GeneX - Knuckles the Echidna
Chapter 16 - Attack of the Meta-Hydra
Minor Boss 6 - Infin the Weasel
Boss 10 - Meta-Hydra

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:
After telling Rainbow that he believed searching for her sister was a bad idea, Rainbow abandoned Punchy, who immediately decided he had to go find her! However, he found Amy instead, and they spotted the Covenant of Despair heading for a sunken palace! Rainbow's sister, Violet was there, and Punchy struck a deal with her to enlist her help finding Rainbow. In exchange, he had to seek out the key to the deepest chamber of the ruins. During the search, he and Amy found Charmy searching for information and Omega looking to pick fights with Eggman's robots. When they found Guard the Gargoyle, he refused to let them out of his sight. The trio then found Freeze, who believed them to be working for Eggman, since Punchy and Amy arrived in one of his vehicles. Ultimately, the group drew the attention of Chaos Guardians, which were patrolling the palace! After Dark Punchy stunned them, Charmy reported that he knew where the key might be, and started to lead them there!
Now, on to the next chapter!


Punchy, Amy and Guard were swimming through a flooded corridor of the palace, led by Charmy. He pointed out a door and started to push, but apparently the small bee was too weak. Punchy and Guard swam over and started to shove the door as Amy watched nervously, seeming to realize something the others didn't. As soon as the door was open, the water started rushing in to the next room, pulling the group in with it! They were flung to the ground roughly, but at least they had fresh air, for the moment. "Well, it's great that this room isn't flooded, but now it's floodING!!" Amy shouted. Punchy and Guard tried to approach the door to close it again, but the water was rushing out too fast, and it was no use! "Well, now what??" Punchy grumbled. Just then, a bright light shone from across the room! "Stiffiam!" With the casting of this spell, the water suddenly stopped moving into the room! The group turned and stared, seeing Fred the fennec holding his wand. "Well... Lucky I was here." he said. Punchy raised an eyebrow. "Yeah... What ARE you doing here??" he wondered. Fred looked around. "We thought we saw a fennec among the agents invading this palace. Turns out it wasn't Gemini, but now I have to locate my companions again. Don't worry, I think I have it covered this time." he said. Guard looked at him a bit suspiciously. "Grrr... Would this have anything to do with what happened at the jungle?" he grunted. Fred shrugged. "Possibly... Well, I bet you're looking for the key. Head that way, before the spell wears off." Fred suggested before using his magic to warp away. "...I was gonna say that." Charmy muttered.

The key, an odd looking ancient relic which appeared to be a fragment of something, was sitting on a stone table. It was surrounded by Orbinauts, red, orb-shaped robots with spike balls orbiting around them. These robots had apparently come with Freeze, and were guarding the key until the gizoid could find his way to them. "Those bots are pretty well protected by those spikes. Should I try Chaos Avalanche?" Punchy wondered. "Grrrr! You fool! You'll make the whole palace collapse! Grrr... I will use my scythe's energy blasts." Guard suggested. Charmy shook his head. "Are you kidding? It'll just bounce off those spikes! Let me grab the key! Lemme do it! Me me me!!" he shouted, only for Punchy to place a hand over his mouth to muffle him. "Quiet, we're thinking!" he grumbled. Suddenly, the three of them heard several explosions, and glanced to see Amy bashing the robots with her hammer, which knocked the spikes right into the main robots without trouble! She quickly took out the Orbinauts, and then picked up the key! "If you guys are through talking, can we go find the door this goes to?" she sighed. Charmy struggled away from Punchy and raised his hand. "I know the way!!!" he said excitedly.

To reach the deepest chamber Violet had spoken of, they had to dive down once again. It wasn't easy, because geysers kept shooting off along the way, threatening to send them all the way back to the highest floor! Along the way, they found Omega floating towards the bottom. "It is you again... Sensors indicate you possess the key. I shall accompany you to the doorway. Eggman's robots appear to be seeking access to it as well." he said, joining them as they reached the lowest levels of the palace. The thick seaweed immediately tangled Omega, but the robot thrashed his powerful arms and tore it to shreds. "Annoying aquatic plant forms..." he said. The group hurriedly pushed open the next door, once again being dragged in by the rushing water leading to the air-filled hallway. They had no way to stop the rushing water, so they'd have to move on quickly. "Whew, I was about to suffocate!" Charmy panted. "The door should be up ahead! Grrr... Let's go!" Guard grunted, hurrying ahead. "How do you know that??" Amy muttered. Punchy shrugged. "Who cares? Let's just move towards the air..." he sighed. Omega watched them for a moment before he started to follow. "Pathetic air-breathers..." he muttered.

They found the doorway at the end of the hall. Violet and Daisy were waiting for them there. "Huh? How'd you get in here without flooding the chamber!?" Punchy stammered. They pointed to a hole in the ceiling. "We found a better way in. If only there were holes leading past the door." Daisy said. Violet stepped over to Amy and snatched the key from her. "Thank you!" she said. "Hey!!" Amy yelled. Punchy shrugged. "Never mind! Let's leave the key with the skunk now and go find Rainbow!" he suggested. Violet shook her head, walking to a strange sort of puzzle on the wall that the key apparently would fit into. "My mission isn't finished yet. I'm afraid I can't just run off..." she said. Suddenly, Infin the weasel dropped through the hole in the ceiling! "Hey, youse mugs! Why ain't that door open!?" he growled. "We're on it, Infin!" Daisy reported. "Infin, huh? You must be the boss. Listen, you! I'm takin' Violet away from you creeps!" Punchy shouted. Violet glanced back at Punchy. "Excuse me?!" she snapped. "Mind your own business, cucumber!" Daisy added. Infin glared at them. "GET THE GATE OPEN!! I'll handle this!" he yelled, "She doesn't wanna go wit you, punk. Buzz off!" he sneered. Punchy raised his fists. "Too bad. She's getting my friend mixed up in this nonsense!" he said. Infin reached for a gun holstered in the jacket of his suit. "So, that's that, eh? Well we can't have you botherin' our agents! I'll have ta rub ya out!" he shouted, firing an electric blast from his special gun at the floor, which was wet from the water that was flooding in from the entrance! "Look out!" Amy shouted as everyone jumped away, the electric bolt spreading through much of the water on the ground! Guard was forced to flap his wings and pull Amy off the floor to protect her from getting fried, while Punchy grabbed on to the wall and started to climb! The water hadn't quite reached the back of the chamber yet, so Violet and Daisy were safe, but Omega got quite a jolt! "Power overload! You will regret that!" Suddenly, Omega used the surge of electricity to power his jetpack, propelling himself towards Infin at high speed! He tackled the weasel, knocking him into the back wall hard! "Yaaaah!! My metal foot!!" Infin grunted, grasping his foot in pain!

Suddenly, the puzzle on the wall flipped and twisted, revealing a hieroglyph of an ancient echidna! The large doors beside it slid open, and Violet and Daisy exchanged a hi-five. Punchy dropped from the wall and glanced at them. "Huh? Oh, the door's open... Come on, Violet! Your mission's done!" he said. "So is yours, Dark One!" The voice of Illusi the shrew drew Punchy and Amy's attention. "This is getting out of hand, isn't it? ...Maybe I should've brought Sonic..." Amy sighed. As Infin was recovering from his injury and standing up, Anubis the jackal jumped down from the hole in the ceiling as well, proving Amy right. "Is there a problem, Mitch?" Anubis asked. The weasel stomped his metallic foot angrily. "CALL ME INFIN!!" he yelled. Punchy was glancing over at Anubis, but Illusi got his attention again as he was rushing across the wet floor. "Dark One! Stay where you are!" he shouted. This got Anubis's attention as well. "You! In the cape! You are holding an item of interest to us. Hand it over at once!" Anubis shouted. At this moment, Violet and Daisy were rushing into the chamber that had just opened, pursued by Guard and followed by Charmy. Illusi, seeing Anubis, had second thoughts about confronting Punchy now. "Um... I'll be right back, Dark One..." he said, vanishing in a puff of smoke. Punchy, noticing that everyone was getting away, screamed in frustration. "Wait!! All of you!!! ARRRRRGH!!!" Amy then smacked him with her hammer. "Thanks, I needed that..." he grumbled. "Come on! We're falling behind OMEGA!!" she shouted, noting that Omega, Infin and Anubis had decided to proceed into the next room without them as well. "Right! We'll see about this! ...At least Illusi got chased off..." Punchy said as they ran to catch up.

The next room was very similar to the rooms that the Chaos Gauntlets, Cards, and tailbands had been found in, with a pedestal in the center and a back wall covered in hieroglyphics. However, this room's back wall had been blown open by GUN's forces, led by Sergeant Drol! Guard was meeting up with him at the hole in the wall, while Punchy and Amy ran to catch up with Violet at the pedestal, which was atop a small shrine with steps leading up. "All right, you! Get back here!!" Punchy shouted. Violet, Daisy and Infin turned and glared at Punchy. "You don't know when to quit!" Daisy said. "Ugh... You are such a stubborn..." Violet started to say, only to be interrupted by Amy. "I've held my tongue enough! Now you creeps are gonna step aside and let us walk away with that shiny thing!" she yelled, pointing at the object on the pedestal. It appeared to be a gold cape, with silver trim. Punchy groaned. "Cut it out, pinky. It's hard enough getting through to Rainbow's sister." he said. Suddenly, Razor the Porcupine stomped into the room, pointing his gun around. "FREEZE!!" he shouted. "Aaaand now the cop's in here..." Infin sighed. Charmy buzzed over to Punchy and Amy, looking a bit nervous. "Is this gonna be a warzone like Central City? 'Cuz I went on this mission to get away from that!" he said. Drol shouted up at everyone on the shrine. "Knaves!! You thought you could outwit Sgt. Drol, did you!?" he yelled, making Infin jump. "Cripes, why'd Anubis have ta go lookin' for that shrew!?" he stammered. "Huh? But I thought he came in here!" Amy said in confusion. "Surrender yourselves, and turn over the Chaos Wing, immediately!" Drol warned. Punchy looked at the cape awkwardly. "How is that a wing?" he wondered. Agent 32, who was also with Drol, pointed up at Punchy frantically. "Boss! That's GeneX Experiment 1 up there, too!" he yelled. Guard nodded. "Grrrr!! I have been tailing him, sir! He aided Despair in finding the key to this chamber!" he said. "Tattler!!" Punchy yelled. "Do not be concerned. I have come prepared for such ruffians." Drol said. A hulking machine was waiting in the shadows from inside the hole in the wall, but before it could emerge, Freeze the Gizoid dashed into the chamber, firing an icy bolt that exploded near the Despair members! They all took cover, surprised by the sudden attack. "D'ooohh, now what!?" Infin growled. Freeze leapt up to the pedestal and grabbed the Chaos Wing before anyone could react! "I am E-6X. Also known as Freeze..." he stated, "And if you wish to acquire this object, you will have to bargain with Dr. Eggman!" Omega, who had been waiting at the foot of the shrine, started to fire missiles at Freeze! "Halt! Freeze, you will not get away! I will destroy you and prove that I am the ultimate robot!" he shouted. However, Freeze started fleeing back into the palace quickly, evading the missiles! "Hold! Robot!! You will turn that over to me at once or be destroyed!" Drol shouted pathetically as Freeze escaped, pursued by Omega. Drol growled angrily when he realized he'd lost another precious relic. "Meta-Hydra!! Get them! And give a special thrashing to that green knave who keeps interfering with my operations!" he commanded.

Punchy could see several robotic heads stirring in the shadows, and he got a bad feeling. "Violet, look out!" he shouted, shoving her out of the way as an intense jet of flames blew at them! A mechanical monstrosity stomped out of the hole in the wall, a mech with seven snake-like heads, each equipped with a different weapon! Amy gulped. "Well... Been nice knowin' ya, greenie. Maybe I should go..." she muttered. Suddenly, Punchy was tackled to the bottom of the steps of the shrine by a winged figure, who soared past the Hydra to attack him! "Prepare yourself, Punchy the Echidna!!" the winged figure said with a distorted voice as Punchy rushed back to his feet! It was the Deathbringer! "I will end you!!" the hooded being shouted. Drol looked a bit surprised, but didn't let this shake him. "Never mind... whoever that is! Meta-Hydra! Don't let them escape!" he yelled. The Meta-Hydra's heads started spouting fire, ice, lasers, and thunder, blocking Amy, Charmy, and the Covenant of Despair as they tried to find a way out. "All right... For now, we better team up..." Violet suggested. Charmy nodded. "Anything you say! I'll take the guy with the sunglasses!" he grinned. "No... It'll take all of us to stop that bot!" said Daisy, drawing a katana. Meanwhile, Punchy was unable to help the others, because the Deathbringer had him on the run, hurling powerful energy blasts his way that, if they should connect, might end his life quite abruptly. "Gotta fight back... Chaos Avalanche!" he shouted from cover behind the shrine. He picked up some rubble left over from GUN blowing up the back wall, and hurled it at the Deathbringer, only to see those chunks destroyed by some well placed energy blasts! Punchy gulped, seeing just what those attacks could do. "Anyone wanna trade me??" he asked. Three of the Hydra's heads were moving in close, trying to snap at Daisy and Infin while they struck back with sword strikes and bullets, respectively. Amy hopped on one of those heads' necks and started to run along it, her hammer readied. "I better find a weak spot..." she murmured. As she went, the other heads tried to hit her with flames and lasers, but Charmy flew up to tackle them and mess up their shots while Violet chucked some dark energy balls at them. Drol glanced at Guard, and he flew up to try and stop Amy, only to get a hammer to the face! "Grrrraaaaagh!! How dare you!!" he growled. Amy soon landed on the Meta-Hydra's back, and proceeded to slam it with her hammer hard! "Let's see how your hardware likes this!!" she yelled.

With things seeming to go well with the Hydra, Violet glanced at Punchy and the Deathbringer. The Deathbringer seemed about to strike Punchy with an energy blast, when suddenly a dark energy ball broke its concentration. "You dare interfere?" the Deathbringer growled, glaring at Violet. During all of this, Razor was sitting by the door, standing guard while GUN handled the situation. As he yawned, a sudden tremor stirred him back to his feet. "Whoa!? What was that!?" he gasped. Drol looked around. "Our blasting to get in here may have left the palace unstable... And this violent battle hasn't helped." he said as the Meta-Hydra collapsed in a heap! "Scram!! This place could come down any moment!" Infin shouted. Drol nodded. "We'll have to retreat! It's too dangerous to remain here!" he said. "Not to mention all that's left is Guard." Agent 32 muttered. Drol glanced at Guard. "Gargoyle! Follow the Covenant of Despair! Find their headquarters!" he ordered. Guard nodded and took off as Infin and Daisy were rushing out of the room, the palace starting to shake even more. Violet, however, stopped to observe Punchy, who was still locked in combat with the Deathbringer. They were fighting hand-to-hand now, but they still seemed evenly matched. "I will bury you in this palace!!" the Deathbringer sneered. "Grrraaa!!! You're making me real mad!!" Punchy yelled. "Run for your lives!! The whole place is gunna fall down!!" Charmy shouted in a panic, flying past them out the door. Violet looked at Punchy urgently. "Leave him! Punchy, we have to go!" she said. Amy nodded as she caught up with them. "Umm... What the creepy girl said!" she panted. Just then, Anubis entered the room. "Violet!! Come, we must leave this place." he said. "Yeah... I know..." Violet replied. Amy pointed at Anubis furiously. "Hey!! You! Now I gotcha! I owe you a beating for threatening Sonic!!" she shouted. Anubis crossed his arms. "Hmph... Sonic is no more. I buried him at Dr. Eggman's base." he said coldly. "Wh... What!?!?" Amy gasped as Anubis turned to leave, "No way!! Sonic is OK!! I'm going to find him right now!!" she cried, rushing off in a hurry. With everyone else pretty much having fled the chamber, which was beginning to collapse, Violet realized she had to act. "Yaaaaaah!! Enough!!!" Punchy shouted, struggling with the Deathbringer. "I agree. It's time to go!!" Violet said, grabbing Punchy around the arms and flinging a few dark energy balls at the Deathbringer as she dragged the stubborn echidna away! As they arrived in the rapidly flooding hall, Punchy glared at her. "I had everything under..." before he could finish speaking, a ball of pinkish light appeared out of nowhere and blinded him! "...control...??"

Punchy found himself in an ancient-looking city. "Violet? I appreciate getting me out of the palace, but where am I...?" he muttered, "...That WAS you, right?" he stammered, looking around. The city appeared in ruins, but there were still signs of life. He saw a few echidnas gathered up ahead, and they seemed to be in an uproar over something. As he approached the crowd, he saw the source of the commotion. Shadow Chaos was there! Tikal was there as well, carrying the Master Emerald, and she was accompanied by Radia and Athair. "Ch-chaos!?" Tikal gasped upon seeing the shadowy creature. Shadow Chaos glared around at the nearby echidnas, who were in a panic. "Aaaaugh! That thing is back!! It's come to destroy us!!" the surviving echidnas were shouting. Athair also looked stunned. "My word! What should we do??" he wondered. Radia frowned. "It's a creature of shadows! Everyone, stay back!" she warned. "Chaos... Please, calm yourself!" Tikal pleaded. This made Shadow Chaos glance at her with a look of confusion. "Quickly, we should get out of here!! It might attack again any moment!" the echidnas shouted, ready to flee the scene. However, a new voice shouted from a ledge of the city's central pyramid. "Hold it right there, shadow creature!" Looking, the people could see a breed of gray wolf, with red eyes and red stripes. He had a light gray muzzle, brown gloves, sandals and gold ankle braces, as well as a gold collar. His most interesting feature was a pair of twin tails, which were gray and ended in red. He leapt down to Shadow Chaos and shouted "Chaos Blast!" The chaotic explosion that resulted seemed enough to send Shadow Chaos fleeing, and the echidnas surrounded the stranger with reverent awe. "The creature fled! He saved us!" they gasped. "I saw what needed to be done, and I did it. Resume rebuilding your homes." the stranger said gruffly. Tikal stared at him in surprise as the villagers left. "You used chaos power... Just who are you?" she asked. The stranger bowed slightly. "They call me Howler. I'm a traveler..." he said. "We could sure use your help in case that creature comes back, Mr. Howler." Athair said. Howler glanced in the direction Shadow Chaos fled. "It will... We will need greater power to be rid of it for good." he said. "Just what sort of power do you think would do it?" Radia wondered. Howler looked back at them. "The ancient power of the Chaos Relics!" he declared. Tikal looked out where Shadow Chaos had gone a bit sadly. "Chaos......" she sighed.

Punchy awoke at the Troblusk City docks, babbling. "Howler? Echidnas?? Where'd all those people I was spying on go??" he muttered until he saw Violet standing over him. "Um... Are you okay?" she asked. Punchy's eyes darted back and forth. "Yeah, sure. Seasick dream." he said. Violet sighed. "I just drug you all the way back here. I'm sure gonna hear it when I get back..." she said. Punchy sighed. "Why are you working with those sickos?" he asked, slowly standing up. "It's the humans that are the sickos!" Violet snapped, "Let's agree to disagree for now... Might as well look for Rainbow..." she sighed. Punchy glanced at the EggSub in the water beside them. "Did we ride here alone?" he asked. "You kidding? We're lucky anyone waited for us..." Violet grumbled as she and Punchy set out to find Rainbow together.


As the ancient palace sunk deeper to the seafloor, Illusi was still hanging around one of the rooms that still had air. "Blast! It seems that the Dark One is gone again! You'd think I'd be able to keep up with him, knowing his whereabouts at all times..." he sighed. Suddenly, he spun around, finding the Deathbringer behind him! "You... You are referring to the echidna with the evil presence within..." it asked. Illusi looked at the being awkwardly. "Um... Doom...sayer...?" he mumbled. The Deathbringer stepped forward and extended its hand. "Come with me... I believe we have a common enemy...."

To be continued...