Sonic GeneX: Doomsday
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


Previously on GeneX…
Sonic, Punchy, Copter, Tails, Team GeneX and others converged on the Troblusk City clock tower, where the Lost Ones had created a slime-encased base, hoping to rescue Skye Prower as well as reclaim the green Chaos Emerald and the Chaos Relics in the Lost Ones' possession.
The two Doomsayers appeared at the tower, along with the Darkseeker (Howler), and the Deathbringer (now Losipher). They told Sonic how foolish this attack was, but our heroes wouldn't be deterred.
As Tails, Fera and Cream broke into the tower, they encountered Eggman's robots. Tails also detected an energy signal that might be something they were looking for...
Copter, Gemini, Chopper and Vector encountered Mephiles as they climbed the tower. He still held the Chaos Emerald. He left the heroes to battle his Mephiles Biters.
Sonic wanted to proceed alone, hoping to end this before any of his friends could get hurt. Lospecter summoned in zombified Lost Ones including Corky and Cuthburt, and Sonic sped ahead while Punchy, Heather, Juice, Amy and Razor dealt with them.
Punchy's group caught up with Sonic in an office where Ophiuchus had forged his wand. The snake hypnotized Razor to secure his exit, leaving Sonic with some words suggesting that this was a trap.
Conan snuck into Shadow Arcangel while it was under attack from Dark Kosmo. He was shocked to find his deceased love, Emily, alive and with no memory of him. Conan refused to believe she was real, and turned his sword on her as Sonata and Bolt watched in fright!
Now, our tale continues...


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 he might have found a Chaos Emerald..." 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 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 Cream backed to 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, and Tails dropped to the floor, punching the ground in defeat. "SPOT... No..." he sniffled. 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 was quiet for a bit as the trio took a moment to mourn their loss, 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...?

To be continued...