Sonic GeneX - The Series: Zodiac in Time
Episode 6 - Shadows Follow Us

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.


Previously on Sonic GeneX - The Series...
Informed of a book telling of the events of the battles between Rex's group and the Doomlings, Gemini interfered with a standoff between Capricorn and Cancer in order to retrieve said book. As Cancer escaped the scene, Ophiuchus decided to allow Gemini to leave with the book and see how things play out. The most pivotal page of the book was missing, but Gemini learned of Brutus' impending betrayal of the team, and decided she had to put a stop to it!
Tails finished the repairs to the portal to Blaze's world as preparations for Punchy & Rainbow's wedding near completion. Between suitors chasing him and Marine trying to fix him up, Tails has been dealing with the pains of being single for some time now...and he needs a date for the wedding!
Now, on to the next chapter!


Gemini led Timothy, Carrie and Silver to the dragon temple where Brutus would team up with his fellow dragons and try to take the Chaos Relics from the team. Based on the information within the book, Gemini thought she had things all figured out. However, Silver had been thinking things over as they walked, and once they were nearing the temple, he suddenly stood in their way! "Uhhh...Silver?" Gemini murmured. "I'm sorry, Gemini...this is where I must stop you! To be honest, I was hoping you'd give up before getting close to making any real change to the past. Gemini, Fred and Capricorn are right. You shouldn't meddle with time like this. You've dived too far into the past! This isn't like you're trying to stop an apocalypse or something! You just want to get back at Lospecter for your own personal problems!" he told her. Gemini was taken aback by his words. "So...you're just like them! Like Fred! You only pretended to be on my side!" she snapped. Timothy looked a bit concerned, but Carrie stepped forward. "I'll show ya what friends are for, Gem! Keep going!" she smirked, her hands glowing with psychic energy! Silver gasped and set his own hands aglow defensively. "Weren't you listening?! What Gemini's trying to do is dangerous!" he warned. Carrie nodded. "But who's to say it's not the right thing? You saw the book. Members of Rex's group will die if we don't intervene! Why do you act like the future we'll create will end up being worse somehow?" she asked. Silver opened his mouth to argue, but a boulder was hurled his way with Carrie's psychokinesis, and he was forced to focus on stopping it with his own powers! Gemini and Timothy took the opportunity to slip past them, but Timothy had a nervous look about him. "Gemini... Aries told you about the book... What if what we're doing is what Cancer wants?" he asked. Gemini tilted her head. "Like we're walking into a trap? That'd only work if he's seen the book. And Aries tried to stop me from taking it, remember?" she pointed out. Timothy nodded, but still looked nervous. Silver seemed to have a point about all this, but Gemini wasn't hearing reason. The fawn just had to remember what friends were for, like Carrie, and stay by Gemini's side...

Rex's group was a moderate distance away, far enough that they had no inkling of the drama unfolding among Gemini's friends, but close enough that the book's events were running on schedule. Flinging herself into their path was a distraught-looking Cleo the dragon. "...Friend of yours, Brutus?" Red murmured as Cleo started bawling. Brutus shrugged. "I'm into tougher gals." he remarked. Rex knelt beside the crying Cleo. "Miss...are you alright?" he asked. "Creatures! Hideous, abominable creatures! They're murdering my people at the dragon temple! A relief that I got out, but woe! My family...my f-f-...neighbors!!" she babbled. Aya crossed her arms. "Sounds like a Doomling attack." she stated. "Oh, ya think? What gave you that notion?" Spiro said wryly. Rex nodded. "We'd best head for the dragon temple then. Stay here, miss. We'll come back for you when it's safe." he told her. Cleo randomly threw her arms around William. "No, no! Don't leave me, brave heroes! T-take me with you... I won't be trouble, I promise..." she pleaded. "G-get off me..." William stammered. "Willie's got a girl-friend!" Monty teased. Brutus cleared his throat. "She can get us into the temple. I've been gone so long I may not be seen as trustworthy anymore..." he muttered. "Really? And the dragons seemed like such a niiiice people..." Luna remarked sarcastically. "C'mon, sweetie, let's keep the team harmony..." Bard chuckled awkwardly. Astra looked at Cleo a tad suspiciously, but shrugged. "Well, let's not stand around babbling all day. The dragons are in trouble." she stated. The group was in agreement, so Brutus and Cleo started leading the way to the dragon temple, hiding their devilish smirks from the rest of the party. If the future remained unaltered, Brutus's scheme would cut this group's number down to size in lethal fashion...

Ultimately, Gemini and Timothy reached the temple, and found guards at the front gate. "Uuuhhh... You ain't Cleo or Brutus... You guys...with those Chaos Relic heroes?" the guard asked. Gemini thought about the best move here for a moment, and then rolled her eyes. "Screw it..." she grumbled, "Solare!!" She cast a powerful beam that knocked out the first guard, while Timothy let out a sigh. "Snorozika..." he cast, putting the other guard to sleep. Gemini chuckled bashfully. "I need to look that one up..." she murmured. As they set about moving the guards aside, someone crept over to them. "That light! That power! You knocked out two dragon guards somehow...? I must know your secret!" Gemini barely glanced at the visitor at first, then did a double take. It was a species of gray wolf, with red eyes and red stripes, a light gray muzzle, brown gloves, sandals and gold ankle braces, as well as a gold collar. Also, a pair of twin, gray tails ending in tufts of red fur! Gemini stared in shock at him, realizing who it was. "H-howler!?" she stammered. The wolf tilted his head at her. "Hm? Have we met? Or...perhaps my reputation precedes me? ...Tell me, less slack-jawed fawn... was that magic I witnessed? It was magic, wasn't it..." he grinned deviously. Timothy saw Gemini's bewilderment, but he had no idea what she was upset about. "Umm... M-magic? That would be crazy, ha ha..." he stammered. Howler rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You didn't think you'd be seen. Planning to rob the dragon's gold, I imagine. Such boldness from children... Youths after my own heart, hehe..." he smirked. Gemini realized that this was before Shadow Chaos...before Howler met Tikal and Radia...before all of it. She turned to Timothy and whispered to him. "No time to explain, but Howler is NOT supposed to be here! We gotta get rid of him and keep his timeline separate from Rex's! If he saw the Relics... Ohhh, no..." she babbled quietly. Howler crossed his arms, watching them. "What are you kids whispering about? Come now, I just want to see a bit of magic. Confirm it for me... You know you want to..." he smirked. Gemini growled and decided to oblige him. "Snoozika!" she cried, resulting in an unintended backfiring of her wand knocking her sideways into Timothy! "That's not how the sleep spell goes!!" Timothy groaned. Howler walked over and picked up the fawn, wrapping his arms around Timothy's neck. "Okay, I was prepared for you to attack me, but this makes it easier..." he grinned as Gemini gulped.

Seeing Timothy trying to swing his wand, Howler pried it from his hand. "Now, I've worked out that these sticks must be the source of your magic powers. You are going to tell me how it works, girl, and no more tricks...or I'm going to snap your little friend's neck." he warned her. Timothy whimpered, but took on a brave expression. "It's okay, Gemini... I'm not supposed to be alive anyway..." he sighed. Gemini teared up a little hearing that. "No, Tim, don't say that!" she stammered. Howler rolled his eyes. "We don't have all day for whatever drama there is between the pair of you. Those dragons won't sleep forever. Now, talk, girl..." he growled, squeezing Timothy's neck slightly. Gemini winced. "W-why do you do this, Howler??" she stammered. Howler let out a sigh. "I want power... Have you ever felt powerless? It's horrible. In my youth, my pack cast me away out of disgust for my uniqueness...my second tail. Imagine, a child like yourself...lost in the wild. With no magic. No power. I howled...I howled in desperate, powerless loneliness. Until one day, those howls turned to howls of anger. Fed up with the feeling of powerlessness, I decided never to feel that way again. I've been seeking greater power ever since...true power. And the perfect revenge upon those who shunned me...to remake the world in my own image!" he said darkly, Timothy choking as he clutched his throat! Gemini shuddered. Even at this early point in his history, she could feel the madness within Howler. But she had to get Timothy away from him somehow. "L-listen, Howler... I kinda sympathize... I've been cast away, in a sense... quite recently. I don't know who to trust or where to turn, it's like the rug has been pulled from under me. But...we're not powerless...we can change our fate. And we don't need magic to do it... We just need to realize when...when we're making a mistake...and correct our path. You don't want to hurt my friend, Howler..." she pleaded. Howler looked for a moment like he was mulling over her words. "Hmmm... You're right, I don't particularly..." he said, "But I will! Because honestly...magic would just make things so much easier!" he growled with a sneering smirk.

Howler drug Timothy away from the temple as Gemini followed him, preferring not to be interrupted by the possibility of the dragons waking up. However, this didn't mean the timeline was back on track. As Brutus neared the temple, he could see the downed guards and realized his plan was awry. "They're hurt! Is this the Doomlings' work?" Red wondered. Brutus stammered a bit while Cleo faked a little crying. However, the dragoness suddenly changed her tune to awkward laughter. "What the hell!" she grunted, producing a knife and promptly stabbing Red in the chest! "NOO!! What the hell!?" Monty yelled as the team watched Red stagger backward, then falling forward limply in a pool of his own blood! Brutus's tail glowed as he turned around to face them. "Grab the cape off his corpse, my love... It's time to end this charade and take this power for myself!" he sneered. Rex had noticed Howler threatening Timothy and Gemini not too far away, but now they had their own troubles. "Those fallen guards had nothing to do with the Doomlings... Your own scheme has gone a bit awry, I'll wager due to those people over there!" he noted, scowling at Brutus, "We trusted you, and how did you repay us? You cast doubt on our friends, and then betrayed us yourself!" he shouted, drawing the Chaos Sword. Brutus flapped above the group with a smirk. "Pretty much sums it up. As if that singing doofus or the stupid wolf could ever plot anything!" he snickered. Luna slipped on the Chaos Claws and snarled. "I can tear your twisted wings off!" she snapped. Cleo slipped on the Chaos Wing and joined Brutus in the air. "Let's burn these fools to ashes, shall we darling?" she smirked. They then blew fire at the group, forcing them to scatter! "Get down from there! Lemme at 'em! You won't touch my sweet fennec!" Spiro shouted, throwing his fists at nothing. Astra sighed. "Good thing that crown makes you immortal, sweetie..." she said. "Not once I knock it off!" Brutus smirked. Aya tossed some Chaos Cards up that turned into shurikens, headed straight for Brutus! "No, watch out!!" Cleo gasped, diving in the path of the bladed weapons, only to yowl in pain and fall to the ground, bleeding from several cuts. "CLEO!!" Brutus yelled, glaring at the chameleon. "Rrrrrraaaaaaaaaawwwwrrr!!!!" he roared!

As Howler was threatening Timothy and Gemini was reluctantly holding out her spell book to him, time portals suddenly opened up around them, startling Howler! "I said no tricks!! I will KILL this whelp!" he snarled. "N-nooo!!" Timothy winced. "Snorozika!" came the voice of Fred, who put Howler to sleep with the spell, causing him to release Timothy and fall backward! Virgo and Capricorn were there as well... and also Silver and Carrie. Gemini could see sadness in Carrie's eyes as Capricorn held her by the arm, her hands cuffed behind her back. "Virgo, take Howler to where he belongs at this point in time." Fred stated. Virgo nodded. "It shall be done...some of us care to follow the rules..." she said, glancing at Gemini disapprovingly. "S-sally..." Gemini babbled. "Silence, prisoner!" Capricorn said sternly, placing handcuffs on Timothy next! Gemini looked at Fred pleadingly. "T-teacher... We were only trying to..." she stammered. Fred heaved a heavy sigh and grabbed her wrist, slipping handcuffs onto her as well. "I'm sorry, Gemini... I can't protect you anymore. For willfully threatening the timeline on multiple occasions, we hereby place you and your friends under arrest. Silver is lucky to be granted a pardon due to his overall services to the timeline thus far." he stated. Gemini scarcely paid attention to him, opting to instead watch the battle with Brutus. To her horror, the dragon's rage led him to fight past the group, knock the Chaos Cards from Aya's hands, and set her afire. In his desire for vengeance upon Cleo's attacker, he focused so hard on burning Aya to ashes that he didn't protect himself from Rex's retaliation, and was stabbed in the back by the Chaos Sword. Though things didn't play out precisely as in the book, the result was the same. Red, Aya and Brutus were dead, leaving only seven left in the group; Rex, Bard, Monty, Spiro, William, Luna and Astra. "I'm sorry, Gemini..." Silver sighed, "None of us knew Howler would be here. But that's why this whole thing was a mistake. You never know how changing the past will truly impact the future... and it should only really be done as a last resort." he stated. "Good man. Glad to see you've learned a lesson here. Too bad it's too late for this lot..." Capricorn sighed, leading Timothy and Carrie to the time portals. "Isn't it customary to have a trial?" Carrie stammered. Fred led Gemini to the time portal as well. "...I didn't want this for you..." he sighed, "...but you brought it upon yourself..." he murmured.

"...How did we let this happen?" Monty gasped as the group set to work giving the dead a proper burial. Cleo had actually survived her wounds, and seeing that Brutus had died, gave up the Chaos Wing in exchange for her own life and a proper burial for him. "...We were greedy bastards...but I did love him..." she sniffled over his grave, the tears now more genuine. The group still kept their distance from her. They felt there'd been enough death that day, but if Cleo decided to pick a fight there might be more. "...So...got a song for this, Bard?" Spiro asked, a little sarcastic but partly hoping for anything to alter the mood. Bard started to strum his lute. "I'm not sure there are words.... I suppose I owe our companions an attempt..."

"...Shadows follow us...all through our lives.
There from our birth 'till each one of us dies.
A darkness cast over each of our days...
Until each of our shadows are forced to part ways.
In a world where nothing is certain... where fates are dire and cruel...
One truth is always unchanging... One fact remains ever the rule...
Shadows follow us all through our lives.
There from our birth... 'till each one of us dies."

It was a tearful goodbye as the group listened to Bard's sorrowful song. There was little else to do or say. They set out to leave the dragon temple, unsettled by the realization that it wasn't Doomlings that most violently tore their team apart...it was indeed one of their own... And as they left, Rex was further bothered by voices in his head. He'd heard them at the lover's festival, and they seemed to be following him. "Your fighting is futile... There is a better way... You know there is a better way..." the voices whispered. Rex shook it off, but it worried him. Was he the only one hearing these voices?


Amy was busy following the decorator around the church as she oversaw some late preparations for the wedding. Punchy sat nearby, watching her with an air of mild relief. "I'm actually glad she's handling all this... It looks tough, and I'd hate for Rainbow to wear herself out...or for me to disappoint her..." he sighed. "You know I'm right here, One?" Rainbow said from her seat beside him. He chuckled softly and patted her hand on the seat. "You're always with me." he grinned. Sonic rushed down the aisle, shouting something about Amy NOT hitting the decorator with her hammer, and Tails stepped awkwardly behind him, spotting Punchy and Rainbow as he went. He walked over to Punchy and cleared his throat. "Um... Can I have a word with the groom? It, uh... it's kinda personal..." he said bashfully. Rainbow nodded, getting up and walking away. Punchy glanced up at the fox curiously. "What's on your mind, short Copter?" he asked. Tails pouted a little. "W-we're the same height! A-anyway... I thought you could give me advice, seeing as you're the first of our, er... 'friends,' to get married." he stated. Punchy crossed his legs and looked at Tails intently, like some kinda therapist. "You want dating advice?" he asked. Tails blushed. "W-well, it's like this... Since I've been single, a lot of girls have been interested in me... Since last month I've taken Cosmo and Marine out on little dates, I guess, but... I..." his voice trailed off, and Punchy guessed at his thought. "You're still missing your ex." he said. Tails stammered a little. "I never meant to hurt Cream..." he said. Rainbow poked her head up from the chair behind Punchy. "Aw, Tails! You should talk to her! Tell Hoppy how you feel! Maybe you can patch things up!" she suggested. Tails jumped, surprised by her. "Raaaainbooow..." he whined, upset to have been eavesdropped on. Punchy cleared his throat. "Well, I ain't going against the fiance. If you want a second opinion, why don't you ask Chet? He's been dating Katie forever...even beyond the grave! Meanwhile I don't think Rainbow and I ever did anything that qualified as a date... We just lived together for a long time, heh." he chuckled. Tails looked unsure, but Rainbow handed him a piece of paper. "Give Chester this wedding invite when you see him! I've never actually met him, I don't think, but he's a friend of a friend of a friend!" she said. "Is there anyone we're not inviting?" Punchy asked. "Whoever it was that had Binky kidnapped for those Despair dudes." Rainbow replied. Tails sighed and nodded. "Well, I'll find him and deliver this... Invites should've all been sent by now..." he murmured, scratching his head.

Chet was a difficult one to track down, and Tails quickly realized why his wedding invite hadn't reached him yet. Katie for one, had no idea where he was staying. She was able to inform Tails that he apparently qualified as one of Bucky's experiments now. So Tails used SPOT to track large pulses of ring energy and find Shadow Arcangel. But Chet wasn't there, and the members of Team GeneX had conflicting ideas about where he would be. After checking each possible location, Tails eventually found him at a hotel in Troblusk City on a tip from Bill and Bob from the Neon Tavern. The fox looked exhausted once he found the cheetah. "Who's Chester? Ah, well. Guess I'll crash the wedding. Hey, cool to see ya again, Tails. Remember that icy maze with the Chaos Gauntlets? Good times...for who, I'm not sure, but I try to look on the bright side!" he chuckled, sitting down on the hotel bed. Tails had a seat beside him, partly to rest from the search. "I had a question for you, Chet... Punchy thought you might be able to help me..." he said. Chet glanced at him curiously. "What's on your mind, little man?" he asked. Tails recounted his situation to Chet, who was soon in that same cross-legged therapist position as he mulled the situation over. "Hmm... Boy, you're frisky like a fox, eh? Juggling three girlfriends, eeeeh?" he snickered, elbowing Tails as he blushed deeply. "I-I am not! N-nothing's official yet!" he babbled, his face bright red. Chet laughed. "I know a few guys who'd love to be in your position, though. Relax, bro, I'll help ya. It's simple. Cream is over. That's the first thing you gotta admit to yourself. Once a girl decides you've done wrong and breaks it off, it's done. Even if you got her back, you'd be making it up to her for the rest of your life." he told him. Tails looked horrified by those words, but Chet patted his back and kept going. "Don't focus on that. Focus on what you got. Choices... How to choose? Well, that's easy. Ask each girl their idea of their dream date. The one that gives you the answer you like best is the one you go with. Easy-breezy, and you'll have a date in time for the wedding!" he told him, getting up and walking Tails to the door. "...What if I don't really like either answer?" he babbled. "That's defeatist talk! Go on, Tails. You're a winner! Go seize your mate, foxy-fox!" Chet smirked before gently pushing him out the door and shutting it behind him! Tails gulped. "Well, step one... I need contact with them... Uhhh..." he pulled out his cell phone. He couldn't just do this over the phone, though...

Tails invited Cosmo and Marine both to visit the church to "hang out." Arriving before them, Tails found himself getting increasingly nervous. He needed a bit more help. Seeing Punchy and Rainbow busy discussing something with Amy, he found Sonic relaxing in a seat on break. "Sonic... save me!" he babbled. Sonic looked at him and entered that cross-legged therapist pose as he examined the fox's flustered look. "What's the problemo, buddy?" he asked. "It's a long story, but in order to figure out who I should...date... I need to ask Marine and Cosmo about their dream dates." he babbled. Sonic scratched his head. "Must be a long story. No need to explain. I'll ask 'em for ya!" he offered, standing up. Tails had a look of immense relief. "Y-you will?" he gasped. Sonic patted his head. "Sure, little bro. Just stay outta sight." he said. Tails ducked into the aisles, using the seats of the church to hide as Marine walked inside. "Ooooh... What a schmancy place this is! It'll be a ripper place for a party!" she grinned, looking around. Sonic sped over to her while Tails crept closer carefully, keeping out of sight. "Hey, Marine!" he grinned. "Hey, mate! Ya seen Tails about? He sounded bored with the whole weddin' plannin' thing, so cappn' Marine is here ta lift his spirits!" she said. Sonic chuckled softly. "I'm sure he'll turn up. Hey, um... I'm taking a little...survey. For the...wedding...yeah. So, I wanna hear all about what your dream date would be like, real quick!" he asked. Tails nodded from his hiding place. "Good cover, Sonic..." he murmured. Marine had a playful grin. "Oh, it'd be a real ripsnorter! My guy would be like my first mate, an' we'd set out for an awesome, amazing adventure! Maybe we'd run across a kraken out at sea! Or we'd get captured by carnivorous bandicoots and have to mount a ripper escape! We'd be like action heroes!" she giggled. Tails gulped. That was like the total opposite of what he'd wanna do. On the other hand, maybe Marine wasn't taking this seriously. She didn't seem to take anything seriously. Cosmo came in soon after, and once Sonic sent Marine on her way, he asked the same question of the seedrian. "Oh, um... Well, I suppose he'd be a real gentleman. We'd get all dressed up and go to a nice restaurant... Maybe spend the night slow dancing... It'd be so lovely..." she told Sonic. Her answer was the exact opposite of Marine's, and yet it didn't sit well with Tails either. She sounded...a bit stuffy. Maybe TOO mature? Before Sonic was done talking to Cosmo, Amy came up to them. "Sonic...Marine said something about a romance survey you're taking... Why wasn't I informed?!?!" she growled, eyes seemingly on fire. Sonic backed up a bit, and Cosmo looked nervous. "You're not interviewing for yourself, are you Sonic?" Cosmo babbled. That did it. Amy lifted her hammer with a frenzied yell, forcing Sonic to flee! Tails let out a sigh. "Sonic needs the biggest apology ever later..." he murmured.

Cosmo and Marine decided to hang out for a bit, and Tails continued to hide for a while, feeling miserable. Soon, he heard a very welcome voice. "Tails? What are you doing on the floor?" It was Cream, who sat down near him. Tails got up with a shy blush. "I, uh... N-nothing. What's up, Cream?" he asked. She shrugged. "I just came to hang out with Amy, but she's busy trying to kill Sonic again." she giggled. Tails chuckled along with her, sitting beside her. He had a shy look, and he decided to say something. "Cream... I was overhearing this...survey... and wondering how you might answer." he babbled. Cream glanced at him. "Yes?" she asked. He sighed nervously. "What would...your dream date be like?" he asked her. Cream had a cute smile. "Oh... Well, it needn't be anything special. If I know he likes me, we could just play together... We could watch a movie at home... We could eat at that burger shop and just talk and laugh together!" she smiled, "And when we're all done...we can watch the sunset... cuddled up together...just the two of us..." she sighed with a wistful, nostalgic look. Tails had a similar look on his face as he listened to her. "...I like that... Very much..." he murmured. Cream nodded. "Yeah... I hope my date for the wedding thinks like that, too!" she smiled. Tails' heart sank upon hearing those words. "Y-you...have a date?" he stammered. Cream nodded. "Yeah...don't you?" she asked. Tails was torn up inside, but he didn't want to make Cream upset. "I, uh... Almost..." he babbled, and then forced a smile to show Cream. "I... I'm happy you're...doing so well, Cream..." he told her. Cream hugged him, and his ears drooped a bit knowing it was a mere friend-hug. "I'm glad you're doing well, too. Need me to put in a good word with that date you're trying to get?" she asked. He cleared his throat. "Uh...no... I'm good..." he stammered. Cream smiled, but looked away as Amy's shouting could be heard getting closer. "I'd better see if I can calm Amy down. Let's catch up at the wedding, Tails! Bye!" she said, rushing off. Tails waved to her, a sadness cast over him. "Good bye..." he murmured, "...Great, now I HAVE to pick someone to be my date." he murmured. "Might be good for you, Tails. That was hard just to watch!" said Rainbow as her head poked up from behind a seat again. Tails was starting to tear up, and Rainbow went around to give the fox a hug. "It's okay, sweetie... You'll be okay..." she consoled him.


Gemini and Timothy were imprisoned deep within the Zodiac Council of Divine Masters' base of operations. Their wands were confiscated, and Carrie was being held in a separate cell not too far away, one that her psychokinesis could not allow her to escape. Sitting hopelessly in their cell, Gemini and Timothy were soon met by Ophiuchus in his serpentine form. "I just have one question about bathroom visits, since Gem and I are sharing a cell..." Timothy stammered. "Silence!" Ophi sneered, "Do you know why you are here, Gemini?" he asked. Gemini nodded slowly, and Ophiuchus grinned widely. "No, you don't. You see, I let you leave with that book. I was testing you." he informed her. Gemini stared at him. "Testing me? How...?" she asked. Ophi held onto the bars as he stared into the cell at her. "I wanted to see what you would do with the information. Sadly...your ultimate decision failed to take the larger picture into account. You see, here in the Zodiac Council...we always plan for the long game. Unfortunately, you represent the failure of one of our plans, now. You're not worthy of the name 'Gemini!'" he snarled. As the snake was backing away, Gemini ran to the bars, grabbing them. She could tell...he knew the answers to the questions nagging at the back of her mind. "Who am I!? Why did my teacher disguise himself from me!? Is... is Libra really my sister?? WHO AM I!?" she cried, only for Ophiuchus to casually walk towards the exit. "Maybe if I'm feeling charitable later, I'll allow some of your questions to be answered... That's if I don't decide to have you wiped from the timeline entirely! You've been more trouble than you're worth!" he shouted back as he left the prisoners alone. Timothy shivered. "H-he wouldn't really disappear us from the whole timeline... would he?" he stammered. "Well, he totally can!" Carrie shouted from her cell, "Who's bright idea was all this time travel, again?" she asked. "Not mine! You lot made me see too much... I hope I get to eat ya!" Gemini and Timothy backed away from the left wall of the cell as they heard the voice of the crazy echidna from the last cell Timothy and Carrie had been thrown into. "...We need to escape..." Gemini whispered. With that statement of the obvious, the question remained...was escape even possible? And...was Gemini about to miss Punchy and Rainbow's wedding by being prisoners of Zodiac?

To be continued... in part one of a Sonic GeneX Musical Extravaganza!! (sadly still all text, but as close as we'll ever get!)