GeneX - Soleanna Struggle
Chapter 23 - The Time-Space Rift

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.

"Shadows of dark creatures.
Steel clouds floating in the air.
People run for shelter!
What gonna happen to us?" - Open Your Heart, Sonic Adventure


On the way back to Crisis City, Gemini thought of how to get Guard home. He couldn't stay in the future, but there were no Time Stones left to return them to the past. "Grrrr... Is there any other way to travel through time? Grrrr... A spell, perhaps?" Guard asked. Gemini shook her head. "There are no time travel spells for the type of magic I study. But there are other ways to travel through time..." she said. Suddenly, she remembered something. "The Chaos Emeralds! Silver had two of them! With those, we could go back to the past!" Guard scanned ahead for signs of Silver or the Chaos Emeralds. "Grrrr, follow me!" he said, leading Gemini ahead. Silver hadn't gone far. He was still upset over what happened to Blaze, and was walking rather slowly. "Silver! We need your help!" Gemini shouted as she and Guard approached him. "What is it?" Silver asked. "Grrrr... We need to use those Chaos Emeralds so I may return to my own time." Guard explained. Silver held up the cyan and white emeralds he was carrying with him. "Uh... What about you, Gemini? Are you going back, too?" he asked. Gemini thought about it for a moment. "I really should go back and see if my friends are all right... But then again, I could return at an early time, so it'll be like I never left! Even if I can't change the past to save my friends, I'd like to at least say good-bye to the new friends I made in the past." she said. Silver nodded. "I'll go tell the Freedom Fighters your decision. Have a safe trip!" he said, holding out the Chaos Emeralds to use them. "Chaos Control!" The two Chaos Emeralds glowed brightly for a moment, and then a time vortex appeared in front of Silver! "Grrrr... Thanks. Good-bye!" Guard said, jumping into the vortex. Gemini followed. "I appreciate this, Silver! Bye!"

The vortex led Gemini and Guard to the jungle of Soleanna back at the present time. As they fell out of the vortex, they stumbled, and Gemini dropped the purple Chaos Emerald, which she'd forgotten she was carrying! It tumbled across the floor, and landed at the feet of Mephiles the Dark! He levitated the Chaos Emerald over his head, and then lowered it into his hand. As it fell into his clutches, Mephiles appeared to be smiling, despite having no mouth. It was eerie. "I told you it would be mine sooner or later..." he said, looking down on Gemini and Guard as they stood up from their fall. As Gemini gazed up at him in contempt, Mephiles laughed at her. "You are one pathetic life form. Don't worry, you'll be put out of your misery shortly... There's just one thing I have to do!" he said. Guard jumped to chase after him, but he was too late. Mephiles quickly teleported away...


Heather landed the Hurricane somewhere in the middle of the large, grassy plains where she and Copter had talked before. As they hopped down from the plane, they could think of nothing more than resting. "It sure has been a tiring day... I think I could just fall asleep here..." Copter said, exhausted from the battle that had taken place moments ago. Heather stepped away from the Hurricane, gazing out over the plains. "Am I free now? Are our battles over? It feels weird... I don't know what to do with myself..." she said. It seemed like a dream to her. She'd never been so happy. "Don't get too carried away. Certain people might still be looking for you!" Copter reminded her. Heather looked back at him, smiling. "Don't be a killjoy, Copter! What could go wrong now?" she asked. Lospecter's voice rang out through the field in response. "Nothing could go wrong, now! At least, not for us!!" As Copter stood up to look for Lospecter, Heather was suddenly enveloped by a pillar of slime, which appeared to come out of nowhere! "Heather!!!" Copter shouted, swinging his tails at the slime, only to be tossed away by the slime! As he looked helplessly at the swirling vortex of ectoplasm, he could see Heather struggling and screaming! "Let her go, Lost Ones!" he shouted. "Not a chance." said Lospecter, who was now hovering beside him. "She has the perfect soul inside her! But don't worry, it's not the soul you've come to love!" he explained, chuckling and pointing to the slime tornado. As Heather struggled, her spirit appeared to be separated from her body! However, as the spirit left her, she continued struggling! On closer inspection, Copter noticed that the spirit looked somewhat different from Heather. It looked more sinister! As the dark spirit was absorbed by the slime, Heather was tossed out of it! Copter quickly caught her in his arms before she hit the ground, but she quickly jumped out of his arms and back to her feet. "Th-that felt weird! What did you do to me!?" she shouted. Lospecter hovered beside the slime pillar and laughed at them. "Relax, I just fed the soul of your dark side to Losipher here! Consider yourself lucky you had two souls to spare, and he only needed one! Now, prepare to meet misery incarnate! Wakey, wakey, Losipher!" As Lospecter spoke, the slime cyclone began to take shape, and within moments, Losipher was born before their eyes! "AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaahhhhhh ha ha ha ha!!! Gaze upon me, and know fear! I am Losipher the Lost!!" he screamed malevolently. Copter and Heather prepared for battle. "Good for you, but we're gonna stop you!" Copter said. Heather seemed more confident and bold than usual as she created a fireball in her hand. "Thanks for freeing me from my dark side! Now, I can fight you without losing myself to it!" she said. Lospecter laughed at them like this was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. "You think you can stop us now? Please, we won't even waste our time with you! Time to go, my new para-abnormal pal!" he said. In a moment, Lospecter and Losipher sank into the ground, vanishing before them. "Why do I get the feeling that this is the start of something really bad...?" Copter said as he and Heather exchanged worried looks.


Sonic and Elise were walking through the mountainous region near Kingdom Valley, making their way back to Soleanna. As they walked, they suddenly heard a sound behind them. Turning around, they were blinded by a flashing light coming from a purple Chaos Emerald! As they squinted through the light, trying to figure out what was happening, Mephiles rose from the ground behind them! Without speaking a word, the dark being held out his hand towards Sonic, and from it came a giant beam attack! Sonic gasped in pain as the beam pierced his back, continuing right through his body and a good distance in front of him! Elise could only scream in horror as she watched Sonic being skewered by the white beam coming from Mephiles's hand! In a moment, Mephiles halted the beam. It hadn't actually caused any visible injury, but it was clear Sonic was hit hard. He lurched forward a moment, and then dropped slowly to the ground! Elise ran to him, kneeling beside the injured hedgehog and shaking him. "Sonic? Sonic!" she called, trying to wake him, but it was no use. She turned him onto his back, and he remained motionless on the ground. As a horrifying truth began to become clear, Mephiles began laughing manically and victoriously. Elise called to the hedgehog one more time. "Sonic?" There was no response. Feeling the worst had just happened, Elise thought back to what her father had once told her: "Yes, Elise... Don't cry, no matter what happens..." As her father's voice faded in her mind, she tried to heed his advice, but found she just couldn't hold it in. This was too terrible, and she couldn't simply ignore it. "No.... No..... NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Tears flowed forth from her eyes as she screamed out in pain and sorrow! As she did, her tears called forth the flames within her! A giant fireball burst forth from Elise's body, and hovered overhead. Mephiles laughed once more as his plan came full circle. "Finally! The seal is broken! At long last, I'll be able to join with you... Iblis!" he shouted, gazing up at the fireball with excitement. He held out the purple emerald and levitated it high into the air. "Now, Chaos Emerald, it's time for the final curtain call!" he said in a sinister tone. The time the Doomsayer had spoken of was now. It was the beginning of the end!


At Dusty Desert, Shadow had managed to defeat the Mephiles army, which was now nothing more than a giant black smear circling the area where he, Rouge, and Omega now stood. Shadow put his restraint rings back onto his wrists and looked down at the green and yellow Chaos Emeralds. As he did so, they suddenly began to glow brightly!

Meanwhile, at the base of Eggman Nega, Punchy and Fera were still fighting away while Rainbow held onto the Time Stones, cheering Punchy on. Without warning, the Time Stones suddenly began glowing brilliantly, startling Rainbow into dropping them! As Punchy and Fera turned to see what was happening, the light covered the entire room!

High above Soleanna, Mephiles hovered amidst a huge ball of flames! The seven Chaos Emeralds had been drawn to him as his fusion with Iblis began, and were now encircling him, filling him with power! As Iblis's flames consumed his body, a bright light burst forth from them, and from the light, a single being began to emerge! As the fusion was completed, the light shone even brighter, catching everything as it spread! Tails, Knuckles, and Amy covered their eyes and shouted in panic as the light directly above them obscured them from view. Razor, Chet, Katie, Tommy, and Mia had just arrived back in Soleanna, and were blinded by the light moments later! "What's happening!?" Chet shouted. "I think the sun is crashing into the earth!" Mia yelled in panic. Still, the light kept spreading, and soon found its way to Guard and Gemini in the jungle. "Grrrr!!! That light!!!" Guard growled. "Mephiles... Could it be?!" Gemini gasped. Even still, the light continued, and caught Sergeant Gunner at the GUN outpost. "Spy, what IS that light!? What's going on!?" Gunner snarled. Spy was even blinded with his sunglasses on. "I don't know, but would now be a good time to ask for a raise?" he asked, prompting Gunner to try to smack him. The light consumed the entire planet, and even spread through time itself, catching Fred, Evelyn, Adam, and Gator eventually. As the light faded, everyone would find the world changed.

As everyone opened their eyes, they found themselves in a strange new world. The sky had become a strange mix of dark blues and purples, and seemed to be caught in a strange energy. In the center of this new world was a giant light, that looked like a new sun! A group of Sonic's friends, which included Silver and Dr. Eggman, were near the center of this place, while everyone else seemed to be in front of the castle of Soleanna, which looked as it did in the future. As Adam the Bat walked over to the ledge where the castle had been pulled from its original location, he found that they were now rather high up! "Ulp... This is surreal... How'd we get up here!? And why does the festival torch look brand new, while the castle still looks ancient?" he wondered aloud. Gemini spotted Adam and ran to him. "What are you doing here!? I thought I was back in the past!" she said. Guard, who had followed her, motioned behind them. "Grrrr.... We are not alone." he said. It was true! Scattered around the area were many familiar faces, and a few not so familiar. Copter pushed through the crowd, along with Heather, Punchy, and Rainbow, to get a look around. "What's going on here!? First this dude called Losipher jumps us, now this!" Copter grumbled. "Anyone seen Fera or the Time Stones?" Punchy asked. Illusi appeared in the area in a puff of smoke. "It's all over! Look at that light! It can only mean one thing!" he said, terrified. Eggman Nega was hovering overhead in his Egg Mobile. "It would appear that everyone was caught up in some sort of... spatial distortion..." he said. Vortex, Zipp, Crash, and Whisk were standing near the ledge to Adam's left, gazing down at Sonic's friends. "Aww, shut up, Eggman wannabe! We all figured that out long ago! Now be quiet, I'm trying to find out how this happened!" Zipp said. Zeke dropped down from overhead, with Spiny on his back. "You guys have to see this! It's a doozy!" Spiny chuckled, motioning to the group of Sonic's friends below them. Chet pushed through the crowd, accompanied by Razor. "Lemme through! I got binoculars!" he shouted. Mia ran after Chet and snatched the binoculars from him. "Stop stealing my binoculars, you moron! Now, let me see what all the ruckus is about down there..." she said. As she gazed into the binoculars, she suddenly dropped them, gasping in disbelief. "Look, everyone! Lissssten!" Vortex shouted, pointing to Zipp. "I'll put my helmet on speaker! Listen to Eggman!" he said. "Oh, great! Eggman's behind this, eh? I should have known!" Sergeant Gunner grumbled as he pushed to the front of the crowd gathering around Zipp. Eggman's voice was heard through Zipp's helmet. "Iblis's seal has been broken..." Eggman said, motioning to the motionless hedgehog lying nearby. "Due to Mephiles's manipulation!" As Mia's binoculars were passed around the crowd, everyone saw what Mephiles had done. As Copter looked through them, he handed it to Punchy and backed away from the ledge. "N-no... I saw him, just moments ago! Th-this can't be..." he stuttered. "Ohmigosh! Speedy's... dead!!" Rainbow shouted, telling everyone the grim truth. Jet the Hawk grabbed the binoculars from Rainbow. "Who's Speedy?" he muttered. Spiny laughed excitedly as everyone realized it. "No more of that miserable hedgehog! Everyone can stop mistaking me for him! I love it!! Ha ha HA!" he said. Jet threw the binoculars to the ground in angry disbelief. "Was it really..." Wave asked him. Jet was growling. "No! He... he can't die yet!! He owes me a rematch!! I was gonna prove I was the fastest in the world... You... CURSE YOU, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!!!" he screamed. Fred stood beside Zipp and hushed the crowd. "Calm down! There's still more for us to hear!" he said. As everyone quieted down, Eggman's voice came over Zipp's helmet again. "Mephiles played us all for fools! His plan all along was to cause the princess to be so consumed with despair, that she'd cry..." he said. Silver's voice was heard over the helmet next. "So, that's why he wanted me to kill Sonic before!" he realized. "Silver..." Gemini gasped in disbelief. Suddenly, crying was heard behind the crowd. Everyone turned around to see Bill, Bob, Tommy, Char, and Alpha standing around Cream and Cheese, who were crying. SPOT let out an electronic growling sound directed at Alpha. "Stupid doggy. You made the little dopey dope cry!" Alpha said. "You're the one who made her cry! Talking about Sonic like he was nothing but a target!" Tommy shouted. Char kicked Alpha in the head. "Fun is fun, but I didn't want anyone to die!" he sobbed, flying over to Cheese and patting him on the back to comfort him. Gunner laughed mockingly at the scene. "If you ask me, that rodent got exactly what he deserved!" he growled. "No one asked you, old man!" Bill shouted. The entire group began to go into an uproar over the situation, when suddenly, a loud roar was heard from the giant light in the center of the area, and the whole world seemed to shake! Everyone turned their attention to the light, and Eggman Nega called for everyone's attention. "That creature is Solaris. If left unchecked, it will consume all existing timelines, and all of time will collapse, destroying everything!" he said. "Sounds like fun! Let's dance the world away!" Alpha giggled, jumping in place. "This time-space rift was caused by the instability of time... I think..." Illusi said. Zipp nodded. "That's what Shadow says, but listen!" he said, turning the speaker on his helmet back on. "It won't remain for much longer..." Eggman said in defeat. "We've no time to waste! We've got to defeat it, now!" Knuckles shouted. "No. It is a transcendent life form that exists in the past, present, and future. Defeating it here, now, would do nothing!" Eggman replied. After a pause, Silver spoke up. "No, I won't give up! There has to be a way! If you say it exists in the past, present, and future, I'll destroy them all at once!" he declared. "Certainly, it might have been possible, if he was still alive..." said Shadow, turning to Sonic. As everyone's thoughts turned to despair again, Elise felt a strange wind. "Sonic..." she muttered. "What's the matter?" Silver asked. Elise's eyes went wide as she spoke. "I feel Sonic's presence in the wind... I don't think he's dead yet! I'm sure of it! It's not too late!" she realized. Suddenly, Silver had an idea. "Of course! Let's call him back with the power of the Chaos Emeralds!" he said, walking over to Elise. "Focus your thoughts on using its power to perform this miracle! You can do it, princess!" he explained. "I can?" Elise asked. "You were the vessel that was used to seal Iblis! You should be able to use the gems' power to rescue Sonic's soul!" Silver told her. It didn't take long for Elise to make up her mind. "I'll do it!" she said.

At this point, Zipp turned off his helmet's speaker. "All right! Looks like we have a plan!" Punchy said excitedly. "It won't work!" came a voice from inside the castle! As the castle door opened, Bucky the Rat stepped into the area! He was limping, and had to use a cane for support, but he had escaped from Shadow Arcangel! "They can weaken Solaris, but even if they do destroy him, irreparable damage has been done to time-space. We're trapped in a time loop, and we can't get out! We'd need a power greater than Solaris's time control!" he said. Everyone looked worried for a moment, when Eggman Nega spoke up. "That's it! There IS a way! The Time Stones!" he said. Punchy nodded in agreement. "Yeah! The Time Stones were immune to the Solaris Prototype! They might be able to break us out of this time loop!" he said confidently. "Where are they, Rainbow?" Rainbow looked at the ground sheepishly. "I dropped them... Sorry, One..." she said. Fred looked unsure of the plan. "It won't work. The user of the Time Stones would need a certain... something... as well. To really overpower Solaris." he said. Whisk stepped forward. "I have the answer! You, Experiment 7!" she said, pointing to Heather. "Me? What could I do?" she asked. Copter snapped his fingers. "Of course! You were created from the Flames of Disaster!" he said. Whisk nodded in agreement. "Yes! If you use the Time Stones, it'd be like combining the flames with the time controller all over again! And if the Time Stones are really more powerful than Solaris, you'll be able to break free from this timeline!" she said. Bucky and Eggman Nega looked thoughtful. "It's a long shot..." Nega said. "But it just might work!" Bucky added. Suddenly, Zipp flew high overhead, carrying SPOT in his arms. "One of us should be able to... Bingo! This sensor puppy caught the energy signature of the Time Stones!" the hornet said excitedly, carrying SPOT back down to Cream. The rabbit looked over SPOT's monitor. "SPOT says the Time Stones were thrown all over this weird place! It seems they landed wherever a Chaos Emerald didn't!" she explained. Vortex scanned the skyline for the different locations the Time Stones were at. "We'll need to ssssplit up to get to them in time!" he reasoned. Everyone glanced around the area and wandered to people they'd want to work with. "Right! Together, we'll get those Time Stones in no time at all!" Jet squawked excitedly. Heather looked to those who might be unable to make the journey. "I'll stay here with everyone who can't go! We'll keep each other safe until you get back! And I promise, I'll free us all from Solaris's power when you get back!" she declared. Everyone let out a cheer and began to split up into groups, each heading after a Time Stone! Meanwhile, Lospecter and Fera were watching from the roof of the castle. "Whoa, we can't let them do this!" Lospecter said. Fera nodded in agreement. "Mephiles promised me he'd kill all those wretched humans, and then return the world to its original state! That's why he asked me to get Heather and the Time Stones! So they couldn't be used against him!" she said. Lospecter held out his cards. "You take one road, the Lost Ones will take the rest! Those doomed humans will make great additions to our army!" he said, flying off to create obstacles and prevent the Time Stones from being collected. Fera hesitated to leave. "OK... I know who I'll take out... There's no way I'll let Solaris be defeated! Prepare to die, human scum!!" she growled, jumping from the roof and heading on her way.


Punchy and Rainbow had traveled to the Dusty Desert region with Eggman Nega, who gave them a ride on the wings of his Egg Mobile. They found their way back to Eggman Nega's base, where one of the Time Stones had been detected. Inside, they found the remnants of Eggman Nega's robots running around the entrance room in a panic! Punchy and Rainbow jumped off of Nega's Egg Mobile and were immediately targeted by the robots. "Ummm.... OK, Nega.... Could you call these guys off?" Punchy said nervously. Eggman Nega pushed some buttons on his controls. "They're not responding! Grrrr!! Minions! Stand down! Bring me the Time Stone hidden in the base!" he shouted. The robots ignored him and began shooting at them! "Yikes!! Good going, Tubby 2! You just made them madder!" Rainbow shouted, running out of the way of the lasers. Punchy prepared to fight back, but Eggman Nega fired some lasers from his Egg Mobile before he could. "Wretched Pawns! I should have known better than to borrow designs from the past Eggman!" Nega shouted, blasting the robots as quickly as he could. "There's no time to waste! I'll handle them, and you two find that Time Stone!" he shouted. Punchy and Rainbow agreed, and quickly charged through the remaining robots, only to find a swarm of losol in the next room! "Hey, who put these here!? This makes no sense!" Rainbow said. Punchy pointed to the center of the room. "There! Those Lost Ones are guarding the Time Stone!" he said. Rainbow grinned excitedly. "Wow, that was easy! OK, One! You smash the slugs, and I'll snag the Time Rock!" she suggested. Punchy raised his hands in preparation for an attack. "Ready, Rainbow? OK, then... Chaos Avalanche!!" he shouted, using all the power he could muster to magically lift several pieces of the ground up from under the losol, hurling them straight up in order to destroy them quickly! Rainbow glided through the chaotic attack and landed near the cyan colored Time Stone in the center of the room. She quickly picked it up and took it back to Punchy. "Got it, One!" she said. Punchy took it from her and turned to leave. "That's great! I hope the others find their Time Stones this easily!"


Despite what Heather had thought earlier, most everyone would make the journey to find the Time Stones. Mia, Katie, and Tommy refused to be left behind, so they joined Guard as he searched GUN Outpost Fiery Red, where they'd previously battled with Sergeant Gunner's Firefly mech. "Grrrr... Stay close to me! Grrrr.... My sensors detect... trouble." Guard warned as they began searching the outpost. As they reached the hallway leading to the central elevator, Mia looked thoughtful. "I haven't seen anything in this base so far. What did you mean when you said you detected trouble?" she asked. Suddenly, Lost Ones that resembled spiders, Lospides, crawled into the hallway from the halls next to the elevator! "Grrrr!! That's what I meant! Grrrr!! Get to the elevator! I'll deal with these beasts!" Guard growled, dashing ahead to challenge the Lospides. "Careful, Tommy! Stay behind me!" Katie said, leading the young porcupine down the hall. "Those things are scary!" Tommy said fearfully. "So, hurry into the elevator before they catch you!" Mia shouted. With Guard to do their fighting, they soon reached the elevator. Tommy stuck his tongue out at the monsters as Guard jumped into the elevator and the door shut behind him. Soon, the elevator reached the prison level, where they found Sergeant Gunner waiting with the purple Time Stone! "Hey guys! I tried to reason with the sarge, but he threatened to shoot me..." Spy said as they stepped off the elevator. "You furry freaks are just trying to pull off an elaborate trick! I'll collect these Time Stones myself and get to the bottom of this!" Gunner snarled, pointing a gun at Guard. Katie pointed behind Gunner. "Aren't those things more dangerous? Point your gun at them!" she shouted. Gunner scoffed at her. "I'm not falling for that trick!" he shouted. Suddenly, he heard a snarling sound behind him. As Gunner and Spy turned around, they found Lospides heading straight for them! Gunner began shooting at the monsters, while Guard quickly ran over to him and took the Time Stone! "Hey, give that back!" Gunner shouted. "Grrrr!! Sorry, 'boss!' You've got bigger problems!" Guard growled, hopping on the elevator with the others and leaving Gunner with the Lost Ones...


Razor and Chet had teamed up to search the Soleanna Castle. It was the same version of the castle that Losipher had taken a Time Stone from in the future, but Razor and Chet simply thought it had gotten damaged in the time-space rift, rather than through age. The castle was rather quiet most of the way, but as they reached the throne room, they found Lospecter waiting for them! "A big, spooky, run down castle, and all they send to visit me is the cop and the robber! What, I don't scare you guys enough to send Copter or Illusi?" Lospecter said sarcastically. "Razor, look!" Chet shouted, pointing to Lospecter. In his ghostly 'hand,' he held the yellow Time Stone! Razor pointed a gun at Lospecter. "Drop the stone and... uh... leave quietly?" he said, unsure if he could really pose any threat to a ghost. "Nice try, officer, but... That was lame! You're so lame, all I'm gonna summon to deal with you are some bats. Losoars, to be more... honest. Have fun!" Lospecter shouted, dropping some cards that transformed into batlike Losoar monsters! The bats flew around the room, slapping Razor and Chet as they passed them! "Ow!! Now what, Razor?!" Chet wondered. "You slash, I shoot! What else?" Razor said, attempting to shoot at the Losoars! Chet's claws were much more useful in this situation, and with his speed, the Losoars proved to be less intimidating than they appeared to be. Still, Lospecter was unfazed. "Look, you can smack my minions all you want, but I'm just slimy smoke! You can't touch me!" he said smugly. "This might! Eat extinguisher!" shouted a voice behind Razor and Chet! Bill and Bob had arrived, and were carrying fire extinguishers, which they quickly fired at Lospecter! "Yaaaaa!!! You hedgehogs are crazy!!! Stop that!!!" Lospecter shouted, coughing. He dropped the Time Stone and flew through the roof, flustered. "All right! I reckon that there spirit never expected that!" Bob grinned. Chet ran over and grabbed the Time Stone. "Where'd you get those fire extinguishers?" Razor asked. Bill shrugged. "The castle halls. This place may look ancient, but it WAS being used in our time!" he explained. As they started to leave, Chet looked over the Time Stone. "I wonder if the others have found any more of these yet... Well, I guess we'd better hurry and find out!"


In truth, Bucky's injuries were minor, and once he got back aboard Shadow Arcangel, which was floating in the strange, purple void that made up Solaris's world, he was ready to lead Team GeneX in the search for the next Time Stone. As the entered Experiment 3's old containment room, though, they found that the Lost Ones had once again overrun the ship! "Curssssed Losssst Onessss!!" Vortex shouted in frustration. "This is worse than when Kosmo tried to destroy the world!" Zipp groaned. "We'll never get through all this in time!" Crash grumbled. Zeke, Spiny, and Whisk didn't look very encouraged either. Suddenly, a powerful barrage of energy blasts soared through the room from behind them, instantly destroying most of the Lost Ones! Turning around, Team GeneX saw the Deathbringer behind them! "Go on ahead! I will cover you!" it shouted. Bucky nodded knowingly. "I thought I'd see you here. Well, you all heard the hooded person! Let's go!"

Together, Team GeneX and the Deathbringer were more than a match for the Lost Ones patrolling the ship, and soon they reached the control room. "Honey, we're home!!" Zeke shouted excitedly. Zipp flew into the room and dove into a pile of boxes in the corner, pulling out various weapons he'd thought were lost. "Guns! Knives! Explosives! Empty bags to leave at the airport and drive the security nuts! I've missed you all!!" he said blissfully. Whisk and Spiny rolled their eyes at him. "He has problems..." Whisk observed. "No kidding..." Spiny groaned. Bucky walked over to the controls of the ship and found the white Time Stone in his seat. "Perfect! We'll fly back to the castle now! ...Hopefully..." he said. Vortex called everyone's attention to the large window in the front of the ship. "Everyone! Look! Ssssolarissss!!!" he shouted, pointing at the ball of light that had begun glowing brighter by now. The Deathbringer looked at it and pointed to the castle in the distance. "There's no time to waste! Solaris is rapidly gaining power! We have to hurry, before it's too late!" No one disputed that, and all of Team GeneX quickly gathered to await Bucky's orders. There truly was no time to lose. The rest of the Time Stones had to be gathered, quickly!

To be continued...