Sonic GeneX: Doomsday
Chapter 26 - Rumble in the Jungle
Stage 14 - Giant Jungle

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


"Never, never give up! Never give up the fight!
Never, never give up! Never give up the fight!
No matter how tough it gets for us,
I know we can make it through.
Long as we keep standing tall, working together, oh!" - Never Give Up, Sonic Underground


Previously on GeneX…
Shadow and Kosmo fought the Deadly Six and the forces of the Lost Ones to prevent the Gaia Wellspring from being tainted. Though it took sacrificing Tikal, they succeeded, and now have to make the journey back to regroup with their friends.
After the destruction of the Troblusk City Clock Tower, Knuckles has been nowhere to be seen. Did he get out of the exploding tower intact? Time to find out...
Now, our tale continues...


It wasn't too long after the destruction of the Troblusk City Clock Tower. Burning rubble buried a section of the city, and Lost Ones had swarmed into the streets. Eventually, some of that rubble started to stir. Bright light slashed through the cement pieces, and they crumbled! A hand adorned with gold claws reached out of the hole, and Knuckles pulled himself up. "Finally these Chaos Claws prove useful for something!" he grunted as he pulled himself out from under the debris. Looking around, his companions were nowhere in sight. "I know Violet warped out... So where did she go? And is Shade with her..." he murmured, concern in his eyes. This was the second time today that their collective group had been trapped in a collapsing tower. He came on this mission to protect everyone, but it didn't feel like he was doing a good job. Shrugging away those thoughts, Knuckles headed away from the wreck and into the city. There was no use sticking around there. "Hey, Violet! Shade!!" he called, looking around as he searched the ghost town of a city. Though there was no sign of them, he did hear some sounds close by. And they sounded in distress. "Hang on, I'm coming..." he grunted, rushing towards the voices. As he rounded a corner, he stopped suddenly as Ray the Flying Squirrel whooshed past his head through the air! "Bad bugs, bad bugs!! Oh, hey, Knuckles!" he said hastily. Down the street, Mighty the Armadillo was surrounded by lospides. "How did we end up back in this cursed city anyway??" he grunted, leaping into the air and curling into a ball before dropping down forcefully! The earth shook around him, and the arachnid Lost Ones back up a bit...but otherwise they didn't seem bothered. "Hang on, Mighty! I got your back!" Knuckles shouted.

Knuckles leapt into action, using the Chaos Claws to rip those spiders limb from limb from limb. Mighty found an opening to join Ray, and they watched as the creatures melted into inactive slime after taking a good hit from those golden claws. At around that time, Violet warped into the area. "Aha! Found you, Knuckles!" she smiled, zapping a lospide with a jolt of black lighting before it could leap on the red echidna's back! "You missed one!" she smirked. Knuckles turned and gave the stunned monster a finishing slash. "Where's Shade? She did get out, didn't she!?" he grunted. "Yeah, she's looking for other survivors." Violet explained. Mighty and Ray glanced at one another in puzzlement. "Hey, what's going on in this crazy city, anyway? And who's your new girlfriend, Knuckles?" Ray asked. "Watch it..." Violet growled. Knuckles wasn't really sure how to explain everything to Ray. "Long story short, the world's been invaded by soul-eating monsters. And they're doing an alarmingly good job." he told his old friends. Ray looked nervous. "Aaah! They were gonna eat our souls!?" he stammered. Violet turned to Knuckles with a serious expression. "I think we should get back to looking for the Chaos Emeralds. Not only do we have these creatures, but Howler, Infinite, Eggman and maybe more..." she pointed out. When she put it that way, things did sound especially dire. Knuckles growled softly. "We only have one emerald so far! Where do we even look?" he questioned. Mighty scratched his head. "Well...hmm... I may not hang out with him as much as you, but doesn't Tails say the Chaos Emeralds are like magnets? If you have one, can't you use it somehow?" he asked. Everyone folded their arms and tilted their heads, thinking it over. After a moment, Violet snapped her fingers. "I know a place we can go! C'mon. Better than hangin' out here where the creatures can find us again!" she said, motioning for the others to follow. "W-wait for me!" Ray stammered.

Violet led them to a shady-looking building. Even in the condition the city was in, this building looked suspicious. She knocked on the door three times, and an eye slot opened. "Hee hee! Prove you're not a monster!" a familiar voice giggled. "The password is strawberries." Violet stated. Knuckles, Mighty and Ray exchanged awkward glances, but the door opened, and they were welcomed inside by the crazed giggles of Patch the fox! "Vy! Welcome to the new resistance! Hee hee!" he laughed. Violet hi-fived him on the way in, and smiled to see Daisy close by as well. "Vy! Glad to see you're alive! ...Hey there, Knucklehead." she murmured. "My name's Knuckles, you Despair rejects! Why are we here??" he grunted. This run-down building looked like something the gargoyle mob would operate out of. Except for some electronic sounds in the next room. "Hey, are those video games?" Ray asked, scurrying ahead to check it out. They found Mitch the Weasel in the next room, fiddling with an old ham radio. There were also video games that someone left on, and quite a bit on contraband tech lying around. "Hey, 'Infin!' Need to ask a favor!" Violet announced. Mitch growled at her. "You mugs still owe me fer the last favor I did ya! My robo-foot still aches every time it rains!" he complained. Knuckles grabbed him by the collar of his fancy suit. "How about you listen or I rearrange your face!?" he warned. "Be nice to my friends, Knuckles..." Violet sighed, "Can you use a Chaos Emerald to locate the other emeralds?" she asked. Mitch grunted as Knuckles released him. "I can do anything I feels like..." Knuckles glared at him. "Know what? I feels like it..." he babbled nervously. Patch jumped up and down excitedly. "Field trip! Hee hee! Can we come with ya, Vy?" he asked. Knuckles frowned. "I can't babysit these goons..." he complained. Daisy smirked at him. "If we come along, you can borrow my car for the search!" she offered. Mighty looked around. "Her car? She steal it?" he questioned. Groaning, Knuckles knew he had to accept this. "Alright. I'll let you guys show me why Violet trusts you..." he murmured. Patch grabbed Ray's hand and started jumping up and down with him. "Field trip! Field trip!" they cheered playfully.

Fast forward through some quick technical work...

With a tracker built by Mitch with the Chaos Emerald inserted, the group piled into Daisy's green convertible and followed the signal. They were soon led to the Mystic Ruins, which were looking much worse off now that the Lost Ones had spread further. "The plants are wilting... What are those creatures doing to nature?" Mighty gasped. "Why did I go along on dis crazy treasure hunt?" Mitch murmured. The car continued, driving past the Mystic Ruins and moving deeper into the woods, arriving at the Giant Jungle. This jungle, once home to massive trees, now had very few of those trees standing. One of them held Eggman's old tree fort, but most of the trees were just stumps now. And those stumps were rotting in a more disturbing manner due to the Lost Ones' corruption. "Everybody out! These roads are getting too offroad for a convertible!" Daisy announced. As everyone climbed out of the car, Mitch smacked the tracker that they'd been following. "We got interference. Well, you mugs get what ya pay fer." he grumbled. Knuckles smiled. "Close enough. I sense the emeralds are in this jungle somewhere... I'll find 'em!" he said. Ray had caught a gust and flew up to the top of a high stump, landing there to scope out the surrounding area. "These stumps are like buildings! Ha! ...Aaah!!" he yelled in alarm, pointing at a sight he could see deeper in the jungle. "G-guys!! Can you see this?!" Violet warped up to him, and Knuckles quickly climbed up as well. "What's the shouting for?" he asked. Violet pointed. "Disturbing..." she said softly. There was a river that cut through the jungle, once a source of natural beauty. Knuckles grit his teeth as he saw it now. It was a river of slime. Ectoplasmic slime... A river of Lost Ones!


Inside Eggman's old tree fort, the Deadly Six were ransacking the place. "RRRAAAAHH!! All this doc's tech and not a single idea that can help us! I just wanna knock the building DOWN!!" Zazz shouted in frustration. Master Zik watched his tantrum with a calm expression. "You're foolish to expect the Lost Ones to send us anywhere that we might find the means to escape their control." he pointed out. Zomom pointed at Zazz and laughed. "Haha! You're foolish! You're actually no better than me!" he taunted. Zazz leapt on his head and started stomping. "WHO YOU CALLIN FOOLISH, FATTY!?" he screamed, waking Zor from a bit of a snooze. "Ah, man. I had the worst dream. We all died. It was cathartic." he grumbled. Zeena simply sat on a throne big enough for Eggman, filing her nails. "I hate this jungle. Bugs, mud, dead trees...ugh." she groaned. Zavok stepped next to her and growled softly. "I don't care about all your issues! Kosmo may very well pass through here on the way back home. A perfect opportunity to pay him back for humiliating us...Shadow too." he stated. Zomom threw Zazz off his head and waved to Zavok. "Buh-but boss... ain't we here to find those gemstones? Mmm, wonder if they taste good..." he murmured. "It's the Chaos Emeralds, and they're not for eating!" Zik told him. Zavok's eyes narrowed. "Oh, we'll get those emeralds... They may well prove to be the key to our salvation... They happen to be a weakness of the Lost Ones!" he said with a smirk. While the Zeti were busy discussing their plans, a certain someone was hanging stealthily from the ceiling, listening in on every word. The bat girl smirked widely as they failed to notice her. That spy training still came in handy for Rouge even in times like these...


Knuckles and Violet's groups had split up to search for the Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles had pointed Violet in a direction that he had a strong feeling about, while he'd see if he could find any additional emeralds; it wasn't too uncommon to find two or three close by. So, Violet, Patch, Daisy and Mitch headed on their way through the forest, the weasel busy trying to get his tracker working again as they went. "Dangit! I coulda been safe and sound in a bunker somewheres but here I am trailing a river of monster goop." he complained. "Well, I mean, we lived in a castle with monsters in the basement..." Daisy muttered. Patch took out his trademark nunchucks and popped the blades out of the handles. "Hee hee! I wanna get a good look around! I'll be up that huge stump!" he snickered, stabbing his nunchuck blades into the side of a huge stump and using it to climb! It was working, too. "He may be crazed, but he does have something going on in that brain..." Violet observed, "...I'll meet him up there!" she said, warping to the top of the stump. She gasped upon arrival. "'Sup, Vy? Do I gotta climb up there, too?" Daisy shouted up. "No need, I'll drop some down!" Violet yelled back. The sound of a scuffle was heard above, and then some of Eggman's old chameleon robots fell down from the stump and crashed to pieces around Daisy and Mitch! "Hey! Watchit!! I'm workin' here!!" Mitch shouted. Daisy looked at the broken robots and sighed, but then gasped as they stirred, slime pulling their parts back together! Daisy drew her katana and started attacking the possessed robots! "Hee hee! Wait for me!!" Patch yelled, leaping from the stump and landing beside Daisy to join the fighting! Violet warped back down next to Mitch holding the yellow Chaos Emerald. "Guess what, the enemy's after them... Hold this, Mitch!" she said, handing him the emerald as she rushed to help her friends against the possessed bots. "I didn't sign up for zombie robots!" Mitch groaned.


Mighty and Ray had joined Knuckles in his search. They were headed closer to Eggman's old tree fort. "Wouldn't be surprised if there's an emerald stashed in that building up there." Knuckles had stated. The jungle seemed unsettlingly quiet as they walked, so Ray started to hum softly to keep things upbeat. Before they could get close to the huge tree with the fort on it, though, a small creature leapt out of the bushes and ambushed them! "I HAVE FOUND PEOPLE!!" it screamed. Knuckles and Mighty quickly reacted by punching the creature at the same time on instinct, causing him to go flying backward into the tree! Ray gasped. "I think that was a Chao!!" he whimpered. However, as the creature climbed to his feet, they could see it was a small Zeti. "Curse you!! Why hit ZIM!?" the Zeti shouted. Mighty looked a bit apologetic and rubbed his head. "Well, I mean, you leapt out of nowhere at us..." he murmured. Zim sniffled and looked at them with excessively sad eyes. "I only wanted to ask for help from kind strangers... Zim's hero, Zavok is being held hostage by EVIL creatures using a FIENDISH conch to control him!" he explained. Knuckles looked at the Zeti and rubbed his chin. "Hmm... That story sounds familiar... But before I think about helping you, I gotta ask if you've seen any Chaos Emeralds around." he stated. Zim's eyes widened and he waved his arms excitedly. "Oh! Yes! I've seen a Chaos Emerald! LOADS of emeralds! Help Zim out and you will be richly rewarded!!" he babbled. "Really!?" Ray asked, smiling widely. Knuckles and Mighty glanced at each other with frowns, not buying it. Their discussion was interrupted by a female voice. "If it isn't little Zim... Having a chat with the enemy. Has our time apart turned you into a traitor?" Zeena leapt down from branches above, landing in front of Zim! "Never liked you anyway, twerp!" she snapped.

A wooden staff planted itself into the dirt next to Zeena, and Zik landed atop the handle before hopping to the ground and pulling the staff up. "Ah, Zavok's self-appointed apprentice... What are you doing here?" he grumbled, looking at Zim. "Ignore him and help me out, old man!" Zeena shouted as she was attempting to slash Knuckles, Mighty and Ray with her sharp nails. Zik glanced their way with a grumble. "I doubt these children are even worth my time..." he complained, hopping over and striking Mighty in the back with his staff! Fortunately, his shell absorbed most of the impact, but it had gotten his attention. "I don't even know who you guys are, but if you wanna start something, I'll finish it!" he growled, grabbing at the staff as Zik gave it another swing! As they started to grapple and Zeena chased Knuckles and Ray around, Zim watched in bewilderment. "But...wait... Why are we fighting?! We share the same enemy, you FOOLS!! I was trying to enlist their help to get rid of that conch! Why does no one listen to ZIM!!" he yelled. The small Zeti then jumped out of the way as Ray was tossed in his direction. "Ooof!! These guys are s-strong!" the flying squirrel groaned, resting on his back for a moment. Zik saw that he was vulnerable and got a glint in his eye, leaping up and hurling his staff forcefully towards Ray! Mighty leapt in the path of the staff and took a hard blow to his soft belly. "Unghhh!! Y-you okay, Ray?" he grunted. Ray sat up and looked at his friend with concern while Zik laughed, retrieving his staff. "Strategy over sentiment is paramount in battle. I knew I would either eliminate the boy or strike a blow on you!" he sneered. This also left Knuckles alone with Zeena. "Kid was cramping my style anyway... Let's fight claw on claw!" Knuckles smirked, slipping on the Chaos Claws!

"Knuckles! Guys, we're coming!!" called Violet, racing toward the scene of the action with Violet and Daisy in tow, and Mitch trailing further behind. Zim raised his arms to block them. "No you don't! None of you will get past Zim!!" he warned, only for Violet to vanish into a burst of darkness and appear right behind him! "CRUD!!" Zim cried, charging at Patch and Daisy as they drew their weapons. "Hee hee! Aww, he's little!" Patch teased. Zim growled and leapt between them, hopping out of the way of their attacks and causing Patch's nunchucks to tangle on Daisy's katana! "Paaatch!!" she groaned, tugging at her blade. Zim then dropped to the ground, radiating dark energy. "I can harness the dark powers, too! Tremble before me!!" he sneered, leaping back at them and headbutting each one with the power of darkness backing him! While they were knocked over, Violet joined Mighty and Ray in facing Zik. "Ganging up on an old man... You all must be quite weak!" he taunted. "You're not a man, you're some kinda monster!" Ray murmured. Zik snarled at him and leapt into the fray, seeming to control his staff as he tossed it through the air to smack the three of them! All the while, Knuckles and Zeena were parrying blows with their claws. The green Zeti looked rather furious, jumped back and examining her nails. "Look what you're doing to my art! Aaaagh, I'll kill you!!" she shouted, throwing a bit of a tantrum. Knuckles thought about how she was acting. "Kinda vain, aren't you?" he said, making Zeena a bit angrier. "You just can't appreciate true beauty!!" she spat. The echidna smirked. "I can sure ruin it, though..." he said, quickly digging his claws into the dirt and flinging it at the shocked Zeti, covering her in dust and soil! Fire burned in her eyes. "How...DARE you!!!" she roared, rushing at him in a blind rage! Knuckles leapt out of the way and swiped his claws at her back, making her howl in pain! Hearing this, Zik leapt away from the trio he was fighting and landed beside Zeena. "Perhaps it's best to regroup with the others for now..." he told her. Zeena snarled, rubbing her back. "Owww... You better hope I don't see you again!" she groaned, fleeing the scene with Zik. Sighing and turning to the others, Knuckles saw Zim standing atop the exhausted pair of Patch and Daisy. "I don't suppose we can talk things over now?" the small Zeti asked.


Meanwhile, Shadow and Kosmo had reached the jungle. Starr and Ozzie had parted ways with them for now, planning to check in with the group Starr had arrived from the future with. The situation in the jungle was worse than they'd feared. "Just look at that river..." Kosmo observed. Shadow was silent. He'd seen a lot of darkness in his time, but this might have been the worst crisis to date. Mechanical footsteps caught his attention, and he turned to see Omega coming, with Rouge flying overhead. "Shadow! Your report is overdue!" the robot stated. Shadow nodded. "There's a lot to catch up on. How are you holding up?" he asked. Rouge landed and gave him a slight smile. "You're definitely a sight for sore eyes, Shadow. We're in this area hunting the Chaos Emeralds at GUN's request. I checked Eggman's base, but...the Deadly Six were there. It seems they're working for the enemy." she told him. Shadow recalled what Professor Pickle had said about the Scepter of Darkness, and realized that a certain conch was probably no longer where he'd left it, either. "I don't think they're doing it by choice...not that it matters right now. Let's track down those emeralds..." he said, eager to bring the fight back to the Lost Ones.

To be continued...