GeneX - Knuckles the Echidna
Chapter 1 - Escape From Angel Island!
Stage 1 - Tech Tunnels
Boss 1 - Conan

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.

For more info on GeneX, see 2BIT's other stories: GeneX - Tails the Fox, GeneX - A New Beginning, GeneX - Soleanna Struggle, and GeneX Generations.

"Angel Island.... This is my home. Floating high above the troubles of the world below... This island is both a haven, and a prison. But I can not leave. I have a duty, one which has consumed my entire life. It is my mission to guard the Master Emerald!"


The universe of GeneX Prime. Similar to many dimensions, but set apart by the appearance of animals with intelligence comparable to humans. These "furries" have long lived in relative peace with the humans, but not absolute peace. Fear, mistrust, and suspicion between the two groups have many times come to blows, but rarely on a large scale. The thing about rarities, though, is that they sometimes happen. Hatred and greed eventually reach a boiling point, and those with dark intentions may use that to set horrible events in motion. And this time, the event is war...

It was a rainy night. A light rain, but still enough to make Knuckles the Echidna wish there was a roof over his head. If not for the rain, sleeping would be easy. "It's quiet tonight..." Knuckles thought as he sat at the top step of the Master Emerald shrine. "...too quiet." Indeed, there was normally more to hear on Angel Island at night. This night, even the crickets were silent. It was as though they were anticipating something, and keeping quiet to avoid detection. Knuckles attempted to shrug this off. "I'm reading too much into it. It's just a quiet night." Try as he might, Knuckles could not shake the foreboding feeling he was having. As he sat there, tensely listening for anything unusual, the rain began to intensify, and the island grew darker. "Huh? The rain sure got worse fast..." Knuckles thought, standing up. He glanced around at his surroundings. "I've got a weird feeling... H-hey! What's that!?" In the distance, something was nearing Angel Island. It was tough to see any details in the dark, but it appeared to be... another island! "What!? Where did THAT come from!?" As Knuckles wondered about what he was seeing, an icy wind blew in front of him, forming a cyclone of hail! As he backed away from it, a pair of glimmering golden eyes peered through the hail! In a moment, the hail vanished as suddenly as it appeared, and in its place stood a fearful figure wearing a black robe and hood. It had a pair of large spikes on its back, and was wearing blood-red shoes. Knuckles recognized him immediately. "I've seen you... That night, on Shadow Arcangel..." Knuckles recalled looking down from a shattered window on the ship, seeing this figure talking to Tails just before he became Super Tails, but he did not know who it was. "Who are you, anyway?" he asked. The figure responded in his raspy voice. "I am known only as the Doomsayer!" Lightning struck behind the Doomsayer as he spoke his name! Knuckles backed away a step as the Doomsayer continued. "Listen well! The world is on the path to apocalypse." Knuckles stared at him questioningly. "What do you mean!?" he asked. The Doomsayer ignored his question. "They are coming... You have little time. In fact, it may already be too late..." he said. Knuckles looked around. "What? Who's coming!? Is this about the Master Emerald!?" he asked. Once more, lightning struck behind the Doomsayer! "Silence! The time for questions has passed!" he growled. Knuckles didn't like his tone. "Hey, if you know something I need to know, speak up right now! Or else..." Before Knuckles could finish, three bolts of lightning struck around the Doomsayer as the creature yelled angrily. "DO NOT THREATEN ME!!" Knuckles jumped back as the lightning faded, leaving the Doomsayer unscathed. "W-what are you!?" he gasped, wondering how anything could survive getting struck by so much lightning. The Doomsayer had begun being engulfed by hail again. "I am a warning of darkness! Farewell!" The hail swallowed up the Doomsayer, and as it faded, Knuckles saw that the Doomsayer had vanished...

Knuckles sat at the top step of the Master Emerald shrine, wondering what the Doomsayer was talking about, when he remembered the island he saw! Looking towards it, he could see that it had come closer! In his distraction, he didn't notice several shadowy figures approaching the altar. Among them, hanging to the rear, was a chameleon, hornet and rhinoceros. "What's our role here, exactly?" said the rhino, adjusting the yellow derby on his head. "Hang back and obssserve, Crasssh..." said the black chameleon, "The massster'sss plansss for usss will become clearer in time..." While Knuckles was gazing at the island, he heard a voice at the bottom of the steps below him! "Good evening, Master Emerald guardian!" He quickly looked down to see a dark grey she-wolf, wearing a tight, black uniform with a red symbol on the chest! The symbol was an odd looking star, with thirteen points! The wolf's right eye was covered by overgrown hair, and she was not alone! There were several others around her, wearing the same uniform! Standing closest to the wolf was a black and brown jackal, holding a black & white sketch of Knuckles. "Oh... Red..." he muttered. The wolf introduced herself to Knuckles. "I am Fera." she said. Knuckles looked at all the uniformed animals at the bottom of the steps. "Hmmm... Nice outfits, but Halloween's not for another few months!" he joked. Fera frowned at him. "Dare not mock us! You will hand over the Master Emerald immediately!" she ordered. The jackal nodded. "Or, I could simply destroy you." he threatened. Knuckles glanced back at the Master Emerald. "You want the emerald, eh?" he said, lifting it up. Fera smiled. "That's it! Hand it over!" she said. Knuckles chuckled at her. "I don't think so!" He turned to jump off the side of the shrine, but Fera acted fast! "Stop him!!" she shouted, prompting a pair of uniformed bats to fly into his path! Knuckles stopped short. "Whoa! Where'd you come from!?" he shouted. Suddenly, rocks struck the bats from below, knocking them out of the sky! That is, they seemed like rocks, but why did Knuckles hear a splash? He glanced down to see a creature similar to a raccoon, but it was actually a coati. It was orange, with blue ears and blue stripes on its tail. "Quick! This way! You're no match for them alone!" he whispered, running for the bridge leading away from the shrine. Knuckles hesitated. "Who's that?" he wondered. The jackal pushed past Fera and began coming up the steps. "Enough! Let's kill him and take it!" he growled. Knuckles knew what he had to do. "Angel Island's gonna fall, but I better get the Master Emerald outta here for now!" He leapt off the side of the shrine and ran for the bridge! Fera pointed in his direction. "Don't let him escape! Agents of Despair, begin pursuit!" Before the uniformed animals could move, however, the island began to shake, taking them by surprise! As the Master Emerald began to fall into the ocean, Knuckles quickly headed for the Mystic Ruins while the enemies were distracted!

When Knuckles arrived outside the Mystic Ruins train station, he realized that he'd lost track of the coati that helped him. "I guess he's gone. I have to get the Master Emerald someplace safe anyway." he thought, looking around. It had been a while since he'd been off the island, but not much had changed. "One of Tails's workshops is around here. I think the emerald will be safe there until I throw those thieves off my island!" Knuckles decided, walking in the direction of Tails's Workshop. It wasn't far, so Knuckles got there in no time. The door was unlocked, and Knuckles walked inside to find Tails busily working at his computer, with his robotic puppy, SPOT sitting beside him. Knuckles wasted no time with small talk. "Hey, Tails! Could you keep the Master Emerald here for a little while?" Tails turned his chair around to face Knuckles. "Huh? Well, sure. I guess. Why, Knuckles?" Before Knuckles could explain, a loud explosion was heard outside! "Whoa! What's that!?" Tails shouted. SPOT began beeping loudly. "Alert! Alert!" the robot shouted. Fera's voice was heard over a megaphone seconds later. "Listen up! Come out and hand over the Master Emerald, or we will be forced to destroy that building and take it!!" she threatened! Knuckles was shocked. "What!? Those dirtbags! How'd they find me so fast, anyway!?" Tails was trying to understand the situation. "Destroy... My workshop!? What's happening here!?" he wondered. Suddenly, SPOT began beeping more loudly! "Emergency!" the robot warned. "What's that metal mutt beeping about?" Knuckles wondered. Tails glanced at SPOT's monitor eyes. "SPOT detects a powerful weapon nearby... It might even be powered by a Chaos Emerald!" Tails gasped. Before Knuckles could say anything, Tails took action. "No time to waste! SPOT, open the emergency exit! We have to get out through the underground tunnels!" he said. "Acknowledged!" SPOT replied. The robot let out a few beeps, and a hatch in the middle of the floor opened up! Knuckles looked worried. "Underground... But your workshop!" he said. Tails frowned. "I know... But I can't ask you to give them the Master Emerald!" he said as he was digging through some drawers for something. Knuckles started down the hatch, but hesitated. "What are you doing?! Come on!" he shouted. Tails tossed something shiny to SPOT. "Hold on to the Tailband of Chaos, SPOT! Can't let any bad guys get ahold of that!" he said hurriedly. Without wasting another moment, Tails, Knuckles, and SPOT jumped into the hatch! As they did, they could hear explosions above them! When they hit the ground, Tails looked up to see flames engulfing the room above them! "We... We've gotta go!" he said, leading Knuckles into the tunnels beneath his workshop.

Beneath Tails's Workshop was an expansive series of tunnels, which Tails had been using to store some of his gadgets and parts. The tunnels were like a giant maze, and Knuckles was amazed that they were there. "Did you dig these tunnels yourself?" he asked. Tails shook his head. "I discovered these tunnels. I think some echidnas used to live down here a long time ago, but the tunnels were pretty much empty when I found them, so whoever dug them must've abandoned them for some reason." he explained. Knuckles thought about their situation for a moment. "Hey, Tails... Where are we going, anyway?" he asked. Tails glanced above them sadly. "The Tornado-1 was in my workshop's garage. If we had more time, I would've taken it, but now it's wrecked. So, we'll have to take the other, blue Tornado to get out of here. It's parked somewhere in the tunnels. In fact... SPOT! You better go start up the Tornado 3 so we can leave without wasting time!" At his command, SPOT ran off ahead of them to prep the plane. Knuckles scratched his head. "How long could it take to start up the Tornado?" he asked. "Those guys who attacked us will probably find the tunnels. We have to get out before they catch us! But, with my computers knocked out..." Tails said, trailing off. As they turned a corner, they were attacked without warning by laser fire! Tails and Knuckles barely got out of the way in time! Looking ahead, Knuckles saw that the shooters were Egg Pawns! "Eggman's robots!? What are THEY doing down here!?" he shouted. Tails looked at him sheepishly. "Well... You see, I found some and started studying them. Eggman's a clown, but he's a technical genius, and I can learn a lot about robotics from him. I was keeping the robots under control wirelessly from my computer... But with the computer destroyed, the signal broke up, and since I erased Eggman's program from them, they're just going to do what they know how to do... Which is still shooting." he explained. Knuckles groaned with annoyance. "What was the point of erasing Eggman's program, then!? Look at them!!" he yelled. The robots were still shooting, but they were shooting wildly and randomly. Without Eggman's programming, they only knew that they were designed to shoot, not what they were supposed to shoot at. "We'll just have to take them down, Knuckles. We can do it!" Tails said. So, without further discussion, they set to work! For the robots ahead, Knuckles ran out to distract them. "Hey! Glitched Pawns! See me? I'm your target!!" While Knuckles drew their fire, Tails spun his tails and flew over them, dropping to them one by one and kicking them down! Soon, the robots in front of them were defeated, but there would be more throughout the tunnels.

Tails led the way as they continued navigating the maze of tunnels, battling any glitched Pawns that got in their way. As they came to a four way intersection in the tunnels, some fresh faces approached them! It was a pair of dogs wearing black uniforms, just like Fera's! "Aha! You must be the enemy!" one of the dogs growled! "We're too late! They've found us!" Tails gasped. Knuckles raised his fists. "Well, well. If it isn't... whoever you are!" he said, realizing that he still had no idea who these foes were. Tails suddenly felt himself growing enraged. "You wrecked my workshop! Bad dog!" he shouted. "You should have given up the Master Emerald when you had the chance!" one of the dogs replied. "Now you won't get away! Prepare yourself!" said the other! Immediately, the dogs began circling Tails and Knuckles at high speed! Their speed took Tails and Knuckles by surprise, and before they could counter them, the dogs had run in and knocked them down! "Argh!! What is this!? EVERYONE'S as fast as Sonic now?" Knuckles growled. Tails started hovering in the air after he stood up. "They're not as fast as Sonic, Knuckles! Not even close! They're just... fast!" he said, doing his best to stay out of the dogs' reach. Knuckles glanced around at the dogs as they approached him again. "Hmmm... Their feet might be faster than their brains..." he thought, jumping out of the way as the dogs approached! The dogs were moving too fast to stop, and were heading for the same spot, so before they knew what was happening, they crashed into each other! "Grrrowww!!! Watch it!!" one of the dogs yelled. "YOU watch it!!" snapped the other. "Hey, dogs!" Knuckles yelled, getting their attention. Tails and Knuckles were right beside them, and immediately attacked! Knuckles punched one, while Tails whipped the other with his tails! The dogs fell over and hit the ground hard! Knuckles grabbed one of them by the collar and started shouting. "All right!! Now I want some answers!! Who are you guys, and what do you want with the Master Emerald!!" As he yelled, Tails tapped him on the shoulder. "Uh... Knuckles...?" Knuckles turned to Tails, still crazed. "WHAT!?" he shouted. Tails pointed at the dogs. "We knocked them out..." he explained. Knuckles looked, and sure enough, the dogs were unconscious. "Oh... Well, I guess we better just leave them, then..." Knuckles realized.

It wasn't much longer before they reached the runway where the Tornado 3 was parked. The plane was already running, and SPOT was waiting patiently beside it! Tails smiled excitedly. "All right! We're here! Now let's get away before those creeps catch us again!" To his surprise, a voice he didn't know responded to him. "Creeps? That's your best insult?" Someone suddenly dropped from the ceiling, landing between them and the Tornado! It was a brown raccoon, wearing a grey hat, a black cape, and a belt with a sword sheath attached to it! The raccoon drew the sword, which had a silver blade and a golden hilt. "Why not use our proper name? We are the Covenant of Despair!" Knuckles noticed that this raccoon wasn't wearing a uniform, so he had to clarify if he was with the others. "Covenant of Despair? Are those the guys in the uniforms? Are you with them!?" he shouted, approaching the raccoon slowly. Tails looked worried. "Careful, Knuckles! He's got a sword!" he pointed out. The raccoon glanced at Tails suspiciously. "You have something, too, haven't you? You can't hide anything from me!" he said, his eyes shifting from Tails to SPOT, then back to Knuckles. Knuckles crossed his arms. "Oh, really? And who are you?!" he asked. The raccoon grinned at Knuckles wickedly. "I am Conan, Master of Chaos! The world's greatest treasure hunter!" he declared. Knuckles laughed at his claim. "Yeah, right! I would've heard of you, if you were so great!" he said. Conan frowned at him. "Spending all your time on that pitiful floating island? I think not! But that's enough of that. On to business! Turn over the Master Emerald! And I'll take whatever that fox boy is hiding, as well!" he demanded. Tails looked confused. "Hiding? I'm not hiding anything!" he protested. Conan pointed his sword at Tails. "You can't fool me! Give it up, or I'll carve the treasures out of both of you!" SPOT was watching these events, and flashed some text on his monitor. "Hostility detected. Retreat advised." In a moment, however, SPOT realized that he was being ignored, so he flashed another message on his monitor. "No one is reading this. Standing by to support Tails." Meanwhile, Knuckles had gotten Conan's attention. "I don't even care why you want the Master Emerald anymore! You're not getting it! But you ARE gonna leave, RIGHT NOW!!" he threatened. Conan pointed his sword at Knuckles. "All right, guardian! Make me!"

Knuckles charged at Conan, only to get pummeled by a few Chaos Spears shot from his sword! "Ah, did I forget to mention? My blade is the Chaos Sword! And to become a true master of Chaos, I will acquire every Chaos Relic there is... But right now, you're in my way. Big mistake." Conan growled. Knuckles chuckled at him. "That all ya got? A few energy spears from a rusty old sword? Okay, step aside, chump." he said, approaching Conan a little more cautiously now. "Ha! I can see that I've already softened you up a bit... Now, die!!!" Conan yelled as he attempted to stab Knuckles! Before Conan could hit Knuckles, SPOT jumped onto Conan's head! "Attack!! Attack!!" the robot yelled. "Get off of me, you artificial mongrel!!" Conan shouted, tossing the robot away before firing Chaos Spears at it! After taking those hits, SPOT began sparking! "Oh, no!! SPOT!!" Tails gasped before running to see if he could do anything for the robot. With Tails and SPOT out of the battle, Conan now resumed focusing on Knuckles, who had recovered by now. "Now, where were we..." Conan muttered. Knuckles attempted to punch Conan out, thinking he was distracted, but the raccoon simply stepped aside and zapped him with a few Chaos Spears in the back! "Ah, yes, that's right." he muttered. Knuckles turned around, rubbing his back a little. "Stay put, would ya?!" he grumbled. Conan snickered. "Why? And let you beat me? Come now, give up the treasure and this won't have to get any messier." he offered. Knuckles glanced at Tails frantically working to fix SPOT. The young fox had given up his workshop to help him. Lost one of his planes. Knuckles wasn't about to let all this be for nothing! He charged at Conan, attempting to dodge the flurry of spears that came his way, but not too much. The spears weren't his main concern. "You idiot! Fine! Die then!" Conan yelled, raising his sword to strike as Knuckles neared him! This was what he was watching for. Using what strength he had left, Knuckles quickly jerked out of the way as Conan brought down the sword, and then punched him hard in the chest, knocking him over!

Knuckles's attack had even managed to knock the sword out of Conan's hands! Conan scrambled to his feet and ran after the sword, but before he reached it, a beam was fired between him and the sword! Conan looked back to see that Tails had repaired SPOT, and they'd rejoined Knuckles! Conan leaned down, picked up his sword, and sheathed it. "That punch really hurt. It seems you really are as strong as you are dim-witted." Conan growled. "DIM-WITTED!?" Knuckles shouted furiously. Tails started to say something. "Well... uh... Oh! Never mind..." Knuckles glanced over at Tails. "What? What were you gonna say?" he wondered. Conan laughed at this. "Ha ha ha ha ha!! You ARE clueless! It may be a little much for me to overpower you, especially with your friend here, but I suppose it won't take much to outwit you!" he said, turning to leave. "I'll have that emerald later! Ta!" As Conan disappeared into the tunnels, Knuckles turned to Tails. "Do you think I'm dim-witted?" he asked. Tails avoided the question. "You know, I bet he's going to get help! Let's go before he gets back!" he suggested. Knuckles looked at him blankly. "Oh... Right... Let's go!" As they boarded the Tornado, Tails had a thought. "Uh... Knuckles? Where will we go?" he asked. Knuckles thought a moment. "I'm not sure... Maybe we should try that second island that appeared near Angel Island!" he suggested. Tails looked at Knuckles with surprise. "A second island? Is that where the Covenant of Despair came from?" he asked. "Maybe..." Knuckles replied. Tails looked worried. "But... If that is where they came from, do you really think we should go there?" he wondered. "I don't see you coming up with any better ideas!" Knuckles growled. SPOT flashed some text on his monitor. "Perhaps we should find Sonic." Without reading SPOT's monitor, Tails responded to Knuckles. "I have an idea! Let's go find Sonic!" SPOT displayed another message on his monitor. "This monitor is useless." Knuckles disagreed with Tails's idea. "No way! There's no time to be looking for Sonic!" he insisted. Tails sighed with disappointment. "All right... Next stop, the second island! SPOT, open the doors!" At Tails's request, SPOT sent out a signal that got the doors at the end of the tunnel to begin opening. Once they were open, they were ready to go! "Tornado, take off!" Tails said as he began piloting the plane through the exit of the tunnel!

The plane flew out of the hole in the side of the cliff that Tails's workshop was on, and reached the ocean. Tails maneuvered the plane to gain altitude, then flew over his workshop, which was still burning after the Covenant of Despair's attack. "How could they do this..." Tails said sadly. Knuckles was looking around the area near the workshop. "They're gone. I guess they're all looking for us underground." he said. Tails began turning the plane towards Angel Island. "Let's not wait for them to get back!" he said. Wondering what the Covenant of Despair could possibly be after, Knuckles and Tails now began their new journey to find those answers...

To be continued...