Sonic GeneX: Doomsday
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.


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Previously on GeneX…
The attempt to rescue Skye Prower from the Troblusk City clock tower was a trap! Once our heroes were deep inside the tower, Dr. Eggman detonated it! Fortunately, most of our heroes were able to escape one way or another, but Razor the Porcupine died from injuries sustained in the explosion, and SPOT was destroyed during the climb up the tower, ending the signal the robot was relaying for the comms devices.
Rainbow left her hiding place when it was attacked by Lost Ones. Aurora went missing during their escape...
Before blowing the Clock Tower, one of the two Doomsayers revealed his identity as the leader of the Lost Ones, Apocalos, who had been traveling through time to manipulate events and serve his dire prophecies.
Now, our tale continues...


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.

To be continued...