Roleplay:The Echo Project

This Roleplay is invite-only, ask permission before joining!

Overview
Years ago, in a project to create the strongest weapon of all time, and the most powerful being ever, G.U.N began a plan known as Project Echo. Project Echo started out as a super-soldier serum, meant to be given to members of G.U.N to increase all of their power. However, the serum was a failure in almost every way, killing all who were introduced to it. Then a new idea submerged. In an accident, a child of one of the scientists was given the serum, and she lived. An idea struck that if they were to take 14 other children, gene splice all 15, and give them all the serum, they could raise an army.

The project ended in a failure, with many of the creations killed, only one truly survived, Echo the Cat. The station where the experiment happened, has now been located, questions can finally be answered, and new ideas can come from this, but will we know for sure what is located behind the walls of this abomination? Will all the answers we seek be there? Will we make it past the hordes of robots, failed experiments, and the secrets of the hold, or will it all come crashing down on top of us? It's time for our heroes to find out.

Rules

 * Do not auto Hit
 * At the same time, do not dodge everything
 * No Godmodding
 * Ask if you wanna join, do not just hop in
 * No Canon characters
 * Please do not de-rail the plot

Participants

 * Neoexlucky
 * TheDarkMantis15
 * Zapor888
 * MaverickHunterSigma
 * DoomDegree
 * Metal
 * FroZen

Involved Characters

 * Echo the Cat (Neo)
 * Ages Tranquil (Neo)
 * Leah the Chao-born (Neo)
 * Zero Evol (Neo)
 * Robots and Experiements (Neo)
 * Time Spinner (Neo)
 * Deadline the Lizard (DarkMantis)
 * ??? (Neo)
 * ??? (Neo)
 * ??? (Neo)
 * Zapor the Hedgehog (Z88)
 * Blade the Hedgehog (Z88)
 * Lexi the Hedgehog (Z88)
 * Leo the Toonarite (Z88)
 * Zak the Kirby (Z88)
 * Argent Hellsing the Wolf (MHS)
 * Rose Hellsing the Wolf (MHS)
 * Yuhi Saisei the Mouse (MHS)
 * Transford Cyber (DoomDegree)
 * Aurum the Hedgehog (FH)

Part 1: The papers
Ages dropped the papers on the coffee table, causing the few objects on it to bounce a little. Their was a large amount of papers in the stack, and it seemed very heavy. Ages gave a quick sighed, and loosened his tie a bit, his suit was getting a little annoying. "We have, one of the biggest problems ever right now." Ages started. "You all have been doing a lot of dangerous work, I know. You've all fought bravely together, you've saved the world several times, most of the cities owe you their lives, I get it. I don't want to put any more work on you, but something has come up. I'd normally just have Neo do this, but since he's gone, I want you all to do it." The red fox took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. "I obtained the files to the original Echo Project, the same project that caused the creation of Echo."

Zapor, now back into his normal form, sat on the couch. "Ok, so what do you want us to do?"

"Yeah, this is about a friend of ours, so we really got to know." Leo said.

"I want to go there." Echo said simply. "And I can't go alone."

"I think that if Echo wants to go see where she was born, she has the right to." Ages agreed. "I only requested she didn't go alone. The last time we dealed with someone in G.U.N, one of us died."

"Hey, he came back just fine!" Zero called.

"Exactly my point." Ages smirked. "I just thought, you know, a chance to learn more about Echo, you might like that." The red fox turned his gaze towards Zapor, with a smirk still on his face. "Especially since, you know, a little birdie told me you two went on a date not that long ago."

Zapor's face turned almost as red as his fur. "Darn you Kenny.." He muttered.

Blade chuckled. "But won't we get attacked if they see us. Last time Zapor went to a G.U.N place, he nearly blew up the whole building."

"They shouldn't have me tied up on a rescue mission!" Zapor said, still blushing.

Zak grinned. "The only way they won't shoot at is if they don't recognize us. So we just have to dress as G.U.N soldiers."

"And I suppose you have a closet filled with them?" Lexi said as Zak nodded.

One of the people Ages had called for, Blitz, wasn't there. Instead, a lizard with a rifle slung over his back and military attire stood leaning against one of the walls of the room. He was notified that, since Blitz appeared to have been preoccupied with something going on in a place called "Fortune Hills", the sniper would have to take his place. At first he objected, saying that as much as he wanted to, he couldn't do this mission without his partner Lockdown. His superior shot that objection down by saying he needed to keep a low profile regarding this mission, and the lizard decided to comply.

Now, he was listening as Ages spoke, nodding at intervals and saying nothing.

"I've already checked it out." Time Spinner said. "The building is nearly abandoned, save for a couple of robots."

"Doesn't sound like too hard of a problem." Leah mentioned. "Why did you call all of us then?"

"It's G.U.N." Ages said simply.

The lizard blinked. GUN was behind this? That seemed... odd. If they were behind this, why would they send one of their own soldiers to accompany Ages in this mission?

He scowled. He had more questions than answers, and that wasn't good.

"He's got a point." Zero agreed. "I'm sure that G.U.N might still have some traps lying around here and there. Not to mention what would happen if Millie or Warlock learned about this."

"Millie already has." Ages said. "Or that's what I bet at least. I got this stuff from an info broker from A.R.T.E and knowing them, they've probably already sold this information, and their closest buyer is Millie."

"But, there is a room that I want to see..." Echo said. "I...I keep seeing this room and I want to find out why it's so important."

"What room?" the sniper said finally.

"Well... I don't know..." Echo said. "It...had a lot of computers in it...and something that looked kind of like a bed...but there were not blankets...and I remember a bunch of other people being in there. A bunch of other kids."

"Other kids?" the sniper questioned further.

"The...uh...other experiemnts..." Zero started.

"The Echo Project was made to make a series of super soldiers, with a serum that worked well on children." Ages explained. "According to the report, there were originally Echo's 1 through 15, but most of them died when they tried to escape. The only one that we have left is Echo-01, the one that is right here."

"I know that 14 is still alive though!" Echo piped up. "But....Echo-14 is probably long gone by now..."

"Well, if we're ever gonna find where Echo-14 is, or anything else important for this matter, we gotta go to that old abandoned base and search that place like cops!" He then runs out of the door.

Blade's face:-_-' "You don't even know where it is."

Zapor walks back in. "Oh.."

"Well, wherever it is, I'll bet it won't be easy getting in," the lizard commented.

Zak pulls out a G.U.N costume from his mouth, or in this case spat it out. "Unless you have a disguise to make the robots think you are a G.U.N soldier."

"Erm...I'm not wearing that stuff..." Leah said.

"Besides, shouldn't most of the robots already be deactivated?" Zero mentioned. "Back when I worked for G.U.N, they didn't send energy to old bases."

"My thoughts exactly." Ages agreed. "But this is a G.U.N base we're talking about, there is bound to be traps, and if Millie's gang finds it, Echo won't be able to fight them all by herself, which is why I need you guys to go with her."

"I can deal with Millie's partners" a dull and expressionless voice rang out behind the group. There was what looked like a black hedgehog with a brown coat was behind them.

"Ok, that's good to hear, but if we're gonna go to the old abandoned base, we'll have to know where it is." Lexi said. "Oh and Zak, I am not putting that on."

"We don't kill." Ages said simply. "Why you're here, is a mystery to me, but you follow my family's rules."

"And don't worry, I know where it is." Zero said. "I've been there, but I couldn't find anything interesting there..."

The sniper tapped his foot impatiently. When were they going to go?

The black 'hedgehog' pulled the gun from Zero's hand and once again spoke in a dull voice "I'll lead,  their is a secret entryway located at the base of the mountain and the suits will not be required"

"Then lets quit standing waiting and get going!" Zapor ran out the door again and went into a car in Neo's driveway and honkedits horn.

Zero's eyes flashed red. He stood straight up and grabbed the 'hedgehog'. Leah and Time Spinner also stood up, both their hands glowing and Echo already had a card out. "You. Do. Not. Touch. Weapon." He growled angrily. "You let her go right now."

Ages calmly stood up, and eased everyone down. "Listen here, 'Transford'." Ages said in a smooth voice. "What you're holding right now isn't a normal weapon, it's a chao, Zero's chao in fact. You need to give it back. You also need to realize that you do not lead this group, Neo does. And since Neo is not here, Zero will be leading this. Furthur more, I think you have your wires crossed, the base isn't on a mountain, nor does it have a secret entrance. I've checked over it myself, along with Fate and Neo. There is no secret entrance."

"Yeah, and if you abuse a chao while Zapor's around, you can ask the 10 people he put in the hospital about why you shouldn't hurt one." Leo said.

Zapor yelled out the car. "Hey, you want a chao not to reincarnate,  you got problems!"

The black "hedgehog" gave Zero his chao back and once agqin spokein a dull voice "Transford was teterminated on October 19, GUN took blood samples and created my CPU from his memories,  Transford's sins are not my own."

"Somehow I doubt that." Zero said softly and took the chao back. "Alright, everyone in the car."

"Not everyone." Ages said. "I need to speak to Zapor before you guys leave."

Zapor lets out a "dang it" sigh and walks in the house. "See you on the flipside." Blade said.

Zak pats his back. "Stay strong, dude." He walks to the car.

"......So...?" Zapor said making an "alright I know your mad at me so lets just get it over with" gesture.

"I get the feeling he's not gonna hear the end of it anytime soon..." Argent said.

"Shut up, bro. You're gonna jinx us..." Rose said.

Ages kneeled down a little so that he was face to face with Zapor before he spoke. "Now listen Zapor..." He said calmly. "Echo really cares for you, and I care about Echo. So I want you to make sure that you keep her safe, alright?" He smiled weakly. "And if anyone tries anything that might cause some problems, punch them in the face for me."

Zapor smiled. "And make them have a bloody nose so they feel like jerks?"

The sniper exited the room and hopped into the car that Ages told them to enter. "If I fall asleep, poke me and I'll get back on my feet," he said as he settled into the back seat.

"Exactly." Ages said and stood up. "Now go get in the car."

Zapor ran out the door, and did a cartwheel into the car which hit Leo in the face. "Alright, Zero start it up!"

"I call changing the radio!" Zak said.

As the car backed out the driveway, Zapor saw Ages standing by the window giving him a thumbs up. Zapor gave a thumbs up back to Ages.

Part 2: The Asylum of Echoes
It didn't take too long for the group to make it to the building. There was moss growing up the siimmediately" walls and many of the windows are dusty and cracked. The door though stood strong and wouldn't budge. "What's up with it?" Leah asked. "I feel weaker when I touch it."

"It's soul metal, it drains the power of the soul." Zero said. "And the electrical currents that flow through the door when it detects metal, helps. It's basically a giant tazer." He pulled a card out and slid it over the side of the door, causing a clicking sound and forcing the door open with a jut. The inside of the building was a simple hallway with two doors. One lead to a stair case and the other led to an empty room with a broken mirror. "Don't look in the mirror." Zero said as they passed. "Just trust me, don't question it." He lead the group down the stairs into a long hallway filled with ash-covered mobian statues.

"Jeez, this is like dead space all over again." Blade said.

"Ah, except we aren't in space, there aren't any zombies, we.." Zak was cut off by Lexi kicking him and motioning toward Echo. "Oh, sorry."

The sniper followed the others, brandishing a light handgun and flicking the safety off.

Cyber scanned eaxh statue and found out the statues were rigged "get out of here, now" he said in his dull tone.

Echo walked forward as she looked at the statues. She stopped at one statue and stared at it. "Dr. Tungsten." She said. "He was one of the scientists that worked with us. He wasn't really a bad guy, you know? Like he somewhat cared about us." She looked to the statue next to him and scowled. "And that is Dr. Palladium, our battle systems trainer. Now he was a jerk."

Zapor walked up to the Dr.Palladium statue and punched it in the face. That, however, caused the statue to fall and the head to fall off. "Oh.....sorry."

All the statues began too glow orange, Cyber pushed the entire group out of the room as the bombs went off.

"Oh my God, Argent, a bomb!" Rose said.

"A bomb!" Argent replied, not unlike a JC Denton.

"When the bombs detonated, they sent a Signal too GUN and a strike force will be on its way here too make sure you are dead" Cyber explained in his emotionless voice.

"How do you even know all this?!" Zak yelled as he waved his nub hands in the air.

"Don't worry. Three statues were duds. The one Echo thinks is nice, and two others. I don't who these are, but I'll hold em for just reasons!" Zapor said.

Zero shook his head. "He doesn't." He answered Zak. "None of the statues gave off a signal. I've already checked."

"Those two are..." Echo started as she stared at the other two statues. "I...don't know who those two are...or I can't remember at least. I think the one on the left is Dr.Radon. He acted really tough, but he treated Echo-11 like a son, unfortunatly he was one of the scientists that died first."

"In any case." Time Spinner began. "We need to go see the next room."

The group moved forward finding another room which hled another group of statues, though these did not look like scientists. These statues had people who held weapons and other objects in threatening ways. "These were the agents." Echo explained. "We got our genetic material from them."

Zero looked at three piles of dust on the floor. One with the name tag "Agent Number" another with the nametag "Agent Destiny" and a final one, which was missing a name tag, but someone had wrote "Mystic Down" into the dust.

"You think these statues will explode?" Leah asked.

"'Mystic Down'?" the sniper repeated.

"Just a couple words that keep haunting us." Zero said as he kicked the dust aside. "No, there isn't anything on them..." He turned to Leah. "These statues look normal."

The sniper looked around warily. He didn't like the statues at all...

"I don't understand why these statues are here..." Echo said as she put her hand on her deck of cards. "I mean, we didn't have this many people in the Echo-"

Upon the word Echo being said, there was a loud screeching sound and the statues started moving towards Echo and the group, who were right next to the next door, which was locked.

The sniper turned and fired a bullet at the statues, hoping to get them down quickly.

Blade hets his katanas ready. "Ok, does anyone else want to know why they have statue robots in an old base?"

Rose hopped back, summoning her Stand. "Don't ask questions. I'll just reduce these things to dust in second."

"You know I just realized. Those stands are also on the JoJo's bizzare adventure game coming out." Lexi said as she got in her battle stance.

"Ok, that's fine, but we got statues and no time, so..yeah." Zapor stated as he pull out his missile launcher.

Zero took a step back, and pulled a card through the door's slide. "The lock doesn't work." Zero gruffed. "Looks like we-"

The door opened, causing light to pour into the room, and an orange hedgehog to step through. "Come on, get in!" Th hedgehog said.

The sniper fired off a few more shots before running into the room, making sure to fire at the statues again should they try to attack his fellows.

"New guy!" Zapor ran to the door, followed by Lexi, Leo, Zak, and Echo. Blade tossed another fireball before he got in.

Argent and Rose rushed into the room, turning to see if anyone was having trouble with the statues.

A red mouse had slashed at the statues as she slid into the room.

Leah, Zero, Echo, and Time Spinner all rush into the room.

Blade shuts the door behind them and gets a rifle to block the doorknob. "So..you're a new guy? Thanks..." Blade finds it weird that the new guy came to the rescue despite the fact they don't know him.

The sniper kept his pistol raised, now alert. He wasn't going to let his guard down.

Standing in front of the group was another group of three people, one being the hedgehog that opened the door for them. The hedgehog was orange, wore Silver clothes and had iron gloves on his hands. A purple rat, that looked just as tall as he was, wore a simple silver dress and blue heels. The last one was a small echidna that wore a green robe and brown shoes. "Well, most of you don't know us." The hedgehog said. "But we know one of you."

Echo stared in disbelief at the group in front of him. "04...?"

"Hiya, kid." The hedgehog smiled.

Zapor smiles also. "Wow, and we just talked about him a couple of hours ago! And find him!"

"Rescue party dance?" Zak said.

"Rescue party dance after this mission!" Zapor said.

The sniper lowered his weapon. "Friendlies. Good."

A figure in the shadows reloaded a shotgun and a blade extended from his left arm

"No...that was 14, this is 04...and 11..." She pointed to the rat. "And...02..."

"We're not called by our numbers anymore." 04 said. "You can call me Thomas, 11 is Sedna, and 02 is Sierra."

"What are you doing here?" the lizard said bluntly. He had names now, so he thought he might as well get some info.

"Well, we were creations from the Echo Project, just like 01, here." Thomas began.

"But unlike 01, we had soul links." Sedna said. "Well, Sierra and I did, Thomas chose to stay with us so that we could be safe, but after we deactivated our soul links, we couldn't get out. The statues started to become an annoyance that way, and there are a couple of other problems down the other way."

"Describe said 'problems'..." Argent said. "I don't want anymore 'surprises'."

"So basically your trapped? That sucks more than a lollipop." Blade said.

"I guess the GUN knew that they would try to leave so they made the statues robots so they would prevent them from escaping." Zak said.

"And now that we've entered, it's only a matter of time before a strike team arrives and destroys the asylum, we must relocate immediately" Cyber said

"No, we still have a job to do. We don't leave until we finish it." Rose said.

"But a strike team? That sounds fun." The mouse said.

"That's what I'm saying. And besides, it's not like they'll bring giant robots at us." Lexi said.

"Job? What's that mean 01?" Thomas asked.

"Echo." The cat said. "My name is Echo."

"...Alright then...what job are you trying to do?" Thomas said slowly.

"I want to find the room, the room where we all slept." Echo said bravely.

"I see...you want to take the back door then." Thomas murmered. "It's in the back, you just gotta keep going. Though there are worse problems back there especially for...us..."

"Elaborate," the lizard prompted. "You've seen them before, I assume, you must know how they work,"

"...How long have you lot been stuck down here, anyway?" Rose asked.

"A while." Thomas said. "I don't remember how long it's been."

Sedna turned to the lizard. "Which one?" She laughed. "The statues outside run when the word 'Echo' is said. Behind door number 2, is a couple other things. Traps, riddles, and that stupid locked door that needs a key card to get passed."

"How did you survive down here, then?" Rose asked again. "Did they leave behind all the military rations or something?"

"A key card? I don't suppose they'd just have one lying around somewhere... having no personel around actually complicates things even more, otherwise you could probably just steal one..." the mouse asked.

"...Yuhi, why are you here, anyway? You just sort of left after that incident in the underground monarchy..." Argent asked.

"I lingered around there for a while... there's a whole nexus of information down there that's rather hard to obtain if you're looking where the sun still shines. I convinced someone from A.R.T.E. to sell me some info on what the so-called 'Guardian Units' have been up to... and then this just sort of came up. I'm not saying what I plan to do with that info now, but now that I'm here, I want to help. These four aren't the only ones who've had their normal lives robbed from them at the hands of G.U.N." Yuhi said.

"Have you guys tried blowing the locked door up?" Zapor said.

The sniper frowned. More and more, he was starting to feel uneasy about what GUN did here... though he kept it to himself.

"...We've tried most things to get that door down." Thomas said. "From soul powers, to dragon techniques, to just blantly shooting it with missles, it just doesn't want to come down."

"Hmm, door that doesn't go down by missiles...strange." Zapor said.

"Have you tried hacking?" Zak said.

Cyber pulled out a cwrd with a GUN symbol and an M '"I have a master card."

"No not that kind of card." Thomas said. "We need a special card, the only one of it's kind. The one that only a member of the echo project can hold. The one that Echo has in her deck."

"Woah, heavy."

"What type of card power is it?" Leo asked.

"Wait a minute, aren't the rest of you products of the Echo Project as well? Are you saying that you weren't issued anything?" Yuhi asked.

"No, not all of us got cards." Sedna said. "Our powers are judged by our numbers. I'm 11 and have Dragon techniques, but I don't have a real weapon. Thomas is 04 and has soul powers, but those attacks do damage to him. The only ones who have the cards are Sierra and Echo, and only Echo has the grey cross card that we need."

"We need to hurry then." Zero said as he stared at the door. "Let's get to this room and get out."

The sniper nodded. "Let's go."

As the group made their way to the room, Zapor needed to think of some questions out of boredom. "So does the grey cross card only open this door or does it have any other powers?"

Oblivious to the group, the dark figure was still watching from the shadows.

"They do other things." Echo said. "I've pulled grey cross cards before, Cross wings, Cross assist, Cross shot, they all do things. There's also Cross drain, which I can use to drain energy from something."

"Right, but The Cross Card, is a big one. It's the only card in it's deck. It's a shame Echo won't need to use the cards once we open the room." Thomas said simply as he walked forward to open the next door.

"Are there other cards?" the lizard prompted, curiousity piqued.

"Most of the cards work in a set. Heart, Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, like a real deck. Though I remember that 03's deck of cards used letters instead of the symbols and 05's was made so that he could see them all correctly, he was color blind." Thomas said simply. "I remember that my deck used animals. Dragons, Ravens, Snakes, Lions, and Cats, but my deck became obsolete after I broke the seal, the thing that keeps our powers locked into the cards."

The group finally got to the door that was locked. "I hate locked doors." Leo said.

"So... wait a minute. Once we reach the room, the limit on Echo's deck will release and she can use her powers at will?" Rose asked.

"That is correct." Sedna said. "Once the seal is released, Echo's gonna get a huge bonus to power."

Part 3: The trial hall
The group entered the next room to find that there was a person standing there. His face couldn't be seen, and his hands looked robotic. He wore thick robes that matched Sierra's. "Hello there challengers."

"This is...erm...gauntlet." Sedna said. "He doesn't really do anything but talk."

"Well, considering the name and context, I suppose he plans to put us through hell?" Yuhi asked.

"That or they'll just makes us do some stupid riddles." Blade said.

"The trials do include riddles, yes, but they also include tests of strength as well." Gauntlet said. "Now to open this door, you will need to answer a couple of questions. I play from my recordings and you will have to guess what it is." There was some odd, shifting noises coming from Gauntlet and soon a woman's voice spoke from where his voice once spoke.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, blood can only be paid in blood, of what do I speak?"

Deadline pondered for a moment for the answer. ''Huh... it sounds like it's about paying evil unto evil and the like... hmm...''

He looked up as he came up with a possible answer. "Revenge?" he guessed.

"Yes," The recording began. "I was Dr. Eridiate, and I was the one who put power and revenge into the Echo projects, but I was also the reason the the Echo projects were given a chance to escape..."

There was more shifting and Gauntlet spoke up again. "I will now play the next one."

"I have cities with no people, beaches without sand, forests without trees, and countries without land. What am I?"

"Ooh that;s a tough one to answer. I'm stumped." A gold hedgehog lands next to the group. "Sorry I'm late."

Leo raises his hand. "Uh, what happens if we get it wrong?"

Gauntlet does not answer, instead he waits for a reply.

"We...don't know..." Sedna said. "We don't really do riddles with him...he just kinda talks."

"You're talking about a map." Leah said.

"Yes, I was the Dr. Uranium, and I was the one who gave the prodocts of the Echo Project the abilitiy to always find those that will protect them. It was because of this, that G.U.N had me assassinated." There was shifting once more, before a new recording spoke.

"I am what leads every soldier, but not every soldier has me. I am the one that tells you how to answer puzzles, but I am not a person. I can be carried by a weak man, but I might not be carried by a strong man. In the end, I am what wins a fight. What am I?"

"Wouldn't you be talking about a good strategy? " Zak answered.

"I'm gonna have to say wisdom?" Aurum crosses his arms and now looks nervous.

"Yes...I was Professer Mercury, and I was the one who bestowed wisdom into the products, allowing them to think for themselves. At the same time, I was also the one who gave them the ability to tell right from wrong. Some of them chose to use it correclty, others realized that they didn't care whose side they were on."

Gauntlet pauses and silence fills the room before he speaks. "There is another riddle, but it has already been answered..." He says. "Would you like to here it anyways?"

"Yes, please." Echo tolld the robot, who made more shuffling noises before he played a new recording, this one with a familiar voice.

"I take the lives of the innocent, I destroy planets, corrupt empires, force others to my will, and end friendships. I am the end, the beginning, and the middle. I am the one who hides in the shadows. Even the weakest of fools have me, and I am the one who will leave everyone on this planet dead, what am I?"

"*Pant*....*Pant*...I-I don't know..." Sierra's little voice calls. "What are you?"

There is laughing and the sound of a lever being pulled before the familiar voice speaks again. "I am Power. My name is Agent Destiny, civilian name Fate the Cat. I am the one who gave the gift of power and destruction to the products, I am the one who gave them the greatest power of all time, and soon, I will have everything I have ever wanted..." The recording stops and Gauntlet moves away from the door.

"......I don't get it." Zapor said, but after that he was backhanded at the back of he head by Blade.

"That was... no, it couldn't be..." Rose said. "It sounds like her voice, but the words... they don't belong to her... is this some kind of sick joke?!"

"Sierra... do you know something about Fate that we don't?" Argent questioned.

"I don't remember that happening..." Sierra said.

"Right, but most of us had a memory wipe...." Thomas reminded the girl. "We don't know much about our past...especially in events like this..."

"Would anything restore your memory?" Deadline piped up.

"No....nothing will." Sedna said sadly.

"Whoa whoa whoa, let's not get carried away here." Leah said. "I mean, Zero was evil when he worked for G.U.N, it's possible that Fate was too. Plus, remember that those powers, alongside wisdom and the other stuff that those other guys gave them, were what allowed the projects to escape. Plus remember that Fate can't have kids, so the thing that she could have always wanted could have been a daughter, it could have been Echo."

"Leah, that might just  be wishful thinking." Zero said slowly.

"Hey, I can dream, and I'm telling you that Fate isn't evil anymore!" Leah retorted.

"I want to believe that the Fate in that recording isn't the same Fate as the one who's with us now... so that's exactly what I'm going to do." Rose said. "And if I'm wrong, I'll just beat her for every lie that she's told us."

"Or, that Fate could've been a different one. None of us know what happened." Lexi said.

"Well if it is the one we know I'm gonna shove this card I got from her right down her throat...too much?" Aurum looks at the group.

"What do you think Time Spinner?" Zero asked.

"Well...back in Equstria we have a story...a story about Princess Luna." Time Spinner began. "You see Princess Luna and Princess Celestia ruled the land of Equestria together, with Celestia raising and lowering the Sun, and Luna raising and lowering the moon. Princess Luna was upset that ponies of equestria played and basked in the Sunlight, while they slept away her beautiful night. She became so jealous that she refused to lower the moon, and became Nightmare Moon, an evil villain who wanted to keep Equestria in ever-long night. Celestia, having no choice, banished her to the moon for 1000 years and ruled the kingdom by herself."

"So...you think we should banish Fate to the moon?" Zero asked, in a slightly confused voice.

"After 1000 years, Princess Luna returned, and with the help fo the elements of harmony, she was cleansed of evil." Time Spinner continuted and ignored Zero's comment. "I think that it's possible that once upon a time, Fate may have been evil, just Princess Luna was evil during her time as Nightmare Moon. I also think she may have been cleansed of that evil by the elements of harmony, or in the case of Fate, by the children of the Echo project. I think that we should give Fate a chance."

Deadline had remained silent throughout the story. He wasn't interested in it, but made sure to record it with his head-mounted microphone so he could review it later.

Zapor nodded. "Mmhmm...but let's stop talking about MLP. It's too confusing,  colorful, and mushy."

"Zapor, focus. This adventure, no matter how it ends, more or less determines the fate of both Mobius and Equestria. You might wanna pay attention." Argent said.

"Oh yeah, like dictators, betrayal, torture, Slavery, war, and chaos is mushy." Time Spinner mumbled.

"That place had dictators?" Zapor asked.

"Well what do you think they do 'off camera'? The same thing?" Blade said.

The group soon entered the next room which held a group of mirrors ahead of them. A voice, deep and masculine echoed through the hall. "In order to create the perfect species, we had to look in ourselves, and find what our strengths and weaknesses were. We tested ourselves in combat, and test the products in that smae combat. Eventually we had the products look within themselves and see if they could find their own weaknesses. Now tell me challengers, can you do the same?"

As he finishes talking the mirror fades to black and whispers can be heard on the inside, besides names that are and aren't familir, nothing is audible. Soon though a figure in what looked like a morph suit, stepped out of the mirror, it had the perfect shape of Time Spinner. Then more and more of them stepped out. Zero, Thomas, Zapor, Rose, every member of the group had a figure that matched them and matched their power. The group of immitaters didn't wait at all, and quickly struck their respective immitated person.

"Wow, I am gorgeous!" Leo said before getting tackled by his clone.

Zapor shot some bullet from his rifle. "Couldn't we have a rival battle where Spike comes?"

"What the--?!" Yuhi backflipped, just barely managing to avoid being cut down by her mimic's HF Blades. "Well, too late to get comfy now... Solarflare!" Her body glowed and became hot to the touch, though surprisingly her clothing didn't burn off...

Rose's Stand grappled with the Stand of her mimic, both Stands trading blow for blow in a fast-paced match of blazing fists, both shouting the battlecry of The Reaper. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!!!"

Argent stared his mimic down, trying to analyze himself. "Damn... this is not good..."

Argent's mimic smirked. "Next you're gonna say, 'If he's got a mind like mine, then he's a serious threat to everyone unless I can read him...!'"

"If he's got a mind like mine, then he's a serious threat to everyone unless I can read him...!" Argent repeated. "...Ngh!"

Deadline grunted as he faced off with his double. It seemed to mirror each and every one of his moves...

Zero grabbed Weapon and turned her into Scythe. Then he proceeded to pull the scythe down on the mimiced version of him. Only for it to be blocked by another scythe.

Echo pulled a card out, only for her mimic to do the same, both of them shouting at the same time. "Cross Drain!" Both of whom fell to the ground, in a heap, moaning that they were tired.

"Soul Charge!" Thomas called an aura of blue engulfed his fist and shot towards his double, but it just bounced back.

Sedna threw a punch with her robotic armor, only for it to be caught by her opposite.

Sierra pulled a card out and threw it to the ground. "Red flame shot!"

Her mimic though, had a similar idea. "Blue water whip!" Both of the attacks canceled each other out.

Time Spinner looked at his opposite, turned his head, and tried to call out. "Guys, we need to-"

"Quiet you..." Came his double, but this one didn't sound like Time Spinner did, it wasn't like the other doubles that had the same voice and same powers. This one was dark, grungy, it sounded like it had a double voice. There were odd symbols on it's face and arms that was a lighter shade of white than the rest of the suit. This thing was not Time Spinner, it was something else, something that wasn't a real pony. Something that happened to be stronger than Time Spinner.

Both Zapors looked at both unconscious Echos. "Look bro, my girlfriend is down, so we should call a time out." Zapor said, only to be copied by his double. Both Zapors facepalmed and ran toward both Echos. "Darn it, stop copying me!" Zapor said, only for his double to say the exact same thing.

"What will it take to take you down a notch?" Deadline murmured as he ducked under his copy's punch. Both lizards had their respective tazer knuckles equipped, and were trying to zap each other, neither succeeding.

"Try thinking a little," his spectral mirror mocked. Deadline tried to do that, but came up blank.

Yuhi rushed toward her double as they engaged their powers as well, striking at her with both HF blades. However, they were blocked, with Yuhi's double unfolding one of the blades into a fan. When Yuhi struck it, it set off an explosion that sent her a few feet away.

Rose managed to strike her double's Stand in the gut with The Reaper, giving her an opening to attack. She recalled her own Stand, running up to her double and jabbing her twice in the face, then kicking her rapidly in the chest.

Argent was... still trying to figure out what to do with his double.

Zak was in a stalemate with his double to see who was the smarter one (with words I don't know to describe), while Lexi was in a ripple fight with hers.

"These guys won't give in!" Leo said, despite that his double was already beating itself up.

Aurum is restraining his double, though he's also restrained. "I knew fighting old hand-head would come in handy..."

Time Spinner stood up, shoving his opposite away with a bit of magic. "We can't fight ourselves, we need to fight each other!" He called before he was shoved into a wall by his opposite.

Deadline smirked as he heard that. "Why don't we switch then?" he said as he grabbed his copy by the arm and tossed him over to Rose. "Trade you!" he called.

Leo watched as his double literally beat himself up. "Uh, that sounds like a good idea."

"Huh?!" Rose turned to see Deadline's double heading straight for her, summoning The Reaper out of reaction. The Reaper obeyed, pummeling the double with a barrage of punches. "ORA ORA ORA!"

However, her onslaught was cut short when she took a jab to the gut from her double's Stand. She coughed up blood.

Argent froze, a chill going down his spine as he saw what happened to Rose. He turned back towards his double. "You still expect me to fight you, eh? Well, tough luuuuck~!" he said, running towards Rose and away from his own double.

"Huh? Hey, get back here!" Argent's double shouted.

"Sorry, nope," Deadline said as he aimed a shot at the foot of Argent's double.

Zero had thrown his double towards Leah, who reciprocated the same thing.

Sedna ran and managed to land a shot on Thomas's double. Thomas turned around and threw another soul charge towards Sierra's double. Sierra threw her card toward's Sedna's double and shouted. "Yellow Holy charge!" She said landing large flash of light on the double.

Time Spinner held his opposite in a grip, while his double was reciprocating the effect. The two held each other by the chest and neck, grumbling towards each other about something in another language.

Zapor uppercuts Echo's double while Blade slashes at Zapor's double. Zak kicked Lexi's double while Lexi tossed Zak's mimic.

"Anyone wanna help me handle this cheap poser? I'm in a little situation." Aurum glares at his copy.

Cyber fired a rocket at Aurum's copy

The copy grabs the rocket and it's concentration is broken, leading Aurum to escape his restrains and piledrive the copy, pounding it's face with his fists. "Let's see you break your way out of this one you lousy little...!"

Argent's double tripped as it was shot in the foot. Argent spun around to see his double heading towards the floor, kicking him in the face before he landed and following through straight into a backflip. He caught Rose's double with his legs, throwing her upward. He then pushed himself into the air from a handstand, kicking Rose's double rapidly in midair. "I won't let a fake replace my sister!"

Yuhi had her blades locked with her double, having trouble getting an edge on her. "Hey, golden boy, could you tap me out over here?"

Aurum looks at her after stomping his double's face. "you mean me? Sure I'll give you a hand." Hishand glows and he restricts her double's movement.

"Huh? Oh hey, that works too. Thanks!" Yuhi kneed her double in the stomach, then slashed at her twice. She then crouched down, unfolding her blades into fans, and struck upward as she cloaked herself in a raging inferno that assumed the shape of a phoenix.

"No problem." Aurum says as he stomps his double again.

"Yellow Lightning bolt!" Sierra called as she struck Sedna's double with a bolt of lightning, causing it to be destroyed in a set of crystals. "Green Nature's cure!" She pulled another card and a wave of green overcame Echo, who got up and put her back to Sierra's. "Anyone else need help?" They called.

"Yellow chaos spear!" Sierra's double yelled as she threw a card at Thomas, who grabbed the spear, while his hand radiated blue.

"My turn." He smirked, turning the spear around, and throwing it at the double, then he grabbed her with his blue hand and caused the double to shatter into crystals. "There's one that won't be bothering us again."

Rose regained her strength, throwing a powerful punch at Deadline's double using her Stand's immense power.

Argent kicked Rose's double higher, and leaped up as he landed on the ground again, grabbing her head. He charged a powerful Ripple into his arm as he slammed her into the ground headfirst, with the power of the Ripple exploding into a flash of sunlight. As it cleared, Rose's double was no more. Now to deal with his own double...

Yuhi bombarded her double with powerful flares, not letting up until her double could take no more. In a matter of moments, her double shattered into crystal.

Aurum releases his grip on the crystals and kicks his double. "Anyone wanna help me beat this...copy?"

Yuhi dashed over to Aurum. "I'll finish this one off. Go ahead and help the others."

Zapor's mimic had a few scratches on him, but was launching missiles at Leo. "Uh, anyone wanna get Zapor's double?"

"Got it." He leaves his double alone and stops the missiles, then throws them at Zapor's double. "Eat this!"

Yuhi grabbed Aurum's double by the collar. "Well, look at you. You got your *** handed to ya pretty thoroughly, huh? Don't worry, I'll make this quick." She threw him into the air, spinning around as she drew one of her blades and slashing upward at him. She then switched it to a backhang grip, summoning a massive inferno that amazingly was being contained, save for the ground erupting around her. She then dashed toward the falling double, slashing upward and unleashing the full power of the inferno.

The double shatters into pieces, fragments of it falling to the ground.

"Target completely eliminated." Yuhi said, cooling down.

Both Zero and Leah managed to take down their doubles, and Thomas' double also shattered into the crystals. Time Spinner still struggled with his double, who, after cutting the side of the real one's face, took a few steps back and disappered. Time Spinner kneeled on the ground trying to regain his composure.

Zapor's double was blown up by the missiles, and Leo's double was finally done killing itself. "Is that all of them?" Lek asked.

Deadline's copy was destroyed in all the fighting. The original Deadline, meanwhile, had taken out someone else's double.

"I don't know." Aurum walks over to Time Spinner and helps him up.

"Nope." Argent said, throwing Rose towards his double. Rose summoned her Stand again, striking through the double and shattering it into crystal. "Yep." Rose corrected.

"There, all the copies are gone...what next?" Aurum crosses his arms.

Time Spinner took Aurum's hand and got up. "I suppose we move on to the next room..."

The next room seemed simple enough. A short bridge over some water led into a large, white paneled room. There wasn't really anything else to look at except for the bridge, and what was on it. Standing on the bridge were three people. A brown wolf in a black jacket, and red blue jay in mail armor, and a green fox in a black coat. "Having fun with the riddle games?" The fox smirked.

"If by fun, you mean 'getting attacked and almost killed', then sure, we're having fun," the sniper replied dryly.

"So I guess you guys are the three grumpy old trolls who live under this bridge." Lexi said in a 'tomboyish' way.

"I'm not paying a toll so get out of my way." Aurum crosses his arms.

"We're not trolls." The fox said. "I'm surprised you didn't connect the dots."

"I am Visor." The brown wolf said.

"I am Fury." The red bird said.

"And I am Neo." The fox said. "We're only here to talk with you. We should inform you about certain things and so forth, but we're only here to talk. No toll, no violence."

"And they say dead men tell no tales... oof!" Argent got a jab to the gut, courtesy of Rose.

"But Neo's not dead, right? Uhhh, let's just hear what they have to say..." Rose said.

"Hey...wait a minute if Neo's not dead, then why are you two here?" Aurum looks at Visor and Fury. "wolf boy you blew up after getting your insides taken out, and Fury you got stabbed."

"Well...we don't really know who we are." The fox said. "I am Neo, I am the gauntlet, I am the Echo Project, I am you. All of these statements are true." He paused for a minute. "But we don't like riddles here. We prefer to help others."

"Argent, Rose." The wolf said. "Masako was infected by a gas during the attack on the Zue Garden. The serum, it's an unstable serum, the same thing that has been lying dormant in Neo. You need to tell her that the cure is on the way. When the Battle for Time happens, she will have to find the cure, with the other infected."

"Now then, I believe some of you are under the impression that one of your allies was evil, and may still be evil. Both those statements are true, but she left a legacy. After she has fallen, you will find that legacy and it will be both heartwarming and disturbing." The bird told them.

"Then there's the room that lies ahead." The fox said. "In the room is the power that has been taken from Echo, but it also is not. What lies inside must be found, but it is also equally dangerous."

"So much for not liking riddles here..." He sighs. "So, we have to find Echo's power?"

"That, or he's saying her power come from within. Otherwise, I have no clue." Blade said.

"Oi, spoilers much?" Argent complained.

"Shut up, Argent... so what are you saying? That it was purposely left out to begin with?"

"Yes." The fox said. "The power that the Echo Project has is somewhat incredible. It's similar to what Chao-bron are able to do, their copy cat ability is similar, but no blood is required. If the product has seen the power, they can replicate it perfectly and increase it's damage ten fold. No matter what ability it is. That is the reason that the full power was split up. This one is based off of destruction, the others are control, and memory."

"So Echo must've been Fate's means to an end... did someone step in to interfere with the project before it was added?" Argent asked. "In any case... things are starting to look a bit more clear... and it's looking worse by the second."

"Ok, that explains why GUN left it out." Zak said, but then was kicked by Lexi.

"Records are unclear who cut the power in pieces and who scattered them. Though records do show that this act was done months after Agent Destiny aided Neo Tranquil in his escape from G.U.N. So the chance of Agent Destiny performing these actions is low to none."

Leo nods. "Ok, that's a good thing. So where's the room we're looking for?"

"Right behind us." The fox said. "But you must enter with caution."

"Caution for what?" Blade asked.

"You should be scared. Scared of Echo." The wolf said.

"Why would we be scared of Zapor's gf? Last time I checked she was a good guy." Lexi said.

"Power corrupts." The bird said. "And that power lies in front of you." And with that, the three figures disappeared.

"........Should we be concerned that other than what they said, which I am totes aware of, they just disappeared?" Zapor questioned.

"They could be guides from the people we knew that died." Zak said.

"Look, whatever lies dormant in the room ahead, it was kept that way for a reason. G.U.N. might be selfish, they might put their greed ahead of the lives of innocent Mobians, but they aren't stupid." Yuhi said.

"I say we let Echo decide what she wants to do. It's not like she'll go mad the moment she pokes it. No matter how dangerous it is, it's still up to Echo to do as she sees fit with it. We just have to trust her to judge the right from wrong." Rose said.