GeneX Generations
Chapter 10 - Black Rage
Stage - Black Comet - Shadow the Hedgehog

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.

This chapter is rated E10+ for violence of a possibly nauseating nature. If you have distaste for splattering aliens, we apologize, and hope you will make use of the "previously" feature for the next chapter, rather than subject yourself to such violence.
Due to the writer's preference, there is no swearing in this chapter, despite heavy use of certain words during Shadow the Hedgehog. Believe me, though, Gunner truly wished to use those words frequently, and has filed a grievance with the management. 

"Can you see all of me?
Walk into my mystery.
Step inside and hold on for dear life.
Do you remember me?
Capture you or set you free.
I am all, I am all of me." - I Am (All of Me), Shadow the Hedgehog


The story thus far:
After numerous battles with Dr. Eggman and repeated encounters with Mephiles, Copter and Dimentime found themselves no closer to a solution to the problems they were faced with. As they looked around white space, considering where to go next, they were suddenly attacked by Mephiles, who was apparently tired of them getting in his way. Mephiles started to lead them to a "more appropriate" place to settle things, a large comet tucked away behind the areas they'd already visited in white space! As they chased Mephiles, they were surprised when Gunner appeared and joined their chase, apparently more interested in catching Mephiles than them!
Now, on to the next chapter!


As they entered the massive comet, Gunner decided to try shooting Copter and Dimentime anyway, hoping they'd let their guard down now. However, there was no way they would let their guard down with Gunner around, and they swiftly dodged his bullets. "Ha!! I knew you weren't on our side!" Copter shouted. Suddenly, Dimentime pulled him aside. "Look out!!" Lasers suddenly flew by them, and more lasers whizzed past Gunner, who took cover behind a rock formation and shot back before really looking at what was shooting at them in the first place. "...WHAT!?" he yelled upon seeing their assailants. Copter and Dimentime gasped as well upon seeing it. The comet was filled with, what appeared to be, alien invaders! Dimentime shook his head and looked for Mephiles, but he was gone. "That sneak! Mephiles must want us to get blasted by these aliens..." he realized. He and Copter took cover and glanced at Gunner, who was being joined by Spy and Guard, having apparently followed them from white space. "Grrrr... What's the situation, boss?" Guard asked. Gunner fired a few shots at the aliens and hid behind his cover. "The Black Arms are back!! I thought they were wiped out! Figures, never send a furry freak to do a man's job!!" he shouted. Spy scratched his head. "Don't you think maybe they're just here because of the time travel?" he pointed out. Gunner growled. "There is no such thing as time travel! There is a rational explanation for everything! Now did you bring the ammo!?" he snapped. Copter turned to Dimentime. "Well, now that Gunner's brought us up to speed... What do we do?" he asked. Dimentime frowned. "There might be friends of ours or Sonic's trapped in here. We can't let Mephiles get to them." he reminded Copter. Just then, a swarm of GUN robots arrived on the scene, apparently coming from deeper inside the comet. The usual beetles were accompanied by something Copter was less familiar with, some armored war machines called GUN Troopers. Gunner smirked upon seeing them. "Ahh, reinforcements. Go, GUN forces! Show these alien freaks their place!" he barked, already taking command. As the aliens began to fight the GUN forces, Copter and Dimentime took advantage of the chaos to escape deeper into the comet. As they went, they observed that the interior of the comet seemed to be converted into some sort of alien base, or possibly even a spaceship. It looked more high tech and alien than rocky or mineral, despite how the comet looked from the outside. Some basic alien troops emerged ahead of them, Black Warriors, which were black skinned with red hands and feet and very alien looking heads with big yellow eyes. They were carrying laser pistols, but Copter and Dimentime evaded their shots with ease and gave them a swift tail whip to knock them down! The aliens screeched, and then exploded in a mess of green goo. "Well... um... oopsy... Aren't these guys fragile." Copter groaned, wiping the gunk off his tail. Dimentime pointed ahead. "Copter... Shadow again." he said. Sure enough, Shadow was in the middle of a crossfire between the alien forces and GUN troops ahead. "Oh, come on! I'm tired of Shadow..." Copter groaned.

Various Beetles, Troopers and even a pair of Bigfoot mechs made up GUN's side of this skirmish. The aliens, however, had a small ship dropping in troops and keeping the pressure on GUN. Aside from Black Warriors, batlike Black Wings were soaring around firing blasts from their mouths, and armored Black Assassins were dropping from the ship and using their technology to disappear for brief periods, giving them a stealth advantage. Shadow was in the middle, and seemed bent on battling both sides. Copter and Dimentime scratched their heads. "What do we do?" Copter asked. "Steal a gun and help, I guess..." Dimentime suggested, "I don't favor our chances in this firefight unarmed." Copter groaned and nodded. "If we have no choice, let's aim high... Go for a laser." he suggested. They took off into the aliens’ side of the battlefield, surprising a pair of warriors with Chaos Whirlwind! "Eeew, they splattered from that, too!" Copter groaned as he picked up an odd weapon. Aiming it at a GUN Trooper, he found that it fired a ring shaped beam of energy, but it still proved effective. "I better not catch anything flying through the gap in the middle..." Copter growled. Dimentime acquired a regular laser pistol. "Let's move, Copter. Don't give them a chance to shoot you..." he suggested, taking off and blasting the enemies with both his pistol and his magic as he headed for cover. Copter glanced at the Bigfoot mechs and smirked. "Heeeeere GUN dopes..." he snickered, confident he'd found a target that couldn't cheat his laser. While the foxes fought the minor forces, Shadow turned his attention to the alien ship. He was holding a gatling gun he'd acquired from a wrecked Bigfoot mech. "I'm sick of your reinforcements..." he grunted, raining bullets all over the ship, and taking out some Black Wings while he was at it. It took all of his ammo and some fancy footwork evading enemy fire, but Shadow soon managed to cause the alien ship to explode and crash to the ground, crippling the alien forces in the area! Meanwhile, Copter and Dimentime swiftly blasted the Bigfoot mechs, which were pretty easily dispatched with lasers and magic. With their teams dealt heavy blows, the aliens and GUN forces fell back, leaving Shadow to turn his attention to Copter and Dimentime. "Well, well... And just whose side are you two on?" Shadow asked. Dimentime sighed. "Another past Shadow..." he realized. Copter shrugged. "I just like blowing stuff up..." he smirked. Shadow frowned. "Well, whatever... I've got to figure out just what I'm doing here..." he sighed. "Always so confused, Shadow... Allow me to enlighten you!" Shadow, Copter and Dimentime glanced towards the voice of Mephiles, who was standing atop the remains of the alien ship, having once again taken Shadow's form. "Always wondering who you are. Well, you are like me. A being of incredible power. So I'll ask you one final time to consider joining me... We can end this, and all wars..." Before Mephiles could finish speaking, however, Shadow shouted back, "Enough!" holding his head in rage. "Hmm? I believe I've struck a chord..." Mephiles mused. Shadow leaned back and roared furiously, startling Copter and Dimentime into backing away. "I've had enough!! Dr. Eggman tries to manipulate me! Then Black Doom! GUN tries to destroy me! Sonic tries to tell me what to do! And now there's another me!? Who wants me to do his bidding!? I AM NO ONE'S SLAVE!!!!" he yelled, hurling Chaos Spears at Mephiles! The Dark took the attacks without flinching and started to laugh. "Ha ha ha ha ha!! Well, what will you do, then, hmmm? You were created to serve. How will you escape that?" he taunted, egging him on. Shadow glared at him. "No one deserves my help... Rather, I believe I'll punish all those who have made me suffer! Starting with GUN and the Black Arms!" he snarled.

Dimentime stood in Shadow's way as he turned to leave. "Ummm... I don't think that's a good idea..." Copter whispered. Shadow grunted at him. "Stay out of my way, or I'll be forced to punish you, too!" he warned, grabbing Dimentime by the collar and giving him a swift kick in the gut, sending him flying across the room! "Warned you..." Copter muttered. Shadow then sped off, roaring furiously as Mephiles let out a triumphant laugh. "What's so funny, crystal head?" Copter snapped. "This has gone quite well... Shadow is being molded to my purposes quite nicely. I daresay you have no hope of stopping me now!" Mephiles sneered. Dimentime groaned as he climbed to his feet. "We have to fix Shadow! At all costs! He could destroy the planet before we're even born... well, you anyway, Copter." he warned. "Oh, wouldn't that be a SHAME? If you'll excuse me, I think I'll give Shadow a bit of encouragement..." Mephiles said, flying off after Shadow! Copter ran ahead after him, with Dimentime following, but as they entered the tunnel Shadow had exited through, they found more aliens in their way! "Hey, wasn't Shadow gonna kill these guys!?" Copter groaned. "He's so full of rage, he must have missed them... Unless he's planning to destroy the whole comet." Dimentime muttered, "Bad, considering good guys might be in here." The aliens in their path looked pretty hard to miss, too. They were larger versions of the Black Warrior, known as Black Oaks, and carried big swords. Copter smirked. "Swords? Really?" he said, pointing his laser. As he pulled the trigger, however, he found that it was actually out of ammo. "WHAT!? Lasers run out of ammo!? Now I regret going ballistic on that mech..." he sighed. Dimentime held up his staff, glaring at the Dark Oaks. "We... do not... have time for this!!" he growled. The giant aliens started stomping towards them with their swords, but before they could strike, a massive beam of light erupted from Dimentime's staff, reducing one of the aliens to a puddle of green goo. Unfortunately, it fizzled out before he could direct it at the second. Copter glanced at him. "WELL?!" he asked. "Magic's not perfect. Guess what, he's slow. RUN PAST HIM!!" Dimentime shouted, leading the way as he and Copter left the giant alien behind, and looking quite frustrated.

They soon arrived at a somewhat whited out room with a strange substance forming a large pool between the platforms. There were strange little saucer vehicles hovering nearby, which might be a method to cross this substance. Right near the entrance, they spotted the frozen form of E-123 Omega, whose shadow Mephiles was already jumping into! "Dang it! Now he's got super robot power!!" Copter growled. Mephiles soon hopped out of Omega's shadow, taking a dark, crystalline version of the robot's form, and quickly resumed his pursuit of Shadow. "Enjoy your swim! I'm sure this liquid works wonders for the complexion!" he taunted as he escaped. Dimentime wasted no time in freeing Omega from his frozen state. As his color returned, Omega slowly buzzed to life. "Rebooting systems... Accessing memory... Error... Current location impossible. Require immediate explanation and possible maintenance." the robot determined. Dimentime nodded. "You were thrown into the past by some sort of... monster. We're working on it... But right now, the past has been altered and we need your help. Shadow has been driven off the deep end by a villain known as Mephiles. Now Shadow wants to destroy both GUN and the Black Arms... and maybe the world itself when Mephiles is done messing with his mind." he explained. Omega turned to face the foxes. "Situation understood. I will do what I can to assist." he said. Suddenly, a group of Black Wings and larger, yellow colored Black Volts flew into the room! Omega immediately retracted his hands and replaced them with machine guns, firing at the aliens and making short work of them! Copter backed away nervously. "I am not happy that Mephiles can be him now..." he whimpered. "Why are you standing there? We must hurry to Shadow! I will not wait for you, stupid meatbags!" Omega complained, firing up his engines so that he could hover over the liquid to reach the next platform in the room! Dimentime tugged Copter's arm and led him to the saucers nearby. "We'll have to ride these things!" he said. As they hopped on, they noticed some Black Warriors riding the same saucers across the liquid ahead. "Oh, yeah?? I'll fix your hovering wagon..." Copter growled, leaning on his saucer to make it go. "Whoa!! OK, I think I got the hang of this thingy... Now... Chaos Whirlwind!!" The chaotic wind didn't seem to affect the saucers the aliens were riding, but it still caused the aliens to splatter on impact! "They gotta consider chaos-proof armor..." Copter muttered. Dimentime sighed and started shooting aliens with his staff. "Let's hurry! Omega's leaving us behind!" he pointed out.

They caught up with Omega as he was wrestling with a Dark Oak. "ANNIHILATE!!!" In his rage, Omega unleashed a barrage of explosives, knocking away the brute and reducing it to green slime! Copter grimaced at the scene. "These aliens are making me sick..." he groaned. "Robots are incapable of illness. We are superior!" Omega bragged. "Tell that to your pals at GUN getting their butts kicked. Right over there..." Copter said, pointing ahead. There were many explosions taking place in the chamber ahead, and lots of aliens being blasted as well. As Copter, Dimentime and Omega hurried in to check it out, they found Shadow warping from unit to unit, using a combination of his Chaos powers and physical might to tear everyone apart! Not far away from them, Copter spotted Gunner and Spy cowering behind some cover. Copter chuckled at them. "What's the matter, old man? Problem?" he shouted. Gunner growled and pointed his gun at them, but was startled when Guard suddenly fell out of the sky and landed on his back in front of him! "Baaaaahhh!! G-guard!!?" he gasped. "Grrraaaah... The black hedgehog... is too strong... I have failed..." Guard groaned. Gunner kicked Guard in frustration. "Useless!! I should shoot you, but I need my bullets! Look at this, Spy! See what that FREAK Shadow is doing?! This proves everything I've said all along! Those furry freaks are EVIL! Pure evil!! They must all be destroyed!!" he shouted. Spy backed away from him. "Don't draw his attention over here!! He's attacking things without caring what he's attacking! I don't wanna die!!!" he whined. Omega ignored Gunner and charged towards Shadow. "Enough! I must reason with Shadow!" he said impatiently. Dimentime gasped. "Wait! Shadow's in a blind rage!!" he shouted. Shadow had just finished with the enemies in the room, and spotted Omega coming at him. He scoffed and charged at the robot, giving him a hard kick to his metal chest! Omega was knocked back towards Copter, who backed away and panicked before scrambling for cover! Omega fired up his engines to stop himself from crashing, but Shadow fled deeper into the Black Comet before anyone could stop him! "This is bad... He's out of control!" Dimentime said. Copter glanced at Gunner and gulped. "We're going to need all the help we can get, aren't we?" he muttered, slowly approaching the hateful old man. "What???" Dimentime and Spy both said at once. Gunner fumbled with his gun as Copter approached him. "What do you want!? Get back, freak!!" he yelled, firing at Copter, only to have his shot dodged. "Chaos Whirlwind..." Copter said calmly, blowing Gunner backward in order to make him drop his gun. "Aaaaack!! NOO!! Spy!! Guard!! Do something, you imbeciles!!" he screamed. Guard slowly stood in Copter's way, glanced at him, and then stood aside. "Grrr... Say what you will. I'm... tired." he grumbled. Gunner growled at him. "You traitor!!" he snapped. "Shut up, Gunner. I... I need your help." Copter groaned, swallowing what pride he had left. Gunner raised an eyebrow. "What!? You have some nerve..." he said. Omega approached them next, raising a fist at Gunner. "I suggest you hear him out." he warned. Gunner made a face. "Fine, then..." he sighed. Copter nodded. "Thanks, big guy. Listen, Shadow's flipped, and none of us can stop him alone. Like it or not, we need to work together." he said. Spy nodded. "I think he's right, boss." he said. Gunner looked thoughtful. "Do you have a plan, freak?" he asked. Dimentime nodded. "I think I'm forming one..." he said. Gunner sighed miserably. "I am going to regret this..." he grumbled.


Together, they managed to gather some GUN forces and track down Shadow. As Copter and Omega circled around separately from the others for their part of the plan, Copter watched a GUN Beetle fly by without bothering him. "It feels so weird to be working on the same side as GUN... and Gunner, no less." he said. "Focus on the mission. Must detain Shadow." Omega insisted. Meanwhile, Gunner's forces gathered in Shadow's path. Gunner himself, along with Spy, took cover on a balcony overlooking the room. "I'm in position, freaks. Your plan had better work." he said. Dimentime flew up from below the balcony. "Just leave it to us. And don't try anything funny, big nose." he growled, heading for cover below. Guard landed with the GUN forces as Shadow reached them. "Still out to stop me, GUN? Then you'll pay, too!!" he yelled. As Shadow began to fight the GUN robots and Guard, Copter and Omega approached him from behind. "You do have something... non-lethal to hit him with, right?" Copter asked Omega. "Warning... Asking too many questions will result in immediate termination." Omega said bluntly. As Omega was targeting Shadow, however, a crystal object suddenly flew at Copter's feet. It was flashing, and he knew that couldn't be good, so he took to the air just as it exploded! It knocked Omega aside, messing up his shot and alerting Shadow! "Hmmm? Grrrr!! What's going on here?" Shadow growled. Copter and Omega turned to see Mephiles in Omega's form approaching them, laughing. "Everyone's against you, Shadow... They'll use all forms of trickery to get to you..." he cackled. Omega quickly started firing his weapons at Mephiles, while Copter added Chaos Whirlwind for good measure, but Mephiles shot back with his crystalline variations on Omega's weapons, forcing Copter to dive behind Omega for cover, who was fortunately well armored. Dimentime ran out and held out his staff, attempting to salvage their plan before Shadow could escape, but as he and Guard attempted to detain the seemingly distracted hedgehog, Shadow started to glow red. "Chaos... BLAST!!" A chaotic red explosion tore through the GUN robots and knocked Guard and Dimentime away as Mephiles laughed manically. "You see, fox? You can't do anything now..." he said, shifting back to Shadow's form. Gunner slammed his fist on the railing angrily and tried to fire his gun at Shadow, though it was futile from his position. "Idiots!! Why did you talk me into this, Spy!?" he snarled. As the dust settled, Guard and Dimentime landed on the ground in a heap, and Copter and Omega ran to help them. Shadow glared at them furiously. "This is taking too long... I need the seven Chaos Emeralds so I can finish this NOW!" he yelled, taking off even deeper into the comet. Mephiles laughed and took off as well. "I do hope I'm there... to witness your demise! Ha ha ha ha ha!!"

Copter helped Dimentime to his feet. "The Chaos Emeralds aren't here... They're outside. Shadow can't be allowed to leave to pursue them! It would be catastrophic!" Dimentime warned. Omega glanced around. "Shadow location currently unknown. Recommend splitting up to maximize efficiency in locating him." he said. Gunner growled from his perch above them. "Well, I tried it your way, freaks!! And you have failed! Get out of my life!!!" he yelled. Guard got up and growled back at him. "Grrrr, the plan was compromised! It changes nothing!" he yelled. Gunner sighed. "You're so right! I hated the idea then, and I hate it now! Let's cut our losses!" he said. Guard sighed and started to fly to Gunner. "Grrrr... I have no choice... My programming demands I obey my commanding officer..." he grumbled. Copter scoffed. "Who needs ya? Let's get going, guys!" he said. He, Dimentime and Omega took off in the direction Shadow had gone, with Omega turning at the first crossroads. "I will look this way. Good luck, foxes." he said.

Copter and Dimentime continued onward, and found themselves stepping in something...squishy. Copter looked down and saw what appeared to be larval aliens (called Death Leeches), which he was squishing like insects and leaving a mess. "Come on, aliens!! Quit grossing me out!" he yelled. Dimentime pointed ahead. "White room... Someone besides Omega might have been frozen in here." he said. They found some Black Assassins in the whited out room, and Dimentime immediately started attacking them with his magic, but they quickly vanished, evading his attacks! "Boy, magic's really not that helpful..." Copter muttered. Looking around, they saw a familiar hornet in a leather jacket in a frozen state. Copter frowned. "We just walked into this trap for Zipp!? Aw, just let the aliens shoot me!" he yelled. The Black Assassins appeared and nearly did hit him, and Dimentime sighed dejectedly. "No choice. We need his help!" he reasoned. They hurried over, evading the aliens' shots, and restored Zipp. As his color was restored, he immediately pulled out a machine gun and started shooting all over the place! "Aaaaaaaaahhh!! I'll get you, monster!!! Eat lead!!" he yelled, managing to mow down the Black Assassins with a hail of bullets! Copter and Dimentime had ducked, and stayed low until Zipp's gun started clicking. "Awww... I wish they'd invent an infinite ammo gun..." he sighed, looking around at the mess he'd made. "Whoa... Hehehehe... This is turning into the best day ever." he smirked. Copter and Dimentime stood up and uncovered their ears. "Heeey... Psycho... Could you possibly help us find and knock out Shadow?" Copter asked. Zipp glanced at them. "I think there's a long story behind this... Can I blast stuff?" he asked. Dimentime nodded. "There are evil aliens and GUN robots." he said. Zipp grinned and flew over to one of the assassin's dropped laser weapons. "Save the story, then. Ohhh, a new type of gun, how's it work? What's it do?" he said excitedly, pointing it a safe distance away and pulling the trigger. It fired several laser beams rapidly, which bounced off the walls and forced Copter and Dimentime to duck again as it whizzed by. Zipp hugged the weapon affectionately. "Heaven... I'm in heaven!" he cheered. Dimentime walked over and whacked him with his staff. "Focus!! Find Shadow!" he snapped. "Oww! Fine, fine!! Party pooper..." Zipp grumbled, adjusting his helmet. "Chaos energy detected... Probably Shadow's crazy energy signature. This way!" he said, leading the foxes ahead. As they went, they found the next corridor teeming with aliens, but Zipp started shooting like a madman, clearing the path quickly as he laughed ecstatically. "This... is... AWESOME!! I love this gun!!" he yelled. Copter and Dimentime followed behind cautiously. "He's going to kill us, isn't he...?" Copter whimpered. Dimentime groaned. "He's better than Gunner... I... think..." he said.


Zipp soon led them to Shadow, who Omega had already located and was attempting to reason with, though this required being on the offensive somewhat in order to defend himself. "Shadow! Attacking me is madness! I am not your enemy!" the robot shouted. "Hmph! You're getting in my way!!" Shadow scoffed. Zipp attempted to aim his laser at the black hedgehog. "I think I can take him out..." he muttered. Dimentime smacked him with his staff. "That's not why we're here!" he snapped. Omega backed away from Shadow and momentarily stopped attacking. "Listen, I am not here to destroy you, and I understand that you do not require my assistance. However, I must relay a message to you." he said. Shadow lowered his guard and stared at him curiously. "A... message?" he asked. "Pay no attention..." said Mephiles, who was watching nearby, "He's just trying to confuse you..." Omega ignored him and spoke. "You may feel betrayed by many, but you must remember... You once had those you cared about. Some time ago, I acquired this message, and kept it contained in my memory banks for posterity. I believe now you should hear it." he said. Mephiles scoffed. "Play all the messages you like... Shadow is mine." he murmured. Suddenly, a different voice came from Omega's audio outputs. "Shadow, my son..." Shadow recognized it instantly. "Professor....?" A video display was projected from Omega's eyes, depicting Professor Gerald Robotnik aboard the ARK, approximately 50 years before. Zipp gasped and then chuckled. "For a minute I though Eggman had gotten really old!" he said. "If you're listening to this, then the worst has happened. You need to know the truth. The government plans to shut down this research facility." Gerald's recording said sadly. Shadow listened intently, but Gunner was arriving at this point. "Aha! There are those freaks!!" he growled. "Wait, boss! There's Professor Robotnik!" Spy said, pointing. "Who cares?" Gunner snapped. Copter walked back and shushed them. "We're trying to listen!! Shut up!!" he snapped. Gunner sighed and tapped his foot impatiently. "I already heard this, though... But I'll wait for reinforcements..." he grumbled. Gerald's recording continued. "The government plans to cease all of our research...and imprison all who know about you. I made a terrible mistake, Shadow. It's all my fault... making contact with that comet." he said. Zipp scratched his head. "Is this why GUN wants Bucky imprisoned...?" he asked. Gunner shook his head. "No. But you could say it was part of it for years..." he mumbled. Gerald continued. "Now listen very carefully... In 50 years the Black Comet will return. They plan to harness its powers to destroy this planet! The only way to stop them was to develop a way to use the very power they intended to use against them." Mephiles looked bored. "Is this done YET? Surely Shadow will not be moved by this..." he groaned. Shadow, however, was listening with wonder. "Shadow, it's up to YOU and only YOU can stop them! I developed the Eclipse Cannon. It's the only weapon that can destroy that Black Comet! Shadow, you are the only hope to save mankind as we know it. The future of this planet depends on you!" he concluded. Suddenly, Maria Robotnik, Gerald's young granddaughter, appeared onscreen. "Don't worry, grandfather. Shadow and I will protect this planet. Right, Shadow?" she said, looking at the screen cheerfully before the clip ended. As the projection faded, Shadow looked at the ground contemplatively, and then lowered to his knees. Mephiles chuckled victoriously. "That old fool. Shadow is already filled with rage, determined to end the world!" he said. A single tear fell from Shadow's eye as memories flooded his mind. "Maria... I'm sorry..." he whispered. Mephiles glanced at him. "What...? What is this display? Get up! Stop mewling on the ground. Are you the Ultimate Life Form, or are you an infant?" he growled. Gunner cocked his pistol as his reinforcements began to arrive. "Time's up, freaks..." he muttered. Copter whimpered. "We'd better do something..." he said. Suddenly, Shadow stood up and charged at Mephiles, kicking him in the chest! "Oooof!! Again!? Will you... ALWAYS... defy me?" Mephiles growled. Shadow stood in front of him and crossed his arms. "I am Shadow the Hedgehog... I have been haunted by the past long enough. From now on, I'm going to focus on creating a better future, and I'll start by teaching you a lesson! And by defeating Black Doom and his army!" he declared, pointing at Mephiles threateningly. Mephiles laughed at him, and at everyone in the room, with sheer malevolence. "Oh, really? Well, why don't you see if you can't tackle both of those tasks at once, in a way? I found something quite interesting while I explored this comet... I'd like to share it with you... And use it to bury you in endless darkness!!" Mephiles's body suddenly became enveloped in darkness, and began to expand into a large, hideous shape! He took on the form of one of the Black Arms' most powerful soldiers, Black Bull, only his version was more twisted and crystalline in appearance. Copter reached out and shook hands with Gunner. "Renew the truce..." he muttered. "Curse you... Fine. For now." Gunner grumbled.

Gunner gave the order and sent his robots to attack Black Bull Mephiles first, but the first wave of robots was quickly destroyed by a powerful black laser blast from the creature's mouth! "Shoot! Pull back! A straight assault is no good!" Gunner yelled. Omega and Zipp began firing on Mephiles from a distance, but his crystalline hide was even thicker and more armored than Black Bull's normally was, and their weapons weren't making a dent! "You fools can't harm me... Does that leave you frustrated? Here, try these..." Mephiles laughed as he loosed several crystal objects from his massive body. The objects twisted in the air and as they landed, revealed themselves as strange "mini-Mephiles" creatures. Mephiles created dozens of them, and Gunner was forced to turn his troops attention on them. "Get those mini-freaks!! You, too, Spy!" he shouted. "Wha... ME??" Spy whined. Gunner growled. "Unless you'd like to take on the giant creature..." he suggested. Spy yelped and cocked his pistol, charging at the smaller creatures. Copter, Guard, and Dimentime attacked Mephiles directly, attempting to hit the single eye of his Black Bull form, the only apparent weak spot, but he kept them at bay with lasers, fireballs, and some assorted attacks from his other stolen forms, like Chaos Spear and Chaos Avalanche. Copter evaded a piece of the comet from Chaos Avalanche and growled. "Use Punchy against me will you!? Now it's personal... I'll get Punchy for this!" he yelled. Guard tried shooting an energy beam from his scythe at the eye, but it did little damage. "Grrrrr! Blast! He's too tough!" he growled. "Hahahaha! Was that supposed to tickle me?" Mephiles taunted. "Chaos Control!!" Suddenly, Shadow warped right into Mephiles's face and started beating the eye with all his might! However, Mephiles didn't take kindly to the assault. "Aaaargh!! Chaos Blast!!" The blast knocked Shadow away, but he was far from out. "Hmph... I guess it's going to take more..." he muttered. Omega and Zipp blasted through some miniature creatures and approached Shadow. "Do you require assistance?" Omega asked. "Keep him busy..." Shadow said. Zipp nodded. "That's easy enough. Gunner's hogging most of the fun... I wanna shoot his robots..." he grumbled. As Copter, Guard and Dimentime struggled to get at Mephiles's eye, Omega suddenly struck his side with a missile blast! Mephiles glanced at him curiously. "Yes? Do you want something, little tin can?" he asked. Suddenly, Zipp flew in his face and pointed his stinger at him. "Chaos Stinger!" He fired a miniature chaos shot from his stinger into Mephiles's eye, which annoyed him into spitting several fireballs in their direction. However, Dimentime got his attention again with a powerful magic blast! Mephiles turned at him and fired his black laser, which he, Copter, and Guard flew away from in different directions. "Insolent pests! It's only a matter of time before I finish you, you know!" he yelled. Suddenly, Shadow flung his restraint rings aside and used Chaos Control once more, charging at Mephiles from a slight distance at his full power! "Too bad for you... I am the Ultimate Life Form!!" Shadow crashed into Mephiles's eye with such force that it created a great explosion, the shockwave sending Copter, Dimentime, Guard, Zipp and Omega backward a short distance! As the dust settled, Shadow and Mephiles both fell to the ground, only now Mephiles was in Shadow's form once again, possibly to confuse the onlookers. They both stood up, and Mephiles created a portal to escape through. "Pests... I will have my vengeance... You all know... you WILL die!" he vowed, jumping into the portal and closing it behind him. Shadow scoffed and started putting his restraint rings back on. "I'll deal with you after Black Doom..." he muttered, only to be whacked by Dimentime's staff! "Time to repair your memories... This was not the way Shadow was supposed to learn the truth. It is my duty to see that time plays out... semi-properly, at least." he said. Gunner glanced around and called his troops to him. "And if I'd like to alter history in some way...?" he threatened. Copter, Omega and Zipp stood beside Dimentime. "We will have to escort you out of the comet!" Omega warned. "Yeah, or something..." Zipp grinned. Guard stood along, neither joining Gunner nor siding with the others. "Grrrr... My programming does permit me some amount of free thinking and self preservation. If you alter history, I have concerns about whether I would be created... and about the fate of the world. Grrr... I cannot aid you in this." he said. Spy whimpered. "You wouldn't destroy the world to get the animals... would you?" he muttered. Gunner rolled his eyes and sighed. "Let's get out of here... I'm sick of this place..." he grunted.


Neither letting the other out of their sight, Copter and Gunner arrived at white space together, along with the others. "All right... Go away, Gunner. Before people start to think we're best friends or something..." Copter insisted. Gunner nodded. "I'll let you freaks go, for now... But I promise you, I WILL have my revenge on you! And all you furry freaks will get what's coming to you, too!!" he snapped, leaving along with Guard and Spy. "Nice seeing you again!" Spy said cheerfully as he left. "Come on, you twit!" Gunner shouted. As they left, Zipp goofily saluted Copter and Dimentime. "Well, I'm off! Gotta report in to Bucky! Oh, he must be utterly lost without me! He must be crying in a corner, missing his little Zippy! I'm coming, master!" he said as he sped off, chuckling to himself. "He is really weird..." Copter said bluntly, watching him go. Omega started on his way as well. "You say the Shadow of our time is here somewhere, guarding an area?" he asked. Dimentime nodded. "That way..." he said, pointing it out. Omega started in that direction. "I will check on him. Make sure no damage has been done to his timeline." he said, leaving without another word. Copter and Dimentime shrugged and moved on. "I guess old man Robotnik was all right after all... Before he went nuts..." Copter mused. "I wonder why GUN really has it out for Bucky... Just the fact that he's nuts?" Dimentime wondered. As they walked, they soon encountered Sonic and Tails. Sonic seemed to be a bit upset. "No more ocean... Why so much ocean...? I hear evil music... Like a countdown... 5... 4... 3... 2..." he mumbled, sounding a bit distraught. Copter scratched his head. "What's with him?" he asked. Tails sighed. "Sonic can't swim, but he went to two beaches in a row anyway... I think it got to him after all. The younger him is running through a loop in Green Hill Zone over and over to burn off his nervous energy..." he explained, "Sonic, the next place is another city... No water at all, it looks like!" Tails pointed to the area in question, Radical Highway. Sonic looked at it and perked up. "Sweet! Looks like where I first met Shadow! Let's go get... uh, me, and check it out!" he said, instantly calming down. Tails sighed and then glanced at Copter. "Ummm... Sonic? Since you don't really seem to need me right now, mind if I go with Copter for a bit?" he asked. Sonic shrugged. "Sure, if you're bored. I am running a bit fast for you lately." he said. Copter looked surprised. "Hey, wait, what!? You want to go with me!?" he asked. Tails looked at him curiously. "Why? Aren't we friends now?" he wondered. Copter glanced at Dimentime and then nodded. "Oh... Yeah, sure, Tails! Just... Won't it be weird walking around with so many yous?" he asked. Tails chuckled. "At least we're not identical! C'mon, let's go!" So, the three foxes set off together...

To be continued...