GeneX - Knuckles the Echidna
Chapter 2 - Shore Showdown
Stage 2(Dark 1) - Shimmering Shore
Boss 2 - Shore Shot

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.

"I'm Experiment 1. I call myself Punchy the Echidna. I'm a fugitive. Pursued, just because of what I am. But... What AM I? Who AM I? My only memory is the Master Emerald. That's where the secret must lie.......so, I must claim it."


It was early in the morning. So early in fact, that some might call it late at night. Most would be asleep now, but Punchy the Echidna was wide awake. He was planning to go to Angel Island after Knuckles was asleep so that he could make off with the Master Emerald, but his friend Rainbow had delayed him. She insisted that it was too cold out, and Punchy needed some clothes to keep warm. So, Rainbow had dug out some old clothes stored in the temple she lived in. She knew that this might come up at some point, so she had found some boxes of clothes for boys in one of the many empty buildings of the underground Hidden Ruins she lived in. Punchy thought this was ridiculous, but decided to humor her to make things easier. Now, he had finally found some clothes he was okay with being seen in, so Punchy met Rainbow at the entrance of the temple. He was wearing a pair of tattered brown pants held up by a black belt, and just for the heck of it, a red and blue headband. "Those clothes are all so ancient, Rainbow! These were the only decent pants in the boxes!" Punchy grumbled, getting Rainbow's attention. "Really? Well, they suit you perfectly, One!" she said cheerfully. Punchy sighed grumpily. "Great. Can we go now?" he asked. Rainbow nodded. "Yep! Ready when you are! Let's go pay Red a visit, One!" Rainbow's habit of calling everyone by nickname still got on Punchy's nerves. "My name is STILL not One..." Punchy muttered, following Rainbow out of the temple.

As the pair began wandering through the underground ruins to the entrance to the sewer that served as its exit, a strange, distorted voice called out to them! "Stop right there!" Punchy and Rainbow looked around, but didn't see the owner of the voice right away. Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings drew their attention! A creature was flying towards them, its form hidden beneath a black cloak and a hood. All they could see of the creature was its black wings! In a moment, the creature landed in front of them, and Rainbow jumped back in fright. "Eeeek!! Who are you!?" she shouted. Punchy thought back. "Hey, I know you! You're Dimentime, right?" His guess was wrong, and the creature corrected him immediately. "I am the Deathbringer!" The name scared Rainbow. "Eeek!! Grim Reaper!!" she yelled, hiding behind Punchy. "Punchy the Echidna! Prepare yourself! Your end is at hand!" the Deathbringer said, its voice changing as it spoke. Punchy was ready for a fight. "My end? I beg to differ! Rainbow, get moving! I have a feeling this one's gonna be tough!" he growled. The Deathbringer crossed its arms. "This is not an attack...yet." it said. Punchy looked confused. "Huh? Make up your mind!" The Deathbringer pointed at him threateningly. "This is an ultimatum. Leave the United Federation, and never return! Or else, I will have no choice.... but to destroy you!" Punchy wasn't one to just sit there and be threatened. "Oh, yeah!? I'll fix you!!" He shouted, running to attack the Deathbringer! The Deathbringer jumped into the air and flew away before Punchy could hit it. It was so fast that by the time Punchy realized he missed, it was gone! "Huh? He's gone! How'd he do that!?" Punchy gasped. Rainbow was scared by these events. "What should we do, One? He sounded pretty serious..." she said. Punchy turned back towards the entrance to the sewer. "Bah! I'll tell you what we'll do! We're going to Angel Island, just like we planned!" Seeing that Punchy wasn't letting this worry him lifted Rainbow's spirits as well. "All right! If you say so! Follow me, One!" she said, running ahead!

Rainbow led Punchy out of the sewer, and continued running ahead of him towards the train station. Punchy was doing his best to keep up, but Rainbow was generally faster than him. However, as they passed the burger shop and neared the street that would lead to the train station, Rainbow suddenly came to a stop! As Punchy caught up to her, he looked around. "Hey, Rainbow? Why are you stopping?" he asked. Rainbow was gazing at a crowd of animals wearing black uniforms with thirteen pointed stars on them. She was fixated on a female purple echidna in the crowd. The echidna had yellow eyes and was wearing blue bands on her front two quills. "Is... Is that...?" Rainbow muttered. The uniformed group was facing a reddish brown weasel wearing an expensive looking black suit with a matching hat. The front of the hat displayed the same thirteen pointed star that was on the group's uniforms. The weasel’s most notable feature was that his left foot was robotic. The weasel addressed the crowd. "All right, boys! Our mission starts now! Let's get moving!" A blue hyena in the crowd began laughing uncontrollably. "Eeeee hee hee hee! You forgot! It's not just boys!" the hyena said, glancing at the purple echidna. The weasel groaned at the hyena. "You know what I mean! Yeesh!" The hyena continued laughing. "Eeeee hee hee! Of course we do, Infin!" Punchy was watching the crowd curiously. "What's with the silly suits? Are they ballet dancers or something?" he muttered. Infin began leading the uniformed animals away. "Move out boys! AND girl!" he said, prompting the group to follow him. "Oh.... Wait!!" Rainbow gasped, starting to follow the crowd. Punchy ran after her and stopped her as the crowd wandered away. "What's got you all nervous, Rainbow?" he asked. Rainbow pointed in the direction the crowd was going. "I... I think I saw my sister with those guys!" she said! Punchy's eyes went wide. "What? You have a sister!? Great... Two of them..." he said, whispering the last part to himself. "I haven't seen my sister in so long, I thought she was gone for good! We've gotta find out if it was really her, One!" Rainbow pleaded. Punchy glanced at where the animals were going. "Hmmm... I think they're heading for the beach... Say, Rainbow... Is your sister anything like you?" he asked. Rainbow scratched her head. "I'm not sure. I haven't seen her in, like, ten years!" she said. Punchy frowned. "Hmmm... Ten years? I haven't lived that long... I guess we'd better check this out." he said, starting towards the beach. "But we're going for the Master Emerald right afterwards! Definitely!" he added. As they headed off, a an orange dragon with red horns and red and black wings crept over to where they had been and watched them go. A black cat with a fluffy white chest wearing a red collar, red and blue pants, and yellow shoes emerged from the shadows to greet him. "What's up, Zeke?" the cat wondered. The dragon spoke with a labored breath that made him sound like he was chuckling. "Those echidnas following them... I wonder if we should alert... Someone." he said. The cat backed away slightly. "If it means going home, I'm all for it." he sighed. "Don't be such a scaredy-cat. If you don't prove useful to the master, well... He might have to make some adjustments..." Zeke cackled.

The uniformed animals had wasted no time getting far away from Punchy and Rainbow, and as they entered Emerald Coast, they couldn't be sure they were actually going the right way. Eventually, they reached a segment of the beach untouched by the tourists. High cliffs towered over the area, waterfalls pouring down from them. The sparkling water and clean white sands were quite beautiful, but Punchy and Rainbow weren't there for sightseeing. Neither was the squad of GUN's Beetles that they found floating around as they arrived. "GUN's here? What would they want here!?" Punchy groaned. Two men were supervising the beetles. One was a black haired man wearing a black suit with a green tie and strange green sunglasses. Beside him was a taller man with light blue hair. He wore the uniform of a GUN sergeant, but with black armor over it, as well as a black cape. He had a noble bearing, and he was the first to spot Punchy and Rainbow. "Halt! Who goes there?" the sergeant said in a rather dignified voice. Punchy looked at the sergeant and let out a chuckle. "Hey! Check out the dope with the cape!" he laughed. The man with the green shades quickly got riled up. "That is no way to speak to Sergeant Drol... Experiment 1!" It no longer surprised Punchy that the GUN agents knew who he was. "Sergeant... I'm almost afraid to ask... What happened to Gunner?" Punchy muttered. Rainbow smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, One! This guy looks like royalty! I'm sure he won't give us trouble!" she said, though only she could understand her logic. Drol rolled his eyes at them. "Experiment 1... It is most certainly NOT a pleasure. I have heard of you from my superior. I am Sergeant Drol. GUN's Noble Knight!" he said. Drol's minion looked worried. "Sir, we mustn't waste time on the likes of these outlaws! Despair is here!" he said hurriedly. Drol sneered at him. "Silence, Agent 32. I know my duty! I was merely introducing those wretches to their executioner." Drol motioned to the nearby GUN beetles. "You! Robots! Deal with these peasants. I must be off!" he commanded. In moments, Punchy and Rainbow were surrounded by the beetles! "Awww... You're a nasty Knight!" Rainbow said. Drol turned to walk away. "I take my leave of you. GUN will be pleased with your demise. Come, Agent 32." he said. Agent 32 followed him hurriedly. "Y-yes, sir! Right away, sir!" he said. Punchy sighed with annoyance. "Well, at least he's quieter than Gunner."

Punchy looked around. The beetles seemed to be ordinary ones, with no visible weapons. "Wait a minute... It can't be this easy..." he realized. Suddenly, hatches opened up on the undersides of the beetles, and laser turrets came out! "That's more like it!!" Punchy said as he attempted to dodge the lasers the robots began shooting! "C'mon, One! We gotta catch up to my sister! Avalanche 'em or something!" Rainbow suggested. Punchy nodded and concentrated on the sand around him. "Chaos Avalanche!" Using chaos energy, he lifted up chunks of sand. Unfortunately, the chunks of sand crumbled and fell back to the ground before he could use them! Punchy was forced to jump aside to avoid being shot. "Great... That complicates things..." he grumbled. Rainbow was growing frustrated as well. "Stupid bots! Take this!" she yelled, tossing a seashell at one. It bounced off, and the robot turned and started shooting at her! "Hey! You leave her alone!" Punchy shouted, running to the robot and punching it hard! The robot fell to the ground and exploded, but the others were focusing on shooting at only Punchy now! Punchy scrambled to get out of the way, but soon found himself cornered at the wall of a cliff. "Shoot... Wait! Don't shoot!" Punchy shouted, running to the left as the robots fired and hit the cliff wall. The impact of the shots knocked several boulders loose. "Hey... Why didn't I think of this in the first place?" Punchy said as an idea came to him. "Chaos Avalanche!" Once more tapping into the power of chaos, Punchy lifted several boulders from the cliff and hurled them at the robots! In no time, all the robots were destroyed! Rainbow ran over to Punchy when the coast was clear. "Yay, One! But we better hurry now! Follow me!" Rainbow started to lead Punchy away, but Punchy wasn't moving very fast. "Um... Follow you where? Which way do we go?" he asked. Rainbow pointed at footprints in the sand. "Not many people come here. Those footprints gotta be going the right way!" she said. Satisfied, Punchy started following more quickly.

After some time following the footprints, they were suddenly stopped by a strange energy blast! The blast created a small explosion close to Punchy! "Aaaah!! Where'd that come from!?" Punchy shouted, looking around. As he looked, he suddenly spotted a familiar grayish shrew wearing a blue cape running towards him! "Dark One!" the shrew shouted as he reached Punchy and Rainbow. Rainbow smiled excitedly. "Hey, it's Mousy! He must've stopped whoever shot at us!" she said. Punchy sighed with relief. "Good to see you, Illusi..." he said. Illusi looked incredibly serious, and before Punchy could ask why, he fired another of the same strange blasts at Punchy! Punchy was knocked backward by the blast, but he quickly got up and started yelling at Illusi. "Wait a minute!! That came from you!? Why you little!!" Illusi began looking angry. "I can't waste any time! Dark One... I can't let you go anymore! You must be destroyed!" he shouted, snapping his fingers to summon a pair of Wrongos! The strange creatures flew over to Punchy and immediately began shocking him with bolts of lightning! Rainbow quickly retaliated by grabbing one and tossing it away! "Wow, those critters sure are light! Now for the other one!" As Rainbow attempted to stop the other Wrongo, the first one flew over and gave her a light shock! "What did I say when we first met? The Wrongos attack if you do anything wrong!" Illusi said to her. Rainbow glared at him. "Then why aren't they shocking you, Mousy! You call those flying donuts off, right now!" she yelled. Punchy knew that Illusi wouldn't call them off, so he jumped through the shocks and punched the Wrongo attacking him, causing it to vanish instantly! Before the other Wrongo could come after him again, Punchy punched that one out, too! "They're nasty, but it doesn't take much to destroy illusions!" he observed. Illusi snapped his fingers and summoned several more Wrongos, much to Punchy's annoyance. "Cut it out, Illusi! What's your problem!?" he yelled. Rainbow looked sad and confused. "Why are you sending your cute little circle things after us?" Illusi didn't answer, and simply watched as Punchy battled the second wave of Wrongos.

Once the Wrongos were gone, Illusi growled in frustration. "I need more Wrongos..." he said. Before he could summon them, however, Illusi was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Yoo-hoo! Illoser!" Looking in the direction of the voice, Illusi saw a ghostly being floating in the air. It had a white body, cyan gloves, a greenish muzzle and blue eyes with green whites. The creature had no legs, and a ghostly tail! Illusi stuttered with surprise as he saw the creature. "L-lospecter! You!" he said. Punchy squinted at the unfamiliar creature in the air. "Huh? Lospecter?! THAT's Lospecter!?" Indeed, Lospecter's form had changed since they'd last met. Lospecter flew down to Illusi. "Did you know those black-suited fun lovers have been looking for you? Someone tipped them off that you were in Station Square. Who, oh who could that be? Hee hee..." he chuckled. Illusi looked at Lospecter questioningly. "Why tell me this, Lospecter? What are you scheming?" he asked. Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice was heard nearby. "Over there! There's the shrew!" A couple dogs wearing uniforms were running towards them. "No time to waste... I'll have to stop the Dark One later..." Illusi muttered, vanishing in his usual puff of smoke! Lospecter frowned. "Aww, I was hoping he'd whip out that strange key of his. Well, better catch up with him! Illoser!!! Where are yoooooou?" Lospecter said, flying away. The uniformed dogs were staring at the area in disbelief. "H-hey... Did you just see him disappear?" one of them asked. "See who? I didn't see nothin'..." said the other. As the dogs started walking away, Rainbow glanced at Punchy. "What's going on with Mousy?" she wondered. Punchy looked thoughtful. "Looks like those shady characters are looking for him. But why? And why'd he attack me?" he muttered. Suddenly, Rainbow remembered something. "Oooh! Those doggies! They were with my sister! C'mon, One! Let's go after them!" she said. Punchy nodded. "Right! Looks like you made the right call following those footprints after all! Let's catch up to them!" 

Soon, Punchy and Rainbow reached the destination of the uniformed animals. There was a small shrine on a portion of the beach far from the city. Sitting in the shrine was a stone tablet with writing on it. The uniformed animals were face to face with Sergeant Drol in front of the shrine. As Punchy and Rainbow arrived on the scene, Drol spotted them. "Looks like enemy reinforcements have arrived. No matter!" he said. The blue hyena from before turned to look at Punchy and Rainbow. "Eeeeee hee hee? Reinforcements? They aren't wearing Covenant of Despair uniforms..." he said. Punchy looked confused. "Covenant of Despair? What in the heck is that?" Behind Sergeant Drol was a tank-like vehicle with a large laser cannon. Infin had been looking at it intently, but now grinned as he realized something. "OK, we cleared out your basic robots, and it seems your friend back there will be pretty slow!" he said. Indeed, the remains of several beetle robots were scattered all over the sand. Infin pointed to the purple echidna in his group. "You! Grab the tablet and let's be on our way!" The purple echidna approached the shrine, and as she did, Agent 32 ran out to stop her! "No you don't, terrorist!" he shouted! Infin jumped in Agent 32's way and began struggling with him. Seeing this, Drol rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Scorpion Troops Shore Shot! Fire! Don't let a single one escape!" he said to the tank. Shore Shot immediately began driving towards the purple echidna who was just turning to leave the shrine with the tablet! Rainbow screamed at this turn of events. "Eeek! That thing's after my sister! One, we gotta do something!" she cried. Punchy nodded and ran between Rainbow's sister and Shore Shot. "Hey, bucket-boy! Pick on someone... who's still smaller than you..." he said somewhat feebly. Just then, Infin managed to knock Agent 32 over! "Well, this is working out! C'mon, boys! Time to vamoose!" he said, quickly leading his group away. "Eeee hee hee hee! Can we get breakfast on the way home?" the hyena said as he followed the group. Before leaving, Rainbow's sister stopped to tell Rainbow something. "Get yourself out of here! It's dangerous here!" With that, Rainbow's sister ran off with the others. "W-w-wait! Don't go!! Why's she running away from me?" Rainbow cried.

With the Covenant of Despair escaping, Drol had grown incredibly frustrated. "You infernal pest! This had nothing to do with you!" he shouted. Punchy grinned smugly at him. "Well, you did sorta try to have me killed earlier. I mess with people who try to kill me!" he said. Drol's eyes were filled with hatred. "It would have been wise to stay out of it! Shore Shot! Dispose of this fool!" At Drol's command, Shore Shot aimed its cannon at Punchy and began charging up power to fire at him! Seeing this, Rainbow grabbed a coconut that had fallen from a nearby palm tree and hurled it at Shore Shot! "Hey! You leave One alone!!" she shouted! The coconut struck the cannon and caused it to move just enough to miss Punchy! "Whoa! Big laser...." Punchy muttered as the shot missed him. Drol was glaring at Rainbow now, but she didn't care. "He protected my sister! I won't let you hurt him!" she shouted. Agent 32 had wandered back to Drol's side by now, and tapped his shoulder hurriedly. "Sir! Despair is getting away!" Drol smacked Agent 32's hand away. "Enough! Shore Shot! Destroy them both! Immediately!" As the machine started moving towards Punchy, he noticed the remote control in Drol's hand. "Hey... That's lucky! I'll just go for Drol!" he thought, attempting to approach the sergeant. Unfortunately, Shore Shot was faster than Infin had imagined, and it drove between Punchy and Drol before he could get close! "Foolish peasant! I won't let you touch my remote!" Drol sneered. Shore Shot immediately began firing at Punchy and Rainbow, though without charging, its shots were smaller and weaker. As they ran to put some distance between themselves and Shore Shot, Rainbow had a suggestion. "C'mon, One! Use your avalanche again!" Punchy looked around, but the nearest cliff was too far. "It won't work! All I can get from here is sand!" he said. Rainbow started throwing coconuts at Shore Shot again. "I don't think these coconuts will stop it, One! We gotta think of something!" While running from Shore Shot's lasers, Punchy looked around. "Nothing but sand.... Then that'll have to do! Chaos Avalanche!" Punchy concentrated on the sand below Shore Shot, and using chaos energy, shifted the sand until Shore Shot fell into it! As the sand buried Shore Shot, it caused havoc in the robot's circuits, and the robot soon exploded!

As the sand thrown up by the explosion settled, Agent 32 was looking very panicked. "S-sir!! What do we do now?" he stuttered. "That's it for your robot! You’re finished!" Punchy said. Drol did not look impressed. "Hmph! So I've underestimated you. It won't happen again. Come, Agent 32! We'll try to catch the Covenant of Despair!" he said, running past Punchy. Agent 32 followed him hurriedly. "What'll we do if we DO catch them!?" he shouted. Rainbow grabbed Punchy by the arm and started pulling him. "Way to go, One! Now let's go after my sis!" she said. Punchy pulled back, refusing to go. "No, thanks! I've had enough of GUN for one day. Besides, I think your sister's got plenty backup!" he said. Rainbow looked out in the direction the Covenant of Despair had gone. "You think she was really with those people? B-but... They didn't seem nice..." she said with concern. Punchy crossed his arms. "I think she's made her choice. Let's go to Angel Island! I don't think we'd catch those 'Covenant of Despair' guys anyway." he said, walking away. "But One..." Rainbow whined. Punchy didn't stop walking. "End of discussion! We've got our own problems, anyway!" he insisted. Realizing there was no point arguing with him, Rainbow quietly began following him. As they left, someone peered at them from behind the shrine. It was Illusi, and he was glaring at them angrily. "Yes... You certainly do have problems.... Dark One..."

To be continued...