GeneX - Soleanna Struggle
Chapter 14 - Moment Of Truth

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.

"In this world, where one is all,
In this world, never fear that fall!
In this world, where compromise does not exist,
In this world of worlds, every step meets the rest!" - His World (Crush 40 version)


Gemini and Guard were standing face to face with the hideous original form of Losipher. A quivering mass of slime that could rise from its resting place like a cobra, poised to strike at the incoming intruders. At first, it seemed that Losipher was currently nothing more than a mindless, snarling beast, but with some effort, the creature began to speak. "Who dares... trespass... on my domain? Lospecter... did not bring you... did he?" he snarled. Gemini was frightened, but tried to appear calm. "I have come here on behalf of my friends! I am here to destroy you, Losipher!" she shouted, the memory of her friends driving her forward. Losipher backed up a little and growled at her. "I cannot... be called by that name... yet. Only... 999 souls... have Lospecter brought to me. I... still need one final soul to be complete!" The more Losipher spoke, the more he began to sound like his future self. Guard, Gemini, and Losipher were so fixated on each other; they didn't notice the Deathbringer's appearance at the entrance. It stood there, watching them for the time being, as Losipher continued to speak. "I have waited here for a long time, as Lospecter hunted down souls appropriate for my creation, one by one. Now, I have the fortunate opportunity to take the final soul for myself! Once I absorb one of you, sorrow shall walk the earth, and spread across the land! Prepare to lose thy soul!!" Before Gemini or Guard could react, Losipher dived into Gemini, attempting to separate her soul from her body! Gemini had shut her eyes, certain that this was the end, but Losipher's anguished screams caught her attention. As she opened her eyes, she found her body emitting a bright light, which seemed to repel Losipher! The slime creature returned to the center of the room and glared at Gemini with frustration. "How can this be!? Why can I not absorb your soul!?" he yelled. Gemini looked a bit dazed and confused. "Beats me..." she muttered, shaking her head to snap herself out of her daze. Losipher turned his attention to Guard next. "If I cannot consume her, then I will take you first! Then, I will kill her personally!" Guard flew out of the way as Losipher attempted to dive after him. "Grrrr!! I'd like to see you try!!"


It wasn't long before Copter finally found his way back to the control room, the place where Sonic and Shadow had teamed up to battle Kosmo. Bucky was seated at the controls, unmoving. "Hey, 'Dad!' I have a bone to pick with you!" Copter shouted, stopping a few feet from Bucky's chair. The rat simply sat there, motionless, with his back turned to Copter. "Where's Heather? And Vortex? What have you done, old rodent!?" Copter demanded to know. Bucky remained motionless as he responded. "I don't even know anymore... Am I creating life, or just misery..." he muttered. Copter stomped his foot loudly. "Answer my question!" he growled. Bucky finally turned his chair around so he could face Copter. "I've been expecting you, son. First, let me say that you really should call more often." he said, grinning and twiddling his thumbs. Copter crossed his arms and glared irritatedly at his creator. "Is this a game to you? Do you have any idea what's been going on since you started chasing Heather?" he grumbled. Bucky took on a slightly more serious expression. "You don't know the half of it... You have no idea of what Seven is capable of... Or even what YOU are capable of. We're quite fortunate that you are generally calmer than you often appear to be." he said gravely. Copter didn't understand. "What I'm capable of... What are you talking about?!" he asked. "I've been careless... Churning out experiments like cars on an assembly line. I've left all of your souls in such vulnerable states. And I've only recently realized how dangerous that is. You see, what I have come to understand, thanks to Heather, is that each of you have duel personalities." Bucky explained. Copter scoffed at him. "That's absurd! I don't have a second personality!" he said. "Yes, you do. The dominant personalities, the ones we know, are normal, restrained, thought driven personalities. The kind natural born creatures have. But each of you, when you reach a certain level of emotional strain... When you reach a level of anger beyond mere frustration... Another personality attempts to take over. A personality of instinct, impulse, and hatred. A dark side." Bucky said with utter seriousness. Copter thought about it, and realized that he had indeed felt a dark presence inside him before, though he never paid any attention to it. "OK... So we have dark sides. But Heather seems pretty stable... Most of the time." he said. Bucky shook his head. "How long can that last? Every power-hungry maniac in the world is hunting her. If they catch her, she will surely lose control at some point. I wish I knew who told everyone her secret..." he said with concern. Copter raised an eyebrow. "What secret?" he asked. Bucky's eyes filled with dread, and he couldn't answer right away, so Copter quickly realized Bucky had done something major. "What is it!? What did you do to her!?" he snapped. Bucky folded his hands in his lap, looked Copter in the eyes, and answered. "I'm sorry... We scientists are a curious lot, and I couldn't help myself. Heather... The fire within her... I created her using embers from the Flames of Disaster!" 


Guard had begun fighting with Losipher, but even in his incomplete form, it seemed impossible to harm him. Every swing of Guard's scythe seemed to simply pass through Losipher's slimy body, leaving no sign that Losipher was affected at all. The Deathbringer saw an opportunity here, and began to move in closer, so that it may attempt to destroy Guard. Gemini had been watching Guard fight Losipher helplessly, she could think of nothing she could do. She could think of no spell that she believed would work on Losipher. As she slowly backed away from the battle, she caught sight of the Deathbringer through the corner of her eye. It appeared to be building up energy in its hands in order to prepare an attack! Before the attack could be launched, Gemini ran to block the Deathbringer's path! "Get out of my way! I have allowed this to go too far already!" the mysterious figure shouted. Gemini glared at it, as though looking at a traitor. "Whose side are you on? You seem to recognize me, so I figure you're the same Deathbringer I met in the future. You helped me come to this time to stop Losipher! Now, you're planning to kill the only one who seems capable of fighting him? What is it that you want!?" she yelled. The Deathbringer did not stop charging its attack. "You don't understand! This is the time! I must stop that gargoyle now, or something terrible will happen!" it insisted. "Terrible things will happen if we let Losipher get his full power! I can't allow that!" Gemini said. The Deathbringer's face was impossible to see, but it still seemed clear it was facing some sort of internal struggle as it held back its attack, appearing unsure of what to do. "I do agree... Losipher must be stopped... But you don't know what I know..." it said. Gemini nodded. "That's true, I don't... But you don't know for sure what will happen either. Even if you know what happens in the future without your interference, you've already interfered by showing up here. If there's one thing I've learned... It's that the future can never be predicted!" she said with certainty. The energy emitted by the Deathbringer's hands seemed to fade a little. Other than that, it made no sign as to what it was thinking. "Please! Hurting those who are fighting on the side of good can never be for the best! If you must fight someone... Help us fight Losipher!" Gemini pleaded. The Deathbringer looked behind Gemini at the battle. Guard and Losipher were each keeping the other at bay, neither managing to defeat the other. It seemed lost in thought, and Gemini waited anxiously for its decision.


Copter didn't react to what Bucky had revealed to him at first. After all, he had no idea what the Flames of Disaster were. Bucky expected this, so he chose to explain. "I was a friend to the previous ruler of Soleanna. Ten years ago, he attempted experiments in controlling time using a flame called Solaris. I was, as I am now, a fugitive, and so I hid here, with my friend. The condition was that I help him with his experiment. It resulted in a horrible accident, but I managed to escape with a sample of the Flames of Disaster. My friend... regrettably... died in the accident... At any rate, I used that sample I obtained as Heather's life flames. Therefore, she has the same power as the Flames of Disaster." he said. Copter wasn't really interested in the story, and nearly fell asleep, but he still managed to hear what Bucky was saying. "So, that's the power Eggman and Gunner want to harness. I suppose, since she's so dangerous, you had Vortex lock her up somewhere, didn't you?" he asked. Bucky rose to his feet and heaved a heavy sigh. "So, Vortex has taken her? I suspected as much. He wanted to meet Experiment 11 so badly, and he took what happened so hard. He tried to hide it, but I could tell." he said bitterly. Copter looked at Bucky in disbelief. "Wait... So, you didn't order them to take her? Grrr, Zipp!!! That lying little pest! I bet his remark about stopping Dr. Eggman was meant to confuse me, too!" he shouted in frustration. Bucky raised an eyebrow. "Dr. Eggman? Why would... Oh, I see. Zipp's madness meets Vortex's revenge. So, that means that Seven is not already dead..." he muttered. Copter only managed to hear the part about Heather's fate. "Do you know what they're going to do with her?" he asked. Bucky hopped into his chair and began pressing buttons on the control panel. "Dr. Eggman flew off in the direction of Kingdom Valley, a place with an abundance of water. If Vortex wishes a dramatic death for Experiment 7, he and Zipp will crash Eggman's battleship so that it falls into the ocean, for she can only die if her body is immersed in water... or a high powered vacuum or... well, whatever! Perhaps it's best that she and Eggman die, and the dangers caused by their existence would vanish." the rat said. "No way! Heather's an innocent bystander in all this, if your dark side theory is to be believed! We have to save her!" Copter insisted. Bucky chuckled to himself. "Don't worry. I'm plotting a course for Kingdom Valley now! Just sit tight!"


The Deathbringer soon came to a decision. It spread out its wings and flew above Gemini, then fired the blasts it had been charging! Gemini spun around to see what was going to be hit, and watched the blast explode, but couldn't tell who the target was, since Guard and Losipher were fighting in close quarters and the smoke from the explosion obscured her vision. As the dust settled, both Guard and Losipher seemed only to be taken by surprise, neither seemed injured. "That shot would've barbequed Guard if it hit, so... You attacked Losipher!" Gemini realized. The Deathbringer approached Losipher, already preparing another attack. "You are the spawn of hatred and evil! The result of stealing souls just to gain power! You will never have your thousandth soul, you wretched demon of Hell!" it declared, shooting another attack at Losipher! This time, Losipher recoiled slightly, showing that the attack actually could harm him! But he wasn't even close to finished. "You will regret this intrusion, mark my words! Minion of shadows, to me! Let us loose their souls from their flesh!" the demon roared. In response, the Lost version of Gemini's dragon form stomped into the room, its eyes glowing a deep shade of crimson. Gemini pointed her wand to it. "I'll handle this! You two beat Losipher!" she shouted. Los Gemini was first to move, leaping into the air and shooting flames down towards Gemini, who magically conjured a weak barrier for protection. "That was close! Blastrotall!!" she shouted, firing blasts from her wand at the dragon. Meanwhile, Losipher was diving across the floor like a dolphin jumping from the water, attempting to catch Guard and the Deathbringer. Guard dodged the attacks by flying above them, and attempted to hit Los Gemini as it passed by! The Deathbringer's normal attacks were too weak to damage Losipher, so it was forced to fly around the room, avoiding attacks as it built up energy to fight back. The chaos of the battle soon forced Gemini into a tough spot, backed against the engine with Los Gemini chasing after her! Guard noticed her plight and flew to catch the dragon, with his scythe poised to strike! The Deathbringer fired a shot at Losipher and, stunning him, and then noticed what was happening near the engines. "Nooooo!!!" it shouted, shooting several energy blasts toward Guard! The blasts were poorly aimed, and quickly flew past Guard and into Los Gemini, causing the dragon to take to the air in order to recover! Gemini jumped out of the way as Guard charged ahead, moving too fast to stop, and crashed into the engines! His scythe had slashed the engines somewhat, causing them to spark violently! Explosions followed, and Guard and Gemini were forced to retreat! Losipher shrieked angrily as he realized what was happening. "You fool!! Now you've done it! The ship is going to crash!" he shouted. Guard ran towards the exit, motioning for Gemini to follow him. "Grrrr!! It's time to go! It's not safe here!" he barked hastily. Gemini followed him, waving for the Deathbringer to follow as well. "Come on!" she shouted. The Deathbringer hesitated a moment. "All along... It was my own fault... Not the gargoyle's..." it muttered to itself before leaving.


As Bucky sat at the controls of the Arcangel, an alarm suddenly screeched on, and a damage report appeared on a screen above the control panel. "What's this? NO!!" Bucky looked over the report and fired bolts of lighting from his fingers at the screen in frustration. Copter hadn't managed to see what was on the screen, but could tell from Bucky's reaction that it couldn't be good. "What's going on?" he asked. Bucky spun around in his chair and shot Copter a nasty look. "You... You did this! Revenge, I presume? After all, the engines didn't damage themselves just now!" he shouted accusingly. Copter backed away from him slowly. "Whoa there... I've been here with you the whole time! You know I didn't do anything!" he said nervously. Bucky's hands were sparking violently. "True, but you didn't come here alone! Zipp could spot your friends in that helicopter from a mile away! Did you do something to Guard's program? Or was it GUN, I wonder? He'd never attack me normally! Or was it the girl?!" he growled. Copter could tell it was useless arguing with Bucky. "I guess this means the ride to Kingdom Valley's out... Gotta go!!" he said, running towards the nearest exit. If he couldn't use the Arcangel to catch Team GeneX, he would have to hurry to Kingdom Valley some other way. Bucky shook his fist at Copter. "Curse you, you treacherous vermin! Get out and never enter my sight again!!" he yelled. With only precious little time, Bucky sat back at the controls and started pressing buttons. "Shocking the monitor... Brilliant move, Stein! Now we're practically flying blind! But I can't allow the ship to crash into Soleanna!" The ship began to turn as he continued pressing buttons. "This may be the last thing I do... What a way to end my quest for knowledge..."


With Guard leading the way, Gemini and the Deathbringer soon found an exit. There was no time to wander back to where they'd left the GUN helicopter. "Grrrr... I'll fly you to safety, Gemini. Grrr... There's no time to waste!" Guard offered. Gemini shook her head. "We can't just leave Copter and Heather! What if they don't realize the ship is crashing until it's too late!?" she said. Guard crossed his arms. "Grrrr... She's a bird, and Copter can fly. I'm sure they'll be fine." he said. Gemini wasn't convinced. "I don't want to take the chance! If we can help them, we should!" she pleaded. "And I should help Bucky. Grrrr... But there's no time!" Guard insisted. The Deathbringer had had all it could take of this. "Enough! Get off the ship! I'll see to the safety of your friends! Now stop wasting time!" it shouted. Gemini calmed down slightly. "All right then... Thank you!" she said. Guard, wasting no time, lifted Gemini into his arms and began to fly away. The Deathbringer watched them go for a moment, and then turned and ran back into the ship...


Copter had run faster than he could ever remember, quickly crossing the lava bridge and soon after making his way back to the containment cell that once held Kosmo. As he passed by the door of the cell, he heard something. "E-excuse me, sir!" It was a voice he didn't recognize. Despite the rush he was in, he stopped to see who it was. The voice had apparently come from inside the cell, which Copter couldn't see into. "Is that you, Kosmo, disguised as a girl? If it is, I don't have time for this!" Copter growled. "Oh, no, please, wait!" said the creature in the cell, stepping out into view. It was a species Copter didn't know, that sort of resembled a cat with large whiskers, and even larger ears. Its fur was a light shade of blue, but its ears and whiskers were yellow. It had a long tail with stripes of those same colors, and it wore a tight, one-piece suit that was blue from the waist-up and green from the waist-down. Its eyes were emerald green, and on its back was a pair of large white wings! "OK, you're not Kosmo, because your eyes aren't glowing... So who the heck are you, and what are you doing up here?!" Copter asked with suspicion. The creature recoiled slightly, apparently afraid. "D-don't yell at me! You're the trespasser here!" she said. Copter scoffed at her. "C'mon! You're saying you're NOT a trespasser? You'd have to be either Bucky or one of his experiments if....." he paused a moment as he thought of who this could possibly be. The creature nodded. "That's right! I'm one of those experiment dealies! And... Ah! Almost forgot the reason I called to you. What's going on? It feels like we're falling!" she said. Copter thought about the experiments he knew of. "Hold on now... There's Punchy, me, Kosmo, Zipp, Vortex, Guard, Heather, Crash, that porcupine, and that dragon... That's ten..." As he began to figure out what this meant, his eyes grew wide with shock. "You... You're Experiment 11!! You're supposed to be dead!" he gasped. The creature looked over itself, as if checking, and then glanced back at Copter. "I am? Gee, I'm sorry... I didn't know..." she said with disturbing sincerity. Copter realized what this meant. "They thought you were burned to nothing! If you survived... That means Heather was innocent all along! Vortex is gonna try to kill her for something she didn't even do, but she thinks she did! Heeey... Why does she think she did if she didn't? Argh! This is confusing!" he muttered. Experiment 11 seemed to be falling asleep standing up, until Copter woke her. "Hey, uh... you... What's your name? Hey! Wake up!" Experiment 11 woke with a start. "I didn't do it! It was... Oh, I'm still here with you... What were we talking about again?" she asked, a bit dazed. Copter shook her hand. "It's nice to meet ya, I'm Copter. Bucky blew me up once. Sorry to rush through this, but there's not a lot of time. What's your name and story?" he asked quickly. Experiment 11 backed away from him. "Don't rush me! Let's see... Name... Gee, I should know this... Um... Call me Whisk! Yeah, I'm Whisk the Divine!" she said, keeping her distance from Copter. "How is it you're alive, Whisk? As I understand it, you were tackled by a fiery phoenix!" Copter asked. If her story made sense, he would know for sure if she was really Experiment 11. Whisk looked thoughtful. "Wow, that was soooo long ago... Let's see if I can remember something for once... Ah! I was just born, and that Bucky character was givin' me a checkup, when this real mad lookin' bird stomped in and started spoutin' nonsense. She got real mad, and I think she might've even transformed... Hard to tell, 'cuz there was so much fire. She charged at Bucky, but when I stood up, hoping to help him, she changed course and came after me instead! It was frightening, so I used my power... And I've been hiding around on this ship ever since. The ordeal made me scared of everyone, you see... But since I had to find out what was going on, I talked to you. You're not so scary... But you never answered my question... did you?" The story sounded right, but Copter still had one more question. "You used a power? What power?" he asked. Whisk decided to demonstrate. Faint white lights surrounded her body, and then flashed brightly, vanishing along with her! Copter was stunned. "Whoa! What was that?! Where'd you go!?" he shouted. "Not so LOUD!" Whisk shouted in response. She was right behind him! Copter turned around and chuckled. "So, you can 'whisk' yourself away... Cool." he said. Whisk looked a little impatient now. "So, for the last time, what's going on with this ship!?" she shouted. Copter had forgotten until this point, and now looked panicked. "Shoot! Why'd you have to distract me!? This ship is crashing! We gotta get out of here!!" he yelled. Whisk yelped in fear. "Ship crashing... Gotta go out there... OUT THERE!? With the world!? Aw, buttercups! But if I have no choice, I have no choice..." she said sadly. As the two of them began to run towards the nearest exit, Copter tried to ask Whisk for help. "Whisk, everyone thinks Heather killed you! Even she does! She's real sorry about it, too, but Vortex is gonna kill her! You have to come with me so we can clear her name!" he said. Whisk glared at him. "Excuse me? All I HAVE to do is get off this ship! There's no way I'm gonna join your little quest! Not to save the person who tried to kill me, especially!" she growled. Copter wanted to try to change her mind, but they'd reached the exit, and had to fly off the ship.


The Deathbringer watched Copter and Whisk fly away from the ship through a window. "Good. I wasn't going to help THEM anyway. I have my own things to deal with before this ship crashes!" it said to itself, glancing down at the rapidly approaching ocean. "I still can't believe... That in the end... It was my own interference that caused this catastrophe. Looks like the Doomsayer was right..." Looking around, it noticed that even the Lost Ones were running around the ship now, desperately searching for a safe way off. "Oh, quit acting all terrified, creatures! I already know that you all survive the crash! Too bad... This was probably the only chance to stop Losipher." The Deathbringer glanced back out the window, then began running to accomplish its goal. "There's not much time! I must pick up the pace, or perish with the ship!"


Whisk had flown off in a different direction than Copter. He had to get to the nearest land, since his tails would tire after a short while, but Whisk's wings could take her much further. Copter landed on the southernmost bell tower in Soleanna's castle town. From there, he watched grimly as his birthplace crashed into the ocean. Bucky had managed to steer it away from the city, and it flew far enough away that the waves caused by its crash wouldn't do much damage. The ship began sinking slowly, and Copter was watching anxiously to see if anyone else would escape. Unfortunately, he could see no one. "I sure hope Guard got Gemini off the ship... Heck, strangely enough, I hope Bucky got off the ship... Weird..." he said to himself. "Yo, Copter!" Looking down, Copter saw officer Razor waving to him. He was accompanied by the others: Mia, Chet, Katie, and Tommy. Copter hopped down from the bell tower. "That was quite a crash! What happened?" Chet asked. Copter was in a hurry, but he attempted to give a quick explanation. "Heather was kidnapped by the experiments on the ship, and they took her away! It seems Bucky only wanted to talk to her, but Vortex wants to kill her! Then the ship started to crash, and I found Experiment 11. Vortex thinks Heather killed her, and worse, Heather thinks so, too! Eleven escaped, but she won't help me... So I'm on my own! And I gotta get to Kingdom Valley! Vortex is taking Heather to Eggman's battleship there!" he said. Mia took Copter by the hand. "Hey, you're not alone! We'll do everything we can to get you there before it's too late!" she promised. Tommy looked worried. "What happened to Guard and Gemini?" he wondered. Everyone could tell from Copter's expression that he didn't see them get off the ship. Katie tried to comfort Tommy. "It's OK. I'm sure Guard got them off in time. They probably just landed somewhere else." she said. Razor blew his police whistle to get everyone's attention. "Hey, either way, Heather's the one in immediate danger! Come on, let's get to Kingdom Valley, pronto!" he suggested. With that, the group quickly began rushing for the gate to the jungle. After all, time was rapidly running out!

To be continued...