GeneX Generations
Chapter 17 - Infiltrating Fortresses
Stage - Despair Castle - GeneX- Knuckles the Echidna
Additional Stage - Final Fortress - Sonic Heroes

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.

"Our castle is a massive force,
A stronghold of power.
My armor stays unbreakable,
In battle every hour." - Knight of the Wind, Sonic and the Black Knight


The story thus far:
On their return to Shadow Arc, Copter and Dimentime were instructed by Bucky to find Professor Pickle of Spagonia and ask him for advice on how to restore the damage the Time Eater had done to the world. After a brief trip through Rooftop Run, they found the professor, but he had no advice other than to try his lab in Shamar. Back in white space, they encountered Kosmo, Razor and Vector, who joined them on their way to Shamar. Upon their arrival, they fought off some Dark Gaia monsters, impressing Chip, who had lost track of the Sonic of that time period and was searching for him. Chip acted as their guide, showing them to a door that required two gems to open. They split up to find the gems, and while they explored, Kosmo and Dimentime found a statue of Mia and unfroze her. Beyond the door, they found Robotnik and Gunner waiting in ambush with a squad of robots, prepared with a weapon designed to restrain Kosmo! While Copter, Dimentime and Vector fought the robots, Razor managed to free Kosmo. However, Mephiles suddenly showed up, summoning monsters and using his dark power to strengthen one of the Dark Gaia monsters, turning it into a Dark Guardian! Through teamwork, the heroes managed to defeat the Dark Guardian and wreck the blimp Robotnik and Gunner were using to follow them around! They then found Professor Pickle in the ruins ahead, who was studying some ancient text on the walls. He gave them some vital information, and at Chip's request, snapped a photo of the group. Leaving Chip with Professor Pickle, Copter and Dimentime set out for Shadow Arc to report what they'd learned to Bucky.
Now, on to the next chapter!


Copter and Dimentime sighed as they reached Shadow Arcangel's control room. "Do you have to hang out in here, Bucky?! It's a long walk to get in here!" Copter complained. Bucky stared at him blankly. "Why don't you just use the control room entrance?" he asked. Vortex, Zipp and Crash all snickered from the back of the room. "HEY! It's not funny! What control room entrance!?" Copter snapped. Razor and Mia had joined Copter and Dimentime in returning to Shadow Arc, and Razor was looking around frantically. "H-hey!! Where's Tommy!?" he yelled. Bucky glanced at him. "Who? Oh, the kid... I had a... disagreement with the rabbit girl's mother. She took the children to a more 'kid friendly' environment." he said. Razor ran up and seized Bucky's lab coat furiously. "You let someone just wander off with my little brother!!?" he shouted. Suddenly, he felt a gun pressed against his head. "Take your hands off, buddy boy." Zipp growled. Razor slowly backed off, and Bucky motioned for Zipp to stand down. "Why don't you go look for them instead of picking a fight? I'm sure they're fine." Bucky grumbled. Razor nodded slowly and ran off. "Well, that was overly tense. Surprised Zipp didn't shoot..." Crash muttered. "He wasss too clossse to Bucky." Vortex hissed. Copter shook his head. "Oh, brother... Hey, Bucky, we did what you asked us!" he said. "And...?" Bucky asked, sitting down at the Arcangel's controls. Copter scratched his head and glanced at Dimentime. "Professor Pickle said something cryptic about how the secret to restoring the world 'lies within.'" Dimentime said. Bucky looked thoughtful. "Lies within... Yes... Indeed..." he said, "That's it!" he exclaimed. Copter stared at him in confusion. "What are you going on about?" he asked. "You are able to free people from lifeless, colorless states, right?" Bucky said, "But why? Tails popped in for one more visit after Shadow Arcangel crashed, checking on us, and he told me he believed that it was the Sonics restoring color and life to the world by 'accelerating through time.' That is, running really fast. But that doesn't make sense! If that worked, why doesn't running really fast effect time ordinarily?" he wondered. Copter scratched his head. "Accelerate through time!?" he mumbled. "Also, people who are not Sonic don't run when they restore color and life to things. Granted, running may help because Sonic restores larger areas... But I think I've figured it out. The solution indeed lies within! Exposure to GeneX energy is what causes the restoration!" Bucky explained. Copter and Dimentime shook their heads in confusion. "I'm not following you... GeneX is a gene." Dimentime muttered. Bucky sighed. "Well, this is just a hypothesis right now, anyway. I'll be doing what I do best here... Experimenting! You two... um... Go find something useful to do!" he said, getting up and walking over to Team GeneX to start giving them instructions. Copter glanced at Dimentime. "Don't try to keep up with Bucky's GeneX research. Your head will explode." he grumbled. Mia tapped her foot loudly from behind them. "Ahem!! So, uh, guys... Where's Katie, anyway?" she asked. Copter and Dimentime jumped, turning around slowly. "K-katie...?" Copter stammered. "Yeah! Razor told you she was with us when that monster-thing swallowed us up, right!? Don't tell me you haven't rescued her yet!" she said. Copter and Dimentime glanced at each other and then ran out of the control room. "Where the heck is that control room exit, anyway!!!???" Copter shouted.

Having no idea where to look for Katie, Copter and Dimentime explored white space for a bit. In a random corner, they came across an odd looking location the Time Eater had pulled in. It was bright, almost like a hologram, yet seemed real enough. There were large pipes sticking up out of the ground, large enough for someone to go inside, as well as big floating blocks, gold coins instead of the usual rings, and in the distance, an ominous looking castle. Copter and Dimentime peered into this strange place curiously. "Your dimension?" Copter asked. Dimentime shook his head. "Don't try to pin this weirdness on me." he said. Suddenly, someone appeared at the entrance to this odd place. "Welcome to Super Eggman Land!!" said the cat who appeared in front of them! He had red fur, glowing yellow eyes, sharp claws and was saber-toothed. He had a long tail lined with spikes. "I'm Firepaw! I am pleased to welcome you to our exciting wonderland! Meowr." Copter and Dimentime stared at him blankly. "Hey there... Where'd you come from?" Copter muttered. "Super Eggman Land??" Dimentime groaned. Firepaw nodded. "Yep! Meowr! So if you'll just come this way..." he said, motioning for them to enter. However, Copter and Dimentime promptly turned and started to walk away. "We're not dumb..." Copter grumbled. "Talk about stupid." Dimentime groaned. Watching them leave, Firepaw stammered nonsensically in protest and tried to chase them, but smacked against an invisible barrier and fell back into Super Eggman Land! "Nooo!! Come back!! Meowr!! I'm just LONELY dang it!! I... can't... leave this infernal video game!" he yowled in frustration. "You don't say..." said Mephiles, who appeared from inside one of the giant pipes nearby! "Well, I might be able to help you with that... Just hold still..." he said menacingly. Firepaw backed away slowly, raising his claws defensively. "H-hey... What're you doing?! Who are you? MEOWR!! Back off, creepy! I'm a ninja! I think... N-nooooo!!!" he screamed as Mephiles charged at him!

Moments later, Sonic and Classic Sonic arrived at Super Eggman Land. Mephiles was gone, and Firepaw was lying at the entrance unconscious. Classic Sonic poked at him, looking worried. "Eh, he's Eggman's virus. He'll probably be fine..." Modern Sonic said, looking around. "Sweet! This is that virtual reality game Eggman made! How'd it get pulled into the real world?" he wondered. Classic Sonic scratched his head and looked at Super Eggman Land with an annoyed expression. "Aw, don't be that way, dude! It's actually pretty cool! Race ya to the castle!" Modern Sonic challenged him. Classic Sonic frowned at first, seeming to have some sort of problem with the pipe and block filled game world Eggman had created. However, seeing Modern Sonic's enthusiasm, he shrugged and nodded, deciding to take him up on his challenge. In a moment, the two took off into Super Eggman Land, and as they sped by, Firepaw slowly opened his eyes. "Huh? Wha...? What hit me? Meowr...?" he muttered, "Hey... Sensors detect intruders! Yahoo!! It's-a go time!" he chuckled in a mock Italian accent, hopping into one of the giant pipes which would serve as a short cut to catch up with the intruders.


Copter and Dimentime found another place to search. It was a massive black castle, surrounded by a dark forest. "Despair Castle... Oh joy... Well, if Eggman hid Katie somewhere, with my luck it's here." Copter said. Dimentime glanced at him. "You know this place?" he asked. Copter frowned. "Let's just say in this place, we might actually find ANOTHER me wandering around... Geez, I hope not." he grumbled. Figuring Katie might be there, they set out into the forest, heading towards the castle. It wasn't long before they found some familiar faces there. Knuckles the echidna and Illusi the shrew were already exploring the forest! Copter rolled his eyes. "Wait... I remember how things played out at this castle... vaguely. One of these guys might be from the pa- errr... I mean, there's no time travel goin' on here..." he stammered. Illusi shook his head. "You're not fooling anyone, dark fox... The second you would raise a few questions, anyway." he pointed out. Knuckles nodded slowly. "Uh, yeah... I was about to say that..." he muttered. "Sure you were." Dimentime said, "So, what are you two doing here?" he asked. Knuckles clenched his fists. "The Covenant of Despair's castle is over there! Could it get any more suspicious than that? Why would Eggman pull it in here if he's really controlling the monster?" he said. Illusi flinched a little as he glanced at the castle. "I was Knuckles's travel partner for some reason. However... I'm not going into that castle. You can aid Knuckles, can't you, dark fox?" he asked. Dimentime scratched his head. "Why won't you go in? Is this because you can't teleport in white space?" he asked. Copter looked confused. "How come he can't teleport and you can??" he wondered. Illusi turned around and crossed his arms. "That's not why!" he pouted. Knuckles looked thoughtful. "Oh, I get it... must be something that happened while he was in the castle before. He's scared!" he said, only to get smacked in the face with a Wrongo! "Ooof!" he grunted. "Yeah, I'd probably say stubborn..." Copter said, "Darn, and we have to go through EVERY room until we find Katie...?" he groaned, recalling how huge the castle was. Suddenly, a light was cast over the four of them, and they looked up to see a bat wearing a Covenant of Despair uniform shining a flashlight at them! "Intruders!! Sound the alarm!!" the bat shouted, flying off towards the castle in a hurry! "Oh, shoot... why couldn't they all be out on an invasion or something?" Copter groaned. They had to hurry to the castle before the covenant could prepare for their arrival.

As they made their way through the forest, they found some Covenant of Despair guards already waiting for them. They were mainly dogs, all wearing the covenant's uniform featuring a thirteen-pointed star. They were somewhat speedy, and while some tried using physical attacks, others were trained in dark magic! Knuckles and Copter handled the physical attackers, overpowering them with their stronger attacks. Dimentime used magic to knock out some of the dark mages. Illusi tried a more unique tactic, creating illusionary duplicates of himself to confuse the enemies, and then sneak up on them! After they'd knocked out a few of the guards, Illusi decided he'd had enough and summoned a swarm of Wrongos to cover their escape. With the startled guards distracted, they were able to reach the doors to the castle, but as Knuckles tried to pull them open, he found they wouldn't budge. "They locked the door!? Grrr, I don't wanna look for keys!!" he growled. "Need a hand?" came a nearby voice. Looking behind them, they saw Silver the hedgehog arriving. He was accompanied by Gemini the fennec as well. "You guys know you missed some of the guards, right?" she said. "Well, excuuuuse us." Copter grumbled. "Can you get this door open?" Knuckles asked. Silver nodded. "I could probably use my psychokinesis to pry the door open... It might be loud, though. Those Covenant of Despair guys might hear." he said. Gemini sighed. "Abra-ka-unlockra!" she said, waving her wand at the door. With a flash of light, the lock clicked open. "Why didn't YOU think of that, Dimentime?" she asked. Dimentime blushed a little. "I...um...I'm self taught in magic, pretty much..." he mumbled. Knuckles opened the door and smiled. "All right! It worked! You're a lifesaver, Gemini!" he said. Copter nodded. "Yeah... But um... What're you doing here?" he asked. Silver scratched his head. "Well... There's not a lot of places here I recognize... Figured I'd try those places. Gemini just kinda tagged along." he said. Gemini jumped and headed for the door. "Ah, weeeell, who really cares, right? Let's get a move on already!" she said hastily. They shrugged and all started heading into the door except Illusi. "Aren't you coming?" Gemini asked. "I... No." he said. Gemini frowned. "Is this about what happened with Punchy?" she asked. Illusi glanced at her. "I'll be fine. I'll cover the entrance here..." he said. Gemini nodded. "All right... Bye, Illusi..." she said, heading into the castle.

Copter glanced at Dimentime. "Put on your hood." he suggested. "Huh? Why?" he asked, putting it on hastily. "My mere presence here... could screw up the past a bit. Maybe I better try to work the tailband's invisibility..." Copter muttered. As they walked into the entrance hall of the castle, they found a small army of Despair agents waiting for them! They were led by a certain dark grey wolf with her right eye covered by hair. Copter jumped behind Dimentime, trying to activate his tailband's invisibility without success, while Dimentime gasped upon seeing the wolf. "Fera!? You've gotta be kidding me..." he whimpered. Fera glared at them with her good eye, crossing her arms. "All right... You've got five minutes to explain to me what you all are doing trespassing here! Or else... well, use your imagination." she growled. A multi-colored fox, Patch, stepped forward from the crowd of Despair agents and giggled. "I'll get to slice and dice 'em into a salad? Hee hee!!" he asked. Knuckles glanced around curiously. "This must be... before we got into conflict with them." he muttered. "Yeah, how much before? I had an early encounter with them..." Copter muttered, still hiding. Silver shrugged and stepped forward. "Hi, there. We, uh... were wondering if you've seen any strange phenomena around here lately? Like parts of the castle turning white, or strange monsters flying around?" he asked. Another member of the covenant, a black and brown jackal named Anubis, scoffed at Silver's words. "That fool is making things up. A pathetic attempt to deceive us..." he growled. Knuckles raised his fists. "Hey! Who asked for your opinion!" he yelled. Fera glanced at Knuckles. "Aren't you the Master Emerald guardian...?" she muttered. "Smooth move, Knuckles! You're screwing up time!" Copter snapped. Suddenly, Lospecter flew in through a wall. "Hey, fluffy brigade, you know security stinks around here?" he said, drawing a hand of his cards. Gemini suddenly started to panic. "Aw, great... The Covenant of Despair AND Lospecter! There's too many of them!" she cried. Fera glanced at Lospecter. "And what do you want?" she growled. Lospecter chuckled. "I guess I'll start by helping take care of your intruders down there..." he said. "Oh, yeah! I'll take on all of you!!" Knuckles shouted. Gemini, however, didn't like the situation at all. "No, no NO!! Someone's gonna get hurt! I'm not letting this happen! Galaporta!!" she shouted, teleporting her friends away with her somewhere! Fera watched this and snarled in frustration. "They may have teleported into the castle somewhere! Anubis! Take a group to search for them!" she ordered. Anubis nodded. "I shall. All of you on this side, come!" he shouted, gathering a group that included Patch, as well as a female echidna with purple fur, who walked beside Patch. "Hee hee! Race ya, Violet!" Patch giggled. "Want Anubis to set your tail on fire? Stay focused." she warned. As they left, Fera turned to Lospecter. "You're an intruder, too. I'm going to have to escort you off the premises." she said. Lospecter chuckled at her. "You and what army?" he sneered.


Gemini's teleport spell dropped them all off at a random area somewhere inside the castle. Silver looked around in surprise. "Huh...? Where are we!?" he gasped. They were in a hallway dimly lit by candles on the walls. Copter growled. "Gemini... WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA!?" he snapped. She backed away nervously. "I-I'm sorry... I kinda freaked out. Lospecter was about to swarm us with monsters! And with the Covenant of Despair, too, we wouldn't stand a chance!" she shouted. Knuckles sighed. "Well, do you at least have any clue where you warped us to?" he asked. Gemini looked around awkwardly. "Ummm... Nope. I was kinda in a rush." she said. They all groaned except for Silver, who still seemed optimistic. "Hey, the idea was to get in the castle, and we're in the castle. What's the big deal?" he said. Just then, the ground started to shake, and a bunch of Mephiles Worms burst out of the floor! "I guess it's safe to say that Lospecter set some monsters loose." Dimentime said. Making matters worse, some bats wearing the Covenant of Despair's uniform were flying down the hallway in their direction, as well! "Gemini, don't you dare teleport us again! We'll have to fight 'em eventually!" Copter yelled. Gemini glared at him. "I know that! Yeesh, gimme a break..." she groaned. Silver looked around for something to fight back with, and noticed some iron crates lying around. Dimentime noticed them, too. "Hey, are those GUN crates?!" he wondered. Knuckles nodded. "The Covenant of Despair takes what they can... steal." he said, running off to fight! Silver lifted up some of the crates with his powers, hurling them at the worms as they started spitting projectiles at everyone. Dimentime and Gemini joined Silver in shooting at the enemies with their wands, and Knuckles found himself caught in the middle of all the shooting! "Whoa!! Watch it!!" He yelled, jumping to a nearby wall and grabbing on. Suddenly, a bat flew over to him and tried to tackle him to the ground! "Ooof!! Why you little..." Knuckles growled, clinging tightly to the wall. "Get down from there, trespasser! Surrender or die!" the bat shouted. "Oh, I'll get down!" Knuckles growled, jumping at the bat and tackling him to the ground! As the monsters were defeated, Copter ran out to help Knuckles fight the bats. "I'm fed up with hiding behind Dimentime!" he shouted. However, before he could get any attacks in, he heard someone shout "Chaos Splash!" Several balls of water shining with chaos energy flew in from down the hall, striking down each of the bats one by one! A stray ball splashed Copter in the chest as well. "Oooof!! What's the big idea!?" he growled, standing up slowly. An orange coati with blue ears and a blue-striped tail came down the hall, grinning sheepishly at Copter. "Sorry, buddy. Your black fur looks kinda like their uniform." he said. "No it doesn't, Ridley!" Copter snapped. "You can argue later, guys! We're not done yet!" Knuckles said as some of the bats started to get back up.

With Ridley's help, they quickly managed to send the bats on the run. They then started wandering through a dark maze of hallways, with Ridley following them. "So, um... Where are you all off to?" he asked. Knuckles shrugged. "No clue. Looking for... um... Never mind." he said, glancing away from him. "What? Fine, be that way. Any clue what that whiteness outside is all about? Boy, I'm glad Tails came along in that water palace..." Ridley said, casually letting everyone know he was from the present. Copter sighed. "Does Tails have to let every weirdo nobody else trusts out?" he muttered. Dimentime nodded. "I see... That's why we're giving him the cold shoulder..." he said. Silver and Gemini both looked apologetic. "I wasn't..." Gemini said. "I'm just looking around very carefully in this darkness..." Silver muttered. Ridley crossed his arms. "You don't trust ME? I did a background check on you once, Copter, your record's not exactly spotless..." he protested. "Why would you do a background check on Copter...?" Gemini wondered. "I was bored..." he mumbled, "Well, if you guys are lost, which you obviously are, why don't you let me lead the way? I've got a pretty good feel for this place." he offered. Knuckles looked at him suspiciously. "How do we know you won't turn us in to the Covenant of Despair?" he asked. Ridley's eyes darted back and forth. "Say, that could get me out of a bind if they catch us, couldn't it..." he whispered, "Errr, um... I would NEVER sell out my pals!" he chuckled. Suddenly, they all heard some moaning coming from inside the maze. "Ummm... What's that?" Silver whimpered. "Sounds like zombies... Heh heh, but that's silly, isn't it...?" Knuckles laughed, only to whine and point as he spotted something shambling towards them from one of the random halls of the maze! It was a mummy wrapped in black bandages! It wasn't alone, either. There were a couple trailing behind it, and the moans they heard suggested they were all over the maze! "That'd be Anubis's work..." Copter whined, "Let's run..." They all slowly nodded and took off screaming, following Ridley as he ran out ahead of them. "I've been through the maze already!! Follow me!!" he shouted.

Escaping the maze, they followed Ridley to a large room lit with standing torches. The room was white, and a statue resembling Sonic was sitting to the side. Dimentime groaned. "Rats! We found Spiny!" he said. Copter chuckled. "Eggman probably dumped him in here to rot just because he LOOKS like Sonic." he joked. "We've got company, guys..." Knuckles warned. Ahead of them, Anubis, Patch, Violet and some other Despair agents had caught up with them! With a flash of dark energy, Fera teleported next to Anubis as well! "So, here you all are!" she growled. "Umm... Who that?" Patch asked, pointing at Ridley. "Look, we don't have time to fight with you. We'll just, um... take that statue... and be on our way." Silver said. "Oh, yeah, that'll work..." Ridley said, rolling his eyes. Anubis glanced at the statue. "This wasn't here... They must have brought it with them." he said. "And why is the room all white?" Violet wondered. Fera nodded. "We will interrogate them..." she said. "Why would they be honest with you?" said Lospecter as he emerged through a wall. "Oh, no, not again..." Gemini whimpered. Lospecter "sat" on a torch, snuffing out its flame as he passed over it. "Look at 'em. They're clearly up to no good. One of them runs around with a hood. And they beat up some perfectly good bats. Are you gonna let them get away with that?" he chuckled. "Mind your own business, Lospecter!" Dimentime growled, firing a shot from his staff at him! Lospecter flew up, and the torch below him lit up again with blue flames. "That is assault!" he shouted. Patch laughed goofily. "I wanna try! Hee hee! Lemme see that stick!" he giggled. Fera rolled her eye. "That does it. Attack! Subdue them!" she ordered. The dogs and bats behind her immediately charged ahead, ready to fight! Silver reacted quickly, lifting up one of the torches with his powers and tossing it at the bats, knocking a couple of them back with one throw! Ridley started fighting them off with Chaos Splash, aiming for their faces in order to splash their eyes. Knuckles tried to go for Fera, but was blocked by Anubis. "Your doppelganger made a fool of me once... I hold YOU accountable!" he growled, creating fireballs in his hands. "It's not my fault you're stupid! ...Why do I feel like a hypocrite?" he mumbled. Anubis hurled the fireballs at him, but he jumped them and went into a glide, charging into him! "Oooof!! You impudent rodent!" Anubis snarled, pushing him back! "Oh, brother... I had enough of you guys last time..." Knuckles grunted. 

They had to get Spiny and get out of there. They sure didn't want to start a war with the whole covenant, that much was certain. Copter attempted to sneak over to Spiny's statue, only to find his path blocked by Violet. "Oh... Crud. Hello... You don't um... remember me, do you?" he stammered. Violet growled and tossed some balls of dark energy at him! "She remembers me!" Copter yelped, spinning his tails to fly out of the way! "What are YOU doing here!? How did you find our castle!?" Violet yelled. "Ummm... Accident?" Copter lied pathetically, "Doesn't matter. Quit throwing darkness at me! I'm not your enemy! Boy, you echidnas are thick!" he groaned. "HEY!!" Knuckles shouted, still struggling with Anubis. "Sorry..." he muttered. "Yeah, insult me, that'll convince me... YOU JERK!" Violet yelled, hurling more balls of darkness at him! Lospecter laughed at the exchange, goading Gemini into running after him. However, Patch jumped in front of her, swinging around some nunchucks. "Hee hee!! Where do you think you're going? Don't you wanna play with me?" he chuckled. Gemini tried to knock him out of her way with some bolts from her wand, but he nimbly danced around them. "Hee hee! You're funny! I bet you scream good..." he grinned, clicking something on his nunchucks to extend blades on the ends of the handles! Gemini yelped. "Can I teleport us NOW...?" she muttered. Meanwhile, Dimentime was left to handle the rest of the enemies. He approached Lospecter. "Still here? What do you WANT?" he growled. Lospecter chuckled. "Make sure you guys get your butts kicked? I came to check out the castle, but there's not really anything here that wasn't here before... other than him, that is." he said, glancing at Spiny. Dimentime nodded. "Thanks for the heads up." he smirked. Lospecter nodded back. "Yeah... Wait, what!? Aw, you gotta be kidding me! I'm losin' my touch being separated from the other Lost Ones! That's it, you're going down!" he yelled, drawing a card and using it to summon up dozens of balls of fire! "No Lost Ones, so suffer the elements! Have a firestorm!!" he growled. Dimentime tried to erect a shield with his magic, but there were too many fireballs, and they went flying everywhere! The Despair agents scattered along with everyone else as the flames crashed down into the room! However, Ridley quickly went to work fighting back. "Chaos Splash!" He used his water to put out as much of the fire as he could, while Anubis absorbed some of the flames to protect his nearby allies. Not everyone made it out unscathed, though; Patch was running around with his tail on fire as the attack subsided. "Yaaaaah!! Put me out! Put me out!!" he yelled. Ridley shrugged and splashed him, and then Patch promptly passed out. Lospecter looked around and sighed. "That could've resulted better... Lemme pick another card..." he said. "No you don't!!" shouted several people in the room! Gemini, Dimentime and Fera all started shooting at him with their own varieties of magic, and Lospecter hastily flew off through a wall in a panic. "Spoilsports!!" he shouted. During the distraction, Silver made it to Spiny's statue and managed to release him. "I LIIIIIIIVE!!! Vengeance shall be mine!!!" Spiny yelled, prompting the Covenant of Despair members to turn around, stare at him, and start growling. "Right... Vengeance... I think it IS time for vengeance..." Fera growled. "Oh, shoot..." Copter groaned, smacking his forehead. Before the fight could break out again, however, a swarm of GUN Beetles stormed the room, shooting randomly! "What!? Impossible!!" Fera snarled, looking around in surprise. Copter and the others were looking rather shocked, as well. "Could Gunner have followed us here?!" Copter wondered. "Could have, but these robots are an illusion..." said Illusi, who emerged from the hallway Ridley had led them in from earlier, "This way, everyone. Hurry! I'll lead you out of the castle while they're distracted!" he shouted while the Despair members fought in vain with the nonexistent GUN robots. "Finally, some luck!" Knuckles said, running for the exit followed by Spiny, Ridley, Gemini and Dimentime. "Later, Violet... Sorry about all this... really..." Copter sighed, hurrying after the others. "Come on, dark fox..." Illusi said, briefly glancing into the room as Copter passed him. Illusi shed a tear before he turned to leave. "Farewell..." he whispered to an old friend...


Together, Illusi and Ridley were able to lead them all out of the castle and back to white space. Spiny took a look around and sighed. "Well, thanks for the rescue, fellas... Didn't expect that from you guys... So who do I have to beat up for that?" he asked. Knuckles smirked. "Eggman." he said. Spiny frowned. "Ooooh, you're enjoying this, aren't you!? You little..." he grumbled. Ridley looked around and pointed. "Sonics ahoy! Um... There's... two of 'em..." he muttered. Sonic and Classic Sonic approached the group, along with Tails and Classic Tails. Spiny glanced at them and shuddered. "Ooooooh, no, no, NO! You've gotta be joking... I wanna go back to the castle!!!" he whined. Sonic frowned. "Aw, great, it's Spiny... Copter, what's HE doing here?" he asked. Classic Sonic walked up to Spiny curiously, noting how he looked a lot like him, too. "What do YOU want, squirt!?" Spiny growled. Classic Sonic stuck his tongue out at him, not liking his attitude. "He was frozen, Sonic. What were we supposed to do?" Knuckles asked. Sonic shrugged. "Tails has that attitude, too... Set free Kosmo and... that guy over there..." he said, pointing at Ridley. "What's wrong with me!?" Ridley grumbled. Tails shrugged. "I don't think Sonic would really leave any of you... he's even rescued Eggman sometimes." he pointed out. "Sure, bring that up..." Sonic grumbled. Suddenly, they all heard a rumbling sound coming from somewhere in the distance! "Oh, great... The last time this happened, the Egg Carrier took off!" Knuckles muttered. A huge portal opened up in the sky, similar to the ones the Time Eater would use, but this time it was not the Time Eater that flew out! A massive battleship that dwarfed even the Egg Carrier came out, known as Final Fortress, which was once the flagship of Eggman's fleet of ships! It was covered in missile cannons, and it seemed likely that Eggman's intent was to attack with this battleship and eliminate the opposition. It was flying towards Shadow Arcangel! "This... this is NOT good! That ship's gonna annihilate Bucky! And strangely, I care..." Copter said. "Better call the Hurricane." Dimentime suggested. Classic Tails nodded. "I'll go get the Tornado!" he said. Sonic grinned. "So, did Mr. Monster let Eggman out to play? Ha, bring it on!" he chuckled. "I'm coming, too!" Knuckles insisted. Sonic shrugged. "I guess you better... Just in case Metal Sonic's up there with all our data!" he smirked. Classic Sonic scratched his head at that remark. "Count me in!" Spiny added, "I owe Dr. Eggman a little payback... No one messes with Spiny the porcupine!" he growled. The Tornado and the Hurricane arrived in moments, with Classic Tails in the Tornado's pilot's seat. "All aboard... um... who's going aboard." he said. The Sonics hopped on the Tornado's wing, while Copter hopped in the pilot's seat of the Hurricane. "Ummm... Who's coming?" he muttered. Spiny and Knuckles climbed onto the Hurricane's wings, leaving Dimentime holding on to the back of the plane. "Ummm... I suggest no more hitch-hikers..." he muttered. "Aw, and I so wanted to cling to the back of a plane..." Gemini said sarcastically. "Guess I'll sit this one out..." Silver sighed. "Good luck, everyone." Illusi said. As the planes took off, Ridley watched them disappointedly. "You don't have... your own plane?" he asked Modern Tails. "Not with me, no." he said. Ridley looked around at Gemini and Illusi as they were walking off. "Hmmmm... Heeeey..." he muttered, scheming something.


The planes landed towards the back of the ship, evading cannon fire along the way. Everyone quickly hopped out of the planes and started down a long path looping around a central platform lined with cannons. In front of them, the Egg Emperor flew into their path, a massive robot resembling an Egg Pawn, which carried a large shield and a high tech lance-esque weapon. "Think Eggman's driving it, or a fake?" Knuckles wondered. Sonic stepped forward. "Only one way to find out!" he said. Eggman's voice came from inside the Egg Emperor. "Hmph! Enough of this! Sonics! Tails! Knuckles! Copter! Um... Coptwo! Et cetera! Time to meet your maker!" he shouted, swinging the Egg Emperor's lance! "Bring it on!" Sonic grinned, chasing after him. However, before the others could join the chase, a trap door opened below them, dropping them all to the interior of Final Fortress! "Heeeey!! My name's not Coptwoooooo!!!" Dimentime shouted as they all fell. "I'll show you what real evil is!!" Eggman sneered, ready to take on Sonic one on one. The others fell to a large section of Final Fortress, dominated by a machine resembling Eggman's face. "Okaaaay... This must be the... generator?" Classic Tails muttered. "Well, I'm glad he put in more floors or we'd all be toast falling down here..." Knuckles groaned. "Et cetera... I'm et cetera!" Spiny grumbled angrily, "Can't he even remember my name!?" he growled. "Hee hee hee hee! Welcome, guests! You didn't think you were being dropped down here to enjoy the scenery, did you?" The group turned to see Eggman Nega approaching them, piloting his own robot! It resembled the Egg Emperor a bit, but had a black and red color scheme, and carried a huge laser gun in place of a lance. It also had an external cockpit on the robot's head instead of an internal cockpit. "How do you like my Egg Timer? It's not as flashy as the Egg Emperor, but it's arguably more powerful! It was designed to harness the energy of the Time Eater. IT created the portal you saw this ship emerge from!" he bragged. Spiny rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You don't say..." he muttered, turning and giving Classic Sonic a kick to the stomach while he was distracted with the Egg Timer! Classic Sonic fell over, but Classic Tails rushed to help him up. "HEY! What're you doing!?" he gasped. "I'm not another Sonic clone! I side with whoever is most profitable to side with! What do ya say, Egg Timer guy?" he said, glancing at Eggman Nega. He chuckled. "Smart rodent. Now let's dispose of these pests, shall we?" he said. Knuckles growled. "I should've known better than to trust YOU!" he shouted. As if things weren't bad enough, a blast of flames came from behind Copter and Dimentime, which they barely noticed in time! "Get down!!" Dimentime shouted, pulling Copter to the ground. "My, aren't you alert right now..." said Mephiles, who had taken a new form. He now resembled Firepaw, in his black, crystalline style. His jagged, crystalline tail burst into flames. "Why don't we get this party started, then?" he sneered. Classic Sonic jumped to his feet and started punching, mimicking the way Knuckles used to. "Heh... Right, Sonic. Just like old times...sorta." Knuckles smirked.

Spiny focused his attacks on Sonic, trying to keep him too busy to worry about the Egg Timer. "Chaos Spear!!" he shouted, flinging spear after spear at the young hedgehog! Sonic ran around dodging them, looking for an opening to fight back. Knuckles glanced at Mephiles to see what was going on behind them before taking on Eggman Nega. "Huh...? Don't I... know that thing...?" he muttered, vaguely recognizing Firepaw's form. "YOU deal with it, then, Knuckles!" Copter said, running to take on the Egg Timer, "I've had my fill of Mephiles!" Knuckles glanced back at him. "Huh? Who?" he mumbled. "I will burn your world to ashes!" Mephiles said, launching jets of flames from his hands at Knuckles and Dimentime, who ran off in different directions to dodge. "Pleasant guy. I'd think Copter would get along great with him!" Knuckles grumbled. "I heard that!" Copter yelled as he approached the Egg Timer. "Hmmm... I was wondering if I'd just sit and watch you all fight each other." Eggman Nega mused. Copter opened his mouth to speak, but Eggman Nega quickly started firing dozens of laser blasts his way at lightning speed! Copter blocked them with his tails, his tailband absorbing some of the damage. "Arrrgh!! What the heck!?" he growled. "Kick it into gear, if you want to survive! I control time itself!" Nega laughed, charging ahead and kicking Copter across the room! "WANNA TRADE BACK, KNUUUUUX???" Copter shouted. Mephiles's burning tail suddenly stretched, and he whipped it at Knuckles and Dimentime, forcing them to jump it! "OK, that looks kinda familiar! Have you been to cyberspace, Mephiles...?" Knuckles muttered. The battles weren't going well, but the tides were about to turn. As Sonic was busy dodging Spiny's spears, a bolt of magic suddenly struck him from the shadows! "Yoww!! Who did that!? Who DARES get in my way!?" Spiny yelled. "Chaos Splash!" said a voice behind him. Spiny was struck from behind with chaos-powered water, knocked onto his face! Gemini and Ridley stepped out of the shadows. "I can't believe you talked me into teleporting you up here!" Gemini grumbled. "Complain later..." Ridley said. Spiny started to climb up, and saw a red and white sneaker in his face. "Ulp... Can we talk?" he muttered. Classic Sonic and Tails stood over him, glaring at him. "Ya give up?" Tails asked. 

Meanwhile, as Mephiles was fighting with the others, a swarm of Wrongos surrounded him! "What's this!? Illusions... How amusing..." he muttered. Illusi emerged from the shadows and winked at Knuckles and Dimentime. "Go get Eggman Nega. I'll keep him busy!" he said. So, Knuckles led Copter, Dimentime and Ridley as they went to take on the Egg Timer. With Gemini and Classic Tails babysitting Spiny, Classic Sonic soon joined them. Eggman Nega chuckled at them. "Send all you want! The power of time will overwhelm you!" he chuckled, shooting wildly all over the place, his Egg Timer seeming to possess unreal speed! Classic Sonic dodged the most easily, but seemed surprised by his speed. "It's not speed... It's the power of time." Dimentime said, blocking the lasers with magical shields as much as he could. Suddenly, Mephiles blasted the Wrongos around him with flames, charging away from them and heading straight for the Egg Timer! He abandoned Firepaw's form and reverted to his shadowy form, cackling as he charged directly into the robot, passing into its metal body! "H-hey!! What's... going on!?" Eggman Nega gasped, his controls seeming to go on the fritz! The robot started jumping and wobbling in place, refusing to obey Eggman Nega! "No!! What have you done, you disgusting shadow!? Curse you!!" Nega growled, detaching his Egg Mobile from the Egg Timer and taking off. "I'll get you for this!!" he shouted. Mephiles's shadow emerged where the cockpit used to be, and appeared to be controlling the Egg Timer! "The time energy!! This power!! This DESTRUCTION!!" he cackled, aiming the laser and firing it, using his own power to make it a massive superlaser that obliterated the Eggman-faced generator! Red lights started to flash in alarm, telling them that the generator was incredibly important. "I think we're gonna crash, guys!" Tails shouted. "Noooo, you think so?" Ridley sighed. Mephiles started spinning the Egg Timer around, firing the laser continuously and laughing manically. "AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! The ultimate destructive power!!! The power to DESTROY time and space!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!" he laughed. Everyone jumped away as the blasts started shaking the newly created floor of Final Fortress apart! "Mephiles can't be allowed to walk away with that machine!" Copter shouted. Classic Sonic nodded, and tried to approach, but the floor in front of him collapsed and he nearly fell! "Sonic!!" Classic Tails shouted, grabbing him and flying him back up. "Whew... Ooops... Who's guarding Spiny?" he realized. Gemini gasped and looked behind her, but he was gone. "He escaped... I guess he's abandoning ship now." she figured. Knuckles stared at the Egg Timer, which was across a chasm now, and nodded. "I've got it!" he said, leaping into the air and going into a glide! "Knuckles!! Be careful!!" Classic Tails whimpered. The laser started spinning towards him, but Ridley intervened. "Chaos Splash!" His attack didn't damage the robot, but it knocked the machine off course a little, saving Knuckles's skin. "Whew... Close one..." he muttered. Knuckles managed to get in close, and grabbed on to the spinning robot, hanging on tight and climbing up. "The cockpit... is gone... it's gotta be weak there..." he grunted. Mephiles's shadow flinched as he reached the top of the robot's head. "What are you doing!? Get down!!" he growled. "All right... But your ride's over, too!" Knuckles yelled, punching into the robot's head hard! The area under the cockpit was indeed not armored, and the force of the attack started a chain reaction that shook the whole robot apart! As it started to explode, Knuckles jumped off, gliding back to the others, and Mephiles abandoned the Egg Timer, escaping the ship through one of the holes he'd created! "....Can I throw up now...?" Knuckles whimpered after landing, the excessive spinning having done a number on him.

Up above, Sonic delivered a decisive blow to the Egg Emperor, causing it to collapse in a heap! "All right! That was... oddly easier than last time, considering I had help before. Hey, Eggman, you in there?" Sonic wondered. Suddenly, the ship began to shake, as it was losing altitude. "Whoa!? What's up with that!?" Sonic wondered, looking back towards the planes. The Hurricane started moving on its own, apparently having been called by Copter. As Sonic watched it, Eggman climbed out of a hatch on the robot and tip-toed away, catching up with Eggman Nega nearby. "Seems like we failed..." Nega grumbled. "Bah, I TOLD you, once the Time Eater is perfected, it'll be all we need. Don't worry about Sonic and his friends...yet." Eggman told him, grabbing on to the side of his Egg Mobile and riding away with him. "Ugh... You're weighing me down... Where's yours!?" Nega grumbled. "No time. Just go..." Eggman muttered. In the meantime, Sonic hopped into the Tornado and followed the Hurricane with it. "They might need help. Better hurry..." he said to himself. He soon arrived at the underside of Final Fortress, where Classic Sonic and Classic Tails hopped on to the Tornado. "No sign of Eggman, oddly. I guess that monster really did get him. Well, better rescue him... I guess..." Sonic mumbled, flying off. "If only he paid attention..." Copter grumbled, slipping into the cockpit of the Hurricane. Dimentime and Knuckles joined him. "Ummm... What about you guys?" Knuckles asked. "We'll leave the way we came." Illusi said. "You need more seats." Ridley chuckled. "Take care, everyone!" Gemini waved, "Galaporta!" she said, casting the spell to warp her, Ridley and Illusi to the ground. As the Hurricane flew away from the crashing battleship, Copter noticed that Shadow Arcangel was gone. "Huh?! Hmmm... Guess he had Vortex and Zipp finish the repairs in a hurry when he saw Eggman headed his way..." he muttered. Knuckles pointed out Shadow Arcangel flying in the sky a distance away. "I'd say that's a safe bet." he said. Dimentime nodded. "Well, since we're flying, let's pop in. Maybe someone inside will have some information for us." he reasoned. Copter nodded, turning the plane towards Shadow Arcangel. "Like where to find Katie..." he sighed. He still had one friend left unaccounted for.

To be continued...