#and Amy's speech would fit better with Sonic

[kittydoremi]

Opinion: I don't really want Amy or Rouge to be in Sonic 3 that much, or at least I wouldn't mind if they weren't in it.

1: The 2nd movie already felt so crowded with all the characters it had. Tails and Knuckles were fighting for screentime, and Tails' developmemt ended up feeling super rushed and forced. I'd like if the third movie just focused on developing Shadow so it doesn't have a similar problem.

2: As far as Amy goes... I think it would fit better if Sonic gave the speech to Shadow, not her. Sonic has spent a long time on Earth getting to know humans, and has formed close bonds with several of them. If he did the speech, it would be alot more impactful then if Amy just appeared on Earth and did it in the same movie. If she were to appear in a movie, I'd prefer it to be in a possible fourth one that adapts Sonic CD.

[moomingitz]

I don't really care about the possibility of whacking metaphorical hornet's nest, so I'm going to say it:

I hope they give Amy's "Not All Humanity" speech to Shadow to someone else, not only to listen to fans throw a fit over it again(Sonic X did it better, and I will never apologize for saying that), but in the case of what we've seen in the movies, I think it's far more fitting narrative and character wise for Sonic himself to do it here considering his backstory in this canon. I already thought it felt forced in SA2 and like it was just there to give Amy something to do in the game's story, and it would only just feel like it was for the sake of ticking off a Memberberry fan service box in the upcoming movie then what would make sense narratively at this point.

If I'm going to be even more honest with my unpopular Sonic related opinions, aside from Rouge, I rather they not introduce anymore characters in the third movie and just focus on further fleshing out the ones they currently have. A criticism I still hold towards the second movie is how they introduced all of this new stuff at once and made it feel more cluttered and less focused than the first movie, especially in the case of making Sonic's development with Tails feel more rushed and more of the same thing from the first movie- to the point where Sonic's bonding with Tails reusing the same story beats with Sonic bonding with Tom. There's the very high likelihood of Robotnik not even returning in Sonic 3, and they're straight up skipping the first Sonic Adventure game to adapt and getting right to Shadow, so why not take even more liberties with the story?

[skaruresonic]

My earliest memories of the VN are a little hazy because a lot has happened since then, but I'll try to share the bits and pieces that I do recall. ---

One of the first things I did was compile voice clips in order to have a comprehensive credits list. This included sifting through dialogue compilations. The characters' quotes then shaped ideas for plot beats and informed the kind of narrative it would become. In the earliest draft which... hadn't really been written at the time, but was 90% locked away in my head, the plan was to have Sonic help settle a dispute between Shadow and Rouge following a failed apprehension of some bank robbers. Their chapter would have paralleled Tails and Knuckles' in that two characters approach Sonic instead of just one. Not sure where their chapter would have fit into the overall narrative, but I'd guess around mid-afternoon, just before early evening, when Cream's chapter begins. I couldn't find anything viable in David Humphrey's voice clips, and Jason Griffith's sounded... for lack of a better word, a little too mean-spirited to use. It would have made Shadow seem as though he were raking Rouge over the coals instead of being a little annoyed and aloof. So then I was like, "Maybe I should set this aside for now." Eventually, as Knuckles', Cream's, and Amy's chapters grew in size, I decided it would have dragged the plot out for too long to include Shadow and Rouge's story, and hence cut it. --- The first draft was supposed to have the player take Sonic's place instead of Eggman. The implication being that Eggman somehow separated Sonic's sprite from his dialogue variable and is attempting to control Sonic's "shell" through manipulating the player. As time went on, I realized this was a difficult concept to convey properly. It would have also probably broken immersion to dictate the player's reaction after rendering them a silent entity for most of the game. That's why the switch was then changed to a more direct one between Sonic and Eggman. The player is instead given silent involvement where ultimately their say matters more than Sonic's or even Eggman's. The act of choice demonstrates the sheer power imbalance that exists between the characters and the player who directs them. ---

Eggman's "bad ending" speech was the first thing I worked on, which took about 15 minutes to speedread (so... maybe 30 minutes of regular reading?). It's not "truly" present in the current version of the game, though part of it is there in some form; it just requires a little digging to find. About half of the original speech is preserved in base64 when Sonic's dialogue gets deleted and replaced with barcode. You can see the base64 in the script. During the Good ending where everyone shows up to the surprise party, Sonic calls back to this speech. Eggman is confused because this implies Sonic can read his narration despite several layers of encryption, mirroring Eggman's ability to read Sonic's narration. --- The rave cave was originally supposed to take place at Amy's house, when Eggman would have flooded the place with raving Egg Pawns. All that hawt robot mosh pit action would have carried Sonic out the door and tossed him onto the lawn.

--- The final game has just two routes and many looping choices. A third route where the graphics driver fails, causing Sonic and co.'s sprite textures to fail to load, and an angry overworked Eggman assigning you the task of retrieving the lost textures before the end of the workday got scrapped as well.

[caydebug]

continuing my mobian caliburn thing: here he is in some more casual wear after being ruthlessly badgered by sonic. he was given some clothes more fitting for a modern era as well

thoughts:

headcanon: sonic and the black knight doesn't actually take place within a book, sonic got sent back in time to the 5th or 6th century. i don't think that witches, sword magic, and dragons are too unbelievable when it comes to shit that could happen in sonic's world, so as far as i'm concerned, he was pulled into the past by merlina and the "other world" thing was sort of a figure of speech

caliburn was originally a mobian. he either died and had his soul attach to his sword, or he just got trapped within the sword due to some kind of magic

his last name is legrande, he is left handed, and is physically in his mid to late 30s

he gets his body back due to some sort of magical surge, be it because it built up over the years or because he was exposed to some massive power source like a chaos emerald. not sure which but either way he gets a boost and gets to be a real boy again

no matter how his organic body comes back into being, when he experiences being a living, breathing person for the first time in centuries, he kinda just... collapses and falls over. he can no longer just float in mid-air. what are legs anyway?

caliburn refuses to part with his sword because of personal value, knightly principle, and the fact that it almost feels like it's an extension of his body and that it kinda was his body for a while

he won't ever bare his teeth or claws, and he very rarely resorts to using brute strength, despite the fact that he's pretty physically powerful. he views sonic's usage of his own body as a weapon as crass and barbaric and does not approve

when in the heat of the moment, instead of crying out like sonic or some of the other characters, he'll actually make that rumbling sort of lion growl. it's very loud, startling, and his fangs are kinda scary

he would not understand eggman's whole thing in general. he terrorizes defenseless civilians? he hides behind these... robots? fights on unfair grounds? stabs people in the back? flees battles that he initiated in the first place? he has no morals or honor. it's shameful

in fact, modern society is very confusing to him. things are very different from what he is accustomed to, be it technology, language, or peoples' behavior. he needs help to adapt

he is like... overly polite, but hey better that than terribly rude

he ends up confusing sonic's friends for the characters they met during their adventure together, but they end up getting along pretty well once he's brought up to speed. he appreciates tails' intelligence and willingness to teach him about things, finds amy to be a pleasant person and her passion admirable, knuckles' devotion to his duty is also an admirable trait and they both take their jobs seriously, and can sort of relate to shadow in being a man out of time and also enjoys learning things from him, etc etc.

i'll have more thoughts later on perhaps. if anyone else has ideas feel free to share them and i’ll give my opinions on them!

[tarawing7]

"It's raining!"

I had visited Mint's home with Tails, and that's the first thing our yellow fox exclaims the moment I say 'see you later'. A second ago it was clear blue, but it suddenly began to shower rain.

I should have known better, it was summer. Rain in this season come and go frequently! But I was so certain that I forgot to check the forecast.

Although, this wouldn't be a problem if I had an umbrella. Thankfully, Tails had one and Mint probably has one too. We're in her home.

"Tails, don't you have an umbrella?" I shot my gaze to him, "Oh yeah. About that..." He put on a sheepish grin then opened a very small umbrella that looked like it only fit him.

"...Ah." I sighed, with a disappointed face. "Looks like I'm cancelled for leaving. Mint, do you have one?"

She was meekly resting on the sofa staring outside of her window, then snapped out of her daze to stand up and head to the near door.

There was a tall bin with various umbrellas, and as she picked up a more prominent clear vinyl one, she opened it to check if it worked.

But when she did, it opened the other way around.

"Uh, yeah, I guess you are cancelled for leaving," she laughed with an embarrassed expression, slowly closing it back into position.

Tails, who's standing outside of the door, then rested his small umbrella on his shoulder then suggested an idea; "I could try to fetch yours from home."

I swung my hand as I disregarded, "nah, it's okay. The rain seems to be a quick shower. If I wait a bit it should get away soon. You can head home first."

"That's looks like a plan. Alrighty, then, I'll see you at home."

He put his light blue umbrella up then propelled his two tails up into the air to lift off. Soon he had disappeared into the blurry field of rain. After see him go, I slowly headed back into the dry, cozy home of Mint's.

She greeted me with a little awkward smile, yet a warm welcome.

"So... you're staying for a bit?"

"Yep."

Her face enlightened as her hands softly clasped with a hopeful grin. The eyes of hers began to dart around the house, shortly landing on the counter table.

"It's raining after all, would you like to have a cup of coffee before leaving?"

Coffee wasn't really my thing, but I don't see why not. Besides, the scent of it was always nice to my senses.

"Sure," I shrugged, "are you dripping it on your own?"

"No... I'm not that good at cooking, Sonic." She giggled as he went to her coffee making machine, and grabbed few coffee pods with two white mugs. "If you want those, you should have gone over to Amy's."

I leaned against the counter table while watching her prepare. "I don't know Mint, I thought you were pretty good at it."

"You only tried my signature toasts, and that is not 'good at cooking'." With two of the pods now inserted into the machine, she sat on one of the stools that were near the counter table from the opposite side of me.

I only shrugged as I also sat on the stool that was right next to me. "Your toasts are called 'signature' for a reason." With a smirk, I lightly laughed while I watched her get the warm coffee into the cups.

she slid one to me, then the other picking up to sip.

The surface was warm, the hot touch slowly getting used to my senses was satisfying compared to the humid, cold air. I also took a sip right away, but--

"Wait! That's--"

As soon as she said that I realized I might have drank it a little too fast, as my tongue was hurt from the heat.

"Ow-!"

"--Hot..."

She faltered her hand that had stretched out to stop me, albeit too late, then continued to blow on her cup before drinking like me.

"You are hasty, just like your speed."

"Bleh... I can't really talk properly right now." As if I bit my tongue, my speech muffled up. But Mint found my suffering funny, however, and she began to burst out in laughter.

"You-you sound so funny!"

Her smile was a cute, soft smile, that made a blush creep on my cheeks. I cocked my brow with a playful smirk, then tried to prove her wrong.

"No, no I don't."

She only laughed even harder from my poor pronunciation that sounded like a toad trying to speak, and I just kept staring at her hands pounding on the table.

I groaned, then kept sipping on the less-hot coffee that gave me this curse. However, contrary to this situation the scent of roasted coffee and the sweetness of the cream in it insulated my tongue. I should have tried these more often, it was quite the delight.

Mint's laughter slowly died down as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Man, I bet the others would have loved to hear you like that." I rolled my eyes, "Knuckles would enjoy it a bit too much," I said.

"yeah, probably," she snickered then looked down at my cup. "How's the coffee? I chose 'Dolce Latte'."

"What's the difference between that and a normal one?"

"It's sweeter."

I picked up my cup and looked into the half full cup, then nodded in agreement. "That explains the sweetness. I like it, and I don't even drink it that often. Suits my taste."

She put on a sweet smile as her head tilted cutely a little.

"I'm glad," and after her soft spoken words, a comfortable silence filled the room. The sound of rain splashing the floor and roof was another relaxing ambiance to add the already cozy home.

"It sure is raining long though."

"Yeah," I replied quietly, finishing the last droplet of my coffee.

"Do you like rain, Sonic?"

Now, rain was something I had to always get through when I was adventuring. Battles, quick runs, you'd never know when it was going to rain. I would just get soaked by it, then endure it. But I did find rain some what relaxing, regardless of my weight being added if I did get wet.

It's not like full bodies of water; there is a visible end compared to the deep depths of lakes, and oceans. It was water that came from above, that would land on my face one by one slowly dribbling down.

It gave an assurance that I wouldn't fall over from it.

Many connect rainy days with gloomy nights, but for me it was another sign that told me I was alive.

Feeling the cold rain drop on my skin one by one, was another proof that everything was real.

Underwater, you can't feel anything. See anything, hear anything--its just the muffled sounds of water bubbling around you as you sink down into the endless unknown.

But rain...

It was reality.

"I do," I answer softly. "The sound of it soothes my soul." My hand against my chest, I smile with a content look.

"Oh... I don't really like it, to be honest."

"Hmm, why?"

"I only have memories of being left behind in a very rainy day like today, standing alone. I was waiting for my parents to pick me up...

But they never came."

She put down the cup she was holding, then gazed upon the window that was behind me, in a wistful look.

"I had to walk home without any umbrella, and guess what, I caught a cold the very next day. They did plead to me with many 'sorry's, but... They said they 'forgot' about me. What kind of parent forgets their child? I was so much of a screw up, they wanted to give up."

Her expression aggravated, her brows began to furrow and dropped her head down.

"I felt like this isn't where I belonged. I hoped that everything was fake, and it was a big joke. Now I don't know what I want anymore, if I want to live reality or not.

I watched her in silence, not knowing what to do. My hands fidgeted unwillingly until she spoke up again.

"Sorry, I shouldn't burden you with my past..."

"No, don't be sorry," I stopped her from being apologetic once again.

"But I think you should live in the present, Mint."

She raised her gaze to meet mine, then looked into me as I continued.

"I do enjoy rain because it sounds nice, but that isn't all it. To me, it was proof that I was alive. That everything was moving, still ahead of you waiting for your steps to follow. The rain drops that touch my skin was another reason for me to keep living on.

And I wouldn't want to go without you."

I put my hand against hers, that was resting flat. Giving it a reassuring gentle squeeze, I smiled softly.

She smiled back with a slight blush on her cheeks, lifting my hand to grab it even tighter.

"Thanks," she whispered with a shy grin, then looked my behind once more.

"Oh, hey, the rain's over!"

I whipped my head towards the window, and outside was sunlight beaming through the clouds with puddles reflecting off the clouds parting away.

My hand slowly slipped away from her hand, then faced her once again. "Looks like I'll be able to go now."

I got up from the stool, then idly walked over to the door. Mint also followed me to the entrance, then stood meekly with her hands together, politely.

Opening the door was a bright light that took my eyes into adjusting, and it glowed against Mint's face beautifully.

"Thank you for sticking around," she said.

"My pleasure," I nodded with satisfied grin. "I'd love to do this again."

"Maybe next time we could do it intentionally." She giggled with her hand above her lips.

"Yeah,

That would be nice."

here's me unintentionally keep writing it TOO LONG idk maybe this could also be in my fanfic..,,,,, *smooshes in all oneshots to make big fanfic*

[soft-glitch]

Where the breeze leads us

Chapter 4: Legacy

Word count: about 1100 words

Author’s notes: this is a series of tiny one-shots taking place in the Sonic future AU described in my fic How You Look In The Wind.  You might want to read a bit of it first! There might not be a strict chronology to these events, so some of them are up to interpretation. Enjoy the read!

- - - - -

It really was amazing in its own way, Espio thought. Despite being one of the most famous investigation agencies on Mobius, the Chaotix were permanently on the verge of being broke.

Granted, it wasn’t that bad. They lived in a nice house with everything they needed, and never really had to cut budget on food or basic necessities. But most mobians expected the team to be extremely successful and loaded with money.

First, every other case was offered at an absurdly low rate. The crocodile simply couldn’t resist to the idea of helping people, no matter the size of their bank account.

Second, the Chaotix had become a well know name among charities. There had always been a widespread need for relief on Mobius, due to the destruction caused by Ivo Robotnik and his clique. Fortunately most mobians were generous and valued solidarity, but the agency always found many fundraisers to participate in.

Espio didn’t mind for the most part. But this was a special occasion, for Chaos’ sake.

“Aren’t we supposed to have like, savings?” Charmy asked cautiously, looking up from the plants he was watering. “Yes, but the key words here are supposed to.” the chameleon replied with a glare towards Vector. “Why I still let you handle the budget is beyond my understanding. – C’m’on, it’s usually not bad!” the large mobian said. “I just forgot ya needed this much for today.”

Espio sighed and closed the laptop. The costume was already being made, so there was no choice but to pay one way or another. If the tailor could accept to delay the payment by a month, it would be feasible, but…

“Why don’t you borrow from someone?” the bee offered. “I’m pretty sure Amy or Rouge would understand, and they’re— – Absolutely not. – You’re dumb.” Charmy shrugged. “They’re friends, they would be happy to help with this and you know it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime situation.”

With a pained expression, the purple reptile got up and rubbed his temples, not sharing a word for a whole minute. Vector eyed Charmy, slightly perplexed.

“Alright. Yes. I guess you’re right.” Espio then turned towards his associate. ”Vec, I expect you to handle our finances better next month. It’s one thing to have a debt with the tailor, it’s another to fail to honour one with a friend.”

Vector nodded almost ashamedly as the chameleon grabbed his phone and went outside.

- - - - -

A surprising amount of people was gathered at the ceremony. Espio had expected most of them to show up, like Sonic and Tails, who were among Knuckles’ oldest friends. Some others were… an interesting surprise. Everyone knew Scourge was in some kind of rehabilitation retreat with Mighty and followed him everywhere, but to see him attend this important event felt odd to say the least.

As he was observing the armadillo and his green apprentice, a not-so-discreet gesture of affection made the Espio raise a brow.

Huh. So these two are… Shaking his head, the chameleon tried to focus. The sun was just about to set, and he had an important role to play.

The chatter from the small crowd circling the altar faded as the daylight shifted to coral and fiery rose. A dingo and a jaguar started playing instruments, a grave yet somehow uplifting melody slowly filling the air. All stares focused on the Emerald altar, on which two figures took place.

One was Knuckles, wearing a gold and white robe intricately decorated with a snake motif. The current guardian, with his solemn pose and ceremonial outfit, almost seemed like another person altogether. His expression, showing an unreadable seriousness to most, was in fact tinted by pride and emotion.

Espio tried —and failed— to avoid glancing too much at the echidna. The sunset light worked together with the elegant flowing costume, highlighting his fiery red spikes in a way that left the chameleon slightly dazzled.

The second person was a young wombat, her face slightly hidden by a humble cloak. Her stare was one Espio had seen many times from Cream or Charmy: slightly intimidated yet resolute. Eyes blessed with the spark of youthful optimism and the willpower needed to change the world for the better.

The chameleon smiled as the music stopped. Knuckles’ successor was fit for the task.

“The sun descends and stars appear in our skies, as old as the stones our feet step on. They remember this world and so do we.” the red echidna started. “Tonight our hearts are bright and will sing a new song, so that the Chaos may listen and make our will known.”

Espio exchanged the slightest look with his partner, a glimpse of a supporting smile escaping onto his lips. Knuckles nodded imperceptibly before continuing his speech.

The ceremony was solemn, and the crowd attending it kept silent all along. It was, after all, the beginning of an end. Everyone witnessing it was acknowledging the approaching end of the echidna clan, its last member having decided to pass his knowledge to an apprentice.

Time came for the last part of the ritual, and Espio stepped closer. He knelt in front of the young wombat, who bowed down respectfully. “We are now into the night of your duties, Helik the Wombat.” Knuckles said, his voice now trembling slightly with emotion he was unable to hide. “Find knowledge and wisdom as the stars travel along you, so you may emerge from the horizon with newfound brilliance.”

He then turned towards his purple friend. “If I ever fail our duties, or if fate separates us, I entrust my power to Espio the Chameleon. He is now a beacon in the dark, one you shall seek in the hardest of times and trust whenever you feel lost.”

Uncovering a chaos emerald from his outfit, the echidna set it on a small stone pedestal between them. Helik, Espio and Knuckles all placed a hand on it and closed their eyes.

For a few seconds they remained silent. Then, as the Master Emerald behind them started to glow more and more, they chanted together: “The servers are the 7 Chaos. Chaos is power... Power enriched by the heart. The controllers are the ones that unify the Chaos.”

A gentle wave of energy came out of the emerald beneath their hands, echoing one from the Master Emerald. Everyone present felt their hearts filled with courage and hope, dreams of a distant past and longing for a bright future.

Helik would be the next Guardian.

With a relieved sigh, Espio looked at the crowd cheering for the trio and smiled. Knuckles’ hand was warm against his own.

[mobius-prime]

213. Sonic the Hedgehog #145

Shadows of Hope

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Ron Lim Colors: Jason Jensen

I've pointed out misleading cover pages before, but it's been a while since we've seen one. This issue's cover page makes it seem like Shadow is gonna beat up Sonic or something, but in reality they never even come face to face within this issue, so I don't know what the cover artist was thinking. Shadow isn't interested in antagonizing Sonic as of yet - instead, he's been coming to Knothole for several weeks in a row, watching Hope Kintobor from the bushes near where she likes to hang out. That's not creepy at all! A mysterious robed figure, in turn, has been spying on Shadow all this time, referring to him as "it" and wondering what "its" purpose here is. Of course, we know why he's been watching Hope - because she looks very much like Maria. Shadow is surprised by a sudden flash of light behind him, and turns to find the mysterious stranger looking down at him.

…dude, what the hell? I'm sorry, but did you really think that your plan of lassoing the literal ultimate life form with a $2 roll of twine you got from Home Depot would be a good idea? Shadow is similarly baffled by the sheer audacity of this figure, and leaps forward to attack, but suddenly finds himself being teleported away by another flash of light, and Hope finds herself also being caught in the light. The three end up in a hidden facility somewhere, where the figure kicks Shadow off him and slams a glass door shut, locking him in a pod. Shadow has a few quick flashbacks, first to the nutrient pod he first awoke in when he was created by Gerald, and then the healing pod the Bem put him in after his tangle with the Biolizard. The figure removes their hood to reveal themselves to be none other than Locke, who has captured Shadow for the purpose of using him to find his missing family, the other members of the Brotherhood. He's really just kind of a piece of garbage in this issue, even more so than usual - asking if Shadow knows what it's like to lose everything, and when Shadow angrily replies that he's never had anything in the first place, replying with a callous "That's not surprising." Seriously, dude? Apparently, the reason he isn't surprised is because according to his scans, Shadow is neither "biological, mineral, nor vegetable," which makes absolutely no sense. Like… he's not a robot, dude, he's a biological creature like any other, just with some unusual origins. I chalk this up entirely to Penders just not knowing anything about Shadow's history or circumstances, because as I've mentioned before, he's almost bizarrely proud of how he's never played a single Sonic game while writing these comics.

Anyway, it's not even clearly explained why Locke seems to think that Shadow of all people can help him locate the missing members of the Brotherhood, nor why he thinks kidnapping him is an acceptable thing to do toward that end.  Hope steps forward at this point, scolding Locke for enacting this terrible, terrible plan, and when Locke turns around to pull a "you're just too young to understand my wise adult ways" on her (keep in mind she's like at least fourteen by this point), Shadow's PTSD kicks into high gear.

Shadow starts beating the everloving crap out of Locke, who at first tries to fight back with some Chaos powers of his own but is ultimately overwhelmed by Shadow's sheer strength in his frenzy. Shadow is on the verge of actually killing Locke when Hope yells for him to stop, saying she thought he was better than that and that he's scaring her. This appears to snap Shadow out of his flashback, and he recognizes once more where he is.

So this is the beginning of a series of really weird issues in the comic, led primarily by Penders. I'm not sure exactly what his angle was here, but after everything that came before, it seems he's decided to take a break from focusing on his favorite echidna in favor of a few other characters - namely, Shadow, Locke, and Evil Sonic. Evil Sonic and Locke are his own creations, so I guess I can't really fault him for whatever he decides to write about them, but I'm not really a fan of the way he writes Shadow. Shadow is easily my favorite character in the entire Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, across all canons (though his iteration in the games is my favorite), and I'm very particular about how he's portrayed. He can be a bit of an anti-hero at times, a bit brooding and sometimes violent, but in the end he's much more hero than anything else. He's not some vicious killer edgelord, he's a confused and traumatized individual just trying to figure out where he fits in the larger scheme of things. This is something that becomes abundantly clear if you play through Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Shadow the Hedgehog in order, as those three games contain the bulk of his character development. Interestingly enough, while Shadow's amnesia is a big part of the story of the latter two games and has a huge impact on how his story goes, Shadow doesn't appear to have amnesia at all in the comics. Instead, his main motivation is finding out exactly why Gerald created him in the first place. It's a bit of a bizarre turn from the games and anime, as while the motive is similar, it makes a lot more sense in the games and anime due to his amnesia, which makes him far more suggestible to those trying to manipulate him. I don't know, I can't even point to one specific thing about the way he's portrayed in the comics that bothers me - all I know is that it's different from the games in a way that just rubs me wrong, and makes me feel like Penders kind of missed the point of Shadow's character development in the first place.

As for Locke, suddenly making him out to be this callous bad guy who forcefully kidnaps others to study their biology for his own purposes is really jarring considering his deathbed redemption speech not two issues ago. Like, I know that all takes place in the future so he hasn't gotten that redemption yet, but if anything that just goes to show how weird and out of order everything in the comics lately feels. I really feel like Penders actually should have stuck to focusing on Knuckles, since at this point he's made him into such an author's pet that he seems to be horribly rusty at writing literally anyone else in the comic. On the other hand, I suppose it's valid to argue that the quality of Penders' work has been declining for quite some time now, first with the entirely-too-long Green Knuckles Saga and followed up immediately by Mobius 25 Years Later. Honestly, most of my defenses of his work have fallen flat ever since the cancellation of the KtE spinoff a while back, which if you ask me was the main point in time where his writing abilities actually got a chance to shine. In these last couple eras, he's gotten his head so far stuck up his own ass that he's lost sight of what things readers actually find interesting in these comics. I suppose it's fitting, then, that in the next fifteen issues we'll be witnessing the final death throes of Kenders' writing in the Archie preboot, in an era of flux where no one really knows what kind of story they're going for anymore.

Training Day

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Al Bigley Colors: Jason Jensen

Oh, speaking of a story that doesn't really go anywhere, we've got one here! I'm not being facetious here either - the "plot" of this story is just that Eggman has some data files on why he hates the Freedom Fighters, and does a little presentation for his army of mindless swatbots informing them of the dangers of several key players in particular. Of course, he covers Sonic first as his most hated enemy, then talks about how Tails is dangerous due to his precociousness and expertise with machinery. Knuckles is up next despite not being a member of the Freedom Fighters proper, and finally we end with Amy of all people. Not to insult Amy of course, as she's quite a bruiser in her own right, but I mean… why not cover someone like Bunnie, who has power enough to wreck an entire battleship loaded with nuclear missiles?

I only include this picture to sort of show that at least, as I've mentioned before, the comics actually do Amy proper justice as a character - she's the definition of a kickass girly-girl, a perfect demonstration of the idea that being feminine doesn't make you weak. The tarot card thing is a new one for the comics, but that's actually established backstory for her in the games, for those who don't know - the whole reason she met Sonic in the first place in Sonic CD was because she did a tarot reading for herself and the cards told her to go meet the love of her life in a specific location, which just so happened to be where Sonic was on his latest adventure. Ultimately, this story doesn't really tell us anything we didn't already know apart from that, so we can safely move on, as it distinctly smacks of filler.

Harbinger

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Dawn Best Colors: Jason Jensen

Knothole is experiencing a moment of calm, and thus Tails lounges in his room engrossed in a book about the history of technology on Mobius. No one is aware that some distance from the village a huge explosion has just gone off, because why would they be aware? It happened several hundred miles away! Sonic and his friends (minus Tails) are spending their free time playing idle games, with Sonic and Ash becoming overly competitive over their game of darts while the girls in the room giggle knowingly at their bristling and strutting. Tails becomes intrigued by something-or-other that he read in his book and decides to go ask Rotor about it, only to find him already preoccupied with something else.

Tails suggests the three of them pile into the Tornado and check it out, but Rotor says they should at least take along Sonic and Bunnie for some muscle just in case. Tails gets weirdly offended by this, prompting Rotor to give us an explanation of the roles each Freedom Fighter plays in the group for whatever reason, including listing off himself and Tails as the tactical support and Sally as their leader. I mean, it's accurate at least? Tails heads out to find Sonic as Ash stomps out of the hut in a huff, with Mina trailing him and complaining that he's only upset because he and Sonic were deliberately antagonizing each other. He finds the others still hanging out in the game room, and is initially offended that they didn't invite him until Sonic mentions offhandedly that he knocked at Tails' door several times to no answer since Tails was so caught up in his reading. Tails explains the situation to everybody, and soon everyone, including Tommy, is ready to head out in the FFS and check out the disturbance, while Sally comes over to see them off.

I mean, Sonic's got a point, Sally - he's been on a million missions before with little more than a few scratches here and there, what makes this one any different? Oh, severe trauma, right. The story concludes with a final page showing a familiar pair of air shoes stepping into a ruined facility, their owner pleased at finding the location of some kind of prototype that he learned of in Gerald's old encrypted data files…

[mdhwrites]

Okay, I’d actually like to talk about how AMAZING these people actually show the Sonic cast is, and why there are so many, because I hear so many people claim that Sonic’s friends don’t matter, or don’t need to exist. Here is the thing: In gameplay they can be hard to implement. As characters... Well Sonic: He’s your normal,goofball, never give up protaganist. He’ll always do what’s right, but his belief in his own skills is both his greatest strength and flaw. He’s gullible, cocky, and if no one holds him back is likely to rush face first into danger with no plan to get out. It’s a classic and always a lot of fun. Tails: The obsessed engineer. Not a lot of stuff plays up how shy or socially awkward Tails can be, but when he has to interact with people outside of his field, his mission, or his team you can usually see it, and that’s because he is always working on the tech side of stuff. He loves his passion, but without someone to push him out of his comfort zone he wouldn’t ever grow. Knuckles: The serious hero. He can be silly, but that’s usually at his own expense. He isn’t the brightest, but he has a heart of gold... Or warm steel might be the better term for it. He’ll smash before he talks, but unlike Sonic will focus on the mission. There’s no distracting him because his goal is always the betterment of him and his friends, so he’ll also give up a victory of his own to give it to someone else. What matters is that things got done. Rouge: The prankster/flirt. She appears to not take anything serious, but it’s because she wants to have fun! Her tricks may be a little mean, but never to the extent that they’ll leave the recipient scowling for too long, and she is the one who’ll give a few heated, impassioned words in an ear to make someone’s day brighter more than anyone else. This isn’t just sexual teasing though. A prankster and flirt has to be able to read people to get under their skin (or other parts), and this makes her great for compassion, care, love, and bringing anyone up who is feeling too down. Just be careful, because she’s also the best in putting you back in your place should it go too far to your head. Omega: I don’t know this character very well, but I’ll still try with what I do know. He’s the outsider. The one who doesn’t know the world, but is trying his best. His intentions are never ill, but he wasn’t made to be good, so it’s hard for him not to do damage, despite how desperately he wants to keep everything safe. Fortunately, with the right-ish moral compass, his weaponry can be used for good and he is slowly learning how to be funny, sarcastic, and everything else that can make him increasingly human in the eyes of other people than his friends, who know just how wonderfully alive he is behind his awkward voice. Shadow: Yeah, he isn’t a hero. He is selfish, narcissistic, and ready to be an asshole to anyone to get his way. He doesn’t play well with others, but that’s because he is what matters... in the short term view. He is still a hero, but the kind that is harder to see the merit of. He would abandon his friends if he knew getting the job done was what mattered, and that he could do it himself. He wouldn’t technically like it (not if it actually cost lives. Here... Fuck em. They fucked up) but it’s what he would do for the job. He’s the best guy to work with, because he’ll always get it done, but don’t ask him to move or else you’ll be paying for the beer, pizza, and it better line up with his schedule or he’s just teleporting all of your stuff in a heap onto the roof because he missed your third floor apartment. Eggman!: The rapacious scoundrel! He honestly isn’t the best at world domination. It’s not his thing. He makes flawed creations because he enjoys creating doodads, thingamobs, and wants people to appreciate just how good his death laser is! At least, in a lot of his best incarnations. He’s of course older, more bitter, and all of this has been cranked up to an eleven, but come on. He names things like Egg Carrier, and puts a moustache on his car. If there isn’t a child somewhere in there wanting attention and a friend who understands him, then I don’t know what more they could do to show that. This is also why he’s not usually the final boss in a lot of more modern Sonic games I feel. And now *cracks knuckles* The hard mode. Covering not only characters not in this, but also ones who are either less popular, or less canon. Warning: I have been exposed to a lot of Sonic, but I have consumed very little Sonic, so feel free to correct me on any of this. Big the Cat: Okay, going to admit it now: Could still use work. However, he is supposed to be the zen amongst the insanity. He is the one who, given the chance, would just relax, sleep, and play with his frog, even while everyone else is playing EXTREME, DEATH, CHILLYDOG VOLLEYBALL! He doesn’t want for much except his friends and trusts that his more capable friends can take care of themselves. He’ll do anything for his smaller, less defensible friends though... like Froggie. Cream: The shy, earnest girl. She’s more in touch with nature, she cleans the base while everyone’s out on mission, and develops a new anxiety disorder everytime the phone rings. You could want no one better to just listen to your problems, and she’ll do what is necessary if she must, Just don’t expect her to come home and be ready to squash a spider, even if she just saved the world. Amy: The tomboy turned girly girl. If allowed, she’d learned to cook, bake, clean, and sew, because to her those are the traits that have been ingrained into her by society as right for what she wants to be: A wife in a peaceful time, surrounded by those she loves and who aren’t afraid of her. This likely stems from losing a couple too many friends after she showed off she could break a mountain with her hammer. In actuality, she’d be at the most peace if she accepted who she was, while still trying to calm down and manage her anger, but what we get instead is someone filled with a lot of complex emotions, whose definition for romance do NOT fit with her knight in shining armor, and who will break you if you so much as lay a finger on her Disney Palace dream. Chaotix: Uuuuuuuuh, skip! Okay, to be fair, they are additional archtypes that aren’t there already, especially as less typical heroes, or heroes for hire. They follow something other than pure morality to decide what it is they care about, but they won’t turn to straight up criminal work in order to get paid either. They’re good guys, but they live in the real world, to each their own extent, and are trying to get by despite that. Princess Sally: This is my last one, because I pretty much run out of knowing enough at this point. However, I do want to touch on her. We have heroes, villains, anti-heroes, but they almost all have one thing in common. Confidence. Sally is the character who, when asked to put on a speech, takes a deep breath, wipes the nervous tears from her eyes, and steps out and performs spectacularly. Everyone knows she’s capable of moving the Earth except for her. The weight of her position and her situation weigh on every action she makes and it exhausts her, almost to the point of stopping her. Almost. Her reserves of strength make it so that even when she has to show she’s scared, she can keep going. And sorry if I am SUUUUPER off on that last one. But yeah, to everyone who says all of Sonic’s friends are stupid, blame that more on poor game writing. These characters have AMAZING designs and concepts behind them that manage to show themselves in spite of how rough the writing or time for character development can be in their games, and it’s part of why I can’t actually make that much fun of the Sonic community. You were given an entire season’s worth of anime characters to play around with and grow up with and you want to see them done well and given the characterization you know is there. Add to the fact that the games are fun (to some people, I am unfortunately not a big fan) and I entirely sympathize with you all, and I hope you get more good games in the future, and that they keep adding to this great rouge- OH SHIT! Silver: Yeah, if you thought Shadow seemed a little extreme, Silver is what you get when you have someone with literally nothing left to lose. He lost his planet, and he will destroy a galaxy to set it right. He doesn’t trust because he grew up in a time where that got you killed. He has likely lost friends, homes, everything to the future, and will do anything to get them back. This also leaves him in a reeeeally awkward position in peace time and treating paintball as a game instead of a training exercise. Blaze: Making the best of a bad situation. While Silver let him embroil himself in the rage of his world, Blaze still fights to temper it. To be able to manage a small smile from time to time, and find silver linings in failure. When something goes wrong, she’ll publicly tell everyone how great they did and how they’ll be a next time, but please give her a hug. She’s crying on the inside because she’s had it just as rough as Silver, but also thinks she actually has something to lose still beyond her life, and that fact terrifies her. Sorry for forgetting about those two, but that should be about everyone. If I missed someone you expect me to know, especially from the games, let me know. Otherwise, I hope you all liked this, and I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[ellipsis-ultima]

IDW Sonic #2 review

With Tails staying back in Park Avenue, Sonic heads off to Green Hill Zone to fend off the next set of robots per the norm. Though I can’t help but notice that there’s some small world building going on.

Park Avenue looks to be a usual park/city town but the Avatar’s Green Hill (I can’t remember for the life of me the name of the Avatar’s Green Hill stage) is developing to be more village like. It’s business as usual, but this time Amy shows up. Her personality and interactions with Sonic and the others is one of the few highlights of this issue. It’s actually pretty nice. Amy is still in love with Sonic, but when it came to him stating his reasons why he refused to join the Resistance again, she respected that decision and stated that him being a free spirit was one of the reasons why she likes him. 

And she’s not always after Sonic either, we see her with some leadership skills, telling the military what to do when another attack comes. I was partially reminded of Boom Amy in that segment, but it was pretty nice.

Together we can show the world what we can do, you’re next to me and I’m next to you...!

There is plenty of action in this issue and while most of the moves used is recently game-centric (boost and double boost) there’s also some cool new moves such as Sonic boosting and spindashing in the Death Crab at the same time. I also liked how Amy spinned and attacked the badniks with her hammer. For this issue Adam Bryce Thomas not only pencils but is also the colorist. While Sonic in the first page looked a little weird, the art does get better later on.

It’s the art that makes the amusing moments this time, the expressions are so anime like and it’s fitting considering the situation. We have Amy puffing her cheeks, to really cute happy faces and then we have Sonic with his smirk to making exasperated expressions when Amy starts to fawn about him. The coloring is pretty nice too! Sometimes it gives off Black Knight vibes but the sunset like tone to it is pretty fitting and can make some panels like this-

look pretty pretty freaking epic. Also, the way Sonic refuses to join the Resistance again was pretty cool. Him being with the Freedom Fighters was alright, but seeing him go his own way is pretty refreshing to be honest. Amy’s reaction to that was hilarious. Amy’s character was pretty nice in this issue, even the mystery villain acknowledges this. Speaking of which-

Seems like he has Orbot and Cubot by his side now. It’s either Metal Sonic, since he did kidnap her in CD (and the speech bubble is blue) or some new character with that kind of color. I was wondering whether Infinite would return to the comic, I was curious to see how Flynn would write the character, though I think him appearing may be unlikely?

Anyway, Issue 2 is really nice. Amy and Sonic’s interactions really made this issue, and ABT is doing well with the pencils and the coloring. Let’s see how issue 3 fares!

[amidst-the-storm]

[State of Mind]

[Controlled Iblis State Theme (WARNING: LOUD/BASS-HEAVY)

Warnings: Blood, Mention of Bone, Heavy-Duty ‘Final Battle’ stuff.

Fair Warning: Controlled Iblis State (all Chaos Emeralds Present/revealing Tempest’s ultimate ability set). This is meant to be near the end of Tempest’s canonical storyline (still a WIP on Quotev), and currently non-canon to her character on the blog. I don’t know if I’ll ever make it canon since this final form of hers is meant to be INCREDIBLY powerful. Also I was listening to the Theme the whole time so the whole thing is me being in a battle-mindset.

Word Count: 1,490

Takes place near the end of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.]

“You can’t hope to defeat me, Sonic.” Ix’s words were measured, evened out. The entire team was battered, beaten within an inch of their lives. But she was a livewire. Tempest’s mind was echoing with wrath and rage, the month she had spent in this place... Seeing this world...

The destruction to her own....

“You never deserved the power of the Master Emerald.” Knuckles grit his teeth, his gloves torn and dirtied. Tempest’s eyes narrowed. “.... Now then....” His voice deepened. The tone shifted, from level-headed and calm to murderous in moments. Something was going wrong. The echidna stood atop the pedestal...

Began to glow.

His super form shed away. Left in its place was all his life. All versions of him, from the smallest child to the most elderly adult. It all burned, yet it fit. It was him. The entire timeline of his existence, on display.

Tempest couldn’t do this any longer.

She reached her hand up, bloodied fingers slipping on her necklace.

“.... We were at your death, if memory served... How rude of me to leave you waiting...” The echidna took a step down, all his forms repeating the action like fluid. Tempest’s fingers latched.

The necklace snapped.

“Another device broken?... How pitiful.... You see, this is one of the reasons why-!” Ix was silenced by a light smashing into him.

He was slammed back to the pedestal.

She was so done.

The Chaos Emeralds glowed, lifting into the air around the two like jewel spectators.

There wasn’t time. There never was. Their hand stretched out. A million flames flickered to life. Two eyes glared, the color gone beneath a burning white. This man- this frail old maniac- was trying to destroy her home.

“You want to see power, Ix?” Her voice was many. The uncountable, the impossible, an untold number of lives destroyed once by her own blood. By her own soul.

By her own hand.

It echoed and twisted, words contorted into the infinite.

Purple wires stretched around them. Ix rushed forward. He was young and old, all at once. Stinging gray hairs intertwined with the beige-green of his youth. Tempest leaped to the left, just narrowly dodging a smack to the face. His staff cracked against the ground.

More wires sliced through reality. Ix growled. He turned, pure-white orbs full of ungodly wrath.

“I am power!” His voice was echoed, multiplied. Every form of him throughout his life, echoing the same phrase. More wires encapsulated the two, burning into time itself. He rushed forth. Another swing was made. This one caught. It slammed into Tempest’s ribcage.

She knew bones had broken.

She was slammed to the wires.

They glowed, the outside world beginning to blur and distort. Time ripped off its hinges. For a moment, she heard her friends.

Tails.

Amy.

Shade.

Knuckles.

E-123 Omega.

Shadow.

Blaze.

Cream.

Cheese.

Rouge.

Big.

Sonic.

They were screaming.

Voices raw.

Bodies bleeding.

“You want to see POWER?”

They had come so far. They had fought so hard.- They had defeated his armies, his alliances left to collect. They had severed his tie to every colony, refusing him any lenience.

He was trying to destroy their world, and he wanted to talk about power?

The wires all roared. A million voices, every word ever said or to come. All echoed into one chamber. Time itself collapsed into nothing. The land outside the wires cracked. It was not real. It was not their reality, not right now.

Ix smashed his staff into her leg. Tempest screeched. Another bone was gone. The rage in her mind was just barely under a leash, collected by the very Emeralds she could never use. She couldn’t move. She could barely think.

Flames ruptured from her back.

Her skin crackled and snapped.

Light green slashed to ribbons.

Replaced by the dark, grim shades she had known two lifetimes ago.

“I’ll show you POWER, all right.”

And in that moment.

That one moment...

They were one.

There was no more fighting, no more controlling one over the other... The three collected, their fates tying into a single entity... But now, there was a new element.

The life of a human considered.

Ix dashed forth.

His staff snapped.

They turned their eyes. White still flowed from them. Flames flashed. Wires and heat collected, turning on all within and preparing to consume. They would not be distracted by the outside, not now, not ever.

“I WILL- KILL YOU!” Ix slammed forward. Tempest rushed to meet him.

The two met in the middle.

Energy arced out from their hands as they connected. Wings flared as Tempest swung her body. Ix went to do the same. The two connected yet again, shoe and sandal meeting with an almighty-

“SMASH!”

“Power isn’t about being able to control the universe, Ix.” Ix spat in her face. Tempest didn’t even flinch. He shoved her away. Twin wings of bone flapped behind Tempest, coated in the flames she had long shunned and hid. Ix was glowing, coated in an aura of pure white malice.

“THE TIME FOR TALK IS OVER!” He slashed back again. A new staff appeared in his hands. Tempest’s hand slammed into it. The staff was white, ornate. Her hand gripped it tightly. Ix’s eyebrows narrowed. His attention was on her.

The staff went from normal to white-hot in a millisecond.

“Sadly, Lord Ix, it is far from over.”

Ix screeched. His staff was dropped. Tempest kicked it away. The purple wires narrowed in, closing the bubble until it was barely big enough to move. Tempest kept her vision on Ix the whole time.

He was shaking. Really, truly shaking. The leader of the Echidna tribe- a tribe led astray by madness and wrath- was quivering.

“... Power is more than just holding fate in your hand- you should know that.” Ix turned, ready to run. He stared in horror at the wires, ensnaring him. The bubble moved. Wires wrapped and warped around him, just barely digging into his skin. They rendered him immobile, tying up his legs and arms. He could only flail, attempting to summon one of his void strikes.

A single slash of Tempest’s wing collapsed it.

“Power is knowledge.... The knowledge that we cannot control fate, nor its lines.” Ix made a desperate move to punch her. It connected with her jaw. There was a crack. Tempest didn’t even flinch. The pain was nothing compared to this.- Nothing compared to everything she could feel, everything she could see.

She touched her cheek, right where she had been hit. Ix smirked. He went for another attack.

His fist was intercepted. Several wires held it back, mere centimeters from breaking her neck. Tempest scarcely blinked.

“I once wished I could control fate. I wanted to so badly, that I became something evil...” Tempest pulled back, her wires forcing Ix to the ground. “... And you know what?... I’m not going to be that anymore... But I accept that I was part of it.”

“What would you know of p-MMPH!” Wires covered Ix’s mouth. There were many, an entire cosmos of lines that refused his speech. Tempest glanced back to him.

“... You know what else I’ve accepted?....”

She took a step towards him. The cage of wires grew smaller, her wings snapping from reality. The glow in her eyes only got stronger, white burning all else. The purple coalesced, solidifying back into pale peach skin. Tempest stepped ever closer as Ix attempted to move back.

The aura around him cracked.

White drained from his eyes, revealing a light red-hued pupil. Tempest got down to her knees. Both white-eyes were focused on her opponent.

The one who caused so much grief these past few months.

The one who tried to kill her and her friends.

The one that claimed he could be more than Solaris.

More than Iblis.

More than Mephiles.

More than anything she had ever been.

More evil than she could ever dream.

“.... That I can’t change it....”

She glared at Ix as the wires all snapped, revealing the glowing purple bubble of time around them. Ten seconds. That was all she ever needed, wasn’t it?

“.. But I can be better than those days.... Maybe, one day, you’ll be better than today.” Ix was freed. He slammed into Tempest.

Nine.

She slashed up, hand colliding with his chest.

Eight.

Ix’s fist crashed into her temple. She saw stars.

Seven.

The flames around her roared to life.

Six.

Ix threw another punch.

Five.

Tempest caught it, the fire traveling up her arm.

Four.

The hand over Ix’s chest was now coated in flames.

Three.

Tempest threw Ix off as he screamed from the burns, the fire clinging to his fur.

Two.

She rushed forward.

One.

Reality returned, just as Tempest’s fist collided with Ix’s face. He crumpled, aura snapping into nothing. Tempest collapsed seconds after. The flames on them both flickered and faded.

“... Maybe....”

[plasticpolymerpotato]

My personal bet was “atashi” or “uchi” so I’m happy with their choice. Seeing her personality, I think “atashi” fits her much better than “boku”.

1. While it’s used by a variety of characters, personally I think “boku” gives a more calm, mature feel (See: Shadow & Tails, I think Big?). Modern “atashi” is considered feminine but casual/lively/confident/occasionally tomboyish (see: Amy). 

2. “Bokukko” is mostly considered moe/fetish/preference for fiction, but cringy/weird in RL unless the person is very young. So it could’ve been a hit or miss for some people.

3. Some people would definitely mistake Tangle for a (feminine?) boy. I don’t think that’s the direction they want to be going. 

4.Unless I’m fogetting someone, Sonic characters have natural way of speech. So having a girl say “boku” feels a bit...fictional?

In the end it’s just my preference, but I really can’t see Tangle as a bokukko. “Atashi” with her design and action is pretty tomboyish enough. If they made the rest of her speech more neutral/masculine it could’ve still shown her tomboy side and contrasted with Amy, so I’m a little disappointed with that.

IDW Sonic has arrived in Japan! The first volume contains the first 4 issues of Sonic the Hedgehog!

[mobius-prime]

199. Sonic the Hedgehog #131

Deep breaths, guys. I know what the cover page says. I know. We'll get to that. Just hang in there. I think you might like what I have in store.

Home (Part 2 of 4): The Gathering

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Ron Lim Colors: Jason Jensen

So not much actually happens in this installment of Home other than the various characters talking to each other about and preparing for the upcoming battle. Since Sonic has been gone, a new Freedom Fighter Special has been constructed that can cut travel time dramatically around the globe. A journey that in the Tornado or on foot (in Sonic's case) would have taken up to two hours can be completed in a mere half hour now, thanks to Rotor's engineering prowess. And thus, Sonic and Tails head out to Old Megaopolis to stop Eggman's twin nukes from launching, along with an… interesting backup team, to say the least.

Man, remember Fiona? It's been ages since we've seen her! It appears that while Sonic was in space, she joined up with the crew in Knothole and has been helping them fight Eggman. That's definitely a better life for her than to be running with the likes of Nic the Weasel, eh? Meanwhile, Knuckles, Julie-Su, Amy Rose, and the other two (active) members of the Chaotix head to Fort Acorn, where General D'Coolette is giving a speech to the soldiers under his command. We've never even heard of this fort before, but according to the general it's been here for ten years, keeping a forward watch on Robotropolis, and this watch has been maintained even after Robotropolis' destruction in case of just such a situation as the current one. With their reinforcements from Knothole, the crew at the fort prepare to defend the city against a massive swatbot assault to lower the forcefield keeping the radiation in check. Back in Knothole, extra measures are being taken to make absolutely sure that even if the worst happens, the citizenry will be safe.

Station Square, for their part, has sent a squad of GUN commandos to help in the battle at Old Megaopolis. The commander of the military is baffled by this decision, wanting to send in their full fighting force, but the president instead opts to trust his allies from Knothole - though just for insurance, he's sent one of his own operatives along for the ride…

Now that's what I like to see! It's about time Rouge got herself some proper screentime. As all this is going on, Eggman waits aboard a docked battleship in the harbor of Old Megaopolis with his assistant M, and orders A.D.A.M. to begin the missile countdown. However, almost immediately, the sound of a biplane puts them on high alert, and Eggman is shocked to see Sonic and Tails bearing down on his location, not having expected them to be able to get here nearly so fast. See, Eggman, this is why you resist the siren call of your ego and keep your damn plans to yourself. All you did was give your enemies ample warning to prepare to foil your evil plot, you idiot!

Mobius 25 Years Later: Prologue

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Jensen

Okay, guys. This is it. We've reached the most Penders thing of all time. This is something that has been hinted at here and there from all the way back in the Sonic In Your Face special to now, and we're finally seeing the culmination of all of that buildup. All the intricate worldbuilding, all the complex character arcs, all the intrigue and political spider webs and back to back wars and everything that the world of Mobius has been through up until now - there's so much to explore, so many directions it could have gone. We're about to see what this world might look like twenty-five years into the future, and with so much rich history to draw from, what might you imagine this story might look like? What genre might it fall into? Well wonder no longer!

It's a drama. It's a teen drama.

There's a reason that Mobius 25 Years Later is widely considered to be one of the worst parts of the comic. The tone of it is just so far off anything else we've experienced so far that it clashes horribly with what we've come to expect. It's not some masterful subversion of expectations or something - in a lot of ways I consider it to be a genuine insult to the rest of the preboot's material up to this point. It's painfully and immediately clear that this is a story Penders has wanted to tell for a while, but, not being able to fit his "middle-aged adults adulting everywhere and being so adult-like while ignoring the feelings and difficulties that ordinary teenagers face" plot anywhere into the rest of the comic, he's opted to just fire the world a couple decades into the future, pair all the major characters off into weird and oftentimes arbitrary heterosexual marriages, give everyone 2.5 children and a titanium picket fence, and then throw in some allusions to the old "war against Doc 'Botnik" here and there lest we forget, entirely understandably at this point, that we're reading a Sonic the Hedgehog comic here. This thing goes on for nineteen whole issues, taking up each subsequent issue's backup story, and ultimately has no real impact on the actual story involving the characters we already know and love. However, this is technically canon, or at least a version of canon (as when you play with alternate realities and multiple timelines, futures are bound to get mixed up here and there), so we're gonna be covering it - all of it. I wouldn't be tempted to skip it anyway, as by delving into each chapter in this trainwreck, we can actually explore why this whole thing fails so hard, and why it's therefore so loathed in the fandom. Plus, I do recognize that some people actually do enjoy this arc for various reasons (one of my close friends does, and has a whole AU of her own relating to it in fact), so I do plan to at least try to be fair in my review - but I really can't hide that I find this whole affair boring as hell, often downright offensive, and ultimately completely out of place. With all that in mind, let's dive in!

We begin with a full page of exposition delivered to us via high school lecture, because everyone knows the best way to establish your worldbuilding is by infodumping it directly into your audience's eyeballs. Apparently, over the last twenty years, Angel Island has been heavily developed into its own independent republic, with a new city, Portal, acting as the center of trade between the island and the mainland below. We're once again introduced to Lara-Su, who, instead of being the badass time-traveling young adult whom we followed before, is now an ordinary teenager taking ordinary high school classes among a bunch of ordinary high school echidnas.

One of the biggest failings of this story is that Penders writes every teenage character how he thinks teenagers act, from his point of view as a middle-aged adult. This becomes abundantly clear the longer you read, as every teenager is a hormone-fueled, authority-defying, entitled, whiny, fickle child who just doesn't understand how the real world works, while every adult is a wise, experienced, and highly logical individual who always knows more than their younger fellows and refuses to pay attention to the whims of mere children. Like, I'm not even exaggerating here - I'm going to be pointing out every instance of this kind of behavior over the entire rest of this arc, and you can't stop me, so nyah nyah. Penders shows so little respect for the mere concept of teenagers, which is a terrible attitude to have not just in general, but especially if you're one of the head writers for an entire series about teenagers saving the goddamn world! Anyway, case in point: the teacher, instead of admonishing Rutan for being a bully, merely snaps at Lara-Su for not acting enough like a "young lady" and tells her to stay after class. Ugh.

Later that day, Rotor arrives on Angel Island as a liaison for the royal ruling couple, Queen Sally and King Sonic, because yes, Sonic literally becomes king in this timeline. He catches a ride from Harry - hey, good to see our favorite dingo still doing well for himself at least - and meets with Espio, who is now apparently Knuckles' secretary or something. At least, that's all I can assume from this weird-ass conversation.

As a matter of fact, yes, Sonic and Sally are bringing their two children, Sonia and Manik, to the family dinner! How very mid-70s domestic family unit of them! Espio informs Knuckles of this over a television screen as the latter broods around in some kind of high-tech facility. Unlike what we've seen of Espio, the years have dramatically changed Knuckles' appearance - his right eye is missing, replaced with a mechanical one, and he sports the cowboy hat that Hawking gave him in the past (you know, the one we never saw again after he received it). While I actually quite like the idea of a main character in the comic losing something as important as an eye, I feel like there's a huge missed opportunity here - instead of just thrusting us into an alternate future where everything is fine but one character is inexplicably missing an eye, how about actually showing us the story of how that eye was lost? Show us a Knuckles who's learning to cope with the loss of an important body part, and having to adjust to his mechanical prosthetic! Go into his feelings about the subject, as someone who has so long been opposed to a faction that thrives on mechanical prosthetics, instead of just skipping over what has the potential to be the most interesting part of this story! Ugh, sorry, there's just nothing that gets to me more than a missed opportunity like this. Knuckles and Espio exchange some tortured small-talk about their kids for a little while, with the only interesting part of the conversation being their discussion of Rotor's arrival and how he's likely here to see someone named Cobar, with whom he apparently has a history. More on that later. Knuckles excuses himself from the conversation, as he has to be home in time for his daughter's "Unveiling" tonight, and as the call ends we zoom out to see that apparently nowadays, the Master Emerald is hooked up to all sorts of technology in this facility, presumably maintaining everything automatically. However, this story isn't done throwing weird curveballs at us yet - it's time to see what our former villains are up to in this future!

There is so much to unpack here. Dimitri, feared overlord of the Dark Legion, is now an amiable cyborg-head-in-a-bubble. Lien-Da, the treacherous second-in-command who regularly spoke of betraying Dimitri and taking the Legion in her own darker direction, is now apparently a single mom who's embraced the domestic life, taking care of her rowdy teenage son while, predictably, complaining about the behavior of kids these days. And weirdest of all, apparently everyone is just fine with these literal former terrorists living in their midst and doing ordinary mom and grandpa things, with Lien-Da even apparently amenable to the idea of trying to make up with Julie-Su because "they're family," despite her history of, you know, erasing Julie-Su's memory multiple times and killing her biological parents as revenge for her birth. I mean, is this what Penders thinks adulthood is? Is he even entirely sane? Does he know the definition of terrorism?

Any-goddamn-way, Knuckles arrives home to his eerily sterile-looking steel-plated mansion that looks more like the lobby of a pharmaceutical laboratory than a place where people live, and greets his loving housewife Julie-Su, who's gained a cute giant ponytail but lost absolutely everything else that made her unique, including her own cybernetic parts and just her personality in general. She informs Knuckles that Lara-Su has locked herself in the bathroom and is having herself a mighty tantrum, refusing to come out to get ready for her Unveiling ceremony, which is apparently the equivalent of a Quinceañera for echidna girls. Knuckles, instead of doing something reasonable like asking her why she's upset, starts aggressively demanding that she come out of her room this instant, while Lara-Su repeatedly yells about how she doesn't wanna. Ugh, teenagers, amiright?

Seriously, I just can't get over how little respect Penders has for teenagers in his writing. Like, yes, I acknowledge that teenagers aren't always the most logical of beings, but they're also not goddamn three-year-olds either. They're old enough to articulate their desires and express their unique opinions, and often do so in very mature ways, especially if they're raised well and treated with the same respect you'd afford any adult. I should know, I was one myself. I would have assumed Penders was one as well at some point, but perhaps he just popped into the world one day as a fully-formed 43-year-old, full of disdain for those younger than himself. It would certainly explain everything we're seeing here.

Anyway, it turns out that the reason Lara-Su is upset is because Knuckles refuses to train her to be a Guardian, and so she whines and yells about it from behind the door like a petulant child as Knuckles continually refuses to actually give her a solid reason why he won't let her be one. When Julie-Su basically forces him to calm the hell down and explain himself, he reluctantly explains that since all the duties of a Guardian have by now been taken over by other functions of their society, he feels there's no longer any need for one, himself included. This is apparently enough to make Lara-Su immediately happy enough to burst out of the bathroom and grab her father's arm, suddenly totally excited to go to her Unveiling as long as Knuckles promises her the first dance. Ah, the fickle mind of a silly, silly teenager!

Kill me.