GeneX - Knuckles the Echidna
Chapter 44 - Fear and Courage
Stage 24(Dark 12) - Despair Castle
Boss 24 - Basker

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.

The story thus far:
Kosmo has joined "Team Dark" in their mission to find and destroy Project GXterminate before it is used by the Covenant of Despair. Along the way, they met Sgt. Drol, who aided their mission by sending Guard with them. Finding Team Chaotix with a map of the castle, the group started heading for a prison cell where they might find someone to help them, joined by Crash, who was searching for Bucky. They were stopped by a group of experiments who had been blackmailed into helping Despair due to Bucky's incarceration. This included Talon and Carrie. After the battle, Carrie was knocked unconscious by Talon crash-landing on her, and Basker decided to kidnap her as further insurance, since Kosmo seemed to care about her. It was at this point that Talon revealed that Carrie was the true source of his power: she used psychokinesis while invisible to make it appear that HE was the one with powers! Now, this mission has become a rescue mission!
Now, on to the next chapter!


Parts of Despair Castle had become a veritable warzone, with the forces of Eggman and Despair battling it out against any who dared challenge them. Kosmo, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Guard, Crash, Whisk, Talon and Chet had arrived at just such a warzone, where Dr. Eggman and Metal Sonic were leading robots against the likes of Team Chaotix, Razor and Mia. Razor had given Mia a spare gun, so at least she wasn't totally useless, but the five of them were pretty well outnumbered until Team Dark showed up. "The doctor... He's gotta answer for what he did at Shadow Arc." Shadow scowled. Eggman noticed him enter and flinched a little. "Ehhh... Shadow! Fancy, seeing you here! Did I mention double-crossing you earlier wasn't personal? ...Oh, forget it. Metal Sonic, focus attack on Shadow!!" he shouted. As Metal Sonic started coming at them, Shadow decided to meet him head on. "Go on without me! I'll catch up!" he shouted back. Omega's eyes seemed to glow redder with rage. "EGGMAN!! Target acquired!! At last, vengeance is mine!!" he shouted, crazed. "Oh, GET OVER IT, you defect reject!!" Eggman yelled. This only made Omega angrier, and he charged into the army of Egg Fighters that Eggman was commanding. Rouge shook her head. "I guess I'm with them... Take care, Guard." she sighed, flying off into the battle. Chet glanced at Razor and Mia regretfully from the back of the crowd. "Grrr... You should go to them." Guard suggested. Chet looked at him ashamedly. "Like THIS?" he said, pointing out his Despair uniform. "Actions talk louder than clothes." Crash stated. Chet nodded slowly, and charged ahead, slashing at an Egg Fighter with his claws as he reached Mia and Razor! They stared at him for a moment, but then Razor sighed and smiled. "You are one piece of work, you know that?" he said jokingly. "Welcome back, dummy." Mia smiled. Kosmo watched and nodded. "Let's get moving. That cell isn't finding itself, after all." he said, leading the rest of the group around the action. Unbeknownst to them, two extra people were following them. "...Thanks for taking me this far." whispered Tommy, who had somehow managed to sneak up to the island with everyone else. "No problem... They wanted to leave me behind, too." said Lucky, sneakily following Kosmo's group with young Tommy.

On the way to the next hallway, the group found more of Eggman's Fighters and Pawns blocking the path! Talon, feeling powerless, began to freak out a bit. "There are enemies all over! We'll never get Carrie outta this! It's hopeless--" As he was whining, Whisk slapped him upside the head. "Don't start molting all over me!" she growled. Kosmo raised his fists. "We'll just have to steamroll these tin cans real quick! Maybe I'll even turn into a steamroller!" he growled, only to see the robots begin exploding from several attacks from behind them! Chaos Spears blew through the robotic chests of these robots, and when they finished collapsing into heaps, Spiny was left standing behind them! "Am I seein' things?" Crash muttered. "Yeah, since when can Sonic use magic spears?" Whisk gasped. Spiny stomped his foot furiously. "Come on!! You're all fellow experiments!! YOU shouldn't make this mistake!!" he groaned. Kosmo sighed. "She's sorry... sir." he said, "Thanks for savin' us the time." he added. Spiny chuckled. "Right... Well, the doc had it comin! Of all the things he could do next, throwin' in his lot with Despair was the wrong call! I don't care what his so-called 'reasons' are! Despair felt like insulting me, so I'll never join them!" he shouted. Kosmo smirked. "Seems like they're ticking off almost everyone anymore." he remarked. "Grrr... Are you coming with us, then?" Guard asked Spiny. The porcupine stepped out of their way. "I wholeheartedly support your endeavor... But no, I'm not going to be joining your merry band. I only serve one person... And that's me!" he grinned. Talon sighed. "We could really use you, though..." he grumbled. "I know..." Spiny bragged. Kosmo scoffed. "Who needs him? C'mon, let's keep moving!" he said, continuing onward. Lucky and Tommy waved politely as they passed Spiny, and he scratched his head. "...Hopeless..." he sighed.

Soon, the group found greater security measures blocking their progress. Thick metal doors designed to keep out intruders had been slammed shut in the hallway ahead of them, and the only way to open them was through facial-recognition scanning. Kosmo cracked his knuckles and grinned. "This should be simple. I just need the face of a high-ranking Despair agent. Let's go with Basker..." he said, morphing only his head into that of Basker the hound. The device started to scan him, but suddenly an alarm went off! "Huh?? What the..." Kosmo stammered. Guard slapped himself in the forehead. "Rrrr! We should've known this wouldn't work! Basker's eyes glow red, but look at Kosmo!" he grunted. Kosmo's eyes still glowed yellow. The retinal scan included with the face scan picked up on this minor difference. "That is one good security-scan... Probably set up just for me..." Kosmo muttered. Crash adjusted his hat and gently pushed Whisk and Talon aside. "Everyone, stand back... This looks like a job for me." he said. Talon crossed his arms. "Are you kidding? It's METAL!!" he said. "You'll bust that horn..." Kosmo pointed out. Crash smirked and started to run at the door. "Chaos CHARGE!!" he yelled, his horn bursting in Chaos energy as he ran at the door, followed by his body as he picked up speed! The power of his Chaos ability allowed him to tear right through the thick door, leaving a hole that the others could pass through! "Yeah... or I could just teleport..." Whisk pointed out. Crash shouted back from the other side. "They got wall lasers!! And more doors!! I'm gonna keep charging!!" he yelled. Guard folded in his wings. "Grrr... This isn't very accommodating to us avians..." he said, looking at the somewhat compact hole. "I'm not sure that's the correct use of the word 'avian'... We're not birds." Talon remarked. Kosmo morphed into a feral hawk. "Speak for yourself! I'm gonna tear up those wall lasers..." he said, flapping through the hole. As everyone moved on, Lucky and Tommy hesitated at the hole. "...Maybe we should turn back?" Lucky wondered. Suddenly, they saw Terra chasing after them. "Intruders!! KILL!!" he yelled. Lucky and Tommy shrieked and fled into the hole, which Terra banged against, unable to fit through.

At the last security door in the bunch of security doors, instead of mere wall lasers, there was a squad of Despair agents blocking the way. They seemed a bit dumbfounded that anyone even managed to get in there, but they were ready to fight all the same, and there were even some dark mages among them. Talon watched the others getting ready to fight their way through, but he couldn't build up the courage to join them. "Guys... I'm just dead weight, aren't I? I... I'm gonna go back!!" he shouted, heading for the previous door that Crash had busted a hole through. As he passed through it, he ran into Lucky and Tommy, who were surprised, to say the least. "Me-yow!! D-don't drag us back to Shadow Arc, Talon! We just want to help in some way!! Any way! Bucky was kidnapped 'cuz of me!" Lucky shouted. "And... and my friend Katie was hurt and these guys were just gonna leave her! They even took Chet! And I stowed away in Mia's trunk to get up here and everything!!" Tommy whined. Talon hung his head sadly, indicating that he wasn't planning to scold them. "...Carrie was taken, too. And... I can't save her." he said hopelessly. Lucky and Tommy stared at him for a moment. "Yeah... we probably can't do anything, either..." Lucky admitted. "But we'd hate ourselves more if we stayed behind doin' nothing!" Tommy pointed out. Talon gasped, glancing at the brave youngster before him. "You know... You're right. We can't just give up. I'll go with you guys for now. Maybe together, we can come up with something." he said. In the meantime, those Talon had left behind were fighting valiantly. Crash simply charged ahead and broke through the final security door, while Guard took on the mages with his scythe's beam attacks, keeping his distance from them. Whisk whipped up some magical winds with her wings, knocking around some more agents, and Kosmo finally used that steamroller form, chasing around the other agents until they cried "uncle."

The remainder of Kosmo's group now neared the prison from the map that Team Chaotix had found before. However, there was still one obstacle before reaching that prison. Violet the echidna, Daisy the skunk and Ridley the coati were guarding the entrance. "So, we meet again, Kosmo... Never mind that I don't have the Chaos Wing now. You don't have the element of surprise anymore, either." Ridley warned. "You got water. I got everything else. I win." Kosmo said smugly. Daisy growled at him. "I knew you'd be trouble when you showed up here with COPTER! I'll cut you to ribbons!" she shouted. Violet was less enthusiastic. "You should all just turn back... The Darkseeker's too powerful, anyway..." she sighed. Whisk squinted at Violet and gasped slightly. "You look so familiar... Why do you look familiar..." she wondered, "Right! That colorful echidna! I forget her name. But she was really brave! Even when that other echidna was freaking out and crazy!" she said. Violet stared at Whisk. "You... You're talking about my sister? ...Somehow she seems stronger than I am right now... And she has no powers. Maybe... I should just fade into the shadows..." she said sadly, backing away a step. "Hey!! Stop messing with Violet's head!!" Daisy growled. Ridley's hands became covered in glowing water. "Who cares!? We won't back down!" he shouted. Kosmo rolled his eyes. "Fine... You'll regret it when I bust out the prisoners and we completely overwhelm you. I'm not wasting any more time with Carrie in trouble." he said, his body glowing and shrinking down into the form of a snake! As he slithered his way past Ridley and Daisy, Guard fired beams from his scythe to distract the Despair agents. "Grrrr! Never mind him! You get to deal with us!" he growled. "Allow me to take Ridley... I don't feel right hitting a lady." Crash murmured. "Exactly why I'm gonna get ya!!" Daisy shouted. Ridley tossed a ball of water at Guard, which he sliced with his scythe. "Grrrr!! Very well... I was designed to take down experiments, anyway!" he growled. Whisk stood next to Violet and sighed. "Can't we all just get along?" she frowned.

Kosmo morphed back to normal outside the cell door. The cell had been padded with rubber. Inside, Bucky was watching over Carrie as she rested on a dingy mattress. "...So, it's you..." Kosmo grunted, "In order to free Carrie, I have to let out the guy who wanted me locked up forever. Is this supposed to be some weird poetic justice??" he growled. Bucky sighed without looking over at him. "Poetic justice for which one of us?" he asked. Kosmo shrugged. "Is she all right?" he asked. "She's unconscious, but fine. Carrie is a 'Mirage,' a species that is like an illusion... It theoretically does not technically exist. Due to my scientific prowess, however, Carrie is no illusion. So her injuries are real... Unlike an illusion, she does not simply vanish with the possibility of manifesting again later." Bucky explained, getting a bit caught up in the science of it. Suddenly, Basker emerged from the shadows of the corner of the prison room. "How touching... A father-son reunion. But come now, Kosmo... Surely you know you cannot defeat me." he said bluntly. Kosmo turned to face him. "Oh, yeah? Take me on in a real fight, and we'll see!" he challenged. Basker chuckled softly, the drowsy look never leaving his red eyes. "You came all this way, and for what? What do you actually hope to accomplish? Are you so eager to join your friends in this little cage? ... Or will you once and for all bow down and swear your allegiance to the Covenant of Despair!?" he snarled, starting to sound uncharacteristically fired up. Kosmo morphed himself into a purple form resembling Shadow, glaring at Basker with contempt. "First... I'm gonna kick your butt and open this cell. Then... I'm gonna take down your boss and free everyone he's trapped in his control!" he shouted. Basker's eyes started glowing more brightly all of a sudden. "You know, I think the cell is too good for you... It is DEATH, then!!" he roared!

Basker's hands started glowing deeply in a dark shade of blue, and Kosmo was quickly struck with that same inexplicable terror once again! He started to hallucinate, seeing Bucky in place of Basker, but with the same red eyes. "Terror is absolute power... As you cower, fading into the darkness... I will obliterate you!!" To Kosmo, Basker's attack appeared as Bucky's lightning, but in reality, he was merely kicking him while he trembled at the ground. "...You have no chance against fear itself! A pity, really..." Basker smirked.
Outside, Crash was busy fending off Daisy's katana with nothing but his horn to parry her with. "I said I wouldn't hit a lady, but you're pushin' it!!" he growled. "Surrender and I'll stop!" Daisy grunted. Guard was busy chopping Ridley's water blasts with his scythe, occasionally shrugging off any that struck him. "Grrrrr!! How can you work for these fiends after they've captured your creator!? Where is your loyalty!?" he shouted. Ridley stopped to answer him. "...What good is loyalty when you're dead? You of all people should understand me... You work against Bucky for GUN!" he yelled. Guard grunted. "...That is my programming...not my will." he said, charging at Ridley to resume his attack!
Back at the prison, Bucky called out to Kosmo. "Stand up to your fears! Fear is a necessary reflex against danger, but you cannot allow it to control you completely! Remember who you are! You are one of the most powerful forces on Earth! Fight back!" he shouted. Kosmo had by this time morphed into a sea turtle, and was cowering inside his shell while Basker kicked it around, but perhaps he could still hear Bucky's words? As his shell bounced off the wall, he poked his head out and snapped at Basker's hand, surprising him long enough to enable him to morph back to normal. "So... not content to hide in your shell, are you?" Basker growled. Kosmo growled, struggling as Basker's eyes and hands glowed brighter, turning up the fear. The hallucinations became increasingly terrible, the world around him seemed to fade into blackness, and frightening monsters seemed to be creeping around him in these shadows. However, Kosmo focused, and began to morph himself! "I... do not fear... the dark! I am a morph! The dark... should fear... me!!" he growled, transforming into a great dragon! Basker stared with wide eyes. "There's no way...! No one can function...under the pressure of such terror!" he gasped. He then scrambled to escape the wrath of Kosmo's fiery breath!

"Ugh... Talon, keep it down..." Carrie was starting to regain consciousness by now. When she opened her eyes, the situation quickly became clear to her. "Oh... Throwing me in here was a mistake." she growled, standing up and approaching the cell door. Her eyes glowed blue for a moment, and then, using her psychokinesis, she ripped the door clean off its hinges! Basker looked back in shock, releasing his hold over Kosmo in the process. "What...?! Impossible!" he said in astonishment. Bucky quickly stepped out of the cell and zapped the hound with his electricity. "Threaten my experiments, will you!!!" he shouted, leaving Basker convulsing on the floor! "I should kill you... Instead I'm ordering you to get out of my sight!" he growled. Basker shakily stood up and ran for the exit. "Don't...think...this is over!" he stammered. Kosmo, still in dragon form, stared at Bucky for a moment. "...I shouldn't let you off the hook, either..." he growled. Carrie stepped between them, but Bucky placed a hand on her shoulder to silence her. "There is a matter that's bigger than both of us right now. A device on this island with the potential to kill us all in mere moments." he said. Kosmo nodded, morphing back to normal. "Then I guess we find it..." he said. Carrie looked at him as Bucky headed out of the room. "Did you come to rescue me again? ...Maybe now you realize I don't really need it..." she snickered. Kosmo sighed. "You're welcome, I guess..." he grumbled. A flash of lightning told them it was time to rejoin the others. Outside, they found Ridley cowering at Bucky's feet, while Daisy was hiding behind Violet. It seemed Bucky had the situation well in hand. "Stop sniveling, Ridley! I understand your motives. You're a coward. But whatever Despair promised you, I promise they won't deliver." he said. Ridley looked up nervously. "Um... wh-what do you mean, exactly?" he stammered. Suddenly, Whisk yelped loudly, falling to the floor! As everyone turned to see what had happened to her, they saw Basker lift her over his shoulders! "A divine... Surely she has unique life energy... Listen well, Bucky. Come to my master, the Darkseeker. If you do not, your precious experiment will be used to power Project GXterminate!" he shouted, using his fear-power to stop Crash and Guard, thereby covering his escape! Kosmo looked a bit shocked. "Won't using an animal in the machine make it target...animals? Don't they want it to target humans?" he stammered. Bucky's eyes narrowed. "This is a threat, or a bluff... but we can't risk it. We have to find the Darkseeker." he said. Violet looked a bit nervous. "Um... I could take you to him... But I'm not sure if I really want to go there..." she shuddered. "There's no choice. Let's go!" Kosmo said. Finally, it was almost time to face the leader of the Covenant of Despair...

To be continued...