Sonic GeneX - The Series: Complete 3rd Season
Arc 1 - Armada!
Episode 1 - Missing Persons

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.


"Tails! My Uncle Chuck's gone missing! Meet me over his place! We gotta track him down, quick!" This voicemail message was the first contact Tails had had with Sonic a few weeks after Techno Sonic had been defeated in Troblusk City. Things had been fairly quiet in that time, but as the two tailed fox arrived at the home of Charles the Hedgehog, he found it quickly apparent that Sonic's search for clues was turning up nothing. Papers flew off shelves as Sonic sped back and forth through the house, looking for any evidence to point him in the right direction. "Well, I'm here Sonic. Thanks for not contaminating the building until cooler heads arrived..." Tails said sarcastically. Sonic stopped in front of him, looking a bit concerned. "I came by to pay him a birthday visit and he wasn't here! That's not like him! He's always here to see his favorite nephew on his birthday!" Sonic stammered. "Aside from that flimsy pretext, do you have any other reason to believe Chuck is in trouble?" Tails asked. Sonic nodded. "His birthday was two weeks ago. He hasn't been home since!" he stated. Tails looked around and sighed. "Well, okay... have you found anything?" he asked. Sonic crossed his arms. "The house is clean. TOO clean. I don't like it. Something stinks around here. His suitcases are still in the closet, too! No way he took a trip by choice!" he said hastily, clearly frazzled. Tails took out his smartphone and started to place a call. "I'll get the police, Sonic." he said. Sonic shook his head. "The police!? The POLICE!? The guys who spent all last year tryin' to catch me!? I'm not gonna rely on those donut-munchin' slobs! I'll solve this one myself- WAY faster!" he declared. "Thanks for that, Sonic!" Razor the porcupine said over the phone's speaker. Tails shook his head. "Don't take offense, officer, it's just that normally Sonic does handle these things himself..." he stated. "Then he can handle it a bit longer! We're swamped today! SOMEBODY caused a prison break at the Hopebringer Center!" Razor retorted before hanging up. Tails chuckled softly before glancing at Sonic. "Yeah... I guess that was kinda my bad..." he murmured. Sonic shrugged and sped out the door. He'd handle this himself. As far as he was concerned, he didn't need anybody...


Meanwhile, in a GUN facility miles away, Rouge the bat and Guard the gargoyle were joining a small mission briefing being given by Sergeant Drol, Colonel Gunner's favorite minion. Spy was sitting at a computer nearby, typing up notes on the briefing for the record. "Can't we just record this?" he muttered. "It's busywork to keep you occupied. I'd wager Gunner's sick of you." Rouge smirked. Drol stood in front of a large monitor and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Thank you all for being on time...for once. Now, I'd like to share with you all an image taken by our intelligence drones of an area of West Side Island..." he said, getting straight to the point. The monitor showed a large, green vessel of some sort, which appeared to be undergoing construction. "What's that? It looks almost like a UFO..." Rouge remarked. "This is a rebuild of the flagship belonging to the Battle Bird Armada. They were a group that once attacked a small island not too far from our borders. Mr. Miles Prower happened upon their attack and defeated them single-handedly... so it stayed out of the papers. It's not news if Sonic isn't involved, apparently." Drol stated. Guard scoffed. "If the little fox could handle them alone... Grrr... Why don't we call him again?" he grumbled. Drol glared at him. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that. The armada has had time to upgrade their forces. Our tacticians believe they are now a credible threat. However, Gunner is eager to avoid another costly war on native soil, using GUN troops..." he said, his voice trailing off. "Then, what is this meeting about?" Rouge asked. Dr. Nammad stood up from the back of the group. "Oh, ah, this is my, um... part! Excuse me!" he stammered, racing to the front of the room. "I've been assigned to the task of solving this, uh, problemo. And I've succeeded! I've found a way to, uh... make outside agents of our choice...compliant...you might say." he grinned, adjusting his glasses. Guard raised an eyebrow. "What outside agents? Grrr... What do you mean?" he asked. Drol motioned to the screen, which now showed images of Eddie the hyena, Bean the duck and Bark the polar bear. "We've recaptured these escapees from the Hopebringer Center. We'd like you to pick up a couple more criminals for our cadre, Guard." Drol informed him, "They will comply, or suffer..." Rouge shuddered. "Talk about bad ideas..." she muttered. "Of course, Team Dark is welcome to join the mission as a countermeasure." Drol stated. Rouge shrugged. "I can look for Omega, but I doubt Shadow would be interested..." she sighed. Drol then turned to Spy. "Oh, yes, this meeting is actually off the books... Please erase what you've written there." he muttered. Spy collapsed into his keyboard and groaned. "I hate this job..." he sighed.


While GUN was busy prepping for an inevitable war, Gemini the fennec was back at Darkegg Fortress worrying about something else. "Libra...what happened to you? It's been way too long now... I should've gone looking for her that same day!" Libra was a girl who looked much like Gemini, and believed that Gemini was her long-lost twin. One day after a visit, it was revealed that Libra had briefly been a member of the Covenant of Despair, and after that, she vanished during an unexpected battle with one of Eggman's robots. Gemini had chalked it up to fear of judgment for her past, but Libra had not resurfaced since then, and Gemini was now worried. So much so that she found herself heading to Copter's room to seek his help. However, she opened the door without thinking, and was forced to close it quickly, only peering in a little by keeping it open a crack. He was inside with his latest girlfriend, Violet. They were atop his bed, and kissing quite passionately. Gemini blushed and gulped as she watched this scene, a tear forming in her eye as she clutched her heart. She had recently fallen for Copter, and it was hard to watch someone else kiss him like this. Suddenly, she stumbled against the doorknob, causing the door to loudly creak open. "Someone want something?" Copter asked as he and Violet quickly moved apart as though they hadn't been doing anything. "Uhm... C-copter?" Gemini muttered nervously. "You look flustered. Were you spying on us?" Violet asked. "Yes... I mean, no! I w-want to ask you for help finding Libra! She's still missing!" Gemini blurted out. Copter looked at her and nodded. "Well, alright. I guess I owe you one for possibly driving her off in the first place..." he sighed. "I'll go, too! Don't worry, we'll help you, Gems!" Violet said. Gemini shook her head. "Wait what? N-no, j-just Copter is fine..." she stammered, not wanting this awkwardness to continue with both of them along. "Oh, it's no trouble at all!" Violet said cheerfully, getting up and heading for the door. "I should've gone to Punchy..." Gemini thought, realizing she now had to be reminded of her longing for someone she couldn't have the whole time. At any rate, soon they were on their way out of the tower, passing Punchy along the way. "Hey, Copter! Goin' out with your girl, eh?" he sighed. "Uh, well, is it a date if you're looking for a missing person for another friend?" Copter asked. Punchy shrugged. "I dunno. I'm just a bit jealous, I guess..." he muttered. As the girls went on ahead, Copter stopped to stare at Punchy like he was nuts. "Jealous of ME? Punch, you dimwit... I've always been jealous of what YOU have!" he snapped. Punchy scratched his head. "What do I have?" he wondered. Just then, Rainbow came up behind him. "BOO!! Did I scare ya, One? Teehee!" she giggled. Punchy jumped and looked back at her, staring blankly. "...I'll leave you to figure it out. Bye, 'One!'" Copter chuckled as Punchy continued to stare at Rainbow. "Uh oh, did I yell too loud? Uh, Earth to One!" she said, waving her hand in his face. "Um... I'm fine, Rainbow... Just fine..." he muttered, looking thoughtful.


Guard's first mission was to recapture bounty hunter Nack the Weasel, who still hadn't finished his sentence for endangering civilian lives while trying to capture Sonic the previous year. His trail led to the desert city of Shamar, and Guard flew through the bustling market streets after his hoverbike, the Marvelous Queen, with Nack occasionally glancing back to attempt to shoot him out of the sky. "I ain't goin' back! No more of GUN's sick experiments! Go find that Zeti loudmouth if you wanna pick someone's brains!" he yelled, crashing through a food stall and leaving behind a very angry merchant. "Grrr... Send the bill to GUN!" Guard shouted as he flew by. Nack smirked as Guard seemed to be falling behind him. "Heh... Guess ya don't fancy gettin' yer wings blown off..." he muttered as he looked back ahead, "Gaah!!" Suddenly, an explosive dropped in front of the Marvelous Queen, sending Nack into a spin until he crashed against a stack of boxes! Rouge the bat dropped down and pulled the dizzy weasel out of the crash. "We're supposed to catch him, not kill him, Omega!" she grunted as she dropped the bewildered Nack on the ground, the shadow of E-123 Omega cast over him. "The sooner I complete this mission, the sooner I can resume the search for Eggman." the robot said impatiently. Guard and Rouge landed on either side of Nack, cutting off his escape route, and the weasel chuckled awkwardly. "Well, errr... Can we talk? How about making a deal?" he asked. "Grrr... You'll be making your deal with Sgt. Drol..." Guard growled.


Gemini brought Copter and Violet to the last place Libra was seen, her home in Troblusk City. As they looked around, though, they could find neither clues to her whereabouts nor any evidence she'd been back recently. "Ugh, her milk's rotten... She definitely hasn't been back..." Gemini muttered, looking around for Copter only to see him and Violet smooching in the corner. "Guuuuys!!" she groaned in frustration. "Sorry, sorry. We're looking, I promise..." Copter chuckled. "I just can't resist this foxy... He's an amazing kisser. Can't believe I spent so much time hating him before..." Violet said with a blush. As the couple resumed looking around, Gemini stomped outside to get some "air." She was beginning to think she should have just gone herself. "What's the matter with me? I need to focus..." she sighed, "...But that girl's all wrong for him. She's so...bad. I mean, she was in Despair way longer than Libra." she grumbled. "You're rationalizing. You want him for yourself." said a scratchy, robotic voice. Gemini looked around and saw one of Dr. Eggman's Crabmeat robots nearby. "Ugh, I forgot this place was close to Eggman's old base. Scram, or I'll zap ya!" she warned. "I am not Eggman's creation. I am merely using this mechanism as a shell, so to speak... You may call me Cancer." the robot stated. Gemini raised an eyebrow. "Cancer? How pleasant. Your parents must be a joy to hang around... What am I saying? You're a robot." she muttered. "Don't think about the robot. Think of me as a friend... Your guardian angel, perhaps. I suggest you remind Copter why you are superior to that other girl if you truly want him... Use your magic to gain his attention." Cancer suggested. Gemini stared into the cold eyes of the Crabmeat robot and shivered. "That'd be pretty nasty of me. I mean, he does SEEM happy..." she muttered. "You could make him happier, could you not?" Cancer mused. Gemini thought about it, but Cancer started to crawl away before she could say anything. "...What an odd robot. Hmm... Me and Copter..." she sighed, starting to daydream.


Next on Guard's list to catch for GUN's purposes was Conan the raccoon, who had been at large ever since the fall of Demon Island. However, he'd recently been spotted in Station Square, and now Guard as well as the police were hot on his trail. The raccoon was fleeing through the dark alleyways of Speed Highway, clutching a shiny golden pair of what appeared to be claws, similar to the shovel claws. "No sooner do I find a new Chaos Relic to replace my blade, and I get sloppy, leading the police to come to part me from it..." he grunted, looking around frantically as the sirens grew closer and closer. "I don't yet understand these Chaos Claws... I cannot use them to battle off legions of GUN troops... But I can't let them have my prize, either..." he growled, glancing around. There appeared to be some loose bricks in a nearby wall. Clawing at it, he managed to wrestle them free, and stashed the claws inside the wall, quickly putting the bricks back into place. "It'll have to do..." he muttered as a police car pulled up to the alley. Razor the porcupine and Ridley the coati hopped out of the car and headed towards him, guns at the ready. "We've got you, you bastard!" Razor growled. Conan smirked. "An officer, Ridley? Anything to save your pelt, eh?" he taunted. "You've got no tricks to get out of this one, Conan!" Ridley said. Conan turned to look into his options. Guard was landing behind him. "Grrr... Sgt. Drol requests a moment of your time..." he said. Conan shrugged. "Okay, I give up..." he sighed, raising his hands. As Conan was being restrained by Razor, Mia's taxi cab pulled up to the alley. "One side! Comin' through! Freedom of the press and all that jazz!" Mia shouted, holding up a camera as she stomped onto the scene. "You're not with the press." Razor grunted. "Katie's stuck in traffic. Asked me to get some pictures." she said. Guard grunted as he led the officers and Conan back to the car. "No comment. Don't poke your nose where it doesn't belong..." he grunted. Mia huffed in annoyance as they left, leaning against the wall as she pouted. As she did, the loose bricks toppled, and she stumbled forward with them. "Wha??" she muttered, peering into the hole to find something shiny. "...Golden claws...?" she murmured, "...I better take these..." she figured.


Gemini returned inside Libra's house, and tried to ignore what Cancer had said to her. By now, Violet and Copter had scoured most of the house. "If there's any clue here, I don't know what the heck I'm looking for..." Copter sighed as Gemini found them in the living room. Gemini shrugged. "Maybe I should give the Chaotix a call..." she muttered. Violet looked around awkwardly. "You know... it could be that this Libra doesn't want to be found. She WAS with the Covenant of Despair. I know from experience that they can get a pretty bad hold on you..." she trailed off. Gemini grabbed her wand and stomped toward Violet in a sudden fury. "Don't you talk about her like that! Libra was a good person, unlike YOU! She quit Despair as soon as she saw what they were really like!" she shouted. Violet backed up, defensively creating dark energy from her hands. "Hey, hey! What's with the anger!? I'm only trying to help!" she growled. Copter watched the pair of them nervously, unsure of what to do. "You wanna help? Leave me and my friends alone!" Gemini growled, firing a bolt from her wand at Violet! The echidna shot back with an orb of darkness, and Copter swiftly ran between them before more shots could be fired. "Enough!! You two, take five! I'm gonna do the same! Geez, no one I know can hang out without getting into fights!" he shouted, heading outside in a huff while Gemini and Violet grouchily looked away from each other. Copter found the front step and sat down, scratching his head wondering how things escalated like that. As he thought about it, Cancer crawled over to him. "I've determined it would be prudent to first point out that I have no affiliation with Eggman." the robot said. Copter glanced at him and nodded. "Yeah, that'll buy you a minute. What do you want?" he grumbled. The robot bowed as best he could, looking a bit comical with his large pincer claws. "I am Cancer. I'm a technomancer, thus enabling me to control this robot." Copter stared, so Cancer continued. "No, I don't expect you to understand that. I was just observing you... Seems fate hangs heavy over your person. A darkness you have been fighting to suppress... Does that not sound accurate?" he asked. Copter shrugged. "I have no idea what you're talking about, and your minute is up." he grumbled, turning away. Cancer started to crawl away, chuckling to himself. "You'll see things my way, Experiment 2... You can't escape your fate!" he snickered. Copter shook his head. "Never leave the tower, Copt. Just don't do it..." he sighed.


Locked up in cells side by side, Conan, Nack, Bean, Bark and Eddie soon were met by Sgt. Drol, who was accompanied by Spy, Guard, Rouge and Omega. Drol was fairly brief. "Everyone here... You are GUN's Strike Force. You will be sent to West Side Island shortly, under Guard's leadership. Should you succeed in defeating the Battle Bird Armada... We'll make your stay here a bit more comfortable. If you try to escape, there will be consequences..." he warned. "Does that go for those on the other side of the bars, too? Eee hee!" Eddie chuckled. Drol rolled his eyes and led Guard and the others away. "Oh, this is gonna be fuuuun..." Rouge muttered.

At the same time, in a certain mechanical flying fortress being constructed at West Side Island, the Battle Bird Armada had amassed to hear a few words from their leader: Battle Lord Kukku XV. He was a tall bird wearing a red and greed outfit, and possessing a big, broad beak. He wore a big black hat and large glasses covering his eyes, really looking rather comical despite his menacing nature. "Troops! It's been a long road, but finally, here we are! Vengeance! Not just on the little mutt that crushed our plans for global conquest before, but on all the people and places that little runt holds dear! Oh, it's going to be a blast! ... Okay! Speech over! Back to work! Report any suspicious characters on the island!" the Battle Lord said to the crowd over a microphone. As the birds went back to work, one particular bird hesitated. A sea-green albatross with like-colored wings on his back, who appeared uneasy in the crowd. His name was Aquarius. "Well... Okay... back to work..." he sighed, slowly stomping off into the halls of the fortress, "Sometimes I hate this job..." he grumbled.


Episode 2 - Battle Birds

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.


A small GUN cargo ship carried the newly formed Strike Force to West Side Island, arriving at the coast of Emerald Hill Zone. Dr. Nammad had fitted the criminals with shock collars, so should they step out of line, all Guard, Rouge or Spy had to do was press a button on a remote to give the offender a jolt. Upon their arrival, Guard received a call from HQ. "Grrr... I'm afraid I'll have to go. A situation has arisen and Col. Gunner wants me to look into it. Until I return, Agent Spizzweld has been put in charge." Guard said, motioning to Spy. "Huh?" he babbled, as though he'd been asleep. "I'm in charge now? I can't be in charge! I've had no military training!" he stammered. "You're the only other one here Gunner trusts..." Rouge sighed, "And I use that term loosely." Guard shrugged and headed off the ship, flying off without delay. "Target... Chaos Claws. Last known sighting... Station Square. Grrr... Mission commencing." he muttered to himself as he flew across the sea. With Guard gone, Nack tapped Conan on the shoulder and led him to a secluded corner of the ship to talk. "We can take 'em now that they're down a goon. That Spy don't got a clue." he grinned. "I don't fancy a shock from this new accessory GUN's fitted me with." Conan grunted. "We got a ringer. The hyena has his ways of bypassin' the shock collar, don't he? We did time in the Hopebringer Center together. He'd wander out of his cell to the vending machine all the time. I think he WANTED to be in that dump for some reason..." Nack stated. Conan nodded. "I know Eddie... He's a loose cannon. Let me speak to him..." he suggested. "Whatcha whisperin' about!?" Bean shouted, jumping up between them and getting everyone's attention. Rouge had her finger on the shock button, and Nack looked a tad nervous. "J-just wonderin' when we're leavin' this cramped dingy." he babbled. They all looked to Spy, and he jumped in surprise. "Uh... Oh, yeah! You and Omega go out and um... get a lay of the land!" he said to Rouge, "We'll head out once we're sure the area's um... secure." he said awkwardly. Bark groaned and Eddie chuckled while Conan glanced at Nack. "You're right. We should strike while the moron's in charge." he whispered.


Meanwhile, Shadow Arcangel was landing in a secluded area just outside Troblusk City. Heather the phoenix had contacted Bucky, and now boarded the flying laboratory where she was created, though being there made her a bit uneasy. "I wouldn't have called, but I didn't really have anywhere else to turn..." she began as she entered the control room. Zipp the hornet was in the pilot's seat, and was starting to get the ship back into the air. "I'm your creator, not your enemy. I do apologize for the miscalculations that led to all your suffering..." Bucky told her. "Alssso, we were not really on the sssside of Dessspair during that conflict." Vortex the chameleon added, standing beside the lab rat. Heather shrugged, seeming unsure, but she didn't seem like she had much choice, either. "I'm being hunted. Some creeps calling themselves 'Battle Birds' are trying to recruit me. Very insistent. I barely got away the last time they came after me." she explained. Crash the rhino was sitting in the room as well, and looked a bit worried. "Again with people tryin' to catch Heather? How powerful is she, boss?" he asked. Bucky crossed his arms. "Less powerful since that royal feline took some of the burden of the flames of disaster from her during the Time Eater melodrama... but there is still some of that residual energy left in her. I know. I had a chance to check before we left that White Space. With the right science behind them, they could weaponize Experiment 7..." he explained, "We'll have to keep her safe." Whisk the divine teleported into the room at that point, startling Heather a bit. "Shall I show our visitor to her room? I'm real excited to have another girl aboard!" she grinned. "Don't ssstartle her, Whisssk. Sssshe'sss had a rough time." Vortex sighed. Little did they all know that outside the ship, a lone bird was hovering, tailing them. "Rats. She's got an entourage. Even as fast as I am, I'll need help to get her outta there..." said this green bird who was flying with a jetpack and wearing what appeared to be his eggshell still around his waist. There was a communicator on his wrist, and he dialed a number into it to call for assistance. "This is Speedy calling... I need some help, old friend..."


Soon, Guard had arrived in Station Square. The police had no leads on the Chaos Claws for him, so he decided to seek out an old feline friend, Mia the cat. As a cab driver, she surely had seen a thing or two around the city. He tracked her vehicle back to her house. "Gr... Maybe she won't be very helpful. She might be home sick..." he mumbled, but decided to knock at the door anyway. The door creaked open when he touched it, and found the interior of the house dark and ransacked. "Grrr! This doesn't look good..." he muttered. Stepping down the hall and into the living room, he found Mia resting on the couch, her outfit scratched in places. "Grrr! Are you alright?! Who did this to you??" Guard asked, rushing over to her. Mia looked up weakly. "...I did..." she whispered, and then held up her hands. They were attached to the Chaos Claws, her fingers stuck inside the pointed tips of the weapons like tight-fitting gloves. "Rrr? You have the claws!? I don't understand... Can't you remove them?" Guard asked. Mia's eyes suddenly went vacant. "Who says I want to remove them?" she said darkly, and leapt from her seat, slashing toward Guard wildly! He blocked with his scythe, and found himself parrying her claws with his weapon's handle as she clawed at him like a maniac! "Grrah!? Wh-what's wrong with you!? I-it's me! G-guard the gargoyle! S-stop it!" he shouted, kicking her in the stomach to knock her back onto the chair, and then pinning her down under his scythe! "Grrrr!! Are you mad!?" he shouted. Mia panted heavily, the color slowly returning to her eyes. "...Yes..." she whimpered, "I can't get these crazy claws off, and they're messing with my head... Making me turn into a psycho. Y-you've gotta help me, Guard! Please!" she pleaded, tearing up a little. Guard cautiously helped her up. "Grrr... I think I know what to do..." he muttered, first trying to yank the claws off himself. "I didn't think I could remove them... But I know where a Chaos Relic expert is..." he sighed, suddenly reaching around Mia's neck and fitting her with a shock collar! "H-hey! What's with the accessory?!" she yelped. "Grrr... We need to keep crazy-you in check. You're joining my Strike Force until we can get those claws off you..." he informed her. Mia looked at him angrily. "Some friend you are..." she huffed. "It's that or the Hopebringer Center." Guard grunted. "...Fine choices..." Mia sighed, following Guard's lead as they headed on their way.


Once Rouge and Omega returned safely, the Strike Force set out into Emerald Hill Zone. Conan had talked things over with Eddie, and he'd agreed to help if the others could surround Spy. Once they'd taken him hostage, it would be easy to take out Rouge, and Omega would follow...in theory. Spy led them past a waterfall and into a small cave. "I think... if we use cover like this, we can gradually sneak up on the birds..." Spy said uncertainly. Conan smirked. "Alright. This is the place to move in..." he whispered to Nack and the others. "Good. I hate sneaking up on birds. I'M a bird!" Bean grumbled. Rouge glanced at the whispering criminals suspiciously, but didn't get a chance to look into her suspicions as several explosions went off around them! The cave began to collapse in several places, trapping Spy with the criminals and partially burying Omega! Rouge came out unscathed, but found a band of birds had followed them from the entrance to the cave, led by an older bird with a big, bushy beard. "We got 'em! Good thinking rigging up those explosives, Dr. Fu... Furr... Fumm... Uhh..." one of the minions said, fumbling to pronounce the older bird's name. This angered him. "Rrrr! It is Doctor Fukurokov!! Fukurokov! I have been the Battle Lord's trusted advisor for decades! How is it I cannot command enough respect for my name to be learned!?" he shouted. He was a comical looking fellow throwing a goofy tantrum, but Rouge didn't have time to laugh. Her allies were trapped, and she was surrounded. "You feathered punks are gonna pay for that!" she growled, leaping into action to fight them off! Meanwhile, between the cave-ins, the criminals were panicking. "We're trapped! We're trapped!! STOP BREATHING!! I need this air to last!!" Bean shouted, punching frantically at Bark, who wrestled him back. Eddie appeared injured, and Nack shot at the rocks to no avail. "Great. You ain't the last people I wanted to see before I died..." he grumbled. Spy looked around calmly. "Now I feel at home. Gunner's always getting me in tight spaces like this..." he sighed, glancing at Bean, "Hey, where's your stockpile of explosives? Don't you ALWAYS have some with you? Intel says we gave up trying to find where you keep it all." he stated. Bean jumped and nodded frantically. "Oooh! Yeah! I'll blast this wall WIDE OPEN!!" he shouted, but Spy halted him. "Wait! You blast it randomly and we might get buried all the way! We need to blow just the right spot..." he murmured. "How we gonna find that?" Nack grumbled. Spy scratched his head. "Omega!? You hear me!?" he shouted. "I am... stuck." the robot muttered. "We'll get ya out! Quick, scan this cave-in for weak points!" Spy called out. "Acknowledged..." Omega muttered. In a moment, he spoke up. "I can only project structural integrity map from this side..." Spy then turned to Eddie. "Can you send an illusion over there to be our eyes? Does it work that way?" he asked. Eddie chuckled weakly. "I think I can muster one short lived illusion before I pass out... Hee..." he said. His illusion self emerged on the other side of the rock wall, waving at Rouge as she was busy kicking at any birds that neared her. Omega displayed the results of his scan, revealing a weakness in the wall projected in red light. Returning, Eddie quickly pointed. "Right there, chief..." he sighed. Bean ran up and planted a bomb on the spot, and everyone stood back as the rocks blew out of the way! Dr. Fukurokov gasped as they emerged from the trap, and turned to flee, followed by his battered minions. "That's right, run away!" Rouge shouted, turning around. "Huh?? How'd you guys get out!?" she stammered. Conan shrugged. "Shades here figured it out... Seems he CAN do something...also seems we owe him one..." he grumbled, glancing at the others, who nodded hesitantly. Rouge looked at Spy with a surprised expression. "Well... I may have misjudged you...a bit. Right, now let's dig Omega out..." she sighed. "Do not help me. I will escape once I am fully charged!" Omega stated. "Yeah, right. But we don't have time for that!" Rouge grumbled, pointing to Bark and motioning for him to get to work moving the rocks on top of the robot.


During all this, things had been fairly quiet aboard Shadow Arcangel. All that was about to change, as Speedy's backup arrived. He boarded the ship quickly along with his "friends", the Babylon Rogues! Jet the hawk, Wave the swallow and Storm the albatross were soon flying about the control room, taunting Team GeneX as they ran about trying to catch them. "Heather... Battle Birds... Babylon Rogues now!? That's it! I'm grabbin' my duck huntin' rifle!!" Zipp shouted angrily. "Just try not to get it mixed up with the boss's old NES Zapper again." Crash sighed. Speedy was quick to zoom over to Heather in the distraction. "Let's try this again, lady. The Battle Bird Armada wants you, a fellow bird, to join us! Look around, you're hangin' out with rats and bees. That's more like prey than pals, isn't it?" he chuckled. Suddenly, Whisk appeared behind him. "Prey on this!" she shouted, trying to club Speedy with Zipp's hunting rifle. "Hey! Don't do that to my gun!!" Zipp shouted. Speedy rushed out of the way, and Bucky fired jolts of lightning through the room to disperse the Babylon Rogues, clearing the birds out of the control room quickly. "Well, that wasss easssy..." Vortex sighed. Bucky looked around suspiciously. "Too easy... Zipp, have they left the ship?" he asked. Zipp made some adjustments using the controls on the side of his helmet before looking around. "Nope, they're flyin' around in here... Heading away from us... Weird." he muttered. Vortex gasped. "They... I know what they're doing!" he gulped, "Remember that big battle towardsss the end of our time in the white ssspace? Metal Ssssonic damaged our enginessss? One of thossse birdssss helped fix it!" he said hurriedly before rushing out. "...I still don't see where he's going with this." Whisk muttered. "It means..." Bucky began, only to be interrupted by the ship lurching forward suddenly and an emergency alarm blaring! Crash groaned and started to follow after Vortex. "They know where and how to wreck our engines!!" he growled. Heather started to go as well. "This is my fault... I have to fight those jerks off!" she said. "Wait, Heather! That's just what they want!" Bucky shouted, stopping to fire jolts into one of the power stations in the control room. "What're you doing??" Zipp asked. "Adding power to the auxiliary engines!" he shouted. "We have auxiliary engines!?" Zipp babbled.

Vortex and Crash soon arrived at the engine room, where Wave was leaning against the wall, holding a big wrench and looking a tad conflicted. "A good mechanic would rather fix things than wreck 'em. Plus this ship did kinda get us out of a jam before. Tell you what, give up the phoenix and I'll fix what I did real quick." she offered. Jet was hovering overhead. "They're not gonna do that! Let's just knock 'em out while they're divided!" he suggested. "I'm up for that!!" Storm shouted, charging forward! Crash ran out to meet his challenge, and was soon grappling with the large albatross. Speedy and Jet charged at Vortex, but he was ready. "Chaosss Camouflage!" he shouted, his body enveloping itself in Chaos energy, therefore becoming painful to touch. The two birds changed direction quickly, and Speedy was suddenly knocked out of the sky by one of Heather's fireballs as she arrived. "I'll never go with you!!" she shouted, running in and chasing after Jet. Vortex returned to normal and gasped for breath. Chaos Camouflage was an ability that seemed to get tougher on him each time he used it. He looked over at Wave, stumbling a bit as the ship lost some altitude sharply. "Thisss ssship isss my home... You will fix the enginesss promptly if I deliver Heather to you?" he asked. Wave nodded. "Of course." At this moment, Whisk teleported into the doorway. She watched as Vortex turned and fired a Chaos Inferno blast at Heather, knocking her down! "V-vortex!! What are you doing!?" she gasped. Speedy and Jet quickly swooped down and restrained Heather while Wave set to work fixing the engines. Crash hesitated in his shock, and Storm knocked him over. "Alright... Good thing we picked up flame-retardant gloves before making this trip!" Jet muttered as Storm joined him in carrying the struggling Heather away. Whisk was about to move to stop them, but Vortex stood in her way. "Whisssk... They would dessstroy the ssship... They're too fassst..." he hissed. As Speedy and the Rogues escaped, Whisk glared hatefully at Vortex. "You... you didn't even try... How could you? I... I need to get away from you... You're heartless!" she stammered, teleporting away, and even off the ship, flying off on her own to escape her troubles. Jet glanced at her briefly, but saw she was heading in the opposite direction. "Well... Is our business concluded?" Jet asked, "I hate working for your dad, squirt." Speedy shrugged. "I guess we're done. So, I'm gettin' pretty fast, huh? I'm thinkin' I can outfly you now!" he chuckled. "Dream on, kiddo! I'm still way faster!" he chuckled. "Ugh... Like we really need TWO Jets..." Wave sighed. Back on the ship, it wasn't long before Crash told the others what had happened. Bucky glared at Vortex, but then seemed unable to look at him. "Your actions were rash, and now two of our number are gone! You're confined to your room for the evening, Vortex! I don't want to see you for a while!" he shouted. Vortex nodded and walked away, not saying anything. "'Tex got duuumped! 'Tex got duuuumped!" Zipp teased, inviting glares from Bucky and Crash. "Too soon?" he chuckled nervously.


Sonic was not prepared to give up the search for Uncle Chuck. He had one more lead to look into: Chuck's workplace, a corporation known as AcornCorp. Maybe something he'd been working on had something to do with his disappearance. Sonic found that he couldn't get in during the day without an appointment, so he decided to sneak in at night. His speed made it easy to get past the security cameras and guards without being noticed. "Now, let's see... Where does Uncle Chuck work, anyway? Hmmm... this'd be easier if I... knew the old guy a little better..." Sonic admitted. As he looked around, he thought he saw a shadow round a corner. "Hmm... Maybe he's workin' round the clock on something?" he hoped, hurrying after the person to see who it was. He went from hopeful to alarmed as he found the black winged, black hooded being known as the Deathbringer! "Hey, you! You can't be sneaking around here! I'M sneaking around here today! ...Well, anyway, do you know where my Uncle Chuck is?? Talk!!" he shouted, speeding towards the hooded being without thinking much. The Deathbringer made some off gestures with her hands. "Sorry, Sonic, but I can't have you here right now... Perhaps another time!" she said in a mechanically disguised voice, not that Sonic would know who she was even if he heard her real voice. A portal appeared in Sonic's path before he could avoid it, and before Sonic knew it, he smacked right into... a tree? "Ooof!! Who put that in a building??" Sonic mumbled, looking back to see the portal closing. There was no time to jump back into it before it was gone. Sonic looked around. He appeared to be in the Mystic Ruins now. "Well, that's just..." Before he could finish his thought, he heard a loud roar overhead! Running out of the trees and glancing up, he saw the unmistakable draconian form of the Kosmogon, Kosmo the Morph's ultimate form! Nearby was Shadow Arcangel, but it was what Kosmo was fighting that really stunned Sonic. Super Tails and Super Copter were zooming through the sky, fighting the crazed dragon like the fate of the world depended on it! "Thaaaat wasn't just a portal to another location... Darn it, that hooded creep sent me back in time! ...Real original!" Sonic groaned, "Well... I'll finish watchin' Tails kick butt from this sweet vantage point... Maybe look for a slightly better place to watch, actually... And then... How the heck am I gonna get back to the future? ... Shoot..." Sonic would have a lot to think about that night. Somehow, he had to get back!


Episode 3 - Blast to the Past

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.


After meeting up with Guard and Mia, the Strike Force proceeded on their way through West Side Island. Guard led them swiftly to Hill Top Zone, where they passed by that strange man in the alligator costume, Gator, as he was roasting a weenie over a pool of hot lava. "What in the name of Chaos, Gaia and Solaris are you doing here??" Spy stammered. Gator took a bite out of his burnt hot dog and glanced at them. "Um... Would you believe I'm camping?" he said with a big goofy grin. Rouge shook her head. "Let's go before he joins our group." she groaned, "We already have to babysit Guard's stray." she added. Mia huffed and scraped her claws against a rock wall. "If I can figure out what's so special about these claws, you'd stop sassin' me..." she sighed. Conan growled as he watched her. Those claws were his. How could she have found them? Gator teleported in front of Guard as he tried to lead the group away. "Hold it! Where are YOU guys goin? This looks very suspicious... And I need a story to compete with SSTV!" he said, pulling a pad and paper from seemingly nowhere, and also putting a "reporter hat" onto his gator hood. Guard looked highly irritated. "Grrrr... No paparazzi... This is an important COVERT mission..." he said. "Ooooh, sounds interesting..." Gator grinned, scribbling onto his pad, only for Omega to blast it out of his hands! "Annoying mental patient! Shall I eliminate this obstacle?" he asked. Nack, Bean and Eddie all smirked at this. "I'm startin' to like you, robot." Nack said. "I'll remove him..." Rouge sighed, flying over and chasing after Gator as he yelled in protest. "Hey! No! Bad bat! Hey, do you know who Batman is? Wait! Get back!! I'll SCREAM LOUDER!!" he yelled. Mia looked a bit nervous as she watched this. "Should we be letting him yell like that?" she asked. Suddenly, several birds emerged atop the surrounding ledges, glaring down at them. "Aha! There they are!" said Speedy, leading their group, "Blast 'em to bits!" he ordered, prompting the birds to start hurling bombs down on the Strike Force! As they scrambled for cover, Bean shook his fists as Bark carried him. "You copycats!! Tossing bombs is MY thing!!" he yelled. Nack looked up from his cover miserably, surveying the situation and how trapped they were. "All considered... why couldn't we have just asked Sonic ta handle this?" he groaned.


Sonic had slept under the stars. Now it was morning, and he was busy trying to avoid...himself. After being sent to the past by the Deathbringer, the blue blur wasn't entirely sure how to get back home, all he knew was that he should avoid doing anything that might alter the future in any meaningful way. This wasn't like one of Eggman's time-bending schemes where he was thrust into the same space as his past self anyway. If he could avoid messing with time, he knew he probably should. After all, it wasn't like he'd never seen a movie before. He knew his past self was hanging out in the Mystic Ruins that day, so Sonic headed for Station Square, at least this way he could think without running into himself. "How am I gonna get home... Gotta get home, then find Uncle Chuck..." he muttered, yawning. Looking up, he saw a billboard as he neared Station Square. It was emblazoned with the logo of AcornCorp; a giant Acorn. Sonic stared at it, and then had an idea. "Wait... maybe I find Uncle Chuck first, THEN go back to the future! Past-Chuck might be able to tell me what might've happened to him!" he realized. At this point in time, he even happened to have an office in Station Square. It seemed like fate had drawn him here! Sonic sped into the city, but hadn't gone far before he ran smack into a certain black, two-tailed fox. "Yeow!! Slow it down, Sonic! Or I'll kick your blue butt!" Copter said grouchily. Sonic backed up a step and then helped Copter up. "Sorry, pal..." he muttered. "We're pals now? Must've missed that memo. Just because I saved your butt doesn't mean I like you." Copter grumbled. Sonic nodded. "Duly noted..." he said before hiding behind the black fox quickly. Amy was across the street, and the last thing he needed was to run into her right now. "What's with you?" Copter asked. Sonic shushed him. "Pretend I'm not here..." he muttered. Copter smirked and nodded, turning around and slapping the hedgehog with his tails. "Gee, Sonic was here a moment ago! Wheeeere did he go?" he snickered. Amy's ears perked up. "Sonic?! Where is he??" she asked excitedly. Sonic grabbed Copter's arm and made him point. "That way!!" Sonic said, mimicking the fox's gruff voice as best he could. Amy jumped excitedly and ran off in pursuit of Sonic, not realizing she was right there. Copter watched her go and rolled his eyes. "No wonder you don't like her. She's dumb." he muttered. "Hey! That's my friend you're insultin'! Hmm... But I'll let it slide if you help me..." Sonic said thoughtfully. "Help you? Bah..." Copter grunted. Sonic tugged his arm to keep him from leaving. "...Okay, look. I've been sent from the future. And I need to get back to my own time. But... I don't remember much about this particular day. I kinda took it easy, didn't hang out in town much...so I want you to kinda... walk me through things." he said. Copter looked at him like he was nuts. "...My train leaves in an hour." he grumbled. "That should be plenty of time..." Sonic said reassuringly.

Unfortunately, having someone along who was experiencing that time period for the first time wasn't very helpful, either. Before either of them got far, they were swarmed by reporters. "Oooh! Oooh! Mr. Sonic! Scarlet Garcia, SSTV News! Can we get a comment about last night's drama?" one of the reporters asked. Sonic stammered nervously. "That wasn't me at AcornCorp, that was... oh, you're talking about the Kosmogon thing!" he mumbled. "Kosmogon? Is that what that dragon was??" one of the reporters asked. Copter stepped away while Sonic was busy, trying to escape, when Gator approached him. "Giseppi Gator, Gator Gazette! Are you the Batman?" he asked. Sonic grabbed Copter by the tails and sped off quickly. "Talk to my agent!!" Sonic shouted as he fled. Once they were a good distance away, Copter slapped him. "My TAILS!!" he groaned, holding them, "...That one dark furred reporter in the back was cute, though..." he mumbled. "Focus, Copter! We need to get to AcornCorp and avoid the media." Sonic said. "I don't know where AcornCorp is!" Copter protested, "Anyway, future boy, if you're really from the future... tell me something only a future you would know!" he said skeptically. Sonic shrugged. "Okay... that Gunner creep is gonna get a warrant out for your arrest in spite of the fact you helped stop Kosmo." he stated. Copter scoffed. "Yeah, like he won't get arrested for his part in that... then again, it'd be my luck." he sighed. Just then, a certain green quilled police porcupine approached them. "Well, well, Sonic and the black fox. How convenient to find both of you. I need to take a statement about the incident yesterday." he said. Sonic turned to him, growling at this officer's refusal to help find Uncle Chuck in the present...not that he felt he needed the help. "Hey, Razor... My statement is Eggman stinks like rotten eggs. He caused the whole mess, so it makes sense." he muttered. Copter shrugged. "Ummm... ditto for me?" he said. Razor nodded. "Umm... Can I get a name, blacky?" he asked. Copter scratched his head. "Ummm... Char..." he muttered. Razor nodded and watched them leave. "...Wait, how'd they know my name??" he stammered.

Copter hid behind Sonic as they circled around the city, passing Twinkle Park, where Vortex and Zipp were walking out carrying bundles of rings. "Ship needs gas, huh?" Sonic asked. "Sssstay out of our busssinesss if you know what'sss good for ya!" Vortex hissed. Zipp chuckled. "Hey, Copter! My visor seeees you! Too bad my hands are full, I'd love a rematch after that little ARK duel we had!" he said. Copter shook his fist at him. "If I ever see you creeps again, it'll be too soon!" he shouted. Sonic sighed. "Good luck with that..." he muttered. They tried to avoid any further run-ins. Fortunately, Knuckles was a bit busy as they passed him. He was still chasing Punchy around after he'd made off with the Master Emerald the night before. "Y-you can't lose me, cloney!! I can sense that emerald wherever it is!!" he shouted. "I'm not tryin' to lose you, I'm tryin' to wear you out!" Punchy taunted. At any rate, Sonic and Copter soon arrived at the AcornCorp office building. Just outside, a new face met them. It was a female ferret wearing white robes, and possessing angel wings. Copter stared in surprise. "Time travel and now angels... Will my life ever quit being weird?" he asked. "Nope." Sonic replied. The ferret pointed at Sonic. "Hello... You do not belong here, yes? I apologize. I should have arrived to bring you home sooner." she stated. Sonic looked at her curiously. "Who are you?" he wondered. She smiled. "I am Capricorn the Divine... one of the Zodiac Council of Divine Masters." she stated. "That name's a mouthful..." Copter muttered. Sonic nodded. "And you can return me to my own time?" he asked. Capricorn nodded. "Our council looks after such things... Come, Sonic..." she said, extending her hand. Sonic backed away a step. He couldn't leave quite yet. "Distract her..." he whispered to Copter. "What?? Distract her?? Sonic?!" Copter babbled as Sonic sped toward the office building. Capricorn flapped her wings in preparation to pursue, but Copter stopped her. "Chaos Whirlwind!!" he shouted, knocking her off balance. She glared at him. "That tailband of yours will not help you against a Zodiac..." she scowled, and Copter gulped. "Darn you, Sonic... If she smites me, I'll kill you..." he grumbled.

Sonic soon found his way into Uncle Chuck's lab, where he was surprised to find his uncle busily tinkering away on Metal Sonic, of all things! The robot's chest plate was open, and Chuck appeared to be searching for something inside. "Yo, Unc... What the heck!?" Sonic stammered. Metal Sonic squirmed, but Chuck restrained the robot. "Relax... Um, hey there, Sonic. Not a great time..." he muttered. Metal Sonic stared at him, and then surprised Sonic by speaking, something he hadn't done in some time. "Dr. Eggman has stood in my way for the last time... Your uncle will remove my restraint mechanism, allowing me the freedom I crave! Then... I will prove myself superior to you, Sonic!" he growled. Chuck sighed. "If you're gonna have that kinda attitude, I won't help ya! Freedom comes with the responsibility to make the right choices, understood?" he stated. Metal Sonic nodded slowly. "...I... may be able to prove my superiority... within the confines of your petty laws..." he muttered. "Close enough!" Chuck said, disconnecting something and tossing it to Sonic, "Here, make yerself useful and hold his voice chip, sonny! Gotta find his restraining mechanism under all these wires and gizmos..." he muttered. Sonic shrugged, clearing his throat after a moment. "So, uh, Unc... This the only questionable project you been workin' on lately?" he asked. Chuck shrugged. "Whatever I'm working on is company property, and top secret until it's revealed publicly...that's all I'll say about that." he muttered, "Why, something on your mind?" Sonic rubbed his head. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to mention the future. "Well... Just makin' sure you're not into anything dangerous, is all..." he sighed. Chuck smiled a little. "Remind me of yer pop, you... You know, sonny, we don't spend enough time together..." he muttered, "Just where are you livin' now? Or do you just plop wherever your feet stop runnin'?" he chuckled. Sonic shrugged. "Well... I guess I do sorta stay with friends a lot..." he muttered, and then realized he was getting off track. "Unc, I gotta ask... You got any enemies?" he asked, grasping at straws. Chuck looked a bit concerned by that question, but he wouldn't get to answer it...

Suddenly, the back window blasted open, and Dr. Eggman flew into the room, joined by Alpha and an early, more Gamma-like model of Firma. "You think I can't track you, Metal Sonic!? GAH! Traitor! Or... Prisoner? These flesh blue hedgehogs are reprogramming you to get back at me! Well, we'll see about that! Go blast that mustachioed Sonic, robots!" Eggman shouted. "Yes, Master Sonic!" Alpha said, turning his guns on Eggman. "You are in error, Alpha. Target is blue." Firma corrected. Sonic chuckled. "Gotta say, Eggman, dunno what you were... will be thinking when you rebuild that lady-bot. She's much more feminine now." he said. Eggman scratched his head. "What are you... Rrrr... Don't play mind games with me, Sonic! I'm tired because I didn't get any sleep last night!" he growled. "I was singing! This is the song that nev-er ends!! It goes on and on--" As Alpha started singing, Firma tried to fire at Chuck during the distraction. Sonic sped over and carried him out of the way, but this mean no one was protecting Metal Sonic. Dr. Eggman launched a cable from the front of his Egg Mobile, which attached to Metal Sonic and reeled him back in. "You dug into my robot's chest cavity! Well, if he's missing anything, he'll have to go without as punishment for running away!" Eggman growled, turning and flying off. "I'll see you later, Sonic... I need to sleep off this headache..." he groaned as Alpha and Firma followed, the crazier robot continuing his endless song. Sonic sighed. "You okay, Unc? Sorry you couldn't free Metal Sonic...but maybe it's for the best..." he said. Chuck nodded. "I'd better clean up this mess. Take care, sonny." he said. "You too, Unc." Sonic smiled, turning to leave. He walked unusually slowly on his way out. "I guess I can't change the past without knowing what happened..." he reasoned. Upon arriving outside, he found Copter teamed up with Gator, both of whom were annoying Capricorn quite a bit. Gator was teleporting around, taking pictures with a bright flashing camera while Copter moved to avoid light beam attacks from the angelic ferret. Sonic dashed onto the scene to stop this. "Okay, Capricorn! I've done enough damage to the past! You can take me home now!" he shouted. Copter panted and nodded. "Good riddance! One Sonic is enough! We don't need a future-Sonic running around here, too!" he grumbled, looking up at Capricorn nervously. "We good?" he asked. Capricorn huffed at him. "I will remember this, fox... You're just lucky you are needed for the preservation of the timeline...for now." she said. "...Nice to be needed..." Copter chuckled, heading on his way. "I've got a train to catch!" he shouted. Sonic glanced at Gator, who was still snapping pictures. "What a scoop! Angels! Hedgehogs! An explosion behind that building! I have no idea what it's all about, but these pictures will be worth plenty of milkshakes!" he giggled. Sonic glanced at Metal Sonic's voice chip, which he still was holding, and grinned. "Trade ya this for your camera!" he said. Gator looked at it stupidly for a moment. "Okay!" he said, handing over the camera for the voice chip. He held it to his mouth. "I am a robot! Fear me!" he boomed in Metal Sonic's voice. "Weird... that shouldn't work like that..." Sonic muttered. Capricorn sighed. "It is time to go." she said, pointing and creating a time portal in front of Sonic. "Destroy that camera. It is best no one knows of me but those I choose." she added. Sonic nodded. "Consider it done!" he said, heading through the portal.


Back on West Side Island, the Strike Force was pinned down by the Battle Bird army. Guard was able to fly out and pursue Speedy, but for the others, the birds were too fortified in the surrounding cliffs to approach them, and the constant barrage of explosives were making it difficult to even stay safe. Nack, Bean and Bark decided to take out their frustration on Gator, strangling, punching and kicking him respectively. "Aaaack, you g-guys have a strange way of p-playing!!" he groaned. "You killed us all wit your yellin', you insane human dingbat!" Nack yelled. "Hey... don't say human like that!" Spy whined. Eddie was keeping the birds occupied blasting illusion copies of himself, Conan and Nack, but it'd only be a matter of time before their real selves were found. "Eee hee hee... These birds are good. You didn't see coordinated strikes like this with the Covenant of Despair!" he mused. "I'm glad you're enjoying it so much!" Conan snapped. Suddenly, to the group's surprise, a blue blur sped across the hilltops, knocking over all the birds and startling them into retreat! "Huh?? Bob's my uncle, I said Sonic's name and he showed!!" Nack said, mystified. Speedy watched his troops retreating and whined. "That's no fair! You weren't supposed to get backup!! Rrrr, I'll be back!" he shouted, flying off with his troops. As Guard rejoined the Strike Force, their "ally" appeared as well. It turned out to be Metal Sonic, and Rouge, Spy and Guard immediately got defensive as the robot approached, while Omega replaced his hands with machine guns. "Eggman robot! Do not think saving us earns you a reprieve! I will annihilate you!" he warned. Metal Sonic stomped over to Gator, prompting Nack, Bean and Bark to hide behind him. "Huh? Ooooh... Um... Want a hot dog?" Gator asked, holding up his half-eaten weenie. Metal Sonic glared at him. "...Only other thing I got is this microchippy thing." he said. Metal Sonic swiped it, opening up his chest plate and quickly reinstalling it. "I have searched for that voice chip for some time! Consider my saving you a finder's fee..." he said, zooming away before Omega's shots could hit him! "Curses! I hate that metal hedgehog!!" he growled. Gator grinned, pleased with himself. "Sooo... Now it looks like old Gator saved the day! Wanna make me captain of this expedition now?" he asked. Guard growled. "Go back where you came from, or so help me, I will have you locked deep in the darkest cell GUN has, grrrrrr..." he snarled. "Ditto." Rouge added. As the Strike Force went on their way, Gator pouted. "See if I help you guys again!" he said, sticking his tongue out.


Sonic related his story to Tails, telling him about his trip to the past, his visit with Uncle Chuck, and his run in with Eggman. "Sounds like you had one heck of a day. Too bad you didn't get any clues out of all that..." Tails sighed. "Nope, just the answer to why Metal Sonic's been quiet ever since the Kosmogon was defeated..." Sonic shrugged, yawning. Tails nodded. "You look like you need some rest. Maybe you should relax at home for a while..." he suggested. Sonic looked at him funny. "What home? You know I'm a drifter..." Sonic muttered. "Very funny, Sonic..." Tails said wryly. When it became apparent that Sonic had no idea what he was talking about, Tails gave him a ride out of concern that something had messed with his head in the past. They traveled to Central City, where Sonic found a blue-painted house waiting for him, his name in yellow letters on the mailbox. "...I don't understand..." Sonic mumbled as he went inside. However, a quick look around gave him the answer. There were pictures lining the tables, mainly of Sonic and his friends. One, however, depicted the day Sonic moved into this house. Uncle Chuck was standing beside him with a smile. "...He bought me the house..." Sonic realized. "Yeah, about a year ago." Tails said, "...This must be eating you up, for him to be missing and all... You two did get real close in the last couple years..." he frowned. Sonic nodded, smiling a little to himself as new memories started to come into his mind. "I gotta thank that hooded character if I see 'em again... That trip to the past wasn't a total disaster after all..." he thought.


Episode 4 - Seven Short Stories of GeneX

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.


"Hello, I'm Giseppi Gator! As I sit here on top of this hill, waiting for my hot dogs to warm up... it comes to my attention that this episode is titled 'Seven Short Stories!' That's a dumb number to stop at, so I'm here to get us up to eight! Now sit back and listen to my campy-fire story!" I as the narrator apologize for Gator's intrusion here. Let's get on with our actual seven short stories. "Aw, boo! Don't leave! Come on! I have a great story! It has pirates and ninjas and a sea monster! I even wrote theme music!" ...Nope, we've had enough Gator for this season... Let's see what everyone else is up to.

Sonic was looking around his "new" house, which he knew he now had as a result of his time traveling. Some memories of this new timeline had settled into his head, but there was still so much he couldn't remember. He wasn't sure how changing one's own past was supposed to work, but he remained confident that the rest of his new memories would catch up to him in time. He stretched out and sat on the couch in his living room, getting comfy, when he heard the front door creak. "Didn't I lock that? Hey! Maybe Uncle Chuck is fine in this timeline!" he hoped, sitting up only to be surprised as Mighty the armadillo stepped into the house! "Hey, roomie! Any luck finding Chuck? Maybe we should get Vector on the case, heh..." he said as Sonic fell out of his chair. "Roomie??" he babbled. "Yeah? Oh, lemme help you up there..." Mighty said, seeming unfazed by Sonic's jumpiness, "I know it's rough with Chuck missing, so I'm gonna make up dinner myself! ...Please don't make that face, I promise it won't be that bad this time..." he mumbled. "This time... huh??" Sonic rubbed his head, thinking hard. It was slowly coming back to him. Somewhere down the line, Mighty had moved in with him and Uncle Chuck. He couldn't quite remember WHY, but it was starting to feel strangely normal. Sonic suddenly groaned as a memory came to his head. "Wait, you cook vegetarian! If you're tryin' to cheer me up, mission failed!" he grumbled. Mighty shrugged. "Well, we could order out, I guess. But you definitely need to get your mind off things. How's about we spar a bit? I'll get my boxing gloves!" he grinned, hurrying upstairs. Sonic sighed. "A roommate, huh? ...This... will be interesting..." he mumbled.

Copter watched as Violet hopped into his plane, preparing to head back to the mainland for a while to do a few chores before coming back for a date later that night. "You know, Copter, you really need a proper ferry to this island." she chuckled. Hoover, the beaver robot who happened to be the plane's mechanic, was watching them, too. "I'd build yeh a ferry, but you'd prolly be careless as yeh are wit mah plane!" he said grouchily, stomping off. "He hates you flying his baby." Copter chuckled. Violet nodded. "Well, I'll have it back soon..." she said, blowing Copter a kiss before taking off in the Hurricane, leaving the black fox alone. Or so she thought. In a moment, a crab robot crept towards Copter from the shadows. "One perk of using Eggman's designs... It's easy to sneak into his old garage." it said. "...You... Cancer??" Copter stammered, recalling the robot from Libra's house. "I've been watching you..." Cancer said, "...And wondering how you can keep up this charade. Doesn't it bother you...knowing you inevitably hurt all that you love? After all, you did push away the coyote, you lost touch with the phoenix, and let's not forget that you lost the fennec's twin..." he said ominously. Copter glared at the crab robot. "Hey!? Who told you my past was an open book!? Get outta here! Before I tear those googly robot eyes off!!" he shouted, whipping his tails in Cancer's general direction. The robot skitted away, chuckling softly. "I think I've given you a good bit to think about..." he said, passing Hoover and Gemini in the doorway on his way out. "Hey! Where'd you come from!?" Gemini stammered. "Yeah, there's no Crabmeats on the robot-worker list fer this base!" Hoover added, following after him frantically, "Lemme see yer transfer papers!!" he yelled. Gemini glanced at Copter. "Punchy would like a word. Sounds important." she said. "I'll be right there..." Copter sighed, lost in thought. He watched her leave, going over what Cancer said in his head. "Maybe I'm jumping into things with Violet, even though there might be someone better... because I'm... afraid to hurt that someone..." he wondered to himself, his eyes staying locked on Gemini until she was out of sight...

On this particular day, Blaze was visiting her good friends Amy and Cream, and taking a break from her duties in her home dimension. The three of them had decided to take a nice, relaxing bike ride around town. "This was a good idea... Normally these bikes kinda collect dust until the Olympics. Sonic insists on running everywhere." Amy said. Cream had to pedal a bit harder to keep up with Amy and Blaze. "C-can we go a bit slower?" she panted. "Oh, of course, sorry..." Blaze chuckled. As they were approaching a stop light, though, Wave the swallow came speeding over on her bike, and pulled in front of them, cutting them off and making Cream stumble to a stop, nearly falling! "Waaah!! Th-that was close... Oh!" She noticed that Cheese was holding up the side of her bike, and had kept her from crashing. "Th-thanks, Cheese..." she sighed. Wave laughed at them. "Look at you girls with your kiddie bikes. Mommy just take off your training wheels?" she taunted. Amy growled and pulled up beside her. "I can out-bike you any day!" she shouted. Blaze moved up to join them, making Cream nervous. "W-we shouldn't race in the street like this! A-amy?? Blaze??" she stammered. However, once the light turned green, they took off, and Cream went after them, frantically trying to talk them out of it! They sped through the busy streets, racing to see who could pedal to the next light the fastest. Blaze pulled ahead first. "What was that about training wheels?" she smirked. Wave pedaled harder, cutting in front of her. "Ha! Nice try, kitten!" she taunted. Amy was laughing as she pedaled like crazy, inching closer and closer to Wave. "I'm... gonna... beat you!!" she huffed. "In... your... dreams!" Wave chuckled. Before they reached the light, though, they found themselves blocked by a police motorcycle. "Halt!!" shouted Razor the porcupine, leading the four of them to stop short! Razor proceeded to hand out tickets to Amy, Blaze and Wave. "Speeding, biking outside the bike lane, failure to wear full protective gear... Tsk, tsk..." he said, shaking his head. "Aw, c'mon, we're just having a bit of fun!" Amy whined. "You would ticket a princess?" Blaze growled. "Hey, why aren't you ticketing the kid??" Wave grumbled. Razor crossed his arms. "You three should be setting an example for the young one!" he huffed. "Yeah!" Cream panted, and slowly pointed behind Razor, "Um... should he be doing that, by the way?" she asked. "Whoooo-hoooo!!" came Ridley's voice as Razor startdledly turned around to find the coati performing wheelies on his police motorcycle, while the girls clapped for his performance. Razor groaned. "What am I gonna do with you, Ridley!?" he muttered.

On West Side Island, Guard the gargoyle and Mia the cat had separated from the GUN Strike Force and headed for Aquatic Ruin Zone, following the trail left by Speedy's forces after their last attack. The calm, partially flooded ruin was almost a romantic setting, particularly with nothing there to attack the pair. Mia, however, was focused on trying to slip out of the Chaos Claws, to no avail. "These things are stuck on good..." she groaned. Guard sighed. "I asked Conan about it. Grrr... He said he had yet to fully understand the Chaos Claws, which was why he elected not to wield them when he was on the run. He didn't sound like he wanted to cooperate, but I'll MAKE him..." he grunted. Mia smiled. "You know, in your brutish way, you're kind of a nice guy..." she said, walking close beside him. "Rrr? No I'm not... Anyway, we need to stay alert..." Guard muttered, blushing at her close proximity to him. She allowed her tail to tangle around his as they walked. "And he's modest...not to mention...strong..." she sighed with a playful longing in her voice. He blushed even more at this, looking away from her nervously. "Grrr! H-having you here...is quite the distraction!" he said, flustered. Mia smirked. "You like it. I can tell." she chuckled, "And I like this shy side of you. Real cute." she grinned. "...We need to keep moving..." Guard grunted. Before they could get far, though, they were interrupted. "Ugh, get a room, you sickos!" came the irritated voice of Speedy from across the nearby lake! Guard looked across with a start. "Grah!? Err, I mean... Found you!" he stammered. Speedy laughed. "Looks like I'm the one that found you! Now let's see... Shall I blow ya sky high...?" he muttered thoughtfully, "On second though, I'll have these robots built by Dr. Furobotov go after you!" he shouted. "It's Doctor Fukurokov!!" the doctor yelled from behind his cover nearby. Guard and Mia quickly readied for a fight as dozens of mouse-shaped robots came crawling in their direction. "...Seriously? Mice versus a cat? These guys are toast." Mia said, baring her Chaos Claws.

Shadow the hedgehog had come to the Mystic Ruins, and banged grouchily on the door to Tails Workshop until the fox answered. "Uh, hi Shadow... Why so grim?" Tails muttered, his gloves covered in black smudges from whatever he was tinkering on before the interruption. Shadow stepped inside impatiently. "This is how I always look... I'm just checking in to make sure the 'package' I left here is safe..." he said cautiously, looking around to make sure no one else was there. Tails scratched his head. "Package? ...Oh, you mean that cooler of blood samples we hid in the tunnels!" he realized. Shadow glared at him. "You haven't told anyone about it, have you?" he asked. Tails shook his head. "Of course not. It's safe and sound where we left it. C'mon, we can have a nice chat on the way down..." he said. Shadow shuddered. "Please don't. Just show me it's safe and I'll leave..." he grumbled. "Don't be that way! It's so rare we get the chance to talk!" Tails said cheerfully. "Yeah, why is that..." Shadow said sarcastically. As they started toward the trapdoor leading to the tunnels, they didn't notice that the portal device leading to Blaze's dimension had come online. Shadow was too busy trying to ignore Tails's attempts at conversation to notice, but when they arrived back from checking on the Ultimate Life samples, they were caught off guard by robotic tentacles, which wrapped tight around Tails before slapping Shadow to the ground! "Hee hee hee! I waited patiently for you to come back! Now you'll be my hostages!" Eggman Nega had emerged from the portal, and his Egg Mobile was fitted with a dozen robotic tendrils! "Pity I can't fit much into your little workshop... I'll just have to tear it to the ground! Eh heh heh heh!!" the doctor laughed, lashing the tendrils around and trashing the immediate area! "No!! Not again! I just got the place the way I like it!" Tails shouted. Shadow got up with a growl. "Chaos Control!" he shouted, warping behind the machine only to be grabbed by one of its rear tentacles! "Heh! You think I didn't study your tricks while I was working with my ancestor and his younger self last year?" Nega chuckled. Tails was able to extend his tails through the grip of the tentacle, and used them to grip whatever he could, in this case, a wrench on a nearby table. He flipped it from his tails into his hand and banged it into the tentacle. "This thing's joints look kinda weak... I bet I could..." Wrapping the wrench around it and turning, he pulled right at the weak spot and broke the tentacle off! "Hey! You little pipsqueak! Let's see you work when I hold your limbs behind your back!" Nega growled. Shadow grinned while Nega was distracted. "Chaos Spear!" he shouted, waving a free hand to fire a spear right at Nega's controls! "Yaaaargh!! Oh, shoot!" Nega shouted, his machine dropping Shadow as it swerved out of control! Shadow and Tails moved in front of it, and with a swift pair of kicks, the two of them knocked Nega back through the portal! "I'll be baaaaack!!" Nega shouted. Tails hurried to deactivate the portal, while Shadow caught himself chuckling. "Err... You did... fine." he said, turning to leave. "Nice visit, Shadow. Don't be a stranger!" Tails said. Shadow smiled lightly as he stepped out the door. "We'll see..." he said.

While Guard and Mia were busy at Aquatic Ruin, Spy was monitoring the situation at the base camp they'd recently set up at Hill Top Zone. Conan was with him for protection, and they were also monitoring the other members of the strike force, who had gone out to Mystic Cave to try and sneak by the Battle Bird Armada's security measures and get them one step closer to their warship on the other side of the island. "Report in, Agent Rouge! What's your 20?" Spy said into a walkie talkie. "We're in this charming dank cave. You should come down here sometime." Rouge replied. Conan was going through a backpack containing the limited belongings the Strike Force members had been allowed to bring along, and removed a small picture frame. He held it tenderly, looking at the picture. Spy glanced at him curiously. "Who's that you're staring at so creepily?" he asked. "Lovingly, you dolt. Your generation thinks romance is just creepy in general..." he grunted. The picture depicted a brown furred squirrel girl in a pink dress. "Her name was... is Emily. She is my light... Everything I do is for her..." he whispered, and began to relate his story...

"We met on an expedition. I was a fledgling archaeologist, she was the daughter of the squirrel who financed my expeditions. Her dream was my dream, to find fame and fortune among the relics of the past, and we shared countless adventures together... And we fell madly in love. So much so, that I had the nerve to ask Emily to marry me! Can you imagine? And she said yes, incredibly! Unfortunately, I was young, and had yet to learn the true cruelties of this world. A terrible, incurable illness struck my bride to be... Her father was so devastated, he stopped us from completing our vows, and had her placed in a cryogenic sleep until a cure could be found. But I was soon to realize that this cure was decades away... by the time my love awoke, I would be an old raccoon! But if I woke her beforehand, she would be claimed by the illness, and I would have to live that old age without her anyway. I nearly gave up... but then I saw Emily's diary. She had been researching the Chaos Relics before we were to be wed. These objects had incredible powers, or so the legends went... I tracked down the sword, and it was confirmed to me. They indeed possessed great power! Each had a different gift. Perhaps one could heal my beloved... recover her health! However... Emily's father didn't share my enthusiasm. He feared that which he didn't understand. We argued... and my blade may have... pierced his heart...in a fit of outrage... With him gone, and his daughter an invalid, his money was tied up in the legal system... and the plug was pulled on Emily. I lost everything... Unless the Chaos Relics can perform a greater miracle than I was hoping for! My research indicates that he who wields all the Relics will hold the power of a god! So, I must claim them all... to save my sweet Emily...and hold her in my arms once more..."

Spy had nodded off during his story, so Conan placed the frame back into the bag and scoffed. "And I'll get those claws back from that foolish feline, too..." he grunted. Spy jolted back to life as Rouge's voice came over the walkie talkie. "Yeah, Spy? Cave's a no-go! Bean kinda... blew it up..." she grumbled. "Hee hee hee! That cave-in was wicked!!" the duck could be heard laughing in the background. Spy groaned. "If Gunner were here, he'd have had all of you shot by now..." he sighed.

As the sun was setting on this particularly eventful day, Punchy the echidna was scurrying back and forth hastily, seeming quite nervous and fidgety about something. Rainbow the echidna watched him rushing to and fro with curiosity. "What's up with One? ...Is he having bathroom problems?" she whispered to Copter as he walked by. "What? No! Well, I don't know. Hey, Rainbow, do you think I'm afraid to get close to people?" he asked, still thinking about what Cancer told him. "That's silly, Two. C'mon, I'm gonna ask One what's up!" she said, stomping after him. "Uh, no, you can't do that!" Copter stammered, blocking her way. "Huh? Why not? Oooh, it's a boy bathroom problem, isn't it?" she asked. "Ew, no!" Copter shouted, "Just let him rehear-I mean... Errr... Yes. He's rehearsing a play, and you don't wanna spoil the ending now, do ya?" he said. Rainbow scratched her head. "All by himself?" she asked. "It's his new one-man show. Opens next week. He needs to rehearse a lot!" he said. "Oooh, sounds like something I need to help him out with!" Rainbow said insistently. Gemini stepped into the room and groaned. "Copter, what's going on?" she asked. "Rainbow's trying to get in to listen to Punchy 'rehearsing' his 'play.'" Copter said. Gemini rolled her eyes. "Rainbow, um... why don't you let me see if Punchy needs any assistance? If I get him mad I can just erase his memory." she said. Rainbow shrugged. "Okay..." she sighed. Gemini grabbed Copter's arm as she went. "Wait, can you do that??" Copter whispered. "You'll never know for sure..." Gemini smirked. Rainbow waited alone for a few moments, looking a bit worried. "It's not like One to be so secretive like this... Oh no! What if this is it... The call of fame and fortune will lead him to leave me all alone!" she shivered nervously. Just then, Gemini returned to the room. "Hey. Could you come to the first floor balcony? I need your help with something..." she said, rushing off ahead quickly. Rainbow shuddered. "No word on One. This is it... I'm gonna be all alone again..." she sniffled.

Her worry turned to light confusion as she arrived at the balcony. Gemini wasn't there. Instead, Punchy was waiting, standing at the railing. He turned, his face pink with blush as Rainbow approached. "Ah, R-rainbow! Come here! I need to talk to you..." he said nervously. Rainbow walked to the balcony and looked out at the sunset. "This really is the end... He brought me here to say goodbye..." she thought, shivering. "Are you cold? Um... we could go inside?" he muttered. "That's alright..." Rainbow muttered. Punchy nodded. "Well, um... Rainbow? When I met you... I was a lost soul, chasing the one and only memory in my head. Now, thanks to you... I have a ton of my own memories, separate from 'ol Red. You keep my darkness in check, and you lead the way through my adventures..." he started. Rainbow looked at him curiously, her concerns starting to fade a little. "What are you trying to say, One?" she asked. "Um... There's a certain... Errr... Webster's dictionary defines... No... Ugh! All that rehearsing was useless... I'll have to wing it!" he said, lowering himself down on one knee in front of Rainbow and taking her hand. "You're a part of me, Colors. A part I can't very well live without. You're my light..." he smiled, placing a gold ring into her hand, "And I know this is just a regular ring like the hundreds sitting around everywhere, but I don't got a job like Copter... Still... Rainbow..." he said, gazing into her eyes. "O-one??" she replied, tearing up and blushing heavily as she listened to his words. "Would you... y'know... marry me?" he asked as tenderly as he could manage. Rainbow helped him to his feet, smiling as she looked into his eyes, her own eyes wet with tears. "I thought you wanted to leave me..." she chuckled, "...Oh, One!!" she cried, leaping into his arms and kissing him happily! At that moment, Copter and Gemini led a group of their friends onto the balcony to let out a cheer for that apparent "Yes!" Illusi was there, along with Knuckles, Violet, Sonic and Amy! "Rouge sends her regrets that she can't make it. GUN mission." Illusi said after the cheering subsided. Punchy looked around in bewilderment. "Guys... She didn't answer!" he stammered. Rainbow giggled. "That was a yes, One, ya silly!" she said, hugging him tightly. "I think you can call him Punchy now." Violet smirked. Punchy shrugged. "One's kinda growing on me... She can keep it up 'till she wants to stop." he smiled. Amy nudged Sonic as everyone moved in to congratulate the newly engaged couple. "We're next, riiiight?" she asked. Sonic blushed and stammered nervously. "Uhhh, gotta go! I gotta check a lead on my missing uncle!" he said, speeding off down the side of the building! "Good luck with that, Amy, but I think Copter and I are next!" Violet smirked, to which Copter also got nervous. "Uuuuhhh... Let's see who catches the bouquet at the wedding, alright?" he stammered. Knuckles watched Punchy and Rainbow being romantic and sighed. "My clone is getting married...and I'm married to the Master Emerald..." he muttered, looking a bit melancholy, "...I bet I look pretty green myself now..." he sighed. Punchy and Rainbow shook hands with everyone, then waved them off. "'Kay, I think we wanna be alone, you jokers. You're all invited to the wedding, we'll set a date once Rainbow recovers from the shock!" Punchy grinned. "That might take a while... My One and only!" Rainbow giggled, kissing Punchy playfully. "Alright, let's clear out! This love-fest is gettin' gross!" Copter joked, leading the way as the group left Punchy and Rainbow to watch the romantic sunset together...


Episode 5 - Battling the Bird Armada!

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.


The Church of Central City was receiving a colorful batch of visitors on this day following Punchy's proposal to Rainbow. However, neither echidna was among them, the couple considering other possible venues considering the lack of religion in their lives. Copter had accompanied Gemini to the church, where she was praying for the safety of her missing friend, Libra. "...Shall I cast a voodoo spell while you're talking to your imaginary friend?" Copter muttered as she bowed her head in prayer. "Shush. I'll deal with your unenlightened attitude later." she grumbled. Sonic was sitting not too far away, his own head hung solemnly. "You gotta be kidding me..." Copter muttered. Sonic finished his silent prayers and spotted Copter. "Hey... Here to confess a few sins?" Sonic asked. "Har har... You don't strike me as the superstitious type, Sonic." Copter grumbled. Sonic shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be? I mean, I have fought a bunch of bad-tempered gods. There ought to be a nice one somewhere..." he sighed, "...And maybe he knows where my Uncle Chuck is..." Gemini sat next to him and patted his shoulder. "I'm missing someone too. Wait, do you think this could be related? Maybe they were kidnapped by the same person!" she suggested. Copter shook his head. "Why would the same guy take Sonic's uncle and your random doppelganger?" he asked. "Gemini! Good to see you here!" a voice familiar to the fennec girl called out. She ducked behind the church pews, but her old teacher Fred had spotted her. "Hey... You're looking more churchy than normal today." Copter said to him. Fred's normal black attire was accompanied by an actual priest's collar today. "Well, if I'm going to stay in this era--area--to watch over Gemini, I should have a fitting form of employment." he chuckled. "So... you're not here to drag me home?" Gemini asked, sighing with relief. Behind them, Illusi the shrew chuckled. He had come to the church as well to think things over after Punchy's big proposal. "Shame I can't attend the wedding... I can't keep the Chaos Relics in one place for too long..." he sighed. The church choir had been singing in the background through all of this, but at this moment, a lone voice began to sing that drew his attention. It was a voice he knew better than any other. To his astonishment, it was Fera, singing a song no one ever thought they'd hear her sing.

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found.
Was blind, but now I see!"

As she spoke that lyric, Illusi looked up, and could see that not only was it indeed Fera, but that her damaged eye had even been restored, and she was looking more beautiful than ever, wearing the white gown of the choir singers. He quickly got Fred's attention. "Th-that wolf... How long has she been here?" he asked. Fred smiled. "My predecessor as the priest here told me her story. It's quite a story. She washed up on the beaches near Station Square the day after Despair was defeated. Indeed, she herself was the picture of despair. Right eye badly wounded and sewn shut, even. The human priest here was visiting family in the area. He found her, nursed her to health. The poor thing had lost all her memories, but she proved not only strong of body, but of heart. She joined the church choir in order to give back to those who helped her, and her lovely voice has lifted many a spirit. One day, her beautiful singing turned a man, a doctor, back from the brink of suicide. In gratitude, he repaired her eye... Do you know her?" Fred asked. Illusi looked in wonder, and thought better of introducing a troubled past to this happy person's life. "What's her name?" he asked. "...We call her Felicia. She can't remember her real name." Fred shrugged. Illusi nodded as Fred stepped away, a tear coming to the shrew's eye as Fera's song ended. "...Seems she's moved on and found peace. Perhaps it is time I did the same..." he smiled.


Meanwhile, GUN's Strike Force had arrived at Oil Ocean. With Eggman's machines gone, oil had stopped dumping into the ocean, but with the Battle Bird Armada building their new warship, the flow of oil had resumed. "Grrr... Stay alert. Enemy forces could be anywhere..." Guard warned as they started cautiously toward the warship docked near Oil Ocean's mechanized platforms. However, they were almost immediately surrounded by a veritable army of birds armed with guns, flamethrowers, and explosives! "Gah! I surrender!" Nack shouted, "If they shoot off that stuff here, we'll all be blown to kingdom come!" he reasoned. "What a hero..." Rouge said sarcastically. Conan, Mia and Eddie glanced at Bean suspiciously. "Eee hee... They found us awfully quickly. Funny, isn't it?" Eddie chuckled. "Almost like a little bird told 'em." Mia added. Bark stepped in front of Bean defensively while he jumped around agitatedly. "I call racism!! Just 'cuz I'm a bird you think I'm with those birds!!" he shouted. Spy sighed. "Stop bickering, guys. He couldn't tip them off. Shock collar, remember?" he said, "Plus, I've been watching him closely. I mean, he IS a bird." While the Battle Birds surrounded them, Speedy flew up to address the Strike Force. "Can I count on your surrender? It's just that our Battle Lord is readying to announce his master plan, and I'd hate to miss it!" he smirked. A sea-green albatross, Aquarius, approached Guard and motioned for the Strike Force to follow. "Come quietly. I would prefer not to restrain you..." he said, winking. Guard scratched his head, but nodded. "Grrr... Fine. Take us to this Battle Lord of yours." he said. "It'd likely be easier to fight our way out from here..." Conan warned. "What fun would that be? Eee hee..." Eddie chuckled. As the birds led the Strike Force away, Speedy rubbed his fingers in glee. "I'm in for a big payday now! Da-I mean-the Battle Lord is gonna be so pleased with me!" he chuckled.

They were led to a massive, green, bird-shaped warship, floating next to a platform overlooking a vast sea of oil. Battle Lord Kukku waited on that platform, saluting the troops as they arrived. Dr. Fukurokov was there as well, guarding a caged Heather the phoenix. "Halt! Listen up, troops! I am giving a speech, now! You intruders can listen, too, if you're smart enough to follow." the Battle Lord began, "Plan 'B' is prepared to be put in motion!" he announced. "Isn't it more like 'Plan C'?" one of the birds in the crowd interrupted. "Who said that?" Kukku growled, hurling a bomb in the direction of the voice and blowing away the bird he believed to have irritated him. "Eee hee! I like this guy already..." Eddie whispered. The Battle Lord motioned to Heather's cage, and as he did, metal clamps reached into the cage and latched onto her limbs, holding her in place as a strange energy shot into her body! "Because we have been unable to locate the Chaos Relics, Plan B involves using the fiery power of this great phoenix to run our brand-spanking-new super weapon! ...The poor phoenix will likely use up all her flames and die by invasion's end, but sacrifices must be made for the glory of the Battle Bird Armada!" As the Battle Lord's speech ended and his minions started clapping, Speedy watched the phoenix he captured writhe in pain, a look of horror on his face. "Sacrifice...? B-but she's a bird like us!" he muttered, glancing at the Battle Lord, his father, with a newfound disgust. The Battle Lord glanced at him and crossed his arms. "What are you looking at? Ah, I know! You're waiting for the order to execute our prisoners! Well, I was considering allowing them to watch the start of our invasion...but we don't need the extra baggage. I suggest we start with the human. Who wants to watch some public executions!?" Kukku shouted, eliciting cheers from his goons, as well as Bean and Eddie. "You know they want to execute US, right?" Rouge groaned. "I'm hoping they'll let me go 'cuz I'm just so handsome!" Bean grinned. "Eee hee, c'mon, who doesn't wanna see the human's head roll?" Eddie grinned. "Me..." Spy whimpered.

As the birds moved in to finish off the prisoners, Aquarius flew up above them and let out a defiant shout. "I will follow you no more!!" As if in reaction to his words, the oily ocean surrounding the platform began to churn, and clear water rose up from that ocean, crashing onto the platform and knocking over the birds as an angry torrent of waves! "Whoa! D-did he do that?? How did he do that??" Bean shouted. "I'm just glad he managed to miss us." Nack sighed. As the birds scrambled back to their feet, Dr. Fukurokov pointed to Heather's cage. "Get her aboard the ship! Let's get going!" he ordered. "HEY! I'm in charge here!" the Battle Lord snapped, "...Get her aboard the ship! Let's get going!" he repeated hastily. A group of birds hoisted the cage and, led by the doctor and the Battle Lord, hurried onto the bird-shaped warship. Guard and Rouge were quick to take flight after them. "We can't let them use that weapon! My payment of jewels depends on it!" Rouge said. "Grrr... Don't you mean Heather's life?" Guard grunted. "I'm not too sentimental about the bird that keeps threatening my life as a weapon." Rouge shrugged. Mia watched them heading for the ship, and ran off after them. "Wait! Come back with those claws!" Conan growled, only to be blocked by a few Battle Bird guards. "Eddie, help me out here......Eddie?" Conan muttered, noticing the Hyena was suddenly MIA. As Mia caught up with Guard and Rouge inside the main entrance to the warship, they found a group of armored Battle Birds waiting for them. "Grrrr... About time we get to bring the fight to these featherheads!" Guard growled. Rouge nodded. "Too bad Omega didn't make it... Where IS he?" she muttered impatiently. "Probably still chasing Metal Sonic about, eeee hee!" laughed Eddie as he stepped out from behind one of the armored birds, a wicked grin on his face. Rouge glared at him. "Planning to go traitor? Eat shock collar!" she said, pulling out the remote and pressing it! As the collar zapped Eddie, he vanished, and a second Eddie stepped into view, wearing no collar. "You zapped illusion me to death! Eee hee! Too bad. Such a handsome devil. If it isn't obvious, I'm the one who fed our location to the Armada so they caught us as soon as we reached the area!" he chuckled. Mia raised her claws while Guard and Rouge prepared to fight as well. "Who's bright idea was it to trust bad guys?" she asked.

Eddie created more illusionary duplicates of himself and fled into the ship. "Oh, no you don't! I'm not losing my jewels because some chuckleheaded hyena escaped!" Rouge shouted, flying off after him, leaving Guard and Mia to face the Battle Bird Armada in its near-entirety. "Nice friend you got. Left us to rot... Well, if there were ever a time to let the Chaos Claws take over..." Mia sighed. "Grrr... Careful. I don't want to have to fight you!" Guard said with concern. Dr. Fukurokov let out a shout from the back of the crowd. "Out of the way! I'm going to test our new weapon out on those stowaways!" The bird army moved aside, revealing that Heather's cage had been attached by cables to a...really big gun, which Dr. Fukurokov was holding. "Yah ha ha ha!! I shall burn you to little piles of dust!" he laughed, firing a massive beam of heat from the big gun, while Heather yelped in pain from her power being drained! Naturally, Guard and Mia dashed out of the way. "Hmmm... Dumb lackeys! Hold them still! Do not worry, nothing will happen to you! Dumb lackeys..." A few birds were actually dumb enough to attempt to follow the doctor's order, and charged after Guard first. He snarled as he attempted to fend them off, but they were overwhelming him as the doctor was charging the weapon! "Oh no... Guard!! Out of the way!!" Mia shouted, lunging herself into the fray! She sent a few birds off whimpering with some swift scratches from her claws, and then shoulder-tacked Guard out of Fukurokov's line of fire! However, that meant his fiery blast would hit her instead! The hot beam struck her side and tossed her to the floor, the force of the impact sending the Chaos Claws clattering to the ground! "Rrr!! N-no!!" Guard rushed to her, lifting her into his arms, but she was already unconscious, her vital signs weak according to his scanners. Fukurokov didn't fire again, though. The Battle Lord was too close. He had emerged suddenly, and was picking up the Chaos Claws quickly. "With these to power me, and the phoenix to power my army... I am unstoppable! Yeee hee hee hee hee!" he cackled, as Guard glared up at him with rage. "GrrrRRRR!! You won't get away, bird! I'm gonna make you PAY!!" he roared. The Battle Lord snickered and took off hastily. "Catch me if you can, fluffy wings!" he taunted.

With Guard chasing the Battle Lord, it now fell to Rouge to rescue Heather and protect the wounded Mia. Trouble was, she was still occupied with Eddie, and now had the rest of the armada closing in around her. "Thanks a lot, Guard! C'mon, I can't go out like this... killed by a bunch of featherbrains!" she grunted as she did a twirling kick to clear some of the birds away from her vicinity. It looked bad, especially since she could feel that the warship was taking off, meaning the Strike Force wasn't coming...or was it? An explosion at a nearby wall caught the attention of her, Eddie, and pretty much everyone else in the room. Stepping through the resulting hole was Speedy, followed by Bean. "Ugh... I knew it. Birds flock together..." Rouge sighed, "Didn't think you'd be able to blow up the ship's hull that easily, though..." she muttered. "He did not!" said a voice behind the settling dust. Omega emerged behind Speedy and Bean, and with him were Spy, Bark, Conan and Nack! Speedy sped into the room and quickly kicked the bewildered Eddie in the face. "Yeeeow!! Hey! I'm on your side!!" he yelped. "I'm switching sides! Battle Bird Armada! Anyone who's tired of my father's cruelty, follow me!" Speedy shouted, leading half the armada to start battling the other half! Nack smirked at the ensuing chaos. "I'd say this provides some good cover. How much dynamite you packin', Bean?" he asked. Bean wore a big grin and hopped on Bark's back, pulling big sticks of dynamite into his wings out of nowhere. "I AM Bean the Dynamite!!" he cackled, slapping Bark's shoulder to send him charging into the ship. Meanwhile, Dr. Fukurokov attempted to aim his weapon into the crowd. "Stop battling each other, you fools! I cannot find my targets when you scramble about like loony toons!" he grumbled, only to collapse as a big rock suddenly fell on his head! "Nighty-night...!" he mumbled as he collapsed. Spy climbed down from overhead while Rouge landed nearby, setting to work unlocking Heather's cage. "Why the heck did they even have a big rock like that in here?? And why would a so-called genius stand right under it like that??" Spy babbled. "Shut up. A win's a win." Rouge sighed, helping Heather out of her cage. Conan carried Mia over as well. "What should we do with this dolt who lost the Chaos Claws? Throw her overboard?" he asked. "I've got her. Go find Guard so we can blow this ship and go home!" Spy suggested.

As Guard chased the Battle Lord to the warship's command deck, explosions rocked the vessel, making them both wobble a bit on their feet. "Yoooou! You and your pesky petty friends! You're wreaking my new battleship! Why can't you just die and let me rule my world in peace??" the Battle Lord growled, slipping the Chaos Claws on and turning to Guard with a wicked glare. Guard brandished his scythe, ready to fight. "Grrrr! This ship's going down, but not before I take you down first! You'll... you'll pay for hurting Mia!!" he shouted, taken aback by his own desire for vengeance. "Ahhh... Brought a girlfriend on a dangerous mission to my roost, eh? You're not angry with me, but yourself! Here, let me punish you!" Kukku cackled, leaping clear over Guard's head and slashing at his back with the Chaos Claws! "Graaaah!! I-I'll get you!!" Guard snarled, spinning around and swiping his scythe at the Battle Lord, missing with the blade but striking him with the following energy blast! "Ow!! That's a nice trick, why didn't Dr. Fuzibuzzy think of it?" he mumbled. "Name....is....Fukurokov...!" a weak voice could be heard in the distance correcting him. Kukku shrugged and slashed both claws in front of himself, leaving energy streaks in the air. "Ah, but these are the CHAOS Claws... So, let's see what is so chaotic about them!!" he cackled, tapping the energy streaks with the claws to send them shooting out at Guard as a beam attack! Guard attempted to fly out of the way, but his wings were injured when his back was slashed, so he had to block with his scythe. This gave Kukku the time to slash more energy streaks into the air. "I love playing with new toys!" he chuckled. Just then, Conan dashed into his path, joined by Nack! "You sure you know what you're doin, mate?" Nack asked. "I... am master of Chaos!! And he's just a rank amateur!" Conan shouted as Kukku flung more energy beams their way! Conan swiftly pulled out the picture of his beloved Emily, blocking the beams with the glass of the frame! The beams scattered, leaving Kukku to shrug it off. "You can't block all of them with a little frame... HUH!?" he yelped as he noticed Guard and Nack creeping around to his sides. "Grrr! And you can't stop us when we face you as a team!" he growled. "No, but I can escape!" he babbled, turning to run only to be kicked in the head by Speedy as he flew in! "Sorry Dad, ship's crashing. Troops need the order to evacuate, and I can only give it officially if you're out cold!" he grumbled. Kukku tried to get up, but Guard kicked him back down. "We're taking him in... Got a problem with that?" he asked. Speedy shrugged. "Maybe he'll mellow out with some time to cool down..." he said, hurrying off as the ship rumbled from more explosions.

Bean cackled as he set off the bombs. Eddie gave a snicker as well. "Good blasting. Eee hee! Now, let's skedaddle!" he suggested. Bark grunted at him, giving the hyena a suspicious glare. However, they were all bad guys, so what did they care that Eddie betrayed GUN? Ultimately, only Guard, Rouge, Spy, Omega and Heather met at the rear of the ship, along with most of the Battle Bird armada. "Where's the crooks? Don't they know we gotta evacuate?!" Spy asked. "If they'd rather die in a fiery crash than by Gunner's hands, I say more power to 'em." Rouge shrugged. Speedy opened the back hatch of the ship to find a GUN Warship outside waiting for them. "Attention! This is Sgt. Drol! Any who do not wish to die in the crash, surrender and board our warship now!" came an announcement over the loudspeaker. Dr. Fukurokov shakily hurried to the hatch. "I surrender! Don't shoot! Or hit my poor brilliant head!" he groaned. Guard held on tightly to Mia as he boarded the GUN Warship via a bridge shakily extended to the hatch. Heather was right behind him. "Hey, Guard! Thanks for saving me... It...was a nice change. Y'know, instead of being kidnapped by you." she said. "Grrr... You were never here. If the boss knew you were here, you wouldn't be going home now. Got it?" he grunted, his eyes staying fixed on Mia's peaceful, unconscious face.

The group watched from the windows of the GUN Warship as the armada's warship plummeted into the oil ocean, followed by a massive explosion. "Sensors indicated no life forms were aboard..." Omega reported. "Wonderful. We caught the birds, but let all those crooks loose!" Rouge groaned. Guard was the only one not watching the crash, staying beside Mia in the medical bay of the warship. Her vitals were weak, the Battle Lord's weapon had left her in critical condition. The doctor told him that she might remain in a coma for an unknown period of time, possibly never to wake. Guard looked at her grimly, knowing that for all intents and purposes, she was dead. Still, she might be able to hear him. He leaned close to her, stroking her head gently. "...I...I love you...Mia..." he whispered.

A team was sent back to West Side Island to find the criminals that had comprised the Strike Force, but all that was found were their shock collars, ditched. Naturally, warrants were immediately issued for the recapture of Nack the weasel, Bean the duck, Bark the polar bear, Eddie the hyena and Conan the raccoon. Further naturally, the five of them laid low for a time. Wherever Conan went, he was sure to keep his framed picture of Emily the squirrel close by. "...I'll master the Chaos Relics, Emily... I will bring you back to me..."

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


Illusi the shrew paced about just outside the Dream Shrine, the smaller of the two monuments to the Dream King within the Forest of Dreams. He had to figure out what to do about the Chaos Relics if he was to move on with his life the way Fera had moved on with hers. Hearing footsteps, he looked around curiously to see Aquarius coming out of the shadows. "Are you lost, traveler? I'm afraid I am ill equipped to handle visitors right now..." Illusi muttered. Aquarius crossed his arms. "They sent me here out of convenience... I just wrapped up some business over on West Side Island... Involved the Chaos Claws." he said, causing Illusi's ears to perk up. "...You want the Chaos Relics..." he murmured. Aquarius shrugged. "No, no... I wanna see them in the right hands. You've been keeping them out of play for a bit too long. It's time to return them to the world. But you can't drop them all in one place..." he said. Illusi nodded. "What would you suggest?" he asked. Aquarius reached behind his back and produced a stone tablet. "The great Tikal left a prophecy. Interesting thing is, she made this one AFTER she died... Paraphrasing it, the world will face a great calamity. Only a group of chosen ones can stop it from ending all life. The chosen ones are the fated owners of the Chaos Relics. The best thing would be to get the Relics into their hands." he explained. Illusi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I have heard of this prophecy. The Doomsayer told it to me... Only, in his version, there is no stopping the calamity. Well, the chosen ones could be anyone. We'll need to test the mettle of everyone... The solution is fairly simple..." he said, a Righto popping up beside him as an idea came to his mind. "...The Chaos Relics will be prizes in a tournament!" he decided.


Arc 2 - Chaos Tournament!
Episode 6 - Round 1, Start!

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.


Illusi looked over his collected Chaos Relics as he mulled over his plans for the tournament. He had an impressive collection gathered, hidden away in the Dream Shrine. The Chaos Sword, Chaos Boots, Chaos Key, Chaos Crown, Chaos Wing and Chaos Gauntlets were neatly arranged in a row on an illusionary pedestal before him. Only three artifacts were missing from his collection. As he was lost in thought, the owner of one of the remaining relics passed right through the wall to meet him. It was the ghostly being, Lospecter. "Hey, Lucy! Lookin' at your jewelry collection? Hey, can I borrow a little somethin' from it?" he asked, trying to reach around Illusi towards the Chaos Crown. The shrew swatted him away with an illusory folding fan. "They aren't for you...or for me. I'm going to hold a tournament to decide the rightful owners." he stated. Lospecter shrugged. "Lucy, dude, just save yourself the trouble! I'll take care of it for you, easy-peasy!" he said slyly. Illusi glared at him. "You know you can't take them here. My power is too great for you within the realm of dreams." he warned. Illusi sighed. "Blame a guy for tryin'... What brought on this sudden outburst of giving, anyway?" the ghost asked. Illusi crossed his arms. "I don't expect you to understand, but there is a prophecy. Tikal states that the Relics belong in the hands of chosen ones fated to save the world from oblivion." he explained. Lospecter was apathetically shuffling his cards, but suddenly broke out laughing. "That is the cutest thing I ever heard! You think your widdle tourney is gunna save the world? Wah ha ha ha!!" he cackled, floating around Illusi mockingly. "...You can get out now." the shrew growled. "Hold up! Here! I want in on this! I'm making you a little bet that you end up regretting this thing. And just so as I can be a proper competitor, I'm giving you my Chaos Cards to add to the pot!" he said, dropping his deck onto the pedestal next to the other relics like a gambler putting down his wager. Illusi stared at him in bewilderment, but Lospecter just flew back out through the wall empty-handed. "Bye, my precious! I'll be seeing ya again real soon!" he snickered, waving at his cards through the wall as he left. "So... uh... He intends to... enter??" Illusi stammered, scratching his head.

Of course, setting up a massive tournament for the purpose of finding these chosen ones would not be a simple proposition. Illusi needed help to put it together. He also felt the need to collect the remaining two relics, which brought him to Col. Gunner's office. The Colonel was initially more interested in how Illusi even got into his office, and wasn't too concerned with his story about prophecies and chosen ones, but the mention of the other Chaos Relics caught his attention. Tenting his fingers as he sat at his desk, Gunner cracked a rare, and unsettling, smile. "So, you want to add the Chaos Claws that GUN recently acquired to your little prize pot, do you? I'd be careful with it, it tends to drive the wearer mad..." he snickered. Illusi seemed surprised by his response. "You'll give it over? Just like that?" he asked. Gunner nodded. "Not only that, I'll fund your little endeavor for you. Just so long as I can slip a few GUN entries in..." he grinned. Illusi shrugged. "Well, I've already made one unwitting deal with a devil..." he muttered. "Eh?" Gunner grunted. "Oh, nothing. Just keep in mind this is a totally open tournament. Even the devil himself could enter if he wanted." he stated. Gunner nodded and shook hands with the shrew. "Deal... We'll see those relics find their way into the right hands..." he said ominously.


With that, the tournament was announced within days, with ads for entry popping up on television and billboards throughout the nation. Gunner was sparing no expense already. Sonic learned about the tourney while watching a movie on TV at Amy's apartment, where Tails and Cream were hanging out, too. "Huh... Tournament for the Chaos Relics... That's gonna be a mess. Starting to regret letting that shrew take 'em." Sonic sighed. "WHAT?!" Amy gasped, prompting everyone to glance at her, "You mean you don't want to enter?" she asked. Sonic frowned. "Uh...no. It's a totally open tournament. Can you imagine the headlines- 'Sonic makes little kid cry in big tourney!' I just got on the media's good side again...in this country." he grumbled. Amy looked away and started whistling nonchalantly. "You already entered him, didn't you?" Tails sighed. "Not...just...him..." she admitted, "I thought it looked fun, so I entered myself, you, Cream, Knuckles, Blaze, Marine...and SPOT. I got carried away." she said. Cream fell out of her seat. "ME!? I don't even want a Chaos Relic thingy!" she gasped. "...Sorry..." Amy chuckled. Tails shrugged. "Oh well... Maybe she's right. Maybe it'll be...fun." he said uncertainly, "Anyway, I probably should enter. That shrew kinda asked me to give up my tailband as a prize..." he added.

Tails had given up his tailband willingly, but Copter wasn't as keen on adding his to the tournament's prize pot when Illusi came knocking at Darkegg Fortress. "It's mine! I've been taking good enough care of it! Go take Rainbow's Chaos Crystal instead!" he shouted, stomping past the female echidna's room. "Hey!" she shouted, peeking through the door. "Um... It is best the controller remain with its guardian." Illusi stated. "Thanks, Mousy!" Rainbow smiled, waving as he passed by. Copter kept walking away from Illusi, so the shrew ported in front of him with a burst of smoke! "Gak! Hm... I bet you won't be able to do that anymore once you give up your precious key, huh?" Copter grunted. Illusi nodded. "We all have to make sacrifices. We can't settle for 'good enough' with the fate of our world at stake. We need the true masters of the Chaos Relics... ALL of them. And you can't even work the tailband properly, can you?" he pointed out. "He turns invisible when he drinks milk for some reason!" Punchy shouted from around the corner. "Thanks, ONE!" Copter growled. Illusi held out his hand. "You can enter the tournament, Copter. Prove you are worthy for the tailbands...or another relic." he stated. Copter crossed his arms. "I don't want another relic... Can you imagine me in that doofy cape? Heck, I can already fly, so it'd be useless to me." he muttered. Gemini stepped out from around the corner and stood beside Illusi. "No more excuses, Copter. You know Illusi's right." she said. Copter looked around. "The walls must be paper thin in this dump..." he muttered, grudgingly handing the Chaos Tailband to Illusi. "...I feel naked without this thing..." he sighed.


With some time to allow for entries and preparation, the "Tournament of Chaos: Sponsored by GUN" was soon ready to commence! An impressive stadium had been built on the ruins of a few buildings in Troblusk City that criminals had wrecked, and both GUN forces and the police were on hand to ensure the event could take place without criminal interference...aside from criminals that had been allowed to enter, anyway. As Sonic and Tails approached the stadium, it seemed to them like literally everyone they knew - even as mere acquaintances - had turned out for the big tournament. They even noticed the Deadly Six taunting a few police with competitor badges, which meant they couldn't be "hassled", as Zazz put it. "Sheesh, I told ya this'd be a mess..." Sonic sighed. Omochao's voice came from the nearby stadium, and a giant screen on the outside came to life. "Here is the final list of all contestants for the Tournament of Chaos! It's crazy huge!" he announced at pictures filled a grid onscreen. Copter and Gemini were approaching at this point, too. "Okay, so...well, that's..." Copter muttered, his jaw dropping a little at the sheer scope of the tourney. All told, there were a solid one hundred competitors standing between him and his tailband. "This is your fault, Tails! If you hadn't given up your tailband, there'd be less pressure for me to give up mine!" he growled. Tails shrugged. "Like we REALLY need that power..." he muttered. Conan pushed past the foxes at that moment. "One side! Master of Chaos, coming through!" he growled. Copter glared at him and then back at Tails. "What if HE wins, huh? Think of that??" he pointed out. Gemini looked around nervously. "Not to mention Eggman. There's a bunch of his robots on that grid..." she pointed out. Just then, the screen switched to Illusi, who was wearing a spiffy tuxedo on top of his usual cape. "Attention, competitors! Round one will commence soon! This tournament is proceeding in a three-round structure...because GUN would only pay for so much." he said. "Stick to the script!" shouted Gunner from offscreen. "Competitors will be given a proper rundown of all tournament rules once they've been signed in. Round one is a battle round, where opponents shall be randomly selected! Which fifty competitors will move on to Round 2? I'm sure our audience can't wait to find out!" he announced. Sonic scratched his head. "Who's left to be the audience? Feels like everyone's competing!" he joked. Punchy and Rainbow then approached with a cadre of Chao following. "The Chao from Darkegg Fortress didn't want to catch this on TV. I hope they enjoy the cheap seats..." Punchy grumbled. A number of Egg Pawns were rushing by as well, clearly planning on attending as the audience. Additionally, some gargoyle mobsters from Troblusk City were sneaking over. "Hey, Sonic... Knock 'em dead, pal. I got three-to-one odds you win the whole thing." one of the gargoyles whispered. "You're gambling on this!?" Tails asked. "Shh! The pigs are right there, genius!" the gargoyle grunted. Sonic sighed. "Sorry I asked..."


Omochao sat up, a tiny robot on a grand podium, and prepared to address the crowd as they took their seats around the stadium, designed a bit like a boxing ring, but with more room for the battlers to maneuver. Gunner and Illusi stood beside the robot. "I still think I deserved to emcee this thing..." Gunner grumbled. "You can be a bit...intense." Illusi pointed out. "Attention everyone! Take your seats for the first round!" Omochao announced. "...And he has all the intensity of a sleeping kitten..." Gunner scoffed. As the gargoyle mob went about collecting bets just outside the entrance to the seats, one orange gargoyle tried to dissuade them. "Stop, brothers! Do we really want to be stereotyped as criminals?" he grumbled. "No one's stoppin' us, Rick." one of the mobsters grunted, "And it's hardly a bet. Sonic's a lock to win the whole thing!" he snickered. Sonic shrugged as he overheard this from his nearby seat. "I wouldn't know..." he said with an air of disinterest. "C'mon, Sonic! Catch the fever!!" said Knuckles as he passed by. "Round One is about to begin!" Omochao announced. "Yikes! That's my cue! Watch me wipe the floor with whoever I'm up against!" Knuckles said with a smirk as he hurried away. "Whew, glad that's not me..." said Tails from the seat next to Sonic. 
"In the red corner, the muscle-flexing guardian who doesn't chuckle, give it up for Knuuuuuckles!!" Omochao announced as Knuckles strutted into the arena, waving to the excited crowd. "Boo!" shouted Punchy from the sidelines. "Aw, shut up!" Knuckles grunted. "And in the blue corner, the yellow blob, the sandwich-buster, ladies and gentlemen, it's Zomom!" Knuckles looked across the arena awkwardly as Omochao announced his opponent. A hulking yellow and black Zeti stuffing a huge sub sandwich into his gaping maw came lumbering towards him. He swallowed his snack and glanced at the echidna in front of him, ignoring the boos from the crowd. "Hmmm... You look like a pack of red-hot peppers... Man, I'm thirsty just lookin' at you!" he grumbled. "Ready, battlers?" Omochao announced, "Battle!!"

Zomom leapt high into the air, startling Knuckles, who fled hastily to avoid being crushed under the girthy Zeti! "Hold still, peppers! I'm gonna grind you into chili powder!" he shouted. Sonic stirred in his seat in reaction to that. "Maaan, now I want a chili dog..." he groaned. Knuckles hurled frenzied punches at the zeti while he struggled to stand back up after missing him, but those punches didn't seem to deter Zomom. "Stop that! Ooof... I knew I should wait a half hour after eating before fighting..." he groaned, lunging at Knuckles clumsily in an attempt to pin him to the ground. Knuckles jumped aside, and Zomom landed face-first on the ground. "Cramp! Cramp!! Mommiiiie!!" he whined as Knuckles scratched his head. "Um... Do you forfeit?" he wondered. A horn blared and Omochao declared Knuckles the winner as Zavok, the zeti leader, rolled his eyes from the sidelines. "That glutton is utterly useless..." he grumbled. "I'll win for ya, boss!" said an enthusiastic Zim, the diminutive blue zeti who escaped the Hopebringer Center in the jailbreak months before. "I won't hold my breath, squirt..." Zavok sighed, flicking him aside in irritation.

After a short break, the second random match-up began, which saw Storm the albatross take on Zipp the hornet. "You'd better win, Storm!" Jet shouted from the audience. "You'd better win, Zipp!" Vortex shouted similarly. The albatross chuckled. "A little bug? This a joke? I'm gonna squash you!" he shouted as he charged at Zipp, only to find that the hornet was a bit too fast for him to catch. "Hey, crowd, we got a lot of matches to get through. Mind if I end this fast?" he snickered, pointing a rather large-barreled weapon at Storm before firing a huge concussive blast in his direction, knocking him onto his back in a blackened KO! "Umm... Let me check the rules in my database a moment..." Omochao muttered, "Yep, that's legal! Weapons are allowed as long as not used in a lethal manner! Zipp wins!" Knuckles laughed from the sidelines. "I may fall for some dumb stuff, but even I wouldn't have let THAT happen to me!" he taunted. "You know he can't hear you, right?" muttered Rouge from next to him.

"In the red corner, the fiery ruler of the underworld...or just a guy with fire powers. It's Anubis!" The crowd was silent as the jackal strode into the arena. A few had a mind to boo him, but didn't feel it wise to antagonize the pyrokinetic agent of Despair. Anubis scanned the crowd for Basker the hound. "When I'm finished here, I'm coming to seek my revenge on you, red eye! You know where you are!" he shouted. "In the blue corner, the master of chaos, treasure hunter extraordinaire, it's Conan!" Omochao announced, prompting the raccoon to stride into the field amidst cheers from a surprising cadre of fans. Copter glared down at him from his seat. "Just try, Conan. You won't win my tailband!!" he growled. Katie the coyote, who was covering the event for SSTV news with her cameraman nearby, did an unprofessional bit of gagging at Conan's arrival herself. "Little inside scoop folks, this creep kidnapped yours truly once!" she grunted. Anubis scoffed at Conan as Omochao called for the match to begin. "What can you do without your precious sword, rodent?" he taunted, raising his hand to shoot a jet of flames at Conan! The raccoon jumped aside, holding on to his hat. "Some simple strategy is all this will take..." he stated, placing his hat flat on the ground, "Don't take your eyes off me..." he smirked, dashing away from the hat quickly. Anubis stared at the abandoned hat with a puzzled expression. "Your hat... This is some trickery... Minions of despair, investigate!" he growled, moving his hands over the ground to summon a group of his black mummies. While he was distracted, Conan swiftly kicked him across the back, and added a couple expertly thrown punches aimed at the same spot! Anubis fell over, growling. "I told you not to take your eyes off me..." the raccoon chuckled. "It matters not..." Anubis said as his body was cloaked in a protective layer of flames. "My minions will end you!" he snarled, making Conan back up nervously as the black mummies started towards him. "Foul!!" Omochao shouted, "There's one rule in this stage of the tourney: All matches are one-on-one! Anubis is disqualified!" he announced. Anubis growled angrily. "Very well... But you don't need all your limbs for the next round!" he growled, chasing after Conan as the raccoon fled the field. "It's always a shame when former allies can't get along." Copter snickered as he munched on some popcorn.

Most matches of round one were going by fairly quickly. Lucky the cat lived up to his name as his opponent turned out to simply be Agent Spizzweld, better known as Spy. A few cat scratches to the face were all it took to make Gunner's sniveling stooge cry uncle. "Remind me to dock his pay later..." Gunner growled to Sgt. Drol, who was watching from a private box with him. "Why couldn't I go up against that one Chao on the board!?" Spy whined as he left the arena. "The Chao would probably win, too!" Lucky snickered. The Chao in question was Char, who was currently in the audience visiting with the Chao from Darkegg Fortress that Punchy and Rainbow had brought along. "Hey, guys! Thanks for coming out! Hahaha!" Char chuckled, and gasped as he noticed two particular Chao in the group. "Chip! Chuck! It's been ages!" he said, rushing to the only other Chao in the group that could speak. "Hey, big brother. We miss you back home." Chip said. "Where have you been all this time, little bro?" Chuck asked. Char rubbed his head. "Ummm, well, I've been traveling the world with Dr. Eggman. It's fun. You guys should come!" he suggested. "...We're nervous just coming out here..." Chip shrugged.

Another quick match stunned the crowd as Lospecter made his tournament debut. "Hey! Shocked gasps! Terrified squeaks! Where's the screams? Well, I'm glad you all came out to watch Lospecter's Quiz Mania!" he waved as Gunner groaned, calling up Illusi from his private box. "When you said to allow anyone enter this thing, I'd hoped you were exaggerating!" he growled. "He extorted me... You know what that's like, right?" Illusi said snidely. Lospecter's opponent turned out to be Orbot, who Char and the Egg Pawns eagerly clapped for. "Thank you, thank you..." he said, taking a bow, "...Did that ghost say 'Quiz?' This ought to be simple!" he said eagerly. Lospecter smirked. "More of a riddle... How much is pie multiplied by 2?" he smirked. Orbot nodded. "Calculating.... 6.2831..." he began, when Lospecter stopped him. "Incorrect! You're waaaay off..." he snickered. "What? No I'm not! Your math is wrong!" Orbot shouted. Lospecter smirked. "The answer is... two pies." In reaction to this trickery, Orbot started to spark a little around the eyes. "Logic error... Physical objects are not numbers... The question was faulty... ERROR!!" he yelled before collapsing in a heap! Cubot ran out onto the field to fetch him. "He told me having my logic processor removed was stupid! Well, who's laughing now, glitchy!" he said, carrying Orbot out of the arena. Sonic yawned in his seat. "That counts as a fight? No one said there'd be math!" he groaned. "I know, right? This tournament has it all!" Tails said with unsettling enthusiasm.

Omochao looked at the tournament chart curiously. "Seriously? Well, okay..." he muttered, "In the red corner, a mysterious alien who arrived from deep space! Her home planet's in ruins, so she decided to make a home here... Her name is Cosmo!!" A being with plantlike hair and a dress resembling large flower petals stepped into the arena, holding what appeared to be a laser pistol. Tails couldn't seem to take his eyes off her once she took the field- if Cream hadn't been seated elsewhere, she might have felt jealous like she'd been with Marine again. "Huh? ...Earth to Tails..." Sonic muttered, waving a hand in front of his face. "Huh? Er, h-here..." he mumbled, handing Sonic the popcorn hastily. Sonic shrugged and looked out at the arena. "To each their own, I guess..." he mumbled. "Aaaand in the blue corner... The dread Experiment 3! The shapeshifting terror! It's... also named Kosmo!" The purple-furred, yellow eyed morph strode onto the field amidst a roar of boos and jeers. "Next time someone plots to end all life, maybe I'll let them..." the morph grumbled disgruntledly. As the match started, Cosmo fired her laser in an attempt to stun Kosmo into submission quickly. Stepping aside, Kosmo morphed into the shape of his opponent, chuckling girlishly. "This might be confusing to the audience, but I want to keep this fight as fair as possible..." he smirked, lunging at the stunned alien and quickly knocking her laser away! The pair began to engage in hand-to-hand combat, which was tricky to follow with identical opponents, and Omochao's play-by-play wasn't helping with their identical-sounding names. "Cosmo delivers a sound left jab! Oooh, but Cosmo counters with a brutal uppercut! Now here comes Cosmo... And there goes Cosmo... This match is CRAZY people! And the winner is Cosmo! Who'd have thunk it?!" One of the two Cosmos had been KO'ed. The audience leaned in to see which it was. She stepped away with a chuckle, and the crowd roared for the stunning upset victory. Then, she morphed back into Kosmo, and the crowd burst into betrayed boos. "Hypocrites! You know you enjoyed that match!" Kosmo growled as he stomped into the shadows.

The next match saw Fred the fennec taking on Chet the cheetah. "Go for it, Chet! That's my boyfriend, viewers!" Katie said excitedly in another fit of unprofessionalism in front of the camera. Gemini watched Fred from her seat and crossed her arms. "Hypocrite! Lecturing me about messing with the timeline!" she grumbled. "The what?" Copter said from the seat next to her. "Must you listen in on my private conversations with myself!?" she retorted. Chet looked at his opponent awkwardly. "You're a man of the cloth... I won't fight you." he said. Fred held up his wand. "I'm more of a temp with the church... Not an actual holy man..." he said, "But if you insist... Stiffiam!" he shouted, casting a spell over the area around Chet. He attempted to run away, and started to move fast, but it was a wide-area spell, and the cheetah froze in mid-run, as though frozen in time! "...Does that count as a win?" Fred asked. Omochao was jumping up and down in frustration. "There's nothing in the rule book about magic!! If you let him out of that spell, I'll award you the victory!" he groaned. With a flick of his wand, Fred released Chet, who fell flat on his face. "Are you...kidding me..." the cheetah groaned.

"In the red corner, a fiery feline princess from another world, Blaze! And in the blue corner, it's no use escaping the psychic grip of Silver!" It was a match no one had seen coming. Certainly not the competitors. These good friends, rumored to perhaps be even more, now forced to fight one another. They both looked uneasy as they entered the arena. "...No, I can't do this..." Silver sighed, "Blaze! I'm going to give you an honorable match! So I'm not using my powers!" he decided. Blaze was taken aback. "What? That's crazy! Well, then I'm not using mine!" she snapped. "If this devolves into a game of rock-paper-scissors, I'm outta here!" Knuckles jeered from the crowd. No, they had to battle, so Blaze and Silver charged ahead and gave each other their best, power-free shot! Silver wasn't much without his powers, though, while Blaze was still pretty quick and agile. Every punch he threw, every kick he attempted, Blaze was able to outmaneuver him, and turn his attack against him. It still didn't seem quite fair, so Blaze started to deliberately slow up, letting Silver land a few punches. She allowed him to kick her to the ground, but he wasn't stupid. "Blaze, get up! You're letting me win!" he panted. Blaze leaned up, gritting her teeth. "Well... you were losing, just because you had to be noble and fight without powers! With your powers, we both know you have the advantage!" she snapped. "...And without powers, you clearly have the upper hand..." Silver conceded. Blaze shook her head. "That's not what it looks like to the crowd right now. If you pin me, you can move on. You have a better chance of winning the whole thing, anyway." she told him. "No, I don't... You just don't want to hurt me..." he said, cracking a light smile, "You're sweet that way..." he told her before throwing himself onto his back hard! "S-silver??" Blaze stammered, getting up to see what he was doing. "I forfeit!!" Silver shouted, making Blaze's victory official. The cat ran over to him and pulled him up angrily. "Why did you do that?" she asked. "Because you beat me, fair and square. I couldn't hit you without my powers. And also... I want to see you win the whole thing." he said with a blush. Blushing back, Blaze helped him up and walked him off the arena, while the crowd couldn't help but go "Awwww" watching them.

"Those were some crazy matches so far!" Omochao announced, "We're gonna take a little intermission now, but be sure to come back to see the rest of round 1 of the Tournament of Chaos: Sponsored by GUN!" Who would make it to round 2? Who would win the whole tournament? The answers to come...


Episode 7 - Battles Rage On!

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.


As Copter sat alone, watching the next match in silence while his companions went to get something from the concession stands outside, a small robot hopped up onto the seat next to him. "Seat's saved..." he grumbled before he noticed it was a familiar Crabmeat robot with a scratchy voice. "How can you watch this farce? You must know how it will end. What is rightfully yours never stays yours for long." Cancer whispered. Copter shrugged. "Still got my shoes..." he muttered. "Freedom is temporary. Friendship is temporary. Even love... What is she, your fourth girlfriend?" Cancer mused. "Second! ...Thinking about people a certain way doesn't count." Copter grunted, "Though you may have a few points... But there's no sense obsessing over it now. I'll win. No question." he said unconvincingly. Cancer snapped his robotic pincers and hopped down from the chair. "Happy endings aren't your birthright. That honor goes to the original fox...doesn't it?" he said before crawling away. Copter growled. "Maybe you should've entered yourself! Least then I could knock you around to shut you up!" he snapped, staring out at the arena without really watching the match. "...Tails does get everything. He's got the quaint workshop-house and the sweet rabbit girlfriend and... he probably is the tailbands' chosen one... Unless I can just prove I'm better..." he muttered, finally glancing out at the battle to see how it was going. Eggman's robots, Slash and Sting, were battling it out to determine which was superior. Slash was the more clever of the two, and possessed razor sharp sickle-claws that he tossed like boomerangs at Sting. However, Sting was more versatile, his scorpion stinger being retractable and able to be replaced with numerous other gadgets. Knocking away Slash's sickles with a baseball bat stinger (of all things), he then switched his stinger for a gun that fired...baseballs. "I knew we shouldn't have visited the batting cage before signing up for this tournament!" Sting groaned as the balls battered and broke his fragile, aged body. "Hyah ha ha!! Looks like the boss is gonna give ME the promotion, huh, brother?" Sting taunted. "Oh, shut up and fix me, you cheater!" Sting's head grumbled.

This was only the latest round since intermission ended, and the action had been persistent, as Omochao was about to point out. "For those of you arriving late from intermission, you've missed a few fast-paced but epic matches! A few highlights include... Ridley the coati knocked out tough guy Bark the polar bear with some wet Chaos attacks! ...A Zeti grudge match between Zik and Zazz ended with a stunning victory for the aged Zik, proving experience wins over brute force! ...And the big one- Shadow the hedgehog put in an appearance, totally mopping the floor with Experiment 10, Zeke the dragon!" he announced as a screen behind him showed quick clips from each bout. Zeke groaned as he sat next to Spiny in the audience. "Of all the rotten luck, I had to go up against Shadow..." he growled. "Wimp..." Spiny scoffed. "Waaah! And I missed it!" whined Gator from next to Spiny, "And I bet I'm not the only one. It's like they snuck these matches into the background of the episode because the writer got tired or something!" he babbled while Spiny sighed in annoyance. "Why'd he have to sit next to me?"

"In the red corner, it's the moment you've been waiting for, fans! The fastest thing alive! The blue streak! Give it up for Sonic!!" The crowd went wild as Sonic stepped into the arena, though he had a bemused look about him. "Let's just get this over with. I stopped lookin' for my missing uncle for this tournament..." he grumbled. Omochao looked a bit excited as he announced the opponent. "And in the blue corner! You won't believe the randomizer, folks! It's the two-tailed wonder! Sonic's own best friend and sidekick! Tails!!" The crowd went even more nuts as Tails stepped out to face his friend, and the gargoyle mob was especially eating it up. "Ten-to-one odds on Tails! Lock in your bets before the match starts!" one of the gargoyles announced. A moment was given for the crowd's uproar to die down before Omochao called for the match to start. "...All right, Sonic... I... I won't hold back!" Tails said nervously, charging towards Sonic and attempting to strike him with a tail whip! However, when he finished his attack, he noticed Sonic was nowhere in sight. Turning around, he saw his friend clear on the other side of the arena. Tails moved his tails in front of himself to block the inevitable counterattack, but it never came. Sonic stood with his arms crossed, a frown on his face. "I don't wanna hurt you, Tails..." he sighed, "I quit! I honestly wasn't that interested in this thing in the first place!" he shouted. The audience was quick to let out disapproving boos, and Tails looked slightly disappointed, too. "You don't think I could even hold my own?" he asked. Sonic shrugged. "Not really, not against me." he said. "Hey... I successfully captured you last year!" he pointed out. "Eh, I let my guard down." Sonic retorted. Their debate was interrupted as an egg-shaped shadow was cast over the arena, which got the audience excited again. "Pardon me, Sonic... You seen my robots around? They didn't enter this dumb tourney after I explicitly told them we have better things to do, did they!?" said Dr. Eggman, looking around the arena with a scowl. He spotted his Egg Pawns in the audience quickly. "You layabouts! I have a mind to level this stadium with you all in it!!" he shouted. Then, Sonic hit his Egg Mobile with a jump attack. "Hey! Mind your business!" he yelled. "Hey, Eggman! Bet I can beat you back to your base!" Sonic taunted. "Y-you're bluffing! You don't know where..." Eggman babbled until Sonic sped off, "Hey! Come back here! I'm not done talking!! I'll teach you to be rude!!" he yelled, chasing after him!

The audience might have enjoyed the spectacle of Eggman's appearance, but the gargoyle mob was devastated by Tails's default victory. "I tried to warn you guys not to engage in gambling..." Rick the orange gargoyle said, but the others simply growled at him. "Yeah, they've learned nothing..." Rick sighed. The next match-up ended up being Adam the bat versus Felicia the wolf. Punchy squinted as Felicia took the field. "Wait... is that? No, it couldn't be..." he muttered. "She looks just like Fera!" remarked Gemini from a few seats down. Illusi was watching from his private box with interest. "If she has no memories of her past... How will she fight?" he mused. As the match began, Adam chuckled at her. "Fred's favorite choir girl... What're you gonna do, sing me to death?" he teased. Felicia stretched her arms a moment. She was wearing a green outfit that looked like a flashy kung fu movie getup. That was making Adam chuckle as well, but he quickly saw that it wasn't just for show. The wolf knocked him back with a couple swift kicks, and as he stumbled in surprise, she dashed forward, seizing his arm and flipping him over herself, dropping him onto his back in an expert fashion! Adam was quickly pinned under her foot, and no longer laughing. "What in the... where'd you learn that??" he stammered. Felicia smirked at him. "You're slow. I could teach you some things... if you were nice." she chuckled. Illusi sat back, rubbing his chin as he thought about what he'd just seen. "I wonder exactly how much she remembers...hmm..."

Cream nervously left Cheese with her mother and Tails prior to her match. If she'd known that she couldn't fight alongside Cheese, she likely would have begged to drop out of the tournament beforehand. Now, though, she didn't want to let Amy down after she'd enthusiastically signed everyone up. Nervously stepping onto the arena, she faced her opponent, Charmy Bee. He quickly noticed Cheese's absence. "Wait, you can't bring your Chao? That's not fair!" he murmured, "...Fine, then I guess I'll lay off my stinger...to make it even." he said, looking away from Cream a bit shyly. "Thank you..." she responded, making him blush. As the match began, the two young combatants awkwardly approached each other, fists raised. Charmy looked a bit unsure of himself as he sized up his opponent, and threw a punch that amounted to little more than a gentle tap. Cream, looking puzzled, tapped him back, and he fell backward, wailing in a fit of overacting. "Owowow!! She thrashed me senseless!" he whined. The audience looked on in bewilderment as Charmy dashed off the arena. "...What was that about?" Cream wondered. Her mother chuckled from just outside the arena. "Some boys just can't bring themselves to hit a cute girl..." she mused.

Match after match went by. These matches would see Gator prance to his seat victorious, while Char returned to his brothers dejectedly, though they gave him a hero's welcome for trying. Cream took up Sonic's seat next to Tails now that he was gone. "You think he'll come back?" Cream asked him. "...I think he'd rather keep looking for his uncle..." Tails shrugged. Soon, Omochao announced another fairly interesting matchup. "In the red corner, the bird genius from Babylon, Wave! And in the blue corner... you know, I don't have a fancy title for her... It's Shade!" Shade the echidna had been retired from her post with the Nocturnus ever since surviving a near-fatal fall from Angel Island, partially due to Silver's interference with the timeline (see Sonic GeneX's 10th Anniversary Special for details!). Wave, on the other hand, flew in on her board. "Storm's mistake was not playing to his true strength!" she stated. Shade watched her flying around, waiting patiently for Omochao to call for the match to start. Once he did, she leapt away as Wave's board charged at her! "Sound strategy, bird... You are after all, a racer, not a fighter..." Shade mused. Wave produced a large wrench and brandished it like a weapon. "I've been known to hit pretty hard..." she warned. Shade evaded her as she swooped by again, and then the third time Wave's board came at her, she dropped to the ground, grabbing for it as it passed over her! Rather than yanking it out from under Wave, Shade instead found herself holding onto the bottom as the board continued to fly. "Huh? Hey! Get off!" Wave grunted, trying to shake Shade loose. The echidna held on, climbing around the side of the board carefully, and then grabbing at Wave's legs, messing up her balance. "S-stop it! We'll both cra-aaaash!!" Wave shouted as she started to stumble. Shade, however, leapt off the board before it crashed. The swallow groaned as the echidna stood over her, smirking. "...Jet better win this thing..." Wave growled.

Next up was a match that worried Cream a bit. Gemerl, a Gizoid that had been living with her and her mother and was a spiritual successor to Emerl, was face to face with Spiny the porcupine. "I don't like it... Emerl used to fight, sure, but now Emerl's gone because of that..." Cream whimpered. "Gemerl's been good since I reprogrammed him. This shouldn't make him crazy again." Tails assured her. As the match began, Gemerl was quick to attack, knocking Spiny around with spin dashes and jump attacks copied from Sonic. However, mimicking Sonic's battle style seemed to only anger the sonic doppelganger. "Are you mocking me, robot? Because I look like Sonic?? I don't spin... I don't roll... I use... SPEAR STORM!!" Spiny's body seemed to erupt in Chaos Spears, which shot all around the arena! Gemerl stopped to attempt to copy this ability, but there was no safe place to stand. The Chaos Spears battered and blasted the robot, leaving it rattled and sparking on the ground by the time Spiny was finished! "Admit it, Sonic! You dropped out because you were afraid to face me!!" Spiny shouted before stomping off. "Don't talk bad about Sonic, you dweeb!" shouted Amy from the audience. Spiny shrugged and walked off while Tails flew onto the arena to help Gemerl. "Don't worry pal... I'll get ya fixed up!" he said reassuringly. Cream held her head sadly. "I don't know why Amy thought this tournament would be fun..." she sighed.

If Sonic had stuck around for the tournament, he might have noticed Capricorn the divine ferret seated in the audience, though she was not signed up for the tourney itself. Seated beside her was Aquarius, who actually had signed up for the very tourney he'd set in motion. An empty seat beside them was soon occupied by Cancer, who drew their attention. "Seat's saved, bot." Aquarius grunted. "Once again, your techno shell has thrown off Aquarius, Cancer." Capricorn smirked, "...What are you even doing here?" she asked. "I could ask the same of you, Capri. I heard you futzed the timeline..." Cancer sneered. "In the red corner, the black & white Tails copy, Experiment #2, Copter!! And in the blue corner... an echidna whose power was cultivated by darkness, Violet!!" With Omochao's announcement, Copter found himself face to face with his own girlfriend. Violet didn't look at all upset, though. "Ha ha, don't take it too hard when I beat you, Copter! I maaay still have some pent-up frustration over the day we first met!" she teased. Copter looked at her seriously. Cancer's earlier words rang in his mind. "You must know how it will end..." He shuddered. Violet had the clear advantage with his tailband gone. But maybe he could take her off guard. As Omochao called for the match to start, Copter ran at her, only to have her teleport behind him with her magic. "Predictable..." he growled, and spun around swiftly, whipping her down with his tails! "Ooof!! Smarter than ya look!" Violet chuckled. Her chuckling wouldn't last. Copter turned to her with fury in his eyes, and kicked her hard in the side while she was down! "Oooow!! W-what are you doing!?" she shouted. Omochao was taken aback, too. "Copter's fighting dirty! This is pretty low for the fox that helped save Station Square from the Kosmogon!" he said. Copter ignored this and jumped onto Violet while she was in shock. "I...can't let you...win!!" he growled, and proceeded to slap her across the face repeatedly while she struggled, and even for a bit after she stopped struggling. "Enough! Copter, you won! Stop it!!" shouted Tails, who had run as close to the arena as he could without stepping onto it. Hearing his voice, Copter stopped, and stood up, looking at Violet's bruised face and realizing, with a look of shame, what he had done. Violet stood up shakily, glaring at him. "So, competition is more important to you than I am? Fine, Copter... Have fun. And goodbye!" she grunted, stomping off. Copter slowly walked off the field in the other direction, waiting until he was out of sight before letting out an anguished howl. "Damn you, Cancer... No... Damn me for listening to him!!" he growled, tears dropping from his eyes as he realized he'd lost Violet's love for good...and he deserved it. What he failed to realize was the full extent of his mistake. Gemini had witnessed the match, and found him afterward, punching his arm. "How could you act that way?! So brutal...to your girlfriend?? I... I'm ashamed of you... You deserve to be alone!" she shouted, tears falling from her eyes as she ran from him. "...I know..." Copter sighed, holding his arm.

After such a heavy battle, the audience needed something less serious and more entertaining. Certainly less serious, the next matchup ended up being Amy Rose vs. Talon the griffin. Immediately at the start of the match, Talon flew up high, out of Amy's reach. "Hey! Get down here! We're supposed to battle!" she shouted. "I'm not getting in your hammer's range! They say you're nuts!" Talon replied. Amy held out her hammer, a look of rage in her eyes. "Who says that, might I ask??" she growled. Talon twiddled his clawed talons awkwardly. "Oh, y'know... People. Uh, well... Robot types? Certainly not anyone I could get in trouble..." he babbled. Amy hurled her hammer at him, growling. "I'll show you nuts!" she shouted, producing more hammers seemingly from thin air and chasing Talon around, tossing her hammers until he freaked out and flew out of the arena! "This tourney isn't worth this!" he shouted. "...We'll be back after someone cleans up these hammers!" Omochao announced, and Amy sighed. "Maybe I'm a bit frustrated because no one I signed up is having fun like I'd hoped..." she muttered.

Vector the Crocodile was eager to win one for Team Chaotix as his match came up. A surprise visitor greeted him just outside the arena as he prepared. "Hello, Vector..." It was Vanilla, and she smiled warmly as she greeted him. Vector often did odd jobs for the rabbit, and his team often teased him for his apparent crush on her. "Ah! Ms. Vanilla! H-how are ya? I-I mean... Pleasure to see ya, ma'am!" he said, blushing in embarrassment. Vanilla giggled. She found his crush on her cute. "I just wanted to wish you luck!" she smiled. He'd need it as his opponent was announced. Looking out on the field, Captain Whisker of all villains stomped forth! Vector gulped. "Thank ya kindly... I dedicate this match to all my...fans..." Vector babbled, leaving Vanilla to face Whisker. "D'aaaarrr harrr harrr!! Ye lubbers thought ol' Captain Whisker was finished, eh? Me matey Johnny already secured his spot in round 2, now it be time for the king 'o the seas to give ye a proper keehaulin'!!" the robot captain laughed. Omochao had called for the match to start while he was speaking, so Vector quickly blew a gum bubble into the pirate, covering him with purple goo! "G'aaaaarrr! That be the grossest cannon ball I ever saw! Me shoes be pasted together by it! But I'll not fall to cheap tricks! I makes the cheap tricks!" he shouted, aiming his arms and shooting them straight at Vector! He evaded one, but was socked across the jaw by the other. "Alright, time to wrap this up!" he grunted, charging at Whisker and slamming him with some tough punches to the gut! Whisker's robotic crew, Mini & Mum, grimaced from the sidelines. "Boss is gonna need repairs again..." Mini sighed. "Guess that's it for our crew until Eggman heads out to sea again..." Mum whined.

The rest of the tournament kept cruising toward the end of the battle round without many breaks. Both Big the Cat and his buddy, Froggy were entered. After Big lost his round, he pinned his hopes on Froggy to get them to Round 2. However, Froggy's entry just turned out to be a lucky break for Tommy the porcupine, who simply picked up the frog and dropped him on his back to win his match. "Awww, poor little buddy..." Big whined, casting his lure to yank Froggy out of the arena. Rainbow, too, had coasted by on a fairly easy round against Hoover, and then cheered her fiance Punchy on as he battled Zor of the Zeti. "It's all pointless in the cosmic scheme of things..." Zor sighed as Punchy's punches started to get to him. The echidna held back, starting to feel bad, but then Zor simply walked off the field. "I'm just not into it. Good luck in your meaningless endeavors..." he said glumly. Punchy stared in confusion, but then shrugged. "Thanks? I guess?" After that, Zeena fared better in her battle, but it was hardly a contest as she was pit against Agent 64. Agents 77 and 32, who also competed and lost, patted their blue-spectacled cohort on the back as he limped off the arena. "Humans just can't compete in this thing..." Agent 77 sighed. "At least Nammad had the sense to enter a robot...even though that got thrashed, too..." Agent 32 added. Eggman's E-X robots had all entered the tournament as well, but out of all of them, only Alpha and Terra managed to win their rounds. Freeze was even mocked by Metal Sonic after failing to do any better than Gemerl. "I liked you better when you couldn't talk..." the icy gizoid retorted. "At least I won my round!" Metal Sonic taunted. Firma got the shortest end of the stick, however. She had been pit against Cubot, who had the foresight to show up piloting the "Arachnoegg 3." Firma was wrapped up in a spider web by the mech in a humiliating defeat. "Who says I'm the dumb one! No, really, I wanna know? Is it me?" Cubot asked after the match. The highlight of the matches leading to the final bout was a match between Gemini and Whisk. The divine's teleporting and wind-based powers were tricky for Gemini to keep up with, but through good use of defensive spells and a little teleporting of her own, Gemini beat Whisk with a simple sleep spell. Vortex tried to comfort her as she left the arena...in his selfish way. "It'sss alright. You can cheer for me in the next round." he told her. In response, Whisk slapped him. "You should've left me sleep... I still remember breaking up with you..." she growled. "I wasss afraid of that..." Vortex hissed.

Eventually, 98 of the one hundred contestants had taken to the arena. Now, it was time for the final round. One of the remaining combatants, the Deathbringer herself, waited just outside the arena where no one could see her. Her hood was off, and her face, the face of Libra the fennec, was filled with melancholy. Aquarius soon approached her. "Put the hood on. Can't risk someone you know seeing you." he warned. Libra obeyed with a sigh. "...I want to see her... Gemini..." she said, her voice becoming distorted as the hood covered her. "Not today." Aquarius said sternly. The Deathbringer crossed her arms. "...Will I ever?" she asked. Aquarius turned away, walking off slowly. "...That's not for me to decide..." he said.

"In the red corner... Yikes, I didn't know we were letting people this dangerous into the tournament! Rumors of his death are greatly exaggerated. It's the Deathbringer!" A hush fell over the crowd as the black winged, cloaked figure stepped onto the arena. Bucky the rat was in the audience, and he was notably stunned. "Hope?! No, that couldn't be... This time I'm not the only one who saw her die... right?" he said, turning to Lucky, who simply shrugged. "People saw the wolf die, too." he said. "Not helping." Bucky growled. Omochao kept going like he was programmed for it, though. "In the blue corner... A mysterious feline with a wicked style of dress! Let's wish her luck. It's Tabitha!!" An orange feline in black witch's attire flew out onto the field atop a broomstick, cackling as she arrived! This stunned the crowd further. "Who the heck is that??" Tails stammered. "I think I saw her at last year's Halloween Party..." Amy muttered. No one at that party had realized Tabitha was a real witch, though! "Why the disguise, my pretty? Wickedness like ours should feel free to do its work in the light of day! I used to hide my true nature, but no longer! When I win this contest, the Chaos Relics will power my dark designs!" she cackled, to which the Deathbringer scoffed. "Maybe I'll end your tournament along with your life..." she threatened. "Uh, keep in mind that murder is still illegal even during the tournament!" Omochao said nervously, "Okay! Begin the final match!" Tabitha kicked things off by hurling a magical bolt from her hands, which spread out as it hit the floor, covering the arena in a greenish flame! The Deathbringer flapped her wings and took the fight to the air, concentrating powerful energy in her own hands in preparation to counterattack. "It's a little frustrating, isn't it? That pesky rule against killing..." Tabitha chuckled, making the Deathbringer hesitate as she realized that she'd been trained primarily as a killer. Tabitha took advantage by casting a fiery red spell in her direction, which started to track the Deathbringer as she flew away from it! "Hee hee hee! At least with an opponent such as you, I can let loose! ...A bit." Tabitha cackled. The Deathbringer swooped under the witch, trying to trick the spell into hitting its master. It didn't quite work, but Tabitha spun around unsteadily while trying to watch where her opponent was going. "You can't fool my spells! I'm not some cheap dark mage or paltry divine sorceress!" she shouted. The Deathbringer turned and shot her own energy blast back at the spell, resulting in an explosion that knocked both battlers back a bit! "Gahh... Clever..." Tabitha grunted, grabbing her hat as she hovered upside down on her broom. Just then, a portal opened up beside the Deathbringer! "Agent Deathbringer! Enough games! Your services are needed elsewhere!" said a voice through the portal. The Deathbringer went rigid, staring into the portal. She looked less than thrilled by the notion. "Fleeing our battle? Coward!" Tabitha taunted, prompting the Deathbringer to shoot a quick blast directly at her, disintegrating her broom and sending her into the fire below! The fire seemed to part for her, and Tabitha stood up just in time to see the Deathbringer vanish into the portal. "Well... I guess that means... Tabitha wins." Omochao muttered. Capricorn had joined Aquarius near the entrance to the arena. "What was that about?" she asked. "Dunno... But someone in time is about to die." Aquarius answered.

Gunner and Illusi joined Omochao at the podium for the closing ceremony of Round 1. "Well, this whole thing was expensive, so I hope you frea- I mean- FOLKS have been enjoying the Tournament of Chaos, Sponsored by GUN, so far!" Gunner said, handing the mic to Illusi in embarrassment for his slip of the tongue. "Round 2 will start in about a week, once preparations have been made. It will be a road race in and around Station Square, so our fifty semifinalists will need to find vehicles for the event! For Round 2, we will also permit contestants to enlist the aid of partners, or 'copilots' to help with navigation, vehicle maintenance, etc. Prepare yourselves: Only twenty of you will move on to the final round!" he announced, amidst excited applause. The gargoyles seemed the most excited of all. Without Sonic, the race would be a gambler's dream. Which twenty would move on? Which thirty would be left in the dust? Was there even room for fifty vehicles to race in Station Square? All the answers to come...


Episode 8 - Race to Win!

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.


After the announcement that round 2 would be a road race, the week leading up to the event was a hectic rush to find vehicles. Fortunately, since the race was taking place in Station Square, Twinkle Park decided to help by loaning out Twinkle Circuit Karts to those who couldn't find a proper vehicle, as a publicity stunt for their amusement park. However, most wanted to find their own vehicles, hoping to gain whatever advantage they could. Vector, for instance, went searching high and low for anyone willing to loan out a vehicle. He was soon ready to give up when Big the cat raced past him on a green moped! He'd been knocked out during the battle tournament, so Vector decided to take a chance and ask him. "You mean I can't race since I lost the battle? Awww..." Big sighed, "Okay, I guess I'll cheer you on instead..." he said in agreement, hopping off his bike and handing Vector the keys. "Thanks, big guy. I'll have it back to ya in top shape!" he promised. Being quite the mechanic, several panicked contestants turned to Tails for a ride, including Blaze and Marine. Tails was prepared for this, and led the group to his garage. There were several racers lined up and waiting. "I got a few of our racers prepped for this event... Mine is the Whirlwind S12, the yellow car back there." he said, pointing out his latest iteration on the car he used to use for "drift-racing." The Speed Star, the Land Breaker, and the Tornado's car transformation were parked in his garage, too. Knuckles pushed past Blaze and Marine to rush to the Land Breaker. "My baby! With Sonic out of the running, we're gonna tear up the track!" he grinned. Tails looked from Blaze to the Speed Star. "Yeah... Since Sonic IS out, I don't think he'd mind if you borrowed his car. Long as you bring it back in one piece!" he winked. Blaze nodded. "Thank you... What about Marine?" she asked. Marine dashed to the Tornado. "I guess this one's fer me! She'll be apples, Tails! I can figure this contraption out in time fer the race! Just lemme have a go at it!" she grinned. Tails looked nervous. "My poor baby..." he sighed.

Soon, it was time for the big race. The roads around Station Square had been largely shut down for the event, and the fifty vehicles pulled along Speed Highway to the starting line. Katie the coyote stood outside Mia's taxi cab as she reported on the event. "In this road race, 50 will enter, but only 20 will move on to the final tournament round! Hopefully this reporter will be among them!" she winked to the camera. Chet the cheetah poked his head out of the passenger seat of the cab, looking a bit bored. "Too bad Mia couldn't join you... I'd rather run than drive..." he sighed. Mia was still in a coma after the Battle Bird Armada attack, but they figured she wouldn't mind loaning out her cab. Katie continued her report, ignoring Chet. "Of course, with Sonic out of the race, it's anyone's to win! Top bets are on Jet the Hawk, but I wouldn't count out Shadow the hedgehog, or a certain bird named Speedy, or the 'Sultan of Speed', Johnny! This could be a race for the ages!" she announced. While most racers needed proper vehicles, Johnny and Speedy were permitted to compete with just their jetpacks, and Jet with his Extreme Gear. Most racers were prepped with fast-looking vehicles, but as Shadow sat on his motorcycle, he raised an eyebrow to see Tommy pedaling up on a bicycle. "...Enjoy last place, kid..." he sighed. "It's not whether you win or lose..." Tommy retorted. Elsewhere, Copter pulled up in the Hurricane, which had been adjusted for land travel by his passenger, Hoover. "I'm gonna see to it you don't wreck up meh baby!" the beaver-bot grumbled from the newly installed back seat. Copter rolled his eyes, and then widened those eyes as he saw Rainbow pull up. Her car had... a face? It was a blue car that was very toony-looking. "Hey, Two! Pinky loaned me this cute Breezy car!" she said. "It's Breeze..." said Violet, her copilot, who glared at Copter scornfully. "Aw, she can call me what she likes! At least SHE wants to drive me!" Breeze said cheerfully. Copter shivered, creeped out, but that wasn't the weirdest vehicle in the bunch. Lospecter approached the starting line, accompanied by a giant sentient jack-o-lantern. "Okay, Loscream... You know what I need... Bibbity, bobbity, boo!!" he said, prompting Loscream to grudgingly morph himself into a big, spectral pumpkin carriage! Lospecter blew a whistle, and a team of lospides crawled to the front, harnessed by Loscream's roots! Lospecter then jumped atop the pumpkin, smirking as a dumbfounded Illusi approached. "I must say... I was certain the race would force you to drop out, on account of having to feet to operate car pedals..." he babbled. Lospecter smirked. "Never underestimate me, Illoser..." he said darkly. Omochao's voice rang out as the racers prepped themselves. "The track goes through the city, to Emerald Coast, winding back through Twinkle Circuit, leaving the city for the frosty ruins to the north, and then back here to Speed Highway to finish! Racers... on your marks!" he shouted. Copter tore his gaze away from Violet, clenching his teeth as he buried his regrets. "All I have left is this... I have to win!" he growled.

The racers at the starting line were arranged into five rows of ten, with the bikes and Twinkle Karts up front, and the speedier racing vehicles like the Speed Star and Extreme Gear boards at the back. Crowds were gathered around the start/finish line, where a monitor was set up that would track the racer's progress, courtesy of cameras set up around the track. "Ready? Set? GO!!" Omochao called out, setting the race in motion! As the vehicles zoomed through the starting line, Tommy's bike was left at the back, barely touching the ground as the jet stream carried him forward! Illusi watched with the Chao from Darkegg Fortress anxiously. "This is bound to be very interesting..." he said as some nearby gargoyles started taking bets. First into the lead, having had a bit of an advantage with his bike, was Shadow. "I'll see you all at the finish line..." he huffed, trying to pull further ahead as they rounded a corner. Chasing right after him was Conan, riding a motorcycle of his own with a sidecar attached, which Bean was riding in. "No one stands between me and the Chao Relics! Bean, eliminate the competition!" he shouted, prompting the duck to toss bombs out onto the track, laughing manically! Shadow weaved out of the way, but the explosions blew holes in the high bridge of Speed Highway! A bobsled manned by Omega and copiloted by Mighty was heading right for one such hole! "Slow down, meatbag! This piece of junk cannot fly!" Omega warned. Another vehicle slammed into the side of the bobsled, knocking it away from the hole. It was being driven by... Big? "Soooorry... I'm not really driving, I'm just an extra set of eyes..." Big said sheepishly. The headlights of the purple racer were actually a pair of yellow glowing eyes. The car was Kosmo! "You can thank me later, bot! Now, eat my metaphoric dust! ...I don't spew those exhaust fumes." the Kosmo car said, pulling ahead! "Quite a noble move by Big- I mean, Kosmo! We're just getting started folks! This is anybody's race!" Omochao announced. Then, however, a Twinkle Kart carrying Zik and Zor went flying down one of the holes! "Well, anybody except them, I guess!" Omochao sighed. "Zoooor! Your defeatist attitude distracted me!" Zik growled. "You'd think a hovercar wouldn't fall... Meh, whatever..." Zor shrugged, their kart having gently landed on the ground below, just way off course. The hover feature had at least protected them from crashing.

Emerald Coast was the next stop for the racers. Flags planted around the beach showed the way for them to go, which led across the sand, along a pier, around the lighthouse, and then straight back to the city where a ramp would take them to Twinkle Circuit. The sand was rough on most of the land-based vehicles, including Shadow's bike, and started to shift the race in the favor of flying vehicles. Extreme Gear riders like Jet were rapidly passing the others, though not without competition from Speedy, Johnny, and a few others. Even Cream was moving ahead, riding her own gear with Cheese joining comfortably via a backpack. Shadow just grit his teeth and powered through the sand, gaining speed again as he reached the pier. Other racers were more bothered by the sand. As Sting arrived, his legs replaced by wheels and his pincers clutching a steering wheel carefully manipulated by Slash, he groaned. "This sand is murdering my joints!" he whined. "Switch to treads!" Slash suggested, requiring them to stop while Sting made the adjustments. Meanwhile, they were getting passed by other racers, including Knuckles and Punchy, whose vehicles were better built for driving on the sand. Punchy was driving the Tempest, an older car of Knuckles, and was stuck with Talon as a copilot because no one wanted him. Knuckles was on his own, and had a smug smirk as he pulled ahead of Punchy. "Can't this thing go any faster!?" Punchy growled. "Easy, Knuckles... Hey, what're you doing!?" Talon yelped. "Shortcut!" Punchy grunted. "There's no shortcut! You gotta follow the flags!" Talon insisted. "...Why do we need copilots?" Punchy grumbled. Talon was wrong, though, there were shortcuts, just not for standard cars. As Tails approached the pier, he pulled a lever on the side of his dashboard, and his car started to transform, becoming a motorboat and gliding into the water beside the pier! SPOT was tucked into the same set to the fox's right, his radar tracking the other vehicles. "Tails detected!" he blared. "Yes, I'm right...oh." Tails muttered as a shadow was cast over him, and the Hurricane flew by. "Nice try, Tails, but plane beats boat!" Copter chuckled. "Watch the dang sky, ya idjut!" Hoover shouted. "The first racers are rounding the lighthouse..." Omochao announced, "...It's Jet! And... Tabitha! Who knew a flying broomstick would be so fast!?" Directly behind the leaders, Nack the weasel was catching up to Cream, Johnny, Speedy and Espio, another gear user. Nack was riding the Marvelous Queen with Bark hitching a ride. "Take the controls, bear... I'm gonna knock someone outta the runnin'" he said, trying to aim his gun at Johnny. Bark stumbled over the controls as Nack pulled the trigger, and his shot ricocheted off the lighthouse wall and struck Espio's board! "Blaggard!!" Espio shouted, and Cream slowed down to help him as he crashed. "Keep going, but be cautious! The prize is bringing out the darkness in some competitors..." he warned, gracefully leaping from his damaged board and landing on his feet. "Sorry about your board, Mr. Espio..." Cream said, moving on.

Heading up the ramp to Twinkle Circuit, Tabitha and Jet found Johnny and Speedy catching up to them. "Heh... Without Sonic, you chumps are no competition!" Johnny taunted as he began to pull ahead into the space-themed track. Jet and Speedy exchanged looks before chasing after him. "The nerve of this guy! We'll show him, right kid?" Jet squawked. Speedy nodded. "That bot doesn't know who he's messin' with!" he smirked. Tabitha hung back a little, gazing at the starlight above. "Holographic tricks by pithy humans... I'll give these racers the real rush of racing through space! This track needs some METEORS!!" she cackled, casting a spell to the sky! Actual meteors appeared over Twinkle Circuit, and began careening around, threatening the track below! As the racers started to fill Twinkle Circuit, the meteors turned it into a crash course! Fortunately, some racers were prepared even for this. Zavok drove onto the scene, riding in a large, colorful monster truck, of which Zomom was squeezed into the back seat, dropping empty chip bags behind them as they went. "These simpletons think mere rocks can stop us... Zomom, make yourself useful..." Zavok ordered. "Aw, I hate work... Makes me hungry!" he grumbled, reaching around and struggling to pull a laser out from under his fat folds. He then proceeded to blast the meteors into smaller chunks, at least making them less likely to damage the track. A pair of Eggman's vehicles also sped onto the scene, making it a bit cramped on the track. They were an Egg Mobile in a drill car, piloted by Alpha & Char, and the Arachnoegg converted into a giant tank, driven by Cubot with Orbot. They banged into each other, seemingly trying to run each other off the road. "Cubot... we're on the same side!" Orbot babbled. "We are??!" Alpha stammered, "Not that!!" While the robots battled it out, a pair of animalistic vehicles carefully followed behind them. One was Rouge's BATT-mobile, a white car that resembled her, with Agent 32 in the passenger seat. The other was... a Gatormobile!? A car resembling the hood of Gator's suit, driven by the man himself, with Rick the gargoyle copiloting for some reason. "Road hogs! You should be driving Hogmobiles!" Gator shouted. "I'm not happy to find out I shop at the same dealership as THAT guy..." Rouge sighed. "Focus, Rouge!" Agent 32 grunted, his teeth chattering as he watched the meteors. There was good reason for his fear, as a meteor smashed into the Arachnoegg, sending it smashing into the drill car before both vehicles smashed separately against Twinkle Circuit's railing! Rouge yelped as her car went over a broken leg from Arachnoegg, popping one of her tires! As Gator passed, a police car carrying Ridley and Razor smashed into her rear bumper! Ridley whistled nonchalantly for a moment. "Errr... he did it!" he said, trying to climb into the back and leave Razor at the driver's seat. "Nice try. You're payin' for my car." Razor grunted. A Twinkle Kart carrying Gemini and Evelyn crashed into the police car next. "Gaaah!! Ummm... Do you have a license, Eve?" Gemini whispered. "Oh, no, I'm not taking the fall for you today..." Evelyn pouted. Despite the pileup, many of the vehicles managed to ease their way by, but the easiest time navigating this mine field was had by Tommy, whose bike swiftly slipped around the tight spaces left by the crashes with ease. "That was wild! What's in store next for our racers? Can anyone stop Johnny?!" Omochao commentated. Amidst some of the wreckage, Speedy popped his head out and coughed. "That could've been way worse...owww... I wanna go home..." he sighed.


"Before proceeding to the next part of the track, our racers will make a pit stop in Station Square... a safety precaution!" Omochao announced. Jet was first to arrive at the pit stop, with Johnny and Tabitha close behind. "My broom doesn't need silly repairs... But I could go for a coffee..." the witch sighed, while Wave and Storm came out of the nearby gas station, dressed up as mechanics. "Alright, lemme see your jetpack, bud..." Storm said to Johnny. "Hey, are you licensed?" Johnny stammered as Storm turned him around and pulled open a hatch on his back. "Hmmm..." Storm muttered, and gasped as smoke came gushing out of Johnny's jetpack! "You butcher!! What've you done to me!! You're cheating for Jet, aren't you!?" he shouted. However, Wave found Jet's board to be in bad shape, too. "Are these bullet holes? What is all this crud on the hover unit?! Jet! You can't ride like this!!" Wave growled, dragging the board away. "H-hey!! You can't do a total rebuild now!! I'll lose the race!!" Jet yelped. With the main mechanics busy, the other racers would have to handle their own tune ups. Shadow pulled up pretty soon, and went to fuel up his bike. "Problem, Jet?" he asked with a cocky smirk. "You're loving this, aren't you?! You Sonic wannabe!!" he snarled. 

The other Extreme Gear racers came up pretty soon as well, which included Cream, Carrie and Aquarius. Then came Copter, who rested in the Hurricane's cockpit while Hoover gave the plane a checkup. "Lookit these scratches! That's it! I say we're droppin' out!" the robot complained. "Admit it, you're just shaken because of that meteor field...and the crashes we flew past. Poor Gemini..." Copter sighed, "C'mon, there's just a bit more to go!" he added. Hoover pulled a metal bar from his swiss army tail and munched on it. "I dun get paid enough fer this..." he grunted. Amy was close behind them, and Rainbow and Violet followed, Breeze staring jealously at Amy's Pink Cabriolet. While her copilot, Silver, went to check on the car, Amy noticed Breeze staring at her. "Oh...It's you." she sighed. "You know you miss me!" Breeze shouted, to which Amy replied by turning away, shivering. "And what happened to that frilly dress you used to wear? That was cute!" Breeze shouted. "Hey! Focus on the race!" Violet snapped. "I'm beginning to see why Pinky upgraded..." Rainbow sighed. Knuckles and Punchy soon pulled up as well, with Punchy busily arguing with Talon, and Zavok pulled up behind them. "How did all of them pass us!?" he growled. "Don't look at me. I swear I'm not weighing us down. I'm on a diet!" Zomom burped. 

Conan and Nack were soon to arrive, too, and Bean and Bark took some time to catch up while their drivers gassed up. "How's Nack treatin' ya? Tee hee... I got to bomb the street!" Bean chuckled, while Bark grunted grouchily. "Course it's cramped in that seat... I keep saying you're puttin' on weight!" Bean snickered. Spiny and Metal Sonic arrived side-by-side as well. Spiny did a double take, comparing his vehicle to Metal Sonic's. "That dealer! Some jokester he thinks he is! He gave me Metal's old car!!" he realized. Zeke, his copilot, chuckled at this. "Well, at least it's not Sonic's!" he said, only to get punched in the face by Spiny. "I don't think it's funny... That car shouldn't be keeping up with my new car!" Metal Sonic growled. Spiny and Zeke stared at him as he walked off. "...He can talk??" Spiny stammered. Tails, Lospecter, Guard, Kosmo... several racers passed through the pit stop, showing that there were still plenty that hadn't crashed in Twinkle Circuit. Even a DeLorean passed through, driven by Bucky. "Alright, get out and check us out..." the rat said to his copilot... Dr. Nammad? "I... uh... thought you were the car guy?" Nammad babbled. "Why would you think that? You're the tech scientist, not me!" Bucky scoffed, "Besides, it's your car!" he pointed out. "I only went along for the ride thinking I'd be a, uh, map guy." Nammad stated. "The route is clearly marked! No one needs a map guy!" Bucky groaned. "I can help youse now!" Storm offered. "...We're doomed..." Bucky whined. "What're you mad about. It's, uh... my car..." Nammad pouted.


As the racers left Station Square, heading for the snowbound ruins where the Chaos Gauntlets were originally found, Patch the fox was somehow in the lead! His car seemed to be a patchwork made of a couple other cars itself, and his copilot Daisy seemed nervous to be aboard. "You sure this thing can handle the ice?" she gulped. "Hee hee!! We're about to find out!" Patch giggled, only to spin out and crash into the stone wall of Frostbite Maze, his car crumbling into a heap as he kept giggling! "...I hate you..." Daisy groaned. Once again, flyers seemed to have the advantage as Jet led the boarders, Twinkle Karts, and a certain flying broomstick into the lead. Shade the echidna also seemed to have a bit of an advantage; not only was she already a bit familiar with the region from her time with the Nocturnus, but she had saved a Nocturnus hover scooter, and was using it to close in on Jet's lead. "What's the matter, bird brain? Gettin' cold?" she chuckled. Johnny then sped past them, scowling from his miserable time back at the pit stop. "You can slow me down, but you can't beat me! I'm the fastest thing in--" Before he could finish bragging, a strong, icy wind blew through the ruins track, which didn't have a roof to keep such winds out. The flying racers started to slow up from the blizzard-like turbulence, while cars started to pass them! "Wise guys!! I won't be beat by a little wind!!" Johnny growled, his jetpack blasting harder to try to compensate, only to result in the combination of wind and speed making his steering unsteady- he tumbled into a wall of the ruins, and a pile of snow crashed down on top of him from above! "Gaaah!! I-I'll get you next race... P-probably..." he groaned. A little further back, Vortex the chameleon was shivering in his twinkle kart, racing beside Fera, who was now calling herself Felicia, and riding a pretty cool black motorcycle. "No one sssaid there'd be cold..." Vortex whimpered, the cold being his main weakness. "Just don't fall asleep..." Felicia said with concern, riding near him. "Why do you care? We were never really friendsss..." he hissed. "...I don't remember you... Just...take care of yourself..." she sighed, pulling ahead of him. At that moment, Lospecter passed by in his weird carriage, which was looking a bit ice-damaged, itself. "I get you, pal. This winter nonsense is murder..." he groaned. "OUTTA MY WAAAAY!!" shouted Gator as his Gatormobile came slipping towards them! "Yikes! The Headless Lost One!!" he cried, steering away from Lospecter hastily and crashing into Vortex, sending his kart flipping into the snow! "Real smooth driving dude..." Rick groaned, "Now let's get out and help that guy!" he said, hopping out of the car to check on Vortex. "Help him? He wrecked my Gatormobile!! Do you know how hard it is to build a Gatormobile?! If you do, tell me, the insurance dudes might wanna know!" Gator babbled.

As the race continued on, there was a bit more place-shifting, but soon it was almost over. "The racers have reached the home stretch, and Shadow and Jet are fighting for position! It's kind of sad that it ends so predictably, but wait and see who else land in the top 20!" Omochao announced! As Jet and Shadow were closing in on the finish line, most racers a pretty good distance behind them, Jet tried to knock Shadow back with his board! "This is my race to win! This means more to me than those silly Chaos Relics!" he yelled. Shadow growled and tossed a Chaos Spear his way as he righted himself. "And I don't care, period, I'm just not letting you have your way after that!!" the dark hedgehog snarled, tossing more spears as Jet tried to evade them and come up with a counterattack. They were so busy fighting, they didn't notice someone hot on their trail. Sonic's car, the Speed Star, was zooming straight between them, a jet of flames being shot behind it to propel it even faster! It was Blaze, steering with one hand as she blew that fire back with the other! "So immature, boys! So long!" Shadow and Jet stopped fighting as Blaze sped past them. "It's close... Yes, we have our winner!!" Omochao cried as the trio passed the finish! "What an upset! Not here, but still making his presence felt, Sonic's Speed Star comes in first, driven by Blaze the cat!!" The crowd roared, the gargoyle gamblers having a mixed reaction. Jet kicked the ground in frustration while Shadow glanced at the victor in satisfaction. In a sense, he'd lost to Sonic, which worked for him. There were still seventeen victors to be decided, though.

Omochao announced the runners up who would move on to the final round of the Tournament of Chaos as they crossed the finish. In no particular order, the next 16 included Tabitha, Copter, Knuckles, Conan, Amy, Cream, Heather, Shade, Lospecter, Tails, Punchy, Lucky, Katie, Metal Sonic, Fera/Felicia and Zavok. With 19 of the 20 finalists decided, the next to cross the finish would be the last winner. Vector and Zipp raced towards the goal, Zipp riding in a modified GUN minitank with Crash. "Outta the way, croc! Don't make us blast ya!" Zipp warned. "You said you'd race fair!" Crash grunted. Charging past them came Guard and Spy in the GUN Auto Tread, only to be blasted by the gun on Zipp's tank! "Grrrr!! Why didn't we have a gun!?" Guard growled. "Ask Shadow. This is his car." Spy sighed. Surprising everyone, though, was the speed at which Big came zooming in the "Kosmobile", weaving around the crashed Auto Tread and dashing past Vector and Zipp! "Hey! You loaned me this bike just so I'd lose to you, didn't ya...?" Vector groaned, "Nah, he's not that smart..." What was more interesting was that someone was holding on to Kosmo's rear bumper. It was Tommy, his bike doing a wheelie as he borrowed Kosmo's speed! "Oh, no, I'm not gettin' beat by the kiddie bike, too! FIRE!!" Zipp yelled, blasting the road in front of Kosmo, forcing him to spin out and avoid the flaming hole in the bridge! Yelping, Tommy released the bumper and went soaring over the hole! "I'm gunna die! I'm gunna die!!" he cried, only to land across the hole, the momentum carrying him quickly past the finish line! He shakily stopped his bike, eyes wide as he heard the crowd go crazy. "I... I won??!" he babbled. "That's it! The race is over!!" Omochao cried. Katie was already busily interviewing the winners, and rushed to talk to Tommy, but he was out of breath, so she turned to Kosmo as he and Big walked up, the morph having reverted to normal form. "What was the deal with you pulling Tommy along?" she asked him. Kosmo shrugged. "Believe it or not, I only entered this thing to have fun... I wanted the kid to avoid landing in last place so he could have fun, too. Could get lonely biking all the way at the back like that..." he explained. "He wasn't gonna be last... You forget all those crashes!" Copter pointed out. "Aww, my car's gone..." Big sighed dopily. Vector pulled up beside him, ready to return his bike. "Well, at least I didn't crash it..." he sighed. Conan watched everyone celebrating the end of the race, and tented his fingers against the handles of his bike. "The time has come... I'm going to get those Chaos Relics, at last..." he grinned, "And no one will stand in my way!" he muttered, glaring at Copter, who had a look of equal determination in his eyes. "You all lost!!" Gunner shouted at Rouge, Guard and Dr. Nammad once the race was over and they'd gathered at his side. "Technically I lost in round 1." Nammad sighed. Gunner glared at him. "Now I'll have to go to plan B..." he snarled.


Sonic had completely missed the race. He had one last place to check for Uncle Chuck, a lead he grudgingly got Vector to find for him. Now, he arrived at Eggman's last known base: his headquarters at Lost Hex. The place was very much in ruins, the Deadly Six having trashed it after Eggman left and his remaining technology proved useless to them. Sonic sighed as he looked around. "Clearly abandoned... I'm guessing if Eggman had something to do with Chuck's disappearance, he's not gonna be easy to find until he wants me to find him..." he said, feeling frustrated. Suddenly, Sonic stopped as he heard footsteps approaching. Metal footsteps. Sonic turned and was about to launch into a spin attack at the robot, but stopped himself quickly, a startled look crossing his face! "Intruder... You are trespassing on Eggman territory...!" The robot before him spoke in a monotone version of Uncle Chuck's voice. That was because the robot itself was Uncle Chuck! This wasn't like the Deadly Six's attempt to turn Tails into a robot, either. This was serious, the transformation more complete. Sonic tried to approach, only to get a clawed metal hand swiped at him! "Unc!! Unc, it's me!! Hello?? Unc!!" he shouted, trying to get the attention of any part of his Uncle that may still be in control. However, the robot simply lumbered toward him in a menacing manner, snarling. A hologram appeared behind Uncle Chuck, accompanied by a menacing, taunting laughter. "EGGMAN!! What have you done to my Uncle!?" Sonic shouted at the holographic doctor before him. "Like it? I've upgraded my robotisization technology! Your Uncle was the perfect guinea pig! Plus... he did have some research on the subject. Combine that with what I learned from Julian during our interdimensional adventure, and now my animal-into-robot technology has been perfected! Ho ho ho ho ho!!" he laughed, "Complaints, Sonic? Well, keep your Uncle. He might be hard to work with, but he IS your family! I'll be seeing you once my next plan is all ready!" With that, the hologram vanished, and Sonic was left wondering what to do with Uncle Chuck. "I'll be right back, Unc, don't go anywhere... I may need help to get you home without anyone gettin' hurt." he reasoned, speeding off while gritting his teeth angrily. "You've crossed a line, Eggman! You're gonna pay for this!!"

To be continued...BZZZT... ZZZZT... BONUS SCENE! BZZZZT...


Eggman had perfected the robotisizor. Under Sonic's nose, too. The reason he was able to accomplish this was, in fact, that his experiments were taking place far away... In this far away place, Egg Pawns carried a rabbit to the machine, planning to replace her weak flesh with strong, controllable metal. "Ungh!! Agh!! Lemme go! Y'all are dearly tickin' me off! What are ya plannin' to do to...Oh my stars!!" the rabbit cried as she was stuffed into a metal tube, the walls closing around her. "No, stop!! I'll do anythin' ya want! Just lemme out!" she shouted, panicked. A light began to glow inside the tube...

Outside, the Egg Pawns were suddenly ambushed! A coyote in uniform charged into the room, shouting wildly while brandishing a sword! "Hah! And hah again! You are no match for Antoine D'Coolette!!" he shouted, smacking his sword into the robots, only to annoy them into pointing guns at him. "Hm...oh dear. Yaaaah!!" Antoine shouted, running off and leading the robot guards away. In the meantime, a female chipmunk wearing a blue jacket snuck into the room. She was carrying a small tablet computer. "Nicole... Can you interface with this device?" she asked. A hologram depicting a lynx wrapped in a purple garment appeared from the computer. "Eggman Enterprises is no match for Acorn Corp, Sally. I'll have this open in no time!" While Sally waited, Clucky and Burrowbot, two of Eggman's old minions, approached her. "Hey, you can't be here!" Burrowbot shouted. "And I thought we'd be bored while everyone was at the tournament! Bah-ha ha-ha!!" Clucky laughed. Sally sighed, then turned and gave them a swift sideways kick, hitting them both and sending them clattering to pieces! "I hope Antoine's doing okay on his end..." she sighed. "Work finished, Sally." Nicole announced.

As the tube opened, Sally let out a gasp. The rabbit groaned as she peered outside. "What the hoo-haw is goin' on? Did... did y'all rescue me? Ah feel mighty funny, though..." she sighed. As Antoine came back, fleeing from the Egg Pawns, the rabbit stumbled out of the tube and grunted. "Y'all better step back, bots! Hiyah!!" she shouted, throwing a punch...that extended out until it connected, smashing one of the Egg Pawns! Her arm then snapped back into place, and the rabbit saw that it was metal! "Aaah!!" she gasped, looking herself over. That arm, and her legs, had been robotisized. Sally turned and fired a laser from her multi-purpose computer at the other Egg Pawn before turning to the rabbit. "That was amazing... Are you alright?" she asked. "Mademoiselle, you have saved moi!" Antoine said, kissing her non-robot hand, "Might I be asking for your name?" he smiled. The rabbit looked overwhelmed, but replied. "B-bunnie... Mah name's Bunnie." she stammered. Sally nodded. "C'mon, we'd better get out of here before more bots show up!" Sally said, extending her hand to Bunnie's. As the rabbit, or rabbot, took her hand, Sally smiled. "Welcome to the resistance!" she said.


Episode 9 - The Dream Maze

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.


The final round of the Tournament of Chaos would have none of the flash and glamour of the previous two rounds. Illusi saw to it that cameras were banned, and Gunner didn't argue with him. The twenty finalists gathered in the Forest of Dreams, with minimal friends along for moral support. When they were gathered together in front of the Dream Shrine, Illusi was ready to explain the final test to them. "Out of the twenty of you, just nine will leave in victory. Some will be gifted with dual relics such as the Gauntlets, Tailbands or Boots. Others will acquire powerful single objects such as the Cards, Crown or Key. You must prove yourselves to the relics... And you will do it within a maze I shall build within the Dream Shrine, using the power of my illusions." he announced. "Blah, blah, blah. Spiritual garbage. When do we go in so I can claim my treasure!?" Jet shouted impatiently. As Illusi continued to speak, Copter felt a metal claw tap his ankle. "...Not now, crab. I can't smash you here!" he growled. Cancer snickered from behind him. "You expect to be chosen by the relics with that anger? Well, perhaps if you eliminate the competition..." he whispered. Copter tried to kick him away, and then noticed everyone was moving. "Hey, what's up? I was distracted." he muttered. "Everyone's gettin' ready, skunky. Good luuuuck!" Lospecter taunted. Copter turned to Cancer, to find the crab hobbling away. "Ask yourself, Copter... Are you truly worthy? Can you stop the likes of these from claiming each relic first?" he said ominously as he crawled off. Copter growled at him. "I'll do what it takes..." he said, glancing at Tails as he was getting ready. "Not even you will stand in my way..." he grunted. He wasn't the only one plotting to do "whatever it took" either. By the edges of the woods, Lospecter met with Loskeletor. "Get ready to sneak on in. I'm not leaving without a goody bag..." Lospecter winked. "The Lost Ones are ready..." Loskeletor nodded. Zavok was accompanied by Zeena, who he brought as his guest. "The others are waiting nearby, right?" he asked. "Yeees, Lord Zavok. I checked myself five minutes ago!" Zeena said grouchily. Gunner had brought Guard as his "bodyguard" as well. As if. "You might have lost the race, but we'll win the war, Guard. Get ready. I'll sneak you in once the final round has begun. I expect you to recover as many Chaos Relics as possible." the colonel whispered. "Grrr... Understood..." Guard replied.


With the robotisized Uncle Chuck tied up and on a short leash, Sonic began his search for Dr. Eggman so that he could make him reverse what he'd done. With their parts in the tournament over, Silver, Omega and Mighty joined Sonic on his journey. Silver was helpful in keeping Chuck from escaping his restraints, since his robot form was quite prone to violence. Omega's connection to Eggman meant that he'd likely be able to help track him down, if he could focus on not trying to attack Chuck. Mighty had been taken in by Uncle Chuck during a time when he was down on his luck, and was still living with Sonic, so there was no way he'd sit this out. Unfortunately, Omega had great difficulty getting over the idea that Chuck was an Eggman robot he couldn't attack. "He's trying the break free from his restraints again... I advise elimination. Swift, immediate elimination to all Eggman robots!" he yelled, pointing his hand-turned-machine gun at Uncle Chuck as Sonic ran between them. "You seem to keep missin' the whole point here, Omega!" Sonic groaned as Silver held Chuck still with his psychokinesis. "I'm sorry my future knowledge can't help you Sonic... I've been away from the future too long. The timeline's changed." the shiny hedgehog stated. Mighty looked at Chuck with concern. "I can't believe Eggman did this... I hope it's reversible..." he sighed. Sonic looked around and gave the group a smile. "No worries! We'll figure out a way! Heck, soon Tails will be done that tournament. If Eggman won't fix Chuck, I'm sure he can find a way." he reasoned. "Then why am I traveling with you meatbags?!" Omega complained. Sonic's expression turned serious. "Because I don't want my Unc to be stuck like this a moment longer than he has to!" he stated. Omega started to walk away. "If his programming wasn't garbage, I'd call it an improvement..." the robot mumbled. Mighty crossed his arms and shook his head. "Maybe we don't need Omega..." he sighed. "We need help of some kind... I had enough trouble findin' Chuck. Eggman doesn't want his plans to be found, and he's doin' a good job hidin' 'em..." Sonic reasoned.


It was time for the final round of the Tournament of Chaos to begin. "All competitors, enter the Dream Shrine!" Illusi announced, "The full nature of this final test will be made clear once you are gathered within..." The Dream Shrine was small compared to the Dream Temple, and the twenty finalists wondered how a substantial enough maze could possibly fit inside. As they stepped into the shrine, however, they found the dark room within instantly seem to expand and stretch, the stone walls of Illusi's maze rising to fill the space! "Great... It's Illusiworld..." Punchy groaned. "What's to stop me from casting you all into a deep sleep while I claim the Relics for my own?" Tabitha cackled. As if in response to her words, a dense fog blew across the entrance! When it faded, the contestants found themselves separated in different areas of the maze. "Oh, goody, my own personal dark labyrinth..." Punchy groaned. "Actually, we get to share it, One!" said Rainbow from behind him, startling Punchy a great deal. "Gah! What're you doing here?! You were supposed to wait outside!" he stammered. Rainbow giggled. "I snuck in! Mousy was so busy dreaming up the maze he didn't notice!" she smiled. Punchy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, of course... Or maybe he doesn't really care who sneaks in..." he sighed, and then blushed as Rainbow hugged him. "Besides, I want my fiance to be safe..." she whispered. Punchy smiled and nodded. "You be safe, too. No telling who or what else snuck in here..." he muttered. In a different corner of the illusory labyrinth, Guard was carefully sneaking around. Certain the coast was clear, he let his eyes project a hologram of Gunner. "Grrr... I have successfully infiltrated the maze..." he stated. "I have no idea how he fit a maze in that little shrine, but I don't care. Find those relics, Guard, or... Let's say the hospital will lose track of your comatose girlfriend!" Gunner sneered. Guard's eyes widened as the hologram vanished. "Grrr... Fine. I won't fail... For Mia's sake..." he growled. 

As time passed, the maze altered its form, each contestant traveling through an area designed to test them specifically. Copter found himself roaming crystal hallways resembling the Dream Temple. "If I run into the Dream King, I'm gonna scream..." he grumbled. Instead, he came across Conan, who was exploring the same maze. The pair immediately started to fight, fists and tails flying! "Ha! You're as pitiful as the other fox without that tailband!" Conan taunted. "Well, you're just words without your sword!" Copter spat back, trying to knock him down with a tail whip! Conan backed away a step and smirked. "At least I know what I'm fighting for! What have you got to fight for? Nothing!" he shouted, making Copter stop short, staring at him. "...Well? Can't tell me I'm wrong, eh? Bye, then!" the raccoon chuckled, running off around a corner. Copter took a deep breath and started in a different direction. "Maybe he's right... But that just means this is all I have left!" he growled. 

Meanwhile, in a section of maze that resembled a Covenant of Despair training facility, Felicia was roaming carefully. Heading in her direction were Amy and Cream, who both looked alarmed to find her. "Fera!" Amy growled, pulling out her hammer, "We should've known you were still around!" she shouted. Felicia stared at them in puzzlement. "...Fera? I don't know what you mean. My name's Felicia. Put that away, this isn't the fight round." she sighed. Cream scratched her head curiously. "Maybe she doesn't remember you, Amy?" she asked. Amy didn't lower her hammer. "C'mon! Sandopolis? You blew up that hidden room! Well... that GUN scientist helped... Between the two of you a whole bunch of us almost died!" she shouted. Felicia looked bewildered by her accusations. "I have... no clue what you're talking about. But I'm sorry you went through such an ordeal." she said. Amy started to lower her hammer, glancing at Cream. "Maybe we can trust her. C'mon, let's all look for those relics!" the rabbit smiled. 

Another section of the maze had become a hall of mirrors, where Lucky the cat was nervously looking for the way forward. "Hellooo?" he muttered, yelping as he saw another cat in the mirror! It was Blaze. "You're not me! Are you nearby?!" he called, realizing he was talking to a mirror. Blaze was seeing Punchy in the mirror directly in front of her. "This place is a fun house..." she muttered. "One!! Oooone!! Where are ya!?" With Rainbow's voice calling, Punchy disappeared from the mirror Blaze was looking at, only to be replaced in a moment with a third cat, Tabitha. "This isn't good..." Blaze murmured. Tabitha cackled. "These mirrors are too bright... Why not reflect on something a bit darker?" she said, casting a spell that changed all the reflections into creepy, ghastly images! Ghosts, zombies, a world in flames... The images filled all trapped in the maze with dread. "Gyaaah!!" Lucky yelled as he saw an undead version of himself in the mirror! Blaze gasped as she saw the same, and ran to escape the image, only to find it following her! Tabitha's cackling could be heard as they fled. Blaze and Lucky stopped together at an intersection, nervously clinging to each other as they were surrounded by zombies! Then... the glass shattered! "Seven years of bad luck? Bah, my life is bad luck already!" Punchy growled as he broke the mirrors, stopping the images. "...You kittens alright? Hey, anyone seen Rainbow?" he asked, looking a bit worried. "Hey, One!" Turning around, Punchy shrieked to see a zombie Rainbow! Blaze promptly tossed a fireball at it to destroy the mirror. "What was all the screaming? You're all weird." Rainbow sighed, her real non-zombie self turning the corner.


Omega had tracked signals from Eggman's machines back to Troblusk City and Eggtopia, the now-run down building thought to have been abandoned by the doctor. Sonic led him, Silver, Mighty and Uncle Chuck right into the building. "Careful where you step, guys... We don't wanna get trapped in Eggman's video game world..." Sonic warned. They stepped to avoid the obvious spot on the floor that served as the transport to the game world, only for a trap door to open beneath them, sending them dropping into a basement area! Large monitors covered the walls surrounding them as they landed on a platform below surrounded by spikes! "Whew! Glad Eggman decided to leave this floor here for us..." Mighty sighed. The monitors flickered on, and a red-furred feline face with glowing yellow eyes and saber teeth stared out at them from each screen. "Meowr!! Guests! Welcome, welcome! Oh, Sonic! Did you miss me?" the feline sneered. Sonic looked around at the screens and clenched his fists. "Firepaw... We don't have time for your games! Where's Eggman!?" he shouted. Firepaw wagged a clawed finger at them. "Is that any way to talk to your gamemaster? I could just drop you into those spikes y'know..." he warned. Silver looked up to see that the trap door had closed. "We'd better play along for the moment, Sonic. I'm not seeing a way out..." he said. Firepaw nodded. "Well, there's the hall directly in front of you... Oh, but it's also full of spikes. Pity. Meowr..." Firepaw smirked. "Enough! Let us out of here, or I will tear apart every computer until you have nowhere to hide!" Omega threatened. Firepaw snickered at him. "I'm rather enjoying watching someone else feel trapped... Normally I'm the one stuck. In this lonely digital realm. No one to talk to but BAS. Except he's been decommissioned in this base. Oh well, watching you squirm will get boring..." he sighed, and as if on cue, platforms side out of the walls to allow safe passage into the next room. "You might wish you stayed here..." Firepaw said teasingly. Sonic glanced at Silver. "Keep Uncle Chuck under control... I'll check up ahead." he said, rushing into the next room to find a techno nightmare! It looked much like Metropolis, but with less emphasis on lava and more emphasis on spikes! "I hate this base motif..." Sonic groaned, "This'll be a long day..."


Back in the maze, some explorers within had arrived at what appeared to be a gladiator pit. A swarm of Illusi's no-sign shaped minions, the Wrongos, were flying about, ready to jolt anyone who came near! Zavok was the first to approach them. "...I have no time for these silly games. Remove these creatures from my path!" he ordered. At his command, the other Zeti emerged from the corridor behind him and began attacking the Wrongos... except for Zor and Zeena. "These things aren't even real? What's the point..." Zor sighed. "Can't fight now. Doing my nails..." Zeena muttered. Zim sped past them enthusiastically. "I shall clear the path for you, lord Zavok!!" he cried, only to be knocked backward by a metal blue ball. It was Metal Sonic! The robot had arrived from the other entrance to the arena, and Guard the gargoyle wasn't far behind him! "Heh, looks like I'm not the only one who snuck in some friends..." Zavok sneered. "The gargoyle is no ally of mine!" Metal Sonic shouted. "Oooh... You look familiar... And it's makin' me MAD!!" Zazz growled, charging at the robot! Guard looked around awkwardly. "Hostiles everywhere... Grrr... Where to go?" he muttered, only to be whacked by a cane in his distraction! "You'll need focus to stand a chance in this battle!" said Zik as he caught his cane and began to run at Guard, who struck back at his cane with his scythe! Zomom, meanwhile, quickly cleared most of the Wrongos, leaving a clear path out of the gladiator pit for Zavok. "...It'd be amusing to watch you squirm, but I have a prize to locate. When you're done here, split up and find the other relics!" he ordered the rest of the Zeti. "Whatever, I'll do it when I'm good and ready..." Zeena sighed. Zavok hurried out of the arena, rushing through the maze until he found a hallway resembling an echidna temple. At the end, the Chaos Claws rested on a pedestal! However, Knuckles the echidna was already halfway down the hall! "Turn around, echidna! The relics are meant for the worthy. The Zeti are the only ones strong enough for that honor!" he growled. Knuckles turned to face him, and raised his fists. "I don't care about winning these relics, I already have a powerful gem to protect. But I'm not about to allow the likes of you to get ahold of them!" he shouted. "So be it..." Zavok smirked.

Zavok came at Knuckles, looking to slam his fists into the echidna's skull! Knuckles blocked with his own fists, shoving him back and beginning to punch the Zeti in the chest swiftly like a boxer! Zavok grunted and spun around, slapping Knuckles away with his tail! "You can't overpower me! It's useless to try!" the Zeti growled, grabbing the stunned echidna by the throat and tossing him into the wall! Knuckles climbed to his feet with a stubborn smirk. "You should talk to old Howler. Oh wait, you can't." he said deviously. Zavok scratched his head. "I've no idea who that is. But you can give him my regards if he's dead!" he smirked, hurling a punch toward Knuckles! The echidna met his fist with a fist of his own, a loud smack sounding through the hallway as they collided! Knuckles seemed clearly outmatched by Zavok, but he stood his ground anyway. "Why don't you give in!? My physical might could crush Sonic if he'd stay put long enough for me to hit him!" Zavok snarled. "...I don't break so easily..." Knuckles grinned. As if in response to his determination, the Chaos Claws began to glow brightly, enveloped in light. This light leapt from the pedestal and knocked Zavok away, leaving the claws hovering in front of Knuckles! "Huh...?" he muttered. "...You have been chosen. The power of the Claws is yours now..." This familiar voice rang in his ears. "...Tikal?" Knuckles muttered. Without further words, Knuckles, the Chaos Claws, and the Deadly Six found themselves back outside the Dream Shrine in a flash of light! "Congratulations, Knuckles the echidna! You are our first winner!" Illusi announced, glaring at the Deadly Six. "What?! Wait... The contest isn't over!" Zavok protested. "You cheated. The relics will never deem you worthy." Illusi informed him. "Forget the rules. Let's just TAKE 'em!" Zazz suggested. Zavok growled softly. "With GUN likely watching this place? No, let them have their pithy victory..." he grunted, scowling at Knuckles. "But I promise you this, echidna... You haven't seen the last of me!" Knuckles shrugged as the Deadly Six started to leave. "Well, this'll go nicely with my Shovel Claws..." he muttered. "Be cautious, Knuckles. Those claws are known to affect the mind of the wielder..." Illusi warned, and turned to the Dream Shrine. There were still eight more winners to be determined. Who would the Chosen Ones turn out to be?

To be continued... BZZZT!! ...ZZZZT!! ...WARNING! CHALLENGER APPROACHING!!


The ocean off the coast of Station Square still showed signs of the great battle with the Covenant of Despair. Chunks of the broken Demon Island still floated, like icebergs, drifting slowly but surely away from the coast. Soon enough, this evidence of the battle would either sink or be swept away. While most citizens of the city had chosen to forget that conflict already, the ocean never fully forgets. Now, the sea began to churn a bit, as a final resting place began to be disturbed by an outside force... 

The churning water seemed to move, bubbling towards the shoreline. The ocean turned darker in places, until the churning spot became a black liquid. This black liquid then leapt at the shore, as though clawing for the sweet freedom of land. It clawed again, before slithering free of the ocean's salty depths. A black puddle oozed onto the sand. Then, it began to slowly take shape. It stumbled back into a puddle once or twice. Eventually, though, the creature's strength returned. It took form, a black liquid life form with yellow eyes. Its arrival was a reaction. Something, somewhere was disturbed. As a result, a very similar being was also back in play. The shadowy creature began to walk away from the shoreline. It had one goal...one thing on its mind to find...

Chaos!


Episode 10 - The Chosen

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.


Lucky the cat found himself at a hall resembling an echidna temple. At the end, the Chaos Sword awaited. "Wait... I found one?? Me? Me-yow!! I never expected to WIN this thing!" Lucky stammered. "Then might I suggest you stand down and let me take my rightful destiny?" Arriving behind him was Conan the raccoon, the former owner of the blade. Lucky looked at him awkwardly. "Well... I'd rather not fight you..." he said. "Smart boy..." Conan smirked, stepping past him. The hall suddenly became dark, and a wicked cackle rang through the darkness. "I'm afraid the power of this blade is too good for mere mortals such as yourselves!" taunted Tabitha as she emerged from the blackness, somehow already in front of Lucky and Conan! The raccoon tried to charge past her. "Once I have my sword, we'll see who's the mortal!!" he shouted. Tabitha smirked and hurled a sparking spell at the raccoon, only for Lucky to dive into its path! "Nooo!!" he cried! A bright light surrounded both Lucky and Conan, protecting them from Tabitha's spell! "Gah!? That black cat... Has an utterly pure heart?? What jokes the fates play!" Tabitha sneered. Conan looked around the protective field of light, and decided to make a break for the sword. "Distract her, would you?" he snickered. Tabitha once again hurled a spell at Conan, but this time he jumped to avoid it! "I can't harm the cat with simple spells, but I can still finish you off!" the witch crowed. Conan started to leap and dodge as she flung spell after spell at him. He had no way of fighting back without his sword. He wouldn't risk his picture frame against magic the way he had against the Battle Bird Armada's weaponry. Fortunately, he didn't have to. As Tabitha prepared to hurl two deadly spells at Conan at once, hoping to cut off his escape, Lucky stepped into her path again, this time brandishing the Chaos Sword! Swinging it, he repelled her magic and knocked it back! Her spells struck her, and she screamed before vanishing! "I'll be baaaack!!" she yelled as she disappeared. Lucky then turned to Conan, a stunned look on both their faces. "It... it called to me..." Lucky stammered. With that, the cat vanished from the maze as well, likely arriving back outside the temple the same as Knuckles. Conan was still there, however, and struck the wall in frustration before resuming his search. "Very well... The sword wasn't helping Emily anyway... I'll find another..." he muttered.

Shade the echidna and Heather the phoenix were traversing the maze together, hoping there'd be strength in numbers. They found themselves in a corridor that brought back memories of Shade's time in the Twilight Cage. The place resembled the Nocturne, her former home! "I don't like this... This place is in my head..." the echidna murmured. "Got something to hide? Heather... It's been a while..." The phoenix gasped and turned to find Mephiles the Dark following them! "You!? No... You're an illusion!" Heather stammered. "Yet the maze sees fit to bring me here. You miss me... Don't you? Our bond as Solenix... We could have been GODS!!" Mephiles roared. Shade was faced with a similar problem on the other side. Imperator Ix was standing in her path. "Shade... You've failed your people! We're all dead... Murdered by Enerjak! And it's your fault!" he snarled. Shade looked clearly saddened as she remembered the fate of her comrades. "...I was knocked off of Angel Island... What could I have done? Heck, being an illusion, I figure you don't know any more details than I do." she sighed. "I know you blame yourself plenty, for why else would I be here? Now, take your punishment!" Ix roared. Mephiles chuckled. "Yes, I will punish you for breaking our bond, Heather..." Then, Mephiles Biters and Nocturnus Marauders filled the corridor! Shade began to awkwardly fight the illusory ghosts of her comrades, while Heather desperately tossed fireballs at the biters. "I don't want to fight you, my friends! Please, it was Ix who led us to ruin!" she pleaded. Heather turned and grabbed Shade's arm. "They can't hear you... Shade, let's switch! It'll be easier!" she suggested. Glancing at the Mephiles Biters, Shade knew she was right. She went at the monsters with her leech blades, while Heather poured the flames at the illusory echidnas, rapidly making them vanish. She had no remorse for those ghosts, and Shade had no fear of the monsters, so they made short work of each other's demons, and then Ix and Mephiles vanished. Following that, the corridor turned into an echidna temple, and they found the Chaos Gauntlets. "Who gets them?" Shade wondered. Heather backed away. "You, Shade... I feel I have enough power. Mephiles was right. I could've been a god with him. I don't need MORE power." Nodding, Shade accepted the Chaos Gauntlets, and the pair was transported out of the maze as "the Gauntlets" spoke to the echidna. "You have chosen this power. Guard it well, and protect the weak..."

Amy, Cream and Felicia continued together and soon came to a shrine-like passageway ending with the Chaos Cards resting on a pedestal. Something was off, however. The walls were covered in slimy goop...which was slowly moving. "...You think this is part of the test?" Felicia asked. "I don't like it..." Cream shivered. "Don't worry, girls. I'm here!" Turning around, the girls saw Shadow. However, something seemed off about him, too. "Shadow? Uh... You sound...chipper..." Amy muttered, "You're not Kosmo, are you?" she growled, raising her hammer. Shadow smirked. "Worse, I'm afraid..." he said, his body melting away as he was revealed as Loskeletor! "Eeeek!! Gross!" Cream yelped as she hid behind Amy. Lospecter popped up from behind Loskeletor, too. "Don't worry about Shadow, friends; Loskeletor just helped himself to some ultimate life DNA last year when he was undercover as the bat lady... Had to use it now or it'd 'expire', you know." he chuckled, "Now, let me collect my cards and maybe we'll let you go..." he said. Amy glared at him. "They're not yours yet, Casper!" she growled. Cream shivered as bloblike losol started to drop from the walls. "A-a-amy!!" she whimpered. Lospecter sighed. "Are too mine, I found them hidden in Pumpkin Hill first, nya nya na-na nya! So... Laser-eye them, 'skelly!" he ordered, flying after the cards while Loskeletor gazed threateningly at Amy. "And thus falleth the curtain on your tournament..." he sneered, blasting her hammer to pieces with his laser-eyes! "Uh...oh... This is a problem..." Amy gulped as she hastily grabbed another hammer and went to battle the shifty skeleton. Meanwhile, Cream and Felicia chased after Lospecter, trying to avoid the losol as they went. "We can't let you take those cards, Mr. Ghost!" Cream shouted. "Oy, I'm gettin' scolded by a cuddly wabbit. Save me from the cute!" Lospecter said mockingly. "Hey! Don't we at least get a quiz?!" Felicia shouted. "This bland persona ill befits you, wolfie. Hope you get your memory back soon!" Lospecter quipped. Cream gasped as she stepped on a losol and felt it pulling on her, sucking at her very soul! "H-help meee!!" she cried. Felicia turned. Amy was busy, so she rushed to Cream's aid. She tried pulling, but the creature wouldn't let go. "...Cream... Run. There's only one thing to do..." Felicia sighed, looking almost at peace as she thrusted both her feet into the slimy creature and pushed Cream away! The losol shifted its focus to Felicia, freeing Cream. "Noo!! Now you'll...!" Cream gasped. However, just before Lospecter could touch the Chaos Cards, a light surrounded them, and they leapt to Felicia! Their light frightened off the losol and Loskeletor, and Felicia heard a voice. "Your sacrifice is proof of your worthiness. The Chaos Cards are best charged to your compassionate soul..." Felicia then vanished from the maze, but Lospecter looked oddly calm. "Fera... I can live with that. Ooookay, time to shop for my new toy!" he said, floating away. Amy and Cream panted in exhaustion. "Let's quit..." Amy sighed. "Well, the race was fun, anyway..." Cream smiled.

Racing down a path resembling the upper floors of Darkegg Fortress, Jet and Metal Sonic were competing to see who would reach the next Chaos Relic first. Punchy was chasing behind them, panting as he pushed his feet to their limit in order to keep them in sight. "If I knew we could...bring stuff like Extreme Gear in here... Maybe I'd have prepared for this!!" the echidna angrily panted. "What's that? All I can hear is you EATING MY DUST!!" Jet taunted. Metal Sonic turned and fired an electric blast at Jet, shorting out his board and knocking him down! "Both of you are insignificant! Once I've powered up with a Chaos Relic, nothing will stop me!" the robot declared. Suddenly, the corridor went dark, as though the electric blast managed to short out the lights as well. However, not even Metal Sonic's glowing eye monitor could be seen in this blackness. This was a different kind of dark. "Shoot! Well, I guess walking's better if I can't see..." Jet groaned. "My sensors can still track the relic! ...Uungh!!" Metal Sonic groaned as he walked right into a wall. The maze was an illusion, and Metal Sonic couldn't detect it. Punchy stumbled into Jet as he tried to keep moving. "Watch it!" the hawk growled. "What is it with Illusi and darkness!?" Punchy groaned. Just then, he heard Rainbow call out to him. "One!? One, are you there? I think I found it!" Looking towards the voice, Punchy could see Rainbow clearly, a light seeming to emanate from her. Jet and Metal Sonic pushed past Punchy, heading the other way. "Where's that voice?? Did someone bring backup??" Jet grumbled. "Sensors jammed... What is wrong with this place??" Metal Sonic growled. They couldn't see the light, only Punchy could. He hurried to Rainbow, and she led him to the pedestal where the Chaos Boots awaited. "I should give them to you, Rainbow. You're my light...you always lead me right. Plus, y'know, you found 'em." he muttered. Rainbow kissed his cheek, blushing. "I lost the race, One. You take 'em." she smiled. As light returned to the halls, Jet and Metal Sonic were startled as Punchy sped in and ran circles around them using the speed of the Chaos Boots! "Ha ha! Eat your heart out, Sonic!!" Punchy chuckled. "Rrrrr... NO FAIR!! That should've been mine!!" Jet yelled. Punchy and Rainbow were then transported out of the maze as Punchy heard the voice acknowledge him as the Boots' new owner. Rainbow hugged him once outside. "Now that that's over, we can start planning that wedding...right, One?" she giggled. Gunner stood nearby with a sour look. "Hey, how come it was cheating for the Zeti to all go in but not for him to bring his...mate?!" he asked. Illusi glanced at him. "Rainbow didn't try to hurt anyone. I'd pull certain monsters out of the maze, but the shrine won't let me... Probably can't get a fix on them due to their lack of souls..." he muttered. "All I see is a double standard..." Gunner scoffed.

Blaze the cat found herself seemingly outside the maze. She was walking along a high cliff, overlooking a city. "...How did I get here?" she wondered, shivering to be so high up, "Ugh, I hate heights..." A ledge jutting out from the cliff held the pedestal where the Chaos Crown was kept. "...No, this is part of the maze..." Blaze realized. Emerging in front of the pedestal, a shadow resembling Blaze appeared, its glowing red eyes fixed on her. "Are you worthy of the power you seek?" the shadow asked. Blaze approached, and gasped as she saw the city below bursting into flames...familiar flames. She backed up a step, breathing hard. "I-it's only...an illusion..." she whispered to herself. "Oh, it's real. It's your real nightmare! A world in flames... I wonder, did you cause it?" the shadow mused. "No! Shut up!" Blaze shouted. "Still, I sense guilt in these dreams... You can't hide the truth from the Dream King!" the shadow proclaimed as the flames climbed the ledge, and a monster could be seen amidst the fire, savoring the destruction. Blaze sighed. "My efforts didn't make any difference... Iblis lives on... within me..." she said, and began to move forward towards the crown. "But this burden was my choice. I will control my flames... They won't control me!" she declared, passing the dream king and taking the Chaos Crown from its pedestal. Her surroundings changed into an echidna temple, and she heard the voice of Tikal in her mind. "Take great care... The immortal power of the crown can corrupt one's heart. Don't share the fate of its previous owner..." Blaze nodded, and turned while holding the crown, only to gasp as a different shadow came barreling toward her down the corridor! The shadow had taken the shape of the villainous Darkseeker, Howler, and let out a snarling groan as he clawed for the crown, only to vanish inches away from Blaze! The cat shuddered. "Another burden... But I'm strong enough. This world won't fall like my first one..." she whispered as she was transported out of the maze with the other Chaos Relic chosen ones thus far. Three still remained.

Tommy the porcupine had somehow made it this far, as did Katie the coyote. Realizing they'd largely been coasting by on luck, the two of them found each other in the maze and traveled together. Soon, they found the corridor leading to the Chaos Key, sitting on its pedestal. "Wow! I can't believe we found one!" Tommy gasped. "This'll be a heck of a story!" Katie said excitedly as the duo headed for the key. However, bats suddenly dropped down from the ceiling and swarmed them! Not ordinary bats; These were losoar! Lospecter emerged through the wall as Katie and Tommy tried to shoo the bats away. "Now THIS is a big win for me! Ol' Illoser's key, plus two souls to melt down into losol!" Lospecter said darkly. Katie and Tommy valiantly fought the losoar, but there were too many, and soon one of the bats had knocked Tommy down! "No! G-get away from him!" Katie shouted, leaping in front of the young porcupine while the bats charged them! "Yeeeah, this oughta be good!" Lospecter smirked. Just as it looked like the pair were finished, Chaos Spears flew into the corridor, shooting several of the bats out of the sky as Shadow sped onto the scene! "Hey, I thought your disguise ran out, Loskeletor..." Lospecter muttered. "What was that!?" Shadow growled threateningly, tossing a spear at one of the straggler losoar as they tried to flee. Lospecter backed away. "Hey, pop quiz! What's the power of the Chaos Key?" Lospecter asked, quickly snatching the key up! Shadow moved to give chase, but Lospecter quickly turned the key, opening a portal in front of him and escaping! "Time's up! We'll play some more next time, kiddies!" he shouted as he disappeared into the closing portal. Shadow grunted. "That's probably gonna come back to bite us..." he said, turning to the nervous Katie and Tommy. "...I'll escort you to safety. Hmph... Kids shouldn't have entered this thing..." he grumbled. "Hey, we beat YOU here!" Katie pointed out. "...Wish you hadn't, I bet." Shadow retorted as they started on their way. Tommy sighed. "Still a good story, I guess..." he muttered, making Katie smile.

Conan scrambled through the maze, becoming desperate as the relics were disappearing from the maze. His surroundings shifted to resemble a hospital, halls lined with patient rooms twisting in all directions and stretching out seemingly forever. He had an unpleasant look as he hurried along, trying to find something, ANYTHING. The sound of a voice in the distance stopped him in his tracks. "Conan...help me..." A startled look crossed over his face. "...Emily?? Where are you!?" he called, his new purpose to find the source of the voice. He heard her calling, crying out for help, but look as he might, he could not find her. "Emily!! Don't stop calling! I'm here... where are you!? EMILY!!" Conan screamed, anguish in his voice as he stumbled over his cape and collapsed, sobbing as he sat there. "Cruel illusion... She cannot be here..." he growled. "She can't be anywhere..." a voice responded. Conan looked up to see the red-eyed shadow of himself...the Dream King. "She is dead. It seems your nightmare is all too real." he mused. Conan stood up, glaring at the shadow. "I can change our fate! All I need are the relics!" he shouted. "Your task may be beyond completion. Do you dare defy prophecy and take them from the chosen? Your actions may imperil the world..." the Dream King warned. Conan snarled. "The world can kiss my tail!!" he screamed, lunging at the Dream King! The shadow tripped him, but he got right back up and started punching at the Dream King, determined to make his point even without a Chaos Relic to aid him. The Dream King matched his every move, chuckling. "What's the point of success if your love will only burn in the apocalypse?" he taunted. "I WILL save Emily!! Nothing is going to stop me! Not prophecy, not damnation, and not you!!" Conan shouted, leaping and kicking at the Dream King, passing right through his shadowy form and emerging at an echidna shrine, where the golden cape known as the Chaos Wing waited on a pedestal. Conan looked around in bewilderment. "Go on then... Challenge fate. I look forward to watching you try." the Dream King's voice rang out. Conan nodded, and left behind his old cape in order to slip on the Chaos Wing. "I will be master of Chaos... and I will save you, Emily!" he declared as he was transported out of the maze.

The final relics in the maze were the Chaos Tailbands. They were contained in a room resembling their former resting place at the Chaos Shrine, and soon a familiar scene played out as Tails and Copter arrived. "Back off, Tails! If they can only go to one of us, the tailbands are mine! They were always mine!" Copter warned. Tails looked at him with concern. "Is power really so important to you? ...I saw how rough you got with your own girlfriend back in round one." he stated. Copter grunted, not answering. Then, a growl was heard from outside. "I'm afraid I can't let either of you take those..." Flying into the room came Guard the gargoyle, swiping his scythe at Copter as he entered and forcing the fox to duck! Tails stood in the gargoyle's way. "I definitely can't let Gunner have them!" he shouted. "Grrr? He can't even use them. He's got no tail." Guard grunted. "He could build you some band-worthy tails, android!" Copter retorted, and whipped his tails at the distracted gargoyle's back! "Graaah!! I'll fight you both!!" Guard roared, swinging his scythe at Tails to fire an energy beam at him before turning his attention to Copter! Tails flew over the blast and hurried to Copter's aid, kicking the gargoyle as he dropped! "Grrah!! Now I see where Copter gets his annoying streak!" Guard grunted, lashing his pointed tail at Tails while he hurled an energy blast at Copter! The black fox smirked. "Have fun, you two! Chaos Whirlwind!!" he shouted, blowing them both backward with a chaotic wind that left Guard landing on top of Tails! "Ooof!! I-I was helping you, Copter!" Tails stammered as his clone approached the tailbands. "And I appreciate that. Thanks for enabling me to get what's mine..." he said, reaching his hand toward the golden bands. However, his own black shadow suddenly emerged in front of him and smacked him back with a tail whip! "Ooof!! Y-you! The Dream King!!" Copter gasped. The Dream King glared at him. "Your heart is changed... You are not worthy of the power you crave!" he declared. As Tails and Guard stood up, the gargoyle lunged toward the tailbands, only to also be repelled by the Dream King. "You seek this power for another... Begone." he stated. Finally, Tails approached. "Shadow Tails? I should've guessed you'd be here..." the fox sighed. The Dream King moved aside, allowing Tails to claim the tailbands. "You...are the true chosen one!" the Dream King proclaimed. "N-noooo!!" Copter cried as all competitors and Guard were transported out of the maze, the Tournament of Chaos having concluded. "...Such a pity...Dark Fox..." the Dream King sighed, vanishing.


Sonic, Silver, Mighty, Omega and the robotisized Uncle Chuck made their way through the basement of Eggman's Eggtopia base, taking out the remaining robots that stood guard there, mainly Egg Pawns. Firepaw's face taunted them from monitors positioned throughout the area, ever aware of their location. "Meowr! Run, run, run! You'll never escape from here!" he laughed. Omega blasted one of his monitors, but it didn't discourage him one bit. "That's not helpful. Can you like, scan for an exit or something?" Mighty asked. "...Are you being humorous, or are you just a fool?" Omega replied. Sonic sped back quickly from somewhere ahead of them. "I think I've found an elevator! We can get back upstairs!" he stated. "Good... I'm tired of using my powers to hold your uncle still..." Silver grunted as Chuck growled. They followed Sonic through the base, soon finding the rather large doors of the elevator Sonic spoke of. "Looks like a GUN tank could fit into that thing..." Mighty muttered. As the doors opened, they realized why it was so big. A huge, robotic octopus was sitting in the elevator, piloted by Metal Eggman! "Hey! We wrecked you!" Sonic shouted. "No...that was the fake Eggman. I am the real Eggman!!" Metal Eggman exclaimed. Firepaw sighed. "Why'd the doc rebuild that nut? He should've given me a robot body! Meowr..." he complained. Metal Eggman sent the Octo-bot crawling out of the elevator towards the group. "I was just taking my Octoegg for a walk by the harbor! ...This is totally not ripped off from Boom Eggman's Squidbot." he stated. Sonic rolled his eyes, and Omega started firing at the robot. "I don't care! Eggman must be destroyed!!" he shouted, only to find the robot bulletproof. "Keep an eye on Chuck!" Sonic told Silver, dashing toward the Octoegg. "Sure. Because I haven't been doing that all day..." Silver sighed. Mighty tucked himself into a ball and joined in charging at the robot, which started lashing its metal tentacles at the group. "Heh! You�re finished this time, Sonic! I'm gonna make sushi out of you and feed it to my Octoegg!! Heh heh heh heh!!" he laughed. "That doesn't make sense, but go ahead and try!" Sonic retorted.

The tentacles picked up Mighty and tossed him at Omega, stunning both of them at once! "Get in my way again and I'll treat you as an enemy!" Omega warned. "Do that at your own risk!" Mighty grunted, frustrated. Meanwhile, Sonic was busy trying to pass the tentacles to get at the Octoegg's vulnerable cockpit, but it had seven more tentacles free to block him from several directions. Sonic tried to approach from different angles, but even his speed couldn't get around them as they covered every side of the machine. "What's wrong, Sonic? Afraid of getting squeezed like a sardine?" Metal Eggman smirked. "Do octopuses even eat sardines?" Sonic asked. "It's pronounced Octopi!" Silver corrected. "Who CARES??" Sonic and Mighty snapped. Omega started firing at the robot again, forcing the tentacles to lash out towards him in an attempt to stop him from targeting the cockpit. Sonic watched this and smirked. "Alright. Mighty, you take him from the other side! I'll help Omega!" he suggested, rushing over as the raging robot was lifted by the Octoegg's tentacles. "Sure, I can't stand Omega anymore anyway..." Mighty said, hurrying behind Metal Eggman. "Is this one of those tired old 'let's keep Eggman so busy that he can't keep up' stratagems? Puh-lease!" Metal Eggman laughed, flipping a lever to spin the Octoegg around, hurling Omega across the room and whipping Mighty with the robot's tentacles as Sonic leaped into the air to avoid them! He landed on top of a tentacle as the machine stopped spinning, and waved at Metal Eggman. "Hello, iron-face!" he grinned. "Oh, scrap..." Metal Eggman frowned before Sonic launched a homing attack at the cockpit, hitting it just right to send the Octoegg crashing to a heap of spare parts! Metal Eggman scrambled out of the ruins of the machine only to run into Omega. "Farewell, Eggman..." the robot said darkly before blasting Metal Eggman's head clean off as he screamed. Firepaw groaned. "Know what? Robot bodies are overrated. Meowr... Bye!" he said before his screens turned off.

Sonic and Mighty looked at Omega unhappily. "We needed him to tell us where the real Eggman was, Omega..." Sonic growled. "The computer will know." Omega stated. "It better! I'm tired of restraining Chuck...So tired..." Silver complained. Just then, the monitors turned back on, this time depicting the real Eggman. "You killed Metal Eggman AGAIN?!" he said indignantly. "This is the fate that awaits you! Where are you!?" Omega shouted. "Hmph... Throwing in with Omega, Sonic... You MUST be desperate! Well, I have no time for your nonsense right now. My plans still have quite a bit of work yet to go before I can properly unveil them to you! Even if you had whole forces of friends to help you, you couldn't stop me this time!" the doctor smirked. "We might test that theory if you don't fix my Uncle Chuck, Eggman!" Sonic warned. Eggman stroked his moustache and held up a big red button. "Tell you what, Sonic. You've been working so hard to uncover even the tiniest scrap of my plans, I'll leave you with a reward. I'll unlock your uncle's free will!" he said, pressing the button! With that, Uncle Chuck blinked a couple times and started to groan. "S-sonic? Why can't I move? Ugh... I feel horrible..." he grumbled. Silver released him, and he fell to his knees, prompting Sonic to race to his side. "Unc! Y-you okay?" he asked. Chuck nodded. "Could use an oil can, but I'm me again..." he muttered. Eggman smirked at them. "Touching reunion. Enjoy it while you can, Sonic! Soon, the world will be my own personal Eggmanland! Hoo ho ho ho ho ho!!" As he laughed, Omega blasted the monitor, ending the conversation. "This is where we part ways, Sonic..." the robot said, heading for the elevator. "Yeah, I'd better be going, too." Silver sighed. Sonic nodded, and he and Mighty helped Chuck stand. "I'm okay, Sonic. Just a tad disoriented..." Chuck stated. Sonic hugged his uncle, tears in his eyes. "Let's get you home, Unc... Then, I promise, we'll stop Eggman and find a way to make you a real hedgehog again." he said. "Glad to be back, sonny..." Chuck smiled, hugging him back. Mighty smiled and joined them as they headed for the elevator. "Great! I'll make dinner! So, do robots eat chili dogs?" he asked. "This robot does!" Chuck smirked. Sonic couldn't help but smile as well. His work wasn't done, but at least he had his family back. For the moment, that was all that mattered.


Most of the tournament winners had gathered outside the Dream Shrine, but Lospecter was gone. Many of the other competitors had started to leave already as well, but some stuck around to see what Illusi had to say in closing. "I congratulate you all on being chosen. The Dream Shrine is a special place, and here the relics were able to choose their masters based on the strength of their hearts... Though I find it a bit concerning the Lospecter has absconded with the Chaos Key..." he stated. Conan scoffed. "I'll find it. And don't get too attached to your relics, fools, for I'll be taking them from you, as well..." he warned, glaring at Lucky and the Chaos Sword. Illusi cleared his throat. "I'd advise strongly against trying that. The powers entrusted to you by the Chaos Relics are strong, corrupting, and not to be used lightly. They can be a source of great hope or great destruction." he warned. "You don't have to tell me...That's why we gave 'em to you!" Knuckles stated. Illusi shrugged. "I decided it's wiser to split them up." he told him, "Now, contest is over... Excuse me..." he mumbled, and headed for Felicia as she turned to leave. "So, you won the cards... Impressive." he said to her. "Hm? Oh, yes... They're all blank, though." she muttered. Illusi chuckled. "You have to know how to use them... Perhaps the two of us can work it out?" he suggested. Felicia looked at him carefully, as though nearly remembering him. "...Perhaps... You're not hitting on me, are you?" she asked, to which Illusi shook his head vehemently. "No, no! I mean, not that you're not lovely... There, um... Age difference." he stammered. Felicia chuckled. "Good. Alright, then..." she smiled, walking off with him. Gunner watched them with disgust. "...I should launch an attack and scoop up these relics... but this tournament's on the books, and GUN would take an ill view of the idea." he snarled, glancing at Guard, "As for you... You'll never see that feline friend of yours again..." he said darkly, turning and walking away. Guard growled back at him. "Rrrr... We'll just see about that..." he grunted quietly.

Copter was there, too, and watched the winners start to leave while sitting on his knees. He punched the ground in his anger. "They've taken... everything...from me!" he growled. He then heard a metallic scuttling behind him. "Look at you. Pitiful." said Cancer as he crawled in front of the fox. Copter glared at him. "You! You dumb bot! You messed with my head! And now look at me! This is your fault!!" he yelled, standing up and lunging at the robot, smashing it to pieces with a tail whip! "Are you alright, Copter??" Tails called to him. He was holding the tailbands, and awkwardly hid them behind his back. Gemini emerged from the woods as well. "Hey? Where's Punchy and Rainbow? How'd everything go?" she asked. Copter stared at them, hesitating to respond. Then, a shadow was cast over him, and someone dropped from the sky beside Cancer's robot parts. "Such anger. You should put that rage to use where it can do some good..." Copter's tails stood on end as he recognized Cancer's voice. Turning around, he met a large vulture with sinister eyes. "It was you...controlling that bot. You're Cancer!" Copter stammered. The vulture nodded. "It was time for me to reveal myself..." he said. "You're Cancer??" Gemini stammered. "Who's Cancer?" Tails asked. The vulture ignored them. "Copter... your power has been taken from you. But I can teach you true power. Come with me, and I will give you the tools so that you may never be hurt again..." he offered, extending his wing to the fox. Tails stepped forward. "Don't do it, Copter... This guy doesn't know what he's talking about. He probably wants to use you like Eggman did!" he warned. Gemini nodded. "You can't avoid hurt with power. Believe me, I know. You've messed up a lot, Copter, but I know you're a good person. You don't need Cancer!" she told him. Copter glanced at them. "I can't be a hero without my tailband..." he sighed. "...You don't have to be. It'll be alright, Copter." Tails said. Cancer chuckled softly. "You don't have to decide now... Consider my offer... Until we meet again, Copter!" he said, flapping his wings and flying away. Tails smiled at Copter and started to walk away. "If you ever need me, just call!" he said in parting. Copter looked to Gemini next. "Why are you even here?" he asked. "Everyone I live with came to this thing. You should be asking why I'm late. Copter... we haven't really talked since you broke up with Violet..." she sighed. He shrugged. "Anything to talk about? You're ashamed of me, she hates me. Katie's back with Chet, so even death turns back to keep me alone." he grumbled. Gemini crossed her arms. "What? Is that a list of your girlfriend options? NOW I'm an option?" she scoffed. Copter's eyes wandered back and forth awkwardly. "Um... I'm not sure what answer you're looking for..." he mumbled. She let out an exasperated sigh. "Maybe you ARE hopeless... Look, you're on the rebound Copter, so take it easy with the dating... Get your head on straight, because this mad obsession with power that you have, that's what makes you end up alone." she said plainly, turning to leave. "...How can I protect those I care for if I'm weak like Tails!?" he shouted. Gemini stopped short. "...It looked to me like Violet needed protecting from YOU before!" she snapped, stomping off. Watching her leave, Copter clutched his heart. "Okay, yeah, I messed up, throw it in my face forever why don't ya..." he grumbled, walking off alone. Still, he was left with a lot to think about. Cancer would be watching...he'd have to make his choices carefully from here...

To be continued...  BZZZT ZZZZT... FUN...IS...INFINITE... BZZZT!!!


Copter found Shadow as he made his way through the woods, dejectedly heading home. The hedgehog glanced at him with his arms crossed. "What's your problem?" he grunted. Copter looked at him. "YOU want to know?" he asked. Shadow scoffed. "Not really. You just look pitiful there. It's disgusting." he said with a superior tone. Copter glared at him. "And what's YOUR problem? Pouting 'cuz you didn't win, either?" he smirked. Shadow balked at his assumption. "I don't need a Chaos Relic to make myself worthwhile. I'm the Ultimate Lifeform, remember?" he smirked. Copter made a "blah blah blah" motion with his hand to mock him. "Like you ever let anyone forget that..." he grumbled. Shadow took a step away from Copter, staring up at the moon. "And yet, that Sonic... He has no respect! Everything's all about him! Every crisis is HIS show... I thought for a fleeting moment that maybe his time on the run last year had taught him something... but no. That smug hedgehog doesn't even have the decency to face me in this tournament! It would be too big a blow to his ego to even have a chance at being publicly defeated!" he said, his voice gradually getting louder the angrier he got. Copter rested a hand on his hip and smirked. "Now you're talking my language. I think we both know a bit about disrespect." he said. Shadow turned to him with a growl. "Shut up! You're not my 'Tails', Copter! I don't need a damn sidekick!" he shouted, stomping off on his own. Copter stuck out his tongue. "You'd be MY sidekick!" he said, a bit quietly so as not to pick a fight. He was all too aware that he'd get his tails handed to him without his tailband. And so, Copter headed off on his own in a separate direction. The dark fox and the dark hedgehog, each of them feeling hurt and slighted in their own ways, their minds in vulnerable states. They would try to cool their heads in their ways... but what if it didn't work? Dark forces were moving, that may seek to use the vulnerabilities of ones like these two to their advantage. What would become of them, then?

To be continued... in Sonic Forces!


Sonic GeneX Christmas Special
Quest to the North Pole

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.


Snow was falling, lights were strewn all around the city, and despite the cold, people were out and about with a busy hustle that could only mean one thing; The holidays were right around the corner once again. Even Darkegg Fortress was getting festively decorated by Rainbow the Echidna, with some grudging help from Punchy. During all of this, there was Gemini the Fennec, sitting in the base's control room with the chair facing the corner, a wistful sigh escaping her lips. Rainbow was busy hanging tinsel garland around the control console, while Copter the Fox watched, shaking his head. "We...don't need to decorate every room..." he mumbled. "We come in here often enough, so I'm decking these walls, Two!" Rainbow declared. Gemini didn't look at them. She was lost in thought. "How long now since I last saw home? ...Will I ever return? COULD I ever return? Sometimes I think going back in time was a mistake..." she thought. Copter glanced at her, and could see she was thinking quite hard. "What's wrong? I honestly expected you to be up there with Rainbow, covering the place with balls of holly and gray apparel..." he mumbled. "Whaaat? And they say I come up with weird names for things!" Rainbow said in response to Copter's ignorance. Gemini got up and started to walk away. "Leave me be... I...I'm not in the mood..." she sighed. Punchy frowned. "How come I couldn't get out of this by sayin' that?" he mumbled. Gemini quickly made her way outside, not even wanting to have the decorations around her at the moment. She sat on the snow-covered beach and looked out at the ocean. Before long, however, the silence was broken by something plummeting onto the beach from the sky, accompanied by a freaked-out scream! Gemini scrambled to her feet, looking around to find a small crater in the snow. Sprawled out within it was a brown furred creature with antlers on its head... a reindeer!

Copter had come to check on Gemini, and by the time the reindeer started to come around, Punchy and Rainbow had joined them. "Hey... How'd you wind up here, pal?" Copter asked calmly, kneeling down and, with Gemini's help, lifting him to his feet. "H-huh? Here? Wh-where is here...? I can't... Something...important... Can't...remember..." he groaned. Rainbow gasped. "You must be one of Santy Claus' reindeer!" she yelped. Punchy stared at her. "First...why doesn't Santa get a dumb nickname like Tubby? Second... There's no Santa you goof." he said. While the echidnas started arguing, Gemini looked at the reindeer carefully. There was a striking resemblance to her lost friend, Timothy, the very reason she'd gone to the past in the first place. "...Tim..." she mumbled, "Guys, we have to help this poor fella!" she insisted. The reindeer rubbed his head and nodded. "Yeah... I'm pretty sure I gotta get back to Santa... Oh! I remembered my name! Holy night! Oh, I'm Booster!" he said, shaking Copter's hand excitedly. "Errr... Booster? Never heard of ya. You sure you're alright?" he mumbled. Booster nodded. "Yeah! Well, not sure I have it in me to fly right now... Can you take me back to the North Pole? I can't remember why I left, but maybe something will jog my memory on the way!" he said cheerfully. Copter glanced at Gemini, who nodded insistently. "If the Hurricane has the gas for this trip, I will dress as an elf for a week. Fine, let's go!" he groaned, prompting Gemini to hug him. "Thanks! You're a good guy!" she said. Booster hugged them both as well. "Yeah! Group hug!" he cheered. Punchy backed away slowly. "Bah, humbug. I'm staying put." he said.

As the Hurricane took off with Copter, Gemini and Booster, Punchy and Rainbow waved, wishing them good luck. Then, Rainbow rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "You know, this'd be a great time to get my Christmas shopping done! C'mon, One!" she said, grabbing his arm. "Shopping?? With what money!?" he stammered. "I'm sure Two won't mind if I borrow his card!" Rainbow giggled. From a mile out, Copter shuddered in the cockpit of the plane. "I have a bad feeling about this trip..." he grumbled. Before Punchy knew it, he was in Station Square with Rainbow, bundled up and looking quite grouchy. "Okay, let's get this over with..." he grumbled. "That's the spirit, One..." Rainbow muttered, obviously not paying attention much. Suddenly, Amy and Blaze ran over to them. "Well, well, Rainbow! Crawled out of your cave for the holidays?" Amy smirked. "I don't live in a cave anymore!" Rainbow protested. Blaze smirked at Punchy. "I like your winter outfit. Cute." she teased. "On your way..." he growled. Just then, Violet the echidna ran up as well. "Oooh! Sis!" she shouted, hugging Rainbow as she arrived. "Are you going shopping? I was just going to pick out a gift for a certain special someone..." she said giddily. "Not as special as my Sonic!" Amy teased. Punchy sighed. "Great. You all go together... I'd just be a third wheel..." he mumbled. "Don't be silly, One! We'll all go!" Rainbow decided. Blaze nodded, giving Punchy a catty smirk. "And of course, a GENTLEMAN would carry the bags..." she said, making Punchy sweat. "H-help me... I shoulda went with Copter..." he whimpered, realizing he'd been roped into something he'd enjoy even less than a trip to the North Pole.


Heading north, the Hurricane passed over a jungle once known for its truly massive trees. Loggers had taken most of the original giant trees, but the story had a happy ending, as now pine trees had been planted in their place, and were growing tall and strong. "So many Christmas trees! Reminds me of home!" Booster said, smiling as he enjoyed the view from the plane's wing. "They're not there for Christmas... Hey, what's that??" Copter babbled. Ahead was one of the original giant trees. Atop it, a high-tech building was perched. Robots were patrolling around the premises, and as the plane neared, several Egg Flapper robots took flight to chase them! "Copter! It's Eggman's Tree Fort!" Gemini realized, remembering that she'd been here before. "Eggman DOES have a Tree Fort?? I thought Punchy was making that up before..." Copter stammered, "Well, you got the magic! Zap those bots!" he suggested. Booster looked a bit nervous. "Wait, fight them? That's naughty list talk! Why would you do that?" he whimpered, only to yelp as the Egg Flappers fired at them, forcing Copter to turn the plane out of the way. "Is it okay if they started it?!" Copter growled. Gemini gripped her wand and waved it toward the robots. "Anti-Gravna!!" she shouted, hurling a white light at the Egg Flapper in the center. It seemed unaffected, but the other robots were suddenly drawn to it as though it had become the center of gravity, and as they struck each other, they exploded! "...Quit showing off." Copter grumbled. Meanwhile, at the fort, the Egg Pawn guards had set up a dangerous-looking cannon, and were aiming it at the plane. "Crud! Where'd they get that!?" Copter yelped, trying to steer away only to find the cannon was tracking him. Before it could shoot, though, a familiar blue blur sped up the side of the tree, and swiftly tore through the robots and the cannon, destroying them! "What the? ...Nah, that couldn't be..." Copter muttered. "It's Sonic!! Oooh! Hey, Sonic!!" Booster shouted, waving excitedly. Copter smacked his forehead as the Tornado came up beside the Hurricane, piloted by Tails. "Hey, Copter! What're you doing out here?" the fox asked. Sonic turned away from the Tree Fort and waved back at the group. "You on the trail of Eggman, too?" he asked, "Seems he can't even be bothered to take the holidays off!" Copter looked profoundly annoyed, but Gemini just shrugged as he glanced at her. "More the merrier." she said. Booster was excitedly calling out to Sonic. "Yo! Hey, Sonic! Can I get your autograph? The other reindeer are gonna be SO jealous!" he said giddily.


Watching them through a monitor within a frosty, ice covered fortress, was Dr. Eggman. He was dressed extra warmly in a fluffy red coat, looking almost like Santa Claus were it not for his wild moustache standing in place of a white beard. "I see you when you're running, I know when you're in that plane; You cannot stop my scheme this time and to try it is insane!" the doctor sang, chuckling. He turned around to find his minions, Orbot, Cubot and Char the Chao playing around with some dolls and toys in the corner. "Haha! This is the funnest plan ever! Can we steal a sled now?" Char giggled. "Ooh! And some ice skates!" Cubot added excitedly. Eggman glared at them in annoyance. "Swiping toys was just a recon assignment you dunces! Orbot, why aren't you uploading the data you gathered on Santa's castle!?" he growled. Orbot looked over at the doctor apologetically. "Sorry, boss... I guess I got wrapped up in this Christmas stuff... I'll get right on it!" he said, rolling on his way over to Eggman's computer. "Make it snappy! We need to take over the North Pole for my latest plot for world conquest to succeed!" he shouted. "Why? Are you gonna bribe everyone with toys?" Cubot asked. Eggman stroked his moustache while grinning. "I wouldn't expect you dolts to understand, but Santa's workshop actually makes a strategic base to launch an attack from. Think about it. That chubby old guy somehow makes it all around the world in the space of just one measly night! If I can harness his secret, imagine if I could duplicate it! I could send my armies on a global attack and claim rulership of the while world...all by Christmas morning!" he explained with glee. Char looked up nervously. "W-we still get toys, right?" the Chao asked. Eggman turned to his monitor with a sinister chuckle. "If my plan works out, Char, we get ALL the toys! Hehehehe... Err... Hooo ho ho ho ho ho!!" he said, laughing in a manner meant to mock jolly old Saint Nick.


It seemed to take forever, but the two biplanes soon reached cooler climates, the snow falling thicker and covering more of the landscape as they pressed onward. Booster hummed cheerfully as the ride northward continued, but Copter was shivering as he piloted the plane, and Gemini had a melancholy expression as she looked down at the scenery as it passed by. Booster soon noticed the glumness of his companions. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you sad?" he asked. Copter grunted. "I'm freezin' my tails off, you clod!" he snapped. Gemini sighed. "Huh? Oh, I... I'm just homesick, I guess..." she explained. Copter glanced back at her briefly. "Homesick? Say... you've never mentioned your home before. Maybe we should pop over there on the way back." he suggested. Gemini frowned. "We'll do no such thing. Drop it." she growled. Booster glanced between them and smiled a little. "Heeey, know what'd warm our hearts up nice?" he asked. "If you say singing, I'll-" Copter started to say, only to have his fears realized. "Singing!" Booster said enthusiastically. "Here we come a-wassailing among the leaves so green! Here we come a wandering, so fair to be seen!" Booster started singing, as Copter groaned and Gemini giggled softly in spite of her sadness. Meanwhile, a beeping was coming from the back seat of the Tornado. "What's that?" Sonic asked. SPOT, the robo-puppy, poked its head up from the seat. "I brought SPOT along to scan for Eggman activity! What's his screen say, Sonic?" Tails asked. Sonic had to squint to read SPOT's screen from his position on the wing across from the seat. "He's picking up some sort of... tempura signal??" he mumbled. Tails shook his head. "Temporal signal. It must be coming from Santa's Workshop! To deliver presents to kids all around the world in a single night, Santa Claus must need something similar to Chaos Control!" Tails hypothesized. He and Sonic grinned as Gemini joined Booster in singing. "Love and joy come to you, and to you your wassail too! And God bless you and send you a haaappy new year! And God send you a happy new year!" As they sang, Copter clutched the wheel of the Hurricane furiously. "Stop that infernal waffle song or I'll crash us!!" he snarled.


Back in Station Square, Punchy found himself waiting in a checkout line, holding a heavy shopping basket full of junk. Rainbow and the others had ditched him there to look at clothes, and the look on his face could only be read as "Bah, humbug." Waiting in front of him was young Tommy the porcupine, holding a pink hat in his hands. Behind Punchy were two grumpy looking human guys, one behind a shopping cart while the other clutched a pack of cigarettes urgently. They'd been ranting about their mutual distaste for the holidays, and were now going on about Christmas songs. "Gah, but the one I really can't stand, y'know, is that song 'Christmas Shoes.' It's so disgustingly preachy..." the guy with the cigarettes said. "Never gave it much thought myself. Kinda morbid, I guess. I mean, kid's mom is gonna die. Pair 'a shoes isn't gonna stop that." the guy with the cart grunted. Punchy shrugged. He'd never even heard this song before. The chatter seemed to bother Tommy, though; He clutched the hat tighter and clenched his teeth, trying to resist saying anything. "Since the kid's gonna be homeless, maybe the guy in the song should do everyone a favor and put him out of his misery, that way we don't have to hear his whining singing!" the guy with the cigarettes laughed. Punchy rolled his eyes. "Shut up... No one makes you listen to a song..." he grumbled. The unpleasant guy shrugged, and soon Tommy came to the register. However, after counting his money, the cashier looked at him grouchily. "You're short, kid." he said. Tommy shook his head. "Nuh-uh! It's on sale!" he protested. "Sale ended yesterday." the cashier grumbled. Tommy froze. "B-but... I... I gotta get this for my mom..." he sniffled. Punchy looked at him with concern. "Hey, what's up? Can't you come back with the money?" he asked. Tommy started to cry, shaking his head. "Mom's been in the hospital for a long time... I sorta took her for granted, I guess... But the doctor called this morning. Her time is almost up. She might...any moment!" he sniffled, utterly distraught, "I was gonna give her one last Christmas present tonight! What if... What if she dies before I get it to her!?" he stammered. Punchy's expression softened, and he leaned down to Tommy's level. "Look, kid... Seems to me...the most important Christmas gift your mom could possibly get tonight is you." he said. The cashier glared down at them from his counter. "Guys, we gotta keep the line moving..." he grumbled. Punchy stood up and shot him a dirty look. "Hey! Can't you see we're having a moment here! Alright, here, I'll cover the difference for the kid's hat, and you can start ringing up this garbage, you stone-hearted punk!" he shouted, thrusting the money and the shopping basket in the cashier's face! Amy and Rainbow showed up at that moment. "What's all the yelling, One?" Rainbow asked. "Is this jerk trying to pull the old 'the sale ended yesterday' scam again??" Amy added. As they glanced at the cashier, they could see him sweating. "I-I'll add the difference as store credit!" he babbled. Punchy growled. "You'd better, you bastard!" he shouted. Tommy smiled as the cashier handed the hat to him, and gave Punchy a hug, surprising him. "You were right, Punchy... It's more important that I see my mom than having a gift for her... Thanks for everything!" he said before hurrying on his way. Punchy sighed and smiled a little as he watched him go, but glanced back in confusion as he heard sniffling behind him. The guy with the cart was sobbing. "I should c-call my mom, too!" he bawled, making his friend with the cigarettes groan. "We're still not playin' Christmas music on the way home!" he grunted.


As the planes landed, arriving at the North Pole, they found Santa's castle workshop under siege. Egg Fighters were ramming the gate with what appeared to be a massive candy cane. The robots themselves were dressed up to look like elves, a disguise that clearly had fooled no one. "Figures. Eggman wants to take over Santa's workshop." Tails sighed. "Probably outta spite for always bein' on the naughty list!" Sonic added. Copter and Gemini joined them on the icy ground, shivering but raising their fists in preparation to fight anyway. "I don't care what Eggman's up to... I want in where it's warmer!!" Copter growled. "Anything jogging your memory, Booster?" Gemini asked. Booster hopped into the air and started to fly in a circle around the planes. "Well, I'm rested enough to get in the air... but no, don't remember... I'm sorry, I really wish I could. I feel like I'm forgetting something terribly important!" he whimpered. Sonic shrugged. "We'll just wreck these elf-bots, then!" he smirked. A couple snowballs in front of them burst open suddenly, startling the group and revealing Orbot and Cubot! "Ha! We got the drop on you!" Cubot shouted. "Good plan, buddy! Um... now what?" Orbot asked. Everyone groaned and simply ran past the small robots, heading right for the Egg Fighters. "Boo! ...Aw, they weren't scared at all!" Cubot whined. "I take it back; terrible plan." Orbot sighed. As the robots banged on the gate, a familiar voice called from within. "For the last time, we're not interested in cable where you have to dig underground to hook it up! Go away!" Copter raised an eyebrow as he heard the voice. "Gator?? What're you doing in there??" he stammered. "I works here! Great vacation time!" he replied through the gate. During the distraction, Sonic got the attention of the Egg Fighters, wrecking several of them swiftly with a few homing attacks. One of their elf hats went flying and landed on Tails' head. "Very funny, Sonic! You did that on purpose!" he shouted before taking off the hat and dropping it on SPOT. "I am not amused, either." read the text on the robot's monitor. Gemini waved her wand, eager to help in the fight. "Poppration!" she called, sending firework-type blasts from her wand to quickly wreck the hands of the Egg Fighters that were trying to fight on without their bodies. "That seems like overkill. Guess they don't need us foxes..." Copter sighed, glancing at Tails, who shrugged with a grin at his words.

Dr. Eggman arrived in his Egg Mobile as Sonic and Gemini took out the robots. Char was with him. "Aw, Sonic wrecked our helpers!" Char grumbled, drawing the attention of the group toward Eggman. "Sorry, doc, you can't be Santa... you're TOO overweight!" Sonic snickered. The doctor growled, but composed himself quickly. "Oh, but I'll be a better Santa... I've got a gift for everyone and not just the nice... A gift of robots, taking the world by storm all in one night!" he grinned. Copter shuddered at the thought. "Can we return it in advance, then?" he muttered. "Don't be that way; I brought something especially for you! Happy Holidays!" Eggman chuckled, pressing a switch on his Egg Mobile to call forth his latest minion. A massive robot suddenly burst forth from beneath the snow across from the gate! It resembled a snowman with a big top hat, robotic arms, jagged metal teeth and a big red moustache just like Eggman's. "We've taken to calling him Frosty the Eggman! What do you think?" the doctor smirked. "I've never seen a scary snowman before..." Tails remarked. "Think it'll melt if I set it on fire?" Gemini asked. Booster watched this from the air and gasped. "You twisted a beloved holiday figure into something...mean! How could you!?" he shouted. Eggman glanced at him excitedly. "Ah, that reindeer is back! Go get him, Frosty!" he ordered, prompting the metal snowman to turn in Booster's direction. "Yikes! Um... help!!" he stammered. "Watch the door, guys, I got this!" Sonic said, rushing off to get Frosty's attention. "Watch the door? Why? The robots are gone, except for that thing..." Copter muttered. "Blastrotall!!" Gemini shouted, firing bolts from her wand to frighten off Orbot and Cubot as they tried to sneak by. "You forgot a couple!" she noted. Tails glanced at SPOT's monitor nervously. "They're the least of our worries... Eggman has reinforcements coming!" he warned. Frosty, meanwhile, was blowing frigid air at Booster, likely intending to freeze him solid, while his robot arms were scooping boulders of snow and hurling them at Sonic! "Whoa! I'd better find a weak spot on this thing before we all catch frostbite from it!" Sonic grunted, dashing to and fro to evade the giant snowballs.

Frosty's top hat popped open at the top, and missiles started firing from it, homing in on Sonic as he fled the snowman robot's assault. A stray missile turned to head toward Booster, and Sonic wasted no time in leaping up to knock him out of the way with a quick homing attack! The reindeer tumbled to the ground, his head getting stuck in the snow. "Ooof! By jingle, that smarts..." his muffled voice grumbled. A small, shiny red object fell into the snow as well, seeming to come from Booster's person. As he pulled his head out of the icy ground, he spotted the shiny object and gasped. "Wha!! I remember!!" he stammered. "Remember what??" Sonic said as he slid back and forth on some ice, trying to dodge the snow boulders tossed by Frosty. "This emerald piece! I left the North Pole to keep it from Eggman! It's part of the Christmas Emerald; the very power source that lets Santa speed across the world in one night!" Booster said hastily. Eggman smirked upon hearing this. "Glad you remembered! Robots, forget the gate! Grab that reindeer and his bauble!" the doctor ordered. Gemini sighed with relief as the horde of incoming robots turned away from the gate. "And stay out!" she shouted. "Hey, come back here you cowards!!" Copter yelled, shaking his fist at them. Sonic glanced from Frosty to the robot horde to Booster. "I think even I might have trouble protecting you by myself, Dancer. Fly to safety!" he suggested. Booster held the piece of the Christmas Emerald tightly and nodded. "Er, name's Booster, Sonic..." he said, standing tall and staring down the incoming robots, "And I'm through running! You've taught me that sometimes you gotta be brave and fight for what's right... even though fighting is wrong!" he announced. Sonic scratched his head and shrugged, sidestepping one of Frosty's missiles. "Well, errr... be careful?" he said. The fragment in Booster's hand started to glow, and he began to move at incredible speed! "Dash away, dash away, dash away all!" he cried, crashing through the robots with his antlers as he sped through the area far too fast for them to keep up with! "Hey! Chaos Control is cheating! Well, I'll just have to wreck this snowman just as fast!" Sonic smirked, dashing over to Frosty and running up the side of the huge robot before leaping inside his top hat! "S-sonic!! What are you-?!" Tails gasped, covering his eyes. Frosty seemed to jolt back and forth as something rattled around inside him at high speed. "...I hate that hedgehog..." Eggman grumbled as Sonic burst through the robot's chest in a spin dash, and Frosty exploded seconds later! Booster had taken out the robot horde as well, leaving just Eggman, Orbot, Cubot and Char. "So... does this mean no more toys?" Cubot asked. The heroes turned to Eggman, all glaring, and he backed away slowly. "N-now, where's your Christmas spirit?" he babbled. "Um, I just remembered, I got cookies in the oven!" Char stammered, flying off while Orbot and Cubot followed. Eggman didn't get off so easy, as Sonic and Booster charged his Egg Mobile and sent it flying into the distance! "You guys are on my list for next yeeeeaaaar!!" Eggman shouted as he soared away.

With Eggman defeated, the castle gate opened, and grateful elves and reindeer rushed out to meet Sonic and the others! Several elves hoisted them into the air and carried them inside, much to Copter's surprise. "H-hey! Put us down you creepy little gnomes!!" he stammered. Gator was just beyond the gate holding a clipboard. "Hey! No one called break time, you lazy kids!" he babbled, "...Aw, heck!" he shrugged, tossing his clipboard away and joining the celebrating group in heading for Santa's toy workshop. It was a huge, highly advanced looking workshop, filled with every toy-creating device imaginable. At the center was old Saint Nick himself, supervising construction of a few last minute gifts for Christmas. "Boss! Booster came back! And he brought help!" announced one of the elves. Santa Claus turned around, his twinkling eyes and full white beard unmistakable. Booster stood at the back looking a bit sheepish, and Santa stepped over to him as the elves dropped Sonic and the others. "Woo, this place looks like what Eggman might've built if he weren't evil..." Sonic mused. Booster handed Santa the fragment of the Christmas Emerald, and he turned it over in his hand. "It was reckless of you to take this away, Booster..." he began, "...But your heart was true, and everything turned out alright. Ho ho! Why the long face? We should be celebrating!" he smiled, pulling out a red and green emerald from inside his coat and returning the missing piece to it, "Oh, but that Eggman fellow held things up a bit! Elves, prep our friends' biplanes for the journey home! And let's finish our preparations! Christmas is nearly here! Ho ho ho ho!" he said with a jolly, excited voice, eager to proceed with business as usual now that the threat of Eggman had passed. The elves and reindeer went to work, singing carols as they went, and Sonic and Tails decided to help a bit in the meantime, Tails building some toy robot dogs that kind of resembled SPOT while Sonic ran about wrapping gifts at lightning speed! "This is kinda fun! We should do this again sometime!" Sonic chuckled. "What do you think, SPOT?" Tails asked. "Imposter! I cannot be replaced!" the robo-puppy's monitor read. Gemini was using some magic to help speed up a batch of cookies in the nearby kitchen, while Copter made himself busy prepping the next batch using cookie cutters. She smiled. "Well, I may not be able to go home, but turns out, it can be just as good spending Christmas with you..." she said, glancing at Copter, who was unwittingly standing under some mistletoe. Gemini blushed, thinking about calling attention to it, when suddenly a female reindeer pranced over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek! "Augh! W-what in the??" he stammered. "Can't leave a cutie standing under the mistletoe without a kiss!" she winked. "Vixen! Cut it out!" shouted Booster from outside the kitchen. As the evening was winding down, the heroes started to gather back at the gate, Tails walking up beside a red-nosed reindeer. "So, they used to laugh and call you names, too, huh? Well, I'm glad that's stopped." the reindeer said. Tails nodded. "Yeah... If anyone did tease me, Sonic'd have my back anyway!" he smiled. Santa and Booster met the group at the gate. "Your planes are gassed up and ready! ...Thank you, guys... Especially you, Gemini. If you hadn't found me, I don't know where I'd be." Booster said. She smiled and nodded. "Merry Christmas, Booster." she said. Santa waved as the gate opened. "I'll see you all Christmas Eve night! Though...you won't see me! The Christmas Emerald gets me moving pretty fast, ho ho!" he said. Sonic smirked. "Well, if there's anyone I wouldn't mind outrunning me, I guess it's you. Merry Christmas, guys!" he waved, prompting the entire workshop to cheerfully bid them farewell at once.

In spite of the long distance, the group still got back home in time for the annual holiday party, held at Amy's apartment once again. Copter and Gemini joined them, and they were surprised to see Punchy, Rainbow and Violet getting along with Amy, Blaze, Cream and Marine as well. "It's a season of miracles. Punchy's a party guy now." Copter chuckled. "More so than Knuckles, anyway!" Punchy grinned, glancing at his doppelganger as he tried to evade Rouge in the crowd. Later on in the party, everyone exchanged gifts. Cream and Tails exchanged boxes first. "Good thing I picked up something in advance! All the excitement would've made it tough to shop!" Tails chuckled. Cream opened her package to find a warm-looking scarf. Tails took it and wrapped it around her carefully, pinning her ears behind it, too. "This should keep you very snug this winter!" he smiled. Cream felt her ears, smiling. "Thanks, Tails! That's so thoughtful!" she giggled. Meanwhile, Rainbow had given Punchy a hang glider. "You always complain about how you can't glide, One." she said. He shrugged and chuckled softly. It wasn't practical like how Knuckles could glide, but it was the thought that counted. Blaze and Marine simply gave each other coconuts from Southern Island. "...I think we may have missed the point of this..." Blaze muttered. "No drama! Fact is, it's just what I wanted!" Marine smirked. Eventually, Sonic was cornered by Amy. "Well, I searched all over the stores, Sonic! But I found the PERFECT gift for you!" she said, thrusting a box into the nervous hedgehog's hands. "Err, but, uh..." he stammered. "Go on! Open it! Quick!" she said excitedly, jumping up and down. Sonic hesitantly started to rip the paper, and raised an eyebrow as he found white strips of tape. "Huh??" he muttered. "Sports tape! I mean, you're always running... It'd probably be good for you!" she said enthusiastically. Sonic frowned. He'd been fine without putting silly tape on himself so far, he wasn't about to start using it now. "OK! Now what'd you get me?" Amy asked. Sonic backed away nervously. "You see... here's the thing... I kinda went on a trip to the North Pole, see..." he began. Moments later, he was chased out of Amy's apartment, her hammer hot on his trail! "You... YOU JERK!! How could you forget to get me ANYTHING?? Not even a dumb card?!" she shouted. "You know, it's not technically Christmas yet! I still have a little time! AMY!! Cut it out!!" Sonic yelped, fleeing in a panic.

Christmas Eve night found everyone awaiting Christmas morn in their own ways. Knuckles, as usual, was lying peacefully beside the Master Emerald. Someone thought it funny to string red lights around the emerald, but their warm glow actually relaxed him as he tried to sleep. A stocking was hung from the side of the altar, and as Knuckles dozed off, a gloved hand reached in, leaving a bag of grapes inside. "Keep up the good work, guardian..." a jolly voice whispered before departing.
Guard the gargoyle was working security at the Hopebringer Center than night, his only company a collection of criminals, and also Spy, who was fast asleep in his seat. The gargoyle sighed looking at him, and stepped out for a moment, returning with a blanket for his snoozing companion. "Grrr... If he asks later... Santa gave it to him..." he muttered to himself.
Shadow the hedgehog found himself returning to the Space Colony ARK memorial, dusting the snow off the grave monument and looking for a familiar name. He heard footsteps, and turned to find Rouge and Omega approaching him. "I calculated an 80% probability that you would be here." Omega stated. "What do you want?" Shadow grunted. Rouge stepped over and offered him a cup of hot chocolate. "Just keep being you, Shadow... that's all..." she sighed, smiling.
Kosmo the morph was led into a church by Carrie the mirage. "Why are we here? I don't feel very welcome..." he murmured. "Nonsense..." said a male fennec wearing a priest's outfit, "Everyone is welcome." he smiled. Kosmo squinted. "I think I know him..." he muttered. "Never mind!" Carrie said, "Take a seat! The music's beautiful!" she said. As they sat and listened to a choir sing Silent Night, Kosmo nodded. "You know...it is beautiful..." he said softly.
Silver the hedgehog was sitting on a bench in the city, gazing up at the stars. Beside him was Blaze. "Sometimes... I feel like I've known you all my life... Strange, huh?" he said, glancing at her briefly. Blaze chuckled. "Fancy that... I feel like I've known you for two lives." she chuckled. "Huh?? What do you mean?" Silver asked. Blaze got up to leave. "Nothing. I gotta head back to my world. Merry Christmas, Silver..." she said as she left. Silver waved, looking contemplative. "Two... Oh, well, she IS a cat..." he sighed.

Bucky the rat sat in his lab, his fully lit menorah reminding him of his Hanukkah traditions and the family he hadn't seen in decades. Soon, Lucky the cat, Zipp the hornet, Vortex the chameleon, Crash the rhino and Whisk the divine all marched into the room holding song lyrics. "Hark, the Herald Angels sing! Glory to the newborn king! Peace on Earth and--" they started singing only for Bucky to cover his ears. "Gaaaah! Now Lucky and Whisk have been seduced by the commercial side, too!?" he growled. "Hey, that'sss not fair, bosss, we did your holiday, too!" Vortex pointed out. "Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel! I made it out of clay!" Whisk started to sing, making everyone but Vortex and Bucky groan. "Hey! Sssshe hasss a lovely voice!" Vortex hissed. "Better than yours, anyway!" Zipp teased, leading to a loud discussion that made Bucky sigh grouchily. "Well, we're officially a family..." he muttered.

By Christmas Eve, Sonic had defused the Amy situation, and was able to rest under the stars on a rooftop in Station Square. A sleigh pulled by a team of reindeer zoomed by overhead, and Sonic leapt to his feet. "Hey... spotted you! Let's race to the next house!" he grinned, speeding off with a chuckle.

It was late that night when Copter crept into the control room of Darkegg Fortress, finding it difficult to sleep. He smiled at the colorful decorations that had been set up inside, realizing that Rainbow was right to have them put there. Glancing around, he spotted Gemini in a chair across from the holographic image of the Chaos Emeralds, a decor choice by Eggman that was still in place. Gemini was fast asleep, it seemed, and Copter noticed that she was sitting under some mistletoe Rainbow had hung up. He looked at her with a blush, and stepped over, gently giving her a peck on the cheek. "Can't leave such a cutie under the mistletoe...without a kiss..." he whispered as he turned and walked away, a small smile on his face. "...Merry Christmas, Gemini..." he said quietly before leaving. As he left the room, Gemini stirred sleepily. "Merry Christmas, Copter..." she murmured, not even fully waking before she drifted back to sleep...

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
The End!

"...RAINBOW!! You racked up over 800 rings worth of debt on my credit card?!?!" Christmas morning was interesting, too.

Happy Holidays, readers!