Sonic GeneX: Doomsday
Chapter 14 - The Wisp Mine
Stage 8 - Wisp Mine

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


"Let's take a dive, in Aquatic Mine.
Once was a coal pit, but now it's a water ride.
Makes you wanna sit back, enjoy the life,
And do things you like, you will get to shine.
It sure beats fighting with them foes all the time.
But I gotta do it, they always stay outta line.
Sometimes I wanna just chill and laugh,
But I'm the protector of the Emeralds and gems." - Aquatic Mine, Sonic Adventure 2


Previously on GeneX…
After helping Sonic find his way to the GUN trucks in Central City, Knuckles and Violet set out in search of Chaos Emeralds, the best weapon they could think of to use against the Lost Ones.
During their time in Central City, they stopped off at Shade's house to find the place ransacked, the items she had been guarding either broken or stolen.
Infinite captured Anubis on his way out of Central City, putting the Covenant of Despair under Lost One control.
Now, our tale continues...


In their search for Chaos Emeralds, Knuckles and Violet left Central City and headed for a mountainous region that Knuckles could recall searching for Master Emerald pieces in years ago. He'd even gotten lost in the Aquatic Mines in this region. Now, he found himself at another, decidedly less aquatic mine. Arriving at the entrance to the mine cavern, they found Dulcy the dragon curled up resting. "...Don't I know her?" Knuckles mused, trying to think. A dragon ought to be really memorable, but...he'd had a heck of a couple years. At that moment, Rotor the walrus walked out of the cave, looking quite surprised to see them. "Well, if it isn't the leader of the Resistance!" he smiled. Knuckles looked away awkwardly. "I'm not exactly leading anything these days. Back to treasure hunting for me." he murmured. Violet pointed at Rotor as she realized who he was. "You're the inventor of the Wispons!" she blurted. The walrus nodded, giving Dulcy a shake to wake her up. "That's right, my name's Rotor and this is Dulcy." he said to refresh their memories. The dragon woke with a start. "Wha? Ma? I don't wanna go to school, the other kids tease me!" she babbled. "You didn't have to wake her..." Violet said apologetically, "We're just looking for a Chaos Emerald." she explained. Dulcy came out of her wooziness and looked at the echidnas. "Chaos Emerald? No, I dug out that whole cave and I didn't see any emeralds." she yawned. Rotor nodded. "This operation's not for jewels. It's, uh..." Before he could finish speaking, a Wisp flew out of the cave, talking up a storm in his alien language. "Yacker, slow down, you know I can't understand you without the translator." Rotor sighed. Knuckles watched the Wisp with confusion. "What the...?" he murmured. Dulcy smiled. "This is a Wisp Mine. Some of the Wisps stayed on Earth after Eggman's theme park was wrecked. They lend us their energy to power Wispons." she explained as Rotor used a translator device to figure out Yacker's speech. "Sounds like the Wisps have actually discovered a... weird glowy rock. You might be on the right track for a Chaos Emerald." he said. Knuckles and Violet let out a relieved sigh. This lesson on Wisps and mining wasn't a total waste. "Right, lead the way, Yapper!" Knuckles asked. Yacker let out a few annoyed grunts, probably at Knuckles getting his name wrong.

Rotor and Yacker led Knuckles and Violet into the mine. Dulcy remained outside; Though she had dug out much of the mine tunnels, she really didn't like going underground, it triggered her claustrophobia. The initial entrance area looked much like a normal mine, digging equipment set by the rock walls, a kart on tracks set to help transport rubble and minerals, and wooden supports set up to keep the ceiling from caving in. Violet looked around curiously. "How exactly do you... 'mine' for Wisp energy?" she asked. Rotor glanced back at her. "Hyper-go-on energy. The Wisps live in the surrounding area, and have even started making homes in the caves. They radiate this power, and it seeps into the ground naturally. I have tech that can siphon this energy. In exchange, we're doing our best to make these caves comfortable for the Wisps that moved in down here." he explained. Knuckles scratched his head. "I always thought you just crammed Wisps directly into the Wispons..." he murmured. Rotor coughed softly. "W-well, you can do that, but... This way is definitely kinder." he stated. Yacker made some mutters of agreement. It was important to remember that Wisps were still living things. At any rate, Violet glanced at the mine kart with a smirk. "Hey, can we ride that?" she asked. Before Rotor could answer, an explosion rocked the cave! The entrance crumbled, sealing them in as holes were blown in the roof! "T-take cover!!" Rotor shouted, scrambling for safety along with the others. Dulcy's voice could barely be heard on the other side of the sealed entrance. "Hang on, fellas! I'll dig you out! Unnngh!!" she grunted. Waving off the dust from the cave-in, Violet looked to see ropes dropping through the holes in the roof, animals in familiar uniforms climbing down! "Oh, great... It's the Covenant of Despair!" she growled.

Bears and dogs, some of Despair's go-to species, had started storming the cave. Before Knuckles could chase after them, Eddie the hyena appeared in front of him in a puff of smoke! "Eeeee hee hee! Hey, red, been a while! Miss me?" The blue hyena smirked at him, and then glanced at Violet, "Eee hee... You as well? Much as I'd like to catch up, we have business in this mine." he chuckled. Knuckles growled at him. "You're here for the emerald! I won't let you take it!!" he shouted, throwing a punch at the hyena, only to fall right through him! "Eeeee hee hee hee!! I'm not really here, silly! I'm getting a head start on this treasure hunt!" Eddie cackled. Violet crossed her arms. "What the heck is Despair up to? What would they want with a Chaos Emerald?" she asked. Eddie stuck his tongue out at her. "Maybe you'd know if you hadn't ditched us! Hee hee hee! Bye bye! Oh, mutts! Busy these echidnas for a while so the bears can start their search!" he said before vanishing. The dogs broke from the pack of Despair agents and started towards the echidnas, growling and raising their fists. Rotor watched this whole thing with a bit of panic on his face. "What'll these guys do to the Wisps?" he asked. Nobody wanted to think of Despair with Wisps. Knuckles charged at the nearest Despair Dog, ducked his punch, and gave him a solid return punch to the star symbol on the chest of his uniform! "Outta the way, pups! I'll knock you all out if you try to stop me!" he warned. One of the dogs at the back started to glow with dark energy. "It won't be that easy!" he shouted. Violet rolled her eyes and charged at him, meeting his dark energy beam with a beam of her own! Meanwhile, Knuckles kept busy trading blows with the non-magical dogs. One of them slammed into one of the cave's supports after Knuckles knocked him away, and the roof started to shake somewhat. "B-be careful!!" Rotor shouted.

Dulcy could hear the sounds of the scuffle inside, and had a worried expression. "Hang on, guys! These boulders are heavy!" she shouted, frustrated. Inside, Rotor was trying to secure the supports to keep the cave from collapsing. "Why couldn't the Wisps settle on a nice, safe beach? Sand and coconuts... I need a vacation..." he grumbled, working as fast as he could. The fighting soon subsided, though; A small group of dogs weren't enough to stop Knuckles and Violet. The purple echidna gave her magical opponent a kick in frustration as he laid on the ground unconscious. "Why would anyone still work for Despair anymore? Are there really so many hateful Mobians?" she groaned. Knuckles dusted off his gloves and glanced at her. "Well, you joined them once. I'd think you'd understand better than me." he stated. Violet sighed. "I was in a bad place, and they gave me an outlet for my anger..." she recalled. They heard movement around the hole above, and looked up, raising their fists defensively. Sliding down one of the ropes came a familiar face, Shade the echidna! "Hey, guys! I finally caught up to ya!" she smirked as she landed on the ground. Looking around, she chuckled softly. "Looks like I missed the action, though." she murmured. "Shade!? How'd you find us!?" Knuckles stammered. She shrugged. "Actually, I'm looking for whoever broke into my house. I was following around those sketchy black-suited guys, they seemed suspicious." she explained. Violet nodded. "Yeah, they're suspicious alright... In fact, we should be getting after them." she pointed out. Knuckles gasped. "Right! The emerald! C'mon, Shade, we'll explain everything on the way. You ever heard of a Wisp Mine?" he asked as the three of them started to walk off deeper into the mine. Rotor glanced at them and sighed. "Oh, no worries, guys. I'll just stay back here and help Dulcy get the cave open..." he murmured.

Yacker popped out from behind a big rock, and then soared into the mine and raced past Knuckles and the girls. The Wisp seemed a bit panicked. "He must be worried about his friends." Violet said. They hurried after the Wisp, deep into the tunnels until the tunnel came to an end. The echidnas gasped at what they found on the other side. The interior caverns were vast, and between the stalactites and stalagmites, a natural wonderland had been created through the magic of the Wisp's powers. What looked like flora from Planet Wisp was growing amongst luminous mushrooms that lit up the caves. It was rather beautiful. "This isn't what I pictured when Rotor mentioned a mine..." Knuckles murmured. Shade looked around with a serious expression. "Guys, the little creatures are upset..." she observed. She pointed out places where some Wisps were hiding, looking rather fearful. Violet frowned. "Despair must have been this way..." she stated. "Well, there aren't many other ways they could have gone..." Knuckles pointed out. That wasn't entirely true. The cavern ahead was quite large and maze-like. Shade rubbed her chin. "Well... Let's follow the path of fear. That should lead us to the villains." she stated. The others nodded, and headed down the path where Wisps weren't floating about freely, but hiding instead. Using this strategy, it didn't take long to find a part of the mine with an underground spring, where uniformed bears were trying to corner a number of colorful Wisps while Yacker tried to pull them away with his little tendrils! One of the bears smacked Yacker to the floor! "Back off! You're one of those lame powerless Wisps! I want fire powers!!" he growled. Knuckles jumped in between the bear and Yacker as fast as he could. "Hey, ya big bully! Pick on someone your own size!!" he roared. Violet could see other Despair agents escaping deeper into the mine. "Knuckles, the Chaos Emerald!" she yelped. If they stayed to protect the Wisps, Despair might beat them to the emerald!

Knuckles charged towards the bears anyway. "The emerald can wait! Hands off those Wisps!" he shouted. The bear he was charging towards immediately grabbed the nearest Wisp forcefully. "Give me FIRE!!" he snarled. The blue wisp in his hand squealed in fright and reacted, transforming the bear into a large, blue cube and shaking the surrounding area with a powerful slam! Both the bears and echidnas wobbled in place, and when the cube turned back into a bear, said bear looked rather bewildered. "That...wasn't fire." he stammered. Knuckles quickly punched him in the jaw. "It wasn't funny either! We're in a cave, you could kill us all!!" he yelled. Violet and Shade got their bearings and went for the other bears, who each grabbed Wisps of their own. Violet jumped out of the way as a pink ball of spikes rolled past her, and Shade grabbed on to an orange rocket moments before it took off in a rather wild and random flight path! "Yaaaah!! Let the Wisp go and let us down!!" Shade cried. Violet caught up to the dizzy bear after the pink Wisp popped out of him. "You guys could be a real menace if you had any idea what you were doing." she sighed. Once the rocket crashed into the spring, Violet and Knuckles raced to check on Shade. They found her laying atop a glowing mushroom, the previously rocketing bear collapsed in the shallow water below. "I guess they pretty much took care of themselves... You okay, Shade?" Knuckles asked. "I-I'll be okay in a minute..." she said woozily. Knuckles and Violet turned to check on the Wisps. They were gathered around Yacker, who seemed okay, and was saying something to the others. Together, the Wisps all flew somewhere else in the mines. "I hope they know what they're doing..." Knuckles sighed. Violet nodded and patted Knuckles on the back. "We did the right thing. If we left them to Despair, who knows what might've happened to them." she stated, "But... I hope the others don't get the emerald now..." she added with concern.

Before they could go too far, a long, wet object whipped its way toward the echidnas! Backing up, they looked to see a frog hopping toward them. "...Porky??" Violet murmured, looking puzzled. The frog stomped the ground angrily. "Do I look like a bloody pig! I'm Corky, ya bloomin' idiot! Corky da frog!" he shouted. Knuckles looked at him cautiously. "You're looking slimy...even for a frog." he said anxiously. The laughter of Eddie the hyena rang behind them. "Eeeeee hee!! I don't know if you know, but Corky died! The last victim of the original Deathbringer, I've heard!" he said as he approached, Shade turning to keep her eye on him while the others kept watching Corky. "He looks pretty good for a dead guy." she stated. Corky hopped across the area toward one of the downed bears. "I got meself a new lease on life, courtesy o' the Lost Ones!" he grunted, slinging his tongue at the wounded bear and wrapping it around his neck, choking the life out of him! "No! Stop it!!" Violet shouted, moving to stop him only for Knuckles to grab her arm. "He's not the Corky you knew. He's worse. Be careful." he warned. Shade watched with wide eyes as Corky's slimy tongue corrupted the bear as he murdered him, turning him into a Lost One, too! The other bears scrambled to get to their feet, but Corky released the newly transformed one from his grip, sending it after its former friends! Eddie laughed like there was something hilarious about this. "Eeee hee hee hee! Despair's under new management, it seems! Well, not really, I still took my orders from Anubis. I don't care. Any chance to wipe the floor with you is okay with me!" he smirked as the bears came back with dead looks in their eyes. The echidnas all raised their fists, ready for another fight. "Got your gauntlets, Shade? I think it's time to get chaotic!" Knuckles grinned.

As Knuckles equipped his Chaos Claws, multiple illusions of Eddie surrounded him! "Eee hee! If you wanna claw the Lost Ones, gotta get past me!" he taunted. He would keep Knuckles' Chaos Relic off the board while Violet and Shade fought the undead bears and Corky. Fortunately, Shade still had the Chaos Gauntlets, so the bears wouldn't be too much trouble. But Knuckles HATED dealing with Eddie's illusions. "Why don't you fight fair for once!" he shouted. Eddie stuck out his tongue. "You got no blue hedgehog around to help you out this time! Eee hee!!" the hyena taunted, several of his copies charging Knuckles at once! He slashed one into nothingness with the Chaos Claws, but was swiftly kicked in his sides by the others! "Ooof!! You dirty cheater! But I know any hyena that comes at me has to be fake!" he reasoned. Eddie shrugged. "You're right. That's boring..." he murmured. So, all the Eddies turned into Knuckles' friends; Sonic, Tails, Amy, Silver and Gemini, based on what Eddie knew. Now, Knuckles had no idea which was Eddie. "If you think I won't punch Sonic, Gemini or Tails, you're sadly mistaken!" he shouted. Amy's hammer swung at him, forcing him to jump backward! "Don't touch my Sonic! Eee hee!" Eddie said in disguise. He was also suddenly whacked with a homing attack! "Argh!! Hold still, you scumbag!!" Knuckles shouted. Meanwhile, Violet was busy evading Corky's tongue as he hopped about, lashing it towards her! "You were gross before and now you're worse!" she groaned, noting the slime dripping onto the floor from his tongue. "If it weren't fer the Lost Ones, I'd be gone fer good! Now, I see clear... Really, lass, I'm tryin' to 'elp you ta gain immortality like I got!" he grunted. Violet hurled a ball of dark magic at him, which didn't do very much. "You don't fool me! Undead is dead!" she huffed. Shade was trying to hit the bears with her Chaos Gauntlets, but they had become oddly fast now that they were dead. "This might be a problem..." she said. "You're telling me!!" Knuckles groaned as he was carried up by "Tails" so that Sonic, Amy and Silver could jump up and attack him repeatedly! It wasn't looking good, but they were about to get backup.

Yacker flew back onto the scene with a number of other Wisps, and their varied numbers of eyes all looked MAD. A red Wisp flew into Knuckles, and he BURST into flames, burning off Eddie's illusions and causing the hyena to jump out of the way as his tail got singed! A purple Wisp flew to Violet, and she transformed into a FRENZY monster, chomping at the bit and chasing after a suddenly panicked Corky! A crimson Wisp enabled Shade to transform into an EAGLE, and she flew about in this form, tearing through the undead slimy bears and reducing them to nothing but inert slime! In a moment, the Wisps popped out of the echidnas, and they stood together as Eddie and Corky stood before them. "Well, dat was cheatin..." Corky complained. "Eeehehe... Little guys think they're tough now? Well, let's see how brave they are..." Eddie smirked, using his illusions to display the monstrous form of Despair, the horrific combination of the Darkseeker and Shadow Chaos that Super Knuckles had to take on some years ago! Granted, it was much smaller in the cave, but it was still imposing enough to frighten off the Wisps once again! Knuckles stood firm, pointing his Chaos Claws at the illusion. "We've got you outnumbered now, Eddie!" he shouted. Shade clenched her fists in the Chaos Gauntlets as well, and Violet's hands glowed with dark energy. They heard Corky croak behind the illusion. "I ain't keen on dyin' again. See ya around, blokes and lasses!" he said before hopping off. As the illusion faded, they heard Eddie's laugh echoing through the caves. "...I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of them." Violet frowned. Knuckles nodded. "Let's hurry and find the Chaos Emerald before we do..." he said.


Back at the entrance, Rotor and Dulcy had finally gotten the cave back open. "Whew... I'll say it again, I wish the Wisps had settled somewhere a bit more safe..." Rotor sighed. Dulcy yawned. "Well, maybe now I can get back to my nap..." she murmured. "Hold on, somebody's coming..." Rotor said, noticing a figure in a black robe approaching. It was a grey wolf with red highlights in his fur, along with red eyes. Rotor clutched a wrench threateningly. "Hey, you... You're not with the guys who blew open my mine's roof, are you?" he asked. The wolf raised a hand to call for peace. "My name is Howler. You could say I am following those ruffians. Allow me through, and I will take them from this place for you." he said in a calm voice. Dulcy looked at him sleepily. "Well, I know I'm not going into the cave after them... It's up to you, Rotor." she yawned. The walrus' eyes narrowed, but he had no particular reason to feel one way or another about the visitor. "Be careful in there. And try not to frighten the Wisps inside..." he said. Howler bowed politely. "Good fortune to you, fellow animal. I'll be on my way..." he said. As the wolf stepped into the mine's entrance, he lifted his red-streaked hood over his face, his red eyes glowing in the dark. He also adjusted his robe to allow his twin, red-tipped tails to pop out of the bottom. Beneath his hood, the Darkseeker smirked widely. "Wisps? Aliens from outside our world? How disgusting. Are you protecting them, O Guardian of All?" he whispered in a sinister tone, walking down the path Knuckles had gone not so long ago, "But more importantly, the Chaos Emerald... Let's see which of us will claim this treasure today. And if you have any Chaos Relics with you, so much the better..." he said, a low, sinister laugh escaping him as Howler the wolf went once more on the prowl...

To be continued...