Sonic GeneX - The Series: Zodiac in Time
Mini Episode - Team Dynamics

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.


Crash the Rhino, who'd been robotisized by Eggman during his occupation of the world, had been missing too long. Unable to find him on their own, Team GeneX hired Team Chaotix to help in the search. Thus, Charmy and Zipp were teamed together trying to infiltrate Eggman's reclaimed Darkegg Fortress base. They'd gone in through the ventilation shaft, but all the sneaking around had Charmy bored. "C'mon, Zipp, you got all the guns! Can't we just blast our way in?" he asked. "As fun as that sounds, what if Crash is here and we end up shooting him? ...Hey, yeah, let's try it!" he smirked. Charmy gasped. "No, wait! There could be other Robian friends, too! I'm sorry I suggested it..." he sighed, crawling behind Zipp through the vents without further complaint. "According to my helmet's schematic, the control room should be... here!" Zipp said, kicking out a vent and flying in to find Hoover mopping up the control room. "Gah!! We got a bug problem! I told 'em we oughta spray!" he shouted. Charmy rushed in to bonk Hoover with his stinger, only for Alpha, Terra and Firma to surround him! "Yipe! Umm... You guys know where our Robian friends are?" Charmy asked with an awkward grin. Zipp got the robots' attention by shooting at them. "Get into the vent! This operation's blown! We'll have to search another way!" he shouted. Charmy nodded and flew into the vent with Zipp close behind. "...Wait! I was gonna tell them all about it..." Alpha babbled, "I'm so lonely..." the robot whined as Terra and Firma stomped away from him without a word.

Espio and Vortex returned to the tower, using their chameleon camoflauge to sneak deep into the tower. "I don't recall there being a prison sector here before... Where would Eggman put the Robians?" Espio wondered. Vortex shrugged. "Front linesss? I doubt he thinksss of them asss normal prisssonersss..." he said, looking around to try to find Espio. "Are you ssstill here?" he murmured. Espio was so much better at disappearing than him. "Over here!" Espio said, yanking Vortex to the wall as a security bot flew by. They watched it pass before letting out a sigh. "You gotta teach me ssssome ssstealth." Vortex hissed. "My ninja skills took years to master. I can't simply teach it to anyone..." he said. Suddenly, Char the Chao flew up to them. "You guys know we have heat sensors throughout the base now, right? Robots are on the way to tie you both up!" he warned. Vortex came out of camoflauge and glared at him. "Oh, yeah? Essspio, hold thisss..." he said, grabbing Char and tossing the startled Chao to Espio as he turned and ran back the way they came, blasting any robots that came to stop them with Chaos Inferno! "Umm... Why am I carrying this Chao??" Espio stammered. "Yeah, lemme go! Eggman doesn't negotiate with kidnappers!" Char whined. "My massster will know what to do with you..." Vortex hissed.

Char was soon strapped to a table at Shadow Arcangel as Bucky and Vector discussed what to do next. "Errr... Any chance you'd just tell us where the Robians are bein' kept, Chao?" Vector asked. Char looked away from him. "Yeah, right! ...As if I even know that..." he pouted. Bucky scratched his head. "He may be lying. He's Eggman's only non-robotic agent. Aside from possibly Infinite. Anyone know what happened to Infinite?" he asked, gaining a shrug from Vector. "But he IS a Chao. Maybe Eggman doesn't tell him anything?" he murmured. Bucky's fingers sparked briefly. "There are ways of knowing... The body will not hold secrets if life depends on giving them up..." he said darkly, sparks lightly shooting in Char's general direction as the Chao shivered. Vector watched this nervously. "Uhh... Bucky... I know Crash is kinda like your son, but... Ask yourself... Would he want ya to cross a line to rescue him?" he asked. Bucky sneered. "Lines were crossed everywhere in the war. What is this but the aftermath of the same war? Eggman's actions have consequences..." he sneered. Vector stood between Bucky and Char. "That's true. Actions do have consequences. Think about the consequences of YOUR actions!" he warned.

After a bit of soul searching, Bucky let Char go free. Vortex and Zipp both seemed quite frustrated to be back to square one, but Vector felt differently. "I think we've given Darkegg Fortress a thorough enough look over. If Robians were in there, evidence would've turned up by now." he stated. "There wasn't even any sign of Eggman." Espio pointed out. "Where could he be?" Charmy wondered. Bucky nodded. "Darkegg Fortress would be too obvious a place for Eggman to be hiding with the Robians... But where does that leave us? ...He must be at a new, secret location..." he sighed. With that realization, the search now seemed next to impossible, but one thing was certain: Eggman was still out there. He'd surely turn up again soon, and when he did, they'd find the missing Robians...

End!