and attack them. In the sudden attack, Rouge took flight with the scepter. Eggman, seeing this, moved some switches on his ship and punched her out of the sky with the ships robotic hands. As Rouge and the scepter fell seperately, Shadow had to act quickly. He ran over and caught Rouge, but didn't have time to catch the scepter. "NO!!" Eggman yelled as he realized what was going to happen next. The scepter crashed to the ground and immediately began sparking with energy. The resulting shockwave stunned Eggman's robots. "It's no use! Pull back! Pull back!! Pull back!!!" Eggman shouted, flying his Egg Mobile away hastily.

A dark shadow burst out of the scepter, dove into the air, then flew around the area, taking out the robots one by one as it blasted through them. Finally, the shadow dove into the air once more before diving into the shade cast by Shadow! From where the shadow dove in, a creature began to rise. As it did, it absorbed the shadow cast by Shadow. The creature looked nearly identical to Shadow, except for a few minor color differences. Where shadow was red, the creature was a pale violet, and its muzzle was a similar color. The creature had no mouth, and its green pupils appeared almost crystalline. It let out a sinister laugh. "Oh, how ironic fate can be! I would never have believed I would be ressurrected through YOUR shade! I thank you, Shadow the Hedgehog." The creature appeared to know Shadow, but Shadow was certain they had never met. "Who are you? And how do you know my name?" he asked. The creature began to approach Shadow, its gaze pointed toward the ground. "I'm Mephiles. Mephiles the Dark." it said. Mephiles slowly looked up at Shadow. "What? Did you forget me?" he said angrily. Guard was watching tensely from his hiding place. He could not move until Shadow did something wrong. Mephiles continued speaking. "I owe much to you, Shadow." he said, raising his hand. "Oh, yes...." A small vortex appeared just above Mephiles's hand. "What you gave to me, I now return to you! A one way ticket to oblivion!!" At that moment, the vortex grew until in enveloped Mephiles, Shadow, and Rouge. Guard could wait no longer, and dashed toward them, but was too late. The vortex vanished, and with it, Shadow, Rouge and Mephiles. Guard had launched himself a bit too fast, and ended up crashing to the floor where Mephiles had been standing. "Ooof!! Gotta work on my timing..." he grunted.

Guard stood up and searched the area. No sign of Shadow or the others could be seen, only the sparking remains of the robots Mephiles had destroyed. Suddenly, Guard heard something land behind him. He spun around and pointed his scythe at the intruder, who quickly put his hands up. "Whoa! Watch it! I'm unarmed and not dangerous!" The intruder was a gargoyle! It was orange, with black stripes going down its sides. It was taller than Guard, but scrawnier as well, and clearly posed no threat, so Guard lowered his scythe. "Grrrrr... How long have you been here?" Guard asked. The other gargoyle looked at the watch he was wearing. "Oh, about five minutes. Didn't you know I was here? I guess you were distracted by that Dark that was just here. Looks like a new one, too." The gargoyle looked around at the broken robots. "Toughest one I've ever seen, too. We could really be in for it, now." he said. "Grrrr... You called that thing... A Dark?" Guard questioned. The other gargoyle shook his head. "I knew it. You're not part of the tribe. Which is odd, considering there's only one Gargoyle tribe in the world... That I know of. So, I suppose I better introduce myself. My name's Rick. Who're you, and where'd ya come from?" he said in a serious tone. Guard was about to answer, when a blast of white energy tore through the air and then right through Rick's chest! Guard spun around and looked up in the direction the blast had come from. He caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a cloaked figure with wings flying away. It was going too fast, and Guard knew he couldn't catch it, so he instead ran over to Rick to see if anything could be done. It was futile, Rick had been killed outright. "Grrrr... One question comes to mind. Was that shot meant for him, or for me..." Guard muttered. He desired to investigate further, but he would not get the chance.

Just then, a helicopter flew overhead. It was the GUN team that was supposed to meet Shadow and Rouge. Guard stood saluting until the copter landed and some agitated GUN agents ran out. "Holy hell, what happened?!" the apparent agent in charge said to Guard. "Eggman found them, sir." Guard replied. The agents were aiming rifles at Guard now. "Maybe you better explain what you're doing here with a dead civilian!" the lead agent shouted. Guard dropped his scythe, as his programming commanded when faced with GUN soldiers. "There was nothing I could do for this gargoyle. Grrr... An assasin was here moments ago. I'm unsure if this was the intended target." he explained. The agent was not satisfied. "Where's Agent Rouge and Agent Shadow? Did you have anything to do with their disappearance?" he questioned. "It was the scepter. Grrrr.... Something happened, and a creature was released from it. I think it kidnapped them." Guard replied. The agent would not lower his gun. "Get in the chopper. You'll be questioned further back at HQ." he ordered. Just then, a whiny voice was heard from inside the helicopter. "What's taking so long!?" The owner of the voice exited the chopper. It was Sgt. Gunner's personal Spy! "This gargoyle witnessed some unexpected events here. We need to bring him in and connect him to a lie detector." the head agent said. Spy ran up in front of the agent and made him lower his gun. "That's the sarge's Guard, pal! He's here under Gunner's orders, and it looks like it's a good thing, too. You can trust whatever he says, sir." Spy informed the agent. The agent had a puzzled expression now. "Gunner's Guard? Why weren't we notified he would be here? Well, anyway, thanks Agent Spizzweld. You just saved us a trip. We'll file our report with Soleanna police and call HQ for orders! Let's go!" he said. As the agents returned to the helicopter, Spy ran over to Guard. "See, I'm not totally useless! C'mon, Guard. You've done well. We'll see Sarge Gunner hears of this!" he said, leading Guard into the chopper. "Don't celebrate yet." Guard muttered. "Grrrr... This mission's far from over..."


Those who traveled from Station Square to Soleanna as part of the witness protection program were living together in a safe house located in Soleanna's New City. Although they had been warned to stay at the safe house as long as the experiments were in the city, most of them ignored this and went about their daily routines. Razor was busy working at the Soleanna police station. Mia was running her taxi service and making no efforts to keep a low profile. Bill and Bob had set up shop in the New City restaurant, operating a small bar within the restaurant. Chet constantly visited all of them to make sure they were keeping out of trouble, and to see if he could find the experiments first so he could confront them. This left Razor's young brother, Tommy, to be baby-sat by Katie. However, Katie had her own concerns as well. She was asking Tommy questions while he tried to watch cartoons. "Say, Tom, did anyone come by here last night looking for me? Would you know?" she asked. Tommy shook his head. "Nope. Nobody came but the pizza guy. By the way, Chet borrowed your wallet to pay for it." he told her. "That Chet! I've been waiting for him to come back. See, I met a new friend yesterday. She seemed troubled, and didn't have a place to stay, so I invited her to stay the night with us. I even showed her where we were staying, but she never showed up. I think she was in trouble..." Tommy was too into the show he was watching to pay attention, but Katie was too nervous to care. "She seemed so... fragile... I have to try and find her! Tell Chet to stay here until I get back when he comes, OK?" she said, grabbing a coat and heading for the door. "'Kay..." Tommy said, not really paying attention. Katie left quickly, and about ten minutes later, Chet arrived. "Hey, Tom! Keepin' out of trouble? Where's Katie?" he asked, passing into the next room before Tommy could answer. "KATIE!!?" he shouted, prompting Tommy to turn up the volume on the TV. A moment later, Chet returned. "Did Katie say where she was going?" he asked. Luckily, a commercial had come on, so Tommy was finally paying attention. "Huh? Katie? She left?" he said. "Funny... I don't think she said anything..." Now Chet was worried. He grabbed the phone and started dialing. "Gotta see if she's OK, but I can't leave the kid alone. House could be on fire and he wouldn't notice 'till a commercial..."


By this time, the helicopter carrying Guard had arrived in Soleanna. While the GUN agents filed their reports and attempted to contact HQ, Guard had spoken to Razor at the police station. Razor was eager to do whatever he could to help Guard out, and offered to take him to someone who may be able to give them a lead on the identity of the mysterious assasin. So, they arrived at the restaurant where Bill and Bob were working. Bill had just gotten off the phone with Chet when Razor sat down on a bar stool. "Hey, Billy-boy! What's up? We have a few questions for ya." he said. Bill leaned against the counter. "Yeah, um, Razor? Katie's left the safe house. Chet wants to look for her, but he needs someone to watch over Tommy." he said. Razor groaned a bit. "Is Chet gonna wait there? This should only take a minute." he asked. Bill nodded, then watched Guard sit on one of the bar stools. "Oh, boy, it's a reunion. Sorry, I ain't seen neither hide nor hair of them experiments. Kinda weird that they follow us so easily. Think they're lookin' for us?" Bill asked. Guard shrugged. "Grrrr... I really don't know what you're talking about. Grrr... Have you seen any strange characters around, either of you?" he asked. Bob had just finished tending to a customer and was first to reply. "I don't reckon I have. Y'know, 'cept you. An' I also saw Eggman on the news." he said. Guard grunted in agitation at the mention of Eggman's name. "Grrr... Maybe he's behind it all." he muttered. "Anyone with wings?" Razor asked. Bill looked thoughtful. "Now you mention it, there was this red birdy in the bar last night. Real jumpy type. Wouldn't order nothin' but water. Seemed to have an odd reaction to the water, too. Steam. Her body let loose a lot of steam. Weird, I thought. She left when this hooded feller peeked in. I think she was waitin' fer this character." he said. Guard looked around the room, then back at Bill. "Grrrr... The hood... Did that person have wings?" he asked. Bill and Bob looked at each other unsurely, and Razor and Guard knew they didn't know. Razor tossed a wad of cash on the table. "For the info, and some cola. Can't drink the good stuff, I'm on duty." Bill tossed Razor a soda can and he and Guard left the bar. 


Without much to go on, Razor and Guard returned to the police station, where Razor planned to go looking for the police captain so that he may inform him of the situation at the safe house. However, before he could, Katie showed up at the station looking for him. "Razor! I have to ask you something!" she shouted. Razor looked a bit miffed. "You know you left Tommy alone at the safe house. He's just a kid, Kate, he needs supervision." he said. Katie looked apologetic. "Sorry... But I had to go. You see, I met this girl last night, Heather, and I think she may be in trouble." she explained. Razor led her to a bench by the wall and they sat down. "What kinda trouble?" he asked. "Well, you see, when I met her she was a bit jumpy, and seemed afraid about something. I invited her to stay with us, but she never showed up. I think something bad happened to her..." she explained. Razor looked thoughtful for a moment. "Was she a bird? A red bird?" he asked. Katie nodded. "How'd you know?" she asked in astonishment. Razor stood up and led Katie to the door. "Listen, I'll look into it. But I want you to go back to the safe house and stay there. Things are getting crazy enough without all of you wandering around with bull's eyes on ya." he said. Katie agreed, and went on her way.

At the same time, Guard was calling Gunner using a video phone. After explaining the situation, Guard awaited Gunner's orders. Gunner looked thoughtful before answering. "I feel all this strange stuff you've been telling me about is all connected. That said, I think the biggest threat is that shadow creature. I want you to find Lord Regis. He's an important person in Soleanna, and he might know something about the scepter and the creature. Interrogate him. That's the best place to start. Under the circumstances, you may be our only chance of stopping this thing. Don't fail me, Guard!" Gunner commanded. Guard gave a salute and turned off the phone. With Guard no longer watching him, Gunner's look changed from serious to enraged. "Shadow's gotta be behind this! Furry freaks! Just wait, I'll have them exposed as the monsters they really are yet!!"


Up on a rooftop, Illusi the Shrew had encountered Lospecter once again. "Welly welly well, if it isn't Illoser the meddler. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were looking for me!" Lospecter said. Illusi snapped his fingers and a group of Wrongos appeared and surrounded Lospecter. "I need to know what you're doing here, Lospecter. Why here, why now? You're not planning on using the Flames of Disaster for something, are you?" he questioned. Lospecter pulled out a few cards seemingly from nowhere and looked them over. "My cards say you're getting a bit too nosey, Luce. Naughty naughty. I think you mean to oppose the Lost Ones! Very stupid. Know what else the cards say? You'll be joining us very soon." Just then, a group of Lospirits flew up from under the roof and knocked the Wrongos into oblivion. Then, they turned their attention to Illusi. "Sorry, pal, but to be honest, I hate you. Which is too bad, 'cuz I kinda like you. Get him, spirits!" Illusi ran away quickly, leaping from rooftop to rooftop in the attempt to escape, but the Lospirits were gaining on him. Illusi was forced to use more advanced escape techniques. He clutched an odd key, held it in front of himself, turned it like it was in a lock, and jumped through a vortex that appeared in front of him, closing it behind him before the Lospirits could catch him. Lospecter snapped his "fingers." "Slippery soul. But I'll get him next time."


Meanwhile, Guard found Lord Regis in front of a large building with a bell at the top. It was behind the festival torch where Eggman had attacked the night before. Regis was a bit flustered, no doubt concerned by a few incidents that had occurred the night before and that morning. "Grrrr! Regis! I need to know anything you can tell me about the Scepter of Darkness!" Guard growled. The growling seemed to startle Regis greatly. "Don't speak to me like that! Do you know who I am? Anyway, I can't tell you about that. Go away." he said. Guard would not leave. "Listen! This could be very important! Grrrrr! It could mean the difference between salvation and disaster for this city!" he said. "Are you threatening me, gargoyle!?" Regis shouted, "You don't scare me! I was sworn to secrecy on this information, and by Solaris, I'll never talk! Now leave these premises, or you will be escorted out!" Guard didn't like being spoken to like that, and he suddenly lost control and slammed Regis against the wall! "Grrrrrrr!!! This is getting old! Tell me about the Scepter, and that Dark creature!" he roared. Regis struggled to his feet, and the police rushed over toward the commotion. "What's all this then?!" one of the officers asked. Regis pointed an accusing finger at Guard. "This beast assaulted me! He's been threatening me, too! Arrest him!" At this point, Guard realized he had made a grave mistake. The officers approached him with guns and nightsticks, but Guard wasn't going anywhere with them. "Grrrr... It IS rather fitting, I guess. Grrr... Now ALL the experiments are on the run!" Guard quickly burst away from the ground and flew off toward the beach. The police followed as best they could, and took a few shots with their guns as well, but they would not be able to catch Guard that easily. Truly, it was not going to be easy from here onward.


Back in New City, Mia was driving around aimlessly. Work was slow, as people in Soleanna weren't big on traveling by car. She was just about ready to return to the safe house when she heard a scream coming from a nearby alleyway! She immediately recognized the voice as Katie's, and drove toward the scream. In moments, she spotted Katie tied up in a helicopter, which was flying away from the city! She couldn't see who was driving it, but the fact that the helicopter was colored red led her to one conclusion. "Katie's been kidnapped... By Eggman?!"


Razor had heard the commotion of Guard being chased away from his location near the gate of New City. He arrived in time to see Guard escape his pursuers. The officers were headed in his direction now, so Razor asked them what was going on. "Gargoyle attacked Lord Regis. Everyone's goin' crazy this week." the officer explained. As the police passed by, Razor thought about everything going on that day. "Something's off here. Guard wouldn't go after Regis without a reason. And all that stuff he told me... Something stinks here." he thought. Just then, he heard someone call his name. It was Mia! "What's the matter?!" Razor asked. Mia looked panicked and frightened. "It's Katie, officer! I heard her scream and... She's been kidnapped!" Razor's expression became utterly serious at that moment. It was clear now, something was wrong, and it had to be bigger than it all seemed. Razor requested Mia drive him back to the police station. He couldn't guess how the kidnapping, Rick's murder, Guard's arrest order, and this mysterious Heather could all be connected, but he was certain now; it was going to be a rough day.

To be continued...