GeneX - Knuckles the Echidna
Chapter 47 - Pit of Despair
Stage 25 - Pit of Despair
Boss 25 - The Darkseeker

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:
Knuckles witnessed the end of Tikal's story. Howler attempted to fuse with Shadow Chaos using the Master Emerald. Radia used the Chaos Crystal to stop his Chaos Relics, but when Tikal moved to stop him, he mortally wounded her with his sword! Radia trapped him in stone with the Chaos Cards, and she and Athair hid the relics once more.
In the present, it was soon revealed to all that the Darkseeker was in fact Howler, freed from his stone prison, and kept alive for centuries through the magic of the Chaos Crown! His efforts to obtain the Chaos Emeralds soon put Cheese in danger, and Shadow Chaos appeared to defend the Chao! This was what Howler was waiting for, and he set about using the Master Emerald AND the Chaos Crystal to begin a stronger fusion with Shadow Chaos! His magic ceased supporting Demon Island, and it fell into a great maelstrom in the ocean, breaking into large pieces in the whirlpool!
Now, on to the next chapter!


With everyone scattered across the pieces of the island, the situation was looking quite dire. Sonic, Amy and Kosmo quickly realized that they were probably the closest people to Howler, having found themselves still inside the crumbling remnants of Despair Castle. "We've gotta stop this guy... Chaos Emeralds or no Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic realized. Kosmo nodded. "It may be difficult to leave this... 'island' otherwise." he sighed, looking at the stormy weather through a hole in the wall. Some coughing was heard nearby, and they turned to see Zipp stumbling into the room, his wings heavy with water. "If you need a volunteer to put a bullet between that guy's eyes... I'm in..." he wheezed. Metal Sonic stepped in behind him. "{Emergency... Assessing priorities... Rescue Dr. Eggman: Priority #1.}" he concluded. Sonic looked at him standing there with his blank, robotic stare, and nodded slowly. "Okaaaay... In the absence of Tails and Knuckles, I say welcome aboard." he said, smiling awkwardly. Amy groaned. "Can we really trust... ANY of these guys?" she whined, glancing at Kosmo as well. Zipp flitted into the air and buzzed right in her face. "Get in the way of my payback against that Darkseeking creep and I'll give you something to distrust!!" he growled. Metal Sonic buzzed with alarm, pointing to the crumbled hall ahead! Shadows resembling agents of Despair were climbing out of the rubble, their eyes glowing red! Zipp backed away from Amy and reached for his holster. "Ugh... Demons!" he groaned. "...Demons??" Kosmo muttered curiously. The creatures from the dark cavern were now emerging across the rest of the island!

The demons resembling Despair agents were not much of a treat to Sonic and Kosmo, but their group faced more demonic demons as they moved along, including giant lizards and rabid hellhounds. Zipp's bullets had little effect on the larger demons, but Amy's hammer seemed to bother them a bit more. Metal Sonic plowed through foes with an electrical tackle, and Sonic ran circles around the lizards, making them dizzy. Kosmo noticed some Chaos Spears flying up ahead, and hurried to help out whoever was getting swarmed. "Having problems, Shadow?" he asked while considering what to morph into. "I'm NOT Son-- wait, Shadow?? That's different..." an unexpected voice replied from the center of the swarm of demons. Sonic sped over to where Kosmo was and stretched his legs quickly. "Hang on, dude! We'll get ya outta this!" he said. The voice from inside the swarm started to protest. "Is that Sonic?? No! I REFUSE to be rescued by SON--" Sonic ignored him and leapt into the air, bonking demon heads one by one with his homing attack while Kosmo tossed aside any that neared him using the form and trunk of an elephant. "--IC!! ...Curse you, you blue boy scout! How dare you humiliate me!!" shouted Spiny, the porcupine who was being menaced by the demons. Amy, Zipp and Metal Sonic quickly caught up with them, and Amy frowned on seeing Spiny. "You again... Here with Eggman, no doubt." she grumbled. Spiny fixed up his spines and looked away from her. "No, I'm here for Bucky at the moment... And as soon as he's safe, I'm done with him and ALL of you!" he snorted. Zipp smirked at him. "Awww, you won't send us a Christmas card? I'm hurt, nine!" he teased. "Stuff it, four!!" Spiny snapped. Kosmo morphed back to normal and tugged Zipp along. "He deserves his choice. At least he's not here to get in our way." he pointed out. As they started to leave him, Spiny shouted after them. "I was NEVER with Despair! Get those facts straight! Oh, and if you see a treacherous frog named Corky, shoot him for me, would ya, Zipp!!" he yelled. "Sure, whatever!" Zipp called back.

Continuing their journey through the remnants of Despair Castle, the group passed by a broken down passage where it seemed some Egg Fighters had been trapped in a cave-in. Sonic and Amy laughed when they noticed it. "Serves Eggman right! You'd think his robots would be able to blast through that rubble." Sonic chuckled. Metal Sonic stepped forward and scanned the debris. "...Ummm... Metal? You're not gonna...?" Amy mumbled. "{Allies trapped. Checking structural integrity... Proceeding to assist!}" Metal Sonic curled into a ball and spun rapidly, his metal spines becoming as razors! He quickly bore through the debris, freeing the Egg Fighters! "Greeeat... What a hero..." Zipp grumbled. "Well... maybe they'll be on our side?" Kosmo surmised. However, the robots immediately began chasing Sonic around, who initially ran in circles from them out of sheer bemusement. "Metal, can't you get your friends to behave like you!?" he yelled. Metal Sonic tilted his head and then shrugged, giving Sonic his answer. "Typical Eggman intelligence..." Amy sighed, taking her hammer and bashing the first robot chasing Sonic, prompting everyone but Metal Sonic to join in the massacre. Metal Sonic smacked his head in frustration, some lines of code inside him seeming to realize that he'd wasted everyone's time. Zipp patted his metal back almost comfortingly before shooting the last Egg Fighter. "There, there, pal... I got a brother who can't get over dumb programming, too. Gargoyle. Perhaps you met him? Maybe you don't remember because your head's been tinkered with." he said. Sonic groaned and started ahead without another word, so everyone else followed him. "If we're going to work together, we should try to bond a little! Isn't that what you goody-goods do!?" Zipp shouted.

Eggman's robots weren't the only hapless enemies in the castle. Further ahead, the group came across a number of tied-up dogs, cats and bats in despair uniforms. They also found the ones that had tied them up: Chet the cheetah, Mia the cat, Officer Razor the porcupine and his little brother, Tommy. "Great, it's Sonic!" Razor sighed. "We're saved!" Mia cheered admiringly. "...You know, I took out most of these goons..." Chet grumbled. "We know!!" one of the dogs groaned. Kosmo glanced at Tommy curiously. "You brought the kid here??" he asked. "Hey..." Tommy muttered as though offended. Upon noticing the company Sonic was keeping, Razor scratched his head a little. "I guess you need to accept any help you can get right now, huh...? Even if it's from...shady folks." he said, glancing from Kosmo to Metal Sonic. "Yeah, that's pretty much it." Amy nodded. Mia kicked at one of the uniformed cats lightly. "We've been debating what to do about these fellas... We can't very well cart 'em off to jail in this situation, and we can't leave 'em here to drown..." she said. Kosmo nodded. "When this came up with robots, we just tore them apart..." he said darkly, making the Despair agents turn pale. Zipp nodded fiendishly. "I'm game for that..." he chuckled. Sonic growled a little and knelt down beside the apparent leader of the Despair group, a bat with some fancy medals on his uniform. "Hey... Can we count on you guys to get out of our way if we untie you?" he asked. The bat glanced around awkwardly. "...Boys!? What say you?" he cried. The Despair agents all talked at once, seeming to be in agreement. "We've no desire to drown... Or be torn apart." the bat said. Chet glared at them. "Can we really trust you guys? I've BEEN in your group..." he trailed off. "Then you know we're not all bad..." a feline replied to him. Razor smiled wryly and knelt down to begin untying the captives. "Give 'em a chance... After all... I once gave a chance to a certain shifty cheetah, and I haven't regretted it yet..." he winked. Mia looked at Zipp, Kosmo and Metal Sonic. "Yeah... but does the same apply to THEM?" she wondered. Tommy nodded. "I think so, yes." he smiled. Kosmo smiled a little. "...I like this kid." he said.

Together with Razor's group, they started to near Howler's throne room again. As they approached, a projection of Howler appeared before him, constructed of dark magic. "I knew you would return... Your kind doesn't know when to quit." he sneered. "Pray, what kind is that?" Razor asked. Howler chuckled. "You know what you call yourselves. Heroes." he said with a scowl. Kosmo shook his head. "I never called myself a hero." he remarked. "There's a better term for you anyway... Meddlers. Call it cliché, but it's what you really do. No one asked you to interfere. The only reward you will receive for your supposed 'noble' actions... is a world of pain!" he snarled. Sonic put his hands on his hips defiantly. "Excuse me? World of pain? I think that delivery is addressed to you! You are the one who meddled in people's lives uninvited!" he snapped. The Darkseeker snickered. "I offered a home and a family to the poor wretches who sorely needed it... A common enemy to lost souls raging at a society that had no patience for their troubles... Isn't that right, Kosmo? And Chet?" he grinned. Chet stepped back a bit, feeling a tinge of shame, but Kosmo stood firm. "You preyed on the insecurities of the meek and hurt... You deceived them with the intent of DESTROYING them!!" he shouted. "...Are you jealous?" Howler smirked, "Your plot was nowhere near as clever." he taunted. Kosmo gritted his teeth. "I... was as hurt and messed up as the minions you deceived! My own creator locked me away out of fear! But... being stopped by those foxes gave me clarity. The insane destruction you crave...that I once craved... not even a god should have that right! All beings should have the right to their existence!!" he declared. Sonic smiled at him, and Amy stared in surprise. "I...may have misjudged him...a little..." she admitted. "Is it wrong that I feel a bit attracted to him right now?" Mia added. Sonic gagged at that. "Okaaay, speeches are over. Can we talk to you face-to-face, Howler?" he asked. The Howler-hologram started to fade, but howled one last thing. "My name... is DARKSEEKER!!!"

Razor turned to his brother. "Tommy, stay back here with Mia!" he said sternly. "Ohhhh..." he whined. Mia shuddered. "You're braver than me, kid. I don't wanna go in there." she told him. Tommy nodded. "All right... I'll stay and protect you!" he said, while Mia gave Razor a sly wink. The rest of them proceeded into what was left of Howler's throne room. He was hovering above his throne, and a smoky mass vaguely resembling Shadow Chaos was swirling above him. The Master Emerald and the Chaos Crystal were glowing beside his throne, and the GXterminate device was still in place as well, with Bucky strapped into it. "I may need more time to complete the transformation... But I can still easily dispose of any pests that attempt to stop me!" Howler growled. Bucky glanced at the machine he was strapped to. "He still intends to activate this thing!" he shouted, motioning to a purple Chaos Emerald that had been inserted into it! Sonic took a running stance. "Don't worry... He won't get the chance!" he said. Howler chuckled. "Even had you brought the other emeralds or the relics, I would merely have to ask the controllers to stop them. I hold control over all the power now. And I have had centuries to hone my own dark magic! You are fools to challenge me!" he snarled. "Is he really doing this talk with ME?" Kosmo said cockily. Razor and Zipp prepped their guns and joined Sonic and Kosmo. "You guys focus on him. We'll disable that weapon!" Razor said. "We'll save ol' lab rat and nab the emerald to boot!" Zipp grinned. "I've told you not to call me that!!" Bucky yelled. Amy, Chet and Metal Sonic stepped forward as well, but Howler wasn't interested in listening to any more threats or trash talk. He pulled his hood over his face, leaving only his glowing eyes visible. "Then you all can die here... and be spared the terror of seeing my final form!" he snarled, raising his hand and flicking his fingers to send a shockwave of darkness through the room, which tossed everyone into the air! Sonic was quick to regain his footing, while Kosmo morphed bat wings onto his back and started to fly. The battle was on!

The Darkseeker hurled massive arcs of black lightning at Sonic and Kosmo, which tore through large portions of the room, forcing the others to back off! Metal Sonic was struck by this lightning early on, and seemed to lose a great deal of power from it. Sonic was fast, but he needed an opening to strike the Darkseeker. Kosmo tried to fly above the lightning, which made Howler alter his focus and blast at him with his other hand! Realizing he couldn't dodge, Kosmo morphed into an electric eel, still bearing tiny wings as well, and tried to absorb the lightning. However, this was dark lightning, possessing different properties, and his shrieks of pain quickly reached Sonic's ears. "Enough goofing around...! Let's see how you like a hedgehog to the face!" he growled, leaping at the Darkseeker! He ceased his lightning attacks, and suddenly covered his body in black spikes, taking Sonic by surprise! "Yeow!! You hedgehog wannabe!!" Sonic yelped, hopping away from him while holding his foot. Kosmo was standing nearby, panting and nursing his wounds as well. So, the Darkseeker decided to add further injury. He lowered himself from his floating position and whipped his tails at Sonic, tapping into the power of the tailband he'd stolen from Tails to send the hedgehog flying! "Whooooooooa!!!" he wailed, while Amy dove to catch him! "Oooof!! S-sonic... Are you alright...?" she gasped, a bit crushed under him. He groaned and rolled off of her. "This guy sure is tough..." he grumbled. During this distraction, while the lightning had ceased, Razor and Zipp saw their chance to approach the GXterminate machine. However, the Darkseeker wasn't that easily distracted. He smacked Kosmo aside with his tails as well, and then snarled loudly at the gun-toting pair. "Uhhh... Shoot him!!" Zipp yelped, firing pointlessly at the immortal Howler. With the Chaos Crown on his head, he could not be killed. "So... You die first, then." he growled. Zipp, disagreeing with that idea, buzzed behind Razor quickly, while the cop just kept shooting. Howler created a dark spike in the palm of his hand, which he started to extend toward Razor! "NOOOOO!!!" Before Razor could be struck, Chet had sped between him and the Darkseeker, but this would cost him everything. The dark spike pierced him right through the red star on the chest of his uniform, and poked through his back! Razor watched in despair as his eyes started to fade along with the dark spike. He caught the young cheetah in his arms, and held him as he was dying. "R-raze... Tell Katie... I-I'm sorry...." Chet panted as his life left him.

Sonic and Kosmo returned to their feet, seeing what the Darkseeker, what Howler had done. "I... have had... ENOUGH!!!" Sonic shouted. Kosmo looked on at the pain Razor was clearly feeling, tears falling over his murdered friend. A massive pang of guilt struck him as he realized he nearly caused pain far worse once, and now he never wanted to witness such pain again. "...You're going down, Darkseeker!" he said. Howler stepped over to the GXterminate machine, looking for the button. "You insolent pests are slowing down my transformation! I will be a god, and no being will stop me! BECAUSE ALL BEINGS WILL DIE!!" he roared, pressing the switch! The emerald, the fake wand, and Bucky all started to glow brightly, and waves of evil energy started to blast throughout the world, targeting all life! It was working slowly, and would give all creatures a painful death. Colonel Gunner clasped his chest from his seat aboard the GUN Assault Carrier, cursing the furry freaks that had clearly gotten the last laugh. Katie started to wheeze from her hospital bed, panicking as she had no clue what was happening to her. Professor Pickle collapsed by the shore of Station Square, and everyone on Demon Island was feeling the effects as well. Everyone, that is, except the robots. As Sonic, Razor, Amy, Zipp and Kosmo were falling down, slowly choking to death, Metal Sonic remained upright. However, he was still less than energetic from being blasted earlier. Still, Kosmo noticed how he wasn't collapsing. "...M-machines... Yes..." he panted, glowing and transforming with all the strength he had left! He took the form of Metal Sonic, and Howler fired lightning right at him as he noticed this, but Kosmo sped out of the way and charged at the GXterminate machine! "You can attack all humans and animals... But a morph is neither! A morph is everything and nothing!! I'm whatever I need to be! And right now... I need to stop you!" he shouted, grabbing for the false wand on the machine and wresting it free, turning it upside down in the machine! This messed up the flow of its magic and its circuitry, and caused it to start imploding! Bucky, deciding he had nothing left to lose, added his own lightning to the mix, causing the entire machine to explode!

Part of Shadow Chaos flowed into Howler, and his eyes started to glow orange rather than red. "...Very well. I will soon be a god, anyway. And you are all weak now." he grinned. Most of them started panting, trying to regain their breath, but Howler wouldn't allow them to recover. He raised his hand, and the wall behind him crumbled against the might of a wave from the ocean! "I gain new powers as the fusion takes hold! Let me test them...on you!" He then pointed out at the people before him, and a wave of black water crashed into the throne room, carrying all of them away in its terrible force! When it subsided, his enemies had been banished, but the Chaos Emerald remained. "...It won't be long, now... The world is at long last... MINE!"

To be continued...