Sonic GeneX - Legacy

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.

This story serves as the ending to the Sonic GeneX series...unless I manage to continue writing up to the true ending. - 2BIT


Dirt and dust. A hooded fox awoke in a pile of it, groaning and clutching a wood cane. He was old and weak. A long and confusing life he had led. He climbed to his feet and dusted himself off. He was a black fox with two spiky tails and some white bangs on his head...more white there now than there used to be, and his black fur was graying overall. He tried to remember his name. Copter? No, he'd discarded that name long ago... Dimentime. That was his name. Looking around, Dimentime thought he was in some sort of desert. However, he quickly noted a familiarity about the walls around him. They were buildings, decaying and forgotten. "This is... Station Square..." he grunted, leaning on his cane as he walked away from his resting place. "...I thought my work was done after the Soleanna Struggle ended... Why am I here? Is there something the Time Stones still wish me to fix?" he muttered. A newspaper blew past him, and he poked out his cane to stop it, the paper wrapping about the gnarled wood walking stick. He untangled the newspaper from his cane and examined it. The headline: "President Slain! GUN Takes Command!" The date was approximately 20 years after the Time Eater incident. "A few decades into the future, then? Ugh, I feel like I might have aged those decades... but I was old back in Soleanna. Hopefully whatever this is won't take much physical effort..." he sighed, shuffling out to explore the ruins of Station Square. It appeared like the city had been evacuated prior to some sort of battle, the buildings having been damaged in places from what appeared to be weapon fire. However, there were no bodies to be found. Still, the place was eerily quiet. At least until trucks sped towards Dimentime. They surrounded him, and quickly GUN agents rushed out, training their weapons on him! "Don't move, freak!" said one of the humans, "We don't know how you got past our security cams this far, but we'll find out before your execution!" Dimentime raised his arms and silently stepped into the nearby prisoner transport truck, where he noticed a handful of other animals were restrained. "Okay... I guess I have an idea why I'm here. Why couldn't the Time Stones have sent me when I was younger?" he groaned. "Get in there, freak!" a GUN agent snarled, shoving him into the truck!

Dimentime found a seat as the prison transport started to drive off. He could escape this easily, but he needed information. Sitting beside him was a light purple hedgehog. "So, what're you in for?" Dimentime asked. "Seriously?" the hedgehog responded, "Oh, that's a joke, right? Funny... Hey... you look kinda familiar." the young hedgehog said, glancing at him. "I get that a lot when I don't wear my hood... And yes, seriously. I've been...out of town. For a few decades." Dimentime grunted. The hedgehog frowned. "Out of planet, too? Well... You look pretty old. I bet you remember Sonic, right?" the youngster asked. Dimentime scoffed. "Yeah, sure. He make this mess?" he asked. The young hedgehog crossed his arms. "NO... He's my father." he stated. Dimentime smiled awkwardly. "Oooooh... Twenty years, right..." he mumbled, "Well, I guess we're saved, then! He'll speed in and bust us outta here." Dimentime babbled. "Don't count on it." the kid sighed, "I've been searching for dear ol' dad a long time. Got caught searching. My friends say he's dead..." he said, looking at the ground sadly. Dimentime patted his shoulder. "What's your name kid?" he asked. "...Juice." the hedgehog replied, resulting in snickers from the other prisoners. "Keep laughin'. My dad's alive, I know it... And I'll have him kick your butts later." he said, sticking his tongue out. Suddenly, the truck rocked sideways, nearly tipping over! Gun shots could be heard outside, followed by loud thuds before a small explosion blew the back door open! A red, female echidna stood just outside, wearing a black jacket. "Today's your lucky day, guys! Executions have been delayed! Hey, Juice!" she said, waving. "Lara-Su!" Juice exclaimed. Dimentime rubbed his head awkwardly. "Rescued by a teenage girl..." he grumbled. "Don't stand so close to the bomb next time, Lara..." said a fox as he stepped next to her. Said fox was almost the spitting image of Tails. "Even better... Tails Junior..." Dimentime groaned, leaning on his cane as he joined the other prisoners in vacating the truck. Lara-Su looked at Dimentime like she'd seen a ghost. "C-copter??" she stammered. "Not exactly. Do I know you?" Dimentime asked. Lara-Su saluted him. "Lara-Su Echidna, last of the Knuckles clan and leader of the Anti-GUN-Force... Nobody wanted to be cliched and call it 'the Resistence.'" she said. Dimentime frowned. "So, you're Knuckles's daughter...and he's dead." he said to sum it up. "We got a lot to catch you up on..." Juice sighed.

There was no time to waste, GUN would have reinforcements quickly. So they hurried to their escape ride; a motorboat waiting at the coastline. The boat took them to an almost familiar island. Looking carefully, Dimentime recognized it as the island that once housed Darkegg Fortress...only the tower was gone. All that remained was a base leading to the basement, which the Anti-GUN-Force led Dimentime and the other freed prisoners into. "It's a bit stuffy, but it's home." Lara-Su stated. A tri-tailed fox rushed to meet the group, and Dimentime was stunned upon seeing him. The fox was the spitting image of himself, or Copter, except his bangs were bushier and black, one of his tails was adorned with colorful tailbands, he had a blue collar around his neck, and he wore glasses. He stopped and wiped those glasses with the cuffs of his gloves before looking at Dimentime again. "...Are you my grandpa?" he blurted, making Juice chuckle. "I get the feeling I sort of am." Dimentime said awkwardly, "Who are you?" he asked. The fox shrugged. "Chopper. My dad stunk at names..." he mumbled. "I am his father!" Dimentime choked, only to have his arm tugged by "Tails Jr." "We need to talk." the yellow fox stated, leading Dimentime to a back room along with Lara-Su. Dimentime looked around in awe, noting that there were mostly kids there. Kids to his eyes, at any rate. A girl who looked like a clear child of Punchy and Rainbow was chatting with a black cat with sky blue hair on his head. A pair of colorful Divine girls that resembled Whisk were sitting at a table playing cards. There was a male coyote...Katie's son? But before Dimentime could ask around about any of this, they'd stepped into the back room. "You're Dimentime." the fox said. "And you're Tails Junior." Dimentime said gruffly. "The name's Skye. Skye Prower. My dad used to tell me stories... and you were in them. You came from another time..." he stated. "Sort of. Can one of you explain what's going on to me?" Dimentime asked. Lara-Su looked impatient. "Do we have time for this? I need to get a report on Argyle and Venice's mission..." she grumbled. Skye raised an eyebrow. "Your mushy-time with Argyle can wait, Lara. Dimentime's here for a reason. He needs to know what happened." he said, sighing before he began, "...It was a long time ago now. The truth of these events is known now, but it does little good. General Gunner ordered his minion, Guard the Gargoyle, to kill the President, making it appear that said gargoyle had acted alone. Not only was the President killed, but so was GUN's Commander... and Gunner seized control. Decieving the public, he made humans believe that animals were to blame, and started mass-executions... by the time Gunner's plot was exposed, it was too late. He'd amassed enough followers to hold his control of the government, and rule the country through fear, setting his sights on conquering the rest of the world. Sonic and the other heroes tried to stop him, but with the full might of GUN behind him... they were defeated." Skye explained. Dimentime stared in disbelief. "There's no way... GUN couldn't beat all of fur-kind combined!" he shouted. "Oh, you know how it is..." Lara-Su griped, "People don't want to get involved until it's too late. Like those experiments! Selfish lot, all of them!" she snapped. "Hey! I'm listening outside the door!" Chopper shouted. Dimentime looked at her understandingly. "I get you...but there's no way they're all dead. We need to reach out for help." he stated. "That's what I've been telling them!" Juice shouted from outside the door. "We came in here for privacy!!" Skye shouted. "Argyle said it was okay!" Juice teased, making Skye's face turn red with frustration.

Ultimately, Dimentime felt he had to help these kids. But he couldn't help them alone. After talking to Skye, he was led to a computer where he could look up recent events online. "What are you lookin' for?" Chopper asked him. "Survivors..." Dimentime stated. Argyle the crocodile, an obvious offspring of Vector, sat next to Dimentime to assist. "You're not gonna like what you see..." the croc sighed. He wasn't wrong. Newspaper articles gave quick confirmation of several deaths. Tails and Knuckles had died valiantly fighting GUN forces, while Bucky had been the victim of a sneak attack. Dimentime almost vomited when he saw an image of several familiar and not-so familiar heads displayed on spears, trophies of Gunner's victories. Everything looked pretty grim. "I can't believe all of this... We really are alone here..." he sighed, "Tails and Bucky, gone... I didn't exactly have the best relationship with them, but it doesn't seem real..." Argyle got up from his seat and sniffled. "My dad, too. Most of us here know our parents are dead..." he sighed, walking away. Dimentime turned to Chopper, who had a glum look. He knew what it meant. "I'm dead? Well, your real father..." he said, rubbing his head awkwardly. Chopper nodded, looking rather sad. Dimentime slowly placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look, kid... I can't replace him, but... I'm here for you...at least for now." he said. Chopper looked up at him. "I don't need that. I'm Experiment 2's son! I can... I can..." Dimentime caught him in his arms as he started to cry into his chest. "He needed to lean on people too, kid. It's alright." he sighed. "But he was so strong...and I'm not..." Chopper whimpered. Dimentime scoffed. "I was never strong. That was the tailband doing the work... I see you have your own there." he pointed out. Chopper glanced at it. "It's not magic like yours..." he said, "The original is gone." Dimentime patted the kid's head. He felt odd about it, but not in a bad way. "C'mon, kid. Everything's gonna be okay. You'll see. I'll whip ya into shape!" he grinned. Chopper smiled at him. "Thanks...gramps!" he said, making Dimentime stumble in his seat. "...Call me Dad or Dimentime, please..." he grumbled. Chopper nodded. "Dimentime... okay." he sighed.

Dimentime continued to look over the news reports for a bit, and he reached a conclusion. "There's no record of Sonic or Eggman dying! That'd be all over the news, wouldn't it?" he stated. Several of the kids were sitting around Dimentime at this point, hoping he'd arrive at a hopeful conclusion, but the oldest in the room spoke up first, a hedgehog that looked remarkably similar to Silver. "Everyone knows where Eggman is. He's in Eggmanland." the hedgehog stated. Dimentime squinted at him. "Silver?" he muttered. "Who? My name's Venice. I'm the oldest here... I fled Soleanna when GUN took it over, and found these kids. Lara-Su stays in charge because I don't know the lay of the land." he stated. Lara-Su had entered the room at this point, along with Punchy's obvious daughter. "We need to plan our next move. Aurora and I will coordinate the next attack." she said, motioning to the echidna beside her. Dimentime knelt on his staff as he stood up. "No. We're going to Eggmanland." he said firmly. Everyone stared at him, and Juice chuckled awkwardly. "That old turn of the century humor! Eggmanland! ...You're not serious!" he stammered. Dimentime looked quite serious. "It's as good a place to start as any. Your way isn't working. Eggman might have Sonic hostage. He might know something. Hell, Eggman might turn out to be an ally!" he suggested, earning scoffs from all over the room. Lara-Su didn't scoff, though. "Okay. You're the expert sent by the Time Stones. Aurora's in charge until I get back... IF I get back." she stated, "I will be back. Starr's coming with us." A purple creature with pink hair sat up from the crowd. The star on her shirt seemed to suggest she was Starr. Dimentime stared at her. She was a morph. "No way... Kosmo?!" he babbled. "Dead. I'm his offspring." Starr winked. Lara gathered Skye and Juice to join the mission as well. "We'll keep our group small, just in case this is a suicide mission..." she stated. Chopper stood up and raised his hand. "I want to volunteer to go!" he said, trying to sound brave. Lara-Su stared at him, and Dimentime shrugged. "I'll look after him." he grumbled. Lara nodded. "Fine. The rest of you, don't get killed while we're gone!" she shouted. A male coyote walked up to Chopper, shaking his hand. He was brown furred, wore a red vest, a crescent moon pendant, and had an earring on his left ear. "Brave of you, going like that. And maaan, I wish I was going with Starr..." he said, looking wistfully at the morph. Dimentime gagged. "Err... Thanks, Casey." Chopper stated, "And stop hitting on my girlfriend!" Hearing that, Dimentime gagged harder. "Boy, we're gonna have a talk!" he grunted after he stopped gagging. Before leaving, Casey handed Chopper his pendant. "Take this with you. It's my lucky charm. It'll keep you safe." he said. Chopper shook his head. "Dude, it's got pictures of your parents! I can't take this!" he protested. Casey hung it around his neck. "I want you back safe. You're my best friend." he said, "...Aaaand... I'm hoping the luck will rub off on Starr." he smirked. Chopper rolled his eyes. "Okay, whatever. My best friend wants to steal my girl... in exchange for a pendant! Some trade!" he joked. Dimentime watched them and found himself smiling. He had to protect these dimwits. He just had to.


The Hopebringer Center for the Criminally Insane was never an honest name for said facility, by any means. This was more true than ever now that GUN had converted it into a literal prison and concentration camp. Richard Gunner arrived by chopper on this day, stepping out wearing a lavish general's uniform, adorned with fancy patches and medals. His right hand was replaced with a large gun of some sort, ironically. Spy hopped out of the chopper behind him, looking older and weary...and balding. "Damn those freaks! Another transport attacked!! You are an utter failure, Spy!!" Gunner shouted. "I wasn't there, sir... As I have to tell you over and over..." Spy sighed, only to get a gun-hand pointed at his face. "Saying something?! Keep up! I've had my fill of this petty resistance!" he snarled, leading Spy into the prison, where animals were busy wailing and screaming from the various tortures GUN had prepared for them. They were headed not for the prison, but for the lab. Dr. Nammad met them, though he was wrinkled and confined to a wheelchair now. "Ahhh, Richard! Here to check my progress? Well, I have great news! We're all set!" he said, motioning to a glass pod. Gunner smirked as he looked at it. Inside was Shadow the hedgehog, skinny and unconscious. He'd been in GUN's vicegrip for some time, and had just about given all he had to give the twisted scientist in the wheelchair. "It, ah, wasn't easy replicating Bucky's power-draining technology... But behold!" A light went on in the back of the lab, and a multitude more tubes were revealed, showing a multitude of new Shadows resting... waiting to be awakoned! "Ha ha!! Powers transferred?! And they'll obey my every command?" Gunner sneered. Nammad grinned proudly. "Oh, ah, yes... This is my magnum opus. Clones without will... The perfect finale to cap off the science Bucky started. They are almost ready. The remainder of the cloning process is running on automation, as you requested..." he stated. Gunner beamed. "And you're the only one that could potentially stop them..." he said darkly. "Well... Me or you..." Nammad muttered, looking pale as it dawned on him, "Wait, no!!" he cried, his final words as Gunner incinerated a hole in his chest with his gun-hand. Spy looked at this with a calmness only earned through experience. "Orders, sir?" he asked. Gunner cackled softly. "We kill 'em all..." he grunted.


Eggmanland was barred by massive gates, emblazoned with Eggman's corporate logo. "...What have they got in there, King Kong?" Juice joked as they waited for Starr to join them. Chopper looked at the pendant he got from Casey intently. "...You'll get back fine." Dimentime promised. Chopper nodded. "Yeah... Hey, wanna see who Casey's parents are? Maybe you knew them." he asked. Dimentime shook his head. "I know enough. Showing me more dead people just..." he trailed off, and Chopper understood. "Yeah... I was gonna ask about my mother, but maybe I shouldn't..." he sighed. Dimentime glanced at him. "Oh, go ahead... She's not my wife." he muttered. Chopper shrugged. "That's just it, I was hoping you could tell me about her because I never knew her. She died when I was very little..." he stated, "...I don't know who she was..." Dimentime glanced at him and sighed. "That makes two of us..." Soon, the door opened, and a robot resembling Omega met them beyond it. The robot changed shape however, taking the form of Starr. "Piece of cake!" she winked. Skye and Chopper clapped for her while Lara crept past the gate carefully. "How much resistence did you see?" she asked. "Ghost town! This'll be fun!" Starr stated. As they walked in, Dimentime noted that Chopper didn't walk too close to Starr. Rather than have the awkward talk with Chopper, he turned to Skye. "What's with Chopper and Starr?" he asked. Skye shrugged. "Starr's like, the cool girl, because she's one of our MVPs. There's a few guys that want to date her, but no one has the nerve to really try. Rumor is she likes Chopper, but that hasn't made him braver, really." Dimentime nodded, then pulled out his staff as giant robots surrounded them! "Holy cow...!" Dimentime gasped. It seemed the Egg Pawns were on steroids, and the other classic robots looked pretty souped up as well. It seemed like they were in for the fight of their lives, when a nervous voice called out to stop them. "Hold iiiit!!" Char the Chao flew in, ironically having become an angel Chao. "Interesting look for you!" Dimentime stated. Char panted as he caught his breath. "Dimentime! I can't believe you're here! You HAVE to talk to Dr. Eggman! Come, come! Follow me!" he said, hastily motioning for them to follow as the robots stood at attention. Lara looked stunned. "This is a first for me..." she muttered. "Off to see the wizard!" Juice chuckled. "No more TV for you, Juice..." Skye sighed.

Char led Dimentime in to speak with Eggman, leaving the others in a small room outside Eggman's... control room? It looked like a dirty gamer's lounge, with screens surrounding his Egg Mobile and discarded snack wrappers littering the floor. Dimentime looked around in disgust. "The great Dr. Eggman... What a slob you've become." he muttered. A cough was heard from the Egg Mobile. "Most robots are too nervous to approach me... I'm prone to hitting their self-destruct buttons just for kicks." he grumbled. Juice barged into the room at this point, followed by Lara and Starr. "Eggman! Give back my dad!" Juice shouted. "Not a smart play, Juice! Stand down!" Lara shouted. The Egg Mobile turned around, revealing an old and miserable-looking Eggman. "Sonic's son... So, you live. I... I'm glad." he coughed, and Char moved to adjust the pillow behind his head. Starr made a face. "THAT'S the mighty Dr. Eggman?" she muttered. Eggman sighed. "Dimentime, I've hoped to see you one day... You can fix my greatest mistake. Siding with Gunner against the rest of the world... I shouldn't have done that. When all is said and done, I helped him kill millions, and all I have to show for it is this meager city... My only remaining comfort." he said. Dimentime leaned on his staff and frowned. "This was the Mystic Ruins. I can tell. Were you the one to kill Tails?" he asked. Eggman shook his head. "...I was the one to kill Sonic." he proclaimed. Juice was about to leap at him, but Lara held him back. "Y-you monster!! You lie!! You couldn't ever kill my dad! Never!!" he shouted as the others stepped in. "He killed Uncle Sonic!?" Skye growled. Dimentime turned to the young ones. "...Give us the room. I have questions for the doctor, and you hotheads are liable to give the old guy a heart attack." he told them. Lara nodded, but Juice was enraged. "I'll make you tell the truth! I'll make you! Get over here!!" he yelled as Lara and Starr both started to drag him away. Chopper watched awkwardly. "Poor fella... Hey, wait... Did you kill my dad?" he asked Eggman. Eggman sighed. "I take the responsibility. Blame me for it all. I'm used to it..." he said before Skye and Chopper left Dimentime alone with him.

Dimentime looked at him slyly. "Where's Sonic, doc." he asked. Eggman brushed his graying moustache, looking at him with a frown. "You don't buy my story?" he asked. Dimentime chuckled. "I know you better than that. As if you could ever beat Sonic... or tell the whole truth." he smirked. Eggman let out a heavy sigh. "I feel like I killed him... He's dead inside." the doctor stated. Dimentime raised an eyebrow. "So he's alive. Know where he is?" he asked. Eggman pressed a button to bring up a display on one of his monitors. It showed Tails's old Mystic Ruins workshop, carefully preserved. "He stays there. You can go, but keep your expectations low. He's even more broken than I am." he said, a hint of sadness in his voice, "The robots will leave you alone for the next hour... Don't hang around." he grunted, turning his Egg Mobile around again to illustrate that their conversation was over. Char looked at him with a frown. "...Things have been pretty grim... Yeah... Good luck, Dimentime." he said. The old fox turned and headed for the door, realizing there wasn't a lot of time to get Sonic. "Eggman gave us an hour to wander. We're going to see Sonic." he stated, getting to the point. Juice jumped up excitedly. "Ha! Told ya! Tooold ya!" he said, pointing around at everyone. "Cool it kid. This might not be the win you were hoping for." Dimentime stated. "How could it not be?" Skye asked, making everyone glance at him, "Even if Sonic's not in fighting shape, at least Juice has his dad back." he stated. Chopper nodded in agreement, and Lara-Su shrugged. "We'll stay together. If this is a trap, it'll take all of us to escape." she said, being a realist about the situation. Dimentime started hobbling on his way, wishing he'd come in as his younger self. "Come on. We gotta get out of the jungle.... Sorry, I'm used to there being a jungle here." he muttered. Starr scratched her head. "What's a jungle?" she asked, making Dimentime growl. "This future sucks." Watching them leave through a monitor, Eggman hovered his finger over a red button. Char watched. "Do you really want to destroy them?" he asked sadly. Eggman looked contemplative, and took his hand away from the button. "No... So what do I want?" he murmured, glancing at Char. He stroked his moustache and sighed. "How about a Chili Dog? ...For old time's sake..." he murmured.

They hurried to Tails's workshop. Dimentime suggested most of the group wait outside, so as not to spook Sonic, in case that was an issue. Juice couldn't be held back, though, and Dimentime decided to bring Chopper along as well to help "handle" Juice. When they initially entered, the place seemed empty. A pair of red and white sneakers on the floor were the only sign of Sonic's presence. A shadow moved in the darkness of the workshop. "...Dad?" Juice called. Dimentime shushed him. "...Sonic? This is Dimentime. Come out, you know it's the will of the Time Stones and all that!" he shouted, getting right to the point. "Sonic is dead..." came a voice, robotic clanking stepping the figure toward the light, "I...am a ghost." Sonic stood before them, his legs replaced with robotic replacements, clearly not as fast as his old legs. Chopper looked crestfallen, but Juice only looked mildly sad. "I'm sorry, dad... But you still got me!" he said, trying to cheer his father up. Sonic looked slightly angry. "You shouldn't have come! I-I mean..." he sighed, his expression softening, "I'm sorry, son... I failed. I watched them die... Tails... Amy... It broke me. Then my legs... Eggman built me these as a pitiful penance..." he said, clicking his metallic heels together, "But it doesn't bring everyone back... It doesn't bring your mom back..." he said, almost tearing up. Chopper nodded. "I know what you mean, Sonic... But you're the best qualified to lead us!" he told him. Sonic shook his head and pointed to Dimentime. "There's your leader. Tails's smarts with Copter's guts. You don't need me." he stated. At this point, Skye walked into the room. "Kid..." Dimentime stammered. Skye looked around. "I... barely remember this place... Dad's workshop..." he said solumnly, glancing at Sonic, "Uncle... My sister Melody is sick. She needs help that we can't give her, but with GUN in power, she'll never get that help... We need you. Please... If not for us... do it for my dad." he pleaded. Juice nodded. "Mom would want you to help, too." he stated. "So would my dad!" Added Lara, standing in the doorway. Sonic looked at the faces of the next generation, and then at Dimentime. "We don't need your speed. We need the hope you bring." he stated. Sonic let out a sigh. "...I'm not sure how much hope I can offer..." he muttered. Then, a long-lost smirk began to return to his face. "But seeing you all here... Maybe they didn't die for nothing. Alright, kids... Let's get to work and show GUN that we won't just lie down and die like the animals they think we are!!" A cheer followed. Sonic the hedgehog was back!


Any celebration was short-lived. Making their return to the Anti-GUN-Force's HQ as quickly as they could, all their hearts sank to find smoke coming from the island. Everyone rushed in search of survivors, Skye dashing into the base with the welfare of his sister paramount on his mind. Chopper clutched Casey's pendant tightly. "...I shouldn't have taken this from him..." he choked. "Superstitious, much?" Dimentime asked the boy. Sonic found a young divine lying outside the entrance to the base. She had yellow fur, black wings and green ears...and an artificial chaos sword through her chest. "Oh no... Whisk's kid!" Dimentime gasped. "Minnie!!" Starr wailed, covering her face. The divine was barely breathing. "I-it was...Shadow... Th-there was... so many of... him..." she wheezed. "Don't speak... It's okay..." Sonic whispered, hoping to console her in her last moments. Minnie was distraught, though. "P-pepper..." she gasped before the light left her eyes. The elder mammals glanced at Starr. "Pepper was her twin sister. I hope she's alright, but then, she'll be crushed..." Lara was looking around in utter shock, while Skye and Chopper returned from inside with nervous looks. "A lot of dead, but no Melody anywhere..." Chopper stated. "Salma's dead... Jemma's dead..." Skye murmured in a hollow, grim tone. "Aurora!? Did you see Aurora!?" Lara-Su stammered, the carnage rocking her out of her seemingly unshakable composure. Skye shrugged, and Sonic patted her shoulder. "We'll make sure this kinda thing never happens again..." he said in a serious tone. The sky suddenly went dark, and everyone looked up nervously. Shadow Arcangel was passing overhead. "Okay, if Bucky's dead, who is that?" Dimentime asked, a nervous look on his face. As the ship landed, floating on the ocean just offshore, some people stepped out of the upper exit. First came Aurora. "...Thank Chaos, you made it..." she sighed. Lara was quick to run to her and give her a hug. "Don't scare me like that!" she cried. Some other survivors were emerging as well, led by Vortex the chameleon, who was wearing a white lab coat and small glasses. "Yes, yes, it's all very sweet. Now, hurry aboard! We can't stay here!" he shouted. Dimentime pointed at him in disbelief. "You're here... you're helping us... and you can talk normal?" he babbled. Vortex crossed his arms. "GUN wants us all dead. I'd be a fool not to asssisss... asssisss... urgh... help." he groaned. Sonic chuckled softly. "Some things never change, eh, Copter?" he said, nudging Dimentime. The old fox grunted. "Don't get senile on me now, Sonic."

The group hurried aboard the Arcangel, which was luckily massive enough to hold all passengers. Skye was quick to inquire about his sister. "The girl is stable in the lab." Vortex told him, "We tried to save all we could, but some regrettably gave their lives to cover the escape..." Sonic and Dimentime looked around, noting that the ship was fairly crowded with passengers. "You got all the surviving experiments here, don't you?" Sonic asked. "Most of them..." said Spiny the porcupine, who groaned as he passed by, "I don't believe this! You're alive, and you got your legs robotisized, too!" he growled, his footsteps clanging as he went. Sonic scratched his head. "I just don't get that guy..." he muttered. Dimentime shrugged. "So what the hell happened?" he asked. A gray divine approached, obviously Pepper. "GUN's created an army of Shadow copies. They must've known where our base was, and were only waiting until this army was ready to try and wipe us out..." she stated. Aurora, who was nearby, gave a nod. "These aren't androids, either. They have Shadow's powers... It's hopeless..." she sighed. Juice patted her on the back. "Hopeless? Hey, look over there. That's my dad, SONIC! Hopeless is gone!" he grinned. Vortex shook his head. "No, she's right. This isn't good. Ah, if only Zipp were with us... But he's holding the fort in Holoska." Dimentime was scarcely listening. He was watching Chopper talking to Casey and Starr. He returned the pendant, and Casey seemed to be talking him up to the female morph. The three seemed to be good friends. "Earth to Copter! You with us?" Sonic asked. "Copter's dead, Sonic." Dimentime grunted, "We need a plan." he sighed. Vortex nodded. "We got one, but it's not good. We need Experiment 626 to beat the Shadow army. It's the most powerful Experiment I've ever created..." he stated. Dimentime stared at him. "How many damn crimes against nature have you and Bucky-- No, don't even tell me. Six hundred is enough to know about!" he groaned. Lara-Su stood beside Aurora. "Well, if you'd been paying attention, you'd have heard that 626 is in Gunner's clutches, deep in GUN's stronghold. We'd never get to it." she said. "Not without help from the future!" Turning around, the group saw Silver the hedgehog enter the room. Venice, who was sitting in the corner, spit out his coffee. "M-me!?" he stammered. Silver scratched his head. "Great Grandpa? Errr, never mind. I brought help!" he said. Behind him came Capricorn the divine ferret, Ozzie the morph and the Deathbringer! Sonic looked at Vortex smugly. "You kept them in the back just to show off, didn't you?" he asked. Vortex shrugged. "Too bad Dimentime doesn't seem to know them." he chuckled. Dimentime shrugged. "Hey, that reminds me, who was the Doomsayer?" he asked. The Deathbringer chuckled at him. "No spoilers... There's no telling if the Time Stones will throw you into the past next." she stated.

As Shadow Arcangel flew the Anti-GUN-Force through the sky towards their destiny, Sonic watched a sad scene play out. Skye approached Pepper and the black cat with light blue hair Dimentime had noticed before. Sonic recognized that black cat's collar as Lucky's, and knew he was Lucky's son. "I don't know how to say this... but I drew the short straw so I have to..." Skye said with a sad look. Pepper touched his shoulder. "I know, Skye... I'll tell him..." she said, turning to the black cat. "L-lucky... Minnie, she... She's gone..." she said, tears in her eyes. Lucky Jr. fell into Pepper's arms, crying. Sonic surmised that they were siblings from how they were acting toward each other. "Lucky and Whisk... huh..." he murmured, his expression pained as he watched the young ones mourn their sister. Juice sat next to him, and Sonic let out a sigh. "This was a mistake... I really can't do this. I'm not good enough anymore..." he said sadly. Juice took his hand. "It's okay, dad... You've always been my hero. Just being here for me is enough." he smiled. Dimentime and Chopper stepped over as well, obviously having overheard. "Sonic..." Dimentime began, "Don't ever sell yourself short. It's not your speed that makes you a hero to so many. Speed was never more than a tool in your arsenal." he held up his staff and pointed it at Sonic's chest, "Right there... that's where your true strength comes from." he said. Chopper nodded. "Yeah! That upper-body strength! You must still work out, right?" he grinned. Dimentime rubbed his head in annoyance. "It's bad enough I have to give a speech like this, do I have to spell it out too? I was pointing at his heart, kid!" he groaned. Sonic looked at them and couldn't help but chuckle. "Good speech, Copter... And before you correct me, I think you're worthy to use the name. I think the old one would be honored." he said, giving a thumbs up. Lara-Su ran into the room hastily at that moment. "We're here. Everyone... You need to see this!" she said, out of breath. Everyone hurried to the control room, where Vortex was looking grimly at what awaited them. GUN's Fortress was guarded by a legion of robots, supplemented by Shadow clones...enough of them to be quite worrisome indeed. And this was just outside. "We're nuked." Casey gulped. "Hey, obviously we win. How else can my grandson from the future be here?" Venice stated. Ozzie chuckled softly. "Yeah, about that... Our survival depends on this mission." he said. Silver nodded. "It takes time for past events to catch up to the future. Some of our meddling with the past... may have led to this in some way... which is why we're still here to help change it. But if we fail, we'll disappear." he said gravely. Dimentime sighed. "We all share the blame... Past and future. It's time for us to fix the present." he stated. Sonic nodded and raised his fist into the air. "Let's do it to it! Juice and jam time!!" he declared. The kids let out giddy cheers, but Dimentime stared at him. "You thought juice and jam sounded cool once??" he asked. Sonic looked at his son. "Well, obviously, so did someone's mom..." he chuckled, "...I haven't always made the best decisions..." he admitted with an embarrassed face. "Well... Who am I to talk? ...I'm Copter." Dimentime smirked.

As the Arcangel got as close to the base as it could manage safely, Dimentime held up his staff. "Alright... No turning back for anyone coming with me..." he said. Sonic, Lara, Skye and Silver joined him. "Stay on the ship, Chopper... Survive." Dimentime ordered. Sonic looked at Juice as if to say the same thing. However, as Dimentime moved to cast a warping spell, Juice grabbed Chopper and ran them both in to join them! "No! Stop!" Sonic shouted before they all vanished from the ship... just in time to avoid being aboard as GUN's anti-air cannons struck it hard! "We're going to have to land!" Vortex grunted. "Figures, right when Sonic leaves!" Spiny groaned.

Dimentime's group emerged inside the GUN Fortress. Sonic was quick to grab Juice by the arm. "I can't lose you, too! Why are you here!?" he snapped. Juice pulled his arm back and crossed his arms. "Did it occur to you that I can't lose you, either? You agree about your dad, right Chopper?" he asked. Chopper rubbed his head awkwardly. "My real dad's dead. I thought they had a point..." Silver started walking, motioning for them to follow. "It doesn't matter now! We're all here, so we better work together!" he told them. "Agreed." Lara sighed. Dimentime sighed. "Keep behind me, Chopper. I'll keep you safe..." he said. "Uhhh, it's not safe behind you..." Skye stammered. GUN robots were approaching from both sides. Lara tossed Sonic a gun. "If you got no speed, you still need to defend yourself..." she said. Sonic nodded. "Not my favorite, but I'll give it a...shot!" he smirked, making Dimentime roll his eyes. "Your puns are older than you are..." he groaned.

Outside, the Anti-GUN-Force rushed out of the Arcangel to meet the enemy head on. Ozzie took Starr's hand as they charged ahead, the pair morphing into giant rhinos to tear through the first robots. They were both knocked aside as the Shadow clones arrived. Morphing back to normal, they quickly found themselves surrounded by Shadows. "This might be too much even for morphs..." Ozzie gulped. "They can't hit me! Hah!" Starr grinned, only to get smacked by a Chaos Spear. "You didn't see that." she grunted. Capricorn flew up above them, and with a burst of light, caused some of the Shadows to warp away! "Don't get cocky, but don't give up! The future is in our hands!" she cried. Lucky Jr., Pepper, Aurora and Casey stood at the exit to Shadow Arcangel. "Let's do this for Minnie... And the others." Aurora stated. Casey nodded, holding his pendant. "For our parents, too." he sighed. Pepper flapped her wings and smirked. "Well, I'm ready to die, how about you guys?" Lucky Jr. shook his head and extended his hand. In a flash of light, a magic blade appeared... shaped like a key. "I'm ready to live. Let's do it to it!" he smiled.

Sonic and the others fought their way through the fortress, Skye navigating with a map procured by Vortex. Soon, they arrived at their destination: the vault. This was where GUN's weapons were kept, and where Experiment 626 was being held. Upon arriving, they found Gunner, who immediately fired his gun arm at Sonic, only for Silver to catch the shot with his powers and toss it aside! "Hmph... Sonic the hedgehog... Alive. That's perfect. I'll have the pleasure of killing you myself!" Gunner sneered. Juice chuckled. "You and what army?" he taunted. "Yeah! We've got you cornered!" Chopper added. Gunner pointed his gun arm at Chopper's head. "Do you?" he sneered. This did it. Dimentime charged forward, firing a bolt from his wand to knock Gunner's arm aside! "Threaten my boy!? I'll kill ya once and for all, Gunner!!" he roared. Gunner smirked at him. "No, Guard will finish you, instead!" At his word, a huge mechanical beast shaped like a gargoyle fell from above, slashing its broad scythe across Dimentime's chest! The beast then kicked him across the room, and Chopper hurried to his side. "N-nooo!! D-dad!! Not again!!" he cried, holding the bleeding Dimentime in his arms. The rest of the group stood ready to fight. "Guard was executed for treason after killing the President... But I never throw away a good soldier. Dr. Nammad rebuilt him, without the pesky shreds of free will he tried to cling to before. He's the perfect soldier now..." he said coldly. "As in, no humanity." Lara-Su spat. Gunner glared at the animals. "H-humanity? Humanity!? What would a bunch of FURRY FREAKS know about humanity!? YOU'RE NOT HUMAN!!" he roared. Sonic growled at him. "Maybe, but we've got more heart and goodness inside of us than you've ever shown! I'm pretty convinced you're the freak around here, Gunner!" he shouted. Gunner snarled at them, but then grinned as a couple Shadow clones warped in beside him. "Alright, hedgehog... Let's see what that heart of yours looks like. I'll have it pulled out of your pitiful chest!" he sneered with an almost demonic scowl!

Outside, the battle with GUN's forces continued. Everyone had to join the fight, including Vortex, Spiny, Argyle, and of course the Deathbringer, who was a particular asset in bringing down the larger GUN machines, but the Shadow clones were too quick even for her. Still, the valiant battling didn't go unnoticed by lookers-on. Firstly, there was the janitor, mopping up just outside the entrance to the GUN Fortress...for some reason. He wore an alligator suit, so there was that. "Every time the Nazis win, Gator ends up a janitor..." he grumbled, stopping to watch the battle. "Hmm... Waaait... Rebels don't fight Nazis. That's World War 2 soldiers... Why, you guys aren't the Nazis at all! Gator's not afraid of you without Hitler!! Banzaaaai!!" the kooky janitor shouted, charging into the battle with his mop. Some GUN soldiers beyond the door peeked their heads out, watching him. "...Can he do that?" one of the soldiers asked. The next shrugged. "I got nothing against furs. That was always Gunner." he said. "My best friend was a cat before Gunner showed up!" another growled. The soldiers exchanged nods, and together they ran outside and began shooting robots! Spiny scratched his head as he watched them. "They're nuts! They'll be killed!" he stammered. Not before him, though, as a Shadow clone appeared behind him and stabbed him through the chest with an artificial Chaos Sword. "Ughh!! Cruel irony... Quick, say something original... Urk!!" he collapsed before he could finish his thought, but Vortex was quick to fire a beam of Chaos Energy in an attempt to avenge him. "Blast!! No! Not another brother!!" he growled. Even with some agents turning to their side, it didn't look good with the Shadow clones, as the one with the sword easily evaded Vortex's shot. Then, however, a missile came roaring towards it...a familiar smiling symbol on its side. Finally, a Shadow clone was blown to pieces in a fiery explosion. Looking to the source of the missile, Vortex and the others were shocked to see who was coming. It was Dr. Eggman! "Too long has the name of Eggman symbolized the destruction of this world!! If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to set things right! Ho ho ho ho ho!!" the doctor laughed from his Egg Mobile. He was accompanied by a few robots, and also some more reinforcements led by Zipp the hornet, who's tattered leather jacket was covered in gun holsters, ammo reload packs, and knife sheaths. He was certainly packin' heat for the apocalypse. "Let's light 'em up!!" he smirked, cocking a rifle.

Silver, Lara and Skye were busy distracting the Shadow guards, while Sonic stood between the mechanized Guard and Dimentime. "You two...always fighting. Well, break it up! Guard... you in there?" Sonic called. The gargoyle let out a crazed snarl. If anything was left of the old Guard, it was buried deep inside. At this moment, Spy came running into the room, out of breath. "Sar--Col--Lord Gunner!! Our human troops are defecting! They're joining the rebels against us... and more insurgents are storming our fortress by the moment!" he shouted, panicked. Gunner snarled, pointed his gun arm at Spy, and fired, his most loyal minion dropping dead while he looked on like it was mere stress relief. "Report received... I have no idea why I didn't blast him years ago..." he grumbled, and then started shooting at Juice and Chopper with a maniacal laugh! As the young ones fled out of the way, Sonic looked on in shock. "No wonder his troops are ditching him... He's lost what little mind he had..." he stammered. Taking advantage of his distraction, Guard shoved Sonic aside and neared Dimentime. "Graaah!! I win, Copter!!" he snarled, raising his scythe. Dimentime pointed up his staff. "...Got you first... Oblastion!!" he called, his staff glowing red before a terrible explosion erupted from the spot Guard stood, sending mechanical pieces of gargoyle flying across the room as Gunner's other loyal henchman died out. Sonic, Juice and Chopper ran to Dimentime's side while Gunner stared in shocked awe. Dimentime coughed, the slash he'd endured causing him to fade fast. "S-sonic... You have to end this... Please... For everyone... For time itself... This is why the Time Stones sent me... to bring you here...And to give you one last chance..." he said, raising his staff one last time. Chopper couldn't hold back the tears as he watched the staff melt away, revealing Gemini's wand. "D-dad... No..." he sniffled. Dimentime smiled at his son. "Copter would be... IS... proud of you..." he said before casting a spell, "Discovereva!!" With that, a bright light was flung from the wand and went into the vault, shining over a pod containing a small creature. It was a Wisp... a dark blue one, its tendrils shaped oddly like an X. Skye jumped away from the Shadows and gasped. "Th-that's Experiment 626!!" he cried. It was then that Dimentime's body went limp, and Chopper collapsed beside him in tears. Copter the fox had made his final act. Experiment 2 was dead, having paved the way for Experiment 626.

Gunner cackled. "You think you children are a match for me? I'm the man who conquered the world!!" he shouted, and as he did, more Shadow guards warped into the room, surrounding the young ones, Sonic and Silver! They brandished swords, shooting Chaos Spears from the blades to stun their targets. Gunner laughed triumphantly, but Sonic stood up. "...I can't give up... Feet, don't fail me... I can't let these kids down!" he grunted. Sonic then broke into a run, pushing his robotic legs with all the strength he could muster. Gunner fired shots at him, but he simply sped up, outrunning them as his metal legs heated up... He could feel the ground beneath him getting unsteady as he went into the vault. His legs were breaking up. "I have...to make it!!" he growled, pushing himself to keep going as Gunner fired another shot straight for him! Sonic's legs cracked to pieces, and the hedgehog toppled to the floor before the shot could hit him. Instead, the shot shattered the glass of the capsule containing Experiment 626. Sonic laid on the ground, nothing but broken stubs remaining of his legs. He rolled himself onto his back and looked up to see Gunner, smirking and cackling. "So close, Sonic... Look how the mighty have fallen. You're nothing without your legs... just a pitiful cripple! Ha ha ha ha!" he laughed with a dark grin, heading into the crowd to grab Sonic's son. Chopper tried to stop him, but the Shadows pushed him back. "Y-you bastard!!" the fox shouted. "You'll never destroy the resistance, Gunner... People will always fight you. Your own soldiers are fighting you." Lara-Su said defiantly. Gunner sneered. "That will stop once examples have been made... Putting your heads on display should do it." he grinned, pointing his gun arm at Juice. "Now let's see... Should your son learn what it's like to be a cripple like daddy, first?" he asked, pointing at the hedgehog's legs. "Bite me, Gunner!" Juice spat. Gunner pointed his arm at the child's head. "Then again, I do enjoy watching the light leave a FREAK's eyes!!" he snarled. Sonic grabbed the edge of the capsule, his fingers bleeding as they were cut on the glass, but he had to get up. "G-gunner... I've never said this before... But I'll kill you." he growled. "Oh, will you!?" Gunner laughed, "Good luck! First I'm going to kill your wretched spawn. Just watch me..." he said darkly.

Sonic looked to 626, and the alien experiment seemed to nod. The creature flew into Sonic's body, and he rose into the air, glowing with a brilliant orange light! "ChaosBolt!!" The Wisp-voice caught Gunner off guard, and he turned with alarm to see a blazing, spiky bolt of Chaos energy where Sonic once stood. Before Gunner could act, or even speak, the bolt went searing through the room, arcing towards the Shadow clones! They tried to Chaos Control away, but the bolt was drawn to the very Chaos energy they would use to warp, and once the bolt struck, each clone disintegrated into a pile of ash! "Whoa... Dad! Badass!" Juice gasped. Hearing the kid, Gunner went to shoot him anyway, but howled in pain instead as the bolt arced past his gun arm, shattering it to pieces and dropping him to his knees to clutch his stub of an arm! Once the clones inside were gone, Sonic stormed outside, his Chaosbolt homing in on each Shadow clone, including a trio that had Gator pinned down and were frustratedly stabbing him, wondering why he wouldn't die. Gator sat up a second later, covered in ash. "I did iiiit..." he coughed, raising his arms in victory. As the Shadow clones were dying off, the Deathbringer changed her course, heading for the GUN Fortress. Inside, Gunner held a remote that he had in his pocket. "So, I die. I'm 78 years old, I'd say I had a good run..." he smirked. "Waiiit... You're 78? You looked that old 20 years ago!" Silver stammered, "You were only in your 50s??" Gunner's grin turned to a scowl as he clutched his remote. "I press this button, we all go out in a blaze of fire. Maybe with the munitions in this base, the explosion will manage to take out Sonic and your friends, too!" he cackled. The group moved forward, hoping to stop him. Instead, however, a blast came from the hole in the wall Sonic's Chaosbolt had left, piercing Gunner's chest!! The Deathbringer flew in, pulling off her hood to give Gunner a final shock. It was the original Deathbringer, Hope the Raven! "That...was for Dr. Buck Stein!" she said. Gunner tried to press his remote anyway before he faded, but Chopper had run over with one of the dropped artificial Chaos Swords from the Shadow clones, and sliced his arm! Diving to catch the remote safely was Juice, who barely made it in time to keep the remote from triggering by hitting the floor! "Wheeew... I gotta go faster..." he chuckled. Lara-Su, Skye, and the others began to clap for them, and cheers were heard coming from outside as GUN's remaining forces fell. Sonic landed outside and released 626. "Thanks, little guy. We made a good team!" Sonic smiled, sitting on the floor until Casey and Aurora came to help him up. 626 looked a bit sad. "...I have seen much pain... Much death... Perhaps this world will be rebuilt...and know peace... But for me, I cannot bear the memory of what I have seen... I will seek a new world, beyond the stars..." With that sorrowful speech spoken in a soft voice, 626 flew up into the sky and off into space, never to be seen on Earth again.

In the weeks that followed, news of GUN's defeat spread. Survivors of GUN's regime began to emerge. Parents began to reunite with their children, if they had lived to see the reunion. Skye and Dr. Eggman collaborated to build Sonic a new set of legs, so he could personally turn up at the President's house...to decline the honor of leading the nation. "I've got a better President in mind for the job..." he told a gathering of surviving officials, and led Lara-Su into the room. "She's young, but she's led a ragtag group of freedom fighters to victory over Gunner. I can't think of anyone better for the job!" he smiled. Lara blushed at the complements. "I don't know what to say, Sonic..." she stammered. Sonic winked. "Say you'll do it. Make your dad proud. He guarded an island. You, you'll guard a nation." he smiled.

With access to medical care, Skye's sister Melody recovered, and was with him and the others when Lara-Su was sworn in as the United Federation's new president. Chopper stood with them, hand in hand with Starr, and Casey was there holding hands with Pepper. Sonic sat with the rescued Shadow, the real Shadow, who had promised to act as Lara-Su's bodyguard in penance for what he'd allowed to happen. This ceremony was well and good, but there was one more important to most in attendance that came after.

Returning to the island where Darkegg Fortress once stood, a funeral was held for a dear friend. Two friends, actually, as they were finally giving a related long-overdue funeral. The grave stones each read "Experiment 2." One with the epitath "Beloved friend and father," the other simply "Dimentime." Vortex and Zipp were there, along with Sonic, Eggman, Hope, and a number of the kids, most notably Juice, Aurora, Starr, Skye, Casey, Lara-Su, and Chopper. Hope gave a brief speech. "Our first son, Buck's and mine... We never got to share the same time. Funny... He had the Time Stones behind him. We'll never quite know how or why... But they gave us two of him. Each loved us in their own way. They were never wholly sure of their purpose... But our Arthur Prower was always there, lighting the darkness from within the darkness... Our dark angel..." she said with a small smile. Chopper rested Dimentime's tailband on his father's grave. "Sleep well, dad... You're with mom and grandpa Bucky now..." he sniffled. Sonic brought Gemini's wand and set it on Dimentime's grave. "She meant the world to you... I wonder if she made it safely to her own time... I hope so." he whispered. Chopper glanced at him. "She...? Was... Did you know my mother?" he asked. Sonic shrugged. "Probably. Copter and I weren't exactly close... He was jealous of me, I think." Sonic said sheepishly, "...Maybe she was your mother. But I couldn't say. I wish Copter and I had gotten along better..." he sighed. Chopper and Juice each took one of his hands. "It's okay, dad." Juice smiled. "He trusted you enough to save his son...me. I'm sure he respected you more than you know." Chopper stated, drying a tear.

The future was saved for a new generation. The legacy left by Sonic and Copter would be a good one from here, Sonic would see to that. His high speed adventures were over... The only adventure left, was to watch the children of him and his friends grow up...

Fin


"Take a look inside your heart
What once seemed fair today
Tomorrow it may not
Just a walk or a journey
Don't stop reaching high
Don't let the time pass you by

So many ways that you can try to forget
So many ways you'll find you wake up to regret

Someday, one day, we'll say live life I know
Hold on, hold tight
Don't let go, don't lose sight
Someday, one day, we'll say live life I know
Hold on, hold tight
Don't let go, just live life"

End theme - Live Life, by Crush 40 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp51hEVMYfk