Sonic GeneX: Doomsday
Chapter 13 - Break In Breakout
Stage 7 - Deathbringer Row

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


"Oooohhh!! You can't beat time, can't stop your fate!
I'm an immortal slime, and you're a snack on my plate!
You thought you could ditch me, but I'm up in yo' head!
Now you'll waste in this cell, and I'll make your world un-dead!!" - Lospecter's Gloat; song by 2BIT


Previously on GeneX…
The Lost Ones had captured Katie, Tommy, Amy and Cream, holding them at the very prison Copter was once held at by GUN. Amy distracted the guards so Cream could escape, but they needed help.
The Lost Ones aired a TV message asking Gemini to the island in exchange for the prisoners' safety. Joined by Copter and Chet, she arrived at the prison and the trio began to explore. Meanwhile, Chopper left to meet up with Casey, Katie's future son.
Within the prison, the group met up with Cream before encountering Ophiuchus, freed from his interdimensional prison and now working for the Lost Ones. He hypnotized Chet to attack, but when that failed he escaped deeper into the prison, locking the group inside the lab.
Now, our tale continues...


An explosion took care of the door blocking their way forward. Copter coughed softly, waving smoke away from his face. "Wasn't there a way through with more...finesse?" he asked. Gemini crossed her arms. "Maybe I'm angry. Lospecter's doing things to get to me...again!" she huffed. They headed into the next hall, Chet and Cream following behind. The path ahead seemed strangely calm and quiet, so there was time to think. "What do you think Lospecter wants you for, anyway?" Copter asked. Gemini threw up her arms. "I'm sure I don't know! He's already got Ophi, what could I possibly offer him? All he needs is to get Ophi a wand and he's a better mage than I am!" she ranted. Chet was watching Copter and Gemini banter like an old married couple, and rubbed his chin. "Man, I'd be so sure they'd end up together... But apparently Copter's kid doesn't know Gemini." he murmured. Cream glanced at him. "His...kid?" she asked. "From the future." he explained, "...I wonder who the mom is." he questioned, folding his arms in thought. Cream looked at Copter and giggled softly. "Maybe it's Miss Heather! Weren't they close?" she suggested. Chet tilted his head. "I don't see it. I think she's more into Guard. Maybe...Copter gets back with Violet?" he suggested. Cream made a face. "They weren't very good together..." she said bluntly. "Ahem!!" Copter grunted, looking back at them. "I hope you two are discussing something useful, like maybe you have an idea why the Lost Ones specifically want Gemini?" he asked. Cream smiled awkwardly. "D-does she have any interesting knowledge of the future?" she suggested. Gemini shook her head. "What use is knowledge of the future? The Lost Ones are altering the future. This invasion never happened. With Ophi under their thumb, he can't delay them anymore." she babbled, "I changed the past so this is all my fault..." Copter patted her shoulder. "We all decided to take action. It's not just your fault." he said.

They soon found another of the spiral staircases. "Ugh, why can't Gunner invest in an elevator?" Copter complained. Peering into the stairwell, they gasped to see the losolanturns from before patrolling the area, floating around the spiral stairway. "Well, nothing to do but smash some pumpkins...!" Copter growled, yelping as Chet pulled him and Gemini back into the previous hall. "Hold up, I've got an interesting idea!" he said, "What if...we were to somehow reprogram the GUN robots to attack the Lost Ones?" he suggested. Copter looked at him like he was nuts. "Chet, Gemini can't just go Abra-ka-reprogramma and make that work... You can't can ya?" he asked, looking at the fennec. "N-no... Magic isn't really that compatible with technology..." Gemini babbled. Cream hopped to get their attention. "You know... If the robots are connected to a computer... I could give it a try!" she offered. They looked at her with surprise. "You??" Copter blurted. Cream smiled. "Yes. I help Tails in his workshop sometimes. He's been teaching me. I'm not great at building but the computer isn't too hard!" she said with a giggle. They all looked around at each other and shrugged. "What have we got to lose?" Chet asked. "Everything." Copter pointed out, "But we might as well try it." With that settled, they started to head backwards. Copter had a good idea of where Gunner's old control room would have been...he thought. He might have been brought there before being shoved into his cell, for processing or some such. Along the way back to the lab, they ran into Chopper. "Hey, dad! W-where ya goin?" he asked. "We'll talk on the way, how the blazes did you get here?" Copter asked. Juice the hedgehog, Sonic's son, was running up behind Chopper. "Our group salvaged your black plane!" he reported. The Hurricane had gone down with a GUN Warship at the fall of the Security Tower. "You flew my plane?" Copter asked. Chopper chuckled awkwardly, while the third member of his group ran up behind Juice. It was Casey the coyote, Chopper's best friend and Katie's son. "Hey... Why we turnin' the other way?" he asked. Chet stared at the boy in surprise, particularly at his pendant. "Wh-where did you get that?" he stammered, pointing at the crescent moon pendant. Casey held it in his hand. "Uhh… from mom..." he murmured. Chet reached into his pocket and produced an identical pendant. Casey's eyes widened. "...Dad?" Watching this exchange, Copter stifled a chuckle. "Chet's boy's a bit scrawny, isn't he?" he whispered to Gemini. She rolled her eyes in response. 

So, together they all made their way back to the first balcony where they'd be able to find the door to Gunner's control room. Juice explained how he'd been separated from his own father during the Lost Ones' invasion. "So, I was helping out any way I could. Venice and I dug through all the scrap and found that black plane in pieces. There was this beaver robot already nearby looking for it, he patched it up." he explained. Copter chuckled softly. "Sounds like Hoover's doing alright..." he said, and opened the door he thought would lead to the control room. It was dark inside, so he found a light switch and flipped it. "Monsters!! You won't take me alive!!" someone shouted, shooting blindly towards the door! "Proplasmar!!" Gemini quickly erected a magical barrier to protect them until the person inside calmed down. Peering his head out from under a desk, he was revealed to be a GUN agent wearing purple shades. "O-oh, it's you! Gunner would want me to throw you out but never mind! M-monsters! Ghosts! They ate all my friends! Y-you gotta help me!" he whimpered. "Oh, you work for Gunner, do you?" Juice said with clenched fists. "He killed my father's weird time-space copy...and also probably my father!" Chopper growled. The agent backed up, whimpering nervously. Copter glanced at Chopper. "Copy... Dimentime's dead?" Chopper had avoided telling Copter too much about the future, but it was already clear that he himself was dead in Chopper's time. Hearing about Dimentime's death was a bit surprising. Chet took it upon himself to calm the angry kids. "Hey, hey! This guy ain't Gunner! Uh, yo, what's your name?" he asked. The frightened man babbled. "Ah, A-agent 77..." then he realized that his code name was pretty unnecessary here, "Um... Steven..." he murmured. Chopper and Juice's expressions softened, and Chet nodded. "'Kay, Steve, maybe you can help us. We need a computer linked to the robots." he said. Cream smiled gently. "Please help us, Mr. Agent. Our friends are being held by those creatures." she said. Steven stood up slowly, lifting his shades to show his gentle brown eyes. "Aww... You're adorable- why'd I ever stay with Gunner? Okay, uh...what're we doing with the robots?" he asked.

And so, Agent 77, or "Steven," sat down at one of the control room's computers, setting to work trying to establish a link with the remaining robots. There was a free computer nearby, so Chopper sat down and started messing with it. "This is no time for games, kiddo." Copter told him. Chopper chuckled softly. "When you're a gamer, you learn a thing or two about software... I think I can find where your friends are being held!" he said. Chet and Casey rushed to his side, shoving Copter out of the way. "Katie??" "My mom??" they said at once. Chet's tail stood on end when he heard Casey call Katie his mom. He blushed a little. Chopper groaned softly having them both hovering over him. "You both have the same impatience, you know that?" he murmured. In the meantime, Juice and Gemini were watching Cream work at the other computer, Juice finding himself holding on to Cheese as the Chao fidgeted. "I know little Chao, I don't like being cooped up here, either..." he murmured. "Well, I hope you two know what you're doing because this is all gibberish to me..." Gemini said, looking at the screen. Cream giggled. "We've got this! Almost done!" At that moment, Chopper had gotten some camera feeds up on the other computer. Amy's cell appeared onscreen, and Juice nearly dropped Cheese in surprise. "Ah, err, uh... Wh-what's she doing there!?" he babbled. Copter sighed. "Making our lives that much harder..." he murmured. Chopper clicked off the camera feeds and nodded. "I've got the location of the cells. I think all their prisoners will be there." he said. Steven wiped his brow. "I think we got it! The robots will try to take out those monsters instead of you! ...Probably!" he said. "Probably?" Copter grumbled. "Well... I'll stay here and keep fine-tuning..." the agent said. "Oh, I feel LOADS better..." Copter sighed. Chet stood up and turned for the door. "No more time to waste! Let's go save our friends!" he shouted.

And so, the group rushed back to the stairwell they'd found earier. Chet had raced there ahead of the others, being the fastest. "I hope this works because I'm not sure what the junior brigade can do against Lost Ones..." Copter said to Gemini. "Hey! We came to the past to save YOU guys!" Juice retorted. Catching up with Chet, they found him waiting outside the stairwell with an anxious expression. "No sign of any robots so far. Maybe the whole detour was a mistake..." he grumbled. "Well, it was your idea..." Copter scoffed. Gemini gripped her wand tightly. "Alright, you all wait out here, I'll clear the stairway." she said. "Oh, please be careful..." Cream squeaked. As Gemini stepped through the door, Copter went to follow her, but Chopper grabbed his arm. "Don't go in there... What if it's an ambush? What if..." The door reopened suddenly as Copter was standing in front of it, banging his nose. "OWW!! Son of...me!" he shouted, walking away to tend to his nose. "S-sorry..." Gemini murmured, "You all might want to follow me, quick!" she said hastily. Rubbing his nose, Copter followed behind the others, and looked up to see robots charging in from the top of the stairs, firing lasers at the losolanturns and distracting them! "Well, well, looks like Steve and Cream came through!" Casey smirked, making Cream smile bashfully. Chet started to rush up the stairs, with Gemini following. "Hey, wait! It's still dangerous! What about the kids!" Copter shouted, yelping as a losolanturn dropped down in front of his face! A blast from ground level knocked it away, and Copter turned to see Chopper holding a fancy Wispon. "Something else I picked up while we were separated!" he smirked. Copter growled. "I'm gonna tell you about using guns... Later. Right now, watch each other's backs!" he said, racing up the stairs with the others behind him!

Arriving at the next floor and the balcony beyond, Chet was forced to jump one of Loscream's vines straight away! The large pumpkin Lost One was busy swatting around hunter robots with its vines, snarling fiercely as it moved! The others weren't too far behind Chet. "Well, good, he's distracted for now..." Gemini murmured. Cream whimpered softly and hid behind Copter along with Cheese. "D-don't let him get us..." she squeaked. Loscream had terrorized her quite a bit during her escape. "Believe me, Cream, I'm not happy to be here, either..." Copter said, looking around, "Pretty sure my old cell was over that way. Also where I first met that creepy Doomsayer guy..." he mumbled, looking around again to see the others running ahead without him! "Reminisce another time!! Larger prison's this way!" Chopper shouted. Sighing, Copter took Cream's hand and led her past Loscream, following after the others. The massive pumpkin saw them and stopped fighting robots to block their way with some vines! "Oho!! The bunny that got away! Thank you for bringing her! Now, how would you like to be dismembered?" Loscream bellowed. Cream yelped and clutched Cheese tightly, while Copter looked at the monstrous pumpkin with disgust. "Just you wait, we're gonna take out all you creeps... You should've stayed in the shadows!" A few laser from the remaining robots temporarily blinded Loscream, so Copter took his chance, spinning his tails to fly over the vines in their path. Cream flapped her large ears to follow after him through the air! "Never thought I'd be teaming up with those robots when I came back here..." Copter murmured, hurrying past Loscream to catch up to his friends!

The group arrived at the prison, cells lining the dark area. As they hurried forward, they found Tommy standing in their path. "Tom?" Chet murmured, "Hey! D-did you escape? What about Katie?" he asked. Tommy was standing stiff, looking at them with a vacant expression. "She's...here..." he said. Katie stepped out of the shadows behind him, wearing the same vacant expression. "Mom... Is she okay??" Casey asked. Gemini raised her hand to warn the others against moving forward. "Something isn't right." she said, raising her wand, "Abra-ka-shine-ra!" Her wand emitted a soft light, illuminating the room ahead. Ophiuchus could be seen glaring at them through the darkness. "Quite observant. Yes, Gemini, we have nothing left to teach you!" he grinned. "YOU never taught me anything!" Gemini snapped. Chet bared his claws at the snake. "You've got Katie hypnotized like I was! Let her go, or you'll be sorry!" he warned. Ophiuchus held the Chaos Stones in his hands, pointing them at the next cell across the hall. The door swung open, and Amy could be heard inside. "S-stay away from me, you creep!" she shouted. Cream stepped forward with Cheese at her side. "What are you doing to Amy!?" she shouted as Copter followed after her. "Careful, no telling what this guy'll do!" he warned. Ophi sneered through the dark at them. "I of course knew you'd never give in to Lospecter's request. So, I've been preparing for your arrival. I requisitioned some assistance in subduing you..." he stated, snapping his fingers. As he did so, two more figures approached from the darkness. Copter squinted, and then his eyes widened as the silhouette came into view. "Punchy!?" he stammered. The other figure looked like Crash the rhino. However, as they stepped forward, it was clear they were not the friends they knew. "Wrong, foxy... I've evolved past needing Punchy!" The echidna before them was the black and green form or Dark Punchy! "...You can call me Punky now!" he smirked. The rhino was darker in color, with a black derby, red gloves and a yellow horn. "Name's Thrash! 'Sup, little kids!" Dark Crash grunted. Ophiuchus reached into the cell towards Amy. "Now that the pleasantries are out of the way... Attack them, all of you! I'll get this girl ready to join you..." he ordered, recoiling as a hammer was swung towards him, "Feisty..." he hissed. "I think you forgot the last time we met, snake!" Amy warned.

So, while "Punky" and "Thrash" ran after Copter, Gemini and Chet, the others were left with the hypnotized Katie and Tommy. Cream had something else to worry about, though. "Please be gentle with my friends, I'm going to help Amy!" she said, rushing around toward Ophiuchus. This left Chopper, Juice and Casey with Katie and Tommy. Chopper raised his Wispon. "S-stay back!" he warned. Casey slapped him in the back of the head in response. "Don't point that thing at my mom!!" he grunted. At that moment, Tommy lunged at Chopper, fighting to grab his Wispon! "Hey! That's mine!!" he growled, struggling to keep his grip without hurting the porcupine. Katie approached Juice in the meantime, throwing a punch his way! He sidestepped it and backed away, looking unsure of what to do. "Is there any way to break the spell?" he asked. Casey pulled Chopper away from Tommy, thinking he was helping, but the porcupine was left holding the Wispon! "Uhhh… Run!" he yelped, both of them fleeing out of the way as Tommy started shooting at them wildly! Meanwhile, Cream approached Ophiuchus. "Don't you touch my friend!" she shouted, stopping suddenly as Amy stepped out of the cell! Ophiuchus smirked at her. "How fitting. Now your friend can stuff you back in your cage!" he sneered as Amy lifted her hammer, leering at Cream with cold, hypnotized eyes. As the hammer came at Cream's head, Cheese flew in front of it and blocked the attack, falling at the rabbit's feet! "Oh no!!" Cream gasped, lifting Cheese into her arms and looking at Amy nervously. "P-please... Y-you don't want to do this!" she whimpered. As Amy swung her hammer at Cream again, she flew up out of the hammer's reach, carrying the injured Cheese with her to safety! "Amy!! I... I have to defend Cheese! I-I'm sorry!" she said, dropping down and kicking Amy in the face! She growled, looking at Cream and clutching her hammer tightly. They needed some way to break Ophi's spell, fast!

Chet was quickly thrown across the hall by Dark Punchy, or "Punky" as he chose to call himself. Gemini glanced back at him with concern. "Be careful! Darks are no joke!" she warned. "Clearly..." Chet groaned, taking a knee. Copter leapt at Punky, swinging his tails at him, only for the echidna to catch them and swing him around, smacking him into the prison bars! "Idiot! You can't hurt me that way without those tailbands! Why Punchy held you in such high regard, I'll never know!" he said to taunt him. Copter stood up with a growl. "I didn't run from my dark side, and I won't run from you!" he cried. Punky cracked his neck and smirked, "Good, because without Sonic to save you, the only way you can delay me is running. Just stand there, and I'll rip your head off quickly..." he sneered. As Punky got close, they both cried out at the same time, "Chaos Blast!" As explosions rocked their little area, Gemini was busy running from Thrash the rhino. "Where you goin', little girl? I promise to leave you with as few broken bones as possible!" he shouted. Gemini ignored him, heading for Ophiuchus as he watched Amy chase after Cream. "Our friends are going nowhere if I can't break his hold on them... Ugh, Miniatina!" she shouted, pointing her wand back at Thrash! Her spell shrank him down to about the size of a Chao. "Very funny! But darkness cannot be contained in a tiny package!" Thrash shouted in a squeaky voice. Chet approached him and lightly kicked the rhino. "Lookit the widdle whino..." he babbled in baby talk. Growling, Thrash fired jolts of dark lightning from his horn, knocking Chet flat on his back! "I wish I had powers other than speed..." Chet groaned. Meanwhile, Gemini went to fling a spell at Ophi, but he raised his Chaos Stones to her and erected a barrier! Gemini growled softly, but then smirked. "Your mind control spell requires focus to maintain, doesn't it? Must be harder with Zodiac Station gone..." she stated, flinging spells at his barrier again and again! Ophi smirked at her. "My dear, you underestimate me..." he hissed. Gemini shook her head. "Oh, I'm not willing to make that mistake. Chronokadabra!!" She cast a spell creating a time portal before them, a move that shocked Ophiuchus. "You fool! If you use time travel, so can I! And I can warn my past self of all of this!!" he shouted, staring into the portal as though fixated on it. "Abra-ka-warpra!" In the distraction, Gemini warped behind the snake! "And... Snorozika!!" Before Ophiuchus knew what was happening, Gemini had cast a sleep spell on him! He staggered towards the time portal drowsily, but Gemini dispelled it as he collapsed in exhaustion. Just in time, as Amy was able to stop herself mere moments before smashing Cream with her hammer. "Gah!? C-cream?! What happened??" she babbled.

A clapping was heard in the shadows. Thrash and Punky left the battered heroes to stand at either side of the glowing eyes approaching in the darkness. As the heroes quickly regrouped, they looked to see Apocalos stepping out of the shadows! "Well done, girl, using the snake's desire against him. He would indeed travel in time, but we monitor his activity closely. And I can follow him to the past should the need arise..." he explained. Chet and Casey were hugging Katie closely as she shook off the hypnosis, while Tommy stood nervously behind Amy and Cream. Juice and Chopper watched with tension as an injured Copter joined Gemini in staring down Apocalos. "What do you want with Gemini??" Copter grunted. The slimy dino-hedgehog chuckled, his pointy teeth bared in a wide grin. "Such bravado will get you killed one day, fox. I yearn to kill a fox... Bard got away from me all those years ago you see, as did Astra. But that's not why I require this girl..." he said, reaching a clawed hand slowly toward her, all the heroes backing up a step in nervousness. "Gemini... You are immune to the Lost Ones. We cannot take your soul, cannot convert you. Of course, my goal is to overcome this... To learn the secret of your immunity, and... take... your... soul!!" he spoke with ferocious determination, and was walking straight toward Gemini. Frightened and reacting out of panic, Gemini grabbed Copter's arm. "Everyone, get close!! Galaporta!!" With a brilliant flash of light, Gemini warped the group out of the room, presumably taking them to safety. Thrash walked over to Ophi and nudged him. "Wake up! I need you to un-shrink me!" he squeaked. Apocalos folded his arms and snickered softly. "What's so funny?" Punky asked. Apocalos turned and headed back into the shadows. "We still have the prisoners' DNA... Once Lospecter gets back with Loskeletor, we'll make good use of it. I have waited ever so patiently for this day. Let them run, let them pretend to have hope. Their world is over... Or better put, lost..."

To be continued...