GeneX Chronicles - The Twilight Cage
Chapter 4 - The Twilight Cage

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
This story is based on the video game: Sonic Chronicles - The Dark Brotherhood.
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.

WARNING! This story contains spoilers of the game it is based on. If you haven't played the game already, I suggest you not read this story yet! You've been warned...

The story thus far:
The Nocturnus echidnas, led by Imperator Ix, have taken the Master Emerald, and opened a wormhole to the Twilight Cage, the mysterious dimension they came from. Nova headed up there in his ship, while Kosmo and Tommy hid on board. After Sonic left for the Twilight Cage aboard the Cyclone, Eggman requested that Copter & friends go and investigate strange energy signatures he detected. Copter, Punchy, Rainbow, Char, Alpha, and Gemini boarded the Tsunami, the ship Team GeneX built for them. At the last second, Gemini helped Razor and Guard stow away aboard the ship. Now, they are about to enter the Twilight Cage...
Now, on to the next chapter!

Chapter 4, Act 1: Kron Colony  (Dark Brotherhood: Quest for the Chaos Emeralds)

Upon entering the Twilight Cage, the Tsunami immediately began to lose power! Unforeseen difficulties with the dimension had damaged a part of the ship, and they were forced into a bumpy landing on the nearest planetoid from where they entered. "Well, guys, here's the damage report..." Char said after examining the ship, "Our dimensional buffer has been broken! Alpha will be able to fix it, but we've lost power. We'll be stranded here anyway!" Alpha looked at the ground as though he was sad. "We fall down, go boom..." he muttered. Rainbow walked to the hatch of the Tsunami. "Well, if we're stranded, we might as well have a look around!" she said, opening the hatch! Punchy tried to stop her from exiting. "Rainbow, you idiot! What if we can't breathe in this atmosphere!? Close the..." A loud beeping from inside the ship interrupted him. "Yaaaah!! What's that!?" he shouted, startled. Copter held up the detector Eggman had left on their ship. "This gadget's getting a signal already..." he said. Rainbow called them from outside the ship. "I found something, guys! Come on out!" she shouted. "Well, we know the atmosphere here is OK..." Gemini said, "After you, guys!" Upon exiting the ship, Copter and Punchy found Rainbow holding a strange, lavender shard of some sort. As for the world around them, they had landed on a rocky planetoid with a very warm climate. It was known as Kron Colony. Char and Alpha flew out after Copter and Punchy, and grabbed the shard from Gemini to examine it. "Hmmm... This thing is interesting... It seems to be kinda powerful! We may be able to use it to power the Tsunami! But we'd need another one..." Char said, handing it back to Rainbow. "So, we gotta search around here... It kinda looks dangerous. Like there may be lots of avalanches..." Punchy grumbled. Copter started walking away, holding out the detector. "At least we have something to help us search. Let's hurry and find it..." he said. Char and Alpha waved to them. "We'll stay here and fix the dimensional buffer! Good luck, guys!" he said. Meanwhile, Gemini was sneaking away, followed by Razor and Guard...


Nova's ship landed on Kron Colony as well, but much more smoothly. Apparently, his ship was somehow superior to the Tsunami. As Nova exited his ship, Kosmo and Tommy followed carefully and quietly. Nova hadn't noticed them yet, and they figured they follow him to see what he was up to. Soon, Nova arrived at a fairly clear area, where a large, black, boxlike ship was landing. Kosmo and Tommy were a good distance away, but Kosmo wished to get closer. "All right, kid. Stay here, I'll be right back..." he said, morphing into a small, brown mouse to avoid being seen. Once the black ship landed, a lone marauder stepped out to greet Nova. He removed his helmet, revealing that he was Jak. "I got your message, Nova. Sorry about all of us leaving so suddenly. It seems they rigged up a device to send us all back to this accursed cage." he explained. Nova grinned at him. "Well, that won't stop us. So, what's the plan?" he asked. Jak glanced around briefly to see if anyone was nearby, but Kosmo's disguise matched the color of the terrain quite well, and he remained unseen. "Well, I'll tell you. Scattered around the Twilight Cage are these mysterious bits of some broken object. We call them the Twilight Shards. We're not sure how many there are exactly, but most colonies have one that they use as a power source. I believe we can put their power to greater use..." Jak said quietly. Nova seemed quite interested. "Shards, you say? I wonder what we might assemble if we found them all..." he said. "Exactly." Jak agreed, "We will search out all of the Twilight Shards, and with the powerful object they form, we may conquer the Twilight Cage, and then the universe! Ix has been content to leave the shards separate all this time, and that will be his downfall!" While Kosmo was eavesdropping, Tommy was looking around the area where he was hiding. In the distance, he could see Razor, Guard, and Gemini wandering the colony. "Wow... My brother followed us all the way out here... Too bad he doesn't trust Kosmo. He'll probably take me home if he finds me, so I better stay out of sight..." Tommy thought, hiding behind nearby rocks to avoid being seen. Suddenly, Kosmo appeared next to him! "Kid!" he called, startling Tommy. "Ah!! Oh, it's you, Kosmo..." he gasped. Kosmo pointed towards Nova and Jak. "Come on. They're us to something, and I think we should make things difficult for them!" he grinned.


As Copter, Punchy, and Rainbow were following a signal they were detecting, they were soon stopped by a strange creature, which appeared to be made out of rocks! It was mostly composed of brown rocks, but it had a large, black boulder in its chest. "Nocturnus! Turn back you will, or die you must! Defile you shall not this ancient ground!" the creature shouted! "Wow, what's this thing?" Rainbow wondered. Punchy raised his fists. "Who cares? It's hostile!" he growled. The rock creature look a little confused. "Know you not of the Kron? No, a trick it must be. Fool me will you not!" it said. To attack, it began spinning the boulder in its chest before tossing it at Punchy! He was surprised by this tactic, and he barely managed to avoid the attack! The boulder bounced back to the Kron, and it prepared to attack again! However, it was slow, so Copter, Punchy, and Rainbow spread out around it, forcing it to target them one at a time. While it attempted to hit Rainbow, Copter jumped at it and tapped into the power of his tailband to deliver a mighty tail whip attack, which knocked the Kron over! The Kron slowly attempted to stand back up, and Copter and Punchy watched from a distance, ready to run if it attacked again. "Strong you are for small furred creatures. Still, clearly Nocturnus you are not. Sonic the Hedgehog are you?" the Kron asked, no longer sounding hostile. "We're not hedgehogs... But, wow, Sonic sure got famous here fast..." Copter replied. The Kron glanced at Rainbow a moment. "Sparkly piece have you? Sense it, I do." it said. Rainbow held up the shard she was carrying. "Yeah, it is sparkly. Oh! It's not yours, is it?" she asked. The Kron looked at it briefly. "Not ours. Across Twilight Cage hidden are sparkly pieces. Desire not the sparkly pieces do the Kron. Use one we do, but need it we don't." it explained. "Well, then, can we borrow it?" Copter asked. The Kron glanced back in the direction it had come from. "Nocturnus you are not. If against them you are, each other we may help. Land here, Nocturnus has. Them you rid us of, and sparkly piece give you I will." it suggested. Copter glanced at Punchy a moment. He simply shrugged at the idea, so Copter gave his answer. "Uh, Deal we have... Or whatever. Where are these Nocturnus jerks?"

Elsewhere in the colony, Guard was checking out a strange energy he was sensing. The source of the energy was in a cave, and guard went inside alone to check it out. When he emerged from the cave, he was holding a shard similar to the one Rainbow had found earlier. "Grrrr... Is this object what the crew was searching for?" Guard asked Gemini. She didn't seem sure. "It might be. It looks like the other one, but I wouldn't know if it has the same type of energy..." she said. Razor tapped his foot impatiently. "Who really cares? Take it with us, I guess, but we gotta get back to looking for Tommy! I can't imagine what he must be going through right now..." he said, taking the shard from Gemini. As they started to leave, Jak and Nova approached them! "So, I see you found something, there! Hand it over!" Jak demanded. Guard raised his scythe. "Grrrr... Back off!" he growled. Nova morphed his hand into a liquid form, and from it shot a powerful jet of water at Guard! He was knocked against the rocky wall, and fell to the ground, stunned! "Guard! Are you OK?" Razor asked. Nova pointed his liquid hand at him. "You'll see for yourself just how OK he is if you don't hand over that Twilight Shard!" he threatened. Not far away, Kosmo and Tommy were watching from behind a large rock. "We have to do something, Kosmo!" Tommy pleaded. Kosmo shook his head. "Nnnnope, no we don't. At the very least, I don't. I think I have a better idea..." he said mischievously. "But, what about Razor!?" Tommy protested. Kosmo ignored him and started to leave. Meanwhile, Jak was holding back Nova. "Don't hit them like that! You might damage the shard! I have a simpler solution!" he said, taking out a remote and pressing a button! The remote called several robotic allies of Jak to the area. They were Gizoids! "Take the Twilight Shard from them, Gizoids!" Jak ordered. "Not so fast!" came the voice of Copter! Looking behind them, Jak and Nova saw Copter, Punchy, and Rainbow approaching with the Kron! Jak immediately sent his Gizoids to attack them! Gemini pulled out her wand while her foes were distracted. "Abra-ka-blastra!" Her spell created a small explosion, knocking Jak and Nova out of her way! She quickly joined the battle against the Gizoids, but with the Kron's help, it didn't last much longer! As Jak stood up from where Gemini's attack had flung him, he noticed his ship in the sky! "What? Who's taking my ship!?" he yelled in his rage. Though he couldn't see from his position, Kosmo was flying the ship! Tommy looked down from the ship's cockpit, and seeing that the Gizoids were nearly defeated, let out a sigh of relief. "I guess Razor will be fine after all..." he thought. As Copter knocked out the last Gizoid, it looked as though they'd won, but it wasn't over yet! When Copter, Punchy, Rainbow, and Gemini reached Jak, Nova was nowhere to be found! Worse, Razor and Guard were gone, too! "Hey, where'd they go? What did your morph pal, do!?" Gemini shouted. Suddenly, Nova's ship appeared overhead, and Nova dropped a rope ladder from the hatch on the underside of his ship. "I got the Twilight Shard, and some hostages to boot! Let's go!" he shouted. Jak immediately grabbed the ladder, and the ship began to fly away!

Copter, Punchy, Rainbow, and Gemini returned to the Tsunami dejectedly. It seemed they would be stranded on the colony forever, and worse, Razor and Guard were at the mercy of their captors. As they stood around their ship, trying to think of a solution, the Kron approached them. "Look not so sad, furred ones. Done well you have." it said. Copter looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean, 'done well?' They got away with that... what was it? Twilight Shard." he said. The Kron held up what appeared to be another Twilight Shard! "Not ours, they took. Foreman Krag I have spoken to. Valiant you have been to stop Nocturnus machines. Allies we now are. This shard you may take!" it said. Char, who was listening from the entrance hatch of the Tsunami, flew out and snatched the shard right away! "Thanks, rocky! This is just what we need!" he said cheerfully. As Char flew into the Tsunami to make his last repairs, Copter and friends waved goodbye to the Kron, who walked away without another word. Next, Copter glared at Gemini suspiciously. "And what were you doing wandering around with the guys we barred from our ship?" he asked. Gemini looked at the ground sheepishly. "OK, I helped them stow away... Razor's brother is out here somewhere! It isn't fair that he should be left behind!" she explained. Rainbow pat Gemini on the back. "There, there, Wanda. You're right! We should try to help them all!" she suggested. Punchy crossed his arms. "After how they treat us all the time? Sorry, I'm just in this trip for the Master Emerald!" he said. Gemini didn't like his tone. "Fine! Who needs you! I'll help them myself! Hmph!" she declared as she stomped into the Tsunami. Alpha poked his head out next. "It's time to go! Where's the bathroom?" he said. Copter sighed as they boarded the ship. "Great, now we're gonna be stuck in a flying metal box with Gemini growling the whole way... Isn't this fun..." he grumbled. Once everyone was aboard, the hatch closed and the ship began to take off. Char was looking at a map displayed on the ship's monitor. "We're off for... That place... there! Whatever it's called! Think it has a name? Can I name it?" he wondered. "I don't care, just as long as we get there fast..." Copter replied. Now, they were on their way, without a clue where they were going!

Chapter 4, Act 2: The Zoah and the N'rrgal  (Dark Brotherhood: Sector Scylla)

On the way to the next colony, Nova managed to catch up to the Nocturnus ship Kosmo had stolen! "Kosmo's gotten on my nerves for the last time! Take this!!" Nova shouted, firing his ship's weapons at the Nocturnus ship! Kosmo attempted to avoid the blast, but his ship was hit! Inside, Tommy was knocked over when the ship was hit, and Kosmo was frantically looking for a place to land the ship! "Wh-what's going on, Kosmo?" Tommy asked as he climbed to his feet. "What's it look like? We're in trouble! I see a planetoid nearby, though. Hang on, I'm gonna try to land this thing!!" he said. Luckily, back on Nova's ship, Jak began fighting with Nova. "What are you doing, you fool!? Don't destroy my ship!!" he yelled, grabbing for the controls and causing Nova's ship to spin out!

Kosmo managed to land the ship on the closest colony to the Kron Colony. It was a dark place, with several black colored buildings and gun turrets all around. It was known as the Zoah Colony. "Gee, good thing this was a Nocturnus ship, or the inhabitants here might've shot us down..." Kosmo said as he and Tommy climbed out of the ship. A tall creature that appeared to be wearing black armor was waiting outside the ship. "We noticed you were already damaged, so we decided to find out why. Now, I think I get it. You aren't Nocturnus, you are their enemies!" the creature said. Tommy backed away from the creature fearfully. "Wh-who are you?" he asked. The creature laughed at the question. "Trying to fool me into thinking you don't know I'm a Zoah? Crafty N'rrgal spies. We'll just see what General Raxos has to say about this." he said. Kosmo thought about his options. "Is this... Raxos... in charge of this place?" he asked. The Zoah nodded. "Now be silent. Raxos will decide your fate!" Kosmo shrugged and started following the Zoah, with Tommy nervously following. It wasn't long before they met General Raxos, a very large and frightening Zoah. "N'rrgal spies! How did you obtain a Nocturnus ship?" Raxos questioned. "We're n-not spies..." Tommy stuttered nervously. Kosmo stepped in front of Tommy. "Leave this to me, kid. Look, uh, Raxy, that ship? OK, we stole it from the Nocturnus. But our problem's with them, not you, so..." Raxos clearly wasn't buying this story. "Silence! N'rrgal spies, I am growing bored of you. If you truly are against the Nocturnus, though, I will allow you to fight for your lives. Defeat my champion, and perhaps I will hear you out..."


Meanwhile, the Tsunami had landed on another colony. It was a very green place, but not green with plant life. The alien landscape was covered in slime. They'd arrived on the N'rrgal Colony. As the crew exited the ship, Gemini shuddered at the sight of all the slime. "Slime... Always slime... It reminds me of those disgusting Lost Ones..." she groaned. Copter was holding the detector, which was getting a faint signal. "There's at least one Twilight Shard here. Maybe we should find it..." he suggested. Before they could start to leave, a few of the slimy inhabitants of the colony slithered over to the Tsunami! "What are those slimies doing?" Rainbow wondered. Alpha backed away from them. "Oh, no! They're gonna steal my brain!!" he whimpered. The creatures attempted to latch on to the Tsunami, but an energy pulse coming from the ship forced them away! "What was that all about!?" Punchy wondered. Char took a look at the area the creatures had tried to latch onto. "I think they tried to... eat the ship... But that was weird. What made them run away?" he said. Copter smiled, having come up with the answer. "I get it. They don't like the Twilight Shard. That pulse was the shard's energy. It protected the ship!" he explained. One of the creatures slithered over to Copter. "That issss correccct, strannnge creature. We N'rrgal cannot absssorb the sharrrrds. You arrrre free forrr now. But we will innnform our queennn..." it said before slithering away. Copter, Punchy, and Gemini stared at the creature in surprise. "They can... talk!" Gemini stuttered. Char giggled with excitement. "Yeah, the Twilight Cage is cool! I can't wait to explore this place! Let's find a shard, Alphie!" he said. Rainbow seemed a bit excited, too. "Let's meet more aliens, too! This trip's getting fun!" she grinned. Copter, Punchy, and Gemini glanced around nervously. "Yeah... loads of... fun..." Gemini muttered. "Well, we better get moving. I didn't like that critter's talk about their queen..." Copter said. "Follow me, everyone!" Rainbow cheered, leading the way. Punchy rolled his eyes as he and the others followed. "She enjoys going everywhere..." he grumbled.


Kosmo had begun fighting with Raxos's champion, Commander Syrax, a slightly less menacing Zoah than Raxos himself, but still an imposing foe. Kosmo had transformed into a speedy hedgehog form, similar to Sonic, and was racing around, looking to see how Syrax would react. "Strange creature, you are. You can change your shape. This may just be interesting!" Syrax said, turning around in an attempt to catch Kosmo. He aimed his crystalline arm at Kosmo, then fired his Power Burst attack, which Kosmo skillfully avoided before launching a homing attack at Syrax's head! Syrax swatted him aside, chuckling at him. "Surely you can do better than that!" As the battle continued, Tommy and Raxos watched from the sidelines. However, Raxos's attention shifted as Jak stormed into the room, accompanied by a squad of Gizoids! "So, this is what you're doing about them? Raxos, I demand you cease this foolishness at once, and execute those intruders!" he commanded. Raxos glared at him disdainfully. "On what authority do you make demands of me?" he growled. Jak put on his helmet, which now resembled Shade's. "I am the new Procurator, Jak! I am authorized by Lord Ix to make demands of you!" he declared. Meanwhile, Kosmo's battle with Syrax continued. He'd morphed into his fox form, and currently had the opening he needed to deliver a powerful tail whip to Syrax's chest! Syrax fell over, defeated, and Raxos began applauding Kosmo's strength. "Sorry, Procurator, but I made a deal with this creature, and he has beaten my champion. He has won his life!" he said. Jak was furious with his disobedience, as could be seen when he removed his helmet. "If you defy me, you defy Lord Ix. We can't have that! I will leave you now, but these Gizoids stay! Shut down their power grid, and show these fools how disobedience is rewarded!" he bellowed, leading his Gizoids out of the room! Tommy sighed with relief. "I thought we were done for..." he sighed. "We still might be, kid. I get the feeling old Jak is going to retake his ship..." Kosmo said. Syrax looked to Raxos. "Orders, sir?" Raxos thought a moment, then turned to Kosmo. "Help us protect our power grid, morphing creature, and we will allow you to leave aboard the ship you arrived in." he offered. Kosmo winked at him. "You got it, Raxy!"


As the crew of the Tsunami explored the N'rrgal Colony, their trip was soon interrupted by the appearance of Nova's ship in the sky! "Time to mine this place the easy way... After it's uninhabited!" Nova grinned, firing his lasers at random areas of the colony! The N'rrgal began slithering around in a panic, and the crew of the Tsunami were forced to take cover! "It's that same morph again!" Punchy growled, glaring up at the ship. "He sure seems cranky. Did the slimies do something to him?" Rainbow wondered. A nearby N'rrgal heard Rainbow's question and responded. "Nnnno, thisss ship jussst arrived. It must be a Zoah attaaack!" it said. Copter shook his head. "No, it's just a morph with an attitude problem..." he said. Another N'rrgal approached the group. "Rrrregardllless, he is dammmaging ourrr colony! Plllease, if you helllp usss, we will helllp you!" it pleaded. "I don't think we can do anything about this..." Gemini said worriedly. Char smiled confidently. "Alphie can knock out his weapons, no problem! Right, Alphie?" Alpha looked up at the ship. "Think he has any ketchup?" the robot babbled. Copter looked thoughtful. "Yeah... This might work... Here's the plan..."

As Nova continued shooting at the N'rrgal, Copter suddenly flew towards his ship! He stuck his tongue out at Nova. "Hey, blue boy! Betcha can't hit me!" he taunted. Nova immediately began targeting him. "Fool! I'll blast his Twilight Shards out of him!" he growled, firing! Copter quickly scrambled out of the way, while Gemini covered him by firing bolts from her wand at the ship's cockpit! "Argh! Another one! She'll die first!" Nova growled. Guard and Razor, whose arms were tied, but not their legs, looked down and saw that Nova was targeting Gemini! "You slime ball! Don't target her!!" Razor said, tackling Nova to mess up his shot! "Grrr... You coward!!" Guard growled, kicking Nova from the other side! "Quit hitting me!! I'll crash and kill us all!!" Nova yelled, pushing them away! When he looked back outside, he saw Rainbow gliding by. "Nya, nya, Morphie!" she taunted, drawing Nova's fire away from Gemini! While this was diverting Nova's attention, Alpha was approaching Nova's ship from behind, with Punchy riding him! "Steady robot! We're almost there..." Punchy said. Alpha began spinning as he flew, making it hard for Punchy to hold on! "Wheee!! I can fly, but I can't dance!" Alpha shouted. Once they were close to the ship's guns, Alpha fired some shots at them, damaging them slightly. "My turn!!" Punchy said, jumping off Alpha and grabbing onto the bottom of Nova's ship! He climbed to the guns and punched them as hard as he could, causing them to explode! The explosion knocked him off the ship, but Rainbow caught him as she glided by! "You gotta learn to glide, One!" she said. "Maybe..." Punchy gasped, shaken. With his ship crippled, Nova began to fly away. "Fine! I'll go see if Jak needs help! Lousy crazy punks..." Nova muttered.

Copter, Punchy, and their companions met up back at the Tsunami, where they rested briefly. "Nice flying, Alpha... Now where can I throw up..." Punchy groaned. Gemini was smiling. "Did you see how that morph hesitated? I think Razor and Guard helped us! They're still alive!" she said. Suddenly, the group noticed a swarm of N'rrgal approaching them! "Uh... They do know we helped them, right?" Punchy said worriedly. When they got close, the N'rrgal began to combine, and in a moment, a massive N'rrgal was there! "Alert! Alert! Mustard approaching!!" Alpha shrieked! Char looked scared, too. "Don't eat us!!" he begged. The giant N'rrgal looked down on them, or at least, appeared to. "Do nnnot be alllarmed. I ammm the N'rrgal Queen." she said. The group still looked frightened. "Uh, should we bow?" Copter asked. The queen ignored his question. "I have hearrrd that you stooooped that attaaack. I have commme to thannnk you perrrsonally, annnd grant you a rewarrrd." she explained. "You're welcome, your highness!" Rainbow said. The queen spit something out, which landed on Copter's head! "Yeowch!! What's this...?" he groaned. Gemini picked it up off the floor. "It's a Twilight Shard! Ugh... It's slimy..." she groaned. "So, you're not going to eat us? Well, um... Thanks, your majesty." Char said as politely as he could. "You arrrre welcommme, friennnds of the N'rrgal. Farrrrewell..." With that, the queen split into smaller N'rrgal again, and left the area. One N'rrgal who was watching nearby approached Copter, who was still rubbing his head from having the shard dropped on it. "You mussst be honnnored, blllack onnne. I thinnnk the queen lllikes you!" it said. Copter had a look of abject horror on his face upon hearing that. "Uhhhhh.... Let's get outta here!!" he shouted, running into the Tsunami as the rest of the crew laughed at him.


As Jak was attempting to find his ship, Kosmo was battling with his Gizoid minions. Though the Gizoids could copy his abilities, Kosmo could use so many abilities that the Gizoids found it impossible to anticipate his moves. The power grid that the Gizoids were attacking was not far from a landing pad in the Zoah colony, and it was at this landing pad that Nova's ship soon landed. Having noticed this, Jak ventured back in that direction to greet Nova, who exited his ship with Razor and Guard following, still tied up. Tommy saw this, and could not hold himself back any longer.

It didn't take long for Kosmo to take out the Gizoids, especially since the Zoah were helping him, and when he saw Nova's ship parked nearby, he ventured there to investigate. There, he found Tommy facing Jak and Nova! "You are a foolish child. Why would you approach us alone?" Jak wondered. Tommy held out what appeared to be a Twilight Shard! "I found this earlier. If I give it to you, will you let my friends go?" he asked. Hearing this, Kosmo ran to stop him! Nova and Jak made up their minds quickly, though, and before Kosmo got there, the switch was made! "Sorry, Kosmo! A deal's a deal!" Nova said, holding up the shard. Glancing at it, Jak suddenly snatched it away from Nova. "Wait... Look at... This is a fake! It's just a regular gem!" he shouted in frustration! Tommy had already untied Guard and Razor, and they pulled out their weapons at this point. "Grrrr... A deal's a deal, you said!" he growled. Jak sighed in frustration, but then grinned at them. "OK, whatever. Keep your friends. I found a real one, anyway!" he said, holding it up as he boarded Nova's ship! As they watched Nova and Jak escape, Tommy looked up at Kosmo sheepishly. "Sorry, Kosmo. I had to save them..." he said. Kosmo crossed his arms. "Oh, well. They would have gotten away with that shard anyway, I'm sure." he said. Razor leaned down and gave Tommy a hug. "That was very brave, Tommy!" he said. Guard's growling interrupted the reunion. "Grrr... Have we forgotten how this started?" he growled, glaring at Kosmo. The Morph grinned at his hostility. "Well, if that's how you're gonna be, stay here! I'll fly away without you!" he said. General Raxos, who had just arrived, pointed in the direction of the Nocturnus ship Kosmo had arrived in. "You have kept your end of the deal. You are free to go, with my thanks." he said. "Don't mention it! See ya around, Raxy!" Kosmo said, walking toward the ship. Tommy motioned for Razor and Guard to follow, and they slowly followed Kosmo as Raxos watched. When they reached the ship, Kosmo turned to them and waved. "Good bye! I wasn't kidding! No hitch-hikers!" he said. "But we can help you!" Tommy protested. Kosmo shook his head. "I don't need help!" he insisted. Razor aimed his gun at Kosmo. "Now, listen! You kidnapped my brother, and I'm sorely tempted to pull this trigger! Now, either we all leave together, or only three of us leave! You hear?" he threatened. Kosmo didn't even flinch at the weapon. "I didn't kidnap anybody. He tagged along. And if he still wants to tag along, fine! But his guests better realize that they're guests, and I can silence them any time I please. Now if you'll promise to behave, one of you can drive! I can't really make heads or tails of this vehicle anyway. OK?" he offered. Razor lowered his gun, glanced at Guard, and then entered the ship without a word. "Thanks, Kosmo!" Tommy said as he boarded the ship. "Yeah, yeah..." Kosmo muttered. "Grrrr... You can't silence me..." Guard grunted as he entered the ship. Kosmo chuckled as he headed inside himself. "Charming fellows, really..." he said sarcastically.

To be continued...