#@ eggman @ eggman @ eggman @ eggman @ eggman @ eggm

[timewontwait]

listening to this cover of elastic heart and just...

[egg-emperor]

had to make a bluesky acc because some friends were exclusively moving over there so please check out and follow maybe if you're there too please and thanks 🙏

[echidnapower]

A Light in Darkness - Chapter 1

As I continue bringing back my fics here onto Tumblr, here's one that has been in-progress for quite some time, and shall continue to be until I find the time to finish it, which I will someday. A story featuring the only Sonamy fanchild I could ever accept as canon, due to how much work and effort went into making her feel real. @e-vay's own Aurora the Hedgehog. I hope she - and everyone else reading this - enjoys!

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An old and broken down warehouse can be the location for many different shady operations. In many old cartoons, the villains would often keep their secret hideout in an abandoned warehouse on the edge of a town. Sometimes criminals would keep their hidden stash of illegal drugs and their ill-gotten profits to try and avoid detection by the local police. And in some extreme cases, insane psychopaths will hide the bodies of their tortured victims in warehouses such as these.

In this case, an old abandoned warehouse holds the last hope for all of Mobian kind.

"So we're all agreed?" Shadow the Hedgehog, leader of the newest incarnation of the Freedom Fighters, leaned his palms against the surface of the old and rusted metal table as he looked at each member of his war council.

"We don't really have much of a choice now, do we?" That reply came from Silver the Hedgehog, a psychokinetic hedgehog who had joined up with the Freedom Fighters as soon as he'd learned of their existence. "I gotta say though Shadow, I hate the idea of this being our last chance."

"Unfortunately, this is our final option." Blaze the Cat - a Princess from another dimension and born with the power of pyrokinesis so that she could one day become the guardian of the source of power in her own dimension: the Sol Emeralds - spoke grimly at her fellow Freedom Fighters. Unfortunately, soon after the event that caused the devastation of her world, the emeralds were taken from her, and with them, any hope of restoring things to the way they were. "If we are to undo this madness, we cannot fail. If we do, we won't even be alive to see the results of our failure."

A fist slammed onto the table in frustration, startling the group as the owner of the fist glared angrily at the others. "If you had just listened to me in the first place, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess!" Sticks the Badger, a wild jungle girl who'd been forced out of her burrow by the disaster screeched at her teammates. "I tried to tell you that he was acting strangely, but you thought I was CRAAAAAAZY!" she pointed accusingly at Shadow. "You of all people should've noticed Mr. Ultimate Life Form!"

The black hedgehog lowered his head and closed his eyes a moment before looking back at the young badger with an intense gaze. "I was a fool not to notice, but I intend to make up for that grave error right now." Shadow turned his attention to a lanky marsupial who had for the most part kept his focus on a set of blueprints laying on the table. "Have you figured out the best way into the stronghold Yukon?"

Yukon, a young Sugar Glider who had been rescued by Sticks the day the apocalyptic disaster struck, nodded at Shadow and placed his index finger on the blueprints. "I looked over the blueprints Tails had in his lab of Dr. Eggman's old Fortress, and with a little input from Sticks, I think I've managed to find the safest way in."

"There is no safest way in." Sticks scoffed and rolled her eyes. "With evil machines guarding every possible entrance, it won't matter where we try to go in, we'll still be seen!"

"That's a risk we'll have to take." Blaze nodded at the Sugar Glider, "Please continue."

Yukon nodded back and dragged his finger over to the right side of the middle of the map. "This leads to Eggman's old vault, that's probably where Ba'Gan is keeping the Chaos Emeralds." He dragged his finger down the map near the bottom of the blueprint. "It looks like there's an old passageway Eggman installed that leads to the vault, and from the looks of things, it's hidden behind a wall that's since been sealed off, and the other end of the passageway appears cut off too." Yukon looked up and glanced at Shadow. "You know Eggman best, is that passageway still there?"

Shadow stood tall and crossed his arms, his eyes closed as he pondered for a moment. "Knowing the doctor, he likely would've left it available for him in case of an emergency." Shadow opened his eyes. "No doubt that room contained some rather extreme security measures as well."

"I bet that's where he keeps his stash of violins that he used to torment me in my sleep!"

The others looked at Sticks oddly for a moment before continuing. "So what exactly is the plan?" Silver asked.

"The first thing we'll need to do is disable the guards posted at that position. If they're Eggman robots, then we'll need to destroy them quickly so they don't send out a signal to alert the rest of the guards that we're attempting to breach the stronghold." Shadow's expression became grim. "If they turn out to be some of them..." Shadow frowned deeply as the others around him lowered their heads in sadness. "Hopefully there will be a way to save their hosts...but if it's necessary, we will have to destroy them as well."

"The idea of having to murder innocent bystanders..." Yukon shook his head and shuddered. "It goes against everything I believe in...maybe if Silver could hold them still, I could strike a few nerve points and knock them out for a while."

"I could try, but these things have shown they can resist my psychokinesis to a certain extent." Silver looked at his hands and sighed, watching as they pulsated with cyan energy. "Maybe if I'd spent more time honing my skills, I'd be able to handle more than one at a time."

"You mustn't blame yourself Silver, none of us were even remotely prepared for what has taken place." Blaze spoke up. "What matters now is that we fix it."

"Weeeeeell actually, I was prepared." Sticks ran off a moment and returned with crude looking armor that appeared to be made of some form of wood and tied together by vines. "These may not look pretty, but I spent years building sets of armor for me and my friends in case a zombie apocalypse happened." she began handing out the armor to everyone around the table, until she was holding only two sets. "This armor is made out of nothing but wood from the Steelwood Forests and some good ol' fashioned wilderness survival skills." she placed the last spare set on the ground and put on her own, beaming proudly at her teammates. "Wearing these, you could get hit by one of those laser beams of theirs and not even feel it!"

Shadow rolled his eyes and decided to humor the young badger by putting on the armor. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't even entertain the thought of being with this mishmash of personalities, let alone being their leader. But then again, their circumstances weren't normal. "Thank you Sticks." Shadow nodded with a neutral expression before continuing. "Once inside, it should hopefully be a simple matter of finding the Chaos and Sol Emeralds. Once in our possession, Silver and I will use Chaos Control to open up a time portal, and then we can stop this from ever happening."

"And if something goes horribly wrong?" Sticks asked.

"It won't go wrong."

The badger crossed her arms and raised a skeptical eyebrow at Shadow. "You seem a bit too sure of yourself."

"Not at all." Shadow replied. "I say it won't go wrong because it can't go wrong...if it does go wrong...well...then they've won." Shadow stood tall and looked at each of his teammates. "These mechanical nightmares have absorbed our friends and families, turned them from those we love into instruments of destruction; their sole purpose to absorb all other organic life and add them to their hive mind. Some of us...admittedly...have lost more than others, but we all feel the same passion and desire to right the wrongs and stop this threat from completely overtaking Mobius...and then the rest of not one, but two universes." He looked at Blaze when he said that. "You know what's at stake. After tonight, we will either succeed and live to fight another day, or we will be absorbed like the rest of them." Shadow rubbed at his golden power inhibitors before giving a heavy sigh. "We will move out at 0300 hours...in the meantime, get some rest, you'll need it."

"You get some rest too Shadow, we're gonna need you too." Silver said sympathetically.

The black hedgehog simply nodded and walked away from the table, leaving the rest of his team to their own devices. He ran a hand through his ebony quills as he tried to amp down from the constant adrenaline high he was feeling. While he'd recently gotten used to being around other people, he was by no means built to be a leader...that was more his specialty. He cursed under his breath in frustration at the thought. That confounded blue hedgehog had let himself be the first one to be absorbed, and he never even knew it was happening. "Of course, I should have noticed to begin with. If anyone would know what that looked like, it would be me."

As he continued walking, he spotted a distinct form, colored in an even more distinct shade of pink sitting on a pile of crates in the back of the warehouse. Sighing once more, Shadow walked over to the girl and tried to get her to look at him. "How are you doing Light?"

The bright pink hedgehog just shook her head and sobbed a bit before looking up at the black hedgehog with tears evident in her emerald eyes. The bands on her clothes were glowing dimly to match her somber mood, and it broke the black hedgehog's heart to see her so reduced. "I still can't believe it Shadow...how could they...how could they just..." she sobbed a few more times and buried her face in her hands.

Shadow moved in to embrace the hedgehog girl, stroking her quills in an attempt to comfort her. "They did what they felt they had to do, they wanted to try and protect you." He used his finger to tilt her head up at him so she could look at him. "They didn't volunteer to be absorbed Aurora, they fought to the bitter end, like true heroes should...even your father fought it until there was simply nothing left of him to fight back."

Aurora the Hedgehog, the final member of the Freedom Fighters...and more famously...the daughter of Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Rose, cried into the chest of her boyfriend as she continued to mourn the loss of her parents and extended family. Her Uncles Tails and Knuckles, they'd been absorbed fighting off the monsters while trying to get them the blueprints to Eggman's former fortress, only Shadow had managed to escape, albeit barely. Her Aunt Rouge had been absorbed trying to gather information from the G.U.N. Headquarters about the current threat they were facing, and those were just the ones she knew about regarding their fates.

"Aurora." Shadow said consolingly as he gently tilted her head up again. "We'll save them, we're going to save them. All of them. You have my word." The black hedgehog then leaned in and gently kissed the pink hedgehog's forehead. He never imagined falling in love with the daughter of his greatest rival, but after twenty years of travelling the world in search of a better understanding of himself, and also to find someone he'd met during his greatest adventure, he'd come home to find that the ones he once called his friends had reached adulthood, and now had families of their own, most with grown children even.

Coincidentally, the very girl he'd quested to find for over twenty years turned out to be Sonic and Amy's daughter, which naturally added a whole new dimension to the "friendly" rivalry he and Sonic shared. But just as Sonic was beginning to accept the fact that Aurora truly loved Shadow, the disaster struck. Now, there was no time for simple pleasures such as going out to watch a movie and have dinner, there was only slight lulls as a war raged. The speed at which the takeover had occurred was staggering. Just one week before, Shadow was contemplating how to celebrate his and Aurora's one-year anniversary as a couple, and now, he was leading a small band of troops into battle, one from which they might never return.

"Shadow...do you think...we'll be able to save them?" Aurora asked, her voice was almost that of a frightened child, as she looked up at Shadow in uncertainty.

Shadow sighed and frowned as he ran his hand through his quills once more. "I don't know Light...but I swear to you, I will either find a way to do so, or I will die trying."

Instead of comforting her, that had the opposite effect on the pink hedgehog as she clutched tighter to her ebony boyfriend. "I know you're trying to help, but please don't say stuff like that...I already lost my family...I can't...I can't lose you too." She buried her face into his chest and shook her head in defiance of the thoughts invading her mind. "I can't...can't lose you too." she mumbled.

Shadow stood in silence for a few moments, contemplating what to do next. Aurora was usually incredibly upbeat and enthusiastic, and her bubbly personality infected everyone around her, admittedly even himself - to a degree anyway. But ever since the invasion of the mechanical creatures taking over the bodies and minds of her family, she'd been...just the opposite. There had to be a way to make her crack a smile at least, and a recent memory popped into Shadow's mind in answer to that thought.

"Aurora."

"Hmm?"

"Do you remember the look on Blaze's face when she saw that Cream was now over ten years older than her?"

That finally got the pink hedgehog to give a weak yet sincere laugh. "What's weird is that I have memories of the real Blaze coming to visit from her dimension. I never thought I'd meet one of my aunt's best friends and be older than her." She laughed a bit at the remembrance. A time displacement caused by the appearance of the creatures had merged the past of Blaze's world with the present of Mobius, and as a result, Blaze had appeared as well, only still as a young teenager as opposed to the adult that Aurora was more familiar with.

When Aurora had shown the teenaged Blaze a photograph of Cream the Rabbit as an adult, her jaw had dropped clear to the floor. But it didn't take long for the Sol Emerald Guardian to make the mental adjustment and get down to business. All the better for the Freedom Fighters, as her flames would come in handy when the battle began. Upon thinking of the upcoming battle, Shadow spoke up once more. "Aurora...we have a plan. We're going to infiltrate the fortress and steal back the emeralds from Ba'Gan, then we'll open a time portal so we can make sure none of this ever happens. We need your help."

The offspring of Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Rose looked up at Shadow and got up off the crates so she could stand tall. Taking a deep breath, Aurora nodded with determination and held up a fist. "Let's go stop those Droids. No one messes with my family and gets away with it."

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With their operation planned out to the smallest detail, the small band of Freedom Fighters stealthily made their way to Eggman's former fortress. It was a huge building with walls and lasers and every scientific method of defense one could think of protecting it. However, since the evil scientist had abandoned the lair, the most elaborate defenses had been removed so that they could be installed at his next base. Unfortunately, the creatures called Droids had more than made up for it by making several hundred Mobians their mindless slaves, and given them all orders via the hive mind that they should defend the fortress with their lives.

Upon reaching the fortress, the Ultimate Life Form peeked his head out from behind a bush, and he looked around to scope things out. "All clear." Shadow stepped out of the foliage and gestured with his hand to summon his teammates. As they began emerging in single file, the black hedgehog took note of the two guards standing watch in front of the wall they were targeting. "Generic Egg Pawns. Excellent. It should be easy enough to disable them. Silver, Blaze, go!"

Acknowledging Shadow's signal, the lavender cat leaped up into a tree and looked for a good vantage point. Once she felt she had a good shot, she looked down at Silver and nodded at him, and moments later Silver advanced on the robots. "Uh, hi, take me to your leader?"

The robots immediately made a move to contact more guards, but a giant fireball struck them from above, and less than a second later, a psychic shield appeared and surrounded the blast, keeping the sound of the explosion from being detected. "Nice work Silver." Blaze said as she hopped out of the tree, her palms still smoking from the attack. "So what's the next step?" she asked as Shadow and the others walked up to her and Silver.

"Well," Yukon stepped forward and began feeling the wall carefully. "If I read the blueprints properly, there should be a switch that'll open up the secret passage." Moments later, Yukon's eyes widened slightly, and the wall opened up, revealing an old and dusty passage. "There ya go, they don't call me Houdini for nothing." Yukon pointed at himself proudly.

"The easy part is done, now we get to the real tough stuff!" Sticks seemed almost excited at the prospect. "Those machine maniacs will think twice before attacking my friends again!"

Shadow chose to ignore the badger and nodded at his girlfriend, who immediately understood his unspoken request and nodded back, as her suit began glowing brightly to allow her friends to see. "We've made it this far, but Sticks was right. This was the easy part. Now we've gotta find a way to stay undetected. Let's go." Shadow led the team into the dark passageway, Aurora's unique photokinetic powers lighting the way for them, just enough so they could see where they were going.

As they continued, a sense of unease began to envelop the Freedom Fighters. They had yet to encounter any form of resistance, and while that could be interpreted as a good thing, they couldn't shake this feeling that something was wrong. "I understand that this was the way we wanted the plan to go, but doesn't this seem a bit too easy?" Blaze whispered.

"Maybe...we're just a lot better at this than we thought?" Silver's voice betrayed that he definitely didn't believe his own words.

"They're here...I know they are." Sticks hissed lowly, looking around frantically. "I'm not exactly sure where, but we're not alone."

"We're almost at the end of the passageway." Yukon took a few steps so that he was ahead of Aurora, but he suddenly gave a terrified yelp when he ran into something. Looking down, the Sugar Glider saw that he had merely bumped into a piece of scrap metal from one of Eggman's old badniks, and he placed a hand over his rapidly beating heart as he tried to catch his breath. "Sorry...guess I'm a little on edge." He looked up again. Then he screamed in mortal terror.

"We've been detected!" Shadow launched a Chaos Spear which struck where the heart would have been for the tall Droid soldier that had been staring coldly at them in the dark, and the former Mobian fell to the ground with his mechanical parts sparking violently from the hit. "Aurora, light up the room!"

Aurora concentrated and strengthened the output of her powers, and soon the room was bright enough that everything could be seen. "There's no one else here?"

"They will be soon, I hear them! Hundreds...thousands of 'em!" Sticks exclaimed as she stared at the ceiling above them.

"Then we've no time to waste, we must get to the vault before they do!" Blaze was about to rush forward, when she turned suddenly at the agonized cry Aurora had given out. "What's the matter?!" She looked to the ground and saw the pink hedgehog trying desperately not to burst into tears, as she was staring at the unmoving corpse of the Droid that Shadow had just destroyed. "Oh no..."

The dead Droid was quite clearly Miles "Tails" Prower.

"Uncle Tails!" Tears began to flow from Aurora's emerald eyes, as she mourned the loss of her beloved Uncle. "Why did it have to be you? Of all the Droids they had, why did it have to be you?!"

"I should've realized." Shadow cursed under his breath. "When Tails was absorbed, the Droid Hive Mind obtained all of his knowledge and all of his memories, including his knowledge of our plan to use the passageway!"

"So then they knew we'd be here!" Silver's eyes widened in horror.

"But then why send Tails down here by himself if they knew we were here? Why not bring a whole army?" Yukon wondered.

"There's no time to think! We've already spent too much time thinking!" Sticks shouted. "They know we're here? So let's stop acting like they don't! Let's storm this place!" The wild Badger gave a shrill battle cry and pulled her Bow Staff out from behind her back, and she charged down the corridor shouting expletives, which was soon followed by the unmistakable sounds of battle.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way!" Blaze rushed forwards with Silver hovering right next to her, and Yukon followed to the best of his ability, as his speed was nowhere near that of Blaze and the flying silver hedgehog.

Shadow was about to join them when he took note of Aurora's state. The pink hedgehog was kneeling next to the body of what used to be her uncle, mindlessly staring at all the wires and gadgets that ran through and around his body. A mechanical eyepiece had been placed where his left eye used to be, and his right arm was now a form of claw with a laser at the end of it. "Aurora, we can fix this, but we need your help!" he said as gently but as urgently as he could. "If we get to the Chaos Emeralds, we can open a time portal, and reverse all of this!" he held his hand out to her. "I can't do this without you."

Aurora looked up at Shadow, then back down at Tails. Taking a moment to fold his hand and robotic arm over his wire filled chest, she got up and nodded at him. "Let's go. I want my family back."

Shadow nodded and took off running, Aurora matching him stride for stride with the speed she inherited from her father. They soon reached a light at the end of the passageway, and once they went through it, they saw the floor littered with Droids that had been knocked unconscious by their teammates. "Looks like you've got this handled."

Sticks snorted. "Like these dummy Droids had any chance against real flesh and blood!"

"Um...they used to be flesh and blood." Silver pointed out.

The badger narrowed her eyes at the psychokinetic hedgehog. "Stop trying to confuse my brain with details."

"Enough." Shadow took a few steps forward and examined the glass cases that held the Chaos and Sol Emeralds. "It won't take long for reinforcements to arrive so let's do this quick." the black hedgehog reared his fist back and shattered the glass with his punch, setting off an alarm throughout the fortress. "The alarm is moot, they already know we're here. Silver, grab an emerald!"

"This oughta slow the Droids down a little!" Yukon gave a sharp kick to the electronic panel and destroyed it, effectively locking the Droids out, at least for the moment. "I doubt that'll make a difference for long, make it fast you two!"

Shadow and Silver nodded at each other and held up a Chaos Emerald each. "Chaos Control!"

With the combined efforts of the two hedgehogs, a swirling vortex of energy slowly began to form. "It's working!" Silver cheered. But then the door burst open, sending Yukon and Blaze flying backwards, and they slammed into the wall and crumpled to the ground from the impact. Upon seeing the Droids beginning to march in, Silver stretched out his free hand and attempted to put up a psychic barrier to hold them out, but the cyborgs quickly changed tactics and started opening fire on the barrier. "I can't hold it!" Silver strained.

Moments later, the barrier shattered, and the psychic backlash sent Silver crumpling to the ground just as the time portal was finished forming. But instead of advancing, the Droids merely stepped aside and allowed something to walk past them, and the sight made Shadow, Sticks and especially Aurora tense up. "So Shadow, you've managed to avoid absorption. You always were a pest." Standing in front of them was none other than the form of Sonic the Hedgehog himself, but unlike the Droids, Sonic's body had been left unmutilated by internal or external machinery. Instead, the only sign that anything was wrong with Sonic was the glowing red eyes and the distorted voice. "I compliment you on making it this far, but you must know resistance is futile. You will be absorbed into the hive mind and serve me, and assist me in achieving my goals."

"No!" Aurora rushed over to Sonic's body before Shadow could stop her, and she stood in front of him with desperation all over her face. "Daddy it's me! It's your Tiny! Please, you've got to fight this! Don't give into Ba'Gan! I know you're strong enough to beat him!"

Ba'Gan chuckled and grinned evilly at the pink hedgehog. "There was a time long ago when that would have worked...but that time has passed. Now, there is only me." Ba'Gan took a step forward and Aurora immediately took two steps back. "Your father is gone Aurora, I am all that remains."

"I don't believe it." she dropped her head and shook it in weak defiance.

The alien creature just chuckled again and looked over at the emeralds. "This has gone on long enough." he said casually. "Now I shall capture you and have you all absorbed into the hive mind...but first, I think I'll have some fun by giving you all a beating you'll never forget...unless I want you to, that is." the emeralds began glowing black, and Aurora moaned as the negative energy began to radiate from the emeralds. "Does that energy bother you Tiny?" he asked with a condescending sneer. "I'm so sorry. I'll make it all stop soon."

Aurora growled at the now pure black-hued hedgehog that she once knew as her father. "Don't call me that ever again, only my father can call me that."

"Oh? Well in a sense, I am your father. So treat me with respect little girl!" Ba'Gan grabbed Aurora's wrist and began squeezing tightly as he lifted her into the air, and she gave a brief cry of pain from the pressure. Then the monster brought Aurora as close to his face as he could without actually touching hers. "Welcome to the family." he chortled.

"No!" Without warning, Ba'Gan was knocked back by a golden figure, and the pink hedgehog's savior caught her and gently put her down as he glared angrily at the leader of the Droid army. "Are you okay Light?"

Aurora shook her head to get her bearings, clutching at her hurting wrist as she looked up to find her boyfriend now in his golden super form, the positive energy emanating from him quickly making her feel stronger. "I'm okay, but what do we do now?"

Shadow kept his eyes locked onto Ba'Gan, who now seemed to be glaring at him despite the lack of any pupils, as customary for Sonic's dark super form. "Take the others, go through the portal, I'll hold off Ba'Gan long enough for you to escape!"

"What?!" Aurora's eyes widened in horror. "That's crazy! You can't beat them all by yourself!"

"I don't need to beat them." Shadow twisted the bracelets off of his wrists, and they fell to the ground as the golden hedgehog prepared to unleash his true power. "I just need to slow them down."

"But our plan! We need you! I need you! You'll die Shadow, please don't do this!"

Shadow looked into Aurora's pleading eyes for just a moment, and suddenly his own eyes widened in an apparent revelation. "Of course." he couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "Aurora, you have to go, if you don't, your family is doomed, and I will be too."

Before Aurora could inquire as to what his meaning was, Ba'Gan surged ahead and tackled Shadow into the wall of the vault, growling viciously at him as if he were a wild animal. "You're already doomed! I will obliterate you Shadow the Hedgehog, but not before I make you watch each and every one of your so-called friends be absorbed in the most agonizingly painful way possible!"

Instead of returning the threat, Shadow turned his head to look at his young girlfriend. "Hurry Aurora! Time's running out!" he maneuvered his arm so he could keep Ba'Gan at bay for just a moment, "I promise, you will see me again! Just go through the portal! Change history for the better!"

"No, you won't take away my victory!" Ba'Gan was about to move in to destroy the pink hedgehog, but Shadow quickly grabbed hold of the dark beast and held him tight in a headlock. "Let go of me you miserable parasite!"

"Takes one to know one." Shadow quipped with an effort-filled growl. Then he looked up at Aurora, who was gathering her friends and leading them to the portal. "You caught us off-guard once Ba'Gan, but it looks like you got more than that blue faker's body, you also got his infernal cockiness. Now, it's gonna cost you."

Only Aurora had yet to leave, and she looked over at her boyfriend who seemed to be fading fast as the removal of his power inhibitors had caused his energy to drain at a rapid pace. "Shadow..."

"I love you Aurora, promise me you'll light up the darkness when you get to the past!"

"Huh? W-What does that mean?"

Shadow grunted as he almost lost control of Ba'Gan, whose rage had kept him from realizing that his Droid army was still awaiting commands. "Just promise me Light!"

"O-Okay! I promise!"

Shadow smiled. "Good...now go!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ba'Gan finally broke free of Shadow's grip, but he was just a split-second too late to stop the pink hedgehog from diving headfirst into the portal, and it disappeared seconds later, much to the alien being's rage. He glowered at the now once again black hedgehog and picked him up by the throat, squeezing it as tightly as he could. "Your time is up, Ultimate Life Form, you have not won this battle."

Shadow could feel his consciousness fading as Ba'Gan strangled him, but despite the extreme pain, he was able to give a faint and triumphant smile just before death took hold of him. "She's safe...I've already won." With that, the Ultimate Life Form fell to the ground as Ba'Gan dropped his now lifeless body, that same triumphant smile on his face even in death. The mission had been completed.

[ask-sonc]

Sonic stood still as a rock, watching as Knuckle's rightfully left him behind. This time he didn't attempt to stop the tears. He simply let them flow down his cheeks, vulnerability hitting as hard as the echidna's previous punch. At least he was alone. At least there was no one around to see him in such a disgusting state.

"Maybe I should run away.." Even if his mind was going at a 1000 miles per hour, the hedgehog still manage to consider the possibility of disappearing. Without Eggman around, was good was he to the world? He no longer had a job to fulfill, he no longer had a purpose to accomplish, so why would he stay? Either way, he was better off alone. He'd grown up alone, so perhaps he had to go back to those ti-

"No." Sonic shook his head at the idea. "I'll do things the right way this time. I will face the consequences head on."

He cleaned his now dry tears to then run right back to Eggm- Mr. Tinker's ""lair"".

Hey sonic, do you know where Tails is.. I need him to explain why everyone thinks that the master emerald is a rock .. WHEN ITS CLEARLY SOMETHING MUCH MORE.

surely our little buddy would know but I can’t seem to find him tho… or get ahold of him…

Oh, Tails? Yeah, he's a bit unwell as we're speaking which is totally not my fault– ANYWAYS, I can always help, knucks!

[pasquiart]

[sexyminion]

I’m Dr eggman and this is my boyfriend stone, and his boyfriend Dr eggman, and his other boyfriend Dr eggman, and his OTHER boyfriend Dr eggm-

[angelicdevil]

Oh I should do the OC questionnaire. I’ll put it under the cut.

✨How did you come up with the OC’s name?

Her powers. It seemed a little too obvious to not make him that. Plus, I think it’s cute.

🌼How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

15. Or, since some people have said the ages were made not canon, same age as Sonic.

🌺Do they have a love interest?

Sonic, definitely. They’re like minded enough that the two sort of clicked.

🍕Do they have a favorite food?

Oh sushi. Seems like the obvious choice for a cat that loves the water.

💼 What do they do for a living?

She’s sort of a free soul, but I guess you could say he sabotages whatever Eggman robot or machine he come across. Though she has also ended up skating in the pro leagues and had a few summer surfing classes for kids. It struck his fancy so he went for it.

🎹 Do they have any hobbies?

Surfing obviously, and skateboarding. She’s also birdwatched. As in flickies, though she has sort of peoplewatched bird mobians on occasion.

🎯 What do they do best?

Again, surfing and skateboarding. She’s also a good sneak and good at thinking on her feet, handy when you’re trying to be a nuisance to Eggman.

🥊 What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

She loves anything about being on the water. Since he felt sort of trapped growing up, the freedom of the waves intrigued him. He also loves naps, On more then one occasion you can find him on her back on a surfboard, sleeping without a care in the world. She really hates dressing up. Sure he likes the look of it, especially on other people, but it’s a sensory nightmare for him.

❤️What is one of your OCs best memories?

Joining Sonic’s side. Being able to make friends with like minded people and feel assured that she was doing something right, and the relief of having people he felt could be actual life long friends. He felt alone for a long time, even if it was in a relatively mundane way it was a world of relief to have others in her life like Sonic and friends.

✂️What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

When she realized Eggman had been lying and manipulating her. Not only did she feel so stupid for being desperate enough to fall for it, and betrayed cause she was starting to think of him as the only father she ever had. But he felt such gut wrenching guilt realizing how much damage he must’ve done, convinced in Eggman’s lies. Not only directly to the real heroes, but indirectly to anyone that felt the results of her actions in furthering Eggman’s plots.

🧊Is their current design their first one?

Nope. She was originally a Sonic Boom oc, so his style matched the show a lot more. With a button up coat and the sports tape.

🍀 What originally inspired the OC?

Sonic Boom, of course. And Sonic’s fear of water. I made her a cat cause I liked the irony. Oh, I also had a dream where Eggman took me in and was pretending to be a good guy (not as in Good Guy but guy that is a decent person) and wanted to apply that to an oc.

🌂 What genre do they belong in?

I. Don’t really know. I guess action? Maybe surfer movie in her down time.

💚 What’s your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

Bigender and bisexual. Double bi.

🙌How many siblings does your OC have?

None that they know of but he’s an orphan.

🍎What’s the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

I mean. She’s an orphan. He didn’t even remember their faces, so. Not much.

🧠 What do you like most about the OC?

He vibes! Also his color palette.

✏️How often do you draw/write about the OC?

Not as often as I should. I tend to make a lot more OCs then I can do anything with. But this tournament definitely inspired me!

💎Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

I don’t think that would fit her or anything I’m doing with him. So no.

💀Does your OC have any phobias?

Maybe being left behind or alone forever? And definitely becoming a bad person, she tries to stay chill and learn from her mistakes but the mere thought consumes him with guilt. Which is what made the feeling of betrayal at Eggman’s lies lead to an eternity of hate towards him.

🍩 Who is your OC’s arch nemesis or rival?

I think the closest would be Eggman. I feel tempted to think they’re just straight up enemies, but with her sabotage shenanigans it’s probably become a one sided nemesis thing since Eggman’s nemesis is Sonic. In turn, I think Amy has on a couple occasions considered Splash to be her love rival in a very one sided manner as well.

🎓How long have you had the OC?

Since highschool.

🍥What age were you when you created the OC?

I don’t know for sure, probably 15 or 16.

Commission info || Ko-Fi || Redbubble

She’s off to go graffiti tag an Eggman ship. Hopping on the early propaganda train, be sure to vote for him on @sonic-oc-showdown once that starts! Let’s get everyone’s favorite hydrokinetic cat far, and good luck to everyone else too 💖

[roughandtumble-r]

RoughandTumble-r talks about the Sonic IDW 2022 Annual!

It came out yesterday, so it’s time for me to talk about each story in the 2022 Annual! Also, today’s my birthday! Thank you for the present, IDW :3

(Also, spoilers ahead)

Guardians:

Blaze has finished defeating every pirate on her world and has the Sol Emeralds locked in a safe place for the time being, but she now isn’t sure what to do. Marine tells her that she should take a vacation, but having so many responsibilities and never really having the opportunity to do so before makes Blaze unsure about whether or not she should. And so, she decides to ask another guardian in a situation similar to her own, Knuckles, what he thinks she should do, and he tells her that she should indeed take some time off. And so, Blaze decides to give Marine the responsibility to call her if anything happens for a little bit and takes that time to go hang out with Sonic, Amy, and Cream. I think this story is really nice, and I think Blaze and Knuckles are a pair that really fit together well and have some nice interactions here. Also, Marine!

Weapons:

Taking place shortly after Tails and Belle first finish Omega’s new body, Tails recommends that he and Gemerl have a bit of a sparring match to test it out. A fight between the two then ensues while Omega tells Gemerl that he’s become weak after living with Cream and Vanilla, and he also offers to let him hang out with him to defeat Eggman alongside him. Gemerl declines however, as protecting Cream and Vanilla is what he’s dedicated his life to, and the two continue fighting before returning to the lab, having almost destroyed each other and earning each other’s respect. Like the previous story, I think Omega and Gemerl are a pair that makes a lot of sense when put together, but their differences in viewpoints and interactions with each other are really good and do a good job showcasing the differences between them while also showing their similarities at the same time.

Hero Camp:

Vanilla takes Cream to spend some time at a camp called Hero Camp that was advertised as a place for kids to learn to become heroes and learn camping skills, but little do they know that the two running it are actually Orbot and Cubot in disguise! After spending a day (not) learning camping stuff from them and coming to the realization that Orbot doesn’t know what a smore is, Cream realizes that something is up with the two leading the camp and leads the rest of the kids to use what they learned to beat them up! I like how the kids from the Sonic Fan Club in the first two annuals show up once again for this one, and I also thought it was pretty funny when Cream (who usually is the pacifist) just suddenly tells them to attack Orbot and Cubot :3

Future Growth:

Silver has just finished helping Sonic and the gang harvest some tomatoes from the Garden he and Blaze started back in the 2019 Annual, but something is bugging him, and he wanders off. Espio notices that something is off and follows him, and when he asks what’s up, Silver reveals that after all of the work he’s done in the past, his future has actually been saved, meaning he now isn’t sure what to do or why he’s even still in the past at all. Espio then tells him to just have faith in himself and that if anything happens, he has everyone else to help him. I find it kinda interesting how this story also kinda lines up with the first one, with both Silver and Blaze achieving their goals and not really knowing what to do afterward. I’m also wondering what this means for Silver in the series moving forward or if it ends up being more essential to the plot later down the line, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Another Grand Adventure for Jet the Hawk:

Jet is busy relaxing while reading a belated birthday card from his father (who exists, by the way) and preparing to eat a calzone, when all of a sudden, a Laser Wisp shows up and takes his calzone just as he’s about to eat it! Jet then goes to find the Wisp who stole it when he sees Whisper eating it while sniping at an Eggman robot, and it’s revealed that it was her own Laser Wisp who stole it! Jet then gets grabbed by the robot, and Whisper has to use Jet’s Extreme Gear to get a clear shot and blast the robot to save him. This one I think is pretty funny too, both because of the concept of Jet being upset about his calzone being stolen, and also because of the contrast between Jet and Whisper’s demeanors. Whisper snapping and yelling at Jet to be quiet was also pretty good :3

Rough Patch:

And to finish us off, here’s the one that unsurprisingly is my personal favorite of them :3 Rough and Tumble are having an argument about rhymes when the two decide that they’d be better off working on their own, and Tumble storms out of their new hideout in Spiral Hill Zone. Later that night, they both prepare to steal a Chaos Emerald from Jewel’s Museum when they suddenly realize that the other is also there, and they also notice that Tumble has teamed up with Rouge and that Rough has teamed up with Tangle. While Rough and Tumble then begin to fight amongst themselves, Rouge and Tangle then reveal that they only teamed up with them because Tumble had a plan to steal the Emerald and Rough begged Tangle to help him. Rouge and Tangle then decide to team up themselves to beat Rough and Tumble just as Rough and Tumble decide to set aside their differences and become bros again, but after doing so, Rouge takes the opportunity to snag the Emerald and fly away, leaving Tangle in tears. Obviously, the inclusion of Rough and Tumble was enough to get me on board for this one, but I also really like all the interactions between them and Rouge and Tangle, and I also really like the art Aaron Hammerstrom did for it...

Best boys/10 :3

And that’s it for the 2022 Annual! Honestly, even though I also really liked the first two and am definitely looking forward to future ones, I think I liked this Annual more than the first two, and I really like every story in it for different reasons. We’ll also be getting Issue 52 next week, which is also pretty cool.

[chaosbcund]

crossingfates replied to your post:

slides eggman slides eggman sldies

*:･ﾟ✧ takes eggman takes egGMAN TAKES---

[beevean]

I’m already seeing people disappointed that Carrey!Eggman doesn’t look like Eggman, and I 100% understand them, but... honestly, as soon as the plot got leaked, I already accepted that this will not be a Sonic movie. This will be an average kids movie whose main characters just so happen to share their names with the main characters of a popular videogame series.

Eggm- sorry, Robotnik, is not supposed to look like canon!Eggman, because this movie is barely trying to respect the original material and it’s pretty much doing its thing. So yeah, as his own original character, I don’t think Carreynik looks that bad. Plus I’m sure he’ll give his own unique spin to the character to make him charming.

Also, call it low standards, but at least Robotnik here doesn’t make my eyes bleed like Sonic. So that’s a win.

[ramager-okaja]

Alright ladies we’re back

Again

Last time on this lazy excuse for content, Solstice was brutally backstabbed by Equinox

And thats about it.

Spoiler: This one is boring too.

Good guys win challenges

The Gods have formed alliance, everyone else is screwed now

They bonded over their love of basically genocide, probably

Thats what you get, eggm-

Oh my god Equinox is eggman help its cursed

[egg-emperor]

A

Jwrewsnmynposnltnofn eggfman frjnkijg ojngodn im wontcujkjjg drunk of hnymmodn ducj

[yoottoboot]

I haven't watched Sonic X in many many years and I will never watch it because I remember it as good and that will never be ruined for me I refuse to have it ruined for me Eggman was the best Amy was annoying but it's not her fault it's misogyny and did I mention I love Eggman I love eggm

[sonic-the-cosplayer-blog]

"Remember it's not just Sonic's b-day but also Eggm-..." Don't worry I gotchu 😉 #Sonic26 #sonicthehedgehog #eggman #cosplay #cosplayer #cosplayersofinstagram #cosplayers #cosplaying #soniccosplay #robotnik #dreggman #soniclife #crossover #mashup #sega #sonicmania #sonicized #sonicforces

[egg-emperor]

eggman's cruelty is so low because he doesn't hurt real animals for his robots much anymore

But he’s done a bunch of cruel things that don’t include animals though and he did go on to use ‘em again in Lost World, so it should be higher.

Because Eggman didn’t get a single line in both WiR movies, I always imagined that this particular version is maybe just kinda there and pretty quiet when he isn’t playing his game role. That made me think that the percentage could work more, if it was in referral to how he possibly is outside of his game.

Buuut I don’t think it is and besides, that’s also me looking too deep into the Wreck it Ralph Eggman because of course I did. I was sad about them not getting Mike Pollock so I tried to find a story based explanation to try and feel better about it because yes I care that much hfhgdbgkdh

[egg-emperor]

This might sound weird or bad, but I think I'd like Eggman to take a backseat as the main villain for a little bit.

Hear me out, tho, he has been the main villain for... A while. But in the majority of modern games, he ends up getting screwed over by a bigger bad that he worked with and that reduces his threat level, kinda making him out to be a joke. And even when he IS the main villain, he's still kinda treated like a joke (like how in forces he says "I decided to learn from my mistakes" as if it never occurred to him as a 300iq genius).

I want him to step back for a moment, regroup himself, let Sonic blast through other threats like Sage, maybe infinite, etc, and when we least expect it, he has the world by the balls and isn't fucking around anymore. I want him to finally find a way to bring Sonic to his knees and solidify his place as the top dog of the villains. Even if he fails at the end, he'll still reclaim his threat level, and Sonic will at least have to actually struggle against him probably for the first time in years.

I think it'd do good for his development. But feel free to share your thoughts, I'd like to know what you think.

The whole Eggman being betrayed thing hasn't been that prominent in a while because they broke the cycle. The only main games from Unleashed to Forces where he was betrayed was Unleashed and Lost World, but they surpassed the expectations with the latter by having him fight to take back control of his plan and still be the final boss and it was a brilliant and refreshing change from the times he was just screwed over last second. Aside from that, there was just Free Riders with him being betrayed by Metal again but that's minor.

Colors, Generations, and Forces had him as the final boss without betrayal and Lost World handled it a good way with a clever twist. And I don't think it's always so bad whenever he is betrayed, though I'd really prefer for him not to be, as long as they still give him time to shine and great moments that still show he is indeed a great threat, like the Adventure games and Lost World, for some examples. But the games in the past 12 years prove that not using him isn't required for this to change.

I'm the last person that feels like he's looked like a big joke in the modern games. The entire story tone and focus on the humor affects all of the characters, not just him, and removing him doesn't change that. It's about the tone and presentation of the stories overall, he's humorous but still evil as ever and he still has serious and threatening moments when scenes require it. If the entire story tone shifted to serious and darker again like Frontiers seems to be, the presentation of Eggman's humor and villainy would follow suit.

Forces especially is one of the games in the "meta" era where he wasn't a joke at all. It may not have been as executed as well as it could've been but he was insanely successful and smart with his tricks and backup plans. He's already been clever with them before so he had actually already learned from his mistakes prior, but seeing him acknowledge it and doing something about it actually shows intelligence. And bringing multiple more tricks from his sleeves and the grand finale was delightfully impressive.

I don't think Eggman being the final boss is ever the problem. I have no issues with him being the main villain for years in a row because he's the main villain of the series and they were already doing that well in the classic games too. And in the modern games, he's never stopped being a great threat to the planet with his great evil and schemes that cause catastrophic global destruction and fear and he's still a huge challenge for Sonic, it's not like he easily gets defeated and doesn't put up a great fight against him.

I don't have any issues with there being other villains as long as they don't have to write Eggman OOC, shit on him constantly, or betray him to make the other villain seem like a bigger threat. And I'd prefer if Eggman still gets to be involved with a good amount of significance, rather than being tossed aside or teaming up with Sonic and friends over and over. And I don't mind these other villains being the final boss as long as they don't do any of that but I'm not specifically hoping that Eggman will stop being the main villain and final boss.

I really don't think those that have any issues with the focus on humor in the later games should blame Eggman because it clearly affects the presentation of all the other characters too. Just not using him won't fix that, it can just as easily change when the entire tone of the story changes from humorous and light-hearted to serious and darker as much as it does for all the other characters too. And honestly even in a good majority of the games where he is betrayed, he isn't just treated like a joke the whole way through and still has good serious moments.

I think Eggman is one of the best and most consistently well written characters in the series, especially out of all of them in more recent games from Colors to Forces. He's still the exact same character he's always been at core, there's just been more focus on his humorous side in some games but he still has great serious and darker moments too, people just tend to overlook it because they don't like the humor focus. But it's definitely there and Eggman doesn't look like nothing but a big joke like a large portion of the fanbase treat him.

I don't think he needs to go away for a while and come back much later in order for him to not have as much focus on the humor and more focus and screentime of the evil, especially because it never actually went away entirely. I'd love for there to be more again but all it takes is the overall story tone shift and Eggman being written and presented well. I don't think that time away is what's needed for that to happen and be capable of having a great impact that reminds people that he's a serious threat that's not to be messed with.

I might sound biased with all this heavy praise and loving when he's the final boss no matter how many times but he's my favorite for a reason and many others that aren't as crazy about him tend to agree lol. I really love and want more of the focus and screentime of his evil too but I also love the humor that's just as important and I'm happy as long as I can see a good balance of them. And while maybe some games don't balance it quite as much as they should, it's still enough to make me happy and would only needs small tweaks to reach perfection.