Sonic GeneX Chronicles
The Twilight Cage
Chapter 1 - Mysterious Marauders

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
This story is based on the video game: Sonic Chronicles - The Dark Brotherhood.
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


The universe is a vast place. It stretches further than the furthest reaches of the imagination. Still, a single universe doesn't even scratch the surface of what's out there. Hidden in each universe is an entrance to countless other universes, dimensions, and realities. Some are nearly indistinguishable from others. Some have only slight variations from others. Still others are drastically different. Among the many alternate realities are a group inhabited by intelligent animals. A common factor in many of these dimensions is a powerful force of good, an incredibly fast blue blur known in all such realities as Sonic the Hedgehog!

In the dimension of GeneX Prime, the world has long been threatened by Dr. Ivo Robotnik, AKA Dr. Eggman. His diabolical schemes for world domination might actually succeed if not for the intervention of Sonic the Hedgehog. Some time before this tale begins, Dr. Eggman attempted once more to conquer the world. However, with the help of the military organization known as the Guardian Unit of Nations (GUN), Sonic and friends defeated the mad scientist once more, destroying his new Egg Carrier warship. While Sonic and his friends escaped, Dr. Eggman was never found. He has been presumed dead for some time now...

Chapter 1, Act 1: Foes New and Old  (Dark Brotherhood: Hostile Reception)

Punchy the Echidna was in an unusually good mood. For once, he had managed to outwit the very echidna he was cloned from, Knuckles. He hadn't achieved his ultimate goal of taking the Master Emerald, but he and Rainbow had managed to do the next best thing. They'd stolen the green Chaos Emerald, without Knuckles even noticing them! Punchy admired his prize, which was sitting on a table in Rainbow's underground, temple-esque house. "I knew we'd get past ol' Red eventually... He's slippin' lately. After all, I'd heard he was guarding ALL of the Chaos Emeralds, but there were only a couple left." Punchy said. Rainbow picked up the Chaos Emerald and compared it to Punchy. "Neat, it's as green as you are, One! But it's much prettier... No offense!" she grinned. As she placed the emerald back on the table, a loud banging was suddenly heard at the door! "Eeek! I think we made Knucklehead mad and he followed us here!" Rainbow shouted. Punchy clenched his fists in preparation for a fight. "If he knows what's good for him, he'll turn back now!" he growled. Suddenly, the door was flung open! "Strange... It was unlocked!" said a feminine voice at the doorway. "Huh? Who's that?" Rainbow said curiously. Three figures wearing black armor and odd helmets entered the room. They looked like aliens, and with that armor, Punchy figured they weren't there to talk. "All right, punks! What do you want here!?" he said impatiently. The female in the trio glanced at Punchy and Rainbow, then gasped as though shocked. "Echidnas? I was told that red echidna was the only one left!" she said. Rainbow scratched her head. "Gee, who told you that?" she said. The female intruder looked thoughtful for a moment, then removed her helmet, revealing that she was an orange echidna! She wore a black headband with a strange symbol on it, and had light purple eyes. "I am Shade of the Nocturnus Tribe. We have need of the Chaos Emeralds, and I request that you turn over the emerald you have peacefully. You do not look like warriors, so I would be very sorry if we had to harm you..." she said, wasting no time getting to the point. Rainbow looked worried. "Well... Gee, Shad--" Punchy covered Rainbow's mouth. "I know you called Shadow Shade, but FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD, don't call her Shadow!" he shouted. After he let her go, Rainbow sighed sheepishly before continuing. "Um... Nocturna... Why do you want the gem?" she asked. Shade put her helmet back on. "I cannot say. Simply hand it over, and we'll leave peacefully." she insisted. Punchy stepped between Rainbow and Shade. "Sounds to me like you're threatening us... And I don't take kindly to threats!" he warned. Shade sighed regretfully, then motioned to her underlings. "Procure the emerald. I will remove this obstacle from our path!" Punchy, realizing that using Chaos Avalanche here would cause damage to Rainbow's home, simply threw a punch at Shade, which she easily avoided! Shade's underlings ran past them and reached for the Chaos Emerald, but Rainbow got in their way. "I'm going to have to ask you guys to leave!" she yelled. One of the Nocturnus pushed her aside while the other grabbed the emerald. "How rude! You're really bad house guests!" she shouted. Meanwhile, Punchy was preoccupied fighting with Shade. She was tough, but Punchy was holding his own fairly well. Unfortunately, the other Nocturnus were not going to settle for a fair fight. The one that wasn't holding the emerald attacked Punchy from behind, knocking him over! Rainbow attempted to attack them herself, but the other Nocturnus knocked her down! "We should terminate them to prevent them from getting in our way again!" one of the Nocturnus suggested. Shade shook her head. "We take them prisoner. There's no need for senseless violence." she said. "You'll be taking them nowhere!" came a voice from the doorway! As the three Nocturnus glanced towards the doorway, a flurry of Wrongos flew into the room, surrounding and attacking them together! "Ahh!! What is this? Procurator Shade, orders!" Shade's lackey shouted. "We have what we came for! Retreat!" She ordered. The three Nocturnus pressed a button on their belts, and vanished in a flash of light! "Well done, Wrongos! Begone." said the voice in the doorway, prompting the Wrongos to vanish as well. Punchy and Rainbow climbed to their feet and ran to greet their rescuer. "Great timing, Illusi!" Punchy said to the shrew waiting in the doorway.


Meanwhile, at the GUN headquarters in Central City, Richard Gunner was busy filling out paperwork at his desk. With Dr. Eggman gone, things had been quiet for some time, so Gunner found himself mired in the more boring parts of his job. As he put down his pen and took a sip from his coffee mug, the phone on his desk began to ring. "A call? This better not be Spy calling about that raise he wants again!" he grumbled as he answered the phone. "Gunner here." The voice that responded was that of the GUN Commander. "Hello, Richard. Your agents aren't all busy are they?" he asked. "They can never be too busy for you, sir. What are your orders?" Gunner replied. "We've received reports of strange activity in the vicinity of Green Hill Zone. Of course, this isn't news; there's been a lot of strange occurrences there lately. Unfortunately, most of GUN's resources are tied up dealing with the mysterious Marauders that stole the Chaos Emeralds and captured Knuckles." the Commander said. Gunner tightened his grip on his coffee mug at the mention of Knuckles. "Perhaps we're better off without that animal..." he muttered. "Not likely. We'll need all the help we can get dealing with the Marauders. However, we recently received reports of a different nature. Our reports seem to indicate morph activity somewhere in Green Hill Zone. Experiment 3 may be on the move! Since we cannot ignore this possible threat, even with the Marauders, I'm requesting that you investigate this matter. I await your findings!" Once the Commander had finished speaking, Gunner accepted the mission and hung up the phone. He then walked to the door of his office and opened it to find a GUN agent with sunglasses standing behind the door. He had apparently been eavesdropping, but Gunner ignored this fact. "Agent 16... Good timing. Find Guard and send him to Green Hill Zone to search for Experiment 3, the morph! Capture him, if possible! It's about time that freak showed himself, and I don't want to let him get away again!" As Gunner re-entered his office and slammed the door behind him, Agent 16 looked a bit startled. He started running down the halls of the base, but he wasn't searching for Guard. "A morph? That's impossible!" he muttered. Suddenly, he tripped, and his sunglasses fell off, revealing the glowing yellow eyes of a morph! "Darn human feet..." he muttered in his real voice. Agent 16 was actually Kosmo! "It seems my attempt to get back at those humans who are hunting me has yielded an interesting mystery. Perhaps I will check this out myself..." he said, transforming into Guard. "I just better try not to run into the real Guard. Uh... Grrrrr!"


After some talk, Illusi had led Punchy and Rainbow on a trip to Central City. On the way, he told them what he knew of the Nocturnus "marauders." "They appeared a short while ago. Knuckles had been guarding the Chaos Emeralds as well as the Master Emerald, and the marauders began stealing the Chaos Emeralds. Recently, Knuckles and Tails set a trap for the marauders, but their advanced technology took out the trap easily, and they captured Knuckles." he explained as they neared Tails' new Central City workshop. Punchy frowned at the news. "They captured Knuckles? What did that jerk Tails do about it? Nothing!?" he wondered angrily. Rainbow shook her head. "No way! I'm sure he did everything he could! He's like Two!" she reasoned. Illusi pointed to Tails' Workshop. "He called in help. Look there." The door to the workshop opened, and Tails stepped out with Sonic and Amy in tow. Rainbow's eyes lit up. "Ah, Speedy! He's back! That's good. He'll fix those nocturnal marsupials!" she said. "Nocturnus marauders!" Punchy corrected. Suddenly, an older model of Eggman's robots stomped towards Tails' workshop! It resembled a futuristic suit of metal armor, and was called a Swat Bot. Punchy, Rainbow, and Illusi all looked shocked to see it. "Eggman's robot!?" Punchy gasped. Rainbow looked confused. "Didn't they wreck Tubby's base? I thought he was gone!" The Swat Bot, accompanied by two small sentry drones, quickly began attacking Sonic and his friends, but the three of them quickly took out the out of date robots. "Hmmm... Not some of Eggman's best work... Do you think he could really be back, Illusi?" Punchy wondered. Illusi crossed his arms and glared at the busted robots. "It certainly is suspicious, at any rate." he said. Rainbow jumped excitedly as an idea came to her. "I know! Let's find Two! Maybe he knows something!" she suggested. Punchy nodded. "Yeah, he has that plane Eggman gave him. Maybe it has some technology in it we could use to look for Eggman!" As Sonic, Tails, and Amy finished talking among themselves and left to act on what they'd decided, Illusi started walking away from Punchy and Rainbow. "I suppose you should start by searching this city. I'll try to find some info on these strange happenings myself. Good luck!" he said before disappearing in a puff of smoke. "How does he do that? Oh, well. Let's go, Rainbow!" Punchy said before noticing that she'd already took off. "What are you waiting for, One? Follow me!" she shouted. Punchy looked around in the direction of Rainbow's voice. "Hey!! Wait, I didn't see which way you went!"

Once the area was clear, a blue and green robot hovered down from the sky above the broken Swat Bot. It was E-2X Alpha! Char the Chao flew down beside him and glanced at the wrecked robots. "Sonic always leaves litter everywhere he goes! Isn't that illegal?" Char chuckled. Alpha's head spun around once before stopping and focusing on Char. "Maybe we should call the coppers on him! Then maybe they'll invite us in for cocoa!" he said, still as kooky as ever. Char ignored his remark and pointed at the Swat Bot. "Analyze these parts, Alphie. Tell me what you can find out." he said. Alpha scanned the parts for a moment. "Those toys are older than me! How come I never got to play with them, but someone else did?" Alpha asked like a child who felt he was being treated unfairly. Char looked confused. "Someone else... What? What do you mean?" he asked. Alpha stomped on the floor like he was angry. "Dr. Eggplant never lets anyone else play with his toys! It must've been stolen! No cookies for them!" he shouted. Char understood what Alpha meant now. "Eggman wasn't controlling this robot... It was someone else. Aw, I thought maybe Eggman was still alive after all... How dare someone give me false hope! C'mon, Alphie! I say we find 'em and show them what Eggman would do about this if he was still around!" he said angrily. Alpha jumped excitedly. "Yay, payback! How much do we owe them? Wait, Eggplant robots detected! I say they're that way!" the robot said, flying off. "Cool! Let's go get 'em, Alphie!" Char grinned, following him.


Upon his arrival at Green Hill Zone, Kosmo took a moment to survey his surroundings. "Green hills and fresh air. At least they picked a nice spot to think they're seeing morphs. Unless it's true. Could it be that I'm not the only one?" he thought as he began to explore the area, still disguised as Guard. Though the area seemed peaceful at first, Kosmo soon noticed something strange. The animals in the area seemed aggravated by something. "What's you critters' problems? It too hot around here for you?" he wondered. Though the wildlife looked dangerous, Kosmo did his best to ignore them. However, he soon crossed paths with a trio of enraged armadillos! Without any provocation, the armadillos jumped towards Kosmo, attempting to bite him! Kosmo quickly jumped into the air, hovering just high enough for the animals to miss him. Then, he dropped to the ground and kicked at the angry animals. "Try to bite me, will ya!? I oughta..." Suddenly, one of the armadillos jumped at him again and bit his finger! "Yeow!! Why you.... Take this!" He violently flapped his gargoyle wings, kicking up a mighty breeze which blew dust from the ground at the armadillos, impairing their vision! Next, Kosmo ran towards them, ready to attack! The armadillos, however, were startled by the dust, and decided to cut their losses and run away! "Yeah, you better run, pests!" he yelled. As the armadillos retreated, Kosmo heard someone lightly clapping behind him. Turning around, Kosmo spotted someone mockingly applauding him from a nearby ledge! It was a furry, blue creature, with a long, thin tail and glowing yellow eyes. A morph! The morph had loose hairs on his head, like Kosmo, but his were brushed to the sides. "Bravo. Small woodland creatures flee in terror before you! Well done, fellow morph!" he chuckled. Kosmo flew up to the ledge the morph was standing on, which was at the edge of a waterfall. The blue morph backed away slightly. "So, do I know you?" he asked. Kosmo transformed into his normal, purple form. "No, no one knows me. I'm Experiment 3, Kosmo the morph. And I thought..." Before Kosmo could finish, the blue morph interrupted. "You thought you were the only one of your kind? Sorry to disappoint you. Not a great master of disguise though, are you? Revealed our existence to the world, I bet. Great. Way to mess up. I didn't think a morph could be so pathetic! Well, I guess I'll tell you that my name is Nova. And on that note... Farewell!" Nova began glowing as though he was about to transform, then melted into a puddle of water! His aquatic form slithered into the river and escaped down the waterfall before Kosmo could do anything. "Water!? He can become liquid!? Impossible... And, what was he doing here? Blast it! I have to catch him!" Kosmo growled before transforming into his purple gargoyle form and flying away...

Chapter 1, Act 2: Return to the Mystic Ruins  (Dark Brotherhood: The Search For Knuckles)

Punchy and Rainbow had begun searching for Copter in Central City, though Punchy knew full well that it was unlikely that Copter would be hanging out in the same city as GUN's headquarters. After all, the experiments were still fugitives. Punchy himself was rather uneasy being there, but the few GUN soldiers patrolling the city seemed to not recognize him, so they explored the city unhindered. Soon, they found a familiar face near a shop in the city. It was that strange, blue-haired man wearing an alligator suit, Gator. Rainbow ran up to him excitedly. "Hey, Bluehair! Long time, no see!" Gator's face lit up as he saw his old friends. "Hi, shipmates! Have either of you seen Gator's horse? I think I left him near this place... But maybe I left him in Soleanna..." he said unsurely. Punchy shook his head. "I didn't even know you had a horse. Anyway, we really can't deal with your silliness now. We've gotta find Copter!" he said, starting to walk away. Gator teleported in front of him. "Copter? I know where he is, Chomper! We were traveling together, but we split up when we got close to this city..." he said hurriedly. Rainbow smiled at this news. "Cool! Lead the way, Bluehair!" she said. "Are you sure you know where he is if you split up..." Punchy said skeptically. Gator nodded quickly. "I left him in the Mystic Ruins. He's gotta still be there! Where else would he go? Somewhere? Come on! Maybe we'll spot my horse along the way..." Punchy reluctantly followed Gator to the road that would lead from Central City to the Mystic Ruins, but soon found their path blocked! GUN soldiers had set up a blockade, preventing anyone from entering the Mystic Ruins! "Hey! Let us through! We gotta go to the jungle!" Gator demanded. Spy, who was among the GUN agents at the blockade, walked over and pointed back into Central City. "The Mystic Ruins are being guarded due to the disappearance of the Master Emerald guardian. Turn around or I'll turn you over to Gunner!" he threatened. Punchy raised his fists. "Make us, GUN stooge!" he growled. The GUN soldiers at the blockade pointed their guns at them. Suddenly, a voice was heard overhead! "Grrrr.... Put the guns down! I'll handle this!" Guard dropped down from the sky and pointed his scythe at Punchy. "Aaaah!! A sharp thingy! That's much worse than guns! Run!!!" Gator shouted before speeding away! Punchy smacked himself in the forehead in frustration. "Great. We needed Gator. He knew where we were going..." he groaned. Guard remained motionless. "I suggest you go after him. Grrrr... I wouldn't let you leave normally, but I have a more important mission. Grrrr..." Rainbow looked from Guard to the GUN soldiers, and then started running after Gator. "I say we don't waste Six's generosity! Follow me, One!" she said. Realizing she was right, Punchy turned to follow her. "We'll have to find another way into the Mystic Ruins..." he thought.


Kosmo searched Green Hill Zone thoroughly, but found no sign of Nova. As he walked towards the center of the zone, wondering what to do, he spotted Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Rouge entering a room that he himself had searched earlier. It was one of Eggman's old hideouts. "Hmmm... Maybe Nova spotted Sonic and decided to leave to avoid being spotted. He did seem a little... secretive." he said to himself. Realizing that it was pointless to stay, he started heading back towards Central City. "I guess I can get back to my spying and sabotage. It's kinda fun making those chump GUN agents look bad!" Kosmo thought as he snuck past some of the raging wildlife and headed towards the path to Central City. As the exit came into sight, however, Kosmo spotted Guard entering Green Hill Zone! Thinking fast, Kosmo transformed into an armadillo and quietly waited for Guard to pass him. "Drat! That gargoyle got his mission. GUN might suspect something, since I didn't give him the mission like I was supposed to. Might be tempting fate to go back to their base now..." he thought, somewhat frustrated. Once Guard was out of sight, Kosmo reverted to his true form. "Well, I guess I've annoyed people enough for one day. I'll take a break in that mystical jungle place. Maybe I can find something to amuse myself there..." Since Kosmo was already aware of GUN's Mystic Ruins blockade, he transformed into a small flicky bird. "This should get me past those chumps! Silly humans always ignore little animals! Hee hee... Idiots..."


It took a bit of reverse psychology, but Punchy managed to convince Gator to teleport himself and Rainbow past the GUN blockade and into the Mystic Ruins. "Wow! Teleporting sure is handy! No wonder Illusi keeps doing it!" Punchy remarked as he glanced around his surroundings. "Kinda disorienting, though..." he added. The Mystic Ruins were looking foggier than usual, similar to the way it was when Shadow discovered Shadow Arc. Suddenly, Punchy and Rainbow noticed a foul smell, coming from the gas clouds in the area. "Eeew! What happened to this place? It's all stinky!" Rainbow groaned. Gator scratched his head in confusion. "Stinky? I don't smell anything." he said. "Those creepy marauders released the gas into this place. So don't blame me! I'm no skunk!" said a voice in the fog. Punchy recognized the voice right away. "Copter! Where are you? I can't see a thing!" he shouted, stepping through the fog towards Copter's voice. Luckily, the fog had begun dissipating, but not before Punchy walked right into Copter! "Ow!! Watch it! You could knock people into those poison gas clouds like that!" Copter groaned as he picked himself up off the floor. "Don't be mad, Two. One didn't do that on purpose!" Rainbow said as she and Gator joined them. "I wouldn't be so sure of that. He's been kinda grumpy today!" Gator said. Copter ignored Gator and turned to walk away. "Tell Gator I haven't seen his horse and we can all get back to what we were doing." he grumbled. Punchy, Rainbow, and Gator started following him. "We didn't come about that. We want to know if your plane could help us find Eggman. If he's back, he might know something about those echidna marauders!" Punchy explained. Copter stopped a moment. "Those marauders are echidnas? I thought they were aliens or something...." he muttered. Rainbow looked thoughtful. "They said they were from the Nocturnus tribe. I thought they were gone, but I guess not." she said. Copter turned to face the others. "Say, Punchy. I heard the marauders caught Knuckles. Did you ever think about using this opportunity to get the Master Emerald?" he asked. Punchy had a look of alarm on his face. "Hey, you're right! Why didn't I think of that!? I better get to Angel Island!" he said excitedly. "That could be a problem... That's that floating island, right? Shouldn't it be over there!?" Gator said, pointing up at where Angel Island should have been! They all gasped at once as they noticed this. "Where'd the island go!?" Rainbow asked worriedly. "I got it! I'll call the Hurricane, and we'll search for it!" Copter suggested. Punchy frowned. "It only has one seat! I want to go, too!" he whined. Copter rolled his eyes. "You can stand on the wing! And Gator can stay here with Rainbow. OK?" he asked. Gator sighed sadly. "I'll never find my horse..." he said. Rainbow patted him on the back. "No problem, Bluehair! I'll help you look for it!" With the plan decided, Copter pulled out the Hurricane remote and called his plane.

Meanwhile, Kosmo arrived elsewhere in the Mystic Ruins, still in flicky form. He flew over to the edge of a river, then transformed back into his normal form. He had flown right through some of the gas clouds, and sneezed once he was back in his normal form. "Ick! What have those humans been doing to this place?" he growled. Looking around, he noticed a small building atop a cliff in the distance. The fog was mostly gone, and Kosmo could even see some marauders entering the building. "Hmmm... Black suits. I wonder what those guys are up to..." he muttered thoughtfully. "Intruder spotted!" shouted a voice behind Kosmo! Turning around, he saw a marauder scout running towards him! "Intruder? You're an intruder, too!" Kosmo protested. The marauder stopped a few feet from Kosmo and pulled out a stasis bomb from his pocket! "Take this!!" he shouted, tossing the bomb towards Kosmo! He jumped out of the way, but the marauder had more bombs! "Fine. I'll fix you!" Kosmo growled. He morphed into his fox form and used Chaos Whirlwind to blow the bombs back at the marauder! The bombs knocked the marauder over, and his helmet fell off, revealing his identity as an echidna! Kosmo morphed into Sonic and mimicked his speed to snatch the helmet before the echidna could grab it. "Nice. I bet this helmet would fit me, too!" he said. The echidna looked exhausted, as the effect of the stasis bomb became active. "You'll... be sorry..." he muttered as he pressed a button on his belt, which teleported him away. Kosmo wasn't safe yet, though, as several more marauders began running into the area, having been alerted before the first marauder attacked Kosmo! "I don't suppose you guys would leave if I just gave this helmet back, would you?" asked the morph. Before a fight could begin, the water in the river began to stir, and a giant, monstrous octopus jumped out and began attacking the marauders! "Bwaaaa!! A monster!! Our gas must've mutated something! Retreat!!!" shouted one of the marauders as they all began to scatter! Kosmo backed away from the monster slowly. Its glowing yellow eyes looked familiar to him. "Wait a minute..." he muttered. Once the marauders were gone, the monster confirmed Kosmo's suspicions by transforming into Nova! Without a word, Nova quickly ran over to Kosmo and grabbed the helmet from his hand. "Thanks, Kosmo! This should come in handy!" he said, morphing into a marauder without a helmet. "Whenever I try to morph my own helmet, the eyes still glow yellow. Now I got a disguise! See ya!" Before Kosmo could say anything, Nova used the belt on his new form to teleport away! "Wh-what just happened?" Kosmo muttered in confusion. "Wait... I get it. Nova's interested in those sneaky echidnas. They're the key to this whole thing!" he realized. With no other ideas, Kosmo started heading for the marauder base on the cliff.

From the sky, it didn't take long for Copter and Punchy to spot Angel Island. It was indeed moving, but neither of them could tell where it was going. Punchy had suggested trying to land on the island, so Copter was now flying towards it as fast as the Hurricane could travel. The island was still over the Mystic Ruins as they reached it. "Where should we land?" Copter asked as he took the plane over the island. "Maybe near the Master Emerald shrine. Hey, wait... What's that!?" As Copter looked where Punchy was pointing, he spotted a laser heading towards them! "Since when does Angel Island have..." Before Copter could finish speaking, the Hurricane had been hit! It wasn't hit directly, but it was enough to send them spiraling out of control! "Hold on, Punchy!! We're going doooooooooown!!!"

When Copter regained consciousness, he was still strapped into the cockpit of the Hurricane. However, the plane had landed on its side. "Great seat belt..." he muttered, unbuckling himself from the plane and falling out onto his head. "Ooof!! Lousy landing... Punchy! Are you alive?" he yelled, climbing to his feet. Punchy was walking towards the crash site, apparently having landed elsewhere. He was soaking wet. "I'm sure lucky that lake was there..." he muttered. "Where are we?" Copter asked, looking around. Punchy pointed behind the Hurricane. "Home." he said. They had landed just outside Shadow Arc! Looking in the open doorway, they spotted a grey rhino wearing a yellow bowler. It was Crash! As the rhino approached them, Copter let out some mock laughter. "Ha ha ha, I get it. Send Crash to investigate the crash. Bucky's hilarious..." he groaned. "Actually..." Crash grinned, "It was Zipp's idea." Punchy scoffed at him. "Figures." he muttered. Panicked shouting was suddenly heard from the nearby trees. "One! One!! Aha! You're alive!!" Rainbow ran into the area and squeezed Punchy tightly. "I thought you were gone!! Don't do that One!!" she shouted loudly, hurting Punchy's ears. "Aaaa!! Rainbow!! Lemme go!" he yelled. Gator was right behind Rainbow. "What a ride! That looked like fun! Can I go next?" he asked. Copter rolled his eyes. "Fix the plane and it's a deal..." he muttered. Vortex and Zipp were now standing in the doorway of Shadow Arc, looking impatient. "Since you're here, Bucky would like to see you. Come along, and maybe Vortex and Zipp will fix your plane!" Crash said. Since their options seemed limited, Copter and Punchy decided they'd have to take this offer. Following Crash, the group entered Shadow Arc once again.


Chapter 2 - Through the Blue Ridge Zone

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
This story is based on the video game: Sonic Chronicles - The Dark Brotherhood.
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


Chapter 2, Act 1: Of Morphs and Eggmen  (Dark Brotherhood: Egghunt)

As Kosmo neared the building he'd seen the marauders enter, he saw the door begin to open. He quickly ducked out of sight as Sonic and his companions exited the building, with Knuckles following. Kosmo watched as they finally noticed that Angel Island was gone. Since they seemed distracted by that revelation, Kosmo took the opportunity to slip into the building unseen. He found himself in a small hallway leading to a staircase going down. Heading downstairs, Kosmo noted that there seemed to be no sign of the marauders. "Sonic must have scared them off... Or something..." he muttered as he reached the bottom of the steps. There were three doors in the room, and Kosmo looked around while trying to decide which door to explore. However, he was not alone for long. "What are you doing in here?" Kosmo was taken off guard by the sudden appearance of a marauder in the room! The marauder was standing at the bottom of the steps when Kosmo turned to see who it was. "You guys sure can sneak... But your mask is useless. I know you are an echidna." he said. The marauder removed her helmet. "All right. I am Shade. Now tell me who you are!" she demanded. Kosmo smirked at her. "You're not from around here, I see. I'm Kosmo the Morph. And I'm not the intruder who chased your pals away, if that's what you're thinking!" he said. Shade glanced around the room, then nodded as though agreeing with Kosmo. "They're gone by now, I suppose. But what brings you here?" she asked. "I guess I'm here to ask you that. What are you echidnas after?" Kosmo replied. Shade looked a bit irritated by the question. "Why does that matter to you? It's none of your business. You're just wasting my time..." she said, putting her helmet back on. Kosmo realized that she was about to teleport away, so he attempted to catch her, but it was too late. It only took a second for Shade to press the button on her belt, and once she did, she was gone! Frustrated, Kosmo ran outside. Sonic and his friends were indeed already gone, so Kosmo had no need to sneak around. He scanned the skies for any sign of Angel Island. "These creeps appear, and the island disappears. I think I'll find out why!"


Copter and Punchy had been talking to Bucky in the control room of Shadow Arc for some time. It seemed as though all Bucky wanted was to make small talk, and Punchy was growing impatient. He could not stand to talk to Bucky, or to be in Shadow Arc. "Is there a reason you wanted to see us, or do you just miss tormenting us!?" he yelled when he couldn't stand it anymore. Bucky frowned at him and stood up from the chair in front of the Arcangel's controls where he'd been seated. "I didn't exactly invite you to crash your plane here. Perhaps you could try being grateful for my hospitality." he said, glaring at Punchy. "He's got a point, One." Rainbow whispered. Copter was leaning against one of the Arcangel's power terminals, looking rather impatient himself. "Are you sure Vortex and Zipp can fix the Hurricane?" he asked. Bucky pointed to the hallway. "Ask them yourself. Here they come now." Zipp flew into the control room, followed by Vortex. Zipp stopped in midair as he noticed Gator looking curiously at some boxes in the corner of the room. "Hey, you! Don't touch my stuff!" he shouted, dashing over to pull Gator away. As they started fighting, Vortex approached Copter. "I'm ssssorry, Copter, but your plane can't be repaired by ussss. It ussssessss Eggman technology, which issss difficult to replicate. Sssso ssssorry." he reported, not actually seeming "sorry" in the least. Crash, who was standing silently beside the ship's controls the whole time, stepped forward. "I suppose we should take them with us, then." he suggested. Bucky nodded. "Load their plane's remains onto the Arcangel, Crash and Vortex." he ordered. As Crash and Vortex left the room, Copter and Punchy watched in confusion. "Take us where?" Copter asked. Bucky sat back down at the ship's controls. "Why, to Dr. Eggman, of course. Who else could repair your plane? We were about to go to him, anyway. We've had a recent infestation of robotic armadillos around here that we believe he should answer for." As Bucky finished speaking, Gator and Zipp began shouting more frantically. "Another one!! Grab a gun out of that box and shoot it, crazy croc guy!" Zipp shouted, pointing at a robodillo that had wandered onto the ship. "Gun? I hate those things! And I'm NOT a croc! I'm a gator!" Gator argued. Punchy sighed with irritation. "I guess if we're going with these guys, I better give them a hand..." he muttered, running toward the robodillo.

After searching Green Hill Zone and finding no sign of any morphs, Gunner deemed Guard's mission a failure. As punishment, he had been reassigned to the Mystic Ruins, which Gunner had heard was rather unpleasant since the marauders appeared. Guard was not too upset by this; the strange gas in the Mystic Ruins had no effect on him, since he was an android. As he began patrolling the area, the ground suddenly began to shake! The loud sound of engines caught Guard's attention, and he spotted Shadow Arcangel as it began to take off! "Grrrr! The experiments are on the move! Grrrr! I must try to catch them!" Guard realized. He started flying towards the ship, but catching it would not be easy.

The ship started its journey flying close to Angel Island's current position. "Careful, Binky! One and Two were shot down by that island!" Rainbow said to Bucky. "And I think you know that! Are you nuts!?" Copter shouted. Zipp chuckled at him. "What's the matter, Copter? Are you scared?" he taunted. Bucky began to turn the Arcangel as it neared Angel Island. "Hold on, everyone. We're going to experience.... turbulence..." he warned. Gator tapped Copter on the shoulder. "What do you want?" he asked. Gator looked very nervous. "Do you know where the parachutes are?"

Guard neared Shadow Arcangel just as Angel Island began shooting at it! Multiple cannons were firing at the ship, and things became quite hectic fast. Guard barely dodged a few of the shots before deciding it was too dangerous and dropping back towards the ground! The ship, however, seemed to be taking the abuse fairly well. In a few moments, Shadow Arcangel was on its way, with Guard watching from below. "Grrrr... The master is quite clever sometimes..." he muttered. "Ha ha ha, nice flying! Could you have cut that any closer, though? I'd have liked to see you hit!" Guard looked around and found a marauder laughing at him. Guard raised his scythe in preparation for a fight. "Grrrr... You're the sort of scum I'm here looking for!" he growled. "No, I'm not." the marauder said. Suddenly, a Chaos Spear appeared as if out of nowhere and caused both of them to jump back! An instant later, Shadow the Hedgehog ran to the marauder and grabbed him by his collar. "Marauder! I've been looking for one of you! You creeps appeared recently, and now I can't find Omega! What have you done with him!? If you know anything, you WILL tell me, or else!" Shadow threatened. The marauder just laughed at him. "Me? I don't know anything about this guy. I'm not who either of you are looking for!" he said. Shadow growled loudly as he threw the marauder against a tree, knocking his helmet off! The echidna underneath had glowing yellow eyes. "Violence will do you no good! I know nothing." he said, putting his helmet back on. "An echidna? But I thought Knuckles, Punchy, and Rainbow were the only ones left..." Shadow muttered, apparently having not noticed his eyes. Guard, however, had noticed. "Grrrr... I think he's telling you the truth, Shadow. Grrrr... He knows nothing of your friend." he said. Shadow glared at Guard angrily. "I don't need your opinion! I don't trust Gunner's stooges any more than the marauders!" he shouted. While the two of them weren't paying attention, the marauder slipped away. "Hmph. The coward. This is a waste of time..." Shadow muttered before running off. Guard looked thoughtful now that he was alone. "Grrrr... Looks like I've found the morph..." he said.


While Nova was dealing with Shadow and Guard, Kosmo had determined the apparent path Angel Island was moving in, and had now arrived in Station Square. Since the residents of Station Square feared him more than anywhere else, though, Kosmo had to go about in disguise. He preferred to remain in his natural form though, so he simply put on a brown hat and trench coat, with the brim of his hat pulled down to conceal his eyes. The only part of himself that clearly showed through this costume was his tail, but most ignored it. Soon, as he headed for the northern border leading to Blue Ridge Zone, he passed by Tommy the Porcupine, playing ball in the street with his friends. Tommy stopped in his tracks as he noticed Kosmo walk by, and his lack of attention nearly got him hit in the head with the ball. "What's wrong, Tom?" one of his friends asked. He pointed to Kosmo nervously. "Th-that's Experiment 3! Razor's been looking for him... He's the dragon that attacked the city that time!" Tommy had said this so loudly that everyone in the immediate area heard him, and Kosmo stopped in his tracks. "Shoot..." he muttered. The people in the area immediately began to scatter as Kosmo lifted his hat, uncovering his eyes. A few stayed behind to throw things at him, though, and this really got on his nerves. "Hey, hey, hey! I just bought this coat! Sure, with stolen money, and in another form, but still!!" No one listened to him, but they did start shouting unpleasant things at him, and were growing bolder by the fact that he hadn't fought back yet. "Guess I'd better get going..." Kosmo realized. Luckily for him, something arrived to divert attention from him! A Shield Pawn, which was a large, heavily armored robot belonging to Eggman, had wandered into the city and begun causing damage! "Well, good things do happen to bad people! Bye, Station Square!" Kosmo said, starting to leave. Tommy, however, attempted to stop him by grabbing his tail. "Stop! My brother's been looking for you!" he shouted. Kosmo did not appreciate having his tail pulled, and swiftly kicked Tommy away! "Little brat! How dare..." Kosmo stopped speaking as he noticed the Shield Pawn coming up behind Tommy, who was too shaken to stand up in time! "Ohhh... Swell... OK, here we go..." Kosmo grunted, running to Tommy and grabbing him in his arms! He pulled Tommy away just as the Shield Pawn attacked, then ran for the city's border with Tommy still in his arms! The Shield Pawn started to pursue, but a gunshot to its head knocked it out. Razor had arrived! One of Tommy's friends ran up to Razor immediately. "No need to thank me. Stopping rampaging robots is part of the job." he said. The child shook his head. "No, Officer Razor. It's Tommy! Experiment 3 kidnapped Tommy!"


Bucky knew where Eggman was hiding before they left, and it wasn't long before he, Copter, Punchy, Rainbow, and Gator were speaking with him at his Green Hill Zone hideaway. They were standing in a room with a bunch of monitors showing the rooms of the small base. Eggman was seated behind a desk, looking surprisingly calm for a man who was supposedly dead. "So, you say MY robots have been causing you grief, Dr. Stein? How presumptuous! I'm not the only one capable of building robots, you know!" he said after Bucky had spoken his mind. The rat did not look convinced. "Maybe, but you ARE the only man I know to build robots from animals. I'm not playing your games. Those are your robots, and we all know it." he growled. Eggman stroked his moustache thoughtfully. "So what if they are? To tell the truth, I haven't had control of my own robots for some time. My poor E-X series... They must think I HAVE perished! If their minds are still their own..." he said. Copter was tapping his foot impatiently. "Enough! This is trivial. I hate to say it, but I need my plane back! Someone shot me down, and I'll need it to pay them back!" he said. Eggman looked shocked. "You wrecked my beautiful Hurricane!? How could you be so careless!?" he cried. Gator raised his hand. "Excuse me, Mr. Kaputnik, do you have any cola? Gator is thirsty." he asked. Eggman looked a bit overwhelmed. "Demands, demands... But who am I to refuse? I will repair the Hurricane, provided you do something for me. But the robots, there isn't much I can do about them. They aren't being controlled by me. For you see, I, Dr. Robotnik, have reformed!" he declared. "What does this mean for my cola?" Gator asked. Bucky scoffed at Eggman. "You? Reformed? That's rich. I'll bet..." Suddenly, an alarm sounded throughout the base! Eggman turned to his monitors to see Sonic and his friends entering the base! "Oh, how nice! So many reunions today! Sorry, friends, but I must go and greet my new guests! I'll be right back!" he said, jumping from his chair and running out the door! Rainbow waved to him as he left. "Bye, Tubby!" she said. Punchy glanced at Copter. "So, what do we do? See what he wants us to do?" he asked. Bucky sat down on the chair Eggman left behind. "I'd hear him out, but I wouldn't trust him. He's been laying low here since his last defeat, and I'll wager he's got something up his sleeve by now..." he said. Copter looked troubled. "Maybe... But I don't think he's behind those marauders. And something tells me they have bigger plans right now than Eggman..."

Chapter 2, Act 2: Journey to Metropolis  (Dark Brotherhood: A Wolf in the Shadows)

Once Eggman returned, he explained that he could not repair the Hurricane without the tools and parts in his laboratory in his former base, Metropolis. Bucky had agreed to transport the Hurricane there using Shadow Arcangel, but refused to allow Eggman aboard his ship. Eggman had promised to help Sonic battle the marauders anyway, so while he was busy doing that, he left Copter and Punchy with a mission. The subway tunnels leading into Metropolis were currently inaccessible due to the fact that it had been buried by snow. It now fell to Copter and Punchy to head for the Blue Ridge Zone north of Station Square and attempt to remove the snow, in case the tunnels were needed. Leaving Gator with Bucky, Copter, Punchy and Rainbow made their way to the Blue Ridge Zone as quickly as they could. The first thing they noticed upon reaching the zone was the surprising drop in temperature once they left Station Square. Copter was shivering as he led the way through the frigid region, carefully avoiding the attention of the patrolling robots. "It's bad enough we have to travel in this cold... Couldn't Eggman have done SOMETHING about his crazy robots?" Copter growled. Rainbow seemed unaffected by the cold. "The weather's not that bad, Two. We haven't even run into any of that snow Tubby was talking about yet!" she said optimistically. Punchy was looking behind them, and suddenly called their attention to something. "Hey, guys! We're being followed!" As they looked where Punchy was pointing, they spotted Razor heading their way! "Hold it! Don't run! I just need to ask you a question!" Razor shouted quickly. He seemed to be in such a panic, Copter and Punchy didn't know what to make of him. "What's the matter, officer?" Rainbow asked. Razor held up a photo of Tommy. "Experiment 3 has kidnapped my brother. This is his picture. Have you seen him? Or the experiment? Please, tell me!" He looked quite desperate, but they couldn't help him. "Never seen him. Can't help ya." Copter said. Razor frowned and then ran off. "Gotta find him!" he said as he ran. Rainbow looked sad as he left. "We should try to help him..." she suggested. Punchy groaned at her. "Are you nuts? He'd probably thank us with a trip to prison! Let's get moving, already!"

Kosmo was also exploring Blue Ridge Zone, heading for the destination of Angel Island. He could see the island on the horizon, and he could tell it was heading for Metropolis. Behind him, Tommy was following silently. Kosmo had released him a short time ago, and had told him to go home, but Tommy was curious about what he was up to now. After a while, Kosmo became annoyed with being followed. "What do you want, kid? I told you to go home!" he asked without stopping. "Uh... I... uh... I was wondering... Why did you save me? I told everyone you were around, and they started throwing stuff and..." When Kosmo glanced back at him, Tommy silenced himself out of fear. "I'd rather not talk about it, kid. Just go home! I want to be left alone!" Kosmo insisted. They had reached the path into Metropolis, and were suddenly stopped by marauders! Shade was standing directly in Kosmo's path. "If you want to be left alone, you're in the wrong place! Turn back now, or else!" she warned. Kosmo looked at the three marauders in his path, then grinned confidently. "Three? Only three? Come now, where's the challenge?" he said, morphing into an echidna. Shade and her minions ran to attack Kosmo, who quickly jumped away from Shade and faced the other two marauders. They attempted to hit him with stasis bombs, but he ducked under them as he approached the marauders. Once he caught them, he delivered two swift punches to their heads, knocking them both over! "Got ya! Now, hurry and stand up while I think of what to transform into for round two!" he grinned. However, he'd forgotten about Shade! "Halt! Revert to your original form, and surrender!" she warned from behind him. "Give me one good reason!" Kosmo growled, turning to face her. When he saw her though, he found his reason! Shade was holding up Tommy, whose shouts for help were muffled by Shade's hand! "H-hey! Put him down! He has nothing to do with me!" Kosmo shouted. Shade grinned at him. "If that's so, then you won't mind whatever we do with him..." she said. Kosmo looked at the terrified eyes of the captive child, then sighed miserably as he reverted to his normal form. "All right, don't hurt him... I surrender..." he muttered. Shade nodded, then turned Tommy over to her minions. "Take them both to a cell for now. If they will behave, perhaps we will release them after our mission is over!" she ordered.

Guard had managed to catch up with Nova briefly, but lost him upon reaching Blue Ridge Zone. Not about to give up, Guard had been searching for him for a while, but it had become clear to him that the morph had passed through the zone. So, Guard made his way to the path to Metropolis, and soon found Razor standing a short distance away from the path. "Grrr... What are you doing out here? Isn't this out of your jurisdiction?" Guard asked him. Razor was looking very tense. "There is no jurisdiction when my brother's safety is at risk. The morph kidnapped him, and since he's no longer here, I think he must've gone into Metropolis." he explained. "Grrr... Makes sense. Grrrr... But why are you just standing here?" Guard wondered. Razor pointed down the path to Metropolis. "When I tried the path, some marauders appeared out of nowhere and forced me to turn back. It seems Metropolis is their headquarters." he said. Guard looked around the immediate area. "Grrrr... I'm searching for the morph, too. I will help you. Grrrr..." he growled quietly. Razor looked in the direction Guard was looking. "That's great, but how can you help?" he asked. Guard pointed somewhere to the west. "Grrrr... I was part of GUN's attack force during the last battle with Dr. Eggman. Grrrr... While I was here, I discovered a series of tunnels. I believe an entrance is that way." he explained. Razor immediately started heading in the direction Guard was pointing. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's catch that morph!" he shouted. Guard took to the sky and quickly caught up with him.

When they reached the entrance to the tunnels, Copter, Punchy and Rainbow were already there. They'd found the entrance buried by a seemingly immovable mountain of snow. "Well, well. Guard is here. How'd you know we'd be here?" Copter asked. "Grrr... We're heading for Metropolis. Grrrr... There are more pressing matters to deal with than you right now." he growled. Punchy pretended to be sad. "Aw, you don't think we're important enough. We're offended." he said sarcastically. "So, Guard, where's the tunnel?" Razor asked. "Under the snow." Rainbow explained. Guard looked at the mountain of snow. "Grrrr... This isn't good. Our attack must have caused an avalanche somehow." he realized. As they all started thinking of what could be done, they heard a nearby scream! "Hey... That sounds like Gemini!" Copter said, running in the direction of the scream. The rest of the group quickly followed him.

Five Nocturnus Velites were surrounding Gemini, who was frantically pointing her wand around trying to defend herself. When Copter and the others arrived, the marauders turned and glared at them through their helmets. "What do you punks think you're doing!?" Copter yelled. "Grrrr... You marauders are cowards, ganging up on someone like that." Guard growled. One of the marauders grabbed Gemini by the arm tightly. "This girl was trespassing a little too close to a place she didn't belong. As are all of you, I'd say. Teach them some respect for our authority, boys!" he said, prompting the four others to attack the group! "Big mistake!" Punchy said. As the marauders approached them, Copter attacked with Chaos Whirlwind, Punchy with Chaos Avalanche, and Guard with his scythe's energy blasts! The marauders were taken off guard, and three of the four teleported away as they were knocked over! The fourth one was blown over by Chaos Whirlwind, and his helmet fell off, revealing his yellow eyes! "Grrr!? The... morph!?" Guard said with alarm. Nova picked up his helmet, but rather than wearing it, he morphed back into his true form! "Hey, that's not Three..." Rainbow said with confusion. The marauder holding Gemini suddenly let her go. "I think we're outnumbered, Nova..." he said. Nova snickered at his comment. "Morphs are never outnumbered... But I suppose we may be running late. Let's get going, Jak!" Before anyone could chase them, Jak grabbed Nova's arm and teleported them both away! Since the enemies were gone, they turned their attention to Gemini. "Are you OK?" Copter asked. Gemini nodded. "Yes. Thank you. It sure has become dangerous out here recently..." she said.

After Copter and Razor explained the situation to Gemini, she offered to help them get into Metropolis. They led her back to the mountain of snow, and she pointed her wand at it. "Hmmm... Let me think.... OK, stand back everyone! Abra-ka-heatra!" After using her spell, an intense heat began emanating from her wand! She pressed the wand against the snow, and immediately, the snow began to melt away! The snow cleared the area at a speed which could only be accomplished by magic, though those not present would believe the large tremor that was happening nearby was somehow the cause. With the snow gone, the entrance to the tunnels was clear, and the door was even already open! Gemini ran for the door, motioning to the others to follow her. "Come on, guys! We gotta find Experiment 3 and rescue Razor's brother!" she said. Rainbow nodded and ran off into the tunnels ahead of everyone. "Follow me, guys! I'll find them!" she shouted. "Slow down, Rainbow! It could be dangerous in there!" Punchy shouted as he and the others entered the tunnels behind her. As soon as they had all entered, the door slammed shut behind them! Thinking that was strange, Copter and Guard stopped to examine the door. "Well, it's an electric door of some sort... But it was wide open a moment ago. Why would it suddenly close?" Copter wondered. Gemini shrugged. "I don't know. Does it matter?" she asked. "Grrrr... It could mean someone knows we're here..." Guard realized. Razor nodded in agreement. "Right. We'd better hurry, then." he said. Suddenly, a laser was fired at the group! It was poorly aimed, but it got everyone's attention. "Eeeek! I think someone does know we're here!" Rainbow shouted. Looking into the tunnel, they saw Char and Alpha hovering a short distance away! "Aw, you missed! Now the intruders are gonna make a bigger mess of Metropolis! We should do something, Alphie!" Char said excitedly. Alpha spun his head around once and aimed his gun at the group. "Right! I know what to do!" he said, pausing a moment before continuing. "Let's run for it!!" Alpha flew off deeper into the tunnels, followed by Char! Without wasting time, the rest of the group began chasing them! After all, Alpha might lead them exactly where they needed to go...


Chapter 3 - The Fall of Angel Island

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
This story is based on the video game: Sonic Chronicles - The Dark Brotherhood.
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


Chapter 3, Act 1: Metropolis Mission  (Dark Brotherhood: The Battle for Angel Island)

While chasing Alpha, the group found where Eggman and Sonic were planning their next move. Razor, however, decided dealing with Eggman was a waste of his time at the moment, and he, Guard, and Gemini left to find Kosmo and Tommy. While Sonic was chatting with his friends, Eggman took some time to speak to Copter, Punchy, Rainbow, Char, and Alpha. "You've all done quite well, my friends! How did you manage to get rid of that snow?" he asked them. "Wanda used her magic to melt it for us!" Rainbow explained. Eggman and Char both had nostalgic looks on their faces. "Ah, yes, I presume you mean that fennec girl. I wish I'd have had more time to tinker with that wand of hers..." Eggman sighed. "Me too, doc. And I'm happy to see you're alive! Why didn't you contact us?" Char wondered. "Um, well, I, uh, I was lacking in equipment. I couldn't even get a message to my surviving robots..." Eggman stammered. In truth, he wouldn't have called Alpha anyway, for he was sick of his incompetence. "Well, anyway, I'm afraid there's another little problem preventing me from fixing your plane, Copter. It seems the airspace around here is currently too dangerous for Bucky to fly Shadow Arcangel in. It's a shame... Had I remained in charge of that ship, it would have been upgraded to the point of invincibility..." he told them. "Dangerous? For the Arcangel? I don't believe that!" Punchy scoffed. "What's the problem?" Copter asked. Char fielded this question. "When Alphie and I were tracking down those sneaky jerks who took control of Eggman's robots, we learned that they'd taken control of Metropolis's air base!" he explained. "They won't share our toys!" Alpha whined. Eggman didn't much like being interrupted. "Quiet, you two! You don't even know the full situation! There's a nasty cannon on Angel Island as well! Shadow Arcangel would be torn to shreds if it flew over here!" he said. "So, what do we do, Tubby?" Rainbow asked. "First of all, quit calling me Tubby! What I want you to do is retake my air base. You can even bring Alpha with you. Just don't fail me!" Eggman ordered. Copter grinned a little. "OK, so we get to be the ones to annoy the marauders now! Sounds good! Let's go!" So, with Alpha and Char along with them, the team began their mission in Metropolis!


As Razor, Gemini, and Guard were searching for Kosmo, Nova, and Tommy, their search was made difficult by the many patrolling robots. Luckily, there was no shortage of intruders wandering around Metropolis, so the robots were largely preoccupied. Looking up at the sky, Guard could see Angel Island nearing the area. "Grrrr... We'd better find them before that island gets here." Guard said. Gemini agreed. "I have a feeling it'll get really dangerous here when that island arrives..." she said. As they passed a rather ugly statue of Dr. Eggman, a bunch of sentry drones approached them, accompanied by a Gun Pawn robot! The Gun Pawn was a large red robot with guns for hands. These robots did not seem happy to see them. "Better clear out this scrap!" Razor said, firing his gun at the sentry drones! "Blastrotall!" Gemini assisted him by firing bolts from her wand. Meanwhile, Guard focused on the Gun Pawn. He flew around it as it began firing at him, and when he had an opening, he fired a blast from his scythe, stunning it! As it regained its senses, Guard got closer. It fired at Guard again, but the gargoyle was too close to be stopped! He stunned it again, then slashed it in half with his scythe! Once the damaged robots exploded, the trio was ready to continue on their way, but as they started to leave, Illusi appeared before them in a puff of smoke! "Good, I've found you! I knew I'd find you here, officer!" he said hurriedly. Gemini was happy to see her old friend. "Illusi! How are you? What are you doing here?" she asked. "Where'd he come from?" Razor muttered in confusion. Illusi was in too much of a rush to explain it to him. "Listen, we have to get out of here, quickly!" he said urgently. "Grrrr... Explain yourself, shrew!" Guard growled. "No, don't listen to him at all! We have to find Tommy before we leave!" Razor insisted. Illusi sighed frustratedly. "Can't just listen... Look, your friend and the morph have been captured by the marauders. They are no longer in the city, which is fortunate..." he said. "Why is that fortunate!?" Razor shouted with concern. Illusi glared up at Angel Island. "Metropolis is in grave danger..."


Illusi was wrong about one thing. Kosmo and Tommy were still in Metropolis, but they would not be for much longer. They were locked in a cell inside an air skiff parked in Eggman's air base. "What's gonna happen to us, Kosmo? I'm... scared..." Tommy said worriedly. Kosmo was looking around the cell, and now glanced out at the guards. "Good... their backs are turned..." he whispered. "Don't be scared, kid. Fear isn't very useful in these situations. Just stand here and be quiet. I'll get us out..." Kosmo thought a moment, then decided what to do. He morphed himself into his flicky form, which was small enough to fly through the bars! Once he was out of the cell, he morphed into a purple hedgehog resembling Shadow, and had an evil grin as he snuck towards the guards. Before he reached them, a sound was heard from their communicators! Kosmo stepped back slightly as they answered the call. "Intruder alert in the air base! We need backup!" Without taking a moment to check on their prisoners, the marauders ran to the exterior of the ship, taking their keys with them! "Oh, good... They took the keys... Well, who needs to be quiet while they're gone?" Kosmo said. Tommy was looking through the barred window at the back of their cell. "Hey, Kosmo! I see the other experiments out there! Did they come to rescue you?" he asked. "I very much doubt it, kid. Stay back there, now... Chaos Blast!!" Kosmo used the chaotic explosion from Chaos Blast to break open the cell, enabling Tommy to escape! Tommy was coughing as the smoke cleared. "This ship is awfully dusty..." he muttered. "It's Eggman's old ship. He's let them sit around for a long time. Now, let's go!" Kosmo said, rushing for the exit. Tommy followed as fast as he could. "W-wait up! Don't leave me alone here!" he shouted. Kosmo stopped at the door and glanced at Tommy impatiently. "Don't be slow, kid! Those marauders won't just let us waltz out of here!" he warned. Tommy nodded and ran off ahead of Kosmo. "H-hey! You can't leave without me, either! You'll get caught again!" Kosmo shouted as he followed behind him.

It wasn't long after Copter and his companions entered the air base that Shade and her fellow Nocturnus arrived to stand in their way! "Stand aside, sillies! I need to use the bathroom!" Alpha said, crazed as always. Char laughed at him. "Robots don't need bathrooms! And besides, there isn't one here." he said. Copter and Punchy looked a little embarrassed to be fighting alongside such a kooky robot. "We don't have time for your nonsense! Angel Island is nearly here! Our exile will soon end. If you interfere, we will stop you!" Shade said before commanding her minions to attack! Copter, Punchy, Rainbow, and Alpha spread out to fight the marauders separately. While most of them fought Nocturnus Velites and the like, Punchy challenged Shade to a rematch. "Finally, I get to do what I left home to do in the first place! You're going down, Shade!" Punchy yelled. Rainbow cheered him on from the sidelines. "Go, One! Nocturna's got nothing on you this time!" she said. Shade produced a blade seemingly made out of energy, and charged towards Punchy to use her Blade Rush attack! Punchy attempted to avoid it, but was hit hard! "Don't give in, One! You can do it!" Rainbow shouted. Punchy retaliated by punching Shade a couple times, forcing her to back away and counter with a stasis bomb, which missed and nearly hit Rainbow! "Yeow! You big... meanie..." She was a little dazed, but otherwise okay. "That's it! Chaos Avalanche!" Punchy used his chaos powers to lift chunks of the floor and toss them at Shade, who carefully and skillfully dodged them. "Impressive! You're tougher than I thought..." she said. As the fighting continued, the ships in the air base were beginning to take off! Seeing this, Shade called to her minions. "We've stalled them enough! Let's go!" As the Nocturnus all teleported away, Copter pointed to the nearest air skiff. "Quick! We gotta get on board!" They began running for the skiff, but it was already taking off! Thinking fast, Copter spun his tails and began flying after it, stopping to grab Rainbow as he went! Meanwhile, Alpha grabbed Punchy and followed. It was close, but they made it aboard!


After Illusi explained the situation, Gemini decided there was no time to waste. "If they're heading for Angel Island, that's probably where they'll take your brother and the morph!" she reasoned. Guard frowned. "Grrrr... I'd fly up there, but they have cannons on the island. Grrrr... I'd probably not make it." he said. Illusi looked thoughtful. "I suppose I'll pop up there and see what I can do. Don't wait for me!" he said before teleporting away in a puff of smoke. "It'd be nice if he'd have taken us with him..." Razor muttered. Gemini was flipping through her spell book to see if she could find a good spell. "Ah! Here! A long distance warping spell. Hold on to me and I'll take us up there!" she said. Once they were ready, Gemini waved her wand. "Here we go... Galaporta!" A blinding flash of light emanated from her wand, and when it faded, they were gone!

They found themselves on Angel Island instantly, and as such, were a little disoriented. "Grrr... Must determine location... Accessing data... We're on Angel Island... Grrr... That was too fast...." Guard muttered. He was having trouble comprehending what had happened, since he was part robot. Razor was less dazed than Guard, but more so than Gemini. "Whoa... That could be tough to get used to..." he grumbled. "Not really. It just takes practice." Gemini said, looking around. "Yes, doesn't it?" This fourth voice was vaguely familiar. Looking to it, they saw the Nocturnus known as Jak! He was accompanied by several other marauders. "I doubt you could warp away again so quickly, so don't fight us. You'll just die more painfully!" he said, removing his helmet in triumph. He was a blue echidna with some yellow patches around his eyes and quills. He wore a headband similar to Shade's. "So, how shall we deal with you?" he said unpleasantly. "Not hastily, I say!" Jak turned to this new voice, which belonged to Shade. "Oh, Procurator... How nice to see you..." he muttered. Razor tried to reason with the Nocturnus. "Look, I'm just looking for my brother. He's a child. Just return him to me, and we'll leave quietly..." he pleaded. Shade looked at him with slight sympathy. "I see... Well, let's take them to Imperator Ix. He'll know what to do!"


As Copter, Punchy, Rainbow, Char, and Alpha explored the small air skiff they'd landed on, they soon were faced with an obstacle. Rather than marauders, however, they found Kosmo and Tommy! Rainbow smiled to see Tommy. "Aww, it's a cute little kid!" Copter and Punchy, however, were much less pleased. "That's the kid Kosmo kidnapped. Have you no shame?!" Copter growled. Tommy tried to reason with them. "It's OK, guys. I'm..." Kosmo raised his hand in front of Tommy to silence him. "Kidnapped, you say? Well, then, don't antagonize me while I have a hostage!" he warned. Alpha skipped over to Kosmo's side. "I like this game! I wanna be this guy's goalie!" he said. Char laughed at the situation. "Wow, this just got interesting! It's like old times!" he said with excitement. Punchy shook his fist at Kosmo. "Don't make us all kick your butt again!" he threatened. Tommy attempted to step in and put a stop to this, but Alpha held him back. "You stays put! This goalie won't let you checkmate our monopoly!" the crazed robot declared. Kosmo morphed into Rainbow and motioned for Copter and Punchy to come after him. "I'll use this weakling form to make it fair! Or would you have problems hitting your mutual friend?" he chuckled. Punchy grinned as though he didn't mind, but Rainbow pushed past him and started struggling against Kosmo herself! "You just called me weak!! I'll show you, Three!!" she yelled, fighting with her yellow-eyed doppelganger. Copter and Punchy glanced at each other sheepishly. "Gee, should we stop her?" Punchy muttered. Char was hovering beside Alpha, cracking up with laughter. "Hoo hoo! Oh, no, stop! Ha ha ha!! This is just too much!" he laughed. "Have you fools noticed the lack of marauders yet!?" Everyone turned toward the cockpit of the ship to see Nova standing there! Kosmo reverted to his normal form and ran after Nova. "What are you doing here!?" he growled. Nova grinned at them. "The Nocturnus know you're on this ship. The weapons have been disabled, and you'll be shot down any moment!" Nova morphed into a sort of flying fish and began flying away. "Have fun crashing!!" he chuckled. "Who and what was that?" Copter wondered as Nova escaped. Char was panicking about Nova's warning. "Yikes! Alpha, you gotta fly us to safety, quick!" he shouted. Alpha saluted him. "Aye, aye, your majesty!" he said, flying up to the cockpit. "What's going on?" Rainbow gasped, exhausted from fighting with Kosmo. "Hang on to something..." Copter and Punchy both gasped at once! Luckily, an anti-aircraft cannon in Metropolis was shooting most of the ships out of the way, giving Alpha the opening he needed to get the ship over Angel Island, and he even avoided the island's cannon. "Uh, mommy?" Alpha said to Char. "What?" he asked. "How does this boat go down?" Alpha wondered. Kosmo gulped loudly, having heard that. "This isn't going to be fun..." Moments later, the skiff crash landed on the island, flinging its crew away!!

Ix was a very old echidna, and it showed in his gray fur and long beard. Despite being old, he was quite fearsome to behold. After Shade explained the situation to him, he looked very cross. "Shade, you know I don't have time for this! Just kill the gnats and be done with it!" he snapped. Shade looked shocked by his hastiness. "Wa-wait! I don't think we need kill them! They just..." Ix would not listen. "SILENCE! Do not question me, Shade! I will not be questioned! If you talk back to me again, you will regret it! Jak, you deal with these... insects!" he bellowed. Jak smiled at his captives devilishly. "So, how would you like to die?" he asked. Suddenly, Copter, Punchy, and Alpha arrived! "Don't you lay a finger on Gemini!" Copter roared, dashing to the nearest marauder and knocking it over with his powerful tails! "And, uh, back off Guard. He's... cool, in an ugly sort of way." Punchy added, punching the next marauder. "I'll make all of you go BOOM!!" Alpha shouted, firing indiscriminately on the marauders. Ix swatted one of Alpha's shots aside like it was a mere bug. "Insufferable fools!! You DARE to defy me!? I won't give you the satisfaction of slowing me down, though. Shade, let's get going!" Ix and Shade teleported away, leaving Jak and his fellow Nocturnus to deal with the intruders. "Well, I never thought our old world could still be so much fun! Take your friends, if you can!" he challenged. They seemed eager to meet this challenge, but more Nocturnus started appearing all around them! As they became surrounded, Copter glanced at Punchy nervously. "I hope you're not getting as tired as I am today..." he groaned.

Kosmo, Tommy, Char, and Rainbow had been separated from the others in the crash, and they soon found themselves fighting a multitude of Nocturnus, assisted by Nova in his Nocturnus disguise. Though they had Kosmo with them, he was the only real fighter among them, and they were fast becoming overwhelmed. "Give it up, Kosmo. You can save yourself. The other three? They're dead, as are their companions. You're a morph. You deserve better. Escape, now!" Nova said. Kosmo shook his head. "I don't need to run. I can take you all!" he grinned, though he was obviously growing tired. As the battle continued, things were looking bleak. Even Sonic and Knuckles, who had arrived and challenged Ix, seemed to be in trouble. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Tails and Dr. Eggman appeared on the island! Eggman was holding a remote of some sort, and he quickly pressed the button on it! A small, spherical device flew into the area and fired a strange beam across the island, warping all of the Nocturnus except for Shade and Ix back to where they had come from! Suddenly, Nova found himself alone. "Uh... Allies? Pals? Jak? Uh... oh..." he muttered as Kosmo and his companions surrounded him. "You're a morph, Nova. Maybe YOU should escape now!" Kosmo grinned. Nova glared at him hatefully. "You're smug, aren't you? Well, you'll be sorry!" With these words, Nova turned back into a flying fish and flew off. As Nova escaped, Copter and the others found Kosmo. "One! That's the second time today I thought you died in a crash!" Rainbow shouted tearfully as she ran to her friend and hugged him. "Uh... Yeah... Not now, Rainbow..." he muttered uncomfortable. Char flew over to Alpha as well. "How'd you do without me, Alphie?" he asked. "Who is you?" Alpha replied. Tommy and Kosmo were left standing side by side, and when Guard and Razor arrived, Guard immediately flew into Kosmo, knocking him down! "Grrrrr!!! Thought you'd get away with this, did you!?" he snarled, holding the handle of his scythe against Kosmo's throat. "Ah, hello, Guard. I had fun posing as you earlier today..." Kosmo struggled to say. As Guard hesitated in his confusion, Kosmo morphed into a small armadillo and scurried out of his grip! "Grr? Hey!!" Guard shouted. Before anything further could happen, however, the island began shaking violently! "Wh-what's happening?!" Gemini shouted. Punchy had a look of dread on his face. "Oh, no... They didn't..." he gasped. Illusi appeared in the area as the situation began to dawn on them. "Brace yourselves, everyone!" the shrew warned, "The Master Emerald has been taken! Angel Island is falling!"

Chapter 3, Act 2: Black Hole Sun

Angel Island fell from the sky, landing on Metropolis and causing catastrophic damage. Even more troubling was the sudden appearance of an ominous black hole in the sky above the ruins of Metropolis. Whatever Ix's plan was, it was reaching fruition. With the immediate threats in the area gone, however, Shadow Arcangel was able to get close enough to Metropolis for the experiments to bring the Hurricane to what was left of Eggman's lab. Eggman and Tails were there working on a ship to take Sonic into the mysterious Twilight Cage when Copter, Punchy, Rainbow, Char, and Alpha arrived. Eggman left Tails to work alone for a moment while he spoke to Copter. "It seems, despite Sonic's best efforts and my genius, the Nocturnus marauders obtained the Master Emerald, which they used to open that wormhole in the sky, a path between our world and the mysterious 'Twilight Cage' that the Nocturnus came from." Eggman explained to them. Bucky, Vortex, Zipp, Crash, and Gator arrived in the area at this moment. "Yes, yes, this sounds very thrilling and all that, but now that they are back where they came from, the robots they controlled will leave me alone. I'm about ready to go home." Bucky said, apparently having heard Eggman's explanation. Rainbow looked worried. "I bet they'll come back through that hole and use the gems to cause all kinds of trouble..." she said. "Exactly why we're sssstill here." Vortex said. Eggman smiled knowingly. "I contacted Dr. Stein here when things started getting shaky. He's agreed to lend me his experiments so they and Alpha can build a ship to take you to the Twilight Cage." he explained. "Why would we go there?" Copter asked. "Well, aside from the exciting quest to save us all from invading echidnas, you could do something in exchange for my repairing your plane." Eggman suggested. "And helping me find my horse, Rolf!" Gator added. Punchy made a face at the name. "Rolf? Really?" he muttered. Char flew over to Team GeneX. "Come on! Let's get started! Chop chop!" he said. Zipp frowned at him. "You're lucky the master wants us to do this, or I'd slap you silly, Chao!" he growled. "Be nice, Zipp. He's smaller than you." Crash said. As Char, Alpha, and the experiments walked off to work on the ship, Copter thought over the deal. "Well, I guess we don't really have anything better to do. What do you want, Eggman?" he asked. "All in good time. I must get back to my work with Tails. Ta!" Eggman said, returning to his lab. Punchy looked thoughtful. "OK, you get your plane. What's in this for me?" he asked. Rainbow had a thought. "What about that big gem, One?" she reminded him. Punchy suddenly became much more enthusiastic. "Right! The Master Emerald! What are we waiting for then!?"

During the fall of Angel Island, Kosmo had been sure to keep Tommy safe, but in the process, they were separated from the others. Now, as they wandered Angel Island, they soon spotted Nova, staring up at the sky. A large, blue, boomerang shaped ship was landing in front of him, and a small hatch on the underside of the ship opened to reveal a staircase leading inside. "Now, where's he going? And where'd he get that cool ship?" Kosmo wondered aloud. "Why don't we sneak in?" Tommy suggested. Kosmo glanced at him with surprise. "Are you sure you want to come along?" he asked. Tommy nodded. "I feel bad about everyone attacking you, even though you saved me. I want to help you!" he insisted. Kosmo smiled at him. "Well, I kinda like your style, kid. Let's go, but be quiet on that ship! Wouldn't want him to throw us out while it's flying..." Before the hatch on the ship could close, Kosmo and Tommy ran aboard. Little did they know, Razor, Guard, Gemini, and Illusi were watching nearby. "N-no! He's taking Tommy!! We have to stop them!" Razor shouted, but it was too late! The ship's engines fired up, and the ship was soon soaring into the wormhole to the Twilight Cage! Gemini exchanged worried glances with Razor. "Now what?" they both wondered at once.

Later, after everyone finished watching Sonic and his companions leave aboard their new ship, the Cyclone, Illusi pleaded Razor's case to Copter and Punchy. "Well, I don't know. Gemini can come, I guess, if she wants to. But I don't want Guard and Razor on our ship!" Copter said. "You wanna come, Mousy?" Rainbow asked Illusi. "I'll pass. I'd go by my usual means, but I can't seem to enter the Twilight Cage. I think, perhaps, it may be an artificial dimension of some sort." he said. "I'll go and help! It's the least I can do!" said Gator, who was eavesdropping. Copter and Punchy both shuddered at the thought. Luckily, Punchy thought of a way out of it. "Uh, Gator, we need you to stay here. To, uh, keep an eye on Eggman. Make sure he fixes the Hurricane. And, uh, finds your... uh... Rolf." he said. Gator glanced suspiciously at Eggman, who was watching them from the doorway of his lab. "Yeah, he does look lazy..." he said. Razor still wanted to go with them. "We won't be trouble, Copter! Take us, too!" he insisted. Eggman decided to intervene on this. "Don't argue. Copter's ship isn't as big as Sonic's, since I was unavailable to help on it. I imagine it might get cramped with you in it as well." he said. Gemini smiled at Razor reassuringly. "Don't worry. I'll find your brother for you!" she promised. Bucky and his experiments pushed past Eggman and started to leave. "Yeah, yeah. Excuse me if we don't share in the heartfelt goodbyes and such, but we're done here. Drop me a line when you get back, Copter. Leave Punchy there, if you like. I'm going home!" he said, leading Vortex, Zipp, and Crash away. Eggman was growing impatient as well. "Listen up! I've detected some interesting energy signatures emanating from the Twilight Cage. In your ship, you will find a small detector to enable you to find the source of this... whatever it is. It seems rather... interesting... So, I'd like you to bring some of it back for me! To make sure you stay on task, I'm sending Char and Alpha with you as well. Have a nice trip, and I'll be sure to have your plane better than new when you return!" he said, walking away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I wish to say goodbye to an old friend... Poor Egg Bot..." With Eggman gone, Char began ushering everyone into the ship. "Let's go! Now boarding the Tsunami! Like the name? I thought of it myself!" he said. "Aw, do we HAVE to go with Alpha?" Punchy groaned, following the others to the Tsunami. The ship, which was parked inside the lab, was similar to the Cyclone, but was painted in black and red, much like the Hurricane. As everyone boarded the ship, Gemini hesitated, motioning to Razor and Guard. "You still want to come?" she asked. "Of course!" Razor said. Guard looked less than thrilled at the idea. "Grrrr... Gunner told me to check it out when I called him..." he muttered. Gemini smiled craftily at them. "No one's looking. We'll find a place for you to stow away! Come on!" she whispered, leading them onto the ship. Alpha sat down at the controls once Gemini joined the crew. "Are we sure that kooky robot should be flying?" Rainbow wondered. Copter shrugged. "He can't be much worse than the rest of us..." he said with a hint of worry. Outside, Gator and Illusi watched as the Tsunami rose through a hole in the roof of Eggman's lab and took off for the Twilight Cage. "Farewell, my friends. May your journey be a safe one..." he said, with a terrible feeling in his heart that he may never see any of them again...


Chapter 4 - The Twilight Cage

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
This story is based on the video game: Sonic Chronicles - The Dark Brotherhood.
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


Chapter 4, Act 1: Kron Colony  (Dark Brotherhood: Quest for the Chaos Emeralds)

Upon entering the Twilight Cage, the Tsunami immediately began to lose power! Unforeseen difficulties with the dimension had damaged a part of the ship, and they were forced into a bumpy landing on the nearest planetoid from where they entered. "Well, guys, here's the damage report..." Char said after examining the ship, "Our dimensional buffer has been broken! Alpha will be able to fix it, but we've lost power. We'll be stranded here anyway!" Alpha looked at the ground as though he was sad. "We fall down, go boom..." he muttered. Rainbow walked to the hatch of the Tsunami. "Well, if we're stranded, we might as well have a look around!" she said, opening the hatch! Punchy tried to stop her from exiting. "Rainbow, you idiot! What if we can't breathe in this atmosphere!? Close the..." A loud beeping from inside the ship interrupted him. "Yaaaah!! What's that!?" he shouted, startled. Copter held up the detector Eggman had left on their ship. "This gadget's getting a signal already..." he said. Rainbow called them from outside the ship. "I found something, guys! Come on out!" she shouted. "Well, we know the atmosphere here is OK..." Gemini said, "After you, guys!" Upon exiting the ship, Copter and Punchy found Rainbow holding a strange, lavender shard of some sort. As for the world around them, they had landed on a rocky planetoid with a very warm climate. It was known as Kron Colony. Char and Alpha flew out after Copter and Punchy, and grabbed the shard from Gemini to examine it. "Hmmm... This thing is interesting... It seems to be kinda powerful! We may be able to use it to power the Tsunami! But we'd need another one..." Char said, handing it back to Rainbow. "So, we gotta search around here... It kinda looks dangerous. Like there may be lots of avalanches..." Punchy grumbled. Copter started walking away, holding out the detector. "At least we have something to help us search. Let's hurry and find it..." he said. Char and Alpha waved to them. "We'll stay here and fix the dimensional buffer! Good luck, guys!" he said. Meanwhile, Gemini was sneaking away, followed by Razor and Guard...


Nova's ship landed on Kron Colony as well, but much more smoothly. Apparently, his ship was somehow superior to the Tsunami. As Nova exited his ship, Kosmo and Tommy followed carefully and quietly. Nova hadn't noticed them yet, and they figured they follow him to see what he was up to. Soon, Nova arrived at a fairly clear area, where a large, black, boxlike ship was landing. Kosmo and Tommy were a good distance away, but Kosmo wished to get closer. "All right, kid. Stay here, I'll be right back..." he said, morphing into a small, brown mouse to avoid being seen. Once the black ship landed, a lone marauder stepped out to greet Nova. He removed his helmet, revealing that he was Jak. "I got your message, Nova. Sorry about all of us leaving so suddenly. It seems they rigged up a device to send us all back to this accursed cage." he explained. Nova grinned at him. "Well, that won't stop us. So, what's the plan?" he asked. Jak glanced around briefly to see if anyone was nearby, but Kosmo's disguise matched the color of the terrain quite well, and he remained unseen. "Well, I'll tell you. Scattered around the Twilight Cage are these mysterious bits of some broken object. We call them the Twilight Shards. We're not sure how many there are exactly, but most colonies have one that they use as a power source. I believe we can put their power to greater use..." Jak said quietly. Nova seemed quite interested. "Shards, you say? I wonder what we might assemble if we found them all..." he said. "Exactly." Jak agreed, "We will search out all of the Twilight Shards, and with the powerful object they form, we may conquer the Twilight Cage, and then the universe! Ix has been content to leave the shards separate all this time, and that will be his downfall!" While Kosmo was eavesdropping, Tommy was looking around the area where he was hiding. In the distance, he could see Razor, Guard, and Gemini wandering the colony. "Wow... My brother followed us all the way out here... Too bad he doesn't trust Kosmo. He'll probably take me home if he finds me, so I better stay out of sight..." Tommy thought, hiding behind nearby rocks to avoid being seen. Suddenly, Kosmo appeared next to him! "Kid!" he called, startling Tommy. "Ah!! Oh, it's you, Kosmo..." he gasped. Kosmo pointed towards Nova and Jak. "Come on. They're us to something, and I think we should make things difficult for them!" he grinned.


As Copter, Punchy, and Rainbow were following a signal they were detecting, they were soon stopped by a strange creature, which appeared to be made out of rocks! It was mostly composed of brown rocks, but it had a large, black boulder in its chest. "Nocturnus! Turn back you will, or die you must! Defile you shall not this ancient ground!" the creature shouted! "Wow, what's this thing?" Rainbow wondered. Punchy raised his fists. "Who cares? It's hostile!" he growled. The rock creature look a little confused. "Know you not of the Kron? No, a trick it must be. Fool me will you not!" it said. To attack, it began spinning the boulder in its chest before tossing it at Punchy! He was surprised by this tactic, and he barely managed to avoid the attack! The boulder bounced back to the Kron, and it prepared to attack again! However, it was slow, so Copter, Punchy, and Rainbow spread out around it, forcing it to target them one at a time. While it attempted to hit Rainbow, Copter jumped at it and tapped into the power of his tailband to deliver a mighty tail whip attack, which knocked the Kron over! The Kron slowly attempted to stand back up, and Copter and Punchy watched from a distance, ready to run if it attacked again. "Strong you are for small furred creatures. Still, clearly Nocturnus you are not. Sonic the Hedgehog are you?" the Kron asked, no longer sounding hostile. "We're not hedgehogs... But, wow, Sonic sure got famous here fast..." Copter replied. The Kron glanced at Rainbow a moment. "Sparkly piece have you? Sense it, I do." it said. Rainbow held up the shard she was carrying. "Yeah, it is sparkly. Oh! It's not yours, is it?" she asked. The Kron looked at it briefly. "Not ours. Across Twilight Cage hidden are sparkly pieces. Desire not the sparkly pieces do the Kron. Use one we do, but need it we don't." it explained. "Well, then, can we borrow it?" Copter asked. The Kron glanced back in the direction it had come from. "Nocturnus you are not. If against them you are, each other we may help. Land here, Nocturnus has. Them you rid us of, and sparkly piece give you I will." it suggested. Copter glanced at Punchy a moment. He simply shrugged at the idea, so Copter gave his answer. "Uh, Deal we have... Or whatever. Where are these Nocturnus jerks?"

Elsewhere in the colony, Guard was checking out a strange energy he was sensing. The source of the energy was in a cave, and guard went inside alone to check it out. When he emerged from the cave, he was holding a shard similar to the one Rainbow had found earlier. "Grrrr... Is this object what the crew was searching for?" Guard asked Gemini. She didn't seem sure. "It might be. It looks like the other one, but I wouldn't know if it has the same type of energy..." she said. Razor tapped his foot impatiently. "Who really cares? Take it with us, I guess, but we gotta get back to looking for Tommy! I can't imagine what he must be going through right now..." he said, taking the shard from Gemini. As they started to leave, Jak and Nova approached them! "So, I see you found something, there! Hand it over!" Jak demanded. Guard raised his scythe. "Grrrr... Back off!" he growled. Nova morphed his hand into a liquid form, and from it shot a powerful jet of water at Guard! He was knocked against the rocky wall, and fell to the ground, stunned! "Guard! Are you OK?" Razor asked. Nova pointed his liquid hand at him. "You'll see for yourself just how OK he is if you don't hand over that Twilight Shard!" he threatened. Not far away, Kosmo and Tommy were watching from behind a large rock. "We have to do something, Kosmo!" Tommy pleaded. Kosmo shook his head. "Nnnnope, no we don't. At the very least, I don't. I think I have a better idea..." he said mischievously. "But, what about Razor!?" Tommy protested. Kosmo ignored him and started to leave. Meanwhile, Jak was holding back Nova. "Don't hit them like that! You might damage the shard! I have a simpler solution!" he said, taking out a remote and pressing a button! The remote called several robotic allies of Jak to the area. They were Gizoids! "Take the Twilight Shard from them, Gizoids!" Jak ordered. "Not so fast!" came the voice of Copter! Looking behind them, Jak and Nova saw Copter, Punchy, and Rainbow approaching with the Kron! Jak immediately sent his Gizoids to attack them! Gemini pulled out her wand while her foes were distracted. "Abra-ka-blastra!" Her spell created a small explosion, knocking Jak and Nova out of her way! She quickly joined the battle against the Gizoids, but with the Kron's help, it didn't last much longer! As Jak stood up from where Gemini's attack had flung him, he noticed his ship in the sky! "What? Who's taking my ship!?" he yelled in his rage. Though he couldn't see from his position, Kosmo was flying the ship! Tommy looked down from the ship's cockpit, and seeing that the Gizoids were nearly defeated, let out a sigh of relief. "I guess Razor will be fine after all..." he thought. As Copter knocked out the last Gizoid, it looked as though they'd won, but it wasn't over yet! When Copter, Punchy, Rainbow, and Gemini reached Jak, Nova was nowhere to be found! Worse, Razor and Guard were gone, too! "Hey, where'd they go? What did your morph pal, do!?" Gemini shouted. Suddenly, Nova's ship appeared overhead, and Nova dropped a rope ladder from the hatch on the underside of his ship. "I got the Twilight Shard, and some hostages to boot! Let's go!" he shouted. Jak immediately grabbed the ladder, and the ship began to fly away!

Copter, Punchy, Rainbow, and Gemini returned to the Tsunami dejectedly. It seemed they would be stranded on the colony forever, and worse, Razor and Guard were at the mercy of their captors. As they stood around their ship, trying to think of a solution, the Kron approached them. "Look not so sad, furred ones. Done well you have." it said. Copter looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean, 'done well?' They got away with that... what was it? Twilight Shard." he said. The Kron held up what appeared to be another Twilight Shard! "Not ours, they took. Foreman Krag I have spoken to. Valiant you have been to stop Nocturnus machines. Allies we now are. This shard you may take!" it said. Char, who was listening from the entrance hatch of the Tsunami, flew out and snatched the shard right away! "Thanks, rocky! This is just what we need!" he said cheerfully. As Char flew into the Tsunami to make his last repairs, Copter and friends waved goodbye to the Kron, who walked away without another word. Next, Copter glared at Gemini suspiciously. "And what were you doing wandering around with the guys we barred from our ship?" he asked. Gemini looked at the ground sheepishly. "OK, I helped them stow away... Razor's brother is out here somewhere! It isn't fair that he should be left behind!" she explained. Rainbow pat Gemini on the back. "There, there, Wanda. You're right! We should try to help them all!" she suggested. Punchy crossed his arms. "After how they treat us all the time? Sorry, I'm just in this trip for the Master Emerald!" he said. Gemini didn't like his tone. "Fine! Who needs you! I'll help them myself! Hmph!" she declared as she stomped into the Tsunami. Alpha poked his head out next. "It's time to go! Where's the bathroom?" he said. Copter sighed as they boarded the ship. "Great, now we're gonna be stuck in a flying metal box with Gemini growling the whole way... Isn't this fun..." he grumbled. Once everyone was aboard, the hatch closed and the ship began to take off. Char was looking at a map displayed on the ship's monitor. "We're off for... That place... there! Whatever it's called! Think it has a name? Can I name it?" he wondered. "I don't care, just as long as we get there fast..." Copter replied. Now, they were on their way, without a clue where they were going!

Chapter 4, Act 2: The Zoah and the N'rrgal  (Dark Brotherhood: Sector Scylla)

On the way to the next colony, Nova managed to catch up to the Nocturnus ship Kosmo had stolen! "Kosmo's gotten on my nerves for the last time! Take this!!" Nova shouted, firing his ship's weapons at the Nocturnus ship! Kosmo attempted to avoid the blast, but his ship was hit! Inside, Tommy was knocked over when the ship was hit, and Kosmo was frantically looking for a place to land the ship! "Wh-what's going on, Kosmo?" Tommy asked as he climbed to his feet. "What's it look like? We're in trouble! I see a planetoid nearby, though. Hang on, I'm gonna try to land this thing!!" he said. Luckily, back on Nova's ship, Jak began fighting with Nova. "What are you doing, you fool!? Don't destroy my ship!!" he yelled, grabbing for the controls and causing Nova's ship to spin out!

Kosmo managed to land the ship on the closest colony to the Kron Colony. It was a dark place, with several black colored buildings and gun turrets all around. It was known as the Zoah Colony. "Gee, good thing this was a Nocturnus ship, or the inhabitants here might've shot us down..." Kosmo said as he and Tommy climbed out of the ship. A tall creature that appeared to be wearing black armor was waiting outside the ship. "We noticed you were already damaged, so we decided to find out why. Now, I think I get it. You aren't Nocturnus, you are their enemies!" the creature said. Tommy backed away from the creature fearfully. "Wh-who are you?" he asked. The creature laughed at the question. "Trying to fool me into thinking you don't know I'm a Zoah? Crafty N'rrgal spies. We'll just see what General Raxos has to say about this." he said. Kosmo thought about his options. "Is this... Raxos... in charge of this place?" he asked. The Zoah nodded. "Now be silent. Raxos will decide your fate!" Kosmo shrugged and started following the Zoah, with Tommy nervously following. It wasn't long before they met General Raxos, a very large and frightening Zoah. "N'rrgal spies! How did you obtain a Nocturnus ship?" Raxos questioned. "We're n-not spies..." Tommy stuttered nervously. Kosmo stepped in front of Tommy. "Leave this to me, kid. Look, uh, Raxy, that ship? OK, we stole it from the Nocturnus. But our problem's with them, not you, so..." Raxos clearly wasn't buying this story. "Silence! N'rrgal spies, I am growing bored of you. If you truly are against the Nocturnus, though, I will allow you to fight for your lives. Defeat my champion, and perhaps I will hear you out..."


Meanwhile, the Tsunami had landed on another colony. It was a very green place, but not green with plant life. The alien landscape was covered in slime. They'd arrived on the N'rrgal Colony. As the crew exited the ship, Gemini shuddered at the sight of all the slime. "Slime... Always slime... It reminds me of those disgusting Lost Ones..." she groaned. Copter was holding the detector, which was getting a faint signal. "There's at least one Twilight Shard here. Maybe we should find it..." he suggested. Before they could start to leave, a few of the slimy inhabitants of the colony slithered over to the Tsunami! "What are those slimies doing?" Rainbow wondered. Alpha backed away from them. "Oh, no! They're gonna steal my brain!!" he whimpered. The creatures attempted to latch on to the Tsunami, but an energy pulse coming from the ship forced them away! "What was that all about!?" Punchy wondered. Char took a look at the area the creatures had tried to latch onto. "I think they tried to... eat the ship... But that was weird. What made them run away?" he said. Copter smiled, having come up with the answer. "I get it. They don't like the Twilight Shard. That pulse was the shard's energy. It protected the ship!" he explained. One of the creatures slithered over to Copter. "That issss correccct, strannnge creature. We N'rrgal cannot absssorb the sharrrrds. You arrrre free forrr now. But we will innnform our queennn..." it said before slithering away. Copter, Punchy, and Gemini stared at the creature in surprise. "They can... talk!" Gemini stuttered. Char giggled with excitement. "Yeah, the Twilight Cage is cool! I can't wait to explore this place! Let's find a shard, Alphie!" he said. Rainbow seemed a bit excited, too. "Let's meet more aliens, too! This trip's getting fun!" she grinned. Copter, Punchy, and Gemini glanced around nervously. "Yeah... loads of... fun..." Gemini muttered. "Well, we better get moving. I didn't like that critter's talk about their queen..." Copter said. "Follow me, everyone!" Rainbow cheered, leading the way. Punchy rolled his eyes as he and the others followed. "She enjoys going everywhere..." he grumbled.


Kosmo had begun fighting with Raxos's champion, Commander Syrax, a slightly less menacing Zoah than Raxos himself, but still an imposing foe. Kosmo had transformed into a speedy hedgehog form, similar to Sonic, and was racing around, looking to see how Syrax would react. "Strange creature, you are. You can change your shape. This may just be interesting!" Syrax said, turning around in an attempt to catch Kosmo. He aimed his crystalline arm at Kosmo, then fired his Power Burst attack, which Kosmo skillfully avoided before launching a homing attack at Syrax's head! Syrax swatted him aside, chuckling at him. "Surely you can do better than that!" As the battle continued, Tommy and Raxos watched from the sidelines. However, Raxos's attention shifted as Jak stormed into the room, accompanied by a squad of Gizoids! "So, this is what you're doing about them? Raxos, I demand you cease this foolishness at once, and execute those intruders!" he commanded. Raxos glared at him disdainfully. "On what authority do you make demands of me?" he growled. Jak put on his helmet, which now resembled Shade's. "I am the new Procurator, Jak! I am authorized by Lord Ix to make demands of you!" he declared. Meanwhile, Kosmo's battle with Syrax continued. He'd morphed into his fox form, and currently had the opening he needed to deliver a powerful tail whip to Syrax's chest! Syrax fell over, defeated, and Raxos began applauding Kosmo's strength. "Sorry, Procurator, but I made a deal with this creature, and he has beaten my champion. He has won his life!" he said. Jak was furious with his disobedience, as could be seen when he removed his helmet. "If you defy me, you defy Lord Ix. We can't have that! I will leave you now, but these Gizoids stay! Shut down their power grid, and show these fools how disobedience is rewarded!" he bellowed, leading his Gizoids out of the room! Tommy sighed with relief. "I thought we were done for..." he sighed. "We still might be, kid. I get the feeling old Jak is going to retake his ship..." Kosmo said. Syrax looked to Raxos. "Orders, sir?" Raxos thought a moment, then turned to Kosmo. "Help us protect our power grid, morphing creature, and we will allow you to leave aboard the ship you arrived in." he offered. Kosmo winked at him. "You got it, Raxy!"


As the crew of the Tsunami explored the N'rrgal Colony, their trip was soon interrupted by the appearance of Nova's ship in the sky! "Time to mine this place the easy way... After it's uninhabited!" Nova grinned, firing his lasers at random areas of the colony! The N'rrgal began slithering around in a panic, and the crew of the Tsunami were forced to take cover! "It's that same morph again!" Punchy growled, glaring up at the ship. "He sure seems cranky. Did the slimies do something to him?" Rainbow wondered. A nearby N'rrgal heard Rainbow's question and responded. "Nnnno, thisss ship jussst arrived. It must be a Zoah attaaack!" it said. Copter shook his head. "No, it's just a morph with an attitude problem..." he said. Another N'rrgal approached the group. "Rrrregardllless, he is dammmaging ourrr colony! Plllease, if you helllp usss, we will helllp you!" it pleaded. "I don't think we can do anything about this..." Gemini said worriedly. Char smiled confidently. "Alphie can knock out his weapons, no problem! Right, Alphie?" Alpha looked up at the ship. "Think he has any ketchup?" the robot babbled. Copter looked thoughtful. "Yeah... This might work... Here's the plan..."

As Nova continued shooting at the N'rrgal, Copter suddenly flew towards his ship! He stuck his tongue out at Nova. "Hey, blue boy! Betcha can't hit me!" he taunted. Nova immediately began targeting him. "Fool! I'll blast his Twilight Shards out of him!" he growled, firing! Copter quickly scrambled out of the way, while Gemini covered him by firing bolts from her wand at the ship's cockpit! "Argh! Another one! She'll die first!" Nova growled. Guard and Razor, whose arms were tied, but not their legs, looked down and saw that Nova was targeting Gemini! "You slime ball! Don't target her!!" Razor said, tackling Nova to mess up his shot! "Grrr... You coward!!" Guard growled, kicking Nova from the other side! "Quit hitting me!! I'll crash and kill us all!!" Nova yelled, pushing them away! When he looked back outside, he saw Rainbow gliding by. "Nya, nya, Morphie!" she taunted, drawing Nova's fire away from Gemini! While this was diverting Nova's attention, Alpha was approaching Nova's ship from behind, with Punchy riding him! "Steady robot! We're almost there..." Punchy said. Alpha began spinning as he flew, making it hard for Punchy to hold on! "Wheee!! I can fly, but I can't dance!" Alpha shouted. Once they were close to the ship's guns, Alpha fired some shots at them, damaging them slightly. "My turn!!" Punchy said, jumping off Alpha and grabbing onto the bottom of Nova's ship! He climbed to the guns and punched them as hard as he could, causing them to explode! The explosion knocked him off the ship, but Rainbow caught him as she glided by! "You gotta learn to glide, One!" she said. "Maybe..." Punchy gasped, shaken. With his ship crippled, Nova began to fly away. "Fine! I'll go see if Jak needs help! Lousy crazy punks..." Nova muttered.

Copter, Punchy, and their companions met up back at the Tsunami, where they rested briefly. "Nice flying, Alpha... Now where can I throw up..." Punchy groaned. Gemini was smiling. "Did you see how that morph hesitated? I think Razor and Guard helped us! They're still alive!" she said. Suddenly, the group noticed a swarm of N'rrgal approaching them! "Uh... They do know we helped them, right?" Punchy said worriedly. When they got close, the N'rrgal began to combine, and in a moment, a massive N'rrgal was there! "Alert! Alert! Mustard approaching!!" Alpha shrieked! Char looked scared, too. "Don't eat us!!" he begged. The giant N'rrgal looked down on them, or at least, appeared to. "Do nnnot be alllarmed. I ammm the N'rrgal Queen." she said. The group still looked frightened. "Uh, should we bow?" Copter asked. The queen ignored his question. "I have hearrrd that you stooooped that attaaack. I have commme to thannnk you perrrsonally, annnd grant you a rewarrrd." she explained. "You're welcome, your highness!" Rainbow said. The queen spit something out, which landed on Copter's head! "Yeowch!! What's this...?" he groaned. Gemini picked it up off the floor. "It's a Twilight Shard! Ugh... It's slimy..." she groaned. "So, you're not going to eat us? Well, um... Thanks, your majesty." Char said as politely as he could. "You arrrre welcommme, friennnds of the N'rrgal. Farrrrewell..." With that, the queen split into smaller N'rrgal again, and left the area. One N'rrgal who was watching nearby approached Copter, who was still rubbing his head from having the shard dropped on it. "You mussst be honnnored, blllack onnne. I thinnnk the queen lllikes you!" it said. Copter had a look of abject horror on his face upon hearing that. "Uhhhhh.... Let's get outta here!!" he shouted, running into the Tsunami as the rest of the crew laughed at him.


As Jak was attempting to find his ship, Kosmo was battling with his Gizoid minions. Though the Gizoids could copy his abilities, Kosmo could use so many abilities that the Gizoids found it impossible to anticipate his moves. The power grid that the Gizoids were attacking was not far from a landing pad in the Zoah colony, and it was at this landing pad that Nova's ship soon landed. Having noticed this, Jak ventured back in that direction to greet Nova, who exited his ship with Razor and Guard following, still tied up. Tommy saw this, and could not hold himself back any longer.

It didn't take long for Kosmo to take out the Gizoids, especially since the Zoah were helping him, and when he saw Nova's ship parked nearby, he ventured there to investigate. There, he found Tommy facing Jak and Nova! "You are a foolish child. Why would you approach us alone?" Jak wondered. Tommy held out what appeared to be a Twilight Shard! "I found this earlier. If I give it to you, will you let my friends go?" he asked. Hearing this, Kosmo ran to stop him! Nova and Jak made up their minds quickly, though, and before Kosmo got there, the switch was made! "Sorry, Kosmo! A deal's a deal!" Nova said, holding up the shard. Glancing at it, Jak suddenly snatched it away from Nova. "Wait... Look at... This is a fake! It's just a regular gem!" he shouted in frustration! Tommy had already untied Guard and Razor, and they pulled out their weapons at this point. "Grrrr... A deal's a deal, you said!" he growled. Jak sighed in frustration, but then grinned at them. "OK, whatever. Keep your friends. I found a real one, anyway!" he said, holding it up as he boarded Nova's ship! As they watched Nova and Jak escape, Tommy looked up at Kosmo sheepishly. "Sorry, Kosmo. I had to save them..." he said. Kosmo crossed his arms. "Oh, well. They would have gotten away with that shard anyway, I'm sure." he said. Razor leaned down and gave Tommy a hug. "That was very brave, Tommy!" he said. Guard's growling interrupted the reunion. "Grrr... Have we forgotten how this started?" he growled, glaring at Kosmo. The Morph grinned at his hostility. "Well, if that's how you're gonna be, stay here! I'll fly away without you!" he said. General Raxos, who had just arrived, pointed in the direction of the Nocturnus ship Kosmo had arrived in. "You have kept your end of the deal. You are free to go, with my thanks." he said. "Don't mention it! See ya around, Raxy!" Kosmo said, walking toward the ship. Tommy motioned for Razor and Guard to follow, and they slowly followed Kosmo as Raxos watched. When they reached the ship, Kosmo turned to them and waved. "Good bye! I wasn't kidding! No hitch-hikers!" he said. "But we can help you!" Tommy protested. Kosmo shook his head. "I don't need help!" he insisted. Razor aimed his gun at Kosmo. "Now, listen! You kidnapped my brother, and I'm sorely tempted to pull this trigger! Now, either we all leave together, or only three of us leave! You hear?" he threatened. Kosmo didn't even flinch at the weapon. "I didn't kidnap anybody. He tagged along. And if he still wants to tag along, fine! But his guests better realize that they're guests, and I can silence them any time I please. Now if you'll promise to behave, one of you can drive! I can't really make heads or tails of this vehicle anyway. OK?" he offered. Razor lowered his gun, glanced at Guard, and then entered the ship without a word. "Thanks, Kosmo!" Tommy said as he boarded the ship. "Yeah, yeah..." Kosmo muttered. "Grrrr... You can't silence me..." Guard grunted as he entered the ship. Kosmo chuckled as he headed inside himself. "Charming fellows, really..." he said sarcastically.


Chapter 5 - Exodus

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
This story is based on the video game: Sonic Chronicles - The Dark Brotherhood.
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


Chapter 5, Act 1: The Voxai  (Dark Brotherhood: Sector Charybdis)

The Tsunami, the Nocturnus ship, and Nova's ship all made their way to the same destination. The three ships landed in fairly close proximity on Voxai Colony Beta, a fairly dark place lit by strange, pink structures. The Tsunami and the Nocturnus ship landed side by side, and their crews met up as soon as they exited their ships. However, what first got their attention as they set foot on this strange landscape, were the manta-like, floating creatures known as the Voxai! Many of them were floating all over the place, but they simply ignored the newcomers. Even Nova was creeped out by them as he exited his ship. "What are these things? Jellyfish?" he wondered. Jak grabbed him by the arm and started leading him away. "They'll ignore us, Nova. Quickly, let's find the Twilight Shard before those meddling fools interfere again!" he said. Meanwhile, the crew of the Tsunami finally noticed Kosmo standing nearby! Gemini pointed her wand at him threateningly. "So, here you are! Let my friends go, morph!" she demanded. Kosmo stepped aside and let Razor, Guard, and Tommy through. "Take them. Please! I never wanted these stowaways around in the first place!" he said. "Me neither..." Punchy muttered. "Hi, Gemini! Sorry if we worried you!" Razor said. Alpha pretended to wipe a tear from his tearless eyes. "Aww, this is so touching... We're all alone together..." he said. Kosmo looked around and spotted Nova's ship nearby. "Oh, boy... They're here, too..." he said. "Who's here, Three?" Rainbow asked. Copter recognized Nova's ship. "That other morph, right? He's been up to something in this dimension, and I'll bet you know what!" he said to Kosmo. Guard nodded in agreement. "Grrr... I hate to say it, but I agree with copter-boy." he said. Kosmo sighed nostalgically. "Everyone gathered around me, filled with hate for the foe. It makes me miss the good old days... Fooling you into thinking I was controlling people's minds... Good times..." Tommy looked at him like he was crazy. "OK.... Maybe we should tell them what's happening, Kosmo." he suggested. Kosmo nodded and began explaining. "I overheard that morph, Nova, talking to that echidna. They're looking for all of the Twilight Shards, which they think will give them the power to overthrow that Ix character and take over the universe! Gee, normally these plans aren't so simple, are they? What lazy maniacs." he said. Gemini looked thoughtful. "If those shards are so powerful, maybe we better take the ones we collected with us! They might come in handy!" she suggested. "Aye, aye!" Char said, flying back inside the Tsunami to collect them. Copter looked around at the group they'd assembled. "All right, then. This could be serious, so we should all work together! Any objections? Good! Let's go stop those guys!"


Jak and Nova had separated by now. While Nova searched for the Twilight Shards, Jak tried getting the attention of the Voxai. Eventually, he got one's attention. "(What do you want with the Voxai, outermind?)" the Voxai asked. "Can you get a message to the Overmind?" Jak asked. "(The Overmind has control. It hears all.)" the Voxai explained. Jak grinned with excitement over his plan. "Right. You listening, Overmind? I have come to warn you that intruders have arrived, hoping to mess with your... perfect order. I request that you capture them, and do whatever you want with them. However, they are carrying stolen Twilight Shards. The Nocturnus would appreciate it if you would hold them for us. I will return to pick them up later." he requested. "(The Voxai will deal with these intruders. Farewell, outermind.)" the Voxai replied, floating away. Once it was gone, Nova arrived and held up a Twilight Shard! "Found it! But I think these critters have another somewhere..." he said. Jak looked thoughtful. "Let's worry about that later. I'm going to reclaim my ship, since it will be vacant. I'll meet you on the Nocturne, Nova." he said. Nova nodded in agreement, and the two of them split up once again.


As Copter, Kosmo, and their companions explored the colony together, it wasn't long before they noticed a change in the appearance and behavior of the local Voxai. They all began to turn red, and looked angry! "Hey, cool! I didn't know these fishies could change color!" Rainbow said. Guard pulled out his scythe. "Grrrr... I think they're hostile!" he growled. "Well, duh!" Kosmo said, morphing the tip of his tail into a spiky ball! As he began swinging his tail like a mace, the Voxai in the area came after them and started to surround them! Alpha immediately began shooting at them! "Bad bubbles! You all pop now!" he said crazily! As the Voxai began rushing in to attack, everyone did their best to fight back! "Did we do something to offend them!?" Razor wondered as he fired the last shots from his gun. "Who cares! Get back, you squids! Chaos Whirlwind!!" Copter created a chaotic wind that blew several of the Voxai aside, but many more came to take their place! Soon, they began getting close to the group, and one grabbed on to Razor! He struggled with it for a moment, and soon Tommy rushed to help. "You get away from my brother!!" he shouted, punching at the Voxai! The creature flew away after that. "You OK, Razor?" Tommy asked. Razor responded by attempting to tackle Tommy! "Whoa! Hey, what's wrong with you!?" Tommy shouted. A look at Razor's face told him something wasn't right. He appeared dazed and distant, as though he wasn't paying attention to what he was doing! "What's wrong with him?" Punchy wondered. A Voxai hovered beside Razor and answered the question. "(His mind is ours. You will soon join him! The Voxai conquer all minds!)" The group had been distracted by its words, and the Voxai took the opportunity to attack more of them! Rainbow, Tommy, and even Copter soon fell under the control of the Voxai! "(That's enough of them for now. Take them to Colony Alpha!)" a Voxai said, leading Razor, Tommy, Rainbow, and Copter away! "Yay! Take new toys to me!" Alpha cheered, apparently thinking the Voxai had been referring to him. "They said Colony Alpha!" Char said. "Stop them! There's no telling what will happen to them there!" Kosmo shouted.

The Voxai were too fast, and they lost the swarm quickly, but they continued heading in the direction the swarm had been going, until they reached a large, glowing pink device, which resembled a building. There, a white colored Voxai stopped them. "(Stop, outerminds! Turn back, before it's too late!)" he warned. Guard threatened the Voxai with his scythe. "Grrrr... Don't get in our way!" he growled. Punchy shook his fist at the Voxai. "We won't let you flying stingrays have our friends! Not even Rainbow!" he yelled. The Voxai backed away slightly. "(Those captives were your friends? I am sorry. There is little that can be done for them. Perhaps Sonic will save them.)" he said. Gemini walked towards the Voxai. "You know Sonic? And he's here?" she asked. "(Yes. I helped him enter Colony Alpha. My name is Thebes. Sonic is attempting to free the Voxai from the Overmind. But the Overmind has your friends. It is surely trying to lure you into a trap. If you enter Colony Alpha, your minds will be taken, too!)" the Voxai explained. Kosmo looked confused. "Wait, how is it Sonic can avoid being controlled by this 'Overmind?'" he asked. "(He has one of the Great Emeralds. It protects him. Say... You have power that has protected you thus far, too! The energy... Are they the Lost Shards?)" Thebes asked. Alpha held up the Twilight Shards. "These are pretty. They hurt my eyes." he said. Thebes thought for a moment before speaking again. "(Those shards may protect you from the Overmind, as long as you don't get too close to it. But you only have three, and I think they will only work for whoever is holding one...)" he said. "Grrrr... You non-robots take them. Grrrr... My mind may not be real enough to be controlled." Guard suggested. So, Kosmo, Punchy, and Gemini each took a shard. Thebes motioned to the pink device behind them. "(This will take you to Colony Alpha. Good luck, outerminds!)" he said. Without further delay, they approached the device, and were sucked into a strange vortex! When they emerged, they had arrived at Voxai Colony Alpha.

Colony Alpha was a brighter place, and even more alien in appearance. There wasn't time for sightseeing, though, because Copter, Rainbow, Razor, and Tommy were waiting for them at the entrance! They were still under the Overmind's control, and their voices echoed with the Overmind's words. "You should have turned back when you had the chance!" Razor said. "Your friends' minds belong to us now!" Rainbow added. "It is only a matter of time before your minds become ours as well!" Copter growled. "So, fight your friends if you must, but know that you are doomed!" Tommy concluded. Gemini was frantically searching her spell book. "I can't seem to find an anti mind control spell!" she cried. Kosmo morphed into Sonic and began mimicking him. "Don't worry! I'll save them, no sweat!" he said. Alpha crossed his arms and turned away. "I'm too hungry! I don't want to play anymore!" he said. Suddenly, Copter ran towards them, ready to fight! He was about to attack Gemini, but Guard stepped in and blocked his attack! "Grrr!!! Back off, Copter!!" he snarled. Meanwhile, Tommy approached Kosmo, who was now getting concerned. "OK, this isn't good... How to stop him without killing him... Oh, this kid's nothing but trouble!" he groaned, morphing back into his normal form and backing away from him. Rainbow and Razor both went after Punchy, who struggled with them, but tried not to hurt them. "Rainbow!! Snap out of it!! It's me!!" he yelled. "There is no escape, One..." Rainbow muttered, still with the Overmind's voice. Punchy scowled at her. "Aw, even mind controlled, she still calls me that!!" Char, who had been sitting on the sidelines so far, suddenly kicked Alpha! "You may not have a mind, but the Overmind will defeat you just the same!!" he said, apparently having fallen to the Overmind's control himself! Alpha ran to Punchy for assistance. "Save me, you!!" he whimpered. Punchy, however, now stood with Rainbow and Razor, grinning evilly. "Fools. Your Lost Shards only delayed the inevitable!" he growled! Gemini and Kosmo had been captured as well, and surrounded Guard. "Surrender, machines!" Gemini said. "Or you will be destroyed!" Kosmo added. Guard swung his scythe around, forcing them all back. "Grrrr... Fight it! Don't give in!" he growled. Alpha began shooting lasers at their mind-controlled companions. "Yay! Fight it or I will!" he shouted. It was looking rather hopeless, and soon Guard began to weaken. "Grrr... Can't... give up..." he muttered as he and Alpha were backed to the wall. Suddenly, however, all of the captives shrieked loudly and fell to the ground! As they did, Alpha hesitated before doing the same, just because everyone else did it. Guard stepped away from the wall and looked around. "Grrrr? What... happened?" he wondered. Looking out in the distance, he saw the cause. Sonic had defeated the Overmind!

Once everyone recovered from the battle, they explored Colony Alpha for a while, until Thebes found them. "(You're all OK! Thank goodness!)" he said happily. Copter scratched his head in confusion. "Who are you?" he muttered. "Thebes. The guy who helped us get here." Kosmo explained. Thebes was carrying something in his "fin." "(I brought you something. Your battle helped distract the Overmind, I think, so you may have indirectly helped to free us. So, as the new Overmind, I am happy to give you our Lost Shard!)" he said, handing the shard to Guard. "Grrrr... Thank you." he said. "(Now, I must be going. I have a lot to do! Farewell, outerminds!)" Thebes said before floating away.

With the Twilight Shard in hand, the group returned to the Tsunami. Jak had reclaimed his ship, so Kosmo, Tommy, Razor, and Guard were forced to squeeze into the Tsunami with the others. There, they discussed what to do next. "Me, I'm ready to go home, now that I found my brother." Razor said. Kosmo shook his head. "No, no, no! We have to catch Nova and stop his plans! There's only room for one crazy morph around here!" he said. Punchy pushed his way to the front of the ship. "As much as I hate to agree with Kosmo, we can't leave yet! We haven't found the Master Emerald! It must be at one of the two planetoids we missed!" he said, pointing to the planetoids on their map screen. Tommy pointed to the Zoah Colony on the map. "We were there, we didn't see any sign of any emeralds." he said. Char looked worried. "That leaves that big planetoid in the middle. But it's got some sort of force field thing around it!" he informed them. "Well, I guess that's gotta be the Nocturnus' homeworld, or whatever. We'll have to try to land there." Copter said, "After all, we owe that Jak character a few things!" Gemini was holding the four Twilight Shards they'd collected. "Maybe if I magically charged these shards, we can use their energy to shoot a hole in the force field!" she suggested. Alpha giggled at the suggestion. "BOOM!!" he said. "Sounds good! I bet Four put great weapons on this ship!" Rainbow said. Copter pushed his way to the front of the ship and spoke to the whole crew. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's do it!"

Chapter 5, Act 2: Citadel Showdown

"Copter's log: Stardate... uh... Wait, technically we're not in the stars... Or are we? I'll say 'date unknown.' We've teamed up with Kosmo, Guard, and that police porcupine, and we're on our way to the last place we can find in this Twilight Cage. I'm not sure we can trust these people not to betray us at the first sign of trouble, but, hey, I'm not completely sure I can even trust Punchy..." Copter muttered what he wrote in his log book as he wrote it. He'd started it when their journey aboard the Tsunami began, and he'd became rather fond of writing it. However, now they were nearing the Nocturne, and they would attempt to put their plan into action. Gemini pointed her wand at the Twilight Shards. "Charize!" Her spell set to work immediately, charging the shards with magical energy! Char then grabbed the shards and attached them to the power supply. "Keep your fingers crossed, everyone!" Char said. Alpha maneuvered the ship close to the shield. "Ready... aim... water!" The Tsunami's charged up lasers fired several times at the Nocturne's shield, but it was useless! "Eeek!! We're gonna crash! Turn us around!!" Rainbow screamed, covering her eyes! Char grabbed the controls from Alpha and steered them away from the Nocturne just in time to miss the shield! "Mission computered! I wanna play games now!" Alpha said. Looking out the window of the ship, Tommy saw something else approaching the Nocturne. "Look! Over there!" he shouted. A Zoah ship had fired a beam at the shield, which carried N'rrgals to it! The N'rrgal were eating a hole in the shield! Sonic's ship, the Cyclone, was heading for the hole! "Quick! Let's go through there!" Punchy shouted. "Where else would we go?" Kosmo muttered. Char quickly changed their course, and they dashed through the hole before even the Cyclone got through! The hole closed up once more immediately after the Cyclone was through! Gemini sighed with relief. "That was close... Let's find a place to land!"

Once they landed, Gemini disconnected the Twilight Shards from the ship and most of the crew prepared to exit. Razor, however, didn't move. "Tommy and I will stay and guard the ship. Tommy can't fight, and I've run out of bullets, so we'd really just be a liability." he explained. "Well, don't leave without us!" Kosmo replied. Tommy shook his hand. "We wouldn't do that, Kosmo! But that means you all better come back safe, OK?" Everyone agreed, and exited the ship. Waiting just outside the ship was a bright yellow Gizoid! "Welcome, visitors. Did you have a pleasant trip?" the Gizoid said in greeting. "Well, it was a little tricky..." Rainbow replied. The Gizoid chuckled at the response. "My name is Prefect Kronus. I am in charge of the Nocturnus' Gizoid army. I was sent by Procurator Jak to greet you." he said. Rainbow smiled. "Aw, isn't that nice, One?" Punchy rolled his eyes. "He's here to do something BAD Rainbow! Either capture us or kill us or... whatever!" he told her. Kronus motioned to the Nocturne. "Shall we go? This is no fit place for a showdown. Follow me!" As Kronus ran ahead, the team gave chase! Kronus ran to one of the buildings built into the rocky wall of the planetoid, briefly glancing back at his pursuers before going in! "Grrrr... You all know this is a trap, right?" Guard asked. "Yay! We have him trapped! Let's go throw pies at him!" Alpha giggled, leading the group inside! Sure enough, there was a squad of Gizoid Centurions waiting inside! "Make our guests feel welcome!" Kronus ordered! It looked dangerous, but Alpha simply laughed at the situation. "Silly robot! You work for Dr. Eggplant! Get back to Metropolis!" he said. Kronus glanced at Alpha. "Are your parts quite up to code? You seem to be mistaking me for someone else." he said. Char patted Alpha on the head and pointed him in Kronus's direction. "He insulted you, Alpha! Let's take him apart!" As the rest of the group began fighting their way through the Gizoid Centurions, Alpha and Char faced Kronus! "Meanie! I'm gonna tell mommy on you!" Alpha growled, shooting at Kronus! Kronus copied his laser ability, dodged the attack, and fired the same attack back at him! Alpha jumped aside. "Copykitty! Meow!" Before they knew it, they began a laser battle that wouldn't easily end!

In the meantime, the rest of the group managed to reach an elevator at the back of the room! "Should we help that robot?" Gemini wondered. "Why? He's doing such a good job distracting him." Kosmo replied, walking into the elevator. From there, they worked their way up to the citadel at the top of the Nocturne. As they entered the citadel from the back door, they found themselves in an important looking room. It was highly decorated along the walls, but it wasn't the throne room. A door at the other side of the room opened, and Imperator Ix emerged! He stepped to the center of the room to meet the intruders. "You are quite impressive, to make it all the way up here. As persistent as that hedgehog, who's also loose on the Nocturne." he said. Punchy stepped forward. "It's over, uh... Mr. Beardface! Sonic will get up here and trash you! You might as well turn the Master Emerald over to me now!" he shouted. "Mr. Beardface! That's a good one, One!" Rainbow giggled. Ix took great offense at this. "Enough! Even though you've gotten this far, it is all for nothing! I cannot be defeated by weak little worms like yourselves! You are not even worthy to challenge me! Therefore, I leave you to my new Procurator. Jak! Dispose of them!" Ix vanished in a bright flash of light, and when he did, Jak entered from the door at the back of the room! He was holding six Twilight Shards! "I have here the shards I collected, and the shards from the Nocturne! Using these, I will pound the remaining shards out of you fools! Then, the universe will be mine! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!" As Jak gloated over his plan, a puddle of water slithered into the room and materialized as Nova! "Well, well, if it isn't the big drip himself!" Kosmo joked. Nova grinned back at him. "Oh, yeah? That's all you can come up with for our final showdown? Oh well, we'll let our attacks do the talking!" he said. The six heroes in the room split up into groups of three, and the battles began!

While Copter, Gemini, and Kosmo dealt with Nova, Punchy, Rainbow and Guard challenged Jak, who had been powered up by the Twilight Shards! "If I gotta fight you to get the Master Emerald, so be it! Chaos Avalanche!" Punchy lifted chunks of the floor using his chaos power and tossed them at Jak, who merely punched his way through them! "Chaos? Ha! That's nothing compared to the power of Twilight! Watch!" Jak hovered in the air, keeping himself out of Punchy's reach. He then charged Twilight energy in his hands and fired a powerful beam at Punchy! However, Guard had followed him into the air, and pushed him aside, messing up his shot! "Grrrr... Enough magic, you coward!" he growled. Jak laughed at him. "You're just jealous. None can match the power of an echidna, wouldn't you agree, green one?" he said. Punchy glanced at Rainbow and then back at Jak. "I don't know about that..." he said. "It's true! In fact, we really shouldn't be fighting. You were among the last echidnas before. We are going to bring the echidna race back to the place of glory we so rightfully deserve! You should be my ally!" Jak said before getting knocked away again by Guard. "Grrrr... Silence! I will defeat you myself if I must!" he growled. While Guard battled Jak, Punchy thought about what he said. "Is he right? The Nocturnus ARE echidnas... And half of the people I'm fighting with are my enemies!" he thought, but the voice in his head seemed different. "Uh, wait! That's not me... Dark Punchy! Stay out of this!" he argued in his head. "The mere fact that you think in my voice means you agree. Just let me out, and I'll do what must be done!" Punchy grabbed his head and fell to his knees, struggling against Dark Punchy! Jak laughed at him. "I see you're considering my offer. Just remember, if you refuse, you'll die!" he said before shooting Twilight beams at Guard! Punchy struggled with himself further, and Rainbow ran to him in her concern. "C'mon, One! This guy's a jerk! You know who your friends are! Get up!" she shouted. Her voice echoed through his mind, drowning out Dark Punchy's. "She's... right..." Punchy jumped from where he was sitting, and threw a punch at Jak, knocking his helmet off! "I'm not one of you! Chaos Blast!!" The chaotic explosion Punchy conjured knocked Jak out of the sky, and his Twilight Shards fell to the ground!

Seeing this, Nova fired a jet of water at Gemini, causing her to drop her shards, and he quickly dashed around, grabbing all ten! "Too bad, Jak, old chum! Looks like I'll be ruling and you'll just be drooling! So long, suckers!" he shouted, running for a door! "Stop him!" Jak shouted, realizing he was being betrayed! Copter, Kosmo, and Gemini were the first to follow him, and as they made it through the door, it slammed shut behind them! Punchy tried to open it, but it was no use! "Looks like they're on their own..." he said worriedly. The room beyond the door was rather large, and contained an elevator leading up to Ix's chamber. Nova, however, wasn't going to let them see Ix! "Our rivalry ends here, Kosmo!" Nova declared! He morphed his body into liquid, but still retained his form. In his liquid state, he sucked the Twilight Shards inside himself, and absorbed their power to make himself stronger! "Ha ha ha ha ha!! Before you die, you can call me Supernova!!" His body had become pure energy, and he'd doubled in size! "What is he made of!?" Copter wondered. "Twilight energy! That's the power of the Twilight Shards!" Kosmo yelled, shielding his eyes from the light. Gemini fired a bolt from her wand at Supernova, but it was no use! "He's so strong! How can we stop him!?" she cried. Kosmo thought about it. "I'll just have to take those shards out of him! He's made of energy, so I could probably pass through him, but it's dangerous. I might not make it..." he said. Copter looked up at Supernova. "Maybe my tailband power can weaken him. Or at least distract him!" he suggested. Gemini held up her wand. "Right! I'll use my magic to shield you from his energy, Kosmo!" she offered. "All right! Let's take him down!" Copter cheered! Supernova started shooting bolts of Twilight energy at them. "Bow down to your supreme ruler! Ha ha ha ha!!" he roared! Kosmo morphed into his gargoyle form and took to the sky, circling Supernova. Meanwhile, Copter activated his bouncy shoes and bounced up towards him, swinging his tailband powered tails at his head! He bounced off of Nova, and was forced to fly away from his beam attack! "Fools! Idiots! I am made of power! You can't stop me!" Kosmo attempted to fly into Supernova, but he swatted him aside! "Ha ha ha ha!! You are so pathetic!" Nova laughed. Copter dropped to the ground and bounced up again, hitting Nova harder than before! "You waste your time!" he bellowed, but he did flinch slightly after being hit. Gemini decided it was time. "Abra-ka-blockra!" she shouted, creating a small shield around Kosmo, who flew inside Supernova seconds later! Supernova laughed at the effort. "Great! Now I just have two to deal with! I never thought Kosmo would commit suicide like that!" However, no sooner had he finished that remark than Kosmo's interference started to make itself known. "Hey, wait a minute! Hee hee, stop! Ahhh! That tickles!! Ha ha ha! Nooooo!!!" Kosmo dove out of Supernova carrying the Twilight Shards, but he had reverted to his normal form, and apparently didn't have the energy to fly! Before Supernova could attempt to snatch the shards back, Copter flew by and caught Kosmo! "Sorry, Supernobody, but your reign is over already!" Copter teased. As Copter and Kosmo landed on the ground, Nova began reverting to his normal form. "Nooooo!!! All this running around another dimension, for nothing!!! Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!!" he whined.

As Nova dropped back to the ground, the Nocturne suddenly began shaking violently! "Oh, great! What now..." Kosmo panted. Copter and Gemini helped him up, and they opened the door to the exit. "Sure, just leave! Fine! I'll get back at you later! Ha!" Nova shouted as they rejoined the others in the previous room. Char and Alpha had caught up with them as well. "Ha ha! I see you did it, Copter!" Char cheered. Guard interrupted the reunion. "Grrrr.... We have to leave, now! We looked outside, and the wormhole leading back home is closing!" he said quickly! Rainbow yelped at this. "Eeek! I don't wanna get stuck in here! Follow me, everyone! I'll lead us back to the ship!" Punchy hesitated. "What about the Master Emerald?" he said. "No time for that, Punchy! Maybe Knuckles will get it!" Copter said. Punchy sighed in frustration. "He'd better!" Without further talk, they headed outside, where the Tsunami was already waiting! Tommy stood in the open hatch, motioning for them to hurry inside. "No time to lose!" he shouted! They scrambled into the ship, and Char attached the ten Twilight Shards to the ship's power supply. "We'll need all the power we can get!" he said. "Right!" Gemini added, "Someone knocked the shield out, but the wormhole is fading fast! I'll give us more power! Charize!" With all this power, the Tsunami took off at high speed, with Razor at the controls. "Move over, officer! Alpha's better at this!" Char insisted. "That's debatable! OK, get up here, robot!" Razor replied. Copter was writing in his log during this. "Copter's log... If we don't get out of this, I just wanna say, Gunner stinks!!" he yelled as he wrote. As they approached the wormhole, Nova's ship was coming up behind them. It was close, but both ships entered the wormhole before it closed!

Upon exiting the wormhole, the crew blinked a few times to make sure their eyes weren't fooling them. The world around them seemed to have changed a lot in their absence, and Metropolis seemed to be rebuilt, even more dangerous looking than ever! "Wh-what's going on!? We weren't gone THAT long..." Copter muttered as he looked out the window. Kosmo pointed to Nova's ship, which was flying off into the distance. "Looks like he's getting away..." he muttered. Suddenly, the monitor on the Tsunami began buzzing! "That must be Dr. Eggman!" Char giggled, answering the call. "Char and Alpha here!" The monitor displayed a simple logo resembling Eggman's face. "This is the Metropolis Base Alarm System, BAS! You are flying over Eggman airspace without clearance! Prepare to be blasted out of the sky!" Char chuckled nervously as BAS hung up on them. "H-hey... But, BAS... It's us!!" he protested. Tommy tapped Char's head. "Excuse me, did he say... blasted!?" he whimpered. The entire crew blurted it out loudly at the same time, "BLASTED!?!?!?" Alpha started steering the Tsunami erratically. "Invasive maneuvers! Seat belts are silly! We're gonna go BOOM!!" As Alpha said it, several shots were fired from Metropolis, and the Tsunami was hit hard! "We're going down!! We're doomed, One!!!" Rainbow cried, grabbing onto her friend tightly! "Ack! Rainbow!! I don't wanna be so uncomfortable in my last moments!!" he gasped, struggling against her. Copter grabbed the controls from Alpha and tried to ease their landing. "It's no use! The controls aren't responding! This looks like the end!!!"

The End.......?


Sonic GeneX - 10th Anniversary
The Lost Chronicle

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

Author's Note: This particular story was meant to be read after "Knuckles the Echidna." It assumes you know all about the Deathbringer and Darkseeker of that story.


No one but Silver knows how time travel works for a psychic hedgehog. As he opened his eyes and found himself zooming through the river of time once again, for once, Silver had no idea how he got there himself this time. "Where am I going?? I was already in the past..." he gasps, finding himself at the mercy of time's harsh currents. A voice boomed all around him as if in response, both coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. "I have need of you, great timekeeper. Unless you intervene, your timeline will not exist." the ancient-sounding voice spoke. "Huh? ...How can that be?" Silver asked. "Your timeline is one of many possible timelines at this crucial juncture. By my power, I have seen the most likely outcome without your intervention. All heroes perish, and Dr. Ivo Robotnik conquers the world, all because of events that I set in motion ages ago..." the voice explained. Silver looked around for the source of this voice, but found no one. "Who are you? What do you mean, events you set in motion?" he wondered. The voice told his story as quickly as he could manage. "I am known as Argus. I am a powerful being who looked across the universe and saw great strife. Feeling that certain races were the cause of the strife, I created a pocket dimension called the Twilight Cage, and imprisoned these races within. However, a race of technologically advanced echidnas, the Nocturnus tribe, eventually found a way to escape, and wrought havoc upon your world. They destroyed Angel Island and sought to use the power of the Chaos Emeralds to fully free themselves and conquer your planet. Their schemes were stopped by brave heroes, and those heroes, not realizing it, revealed the error of my ways to me. They accomplished this by uniting the other races of the Twilight Cage against the Nocturnus, proving they had capacity for good after all. I had been a fool. Worse, due to the accelerated nature of time in the Twilight Cage, Dr. Robotnik had time to create his empire, and prepare for the return of the heroes, killing them on arrival." Argus explained. While Silver's mind reeled over this tale, a pair of dark figures sped past him through the river of time. Figures he recognized. "Huh??" They wore cloaks, and they were unmistakably the Darkseeker and the Deathbringer. "How?? Th-they're dead!" Silver gasped. Argus let out a disturbed grumble. "They are not the ones you know. Other forces have sent them back to alter the timeline as well. You must stop the Nocturnus before Angel Island's destruction, and keep further damage to the timeline beyond that minimal, at all costs." Argus warned. Silver nodded. "What else is new for me..." he sighed. "Angel Island will be over Metropolis soon. You need to get there." Argus instructed as a portal appeared in front of Silver, sending him out of the time stream...

When Silver emerged, he was in Station Square, and immediately he noticed a commotion nearby. It appeared people were throwing things at Kosmo, who had tried to blend into the crowd with a hat and trenchcoat, but apparently failed. "Guess I'd better get going..." Kosmo grumbled, not liking how gutsy the crowd was getting. Luckily for him, something arrived to divert attention from him! A Shield Pawn, which was a large, heavily armored robot belonging to Eggman, had wandered into the city and begun causing damage! "Well, good things do happen to bad people! Bye, Station Square!" Kosmo said, starting to leave. Silver could see that the bot would approach a young, yellow porcupine nearby if nothing was done, so he quickly grabbed the robot with his powers without a second thought, hurling it upward so that it crashed back down in a heap! This startled the crowd long enough for Kosmo to escape, and the porcupine, Tommy, looked back with a frown. "He got away... And I was gonna catch him for Razor..." he mumbled. "Uhh... Sorry?" Silver said awkwardly. He heard the irate voice of Argus in his head the next instant. "You should be sorry! I JUST told you to keep damage to the timeline minimal!" he said as the people dispersed, Silver apparently being the only one who could hear Argus. "Sorry, knee-jerk reaction. So, uh, where'd the Deathbringer and the Darkseeker go? How do I stop them AND the Nocturnus? This seems pretty tough already..." he muttered. A light flashed in front of him, and a paper appeared with names, addresses and phone numbers listed on it. Silver took it and looked it over. "These persons would not affect the timeline too terribly if they were to lend you their aid... in theory. Just don't tell them too much of their destinies, should you know such." Argus stated. Silver nodded. "Yeah, okay... Sheesh, I've done this before, you know!" he grumbled, reading the list carefully, "Hm... There could be complications here..." he gulped.


Meanwhile at Blue Ridge Zone, five Nocturnus Velites were surrounding Gemini the fennec, who was frantically pointing her wand around trying to defend herself. At this moment, Copter the fox, Guard the gargoyle, and Punchy & Rainbow the echidnas arrived, and the marauders turned to glare at them through their helmets. "What do you punks think you're doing!?" Copter yelled. "Grrrr... You marauders are cowards, ganging up on someone like that." Guard growled. One of the marauders grabbed Gemini by the arm tightly. "This girl was trespassing a little too close to a place she didn't belong. As are all of you, I'd say. Teach them some respect for our authority, boys!" he said, prompting the four others to attack the group! "Big mistake!" Punchy said. "...I agree... They're in my way!" The combatants stopped short as the Deathbringer swooped down from above, flapping its wings between them! "...I need her magic. You five are not required." the winged being said coldly, firing bolts at each of the Velites, killing four of them outright! However, the fifth morphed a hole in its stomach, evading the attack! "You killed my accomplice! ...Guess now I'll have to become you, Jak..." said the morph before adding feathered wings to his disguise and flying away! While Copter and the others were still staring in shock at the sudden deaths of the Nocturnus, the Deathbringer grabbed Gemini and started to fly off with her! "W-wait!!" Copter cried, only to be held back by Punchy and Guard. "Grrr!! You wanna end up like those guys!?" Guard grunted. "Poor Wanda..." Rainbow whimpered. The Deathbringer met the Darkseeker atop the wall separating Metropolis from Blue Ridge Zone. "With our combined magic... Let us open a rift leading to Twilight..." the Darkseeker bellowed, firing energy up into the sky! The Deathbringer gripped Gemini's arm and forced her to point her wand at the energy, despite her resistance. "Cast this spell..." it said, whispering. Gemini gulped and obeyed, too afraid to argue. "P-poriftica!!" she yelped, firing a violet beam from her wand that, when combined with the Darkseeker's power, opened a portal above them! The Deathbringer flew through the portal, taking Gemini along for the ride! "...I will see to things here..." the Darkseeker stated quietly as the portal closed behind the Deathbringer and Gemini. Below, Kosmo arrived to find Copter and the others staring up. "Hey, guys. Anyone seen a morph?" he mumbled. They turned to stare at him, and he groaned softly. "Never mind. Bye..." he growled. "Wait!" Copter shouted, "...Can you melt a snowbank for us? We'll tell you where the morph went if you do." he offered. "Rrr? You sure that's wise?" Guard asked. "What options do we have?" Punchy shrugged. Kosmo crossed his arms and slowly nodded. "Deal. Let's go." he said.


Silver met with Team Chaotix in front of the train station. They had to ride over from Central City upon receiving his call. "Hey, Espio, good to see ya... Um, Vector wasn't supposed to come..." Silver muttered. "He wouldn't hear of staying behind, and I couldn't really see a reason to argue." Espio shrugged. "Yeah, I'm the brains of this outfit! Why not use my superior intellect to help you out!?" Vector questioned him. Silver glanced at him awkwardly. "Ummm... I just think your uh... brilliance...is needed elsewhere." he mumbled unconvincingly. Three more teleported around Silver in response to his calls for aid. One was a confused looking feline with broad, white wings on her back: Whisk the Divine. Another was a dark gray she-wolf wearing the Covenant of Despair's uniform, who Silver was surprised to see. "Wait, you?? You're dead!" he stammered. "No, she's not. You know you're in the past!" Argus snapped in his mind. Fera the wolf crossed her arms. "Who said I was dead? GUN? They would..." she grumbled. The third visitor was that crazy, blue-haired man in the alligator costume, Gator. "What're we all doing here? I'm expecting an order of cola back at Egg-plant's base!" he said with a goofy grin. "I'm a bit lost. Who are all of you?" Whisk asked in befuddlement. Charmy was looking bored, as well. "C'mon, Silver! Tell us why we're here already!" he groaned. Silver looked around awkwardly. "Oh boy... How do I explain?" he muttered. "There is a ripple in the timeline threatening the very future itself. Is that not accurate?" Everyone spun around to find a hooded figure with a cane approaching them. Silver nodded slowly, looking at him carefully. "Hey... You're Copter, aren't you?!" he said hastily. The hooded figure fell forward over his cane a little, and gently lifted his hood to reveal the face of Copter. "Don't blow my cover, Silver! It's Dimentime!! Great, now all of them know... When do you find out, anyway? Wait, don't tell me. I shouldn't know spoilers." he growled. "Don't worry, I'll just forget anyway..." Whisk sighed. "So, uh... What's all this about the future?" Vector asked. Silver groaned in frustration. "You and Dimentime aren't on my list! And... I don't know how any of you can help me get into Metropolis!" he stammered. Gator looked around impatiently. "Can I go now? I gotta get back to Metropolis before my cola gets fed to some robo-armadillo!" he whined. They all stared at him for a moment. "Can you get us all in?" Espio asked. "What's in it for me?" Fera growled. "Eggman won't rule the world." Silver muttered. Fera nodded grouchily, and the group was soon following Gator, of all people.


The Deathbringer had taken Gemini to the Zoah colony in the Twilight Cage. "Time outside this pocket dimension moves at an accelerated pace... Fortunately, you possess a time travel spell, don't you?" the mysterious winged being said. Gemini nodded slowly. "I-is that why you brought me here? But... why are we here?" she asked. The Deathbringer looked around intently, as though sensing something. However, they couldn't stand around long before a local spotted them. "Intruders!! N'rrgal spies!!" shouted an armored Zoah as he came at them with some sort of blaster weapon! The Deathbringer simply raised its hand to the creature and fired a blast that pierced its armor, making it fall over, dead. Gemini recoiled nervously at this. "Y-you killed him! He was only doing his job, and you killed him!!" she stammered. "My job is more important." the Deathbringer huffed, "And we don't need him bringing more here." it added. Gemini watched the Deathbringer carefully as it looked around the area, and scratched her head. "...There's something familiar about you, though... Have I met you before?" she asked curiously. The Deathbringer knelt down to start digging where a small stone was jutting out of the ground. "Don't ask questions. We must focus on the task at hand." it said, wresting the stone out from the ground. Gemini peeked over the Deathbringer's shoulder to get a look. It appeared to be a lavender piece of...something. "This is a Twilight Shard. One of many pieces scattered in this pocket dimension. The inhabitants know not their power. However, the Darkseeker knows their secret. If we gather all of the shards, we can change the past and put the course of destiny in the right hands..." the Deathbringer explained. Gemini gulped at this. "A-and whose hands are the right hands, exactly?" she asked. The Deathbringer stood up and glared at Gemini through its hood. "I said no questions. Come, you will help me search for these shards. If you do a good job, the death toll will be minimal." it said, raising its broad wings for takeoff and grabbing Gemini once again. "...I guess I have no choice..." she muttered nervously.


With Gator's assistance, Silver's group managed to enter Metropolis without getting attacked by Dr. Eggman's robots. "OK, I can't help you any more, guys. The government told me if I tamper with time anymore, they'll put me on a tiny island where I can't mess up anything." Gator said before teleporting away. Angel Island was floating above Eggman's city, and now they had to figure a way up there. "Anti-aircraft cannons are set to eliminate any threats to the island." Argus warned Silver as he gazed up at the floating island. "Yeah, thanks for that..." he muttered. "Who are you thanking? Me? You're welcome!" Whisk smiled. "Yeah, who ARE you talkin' to?" Vector wondered, "You've said a few screw-loose things occasionally." he pointed out. "Never mind that," Silver sighed, "We can't fly up there. We'll be shot down." he told the group. Dimentime looked around, holding out his staff as though scanning the area. "Yeah... They've built a cannon on the island that'd make mincemeat out of a ship. Fortunately, we've got teleporters." he smirked. "No, no! Let's steal a ship and blast our way through! Full speed ahead!!" Charmy shouted, finding the dangerous solution more exciting. Silver sighed and shook his head. "Well, this is going to be tricky enough. You'd better stay behind, Vector. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be doing something down here, anyway." he said. "Yeah, but this is practically what I was supposed to be doing! How can you time-travel-cheat me to the solution and then leave me behind!" Vector shouted. "I think he means, someone's gotta answer our phones, Vector." Espio smirked, ribbing him teasingly. "Thanks a LOT!" Vector snapped. Fera grabbed Espio and Charmy by the arm while Dimentime took hold of Silver and Whisk. "Don't make any sudden moves while we're porting. For such distance, I need full concentration..." Fera grunted. "Is this gonna be like a ride? Can I go 'Weeeeeee!!'?" Charmy asked. Ignoring him, Fera covered them in darkness and warped, while Dimentime said "Galaporta!" to teleport his group with divine magic. When they emerged on the island, however, they found themselves instantly surrounded by angry and confused looking echidnas! "...Weeee?" Charmy muttered.

"Intruders!? They've hacked our teleportation tech!" one of the echidnas shouted. Fera growled. "Don't take that tone with me! I'm here for the good of all furs, to prevent Dr. Eggman's schemes from reaching fruition." she stated. The lead echidna stepped forward, removing her helmet to reveal her orange-furred face. "I am Procurator Shade. How did you get up here? Speak!" she demanded. Silver and Dimentime raised their hands, trying to appear non-threatening. "Easy... Uh, we were hoping we might have a word with your leader." Silver said. "Uh, yes... Urgent business. You see, clearly there's a hole in your defenses. We can aid you." Dimentime added awkwardly. Shade glared at them, and Fera snarled softly. "They're not buying it..." she growled. "Where did you learn to improvise?" Espio sighed. "Take them! They want to see Lord Ix, they'll get their wish!" Shade commanded, leading the echidnas to begin charging towards them! However, before a fight could break out, dark energy crashed between the groups, stopping them in their tracks! The Darkseeker had arrived, and glared at all present. Fera stared back in shock. "You!? I-uh... I apologize, sir..." she stammered, but the Darkseeker ignored her. "No one make a move until my hooded partner arrives... on pain of death!" it warned. "You talkin' to me?" Everyone gasped as the Darkseeker turned to find a certain blue hedgehog standing behind him. However, it seemed indifferent to the stranger. "Errr... Yes, you as well. Whoever you are." The blue hedgehog, Sonic, was joined by Big, Knuckles and Amy. "Do you suppose this is their boss, Sonic?" Amy wondered. "Hey, there's Shade!" Knuckles exclaimed, "Great, maybe I can reason with her..." he muttered. However, during this diversion, an air skiff approached, and landed with a crash nearby, startling everyone! Copter, Kosmo and Guard stumbled out of the wreck, rubbing their heads. "Watch our ride, Punchy..." Copter stammered. Looking around, it didn't take long for Shade to come to a decision. "Attack!! Stop these intruders!!" she shouted. "...Death it is, then..." the Darkseeker growled. "...I'm scared! Let's hide, Froggy!" Big was quick to take off as the situation escalated.

Nocturnus reinforcements noticed the ruckus and started to arrive, turning this tense situation into an all-out brawl. Sonic sped past the crowd, his first priority apparently being Kosmo. "If that morph goes aggro, things will get messy fast..." he reasoned. Copter pointed ahead at a familiar-looking echidna and glanced at Kosmo. "Isn't that the other morph?" he asked. Kosmo nodded, ignoring Sonic. "Hey, Nova!!" he called, making Sonic stop short and turn around to see the angry blue morph take his true form. "Blast it! You blew my cover! Now I'll have to kill everyone, too!" he snarled, hurling water blasts at the nearest Nocturnus Velites! Meanwhile, Dimentime was trying his best to keep a low profile while zapping any foes to come near him with his staff. "This wasn't part of the plan! My other is here!" he growled. Espio shrugged. "Forget your plan. Charmy and I are going to help Knuckles." he said, dashing ahead while tossing shurikens at any echidnas in his way. "Are you sure Knuckles isn't on THEIR side?" Charmy asked while following. Silver looked around in a panic, then looked up. "Any ideas, Argus?" he asked. "You need to stop Ix AND the Darkseeker!" the voice said. "Not helping..." he muttered. Fera glanced at Knuckles as he was headed for Shade, and scratched her chin. "I'd say the Master Emerald is unguarded, wouldn't you? Good bye!" she chuckled, warping away. "Wha-- Fera!?" Silver yelped. "Fera, Fera, Fera... I'll get her." Dimentime groaned, warping after her. Silver watched Knuckles shove his way past the opposition as he approached Shade. "Good luck, pal. We can use all the help we can get..." he muttered. Shade glanced at him. "What do YOU want?" she grunted. "Shade, call off this fight! We can work this out without hurting any more people!" Knuckles shouted. "Do you really think that?" Shade asked uncertainly. Before Knuckles could make a case, however, something came crashing down from the sky fast, barreling into Shade and knocking her towards the edge of the island! "Sh-shade!!!" Knuckles called attempting to reach for her hand, but he was too far, and he watched her go over the edge! When he peered over the side, there was no sign of her. "W-why...??" he stammered, turning to see what had hit her. It was the Deathbringer, who tossed Gemini aside furiously. "You're lucky I'm sparing you after that attempt to plummet us to our doom!" it growled. "I... I had to try to stop you..." Gemini whimpered.


During this, Dimentime had blocked Fera from the Master Emerald. "Back off! When I take the emerald, this island will crash, taking out Eggman, these marauders, and giving the Covenant of Despair what it needs to further their plans!" she shouted. Dimentime groaned. "I'm getting really tired of dealing with you, Fera..." he grumbled. "Have we met?" she asked, "Then let this be our final meeting!" she added, hurling balls of darkness at the hooded fox! Dimentime created a barrier to block them with his magic, but she warped behind him! "You didn't think I saw that coming??" she snarled. "Yeah, I did..." Dimentime grunted, flipping around and unleashing his tails, which were concealed by his robes, in order to whip at Fera and knock her down! While she scrambled to get back up, Dimentime zapped her with a spell, freezing her in place! "Hey!!" she growled. "It was you who taught me to never count out my enemy, even when they're down... Now, are you ready to behave?" he grunted. "You'll have to kill me!" Fera growled. Dimentime scratched his head. "...Or..." he muttered, waving his wand, "Memorizam!" he shouted, his spell leaving Fera with a blank stare. "Now, about your memory... Let me remind you that the Master Emerald is NOT here..." Dimentime muttered, helping her up and leading her back to the fray.


"ENOUGH!!!" Back at the battle, a furious voice pierced the surrounding area, and stopped most of the fighting instantly. Amy still saw fit to smack away a Nocturnus soldier with her hammer first, though. The source of the voice was an old, gray echidna: Imperator Ix, the leader of the Nocturnus. "I'm surrounded by incompetence! How did so many insects get past our defenses?!" Ix growled. Ignoring him, the Darkseeker approached the Deathbringer, accepting the Twilight Shards from the winged being. "Always the dramatic one, Ix... But now, after millennia of waiting, I'm going to shut you up... forever!" the Darkseeker removed his hood, making several in the surrounding area gasp, including Ix himself. "Th-that... No way! He's dead!!" Knuckles stammered. Beneath the hood was the former chief of the Knuckles Clan, Pachacamac! Ix glared at the old echidna. "Braved the ravages of time itself to oppose me, did you?" he chuckled, not seeing him as a threat. Pachacamac lifted the Twilight Shards, and they began to rise and combine. "My tribe tells an old legend. An ancient god, whose power was sealed away..." he stated as the pieces started to fit together, changing to a gold color as they formed the shape of a tribal mask. "So powerful was this deity, that the people feared him, and though he was safely sealed in this mask, it wasn't enough. So, they destroyed it, and the pieces were banished to the realm of twilight..." He held the mask to his face, a dark grin crossing his muzzle. "I will now be the latest vessel for our ancient god... Rise, Enerjak!!" he cried, placing the mask on his face! As a brilliant light glowed around him, Sonic chuckled nervously. "I have no idea what's happening, but I have a feeling it isn't good." he said. Colorful armor suddenly covered Pachacamac's dark robes, and a great spear appeared in his hand. "Ix of the Nocturnus... Your race has left me scattered in shards for too long... Good bye." he said, pointing his staff and firing a beam at the startled echidna, vaporizing him instantly and leaving no trace left! The other echidnas started to panic and flee, and Nova sprouted wings to fly away. "That power could have been mine... Oh, well. Better go home..." he sighed, escaping while Kosmo was distracted by Enerjak. Fera growled and backed away. "That isn't the Darkseeker... I've had my fill of this!" she said before warping herself off the island as well. "Argus...?" Silver whimpered. "...This is no success. In fact, you have failed in a more spectacular fashion." the voice said gravely.

Enerjak started to rise into the sky, his spear seeming to charge power. "I will destroy this place, to remind all mortals who their true god really is!" he shouted. The Deathbringer looked up nervously. "Th-this wasn't the plan! We were to defeat the Nocturnus and return to the present!" it said. "Your plan is meaningless. Enerjak is in control now!" the crazed echidna roared. Sonic, Knuckles and Guard tried to approach Enerjak to stop him, but he needed fire only a fraction of the energy his spear was charging to knock them away! "Grrr! He's too strong!" Guard yelped. Dimentime stepped over to Copter and held him back. "Please don't get yourself killed..." he muttered. "Do I know you?" Copter grunted. Knuckles looked frustrated as he sat up. "If we had the Chaos Emeralds, we could stop this guy, but the marauders stole them!" he growled. Gemini, hearing this, glanced upward briefly. "I can get them. Hey, you! I need a ride!" she called to Whisk. "Huh? ...I have no idea what's happening..." the divine sighed. Gemini ran to Whisk and held on to her. "Just fly up! Keep him busy 'till I get back, guys!" Gemini shouted, zooming up into the air and finding the spot where the portal she'd made before was. "I hope enough residual energy is still there... Poriftica!" she called, creating a new portal and disappearing back into the Twilight Cage. Seeing this, Silver ran to Enerjak and, using his powers, lifted some nearby boulders to hurl them at the echidna god! Enerjak wasted his charge zapping the boulders, and lowered himself to the ground, his glowing eyes glaring through the mask at Silver. "You pesky gnats..." Before he could act, Kosmo flew in as a hawk and snatched away his spear! "Zap us without this thing, 'god!'" he taunted. Enerjak raised his fists, energy sparking from them. "As you wish..." he growled, charging after Kosmo at high speed! However, Sonic jumped at him and knocked him off course, getting his attention! "You all DARE defy me!? I will break you one by one!" he shouted. "What if you have to deal with all of us at once?" Sonic smirked as Amy, Knuckles, Espio, Charmy, Copter, Guard, Kosmo, Silver, Dimentime and even the Deathbringer surrounded him. "This." he said, causing a shockwave that knocked them all back a good distance! "...That was really stupid..." Copter muttered. Enerjak turned to retrieve his spear, growling softly. "Now, who should die first...?" he growled. Suddenly, a portal reopened in the sky, and Gemini and Whisk flew back down! "How's my timing? That time-travel spell might be a touch iffy through dimensions!" Gemini called.

Enerjak turned to the new arrivals, and watched as the Chaos Emeralds were tossed from Gemini down to the ground below! Sonic reached up and caught the gems' attention, and in a flash, he'd transformed into Super Sonic! "You think yourself a god!?" Enerjak yelled, firing all the power his spear could muster directly at Super Sonic! The golden hedgehog casually floated up to Enerjak, taking no damage from the blast. "I'm not a god. I'm just a guy who hates bullies." he said, lifting the mask from Pachacamac's face and tossing it aside! Silver caught the mask with his psychokinesis, bringing it safely to his hands. "I'll see that this doesn't get used again anytime soon..." he said. Pachacamac had a look of panic as he felt his naked face. "M-my power! H-how will I avenge my people!?" he stammered. Suddenly, a deadly bolt pierced his chest, striking Super Sonic and knocking him back slightly. "Ooof!! Wh-wha??" Sonic gasped, watching the old echidna fall down dead so he could see the Deathbringer behind him! "That old fool was not worthy of the mantle gifted to him... Be glad, heroes. You have won the day. Oh, but be wary. Dr. Eggman seeks to betray you." it said before flying off, and then vanishing in front of everyone! "...Back to his own time... Whenever that is." Silver muttered.

With the threat over, everyone started to relax. Kosmo was quick to sneak off, while Guard flew back to GUN to deliver his report. Knuckles rushed back to check on the Master Emerald, while Gemini joined him, hoping to solve the problem of how to move the island back to where it belonged through magic. The others decided to thwart Eggman's latest scheme together, except for Silver and Dimentime, who watched from a distance as the heroes worked to get Copter's crashed air skiff working. "How'd we do, Argus?" Silver asked. "I should have called on the fennec first, but you were more convenient." Argus replied in a joking manner, "The timeline is sound. You can go back soon." he stated. Dimentime and Silver took a moment to shake hands. "I feel my intervention was not needed. The timeline is safe in your hands." Dimentime smiled. "You'll contribute something important someday. But I won't get the chance to say this then, so I'll say it now... Thanks." Silver smiled. With their necessary words exchanged, Dimentime vanished much like the Deathbringer had, and Silver was ready to return to the present.

As he rode the river of time, Silver heard some last words from Argus. "It's funny how time works. It seems the fennec was able to help the beings of the Twilight Cage grow as peoples a little in her quest for the emeralds in this new timeline, as well. I will be content to free the beings of the Twilight Cage, and return them to their own worlds." he said. Silver smiled. "I'm glad so much good came of this. Maybe my interference didn't go as planned, and maybe those strangers weren't supposed to be there, either, but perhaps it's better this way. Shame so many had to die, though..." he sighed. Argus chuckled softly. "I'll drop you somewhere that might make you feel better, then..." he said, "Farewell..."

Silver emerged in a small town. He wasn't sure why he was there, but he looked around a bit anyway. Soon, he came to a small house where someone was busily tending the garden. He did a double take as he looked at the person who was calmly watering the plants. She looked back with similar surprise. "I... remember you..." she muttered. Silver smiled softly at the echidna who had clearly retired to a life of peace. "I'm glad to see things ended well for you after all... Shade." he said.

The End    ...    ...    ...    BZZ BVZZZ ZZZT!!!



In a dark room, in an unknown point in time, the Deathbringer stood illuminated by a light blue spotlight. "Pachacamac went mad. I was forced to end him. Delta Protocol." it stated. A voice in the shadows responded. "Enerjak's mask will be donated to the Spagonia museum. A minor inconvenience to us. Take off your hood. Allow me to see your resolve." the voice commanded. The Deathbringer removed her hood, revealing a blue fennec greatly resembling Gemini. "I am Libra, designation Deathbringer. My Divine justice will rain across time and space to shift the balance of order and chaos as you see fit, my master..." she stated, her voice nearly monotone. The voice in the shadows hummed in approval. "Retire to your quarters, and await further instructions... The time will come when your services are needed again, oh Deathbringer..."

The End!


Sonic Vs. Dr. Eggman
Project 20

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

Author's Note: This story is unrelated to The Twilight Cage, but as I am bunching chapters together, I felt it necessary to put this somewhere.

A blue blur was speeding through the base, unhindered by any obstacles in its path! Robots of many types, sizes, and colors scrambled after the speeding creature, firing lasers, slashing blades, shielding themselves with spikes, and using any other means at their disposal to try to stop the intruder. The blue streak became a bouncing, blue ball, smashing each robot in quick succession, not letting anything slow it down. When the ball finally landed back on the ground, the speedy creature landed on his cool, red sneakers. The blue hedgehog, known to the whole world as Sonic, glanced around the room, admiring his handiwork. "More junk for the scrap heap! I wonder what Eggman's thinking. First, he attempts to kidnap the President. Then as soon as I show up, he runs off, leaving a trail of robots, and the President, behind. Seems like he wanted me to follow him, but the robots guarding this base are all stuff I've beat a million times before!" he said to himself as he started up a nearby stairway, heading for the twentieth and final floor of the tower Eggman had apparently lured him to. "I guess I'll just have to ask him what he wants!" he reasoned. At the top of the stairs, Sonic emerged in a large room, with a lot of empty space. There were a number of statues along the edges of the room. Many of the statues sported the round body and giant moustache of Dr. Eggman, but several were statues of Sonic himself. Dr. Eggman's voice seemed to come from everywhere as Sonic entered the room. "Welcome, Sonic the Hedgehog! How did you like my tower? I call it Eggstermination Station!" Eggman's voice declared. Sonic scratched his head, looking around with an unimpressed frown. "The decor leaves a lot to be desired. So, where are you, Eggman?" he asked. Eggman laughed menacingly. "Always in such a hurry, Sonic. Did it never occur to you that this whole thing was a trap?" he asked. Sonic grinned and chuckled. "Of course. The question is, where is the trap? Leave it in your other tower?" he teased. Suddenly, a giant robot dropped down from above, landing in the center of the room! The robot resembled Sonic a great deal, but its eyes were made of glass, revealing a cockpit inside. Dr. Eggman was piloting a giant Sonic suit! "This is the end, Sonic! Sure, I've said this before, but this is one machine that you won't break. No, this robot is designed to break YOU! Say hello to Metal Sonic 20.0!" he bellowed. Sonic let out a low whistle. "Now that's the biggest me I've ever seen. Well, except for a balloon at a Thanksgiving Day parade. They say imitation is flattering, but when you do it, it's just disturbing." he said, mocking the machine. Eggman chuckled confidently. "Make all the jokes you like, Sonic. It does my heart good to see you having fun... before you die!"

Sonic grinned at Eggman. "Well, you certainly went to a lot of trouble to get my attention, so I guess I'll humor you." he said. Eggman raised the fists of his robot, and then pointed the robot's fingers at him. "All right then, Sonic. Let the final showdown begin! Try this on for size!" he said, pressing some buttons on his control panel. The tips of the robot's fingers opened up, and ten missiles soared towards Sonic! Naturally, Sonic sped out of the way, nimbly dodging each missile as they homed in on him. As the last missile exploded behind him, Sonic jumped into the air and attacked Metal Sonic 20, knocking it back just a little bit. Sonic landed in front of the robot. "Been there, dodged that, Eggman." he remarked. Eggman chuckled softly. "I would expect nothing less. That was just a warm up. You see, Sonic, I've been prepping for this battle from the very beginning. Ever since you got in my way at Green Hill Zone, I knew you were a threat. So I started preparing for a long term battle." he said. Sonic crossed his arms and looked at him skeptically. "You don't say?" he muttered. Eggman nodded. "You were dangerous. So I took steps to ensure my ultimate victory." he recalled, "I had fought you several times. I was nearing my wits end. So, when you arrived at Scrap Brain Zone, I bought myself some time by dropping you into the section of the Labyrinth Zone beneath my base. I then designed a room to test you with. You remember. As soon as you entered, I attempted to smash you with my machines. What you didn't know, was that my machines were riddled with sensors, meant to collect data on you." Eggman recalled this battle quite vividly, especially how tired it had made him to dash between different columns of his smashing machines, trying to gather the data into a disk. Sonic chuckled as he recalled the fight as well. "I thought that scheme was weird. You knew I'd outrun those things, didn't you? But I bet you didn't expect me to trash your hover vehicle afterwards!" he teased. Eggman pounded his control panel angrily. "It was my Egg Mobile! And I still can't believe you had the gall to attack me while I was fleeing! So, think of this as payback!" he growled.

The Metal Sonic mech charged at Sonic, throwing quick punches at him, but Sonic dodged the attacks with ease. He then jumped and attempted to hit the robot back, but Eggman managed to dodge Sonic as well! Sonic landed on the ground and glanced at the robot he'd just missed. "Hmm, pretty fast for a big guy. I guess I'll have to step it up!" he said before attempting several more homing attacks. Eggman's robot dodged several of the attacks before Sonic scored a hit, but the robot took the blow without budging. Eggman laughed at Sonic's failed attacks. "Silly hedgehog. This robot is the result of ALL the data I've collected on you. I've had a lot of time to collect this data, perfecting my strategy and my technology." he explained. Sonic stood in front of Eggman, still grinning smugly. "Heh, big deal. I've been getting stronger all this time myself. I remember barely being able to defeat your first metal-me." he recalled. They both remembered that battle well. Eggman watched from safely behind the scenes while Sonic boarded his Death Egg, what he'd planned to be his ultimate weapon. Within moments, Sonic had found his way to Eggman's first robotic copy of him. This early Mecha Sonic was silver in color, and its attack patterns slightly mimicked Sonic's own attacks, though it had to improvise a bit. Eggman based the robot on what little data he'd collected on Sonic so far, so it was no small wonder that Sonic managed to destroy it. All he had to do was dodge the robot's semi-predictable attacks, and then attack the front of the robot, the back being covered with razors instead of quills. While Sonic was thinking back on it, Eggman attempted to kick Sonic with his latest Sonic robot, but again, Sonic dodged it. "Whew! Sorry I spaced out there, Eggman. I was getting a little nostalgic!" Sonic chuckled. Eggman chuckled as well. "This robot isn't like the first one. I knew you would destroy that Mecha Sonic! It was designed only to test you... To collect even more data! Do you see what I'm getting at now? I'm finally done gathering data. This is not a prototype robot, nor an alpha or beta model. This is the final instrument of your destruction!" he declared. Sonic shook his head. "Nah, it's just a cooler version of the OTHER robot you used after I trashed that first metal-me!" he said.


After Sonic had destroyed Mecha Sonic at the Death Egg, he found Dr. Robotnik, as Eggman called himself then, waiting nearby. Robotnik ran into the next room as fast as he could, and Sonic followed at an equal speed, allowing his nemesis to reach his final weapon. Once Robotnik was inside the cockpit, the giant robot rose out of the floor, towering over Sonic. The robot was designed to resemble Robotnik, and was heavily armored. Its hands had spikes for fingers, it came equipped with lasers and a jetpack, and just its foot alone was bigger than Sonic. The robot slowly and menacingly stomped towards Sonic, using its spiked hands to defend its weak spot on its belly. Sonic ran back, easily avoiding getting stomped by the robot's giant feet. Whenever he got an opportunity, Sonic jumped up and slammed against the robot's weak point, gradually breaking through its armor. Robotnik periodically flew high overhead and attempted to squash Sonic on the way down, but Sonic watched him carefully and ran out of the way just in time. It was a tense battle, but Sonic sensed that Robotnik was holding back in some way. After all, the robot's movement was so slow. Little did he know, Robotnik was planning for the failure he sensed coming. He watched Sonic's reactions to his attacks carefully, recording his observations with a camera hidden in the robot's eyes. He attempted to anticipate Sonic's moves in order to end their struggle here, but Sonic outran and outmaneuvered Robotnik's massive machine at every turn. Finally, Sonic broke through the robot's armor and hit its weakest point, setting off an intense chain reaction. Robotnik's machine crumbled to pieces in a spectacular series of explosions, which spread through the Death Egg. With no time to think of another plan, Sonic jumped out of the nearest exit and began to fall. The Death Egg was at the edge of space, and Sonic almost thought that this was the end. Suddenly, he heard a plane engine speeding his way. It was his best friend and ally, Tails! The Tornado, the plane Tails used to get Sonic aboard the Death Egg, had been damaged, but Tails managed to finish its repairs and caught Sonic on the wings in the nick of time! Sonic had to hand it to his little buddy, Tails had saved the day.


A lot of time had passed since those early battles. Sonic and Dr. Eggman had both come a long way, but as Sonic battled the latest of Eggman's robots, it seemed as though Eggman may have learned more in that time. Sonic found it difficult to land any attacks. This robot was pretty quick, and though Sonic was quicker, Eggman seemed to know just how to move to avoid his attacks. "What's the matter, Sonic? Can't you keep up?" Eggman taunted. Sonic sped towards the robot and leapt into the air, attempting to execute a homing attack. His balled up body flew at the giant Metal Sonic. Eggman reacted quickly, and the robot raised its hands and caught Sonic between them! Sonic struggled to break free, but was instead hurled into the air by the robot! On his way down, Sonic was kicked by Metal Sonic and went flying into one of the Sonic statues, crumbling it to pieces on impact! "Ha ha ha! How did you like that, Sonic!?" Eggman laughed. Sonic climbed out of the rubble shakily. He was a little beaten up, but fortunately, he was used to being tossed around like a ball. "Not bad, Eggman. You've got good reflexes for a chubby old guy." he said. Eggman chuckled. "Did you recognize that move?" he grinned. Sonic nodded. "Angel Island." he remembered. It was not long after the Death Egg crashed. Sonic and Tails ventured to check out the crash site and make sure Robotnik couldn't fix it. However, every step of the way they were met with the interference of Knuckles the Echidna, whom Robotnik had fooled into thinking Sonic was his foe. Still, Sonic managed to reach Launch Base Zone, where Robotnik was putting the finishing touches on the Death Egg's repairs. Sonic hijacked one of Robotnik's Egg Mobiles, evaded Knuckles, and found Robotnik waiting for him with some powerful machines. The most deadly of those machines was a more armored version of the Egg Mobile, complete with spikes on top. The machine had a pair of massive arms attached. Sonic did his best to outmaneuver it, but the machine managed to grab him in its giant hands and slammed him against the floor, injuring him. However, now that Sonic knew the robot's attack patterns, he ducked and dodged the arms and struck the cockpit, once again destroying Robotnik's machine. The new Metal Sonic being piloted by Eggman now didn't seem as imposing as that machine, but Eggman remained confident. "When I had you in my clutches then, my machine collected data on your annoying spin abilities. I put that data to use various times, but I was never quite prepared for it." he explained. Sonic chuckled at him. "Well, we'll see if you're prepared now!" he said.

The fight continued, and this time, Sonic moved a bit faster. He hit Metal Sonic 20 several times in different places, searching for a weak spot. The mech bobbed and wobbled in the directions Sonic kept hitting it, but it would not fall over. Eggman's eyes couldn't keep up with Sonic, so he put the machine on auto pilot for a moment. "See if you can handle this!" he shouted. Metal Sonic 20 threw some swift punches at Sonic, who dodged a few as he hit the machine back, but once a punch connected, several more followed before Sonic was kicked away once again! "Whoa!! That robot's pretty strong... Reminds me of Knuckles..." Sonic muttered as he climbed back to his feet. Eggman laughed a bit, but Sonic retaliated fast and hard, hitting the head of the robot with a homing attack! The robot fell over, but stopped the fall with its hands and somersaulted back to its feet! Eggman moaned dizzily from inside the cockpit. "So this is what it's like to be Sonic... Ugh..." he groaned. Sonic smirked at the dizzy doctor. "Maybe you should've made a real robot and not a suit, Eggman." he chuckled. Eggman recovered from his dizziness quickly. "A robot just doesn't work as well as someone with a brain! I learned that possibility watching you and Knuckles at the Hidden Palace." he said. Robotnik had been watching as Sonic made his way through the Hidden Palace Zone. He arrived at a room with a somewhat prophetic mural. Knuckles was waiting there. Almost immediately, a battle had begun, with Knuckles using flurries of punches while Sonic attempted to hit him with his spin attacks. Robotnik dispatched a sensor to gather data on the fight while he prepared for his next move. When Sonic finally managed to knock Knuckles down, noises in the next room caught both their attention. Sonic and Knuckles ran ahead to find Robotnik pulling up the Master Emerald with a claw attached to his Egg Mobile! Knuckles finally knew he'd been tricked, and chased Robotnik as he fled, grabbing on to the Master Emerald! Suddenly, a pair of electrodes came out from inside the Egg Mobile and gave Knuckles a terrible shock, hurling him back to the floor! As Sonic and Knuckles watched Robotnik escape, the floor below them collapsed, probably having been sabotaged by Robotnik. They landed in a room below which seemingly had no exit. Knuckles, however, revealed a path to a teleportation device, which he and Sonic used to arrive at Sky Sanctuary Zone.

Sonic tapped his foot impatiently. "Did you come here to fight or to reminisce? Not that I mind. I like how these stories end..." he snickered. Eggman's mech took a few steps toward Sonic. "Those stories are mere chapters in our epic struggle! The real ending comes today, and I guarantee you won't like how it TRULY ends!" he sneered. Metal Sonic 20 charged at Sonic, and Sonic ran as well, leading it on a chase around the room. This version of Metal Sonic was quite fast, capable of keeping up nicely, but Sonic was clever. He jumped atop the statues of himself, leaping from one to another. In its haste, the robot crashed into the statues over and over, smashing them to bits as it continued its pursuit. Sonic ran a safe distance ahead and turned to see how the bot was holding up. To his surprise, Metal Sonic 20 was still coming at him! The robot had scratches and scuffs here and there, but it was still in one piece, and it lunged at Sonic, curling into a giant ball before crashing into him! Sonic was knocked into the air a good distance, and before he could land, the robot caught up again and slapped him into a nearby wall! Sonic, thinking fast, launched himself from the wall and over the robot's head, landing behind it. "Not bad, Eggman. This one's almost as fast as me..." he said, panting a little. Eggman's robot turned to face Sonic. "So is the Metal Sonic you're more familiar with. Remember your first race? Ha ha, I designed that track to gather even more data on your annoyingly impossible to replicate speed." he said. Sonic thought back to his race with Metal Sonic on the Little Planet, when Eggman sought the power of the Time Stones. "He wasn't that fast... Your traps on the track just slowed me down a little!" he recalled. Eggman frowned, looking a bit dumbfounded. "No wonder that data proved to be of such little use... But at least I gained a nice recurring hostage! Your hapless girlfriend could be considered my greatest ally!" he teased. At the finish line of the race, Sonic finally rescued the young Amy Rose, seemingly winning her heart for all eternity. As he recalled the many times she was captured since, Sonic gave Eggman the same dumbfounded expression. "You might have something there, doc... Eh, if it wasn't Amy, it'd be someone else. Now, are you through goofing off, Eggman?" he asked. Eggman wore a sinister smirk. "We're just getting to the fun part..."

Metal Sonic 20 leapt into the air and launched its very own homing attack at Sonic! The hedgehog retaliated with a homing attack of his own, but when the two blue spheres collided, Sonic was hurled across the room! Before Sonic could land, the metal Sonic suit caught up to him and unloaded several punches on the helpless hedgehog! After a final uppercut, Sonic was allowed to land. He was bruised and battered, but not beaten yet. "That... all you got?" Sonic smirked. Eggman was beaming; his machine seemed to be a success. "Just think if I had a Chaos Emerald installed..." he grinned. Sonic chuckled. "Yeah, you might actually stand a chance..." he joked, "But I think you'd need all seven." Indeed, the power of even six emeralds had failed to defeat Sonic in the past. Dr. Eggman's plan at the time was almost complete. He'd just swiped a Chaos Emerald from the flicky Amy had been protecting, and now he'd found Big the Cat and Froggy, which was inevitable, in his mind. They had no way off his Egg Carrier. His latest minion, Chaos, had just obtained his sixth Chaos Emerald, and now swallowed Froggy as well, reclaiming the tail that the frog had somehow acquired. However, Eggman sensed that his plans were about to fall apart as Sonic managed to catch up to him. "Oh, no! Not again! Chaos! Could this be the same beast?" Sonic wondered. His attention turned to Eggman's sinister laugh. "Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, yes! Attack Sonic, now!" he commanded. His over-enthusiasm masked his true feelings. "Sonic already... Chaos has failed time and again... Good thing we're atop the ship's sensor array. I can collect data on this fight for future use..." he thought. Suddenly, Big stepped closer to the impending battle. "Froggy! ...I must save Froggy!" he cried, not quite knowing what to do. Sonic glanced at the hapless fat cat. "Another victim of Eggman's scheme... He's sure gettin' around today..." he thought. Of course, he couldn't turn a blind eye to Big's troubles. "If he's your friend, I'll help you. Just leave it to me!" he said. Eggman grinned at his good fortune. The hostage situation might just improve his chances. "Ha ha ha ha ha! Now I have six of the Chaos Emeralds! There's only one more left to find! I even found Chaos' missing tail!" he laughed. "You won't get away with this, you madman!" Sonic shouted, more determined than ever to stop him. "I will! You're no match for Chaos... even though he's not perfected yet!" Eggman declared through his doubt, "Okay, Chaos! Destroy them all... Immediately!" With that, Chaos went on the attack, jumping around, attempting to inhale Sonic, even lashing out with tentacles and his powerful tail. Sonic sped around, avoiding every attack, while Big cast his fishing line to rescue Froggy. With the frog saved, Big left the battle, and Eggman began to get frustrated. "You won't make a fool out of me! ...Aha!!" In his desperation, Eggman hurled ice-spewing devices at Sonic. It was a big mistake. Sonic grabbed the machines and hurled them into Chaos' mouth, freezing the beast long enough for him to smash through it, breaking it into a thousand pieces! "No way! I can't believe this!" Eggman groaned. "Sonic!" Compounding Eggman's troubles, Knuckles arrived on the scene next. "Hey, there, Knuckles! Glad you finally made it! I thought you got lost or something!" Sonic remarked. With his plan in ruins, Eggman saw no choice but to retreat. "Until we meet again, Sonic!" he growled as his Egg Mobile carried him away from the Egg Carrier. "Stop! Come back here!" Sonic gave chase, jumping down into the Mystic Ruins below. Eggman's day would be ruined further in time.

Eggman had grown sick of Sonic's endless jokes and mocking. It seemed he had no inkling of the seriousness of the situation. So, before Sonic could catch his breath, Eggman had Metal Sonic 20 grab the hedgehog in its hands, squeezing him in its grip. "Chaos Emeralds or no, I've come too far to lose now! Don't forget, I've nearly killed you before! I'm rather glad you escaped on the ARK, though. That would have been a truly anticlimactic end..." he said, thinking back to the ARK. Amy had fallen into Eggman's clutches yet again, and Eggman was waiting from the seat of his Egg Walker, holding a gun on Amy so Tails, who had arrived before Sonic, wouldn't try anything. Soon, a metal door slid open and Sonic emerged. Eggman continued pointing his gun at Amy. "Let's take care of business first, shall we Sonic? Hand over the Chaos Emerald, slowly and then we'll talk about your girlfriend. That is, if you really care for her..." he said. Sonic had an idea at that moment. "Handing over the fake Emerald, I can kill two birds with one stone." he whispered, glancing at Tails, who nodded in agreement. Eggman pointed his gun at a circle in the center of the room. "Put the Emerald down right there and back off!" he ordered. Sonic smirked at Eggman as he strode to the center of the room. "You've turned into a big time villain, doctor!" he said, a bit too sarcastically. Eggman was no fool, and he took a moment to activate a capsule, which slid down from the roof to where Sonic was standing, locking him inside! "Whoa!" Sonic gasped, surprised. "You thought you could trick me with that fake Emerald, didn't you?" Eggman growled, his sensors having alerted him to the apparent fake a while ago. Tails was particularly surprised by this turn of events. "So... how did you know it wasn't the real one?" he wondered. "TAILS!!" Sonic shouted, too late to stop his friend's unwitting remark. Eggman chuckled. "Because you just TOLD me, fox boy!" he pointed out. Tails and Amy watched in terror as Eggman prepared for what might be his ultimate triumph. "Now, for a little space ride! The capsule clears the colony, BAM!" he said, brimming with glee. Sonic, realizing that this could very well be the end, turned to his friends. "I'm counting on you, Tails! And Amy, take care of yourself." he said. Eggman grinned triumphantly as he sent the capsule into space. "Farewell! Sonic the Hedgehog!" he grinned. Amy ran to the window and watched in terrified disbelief. "Sonic!" she cried. Within the capsule, however, Sonic hatched a last minute plan. He recalled Shadow's Chaos Control, and also what Tails said about the fake Chaos Emerald. "The same wavelength and properties... But, can I do this?" he asked himself. To the onlookers above, it seemed that Sonic was blasted into oblivion in the next moment. "Farewell, Sonic... My admirable adversary." Eggman whispered, feeling somewhat empty over the ease of his victory. Little did he know, Sonic had pulled off the Chaos Control, and was alive and well elsewhere in the ARK. It relieved Eggman later, when his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, appeared on screens throughout the world, announcing the completion of his own plot from beyond the grave. Working together, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, and Eggman himself foiled that plot, saving the world. Furthermore, Eggman gathered some data on Shadow after his robots rescued him at the last minute. He would put this data to good use in the future.

Even now, Sonic grinned from within Eggman's grip. "Gee, Eggman. Seems the only time you win is when we're on the same side." he taunted. Eggman retaliated by hurling Sonic across the room. Sonic landed on his feet, and ran at Metal Sonic 20, dodging missiles along the way. The robot ran up to Sonic with incredible speed, taking Sonic by surprise! It kicked Sonic a few times before spin dashing into him, knocking him onto his back! Eggman laughed manically. "Look at you, Sonic! You're finished! Ha ha ha! And for all your jokes, I'm still here! In fact, the only time I thought I might have been finished... It wasn't at YOUR hands!" he laughed, "Well... Metal Sonic... But not you!" Back then, Metal Sonic had betrayed his maker. Eggman was trapped aboard his own ship, with little he could do, save for sending a walkie talkie to someone for help. Lucky for him, help soon arrived. "We're here to save you!" said a voice on the other side of the metal door blocking his exit. The door was busted open, and Vector the Crocodile emerged, followed by Espio the Chameleon and Charmy Bee. "Dr. Eggman, I presume." Vector said. Eggman sneered up at them from his seat on the ground, and Espio and Charmy stared in disbelief. "What's going on?!" Espio gasped. "What's up?" Charmy added. Eggman had disguised his voice, but Vector alone had deduced his identity. "You knew it was me all along, didn't you?" Eggman remarked. "It's all part of being a good detective." Vector replied smugly. Espio looked embarrassed. "Were we fooled that easily?" he said. "You're ROTTEN!" Charmy yelled. Eggman stood up hastily, sensing he wasn't out of the woods yet. "Hey hold on you guys! It's no trick, and besides I plan on paying you! You'll be rewarded handsomely for helping me! As soon as I conquer the world... I WILL PAY YOU!" he said dramatically, desperate to escape. Vector clenched his fists angrily. "Some nerve promising what you ain't got..." he growled. "We've been had!" Espio added. Eggman backed away slowly. "It's just... Wait a minute! Just listen to me!" he begged. Charmy pointed his stinger at him. "Take this you bad man!" he yelled, charging at Eggman, who shouted in agony as he got what was coming to him! It took a few minutes of pain, but soon Eggman managed to get Team Chaotix to hear him out. "Then who was it?" Vector asked, "Who locked you up here for trying to conquer the world?" Eggman looked ashamed as he was forced to admit it. "It was... Metal Sonic. My own creation..." he sighed. Luckily, a large group of Sonic's friends, as well as Sonic himself, had assembled. Together, the Sonic Heroes defeated Metal Sonic's ultimate form, leaving him deactivated in his normal form. Eventually, Eggman salvaged the robot, and all the data it had collected. He had somehow come out ahead!

Sonic climbed to his feet, still intent on fighting this battle. He dashed towards Metal Sonic 20, but suddenly, the Eggman statues in the room began to move, shooting at him with laser eyes! Sonic jumped and dodged the lasers frantically, and was forced to back away from Eggman's mech a bit. "Ha ha ha! You see? Even my base itself is rigged against you!" Eggman laughed. Sonic was busy avoiding lasers, and Eggman watched with glee. "My many data collections are paying off... Though it has been a slow process. Take Darkegg Fortress... The entire base was rigged with hidden sensors. I thought I'd finally have enough data to finish you off, but oddly, I didn't get much on you... I got more on Tails..." Eggman's cameras on Darkegg Fortress had captured one memorable battle in particular. Tails had arrived at the final elevator leading to the roof. He had taken it upon himself to face Copter, who had been working for Dr. Eggman throughout that day. He was fairly certain Copter was headed this way, but expected he had arrived first. The elevator came to a stop at the top floor, which was Darkegg Fortress's power plant. To Tails' surprise, Copter was already there! "I've been expecting you!" Copter said. "You must think you're so great, being 'real!' Kinda wish I was." he growled. Tails stepped out of the elevator slowly. "Copter, why are you siding with Eggman?" he wondered aloud. Copter ignored him. "Look at you! You make me sick! It is painfully clear to me: You don't deserve that tailband!" Tails thought Copter meant that in response to his question. "What does that have to do with anything!?" Copter pointed at the tailband, which Tails was already wearing. "That tailband contains power beyond your understanding! Give it to me!" Tails would not let Copter intimidate him. "Not until you tell me why you want it!" he demanded. "Why!?" Copter yelled, "You want to know why!?" Copter was stopped cold. "Hey... Why IS that?" he thought. "Then again, who cares!?" He laughed at Tails. "You do realize that you're in no position to be asking questions! That belongs to me! I opened the Chaos Shrine! So hand it over!!" Tails could tell that Copter was a bit uncertain about this, which served to increase his belief that there may be some good in him. "You don't even know why, do you? Why can't you just stop this then?" Copter was suddenly seized by an intense rage. "You want to stop me!? Just try and stop me!! Come on, if you want the tailbands so bad, take it from me!" Copter seemed ready to fight to the death over this. Tails felt Copter misunderstood him. "I don't want them! But that doesn't mean I'm gonna let you have them!" Copter's anger only increased. "You annoying little.... GIVE ME THAT!!" He rushed after Tails and kicked him into the elevator doors, breaking them with the force of the attack. Tails fell to the floor in front of the elevator shaft. "Fine, then, Copter... Have it your way..." he muttered, rising to his feet. "If you want to fight, then I guess there's no choice!" His determination surprised Copter somewhat, but he found it more annoying. "Then face me, coward!" he shouted. The ensuing battle was not fully captured by Eggman's cameras, since they ultimately took it outside, and then took off in their planes to continue to battle in the air. The sensors, however, had collected quite a bit of data, and Eggman was surprised by what young Tails was capable of. He thought perhaps that data on Sonic's friends may be more useful than he originally believed after that.

Eggman was so busy daydreaming, that Sonic's next attack took him off guard! Sonic jumped from statue to statue, smashing them one by one as he worked his way to Metal Sonic 20. He then smashed into the robot's cockpit, actually cracking the bulletproof windshield slightly! The robot staggered backward, and Eggman was a bit aggravated. "Crack my window, will you!? Let's see you catch me NOW!" With a push of a button and a flick of a lever, Eggman activated a pair of jets in the soles of the robot's feet, allowing the robot to fly up out of Sonic's reach! "Hmm, what data led you to do THAT?" Sonic said, surprised, but amused. Eggman started firing missiles at Sonic from above, but Sonic took off at incredible speed, building momentum so that he could run up the walls of the room! He jumped from the wall to attack Metal Sonic 20, but the robot flipped in midair, causing Sonic to miss! "Nice try! I collected data on your speed, skill, and reflexes as well! Remember the EX World Grand Prix? I knew the treasure of Babylon MIGHT be a dead end, though I'd hoped it would be better than a carpet... Anyway, I had my robots rig your extreme gear with bugs and other gizmos to gather even more data. It was useful... But ultimately, incomplete. You see, something happened in the finals..." Eggman recalled. Sonic glanced up at him from the ground. "I really should have kept a closer eye on that board..." he realized. The final race had gone very well. Sonic managed to get a good lead, and as they reached the home stretch, it looked like his rival, Jet the Hawk, would be stuck in second place. "Noo!" Jet growled as he realized this. But he still had an ace up his sleeve. Eggman wasn't the only one who had rigged his board. As Sonic got close to the finish line, Wave the Swallow was hiding nearby, and she pressed a button that set off a bomb attached to Sonic's board! Sonic tumbled to the ground as Jet crossed the finish line first, and Eggman's bugs were wrecked in the explosion. Jet showed off for the crowd a moment before stopping to taunt Sonic. "Ah, the dirt suits you so well!" he grinned. Sonic wasn't quite sure what had happened, but it was pretty obvious he'd been cheated. Still, Sonic got his rematch moments later, when the Chaos Emeralds reacted with a strange cube in Jet's possession, causing Babylon Garden to rise into the sky. With a new, untampered-with board, Sonic raced Jet to catch up to Dr. Eggman, and emerged victorious.

Sonic and Eggman began exchanging blows. For every hit that Sonic landed, Metal Sonic 20 smacked him away like a tennis ball. Neither had any intention of backing down. Suddenly, their fight was interrupted by an intruder, who appeared in the room with a puff of smoke! It was the strange, blue haired man in the alligator suit whom Sonic had encountered on his way to Darkegg Fortress some time ago. "Hey, guys! Time out a minute!" he shouted, getting their attention. Eggman scratched his bald head. "Erm... Who are you? How dare you trespass on my Eggstermination Station!" he yelled. "I am the Great Gator! Wait, didn't I tell you guys that before? Aw, never mind. My memory's not so great. Anyway, I got a bet going with the robots downstairs! Who's winning? It's Sonic, right?" the strange man asked. Metal Sonic 20 stomped its foot angrily. "NO, YOU DOLT! I'm winning!! How dare you bet against me!!" he shouted. Sonic snickered. "Oh, you're winning? I didn't know we were keeping score!" he joked. Gator shrugged. "There's a lot of robots who won't be happy to hear this. Plus me. C'mon, Sonic! You can do it!" he said. Eggman groaned in disbelief. "My own robots are betting against me...? Who's betting in my favor?" he wondered. "Oh, the kooky-crazy robot... Uhh, Alpha. Hey, this is a clip show, right? Ooooh!! Can I pick the next clip! Can I, huh? Can I, can I? Huh? HUH?" Gator begged. Sonic and Eggman stared blankly at him. "Ohhh, all right. If you'll leave us alone afterward..." Eggman said. Gator thought for a bit and began telling his story. "OK, the year was 2006. The job market was lousy, a young 2BIT was struggling his way through 12th grade, and Tails the Fox was shaping up to be the best Sonic game never played. Our old pal Copter had been trying to save that fiery red phoenix, Heather, from crazy old Vortex, who thought she killed Experiment 11..." he began. He went on to talk about the showdown between Copter and Vortex, where Vortex rode on Zeke the Dragon's back while Copter fought from the wing of his plane, the Hurricane, while Heather piloted it. Heather really didn't know how to fly a plane, so they got in trouble fast. Copter had to think of a plan. "We gotta end this, quick! Try to get us close to Zeke! Then, I can try to finish this!" he suggested. This was far easier said than done, since Vortex kept using Chaos Inferno and Zeke kept blowing fire, but soon, Vortex began to tire. "Blassst!! Chaosss Inferno drainsss ssso much of my energy! Enough gamesss!!! Zeke, I don't care how, get me a clear ssshot!!" he shouted. Zeke stopped blowing fire, and started chasing the Hurricane. "RAWR!! We're right behind them! Perfect!" he said, speeding up to get Vortex his shot. As they began to get close, Heather pulled back on the wheel, causing Zeke to pass under them! Copter jumped from the wing and landed on Zeke's back, right on top of Vortex! The chameleon pushed Copter to the side, but he wouldn't be pushed off of Zeke! As they began struggling, Zeke roared in pain as every punch and kick that missed hit him! "RAWR!!!! Stop that, you maniacs! I'll drop you both!" he growled, trying to shake them off! Copter and Vortex grabbed on tight, refusing to let go! "Sssstop that, Zeke! I'll get Copter off if you sssstop that!!" he yelled. "Fine, but make it quick!" Zeke said, steadying himself again. With this one chance, Copter and Vortex each called out their attacks! "Chaos Whirlwind!!" Copter shouted! "Chaosss Inferno!!" Vortex hissed! The two attacks were launched at the same time, and both Copter and Vortex were slammed directly! They both began falling from Zeke, and the dragon was unable to catch them due to the Whirlwind attack knocking one of his wings off balance! "Vortex!!!" he shouted, watching his companion falling alongside Copter! Heather wasted no time flying the Hurricane under Copter and catching him on the wing. Vortex, though within arm's reach of the wing, chose not to grab it. "Come on! Grab hold!" Heather shouted. "I'd rather die! Either way, I can't avenge Eleven now!" Vortex growled. As he fell below the Hurricane, it seemed he was done for. "Vortex!!" Copter shouted, stunned by his stubbornness. Suddenly, as Vortex fell, something flew towards him! In a moment, it caught up and grabbed him in its arms! "Dying is for losers! You're much too good for that! Oh, let me introduce myself. I'm Whisk!" As Vortex looked up at his savior, he knew who it was instantly. "A divine.... E-experiment 11!" he gasped, fainting in her arms with relief and exhaustion... "And that's how I learned to water ski!" Gator said at last, though no one could figure out what that had to do with anything. Eggman looked particularly puzzled. "What was all that babble!? Was it supposed to have ANYTHING to do with me or Sonic?" he wondered. Gator nodded. "You were fighting Sonic with your Egg Wyvern nearby! Don't you remember?" he asked. Sonic looked confused as well. "Egg Wyvern? I think you made this whole thing up." he said. Gator sighed in frustration. "Whatever, you two get back to your thing. I'm gonna go get popcorn!" he decided, vanishing in another puff of smoke.

"Now, where were we?" Eggman grumbled, furious at having been interrupted by Gator. "I was just about to finish taking apart your robot!" Sonic chuckled. Eggman growled at him. "You still don't appreciate my genius, eh, Sonic? Perhaps you think I never learned from any of my mistakes. I did! After losing with so much of your data collected and utilized, I realized that just collecting data on you wasn't enough! So I gathered more..." Suddenly, lasers emerged from Metal Sonic 20's wrists, and began firing at Sonic, the blasts resembling certain alien weaponry Sonic had seen before. "The Black Arms, for instance! How do you like their lasers?" Eggman shouted. Sonic dodged the lasers with ease, only to be smacked by a watery tendril coming from Metal Sonic 20's palm! "Ooof!! ...Chaos, too, huh?" Sonic grunted, jumping away from the tendril. From the robot's other palm came a powerful blast of dark energy, which Sonic scrambled to avoid! "And that present's from Dark Gaia! Unfortunately, though, I haven't been able to duplicate Silver's power, despite having collected some data on him as well, however..." Eggman pressed some buttons, and the robot swung its arm, sending numerous Chaos Spears in Sonic's direction! He dodged a few, but Metal Sonic 20 came at him with a fiery kick while he was distracted! Sonic was flung back a bit, but not badly burned. "Shadow and Blaze, I guess. Got anything on Marine?" Sonic joked. Eggman scowled at him. "Stop mocking me and acknowledge my genius!!" he yelled, coming at Sonic with a flurry of several different attacks! Sonic did his best to avoid the onslaught, but once he was hit by a single stray Chaos Spear, Metal Sonic 20 began pummeling him with punches, kicks, homing attacks, and Chaos' tendrils, attacks that left Sonic battered and bruised, but not beaten. Eggman stopped in a few moments to look down on the injured Sonic. "Today, I will FINALLY kill you... But not until you fully understand my brilliance! I want you to respect me before I finish you!" he said. Sonic glanced up at him, holding his side, his injuries apparently taking a toll. "Go ahead, keep trying. But, just to let you know... I won't give up!" he grinned.

Suddenly, a familiar laser was fired from Metal Sonic 20's chest, which Sonic barely avoided. "You go right ahead and keep fighting, Sonic! My robot still has more tricks left!" Eggman shouted. A bunch of bluish cubes were fired from the robot next, flying high into the sky before plummeting down on top of Sonic! While the blue hedgehog attempted to avoid touching the cubes, balls of spikes rolled towards him as well! Sonic jumped high into the air and landed away from the projectiles. "The Wisps' color powers, big deal. I've seen you use those before." Sonic pointed out. Eggman pulled a lever on his control panel, and suddenly, the entire robot began to transform! It became bigger and more fearsome, resembling Sonic's Werehog form! Sonic let out an impressed whistle. "OK, that's a neat trick. I'd like to see regular Metal Sonic do that!" he said. Eggman chuckled. "This form... It reminds me of my finest hour! The first moment when I truly managed to defeat you! Or don't you remember? Yes, Sonic... I beat you once before, only... I made a slight mistake..." he said, recalling an epic battle with Sonic. They were on a humongous battleship hovering high above the Earth, around the edge of space. Eggman had gotten the upper hand with a robot he'd built to challenge Sonic, or so he thought, but Sonic transformed into his super form! As Super Sonic, he easily smashed Eggman's robot! "Uh oh... Time to go!" Eggman yelped as he took off in his Egg Mobile. Super Sonic gave chase, heavily damaging Eggman's battleships in the process. They soon arrived at a ship that was shaped quite differently from the others, like a laser pointed at the planet. Eggman crashed his Egg Mobile in a room on this ship, and Sonic soon busted into the room through the floor! "S-sonic!" Eggman whimpered, groveling at the super hedgehog, "I-I'm sorry! R-really! L-look, go easy on me! I'll turn over a new leaf, I swear! Just give me a chance!" Sonic stood there, looking at Eggman with slight surprise. "Well, this is new. Showing remorse, Eggman?" he said skeptically. "If you played nice, I wouldn't have to break all your toys." he teased. Eggman grinned while Sonic was distracted with his speech. "Gotcha!" he said, pressing a button on a remote device! Mechanical devices surrounded Super Sonic, generating an energy field from which even this super powered form could not escape! Eggman laughed maniacally as the Chaos Emeralds were extracted from Super Sonic and drained of their energy! The ship they were on opened up, revealing its massive laser, while Sonic howled in pain, the energy coursing through his body in a way he wasn't used to. Eggman laughed again as he stepped to his ship's controls. "Oh, I've waited a long time for this! Fire!!" he shouted, unleashing his powerful laser on the planet below, shattering it into pieces and releasing something from within. "Whoa..." he gasped watching the results of his attack. Meanwhile, Sonic started to transform, growing larger, more muscular, hairier, and generally more beastly! "Ho ho ho! Success! A brilliant success!" Eggman cried as Dark Gaia emerged from within the Earth, "It's just as the Gaia Manuscripts foretold! The entity that was sealed within the planet has awakened. Now I just need to harness its power. Eggman Land will finally come to be! Nya ha ha ha!" Sonic slowly rose to his feet, panting and growling. "You've really... gone and done it this time, Eggman." he snarled. Eggman grinned down at him. "Ahh, Sonic! That's a good look for you. Festive!" he joked, "So long, friend!" Eggman sealed off his control area and opened a window near Sonic, causing him to be sucked out and plummet to the Earth along with the Chaos Emeralds! "I defeated you... no, Super Sonic, with my overwhelming brilliance! I just... underestimated the strength of your new form. Somehow, you survived that fall and went on to ruin yet another of my glorious plans!" Eggman growled from the cockpit of Metal Sonic 20, "Well, this time, it's a perfect plan. I'm not sure if you noticed, but in addition to all that other data I told you about, this robot was also created using data from the Gizoid, the athletes of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, and even what I managed to steal of Bucky's X Experiments reports!" Sonic chuckled. "Is that all? Too bad, Eggman. I think you still need more data. Because I'm still gonna win!" he said.

Metal Sonic 20 hurled a couple punches at Sonic, stretching its arms just like Sonic's Werehog form! Sonic was growing tired, and ended up taking the punches, staying on his feet through sheer willpower. "Give it up, Sonic! It's hopeless! This isn't like when Metal Sonic passively copied bits of you and your friends' data to become the Metal Overlord. I used TWENTY highly comprehensive collections of data for the construction of this robot! It is the pinnacle of EVERYTHING I've done so far! I've planned for anything you could possibly dish out at your best, and you're utterly exhausted now. Accept defeat!" Eggman said, his voice filled with more confidence than Sonic could ever recall. Sonic took a few steps forward and began stretching, readying himself for the rest of this battle. "It's true, Eggman... This version of Metal Sonic caught me off guard. In my current condition, I probably can't really beat it. But you wouldn't get any enjoyment outta this if I didn't give it my all, would you?" he said, his voice filled with respect for his foe for the first time Eggman could recall. The doctor smiled to himself. "Indeed. So, why don't you give me your very best shot? That will make it all the more satisfying when I wipe you out once and for all!" he said. Sonic was about to launch his attack, but suddenly, Gator reappeared in the room with a puff of smoke and a bag of popcorn! "Hey, guys! Did I miss anything?" he asked. Metal Sonic 20 stomped around to face Gator, Eggman sneering from the cockpit. "Go away!" he growled. Gator gulped at the werehog-shaped robot in front of him. "Ooooh, you must be almost done. Hey, got time for one more clip for the clip show? I've got a scary one this time!" he offered. Eggman glanced back at Sonic briefly. He was panting a bit. It would be too easy to finish him in this condition, wouldn't it? So, giving him some time to rest seemed fair. "All right, weirdo. Scare us." he said. Sonic sat down to listen. "I bet it's another made up story. Might be interesting." he grinned. Gator started his story. "It was a dark and creepy night... A terrible monster called Nightmare Xenegg had wiped out all of Sonic's friends. Even Tails and Copter! So, Sonic was on his own to fight this monster in the Nightmare Zone..." he began. Nightmare Xenegg, a fusion of a ghostly E-series robot and a shadowy version of Chaos, was seeking revenge on Sonic for the robot's untimely destruction. He had already killed Sonic's friends, and now was after him. "Y-you... monstrosity... What have you done!? My friends... all of them... I'll.... I'll..." Sonic was stuttering, he couldn't compose himself. Nightmare Xenegg laughed at the lone hedgehog, his voice having turned to a monstrous, gurgling, mechanical nightmare. "Look at the mighty Sonic now! You know you've already failed! After all, what do you have if not your friends? You are nothing, and now I shall end your pitiful, useless life at last!" Sonic was now more enraged than he'd ever been in his life. His hatred for Xenegg was infinite. A pair of glowing objects nearby caught his attention. They were the two Tailbands of Chaos, which had fallen from Tails and Copter when they died. Sonic wasn't sure if he could use them, but he ran to them and placed them on his wrists like bracelets. The power of his anger invoked the power of the tailbands, but in an unexpected way. Rather than Super Sonic, the rage within him transformed him into Darkspine Sonic, a form he had only previously used in the world of the Arabian Nights! "That's it, Xenegg... It's time for my nightmare to end, and YOURS to begin!" Sonic roared, ready to end this. He charged at Nightmare Xenegg with all the power inside him, but to no avail! Xenegg still stood, and quickly began flying after him! Darkspine Sonic tried again, but simply bounced off. Xenegg smashed his metallic fist into Sonic, sending him flying a fair distance. Still, he couldn't give up. He wouldn't! With all of the power he could muster, Sonic soared at Nightmare Xenegg. The monster didn't even try to dodge, it simply laughed as Sonic bounced off of him once again. What was worse was that Sonic felt as though he was getting weaker. "What's going on?! Why can't I hurt you?" he said in despair. Xenegg laughed as a bolt of lightning crashed into him and simply bounced off. "Fool! We are in the Nightmare Zone, and you are using darkness on me! I used the Book of Nightmare to absorb dark energy, so your attacks are simply making me stronger! Ha ha ha ha!!" He was right, too. Sonic felt the power of his new form quickly draining away. He dropped to the ledge as he reverted to his normal state. "Y-you... monster..." he muttered feebly. As Xenegg's monstrous form began dropping slowly towards him, Sonic began blacking out. Nightmare Xenegg landed on the balcony in front of him, and then picked Sonic up in his claws. Sonic's eyes grew dark as he began to lose consciousness. The final thing he heard was the victorious laughter of a spirit completing the dark task it remained on the world for and finally passing on to Hell... "AAAAAAAHHHH!! I've gotta go see my therapist!" Gator screamed as his story came to a close. He teleported away, leaving Sonic and Eggman alone again. "How did he know about Xenegg? That robot was destroyed before it even completed its first mission..." Eggman muttered. Sonic stood up, feeling a little better from the rest. "I bet you liked that story, Eggman. It WAS pretty scary, too." he said. Metal Sonic 20 reverted back to its normal form as Eggman turned to face Sonic again. "If you want scary, I'll give you scary! But I'll be sporting about it, Sonic. Come at me with all your strength! But know this, if you fail to defeat me this time, I will finish you once and for all!!" he declared.

Sonic took off at high speed, but instead of running toward Metal Sonic 20, he began running in circles around the entire room! "Try to outrun this, Eggman!" he shouted, picking up speed as he dashed around the room. Eggman tried to keep his eyes on Sonic, but it was impossible. Sonic was going at unbelievable speed, kicking up a hectic wind as he ran around, smashing through the remaining statues in the room as he went! He picked up an intense momentum, and Eggman braced himself for the inevitable impact. "This is it... Sonic's full power!" he thought. Once Sonic had reached the greatest velocity he could in this room, he charged at Metal Sonic 20, smashing into the robot with incredible force! The robot was hurled across the room, crashing into the rubble left by some of the statues! Sonic stood in the center of the room, panting heavily, waiting for the dust to settle. He was wiped out. "You... lose... Eggman..." he sighed, expecting the Egg Mobile to go flying away any moment. However, as the dust settled, Metal Sonic 20 began to rise from the rubble! The robot was battered and busted up, there were dents in its armor, even a few holes where electricity sparked out. It stood up shakily, but it was still standing. For the first time in this entire battle, fear flashed across Sonic's eyes. "I don't believe it!" he gasped. Eggman chuckled softly, and then burst into triumphant laughter. "It's over!! Now, Sonic, I will FINALLY kill you! Any last words?" he asked, his hands shakily grasping his controls. Sonic closed his eyes and heaved a defeated sigh. "Give me your very best shot!" he challenged. Eggman had pictured this moment in his mind for quite a long time, and now, he would finally make it a reality! "Sayonara... Sonic the Hedgehog!!" Metal Sonic 20 charged at Sonic, and Eggman unloaded everything it had! He started with a swift kick with its left leg, launching Sonic straight up into the air! Then, he pounded Sonic with a punch from its right arm, mimicking Knuckles' fighting stance! Not letting the helpless hedgehog land, he charged at him, firing a blast from his Black Arms style laser! Sonic bounced up from the blast, howling in pain! Next, bluish cubes slammed on top of Sonic, sending him hurtling back to the ground! Eggman circled around him and sent him into the air with a kick from the robot's right leg. Sonic rose high into the air, and Metal Sonic 20 flew up after him, smashing its metallic head against the hedgehog! Sonic yelled in agony as Eggman cackled in triumph, sweeping a cyan laser past his helpless nemesis to knock him higher up! As he started falling again, Eggman had Metal Sonic 20 perform a spinning kick, somewhat resembling a tail whip from Tails! Sonic crashed to the ground and struggled to stand, watching Eggman land nearby. Metal Sonic 20 rolled itself into a spin dash, which knocked Sonic aside yet again! Returning to its normal stance, Metal Sonic 20 held out its hand and sent jolts of lightning coursing through Sonic's body, just like Bucky! Sonic stood there, groaning in pain once the lightning stopped. "Nice moves, Eggman... But can you finish the job?" he grunted, defiant to the bitter end. Without a word beyond his maniacal laughter, Eggman resumed the assault, firing a blast of dark energy based on Dark Gaia's power, which made Sonic yelp even more! He charged Metal Sonic 20 at Sonic, hurling a punch from the left hand that returned him to the air! He then picked up a piece of a statue and hurled it at Sonic from below, propelling him higher! Next, a few Chaos Spears struck Sonic all at once. Eggman cackled with glee as he sent a ball of pink spikes to smack Sonic in the back, scratching him up a bit! As Sonic cried out, Eggman came at him with another fiery kick, inspired by Blaze! The kick sent Sonic soaring, but he was caught by a liquid tendril, based on Chaos. The tendril squeezed Sonic a bit before smashing him against the roof! Sonic screamed in terror, feeling the end was near. As he fell, released from the tendril, he was propelled to the ground with greater force by a homing attack from Metal Sonic 20! As he struck the floor, Metal Sonic 20 landed in Werehog form. Eggman smacked Sonic back into the air with the Were-bot's powerful hand, and as Sonic rose up high and started to fall, time seemed to slow down. Sonic sniffled, holding back tears as he fell. He glanced at Eggman and shot him a cool smirk. "Congratulations, doctor... It was fun... Now, wrap this up... I'm ready!" he said. Eggman pressed a red button on his controls, and Metal Sonic 20's Werehog claws extended, revealing them to be sharp swords! "Thanks for the memories..." he cackled, swiping a single one of his robot's claws at Sonic as he fell! With this, the 20th blow in a row, the blade passed through Sonic's nearly non-existent neck, coming out stained with blood as Sonic's head separated from his body, falling to the ground ahead of the body, which Eggman launched a flurry of missiles at, blowing the blue body to smithereens, every trace of his speedy legs and spike-backed chest annihilated by a fiery explosion! Eggman quickly exited Metal Sonic 20 and ran to Sonic's head, holding it up in his hands and laughing with glee. "SONIC!! Your head, your gloriously lifeless head, will be stuffed and mounted on my wall, an eternal reminder of the ultimate triumph of my genius over your speed!! LONG LIVE THE EGGMAN EMPIRE!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!"

This was how Eggman had envisioned the climax of this battle, a glorious final assault consisting of 20 blows, ending with the ultimate trophy, Sonic's dismembered head! As Sonic gave him his choice of last words, "Give me your very best shot!", Eggman felt certain of his victory. Indeed, it did play out nearly exactly as he'd imagined. A kick, a punch, an alien laser, a blue cube, another kick... But something wasn't right. The climax bugged him. "Decapitation? Am I THAT accurate? It could end too gruesome even for my taste..." he thought. A head bash, a cyan laser, a spinning kick, a spin dash, Bucky's lightning... Sonic's momentary defiance caused Eggman to hesitate again. "Cocky to the very end... The look on his face will be too peaceful..." he growled. A dark energy blast, another punch, a statue piece, Chaos Spears, pink spikes... "21! My triumph has 21 blows! That's no good..." Eggman thought. A fiery kick, a Chaos tendril, a homing attack, and a Werehog slap... 19 blows. Sonic was ready to die. Eggman hesitated, and shifted his mech back into its regular form. "I prefer a charred skull to a gruesome head, anyway! Thanks for the memories, Sonic!" He fired his missiles at Sonic, so many that he was certain he'd not miss. Explosions surrounded the hedgehog, a fiery climax sure to leave naught but a charred skeleton! Eggman started laughing, but his laughs were cut short by a figure emerging from the flames. In fact, it was a pair of figures. One of them was Miles "Tails" Prower! Tails was flying through the explosions, carrying Sonic to safety! Eggman pounded on his controls furiously. "Where did HE come from!? How DARE he ruin my moment of triumph! I guess I'll have two skulls for my trophies!" he yelled, launching more missiles at Sonic and Tails! "Hang on, Sonic!" Tails cried, bracing for impact. However, the missiles simply stopped in midair! "Take THIS!!" shouted Silver the Hedgehog, who used his psychokinesis to hurl the missiles right back at Eggman! Metal Sonic 20 flew over the missiles, landed on the ground again, and charged at Silver. "You pests won't make a fool out of ME!!" he shouted, only to feel the impact of a mighty punch and a powerful kick to his robot's chest! Metal Sonic 20 staggered back, and Eggman looked again to see Knuckles the Echidna and Rouge the Bat standing with Silver! "Gotcha, Eggman!" Knuckles teased. "Trying to murder someone just to satisfy your ego... You disgust me sometimes, doctor!" Rouge grumbled. Eggman couldn't believe what was happening. "This... This is CHEATING!! Fine, I'll crush you all!!" he roared.

Eggman rushed back to get more room and prepared to fire Metal Sonic 20's multitude of weapons. However, a black and red blur sped into him and started beating up his robot, warping away whenever Eggman tried to retaliate! "We're more than a match for you, doctor!" shouted Shadow the Hedgehog, yet another foe for Eggman to contend with. Once Shadow backed off, bullets began rattling Metal Sonic 20, and Eggman looked to see E-123 Omega shooting at him! "Target acquired! Destroy Dr. Eggman!!" he yelled. The doctor was getting angrier and angrier, but before he could attack, two more attacks hit him! "Chaos Whirlwind!!" "Chaos Avalanche!!" A chaotic wind struck Metal Sonic 20, followed by statue pieces being hurled by similar chaos energy! Copter the Fox and Punchy the Echidna joined the others in defying Dr. Eggman! "Seriously, doc? A giant Metal Sonic?" Copter teased. "Ever heard of a simple hand gun?" Punchy joked. "Enough!! Take this!!" Eggman yelled, striking back by cracking the robot's Chaos tendril like a whip, knocking everyone away from him, but not really hurting anyone. Eggman grabbed a microphone by his controls. "Now hear this!! All robots, ATTACK!!" Suddenly, the back wall of the room slid open, and a massive army of robots started rushing to the room! "Too slow!" squawked Jet the Hawk, who flew by on his extreme gear, accompanied by Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross! Blaze the Cat stood on Jet's board behind him as he flew, tossing fireballs at the robots from above! "Sorry, Eggman, we're ready for you!" she said. Illusi the Shrew had joined Wave on her board as well, and sent several of his Wrongos to attack the robots. Despite being illusions, the Wrongos packed a punch! Accompanying Storm was Gemini the Fennec, who attacked the robots with several bolts from her magic wand. "It's no use, Eggman! You might as well give up!" she said. With help from a few of the others, the robots dwindled down to one before they could even begin to fight. The last remaining Egg Pawn, sensing the futility of charging in, attempted to flee, only to receive a swift kick from Gator, who had just teleported in. "Ha! That's for betting against Sonic when you didn't even have any money!!" he said. As everyone gathered around Sonic, eager to defend the hero who had laid his life on the line to save the world more times than any of them could count, Eggman couldn't help laughing, an insane, aggravated laugh. "You insignificant FOOLS!! It doesn't matter! Send in a hundred more of your friends, it makes no difference to me! Once I set Metal Sonic 20.0 to maximum power, I'll take every last one of you down at once!! YOU ALL LOSE!!" he screamed. Sonic, held on his feet by Tails, looked around and assessed the situation. Metal Sonic 20 wasn't at maximum power? How much stronger could it get? He couldn't chance it. "Everyone, go now! I appreciate the help, but I don't want you all to get hurt, or worse, on my account. It's not worth it..." he said, as everyone glanced at him with concern. "We won't get hurt." came yet another voice, one Sonic knew very well. Amy Rose approached him, helping Tails to hold Sonic up. "You'll save us all, Sonic. Like always. Because... well... You're just the best! And even if we didn't stand a chance, I'd still be here for you... I'd die for you, Sonic!" she said, tears forming in her eyes, hating to see Sonic so unsure. "I don't want you to die for me..." Sonic replied, about to say more, but he was interrupted. "I'd die for you, too!" said Tails, smiling. "You don't get to die before I prove I'm the fastest!" Jet added. "I'll lay my life on the line to protect you, too!" Knuckles insisted. "If Tails isn't afraid, neither am I!" Copter added. Blaze, Shadow, and Silver agreed next, followed by everyone. Sonic felt overwhelmed. "You guys... Heh... You win. We'll beat him together!" he grinned, filled with new determination. Amy giggled and placed something in Sonic's hand. "You'll need this!" she winked. Sonic glanced down to see a green Chaos Emerald. "We've got some, too!" shouted Cream the Rabbit, who arrived with seemingly the rest of Sonic's friends! She held Cheese in her hands, who in turn held a yellow Chaos Emerald. "Froggy found this nice rock!" Big the Cat said, holding out a cyan Chaos Emerald. The red emerald appeared to float in midair at first, but then Espio the Chameleon revealed himself, holding it out. Charmy Bee was flying beside him, holding a blue emerald. "I found two of 'em! Don't let Vector deny it!" he giggled. Vector the Crocodile was there with a purple emerald. "It took a lotta detective work, Sonic! Make good use of 'em!" he grinned. Lastly, Rainbow the Echidna showed off the white Chaos Emerald. "Here, Speedy! Teach Tubby a lesson he'll never forget!" she winked. Sonic hopped out of Tails and Amy's arms and called the emeralds to him. They circled him, filling him with renewed strength, healing his wounds, and transforming him! Eggman grabbed at his controls in a panicked frenzy, desperate to think of something, anything. "N-no! Stop that!! Th-this isn't fair!! All my work! My data collections! I never gathered any real data on Super Sonic! You were supposed to come alone, with no emeralds!! NOOOO!!!" he stammered, feeling utterly hopeless as Super Sonic emerged before him, greeting him with a wide smile. "Congratulations, doctor... It was fun! You've made real progress, too. But..." Sonic said, motioning to his army of friends gathered behind him, "I've made just as much progress, as you can see! Your power might be your brain and your data, but my power comes from something much greater! All my friends... They give me the strength to keep taking you down every time!" Eggman winced and shuddered in fear. "P-please! Have mercy! I-I wasn't really going to kill you! I was just... playing a game! You like to think of it as a game, right?" he stammered, desperate. Super Sonic chuckled at him. "Better luck next time, Dr. Robotnik! Game over!" Super Sonic charged at Metal Sonic 20, ignoring Eggman's screams as he blasted through the robot's metallic body again and again, tearing it apart with ease! A hatch on top of the robot's head opened and Eggman began to flee in his Egg Mobile as the fruits of his 20 data collections was blown to pieces, just like always. While the robot continued exploding, Super Sonic watched Eggman fly out through a hatch in the roof, which opened only long enough for him to get away. "I'll get even, Sonic! Just you wait!! You won't see the last of Dr. Ivo Robotnik until the very end, and I will be the last thing you see! I will have my revenge!!" he shouted as he escaped the Eggstermination Station, leaving Sonic to drop to the ground and revert to his normal form, surrounded by his friends.

Sonic's friends crowded him, cheering for yet another victory against unlikely odds. Sonic smiled wide. "Thanks, everyone. If you all hadn't shown up, I'd have been done for this time..." he said, "This victory was a team effort!" Sonic's friends shrugged off his praise. It really wasn't necessary; they knew he'd do the same and more for them. "Life wouldn't be any fun without you, Sonic." Knuckles grinned. "You're always there for me, so I'm always there for you!" Amy sighed, a romantic look on her face. "Hmph... I just figured I might need you someday..." Shadow said gruffly, though not without giving Sonic a quick wink. "You mean a lot to all of us... So, what I guess we're trying to say is... Thanks for all the good times, Sonic!" Tails said, summing it all up nicely. While everyone was talking and unwinding after the hectic battle, a camera in the corner of the room was watching them. Hovering a good distance away from the Eggstermination Station, Dr. Eggman watched his enemies on his monitor, holding a remote detonator in his hand. "All of them, gathered together... I won't see a chance like this again, most likely..." he muttered, contemplating pressing the button and blasting the Eggstermination Station to smithereens, taking every last one of his greatest enemies with it. However, he hesitated. "Metal Sonic 20... never reached full power... But Sonic... he held back at first. Maybe he didn't think I could win, maybe he was tired from climbing the tower... or maybe... he was being... sporting..." he thought. If Sonic had been at full strength, and if he had put everything he had into it from the start, would the result have been different? "Who cares..." he grumbled, his finger hovering over the button. Still, something stirred in him while he watched Sonic and his friends. "Greater power... Than data..." he murmured. He found himself thinking back on his past battles with Sonic, all the times he matched wits with the hedgehog. He caught himself smiling. Finally, he set the detonator down and sighed. "Thanks for the good times..." he muttered. "Doctor!! Doctor!!" Eggman glanced to his right to see Char the Chao, accompanied by E-2X Alpha, as well as Metal Sonic, all hovering in the air beside him. "I can't believe you lost, doctor! But there's still some robots left in the base!" Char reported. "Let's play! Let's play!" Alpha giggled, causing small explosions around himself. Eggman grinned and shook his head. "Oh, well, we better gather the working robots and scram! There are still loads of schemes for me to try! Next time, Sonic will be defeated for good! Heh heh heh!!" he laughed, causing Char and Alpha to cheer excitedly. "Yeah! You're the coolest, Eggman!" Char chuckled. As the Egg Mobile carried Dr. Eggman to his next destination, he kept glancing at his screen and chuckling softly. "This game's not over... No, I'd say it's just beginning!"

The End!

Thank you for reading!