Sonic GeneX: Doomsday
Arc 2 - Two Doomsayers
Chapter 16 - Forces Clash! Part 1
Stage 9 - Belltower Battlefield

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"I've got a feeling you are there,
Somewhere here in the atmosphere.
I can't escape there's nowhere left for me to hide...

Nowhere to run... Nowhere to hide.
Destiny will vanish forever." - Prison Hall, Sonic Forces


Previously on GeneX…
Lospecter had captured Tails' son from the future, Skye Prower, to use as leverage to keep Tails from using the Chaos Tailbands.
Copter and Gemini fought their way through the partially rebuilt Death Row to rescue Amy, Cream, Katie and Tommy from the Lost Ones.
Punchy had given up his Chaos Boots to the future Aurora so she could better protect Rainbow.
Lucky met up with his future daughters, Pepper and Minnie, who delivered a ProwerPhone to Lucky Jr. They got a call at that moment from Knuckles' daughter, Lara, who wanted Pepper and Minnie to help search for Skye.
Sonic helped GUN evacuate civilians from Central City, but he almost lost to Infinite along the way. This was causing him to doubt his ability to protect his friends.
After claiming a Chaos Emerald at Wisp Mine, Knuckles received a call from Tails, stating they'd found where Skye was likely being held, thanks to Lara's team. Eager to join the fight, Knuckles set out to meet up with everyone.
Now, our tale continues...


Sonic was speeding to Troblusk City to meet up with the gang that was going to help rescue Tails' son. He was still feeling a little rattled from Infinite's attack, but there was no time for idle worrying. He met Punchy and Heather at the base of Troblusk Plateau, the pair looking out into the city with grim expressions. The Lost Ones had swarmed Troblusk, just like Station Square and Central City. "We're sure this isn't madness, right?" Punchy asked. "Of course it's madness, but we can't leave anyone in those monster's clutches." Heather sighed. Sonic nodded. "Anyone else show up?" he asked. They heard Copter over the comms in response. "Yeah, us." Copter and Gemini were across a few city blocks, arriving near the train station. Amy and Cream were still with them, and they also found Razor the Porcupine and Vector the Crocodile guarding the area. Gemini hurried over to Razor. "Hey! Your brother will be relieved to know you're okay!" she said. Razor glanced at her. "What about this situation looks okay?" he grumbled, pointing his gun at the streets ahead being patrolled by slimy creatures. Vector gasped upon seeing Cream. "Why are you here!? Who's taking care of your mom!?" he babbled. Cream whimpered softly. "W-well... I don't know. I didn't mean to get kidnapped Mr. Vector." she babbled. While Amy was scanning the area for Sonic, Tails started talking on the comms. "Hey, guys. Shadow Arcangel's almost there. Are we ready?" he asked. Copter looked around at the group he was with, then glanced back to see Chopper panting as he caught up. "I very much doubt it." he muttered. Back at Troblusk Plateau, Sonic had quickly dashed to the peak to get a view of the situation. The Troblusk Clock Tower was looking strange, like webs of slime were encasing it in a cocoon. "Well, I think I see our target. Got a plan, Tails? Personally, I think I should go in alone..." he stated. "Hang on, Sonic! There's a couple things we gotta go over!" Tails said hastily. Sonic sighed impatiently. "Okay, you're in charge now, little bro..." he murmured.

The Clock Tower, the very place where the Doomsayer made his final prophecy, was the place the Lost Ones had taken over as a sort of base. That much seemed clear. Now, Tails had to figure out how to handle the situation with very little intel. "Listen up! Skye is not the only objective here. He... he can't even be the main objective, I realize. It's more important to get the Chaos Emeralds and Relics that the Lost Ones have in their possession, if they happen to be here." the fox reported. Gemini nodded as Copter was telling those without comms what was being said. "That's very practical, Tails. But don't worry, we won't let your boy down." the fennec said. Tails was aboard Shadow Arcangel, standing among Team GeneX as well as his daughter, Melody. He looked at her and nodded. "Those Lost Ones can't catch us off guard this time! We'll save him, and get that crazy key off Lospecter!" he declared. "That's the spirit!" Punchy replied. Zipp buzzed next to Tails, leaning against his shoulder. "Just one question... how?" he asked. Crash yanked the hornet away from the fox so he could concentrate. "Uhh... Very good question. Since nothing seems to touch Lospecter, I guess we'll have to wing it for now. Hopefully Sonic finds him, he might be the only one fast enough to snag the key." he babbled. Bucky was in the room with Tails as well, and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps I could determine a way to grasp something intangible like that ghost..." he murmured. Tails shrugged. He might as well not sugarcoat the situation. "Guys... There isn't really a plan. We go in teams, try to divide and conquer. Knuckles plans to join us but he's not here yet. We've lost contact with Shadow, and Silver and Blaze are... not coming. Seems they're still reeling from the trip to Blaze's world." he reported. This wasn't quite what anyone wanted to hear, but there was no sense delaying it. They had to get that key above all. It gave Lospecter too much power. Sonic zipped back down to where Punchy and Heather were, looking ahead into the city. "Alright, everyone... Let's do it to it!"


As Shadow Arcangel was flying over the monster-besieged city, Conan the raccoon glanced up at it from his hiding place in a dark alley. He stepped out of the alley to get a better look. "Ahh... Might some of the remaining Relics be up there? Or perhaps someone able to point me in their direction?" he mused. At the sound of footsteps, Conan spun around and pointed the Chaos Sword, eliciting a startled "Meee-YOW!" from the felines approaching him. It was Lucky and his son. "Oh, apologies. You're the boy I got this blade from. You're no threat." the raccoon murmured, "...Didn't know you had a twin." he added. Lucky glanced at his son with a shrug. "Nope, that wasn't Whisk coming out of the alley. I doubt she'd hang around a place like this." he murmured. Conan scoffed and started walking away. "You'd best not linger here, either! Now...bye!" he huffed. Lucky Jr. looked around uncomfortably. "Well, anyway, these are pretty much the coordinates Lara sent us. Skye's around here somewhere." he stated. "Hey, Thirteen!" Lucky yelped again as a voice called out from behind him. The cats looked to see Rainbow the echidna racing toward them. She looked rather distressed. "Hey, you're Punchy's wife..." Lucky murmured. "Aurora's mom!" Junior gasped. Rainbow nodded. "Y-yeah, that's right! But...but... See, Aurora was stickin' near me and her...baby self... to protect us. But the dumb goopy ones found us, and we had to get away, and now I can't find adult Aurora!" she babbled, wiping tears from her eyes. Lucky rubbed his head awkwardly. "Uhhh... Okay, but uh... Where's the baby?" he asked. "Mousy took her to a sitter... He wanted me to wait for him, but I can't leave Aurora out there!" she cried. Lucky and Junior both looked a bit flustered. It was bad enough worrying about Skye and Whisk, now Rainbow, too? But they couldn't leave her. "Come on. Nobody gets left behind in this darkness!" Lucky said, offering his hand to Rainbow. She smiled and took his hand. "Thank you... I'll... I'll follow you, Thirteen." she said with a sniffle.


Juice the hedgehog caught up with Sonic, Punchy and Heather as they were heading for the Clock Tower. He'd struck out on his own before Copter's group reached the city, eager to get back to his dad. Amy caught up with them from another direction, and was quick to catch Sonic in a tight bear hug. "Soooonic!! I worried for you! I'm so glad you're safe!" she cried. Sonic groaned in her death grip. "H-hey, Amy, how 'bout a little of that for your son??" he babbled, desperate to break away. Juice went pale. "Oh, n-not necessary..." he babbled. "Son... SON!? Eeeeeeee!!" Amy dove onto him immediately, and Heather couldn't help chuckling. "She's quite loving." she smiled. "Ugh, makes me appreciate Rainbow all the more..." Punchy sighed. Up above, Tails was flying down from Shadow Arcangel, with Fera joining him by flying on SPOT in hoverboard mode. As they made their way to Earth, Cream flew up to meet them. "Tails!! You're safe!" she cried, wrapping her arms around him as they gently lowered to the ground! "Blechh..." Fera groaned. "Cream, I'm glad you're okay, too..." Tails sighed, nuzzling her, "But... um... Our s-son...is in danger." he babbled with an awkward expression. "We really have a son?" Cream murmured with wide eyes, blushing. Fera hopped off SPOT and looked toward the tower. "A daughter, too. You're living the dream. But enemy territory is no place for mush, come on you two!" she said sternly. "Ah, yes, ma'am!" Cream nodded, Cheese chirping excitedly. Each of the three teams began to approach the Clock Tower from different sides, and as they did, a rain storm began to drench the city. Copter groaned. "I could use Dimentime's hood... Wait, hood... Damn, the Doomsayer!" he grunted, realizing who likely brought the rain. Lightning struck in front of the tower, and standing before Sonic's group as they approached, was indeed the hooded figure known as the Doomsayer!

The Doomsayer stepped towards Sonic. "Have you any concept of how foolish you are being right now?" he asked in his raspy voice. Sonic sped towards him in a fit of anger. "Outta the way!!" he shouted, launching into a homing attack! The Doomsayer side-stepped it with blazing speed. "Of course you don't. Ever the impulsive one." the hooded one said. Lightning struck at Sonic from above, knocking him backward! Amy and Juice rushed to his side, helping him up. This wasn't natural lightning. Another strike illuminated the roof of the tower, and the three groups looked up to see three hooded figures. One was the second Doomsayer. The storm picked up in intensity as two Doomsayers stood in their midst. To his right on the roof was the Darkseeker, who removed his hood to show that, indeed, it was Howler. Punchy held his head in disbelief. "Dang it, I didn't kill him hard enough!" he groaned. To the left of the Doomsayer on the roof was...the Deathbringer! "What? L-libra??" Gemini gasped. But the removal of the hood did little to relieve her, as this Deathbringer was shown to be Losipher, who smirked down at them smugly. "Hehehe!! Were you expecting a fox or a crow? Don't be disappointed... The original Deathbringer still resides with me..." he said darkly. Bucky could see him from the control room of Shadow Arcangel, and he shot lightning from his own fingers at the ceiling in his rage. "Mocking me!! He mocks me!! Wearing the robes of my Hope!! I'll kill you!!" the rat shouted. His shouts fell on deaf ears. The Doomsayer on the roof addressed the heroes below. "The side of Doom cannot be overcome. As you see from the returns of your old adversaries... We who dwell in the dark, we are immortal. We are forever. Your side, you are fragile. Take it from your time traveling youth. You all die. It is inevitable. Give up this pointless struggle." he bellowed. Sonic stood up with a defiant glare. "Never! We're here to take back what's ours!" he shouted. Lightning struck all around the tower, forcing the teams to step back. The Doomsayer on the ground stepped expertly past the lightning and spoke to Sonic. "Run, then, Sonic. Race to your demise. Know that before you fall, you will lose all that you hold dear!" With a final crash of lightning, the hooded figures had vanished. The tower was definitely on alert, but there was no turning back. The battle had begun!


During the distraction of the Doomsayer's little speech, Tails and his companions flew around the back of the tower and broke in through a window. Fera flew in on SPOT first, followed by Tails and Cream. The wolf looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "The Darkseeker's up there... I know by now that he deceived me." she said, clenching her fists with a soft growl. "Let's stay on-mission, Fera. Howler doesn't have anything we're after..." Tails said, stepping into the dark room slowly. "Eeep!" Cream squeaked as she stepped on something, and Tails and Fera turned around to see that she'd triggered some sort of button on the floor! The voice of Dr. Eggman rang out around them! "Hoo ho ho ho! Congratulations! You're the first to trigger my trap!" Then, the mine Cream was standing on started beeping. Acting fast, Tails dove into Cream, covering her with his own body as the bomb exploded behind him! "Of course, my adversaries are always too quick for a trick like that, so I hope you enjoy a bit more explosive company down there!" Eggman announced. Small robots that looked like bombs with stubby arms and legs dropped out of hatches in the walls, tucking their limbs in and rolling toward them! Fera was quick to zap some of them with dark lightning as Tails and Cream scrambled back to their feet. "That fat doctor's here, too! What is this madness?? ...Could Gunner be here?" she wondered as the robots she struck exploded! SPOT fired lasers to protect Tails and Cream from the other bomb-bots while the fox pulled out a scanner to track for energy signals that could lead them to the Chaos Emeralds or Relics. "Gunner wouldn't ever work with Howler. They're both supremists for their own kind. They wouldn't even use each other." Tails reasoned, pointing in an upwards direction. "We need to go that way." he stated. Cream nodded, and pointed at one of the bomb-bots. Cheese zoomed to it, kicking the robot into the air while Cream flapped her ears to fly after it! Then, she booted it right at the spot in the ceiling Tails had pointed at, blowing a hole in the roof! "There's our exit!" she shouted. Fera glanced at her with surprise. "I never expected so much vandalism from you goodie-goods. Maybe we're not so different..." she smirked, letting Tails grab her hand as he flew up toward the hole with Cream and SPOT following. The remaining bombs exploded behind them, but if Eggman was on the premises, there would surely be more to worry about.


Sonic led a charge right into the Clock Tower's ground floor. He was joined by Punchy, Heather, Amy, Juice and Razor, who like Amy and Cream had chosen not to stick with Copter and Gemini's group. It was a simple reason; Sonic simply inspired more confidence...more hope. As their group charged into the reception area for the tower, they found Lospecter hovering over the front desk. "You sillies think you're gonna take this from me?" he teased, holding up the Chaos Key and jiggling it to taunt them. A gunshot from Razor's pistol bounced off the gold key, but Lospecter maintained his grip. "Haha! You got moxie!" he chuckled. "You're going to pay for all the lives you've taken!!" the porcupine shouted. Lospecter floated back and pouted. "Us? We took those souls and made them eternal. You're the ones who go around stealing eternity from them when you kill our Lost Ones with your Chaos this and Chaos that." he grumbled. Heather stepped forward. "Eternity as a mindless monster isn't an eternal life worth having!" she shouted. "Easy for the immortal canary to say." Lospecter scoffed. Sonic shrugged, and then pointed at Lospecter defiantly. "Don't act like this is a discussion. You're not here as a savior! You're here to take over the world, like every other psychopath! And we're gonna stop you like the rest!" he declared. Lospecter wasn't listening, and instead turned the key towards the roof to open a portal. "Blah blah, have fun! Say hi to all those psychopaths for me, they're all here pretty much!" he snickered, flying into the portal as dozens of Lost Ones dropped out! Cuthburt and Corky seemed to be leading the swarm of monsters, all of them zombified beings like them. "Someone say we're just mindless monsters?" Cuthburt gurgled. Punchy cracked his knuckles and smirked. "Gotta be. You think you'll stop us!" he said. "Oi!" Corky shouted, "Any idea where dat colorful broad o' yers is at, green? I tried to get a li'l vengeance on her a bit ago, an' she took off like a coward!" he grinned. Punchy clenched his fists and charged. "Did you lay a hand on my wife and daughter!? I'll kill ya right!!" he yelled. Sonic leapt into the fray with him, bouncing off Cuthburt's head as he tried to bypass the monsters and get deeper into the Clock Tower! "Dad! Wait for us!!" Juice shouted, pulling a Wispon out to defend himself. "You're in good hands with Punchy and Heather! I gotta wrap this up before it gets outta control!" Sonic said, dashing on his own. He was worried about what Lospecter said. Beyond Howler, beyond the Lost Ones, what else could be waiting for them here? And could even he be fast enough to keep everyone safe against such odds?


Elsewhere, in a section of the tower with giant gears turning like clockwork, a flash of light dropped off Gemini and her friends. Chopper gasped as he wobbled atop one of the large gears. "Maybe warping in was a bad idea!" he stammered. "Shh! It is if you alert them we're here!" Vector snapped. They each jumped from the gears to a walkway and started to look around. "...Do you hear growling?" Copter asked. "Abra-ka-shine-ra..." Gemini whispered, pointing her wand to light up the dark area. Crystalline-looking canines snarled at them as they clung to the gears turning above. "Mephiles Biters!?" Gemini and Copter gasped at once. Chopper didn't care what they were, he pointed his Wispon and started firing colorful beams at the beasts, causing them to scatter! "Yeaaaah! That's right! Run away!" he shouted. "Unruly child. Why don't you take a time out?" Before anyone could realize whose voice this was, Chopper was struck by a strange energy that quickly drained him of his color, freezing him in place as a statue! "What the!?" Vector looked from him to his attacker, only to get struck by the same energy and frozen in his state of shock! Copter and Gemini jumped back as Mephiles the Dark floated down to them. "The gears of time, ever spinning on... As the wheel of fate once more brings me back to you..." the crystalline hedgehog mused. Gemini immediately fired a blast from her wand at him, which Mephiles simply shrugged off. "Such anger, and yet you reject the dark. You, who defied your masters..." he said to Gemini, "And you, who saw your own shadow destroyed." he stated to Copter. The black fox growled. "So not only are you still around, you've been spying on us?" he grunted. Mephiles held up the green Chaos Emerald as if to taunt them. "In a manner, yes. But I've been off the board for a while. I was freed from my purgatory, as my goals align with my captor... The complete annihilation of you and your friends!" he sneered, floating back up high into the clock tower! Chopper and Vector suddenly unfroze, but the biters were also crawling back towards them! "Hmm... So, he froze them like the Time Eater, but it doesn't seem like he can maintain that at a distance..." Copter murmured. "No time for babbling, Copt! Monsters!!" Vector shouted, winding up his fist and giving one a punch as it leapt towards them! Gemini stared up in the direction Mephiles had gone. "Howler, Mephiles, Ophi... This...is a trap!" she whimpered.


Sonic had sped his way into...some sort of office within the clock tower. He found Ophiuchus there, putting the finishing touches on a new wand. "You!? No way, we left you in an empty dimension!" Sonic recalled. The snake glanced back at him and hissed angrily. "If it weren't for you...YOU, my plans would have succeeded! I would be ruling over a new world... A new multiverse! I told you idiots... The Lost Ones win, regardless. There's nothing for us here! I need to play their side carefully until I am able to pry the Chaos Key away from Lospecter and escape safely to a universe they don't control now!" he told Sonic, clutching his new wand as light sparked from the multiple Chaos Stones welded onto it. At that moment, Punchy, Heather, Juice and Razor stepped out of a nearby elevator. "An office... ANOTHER office!? No, no thanks, I'm tearing this apart!!" Punchy yelled, starting to smash desks and copiers with his fists without noticing Ophi. However, Ophi had noticed them. "Ah... Sagittarius is here. Yes, he'll do nicely. Hypnoconquera!!" he shouted, pointing his wand at Razor! "Gaaah!!" The porcupine held his head, and then started to point his gun, first at Heather. "Hold on, now, Razor! Fight it!" she pleaded. Razor groaned, and then pointed his gun at Juice. "My name...is...Sagittarius!!" he snarled. As the gun fired, Heather leapt into the path of the bullet, falling to the ground in front of the shocked Juice! "H-heather, no!!" he gasped, bending over her burning body! "Gah! Hot!! No!" he stammered in panic. Punchy had noticed what was happening by now and raced to Razor, only to get a gun pointed at him, too! Sonic raced over there and yanked the weapon away from Razor while Heather regenerated. "Now he's no good to ya! Let him go!" Sonic shouted. Smirking, Ophi nudged toward the window, and Razor started toward it. "Isn't he supposed to stop US from jumping? Hey, officer!! Snap out of it!" Punchy yelled, chasing after him. Sonic charged at Ophi, and the snake fired concentrated light beams from his wand, slowing the hedgehog's approach as he dodged them! "This is a waste of time!" Ophi hissed, zapping the desk he was building his wand from and bringing it to life, causing it to gallop between him and Sonic and leap at the blue hedgehog, knocking him over! "Ungh!! What the heck was that!?" Sonic groaned. Ophiuchus shrugged and held up his wand. "Your friends are as good as dead, Sonic. Why do you think the Lost Ones made their quote-unquote 'base' so easy to find? Galaporta!" he said, warping away. Punchy tumbled backward, yanking Razor from the window as he snapped out of hypnosis. "Ugh... My brain... That was that snake again!!" he shouted. "Good sleuthing, officer. Now get off me." Punchy growled. Sonic looked at his friends with relief. They were okay, but for how long? "Juice, get out of the tower. As your dad, I want you to get safe!" he ordered. Juice opened his mouth to protest, but Sonic had sped off alone again. "There's no me without you..." he murmured. The elevator suddenly dinged, and Amy poked her head out, looking around at the busted office equipment, the burned floor, and Razor sitting on Punchy. "So, there you all are... What the heck happened?" she asked, "Also if anyone cares, frog and gator zombie got away from me... Even the bad guys leave me behind." she growled in annoyance. 


Shadow Arcangel was rocked by impacts as it circled the tower. Team GeneX had intended to provide support in this fight, but Dark Kosmo was back again, flying around the ship in dragon form and trying to do as much damage as possible. "All in all, I think you sssshould have left Kossssmo dead." Vortex hissed as he piloted the ship. Bucky growled, leading Crash and Zipp out of the control room. "We need to get to the roof and repel that thing!" he said. "I'll get my sniper rifle, unless Crash objects??" Zipp shouted, glaring at him. "Bring me one!" the rhino grunted. Zipp hugged him all of a sudden. "Finally, we're bonding!" he cheered. "Get moving!!" Bucky shouted, "I hope Melody can handle repairs while airborne!" he sighed. As they raced to defend the ship, Conan was flying with the Chaos Wing towards it, finding an entrance and slipping inside. "I'd best be quick and discreet..." the raccoon murmured. He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for, but he didn't believe that this group would be foolhardy enough to attack the tower without any special power behind them at all. As he snuck about the ship, he soon came upon the lab. He could hear voices inside. "Well, a little interrogation could go a long way..." he thought, bursting through the door! Bolt huddled behind Sonata as the pair of them cowered in the corner from the sword-toting stranger. "Excuse me, I'm looking for... Wha- Who the devil are you!?" the raccoon gasped, spotting Emily the Squirrel seated by the lab bench, reading a book. She looked at him with fright as he brandished his sword. "D-don't hurt me... M-my name is Emily..." she babbled in response to his question. Conan backed up a step, taking off his hat and rubbing his head with the hand holding it. "No... You're not... Emily. My Emily is gone... waiting for me to save her... with the power of the Chaos Relics!" he stammered. Sonata's horn glowed as he read Conan's emotions. "He's confused... Anguished... E-enraged!" he gasped. "L-l-let's get outta here!" Bolt whimpered, his head bolts sparking. Conan fired a Chaos Spear from his sword at their feet. "Silence!! Nobody leaves this room! Nobody gets away with this...farce!! She's not Emily...she can't be! How DARE that rat!!" he screamed. Emily recoiled from him, unsure what he'd do. "P-please, calm down..." she whimpered. This was not something he expected to find. Now, Conan had to determine how to handle this affront, this mad scientist's ploy. He raised his sword at the squirrel, agonized rage in his eyes...


Chapter 17 - Forces Clash! Part 2
Stage 9 - Belltower Battlefield

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"It's coming...It's coming...
Terror fills the air!
It's coming...It's coming...
Not a soul around seems to care!
It's coming...It's coming...
It cannot be stopped...
It's coming...It's coming...
This power can't be topped...
This darkness surrounds us,
there's no way out.
Doomsday is today!
Fiends come out to play!

The doom is here!
All quake in fear! " - It's Coming, Theme of The Doomsayer; by 2BIT


Conan held his blade toward Emily, clutching it tightly. He gulped hard, raising it. He hesitated, and then took a step to the side, raising his sword at a different angle. "Y-you... I'll... I..." he babbled, looking down at Emily's frightened eyes as she crouched in the corner in fear of him. The raccoon grunted as though in pain, and suddenly dropped his sword to the floor! "I can't!! I can't hurt you Emily, even if you are a fake..." he whimpered, looking to the ground, a bit disgusted with himself. Bolt let out a sigh of relief, then gasped. "I-is he still gonna hurt us?" he babbled. Conan bent down and picked up his sword. "I'm leaving. There... there's nothing for me here..." he grumbled, turning towards the exit to the lab. "Wait!" Emily squeaked, standing up. She was still dressed in little more than a buttoned lab coat; Bucky didn't have time to worry about fashion for her. She crept toward Conan slowly, her eyes troubled, wondering how this person knew her. Conan pulled the brim of his hat over his eyes and didn't look at her. "All in all, we're better off without one another. Yes, even as I was trying to bring my Emily back... I knew that with the things I'd done, I could never be with her again." he said quietly, "It would be worth it for her to have a full life, though..." As Conan headed for the door, a loud crash sounded somewhere in the lab! Bolt tried to recoil into his shell, though his head couldn't fit with his bolts. Sonata's horn glowed softly. "There's a furious presence in the ship... I think it's that Dark from before!" he warned. Conan lifted his head in alarm, and felt Emily grab his hand. "If you're not here to hurt us... Will you... help us?" she asked. Conan looked at her with great conflict in his eyes. "You're... just a copy... You're not her." he insisted, tugging his hand away and hurrying out the door. Bolt's muffled voice came from his shell. "Hey, if Bucky and everyone's fighting the Dark, and he's punching holes in the ship, are we...gonna crash? A-and...who's flying??" All good questions. Vortex was still flying, to answer one.


Hearing Knuckles' voice on the comms, Sonic slowed his feet to pay attention. "Finally made it, Knux?" he asked. "We're in the city..." Knuckles reported as he, Violet and Shade were arriving several blocks away, "Looks like those Lost Ones have really made a mess, just like in Station Square and Central City..." the echidna grumbled. Sonic nodded. "You don't know the half of it, Knux. We're at the clock tower. It's a party of evil's greatest hits. Uh... Howler's here." he murmured awkwardly. Knuckles stammered incoherently a bit before responding. "How did Howler get there before us?? He sealed himself in the mine!!" he babbled. Sonic tilted his head. "You knew Howler was back? Ehh, maybe ya told us and I wasn't paying attention..." he sighed. Sonic did have an unusual amount of things on his mind. The odds had been stacked against them before, but never quite like this. He was trying to stay positive, but he couldn't help fearing for his friends. At any rate, as he wrapped up his call with Knuckles, Amy charged up the stairs towards him. "So-niiic!! Stop ditching! Are we in this together or not!?" she shouted. Punchy, Heather, Razor and Juice were coming up the stairs behind her. "She's right, Sonic. You're no good to us running off alone and getting caught." Razor stated, "Even the best cops need backup." Punchy crossed his arms and shot Razor a smug glance. "That why you're here without your partner?" he teased. "Excuse me, who left his wife in danger??" Razor shot back. Amy turned and glared at them. "No fighting! Unless you want to yell at Sonic for ditching us!" she snapped. "Too late, he brought up his wife..." Heather sighed as Punchy and Razor continued bickering anyway. Sonic tapped his foot impatiently. "Well, if you all wanna stay with me, you gotta keep up!" he told them. Juice sighed tiredly. "Okay, but set the pace a bit easier, would ya, dad?" he groaned. The blue blur shrugged in response. He didn't want to outright say that he was better than all of them, and that they were more likely to get hurt... Maybe sticking a bit closer would be a good idea anyway. He could keep an eye on them.


Elsewhere in the tower, Tails was overhearing the conversation through Sonic's comms device. "Sonic, if Punchy and Razor are gonna shout at each other, could you switch to radio silence?" he murmured. "Ah! Sorry, bro!" Sonic replied before switching off. Fera sighed softly. "Thank you, I was contemplating removing the annoying device..." she said, scratching her ear. "Danger ahead... Caution..." SPOT said. Looking into the darkness ahead, they expected to find more robots, but instead, shadowy black demons leapt out at them! "Eeeek!" Cream cried, flapping her ears to fly out of reach as a shadowy bear tried to claw at her! Fera's good eye went wide to see these creatures. "These are from Demon Island!" she stammered. Tails was busy grappling with a shadowy fox that quite reminded him of Shadow Tails from the Dream Temple. "No time to gawk! We gotta take them out!" he grunted, spinning into a tail whip to knock the demon fox away! Fera knew that dark magic would have little impact here, so she drew a Wispon from a holster on her waist. "Where did they come from?" she questioned as she took aim at the bear terrorizing Cream and Cheese. "From me, of course..." Fera's fur stood on end as she heard the voice of the Darkseeker. She turned, seeing him step out of the shadows, removing his hood. "My prize agent, Fera... You have done well to make it here. Now you can take your place at my side once more..." Howler grinned, glancing at Tails and frowning. Tails was busy fighting the demon, but he still noticed Howler. "Don't listen, Fera! You don't need him!" he huffed, evading a demon's claw. Howler chuckled softly. "Weak little fox. How could he be the tailbands' chosen one? They are meant for my tails. I know you have them, Fera. Give them to me, and you will be rewarded... You will be spared the fate of these fools." he sneered. Fera looked from Tails to Howler. A dark energy surrounded her hands, warping the tailbands into them. She appeared to be considering his offer. "Fera!!" Tails gasped, grappling and straining against the powerful demon he was battling. Howler smirked and extended his hand. "It's no use, child. I gave her the strength you never could. She owes me..." he said. Fera clasped the bands in her hands. What would she do?


As Sonic led his group higher up the tower, they eventually came upon Vector, who was trailing behind Copter, Gemini and Chopper. "Yo! Where's Espio and Charmy?" Sonic asked, a hint of concern hidden in his voice. Vector turned to him and waved. "Hey, Sonic... Well, the whole Lost One invasion thing is such a big deal, we split up. Espio's out tracking a suspicious character, and err... Charmy's last message cut off but it might just be our lousy reception..." he reported. Punchy, Amy and the others ran up behind Sonic, catching up. "Anyone else think it's strange how few Lost Ones are in this slime-covered tower?" Heather asked. Vector nodded. "They definitely set all this up, but... Yeah, it's weird. With Mephiles and Howler and other baddies here, you'd figure it's a trap, so...why ain't they tryin' to swarm us?" the crocodile questioned. The sound of lasers was heard ahead, snapping them out of idle chatting and back to the matter at hand. "Sounds like Copter found trouble..." Vector sighed. They heard a crazed robotic voice down the hall. "Too many tails!! I want one! Gimmie!!" At the sound of this voice, Sonic groaned. "Maybe we should get Tails to fix Alpha, seems like Eggman never will..." he said, rolling his eyes. "Oh, I'll fix him..." Punchy grunted, only for Heather to grab his arm. "Did you forget what happened with Firma? Mephiles took her...soul." she reminded him. "Robots have souls??" Juice questioned. Amy shrugged. "Doesn't matter, Alpha like, can't be destroyed." she grumbled. As more lasers sounded down the hall, Copter's voice yelled in their direction. "Hey, Vector!! You planning on catching up sometime today!?" he shouted. Sonic shrugged and started running toward the laser blasts. "Hey, it's just Eggman! How bad can it be?" he chuckled.

Within a now-trashed room of the tower, Eggman had sent several robots after Copter, Gemini and Chopper, led by Alpha. As Gemini zapped the troublesome bomb robots with magic, Chopper used a Wispon to keep them at bay, and Copter led Alpha around the room, trying to avoid his erratic shooting. "You're the only one not shooting! Bad skunky!" Alpha yelled. "Eggman's not shooting!" Copter pointed out. Eggman then fired a laser at the ceiling to keep Alpha from being manipulated so easily. "Eh, worth a try..." Copter sighed, flying up into the air and using Chaos Whirlwind to blow Alpha out of his way! "Now, Despair and Gunner were one thing, but teaming with the Lost Ones, Eggman?? What is actually the matter with you??" the black fox shouted during this brief moment's reprieve from Alpha's shooting. Eggman frowned, rubbing his bald head as though he had a headache. "You know, Shadow said something like that to me as well. I don't know what you all expect from me. I'm an opportunist! When I see a chance, a shift in the balance of power... I will use it, I'll find a way to turn it to my advantage, and rule the world!" the doctor declared as Alpha flew back into Copter's path! Gemini and Chopper stood beside Copter, weapons at the ready. "You're gonna need better robots than that to take over the world!" Chopper smirked. Gemini groaned. "Why'd you prompt him?" she asked. Eggman chuckled softly and snapped his fingers. "You can test my latest experiments..." he smirked. Orbinauts floated into the room, but something was very wrong with them. Slimy tendrils erupted from their bodies and grabbed the spiky balls orbiting them! At that moment, Sonic arrived, with Punchy and Heather close behind. "Gaah! More Lost-Bots!!" Punchy yelped. "Magic 'em, Gemini! Magic 'em good!" Heather cried. Sonic shot Eggman a dirty look. "Always finding a new low, eh, doc?" he said.

Alpha flew over the group, shooting at random while the Lost Orbinauts crawled toward them, using those spiked balls like clawed feet for their tendril legs. Everyone split up to fight the small army of bots, while Sonic chased after Alpha. "Hey, Alphie! Come down from there! We have unfinished business!" Sonic shouted. "No blue!! I like green! Wheeee!!" Alpha flew away from Sonic and fired some shots at Razor and Vector, the porcupine acting quick to shoot back while Vector backed away. "That won't work! Let me try!" Vector grunted, rapidly chewing a stick of gum. "NO, Vector! We've got enough slime gumming up the works in here!" Copter shouted. It didn't matter because Alpha had changed direction in response to Razor's shots, and was now flying towards Amy, who was already in a bit of trouble as the possessed Orbinauts surrounded her. "Amy! Look out!!" Sonic shouted. She was busy smacking the spikes away from her with her hammer. "Get away from me! Aaah!!" As she smashed one of the Orbinauts, a mass of slime with angry-looking eyes leapt out of the broken body, moving towards her in an attempt to devour her! "Noooo!!" Amy cried, but in the next moment, lasers pelted the Lost One, getting its attention! Amy looked in confusion as Alpha landed between her and the creature. "Yucky yucky goo!" he babbled, shooting the Lost One several times until Gemini got there and finished it off with a flash of light magic! Alpha then flew away, and Amy stepped after him while Gemini was busy zapping the Orbinauts still there. "He... protected me?" she questioned. By now, Eggman was piloting his Egg Mobile towards the nearest exit. "I won't want to hang around here too long... Enjoy the tower!" he said, waving as he started to escape with Alpha. Copter began to chase after him. "Hey, you! Chaos Emeralds! Sol Emeralds! You got anything??" he shouted. Gemini, Chopper, Vector and Razor started to join him in the chase, but the others were sticking with Sonic. He'd go another way, and try to find Skye...


Dark Kosmo was busy trashing the room with the experiment containment cell aboard Shadow Arcangel. Dark Whisk, AKA Raven, was there as well, arms crossed and black feathers ruffled. "Yeah, fine, have your fun, trash everything. Just remember, Xezek died working for these creeps." she grumbled. "Who cares!?" Darkosmo shouted, smashing through the wall of the containment cell in the form of a raging, steel rhino. Bucky, Zipp and Crash had arrived in the room, ready to bring the fight to the darks. "I see you still have issues with your confinement. Well, if I can't send you to your room, I can send you to the abyss!!" Bucky shouted, his body sparking with electricity before sending jolts toward the Dark morph! Conan was attempting to pass this area on his way to the ship's exit, and he attempted to remain hidden, but Emily was following him. "Why did you come here? How did you know me?" she asked, pretty much ignoring the battle unfolding in the room, even as Zipp's bullets whizzed past them. "I don't know you, you're a lab creation." Conan insisted. Emily grabbed his hand. "We both know that you're just deflecting. Please, I... I need answers..." she whimpered. Conan didn't look at her. His ears twitched as he listened around him. "Look out!" he shouted, shoving her aside as Darkosmo's dragon form crashed into the spot they were standing! "Graaah!! KOSMOS!!" the dragon roared, zapping Crash with beams from his eyes, which set the rhino berserk! "Great, and he just threw that dragon..." Zipp groaned. "Contain Crash...without shooting him!" Bucky grunted. This left Conan and Emily alone with Darkosmo, and the dragon glared at the frightened squirrel. Panicked, Conan ran between them, pointing his sword. "She is no threat to you! How dare you threaten her! Now...die!!" he growled, thrusting his blade towards Darkosmo! "No, you!" the morph snarled, his scales turning to titanium to block his blade before he jabbed his own claws deep into Conan's chest! "G-gaaah!!" Conan dropped his sword and fell back into Emily's arms, and Raven warped over, picking up his sword. "Okay, we got a thing and got you some aggression therapy. Let's go!" she growled. Grunting, Darkosmo nodded and flew up through a hole in the roof, followed by Raven. Everyone gathered around the mortally wounded Conan, Crash rubbing his throbbing head, and Emily was tearing up. "S-save him..." she begged. At that moment, shining light came from behind them, and Experiment 20, Gideon the GeneX, approached them. Conan winced in pain, looking up at Gideon with surprise. It was in a form that greatly resembled...his mother. Gideon touched his forehead and sighed. "Violence... Why must the gift of life be so shamefully treated? But...you protected... Despite your flaws... So, I will return your gift..." Gideon said, its body glowing brighter, and causing Conan to glow as well as his wounds were healed. Bucky stepped away, holding up a walkie talkie. "Vortex, get us out of here. We'll have to leave Sonic and the others on their own for now..." he ordered.


Sonic had reached the bell tower, and was once again in communication with Knuckles as he walked between the massive bells ahead of his friends. "We're at the Clock Tower! On our way up, but... Did we miss the party already?" Knuckles asked. Sonic lightly tapped on the bell while he looked around cautiously. "Pretty much, Knuckles. We're almost to the top. I think you'd be better off waiting outside, 'specially since Eggman and snake-dude took off in a hurry. I think they know something we don't..." he warned. Knuckles scoffed. "I didn't come all this way to wait outside while Punchy fights on the front lines!" he said, while Sonic chuckled softly. He suddenly heard a familiar otherworldly whirring sound, and Sonic gulped hard. "Talk to ya later, Knuckles..." he said, shutting off his comms just in time for Infinite to drop down from the ceiling above. "Welcome, Sonic. This time, I won't lose power before finishing this!" he declared. "Oh, great!" Punchy snapped as he and the others stepped out from between the bells. "Should I know this loser?" Juice asked, tilting his head. This ticked off the jackal. "No... I can't be forgotten already! I brought the sun down to Earth! I terrorized you all!! Perhaps you need a reminder!!" he shouted. Sonic started towards him, planning to stop the jackal, but the Phantom Ruby whirred, and then the bells rang loudly, stopping them all and making them cover their ears while phantom headphones protected Infinite! The jackal then swooped down, kicking Sonic to his back before creating a red energy cage around the hedgehog, which started to slowly shrink around him! Sonic grabbed the bars, yelping as the energy scalded him. "Sonic the hedgehog, behind bars again. This time you won't escape..." Infinite said, adjusting his mask. Amy smacked her hammer into the bars, to no avail, while Punchy stomped toward Infinite. "You'll regret showing your mask again! Bring it on!!" he shouted.

As Punchy ran up to throw Infinite a punch, he was met by the jackal's blinding speed, smacked in the chest to take the wind out of him before being knocked into a bell with a tail whip! Heather tried shooting a jet of flames from her hands at him, but Infinite faded and appeared above, the Ruby whirring as he summoned a phantom of Chaos! "I wonder how your immortality holds up against water, firebird..." he said smugly. Heather backed away nervously. "Yeah, not good..." she murmured. Unable to free Sonic directly, Amy ran to Chaos and smacked him with her hammer, knocking out the illusion! "How come Chaos just takes a good whack but I can't destroy that cage!?" she complained. Sonic yelped as the cage continued to shrink. "Just get out of here, guys! It's me he wants!" he cried, not wanting to see his friends get hurt. Infinite gave a light chuckle. "I want all of you. And don't be foolish, girl. You can't break pure energy..." he said. Punchy was back to his feet at this point. "No, but we can break your stupid mask!" he growled. Infinite focused his attention on Punchy, but filled the room with copies of Chaos and Metal Sonic to keep the others busy first. "You look like a copy of the Resistance leader... How utterly...pointless." he said, duplicating Knuckles before Punchy's eyes. "You might as well be one of my phantoms..." the jackal taunted, creating several more copies of Knuckles to surround him, in various colors. Blue, pink, orange, yellow. He was mocking Punchy's existence, because indeed, he was a clone in another color. He had no deeper origin story than that. However, Punchy just smirked. "You know, we all have kinda bland origins when you think about it. Most of us come into the world screaming and crying... It's not looks that make you stand out... It's what ya do! Chaos Avalanche!!" he shouted, causing the tower to rumble as his Chaos power ripped the bells from their handles! He hurled them at the colorful echidnas, but... they punched the bells into ringing pieces! Infinite couldn't help laughing. "Nice speech... But your pitiful power is no match for the Phantom Ruby! Say your farewells!"


Meanwhile, Fera seemed to be deeply considering Howler's words as Tails and Cream struggled against the demons. After all, the fellow wolf had been the only person to empower her in her life as opposed to setting limits or imprisoning her. At least, that's what Tails feared her thought process would be. But as he struggled against the demon fox, he didn't have time to talk it over. It was up to Fera. She held up the Chaos Tailbands slowly. "That's it, my dear. You know what's best..." Howler grinned. "No, I don't..." Fera admitted, "But I do know one thing... Howler..." she said, her one eye suddenly glaring at him, "I'll never forgive you for selling me out to Anubis!!" The tailbands suddenly vanished from her hands in a burst of dark magic, and appeared in front of Tails' face! The fox reacted quickly, kicking back the demon and grabbing them as they fell! "Fera! Thank you!" he cried. Howler's hands started to glow black. "My disembodied spirit had no choice. You were failing me. If the Despair Seal fell into the wrong hands, I would not be standing here now. I had to do what was necessary to survive!" he snarled. "Not at my expense, you didn't!" Fera shouted back. "You became weak!! You let light into your heart!! Now I'll remind you the true power of DARKNESS!!" Howler roared, sending a chaotic arc of black lightning towards Fera, who did her best to deflect it with lightning of her own, but Howler was much too powerful and was overpowering her own magic! Tails slipped on one of the tailbands and smashed the demon he was fighting with a tail whip, destroying it before rushing to help either Cream or Fera. "Aaah! Can you hold him??" he asked Fera. "I'm TRYING!!" she shouted. Howler pointed a finger towards Tails. "You're part of this, too! Give me those tailbands!!" he snarled, sending another arc of lighting towards the two-tailed fox! Tails raised his two tails to block it, the tailband radiating energy as it attempted to keep him safe! He edged toward Fera and Tails, and Cream backed up into their backs while demons cornered her. SPOT watched all this, his monitor racing with data readouts. "There is...only one way." the robot stated, "...goodbye...father."

SPOT flew in between Howler and his friends, a lightningrod popping out of his back to draw the entirety of Howler's attack! "SPOT, no!!" Tails cried, knowing the robo-dog couldn't take it. Fera stopped firing her own lightning, watching with her eye wide as SPOT pushed his way towards Howler! "Pitiful machine... You cannot defy me!!" Howler snarled, pouring the full force of his dark lightning into SPOT, causing him to spark uncontrollably! Tails tried to run out there, but Fera grabbed him. "It's too late!" she told him. "SPOOOOT!!" Tails cried. In a moment, SPOT's body exploded, the force of the explosion knocking Howler backwards! With their master wounded, the demons abandoned Cream and raced to his side! SPOT had given them an opening to escape. Fera grabbed Tails and Cream, warping the two of them to another part of the tower with her dark magic. They emerged in another dark room, free of enemies for the moment. Tails dropped to the floor, punching the ground in defeat. "SPOT... No..." he sniffled. Cream held Cheese tightly, the pair crying softly as a brief moment of silence was observed for the noble robot. Once she felt they'd had enough time to recover, Fera tapped her comms device, but without SPOT to relay the signal, the comms were dead. Cream helped Tails off the floor, hugging him. "SPOT was a good dog..." she said tearfully. It remained quiet for a bit as the trio took a moment to mourn their loss and consider their next move, but the silence was broken by Lospecter's mocking voice. "Oh, boohoohoo! Your soulless pet is dead! Your actual future son is about to be dead, too. Widdle Skye's got a date with the Deathbringer now! After all, you just broke your end of the deal and used that power-up! So, say good-byeeee!!" he taunted, not even giving them a chance to spot him before his voice faded into the walls! Tails looked around in a panic. "Skye!! No! W-we've gotta move!!" he stammered. Fera nodded. "Calculated though your robot's sacrifice may have been, we can't let it be in vain." she stated. Though, with no idea where to look, was it even possible to get there in time?


Sonic's group found that their comms only output was static, an added distraction they didn't need as Infinite's phantom minions bore down on them. Caught off guard by the sudden static in his ears, Punchy hesitated and was charged by the colorful Knuckles copies! As he fell backward to the ground, Infinite hovered over the pinned down group. "A pointless effort from all of you... Sonic's time is up!" he said, his clawed hand raised toward the shrinking energy cage that surrounded the hedgehog. "Do whatever you want to me, but let them go!" Sonic shouted, frustration and panic mixed in his voice. Infinite scoffed at him. "So weak. Your compassion for your friends is why you will lose to the Lost Ones. They count on it. But never mind that...you won't even face them. Farewell..." he said, preparing to crush Sonic with the energy cage. However, he was surprised to see several of his Knuckles copies suddenly flung back at him before fading away! The red one seemed to be standing at Punchy's side. "What is this trickery? You can't control my creations..." Infinite murmured. The red echidna leapt at Infinite, giving him a solid punch to the Phantom Ruby! "I'm not a knockoff!!" Knuckles shouted. Violet warped in next to Amy and joined her in battling the Metal Sonic copies while Shade gave some Chaos copies a good smack with the Chaos Gauntlets on her way in! "Sorry we're late!" Shade said as she helped a relieved Heather to her feet. Infinite tried to repel Knuckles with a shockwave of energy from the Phantom Ruby, but as Knuckles was tossed back, Punchy leapt in and delivered another punch to the jackal! "How's this for a pointless copy!?" he grunted. As Infinite stumbled back in the air, the energy cage vanished from around Sonic. "Thanks, Knux! Hold down the fort here! I got a bad feeling about the comms bein' down! Gotta get moving!!" he said, speeding past Infinite while the echidnas blocked the jackal from following. "Leave it to me, Sonic!" Knuckles smirked. Infinite adjusted his mask and chuckled. "It's too late. This tower will be your grave. Goodbye..." he said, speeding off on his way and leaving them with those ominous words.


On the roof of the tower stood Losipher in the Deathbringer's robes, his symbolic way of mocking those who cared about the original Deathbringer, Hope the Raven. He held up Skye by the neck, grinning as he struggled in his grip. "This was always to be your fate... Be honored that your soul joins my collection, rather than being erased by time..." he sneered. As Losipher raised his free hand to strike, however, Sonic crashed through the stairwell door and spin-dashed into Losipher's cloaked body, knocking him back and causing him to drop Skye! He hurried to catch the falling fox, and rushed him to the doorway, only to find the Doomsayer in his path. "What is your hurry?" the golden-eyed being asked in his raspy voice. Sonic turned, determined to find a way out for Skye, but not only was Losipher looming on one end of the roof, but as thunder struck and rain pelted the city, the second Doomsayer had appeared across from him. Sonic set down Skye, looking at him grimly. "Careful, Sonic... They were keeping me here as a trap for you. They knew you'd reach here..." Skye warned. Sonic crossed his arms and looked at the Doomsayer in front of him. "I take it I'm supposed to fight Mr. Smiley over there for the right to take my friend outta here?" he assumed. As a bolt of lightning struck the roof, the Doomsayer took hold of the bolt like a great spear, holding it like a weapon! "Losipher is a mere spectator this time... If you wish to stop this world's end, you must prove yourself by facing me..." he challenged. The Doomsayer behind Sonic tapped his foot slowly. "Of course, the outcome is inevitable. I have seen all possible futures. My prophecies are not guesswork, but truth. You will fail to get your friends out before..." as his voice trailed off, Sonic turned to give him a questioning glance. "Before what?" he asked. Losipher chuckled demonically. "Before the explosives set by the doctor reduce this building to ashes..." he said ominously.

Sonic had to act fast, and there was no way to contact his friends, so he'd have to fight his way out and then find everyone before the tower explodes. With no way of knowing how much time there even was. He turned to Skye with a serious expression. "Stay back!" he said. The fox nodded and backed up. "Careful..." he replied. Sonic didn't have time for being careful. He leapt at the Doomsayer head-on, aiming to give him a taste of the classic spin attack! The hooded figure raised the lightning spear to block him, sparks flying from Sonic's shoes as they crashed against the spear! The Doomsayer then swung the spear, tossing Sonic across the roof! He skidded to his feet, and started to charge around the roof, looking for an opening. Lightning crashed around him, and he weaved to avoid it, unsure if the Doomsayer was controlling it or if it was just really bad weather. Spinning around to face him at incredible speed, the Doomsayer hurled his lightning spear directly toward Sonic while grabbing another bolt of lightning as it crashed beside him! Sonic's eyes widened, and he leapt over the spear, going into a somersault and sliding toward the Doomsayer, right under his next lightning spear as he swung it at him! Sonic sprang to his feet, right up close to the hooded figure, and kicked the lightning spear out of his hand, causing it to bolt across the roof out of control and nearly shock Losipher! The Doomsayer caught Sonic's next punch, and as another bolt of lightning crashed down to his other hand, the light illuminated his hood somewhat, enabling Sonic to see for an instant, a scaly face underneath. He leapt back to avoid the swing of the lightning spear, and pointed at the Doomsayer with intense eyes. "I know who you are! Of course, it's obvious! You... you're the leader of the Lost Ones!!" he shouted. The Doomsayer ignored him, approaching with another swing of his spear! Sonic backed up and called on what power he had. "Sonic Wind!!" A swirl of blue wind kicked up around the Doomsayer, stunning him, and Sonic launched into a homing attack! The blow knocked the figure back somewhat, and caused the hood to fall back, revealing the scaled, spiny, part hedgehog and part dinosaur face of Apocalos! The second Doomsayer's glowing eyes narrowed, and he turned to walk into the stairwell. Sonic pointed an accusing finger at Apocalos. "The whole time... Your prophecies were just a distraction while you built up your army to destroy us!?" he shouted. Apocalos grinned wide with his dino fangs. "Who's to say? I have seen much... The power I stole from Mephiles the Dark during the event where time collided allowed me to traverse history. I gave Howler the Chaos Crown and created the Darkseeker. I revived Hope and created the Deathbringer, to harvest souls for my army. I've been behind the scenes all along...the only thing stopping me from enacting my plan sooner were others with time travel, the Zodiacs... But this day is a blind spot for them. If any of us time travel out of it, the Zodiacs will destroy us. But whoever wins this day... Wins for all time!" he declared as lightning crashed around him. Skye looked thoughtful about all this. "So... Is the other Doomsayer a time travel duplicate of him?" he questioned. Sonic looked alarmed, though. "You're just telling me all this to distract me! Skye, we gotta get out!!" he cried, rushing past Apocalos and grabbing up the fox in his arms! The second Doomsayer was no longer in the path, but Apocalos laughed triumphantly. "The explosion won't harm we Lost Ones... We are eternal! You are nothing! Farewell, Sonic the Hedgehog!!" he cackled, Losipher starting to laugh along with him. Time was up.


Lucky, Rainbow and Lucky Jr. were following the trail of their friends through the city, hoping to find any sign of Whisk or Aurora, or to find any way to help at all. They were gradually getting closer to the Clock Tower, but they soon became glad they weren't too close. As terrible explosions began to cause the tower to crumble and collapse, the three of them looked on in utter shock. "One... Why do I feel this pain in my heart like One's in there??" Rainbow stammered while the three of them dashed for cover from the spreading dust and falling debris! They dove behind a car, panting to catch their breath. Then, another explosion went off and Lucky couldn't help shouting. "Mee-yooooow!! This is awful! I feel so useless AGAIN!!" he groaned. These events were taking him right back to the wars with Despair and Infinite. Junior slowly peeked his head out from behind the car and gasped. "R-run... We gotta run!" he babbled, getting up and taking off without delay. Rainbow took a peek at what had him spooked. "Yaaaaahh!!" she screamed. Lost Ones were swarming out of the fires of the remnants of the clock tower. Nightmarish creatures of various types were flooding the city. Lucky took a breath. "I don't even wanna look. Wait for me, kid! If anything happens to me, you don't get born, remember?!" he yelled, chasing after his son while Rainbow dashed ahead of both of them at impressive speed! "C'mon, c'mon! Follow me! We'll take cover in the church! Monsters can't go in there, right?" she babbled. The ProwerPhone started ringing as they were running, and Junior shouted into it, "We're a little busy trying not to get dead!!" The response on the other end came from a frantic Melody. "I see it! But my brother!! He was in there! You have to go back!" she cried. "Are you NUTS!?" Junior snapped. However, Lucky and Rainbow stopped in their tracks, turning around. "People are trapped in there..." Lucky murmured. Junior gulped. He knew they were going to try to go back. But was it worth it? Could anyone have survived the destruction they'd just witnessed...?


Chapter 18 - Lost Tomb
Stage 10 - Death Chamber

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"This is Knuckles, and you have reached the Death Chamber.
~Death Chamber, Death Chamber, Death Chamber~
From front to back all I see is thorns; I'm glad that I don't call this home.
~Death Chamber, Death Chamber, Death Chamber~
A lot of trick stuff that makes you fall into a trap." - Death Chamber, Sonic Adventure 2


Sonic had seldom moved as fast as he did during the destruction of the tower. With Skye in his arms, all the blue blur could think about was saving someone. Anyone. He leapt from the stairs to the collapsing wall, bounding his way to lower footholds as fire seared around him and slimy monsters swarmed out of the building. He could feel the frightened fox cling to him, burying his face in his chest. Faster...he had to move faster. He needed time to go back for the others! He arrived at the street below and continued running until they were a safe distance, setting Skye down and turning with intentions of going back. But a final blast erupted from the tower, a pillar of flame blazing up as the building collapsed into nothing but rubble and the Lost Ones began to swarm towards them. Sonic had no choice but to grab Skye and run further, away from the incoming danger of the Lost Ones. In a few moments, he had sped them to Troblusk Plateau, where after putting Skye down again, Sonic looked out at the burning section of the city before dropping to the floor and slamming his fist to the ground in defeat. "...Tails? Knuckles? Amy? ...Somebody answer..." he said with shallow breath, getting only static through the comms. Skye looked at him anxiously, rubbing the back of his head. If he hadn't gotten himself captured, could this have been avoided? His ears drooped as he felt a pang of guilt. However, one thought occurred to him. "Oh! Wait... I'm still here... That means...Dad has to still be alive, right? I can't be born in the future if he dies in the past!" he said, hoping to offer Sonic some small comfort. Sonic glanced at him with a cautious expression. Skye continued, "A-and if Dad survived, the others could, too... Right?" he said anxiously. Sonic got back to his feet, dusting himself off. "I guess we'd better find out..." he said, looking out at the city overrun with Lost Ones with tense eyes.


Far from the chaos unfolding in Troblusk City, Blaze had tracked Eggman Nega to the desert, joined by Silver and Marine. They were near the entrance to a pyramid, but found Eggman's Kiki monkey robots patrolling the area. This was an Eggman base. No wonder Nega chose to come here. While Silver made himself busy tossing the monkey robots' bombs back at them with his powers, Blaze took a moment to talk to Marine. "Look... I let you follow us this far, but... Things are only going to get more dangerous from here, Marine. You should really wait out here while we check out the pyramid..." she said. Marine looked absolutely taken aback. "Yer pullin' my tail! You'd leave your captain out here in this giant beach all by her lonesome?" she stammered. Silver stepped over after dealing with the nearby robots, and stood beside Blaze, looking at Marine seriously. "She's right, Marine. We have no idea what to expect. We might not be able to protect you. It's best you stay where it's safe." he told her. Marine wasn't convinced. "Hold a mo'! It was 'sposed to be safe back at home port! An' monsters showed up and ATE all our mates! I could get ATE while you're off havin' a walkabout!" she protested. Blaze crossed her arms. "Keep your eyes and ears open! If you see trouble, then hide! We'll try to come back as quickly as we can." she said, turning to Silver, "Come on, we should hurry before Nega takes control of this base!" Silver nodded and followed as the feline headed for the entrance to the pyramid, even as Marine stammered and fidgeted in place, desperately wanting to come along. "Ahh... I get it, mates... Every expedition needs a lookout. I'll holler if I see anything..." she murmured, rubbing her chin. As Blaze and Silver vanished from sight, she frowned, twiddling her thumbs. "O' course, I could keep a better lookout from close by. Watch yer backs. Eh, cobbers? Yeah, she'll be apples..." she babbled, slowly walking toward the pyramid...

The pyramid was pretty big inside, and at first glance looked like a pretty authentic ancient monument...until closer inspection revealed Eggman's likeness on many of the hieroglyphs and sculptures. "That doctor really is full of himself, isn't he?" Silver murmured as they explored. "Shh..." Blaze said, listening to some quiet sounds in the darkness. The whispers were familiar. "Lossss… Losssss…" The Lost Ones were even in the pyramid. "You know what? This is good." Blaze said. "Whaaaa??" Silver gasped. Blaze glanced at him. "The Lost Ones have two of the Sol Emeralds. If we destroy some of them, maybe we'll coax out Lospecter and be able to get the emeralds back...and maybe the Chaos Crown, too." she said. Silver shrugged as they headed deeper into the pyramid. "I guess..." he sighed. They were getting close to the end of the entry halls and the beginning of the "Death Chamber," and it was in this transitional area where they found the first Lost Ones latched to the stone walls. Slimy losol and loslime, nothing too dangerous, but they heard laser fire nearby. "Is someone fighting?" Silver wondered. Blaze tossed some fire at the losol clinging to the walls, grunting as she headed toward the laser sounds. "Probably Eggman Nega. Be ready!" she said. Blaze passed a doorway, fire in her hands and ready to attack! She was surprised to see Metal Sonic shooting a laser at the losol instead of paying any attention to her and Silver, though. "You're not Nega's robot..." she murmured. "Hey, Metal Sonic! ...Need some...help?" Silver asked. The robot grabbed a loslime in his claws as it leapt at him, shooting a laser directly into its face before tossing it to the ground. "I can handle any intruders myself... However, your offer of aid is acknowledged and accepted. My data collection on your fighting skills can use some improvement..." Metal Sonic said without looking at them. Blaze looked rather conflicted about this. "...I think I preferred him not speaking." she murmured. Silver shrugged. "Well...help is help." he said.

So, the trio continued deeper into the Death Chamber. With Metal Sonic on their side, they at least didn't have to worry about fighting Eggman's robots...unless they were possessed by Lost Ones. And of course, Metal Sonic was using his sensors to lead them directly into danger, since his job was to protect the base. As they hurried past some large sarcophagi lining the halls, Silver stopped briefly to look up at them. "Eggman really plastered his face on everything, huh..." he murmured. To his surprise, the sarcophagus began to rumble, the lid slowly opening! "M-mummies?!" Silver gasped, backing up in alarm. Something similarly creepy started to shamble out of the stone coffin. It looked like a slimy, rotted corpse. A dead body possessed by the Lost Ones? "Lossss...ssstalker!!" Silver yelped and leapt away as it hissed at him. Blaze and Metal Sonic turned around, and Blaze gasped to see the sarcophagi popping their lids all down the hall. Metal Sonic didn't wait for the creatures to creep out, instead zooming down the hall and blasting the stone doors, causing the rubble to collapse on top of them! "Robots have no fear of death!!" he bellowed. Shrugging, Silver used his psychokinesis to slam the stone door into the lostalker in front of him. "Zombies are actually not that scary." he chuckled softly. "Unless they've possessed some robots!" Blaze gulped, looking back ahead of them to see some E-1000 robots that were creepily merged with lostalkers, rotting limbs jutting out of their metal frames as they zoomed towards her with their boosters! Blaze leapt at them, covering her body in flames as she kicked the robotic shells, shattering them only to release the lostalker within! It grabbed for her, and Silver cried out in alarm, but Blaze's flames burned hotter, melting the creature's grotesque hands! Silver looked a little green, leaning against the wall while Blaze and Metal Sonic dealt with this. "I wanna go home to the future where there are no zombies..." he groaned woozily.

Soon enough, they moved on to the next room, where they found even more spooks! Spherical ghosts were flying around the room while lostalkers shambled about. There were spectral losohsts flying about as well. "Blaze... I don't think my powers can touch ghosts." Silver murmured. Blaze looked around and noticed something. "Look! The regular ghosts... They're fleeing!" It was true, they looked rather panicked. Metal Sonic didn't care, though. "There is no threat to Eggman's operations in this room. We will move on." he said, starting forward without emotion. "Well, that's cold." Silver said. They heard a shout behind them, causing them to jump in alarm, and then Marine sped into the room, chased by a losohst! "Go away, ghost! I wasn't bothering you!" she shouted, skidding to a halt as she nearly ran into a lostalker! "Strewth!! Crikey!! Yaaaaahh!!" the raccoon cried, ducking down and covering her head in an instinctive attempt to protect herself! Blaze charged in, tossing fire at the losohst, while Silver grabbed some crates in the corner with his psychokinesis and hurled them at the lostalker, knocking its head off! "Eeww… I mean, g-get away from there, Marine!" he shouted. The raccoon looked up to see the headless lostalker still stumbling towards her. She screamed and ran towards Silver. "I'm sorry! Sorry! I was tryin' to be the lookout! ...LOOK OUT!!" she yelled, pointing. Silver turned to see a lostalker behind him, and his panicked response was to rip it in half with his powers. He then grabbed his stomach. "I'm gonna go throw up now..." he murmured. Metal Sonic had hesitated at the exit to the room, listening to the sounds of combat. The robot turned with metal arms crossed impatiently. "If I leave you alone, who knows what chaos will follow. Very well... I will assist..." he said begrudgingly, heading back.

The ghosts fled after the Lost Ones were defeated, and although a lecture for Marine was probably in order, the four of them quickly moved on, and soon found their progress blocked by a locked door. Metal Sonic scanned the door as though not expecting to see it there. "Someone locked me out here. Only Eggman should have the authority to do this..." he said. Blaze rested a hand on her hip and sighed. "Must be Eggman Nega. He's why we're here." she said. "Can't Silver just tear the door open?" Marine asked. Silver was about to try when Metal Sonic approached the door. "That is unnecessary force. I can pick the lock. If Eggman Nega altered the security protocols it may take a bit, but he is no match for me... Just keep the creatures at bay until I am finished." he said, the tip of his finger popping open and plugging into the door's lock. Marine pouted. "My way'd be faster..." she said. Just then, a certain taunting voice called from across the room. "Oh, Sonic? Gemini? Buddy-poos? Come in, come in? What's that? Nothing but static!" laughed Lospecter as he floated through the back wall! Silver and Blaze looked at him warily. "What's all that about?" Silver asked. Lospecter smirked. "Haven't you tried to call them lately? Well, too late. They're all DEAD! Maybe if you'd been there..." His mocking was interrupted with a fireball through the face, which he just laughed off. Blaze growled. "You'd better be lying... You are lying!!" she shouted. Silver looked a bit grim as he attempted to use his comms device, but given how unreliable they had been, it didn't mean much. Lospecter shrugged, holding up the Chaos Key. "Figures you'd deny the inevitable. I was hoping for more of a reaction. Tears, swearing ooooh… Emotions are fun to toy with. Speaking of toys, look what we got!" he announced, turning his key to open a portal through which Loscream crawled out on writhing vines! Attached to his pumpkin stem was a mechanical device with a glowing green object inside it! Blaze's eyes narrowed. "So... This monster is somehow powered by the Sol Emerald!" she realized.

Loscream rose up, the vines on his underside starting to spin rapidly like propellers as he took flight! This felt like something the pumpkin lord couldn't do without the Sol Emerald's power. Lospecter "sat down" on one of the statues in the room to watch what was about to happen. "Nothing personal, your majesty, I'm just annoyed to have missed any souls from your world..." the ghost snickered. Silver stood in front of Metal Sonic, prepared to guard the robot against any attack while he worked on the lock. "Marine, you should get behind me, too!" he said seriously. Poor Marine was a bit transfixed with fear as the giant pumpkin monster flew towards her. "Oh...my...gourd...!" she whimpered. Blaze leapt into action, going into a flaming, twirling jump and crashing against the spinning vines, stalling Loscream's flight! "Have you ever roasted pumpkin seeds? Now they'll roast you!" Loscream growled, spitting seeds enveloped in Ghost Fire from his mouth like bullets! Blaze dropped to the ground and grabbed Marine, leaping away to avoid the ghostly blue fire that would turn them into skeletons! "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I should have stayed outside! I'm useless!" Marine cried as Blaze set her next to Silver. "We don't have time for self-pity! Stay back!" Blaze shouted, returning to the battle. Two of Loscream's vines stabbed into the ceiling to hold him up while the others whipped at the cat, trying to catch her in their grip! Blaze jumped one vine and burned the next, but her fire didn't seem to harm Loscream very much. Marine looked at Silver. "Go on! Can't you magic that Emerald right off that creeper?!" she cried. Silver's hands were glowing, his psychic energy quite active. "I can't get a grip on the Sol Emerald, or on the Lost One. Those monsters can't be affected by mental powers like mine..." he grunted. Marine rolled her eyes. "THEN RIP THE DOOR OPEN!!" she yelled. "If you do that, we can't seal the creatures in the passage behind us..." Metal Sonic stated. Blaze was tangled up in the vines at this point, groaning as Loscream tried to tear her limb-from-limb. "If you guys can do ANYTHING to help, now would be the time!!" she yelled.

Metal Sonic let out a buzzing noise. "Let me in!!" he growled, his body sparking and jolting the lock! The door then started to slide open! "Good, hurry and help Blaze while I check out ahead!" Marine stammered, turning for the opening door only to yelp with alarm, "STREWTH!!" Silver and Metal Sonic were surprised as well to see a massive ghost with a large, rainbow-colored tongue on the other side of the door. King Boom Boo! The massive ghost looked massively angry, and flew into the room, grabbing for Loscream's vines as he snarled angrily! Blaze dropped to the ground, watching the spectral entities clash with shock. "He...must be angry that the Lost Ones went after his friends..." she concluded. With Loscream distracted, Blaze decided to take advantage of the situation, even as Lospecter was getting up to intervene. "No, no, I'll just have to call in reinforcements!" he said, only to yelp as he felt the Chaos Key tugged by Silver's powers! "Hey!! Let go, you mental hedgehog!!" he shouted. "You let go!" Silver grunted. Meanwhile, Blaze leapt up high, bounding up the vines that Loscream was using to battle King Boom Boo, and made it up to the pumpkin's stem! "Give me back...the Sol Emerald!!" she shouted, smashing into the device encasing the emerald and causing it to go flying to the ground! With that, King Boom Boo gained an edge, and hurled Loscream into the portal he came from! To stop Silver's psychic grip, Lospecter activated the Chaos Key and struck the floor under him, opening a pit that he began to fall into! "What!? Aaaaah!!" Silver cried, his hand grabbed quickly by Metal Sonic! Lospecter then raced for the Sol Emerald, blocking Blaze's path to the gem! "Good effort, very nice. Shame you get nothing out of this..." he said, reaching down for the gem only for it to be snatched from under him! "Eh??" Looking back, he saw Marine running off with the Sol Emerald! "You forgot to look out for the lookout! Haha!" she taunted. Lospecter went to point his key at her, only for King Boom Boo to grab him! "Oh... You can touch me...!" he yelped just before he was thrown through the portal as well!

Blaze, Silver, Marine and Metal Sonic regrouped at the door, where they looked at King Boom Boo. The ghost watched the portal until it closed. "Umm... Thanks." Blaze said nervously. They weren't really sure what to expect from such a large ghost. King Boom Boo nodded and sank into the floor, leaving them alone. As they started through the door, however, Metal Sonic hesitated. "That device powering the creature was Eggman technology..." he stated, starting to walk away in the other direction. "Metal?" Silver questioned. "I need to know whether my creator aided them willingly, or requires rescue..." the robot said as he left the others behind. As Silver and Blaze turned to Marine, the raccoon smiled as she held up the green Sol Emerald. "Got yer glowy rock back, Blaze! How'd I do?" she asked in an unusually modest manner. Blaze smiled back at her. "That was brave of you captain. Here I thought you were afraid of ghosts." she winked. Marine chuckled softly. "Haha! Me? 'Course not! ...That huge ghost was so ripper, weren't it!?" she said, her trademark excitement returning. They all chuckled together, pleased with themselves, but the moment was interrupted when a voice came over the base's PA system. "I so appreciate you ridding this pyramid of those wretched creatures, princess!" The voice was all too familiar. "Eggman Nega!" they gasped. The doctor's laugh echoed through the base. "Didn't forget about me, did you? After all, you followed me in here in the first place...all just to get my Sol Emeralds back. Wake up, fools. Your world is over!" he told them, a mocking sneer in his voice. Blaze clenched her fists. "It doesn't matter. I'll get justice for my people, any way I can!" she shouted. Nega's voice continued. "I assume you just said something heroic, but...save it. I can't hear you. Just thought I'd offer you an alternative. Hand over YOUR Sol Emeralds to me, and I'll let you live... Hehe, I doubt you'll have the sense, though!" Nega said, his laughter filling the pyramid before fading. They'd gotten one Sol Emerald, but there were still three to go...


Deep in the pyramid, Whisk the divine was running away from something, a look of panic in her eyes. "Go away, go away!" she shouted, glancing back as she ran, "Yikes!!" She teleported to avoid a blast of ice as it shot past the spot she had just been. When she reappeared, she started to slip, the floor having been frozen by her pursuer! "Yaaah!!" Whisk cried, sliding down the hall! Behind her, E-6X Freeze, Eggman's icy blue Gizoid, was following after her. "You can run, fly, teleport as you please. No one escapes my frozen grasp! You will suffer for what your friends did to Firma!" he said coldly. Whisk held up her hands as the robot started to corner her. "Hold on, hoooold on... I was getting chased by Terra, yes, but I didn't do anything to Irma!" she protested. Freeze raised a frosted hand, preparing to encase the winged feline in ice. "What are you doing here? Who is here with you? Answer my questions now, or perish..." the Gizoid warned. Whisk looked around anxiously. "Well, it's an interesting story. You see, ahhh… Goodbye!" she said, vanishing in a flash of light as Freeze attempted to blast her with ice to stop her escape! His metal fist slammed into the iced wall in his frustration. "I've had enough. I'll kill any intruders on sight..." he growled. Elsewhere in the pyramid, Whisk reemerged, and with Freeze behind her, she sighed in relief. "Chaos, I miss having Lucky and Miles around... Everything's so much harder by myself..." she sighed, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a ProwerPhone. She tapped the screen and brought up some sort of scanner app. "Alright now... back to work, Whisk. Baaack to work... Ho hum..." she murmured, looking over the screen. However, the screen quickly went black. "Huh? ...Aw, buttercups..." she babbled, "Now what?"


Chapter 19 - Egg Sphinx
Stage 10 - Death Chamber

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"I'm falling free in the wind, in the wind.
Free to be me in the wind, in the wind.
What would it take for you to make,
A simple speed transition?
Into the known, from the unknown.
I feel this wild temptation." - Free, Sonic Free Riders


Gator's Crazy Adventure!!

Gator was now wandering the train tunnels, likely without an inkling where he was going. He was doing a rather unusual activity for him; Thinking. "There sure is a lotta death in this world after the 'ol crew stopped watching things. Maybe I should find a way to call 2BIT? ...Nahhh, he's the writer, I'm sure he knows all about this and has it covered." he babbled. It had been recently established that 2BIT was NOT the writer, though. Way to pay attention, Gator. "Thank you, narrator!" he said before tripping and falling on his face because how dare he break the fourth wall yet again. Also the train ran him over. "AAAAAA!! Owie! Owowow!! We have TRAINS!?" he wailed until he realized he could teleport aboard. His suit was covered in track marks but the immortal idiot was perfectly fine. He plopped into a seat and let out a tired sigh, turning to see Ridley seated across the aisle. "Hey, Mr. Tanuki... Where's this train going?" he asked dizzily. Ridley raised an eyebrow. "Tanuki...that's a new one. Well, this train's going to that one city... I forget its name... Resistance HQ was there. GUN set up one of its safe houses there, but if the Lost Ones have spread out that way, I may need to help 'em evacuate." he said, looking at his feet and having a nervous expression, "Time was, I'd run away from this kinda fight. Even now part of me screams to hide. But... I know Razor's out there. He's counting on me. He practically gave me a home when I was left an outcast after all that Despair drama... Can't let him down." He looked over at Gator and saw the costumed human was snoozing. Getting run over by a train'll do that to you. Sitting back, Ridley let out a nostalgic sigh. "I hope Raze knows... how I really feel about him..." he said softly.

"Zzzzzz... Zzzzz... Story...time..." - Gator


As Silver, Blaze and Marine continued deeper into the Death Chamber, it started to get oddly chilly. They began to find sections of the pyramid's interior had been frozen over somehow. "Looks like the air conditioner's on the fritz..." Silver remarked. Marine jumped excitedly. "Lookit that! Looks like the floor's all slippery! I gotta try this out..." she babbled, dashing off towards the ice before Blaze could say anything. "Mari-and there she goes. Every time I think she grows a bit, she regresses into this childish carelessness..." the cat sighed. Silver shrugged. "Maybe because she is a child...? Wait, how old is she?" he questioned, rubbing his chin uncertainly. They heard Marine shout and giggle as her feet slid on the ice. "Oi! Blaze! C'mere, cobber! You gotta give this a go!" the raccoon shouted playfully. Blaze rubbed her head in annoyance. "If robots come after us, we'd be at a disadvantage! I need to melt all this ice!" she insisted, stomping over in Marine's direction, "So, get off it! I don't want to burn you!" she said sternly. Marine glanced at her seriously. "Look 'ere, Blaze. I know it's dark and dire. Don't forget I saw our world get gobbled by monsters. But if ya don't let yerself have fun now an' then, yer face'll get stuck all frowny like that." she said. Blaze folded her arms. "I'm serious here, Marine." she said. Marine grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the ice. "I'm serious too, mate! C'mon, let's forget the doom and gloom for a bit!" she said, giggling as the pair of them went sliding away! Silver watched them with a soft smile. "Someone's gotta make sure we keep our humanity and not get consumed with revenge. Good work, Marine." he murmured. "Silver!! We finally found you!" a voice called. Looking around, Silver was surprised to see Fred the lion, accompanied by Adam the bat and Evelyn the fox.

Silver greeted them with concern. "Hey, uh... Is Gemini okay? You guys usually come with her..." he said. Evelyn shrugged. "Oh, Fred and Gem aren't much on speaking terms, you know. She didn't like the whole 'I was training you for Zodiac all along' thing he had going on." she recapped. Adam scratched his head. "I thought it was the lion thing? Gotta be honest, even I thought Fred was her father for a while..." he muttered. "You were the only one!" Eve retorted. While the pink fox and grey bat started bickering like an old married couple, Fred grabbed Silver's hand and pointed his wand at his palm. "I need to cast a protective spell on you. I should catch up with Gemini and do this, too. The danger to the timeline increases exponentially by the hour... I can at least keep you anchored in this timeline with this spell... Chronokazam!" Silver yelped as a burning brand emitted from the wand, etching an hourglass symbol into his palm briefly before fading. "Did it have to hurt?? And will that really do any good if..." he asked, his voice trailing off. Adam finished his thought. "If your grandpa dies in the past? You're a goner." he said. "Hopefully YOUR grandpa is tougher than you!" Evelyn snorted at the bat. Fred nodded. "Err, yes. To put it simply. Time is a bit more complicated than that...especially for us. The spell will slow down the process of your erasure from the timeline, though. It may give you time to do something heroic if you feel yourself fading. We've all been treated with this spell now." he explained. Silver rubbed his hand. "Well, thanks... I think. Too bad you don't know how Gemini's doing. We've lost contact with the other teams..." he explained. Fred, Adam and Eve exchanged worried glances. "We'll get moving. She may need our aid. Good luck, Silver! Galaporta!" Fred said, warping his friends away with him. Silver turned to see a path burned in the ice. "...At least I can find Blaze." he muttered.


Blaze and Marine had found Whisk the divine getting hassled by some Kiki monkey robots. They were leaping and grabbing onto the statues, torches, and whatever was in the room to give them enough range to toss their bombs at the winged feline. She wasn't in a position to warp away, either, because she had dropped her wand and was scrambling to get it back. Naturally, Blaze leapt into action to help, acrobatically leaping at the Kikis and giving them fiery kicks to break them apart and free animals that had been trapped inside for who knows how long! Marine raced to catch the animals as they dropped, but most of them turned out to be birds and started flapping their wings before falling far. "Crikey, that creepy mustache guy just turns everything into robots..." she babbled, "Oi! Wings! What're you doin' having a walkabout in this place, anyway?" she asked Whisk as Blaze was finishing up with the robots. "Hold on!" Whisk whimpered, racing for her wand, "Gotta pick this up before the magic, and my memories, go poof." she said, sighing with relief as she recovered her wand, "...Well, actually, my wings are technically the source of my magic and memories, but I can't focus it so well without my wand." Blaze looked around, and the area seemed safe. "Marine does raise a good question. This is a pretty random place to find someone like you." she said. Whisk chuckled softly. "Oh, you don't know me very well, I'm always turning up in random places! However..." she said, pulling a ProwerPhone from her pocket, "I'm actually here 'cuz of this thing. It's a bit of a story..." she began. Blaze fidgeted impatiently as Whisk started to tell her story. Did they really have time for a flashback?


Little did Lucky know back in Troblusk City, that Whisk was very close by. She had been looking for him just as intently as he'd been looking for her, but she had the advantage of magic to lead her to him. That magic led her to the city as it had been overrun by Lost Ones, the Clock Tower transformed into a slimy HQ for them. Despite the danger, she flew from rooftop to rooftop, keeping up her search, and soon spotted him talking to Rainbow down below. "Thank goodness, you're alright... Wait, there's two of him!" she babbled, noticing Lucky Junior there. She was about to fly down and join them, when a pair of lights flashed next to her, and her future daughters Pepper and Minnie appeared! "Yaah!! Eeep, so that's what it's like for people when I just pop out of nowhere!" Whisk babbled, looking at her visitors curiously. "You're...divines! What in the...?" she stammered. Pepper took her hand, looking at her anxiously. "This might be hard for you to believe, but..." Minnie interrupted in a much louder, more upbeat tone, "You're out mom! Teehee!" The news was certainly surprising. Whisk shook her head and squinted at them. Their fur might have been drastically different colors...but she could see a certain resemblance. "Ohmigosh…" Whisk gasped softly, glancing back down in Lucky's direction with a blush. Pepper loudly cleared her throat to get Whisk's attention back. "Very delicate there, Minnie. Oh, uh, I'm Pepper... Ugh, no time! We want you to come with us on a little mission we're doing!" she said hastily. "Toootally not that we just wanna keep you outta danger or anything, def need your help." Minnie nodded. Whisk smiled at her kids. "Well, of course I'll help... What do you need?" she asked. Pepper and Minnie glanced at one another, and Pepper held up their ProwerPhone...


Whisk showed Blaze the ProwerPhone as she finished telling her story. "I don't really know what all this is about, but we were tracking something with this thingy when robots made us scatter. I got separated from them and somehow ended up being the one holding the tracker. So, I'm trying to find what they were looking for even though I don't know how this thing works... But I figure it's better than waiting for them to find me. No sense trying to look for a couple of teleporters anyway." she shrugged. While she was wrapping up her explanation, Silver caught up to the group. "Hey... What's she doing here?" he asked. Marine looked at Whisk blankly before looking back at Silver. "Eh, she's just lost." she said to sum it up. "Hey...Silver? Long time no...see?" Whisk stammered as though unsure she actually remembered him or not. "Um... Yeah. Sorry I've been so slow, Blaze. I was kinda held up." Silver explained. Marine smirked at him. "He was havin' too much fun playin' on the slippery floor! Haha!" she teased. Whisk's feathers ruffled at the mention of the slippery floor. "Ahh... You came from the frozen area, didn't you? Yeaaah, one of the robots that was chasing us kinda did all that. He caught me by surprise, almost iced over my wings..." she murmured. Silver rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmm... I think I might have come across an ice robot before..." he muttered. Whisk chuckled softly. "Actually, I might have run into him before, too. Eggman's been recycling a lot." she said. Blaze tapped her foot, getting a bit impatient with all this. "Well, you can come with us, I guess. We'll probably have to deal with this robot anyway, so we might as well work together." she sighed. Marine shook hands with Whisk and giggled. "Welcome to the crew, cobber!"

And so, the four of them resumed exploring the partially frozen Death Chamber. Some of the ice was melting off without Blaze's intervention, as fiery Gohla robots floated around with fireballs surrounding them. "Aww, don't melt it! It's fun to slide around!" Marine shouted, shaking her fist at one of the Gohlas. The robot glared at her, made a buzzing noise, and suddenly a squad of Egg Pawns came running in from the side rooms, carrying Egyptian-looking staffs and with headgear reminiscent of King Tut. Whisk looked around at them and raised an eyebrow. "Why does Eggman like to dress up his robots?" she asked. "Why does Eggman anything..." Silver sighed. Blaze charged right in, jumping right into the fire of the Gohla first and easily taking it out, freeing a trapped skunk that scampered away hastily. Watching Blaze run into the fray, Marine got a bit excited. "Yeah, let's RUMBLE!! Avast ye!!" she shouted, going into a slide over the ice in front of her and heading straight for an Egg Pawn! The tip of the Egg Pawn's staff started to crackle, and Silver realized it was a taser. "Marine!! Watch it!!" he shouted, jumping and sliding onto the ice to chase her! His hands glowed, and he used his powers to shove the pawn aside as Marine slid by the spot where it stood! "I did it! Didja see?! That was ripper!!" Marine shouted, thinking she'd knocked the pawn over. Silver groaned softly. "Sure, Marine...sure..." he grumbled. While he babysat Marine, Whisk whipped out her wand and zapped any Egg Pawn that approached her with fiery magic, while Blaze took advantage of her fireproof nature to eliminate the Gohlas and save all the...skunks. "Ugh... Can we move on? It smells in here..." Blaze groaned once they were finished. "At least they're cute..." Marine said, holding her nose as she watched the skunks frolic.

They eventually came to a large chamber where a deactivated Egg Golem was slumped over in the center, a platform ringed around it. Eggman Nega's Egg Mobile floated above the Egg Golem. "Well, that thing's a piece of junk... Ah, hello there, Blaze! Silver! Still struggling to avenge the fallen? Their troubles are over. Better to focus on the goals ahead... the new worlds out there to conquer!" the doctor said to them. Whisk's eyes darted back and forth. "Worlds? What worlds! There's no worlds! I-it's a myth, we're all alone in the multiverse, hahahaha!" she babbled nervously. "Where do ya think we came from, mate?" Marine murmured. "So much for 'order...'" Whisk sighed. An ice blast whizzed past her suddenly, catching the group's attention! Freeze emerged from behind the Egg Golem! "There you are, intruder... And your friends. Old faces and new, it matters not. I will keep you all on ice for my master..." the Gizoid said, his hands steaming cold. Blaze scoffed. "Fire will beat ice every time. I hope that's not all you have up your sleeve, Eggman Nega!" she said mockingly. Nega stroked his moustache and grinned at her. "Well, it was a bit short notice, and I had to work with some of my ancestor's unfinished projects, but I have something... Apparently this world's Eggman once tried combining his machines with Gizoid technology...and there was some odd plot with the Master Emerald involved based on his notes, but that's unimportant! I have perfected his tech using this Gizoid he created!" Nega announced, snapping his fingers. As he did, a new robot dropped down from the ceiling on top of the Egg Golem, pounding it deeper into the sand! It was a feline-looking robot, and Nega slotted his Egg Mobile into its back! Then, its Egyptian-looking eyes glowed, and Freeze was drawn toward the robot, fusing into its forehead until only a vague semblance of his face could be seen, like a crown! Icy wings burst from the back of the robot, and Nega cackled. "Say hello to my Egg Sphinx! Now we'll see who the top cat really is, Blaze!!" Nega sneered.

Blaze jumped after the Egg Sphinx, but landed on the broken Egg Golem instead as the robot flew above the ringed platform on icy wings! Freeze's eyes glowed on the machine's forehead. "My power is unmatchable now! Your icy tomb awaits!" he declared, giving his power to the Sphinx to enable it to blow a chilling wind so strong that it iced over the ringed platform! Silver, Marine and Whisk found their feet frozen to the spot! "Aah!! Strewth!! I'm s-stuck!! This isn't fun anymore!" Marine shouted. Blaze growled, creating fireballs in her hands. "Just try to do that to me! I dare you!" she challenged. Eggman Nega snickered softly. "How about this, then?!" As the Sphinx flapped its icy wings, its pointed icicle "feathers" flew at Blaze like dozens of tiny daggers, aiming to cut her up! She leapt off the Golem and landed on the ring platform, running along the ice and tossing fireballs at the icicles to minimize the chance of getting stabbed! Meanwhile, Whisk had warped herself free of the ice, and was carefully using fire magic to try and melt through the ice holding Silver and Marine. "Hurry up! Blaze needs help!" Silver shouted. "Why don't ya just poof us on out like yerself?" Marine asked. "Well, we gotta get rid of this ice anyway!!" Whisk shouted, clearly a bit stressed out. Silver was stressed as well, watching Blaze struggling to protect herself while leading the Sphinx away from them. "Well, I'm not waiting here!" he growled, his hands glowing and the ice cracking under him! With a crash of the ice, Silver flew into the air, chasing the Egg Sphinx! Nega saw him coming and turned, sending the icicles in his direction, but Silver started catching them with his powers! Blaze took advantage of the distraction to leap up and give a fiery kick to one of those wings, causing the Sphinx to fall onto the platform! Freeze growled angrily, and a sweeping ice beam was shot from the Sphinx's mouth, trying to hit both Silver and Blaze! The hedgehog connected the collected icicles into a shield, blocking the beam while Blaze ran for cover as it turned in her direction!

It seemed Blaze was cornered, but Nega couldn't watch both of them at once. Silver floated over to Blaze, bringing his ice shield along and blocking the ice beam! "Eggman Nega… You can't understand how we feel, why we fight...!" Silver shouted, pushing back against the laser with the shield, "Because you don't have friends to fight for!" The shield suddenly covered the Sphinx's face, and Blaze had her opening to attack! "Give me back...the Sol Emeralds!!" she cried, hitting the Egg Mobile hard as she leapt at the Sphinx, knocking it off the robot! The Spinx itself then exploded, Freeze falling to the ground while Whisk stood across from him, pointing a smoking wand his way. "Ooops, I missed a piece of the robot..." she smirked. A frosty white Sol Emerald sparkled in the rubble of the Sphinx, and Blaze quickly grabbed it up while Nega started to fly off and Freeze hopped off the ring platform, the villains escaping. "I'll get those Sol Emeralds back, Blaze! Just wait!" Nega called back as he vanished into the shadows. Marine wiped her brow, walking over to the others now that the danger was behind them. "Aw, sorry I was stuck! I coulda given 'ol Nega a right thumping!" she said, playfully punching the air a bit. The ProwerPhone in Whisk's possession was beeping quite a bit, and a brief examination led them to realize it was detecting the Sol Emerald. "Well...that's interesting." Whisk murmured. "Hey! Mom!!" Whisk turned to the sound of Minnie's voice, and saw her and Pepper flying towards them. "Hey! I found what we were tracking!" Whisk cheered, pointing at the emerald in Blaze's hand. "Wait, you can't have this!" Blaze stammered. As Whisk's kids landed, Pepper took the ProwerPhone and frowned as she looked at the emerald. "No... That's not it. It must've thrown off our tracker." she sighed, making Blaze sigh in relief, too. "Well, good luck to you... We have to keep chasing Nega. He's still got one more Sol Emerald." Blaze pointed out. Marine sighed. "Crikey, I'm tired 'o him..." Silver was more optimistic, though. "Well, we've got 5 emeralds. Come on, girls! We're almost there!" he smiled. This would be where they'd part ways with Whisk and her daughters. They hoped that it wouldn't be the last time they'd meet...


Far from the desert, there was Shadow. He was attempting to make contact with the others via comms, but they did know full well that they might go out of range. Despite that, his group had a feeling of dread, especially Carrie. "I don't know what it is... I feel like...it may have been a mistake to leave the others." she murmured. Kosmo looked at her with uncertainty. "I mean, they've got people who've kicked my butt before. I think they're good." he said in an unconvincing manner. Shadow took the comms device out of his ear. "The fact is, we can't know..." he murmured, "But, Mephiles brought Lost Ones to mess with us. Our mission may be too important to go back if it's important enough to mess with." he stated. Carrie had a serious expression as she thought this over. "I'll go back, you go on." she said. Kosmo looked worried. "By yourself? What if you're right and it turns out dangerous back there?" he asked. Shadow hid a light smile. It was nice to see Kosmo showing genuine concern for someone. He'd come such a long way from when they met. Carrie shrugged at his concerns, though, and turned herself invisible. "Let them try to catch me. Not only can they not see me, I have psychokinesis. Honestly, I'm more worried about you!" she said, surprising Kosmo with an invisible hug before turning visible again, her pink eyes looking into his glowing yellow eyes lovingly. Shadow cleared his throat. "One way or another, let's get moving. The Gaia Remnants are close. I'm not going back." he said seriously, turning to go. Kosmo's entire body turned pink as though blushing, and he hugged Carrie back. "Be safe... Evil me is out there..." he whispered. "You be safe... See me later!" Carrie winked, vanishing before his eyes, her footsteps soon leading away. Kosmo turned to follow Shadow, and they could see it in the distance. A building-shaped hole where a Gaia Temple once stood. They were nearly to the Gaia Remnants...


Chapter 20 - Rumble with the Deadly Six
Stage 11 - Gaia Remnants

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"You're losing speed, you're losing your flow!
But inside me's a power you'll never know!
Let it out, it's inside you!
Better all stand back 'cause I'm coming through!
 
I see it, I see it, and now it's all within my reach...
I see it, I see it now, it's always been inside of me!
I see it, I see it, and now it's all within my reach! Endless Possibility!
I see it, I see it now, it's always been inside of me! And now I feel so free!
Endless Possibility!" - Endless Possibility; Sonic Unleashed


In Troblusk City, the Neon Tavern was somehow still standing. Behind the counter, Bill and Bob the brown hedgehogs were hunkered down, both clutching shotguns close to their chests. If any Lost Ones came slithering in there, they'd be sure to put up a fight. "Bob...let's move outta this dirty city." Bill suggested. "Uhh… I think it's a bit late, bro." Bob murmured. Hearing the door creak open, they jolted up, pointing their guns like soldiers poking out of a foxhole! But they heard panicked voices, so they lowered their guns. "Put him on a table! We need a doctor!" Amy's voice cried. Punchy backed in, hoisting Razor by the arms. "Could you actually lift, Illusi!?" he shouted. Illusi the shrew was holding Razor's legs. "Mind your tone, Light One, had I not shown up when I did, you'd all be in his state!" he grunted. "'Preciate ya droppin' the 'dark', but could you not remind me of Rainbow with the 'one' right now?" Punchy sighed. Heather, Juice and Amy followed behind them with concern as Razor's wounded body was placed on a table. He had severe burns going down his side, and was cut up pretty bad, too. Bill raced to his side. "Hey, officer... C-can I... fix ya somethin?" he stammered, sweating. Razor coughed hard. "I think... I've had enough..." he said, a pained laugh leaving him. The door opened again, and Sonic, Skye and Chet scrambled into the room. "Sorry I was late, guys... Oh, god..." Chet gasped. Sonic was silent, watching as a panicked Amy scurried around. "Don't you have any first aid in here!? We have to save him!" she shouted. Bob looked at her sadly. "We...can't." he whispered. Everyone looked at Razor with dismay as his breathing became more labored. "Ch-chet… I'm glad you're here... Tell Tommy I'm sorry, alright?" he huffed. Chet was tearing up as he stood beside him. "We'll...w-we'll take care of him, Razor, don't worry..." he stammered. Razor nodded, "I'm p-proud of you...Chet...You've grown...up..." he said, turning to Punchy, "You experiments...you're alright. I'm sorry... Gunner made me..." he coughed, and Punchy put a hand on his shoulder. "Save your strength! Y-you'll be back to bustin' our chops before you know it!" he stammered. Razor shook his head, his eyes drooping. "Tell Ridley I... I..." he could barely breathe. Sonic stepped toward him, lifting a hand, desperate to do something. But he couldn't. Razor died there in the tavern, as his friends shared in a somber moment of silence.

"...Razor was like a father to me..." Chet said after a while, "He found me on the streets, getting into shady stuff. He could've just tossed me in jail and let it be over. But he turned me around..." he sighed. Punchy nodded. "He turned Ridley around, too. He was a hero, in his own way..." he said. "And he died, still haunted by his demons..." Illusi stated, knowing the guilt Razor still felt over his turn as Sagittarius. Silence followed again, until Mephiles pushed open the door. "Someone's time...is over." he said as Bill made a futile attempt to blast him with the shotgun. "Mephiles!!" Sonic stammered, about to charge at him only to have his feet struck and turned solid white by the Time Eater power Mephiles wielded! "Unngh!! Can't move!!" he groaned. Mephiles then froze the others in the room quickly. "I'm not here for you..." he sneered, floating to Razor as Sonic struggled. "What are you doing!? Stay back!!" he shouted. Razor's soul emerged as a green orb above his body, and Mephiles grabbed it in his clawed hand. "The Lost Ones are not through with him... Or with you. Farewell, Sonic..." the dark said coldly, floating out the door with Razor's soul as Sonic struggled, stumbling over when the freezing spell wore off and his feet could move! "Whoa!! Dad, what happened??" Juice stammered, helping him up along with Skye. Sonic looked to the door and grit his teeth. "We...have to stop them... I have to stop them!!" he huffed.


Shadow and Kosmo finally arrived at the Gaia Remnants. There were seven around the world, the locations where the Temples of Gaia once stood before Light Gaia assembled them into a golem to combat Dark Gaia. That golem now slumbered somewhere below the surface of the earth, leaving building-shaped craters where the temples once stood. Ruins. Arriving outside those ruins, Shadow and Kosmo found a small group that had beaten them there. Sally Acorn had set up a bit of a camp, with equipment hooked up to a monitor outside her tent, and her Nicole computer plugged into it. Antoine the coyote and Bunnie the rabbit were nearby, holding hands as they sat together. They seemed very much a couple now. "What the heck are a bunch of Freedom Fighters doing here?" Kosmo said a bit loudly, catching their attention. Sally turned and waved to them. "Well, I've heard from Sir Charles that you guys might need my help again. Another potential global catastrophe, is it?" she remarked. Shadow shrugged. "It's always a global catastrophe, isn't it?" he murmured. Nicole's voice came from the monitor as the screen flickered. "Call incoming through the secure line, Sally." she reported. Bunnie smirked. "Good thing ol' Chuck hooked us up with that there phone line. My smartphone is just useless out here..." she groaned. Interference was still making calls through normal lines difficult. Professor Pickle popped up on the monitor, to Kosmo's surprise. "This guy? What's he want??" he babbled. The professor waved. "Ah, Kosmo! You made it! And I surmise that is Shadow with you. I'm calling in between my work on repairing the Scepter of Darkness to offer my expertise on the Gaia Temples!" he stated. Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Scepter of Darkness... We may need that later..." he murmured. Sally nodded. "Go on, professor." she said. Pickle nibbled a certain type of sandwich before continuing. "Ahem. According to my research, the Gaia Temples were much bigger on the inside than they appeared. There were entire basement floors that did not break off and join the golem during the fight with Dark Gaia! No one knows exactly what those basement floors are for, but texts reference a 'Soul Between Dark and Light.' It is referenced to hold power to tip the scales of existence to either the light or the dark." he reported. Antoine looked puzzled. "But what are all those babblings meaning?" he asked. Shadow looked to the Gaia Remnants. "It means...we'd better find this 'soul.'" he said.

Shadow, Kosmo, Bunnie and Antoine all stepped into the crater left by the Gaia Temple that was once there. Some stone from the structure still clung to the earth here and there, but overall, it was difficult to imagine what the temple had looked like. "So, where is this basement? Do we gotta dig it up?" Kosmo questioned. Antoine gulped. "That could be taking all of our night and day!" he complained. However, Shadow noticed something under some of the stone rubble. He stepped over and moved the rubble aside, finding a hatch in the ground. Opening it, he saw a stairway leading down. "I believe it's this way. Are you all coming along?" he asked. Bunnie nodded, twirling a Wispon in her fingers. "No tellin' what you'll find down there, sug… And Sally-girl can handle herself just fine out here." she said. Kosmo nodded. "You guys go on, then. I'm going to look around up here..." he murmured. Antoine looked at him in confusion. "But...there is nothing here...." he murmured, glancing up at the sky as though thinking that was what Kosmo meant. It was a pretty large crater they were standing in, though. "Hey, if that hatch was buried under the rubble, who knows what else might be." the morph explained. Shadow nodded. "Just remember that the comms are down. If anything happens, you're on your own." he pointed out. Kosmo smirked. "Just the way I like it..." he replied. With that settled, Shadow started down the dark stairway leading into the Gaia Remnants. Antoine was about to follow, but cleared the path for Bunnie, bowing politely. "After you, mademoiselle!" he said with a cute smile. Bunnie chuckled softly. "Such a gentleman, sugar-Twan. C'mon!" she said, grabbing his arm in hers and proceeding with him by her side. Kosmo sighed watching them. "Hope Carrie's alright out there..." he murmured softly.

At first, Shadow's exploration with Antoine and Bunnie was uneventful. The stairway went down a ways before turning and heading down in another direction. Eventually, they came out in an underground temple. The walls were greenish in color, stone etchings of Dark and Light Gaia on the walls. Antoine looked around in wonder. "Who could have builted this place?" he wondered. It was a very good question. But that wasn't what they were here to learn. "Stay close. You don't want to get lost down here..." Shadow said. Bunnie tilted her head. "Lost? It's a tight, underground chamber, how in the sam hill we gonna get..." Shadow struck a torch with his Chaos Spear, lighting it up and then placing the flame in a sconce at the end of the room. The fire spread from the sconce to an intricate lighting network, illuminating the underground chambers and revealing that they were, in fact, in a vast underground temple! Bunnie just gasped rather than finish her thought, but Antoine spoke up. "Tres magnifique! I am not believing my own eyes!" he remarked. Shadow's eyes narrowed. "We're not alone." he grunted. In the dark corners of the temple, creatures began to stir. Familiar horned creatures, emitting dark energy. They were Nightmares, pieces of Dark Gaia! Antoine shrieked as he saw them, and Bunnie raised her Wispon. "What in tarnation are these critters doin' down here??" she shouted. Shadow dashed ahead, going for the nearest Nightmare, which took a swing at him with its broad arms only for Shadow to leap up and bring down a mighty axe kick onto its head! "They're part of Gaia, and this was the Gaia Temple!" he grunted, "Are they the soul we're looking for?" he wondered. Antoine steeled his nerves and drew a sword from his belt. "What they are is hostile! Please be standing back, Bunnie! I will protect you!" he declared, heading forward with a shaky sword hand. Bunnie shrugged. "If I still had my robo-arm, I'd be dashin' ahead of y'all, but fact is, I can help ya better back here." she said, following behind him with her Wispon at the ready...


Meanwhile, Kosmo managed to discover an alternate hatch, a second entrance to the basement. "Well, I guess I should take a look around from this entrance and see if I find anything different..." he muttered, preparing to head down. However, he heard the whooshing sound of a portal opening, and turning around, he saw Lospecter floating there, yawning. "I'm overworked these days. Wonder if anyone else should have a go with this key..." he grumbled, turning the Chaos Key over in his hand. Kosmo crossed his arms. "Well, I know you're not about to offer it to me." he scoffed. Lospecter nodded lazily. "Yeah, yeah. Gotta give the spiel. We're gonna grab the McGuffin before ya, devour you and your world, yadda yadda..." he said with a yawn, "Sorry, I've given that kinda speech more times today than any maniac really enjoys. I'll give the floor over to these guys..." he added, reaching behind his back and pulling the Cacophonic Conch from somewhere! Of course, it had been the Lost Ones that stole it from Shade's house and smashed the Scepter of Darkness. Lospecter blew on the Conch, and out of the portal hopped the Deadly Six! Zavok, Zazz, Zomom, Zik, Zor and Zeena were all there, angrily holding their heads due to the noise of the Conch! "Vile spirit! You'd better hope you never lose that infernal shell!" Zavok snarled in a threatening tone. Lospecter looked at him with an unimpressed scoff and blew the Conch louder, making Kosmo grab his ears, too. "Ugh... Sure you fellas don't wanna team up with me?" the morph asked. Zazz leapt toward him, a rabid expression on his face. "I gotta bring the beat down on SOMEONE!! And who better than a furry little FREAK!" he yelled. Zeena shrugged. "Besides, it's not like we even CAN defy the Conch." she stated. Kosmo looked at the Zeti surrounding him and started to sweat. This amused Lospecter. "Oh ho ho! Look at the mighty morph now! You were so big before that a room full of people calling you 'freak' made you go all super-dragon! Now you're thinking of running?" he taunted. Kosmo chuckled. "I'm smarter than I was. I won't let these clowns distract me from the mission!" he said. Zomom pushed past Zazz and snarled at him. "Hey! I may be fat, and ugly, and make poor choices...but nobody calls me a clown!!" he yelled. Zazz jumped on him and started stomping his wide shoulders. "You SHOVED me, you clown!!" he shouted! Kosmo took this as a chance to race down the stairs, but he didn't get far before Lospecter blew the Conch again! "Don't hit each other, you clowns! After him!!" he ordered, "Oy, I've become so cliché..." the ghost sighed, rubbing his head.


Shadow's homing attack smacked down multiple Dark Bats as Bunnie and Antoine followed down a corridor behind him. There were quite a few of Dark Gaia's sentient pieces patrolling the Gaia Remnants. Shadow landed at the end of the corridor, peering his head cautiously into the next room. "It seems clear...for now." he whispered. Antoine wiped his brow and sheathed his sword. "Were these creatures not the ones from when the planet brok-ed apart?" he asked. Bunnie shrugged. "Beats me. I never saw any creatures." she stated. Shadow led them into the next room, a dimly lit area with more stone carvings on the walls. "I believe the creatures were fragments of a larger entity. So...what's it mean that they're down here?" he pondered aloud. "It means Gaia isn't sleeping too well!" the voice of Ozzie the morph startled the others as he followed them into the room. "Sacre bleau! Who is this!?" Antoine stammered. Ozzie raised his hands to show he meant no harm, and Starr stepped out from behind him; Kosmo's daughter! Shadow's eyes narrowed. "You seem to have tracked down the wrong morph." he said to Ozzie. The white morph chuckled softly. "Tabitha and Nova gave us the slip. I met up with Starr here, and we tracked you guys here. Nova will come after Kosmo eventually." he said. Starr nodded. "I've heard they were mortal enemies. But that's not why I'm here...hey, where's...my dad?" she asked awkwardly. Shadow shrugged. "On his own." he stated. Antoine and Bunnie glanced at one another, a bit lost. "Well, I guess, more the merrier. But how did y'all track us?" Bunnie asked. Ozzie and Star's eyes darted back and forth. "One of us maaay have planted a tracker on Kosmo…" Ozzie murmured. Shadow looked at them suspiciously. They really seemed to be in cahoots. Just who WAS Ozzie? "Kosmo's outside, you should have found him first." Shadow pointed out. Starr crossed her arms. "No he's not. He's underground, too... You didn't know?" she questioned.


Kosmo had taken the form of Shadow as he fled the Zeti's pursuit through the dark temple. Shadow's black fur would make him harder to see, even though his eyes still glowed yellow. The chambers that Kosmo reached first hadn't been lit up like the section Shadow had visited, so it was easier for him to vanish into the shadows. Zavok looked around with a sneer as he arrived, joined by the others. "Well, guess it's time to give up." Zor sighed. Zik bonked him on the head with his walking stick. "Fool! The darkness won't hinder us. It will slow him down more..." the elder Zeti said. Zavok nodded. "Scatter and find him. Then, bring him to me. I've long wished to prove my might by crushing a morph..." he sneered. And so, five of the six embarked on the search while Zavok stood by the entrance, ensuring Kosmo couldn't escape that way. Little did they know, Kosmo was hunting them as well. Once they'd separated far enough apart, Zeena heard a sound in the shadows. She turned with her painted claws bared. "Don't even... I will not wrinkle my face letting you stress me!" she shouted. Kosmo, still in Shadow's form, dropped down behind her and kicked out her feet, snickering as she fell over and dashing away! "Ooof!! Oww!! My hair!! You messed up my hair, you brute!! Ughh… I can't even see to fix it!!" she whined. Kosmo then moved around the dark chambers, finding Master Zik. The old Zeti glanced around with a light smirk. "Oh, I guess this is the wrong way. Well, my tired old bones can't catch up now..." he said, coughing softly. Kosmo hesitated to make a move. Something felt wrong about striking an elderly, sickly fellow. Zik tapped his foot impatiently, glancing around. "...not taking the bait? Very well, then." he said, leaping up suddenly and bringing down his walking stick like a club, smacking Kosmo across the chest! The morph was knocked into the wall, eyes wide. Zik knew exactly where he was. "I was training long before you were made, boy!" the Zeti snickered. Kosmo morphed himself into Zazz and leapt over his head, dashing into the shadows. "Did ya train to pick out a fake?!" he yelled in Zazz's voice. Zik smirked and spun around, smacking Zazz in the face as he approached. "YAAAAHH!? The heck is wrong with you!?!" he screeched. "You don't fool me, morph!" Zik retorted, smacking Zazz again! "GAAHH!! Gimmie that stick, you old bat!! I'll teach you to mess with me!!" Zazz shouted in rage. As he wrestled with the pink Zeti, Zik was beginning to wonder if maybe it was the REAL Zazz...


Shadow's group had just cleared another room of Dark Gaia's minions. It had certainly been easier with Ozzie and Starr helping them. "So, uhh… What are we even looking for in a creepy place like this?" Starr asked. "We'll know it when we see it..." Shadow said seriously. "We will?" Antoine murmured. After all, they really had no clue. They were about to head for the next hall to search when they heard some yelling coming from somewhere in the temple. "Get back here, you coward!! No one rips off my look!!" It was Zazz's voice. They looked around in confusion. "Where's that noise coming from?" Ozzie wondered. As if to answer him, one of the walls crumbled as Kosmo charged through, his hands in the form of large drills! "Oh, good! Now that I've found you guys, I can stop running around like an idiot!" he said, morphing back to his normal form. Starr looked a bit nervous. "Why are you running and destroying support walls!?" she babbled. Kosmo stammered to see his daughter there, but he had no time to work through his awkward feelings about having a kid. Zazz loomed behind him. "NOW I got ya!!" he yelled, only for Bunnie to zap him in the face with her Wispon's laser. "OWW!! WHY YOU--" Before Zazz could finish wiping his eyes, Zomom shoved him aside! Kosmo backed up to join his friends as Zomom squeezed through the hole in the wall. "Man, this building is tiny! And you! Stop running! You're making me hungry!!" the yellow Zeti growled. Zor shuffled in behind Zazz and Zomom. "Do you guys even need me? I mean, all of us together'll probably lose anyway..." he sighed. "Finally, one of you's talking sense!" Kosmo grunted, "Shadow, the Lost Ones sent these goons to distract me while they look for whatever's here!" he reported. Shadow looked at the trio of Zeti and scoffed. "Well, let's not let them distract us, then. Let's just sweep them aside!" he smirked. Zazz jumped up and down, eyes red with anger and laser burns. "That's IT!! Beat down time!!" he shouted.

Zazz hopped towards Kosmo, but looked around. "Now...which one of you zapped-AHH!!" he hastened to block another shot from the Wispon, and managed to see it was Bunnie. "Weeeell, hippity hoppity, your hide's my property!!" he snarled, leaping over Kosmo and raising his fist to strike the rabbit! "Oh, my stars! He's fast!" she gasped, peppering him with laser shots to slow him down! "Yow!! Cut it out!! Take your punishment, you lily-livered loser!!" the pink Zeti yelled, shrugging off the blasts and attempting to power through! Kosmo grabbed him by his tail, however. "Leave her alone, skinny..." he growled. Zazz looked back and laughed, lifting Kosmo up with his tail. "You think you can lift me, you puny wimp!?" he taunted. Kosmo fell back down with a thud as he morphed into Zomom, lifting Zazz up in his broad hands! "Ungh!! N-no FAIR!!" Zazz screamed.

The other morphs were faced off against Zor. "Why are we even doing this? The world's ending, we're all gonna die. Why not just embrace it...the beautiful inevitability..." the purple-haired Zeti murmured. Ozzie and Starr glanced at one another with perplexed expressions. "Well, if the world ends, I won't be born." Starr told him. Zor shrugged. "You'd be better off. Oh well, I gotta bring you pain now. I'd enjoy it, but ugh, the effort." he whined, leaping up and holding up a blue rose, which he pointed at them almost like a gun. Energy blasts shot towards the morphs, actually coming from Zor and not the rose, but he seemed to like the poetry of pretending to attack with a thing of pure beauty. Ozzie and Starr sidestepped the attacks, glancing toward each other. "You wanna take this or should I?" Ozzie asked. "Well, I have been bored..." Starr murmured. "Hey, come on. You ought to be more enthusiastic than me! Nihilism is my department!" Zor shouted as though offended. Starr shrugged and morphed some power armor around her, complete with an arm cannon. She then flew up above Zor with a jetpack! "Here ya go!" she said, shooting an energy blast of her own at him! He vanished, only for his voice to be heard behind Ozzie. "Like, you didn't really think I'd fight you myself, did you?" Turning, Ozzie saw three copies of Zor behind him! "Nuts..." he groaned.

Zomom was rolling like a huge wrecking ball through the center of the room, chasing a terrified Antoine as he ran for his life! "Oh, no-no-no and no again! I am too young and handsome to be a flatcake!!" he cried. The word he was looking for was either flapjack or pancake, but Zomom didn't like thinking about either as he popped to his feet. "Darn it, I'm already starving! Don't bring up cake!! Know what, I'll just have to take a bite outta YOU!" he snarled, cornering Antoine! "No!! I-I mean... No! I am not your dessert cake! Take this, cheese puff!" he shouted, drawing his sword and lunging it at Zomom, only for it to bend against his rubbery belly! "Hey, and you come with a toothpick!!" Zomom said with delight. "I've got something else for your dining pleasure." said Shadow, drawing the Zeti's attention. "Whatcha got? To be honest, I'm in the mood for somethin' crunchy!" Zomom babbled. Shadow leapt up to the Zeti's face and hurled his fist at him. "Knuckle sandwich!!" he shouted, smacking Zomom right in the teeth! As the Zeti groaned and rubbed his mouth, Antoine fled past him, and Shadow landed between them. "...That was more of an echidna move, but we don't have time for subtlety." Shadow huffed.

The hole in the wall crumbled wider as Zavok, Zeena and Zik pushed into the room all at once. "Some patience would do you young ones good..." Zik grunted. "You be patient!" Zeena scoffed. Once they were through the hole, Zavok looked over the scene and growled softly. "Barely slowing them down. Well, now that I'm here, we'll finish this!" he shouted. Shadow looked over the situation as well. It was certainly looking dicey, especially as Lospecter floated through the wall to join the party. "There you all are! Anyone find the McGuffin yet?" he asked, twirling his single Chaos Card in his fingers. Shadow backed towards the exit, and the others followed his lead, forming up next to him. "You're not kidding anyone, Lospecter. Surely you have minions searching for it as we speak." Shadow stated. The spirit shrugged. "No games it is, then. All the fun's being sucked out anymore. Go on, then. Kill 'em. They can't get away, Gaia monsters are behind them!" he smirked. Antoine looked to see and shrieked as he saw Nightmares gathered in the hallway! "No! We are doom-ed!!" he whimpered. Shadow's eyes narrowed. "I'm prepared to fight my way out..." he said, reaching for his restraint rings. However, it would not be necessary. A bright light appeared in the room, shining in the eyes of the Deadly Six! "Gah!! What is this?! A trick!?" Zavok shouted. Shadow and the others shielded their eyes, but found the light oddly AIMED at their foes, all coming from an orb in front of them. "Hurry! You're getting close! I will hold them off for a moment!" The voice heard was that of Tikal. Kosmo recognized it from the vision he had during the war with Despair. "Let's go, quick!" he said. "But how?" Antoine asked, pointing out the Nightmares behind them. "Follow my lead..." Shadow said, "Chaos Control!!" By the time the light faded and Tikal's spirit orb flew off into the darkness, Shadow had led his friends away and left the Deadly Six and Lospecter feeling frustrated. "Fine, boys, you're off the board for now..." Lospecter said, taking out the Chaos Key and opening a portal to send the Deadly Six away. The Zeti growled at him and headed through the portal one by one. Lospecter then tossed the Chaos Key and caught it, chuckling softly. "Time to put in a call to 'ol Mephy… I want that light ball removed from play, once and for all..."


Chapter 21 - The Gaia Wellspring
Stage 11 - Gaia Remnants

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"Only you can make any sense to me.
Though now apart, maybe somehow it could be.
Only time will tell if it's meant to be.
I'm yours alone even if you're not with me.
You will always be, be why I breathe.
Wish tomorrow would be that day that comes to make it up to you,
For all I never did.
Let me make it up to you.
Love is worth a chance." - Worth a Chance; Sonic & the Secret Rings


Having used Chaos Control to warp his allies to safety quickly, Shadow found himself with them in a hallway lit by the glow of Tikal's light. Antoine shivered at the sight of her. "I-I-it is a g-g-ghostie!!" he said through chattering teeth. Tikal began to float down the hallway, and Starr started to follow her. "I think it wants to show us something!" she said. Kosmo looked at her funny. "No questions, just off she goes. I have no clue where she gets it." he muttered. Bunnie grabbed Antoine by the arm and took him along as the group followed Tikal's spirit. Shadow watched the orb intently. "You... You're this Tikal I've heard of before, aren't you?" He wasn't sure where he'd heard the name, but it had certainly been tossed around at different occasions over the years. "I am... Though the trauma that led to my death had been resolved, my spirit has never been able to rest. I've remained, watching the world. During my time sealed in the Master Emerald, I was gifted with knowledge... The emeralds, you see, have a connection with Gaia, and as we slumbered, Light Gaia taught me of the threat by communicating through the Master Emerald." she explained. The six following her were able to ponder her words until they arrived at a chamber that was different. It was a large chamber with a hole in the center, like a well. A pale energy seemed to flow forth from the well, and as the group came into close proximity to it, they felt strangely refreshed. "Hey! I was all tuckered out, but all of a sudden I'm all fine and dandy!" Bunnie said, summing it up nicely. Kosmo looked around. The energy coming from the well seemed to radiate through the room, seeping into the walls, floor and ceiling. "Is this the 'soul' we're looking for?" he wondered. Tikal's spirit floated to the edge of the well, and then took on her true form, the tribal princess of the ancient Knuckles Clan! "This is the Gaia Wellspring. The soul of Gaia Itself flows from here!" she announced.

Shadow looked at the Wellspring, energy flowing from it. He breathed a deep sigh as the energy calmed him. "This is... Creation energy. It's GeneX." he remarked. Tikal nodded. "Gaia's power flows from these points buried under the temples, feeding life to the planet." she stated. Antoine peered down the hole curiously, gasping. It appeared bottomless. Ozzie cleared his throat. "This is all fascinating, but...we're more or less leading the Lost Ones right down here, so... What happens when they get here?" he asked. Tikal had a grave look in her eyes, and she clasped her hands as though in prayer. "We must not let them get the Gaia Wellsprings, not any of them! With their corruptive power, they would use the Wellspring to transform the entire planet at once! It would be the end of the world!" she cried. Kosmo grit his teeth nervously. "We're doomed. Lospecter has legions at his command, can teleport them at will, and can float through walls! How are we supposed to stop them!?" he shouted. "Ah! He is right! It is hopeless!! We are doom-ed!!" Antoine cried, hugging Bunnie as he started to sob. Shadow glanced around the group and rested a hand on his hip. "Really? You've come all this way to give up? Pull yourselves together!" he snapped. Starr nodded. "Right! Tikal must've brought us here for a reason!" she pointed out. They all looked to Tikal, who had turned to the well. "...This is my destiny. I will use what remains of my power to purify and shield the Wellsprings of the world from the Lost Ones! They will not win!" she cried, raising her hands over the well, her whole body starting to glow! "This will take time if I want the spell to spread to the other springs. You need to defend this place until I complete my task!" she asked them. They all nodded, Bunnie gripping her Wispon as Antoine drew his sword. "Oui! I will fight to my very first breath to protect this sacred place!" Ant declared. Ozzie shrugged. "I'd correct him, but I think he means it that way..." he murmured. There were multiple doors leading out of the room, so Shadow pointed around. "Everyone take an entrance... This may be our most important battle yet!" he said with utter seriousness.


As Lospecter attempted to follow the trail of Shadow, he found his forces blocked by the Nightmares. They snarled at him, and he snarled back. Mephiles tried to freeze them with his Time Eater power, but it didn't effect the Nightmares. "They come from another god... One that is more whole than I am." Mephiles reported. Lospecter whistled softly. "Ooooh! Guess we're on the right track! Yeeesss… I want the power of a god..." he murmured, "Buuut, I think I'll settle for his minions. Hehehe... This oughta be good. Kiddos think the Chaos Crown was just for controlling vines! I'll show 'em how it's done!" he smirked, pointing his key to open another portal. Mephiles glared at him. "Do try. It would be amusing to watch you disintegrate with too much Creation energy flowing through you..." he sneered. Out of the portal hopped the slimy form of Cuthburt, once again wearing the Chaos Crown. Lospecter zapped the portal closed and sighed. "One key drawback of true immortality. I can only play with so many toys! But I can whisper into my gator's ear..." he chuckled, floating up to Cuthburt and whispering instructions to him. The Lost Zombie nodded and stepped to the Nightmares. "As you command, master... By the power of this crown..." Cuthburt said, voice gurgling. Energy radiated from the crown, and then down through Cuthburt's feet, through the earth, and to the Nightmares. They screeched and held their heads, fighting the influence of the crown. But the crown held dominion over Creation energy, and if a being was not quite sentient enough on its own...the Chaos Crown could seize control! The eyes of the Nightmares began to glow a pale green as Cuthburt took control, and Lospecter burst out laughing. "Gaia's security is all ours! What a blast! C'mon, Mephy, let's eat some souls!" he cackled. Mephiles looked ahead blankly, hatred for his captors burning in his eyes. "I hope you all destroy one another..." he whispered, floating up to follow along.


There was a period of silent tension, where Shadow, Kosmo and the others stood guard while Tikal quietly chanted a spell. They knew Lospecter would reach them soon enough, so they had to be ready. Kosmo stood by one of the entrances with Ozzie and Starr nearby, and he watched them curiously. "Exactly what are you both doing here? You're not both my kids, are you?" Kosmo asked with a raised eyebrow. Ozzie laughed at the idea. "No, no... We showed up here together entirely by coincidence." he sighed. Starr stood with her back to the wall, arms folded and looking a bit sad. "You left me behind at the weird temple-ship. I came to the PAST to find you..." she murmured. Kosmo scratched his head. "I thought you came as part of some grand mission..." he murmured. Ozzie butted in without really reading the situation. "Funny you should mention the future, I came here because I got a visit from my actual future self! He told me to come to Earth and stop something, but then he kinda...fizzled out! I discovered Nova was here and thought I was here to stop him, but now I think the Lost Ones are the real threat... Considering this whole 'devouring a planet' thing." he stated. Kosmo looked at him like this answered nothing. "Exactly how well known is Nova back home? Do you know me? Fizzled out??" he babbled. Starr cleared her throat. "That means you die, Ozzie. You won't make it to the future..." she said softly. "You can't just casually drop a BOMB on me like that!!" Ozzie shouted. Kosmo scoffed at his questions being ignored. Maybe he'd never know about his past. Maybe he didn't even care. At that moment, Antoine yelped from the other entrance he was guarding! "Ahh, Th-the Night-terrors are coming back!" he stammered. Tikal looked up from her spell. "The Lost Ones have taken control of Gaia's defenses... Beware...!" she warned.

One of the Nightmares charged straight at Antoine, and though he yelped, he managed to block its claw with his sword! "Back! Back foul beastie!" he shouted. Bunnie fired shots from her Wispon to force the creature back, but more were coming. "I'm not sure how long we'll last, sugar-spirit! Hurry up and cast yer spell!" she said urgently. Kosmo could see more Nightmares approaching the door he and the morphs were guarding. Behind them was Cuthburt, wearing the Chaos Crown. "Your souls will feel my masters... Your bodies, we do not need..." he gurgled. "More are coming!" Starr pointed out, as claws tore open the fourth, unguarded door! Ozzie started in that direction. "Enjoy daddy-daughter time, Kosmo! I got this!" he shouted. "Yeah, or this is where you die!" Kosmo groaned. Shadow gazed into the darkness of the fourth entrance he was guarding, but saw nothing. He turned and looked at the others, who were quickly struggling against the strength of the Nightmares. Antoine and Bunnie together were barely keeping them at bay. Ozzie had to work overtime to push them back, taking on Zavok's imposing form to work on punching them back through the door. Kosmo morphed himself a robotic body and blocked the claws of the Nightmares from striking Starr. "Hands off my daughter!" he growled. "Dad! Stop! I'm the one that needs to protect you!" she shouted in a panic, turning toward Shadow, who was just standing there watching, "Come on! Help us!!" she shouted. Shadow stepped into the room, but didn't head for the Nightmares. "Not a Lost One in sight. Gaia itself can't corrupt the Gaia Wellspring. This is only a diversion." he said. "Some diversion!!" Bunnie grunted, standing behind Antoine and helping him push his blade against the slashing claws of a Nightmare! Shadow shut his eyes, his ears listening. "They want me distracted... The real attack can come from anywhere..." he whispered.

Bunnie stepped back and made some adjustments to the settings on her custom Wispon. "We're gonna need s'more oomph! Hope I don't run outta Hyper-g'wan energy..." she said, pointing past Antoine as he struggled to fend off the creatures with his blade. She fired a much wider, more powerful beam into the hall, knocking the Nightmares about! It didn't exactly destroy them, though. "Yes! More oomph! All of the oomphses!" Antoine shouted in a bit of a panic. In the meantime, Starr had taken on a sleek, slender dragon form, blowing fire into the passage to hold the Nightmares at bay. Her attack didn't reach Cuthburt, however, and the zombie gator's crown glowed brightly as he tapped into more of its power. "You are mighty creatures, but even a morph is no match for the Lost Ones...!" he snarled. Starr was about to blow more fire into the passage, when plant roots burst out of the ceiling and grew rapidly, grabbing up her draconian form in a tight grip! "Hey!! What the heck?!" she gagged as the roots wrapped around her throat! "Kid!! Morph out of it! Hurry!" Kosmo shouted. Starr groaned and struggled, and then shifted into a much smaller canary form, flapping free of the roots' grip! Cuthburt snarled. "You only delay the inevitable..." As he said this, Kosmo charged towards him in a spin dash, having taken a hedgehog form! He knocked aside Nightmares on the way to Cuthburt, but the undead gator stopped his advance with one hand! That hand snapped off when Kosmo bounced away, but as the Chaos Crown glowed, it quickly grew back. "I cannot die... I am doubly immortal..." Cuthburt gurgled. During all this, Shadow stood vigilant. "You won't sneak past me... Show yourself, Lospecter!" he grunted. Hearing a soft chuckle, Shadow turned to find Lospecter phasing through a wall. "Hey, hi, Shadow. Thanks for finding the McGuffin for us!" he snickered as Mephiles floated in through the fourth entrance. "Fate seems compelled to put you in my path. Personally...I've had enough of it." the Dark sneered.

A pair of LoShadows followed behind Mephiles, hissing as they floated there, taunting the Ultimate Lifeform. It had been difficult to destroy one of them back at Casino Park, and now here was Mephiles with two. "I thought it fitting to bring along this reminder of how you've failed. Look at your creator's research, perverted and twisted...and not for the first time. After all, are you not the professor's first real failure?" Mephiles said. Shadow crossed his arms. "How do you figure that?" he asked. Lospecter let out an amused cackle. "You had one job. You were created for one reason, according to my snooping... An experiment to help cure his ailing granddaughter." he smirked. Mephiles then raised a clawed hand, and Shadow's eyes widened as the ghostly form of Maria appeared before him, despair in her eyes as her spectral form seemed tethered to Mephiles' clutches! "Shadow!! H-help me!!" she wailed. Mephiles let out a sadistic laugh as Shadow stood there in shock. "She died in front of you... Your ultimate failure. Why couldn't you protect her, Shadow?" he taunted, "You are destined to fail. Simply give in to your fate, and I can reunite you with Maria..." the Dark whispered. Maria cried out to him, "I need you...Shadow..." The black hedgehog held his head, grunting. "That's... not Maria. She's at rest. You have no access to her soul!" he shouted. Lospecter grinned. "Willing to bet on that?" he asked. Suddenly, an explosion sounded behind them, and Kosmo and Starr leapt away from the entrance they'd been guarding as it started to cave in! "This won't stop me!!" Cuthburt gurgled. "It'll sure slow ya down!" Starr shouted as Kosmo turned to Shadow. "Hey, pal, need a hand? I think my kid can handle herself a while..." he said, stepping to Shadow and offering his hand. Shadow looked from Maria's ghost to Kosmo's smirking face. The past was past. He took Kosmo's hand. "Let's bury Mephiles where he belongs... A mere memory..." Shadow said, looking at the Dark defiantly! Maria's "ghost" then vanished, leaving a glaring Mephiles floating there. "You can't put the past behind you! It defines you!! You can't escape the march of time!!" he howled, swiping his clawed hand in anger!

Mephiles floated above them, purple energy radiating from his hands and feet. Shadow glanced at Kosmo. "Be cautious... I have the feeling that he was brought back without his time travel abilities, but he may have other tricks..." he warned. "Oh, he'll be preoccupied..." Mephiles sneered as the LoShadows flew out from behind him, charging at Kosmo! The morph backed up, trying to think of what to turn into to battle with ghosts. He shifted into Copter's form. "Well, wind maybe? What's he say... Chaos Whirlwind!!" Mimicking Copter, Kosmo whipped up a wind of Chaos energy, but it only seemed to mildly annoy the spirits. "Weeeell… Good luck, Shadow!" Kosmo said, leading the spirits out of his way. At about the same time, Shadow dodged a blast shot from Mephiles, and observed the floor turn white where it struck! "You're still merged with the Time Eater!" he gasped. Mephiles chuckled softly and dove into the shadows, vanishing into a black smoke that swirled about the room. "Try and stop me, Shadow! Your time is about to run out!" he taunted. Shadow glanced at Lospecter to see him creeping towards Tikal. "Chaos Spear!!" he shouted, pelting Lospecter with spears and making him back away! However, while he was distracted, Mephiles emerged from the shadows behind him, looming over the hedgehog! Shadow expected this, however, and quickly leapt up to avoid the next time-freezing shot from Mephiles! He flipped backwards and kicked the Dark, who was knocked back slightly, but then repelled Shadow with a shockwave of dark energy! "This struggling is futile! I was able to destroy the world once, and I'll see it ended again...once and for all!" Mephiles declared, creating a ball of dark energy in his hands that grew larger and larger, lifting it over his head and turning towards Tikal! Shadow appeared in front of him suddenly. "Every time you try... I will always be here!!" he shouted, leaping at Mephiles as his body glowed red with Chaos energy! "Chaos Blast!!" The explosion knocked Mephiles back harder, causing him to drop his ball of dark energy...onto Shadow. The black hedgehog fell to his knee, grunting in pain, and looking in shock to see Lospecter getting close to the Wellspring!

Lospecter reached out for the Wellspring. "The creation energy makes my ectoplasm crawl... But inside... I can make the whole world...lost!" he said with a giddy voice. However, his hand recoiled, and he saw a dazzling light surround the Wellspring! "No, no no! Hah! I have the ultimate key! Open Sesame!!" he shouted, pointing the Chaos Key at the barrier...only for its unlocking beam to fizzle out! "No, nothing can block out the Chaos Key! NOTHING!! Open up!!" he yelled. Meanwhile, more explosions were heard from the passageways, and Starr stepped out twirling the Chaos Crown around her finger. "There's a lot of things you guys didn't see coming just now!" she smirked. With the crown retrieved, the Nightmares turned on the Lost Ones, and ran straight for the LoShadows, their particular energy causing the mutant creatures harm! "Never thought I'd want to hug one of those monsters..." Kosmo said of the Nightmares, sighing with relief now that he was no longer backed into a corner. Ozzie, Antoine and Bunnie approached Lospecter, sword and Wispon pointed at him threateningly. "I think it's time y'all skedaddled on outta here!" Bunnie growled. "Oui! Or face my blade of the fury!" Antoine added. Lospecter pouted. "Well, I'm not leaving empty handed." he said, snapping his fingers. Before anyone knew what that even meant, Mephiles burst out of the shadows beside the exhausted Tikal! "No!! Get back!!" she cried as his clawed hand seized her throat! Tikal gagged, and reverted to her spirit orb form, trapped in Mephiles' clutches! Shadow sped towards him in a rage. "Let...her...go!!" he snarled, only to find Mephiles floating away from him quickly, meeting Lospecter at an exit portal. "Well, she cast her spell and bought you some time! No matter! The boss has had millennia to think about our conquest from every angle! We'll make good use of your friend's sooooul!" the ghost taunted, waving goodbye as he and Mephiles vanished into the portal! Shadow stared at the spot where they'd escaped for a moment, then grit his teeth and punched the ground. "...I don't mean to cause undue lightness to the mood, but... Didn't we just win?" Ozzie asked. Kosmo looked at the glowing barrier around the Wellspring. "...I'm not sure." he said, "But let's get out of here." he suggested. Shadow stood up and nodded. "We have to find a way to save those souls... All the souls Mephiles has taken. Tikal deserves...to rest in peace." he sighed. And so, with heavy hearts, they started on their way back to where Sally awaited them outside.


All of these events were being observed through a crystal ball. Tabitha had set herself up in a cave, and Nova was resting close by, barely stirring from his electrocution at Kosmo's hands. "Good, you're awake now..." the witch said impatiently. Nova groaned. "What the heck's with you? Why won't you leave me alone?" he said, pain in his voice. Tabitha looked at him with an amused smirk. "Ohhh, are you injured? Are you at my mercy? Hahaha..." she taunted, "Perhaps you'll grant me the mask for saving you...or in exchange for not killing you?" she mused. Nova sat up and glared at her. "If you put on that mask, you'll kill me anyway. Enerjak is beyond control." he told her. Tabitha sighed, using her broom to sweep up the dirty cave a bit, looking rather calm. "I'm afraid we must come to an agreement. Enerjak is our only hope of surviving the coming cataclysm." she said simply. Nova let out a pained laugh, slowly rising to his feet. "Is this a new tact? What cataclysm? What could possibly frighten a morph, hmm?" he said with a cocky grin. Tabitha set her broom aside and pointed at her crystal ball, magical energy lifting it up and drawing it closer to Nova! She waved her hands, eyes glowing blue. "Let's rewind here..." she purred. Nova watched Tikal explain the Gaia Wellspring, and he learned what would happen if the Lost Ones were to seize it. He watched the battle play out, but he shrugged at the conclusion. "What's the point of all this?" he growled. Tabitha rolled her eyes. "You fool! The Lost Ones are amassing power! If there's a way past the protection, they'll find it! We need to destroy them first! We need to be the greater evil... True evil!!" she proclaimed with a cackle. Nova raised an eyebrow. "And you think losing our minds to Enerjak will save us?" he questioned. Tabitha smirked. "With my magic, perhaps it will be us controlling the mask...so what do you say?" she asked, extending her hand. Nova sighed. It wasn't like he had much choice. He shook her hand. "Our pact is forged...let's get started!" Tabitha smirked.

To be continued... Zzzzt!! Bzzzt!! Bonus scene!! Zzzzt!!

Jet was busy polishing his racing trophies as he sat in his office aboard the Babylon Rogues' blimp. "How many of these beauties do you have, Sonic, hmm? Haha, don't say it's cuz you don't race as much! I say it's cuz you're scared to race!!" the hawk laughed to himself. "Talking to your shinies again, Jet?" Wave remarked as she strode into the office. Jet's face reddened a bit. "Feeling too self-important to knock again, Wave?" he grumbled. The swallow had a very serious expression. "Well, excuse me for paying attention to current events! Do you even know what's happening, Jet!? The world's a mess! Monsters eating people!" she snapped. Jet shrugged. "Didn't faze us when the Black Arms invaded. Why start worrying over it now?" he murmured, gingerly placing his trophy on his desk. Just then, Storm burst into the room, and as he banged his excited hands on the desk, the trophies all tumbled to the floor! "Boss!! Booooss!! M-major trouble!!" he sputtered as Jet glared at him. "I'll say, look what you've done!!" he squawked. "Oh, uh, s-s-sorry... But we got a visitor..." Storm babbled. "What now!?" Jet growled. Knocking at the open door, Speedy of the Battle Bird Armada peered in. "Am I interrupting?" he asked. Jet's feathers were rather ruffled by now. "Ya got some nerve, Armada hatchling! Get out!" he shouted. Speedy stepped in, looking scared and honestly desperate. "B-but Jet... The Armada, they... They're in real trouble. They're trapped working for those monsters now. Dad and I may not have parted on the best terms, but I don't want him eaten..." he whimpered. Jet looked at the pathetic face Speedy was making and groaned. "Why don't we check it out, Jet?" Wave asked. "They were our friends once..." Storm added. Jet folded his arms, turning away from Speedy. "...no promises. Dealin' with monsters here!" he grunted. Speedy hugged the hawk from behind. "Thanks, Jet! I'll keep an eye on the blimp for ya!" he chuckled. "Ack! Get off! And you better not steal from us!!" Jet squawked. And so... the Babylon Rogues were about to set out into the chaos...

Too bad they had no real idea where the Armada even was...


Chapter 22 - Motives
Stage 12 - Subway Scamper

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"Can't hold on much longer!
But I will never let go!
I know it's a one way track.
Tell me now how long this'll last!" - Open Your Heart, Sonic Adventure


Nack the weasel felt rather uncomfortable as he stood in a crowd in Troblusk City. Behind him, his frequent collaborators Bark the Polar Bear and Bean the Duck were standing as well. Additionally, the Battle Bird Armada was reassembled there, and Spiny the porcupine, Zeke the dragon, plus some miscellaneous Covenant of Despair agents were present. All of them were surrounded by patrolling Lost Ones, which were looking at them hungrily like they were a bunch of snacks, but weren't approaching them. "Y'know... This ain't what I signed up for when I joined Despair..." Nack grumbled. "Wait, Despair? I thought I was here with Eggman!" Spiny stammered. Nack glanced at him with a smirk. "Careful, any one of us might just shoot you randomly, Sonic..." he teased. Spiny was about to charge him through the crowd when a bolt of lightning crashed close by, catching the crowd's attention! Howler and Apocalos stood before them. They'd been there the whole time, actually, but Apocalos had grown impatient waiting for them to come to attention. "Bounty hunters and ruffians... You live because I yet have use for you." he hissed. Howler glanced at him and chuckled softly. "You're bad at PR, allow me..." he said, turning to the crowd and clasping his hands behind his back as he paced. "My friends! Despite our clever scheme, Sonic and his friends yet survive! And... We couldn't be happier. For now they are scattered, easy pickings for the likes of you!" the Darkseeker began. "I'll kill that hedgehog!!" Spiny shouted. Howler and Apocalos shot him a glare that shut him up. The leader of the Lost Ones continued. "Sonic is not your target. You are to track down the foxes. Kill the Prowers if you must, but bring me the white fennec girl alive...or you will share her fate!" he warned. Bean jumped up and down raising his hand. "Hey! Hey! Whadda we win if we bring back a foxy-fox??" he shouted. Apocalos grunted softly, glancing at Howler. "What would you all say to a Chaos Relic? The power of a god, yours to command?" he offered. Wicked cheers and a RAWR rose from the crowd as the villains set off on their hunt. Howler turned to Apocalos with a smirk. "What they'll get is the Chaos Sword through their chest." he whispered. "I knew you'd be a valuable asset... But I hope you aren't expecting better treatment in the end." the Doomsayer said coldly. Howler held the Despair Seal around his wrist, the one thing keeping him alive. "As long as I kill that echidna, I can return to my rest in peace..." he said, turning to walk away.


When the clock tower was crumbling, it was a natural reaction for Gemini to teleport herself, Copter, Vector and Chopper to safety. They had emerged underground, in Trublusk City's abandoned subway system. Vector was quick to leave them, wanting to regroup with Charmy and Espio as soon as possible. Chopper was next to decide to run off. "I need to see if everyone's alright! Melody, Skye! I can't hide down here when they could be hurt!" he argued. Copter growled in frustration. "Let Gemini establish communication with somebody, first! We have no idea if it's even safe out there!" he shouted. "What, want me to call Tim? He's Chaos knows where with Leo!" Gemini complained. They heard a noise, the sound of a door opening, and while Copter and Gemini looked, Chopper slipped away. Tails and Fera entered while Chopper exited. The wolf had warped him out...but where was Cream? "Tails, look out, it's Fera!!" Gemini shouted, raising her wand. "Gem, did you pay attention over comms at all?" Copter grumbled, turning to find Chopper gone. "...Dammit!" he exclaimed. Tails looked around shakily. "Cream... She's alone out there. She had to fly out the window of an exploding building..." he huffed. Fera shrugged. "Nothing I could do. Be glad we're alive." she sighed. Leaning against the wall, Tails' expression looked a bit distant. "It's my fault... It's all my fault. I was selfish and pushed us into this mission to rescue Skye. Now everyone could be dead..." he murmured. Gemini looked between him and Fera. "Uhmm... So, no word on comms?" she asked. Fera looked at the ground. "His dog's dead." she informed them. Copter looked at Tails and frowned. "SPOT... I'm sorry, Tails. But listen, there's no time to beat ourselves up. If you die here, it'll really all be for nothing. Come on..." he said, extending his hand to the other fox. Tails looked at Copter and slowly took his hand. "You...you're right. They could be dead, but they could be alive. We have to help everyone..." he said, still a bit shaky. Fera nodded. "For now...let's stay underground. Those creatures are probably flooding the streets." she suggested. "Right." Tails nodded, "Gemini, we'll need your magic. Lead us to the others..." he requested.

They began travelling along the subway tracks, with Gemini casting search spells now and then, hoping to get a bead on someone they wanted to find. Along the way, the fennec was a bit distracted watching Fera out of the corner of her eye. The wolf was intent on walking at the back of the group. It unsettled her. "So, Fera, at what point do you plan on stabbing us in the backs, anyway?" she asked. "Gemini! She saved my life!" Tails protested. "Maybe she owed you one..." Gemini grumbled. Fera silently crossed her arms, grunting softly in annoyance. Copter shook his head. "Gem... Did you forget? You did hear her tragic backstory from Illusi." he pointed out. Indeed she had. How Fera was abandoned by her parents, then trained by the military under the ruthless Sergeant Murten and Corporal Gunner. When she failed a mission, they punished her fiercely, leaving her for dead with a destroyed eye. Then, Illusi took her in, and he trained her to be an illusionist...but she failed. Further, he could not reciprocate her growing affection for him, as he saw her as a daughter. In her vulnerable state, Howler preyed upon her and turned her into Despair's fiercest dark mage. Gemini shrugged it off, though. "Bad things happened to me too, but I never tried to wipe out all of humanity." she pointed out. Fera scoffed. "Aren't you the girl obsessed with ending the Lost Ones? We did have intelligence on you, you know." she stated. Copter nodded. "If you hadn't time travelled, we might not be in this mess." he pointed out. Gemini punched Copter in the arm. "Of course we would, the Lost Ones have been plotting this through time, too! And I went back to SAVE a life! That's different!" she shouted. Fera sighed. "You win, you're better than me. What do you want, a medal?" she grumbled. Tails held his head, groaning from listening to all this. "Stop it! We shouldn't be fighting each other!" he snapped. There was a brief silence after that, only the sound of footsteps as they reached a subway station. Copter held out his arm to stop everyone from continuing forward. "You hear that?" he asked. Someone was coming.

They popped back around the corner, peering out carefully to see the Battle Bird Armada leading the search as villains came into the subway station. Dr. Fukurokov was fussing with a tracking device of his own invention at the back of the pack. "I cannot get a better signal, but they are down here! Foxes!!" he declared. "Yeah, yeah, good work, Dr. Whatever." Nack said as he pushed past the bird. Zeke flew over his head and roared. "Fox hunting! I'm always fox hunting! Least there's no cat this time!" he shouted. "Eee hee! Way to give away our position, dragon breath!" laughed Eddie the hyena, one of the Despair agents in the group. The foxes and wolf backed away from the station area and collectively exhaled nervously. "Why are they specifically looking for us?" Tails asked, "Is it the prophecy? Are they here to kill us?" he wondered. Copter glanced at Gemini nervously. The fennec shared his expression. "They're after me. There's something about me they want to experiment on... Supposedly I have an immunity to their powers." she whispered. "Well, isn't that convenient!" Fera snapped. Tails shushed her. "Alright, that makes Gemini very important. Gotta keep her safe. That's a lotta bad guys, though..." he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Well, maybe we should head the other way." Copter suggested. Fera glanced around the corner again. There was a subway train in the station. "Do you suppose that still works?" she asked. Tails poked his head around the corner to look at it. "Doubt it...but I might be able to fix it." he stated. Copter groaned. "I hate this plan. Let's teleport away instead!" he suggested. Gemini shrugged. "I can't just teleport through walls willy-nilly. One of these days I'll end up crushed by the thing I warp inside." she complained, "We just need a distraction..." she mused, glancing at Copter. "....I hate this plan." he insisted.


Up above, Apocalos still had business to attend to in the city. Some loskels approached him, dragging Aurora by the wrists as Loskeletor followed behind. "Hail, master! I come bearing gifts!" the spectral skeleton announced, holding up the Chaos Boots to present them to Apocalos. Aurora looked up and struggled as she saw this. "Monsters!! Y-you tricked me!!" she spat. Loskeletor snickered and shifted his form into that of Katie the coyote. "Thought I was one of your beloved Aunts, did you? Or just a mere damsel in distress? Your footwear was much too fleet to be assailed without the dastardly touch of trickery..." the disguised Loskeletor mused. Apocalos nodded, and turned as a portal opened, Mephiles the Dark emerging to join this meeting. He held the soul of Tikal in his clawed hand. "Another whose time is at an end..." Mephiles sneered. Apocalos reached into his robes and produced a scepter. "Did you ever hear of the Scepter of Darkness, girl?" he asked Aurora, "It was designed to contain dark spirits. Once Mephiles' plans for Soleanna failed, I brought the Scepter back from Soleanna. The Darkseeker owed me, so I used Despair's scientists to experiment on it...creating this. The Scepter of Despair." Holding it up for Aurora to see, the scepter was shown to have a spherical ball atop it. Inside, spirits swirled, trapped. "The Scepter of Darkness...reverse engineered to hold not dark spirits...but living souls!" Apocalos pressed a thirteen pointed star button on the side of the staff, and the ball glowed, drawing in Tikal's soul as she screamed! "Who is the last prophet standing now?" Apocalos cackled, grinning wide with his pointed dino teeth. Aurora stared with wide eyes. "Y-you're a monster..." she growled. Mephiles scoffed and returned through the portal, leaving Aurora with the Lost Ones. Apocalos turned to her with a frown. "You say monster, yet you and your kind are the ones planning to kill us. We...want you to join us." Aurora struggled a bit more, and Apocalos grabbed her chin and made her look him in his glowing eyes. "Peace, child... No harm will come to such a valuable hostage... Besides, I could use someone to talk to. Perhaps you'll understand if I tell you my tale..." Apocalos didn't pay attention to her struggles as he began to tell his tale...

"I have lived for millenia. Once I was a mindless 'Tyrannosaur,' as modern scientists label my species. When the great extinction was coming, Light Gaia chose me to survive, giving me the form of a hedgehog. Our world's very soul had tasked me with defeating the embodiment of death...the Doomlings. Perhaps you know the story of how mighty Rex the hedgehog and his band of heroes fell... Heh, Bard and his lies. Yet, I care little for that family. They had not been my first family through the centuries. Despite my mission, I had at one point found a wife. So many eons have passed, her name has slipped from my memory... but the beauty of her face... The delicate white quilled hedgehog I married... I could never forget her. She bore me children. A son, a daughter. The dream family. I suppose you expect the next part of the story to be that the Doomlings killed them... That isn't the case. In fact, we lived quite happy lives... I could find no Doomling activity. It was a peaceful time. Unfortunately... to an immortal, the life spans of mortals are but a blink of the eye. Light Gaia had cursed me with abundant life, and I had to watch my wife, my children and their children pass on one by one through time's cruel march. Through natural causes, my bloodline was purged...all except me. I was left alone with the memories...and the pain. And I felt the pain, until I accepted the futility of it all. Life is limited, fragile. You can run and run with all speed, but eventually your motion will cease, and you will pass from the world and from memory. As I watched my final family experience tragedy time after time, I reached the conclusion that only my existence...an eternal one...mattered. So, I made a pact with death itself. I fused with the Doomlings, gifted them Light Gaia's power... And now... My Lost family is found. We...are eternal!" Lost Ones swarmed to Apocalos' side as he completed his story, the twisted former dinosaur baring his teeth in a wide grin.

Aurora was unimpressed with his story. "You think our lives have no value because they're short... But it's because time is limited that we strive to be our best selves. To leave something worthwhile behind. All your pets do is hiss and moan!" she declared. Loskeletor slapped her across the face. "Be silent, shrew! Any soul my master chooses, their sentience can be unlocked. Yet the best soldiers have not hopes, fears or dreams." the skeleton explained. Apocalos nodded. "Ultimately, they will be happier without such earthly burdens..." he then turned to Loskeletor, "And perhaps she, too, would be happier without a soul. We can always save her DNA for your disguises..." he sneered, the echidna's face becoming fearful as she realized she had moments to live. Loskeletor was about to reach his claws to her and claim her soul. Then, a voice cried out. "Hurry, Cheese!!" A Chao with a bow tie sped by, knocking the skulls off the loskels holding Aurora as he went! The echidna turned to see Cream flapping her ears, lowering from above. "Let's get out of here!" she cried. Aurora nodded, and leapt up, performing a spinning kick to knock away the disoriented skeletons and enable herself to join Cream in fleeing the scene! Loskeletor growled. "Give chase! Capture them!!" he yelled, prompting the losohsts, losoars and lostalkers nearby to give chase! The speedier Lost Ones were gaining on them, and Cream hugged Cheese close in fear of getting caught. Lasers whizzed by, slowing the Lost Ones down, and they saw Chopper flying towards them with his three tails spinning rapidly! "Aurora!! Good thing I tracked your ProwerPhone with mine!" he shouted. "Yeah, yeah, less talk, more run!" she replied. Apocalos watched them escaping, smirking as he looked toward Chopper. "Let them go. The dark fox and the fennec yet live... We focus on that." he said with a raspy chuckle.


As the Battle Birds set up a perimeter and the bounty hunters each started planning their search, Spiny and Zeke sat together in the subway station, talking. They didn't notice as an invisible force snuck about, quietly knocking out birds one at a time. "I saw Shadow Arcangel in the sky outside." Spiny mentioned casually. "So, what? Good for Bucky, he's not stuck down here with us." Zeke grumbled. Spiny folded his arms. "Do you think we're going against our creator?" he questioned. The dragon chuckled. "Been there, done that. Since when did you care?" he asked. "Since screwing up could lose me my freaking soul!" Spiny pointed out. Zeke held up his hand and created a small flicker of dark energy in his palm. "My dark half died and came back to me. Things go sideways, I know how to use that to portal to other worlds." he snickered. "...What if those other worlds get slimed like this one?" Spiny questioned. Zeke's eyes widened at the thought.

In the meantime, having snuck aboard the subway train, Gemini removed the invisibility spell from the group. "I remember when I could scarcely hold that just for me..." she sighed. Tails grabbed Copter's arm. "C'mon, I need an assistant to fix this thing up!" he said, leading Copter to the engine. "Where's Hoover when I need him..." Copter groaned. Gemini watched him leave, chuckling softly at his reluctance. Fera, left with nothing to do, sat down and gave Gemini a sideways glance. "Soooo... You're into Copter." she said bluntly. Gemini balled her hands into fists, face red as she turned to the wolf. "I am NOT!" she snapped. Fera shrugged. "Whatever you say. You are not traveling together out of convenience like me and Tails, though. You chose him." she stated. Gemini pouted. She still didn't like Fera. That didn't mean the wolf wasn't right. "I...can't like him. I'm not Chopper's mom. Plus, I belong in the future...I was raised there even if I don't know when I was born." she sighed. Fera stood up and looked her straight in the eye. "Excuses. If you loved him, you'd at least have the guts to own up to it..." She then turned her hair-covered bad eye toward Gemini, smirking, "But if that's how you feel, maybe I should wrap him around my little finger. When all of this is said and done and revenge is mine...I'd like to settle down." Gemini tried to shove her back into her seat, but Fera caught her hands. "And there it is...jealously." the wolf grinned, "So, what are you going to do about this?" Gemini gritted her teeth, and then sat down herself, tearing up a little. "I'm not like you, Fera. I can't be selfish if it means erasing Chopper from history." she sniffled. Fera sat across from her. "...What if he loves you back, though?" she asked. Gemini exhaled softly. "You're trying to throw me off balance. I still don't trust you..." she murmured. Fera chuckled softly. "You shouldn't. If you get in the way of my revenge, I'll crush you... But I'm only after those I trusted who betrayed me, so...your friends are safe." she stated. "How comforting..." Gemini murmured sarcastically.

The subway train slowly started to move. Tails wiped his brow and sighed. "Well, we did it!" he smiled. Copter looked a bit bewildered. "I still don't know how you fixed this thing with no supplies, no tools, and somehow didn't get spotted." he babbled. Tails chuckled softly. "I work well under pressure..." he said. The bad news was that now that the train was moving, the bad guys had noticed. "Hey, who's runnin' that train?" Nack murmured. Dr. Fukurokov shrugged. "Oh, just the foxes..." he said, looking at his scanner, "...THE FOXES!??" At the sound of the scientist's scream, Gemini and Fera looked out the window nervously. "We've been made." Fera whispered. "Well, we're moving now. How are they gonna catch us?" Gemini murmured. It was then that they saw Zeke running at them with wings outstretched. "RAWR!! No one makes a fool outta me!!" he roared. Spiny landed on the dragon's back, and soon the pair were flying after the train! The foxes and wolf also heard another engine running. "Stay here and play conductor, Tails. I gotta head for the caboose..." Copter grunted, racing to join Gemini and Fera, who had the rear door of the rear car open so they could take aim at Zeke and their other pursuer. Nack had driven the Marvelous Queen onto the track, and Bean was riding in the sidecar. "Poor Bark didn't make it aboard... I'll have to have extra fun for him, haha!" Bean cackled. A bolt from Gemini's wand whizzed past his head, but he only laughed again and stuck his tongue out at her! Spiny growled, holding onto Zeke and ejecting countless Chaos Spears from his back, which he controlled to send toward the train! "Chaos Whirlwind!!" As Copter arrived, he sent a strong chaotic wind out the back door, blowing some of those spears back! "Nononononooooo!!" Zeke shouted, shielding his face as the spears pelted him and the Marvelous Queen sped past him! Copter then stumbled forward as some of the spears struck the train anyway, shaking the rear car. He almost fell out, but Gemini quickly grabbed his arm. "Copter!! Copter, get in here!!" she shouted. "I ain't tryin' to leave!!" he yelled back. They stumbled backward into the train, fox landing in fennec's protective arms. Fera gave them a brief smirk, but then turned her attention to Nack, who was trying to shoot their wheels! "Weasel!! You betrayed me...now perish in flames!!" Fera snarled. "You first, lady!" Nack growled.

Fera started to blast dark flames from her hands out of the back of the train, attempting to make Nack crash! The weasel weaved his hover bike to avoid the flames, and Bean held out a bomb to light its fuse on the fire. "Hehehe, this is gonna be gooood!" the duck snickered. Copter and Gemini got back to their feet, and could see that Zeke was closing in on them again, trying to fly over the train. "Can we speed up this heap?? Got a spell for that?" Copter asked. Gemini gulped. "Yeah, but if we were to hit a turn we'd crash." she said. Zeke hesitated above the back of the train. "Y'know, I never liked Fera..." he grunted, inhaling in preparation to blow his own fire down at her! Seeing this was about to happen, Gemini yanked Fera's tail. "Look out!!" she cried. The three of them backed into the train as Zeke's fire covered the rear door! Fera brushed her yanked tail and watched the fire scorch the space she'd just been standing. "...I have an idea. Can we disconnect this car?" the wolf huffed. "We can sure try." Copter said, running back. The girls looked at each other and nodded, about to follow after him. However, the flames from Zeke ceased as the Marvelous Queen reached the train! Nack hopped into the train and grabbed for Gemini's arm, pointing his gun at Fera! "This one's my bounty for today... She comes wit me!" he grunted. He bent her arm, making her drop her wand. "No! Let me go!!" she gasped. Fera watched this quietly, moving little to avoid making him shoot. "She's all you want? The rest of us can go?" she questioned. Nack smirked. "I knew you'd be practical..." he chuckled, turning to drag Gemini with him. However, a strong kick to his back made him let go of Gemini as he stumbled out of the train and onto the front of his bike! "It's just good to know..." Fera huffed. Gemini scrambled to pick up her wand. "I...guess we're even..." she sighed, holding her wand close to her heart. Fera nodded. "Wouldn't want you to start trusting me, after all..." she murmured, "...get down!!" The wolf dove over the fennec as Bean hopped over Nack and bowled his bombs into the train car! Unfortunately, the car wasn't separated from the rest of the train...so when the car exploded a moment later, it rocked the entire train, sending it off the tracks and into a violent crash! Zeke landed next to the Marvelous Queen as it came to a stop. "Weeee weren't supposed to kill 'em all..." Spiny murmured, "Any chance I can join you on your world-hopping adventure?" he asked Zeke. Nack groaned, looking at the wreakage. "Well... least I finally offed one of Sonic's pals..." he murmured. "You mean I did!" Bean snickered. 

Tails coughed and shakily rose to his feet. The car he was in was sideways. "Copter? Fera?" he murmured, rubbing his head. He'd have to make sure they were okay. First, he'd have to get out of this car. "Is this the worst day of my life? ...hmm... Definitely in the running..." he murmured, struggling to open the busted door. Yes, indeed...he had his share of problems.


Chapter 23 - Derailed
Stage 12 - Subway Scamper

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"Catch me if you can.
There's no turning back.
Reach but never catch.
Catch me if you can.
You can't fathom that.
Wonders you can't have." - Catch Me If You Can; Sonic Riders Zero Gravity


Tails had to get out of the overturned train, and he had to find the others and make sure they were okay. The door wasn't budging, though. He looked around for anything he could use to pry it open. This old subway train had an old-fashioned hand brake. Perfect. He tried to remove it before remembering he had no tools. SPOT would sure come in handy right about now... But he couldn't wallow in grief right now. He removed the useless comms device from his ear. "If I can reprogram a robo-machine with a toothpick using my tail...I can do this." he said to himself, turning to the brake and smashing his communicator against it to free up the parts. Not even Eggman could likely comprehend how Tails managed to remove the brake with an assortment of smashed ear piece parts, but in a few minutes, he was spinning his tails to return up to the door above, jamming the brake rod into the edge to try and pry it open! He grunted, straining, but soon the door popped open! He dropped the brake and grabbed for the edge, but his tails failed him and he started to fall! That was when he felt hands grab his wrists, and looking up, he saw Fera. "Ahh! Th-thanks, Buddy!" he stammered as the wolf pulled him up. Fera growled as they stood on the overturned train. "I'm not your buddy, and I'm not some starry-eyed rookie! That person was an illusion!" she snapped, hopping down from the train. Gemini stepped over to Tails to see that he was okay. "I didn't mean to upset her... But, Felicia was definitely real... She was what Fera could be." the fox murmured. Gemini shook her head. "Felicia was Fera without the weight of her past. No matter what, the real Fera will always carry that pain." she pointed out, "Um... wasn't Copter with you?" she questioned, peering into the train. Tails gasped. "I thought he was with you!" he said. Gemini quickly waved her wand. "Discovereva!" she shouted, sending a guiding light to show where Copter was now. To their surprise, it moved away from the train, a ways down the track. Fera saw it go into an odd hole in the subway wall. "What could be in there...?" she wondered.


"Discovereva!" Another search spell was cast above ground. Ophiuchus the snake pointed at the light as it sank underground. "Gemini is down there somewhere..." he said, glancing at Apocalos, "You should have asked me to lead this hunt from the start. Don't you trust me?" the serpent asked. Apocalos scoffed without answering. Then, he turned to the squad of Darks behind him. "Follow the light. Bring me the fennec. Kill the others." he ordered. Darkosmo stepped to the front to lead the group. "You had us at kill..." he smirked, morphing into a drill and starting to tunnel directly down underground! Punky, Raven, and the other Darks gathered around the hole to follow him down. "Prove yourself, snake. Go with them..." Apocalos ordered. Ophiuchus bowed with a smirk, but then Infinite dropped from the sky, landing behind him. "If we're hunting foxes, you'll be joined by me. There's a fox and a wolf I dearly wish to tear limb from limb..." he said, adjusting his mask as Ophi gulped.


Emily was helping Conan hobble to the Arcangel control room now that he was mostly recovered from his fatal wounds. "That being... Gideon... Now I understand that you could indeed be my Emily, only lacking memory." the raccoon said. "Easy... You should be resting..." Emily whispered. Bucky glanced at Conan as he entered. "We need to figure out our next move. Comms are down. Lend us your relics, Conan." he requested. The raccoon glanced at Emily. "I'm only here for her. Once this is over...you release her." he growled. Bucky folded his arms. "If that is her wish..." he stated. Zipp flew into the room suddenly. "Nine and Ten on deck! Should I blast 'em?" he asked. Spiny and Zeke followed the hornet into the control room. "Don't make me fry you up, squirt!" the dragon grunted. Spiny gave Bucky a polite bow. "Our creator, I know we've not always seen eye to eye, but we've decided to extend you an invitation to escape this world while we can!" he said. Vortex scoffed from the helm. "Fleeing like craven cowardsss..." he hissed. Zeke growled. "You're no longer invited, Five! But my dark power can make a portal to other worlds! I know one that's wrecked and abandoned! Lost Ones won't look for us there!" he offered. Bucky tapped his foot and hummed. "Tempting, but I must decline. If I can't encounter the Lost Ones...how will I achieve my ultimate feat of science and cure them?" he asked. Everyone turned and looked at him with wide eyes. "C-cure them??" Conan asked in bewilderment.


"Wakey wakey, Shorty..." Copter heard as he groaned, opening his eyes. The trio of Jet, Wave and Storm, the Babylon Rogues, were staring down at him as he rested on a lumpy mattress. "I...ain't short... Hey!! Where the heck is Gemini?!" he gasped, sitting up quickly and making the Rogues back up to give him space. "You're the only one we found passed out on the tracks..." Storm murmured. "Yeah, you're lucky we saved your life!" Jet interrupted. Copter ignored them and looked around. He appeared to be in some sort of underground shanty town. A far cry from Raisol Sanctuary...but it was populated. It seemed this was where the gargoyle mob hid out with...their strangely adorable families. "I got bad news for this place. Lost Ones are swarming above..." Copter grunted. Wave nodded. "We know. Speedy asked us out to lend a hand to the Armada, but we can't get them away from the monsters." she explained. Jet scoffed. "The Armada's really let themselves fall apart! First workin' for Despair and now this! They deserve what they get!" he remarked. Storm looked worried. "The kids don't deserve it, though." he said of the young gargoyles running and playing in the shanty town. Copter looked at the kids and then looked at the Rogues. "So... The notorious thieves do have hearts." he said. Jet blushed and turned away. "Well, I mean, our help doesn't come cheap!" he huffed. "Grrrr, it better!" Copter turned to see Guard the gargoyle approach! "Whaaat are you doing here?? Shouldn't you be licking Gunner's boot somewhere?" Copter stammered. Guard glared at him. "Not since Sonic set me free. Grrr... When GUN tracked the Lost Ones here, I came to evacuate the survivors. I may not consider these gargoyles my kin, but I will aid them." he said. Copter gave him a light smile, and then groaned as he climbed off the mattress. "I think I got a spring in my back!" he grumbled. Wave coughed to get attention. "Anyway, we've got a group working on fixing an old subway train. Not the one you apparently wrecked, another one. We'll use it to get these people out. I'd help the repairs but I got Gear maintenance." she huffed. Before Copter could give that a smart reply, he found himself hugged by the next person to come up to him. "Dad!! You're okay!!" It was Chopper! "...Son, you're grounded for ditching." Copter grunted.

Chopper led his father to the subway station across town, where Cream and Aurora were actually working together to repair this train. "Aurora... Aurora? Punchy's baby? ...Well, Tails will be glad you're safe, Cream." Copter said when he saw them. He was tackled into another hug by a charging Rainbow. "Two!! You're okay! Where's One and Wanda?" she asked excitedly. "Lemme go!! Ack! What are YOU doing here, Rainbow??" he stammered. Lucky Junior popped up behind her. "I used my ProwerPhone to track Chopper and Aurora down here!" he explained. Lucky Senior was there, too. "I feel like the thirteenth wheel..." he murmured. Having been freed from Rainbow's overly friendly hug, Copter quickly explained his own situation and how he was separated from the others. Aurora looked up from her work. "No sign of dad, then?" she asked. Cream took a wrench that Aurora was holding out to her and smiled. "I'm sure they're okay. But since Tails isn't here, I'll just put what he taught me to use!" she said cheerfully. Copter nodded. "You do that...I wanna find Gemini, though..." he stated, turning and walking away a bit. Chopper looked surprised. "H-hey, wait up!" he said, following after his father. Rainbow turned to Aurora with a chuckle. "I have no idea who taught you how to tinker, Rory." she said. "Keep thinking, that's not the name you gave me in my timeline, ma..." Aurora murmured. Once Copter and Chopper were alone, the father stopped and looked to the son. "Say I actually was curious... What do you remember about your mother?" he asked. Chopper looked a bit sad. "I wish I remembered much of anything. I don't remember her face, her voice... I'm pretty sure she was a canine like you..." he said, straining. Copter rubbed his chin. "Then for all we know it could be Fera." he said thoughtfully, promptly groaning at the idea. Copter turned to resume his intended search. "Why'd you tell Gemini it isn't her?" he asked, glancing back. Chopper frowned. "I don't want her to die." he sighed, "So I...hope she's not..." That gave Copter pause. "Would you risk not being born to save your parents? Don't do that." he said, turning back toward Chopper and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Kid... You're the best thing to ever come from me. Don't do anything to prevent that." he said in a soft, gentle voice.


Tails, Fera and Gemini found some losol seeping into the tunnels from cracks in the ceiling above. Naturally, they started to fight them off, when a huge mass of slime dropped down behind them! "Thaaat's a big losol golem..." Gemini yelped. "Let's just get out of here before even more show up!" Tails said, not wanting the creatures to distract them from finding Copter. The three of them ran away for a bit, but upon seeing the shanty town that the search spell was leading them to, Gemini spun back around. "Nope! There's people down here! We have to protect them!" she shouted. "How is this our responsibility?" Fera grumbled. Tails held the brake that he'd used to jimmy open the door earlier. It wasn't much, but he'd rather hit with that than get his tails slimy. "We kinda did lead them here..." he pointed out. Groaning, Fera stood back and flicked her fingers, sending orbs of dark energy bouncing towards the losol to slow them down. Meanwhile, Tails took to smacking them away as they leapt at him using the brake, and Gemini fired powerful spells at the golem to whittle it down to size! A bit too many had gathered behind them as they fled through the tunnels, though, and the fight was proving tough, especially for Tails. He found himself surrounded, and pointed the slimy brake around nervously. "Maybe we shoulda asked for help..." he gulped. Just as the losol were about to leap at him, several energy blasts struck them, either knocking them away or rending them inert! Tails looked to see Guard flying towards him! "Rrrr!! Copter said you guys were close by!" he grunted. Jet and Storm flew in as well, lasers popping out of hatches on the sides of their boards. "Never thought we'd actually use the weapons..." Jet growled as he and Storm rained lasers on the approaching losol! "Solare!!" Gemini cast, vaporizing what was left of the golem with a huge beam of light! As they raced to the town entrance, Tails found Wave standing there smirking at him. "Impressed you're surviving, Shorty!" she said, "Your board skills up to snuff?"

It wasn't long after that Tails was reunited with Cream, and Gemini was reunited with Copter. Tails and Cream happily hugged one another, relieved they were okay. Gemini slapped Copter in the face. "Why'd you run off without us!?" she snapped. "I was essentially kidnapped!" Copter protested. "Ahh, save the fighting for the bad guys..." Chopper said nervously. "Yeah, he's right, Wanda! Two!" said Rainbow as she approached. They were all gathered back at the subway station, getting ready to leave. "Oh, hey..." Fera said to Rainbow, "Sorry I screwed up your wedding... Guess that makes us even for your husband causing my amnesia..." she grumbled. Rainbow stared at her blankly a moment. "...Okay!" she said cheerily. "That was a heck of a wedding..." Lucky murmured. An orange gargoyle named Rick walked over to the front of the train where Guard was standing. "It's a no-go. The mob doesn't trust these guys. They won't let their families board the train." he said. Guard looked a bit thoughtful, considering how to proceed. He then walked across the station to talk to Cream. "Hey, grrr... Is the train functional?" he asked. Cream smiled. "Aurora thinks so. I don't think either of us are really experts, though..." she said bashfully. Tails grinned at her. "I'll check your work! I'm sure you've done an awesome job!" he winked. The gargoyle nodded. "Someone needs to convince the gargoyles to come with us, though... Grrr..." he stated. "Dude, YOU'RE a gargoyle!" Lucky said, listening in. "I'm an android..." Guard insisted. Copter scoffed at that. "Look, Guard, it's not about you, it's about them. The last time they trusted outside their own kind, it was Despair. Guess how that worked out. You've gotta be the bridge. You gotta show that a gargoyle CAN trust people like us." he told him. Guard stared at Copter, let out an irritated growl, and started to flap away. "Fine, then..." he said. Gemini gave Copter a perplexed stare. "When did you get so smart?" she asked. "Yeah, really?" Rainbow added. Copter groaned. "Thanks, really..." he sighed. Tails chuckled at that, only to look surprised when Wave approached and handed him a board. "The train'll need guards. Who's up for it? I got three extra boards." she said. Lucky was quick to raise his hand. "I volunteer! Wait, boards?" he murmured.

Guard landed on the roof of one of the shanty homes, ready to give a speech. "Gargoyles!! I know you don't trust outsiders... I know you fear their ways, so much so that you resort to crime to survive. Rrrr... That fear keeps you living down here in caves like rats! I can't promise things will be easy. Grrr... I can't promise you'll always be accepted. I've seen hate...it's ugly. Yet... I've also seen love, kindness, compassion, from beings nothing like myself. Rrrr... You'll never know the best parts of this world if you don't open your hearts! You'll just be trapped in darkness down here...forever!" Everyone was listening to his speech, and Rick smiled and nodded along with it. "I'm ready to live in the light..." he said. Fera folded her arms. "Quite the speech. Can't say I'm quite sold." she murmured. Copter smirked. "We'll get ya on board... Speaking of, sure you don't wanna trade?" Copter said, holding up the Extreme Gear he'd somehow got stuck with. Guard's speech seemed to have done its job, because after talking among themselves, the gargoyles were starting to head for the train!

As the train was being boarded and preparations were being made to leave, Tails, Copter, Lucky, Guard and the Rogues remained outside the train, planning to form an aerial perimeter and protect it. Copter and Lucky looked awkward holding their boards. "Well, I should be fine. I mean I do own a plane." Copter said. "Y-yeah, and I co-own a spaceship!" Lucky added. Tails tapped his foot. "Well, the rest of us have actual experience..." he pointed out. Their friends watched them from the back windows. "Careful, dad..." Lucky Jr. murmured. "Well, what could happen? No one knows we're here!" Aurora smiled. Just then, the light of a search spell flew through the shanty town, passed into the train, and lit up Gemini! "If that's not Tim we're in trouble..." she gulped. The heroes outside the train mounted their boards, seeing people coming from the direction the light had come. Leading the charge was Infinite, Ophiuchus following behind, and behind him were the dark forms of the experiments! "Eeep... We're dead, aren't we?" Lucky yelped, shaking as he clutched the brake that Tails had given him to fight with. Fera could see Infinite out the window, and her eye narrowed. "Everyone keep the aisle clear... I may need to crack some skulls..." she warned. Infinite's voice boomed as he pointed at Tails. "It's time you suffered the way I suffered in Null Space, fox! And once I extract the last screams of agony that you can muster...then I end your pathetic life!" he declared. Tails gulped. "I'd say 'You and what army' but... Well, he's got an army." he said. Ophi stepped in front of Infinite. "The objective before pleasure, remember..." he said sternly. Guard let out a snarl. "Remember me, jackal!? Thought you killed me, didn't you! Grrah!" Infinite tilted his head and adjusted his mask. "Should I care who you are?" he murmured. Jet grabbed Guard by the arm, keeping him from tearing after Infinite for revenge. "Dude! Train's leavin'! Let's follow it instead of committing suicide!!" he squawked. Lucky yelped shakily as his board lifted off the ground, the other boards following. "Don't fall, we can't turn back to rescue ya!" Storm warned. The Darks started to charge after the train, Thrash barreling ahead at the front. "You ain't gonna escape from us!!" he roared. Infinite rose into the air and slowly started to follow. "The girl, then the fox boy..." he murmured, looking into the train windows. He spotted Fera as he did. "You... How fitting we should meet here. I'll have my revenge on you, too..." he sneered.

Jet turned his board around, skillfully flying backwards. "How do these guys think they're gonna catch up to us?" he chuckled, the train already entering the subway tunnels and seemingly out of their reach. Darkosmo sprouted wings and took off, with "Zapp" the hornet and "Raven" the divine following by air! The Rogues entered a battle formation with their boards, tapping the back of the boards with their heels to make the lasers pop out! "Man, I'd rather use my fists..." Storm grumbled. "Go ahead, but I'm not letting a morph near me!" Wave remarked. The Rogues and the flying Darks started a shootout, each of the Darks sending attacks based in the magic of their namesake while the birds shot back with their board lasers. Still, Wave had a point. Darkosmo would be a major problem...so it was best to get the others out of the way fast so they could team up against him. While Jet and Storm kept the other darks occupied, Wave flew at Raven, both of them weaving aside as their shots whizzed by! "We don't even need you! Just get out of our way!" Raven snapped. Wave started towards her again, making another pass. "Shorty's MY rival... You aren't touching him!!" she shouted, whipping out a large wrench as she passed by and swatting Raven downward! The dark yelped and warped away, leaving Zapp and Darkosmo. The hornet was aiming for Storm's board with his gun, causing him to spin out. "Waaah!! I ain't goin' down without a fight!!" he growled, lunging straight at Darkosmo, whom he started grappling with! This gave Jet an opening to fly at Zapp, who just wasn't a quick enough shot to catch the legendary wind master! "You're just a thug! Hah!! This...is for Speedy!!" Jet squawked, doing a skillful flip as he neared the hornet, and knocking the gun from his hand with his board! "Gaah!! ...uh... Be right back!" the hornet growled, chasing after the gun. It was then that Darkosmo tossed Storm away, but Wave quickly flew up and caught him on her own board. "Whoa! Good thing my boards are built solid or we'd drop like a rock!" the swallow sighed. Darkosmo snarled as the three birds hovered in front of him on two boards. "I don't need the others to crush you! You're just stepping stones on my way to vengeance on those foxes!" he shouted. "Big talker..." Jet smirked, pointing his board's guns at him, "But you'll never catch me!" he taunted.

Lucky sighed with relief as he looked to the Rogues. "Looks like they got it covered, hehe!" he said awkwardly, a bit lacking in confidence without his key. A bright light accompanied Punky, Thrash, Vanitas and Dark Spiny's arrival on the roof of the train! "Dammit! Ophi teleported 'em!" Copter shouted, dashing into Dark Spiny quickly to tackle him off the side of the train! "Oh, COME ON!!!" the porcupine yelled. Punky leapt on Copter's board next. "Hey, bro... I hear you killed your darkness. Guess I'll take care of that other half!" he said, punching Copter in the back! "Rgh, Punchy, I'm not in the mood!" he growled, grabbing him up with his tails and tossing him off his board! "Huh... When did my tails get so strong?" he murmured. Lucky was busy flying away from Vanitas, using the broken brake to smack orbs of dark energy tossed at him by the chameleon. "You stole my girl, you pathetic cat!!" Vanitas shouted. "Meee-yow!! Whisk, handle your ex!!" he shouted. Raven heard them and growled. "Shut up, you butt-heads!! I'm not either of your girl!!" This left Tails to deal with Thrash. He leapt from his board and tail-whipped the rhino, but it was blocked and didn't seem to really bother him. "I'm gonna crumple you into a fluffy ball of trash..." he growled. Tails leapt up and grabbed his hat, returning to his board and flying away with it! "Hey!! Gimmie that!! You're just making me mad!!" he snarled, leaping for the hat...only to find no train under him. "Damn yoooooou!!" Thrash yelled as he fell. Tails tossed him his hat and waved. "Bye, whoever you are. Seriously, do I know a rhino experiment?" he wondered, scratching his head.

Following along from the rear was Infinite. He scoffed at the tomfoolery of the Darks. "They're just in the way. Still, I suppose I should make use of this diversion..." With the familiar sound of the Phantom Ruby activating, Infinite sent a copy of Chaos to the roof of the train. "Now to slip in, kill the wolf, and take the fennec..." the jackal sneered. However, Tails and Copter both jumped onto the train in front of Chaos! Most of the land-bound Darks had been left in the dust, so Lucky could occupy Vanitas. "Chaos Zero? You think you can freak me out with that again, Infinite?" Tails shouted. It was a moment of weakness, a time when the fox had been broken by the loss of Sonic and his own defeat at Infinite's hands that led him to cower before Chaos once. Not this time! Infinite chuckled in amusement. "How about this?" The Phantom Ruby whirred again, and Chaos transformed into a larger, more fearsome shape, with sharp claws, writhing tendrils, and a watery version of Infinite's mask in place of its head! Copter gulped. "Well, I'm freaked." he said. Tails took his clone by the hand. "We'll do this together!" he said. Nodding, Copter leapt at Chaos with Tails, and they both twirled in tandem, smacking the "mask" with their tails! The tendrils grabbed them as the creature's head reformed. "You can die together, as well!" Infinite declared. "Chaos Whirlwind!!" Copter grunted, managing to send a wind in Tails' direction, blowing him out of Chaos' grip and into the air! The fox spun his tails and flew over the monster, staying out of reach of its claws! "This guy's an illusion... Only way to stop it is by stopping Infinite!" he realized. "Graaah!! Good idea!!" came the voice of Guard, who charged at the jackal from behind! "Ah, I remember now..." Infinite said dryly, raising a hand to the gargoyle and blocking his scythe with a...big red block. "Grraaah!! I was waiting for you! Now you'll pay!!" Guard snarled. "I have no interest in killing anyone twice. So boring. Begone so I can finish off that fox..." Infinite scowled. "Finish off who?!" Hearing Tails' voice close by, Infinite turned to see him charging towards him on his board! He tapped the back and fired the lasers, pelting Infinite with shots and causing him to give up maintaining the Chaos illusion, freeing Copter! Infinite instead covered himself in a protective barrier, which then expanded, knocking Tails and Guard both away! "Enough! You can't stop me from...!" Infinite suddenly started to fall, and he realized the Phantom Ruby was low on power again. "Inferior ruby..." he snarled in frustration.

Despite the small victories, this was still not a battle the heroes could win. Up ahead, Cream and Aurora could see a massive portal that the train was in danger of heading into! "P-pull the brake!" Cream whimpered. The subway train screeched to a stop just in time to avoid entering the portal, or hitting Ophiuchus, the one who had summoned it. On top of that, the Darks were catching up to the train once again, furious at being knocked off. Tails, Guard and the Rogues formed up at the rear of the train, while Copter and Lucky ran to the front, finding Ophiuchus. "Commendable that you have survived Infinite! A reward is in order!" the snake shouted. "Why do I not believe him?" Lucky murmured. "Outta the way or we'll splat ya!" Copter snapped. Ophiuchus motioned to the portal. "You'll drive right into the Sol Dimension...which is now overrun with Lost Ones. Or do you need proof?" he asked. Copter gulped. He'd seen it. "Well, if you think I'm giving up Gemini, you're nuts!" he snapped. Ophiuchus chuckled softly. "Be reasonable, Aries. There's no need for you all to die here. There's children aboard the train..." he smirked. The Babylon Rogues glanced at one another as the Darks closed in. "Well, one life for the rest of us doesn't sound bad about now..." Jet murmured. "Can't help but agree at this point..." Wave added. Tails clenched his fists. "It's not our choice to make." he told them. Inside the train, Fera shook Gemini and growled. "Teleport us, you fool!" she growled. "It's too risky with all these kids and... It's too many for me to try!" Gemini stammered, "I... have to give myself up..." Her eyes were tearful as she looked at Fera, "Take care of Copter...if you can... Abra-ka-warpra!" As Gemini warped alone, Fera tried to grab her. "No!! You fool!" she cried. In the next instant, Gemini emerged beside Ophiuchus! "...I surrender... Let them go." she said, raising her hands. Copter stared in shock. "Gemini, you can't!! Gemini!! I won't let you!!" he shouted, trying to leap after her only for Lucky to hold him back! "Don't ruin her sacrifice by ticking them off!" he gasped. As Ophiuchus grabbed one of her wrists, Gemini hurled her wand to Copter with her free hand! "Goodbye..." she said tearfully, vanishing into the portal with Ophiuchus! The Darks shrugged and began to leave, and as they did, Copter dropped to his knees, clutching Gemini's wand. His eyes were wide, and he was in shock. "Gemini..." he sighed. Lucky looked at him guiltily, wondering if they should have stopped her. Copter didn't have time for that, though. He stood up, holding her wand tightly. "I'm going to save you! Dammit, you can't leave me like that!! I'm coming for you, Gemini, you jerk!!" Exactly where they'd go from here, it was hard to say. The gargoyle families would have to get to safety. After that, Tails and Copter both had reunions to make happen. Somehow, some way...they couldn't die until they saw it through...


Chapter 24 - Chasing the Eggman
Stage 13 - Eggtopia

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"I am the enemy, I will succeed.
My mission, yeah, I must complete.
My name is Eggman, don't forget my name!
If you ask me again, I'll tell you the same." - e.g.g.m.a.n. - Sonic Adventure 2


In the desert, the top of Eggman's pyramid base opened up, creating an exit for a ship to take off! The rising ship looked much like any other battleship Eggman might build...but Eggman wasn't controlling it. Snickering and rubbing his hands in glee, Eggman Nega sat in the driver's seat. "So easy! He might as well have gift-wrapped this vehicle for me! Now, where to? Hmmm..." While the doctor considered this, the monitor flickered and showed intruders on the ship. "Oh, of course. Suppose I'll have to deal with the stowaways before anything..." Nega sneered.

An alarm also alerted current day Dr. Eggman while he was sitting deep in thought within his old Troblusk City base. "Whaaat?!" he yelled, spinning in his chair to a screen in order to figure out what the commotion was. "Is the lasagna ready??" Cubot asked, perking up excitedly. Orbot sighed and shook his head. "Between you and Alpha, the boss will just have to start giving us mouths..." he grumbled. "I don't have a mouth!? BUT I MUST SCREAM!!" Cubot screamed. "Quiet, you dolts! I just found out one of my battleships was hijacked!" Eggman snarled, slamming his fist next to his keyboard in aggravation, "As if today hadn't brought enough trouble! Who would dare to steal a ship from me!? Is it Gunner? Ooooh, it's Gunner, I wager! Well, I'm about ready to feed him to a Lost One!" the doctor shouted, standing up and kicking over his chair, which fell right into a panicked Orbot! "So...no lasagna?" Cubot whimpered. Eggman grit his teeth. "Get us ready to launch! It's time for these fools to witness the true brilliance of Eggman's Eggtopia!!" the mad doctor proclaimed!


SPOT's comms were down, but Sonic was able to make contact with Tails by borrowing his son's ProwerPhone. Tails explained his situation using a phone from one of the kids on his end. It was certainly troubling to hear that Gemini was captured. "Guess we'll add that to the list of things to fix..." Sonic sighed, "Or to get payback for... 'Cuz I got one thing on my end that can't be fixed." he reported. Tails frowned. "What is it, Sonic? It's not like you to sound upset like this..." he murmured. Punchy grabbed the phone from Sonic. "Tails, Copter still there? I gotta tell him... Razor's dead." Copter's face popped onscreen next to Tails. "Real delicate way to break that, Punchy!" he snapped. Rainbow squeezed in front of the ProwerPhone next, squishing Tails between her and Copter. "Officer DIED!? Oh, god, One!" she cried, tearing up. "Hey! What the heck are you doing there, Rainbow!?" Punchy stammered. "Yes, tell us!" added Illusi, glaring at her. Sonic backed up from the phone and sighed, letting them take over the conversation. Juice and Skye walked up to him, looks of guilt on their faces. "It's our fault... He died because we came back in time..." Skye murmured. Sonic patted Tails' son's head. "Make sure you stay alive...for Razor's sake." he told him, "Don't let him die in vain." The kids looked at Sonic and nodded. There wouldn't be time for further catching up, though. The ground began to shake, startling everyone! Amy threw her arms around Sonic in her panic! "What's happeniiiing?!" she cried. The ocean along the southern edge of Troblusk City started to churn, and something huge began to rise out of it! Sonic struggled out of Amy's grip and started to run in that direction. "Eggman!! It's Eggman!!" he cried. Juice and Amy started after him while Punchy lowered the ProwerPhone to look up. "SONIC!! Don't go after him alone!! ...We'll call ya back!" he said, hanging up. Rising from the water was a flying fortress with neon signs on the side. Neon signs reading "Eggtopia!"

Juice took back the ProwerPhone and started fiddling with it. "What are you doing?" Amy asked, watching him. "Dad shouldn't go in there alone. But we'll never catch him. We need help..." he explained. Amy startled Juice by suddenly hugging him. "I still can't believe I'm a mommy and my son is so cute!!" she squealed joyfully. In the meantime, Punchy had started to wander off, so Heather followed after him. "Where to?" she asked. "Rainbow's in the subway! Actually, so is Guard. Come on, we've almost caught them!" Punchy told her. "You think they'll still be there? Aren't they evacuating?" Heather asked. "Worth looking..." Punchy shrugged, "Besides, Sonic obviously doesn't want our help..." The phoenix nodded, and both of them headed off on their own. Skye was busy watching the battleship rising out of the sea, in the meantime. "It's biiig... It's rising just slow enough that I think Sonic's gonna make it on... Hey, is that a flying taxi?!" he stammered, pointing in the sky. Bill and Bob popped out of the nearby tavern with two pairs of binoculars. "Flyin' taxi?! Dat's gotta be Mia!" Bill exclaimed. "Boy, I'm sure glad she's okay..." Bob added. As they peered at the flying cab with their binoculars, however, their hearts sank. "You tell 'em, Bob. I'm sick of givin' bad news..." Bill grunted. "What bad news? Is my Sonic in trouble!?" Amy shouted. Bob handed her the binoculars so she could look herself. "Oh, there's Sonic! He's jumping onto the ship! Way to go!" she cheered. "Look at the flyin' cab..." Bill grunted. Amy looked around for it, and soon found the cab trying to land on the Eggtopia battleship. Amy let out a panicked yelp. "It's Gunner! What's Gunner doing there?! Sonic, watch out!!" she cried. Juice gulped. "Come on, pick up... Pick up!!" he whined.

The Eggtopia battleship started to rise faster once Sonic was aboard, and soon they were soaring through the clouds above Troblusk City while Sonic walked along the top deck looking for a way inside. "I'm gettin' some Egg Carrier vibes from this thing. But where exactly are we going? Guess it doesn't matter..." Sonic sighed. He could see a hatch leading inside the ship ahead, but before he could approach it, he felt rain drops on his head. "Again..." he murmured. The weather had sure been awful lately. Turning around, Sonic saw the Doomsayer standing behind him. "Fight on. It won't bring them back. The dead are dead." the hooded figure hissed. Sonic clenched his fists. "Take off that hood! Apocalos! Your mind games are gettin' old!" he shouted. The Doomsayer saw Sonic running in to attack him, and to the hedgehog's surprise, the Doomsayer easily sidestepped him! "He has discarded this mantle. I am the one true Doomsayer now." the hooded one whispered. Sonic turned towards him again. "Whatever! The dead may be gone, but I won't give up on my friends who are still here!" he shouted. The Doomsayer turned away from him. "You will... Once your soul has been broken by defeat upon defeat... The only remaining answer is...doom." he said, his raspy voice rising as he spoke. Sonic prepared to make another move on him, but the sound of Eggman's voice made him look around. "Attention passengers! This is a private cruise! If you don't have a ticket, you will be thrown overboard! Ho ho ho ho!!" The playful tone made it clear that Eggman knew he was there. When Sonic looked to the Doomsayer again, he was gone, and the rain was stopping. "What's with that guy?" he questioned before opening the hatch and dropping into Eggtopia.

The first thing Sonic noticed as he began to explore the ship's interior was that it looked pretty identical to the interior of the Eggtopia building in Troblusk City. Were the corridors underneath that building just this ship? It felt likely. The second thing Sonic noticed was that Eggman was using a lot of Lost One-fused robots now. Even the motobugs charging after him now had tendrils bursting out of their black spots, making them more dangerous to simply jump onto than before! So, Sonic was smashing them with a series of spin-dashes, charging through the halls like a pinball. That seemed like a sound strategy until his path was barred by a set of grabbers. "Don't you guys hang around chemical plants? Heh, well, what are you gonna do different? Drop down with slime webs?" Sonic chuckled. Nope, they dropped down partway with normal wires, and then their legs suddenly burst out of their sides, several nets of slime covering the path ahead of Sonic! "Ugh! Well, this is a sticky situation! But you didn't exactly catch me..." he smirked. A blue flame lit from the grabbers' mouths, and they started to spit that fire in Sonic's direction! "Ah! Now you're gettin' fired up! This could be a problem!" Sonic admitted, unsure if there was a safe way to remove this obstacle. To his surprise, a few laser blasts whizzed past him and blew apart the grabbers and the webs of slime! Sonic was further surprised when he turned to see Gunner standing there. "Go on, hedgehog. Clear the damn monsters from this ship! Go, before I change my mind!" the old man shouted. Sonic shrugged. "Try not to get munched by them, gramps!" he said before speeding ahead. Dr. Nammad scratched his head as he approached Gunner. "You could've finally, uh, killed him." he pointed out. Gunner scoffed. "Annoying as it is, he's worth more to me alive right now... I can't take over this ship without a little disruption!" he stated, starting forward. Spy followed along at the back of their group, grumbling. "Take over the ship, of course... Help me, Sonic..." he whimpered under his breath.

Sonic sped further into the ship, searching for Eggman, slowing down only to battle the possessed robots. Alone with his thoughts, the hedgehog felt a new anger towards the doctor. He'd been a villain before, but working with the Lost Ones, the creatures that will supposedly destroy the world, felt like crossing a line. As he blasted through another set of mutant Motobugs, Sonic leapt to his feet and shouted out. "Eggman! Where are you!?" The response from the PA was pretty quick. "Impatient today, even for you, Sonic! It isn't as though I've never knocked down a building before!" the doctor said, having a laugh at Sonic's angry tone. The blue one looked around for the source of his voice, and once he confirmed that Eggman wasn't there, he growled his response. "Because you sided with those creatures, Razor is dead! What's more, you pulled the trigger!" he snapped. Eggman sat back in his seat at the control room, watching Sonic from a monitor and shrugging. "Casualties have always been inevitable. You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs... And I'm aiming to build an empire!" he said with a sneer. Sonic shook his fist up at the screen Eggman was watching. "I'm knockin' this eyesore out of the sky! Then we'll see how smug you are!" Rather than listen to Sonic anymore, Eggman switched off the sound, folding his hands on his round belly as he watched Sonic on the monitors. "Casualties are inevitable... Yes..." he murmured, frowning, "Break all the eggs in the world, and there'll be no more chickens. Are any amount of omelets worth that?" he asked himself. "I could sure go for an omelet!" Cubot chimed in. Orbot shrugged and sighed, while Eggman turned around in his seat. "The omelet is made of ectoplasmic slime." he grumbled. "Ahh... On second thought, I don't have a mouth!" Cubot babbled.

Sonic found his way to a corridor covered in strange panels. At the end of the corridor stood Firepaw, who was now free to roam reality thanks to a robotic body. "Meowr! Welcome back to Eggtopia, hedgehog! Let me make your visit a bit more nostalgic, hehe..." Before Sonic could approach Firepaw, the panels on the walls lit up, making him shield his eyes! When he looked again, the corridor was filled with odd blocks, pipes, and the turtle-esque "Egg Troops." It was a virtual projection of Super Eggman Land! Sonic remembered exploring this whimsical game, at the end battling Firepaw to free some trapped police, including... "You seriously wanna remind me of Razor right now? You really wanna tick me off!?" Sonic shouted, leaping over one of the strange pipes and bonking one of the Egg Troops on the head, forcing it into its shell! "This isn't a game!!" he shouted, kicking the shell and sending it bouncing into the other turtles! Firepaw lit his clawed fingers on fire and glared at him. "We're in agreement, then. Meowr!" He started to lob fireballs down the corridor towards Sonic, and the hedgehog jumped to evade them, accidentally whacking his head on a block! "Ooof!! What the heck is up with the floating blocks!?" he shouted. "Meowr! You get score points by hitting your head against them!" Firepaw chuckled. "Eggman's sadistic..." Sonic groaned, rubbing his head. As he took a step forward, the ground suddenly vanished from under him! "Oh, by the way, the illusion was hiding trap doors! Bye bye!!" Firepaw laughed as Sonic started to fall through the hole and out of the ship! His hands clawed at the walls, trying to avoid falling to his doom! "I...just...need traction!" he grunted. "Down here, dad!!" Looking out of the ship below, Sonic saw a plane heading towards him. The Hurricane! Juice was shakily standing on the wing, while a reddish female echidna, Lara, was piloting!

Lara sighed with relief when Sonic landed safely on the wing. "Glad we could help! Hey, you wouldn't happen to have seen my dad?" she asked. Sonic looked up at the hole he fell through. "Uhh... Not lately. Sorry to drop in so briefly, but I gotta finish things up there!" he said. Juice nodded. "We'll find a way to catch up with you!" he told his father. Sonic smirked. "That's my boy. Catch ya later!" Leaping off the Hurricane's wing, Sonic planted his feet on the walls of the trap door and ran his way back up, leaping out of the hole and launching a homing attack at the panels on the corridor walls, knocking out the projections! Firepaw looked back at him with a start. "Meowr!! You should be a floor pancake down there! Uh, I mean... Congrats on winning my game, meowr! B-BAS, tell him what he's won! ...Bye!" Turning, Firepaw retreated down the corridor in a burst of fiery turbo speed! Sonic tapped his foot. "Well, BAS?" he asked, not too concerned with catching the feline robot. The Base Announcement System replied crankily. "I don't have to play along with Firepaw's nonsense! I have my own nonsense! This is the song that ne-ver ends...!" Sonic shrugged and started following Firepaw as the annoying voice started singing. "Shouldn't have got him started..." he sighed. In a few short moments, Firepaw had led Sonic to a large hangar where an Egg Mobile was floating in the air. "Eggman! Decided to face me yourself!? Good, we can get the thrashing over with!" Sonic shouted, clenching his fists. The Egg Mobile turned, revealing Metal Eggman in the seat, and Sonic smacked his own forehead upon seeing him. The robotic doctor laughed at him. "Indeed, Sonic! Let's finish this rivalry between us once and for all! Prepare to be crushed by my latest masterwork! Err, just a moment!" he babbled, flying the Egg Mobile up above into the oddly dark ceiling for a moment. He crashed back down a moment later, his Egg Mobile inserted into the head of a giant praying mantis robot! "Face the Egg Slasher!" Metal Eggman sneered.

Sonic pointed and laughed at him. "Slash with what? That looks like a busted up old robot that you forgot to re-install the weapons onto!" he chuckled. He wasn't wrong; Tails had faced the Egg Slasher a long time ago, and this re-hash was oddly missing its scythe claws. Metal Eggman glanced down and tilted his head. "Hm? Ah, right. This is also a Lost One experiment!" he said, snickering as sickles of slime burst out of the stubby arms of the robot! These slime-based scythes were then hurled at Sonic like sharp boomerangs, forcing him to move quickly to evade them! "Gah! I'm havin' the worst kinda Metropolis flashbacks!" the hedgehog shouted, running around the robot and leaping into a homing attack, smacking the cockpit! As Sonic bounced back, Metal Eggman flew the Egg Slasher out of range and turned to face Sonic again. A new pair of sickles replaced the old ones. "Just try and get me up here! Firepaw! A little assistance!" he shouted as he wound up the sickles to toss them again! "Meowr! Let's add a little firepower!" the robo-cat shouted, hitting the scythes with blasts of flame as they soared towards Sonic! The flames turned blue as they covered the scythes, only making them less appealing to touch. Sonic leapt over the fire once, and dove under the next burning scythe, only to find two more already coming! He changed direction, speeding around the robot to make himself harder to hit! "Hold still! You're making me burn up my ship!" Metal Eggman shouted. Indeed, the fiery slime was making a mess with each miss, leaving less room to run. Sonic had to make a move fast. He quickly charged up a spin dash, zooming right into Firepaw and knocking him over! Now under the Egg Slasher, Sonic leapt behind it, smashing into its back like a wrecking ball! The jetpack that was carrying it exploded, and as Sonic landed on his feet nearby, the Egg Slasher collapsed in a heap! "Get up, you hunk of junk! You're a Lost One, you can't be destroyed!" Metal Eggman shouted. Sonic was surprised to hear a scream from the robotic doctor next, and turned to see the slime inside the machine going crazy, tearing it apart from the inside! "No! Bad creature! Stop!! Nooooo!!" A slimy tendril tore through the Egg Mobile, and with a fiery explosion, Metal Eggman's head plopped down at Firepaw's feet! "MEOWR!! The horror!! I want to go back in VR!!" the cat shouted, fleeing the scene in a panic!

The mass of slime seemed to be busy, like it was trying to eat Metal Eggman's broken remains. Sonic watched this with a bit of shock, unsure what to do about this creature. "Is it trying to eat Metal Eggman's...soul?" he questioned. Suddenly, the ship was rocked by an explosion, and Sonic stumbled a bit before looking around for the source of the blast. "What's goin' on now!?" he wondered.

Outside, the ship taken by Eggman Nega had been caught by Eggtopia. Rather than discuss the situation, Nega had decided to open fire on Eggtopia, and for some odd reason Eggtopia wasn't firing back. Juice and Lara looked on from the Hurricane with concern. "If that ship goes down, so does Sonic..." Lara said grimly. A shot did take attention away from Eggtopia; A shot fired from Shadow Arcangel! Bucky was looking at the situation from his control room, and came to a quick conclusion. "We have to prevent either ship from going down until we can establish who is friend or foe! Keep the aggressor's attention on us for now!" he ordered. "Thisss isss going to hold up the Losssst One cure, isssn't it?" Vortex mumbled.

Eggman himself couldn't figure out why Eggtopia's weapons weren't firing. He hadn't counted on Richard Gunner. The old man stood behind Dr. Nammad as the scientist used a computer terminal to hack the whole ship. "I should get, uh, hazard pay for all this..." Nammad grumbled. "Just get the job done! Quickly, before we're blown out of the sky!" Gunner shouted. Riley, "Spy," stood close by, looking rather anxious. "What's taking over Eggman's ship gonna do?" he questioned. Gunner glared at him. "Aside from taking revenge on my so-called 'friend' Ivo for aligning with those monster freaks? With his weapons, we'll save this world...save it from ALL the freaks that plague it! I'm here to save humanity, damn it!" he shouted. "...By killing all other sentient life..." Riley huffed. Gunner pointed his gun arm at his head. "If you make yourself a problem, you can be removed. Remember that!"

Sonic raced away from the Egg Slasher's remains. He had to figure out what was going on, and he had to make sure Juice and Lara weren't in danger from it. There was no time to waste!


Chapter 25 - Sonic's Doom
Stage 13 - Eggtopia

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"Jet sounds a distant roar behind you,
As you try to clear your head.
You start to look and answers find you.
Your inner purpose lies ahead." - Waking Up, Shadow the Hedgehog


Meanwhile...

Resistance HQ had been serving as a GUN safe house for a while, but as the Lost Ones closed in on the city, GUN had ended up retreating further away. Uncle Chuck had remained at Resistance HQ, however, and was accompanied by Rotor and Dulcy, the three of them making preparations to defend the base if the Lost Ones did invade. It was while they were busy making adjustments to the security system that Sally Acorn arrived with Bunnie and Antoine. "Ah, Sal! Glad you could make it! We could use some organization here!" Chuck smiled as Dulcy fumbled a box of parts Rotor needed for repairs. "Waagh! Sorryyyy..." she sighed. "Allow me to assist, mademoiselle!" Antoine offered, bending down to pick up some of the scattered parts. "Too bad your legs are normal again, Bunnie. I could use their 'ladder' feature to reach the outside cameras." Rotor sighed. "Why don't I look fer an actual ladder, sugar..." Bunnie said sheepishly. While they made themselves busy, Sally stepped to the computer system that Chuck was monitoring. "We just came from the Gaia Remnants. Have you ever heard of the Gaia Wellsprings?" she asked. Chuck rubbed his chin. "Well, I've been talkin' to Professor Pickle. I think I'm fairly up to speed." he murmured, "Hopefully all the springs are protected." he sighed. Sally had a deeply concerned look in her eyes. "They're protected by a magic spell. From my understanding, magic isn't permanent..." she said. They both heard some yelps behind them. "Tony, that's my foot!!" Dulcy yelled. "Pardonne moi!" Antoine yelped. Sally rubbed her forehead and groaned. "Is there anything we can do?" she wondered. Chuck looked thoughtful. "Hand me Nicole. Maybe between the two of us we can at least figure out all the details. How long we got, how far-reaching is the spell, things like that." he mumbled. Sally handed him the handheld, and Chuck plugged it into the base's computer. "Searching for information. I am at your service, Sir Charles." Nicole reported. Sally nodded, and turned to her Freedom Fighters. Their fight was just starting, it seemed. "All right, let's get organized!" Sally said.


Dr. Eggman was frantically tapping at a keyboard, trying to regain control of Eggtopia. "Sonic's not smart enough to pull this! Who would dare!?" he growled. He managed to put a call through to the other computer that had taken control of the ship, and saw Dr. Nammad sitting there. "Uhhhh...oh." he murmured. Gunner shoved him aside and peered into the screen at Eggman. "Game's over, Ivo! I'm taking this ship! Your madness will end the damn world, and I won't allow it!" he shouted. Eggman grit his teeth. "Don't pretend that your madness is any less self-serving, Richard!!" he shouted. Another call came in, and both of them saw Eggman Nega pop up on the screen as well. "You're neither shooting back nor defending me against that other ship. I'm curious what exactly is going on?" Nega asked. "You insolent copycat reject! How dare you fire on me with my own ship!!" Eggman shouted. "You'd do well to stand down, Nega, or I'll blast you out of the sky once I'm in full control!" Gunner warned. Orbot peered his head over Eggman's shoulder. "Can we call the third ship, too? Considering they're doing most of the shooting right now..." he murmured. "I don't have Bucky's number!" Eggman grunted, shoving the robot aside, "And you two! You both better make your peace, because when I get control back, I'll crush you both! I don't care who you are! No one steals my ships!!" he shouted. Nega sighed and shrugged. "Shame. I'd have offered to team up with one of you to blast that third ship, but if that's your attitude, I guess this is the end for you, my ancestor..." he grumbled. "Won't you poof if anything happens to Eggman?" Cubot asked. Nega snickered, obviously not caring. Gunner had to get the last word on them, though. "You're both finished! I'll obliterate everyone who stands in my way! EVERYONE!" he shouted, firing his gun arm at the monitor! Nammad looked at him frantically. "B-boss! How am I supposed to take control when you destroy the, uh, terminal!?" he shouted. "You'll figure it out!" Gunner yelled.


Somewhere on "Nega's Ship," Blaze was searching for the doctor with Silver and Marine following. They had been lucky to board the ship before it took off. Now it didn't feel so lucky, as the ship was rocked by an attack from Shadow Arcangel. "Crikey! This flying cruise ship has hit a sky-iceburg!" Marine yelped. Silver looked around cautiously. "If this ship is going to crash, we need a way off. Any ideas, Blaze?" he asked. The feline just kept walking, unfazed. "You'll float us down like you did at the Security Tower." she said simply. Silver frowned, following after her. "It was just you and me, and honestly we were lucky to get out of that okay." he said. "I can't leave without the Sol Emerald." Blaze replied. Eggman Nega still had one more of them. Marine looked a bit thoughtful. "We could steal that mustache guy's floaty chair... I've always wanted to fly around in one of those floaty chairs!" she giggled. Blaze nodded. "Not a bad idea." she said. Silver still looked worried. "We're taking heavy fire here!! We might not have time to find Nega!!" As he shouted in frustration, a gang of Egg Pawns scrambled out of nearby corridors and surrounded them! "Well, good job, Silver. You got their attention." Blaze sighed. "Eh, it's just the small frys." Marine sighed. Then, they heard thudding footsteps, and a pair of large Pawn's carrying hammers stomped towards them! Silver quickly lifted some of the smaller ones with his powers and hurled them at one of the large ones! "Out of our way!" he shouted. Blaze set herself afire and charged at the other large Pawn, leaping aside to dodge its hammer's swing! "I agree with you on this, Silver, we don't have time for this!!" she growled.


Sonic had to put his attack on Eggman on hold. He knew that Juice and Lara, two of the future-kids, had flown up here on the Hurricane. Were they on board the ship? If this ship was going to crash, he had to make sure they got off safely. He'd found a computer terminal, but quickly realized that he had no idea how to use it. "I could probably check the ship's security from here...if I were Tails! Hmm... Hold on a sec!" He dashed back through the ship, found Firepaw again, and sped him over to the terminal. "Meeeeowrrrr!! Unhand me! I don't got any money!!" the robotic cat shouted. Sonic plopped him in front of the computer. "You were a literal computer guy! Can you find my, err...my son?" he asked. Firepaw groaned. "Well, I should try to hack back into the ship anyway... If I should happen to find another hedgehog, yippie for you, meowr." he said, plugging his claws into a couple sockets attached to the terminal. His eyes lit up in various colors while the screen flashed various images. Sonic saw Mia's cab somewhere on the ship. "Right, that's how Gunner got here..." he murmured. Eventually, footage from outside the ship was shown, and Sonic shook the robot. "Stop, stop! Go back! That's them!" he shouted. "Meowrrr, don't mess with me while I'm hacking!" Firepaw growled, grudgingly pulling up the outside footage. The Hurricane was evading fire as it flew between the battling battleships. Sonic frowned. "They're staying in danger out there because I'm in here. Where was that flying cab again?" he asked. "Meowr! Find it yourself! I gotta get control back from that hacker before we blow up!" Firepaw shouted. "Fair point." Sonic shrugged, slapping Firepaw on the back forcefully before he started to run off in search of the cab! "Meowr! I hate that hedgehog..." Firepaw grumbled.


Eggman Nega growled, putting his stolen ship on autopilot before standing up. "Silver and Blaze, ever the thorns in my side! It's time I dealt with those pests!" he growled. And so, it wasn't long before he'd boarded his Egg Mobile and equipped it with one of his ancestor's weapons in order to do battle! When Silver, Blaze and Marine found him, he was piloting some sort of fish-out-of-water machine. It looked like a big Chopper robot with a cockpit. "I have no idea what this thing is called, but no matter! You won't get the Sol Emerald from me so easily!" Nega declared. Silver smirked and raised his hand, his psychokinesis quickly crumpling the fishy robot around Nega's Egg Mobile! "Curse you, Eggman! You didn't psychic-proof this thing!!" Nega shouted, gasping as Blaze approached. "You were saying?" she asked with a grin, "Give back that Sol Emerald!!" she cried, leaping at him as her body engulfed in flames, and then kicking him forcefully! As his Egg Mobile went flying from the wreckage, the blue Sol Emerald fell to the floor, and Marine scurried over to pick it up. "Lucky that was so easy. But now how do we get offa this flying sail boat?" the raccoon asked. The ship shook as she spoke, adding urgency to her question. Silver looked up and motioned with his hands, using his powers to tear a hole in the ceiling! "Maybe a look outside will help?" he suggested. Blaze nodded, taking the Sol Emerald from Marine. "Let's hurry. The last Sol Emerald is still in the hands of those disgusting creatures." she said. While Silver started to lift them through the hole with his powers, Nega's vehicle wobbled towards them. "H-hold it, you fools! This world is doomed, you know! I only wanted to use those emeralds to get to safety!! Come back here!! Blaze!!" Of course, his shouts were ignored.

As they popped on top of the ship, Juice spotted them from the Hurricane. "Over there, Lara! That guy looks just like Venice!" he shouted, pointing at Silver. Lara nodded. "But this plane wasn't built to carry so many people!" she noted. "I don't think there's a choice!" Juice pointed out. They flew towards the stranded trio on the ship while Shadow Arcangel loomed, targeting that ship. Zipp was on the roof of the Arcangel, manning a massive cannon that was a recent addition. "Wait for orders, they said. Stand by they said. I'm charging this shot so much it could knock out the sun, hehehe..." he snickered, keeping the ship in his sights. The Hurricane started to fly away in a moment, with Eggman Nega's Egg Mobile chasing after it, and that was when Zipp got the call. "There's no life forms left aboard! Take it out!" said Crash over a two-way radio. Zipp frowned. "Don't tell me that! Tell me I'm gonna kill that other me or something! Ah, well. Ship go boom now!" he cackled. As he pressed a red button on the cannon, a massive beam of destruction was fired, causing the now-empty ship to be engulfed in a fiery explosion! "STREWTH!! That was CLOSE!!" Marine cried, covering her ears as she huddled on the wing of the Hurricane with Juice, Silver and Blaze. "Someone's been busy on that ship! When did they get so much power??" Silver wondered. 

Deep inside the Arcangel's lab, Bucky heard the explosion while he was busy examining a reaction in some test tubes. "I must thank those foxes and the rabbit for the repairs, and the upgrades...if I live to see them." he muttered. Sonata the unicorn stood in the door to his lab, looking a bit troubled. "Master? Are you alright? I sense you are...wracked with guilt." he asked. Bucky glanced back at him. "I've told you not to read my emotions..." he grumbled. Sonata shrank into the doorway a little. "I just want to know why..." he said. The rat heaved a sigh. "This is my fault. I claimed this lab. All to complete my research into topics that perhaps man was never meant to know about. I may have been ignorant to it, but I woke the Lost Ones from their slumber. I thought the demise of Crimm and my...my Hope...I thought losing them were my punishment. Yet, here we are, still facing judgement for my mistakes. But if I can cure these creatures... Then perhaps Hope's soul can rest..." he said, looking at the test tubes intently. Sonata looked at him sadly. "I hope you find peace, as well, father..."


Sonic had raced to find Mia's taxi cab that Gunner had stolen and flown onto the ship in its transformed state. He was less concerned with Eggman now and more concerned with the safety of his friends. But when he got to the cab, he found Gunner barring his way! He quickly evaded a shot from the wicked man's gun arm. "Outta the way, old timer! Don't make me beat up an old guy!" Sonic warned. "I'm the same damn age as Robotnik!!" Gunner shouted, "It's the stress! You furry freaks have done this to me!! Look at these wrinkles, look at my arm! Enough!! No more games. I'm going to kill you, Sonic the hedgehog!" he shouted. Dr. Nammad emerged with a remote control, snickering as something lumbered towards Sonic from behind. "Excuse the, uh, crudity of this machine. I only had a short, uh, time to cobble it together." he sneered. Sonic turned and yelped to see a mish-mash of parts that somehow functioned. It seemed to have a metal scorpion tail, arms ending in spiked balls, an E-series based head, and it rolled around on treads like a tank! "I'm thinking Eggman would call this the Egg...Salad?" Sonic murmured. Gunner snarled at him. "Don't mock me! You may have destroyed everything I've ever thrown at you, but maybe that's exactly why we need a monster to fight a monster!" he yelled. While they were distracted, Riley had hidden himself in the cab, resting his head against the wheel. "I'm so done with this... That man has bullied and threatened me and everyone to get his way... ENOUGH!!" The engine revved, and Gunner spun around in shock as he saw Riley driving the cab away, clearly planning to escape the ship by himself! "Spy!! SPY!! What are you doing, you miserable coward!? Get your ass back here or I'll...I'll...!!" Dr. Nammad couldn't help chuckling at Gunner's tantrum. "Sir, I uh... I think your coward just found his, uh, gumption." he teased. Sonic couldn't help smirking. He might have lost the cab, but seeing Gunner's Spy finally have enough was worth it. "Your reign is over, 'President Gunner!' Guess you didn't have anyone's vote!" he taunted.

In Eggtopia's control room, Firepaw had joined Eggman, and together, they had restored control. "Meowr! Take that hackers! I hate hackers!" the robo-cat laughed. Eggman grinned and stroked his moustache. "And Nega's been blown out of the sky. All that's left is Sonic and that idiot Richard! It's time I put them all in their place and showed them they can never hold a candle to me!" With that, Eggman pressed a big green button on his control panel, and stood up, turning to head out. "Oh, by the way, Orbot, be ready to abandon ship. The firepower on the Arcangel is insane today!" Eggman stated. "Yes, sir, boss!" Orbot saluted.

The floor under Sonic, Gunner and Nammad's feet rumbled, and they felt themselves being lifted as the ceiling opened above them! "What's happening now?" Sonic wondered, looking around. They found themselves on an outdoor platform...a deck designed for aerial showdowns! The Egg Mobile arrived, and Eggman laughed hysterically at the hodgepodge robot built by Nammad. "You think you can beat Sonic with THAT thing? Know when you're beaten, Richard!" he laughed. Gunner pointed his gun arm at him. "Never!!" he shouted. The doctor shrugged and snapped his fingers. Then, a robotic dragon emerged from somewhere in the ship, its body lit up with neon lights! The Egg Mobile slotted into its head, and the doctor sneered in satisfaction. "Meet the draconian Eggtopia Guardian! My ultimate mean machine! Before the end of the world, Sonic, I'll bring about the end of YOU!" Eggman declared. As he spoke, the Hurricane soared above them, and Sonic grinned as Silver and Blaze dropped onto the ship beside him! "Need a hand?" Silver asked. "Let's take down that old man properly this time!" Blaze added, glaring at Gunner. Sonic nodded and clenched his fists. "Bring it, Eggman!" Little did any of them notice, storm clouds were starting to gather around the ship...

Slots on the Eggtopia Guardian's chest opened up, and fireworks launched out like missiles towards the hedgehogs and cat! Sonic sped out of the way, while Blaze acrobatically leapt to dodge the initial explosions. Silver grabbed one of the projectiles with his psychokinesis, hurling it right back at the dragon only to have it blocked by its broad neon wing! As Sonic started racing toward the dragon, Gunner pointed his gun arm at him. "Don't you dare ignore me, freaks!" he snarled, "I...am the president!!" As he fired his shot, a fireball intercepted it, and Blaze stepped towards him. "Well I'm a princess. Who cares?" she said to him. Nammad fiddled with his controller, steering the "Egg Salad" between Blaze and Gunner. "You'll have to, uh, go through my creation to get to us!" he warned. Blaze stared at the odd robot in confusion. Then, the scorpion stinger started to fire lasers at her, forcing her into action! Meanwhile, as Sonic neared the dragon robot, the neon lights on its body suddenly flashed brightly, temporarily blinding him! "Gah! What the-" Before Sonic could get his bearings, the robot slammed onto him with its talons! "Ungghh!! Dirty move..." he grunted. "It's called strategy!" Eggman taunted, lifting Sonic up with the robot's talons and tossing him forcefully, trying to send him off the ship! However, Silver grabbed him with his psychic grip, and as he brought him back, Sonic started to spin rapidly in midair! "Return to sender!!" Silver shouted, tossing the spinning Sonic back at the Eggtopia Guardian! Eggman blocked with the robot's wings, but the force of Sonic's impact tore a sparking hole in the wing before the hedgehog dropped back to the ship! "Blasted hedgehogs! Don't think I'm finished here! MORE FIREWORKS!!" the doctor shouted, the top of the ship starting to light up like a New Year's celebration!


With Vortex captaining the Arcangel while Bucky was occupied, it was decided to vote on exactly what to do about the Eggtopia battleship. "Best not to take our chances, blast it out of the sky..." Crash stated. "I don't wanna give them a chance to blast us..." Talon murmured. Bolt was silent and didn't vote, only standing anxiously in the corner. "Are we sure we don't have friends over there? I don't think we should fire on them..." Emily said with concern. "If I get a vote, I support Emily." Conan murmured. Gideon was looking out the window at the ship, sighing. "There are living things aboard. It would be wrong to throw away the gift that is life." it stated. Vortex listened and nodded. "I didn't expect ssssuch a sssplit decisssion... But I know how Zipp would vote. And persssonally, I don't want to ssssee Eggman anymore." he hissed, raising his two-way radio to give the order.

The first blast from the Arcangel rocked the ship, but it wasn't enough to destroy it outright. At the same time, Blaze landed a good kick to the shabby robot's head, causing the "Egg Salad" to collapse in a heap of broken parts! "There, now... We need to get off this ship!" she stated, running away from the growling Gunner. "I could shoot her right in the back!" he grumbled. "I'd rather, uh, secure transport to safety." Nammad stated. Meanwhile, Sonic looked to Silver. "Toss me one more time, and make it a good shot!" he said, tucking himself into a spin charge! Silver lifted him with his powers, twirling the spinning hedgehog in the air. "Game's over, Eggman!" he said before tossing Sonic right at the dragon's head!

Thunder crashed as the storm that had been brewing raged around them. The Egg Mobile popped out of the dragon robot as Sonic crashed through the head, causing it to go up in a burst of firework explosions. Silver and Blaze met up and started looking for the Hurricane, but a bolt of lightning chased the plane away! It was then that Mia's cab, piloted by Riley, hovered over to the platform. He honked the horn at Silver and Blaze. "Get in, quick!" he shouted. Silver shrugged and headed over with Blaze following. At the same time, Gunner and Nammad chased the Egg Mobile. "Come on! As, uh, one doctor to another... Save me!!" Nammad pleaded. Eggman groaned and extended a claw from the bottom of his Egg Mobile. "Grab on or goodbye!" he grumbled. Gunner and Nammad raced to grab the swinging claw, barely managing to take hold in time! "Don't drop us, Ivo! Don't you dare!" Gunner shouted. "Oh, don't tempt me, Richard!" Eggman grumbled as he fled the ship. This left Sonic, who landed on the ship and turned to see the Hurricane evading lightning. "Hey... What kinda storm...?" Looking around, he saw the Doomsayer on the ship, and instantly grit his teeth in anger. "You! Fine, let's finish this here!" he shouted as the ship was rocked by another laser blast! Sonic charged at the Doomsayer, and he charged right back, their hands locking together as they started to struggle! "You won't...get away!" Sonic grunted, glaring into those glowing eyes. "Of course I won't... The end is all-consuming!" the Doomsayer hissed. "ENOUGH!!" Sonic cried. He tried to engage the Doomsayer in a fist fight, but the hooded being seemed able to anticipate his every move! It was only when the ship shook once again from a final blast and started to explode that both combatants lost their balance somewhat. Sonic had fallen on the ground, and when he looked up, the Doomsayer was extending a hand to him. The explosion had caused the hood to fall from his face, and Sonic crawled backwards in shock at what he saw.

The face he looked into...was his own!

Juice and Lara stared at the scene in disbelief from the Hurricane. "D-dad? It can't be!" he stammered. Sonic slapped away the Doomsayer's hand and climbed to his feet on his own. "This...is some kind of trick!" he stammered. The Doomsayer tapped his foot impatiently, shaking his head. "Don't worry. You don't need to understand." he hissed, placing a hand on Sonic's shoulder, "Once your pain ends, so too will mine... Goodbye." As Sonic stood there, still in shock, the Doomsayer leapt into the air and struck him with a homing attack! This caused Sonic to slip and fall over the edge of the exploding ship! "Dad!! Nooooo!!" Juice cried, being held on the plane by Marine as they watched Sonic plummet into the forest below! Lara looked serious. "Calm down. If he dies, so do you, so conversely, if you stick around then he survives." she pointed out. As the plane turned away from Eggtopia, the ship went up in flames behind them, and Marine looked back. "D-do ya think...the other Sonic made it?" she stammered. There were many questions now, and no easy path to the answers. All they knew was that Sonic was now lost down below...in the Forest of Dreams.


Chapter 26 - Rumble in the Jungle
Stage 14 - Giant Jungle

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"Never, never give up! Never give up the fight!
Never, never give up! Never give up the fight!
No matter how tough it gets for us,
I know we can make it through.
Long as we keep standing tall, working together, oh!" - Never Give Up, Sonic Underground


It wasn't too long after the destruction of the Troblusk City Clock Tower. Burning rubble buried a section of the city, and Lost Ones had swarmed into the streets. Eventually, some of that rubble started to stir. Bright light slashed through the cement pieces, and they crumbled! A hand adorned with gold claws reached out of the hole, and Knuckles pulled himself up. "Finally these Chaos Claws prove useful for something!" he grunted as he pulled himself out from under the debris. Looking around, his companions were nowhere in sight. "I know Violet warped out... So where did she go? And is Shade with her..." he murmured, concern in his eyes. This was the second time today that their collective group had been trapped in a collapsing tower. He came on this mission to protect everyone, but it didn't feel like he was doing a good job. Shrugging away those thoughts, Knuckles headed away from the wreck and into the city. There was no use sticking around there. "Hey, Violet! Shade!!" he called, looking around as he searched the ghost town of a city. Though there was no sign of them, he did hear some sounds close by. And they sounded in distress. "Hang on, I'm coming..." he grunted, rushing towards the voices. As he rounded a corner, he stopped suddenly as Ray the Flying Squirrel whooshed past his head through the air! "Bad bugs, bad bugs!! Oh, hey, Knuckles!" he said hastily. Down the street, Mighty the Armadillo was surrounded by lospides. "How did we end up back in this cursed city anyway??" he grunted, leaping into the air and curling into a ball before dropping down forcefully! The earth shook around him, and the arachnid Lost Ones backed up a bit...but otherwise they didn't seem bothered. "Hang on, Mighty! I got your back!" Knuckles shouted.

Knuckles leapt into action, using the Chaos Claws to rip those spiders limb from limb from limb. Mighty found an opening to join Ray, and they watched as the creatures melted into inactive slime after taking a good hit from those golden claws. At around that time, Violet warped into the area. "Aha! Found you, Knuckles!" she smiled, zapping a lospide with a jolt of black lighting before it could leap on the red echidna's back! "You missed one!" she smirked. Knuckles turned and gave the stunned monster a finishing slash. "Where's Shade? She did get out, didn't she!?" he grunted. "Yeah, she's looking for other survivors." Violet explained. Mighty and Ray glanced at one another in puzzlement. "Hey, what's going on in this crazy city, anyway? And who's your new girlfriend, Knuckles?" Ray asked. "Watch it..." Violet growled. Knuckles wasn't really sure how to explain everything to Ray. "Long story short, the world's been invaded by soul-eating monsters. And they're doing an alarmingly good job." he told his old friends. Ray looked nervous. "Aaah! They were gonna eat our souls!?" he stammered. Violet turned to Knuckles with a serious expression. "I think we should get back to looking for the Chaos Emeralds. Not only do we have these creatures, but Howler, Infinite, Eggman and maybe more..." she pointed out. When she put it that way, things did sound especially dire. Knuckles growled softly. "We only have one emerald so far! Where do we even look?" he questioned. Mighty scratched his head. "Well...hmm... I may not hang out with him as much as you, but doesn't Tails say the Chaos Emeralds are like magnets? If you have one, can't you use it somehow?" he asked. Everyone folded their arms and tilted their heads, thinking it over. After a moment, Violet snapped her fingers. "I know a place we can go! C'mon. Better than hangin' out here where the creatures can find us again!" she said, motioning for the others to follow. "W-wait for me!" Ray stammered.

Violet led them to a shady-looking building. Even in the condition the city was in, this building looked suspicious. She knocked on the door three times, and an eye slot opened. "Hee hee! Prove you're not a monster!" a familiar voice giggled. "The password is strawberries." Violet stated. Knuckles, Mighty and Ray exchanged awkward glances, but the door opened, and they were welcomed inside by the crazed giggles of Patch the fox! "Vy! Welcome to the new resistance! Hee hee!" he laughed. Violet hi-fived him on the way in, and smiled to see Daisy close by as well. "Vy! Glad to see you're alive! ...Hey there, Knucklehead." she murmured. "My name's Knuckles, you Despair rejects! Why are we here??" he grunted. This run-down building looked like something the gargoyle mob would operate out of. Except for some electronic sounds in the next room. "Hey, are those video games?" Ray asked, scurrying ahead to check it out. They found Mitch the Weasel in the next room, fiddling with an old ham radio. There were also video games that someone left on, and quite a bit on contraband tech lying around. "Hey, 'Infin!' Need to ask a favor!" Violet announced. Mitch growled at her. "You mugs still owe me fer the last favor I did ya! My robo-foot still aches every time it rains!" he complained. Knuckles grabbed him by the collar of his fancy suit. "How about you listen or I rearrange your face!?" he warned. "Be nice to my friends, Knuckles..." Violet sighed, "Can you use a Chaos Emerald to locate the other emeralds?" she asked. Mitch grunted as Knuckles released him. "I can do anything I feels like..." Knuckles glared at him. "Know what? I feels like it..." he babbled nervously. Patch jumped up and down excitedly. "Field trip! Hee hee! Can we come with ya, Vy?" he asked. Knuckles frowned. "I can't babysit these goons..." he complained. Daisy smirked at him. "If we come along, you can borrow my car for the search!" she offered. Mighty looked around. "Her car? She steal it?" he questioned. Groaning, Knuckles knew he had to accept this. "Alright. I'll let you guys show me why Violet trusts you..." he murmured. Patch grabbed Ray's hand and started jumping up and down with him. "Field trip! Field trip!" they cheered playfully.

Fast forward through some quick technical work...

With a tracker built by Mitch with the Chaos Emerald inserted, the group piled into Daisy's green convertible and followed the signal. They were soon led to the Mystic Ruins, which were looking much worse off now that the Lost Ones had spread further. "The plants are wilting... What are those creatures doing to nature?" Mighty gasped. "Why did I go along on dis crazy treasure hunt?" Mitch murmured. The car continued, driving past the Mystic Ruins and moving deeper into the woods, arriving at the Giant Jungle. This jungle, once home to massive trees, now had very few of those trees standing. One of them held Eggman's old tree fort, but most of the trees were just stumps now. And those stumps were rotting in a more disturbing manner due to the Lost Ones' corruption. "Everybody out! These roads are getting too offroad for a convertible!" Daisy announced. As everyone climbed out of the car, Mitch smacked the tracker that they'd been following. "We got interference. Well, you mugs get what ya pay fer." he grumbled. Knuckles smiled. "Close enough. I sense the emeralds are in this jungle somewhere... I'll find 'em!" he said. Ray had caught a gust and flew up to the top of a high stump, landing there to scope out the surrounding area. "These stumps are like buildings! Ha! ...Aaah!!" he yelled in alarm, pointing at a sight he could see deeper in the jungle. "G-guys!! Can you see this?!" Violet warped up to him, and Knuckles quickly climbed up as well. "What's the shouting for?" he asked. Violet pointed. "Disturbing..." she said softly. There was a river that cut through the jungle, once a source of natural beauty. Knuckles grit his teeth as he saw it now. It was a river of slime. Ectoplasmic slime... A river of Lost Ones!


Inside Eggman's old tree fort, the Deadly Six were ransacking the place. "RRRAAAAHH!! All this doc's tech and not a single idea that can help us! I just wanna knock the building DOWN!!" Zazz shouted in frustration. Master Zik watched his tantrum with a calm expression. "You're foolish to expect the Lost Ones to send us anywhere that we might find the means to escape their control." he pointed out. Zomom pointed at Zazz and laughed. "Haha! You're foolish! You're actually no better than me!" he taunted. Zazz leapt on his head and started stomping. "WHO YOU CALLIN FOOLISH, FATTY!?" he screamed, waking Zor from a bit of a snooze. "Ah, man. I had the worst dream. We all died. It was cathartic." he grumbled. Zeena simply sat on a throne big enough for Eggman, filing her nails. "I hate this jungle. Bugs, mud, dead trees...ugh." she groaned. Zavok stepped next to her and growled softly. "I don't care about all your issues! Kosmo may very well pass through here on the way back home. A perfect opportunity to pay him back for humiliating us...Shadow too." he stated. Zomom threw Zazz off his head and waved to Zavok. "Buh-but boss... ain't we here to find those gemstones? Mmm, wonder if they taste good..." he murmured. "It's the Chaos Emeralds, and they're not for eating!" Zik told him. Zavok's eyes narrowed. "Oh, we'll get those emeralds... They may well prove to be the key to our salvation... They happen to be a weakness of the Lost Ones!" he said with a smirk. While the Zeti were busy discussing their plans, a certain someone was hanging stealthily from the ceiling, listening in on every word. The bat girl smirked widely as they failed to notice her. That spy training still came in handy for Rouge even in times like these...


Knuckles and Violet's groups had split up to search for the Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles had pointed Violet in a direction that he had a strong feeling about, while he'd see if he could find any additional emeralds; it wasn't too uncommon to find two or three close by. So, Violet, Patch, Daisy and Mitch headed on their way through the forest, the weasel busy trying to get his tracker working again as they went. "Dangit! I coulda been safe and sound in a bunker somewheres but here I am trailing a river of monster goop." he complained. "Well, I mean, we lived in a castle with monsters in the basement..." Daisy muttered. Patch took out his trademark nunchucks and popped the blades out of the handles. "Hee hee! I wanna get a good look around! I'll be up that huge stump!" he snickered, stabbing his nunchuck blades into the side of a huge stump and using it to climb! It was working, too. "He may be crazed, but he does have something going on in that brain..." Violet observed, "...I'll meet him up there!" she said, warping to the top of the stump. She gasped upon arrival. "'Sup, Vy? Do I gotta climb up there, too?" Daisy shouted up. "No need, I'll drop some down!" Violet yelled back. The sound of a scuffle was heard above, and then some of Eggman's old chameleon robots fell down from the stump and crashed to pieces around Daisy and Mitch! "Hey! Watchit!! I'm workin' here!!" Mitch shouted. Daisy looked at the broken robots and sighed, but then gasped as they stirred, slime pulling their parts back together! Daisy drew her katana and started attacking the possessed robots! "Hee hee! Wait for me!!" Patch yelled, leaping from the stump and landing beside Daisy to join the fighting! Violet warped back down next to Mitch holding the yellow Chaos Emerald. "Guess what, the enemy's after them... Hold this, Mitch!" she said, handing him the emerald as she rushed to help her friends against the possessed bots. "I didn't sign up for zombie robots!" Mitch groaned.


Mighty and Ray had joined Knuckles in his search. They were headed closer to Eggman's old tree fort. "Wouldn't be surprised if there's an emerald stashed in that building up there." Knuckles had stated. The jungle seemed unsettlingly quiet as they walked, so Ray started to hum softly to keep things upbeat. Before they could get close to the huge tree with the fort on it, though, a small creature leapt out of the bushes and ambushed them! "I HAVE FOUND PEOPLE!!" it screamed. Knuckles and Mighty quickly reacted by punching the creature at the same time on instinct, causing him to go flying backward into the tree! Ray gasped. "I think that was a Chao!!" he whimpered. However, as the creature climbed to his feet, they could see it was a small Zeti. "Curse you!! Why hit ZIM!?" the Zeti shouted. Mighty looked a bit apologetic and rubbed his head. "Well, I mean, you leapt out of nowhere at us..." he murmured. Zim sniffled and looked at them with excessively sad eyes. "I only wanted to ask for help from kind strangers... Zim's hero, Zavok is being held hostage by EVIL creatures using a FIENDISH conch to control him!" he explained. Knuckles looked at the Zeti and rubbed his chin. "Hmm... That story sounds familiar... But before I think about helping you, I gotta ask if you've seen any Chaos Emeralds around." he stated. Zim's eyes widened and he waved his arms excitedly. "Oh! Yes! I've seen a Chaos Emerald! LOADS of emeralds! Help Zim out and you will be richly rewarded!!" he babbled. "Really!?" Ray asked, smiling widely. Knuckles and Mighty glanced at each other with frowns, not buying it. Their discussion was interrupted by a female voice. "If it isn't little Zim... Having a chat with the enemy. Has our time apart turned you into a traitor?" Zeena leapt down from branches above, landing in front of Zim! "Never liked you anyway, twerp!" she snapped.

A wooden staff planted itself into the dirt next to Zeena, and Zik landed atop the handle before hopping to the ground and pulling the staff up. "Ah, Zavok's self-appointed apprentice... What are you doing here?" he grumbled, looking at Zim. "Ignore him and help me out, old man!" Zeena shouted as she was attempting to slash Knuckles, Mighty and Ray with her sharp nails. Zik glanced their way with a grumble. "I doubt these children are even worth my time..." he complained, hopping over and striking Mighty in the back with his staff! Fortunately, his shell absorbed most of the impact, but it had gotten his attention. "I don't even know who you guys are, but if you wanna start something, I'll finish it!" he growled, grabbing at the staff as Zik gave it another swing! As they started to grapple and Zeena chased Knuckles and Ray around, Zim watched in bewilderment. "But...wait... Why are we fighting?! We share the same enemy, you FOOLS!! I was trying to enlist their help to get rid of that conch! Why does no one listen to ZIM!!" he yelled. The small Zeti then jumped out of the way as Ray was tossed in his direction. "Ooof!! These guys are s-strong!" the flying squirrel groaned, resting on his back for a moment. Zik saw that he was vulnerable and got a glint in his eye, leaping up and hurling his staff forcefully towards Ray! Mighty leapt in the path of the staff and took a hard blow to his soft belly. "Unghhh!! Y-you okay, Ray?" he grunted. Ray sat up and looked at his friend with concern while Zik laughed, retrieving his staff. "Strategy over sentiment is paramount in battle. I knew I would either eliminate the boy or strike a blow on you!" he sneered. This also left Knuckles alone with Zeena. "Kid was cramping my style anyway... Let's fight claw on claw!" Knuckles smirked, slipping on the Chaos Claws!

"Knuckles! Guys, we're coming!!" called Violet, racing toward the scene of the action with Violet and Daisy in tow, and Mitch trailing further behind. Zim raised his arms to block them. "No you don't! None of you will get past Zim!!" he warned, only for Violet to vanish into a burst of darkness and appear right behind him! "CRUD!!" Zim cried, charging at Patch and Daisy as they drew their weapons. "Hee hee! Aww, he's little!" Patch teased. Zim growled and leapt between them, hopping out of the way of their attacks and causing Patch's nunchucks to tangle on Daisy's katana! "Paaatch!!" she groaned, tugging at her blade. Zim then dropped to the ground, radiating dark energy. "I can harness the dark powers, too! Tremble before me!!" he sneered, leaping back at them and headbutting each one with the power of darkness backing him! While they were knocked over, Violet joined Mighty and Ray in facing Zik. "Ganging up on an old man... You all must be quite weak!" he taunted. "You're not a man, you're some kinda monster!" Ray murmured. Zik snarled at him and leapt into the fray, seeming to control his staff as he tossed it through the air to smack the three of them! All the while, Knuckles and Zeena were parrying blows with their claws. The green Zeti looked rather furious, jumped back and examining her nails. "Look what you're doing to my art! Aaaagh, I'll kill you!!" she shouted, throwing a bit of a tantrum. Knuckles thought about how she was acting. "Kinda vain, aren't you?" he said, making Zeena a bit angrier. "You just can't appreciate true beauty!!" she spat. The echidna smirked. "I can sure ruin it, though..." he said, quickly digging his claws into the dirt and flinging it at the shocked Zeti, covering her in dust and soil! Fire burned in her eyes. "How...DARE you!!!" she roared, rushing at him in a blind rage! Knuckles leapt out of the way and swiped his claws at her back, making her howl in pain! Hearing this, Zik leapt away from the trio he was fighting and landed beside Zeena. "Perhaps it's best to regroup with the others for now..." he told her. Zeena snarled, rubbing her back. "Owww... You better hope I don't see you again!" she groaned, fleeing the scene with Zik. Sighing and turning to the others, Knuckles saw Zim standing atop the exhausted pair of Patch and Daisy. "I don't suppose we can talk things over now?" the small Zeti asked.


Meanwhile, Shadow and Kosmo had reached the jungle. Starr and Ozzie had parted ways with them for now, planning to check in with the group Starr had arrived from the future with. The situation in the jungle was worse than they'd feared. "Just look at that river..." Kosmo observed. Shadow was silent. He'd seen a lot of darkness in his time, but this might have been the worst crisis to date. Mechanical footsteps caught his attention, and he turned to see Omega coming, with Rouge flying overhead. "Shadow! Your report is overdue!" the robot stated. Shadow nodded. "There's a lot to catch up on. How are you holding up?" he asked. Rouge landed and gave him a slight smile. "You're definitely a sight for sore eyes, Shadow. We're in this area hunting the Chaos Emeralds at GUN's request. I checked Eggman's base, but...the Deadly Six were there. It seems they're working for the enemy." she told him. Shadow recalled that a certain conch was now in Lospecter's slimy hands. "I don't think they're doing it by choice...not that it matters right now. Let's track down those emeralds..." he said, eager to bring the fight back to the Lost Ones.


Chapter 27 - The River of Lost Souls
Stage 14 - Giant Jungle

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"I'm gonna get those fools.
They wanna play with my Emeralds?!
They playing with the wrong guy!" - Kick the Rock!; Sonic Adventure 2


Gator's Crazy Adventure!!

Gator decided to check on how Big's hunt for Froggy was going. Maybe because he somehow knows how much Big has been forgotten in this story. Somehow the pair of them wound up at Aqua Isle, a small island where Eggman and Gunner once clashed over tactics while attempting to capture Sonic & friends. There was plenty of ocean to fish here, and it was so secluded that the Lost Ones had pretty much skipped it. "Come out, Froggy! Salt water's bad for you!" Big whined. "It is?!" Gator gulped, having been drinking sea water out of a bottle. Immortal or not, he might be sick later. As Gator started to get bored watching Big fish, a flash of light nearby startled him. "Waah! Who's that!?" he gasped. Fred, Adam, Evelyn and Timothy had appeared in a flash of light. "Well, it seems safe here..." Timothy murmured. "Hey, what's Gator doing here?" Adam questioned, pointing. "Drinking salty water." Gator replied. Evelyn scratched her head. "How'd he get here from the future? Does he need the protection spell?" she asked. Fred was scanning Gator with his wand, the light emitting from it making him giggle. "Stop, that tickles!" he laughed. Fred nodded. "I don't think he needs the spell. Yes, the Zodiac Council was aware of this character. He appears at key points throughout history, occasionally joined by a blue fox. Though strange, he always seemed harmless." he stated. Gator raised an eyebrow. "I don't know what you're talking about. Blue fox. I hate blue-haired goons! Want some water?" the blue-haired goon offered. This add-on was going nowhere, so Big exclaimed "Something's biting!!" and started to reel in Froggy. Adam, Evelyn and Timothy then turned to Fred, each looking a bit stern. "Shouldn't we catch up with Gemini now?" Adam asked. Fred shrugged. "Probably. I need to place the protection spell on her, as well. If she'll accept it." he sighed. "Seriously, work it out..." Evelyn sighed.

"Well, this was a weird island getaway. Hey, I wonder how Omega is doing? I totally know Omega..." - Gator


Omega's radar quickly picked up one of the Chaos Emeralds, so the trio followed him to it. "Let me get this straight, Omega. You've been able to detect the Chaos Emeralds this whole time!?" Rouge asked, a bit peeved that he'd been holding out on her. "It was inconsequential until now." the robot replied, detecting the aggravation in Rouge's voice as well. Finding a white sparkle nestled in the shade of some bushes, Rouge hurried over to pick it up. "My precious baby! I missed you!" she said, holding up the gem and admiring it while Shadow rolled his eyes. A voice above caught his attention. "How did every one of you heroes survive, anyway? We dropped a building on most of ya... Oh, welcome back, Shady. Eyes." Lospecter floated above, and waved at Shadow and Kosmo. The morph smirked at him. "What's the matter? Allergic to the Chaos Emerald? Couldn't pick it up?" he asked. Lospecter shrugged. "What's one little emerald? When we kill that knuckle-brain and his friends, we'll get all of theirs. Anyway, we just need to keep those rocks apart, far as I know." he said with a bored yawn. Shadow folded his arms. "So, you're saying Knuckles is in this jungle, then?" he reasoned. That caught Rouge's attention. "Oooh, the Master Emerald..." she murmured. "Stay on mission!" Omega scolded her. Lospecter turned around the Chaos Key in his hand, yawning again. "What a day... Oh, hey, we are taking that emerald from you, by the way. I just thought it'd be more interesting if it was taken by force or whatever. So...here come da minions." he said, snapping his ghostly fingers. A number of LoShadows emerged, the creatures created from the Ultimate Life DNA samples. Rouge looked at them in surprise. "Androids, Mephiles, now this! I'm fed up with fake Shadows!" she groaned.

Omega started firing at the creatures straight away, but bullets were little use against the Lost Ones, and one of the LoShadows quickly slipped inside the robot! "Error!! Error!!" the robot shouted in a glitched voice! Rouge and Kosmo flew up to fend off the other LoShadows, leaving Shadow to check on Omega. "Hey...can you hear me? Omega!!" he called. The robot's eyes glowed a sickly green, and he pointed his arm cannons at the hedgehog! Shadow leapt to the side, evading the bullets quickly as his friend opened fire! "Get ahold of yourself, Omega!" he shouted. "This robot...is programmed...to eliminate Shadow!!" Omega said in that glitched voice. Shadow scoffed. "You'll need to catch me, first." he said, warping out of the way as Omega lobbed bombs in his direction! Lospecter watched Shadow flee the explosions and chuckled. "Not bad, but I better check on those six morons. Be back for your corpses!" he said, flying off into the jungle! Shadow landed on top of Omega, making it difficult for the robot to shoot him. "Listen to me! I don't want to fight you!" he shouted. Omega extended his arms outward. "Annihilate!! Zzzt zzt!!" His body then began to spin rapidly at the hips, his upper body resembling an odd sort of fan! As he sped up, it became difficult for Shadow to hang on, so he leapt off, warping to avoid the hail of bullets that followed. "His program's taken over! We need the Chaos Emerald!" he shouted. "That's the only thing keeping me alive, here!" Rouge groaned, pointing the emerald around to repel the LoShadows with its sheer energy as they neared her. "I'll cover you!" Kosmo said, morphing into Copter and waving his hand, "Chaos Whirlwind!!" Using the windy attack on the Lost Ones, he gave Rouge an opening to fly back down...

As Rouge approached Omega, her body glowed with Chaos energy. "This is for all the emeralds you could have found me before!!" she growled, giving the robot a chaos-charged kick in the head! Omega stumbled, and the LoShadow popped out, growling angrily! Shadow dashed between Omega and the LoShadow, but the creatures were gathering around Rouge now. "They want the emerald!" Kosmo shouted. "The emerald repels them!" Rouge protested. "Doesn't matter. They'll kill themselves to please their masters." Shadow grunted. "Pass the emerald to me!" Kosmo said, flying closer to Rouge, "You don't have time to deal with these guys if you wanna help Knuckles!" he pointed out. Rouge clutched the emerald tightly, whining. "The Master Emerald, Rouge." Omega stated. Of course, Knuckles would have that. Rouge gritted her teeth and tossed the white emerald to Kosmo. The morph then changed shape into the form of Shadow. "Hey, copycats! I invented mimicry! And I got your shiny! Come and get me!!" he laughed, dashing into the jungle! The LoShadows gave chase, doggedly pursuing the morph and leaving Team Dark behind. "Weird to see a version of you laughing..." Rouge said, looking at Shadow. "I know how hard it was to hand over that emerald, Rouge. Now, let's get looking for Knuckles." Shadow said, getting right to the point. They both looked at Omega. "Well, how about that radar? You said Knuckles has the Master Emerald, right?" Rouge asked. Omega looked as sheepish as he could with his robotic face. "Sensors jammed as a result of invading entity. I only mentioned that to get you to do what was necessary." he reported. Rouge ground her teeth and closed her hands into fists. "Well, if Knuckles lost that emerald, I'll kick his ass!" she yelled.


Despite Zim's apparent desire to only free his fellow Zeti from the Lost Ones, the fact that he'd fought with Patch and Daisy made the group err on the side of caution and have him tied up. Mighty found himself leading Zim by a leash of rope while they continued together through the jungle, staying in a group just in case the Deadly Six attacked again. "You will regret this humiliation! When Zim's friends find you, you will be the ones tied up and paraded about like fools!" That was just some of the shouting that Zim was doing on the way. Mitch tugged his hat over his ears as best he could to try and drown out the noise. "We should gag that dweeb." he grumbled. He was probably right, too, as the noise was drawing enemies to their location. Egg Flapper robots zoomed towards them, ghostly faces poking out of their heads to show that they were possessed. With Chaos Claws equipped, Knuckles dug into thin air and climbed up to greet them, while Violet teleported up with her magic! Both echidnas were quite impressive fighting, and seemed to make the others kind of redundant. Ray remembered how he'd gotten in the way fighting the Zeti, too. "Maybe I should've stayed in the city..." he sighed. Patch nodded. "Yeah, we could have played Grand Theft Duty on my DreamStation 5! Hee hee!" the fox giggled. "Now, Ray, don't talk like that." Mighty sighed, tugging the struggling Zim along. Daisy nodded in agreement. "Just because monsters are a bit outside the scope of our training doesn't mean we can't help!" she added. Knuckles and Violet dropped down amidst a flurry of scattered robot parts and inactive slime, and turned to check on their friends. "Everyone good? Try to shut that Zeti up, could ya..." Knuckles grumbled. As the echidnas continued onward, the others looked a tad discouraged. "We're just babysitters, Mighty." Ray pointed out. "I prefer to be called a guard." Mighty groaned.

Soon, the group came to the edge of the river of slime, where they oddly found a raft tied to the shore. "Why a raft? Why not a bridge?" Violet wondered. "Bridge is upstream, back the way we came." Mighty said, pointing a ways back. The group really wasn't sure which way to go, though. Mitch's emerald radar had stopped working when they arrived in the jungle, and he hadn't managed to fix it. "Well, you're never getting me in that raft." Daisy said, looking at the oozing river anxiously. "That's fine, we'll just hurl you in the river!" Looking around, the group saw Zavok approaching them, giving them a sneer! The rest of the deadly six leapt out of the shadows as well, surrounding them! "I've been waiting to smash something!!" Zazz shouted. Zim jumped up and down excitedly. "Zavok! Boss! Hey! Untie Zim! I was trying to get them to free you from the conch but these cretins wouldn't listen!" he shouted. Zavok tilted his head. "Zim? Didn't I cast you out... Your loyalty is annoying." he grumbled. Zik tapped his staff and hummed softly. "But now that I think on it, he's got an intriguing idea. What if we forced these children to take the conch out of the equation?" he suggested. The blaring of the Cacophonic Conch was immediately heard, and the Zeti growled and groaned, holding their heads! Lospecter floated down from above holding the conch, a stern look on his face. "Bad demons! No negotiating! Kill!" he said, pointing at Knuckles. The echidna raised his fists, ready for a fight. "Do your worst!" he growled. Mitch, however, hopped onto the raft and started trying to untie it. "Hee hee! Are you mad?" Patch giggled, "I know I am!" he added, hopping onto the raft with him! "It'd be mad to stay and fight wit those goons! Youse mugs comin' or what!?" Mitch shouted. Knuckles hated to run from a fight, but he joined the others as they piled into the raft. Mighty even tugged the struggling Zim on. "Why ya bringing him?" Ray asked. "Better with us than working for them!" he explained. Zazz leapt for the raft, planning to stop them before they could escape, but Violet struck him with a zap of dark magic while Knuckles sliced the rope Mitch was fiddling with using the Chaos Claws! As the raft started down the river, Lospecter waved at them. "See ya on the other side! ...Idiots." he snickered.

The raging slime rapids rushed the raft along, and during the ride, tendrils lashed out of the slimy river in hopes of grabbing those aboard! On top of that, finned creatures were leaping out of the river and back in. "Are those...shark Lost Ones!?" Knuckles grunted. "Losharks!!" Ray gasped, hugging Mighty. Daisy sliced at a tendril as it tried to reach onto the raft, growling at their predicament. "Why, why, why are we riding this thing!?" she groaned. Patch giggled, watching losharks hop out of the river near the raft. He whacked one on the head with his nunchuck as it jumped, but it turned in midair and tried to bite him! Instead, Mitch shot it with his custom pistol, sending it back into the river sparking with electricity. "Don't play, Patch!" he grumbled. At the front of the raft, Knuckles was busy slashing away tendrils that rose in their path. "Is this whole river ALIVE!?" he shouted, wondering if this ride was a good idea. "I think it's more dead!" Violet replied, hitting some of those losharks with dark lightning. Ray sighed as he stood with Zim in the center of the raft. "We're safe here, ri-AAAH!!" he yelped as shark teeth poked through the raft from below! He then leapt up, opening his wings to glide over the situation while Zim ran circles around the problem. "We're going to sink and be eaten by monster fish! Curse you, this is not how Zim ends!!" he shouted. As the sharks rammed the raft with their teeth again, Mighty rammed them back by giving the spot a good thumping with his shell! It stunned the shark below, but the raft didn't look to be in great shape. "Are you insane!? Don't sink us faster!!" Zim shouted. "All I got is strength! You have any suggestions?! Didn't think so!" Mighty snapped. "...My suggestion was untie me..." Zim whimpered.

As tendrils tried to grab for Mighty, Ray swooped down, and returned to the air with Mighty clinging to his legs...and Zim's rope leash clutched in Mighty's hand as well, causing the Zeti to dangle under them. "Hey! What in the!? Put me down!!" Zim shouted. Ray tried to flap his glider-like wings. "We're not gonna stay up long under all this weight!!" he whimpered. Another tendril wrapped around Daisy, causing her to drop her katana! "Gaah!! Nooo!!" she wailed. Patch leapt to her side, grabbing her katana in one hand and using it to slice the tendril as he rolled under it! Daisy fell out of the tendril and onto the raft, and as she rose to her feet, Patch offered her the blade back. "Hee hee, lose this?" he grinned. Rather than take the blade, Daisy put her arms around the fox's neck and kissed him quite suddenly, shocking Violet as she looked their way. "Wha...buh...guh...D-daisy??" she stammered. She chuckled softly as she stood back up, taking back her katana. "W-well, Patch and I have been together so much, we just kinda became a thing... We gotta really catch up sometime, Vy!" she giggled. A gunshot sounded and Patch and Daisy cringed as a loshark crashed down behind them, felled by Mitch's gun. "Dammit, will you pay attention!? I ain't got too many bullets!" he shouted. Ray had dropped Mighty to regain some air, and the armadillo bounced his strong shell atop one of the sharks as it attempted to attack the raft, rising back up to grab Ray's legs again. Zim's eyes seemed to twirl around in their sockets as he went along for the ride. "I-I miss my best friend, Zeke..." he babbled. All the while, Knuckles was trying to protect the front of the raft, but he could see the slimy water churning. "Guys, I think it's time to get back ashore! Jump!!" he shouted as tendrils started rapidly rising from the river ahead! The slime was determined to devour them!

Everyone leapt from the raft as the tendrils grabbed it up and tore it apart! While Knuckles, Violet, Patch, Daisy and Mitch landed shakily on their feet, Zim dropped down onto his head with a groan, followed by Mighty landing beside him and Ray gently floating down last. The purple Chaos Emerald was resting on a big rock up ahead, conveniently. "Perfect! Let's grab that emerald and get the heck outta here!" Knuckles sighed. "Hold on, someone's there..." Daisy pointed out. Standing by the rock and the emerald was a familiar face for Violet and her friends. A gecko in a Despair uniform. It was their old friend. "S-simon!? But I saw you die!" Violet stammered. The gecko looked her way, a cold, pale green glow to his eyes. "You mean you left me for dead." he said, his voice gurgling. Mitch checked his bullets. "This guy's one of them. I think we're surrounded." he warned. Hearing footsteps, Knuckles turned to see Zavok stomping their way. "Such a pointless game you're playing. You can't escape from me!" he sneered. Zim hopped to his feet excitedly, cheering for Zavok's arrival, while Mighty and Ray looked in another direction to see another problem. "Hey, guys? Hooded dudes aren't good news, right?" Ray asked. Losipher was approaching, the Deathbringer's hood cloaking him. "Tell me...do you feel anything? Reunited with your friend?" he asked of Violet's group. Simon stared at them with dead eyes, and Patch twitched nervously. "Hee hee... He doesn't blink anymore!" he babbled. Violet turned to Losipher with a growl. "We laid him to rest! We buried him!! How dare you dig him up for this!!" she shouted. Losipher was walking slowly towards the river the group had come from. "...It's no different to what I'll do with you!" he smirked. Before he could move, though, explosive blasts struck him in the chest, knocking him into the river! Looking, the group saw Omega with smoking hands, and Shadow and Rouge were beside him! "Welcome back, Shadow! Mind helping my friends while I knock out Zav-ock?" Knuckles said with a grin. Zavok growled. "It doesn't sound right when YOU say it like that. Fortunately, you won't be able to speak when I'm through with you!" he shouted. Shadow looked at the river, and saw it bubbling. "Well, we've walked into a mess, haven't we? Somebody grab that emerald, would you?" he asked, stepping toward the river. Rouge smirked and looked toward the purple glimmer. "Count on me!" she said.

Losipher rose out of the river, growing to a massive size! The tendrils from the slime river seemed to extend outward at his command, reaching toward Shadow! "Chaos Emeralds can't save you now! Prepare to die!" the massive Lost One bellowed! Shadow leapt out of reach of the tentacles while Omega started firing on them. "Am I supposed to be impressed? Bring it on..." Shadow huffed. While he and Omega kept Losipher occupied for now, Rouge flew toward the Chaos Emerald, only to find LoSimon blocking the way to it, pointing a slimy gun at her. "The Chaos Emerald stays right here... As do all of you..." he grunted, glaring at his former friends. Violet looked distressed to be facing him, but Patch just laughed. "Hee hee! There's only one of you and a bunch of us! How you gonna stop us?" he said, hopping up and down while sticking his tongue out. "I wish you didn't prompt him..." Daisy sighed. Indeed, following the question, the slimy Lost version of Corky hopped to his side! "It's a Despair reunion! I could just eat you lot up!" the frog cackled, lashing his long, slimy tongue toward the group! Daisy slashed the tongue with her katana, making Corky howl in pain and cover his mouth! "Don't try to keep me from a Chaos Emerald!" Rouge growled in annoyance, tossing bombs at the distracted Lost Ones to splatter them! "You insensitive bat!! They're our friends!!" Violet shouted. Rouge quickly snatched up the purple emerald and flapped into the air. "You deal with them, then. I have places to be!" she said, flying away while the Lost Ones reformed their bodies in front of their old friends. Patch and Daisy gulped, while Mitch fired a shot uselessly at them. "We probably coulda used that emerald!! Ah, wait, I still gots the one in the tracker!" he babbled, bashing it with his gun to try and open it up. Simon fired a strange bullet at Mitch's robotic foot, short circuiting it with slime and making him fall to his knees! Seeing this, Violet's hands glowed with dark magic. "You're just monsters. Our friends aren't coming back, no matter what. I'll destroy you, Lost Ones!!" she shouted.

While Knuckles squared off against Zavok, Mighty and Ray were trying to chase the fleeing Zim as he scampered toward them. "Come on, we can't afford for you to get loose, too!" Ray shouted. "Grab his rope!!" Mighty cried. Zim stopped a few feet from Zavok. "Master! Come on, let's ditch this battle and get that conch! Zim will help!!" he panted. Zavok growled. "Don't mention it, you fool! That ghost will- GAH!!" Right on cue, Lospecter floated over and blew the conch, making Zavok groan and hold his head. "C'mon, boys! Over here! Move it! We found 'em!" Lospecter shouted. Knuckles watched this thoughtfully. "You're not really my enemy today, Zavok. You're just a victim..." he murmured. Unfortunately, Zavok didn't have the luxury of caring. He raised his fists and pounded the area Knuckles was standing, the echidna forced to move to avoid getting flattened! Zim was also busy trying to headbutt Mighty and Ray. "Darn it! He's still a pain tied up!" Mighty grunted as the small Zeti bashed his shell. "I got the rope! Whoaaa!!" Ray shouted, flying behind Zim like a kite as the Zeti charged! This gave mighty an idea. "Hey, Knuckles! You're an Olympic hammer throw champ, right?" he shouted, sidestepping Zim as he ran by and grabbing the rope! Knuckles hopped over Zavok as the large Zeti tried to grab him. "This idea is stupid, but okay!" he replied. Mighty gripped the rope and tossed Zim toward Knuckles! "Heeeelp!!" Ray cried. "Let go, Ray!!" Mighty groaned. As Ray released the rope, Knuckles caught it, smacking Zavok as he spun Zim around, and then tossing the small Zeti towards Lospecter! "What are you...hey!!" the ghost yelled as Zim fell through him! He knocked the conch from Lospecter's hand, and it smashed on the ground below! Rubbing his head, Zavok looked toward Lospecter with anger. The ghost chuckled softly. "Ohhh, you broke my toy. Well, now you ALL get to contend with Losipher..." he sneered.

Losipher's giant fist crashed down as Shadow leapt up to avoid it. "Chaos Spear!!" he shouted, pelting the monster with several spears, which made him flinch and snarl. "Annoying gnat!" Losipher growled, swatting Shadow with the back of his hand and knocking the hedgehog to the floor! Omega stepped between them, erupting in bullets and missiles in an attempt at destroying Losipher. Rouge joined in, lobbing bombs at the creature, but during the assault, one of the tendrils from the river snaked around Omega and lifted the robot into the air! "Danger!! Unstable footing!!" the robot shouted! Before Rouge could to anything to aid him, she was swatted down by Losipher as well! The tendril started to squeeze Omega, causing him to spark. When things looked bleak for the robot, an energy beam struck the tendril, and the Kosmogon swooped in, snatching Omega out of the tendril's grip! "I'm back, baby! Miss me?" the morph smirked. Losipher wailed in agony, but the look on his face was simply that of rage. "Surround me, band against me, it matters not. I am a THOUSAND, and you are specks! All of you...DIE!!" he howled.

Violet was busy trading blows with Simon and Corky, and she was growing tired. The gecko smirked, pointing his gun at her head. "Get ready to join us, my friend..." he sneered. But before he could fire, a powerful shot pierced the gecko's gut, and he choked, starting to melt into inert slime! Violet turned to see Patch and Daisy holding up Mitch, who had siphoned the Chaos Emerald's energy to his gun with a quick tweak to the scanner. Corky was left on his own, and the cowardly frog started hopping away. "Ya see, that's what friends are really like, Lost Ones!!" Violet shouted. Unfortunately, there was no time to celebrate. As they turned around, they saw tentacles wildly shooting out from Losipher's body and reaching out for everyone! As one of the tentacles stretched all the way toward them, Mitch shoved Patch and Daisy behind him. "Down, down! Don't die on m-aaah!!" he gasped, the tentacle actually piercing through his chest! "M-mitch, no!!" Violet cried. "Why!?" Daisy gasped. The weasel grunted as slime started to claim his body. "I ain't never done a thing right... 'cept lookin' after you kids. M-make sure you l-live...or I'll kill ya!" he sighed, the tentacle then pulling him back and dragging him inside Losipher's slimy body. Violet, Patch and Daisy backed up, unsure what they could do. Losipher was a beast beyond any of them.

The Deadly Six had gathered, and were leaping around, trying to fight Losipher, but one by one they were getting tangled in the tentacles. "Eeew!! Put me down so I can stomp you!!" Zazz shouted. "We can't...be defeated by...these creatures!!" Zavok growled. Kosmo had carried Omega up high, and was struggling to get the robot to safety. Knuckles was slashing tentacles with his Chaos Claws to protect Mighty and Ray, but Shadow could see there was no good way out of this. "Give me the emerald, Rouge!!" he shouted. "Shadow, no... We can..." the bat stammered. Shadow tapped his restraint ring. "It's the only way." he said. Rouge frowned, avoiding tentacles as she flew to Shadow and handed him the Chaos Emerald...while also hugging him tightly. "We'll find you." she promised. Nodding, Shadow left Rouge's side while clutching the purple Chaos Emerald. Without a word, he vanished, and then reappeared in front of Losipher's fanged face. "What is it, pathetic gnat? What do you think you can do?" Losipher snarled. Shadow held out the emerald. "Chaos...Control!!" A bright light then enveloped Shadow, Losipher, and the Deadly Six. In a flash, they all vanished, leaving behind the others as well as a dumbfounded Lospecter. "No, no no! Come back! I wanna see how this ends!!" the ghost shouted, flying off a ways before vanishing into a portal! Kosmo placed Omega next to Rouge and looked around. "Where did he go?" the morph asked. "Shadow is gone..." Omega reported. Rouge sighed and spread her wings. "We've got to find him. Care to come along, Knuckles?" she asked. Knuckles and Mighty were consoling a frightened Ray, but he turned towards Rouge. "Huh? Oh, you're here... Ah, I gotta find those Chaos Emeralds..." he murmured. Kosmo held up the white emerald. "I could give ya this one?" he suggested. "Ah, no no, I'll look after it!" Rouge insisted. In the meantime, Violet's group untied Zim. "Master Zavok is gone... Now what will I do? Zim is adrift in a sea of despair!" he whined. "Don't mention water or Despair..." Daisy sighed. "Maybe Zeke has an idea..." Zim murmured. Violet then looked to Knuckles, sighing with relief that no one other than Mitch had died. "Let's take a moment to remember Mitch... Then, we'll get back to work." she said. Patch silently held Mitch's gun and the detector with the emerald inside. No laughter. He shed a tear for his fallen friend. "At least...the smoking didn't get him..." he murmured.


Chapter 28 - Tournament of Chaos 2
Stage 15 - Omochao's Battle Factory

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"I feel something inside me, dark but also true.
I fear it, I must fight it, there's no telling what she'll do!
Darkness all around me, it confounds me... 
I fear I'm being split in two!!" - Fera's Rebirth; Sonic GeneX: the Series-Zodiac in Time


Anubis was in chains, trapped in a cell and guarded by Lost Ones. Eddie could be heard cackling in the next cell over. "Would you be silent?" said Basker, who was in another cell close by. Somehow, these mighty agents of Despair had fallen this far. Once they were trusted minions of the Darkseeker, now they were basically awaiting execution. "Eee hee! Come over here and make me, metal-eyes!" Eddie laughed. Anubis growled softly as he listened to them. Then, he grit his teeth as he saw his cell opening! The Lost One-zombie Cuthburt stood there with lostalkers beside him. "Time for you to join us..." Cuthburt growled, pointing towards him, prompting the lostalker corpses to shamble towards him! Anubis' eyes widened, and he struggled, covering his body in fire to protect himself. "No! This is not how it ends for me!" he snarled. The creatures kept approaching, and the desperate Anubis shouted "STOP!!" Suddenly, the lostalkers stopped moving. What was more, Cuthburt was standing there with a blank expression. Anubis stared back, confused. "...Release me." he ordered. Eddie and Basker heard the rattling of chains from their cells, and Eddie laughed nervously. "Eeh heh heh... Rest in pieces, Anubis..." he whined. It was silent for a moment. Then, Anubis stepped out of the cell, tossing fireballs at the locks on his fellow Despair agents' cells! "Good news, friends. My necromancer powers work on the corpse-based Lost Ones! We are getting out of here!" he said with a triumphant snarl, Cuthburt and the lostalkers obediently following him out of the cell to release his allies. "Very good, Anubis. But where exactly is here?" Basker questioned. "Eee hee hee! Doesn't matter! Better out than in, I say!" Eddie grinned. Despair was back on the loose!


The subway train arrived in another city, and Guard was going to take the gargoyles the rest of the way to the GUN base that would serve as their refuge. Vanilla was there, apparently, so Cream decided to go as well, to check on her. While Tails hugged her and told her to be careful, Fera was talking to Rainbow. "Listen... The Chaos Key is going to be important to get away from those creatures. You may be the only chance to get it...the Chaos Crystal IS safe, isn't it?" she asked. Rainbow nodded. "Safe as my baby girl. Ohh, but I guess I should go get it! You're right, Wolfie, it can stop the Chaos Relics! Hmm, should I meet up with One first, though..." she murmured thoughtfully. Copter and the Babylon Rogues were already gone, and Tails felt it was about time for him to go as well. "I've gotta catch up with Sonic! You...coming with me, Fera?" he asked uncertainly. "Well, I'm not going into a GUN safe house." the wolf scoffed. As they were about to go, both of the kids' ProwerPhones started to ring at once! "Mee-yow!!" Lucky Jr. gasped, while Aurora calmly answered hers. "What's up? Wow, we got one major conference here!" she said. Curious, Tails and Fera glanced over her shoulder. Skye was onscreen, along with Lara, Pepper and Casey, all communicating through split-screen. "I thought it was time to touch base!" Lara said. "Ah, we don't have the emerald yet, Skye!" Pepper said, "We're following a spell mom cast to find it!" Lucky blinked a few times, looking at Lucky Jr's screen. "...Is mom Whisk?" he murmured. "Hey, Lara, tell the others what you told me!" Casey said impatiently. "We had to be seein' things!" said Juice from next to Lara. She shushed him. "Ahh, well... We saw the face of the hooded guy. He looked just like Sonic!" she reported. Tails grabbed the phone from Aurora. "What do you mean!? The second Doomsayer is Sonic?! What are you saying??" he stammered. "Chill, dad..." Skye muttered. Lucky Jr. shrugged. "He's not the Sonic from our timeline, that's for sure." he stated. "Unless from the future..." Melody said from next to Skye. Tails glanced at Fera. "Let's get caught up, can we?" he asked.

Lara explained what went down at Eggtopia, and then Pepper discussed the mission Skye had sent her and her sister on. "We're looking for the exact Chaos Emerald that Skye used in his time machine." she explained. Tails rubbed his chin. "Wait a minute... The Chaos Emeralds can't be duplicated through time travel. Only one of each exists throughout time." he said. "That literally makes no sense." Fera scoffed. "I didn't make the rules..." Tails sighed. Skye nodded from his screen. "Well, I modified the Chaos Emerald for time travel. As long as it's part of my time machine, it can act independent of itself in time. But as you know...I was only able to go to this time. And I can't get the machine working again..." he said awkwardly. Tails scratched his head. "So...you want to double up on the energy signature of that same Chaos Emerald? That's a risky move..." he said. "The whole time travel plan was risky." Lara stated, "But if we make this work, we can change the past and save everyone!" That notion immediately brought Tails' thoughts to SPOT and Razor. They could prevent them and others from being lost. "This idea that Sonic becomes the Doomsayer is...concerning. But having the power to travel through time would be perfect! We could fix everything easily!" he said. "I feel like I know why this is a bad idea, but I can't remember..." Lucky murmured, "Oh, well! I wanna see Whisk, so I'm in!" he smiled. Fera folded her arms. "Time travel... Well, why not? I could have another shot at Gunner." she mused. It all seemed to be settled. "Alright, so...where do we meet?" Tails asked. Whisk took the phone from Pepper. "Spell's leading to good 'ol Central City!" she smiled. Tails and Lucky froze. "Mee...yikes. Central City? Whisk! Central City is overrun!!" Lucky gasped. Tails produced his Tornado remote and sighed. "Let's see... Tornado 2 went down... We need a few seats... The Tornado-1 and the Tornado-X sound good!" he said. "Not great with names, are ya, dad?" Skye chuckled.


After a fairly uneventful flight, in which Tails had to remotely pilot both planes, the group arrived at the outskirts of Central City. Along with Fera, Lucky, his son, and Aurora had joined them. Not long after landing, they located the Hurricane, which had brought Lara and Juice. Moreover, Lara had met up with Melody, Skye, Casey, Argyle and a white hedgehog named Venice. "Never did I suspect that I would end up a babysitter today..." Fera grumbled as the kids gathered around. "I think I'm at least as old as you!" Venice grumbled back. "Who cares?" Argyle sighed, "We're all here to beat the Lost Ones, right? Speakin' of, shouldn't we be meetin' Minnie and her sis?" he asked, blushing lightly at the thought. Before anyone could say anything to him about that, Whisk and her daughters flew over from above. "Hey, Lucky! Guys! Follow us, we know where to go!" Whisk announced. Lucky and Junior waved, while Tails looked out into the city anxiously. The streets seemed ominously empty. "Everyone, stay alert. Those creatures could be lying in wait for people. We have to assume they know the Emerald is here, too." he said. "I dunno. I think they moved on when they ran outta souls to munch." Casey stated. "I'm not getting them on radar..." Melody mentioned as she looked at her ProwerPhone screen. "You honestly think you can track them?" Fera asked. "Hurry up, guys!!" Pepper shouted, hurrying the group into following after them. Tails and Fera kept alert as they traveled with the others, and soon Whisk's spell led them to a familiar area of Central City. Tails recognized the building as the Gimmie Shelter, one of Eggman's old bases. "Ahh... Maybe that's why the Lost Ones left. They figured the emerald was safe in Eggman's possession." the fox mused. Lucky scoffed. "Well, I don't see Eggman around, either! I'm goin' in!" he said, hurrying through the door. "Wait, Lucky! ...He's always reckless, isn't he, Miles?" Whisk sighed. "...Why'd you call me that?" Tails whined. "MEE-YOW!!" Lucky screeched. "Of course he's in trouble! After him!" Lara shouted, leading the charge into the base! They stopped quickly when they saw that it was just Omochao that had spooked Lucky. "Welcome, guests! This is Omochao's Battle Factory! Ready to prove your strength and win a prize!?" the robot shouted cheerfully.

"Battle...factory?" Juice murmured. There were other scattered expressions of confusion as well, so Omochao saw the need to explain. "It's kind of a fighting dojo! And you're in luck! Today we're hosting a tournament for a grand prize!" the robot stated, motioning to a large screen on the wall behind him, which displayed the cyan Chaos Emerald! "Yaah! That's it! That's the emerald I need!" Skye babbled. "Of course it is..." Fera sighed. The screen's display next changed to a tournament chart. There were 16 competitors planned, but quite a few unfilled slots on the roster. "I'm glad you all showed up! I was beginning to think we'd have to cancel! For some reason hardly anyone was coming!" Omochao stated. Lucky Jr. looked at Casey and whispered "Could even a robot be this clueless?" As if to answer him, Alpha emerged from somewhere in the base and playfully skipped to Omochao's side! "Weeee! Is it playtime yet? I wanna play, blue Char!" the crazed robot babbled. Tails chuckled awkwardly, and then took Skye aside. "This tournament is probably filled with Eggman's robots as competition. We should have no problem winning, but... it might take time we don't have. Who knows if the Lost Ones have REALLY abandoned this city. You should take some of your friends and try to find where they're keeping the emerald while the rest of us compete!" he suggested. Fera had been listening, and nodded. "That's actually quite prudent. I should lead the search." she suggested. "Are you kidding?" Lucky told her, "You're the toughest one here! You gotta fight!" he said. Omochao suddenly hovered over them at this point. "Whatcha talking about? Oh! Have you decided who's gonna compete?" he asked. They all jumped, nervous about their plans being overheard. "Ahh, give us a moment!" Tails stammered. They'd have to choose the teams smartly...

The Gimmie Shelter was already sort of a battle arena, but Omochao had dressed it up a bit for this event, adding ropes like one would find in a boxing or wrestling ring. They would be fighting there, the 16 competitors split up into 8 matches for round 1. While the matches began with a fairly simple bout between Casey and Aurora, Tails chatted with Fera on the sidelines. "Fighting here like this... Makes me think of Emerl." he murmured. "And who was Emerl?" Fera wondered. Tails let out a sad sigh. "He was a robot we were training to fight... You could say he was our...first rookie." he murmured, "But Eggman captured him, and activated something bad in his program, and there was no choice but to destroy him in the end..." he said, a stray tear leaving his eye. Fera raised her eyebrow. "Hm, I see..." she murmured. Tails then looked more hopeful. "After that, Eggman built a similar robot called Gemerl, kind of like Emerl's little brother. When Eggman was defeated, I repaired Gemerl, and he's been watching over Cream's family ever since. In a way, Emerl lives on in him..." he said. "Is that what you think?" Fera grunted, "You think you can 'fix' me, and then Felicia will live on?" she snapped. Tails looked at her timidly. "Wha...I...no. You're the same person..." he babbled. "Oooff!!" By this point, Casey had been well and truly trounced. "Ughhh, I shoulda known I was no match for Punchy's daughter..." he groaned. "Alright! Next match!" Omochao announced.

The matches progressed quickly. Melody found herself faced with Police Chief Paynson, who was too flustered by the idea of fighting the adorable rabbit to harm her. "What am I even doing here...?" he groaned upon forfeit. "Hey, I gotta tell you about Razor, anyway..." Tails told him, sad to bear this news. In the meantime, Cosmo the seedrian made quick work of Copter's old boss, Dave. "Owwww! Why are you so rooough!?" Dave groaned when she caught him in a leg lock. Lucky faced down Alpha, gulping at the realization that he had no weapon. "Niiice robot..." he stammered. Alpha stopped short. "I'm a nice robot? Yay! I'm a nice robot! I'm not brok-ed!!" he cheered, flying out of the ring and losing by technicality. "I really am lucky..." the feline sighed. Venice wasn't so lucky, as he found himself face to face with Chaos Gamma, the guardian robot of the Gimmie Shelter. "Intruders! I will eliminate all of you!" the robot declared, firing at the hedgehog rapidly. Venice dashed to avoid the shots and then pushed the robot into the air with a psychokinetic attack! Chaos Gamma crashed to the floor next to him. "Initiating recovery mode!" he said, exploding and flinging Venice onto his back before re-emerging from the smoke perfectly fine! "Owwww, that made no sense!!" Venice groaned. Tails found himself faced with Battle Lord Kukku of all opponents. "What are YOU doing here??" he stammered. "My whole armada was turned to Lost Ones! It's all your fault! I will be avenged on y-ooof!!" Tails took him out quickly using a tailband-powered tail whip. "I don't have time for your vengeance today!" he said as Kukku laid on the ground, wheezing. "I hate you..." he gasped. Next, Argyle was faced with Phi, a leftover mass-produced version of Emerl that was hanging around the Gimmie Shelter. "Attack! Attack!!" Phi shouted, swiftly peppering Argyle with high-speed hits! "Agh! Hey! Cut it out! Why are you so fast!?" he groaned, collapsing quickly! The final match of round 1 was Fera against Whisk. The divine started teleporting around Fera, laughing. "Haha! How are you even going to hit me?!" she teased. "I'll just miss really well..." Fera smirked, lobbing a ball of dark energy...directly towards Lucky! "Meee-yow!!" he yelped. Whisk teleported out of the ring to defend him, but the attack fizzled out before hitting her! The wolf smirked. "I trained with GUN. I learned a few things about tactics..." she said while Lucky hugged Whisk, his disqualified girlfriend.

"Okay! It's time for round 2! The quarterfinals!" Omochao announced cheerfully. "Excuse me, why are Dr. Eggman's robots competing?" Cosmo asked. "They entered!" Omochao replied. That seemed to be all the explanation they were going to get. The first match of the quarterfinal pit Aurora against Cosmo, and while they squared off, Fera stepped over to Whisk. "...I'm sorry..." she murmured. "We're technically on the same side, no biggie!" Whisk smiled, "...Hey, didn't you have, like, a memory problem? Boy, I can relate..." the divine added. Fera folded her arms. "You can relate to your former enemies pretending to be your friends while hiding your past from you until your memory just happens to come back through head trauma?" she questioned. Whisk rubbed her chin. "Uhhh... I don't know. Hey, wait a minute! You're in that weird memory flash I had! You saved me from GUN before!" she said suddenly. Fera's eye widened. "Huh? ... Hmm... Ah, yes, that was long ago. You had a Chaos Emerald. You were babbling something about Soleanna. Somehow I doubt you were on your way to see Princess Elise at the Sun Festival..." she murmured. "That was when Sonic, Gemini and Copter fought Solenix!" Tails chimed in. They looked at him. "If Whisk hadn't gotten the Chaos Emerald to us, the world might have been destroyed then!" he explained. Whisk chuckled softly. "Oh! So that's what it was... How funny! We both helped save the world, and we both forgot about it!" she said, grinning at Fera. The wolf sighed. "I think I was just in it to mess with GUN..." she murmured. They heard yelling, and looked to see that Cosmo had Aurora in a chokehold. "What has that girl been through lately...?" Tails wondered.

Chaos Gamma intimidated Melody out of the tournament, and though Lucky tried to avenge Whisk against Fera, he had even less of a chance without his key. This left Tails and Phi. "Attack! Attack!!" the robot shouted, speeding over to Tails! "This really takes me back!" he yelped, blocking the speedy attacks with his tails! "At this speed... Yeah, I think he's copied Sonic somehow!" the fox murmured, gasping as Phi quickly dashed behind him. "Alright, time to break out an old classic!" Tails grunted, producing a boxing glove on a chain and flailing it around his body to knock Phi back a bit! The robot leapt up in a ball, unleashing a homing attack on Tails to knock him off balance before spin-dashing into him, knocking him into the ropes! "Oh no! Dad!!" Melody cried. Tails bounced off the ropes, spinning his namesakes to soar above Phi! "All your tricks are old data! I'm stronger than I was then! Hyaaaa!!" He scattered dummy rings around Phi to trap him, and then dropped down, slamming the robot with his powerful tails! This time, he fought without the tailbands, but when the dust settled, Phi still sparked and dropped to his metal knees! Tails would move on to the semifinals!


Meanwhile, Lara, Skye and a few others went looking for the Chaos Emerald on their own. It didn't SEEM to be a large base, so surely it wouldn't take long to find, right? However, Eggtopia didn't seem to be a large base initially, either. They soon found themselves lost among a maze of hidden corridors. "Geez, I hope we'll be able to find our way back..." Pepper murmured. "At least there are no robots down here!" Minnie said cheerfully. "Why ain't I fighting in the tournament? I'm SONIC'S son!!" Juice complained. Skye rolled his eyes, scanning around for any sign of the emerald with his ProwerPhone. "We all know who is whose son..." he grumbled. "Focus, everyone! There could be traps anywhere!" Lara warned. "Traps traps traps!! Anywhere! Wheee!!" Alpha's voice made the group jump and made Lucky Jr. screech. "Oh, it's just the dumb robot..." Junior sighed, holding his heart. "I'm not dumb! I'm nice! You said so!" Alpha said, pointing angrily, "How dare you!" Juice looked at Skye awkwardly. "How dare he call him nice or dumb?" he whispered. "Who can tell with that bot..." Skye sighed. Alpha then leaned against the wall, pressing a hidden switch. "I found a secret!!" With that, a trap door opened under them; In fact a series of trap doors opened, dropping all of them including Alpha down into a trap below as they screamed!


Tails faced Cosmo in the semifinals. She was quick to pin him to the ropes, an intense look in her eyes as she started hitting him. "I'll...beat you! I'll show you!!" she shouted, breathing hard. "Cosmo! C-cosmo!! I-I'm sorry!" Tails said, bearing her blows without fighting back. "No! I don't want you to be sorry!!" she shouted, her strikes softening. Tears started to fall from her eyes. "I'm watching another world die... I have to be strong... Strong enough to carry on alone..." she sniffled, dropping to her knees. Tails patted her on the head. He knew she had a crush on him, but he also knew based on Melody who he ended up choosing. "I'm sorry..." he whispered. "Ahhh... Not sure how to call this..." Omochao babbled. Naturally, Cosmo was too emotional to continue, so she dropped out of the tourney. This left Fera to take on Chaos Gamma. It was a bit of a brutal fight, with the robot ruthlessly shooting at her while she fought back with dark flames and lightning! The robot tried to take her out with his cheap recovery mode. "Hah! Nice try!" Fera scoffed, warping up above as the robot exploded! Before Gamma could emerge from the smoke, Fera unleased a terrible blast of dark energy down at the robot, reducing it to scrap metal! Tails watched with a gulp. She was his opponent for the final round!

"What a tournament! Now it's time for the finals! Ring-outs no longer apply! The winner is the first to knock out their opponent!" Omochao announced as Tails awkwardly met Fera in the ring. "Should one of us...throw the fight? We are on the same side..." he suggested. A jolt of dark lightning shot past Tails' side, and Fera motioned for Tails to come at her. "You've proven your bravery to me, but now I want you to prove your mettle! Show me that I'm not following you for nothing!" she shouted, baring her teeth at him like a rabid wolf. Tails processed her words and nodded, charging at her to start the fight! Fera scoffed and warped herself out of his way, making the fox stop short and look for her, only to be grabbed in a headlock by the wolf! "You're soft! You stay in a lab while your friends fight your battles for you!" she growled while Tails struggled. His two tails coiled around her waist, and then started to spin, the power of his tails causing them both to go flying apart when they did so! Fera warped again, landing on her feet, and tossed balls of dark energy towards Tails as he struggled to get up! The attack tossed him into the ropes, and he used them to climb to his feet. "Yeah... you're strong, Fera... And I use my friends to prop myself up... Just imagine if you let friends add their power to yours!" he said, smirking at her. Fera was taken aback. Why was he smiling? She was kicking his ass. "Where are your friends now, hm!?" she shouted, launching black lightning from her fingers towards the weakened fox! Tails jumped onto the ropes and bounced up off of them, spinning his tails to fly over the lightning! "Riiiight... here!!" he shouted, whipping out his boxing glove on the chain and swinging it across the arena to smack Fera! Growling, Fera warped above the fox and fell onto him, both of them tumbling back to the ground! In moments, they were on their feet and grappling, hands clasped together as each tried to push the other back! "You think your machines are your friends! Pathetic!!" Fera snarled. "Unnh!! N-no...not that. The person I'm fighting. That's what I meant." he grunted. Fera's one good eye looked at him in confusion. "What is your deal??" she panted. "Don't you see... I'm fighting hard because you want me to... as a friend." the fox huffed.

The lights suddenly went out. "Mee-YOW! What's happening??" Lucky gasped. "Nobody panic! I have a flashlight!" Paynson stammered, a light beam shakily moving around the room. It hit upon Omochao, who was floating in the air slowly, his eyes glowing an unsettling red color. "I c-c-can't belive you diiiiid that to me... W-w-why would you doooo something like th-th-that?" Omochao said in a distorted, glitched voice. Tails and Fera looked up at him quizzically, and then an ominous laugh in the dark caused Tails to gasp and grab Fera in a nervous hug! She didn't really notice that because she recognized the voice. "That's... Eddie. So, that robot must be an illusion..." she murmured. "Or perhaps a manifestation of fear?" came the voice of Basker. Paynson fumbled with the flashlight, finding both Basker and Anubis standing by a door leading deeper into the base! "The-the Covenant of Despair!?" the officer gasped. "Wh-what do they want?" Melody asked. Anubis sneered, and screams were heard in the dark as his mummies surrounded and seized Melody, Cosmo, Dave, and some others! "We wish to secure safe passage off this world, to escape the Lost Ones. But...before we do that... There's a score that we must settle, Fera!" he snarled. Tails let go of Fera, looking around for their friends that were under attack from the mummies. "Melody! Cosmo! Everyone, hang on!" he shouted. Fera sneered at Anubis. "Isn't it my score to settle with you? I would think your score is with Howler. Seems he sold you out to the Lost Ones, just as he intended to sacrifice you to his schemes before!" she shouted. "Eeee hee hee! If we kill the fox boy, we can get in good with the boss again! Eee hee he'll see that we're taken care of!" Eddie cackled. "You're fools if you believe that..." Fera groaned. "Either way...come find us, Fera. Let's settle this!" Anubis sneered. The flashlight went dark, and a moment later the lights came up, leaving Tails and Fera alone...


Chapter 29 - Face My Fears
Stage 15 - Omochao's FEAR Factory

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"We can break this wall that divides us.
I know you're sincere.
We'll just take our time in this moment.
Your voice will come clear.

Speaking from nowhere else except your heart,
You'll never know if you don't try!
Listen and see the voice I carry with me:
Speak with your heart! Speak with your heart!

If you could tell me how to lend a hand,
I would try to understand.
No words could say how much I care!
Together we can take a stand!" - Speak With Your Heart; Sonic Colors


Lucky and Whisk were surrounded by Anubis' black-clad mummy minions as they were led through the darkened halls of the old Eggman base. "They're gonna kill Miles- I mean- Tails... We gotta get outta this, Whisk." Lucky murmured. "What are they going to do to our kids?" Whisk stammered, blushing as she glanced at Lucky. It was still pretty weird that they had kids. "Nothing, 'cuz I'm gonna... Ungggh!! I'm g-gonna...!!" Lucky kept flicking his wrist, straining his concentration as he attempted to summon his key. "From what I understand, it's confused because it also recognizes Junior as its master." Whisk stated. "Why didn't his just come along from the future!? Or is the future-key confused, too? Me-yooow..." Lucky groaned. Whisk took his hand. "Don't worry. I'll protect us!" she smiled, and with a flash of light, the pair of them vanished, leaving the mummies confused and enraged! They reappeared elsewhere in the base, somewhere they'd passed earlier. "Gosh, I'm pushing it, teleporting in the dark somewhere I only vaguely know where I'm going..." Whisk sighed. Lucky looked down the hall nervously, hearing the angry groans of the mummies ahead. "I think we'll probably have to go through them if we want to find where they took our friends and the kids..." he murmured. "Are you scared?" Whisk asked him, holding her wand under her face and shining a light under her like a flashlight, illuminating her features in an ominous fashion. Lucky looked at her with an awkward chuckle. "No way, I'm a were-cat, remember! Rrrraaaarrr!" he chuckled, recalling their previous creepy adventures. Whisk started to walk away from him. "Keep your fleas away from me, then!" she giggled. "Me-yooow!! Wait up!" Lucky shouted, following after her.


Tails and Fera had split up to search for their captive allies. (Clearly this Tails had never read a certain book on the Dos & Don'ts of Scary Scenarios.) As he stepped down a long, dark hallway, Tails was unnerved. He was being watched by ghostly images of red-eyed Omochaos lining the walls, occasionally whispering disparaging remarks. "O-owie! Whyyyy are y-y-you being such a b-b-bully? I'm not gooooing to help y-y-you anymore..." It was almost like his conscience was tormenting him for some past heinousness. Or not. "Not real...not real..." Tails murmured, stepping forward cautiously. His steps slowed as a familiar silhouette approached. "Sonic?" he asked. However, shuffling forward, the figure revealed itself to be a slimy, Lost One version of Sonic! Behind him, Knuckles, Amy and Cream crept forth, groaning, red-eyed and slimy! "Y-you were too late...Tails..." Cream moaned. "Too slow..." Sonic gurgled. "You failed us!!" Knuckles added. Tails covered his ears and backed up a step. "Not...real!! No! I've fought this illusion before! You can't fool me!" he shouted, whipping his tails at "Sonic" and causing a mummy to fall over instead! The illusion faded and Eddie laughed over a PA speaker. "Eee hee! Smart boy, very brave! But the mummies are very real!" he taunted. Knuckles, Amy and Cream had disappeared, three more mummies in their places, all coming toward the fox! "Fortunately, I still have this!" Tails said, whipping out his boxing glove-on-a-chain and using it to swiftly smack the mummies off-balance! He then sped past them, hurrying on his way. "Some monsters, they're really, really slow!" he smirked. Before he got far, Pepper and Minnie appeared in a flash of light in front of him, giving him a start. "Yaah!! W-what are you girls doing here!?" he stammered. Minnie yawned. "We're looking for the Chaos Emerald. We fell into a trap with the others but we warped out." she said. Pepper nodded. "It'll be okay, Skye can science his way out of it." she stated. Tails groaned. "But now we got bigger problems! Why couldn't you take the time to warp them out!?" he frowned. Pepper and Minnie glanced at each other. "Bigger problems than this blackout...?" Minnie asked.


The others were all sharing a cell at this point. Even Alpha was locked up with them. "I'm lonely... Go away, people." the robot complained. "I would be delighted, so use your robot privileges and OPEN THE DOOR!!" Battle Lord Kukku shouted. Police chief Paynson had other ideas. "We're dealing with undead mummies now! I say we stay put and await rescue!" he said with authority. "Sounds like you're a coward." Casey smirked. "I dunno about him, but I am..." Dave murmured. There was naturally a lot of talking with so many people in the cell. "Quiet! I'm trying to pick this electronic lock!" Skye growled. Lara tapped him on the shoulder. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but...we have Venice in here now." she pointed out. "Yeah, hey! How'd you get caught, Venice??" Argyle questioned. The hedgehog shrugged. "Snuck-attacked in the dark... Ow, my head... Ah, but I can surely get us out. Stand back, everyone!" he stated, trying to focus on the door. "Alpha! Could you please put me down?!" shouted the real Omochao. "Shh, be quiet, Teddy-Char!" the robot babbled. Shrugging, Venice's hands started to glow, and using his psychokinesis, he pushed the door out of the wall, sending it crashing into the next room! "Sweet! Let's beat feet outta here!" Juice smirked. "It...it won't be that easy..." Cosmo murmured, pointing outside the cell. A swarm of mummies were positioned to guard them. "Do you suppose they knew we were going to bust out of here?" Lucky Jr. asked. Lara's eyes narrowed, and she held up a Wispon. "Anyone who can't fight, get to the back. Anyone that can... let's work together and get out of here!" she shouted. "I definitely can't fight..." Dave murmured, "...how did I get roped into that tournament, anyway?" he wondered.

Using a search spell, it didn't take long for Lucky and Whisk to track down their imprisoned friends, even as they were battling to escape their cell and get past the mummies. "Whoa! How does he even find so many mummies so far from the desert??" Whisk gasped upon seeing the scene, "Never mind! They need our help!" she added, clutching her wand and flying into the fray. "R-right behind you..." Lucky stammered, not sure what he could even do now. As he stepped into the room, the darkness seemed to grow darker, and he gulped. "Guys? H-hello?" he murmured. A scream was heard, and Lucky gasped to see Whisk being dragged out of the shadows, unconscious. It was the one dragging her that really shocked him; the green anti-Sonic from Moebius; Scourge the hedgehog! "You just can't do anything right, kitten! Now you've gone and what, LOST my key?! Only thing is, I still have my speed and the darkness without it! What have you got? Pathetic!" he scoffed. "L-let Whisk go!!" Lucky stammered. "Or you'll what?!" This voice made Lucky back up a step. His eyes widened to see Tails, or rather Miles, stepping out of the shadows, carrying an injured Lucky Jr. before tossing him to the ground! His bangs were dyed black again, and he was looking decidedly dark. "You let us down, Lucky! I have to turn to Scourge to save my world, and I see now that his way is right! Look at you...love has made you weak!" he spat. Lucky covered his ears, whimpering. "Y-you can't mean that! Not after all we've been through!" he shouted. Scourge and Miles smirked, each pressing a foot on the injured members of Lucky's family on the floor. "You're useless... Completely useless without your key!" Scourge declared. It was all too much to bear. Lucky didn't know what to do, because he feared that Scourge was right!

Of course, all of this was an illusion, a manifestation of Lucky's fears created by Basker from wherever he was in the base. In reality, Whisk was perfectly conscious, and her own greatest fears were tied to losing her memory, something Basker couldn't replicate. She still had her wits about her, but unfortunately, the others mostly had succumbed to their own fears, making it easier for the slow mummies to attack them! This left Whisk largely on her own to battle the mummy swarm. Alpha certainly wasn't helping. "Aaaaa! Eeeek! We are yelling! Woooo!" The robot just seemed to relish everyone else acting as crazy as him. Whisk started to panic herself as the mummies surrounded her, and she saw Junior, Casey, and Skye struggling in the monsters' grip. "Snap out of it, everyone! W-we need help! L-lucky!!" she called, looking to see him on his knees and seemingly broken. "Lucky?? Aaahh!!" A mummy smacked her forcefully, causing her wand to go flying! It rolled across the room, penetrating Lucky's fear vision as it tapped his knees. He looked at it, brushing tears from his eyes. He could faintly hear Whisk's voice through the darkness, but it was quickly blocked by Scourge. "You wanna hit me, kitten? You know I'd destroy you..." he sneered. Lucky nodded. "You probably would as I am now... But... You're not Scourge!" he said suddenly, picking up the wand and pointing it at the hedgehog, "FIRE!!" A burst of flaming magic shot from the wand and set the mummy posing as Scourge aflame, shattering the illusion! "Boy, I'm glad Whisk let me practice with her wand!" he murmured. "Great! Good! Get to zapping!!" Whisk shouted. Lucky started by burning the mummy that had posed as Miles, and then a sudden flash of light in front of him startled the cat. "Me-yow!! Uhh... Miles?" he questioned, seeing Tails appear with Pepper and Minnie. They looked around and gasped. "Hang in there, Skye! Melody!!" Tails cried, racing to help his kids. "Ahh, right! I'm coming Whisk! Junior!" Lucky stammered, rushing to join the fight!


Fera had taken another path through the base. She was unimpressed by the ominous Omochao projections, unlike the others. In fact, she occasionally took the time to blast one here or there with dark magic, just trying to silence their chatter. "Idiocy. When did Despair reduce itself to hiding from a fight!? Show yourself, Anubis! You pathetic little traitor!" she called. "When did the mighty Fera decide to reduce herself to name calling? But if we want to talk of traitors, what of you? Your military masters, your found father figure, those who took you in when you lost everything... Your history of betrayal is long." Anubis growled from the shadows. Fera stepped out of the hall into a large room that appeared to be for manufacturing robots, though it was a bit dark to see clearly. Fera crossed her arms. "I could argue they all betrayed me first. But I'm here to kill you, honestly, so who cares." she scoffed. Creating fire in his hands, Anubis gave away his position. "You think you can kill me? I control death!" he snarled. "Let's see if you do!" the wolf snapped, launching jolts of black lightning in the jackal's direction! He struck back with jets of flame, and the two attacks passed one another and forced both combatants to dodge! Fera then dashed towards Anubis, and started to engage him with martial arts skills she acquired during her time with GUN. Anubis took her initial blows, hitting back with a flaming punch to make her back away! Fera lunged at him again, and he kicked out her legs, knocking her down! "You've been weakened, Fera... You let sentiment in. Your heart is soft!" he taunted. Fera shot back with lightning on her way to her feet. "You know nothing!" she shouted. Red eyes glowed in the shadows, accompanied by a crazed chuckle as Basker and Eddie arrived on the scene. "I know what he speaks of..." Basker sneered, "Because sentiment leads...to fear!" Fera backed up, watching as the darkness seemed to close in around her. An emotion she hadn't felt in ages, hadn't ALLOWED herself to feel. Fear was creeping in!

The lights suddenly came up, and Fera found herself back in Resistance Headquarters. The temporary home that Felicia had settled into while battling Eggman's forces, being here was a bit confusing. "Fera..." She turned with a start, finding Illusi. "Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked. Illusi folded his arms. "Everything that you've endured has been my illusion, Fera. I had to test you, to see if you were worthy." he stated. "Worthy to rejoin the resistance!" added Sonic, stepping beside him. "We sure could've used you." added Tails, joining them. Fera looked among them anxiously. "Could've?" she asked. The room went dark again, spotlights shining around Sonic, Tails and Illusi as they looked on her with scorn. "You failed. You abandoned your allies to chase your vendetta! Just like you!" Illusi said with a scoff. "How could you..." Tails frowned, "I'll never forgive you!" Fera backed up, a look of shock in her eye. "B-but Tails, we agreed..." she stammered. "Don't pretend we're friends! That was an illusion!" he shouted. Sonic gave her a superior smirk. "Why would we ever be friends with you? You're a villain! You'll always be a villain! You can't change for real!" he said, mocking her. Fera gritted her teeth. "I... Why would you... I-illusi!!" she babbled, trying to appeal to the shrew, her father figure. Illusi turned his back to her rather than listen. "I never should have took you in. You were tainted by Gunner from the start. You can never move past the hate he burned into you. You were unworthy then, and you always will be!!" he snapped. Fera held her head, dropping to her knees. "NO!!!" she screamed, tears starting to drop from her eye. In reality, Anubis, Eddie and Basker watched her in victory, the darkness of her fear gelling with her own dark magic to form a cocoon around her, trapping her. "She never used to feel fear. It always gave her the edge over me." Basker mused. "Eee hee! How fortunate that she made some friends, then!" the hyena snickered. "Indeed...they've made her weak!" Anubis smirked.

Having wrapped things up at the cells, Tails was able to arrive on the scene, finding Fera trapped in a cloak of darkness. "No, Fera! ...What did you do to her!?" he shouted as Lucky stepped in behind him. "Darkness!" the feline gasped. Basker pointed at Tails. "I've done nothing more than what I did to you... The darkness consuming her is the shadow cast from your light." he told them. "What?!" Tails shouted. Anubis clarified. "Fera could never be impacted by Basker's fear powers before she met you. Your friendship made this possible!" he sneered. Lucky stepped forward defiantly. "You're wrong!" he snapped. "Eee hee, we're not. If she still lived without fear, she'd be safe." Eddie taunted. Tails stomped forward as well, a faint light seeming to shine from him in opposition to Fera's darkness. "I don't believe that! You can't... You can't live without fear! Trying to do that is what made her vulnerable. It made her cold and unable to make friends... Unable to see that YOU were going to betray her!" he said, pointing back at Anubis angrily. Lucky stepped closer, too, and the light emanating from them glowed brighter. "I bet you three don't have any real friends. You'd stab each other in the backs to serve yourselves!" he growled, making Anubis glance at Basker darkly. Fera's eye opened, peering through the dark, and she saw Tails, walking towards her. It clashed with the illusion of her friends turning their backs to her, and weakened the cocoon. Tails continued forward, each step seeming to dispel more darkness. "Fera's not weak, and she's not vulnerable now... She's got me! I'll get her out of this!" he declared. Lucky nodded. "She's a part of your heart... Just as you've become a part of hers!" The light glowed bright enough to surprise Basker by now. "This...has never happened before! They...they're turning my power back! Casting it out! It's impossible!!" he stammered. Tails reached a hand out to Fera, and the wolf pierced through the cocoon as she reached back! "Haha!! I knew it! Our friends are our power!!" Lucky cheered. "Aahh... D-don't ruin the moment..." Fera grunted at him as Tails helped her to her feet. She then turned to Anubis, whose body was burning with angry flames. "I'm still going to kill you..." he snarled. "You'll have to go through us, first!" shouted Lara, leading her allies and the others into the room, ready to take on the Covenant of Despair!

Well, it seemed Basker, Eddie and Anubis were really all that was left of Despair. Anubis' mummies crept out of the shadows to fill their ranks, and the likes of Kukku and Alpha certainly weren't going to help the battle, but overall it was just those three they needed to worry about. Lucky, Whisk, and their kids charged into battle together, quickly finding themselves surrounded by copies of Eddie. "Eee hee hee! I always have you outnumbered!" he taunted. Whisk tossed Lucky her wand, and her wings started to glow. "Let's blow 'em away!" she smirked, flapping her wings lightly, but kicking up a magical wind that knocked out a few of Eddie's illusions! Lucky zapped a few with fire spells as well, while his kids had Wispons ready to fend them off. Soon, Eddie appeared to be gone. "Hey... None of them were real!" Minnie gasped. More of the hyenas copies crept out of the shadows, snickering menacingly. "He's hiding out there somewhere! Let's find him!" Junior shouted.

Tails, his kids, and Cosmo went up against Basker. The hellhound fired lasers at them from his robotisized eyes as they attempted to approach. "Getting close to me will do you no good... Your terrors will manifest!" he sneered. Cosmo had snuck behind him, and was ready to bust out those tricks that had gotten her through the tournament, but when she tried to touch him, fear struck her. She saw visions of her home planet, and of the terrors that had befallen it. "N-no... Get away!" she gasped, stumbling backward and falling over! Basker turned to point his laser at her, but Tails smacked him away with his boxing glove weapon! "We don't have to get close!" he shouted as Melody and Skye stood beside Cosmo, pointing their Wispons at Basker. He smirked and waved his hand at them, placing his fear spell on Tails' kids. They wavered, and turned their weapons on one another. "G-GUN!! You monsters!! You killed my dad!!" Skye shouted. "Stay away!" Melody gasped. "Stop it! Let them out of your spell!" Tails cried, leaping at Basker to whip his tails at him! The hound sidestepped him and laughed softly. "Do I detect a fear in you?" he smirked.

While Lara and the others took on the mummies, this time uninhibited by Basker's fear spell, Fera faced off against Anubis one more time. If she could defeat him, the mummies would collapse as well. They traded fiery blows for a bit before Anubis closed the distance between them, grappling with her. "You think you're some kind of hero now? As if one like you could ever live in the light!" he taunted. Fera started to push him back, a fierce look in her eye. "It doesn't matter... I'll always... be better than you!!" she cried, kicking him in the chest to knock him back, and then jolting him with dark lightning as he cloaked his body in flames to filter the damage! "You can't kill me, Fera!!" Anubis snarled, taking those built up flames and launching them as a jet toward Fera! She sidestepped the attack, smirking at him. "I don't need to kill you. There's no saving you from the blackness in your soul." she said, "I have no further interest in following you down that road." The dark energy surrounding her faded, and Anubis lowered his fiery guard in confusion. "You fool! I will kill you if you don't kill me!" he snarled, "You think I will give you honor!? I AM the Covenant of Despair!!" he roared, charging at her with flaming fists!

A ghostly light in the darkness illuminated a massive carved face. "You dared to take control of our children?" a voice boomed. Before anyone quite knew what was happening, tendril-like vines pulled up Eddie by his foot, lifted Basker by his neck, and wrapped around Anubis tightly, causing his focus to break and the mummies to collapse! Casey pointed at the face in the shadows in surprise. "P-pumpkin!!" he stammered. It was Loscream! "I should thank you for leading us to the fox, though... Now there's no escape for any of you!" the pumpkin cackled. The remnants of Despair let out screams as Loscream squeezed them in his grip, and then tossed them one by one into his mouth that was filled with ghost fire! "...Good luck surviving that..." Fera murmured. "Me-yooow!! Lost Ones in the dark!!" Lucky shouted, pointing as Kukku was grabbed by a losol golem! "Noo!! Agh!! M-my armada!! Whyyyy!?" he wailed as he was pulled into the slimy creature! Dave, Paynson, Alpha and the others gathered in the center of the room, watching in panic as creatures surrounded them. "Get us outta here, Pepper! Minnie!!" Lara shouted. "But the Chaos Emerald!" Skye yelped. "Emerald? I got a rock..." Alpha babbled, holding up the cyan emerald that he'd somehow gotten ahold of. "Great! Good! You win the tourney! Let's GOO!!" Omochao babbled. "Yay, I win, I win!" Alpha cheered. Loscream was watching with an eerie grin as the fire "digested" the victims inside him. "You can't get away. We have the city. You will die in terror while your friends watch..." he laughed, only to see Pepper, Minnie, and Whisk all glow and warp most of the people out of the room! "What?! I want to see your terror!!" Loscream roared. Tails and Fera were left with Melody, Skye and Alpha. "Dad... I hope we have a plan..." Melody whimpered. Tails nodded, looking at Fera. "I trust you..." he told her. The wolf nodded. "Everyone goes a different way. Chances are they can't capture us all..." the wolf stated. Loscream lunged his vines at the remaining group, but they held on to Fera, and together vanished in a cloak of dark magic! "Weeeee! I can go pooof!!" was the last thing Loscream heard, from Alpha, before they were gone.


Libra had also been in Central City for a while. She had aided some survivors in fleeing the city, and remained for a while to search for further survivors. Losing hope to find any, she started to wonder what she should do to avenge her fallen friends. She was quickly realizing that alone there was little she could do, and so she found her way to Tails' ransacked Central City Workshop, attempting to find something she could use to get a message out and find help. Unfortunately, her search through the workshop was proving fruitless. The Lost Ones had taken some time to wreck anything of value within, as far as she could tell. She was starting to feel useless again, and that was when the door swung open! Surprised, she hurled a bolt of darkness at the intruder! "Yikes! Were you always able to do that!?" grunted Copter, guarding his face against the attack. The relieved fennec quickly hugged him when she saw who it was. "Sorry, sorry! I've been alone out here for so long! Gemini? Where's Gemini?" she called, only seeing Chopper stepping in behind his father. "Wow, she really does look exactly like her!" Chopper stammered. Copter had a grave expression as he stepped away from Libra, holding up Gemini's wand. "I found you with this... And it wasn't easy, I'm not exactly magically inclined." he sighed. Libra started to look worried. "Why didn't...Gemini use it?" she asked nervously. "She was taken!" Chopper shouted, rather distraught, "The Lost Ones are gonna experiment on her!" With that, Copter handed Libra the wand. "I need to rescue her, but I'm not betting everything on myself. I need your help... I need the Deathbringer!" he pleaded. Libra clutched the wand to her heart, a deeply serious look in her eyes. "What are we standing around for, then?" she asked.


Chapter 30 - Return to Station Square
Stage 16 - Raisol Sanctuary

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"So let's all jump up super high!
High up in the sky!
There's no power-up like dancing!
You know that you're my superstar!
No one else can take me this far!
I'm flipping the switch; Get ready for this!
Oh, let's do the odyssey!" - Jump Up, Super Star!; Super Mario Odyssey
(Why? Well, uh... There were Mario crossovers in the series... And I wrote this chapter around Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary... So what the heck.)


Punchy and Heather were on their way out of the city. The plan was to find wherever GUN was holed up, as that seemed the most likely place Rainbow and Guard would end up. As they traveled, two planes passed overhead. Heather glanced up at them. "Is that Tails up there?" she questioned. Tails and the future-kids were on their way to Central City to meet up with the other future-kids. As they passed over Punchy and Heather, something was tossed out of the Tornado-X's cockpit, and Punchy scrambled to catch it, only to have it bonk him on the head. "Yow!! H-he threw a rock at me!! Tails!!" he shouted, shaking his fist. Heather picked up the rock. "There's a paper tied to it... guess the comms really are toast." she murmured, untying the note to have a look. The grouchy Punchy snatched it from her hands. "Lemme see! Hmm... Dear One... Gah, it's from Rainbow!?" he stammered, reading through it silently after that. "Uhh... What's it say?" Heather asked. "Some of it's private. Tails better not have looked! Oh, but she says that Six is taking her to pick up the Chaos Crystal from home. Uhh, Six is Guard..." he murmured. "I know..." Heather nodded, glancing at the road to see a familiar taxi pulling up. Riley, aka Spy, was driving. He'd dropped off Silver and Blaze somewhere earlier, and now was on his own. "Hey there... You folks wouldn't know where I can find the owner of this cab, would ya?" he asked. Punchy glanced at him, pocketing Rainbow's note. "Mia? Never mind her. She can wait for it. I need a ride back to Station Square now!" he said urgently. Riley gulped. "Y-you mean the city that flooded with monsters first?! Isn't it suicide to go back there??" he stammered. Heather opened the car door. "There's Lost Ones everywhere. Believe me, you're safer with us than without us anywhere." she told him. Riley sighed. "Good point..." he whimpered, preparing to make a U-turn while Punchy and Heather got into the cab...


Dr. Eggman had taken Gunner and Dr. Nammad back to Darkegg Fortress, where he was regrouping after losing Eggtopia. The doctor was running diagnostics on the base from the control room, and in addition to Gunner and Nammad, Char flitted nearby. "...I need the Chao evacuated from this facility." the doctor stated. Char looked a bit distraught at that idea. "B-but...our home!" he stammered. "Your home was forfeit when I picked this island! I'm the bad guy, Char!! Now take your family off this base or I'll have them removed!" he shouted, sending the red Chao out of the room in tears. "This isn't fun anymore..." he sniffled on the way out. "Harsh, doc, hehe..." came the voice of Lospecter as a portal appeared in the room. Gunner pointed his gun arm at the spirit while Nammad hid behind him, but Lospecter ignored them. "I can see you're busy egging it up in here, but I need a robot. Gotta pick something up that I'm technically deeply allergic to." the ghost announced. Eggman glanced at him. "Freeze is at my pyramid base, supposedly. Go pick him up. At least I know you won't posses him since you also don't care for cold!" he grunted. "Aww, where's the trust, doc?" Lospecter teased, glancing at Gunner and licking his lips. "Hold on!" Gunner grunted, "Before you call in your swarm on me... A deal! Let me destroy Sonic for you!" he offered. Lospecter laughed. "Yeah, right! I'll do ya one better. You kill Copter for me, and THEN I'll give you a real shot at Sonic! How's that, big nose? Eggie'll know where to find Copter." he smirked, flying back into the portal to exit. Gunner sneered. "Whatever, freak. Who's Copter anyway?" he grumbled. "Uh, he's Experiment 2, sir." Nammad pointed out. "Perfect! About time I punished that furry freak!" Gunner laughed. Eggman plopped into his chair, heaving an exhausted sigh. "Tell me, Richard... Will killing Sonic be worth losing your soul? I'm starting to wonder..." he said wearily.


Riley drove to the city limits of Station Square before letting Punchy and Heather out. "I'm not quite brave enough to go in there... Just look at the clouds over that city!" he whimpered. Those clouds were dark and ominous, and on the whole the abandoned city gave off an eerie vibe now. "You're a GUN agent, right? Try to find their compound. Some of our friends are there." Heather told him. Riley gave her a salute. "Thank you, ma'am! I'll head wherever seems safe! Careful out there!" he said before driving away. With that, Punchy led Heather back into the city. Just like Central City, the Lost Ones seemed to have abandoned the area once there were no more souls to consume, but that didn't make it any less creepy to explore. "Well, she said home, so down to Raisol Sanctuary we go..." Punchy said, lifting up a sewer cover. "Ewww..." Heather murmured. "C'mon, you came to the wedding, didn't you?" Punchy scoffed. Hopping down into the sewer and starting to search for the entrance to the sanctuary, Punchy found it seemed darker than usual. "There should be a switch... Aha!" A hidden passage opened when Punchy pushed the switch, and a shout startled him. "THERE YA ARE, ONE!!" Punchy jumped back and was caught in Heather's arms, looking pretty embarrassed when he saw it was Rainbow. "Don't just scream out of nowhere like that!!" he shouted back. "Sorry, I was happy to see ya! Hey, Seven!" Rainbow giggled. Charmy of all people poked his head through the secret door next. "You finally made it! Vector and Guard and the others are inside! Come on!" the bee said excitedly. Heather raised an eyebrow. "Wait, how did you all get here before us??" she questioned. "We've got mob connections!" Charmy said with a sly smirk. That only raised more questions.

Indeed, Guard and Vector were waiting in the underground city, along with Espio. Heather rushed over and gave Guard a little hug. "I'm glad to see you're okay, Garen!" she smiled. "Awww..." Vector sighed with a light blush as he watched them, "That's sweet... Ah! Right, Punchy! I should take ya to talk to the professor!" the crocodile babbled. Punchy tilted his head. "Professor? No, no, we're here to pick up the Chaos Crystal!" he said. Espio took the time to explain. "Professor Pickle is here studying the restored ruins while a machine is repairing the Scepter of Darkness. I think he wants to share his findings with you." he stated. Punchy glanced at Rainbow. "Well, you stashed the Chaos Crystal anyway, so it's your call where to go first." he told her. Rainbow chuckled. "Okay! Follow me, everyone!" However, before the trip could get underway, a portal opened in the roof, and Lospecter popped out with Freeze! "Howdy, Punch and birdy! And...miscellaneous! Any chance you'd tell us where the big 'ol crystal is stashed?" Lospecter asked, not even waiting for a response before possessed gohlas and kikis from Eggman's pyramid base dropped from the portal, "Silly doc forgot I might help myself to whatever other toys he wasn't using, hehe!" the ghost chuckled before escaping into the portal! Guard immediately sliced his scythe through a gohla, only to find slime holding its broken head together! "Grrr! Punchy! Heather! We need elemental attacks!" he shouted. "Roger, Garen!" Heather replied, holding fire in her hands as she charged at a bomb-toting kiki-monkey robot. Punchy was about to race in as well when he heard Rainbow scream! "Huh?! Hey!! Put her down!!" he shouted, seeing Freeze sling her over his shoulder. "The Lost Ones have the doctor... I must obey their orders with cold calculation..." the robot stated, taking off into the underground city! Vector kicked away a kiki and looked toward Freeze. "We won't let him get away, Punch! C'mon, boys! Chase 'em!" he shouted. "Roger..." Espio huffed, leaping away from a gohla's flame gracefully. "Good luck, Guard! Gotta go!" Charmy said hastily.

Guard and Heather were only able to distract the robots briefly before they took off after Punchy and Team Chaotix. Heather started to chase them as well, but Guard grabbed her arm. "Rrrr... They can handle themselves. We should check on the professor." he said seriously. Heather glanced at him and nodded. "Right... No telling if the Lost Ones will go after him, too." she murmured, "Lead the way, Garen!" With a nod, Guard started to lead Heather through the roads of the underground city, watching carefully for any sneak attacks the Lost Ones might pull. When it seemed their path was safe, Heather broke the silence. "I was looking everywhere for you. I'm glad you weren't caught up in the initial destruction of the city here..." she said. Guard nodded. "I wasn't fully in control of myself until Sonic helped me in Central City, grrr... Since then, I've been working with GUN to keep people safe." he told her. Heather looked at the ground awkwardly. "GUN, yeah... You still wanna work with them when this is all over?" she asked. Guard slowed his steps, looking at the phoenix as she walked beside him. "Why wouldn't I? Grr... I was built to work for GUN." he stated. "And GUN tried to use me as a weapon." Heather reminded him. "Rrrr... I would never allow that to happen again." the gargoyle stated. "You can't promise that..." Heather sighed, stopping and taking Guard's hand. "Garen... I like you. And we won't die, so we'd be perfect for each other... But... I can't be with you if you stay with GUN." she told him. Guard looked at her like a wounded puppy. "I... rrrr... I didn't think you...liked me. Rrrr... But, leave GUN? What am I without GUN?" he questioned. They both resumed walking, a bit faster to make up for lost time. "I don't know, Garen, but we'd have eternity to find out." she told him. "My parts WILL cease to function eventually." Guard grunted. Heather held his hand tighter. "Then it's more important you decide how to use your time on earth..." she said.

Professor Pickle was conveniently set up in front of Rainbow's house, making him pretty easy to find. He had a small lab setup with equipment hooked up to a generator that typically supplied power to Rainbow's house. While a machine was busy restoring the Scepter of Darkness, the professor was talking to Uncle Chuck via a computer monitor. "So, according to Nicole, the barrier erected by Tikal is indeed protecting all of the Gaia Wellsprings? And they appear to be holding even with her spirit in captivity?" the professor asked. "It looks that way, but if the Lost Ones get at the Wellsprings it's game over, so we have to continue keeping an eye on 'em." Chuck reported. "Wellsprings? Grrr... Sounds like important intel..." Guard grunted as he and Heather arrived. The professor turned to them and scratched his head. "Guard? Where are the echidnas? I need to tell them about the Chaos Crystal." he murmured. Heather shrugged. "No time to waste, the Lost Ones found us down here! We need to get you out safe!" she told him. Pickle looked at the machine working on the scepter. "Just a few moments and the scepter will be finished. I can't pack up before then!" he said, "I'll just tell you! Chuck and I have been going over some of the runes you can find on these restored buildings. Our findings are quite interesting. It seems that the Covenant of Despair's floating island may have been part of this tribe's territory at one time!" he stated. Guard and Heather glanced at each other with mildly annoyed expressions. "Rrr... Useless information. Demon Island sank under the sea and broke into pieces." Guard grunted. "Not in that order." Heather added. Pickle nodded. "True, but our findings suggest that the Chaos Crystal was part of a mechanism that raised the island into the sky originally. Perhaps it could be used in such a way again?" he hypothesized. Heather glanced at the machine working on the scepter. "Is it ready yet?" she sighed. The professor shrugged and grabbed a plate on a nearby table. "Cucumber sandwich while you wait, anyone?" he offered, gaining audible groans from his guests.


Punchy and Team Chaotix followed Freeze through the underground city, pursued by possessed robots on the way. Espio was sure to watch their backs, tossing ninja shuriken back at the kikis and gohlas periodically. "They don't sustain damage with spirits holding them together!" the chameleon observed in frustration. "I'll crush 'em when Rainbow's safe!" Punchy growled, chasing after Freeze even faster, "Damn it, I should've kept the Chaos Boots!" he complained. However, the robot grew weary of being pursued and stopped fleeing, placing Rainbow at the steps of a building. "There, you see, Icybot? All you have to do is be nice and One won't hurt ya!" Rainbow said, hoping he was giving up. However, Freeze responded to her words by shooting a blast of cold air from his hands at her, soon encasing the panicking echidna in ice! "RAINBOW!!" Punchy cried, a look of shock in his eyes as he saw his wife frozen on the steps with a look of fear locked on her face! He clenched his fists and ground his teeth growling furiously as Vector and Charmy caught up. "Ohhh, yer gonna pay for that!!" Vector shouted. "And for once we don't mean money!" Charmy added. Cold air seemed to emanate around the blue Gizoid, and Freeze pointed a chilled finger toward Punchy. "You won't impede my mission. I'll put you on ice as well. All for the safety of Dr. Eggman!" he declared. Espio backed close to the group as the robots chased after him. "Charmy, Vector... Not that I can't handle myself, but... If you wanted to lend a hand, it would...speed this along." he said, wording things carefully. "Can't beat 'em alone, Espio?" Charmy teased. "Go on, I got this..." Punchy grunted, cracking his knuckles, "I destroyed Firma already, and she just got in my way. But soul or not... I'm not gonna feel guilty tearing you apart... AFTER YOU HURT MY WIFE!!!" he shouted.

Punchy charged furiously at Freeze, but the robot quickly froze the ground under his feet, causing him to slip! "Whooooa- Chaos Avalanche!!" he shouted as he slid past the robot, pulling up chunks of the ground and haphazardly hurtling them at the robot! Freeze stepped in front of the frozen Rainbow and erected an icy shield to protect them both from the debris. As his shield crumbled from the impacts, Freeze looked at Punchy coldly. "If I were you, I would try not to hit the girl. If you shatter the ice around her, you may shatter her body as well." he warned. "Thanks for the concern!!" Punchy snapped, "After you froze her in the first place!!" Ice formed in Freeze's hands, becoming cold daggers. "I still need her alive. You, however, I have no need of..." he stated, racing across the icy floor towards Punchy! He slashed at the green echidna with his daggers, but Punchy backed away to avoid it, looking for an opening to strike. Soon, he attempted a punch, but a shell of ice formed around the Gizoid's chest, absorbing the damage! Then, Freeze managed to cut Punchy's arm as he pulled it back, making it bleed. He grunted and held his wound, stepping around the robot as it juggled the icy knives in its hands. "All you care about is serving Eggman, huh? Doesn't even faze you that Firma's gone? You really are a cold dude." Punchy scoffed. "Emotions are a concern for the flesh." Freeze stated, "So enjoy your fear as I freeze you to your bones..." Cold air surrounded the Gizoid, and he sent that freezing air at Punchy, looking to encase him in ice just like Rainbow! "Chaos Avalanche!" Punchy pulled up the earth around him, like a cocoon of dirt and stone, blocking the cold. "It matters not. I'll seal you in a tomb of your own making!" Freeze declared, stepping closer and turning up the cold, solidifying the earth around Punchy! It seemed like Punchy would indeed be trapped, but his voice could be faintly heard within. "Chaos...blast!" The frozen shell of earth exploded, its pieces flying at Freeze and crashing into him! Seizing the chance, Punchy leapt out of the smoke, winding up and throwing a mighty punch the Gizoid's way!

With a clatter of metallic parts, Freeze collapsed into a wrecked heap. Vector was busy holding back a deranged kiki that had sprouted demonic tendrils when he heard the sound. "I hope that means you're ready to help out, Punch!" he grunted, tossing the robot away from himself as Charmy flew by, frantically fleeing a gohla engulfed in ghost fire. Some redder, hotter flames came searing at the robot, destroying it and melting the goopy Lost One inside! "Yay! Heather's back!" Charmy cheered, flying over beside Vector and watching as the phoenix made quick work of the Lost One-possessed robots! "Thanks..." Espio murmured, "I could've easily handled it if they could...die." he murmured. Punchy hurried towards Heather. "Quick! I need ya to thaw out Rainbow! ...Hey, where's Guard? Aw, forget him!" he said frantically. Heather smirked. She looked a bit different, in fact. She looked more pink...and some of her red feathers stuck out of her head, almost like devil horns. "I'd be happy to turn up the heat, but I ain't Heather... Thanks, though. We needed that robot taken out." she sneered. Punchy's eyes widened and he turned around, finding Mephiles hovering over Freeze's remains and taking hold of the cold-hearted robot's soul! "I see you've met my beloved... The Dark form of your Heather, resurrected through me. We were once one, after all..." he said, referring to Solenix. Mephiles' demonic green eye glanced to the side, spotting the real Heather arriving with Guard. "Time to go..." he stated, fading into a shadow and swiftly escaping! Heather stopped short when she saw the other phoenix there. "Wait...me?" she stammered. Dark Heather waved at her with a wicked grin. "I'm Soleil. Catch you later, disaster-girl!" she snickered, dashing off while leaving streaks of flame behind her!

Heather didn't have too much time to process this, as she needed to get to work thawing out Rainbow right away, carefully moderating her flames to melt the ice without burning her. "Great, just great... Now there's another me who's willingly being used as a weapon for evil. I can't escape from this destiny, can I?" she grumbled. Guard watched her, a troubled expression on his face. "You can't blame yourself for this... Grrr..." he told her. Punchy was standing near Rainbow, and caught her as she fell out of the ice. "Whoa! I gotcha! Rainbow? Rainbow!!" he shouted, worried. Espio walked over and looked at her. "She seems to have lost consciousness. Who knows when she'll wake..." he stated. "Aw, no!" Charmy gasped, "She was the only one that knew where the Chaos Crystal was stashed!" That could be a problem. There was no telling how much havoc the Lost Ones could wreak while they remained unable to reclaim the Chaos Key. However, Vector just started to snicker at the situation. "I'm glad you find my wife's situation amusing!" Punchy growled, "...Then again, this IS the quietest I've ever seen her..." he whispered. That wasn't what Vector was laughing about. "Guys, it's fine! Just let her sleep it off! We'll have that crystal in no time, wherever she stashed it!" he announced. "Grrr... You have a plan?" Guard asked. Vector crossed his arms and gave a big crocodile grin. "The plan is me! Detective extraordinaire, Vector the Crocodile, at your service! I'll even waive my usual fees!" he said confidently. Heather sat on the steps next to Punchy as he cradled Rainbow in his arms. "Guess there's no choice." she said, "...And if the Lost Ones are going to use my power against us... Then I guess it's time I stopped fighting my destiny. If I'm to be a weapon...I should be a righteous weapon of justice!" she declared, fire burning in her eyes. Rainbow might be down, but the team wasn't out!

To be continued...


Green Hill, once peaceful, now invaded by robots built from animals. A young hedgehog races through the tropical landscape, smashing robots on the way and freeing the animals inside. As ominous as this army seemed, it wasn't proving too difficult to destroy them so far. Then, the culprit started to float down from above. To the hedgehog, it looked like a large, floating egg. It was a sort of hovercraft, inside a mustached villain with dark glasses. "So, you're the one wreaking havoc on my army! No matter, I'll beat you down and fit you for a robot shell of your own!" the man cackled, a wrecking ball dropping from a compartment under the hovercraft and starting to swing about! The hedgehog sped out of the way, easily evading the swinging orb. "You'll have to do better than that to catch me!" the hedgehog taunted. The mustached man glanced his way. "You're a quick one, but I'm much too quick-witted for you! I, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, will conquer this puny island, and then the world!" Robotnik then turned his vehicle, swinging the wrecking ball more broadly to try and catch the hedgehog! However, the hedgehog leapt up as a blue ball, striking Robotnik's vehicle forcefully! Robotnik stumbled in his seat, and spotted the blue one across from him a moment later, wagging his finger at him. "Too bad... See, some of those animals are my friends. So, I can't let you do that, egghead!" he smirked. Robotnik growled. "Oh, yeah? And who are you to stop me?!" he shouted. The hedgehog smirked. "I'm Sonic... Sonic the hedgehog!!" The pair sped towards one another, and thus began a rivalry for the ages...

Happy 30th Birthday, Sonic! Never stop running!


Chapter 31 - Trials of Illusi
Stage 16 - Raisol Sanctuary

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related OCs are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"Team Chaotix! They're detectives you want on your side!
Team Chaotix! Their directive's tracking down your crime!
Come along for the ride.
Truth can run, but not hide,
For long, the game is on, now..." - Team Chaotix, Sonic Heroes


Talon anxiously headed for the lab inside Shadow Arcangel. The griffin was carrying something resembling a Wisp capsule, but inside it was a Lost One. Talon carried it into the lab, where Bucky pointed to an examination table. "Place it there, thank you." he stated. "Why do I have to collect Lost Ones for your experiment??" Talon stammered. "Vortex is too vital to ship maintenance. The others aren't as well equipped to capture them quote-unquote 'alive.'" Bucky stated as Talon glanced at his glowing talons. While the rat was prepping for his experiment, Gideon peered into the doorway. It took the form of a shining ferret, exactly why none could be sure. "Are these experiments...safe?" it asked. Bucky already had a previous experiment set up on another table. The remains of a now-inert Lost One's slime bubbled in a test tube. "I've said it before, but charting new scientific territory is never necessarily safe..." Bucky said, tapping the test tube. Talon grimaced as the slime quivered in the Wisp capsule. "So, you think you can bring people back from live Lost Ones... What about dead Lost Ones?" he asked. Gideon looked at the test tube sadly. "Those souls are no longer in our realm. They have passed into the beyond." it stated. Talon gulped. "So...is it bad to kill Lost Ones, then?" he questioned. "No worse than putting down a terminally ill patient when a cure doesn't yet exist for their condition..." Bucky murmured, "Especially when said patient is deadly contagious. But I'm hoping I can spark the soul back into the inert slime, too..." the rat stated, "You'd both do best to wait outside... This could get rather messy. Don't concern yourself with me... I'm not about to die here!" With that, Talon scurried out of the lab, but Gideon remained near the door, watching anxiously. "These souls are counting on us..." it whispered.


Punchy carried the unconscious Rainbow home, leaving her to rest in a soft couch inside. Heather and Guard revisited Professor Pickle while Punchy was in there. "Looks as though we're staying down here for now. With Rainbow out of commission, it'll be harder to find the Chaos Crystal." Heather told him. Pickle nodded. "Understood. Yes, well, I'll stay hunkered here and keep watch over Miss Rainbow's door..." he said. "Grrr, no offense, but I'll stay and keep watch as well. If there's any danger, I will protect you both." Guard grunted. "Oh? Yes, I see your point. Thank you, my boy." Pickle nodded. Espio and Charmy came out of Rainbow's house a moment later, and met Vector across the road. "No sign of the crystal at home, Vector! But Rainbow has an awful lot of the same dress!" Charmy reported. "We were very thorough..." Espio murmured. Vector gave a light chuckle. "Of course it wasn't in there! That'd be too easy! ...Ya didn't find any clues where it might be though, yeah?" he asked, to which Espio and Charmy shook their heads. Punchy finally stepped out of the house shortly after that, looking rather glum. "I hope Rainbow will be okay here while we're gone. I'd like to stay with her, but there's no time to waste. Those dumb monsters are spreading as we speak!" he grumbled as Heather and Team Chaotix rushed over to him. "Don't worry, Guard will be here in the meantime." Heather told him. Punchy glanced at Guard and Professor Pickle sitting together and munching little sandwiches. "Guard, right... I'll just block out the fact that he's died before already..." he grumbled. Vector snapped him out of his troubles with a hearty pat on the back. "Don't you worry, Punch! I'll have this solved in no time! First thing's first, we gotta rule out the next most obvious hiding place, and that'd be where the Crystal was found in the first place! Follow me!" he announced, heading off on his way. "Hey! Leading the way when ya don't know where to go is Rainbow's thing!" Charmy shouted.

So, they headed to the great, golden door that had once held the Chaos Crystal behind it. "See, I knew where I was goin!" Vector said, "But, ahh...let's not bring up what I went through to get here last time..." the crocodile murmured. "Hey, wait! I remember now! You were cap-mmph!" Vector placed a hand over Charmy's mouth to stop him there. "Yeah, yeah, we all remember what a miserable day that was." Punchy grumbled, stepping over to the unlocked door and punching it off the wall! "That seemed unnecessary..." Espio murmured. "Come on, let's look around!" Punchy grunted, heading into the dark chamber. The room was covered in gold, and there was an elaborate pedestal at the back where the Chaos Crystal likely rested before. Vector squinted through the dark at images carved into the gold walls. "These are like, uh, hieroglyphics! Hmm... They look like the Chaos Relics..." he murmured. "No mystery there, the Crystal is the Relics' controller." Punchy stated. Heather held a small fireball in her hand to light up the room, but there didn't seem to be anything there. "...C'mon, green Knuckles! Don't ya know where your wife would hide a thing?" Charmy asked. "Call me green Knuckles one more time!!" Punchy growled. Looking over the glyphs on the wall, Heather noticed something odd. There was a coin among them. But there was no Chaos Coin. "This isn't a relic..." she murmured. Espio took a look. "It resembles Kosmo's coin that turned out to be a key to the door." he pointed out. It seemed to be jutting out of the wall a bit, so Heather reached out and...pushed it in. Then, with an odd flash of light, the back wall vanished! "Wha?! That wall was...fake?" Vector stammered. Punchy's eyes narrowed, looking into the new passage. "It was an illusion..." he said.

They found themselves in a large, seemingly empty room upon going through the passage. A projection of Illusi the shrew appeared in the center of the room. "One who would seek the treasure within..." Before the shrew could continue, Punchy shook his fist. "Only Rainbow can call me One... He's not really here, is he?" he muttered. "I'm not really here." Illusi confirmed, "But I used my most powerful illusions as protections on this place. To reach the treasure, you must conquer three trials..." he said before vanishing. Punchy groaned, stepping forward. "You and your trials, Illusi! When am I gonna be done with tri-OOF!!" He smacked into what appeared to be an invisible wall, and when he did, a Wrongo appeared and gave him an electric jolt! "Gyaaah!! Oh, this is the first dumb trial he gave me all over again!!" Punchy yelled. Charmy held his hands out as he carefully flitted forward. "No fair! How are we supposed to know where the walls are?" he wondered. "I got my intuition! Follow me!" Vector grinned, stomping into the maze, turning once, turning twice, and then...bopping his nose against a wall and earning a zap! "Yooow!! Was that shrew always this sadistic?!" he complained. "Why don't you go, Heather! It won't kill you!" Punchy suggested. "So, I'm supposed to just sign up for all the pain because it won't kill me!?" she scoffed. Espio stood with his eyes closed, holding his hands in an almost meditative stance. "Allow me..." he murmured, dashing into the invisible maze! "Whoa! Slow down! You'll get your horn stuck in a wall!" Charmy giggled. Espio ignored him, and in a few moments, he had expertly navigated the maze and arrived at the other side! A check-mark-shaped Righto appeared at the exit to greet him. "Show off!" Vector snapped, "How are we gonna do that!?" he shouted. "Maybe the maze is gone now..." Punchy hoped, only to smack into the invisible wall again! Fortunately, he didn't get another shock. "We can touch the walls! That'll make it easier!" Charmy smiled. "Yeah...fan-flipping-tastic..." Punchy groaned.

In the next room were a set of statues with small pedestals in front of them. Illusi appeared at the center of the room, copies of the Chaos Relics appearing at his feet. "The second trial! You must match each Chaos Relic to their ancient master." he stated. Punchy recognized one of the statues as Astra the fennec. "Oh, great. Gemini would know this..." he murmured. Espio looked at the statue of Aya the chameleon curiously. "I...don't even have a guess." he admitted. Heather's eyes rested on the statue of Rex the hedgehog. "These are the heroes who fell... But how do we figure out which relics they had?" she questioned. "Deductive reasoning!" Vector smirked, picking up one of the Chaos Tailbands, "Astra knew an awful lot about this bad boy, yeah? Let's give it to her!" Punchy picked up the Chaos Boots. "Right, Astra did tell me about this walrus..." he murmured, bringing the boots to the statue of Paul. Espio pointed to Spiro's statue. "This is Lospecter. Does he get the cards...or the key?" he mused. "Neither! He's jealous Blaze got the Crown!" Vector stated. "How do you even know that!?" Punchy stammered. Each correct placement was accompanied by a Righto appearing, so they knew they were on the right track. Punchy brought the claws to the statue of Luna. "I believe this came up when Knuckles was cursed... the claws were held by a wolf-turned-pumpkin." he said. "The leader gets the sword..." Vector reasoned, giving it to Rex. That left the key, gauntlets, cards, wing and second tailband. Vector looked thoughtful and tried giving the tailband to Bard the Fox's statue, but a swarm of Wrongos appeared! They started zapping everyone in the room, so Vector raced to figure it out. "Other tail guy, raccoon!" he grunted, giving the tailband to William. He left the gauntlets with Monty's statue, the wing with Red the sparrow, and tried the key with Aya only for Punchy to get zapped harder! "Don't GUESS!!" he yelled. Vector swapped the key for the cards, and then raced to give the key to Bard! The Wrongos faded and another false wall vanished as well! "Haha! See, easy!" Vector smiled, glancing awkwardly to see the others a bit charred. "Right, easy...ughh..." Charmy groaned.

The next room featured a grand statue of Radia the echidna holding the Chaos Crystal, while smaller statues of Brutus and Cleo the dragons skulked in the shadows. "Well, I'm getting a vague history lesson today..." Heather murmured. Illusi once again appeared in the center of the room. "The final trial is a battle! You must face my friend here... Fighto!" Beside Illusi, a creature comprised of Wrongos and Rightos appeared! The Rightos formed the arms, legs and neck of Fighto, while the Wrongos comprised the head, hands, feet and torso. The Wrongos on the hands were spiked as well, making Fighto more imposing. "You must also fight with precision...or die. Hit a Wrongo, and the floor will fall." Illusi warned before vanishing. Punchy looked at the creature awkwardly as it shuffled towards him in a boxing stance. "I'm fighting a stick figure, and I can only hit its limbs!" he groaned, stepping forward and raising his fists. He dodged out of the way as the spiked "hand" of Fighto swung at him, and then he tried punching back, but he forgot himself and hit the torso! Pieces of the floor collapsed, and Vector let out a shout as he fell, barely grabbing onto the edge in time! "He's a sadistic MONSTER!!" the croc yelled as Heather and Espio helped him up! Charmy flew out towards Fighto, a serious look in his eyes. "You need precision! Watch how I sting 'em! Just keep him distracted, Punch-punch!!" he shouted. Punchy smiled and nodded. "Right, come at me, Freak-o!" he yelled, throwing a false punch toward Fighto! The creature angrily swung its spiked "hand" back, distracted with Punchy! Meanwhile, Charmy flew behind it and gave its other arm a quick sting! The Righto vanished, and the detached Wrongo went spinning toward Charmy with its spiky body! "Whoa!! I didn't know he'd try to sting back!" he yelped, flying away! Punchy took advantage of the opening on that side, giving Fighto's leg a kick and causing it to wobble with only half a body! "Alright! Let's wrap it up, Charmy!!" he shouted, prompting the bee to turn towards Fighto again! The creature spun around, flailing its spiked "hand," but Charmy flew under and took out its other leg, while Punchy hopped up to punch its neck! This left just the arm and the body floating with a bunch of Wrongos around it. A fireball from Heather quickly took that out! "Let's finish this up already! Everyone's waiting on us!" she shouted. With that, the Wrongos vanished, and so did Radia's statue, revealing a final passageway...

To their surprise, they found what appeared to be a cozy nursery at the end of the passage. There was a crib with a mobile dangling over it, rattles and a bottle sitting on a nearby table, and seated in a rocking chair was an elderly chipmunk, holding a certain baby. She looked up with a start as the group entered. "Ah... Shh, the child is sleeping. You must be Daddy." she said to Punchy with a smile, "I'm Rosie. I used to look after young Rainbow when she was left alone down here in this lonely place as a child. She needed someone to look after little Aurora here, so naturally I was pleased to help." the chipmunk explained in a soft, gentle voice, careful not to wake baby Aurora. "D'awww, that's sweet..." Vector sighed. "Uh, but what about the crystal?" Charmy whispered. "I suppose the real treasure was Punchy's family all along." Espio mused. Rosie chuckled softly. "Perhaps, but the crystal's hidden in the cupboard back there. I know there were defenses left in place, but better safe than sorry." she murmured. Punchy stepped over to Rosie, and he patted his sleeping daughter's forehead. "Thank you... Even with everything going on, I have been worried out of my mind about her..." he said, wiping his eyes before a tear could make itself known. "How touching! And I should thank you!" The sneering voice of Soleil woke the baby, causing her to cry! Punchy turned to find Soleil forcing her way past Team Chaotix with her flames, heading for the cupboard! "Oh, dearie me! Please, the baby!" Rosie cried, holding Aurora tightly. "I don't want your dumb kid..." Soleil scoffed, opening the cupboard and taking the Chaos Crystal! "Hold it!" Heather warned, stepping into her doppelganger's path! Soleil smirked and struck Heather with her own flames, clenching her fist and controlling the fire in a way that caused Heather to choke! "I'd be careful. You CAN die for good, you know..." Soleil sneered, dashing off with the crystal while Heather collapsed, Punchy racing to her side! "You alright!?" he asked. "I-I'll be fine..." Heather huffed. "C'mon! Let's go after her!! Hurry hurry hurry!!" Charmy shouted.

With Illusi's traps disabled, it was a pretty straightforward trip back into the underground city. They caught Soleil racing through the roads towards a group that was prepared to back her up; Punky, Vanitas, Zapp and Thrash, the dark forms of Punchy and Team GeneX! "I don't care who's in my way! You ASSHOLES threatened my family!" Punchy shouted, charging ahead to be met by Punky. "It's my family, too, and I'll take what I need from them!" he snarled. Each of them were lined up to clash with a dark counterpart, and as the fight started to break out, it quickly became apparent that some of these matchups were quite unfair, as Charmy fled from Zapp's gunfire and Heather once again started to choke from Soleil's pyrokinetic control. "You've only ever scratched the surface of our power! Shame, because now I'll snuff out your flame!" Soleil sneered. Before she could make good on that threat, however, she was distracted by energy beams hurled from Guard's scythe! "Grrrr!! Don't think I'll let her face you alone!" he growled. Soleil smirked and tossed a fireball at him, which he flew up to avoid. "You've died before, too. But me, I haven't begun to fight for myself..." she sneered. While she started fighting with Guard, Punchy was busy exchanging blows with his own dark side. "We've done this dance before! Don't you know I always win?" Punchy teased. "Then why'd ya need me to beat Howler?" Punky retorted, hurling a darkness-infused punch at his doppelganger! However, his other arm was suddenly tugged! "Leave my One alone!" It was Rainbow! Punky scoffed and shoved her to the floor! "I've always wanted to kill you..." he growled. Punchy then grabbed his other arm. "Not so fast... Dark One!" he said, igniting fire in Punky's eyes. "My...name...is not... ONE!!!" he roared.

While Vector was having a fairly even grapple with Thrash, Charmy and Espio were struggling against the powers of Zapp and Vanitas. "Hey, Espio! Switch partners!" Charmy said suddenly, catching Vanitas off guard as he dive-bombed him with his stinger! Espio reacted quickly as well, tossing a shuriken to knock the gun from Zapp's hand! "Hey! You can't just switch like that! Rrrrgh, wait'll I get my gun back- uh oh!" the hornet gulped as Espio rushed over and grabbed his wings. At the same time, Guard and Heather were keeping Soleil well occupied, pressuring her from two sides. Frustrated, the dark phoenix tossed the Chaos Crystal away. "I can't kill you with my hands tied! Someone else grab that dumb rock!" she shouted. Punky rolled his eyes and turned toward the crystal. "Much as I wanna mop the floor with you, fam, I gotta pick that up in the interest of self-preservation. Don't wanna end up like Despair or the Battle Birds." he grumbled. However, as he approached the Chaos Crystal, Rainbow blocked his path. "I wouldn't be much of a guardian if I let ya take that, Dark One!" she said. Punky snarled furiously at that name. "You AREN'T much of a guardian, Colors!!" he roared. Punchy tried to grab his attention away from Rainbow again, but a dark shockwave tossed him away swiftly! "Aaagh!! Rainbow, get outta there!!" he cried. But it was too late; Rainbow was lifted by the throat! "Eeep!! P-put me d-down!!" she squeaked. Punky grinned darkly. "After I'm done with you...and daddy... Little Aurora is next..." he whispered. Rainbow clenched her fists, and the Chaos Crystal glowed behind her, her eyes glowing blue at the same time! "NO YOU WON'T!!" she shrieked, a large burst of energy ejecting from her body at that moment, knocking everyone over and sending the Chaos Crystal tumbling away! A portal opened in the crystal's path as it rolled, and Lospecter watched as it rolled neatly into said portal! "Hole in one! See, who needs to touch it? Nice display of power, Rain-dance! Too bad you'll never quite get a handle on it! Let's go, darkies!" Before Punchy could get up and try to stop them, Lospecter and the Darks escaped into the portal, leaving the heroes defeated once again. "...What even was that, Rainbow?" Punchy asked. "I... The crystal... It was like something awakened in me..." she babbled, rubbing her neck. Heather and Guard looked to the place the portal had been anxiously as Team Chaotix climbed to their feet. "So...what happens now?" Heather wondered.


Bucky had been unable to solve the problem of curing the Lost Ones. His latest attempt at least hadn't killed the test subject, but he was losing faith in his ability to figure this out. "Maybe I've gone as far as I can go... Maybe it's time for the next generation to take over... I'm all washed up." he murmured, turning to the door to find Gideon there. "Ah, I thought you'd gone... Say, why have you taken that form?" he asked. It was still in the form of a ferret. "I...don't know." Gideon replied. Rubbing his chin, Bucky turned to the confined Lost One. "Let's try something...."

In moments, Gideon was hooked to the capsule, and as Bucky fed electricity through another set of wires hooked to himself, Gideon began to glow, feeding its own energy to the capsule! Before they knew it, the capsule burst in a flash of bright, white light, and when the light faded, Capricorn the ferret was sitting on the table! "Unngh... Wh-where am I?" she murmured, rubbing her head, "...What am I doing here?" she questioned. Bucky smiled at her. "You're helping save the world, my dear." he declared.


Back in Station Square, the very earth shook, startling Punchy, Rainbow and the others as they made their way above ground! "Good grief! I almost fell and dropped the Scepter of Darkness! Breaking it again would be a travesty!" Professor Pickle stammered as Guard helped him climb out of the sewer. Another tremor followed. "What's happening??" Vector gasped. "Eeek! Look out at the ocean!" Rainbow pointed. A familiar shape was starting to rise out of the water. The pointed spires of a castle. Despair Castle! Lifted with it, Demon Island was rising from the depths, still in pieces. Great tethers of ectoplasmic slime burst forth from the holes in the earth where the caves would have been, and those tethers linked the broken pieces of the island together as it returned to the sky! "It's as the runes said. The stolen Chaos Crystal has been used to raise Demon Island once more. The Lost Ones are clearly planning something..." Pickle observed, voice wavering. Punchy watched the island rise with a grave expression. "We need to get everyone back in the fight... Where are they?" he wondered.

To be continued...


"Is friendship a mirage? An illusion of the heart?
When things start getting rough, will it all just fall apart?"

Alone and sad without the Deadly Six, Zim slowly made his way out of the jungle. A dark corridor appeared before him at the edge of the jungle, and both Zeke and Spiny emerged. "There you are!" the dragon smiled. Zim looked at him with immense relief at first, but then charged at Spiny. "Hedgehog!! Get away from my best friend!! Take ZIM'S WRATH!!" he shouted. "I'm not even a hedgehog!!" Spiny shouted, struggling against him.

"No, your true friends don't leave you when your eyes fill with tears.
They gather beside you, and together face your fears..."

Katie, Mia and Tommy were all together at the GUN bunker. It was a fearful time, but they felt confident that things would be alright. Then, they saw Ridley approach, with Chet, Bill and Bob following. The coati had utter heartbreak in his eyes, and he was holding Razor's police cap. "What happened? ...Chet?" Katie asked, tears forming in her eyes. Her boyfriend took her in his arms and broke down crying himself. Tommy stared at the hat in Ridley's hand, which the coati handed to him. "I...don't know what to say... I-I've failed you all..." he sniffled. "No, y-you weren't there..." Bill started, only for Ridley to raise his hand and silence him. Tears started to stream down Tommy's face, and he hugged Ridley tightly, crying into his chest. "R-razor!! N-no!!" It was getting harder to keep the hope with each passing hour within the bunker...

"And around me I see not the mirages that faded away!
You're all gathered beside me, my friends here to stay!"

Though she wanted to search for Sonic, Amy ended up following GUN's trail out of Troblusk City, aiming to reunite with her friends at their bunker. Along the way, she came across Big on the side of the road, Froggy sitting on his head. "Oh, gosh, Big, I'm glad you're okay! But what are you doing way out here?" she asked. Big rubbed his stomach. "Froggy and I can't catch any more fish, and we're hungry. Do you know what happened to all the fish?" he frowned. Amy could venture a guess, even without knowing anything about the river of slime in the Mystic Ruins. She took the cat's hand. "Come with me. I'm sure GUN has some food." she said sympathetically. She didn't want the Lost Ones catching him, either.

"If you stay true to me, I'll stay true to you,
That's what friendship means, it's what true friends do..."

Though scattered across the world, our heroes and friends had not given up yet. Be they Freedom Fighters standing vigil over the Gaia Wellsprings, Rogues soaring through the sky searching for old allies in need, a robot mechanic biding his time within his creator's old base or lab-created experiments searching for a way to save the lost... The fight to stop Doomsday would go on until the last.

"And this was the last random bonus sequence...barring Gator's adventures." - 2BIT

To be continued...