Sonic GeneX: Doomsday
Chapter 20 - Rumble with the Deadly Six
Stage 11 - Gaia Remnants

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


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


Previously on GeneX…
As Sonic rescued Skye Prower from the Troblusk City Clock Tower, Apocalos revealed that the tower was rigged to explode! Sonic was barely able to get Skye out safely as the building went up in flames...but what happened to the others that stormed the tower with him?!
Shadow and Kosmo passed through Casino Park on their way to the Gaia Remnants to look into the mysterious power that Professor Pickle suggested might be there. They fought Eggman's robots along the way, and met up with Ozzie the morph, who was searching for Nova the morph. Nova found them, and after a battle, Ozzie followed after the escaping Nova.
Worried about their friends, Carrie left Shadow and Kosmo behind to check on things back home.
Now, our tale continues...


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

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


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

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

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


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


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


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


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

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

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

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

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

To be continued...