GeneX Generations
Chapter 7 - Raiders of the Lost World
Stage - Lost World - Sonic Adventure

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.

"I can't tell what is wrong and what is right, I've got to find the answer.
But until I do, there's no way I will ever give up!
Place all your bets on the one you think is right." - It Doesn't Matter, Sonic Adventure


The story thus far:
Copter and Punchy followed Classic Knuckles into the Hidden Palace Zone, where they got into a fight before the true enemy arrived, Robo-Robotnik, who stole the Master Emerald and set off an explosion, sending the trio plummeting into a chamber below! Meanwhile, Dimentime fought his way through Sky Sanctuary, eventually arriving on the Death Egg, which had managed to take off anyway! Classic Knuckles led Copter and Punchy to Sky Sanctuary, where they met up with Classic Tails piloting the Tornado. He gave Copter and Punchy a ride to the Death Egg, landing the Tornado on board. At the same time, Sonic found Modern Knuckles in a frozen state and restored him, then went through a door in white space acting as a short cut to the Death Egg. Classic Sonic also found this door, and they soon met up, but Modern Sonic was startled by his younger self, as well as the voice of Dr. Robotnik, and Classic Sonic left him behind as a door slammed shut. Sonic & Knuckles sought out a way to follow Classic Sonic while Copter, Punchy, and Classic Tails caught up with Dimentime, who had found the black shadow! The shadow was circling a statue of Tommy, but instead decided to dive into Tails's shadow! With the shadow gone, they freed Tommy, but Robo-Robotnik appeared next! As Sonic & Knuckles arrived to assist, Robo-Robotnik got into a massive robot, the Ultra Death EggRobo (as he called it), and attacked the group! It was an intense battle, but in the end, they defeated the robot and destroyed Robo-Robotnik. They even recovered the Master Emerald, and Classic Tails offered the take it back to Classic Knuckles, along with Modern Knuckles. Meanwhile, Classic Sonic defeated Dr. Robotnik's Death Egg Robot, but suddenly, the monster that sent everyone to white space emerged and kidnapped Robotnik! Sonic and Classic Sonic met up, having added the Green and Purple Chaos Emeralds to their collections, and decided to start looking for the monster together. Meanwhile, Dimentime revealed what he knew about the black shadow to Copter. He had deduced the identity of the shadow, and it was Mephiles the Dark!
Now, on to the next chapter!


Sonic and Classic Sonic found a colorless version of what appeared to be the busy streets of Station Square. Even Copter recognized the area they were running towards this time. "Hmmm... Speed Highway... Why don't we let Sonic deal with this one?" he suggested, looking a little uneasy. Dimentime looked confused. "Huh? Why? It should be a piece of cake. It's just Station Square." he said. Copter sighed. "Let's just say I'm sick of being on the run... And Gunner hasn't helped things recently." he said, thinking over some recent events that Dimentime wouldn't be aware of, "Of course, it wasn't all his fault. Certain crazy animals made matters worse for every animal in the United Federation. If Sonic wasn't always stopping Dr. Eggman, Gunner might be running us outta town right now..." he muttered. Dimentime sighed. "Enough spoilers, please. Let's focus on where we're going to go." he suggested. Looking around, they saw a whited out building a distance away. Unlike Speed Highway, this building looked ancient. "Let's try there!" Copter said, running over to check it out. It was an ancient echidna pyramid, and it was positioned somewhat out of the way, much like Robotnik's base was, almost as if it was placed there on purpose so that Sonic would overlook it. "This looks like part of the Mystic Ruins, not far from where Chaos Shrine was located..." Dimentime noted. "Nice find. You think some of our friends are lost in there?" said someone behind them. It was Razor the Porcupine, adjusting his police cap as he approached them. "All right, guys. I'm going with you on this one, and I'm not taking no for an answer! I can't take another minute of listening to Bucky and Punchy argue!" he insisted. Copter and Dimentime exchanged nervous looks. "Are you crazy? Shouldn't you go with Sonic to the city instead? That's more your jurisdiction..." Copter pointed out. Razor shook his head. "I can't keep up with Sonic! Plus he barely knows me. C'mon, I'm on your side today. I'm an officer. You can trust me, I'm more worried about YOU!" he said. Dimentime sighed. "Don't slow us down..." he said. Razor scoffed. "I'm a trained professional! I think I can handle myself!" he pointed out.

They entered the ancient pyramid, an ancient place that explorers to the Mystic Ruins had dubbed the "Lost World." There was shallow water flowing along the middle of the floor in the entrance hall, and they followed it until they came across the first sign of trouble. A massive, snake like robot called a Boa-boa was floating around the area, shooting bursts of fire from its sides! Its design and color scheme somewhat reminded Copter of the Caterkillers from the Marble Zone, and that got him riled up. "Eggman's robot! Come to trash the archaeology?!" he growled. Razor drew his hand gun and pointed it at the robot. "Step back... A flame throwing robot might make a big explosion!" he said, firing his weapon several times! However, the Boa-boa spun around and cloaked itself in flames, defending itself from the bullets! "Huh...? That doesn't make sense!" Razor grumbled. Copter rolled his eyes. "Chaos Whirlwind!" The robot was too large to be carried off by the wind, but the chaotic blast blew out Boa-boa's fire! Dimentime took the opportunity to jump up and smack a segment of the robot's body with his staff, causing a chain reaction that led the entire robot to explode! Razor shrugged. "It still would have been safer if you let me shoot it after blowing out the flames..." he pointed out. Copter scoffed. "Guns are cowardly." he said. "Oh, I'm sorry. I can't make a mini hurricane or punch through solid rock or anything like that! I have to rely on my police training... Which includes firearms." Razor said grouchily. "Enough, you two! Let's move on!" Dimentime growled, annoyed with their bickering. As they moved into the next room, they found something far worse than Boa-boa. It was Dr. Eggman himself, the version of him Copter was more familiar with, complete with his gold buttoned red coat, small black glasses, and goggles atop his head! He was piloting a large battle machine known as the Egg Hornet, which was equipped with duel missile launchers and drills. He glanced at them as the entered the room. "Well, well, well... If it isn't Copter and... another Copter...?" he said, confused. "You can call me Dimentime." Copter's cloaked copy said in introduction. Eggman shook his head. "Too long. Forget it. So... You wouldn't happen to have come to work for me again, would you?" he asked hopefully. Razor raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat. "Right, police officer. I figured it was a long shot. Well, I'm busy in these ruins, and I can't have you or the law meddling!" he warned. Copter looked at him curiously. "Hey... How are you here? The past you was supposedly kidnapped by that monster." he said. Eggman grinned at him. "Confused, huh? Good. Stay there..." he said, pressing some buttons in order to fire several missiles at the group! "Get down!!" Razor shouted, prompting them all to scatter as Dr. Eggman retreated deeper into the ruins! The explosions caused by the missiles caused some slight cave-ins, but the trio quickly evaded the falling rocks and began their pursuit of Eggman. "If the bad doctor wants something in here, we must be on the right track! Let's go!" Copter said.

They soon arrived at a large chamber with a deep pool of water in the center. A stone snake was swimming around in circles in the pool, and there were high stone platforms on either side of the entrance, leading up to the way out. It seemed like a tough climb. "Well, good thing most of us can fly." Copter said. Razor ignored him and spotted a blue stone switch on the floor. "What do you suppose that does?" he wondered. "It might provide an easier way forward, or it might activate a trap." Dimentime said. Razor shrugged. "Well, I know neither of you want to carry me..." he said, walking over and hopping on the switch. "No, you idiot!!" Copter yelped, taking cover in anticipation of a trap being activated. Suddenly, the room began to fill with water, carrying them up until they could reach the first of the stone platforms! Copter splashed in a panic. "See, I knew it was a trap! There's piranhas in the water, aren't there!?" he growled, swimming to the platform as quickly as he could. Razor rolled his eyes and followed him. "Chill out! The only way that's a trap is if you can't swim." he said. As they looked around, they saw that another platform was over their heads, but it was too high for Razor to reach. They walked forward a bit, but Dimentime stopped them. "Wait... What's that break in the shadow there?" he said. Suddenly, a spike trap fell down from above them, just barely missing them! "Whoa!" Copter yelped. The trap was spiky on the bottom, but flat on top, so they were able to use it as a step to get higher up. "All right... Let's see what's up here..." Razor muttered. There were two switches, one round, blue switch identical to the one below, and one square one. Looking up, they could see a door at the top of the room, with three symbols above it, matching the square switch. "It appears we need to find three switches like this." Dimentime noted. Suddenly, something splashed out of the water and rose into the air in the center of the room! It was the black shadow! "Mephiles!" Copter gasped, watching the shadow helplessly from the inconvenient platform they were on. The shadow charged at the stone door at the top of the room, and as he reached it, he crashed right through it, reducing it to rubble! Razor sighed once the shadow was gone. "Good news... We don't have to find those switches." he said. Dimentime pressed the round switch, raising the water level in the room even higher. They were now floating across from the exit, and it would be a bit of a swim to any platform they wanted to go to. "Which way...?" Copter muttered. Razor glanced around and nodded. "The quick way. Follow me!" he said, swimming towards the stone snake that was swimming around the center! Copter stared at him. "...He's crazy..." he muttered. Dimentime ignored him and followed Razor, and the two of them grabbed on to the snake as it passed, carefully climbing on to its back! Copter gulped as he realized he'd have to do the same. "Why are we so dumb?" he grumbled, swimming towards the snake. He twirled his tails and attempted to fly onto its back, but that actually proved more difficult, and he stumbled as he landed. "Whooooa!!!" Before he could fall, Dimentime grabbed his arm. "Careful! It's a long way to the bottom!" he warned. Soon, the snake neared the platform with the door, so they jumped off, Copter and Dimentime flying in order to land safely. Razor, however, barely grabbed the edge! "Aaaagh!! Little help!! Wasn't... close enough!!" he grunted. Copter sighed and pulled him up. "You're hopeless!" he growled. "Me? I'm not the one who couldn't even grab the snake!" Razor protested.

After a brief walk through an outdoor balcony, they entered a very dark room with platforms standing above a seemingly bottomless pit filled with water. Some light was pouring through holes in the roof, but it provided little help. Immediately ahead, however, they saw some of this light hitting a small mirror attached to a pedestal on the floor. Dimentime looked at it curiously. "Let me see..." he muttered, walking over and examining it. "You don't suppose it'll set off a trap, do you?" Razor wondered. Dimentime stood on the pedestal and noticed he could shift it around in a circular motion with his weight. He grabbed the mirror and rotated it, using the light it produced to find another mirror hanging on a column in the water. With the light hitting the mirror, a larger section of the room was lit up, and they could see the way forward! "This temple seems more like a test to gauge the worthiness of intruders, not a means to protect valuables." Dimentime noted, "Ergo, everything is not a trap." Ahead, they could see flaming arrows shooting past the platform almost continuously, leaving only a little space to pass between shots. "Well, THAT definitely is a trap." Copter groaned. Beyond the arrows was a gap in the platforms, so they would have to time their run and then jump! Razor watched the arrows carefully. "Piece of cake..." he muttered before running ahead, swiftly dodging the arrows before making his leap to the other side! However, he was startled as a number of fireballs emerged in front of him, surrounding a red, spherical robot! It was a Gola, a robot similar to the Star Pointers from Ice Cap, but with control over four fireballs rather than ice! Razor grabbed for his gun, but he was forced to back dangerously close to the edge! Luckily, Copter and Dimentime simply flew over the gap, and were already on the scene. Dimentime grabbed Razor's arm as he slid, nearly falling over the edge, while Copter dropped between Gola's fireballs and gave it a kick in the head, destroying it! "Well... Eggman's robots certainly make this place dangerous. Let's be more careful." Dimentime muttered. "Roger that..." Razor sighed. The dark room was treacherous, but every so often, they found another set of mirrors to light the way, enabling them to pass through spikes, rotating platforms, and Golas as they neared the exit. Copter and Dimentime flew Razor across a gap at the end of the room, and they arrived at a brief corridor leading to a tunnel with rapidly running water. "What's up with this...?" Copter wondered. Dimentime shrugged. "It's the only way forward. Think of it as an amusement park ride." he said. Razor scratched his head. "They don't have water slides at Twinkle Park..." he muttered. They all hopped into the water, and the current dragged them into the tunnel, causing them to scream as they saw what was ahead: a waterfall! "I don't think this ride is safety tested!!" Copter yelled as they all fell over the falls, barely missing the grassy platform at the bottom and splashing into the water below, which carried them further into the temple.

They washed up in a medium sized room with puddles of water scattered in the sandy colored dirt. There was a small structure in the room, and a Boa-boa floating around. Copter staggered to his feet, walked over to the robot, and gave it a quick tail whip to take it out of commission before he was joined by Razor and Dimentime. "Anyone else sick of this dump?" Copter grumbled, "I didn't have to go through nearly as much trouble to get my tailband..." he recalled. Razor looked thoughtful. "There must be something pretty important about this place, then..." he reasoned. They continued into the next room, which was pretty large, and had been drained of most of its color. A small statue was standing in the room. It was Tails's robotic puppy, SPOT, who was with Copter when he was sucked into Green Hill Zone! They started to run towards the robot, but stopped when they noticed the black shadow hovering overhead. "I come all this way, only to find a robot. Pitiful. That doesn't interest me in the slightest. Perhaps I should destroy it while it's defenseless?" he mused. Copter ran ahead, determined to protect the robot. "Don't even think about it, Mephiles!" he growled, jumping at the shadow! His jump came up short, but he landed between Mephiles and SPOT. The shadow chuckled at being called by name. "You figured me out, did you? How nice that you remember me!" he sneered, his shadowy form solidifying into a physical shape! Copter, Dimentime and Razor gasped as they recognized the form Mephiles had taken, a twisted, crystalline form resembling Bucky the Rat, which he had used in Soleanna! "You... never mentioned HE was back..." Razor muttered nervously, drawing his gun. "It's on a need to know basis..." Dimentime said. Mephiles glared at Copter, a hatred burning in his demonic eyes. "You seem intent on standing in my way once again. That's just fine. After all, vengeance was always a part of my plans. Let's see how you like your consciousness being shattered, and your broken body left for dead!" he growled. Copter raised his fists, and Dimentime stepped forward to join him. "Be careful, Copter! He might have been running away from us all this time, but I expect he's still a very dangerous opponent." he said. Copter chuckled. "Hey, if I get to knock Bucky around, I'm all for it. Let's do it!"

Razor fired a few shots from his gun at Mephiles, but they simply bounced off of him without effect. "Heh... Pitiful!" Mephiles sneered, raising his fingers towards Razor and shooting lightning at him just like Bucky! Razor dove out of the way, barely avoiding the attack! "Well, it was worth a try... I'll leave it to you, foxes..." he grumbled. Mephiles shrugged and turned his attention to Copter and Dimentime. "Why waste my energy on someone who isn't a threat? That's why obliterating robots is starting to bore me..." he said. Copter and Dimentime ran at him, only to have him shoot lightning in both their directions, forcing them both to dodge. "Oh, yeah? Chaos Whirlwind!!" Copter shouted, sending a chaotic wind towards Mephiles. It passed right through him, and appeared to do minimal damage, if any. "Ahh, what a refreshing breeze!" he said mockingly. Mephiles then altered his shape again, his body taking on a spinier appearance with a green hue. His form even mimicked a police uniform. "No... way..." Copter grumbled. Razor stared in bewilderment. "Hey... I didn't know he could turn into me!!" he shouted. Mephiles chuckled. "When I enter another's shadow, I absorb their form, and also their power..." he said, lowering himself to the ground and drawing a crystalline hand gun from his holster. "Your friend here happens to be a fine marksman..." he sneered, pointing the gun at Copter. "Oh, shoot... I mean, don't shoot!!" he yelped, running out of the way. Mephiles started shooting crystal bullets from the gun, which Copter desperately attempted to dodge. Dimentime wasted no time attacking Mephiles while he was distracted, giving him a tailband powered tail whip! Mephiles flipped over and hovered in midair, shifting back into Bucky's form. "You'll pay for that!" he yelled, firing electricity at both foxes! Suddenly, while Mephiles was preoccupied with Copter and Dimentime, a laser came from below and took him by surprise! Though it also surprised Copter and Dimentime, they took advantage of Mephiles's brief distraction, jumping at him and hitting him with tailband powered tail whips! "Unnnhh!!" Mephiles grunted in frustration and smacked the foxes away. As they landed on their feet, he glanced to see the source of the laser. SPOT had been restored from his frozen state, courtesy of Razor. Mephiles chuckled. "Amusing, but pointless. You can never defeat me. But why spoil the entertainment? I'll grant you insects a reprieve. Find more of your pathetic friends. Maybe destroying all of you at once will be more... fun, as you call it." Before anyone could stop him, Mephiles reverted to his shadowy form and fled into the temple, leaving them behind. SPOT crawled over to Copter and Dimentime, wagging his metal tail. "Two Tails detected! ...Error. Cannot I.D. real Tails." the text on the robot's monitor read. "Hoo boy... He might explode if he detects a third... and fourth Tails later on." Copter muttered. 

The battle seemed to influence the room, restoring its color. There was some steps leading down to a portion of the room covered in shallow water, but most of the interesting parts of the room were on the walls. There were blue panels along the walls, mostly disconnected, but they could see a switch on the floor in the shallow water. "Aw, are we gonna have to swim again?" Copter groaned. Dimentime walked over and pressed the switch, causing the panels on the wall to align and glow! SPOT let out a robotic bark. "Strange energy signature detected." the text on his monitor read. "What does that mean?" Razor wondered. "There's our way forward... I think..." Dimentime mused. He walked over to the glowing panels and placed his foot against the lowest one. Astonishingly, it stuck, as though gravity was altered on the panel! Dimentime began to walk along the panels, and motioned for the others to follow. "You coming?" he asked. They reluctantly followed. "Does not compute..." SPOT's monitor read, though the robot followed as well. The walls of the room had their share of traps, such as flaming arrows being shot at them, spike traps, and perhaps most irritating were chameleon robots called Leons, which would disappear and reappear between attacks involving tongue lashing and tail whipping. However, the Leons were easily dispatched by Razor's gun, or SPOT's laser. Despite the treacherous climb, they soon reached an alcove at the top of the room, where they took a moment to rest. Suddenly, something snuck up on them. "BOO!!" Copter screamed in surprise, while Razor turned and pointed his gun at the intruders, startling them. "Aaaack! Don't shoot!" Copter, Dimentime, and Razor stared bewilderedly at Slash and Sting, who had somehow managed to follow them all the way here, which was particularly surprising considering the state they were in. Their bodies were cracked and dented. Some of their joints were somewhat crooked. They looked a little rusted, too. They were a mess. "We were just messing around!! We wouldn't dream of attacking you now!!" Slash whined. "Yeah... We really got trashed when the Death Egg crashed... Now we just do recon." Sting explained. SPOT growled at them. "Enemies detected... Battle systems engaged!" his monitor read. Seeing this, Slash and Sting yelped and bolted. "W-well, it was nice catching up!!" Slash yelled. "See ya!!" Sting cried. Copter and Dimentime glanced at each other. "Geez... Eggman saves everything..." they muttered.

Soon, they arrived at the center of the ruins. They entered a large chamber with steps leading to a huge mural on the wall. The mural depicted a terrible sea monster attacking the ancient city. Dr. Eggman was there, still piloting his Egg Hornet. He seemed to be using an odd scanner mounted on the front of his vehicle. Razor gazed at the mural, and seemed to recognize the monster. "It can't be... That's the monster that destroyed Station Square a while back..." he said. Copter glanced at him. "Station Square... destroyed? Hm... That explains a bit." he remarked, recalling that the city wasn't in the best shape on his first visit. "Eggman! What do you think you're doing?" Dimentime growled. His scan completed before anyone could do anything to stop it, and the scanner retracted safely into his Egg Mobile before he turned his vehicle around to face his visitors. "I have all I need now. My visit here should prove most enlightening!" he grinned. "For what?" Razor asked. Eggman chuckled. "I couldn't tell you, you might tell Sonic and spoil the surprise!" he said. Copter scoffed. "As if Sonic listens to me. Come on, doc. For old time's sake?" he asked. Eggman shook his head. "No! I think for old time's sake, I'll remind you what happens to those who meddle with the great Dr. Eggman! Get a load of this!" he growled, aiming and firing a bunch of missiles at them! They scrambled to avoid the missiles, except for SPOT, who simply erected an energy shield to protect himself. "Oh, if it isn't that annoying little robot Tails built. Why don't I grind you into scrap metal?" Eggman sneered, flicking a switch to bring out the Egg Hornet's drills, and then charging at SPOT with them! The robot suddenly propelled itself out of the way by its feet, which were fitted with engines of some sort! Eggman growled and struggled to pull the drills out of the ground, while Razor attempted to take some shots at his machine. Unfortunately, he ran out of bullets. "Uh... Heh heh... Can't get supplies lately..." he said sheepishly as Eggman's machine emerged from the ground. "That's enough fooling around..." he said.

Eggman started spinning the Egg Hornet around, firing missiles all over in an attempt to hit everyone! SPOT brought up his shield and ran to defend Razor, while Copter and Dimentime used Chaos Whirlwind to blow away missiles as they neared them, but Eggman kept firing, making the situation dangerous. "We'll have to strike back! Just dodge them!" Dimentime shouted. Copter nodded. Eggman could only fire so many missiles at once, so it wasn't too crazy to try. They charged at the Egg Hornet, but Eggman stopped spinning and fired directly at them! "Ha ha! Too slow!!" he laughed. However, as the missiles came at them, SPOT's laser shot them out of the sky! "Huh? Hey!! No fair!" Eggman yelled. Copter and Dimentime jumped at the Egg Hornet, and with just a couple hits, the machine started to fall apart, leaving just the Egg Mobile! "Aaagh!! Oh, fine! You win. I'm leaving. Bye now!" Eggman said quickly, smirking as he hurriedly flew his Egg Mobile out of the room, leaving them behind. Copter scratched his head. "Hey, what? He didn't even seem all that upset..." he muttered. Razor groaned. "You let him get away!!" he pointed out. Dimentime sighed. "He always gets away... And I think he's pleased that we're in the center of this temple and we'll have a long way to go to catch up with his vehicle." he said. They all groaned and started heading out of the room, leaving down a long, sloped hallway that they had used to enter the room. As they walked down the slope, they heard a loud thud behind them. "Hey... What's that?" Razor wondered. They looked back and were terrified by what they saw. A giant, flaming boulder was falling from the ceiling behind them, and was starting to chase them down the slope! SPOT ran off ahead first, an alarm blaring from him. "R-RUN!!" Copter yelled, and the three started to flee the giant rock. It was coming closer and closer, and it looked hopeless when Razor suddenly tripped and fell! "Aaaah!! No!!" he yelled. Dimentime stopped and stood between Razor and the boulder as Copter kept running, only glancing back and shouting "ARE YOU INSANE!?" As the boulder neared, Dimentime raised his staff and muttered something, causing the staff the glow! He then struck the boulder with his staff, causing it to shatter into a million harmless pieces! With the boulder gone, he helped Razor up and joined Copter at the end of the hall, who was staring with a stunned expression. "You... you... Whaaaaaaat!?" he stammered. Dimentime nodded. "Magic. How do you think I time traveled in the first place? I told you I sought out this time-space disruption on purpose, right?" he said. Razor tapped his foot somewhat angrily. "You mean, you had powers all this time, and you never once thought of using them to make things easier!?" he grumbled. Dimentime rolled his eyes. "What good are we if we rely on magic for everything." he said, walking off. "Come on. We've got a long way to go to get out of here." he said. Copter growled angrily. "Why don't you just TELEPORT us out!?" he shouted.


Outside Speed Highway, Classic Sonic had freed Cream the Rabbit and Cheese the Chao from their colorless statues. "Oh, thanks, Sonic!" she said, "Hey, is it me, or did you get a new haircut?" she added, not realizing that she was speaking to a younger version of Sonic. Classic Sonic stroked his quills insecurely, but Modern Sonic soon showed up to end the confusion. "Hey, Cream. Good to see you're all right." he said. "Umm... Two Sonics??" Cream gasped. Tails and Classic Tails were right behind them, leaving Cream even more bewildered. "Cheese, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" she wondered. "Chao, chao..." Cheese nodded. As if that wasn't enough, Copter and Dimentime arrived with SPOT next. "T-two Copters??? What's going on here?" she whimpered, falling over in disbelief. Classic Sonic ran over to see if she was all right while the others went to visit with Copter. "I brought you your mutt." Copter said, motioning to SPOT. Tails's eyes lit up. "Ah! SPOT! It's good to have you back!" he said cheerfully. SPOT looked up and displayed a message on his monitor. "Four Tails detected. Maintenance required." Classic Tails looked at the robot curiously. "What's that?" he asked. Sonic shrugged. "That's Tails... err... your pet project. A robot that can do all kinds of stuff." he explained. Classic Tails looked impressed. "I built my own robot?" he gasped. Copter nodded. "Yeah, yeah. So, I guess I'll get going..." he muttered. Modern Tails shook his head. "It's OK, SPOT. You're not crazy or anything. There really are four of us..." he argued. Suddenly, Classic Sonic jumped with alarm, picking up Cream and dashing out of the way as a gunshot was fired in their direction! "What the!?" Modern Sonic gasped, looking around. Reacting fast, SPOT pushed Modern Tails aside, intercepting another shot as it was fired at him! The shot struck SPOT in the side, and caused him to start sparking! Copter and Dimentime spotted the source of the gunshots quickly. It was coming from the entrance to another color-drained area, which looked like another city. Holding the gun was a fairly old man in a GUN uniform who Copter recognized instantly. "It's Gunner!! Son of an Egg Pawn, it's Gunner!!" he growled furiously. His lackey, Spy, was standing beside him. "They spotted us, boss... What do we do?" he asked. Gunner smirked and holstered his weapon. "We escape into the city, Spy. The trap is set. Now we'll get them all at once! Revenge is sweet! Ha ha ha!!" he laughed, running into the city with Spy behind him. Sonic and Classic Sonic took off after him, leaving Cream and SPOT in Tails and Classic Tails's care. Copter took off in the direction of the city as well. "Copter! Where are you going?" Dimentime asked. "Can you honestly sit back and let Gunner get away with this!?" Copter shouted. Dimentime glanced down at Tails, who was cradling SPOT in his arms. The robot had taken a hard hit, and would be difficult to repair in white space. "Take him to Shadow Arc. Maybe Bucky can do something for him." Dimentime suggested before following after Copter. "I don't know how Gunner got here, but he's going to regret it!" he growled. "Good luck, everyone!" Cream shouted, waving as they ran out of sight. No one noticed Dr. Eggman's Egg Mobile hovering over the scene, observing the action at a safe distance. "Have fun, Richard... Buy me lots of time to examine the data I've collected. Ho ho ho ho ho!!"

To be continued...