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another-sonic-blog · 4 years

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The Fanfictioner

Prologue

Synopsis: Amy Rose secretly writes fanfiction out of the not so famous 'Sonic Boom' show in which she and her friends are the main actors. Everything was fine, filming the show and then writing. However, everything changed when the famous actor, Shadow the Hedgehog, showed up to participate in the show. Just like Amy, Shadow hides a secret. He loves to read fanfiction but will never admit that out loud. Shadow one day stumbles upon Amy's fanfiction and without knowing, they develop a friendly bond over comments, likes and messages of support. On work, Shadow and Amy have a normal co-worker relationship that will never develop more than that. They fight in real life but are best-friends online. Will they ever find out each other's identities? And if they do, will things change between them?

When the romantic movie ended, Amy just couldn't stop thinking about the great acting in 'The Forest of Dreams.' Her friends and she had decided to get together for a well deserve movie night after battling Eggman for the whole week. With the hopes that he wouldn't burst into Hedgehog Village as he usually does. "It's a shame that we ended up seeing that indie movie ..." Sonic said as he opened the door to exit the movie theater. "I wanted to see Chao in Space!" "Yeah, too bad they ran out of tickets. Critics say that it is one of the best movies in the last decade." Tails looked around his group of friends, making sure that no one was missing. Nonetheless, he noticed that his pink friend was awfully quiet, looking at the ground. "Everything alright Amy?" As if his words didn't reach her ears, Amy kept looking down at the ground, silent. This time, Sonic noticed Amy's unusual mannerism and decided to investigate. "Amy?" Sonic's voice was all that she needed to get back to reality. The rosette hedgehog snapped her head and met emerald eyes. "Yes?" "You are very quiet ... That's not like you." Sonic said. Team Sonic had already begun their journey to go back home. It was late at night but the village's light poles gave them enough illumination to know their path. Walking through the village, they encountered a few Mobians still out, doing their thing and helping the atmosphere to be more vivid. "Sorry, I was just thinking about the movie ... The acting was amazing, wasn't it?" The pink one had a soft smile placed on her face, showing her excitement. "The actors were so young too, they look around our age ... 17 and they are so talented already." "I have to admit that batgirl was very beautiful." Knuckles let out an enamored sigh. "Yes and her acting was admirable," Amy said. "But the one that got my interest was that black hedgehog ... He indeed will become a great actor soon." Without the pink hedgehog knowing, Sonic rolled his eyes in annoyance. There was only one hedgehog she could fangirl about and that was him. "He was alright, I could do better," Sonic said. "I mean he was in an indie movie that's no big deal. I am sure we could all do it ... Right Sticks?" Sonic looked over at his badger friend who was way too quiet. Such an unusual thing of her. "Don't look at me, I fell asleep during the whole movie," Sticks said. "But if we ever become actors, I would love to be in Chao in Space." The team had come to a sudden stop, they had reached the end of the village. This is where they would part ways to their own perspective homes. "Good luck with that, I read that the casting process to get actors for Chao in Space is extremely difficult," Tails said as he faced his friends. "Two years ago, the directors conducted castings all over the world .. Out of thousands of participants only three main actors made it." "Ha, see Ames! There's no way that black hedgehog with average acting skills would be in a movie like Chao in Space." The blue hedgehog looked at the pink one and for the first time in a long time, he saw that Amy was utterly offended. For someone that she doesn't even know nonetheless. "I see great potential in him!" Amy said, her voice raises a little. "I bet he will become a great actor! I dare to say he will be in Chao In Space 2!"

. . . When the pink one got home, she immediately showered, got into her pajamas, and laid on her comfortable bed with her laptop on her lap. She began to browse more things on the 'The Forest of Dreams.' She found interesting things. For example, the name of the beautiful bat protagonist was Rouge the Bat. And then the black hedgehog's name appeared ... Shadow the Hedgehog. He was the co-protagonist and in all honesty, it was been a while since Amy felt such admiration for someone. Could you blame her? Shadow was an excellent actor. His profound words as he confessed his undying love to the protagonist were just ... So pure. It wasn't only the dialogue but the way he delivered the message. More than anything, Amy felt her heart skip a beat at each word he said. As if his confession was meant for her.

His words were strong and too real ... way too real. As if Shadow the Hedgehog was actually in love with Rouge the Bat.

And so this began.

Amy of course knew of the many wonders of the internet. One of them were fandoms and within fandoms were content creators.

The pink one wasn't unaware that many content creators wrote fanfiction. After all, Team Sonic had its own base of fans. They were the heroes of the village and Mobius nonetheless, always defending it against Eggman and other villains. So, it was natural that stories about them would be written. She read many of them especially the SonAmy ones, her guilty pleasure.

Although she had never written a fanfiction, Amy felt different about this one. In 'The Forest of Dreams' the ending was a cliffhanger. Amy desired more than anything than to provide a good conclusive ending. She had written before but only for school projects like essays and creative writing but never like this ... Never for a fandom.

Was it strange? That she wanted to see more of the exceptional romantic development between Rouge and Shadow?

Amy didn't care, it was just for fun. What was the harm in that?

And so ... Amy began to write.

"Shadow, what are you doing?"

On the other side of the island, a tiny wooden house in the middle of the forest emitted enough light to be seen in the night.

"Reading a story."

The black hedgehog responded, not leaving his eyesight away from his phone.

"Since when do you read?"

"Someone has to do it in this house."

The black hedgehog who was comfortably sitting on his sofa was greeted suddenly by the warmness of a beautiful blue-eyed bat.

"Our movie was released a few weeks ago ... Do you think we did well?" Rouge asked as she tried to get a peek of Shadow's phone but she was slow and Shadow was fast to close the internet tab.

"We won't know until next week when our producer calls us ... Hopefully, we get enough money to repair Omega." Shadow said as he looked over to the dining table where robot parts laid scatter across the wooden table. Shadow frowned as he saw Omega's head, immobile and without life. He was still inside there but Omega won't be the way he was until reparations were made.

"We really messed up on the last mission ... Didn't we?"

Rouge's voice was soft and she showed such concern that it made the black hedgehog's heart shrink a bit. Shadow let out a heavy sigh, he hated to see the white bat like that and although he would often disagree, there was no option but to affirm her assumption this time.

"We did ... That's why we are never going to steal again ... Never." Shadow said as he felt Rouge leaning her head on his shoulder and he didn't mind the act at all.

"... I wanted to steal a Chaos Emerald."

The black hedgehog let out a small smirk as he placed his arm around Rouge's shoulders. "I promise that one day I'll give you a Chaos Emerald and I'll give Omega one of those lie detectors he wants."

"Hopefully, this acting thing comes out alright ... I mean all of those years acting to survive and steal must pay off in this movie we made."

Small memories crossed the white bat's mind. She remembers all of those times as a child that she and Shadow acted on street plays to get a few coins to eat something. More recent memories of them acting like business people, politicians, and regular folks also popped in her mind. All of that just so their stealing missions could go smoothly and unnoticed.

How Rouge, Shadow, and Omega met was a very interesting story, one that will be told at another time.

"Let's hope for the best."

A few minutes passed in which Shadow and Rouge shared it in complete silence. The dark hedgehog looked over his shoulder in which he found Rouge completely asleep. With his phone still on his hand, he opened once again the previous internet tab he had before.

It was just a matter of time before his curiosity overtook him. As far as the internet said, 'The Forest of Dreams' was an excellent film even if it was an independent movie. Even art and small stories were already created in honor of the film.

Eventually, he found himself on a page called fanxfiction.com. An internet page where writers could write whatever they wanted online and others could interact with these authors by liking, sharing, and commenting on their work.

Shadow scrolled through the webpage and a story caught his interest. The synopsis was captivating , the tale was about an alternative ending to the movie's original ending.

The Forest of Dreams: A Love Story.

By A Rose Without Thorns

And so ... Shadow began to read.

A/N: I want to thank @redsunlight for the amazing artwork! Please go check out her artwork!

The first chapter is coming out in a couple of minutes I just need to upload it in here. I recommend following me on Wattpad since Tumblr can be complicated at times and won’t let me upload.

Also there’s a new chapter coming out for ‘By Accident’ really soon!

Next: https://another-sonic-blog.tumblr.com/post/621393925974999040/the-fanfictioner-ch1

Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/PeachesAndReams

#shadamy fanfiction #shadow the hedgehog #shadow and amy #sonic boom #sonic the hedgehog #sonic fanfic #sonic fanfiction #Amy Rose #amyrose #shadamy #shadowxamy #shadamyau #shadow x amy #shadamy boom #romance #fanfiction #shadamy au #amy rose #shadamy comic

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randomfandomfamily · 5 years

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So this is a post about what I think might happen during the sequel to the Sonic Movie.

This started out as a few thoughts , turned into a lot of ideas, and eventually manifested into… whatever this is.

Look, I have exactly zero self-control, and hyperfixation is an absolute monster at this time of all the time. So like… oops, I guess? Enjoy? Maybe? I dunno. Just gonna yeet this out there and scoot.

Warning: This is a really long friggin’ post. How long? Nearly 3,000 words of pure hyperfocused writing long. I would say I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’d believe me if I did.

I know everyone is freakin’ hyped that Sonic is going to have a pal for the sequel. If past incarnations tell us anything, it’s that Sonic and Tails are 100% going to click, no problem. And I don’t doubt that is exactly what’s gonna happen this round too.

But here’s the thing. The premise for pretty much all of Sonic and Tails’ meeting before now has been Tails looking up to Sonic and Sonic deciding he’s gonna look out for Tails. They see each other as total equals, of course, but a lot of it stems from Sonic’s confidence in his abilities. Tails admires him for it, and Sonic knows he can keep Tails safe because of it. It gives Tails more confidence in himself. And that gives Sonic more confidence in Tails. They give each other the confidence and reassurance that they need.

This Sonic? This Sonic is a child. And he’s pretty much always been a child, a teen of fifteen in most cases, but we rarely see any incarnation of Sonic acting like a child. He’s usually just saving the world, and when he’s not doing that, he’s saving the world again. But the Sonic in the movie genuinely loves being a kid. And confidence in his abilities? Not so much. He used them once on purpose, and only after he had nearly died.

He’s not the usual thrill-seeking, needs to constantly be on the move, adrenaline junkie that we’re used to. He lives in house. In a small town. With friendly people and no one to fight (anymore). And he likes it that way.

Because of this, the set-up for Tails and Sonic’s relationship is going to have to be different. It’s most likely going to rely a lot on Sonic just being excited to see someone from his home planet. He might not question how Tails knows him. He might not question how Tails found him. He might not question anything at all.

The first movie taught Sonic that he absolutely does not have to be alone in life. It is, in fact, the worst way to live your life. He learns that it’s okay to rely on people, and he didn’t have to do this alone. The first movie taught him trust.

Sonic relied on blind trust in the first movie and it worked out. He trusted Tom. And in true Donut Lord fashion, Tom not only helped, but he and Maddie had pretty much adopted Sonic by the end of the movie.

Tails comes along. A resident of Sonic’s old home. Tails is nice, crazy smart, seems super interested in his powers, and also doesn’t want to kill his parents. Great! Immediate trust for Tails, too.

Now like I mentioned it before in another post, but I’m willing to bet that Tails found out about Sonic through the Echidnas. Though I’m also willing to bet that it was one specific Echidna that told him.

Gonna intervene on the Sonic/Tails analysis to bring you some unscheduled Knuckles. In all of Knuckles’ lore, he is the last known Echidna. Now they might throw that specific part of his history out for this incarnation, but it’d be interesting if they kept it.

Super Sonic was nearly a part of the movie, but they decided the main focus of the movie should be Sonic the character, not Sonic the classic hero archetype. That doesn’t mean Super Sonic will never be introduced, it could still happen. The thing is, that requires Chaos Emeralds. And who was known for his connection to those? Exactly.

Y’all wanna see somethin’ neat?

We gotta map with eight planets on it and something that looks nearly identical to a Chaos Emerald in the corner. Rings are used by advanced civilizations, and Earth ain’t one of them. Ta-da. Seven planets. Seven Chaos Emeralds. And that that circle in the middle looks like a great place for a Master Emerald, doesn’t it?

‘Wait a minute’, I hear you protest, ‘the mushroom planet is uninhabited! Why would a Chaos Emerald be there?’

Sure it’s uninhabited. You know, unless it isn’t. What proof do we have that it is? Because Sonic said it was? Because he opened up a portal, looked through it, and saw nothing?

Look, Robotnik is a brilliant scientist, I’ll give him that, but no way in New Heckistan is he going to find a way to find a way home with mushrooms alone.

But say he stumbles across a poor soul who’s trying to protect one of the seven most powerful gems in existence. Say he steals that gem and uses it to find a way back (as a mad scientist do). Maybe he even stole the set of rings that the poor unfortunate soul had. After all, there were six more gems to find. Why settle for 1/7 of the power when you could have it all?

How long has Sonic been with Tom and Maddie now? Long enough for him to be enrolled in school? Long enough for them to fix the house and start repainting? Long enough, perhaps, for a mad scientist to start fixing the remnants of his busted ship and power it with an alien source? I mean, probably. He is pretty smart.

Actually, hang on. Maybe the planet is uninhabited as far as living creatures go, but isn’t Eggman (Robotnik’s nickname from Sonic) known for having two robot assitants? That’d be an interesting way to introduce them. And they’d know the other planets, and could open the portals.

So perhaps Robotnik finds a planet with another Chaos Emerald ripe for the picking. It’s protected by, oh let’s say… a tribe of Echidnas? All sworn to protect one thing. The thing he wants. They put up a fight, of course they do, but they don’t know who they’re up against.

But maybe, just maybe, there’s one left behind. Knuckles. Who had heard tales of a being that could harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds. His tribe had tried hunting him down years ago in fear that he might steal the power for evil. They had failed. Thankfully. Because it looked that being they tried to hunt down was going to be their only chance of stopping the psycho with the mustache.

So Knuckles confides in a local inventor that he knows. A clever little Fox named Miles Prower. He tells Miles that there is someone that could help them, but it was going to be difficult to find them.

If I’m right, and Tails did find out about Sonic through Knuckles, that explains his timing. If he was just tracking Sonic’s power, he could have found Sonic after the incident at the baseball field. But he needed a reason to find Sonic, and a scientist destroying a tribe of people for a gem seems like a good reason. Might also explain why he’s hoping he’s not too late. Who knows how long it would take Robotnik to find the other Chaos Emeralds? They had to get to them first.

Sonic meets Miles, nicknames him Tails, and they hit it off immediately. Sonic is more than willing to help Tails track down the rest of these things. No way in hell Tom and Maddie are letting him go alone, so they’re coming too.

Tails doesn’t think to mention that it was an Echidna that told him about Sonic. Tom and Maddie are kind of suspicious about it at first (I thought no one else knew about him? Who is this guy and how does he know?) but Tails seems like a good kid and Sonic trusts him.

They find the first Chaos Emerald (there are probably many shenanigans that ensue, but I don’t know what the other planets are like so I can’t predict them). No one really knows what they should do with it. Keep it with them? But what if they’re confronted by Robotnik and he takes it somehow?

So Tails tell them that a friend of his back on the island that could watch over it. Robotnik wouldn’t think to go back there because he already attacked it once. That seems like a solid plan, so they go back. Sonic is thrilled to be back. Everything looks the same as it did. Except for… that part. That part looks like a warzone.

Now, why is Knuckles not part of this mission too? Not sure. Maybe he’s injured after the fight. It’s very probable that he would be. So he’s injured, grieving, worried sick about the eight year old he just sent looking for the one person that can stop Robotnik.

He’s relieved when he sees Tails with a hedgehog, who he correctly assumes is the being who can control the Emeralds’ power. He’s even relieved to see the two humans. At least someone is looking out for the kid since he’s not able to.

You know who’s not thrilled? I’ll give you three guesses, and the first two don’t count.

The phrase ‘eyes glowing with rage’ is all too literal when it comes to Sonic. And he looks ready to explode on the spot. He immediately accuses Tails of betraying him, leading him to the people that killed the only person on the island that cared about him. He even throws in a spiteful ‘Miles’ because the name ‘Tails’ was only for friends.

Tails and Knuckles don’t have time to explain before Sonic takes off like a bullet. He’s out of sight in milliseconds, but you could hear the electric energy from a mile away.

Tom and Maddie decide to hear them out, because they obviously did need their help with Robotnik on the loose. Tails explains that Knuckles is the last of his kind and really isn’t much older than Sonic. He had nothing to do with what happened to Longclaw.

So Tom offers to go talk to Sonic (huzzah for fatherly life lessons), and Maddie offers to help fix up Knuckles as best as she can. Being a vet paid off in the weirdest ways sometimes.

While Tom explains what actually happened and that no one betrayed anyone, Knuckles and Tails have reluctantly opened up to Maddie.

Knuckles has been trying to keep up that rough and tumble attitude we know and love, but it’s kinda breaking down with this nice human wrapping his arm with the bandages she brought (because of course she brought bandages, she’s a vet and a mother) and asking if he was okay. He was not okay.

And Tails… well, where was Tails’ family? Did they know where he was? Any friends he could think of that might be able to help them? That ends in a solemn silence. Tails is family-less too, and his inventions aren’t always well received on an island that is almost completely organic. There was a very kind Rabbit mother and daughter that checked on him from time to time, but other than that? He was on his own.

Maddie makes a mental note to tell Tom that they’re adopting two more alien children and no it’s not up for discussion, they’re doing it (not that Tom would have argued with her anyway).

Tom returns with Sonic, who apologizes for accusing them of betrayal and murder. That’s when he and Knuckles finally realize they’re about the same age. (I’m gonna guesstimate Knuckles’ age at around 15/16). It’s baffling to the both of them.

When Knuckles heard about the powerful being his people had hunted, he had expected… not a teenager. And worse, it happened a decade ago.His people had hunted down a toddler and, apparently, killed his parent. He was a little more understanding of Sonic’s anger.

As for Sonic, Echidnas were pretty much cold-blooded murderers to him. He had never stopped to consider that there were also, you know, kids. And this kid had just lost… everything. He instantly feels terrible about his outburst. This guy didn’t even know who Longclaw was, much less what had happened to her.

But, emotional breakthroughs aside, they still have a huge problem and his name is Eggman. Or Robotnik. It really depended on who you asked. Either way, they needed to figure out which planet Robotnik was going to be at next. They decide to just collect the Chaos Emeralds they could and worry about Robotnik later.

Sonic gives Knuckles his set of rings, just in case. They have Tails’ so they should be fine. Off to the next planet to find an Emerald. It becomes clear that they’re gonna need a more efficient way of doing this, so Tails modifies the tracker he made for Sonic to track the Emerald’s energy instead.

It works, obviously, because Tails is a precious little genius. But no one stopped to consider how the mad scientist was finding the Chaos Emeralds. It makes sense that he would find a way to track their energy by using the one he found on the mushroom planet, but nobody thinks about that until Tails finds a way to do it.

Then they remember they just left Knuckles alone with a Chaos Emerald. They open up a portal to get him, but Robotnik is already there with a monologue about how how stupid they all were for assuming he wouldn’t return to this planet, he was the smartest individual, not just on Earth, but in the entire universe, and blah blah blah, psycho scientist banter, he’s Jim Carey and his blood is made of cocaine, you get the picture.

Cue rescue sequence for the resident Echidna of the group. They manage to get Knuckles and the Emerald away from the crazy doc, maybe even steal the ones that Robotnik has, Perhaps we even get a heartfelt response from Sonic because ‘you idiot why didn’t use the rings to escape, I told you to use them, we are not losing anyone else to this fight’.

And not to bring us to an abrupt halt right there, but as I’ve said earlier, we’ve got no idea what the other planets are like, so I can’t make any solid predictions. Though I guess you can’t call anything about this solid. It’s literally all speculation.

But, you know, they get the seven Emeralds somehow because teamwork. There’s probably a bunch of cool aliens to meet, some Chao maybe? That’d be rad. And, of course, tons of fight scenes because that’s what the Eggman vs. Sonic thing is all about. Who wins: A ex-government hired genius fueled by spite and pure rage or one Spikey Child and his Fam?

I’m thinking the final fight would have to take place one that circle in the middle, which I’ve already speculated could be a possible location for the Master Emerald. And that fight would. be. dope. I mean, it’s Super Sonic, for cryin’ out sideways!

Since the good guys always win the fights, Sonic and crew win. They probably wouldn’t kill him. Why would they? They’re the good guys. Knuckles very seriously considers it though. Like, Tom kinda puts a hand on his shoulder just to make sure he doesn’t because homeboy looks like he wants to shank the local nutcase, not that anyone blames him.

(this also serves a purpose for something else that always bugs me about Knuckles’ character, which is that he is very gullible when it come to Eggman, we see it all over the place with him. a scenario like this? eradicates that odd quirk in his personality without erasing any of his other good qualities. harmless pranks? sure, gullible as all get out. Tails and Sonic could even prank him at the end of the movie, and that’d be just the sweetest thing. but when it comes to Eggman? hell nah. nah nah nah, get that outta here.)

So they beat Eggman, maybe yeet him back to mushroom planet again–this time without any kind of tech. No ship for you, Eggy-Boy.

Then it’s time to go home. Here’s where it could go two different ways. Tails is going with Sonic, that seems pretty obvious at this point, and Knuckles could go back to Earth with them too if he wanted.

I don’t think he would, though. Being Guardian of the Master Emerald is an integral part to Knuckles’ character. And while, yes I would love to see him hanging out with Sonic and Tails more, I think this is something that will have to stay part of his history.

But if you think they aren’t inviting him over for Movie Night you are mistaken, sir. Knuckles is always invited to Movie Night. He doesn’t always accept, and that’s okay. They visit him too, just to see how he’s doing.

Sonic taught Knuckles and Tails to floss and that is a vital part of the sequel, shut up, yes it is.

And viola! Sequel! Oh, but of course we need a post-credit scene, don’t we? See Sonic being around the age of thirteen does have its benefits.

Because you see, that means we can give him two years of peace with Tails and his parents before before he’s fifteen, the age most Sonic incarnations seem to stick with.

Fifteen is old enough for a rival, right? Teenagers, you know what I mean.

And I’m not saying that Robotnik had the technology to replicate DNA and modify it, but I am saying… that he probably has that kind of tech laying around somewhere.

The government seems to fund the science department pretty well. And there’s a certain individual who followed Dr Robotnik around for a while, learning all his tricks. Mmmmmmmmmm-hmmmm. Agent Stone.

And I’m not saying Agent Stone is evil….

I’m saying:

What if Agent Stone created Shadow?

*aaaaaaand fade to black*

Now, if you made it this far… wow. Thank you! Like, seriously, holy shit. This was so long. I appreciate you for sticking it out with me. It took… a while to write. I don’t wanna admit the actual amount of time it took. But really, thank you for giving this a read.

#sonic the hedgehog the movie #sonic the movie #sonic the hedgehog #just #i don't have an explanation #this isn't even the first sequel i've written #it's rise of the guardians all over again #what am i supposed to do with these #they're just existing here on Tumblr #with no purpose #essentially useless #just like the dumbass that wrote 'em #idk what i'm doing #someone halp

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mobius-prime · 4 years

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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…

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 145 #writer: ken penders #writer: karl bollers #pencils: ron lim #pencils: al bigley #pencils: dawn best #colors: jason jensen

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toaarcan · 5 years

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Scourge the Hedgehog: The Bad Fanfic Apotheosis

Y’all are gonna hate me for this one.

This is something of a followup to my previous post, Fiona Fox: Depth vs. Prominence, and inspired directly by the discussion I had with a friend in the comments section of the DA upload of it.

Part 1: Fanfic vs. Canon- Genesis of the Recolour Elements of the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comic have long been compared to a bad fanfiction, particularly the parts of the story written by Ken Penders, though other writers like Bollers, Chacon, and Flynn have drawn that label too. I'm one of the people that's done it, and that's largely because I hold fanfic and official material to very different standards. There are certain things you can do in fanfic that you can't do in official material, especially with franchises like Sonic, and especially with more niche parts of said franchise, like a comic series. Of course, there are also certain things you can do in both, but you probably shouldn't. And Scourge is one of them. What exactly the process behind Scourge's creation was is something that's been debated. For a lot of people, he's considered to be a parody of the then-rampant "Sonic Recolour" fad, wherein fans would take screenshots of Sonic X, and other official artwork, and then edit it in Microsoft Paint, or another similar program, to create their own characters and stories. Now, this was long decried by other fans, myself included, as incredibly lacking in creativity and originality. It also had an "Ew, cringe" reaction, due to the often-shoddy editing, text-to-speech voices, and usually some top-tier mid-2000s Nu Metal for the music. These days, it's much easier to look back and say "These were mostly made by kids who were just having fun, and it's completely harmless", and it becomes apparent that a lot of the people that were making fun of them and criticising them were grown men, at which point you kinda realise that this "internet fad" was basically just bullying a bunch of children for not being up to the creative standards of some adults. Everybody was looking for the next Chris-Chan, but Chris-Chan is a near-unique entity, as only one other person alive has ever managed to combine that sheer void of talent with a monumentally repulsive personality, and that person is Ken Penders. But Sonichu is the least interesting thing about Chris, and Chris became the laughingstock that he is because of his inability to avoid posting his entire life on the Internet, which was something of a rarity in those halcyon days before the rise of modern social media. Sonichu was a gateway to the actually interesting content also on his channels, whereas these recolour-creators didn't have anything like that, just endless Windows Movie Maker slideshows. And, like, Chris was in his 20s when he became the Internet's punching bag for the first time, and while he's a horrible person, so were the people that dedicated their time and effort to trolling him- His story is fascinating, but it has no heroes. And into this collective cocktail of grown men shitting on preteens, so Ian Flynn introduced Scourge the Hedgehog. Is Scourge a parody of Sonic recolours? I sincerely hope not. The reason for that is twofold, and I'll discuss how his portrayal generally doesn't seem to be mocking those tropes further down the page, but the second issue with the idea that he is a parody is best explained by Sir Terry.

Parody can never punch down, and as a then-24 year old man writing official canon for a franchise, mocking a bunch of 10 year olds on the Internet for making bad stories would definitely be punching down. And, as I said, nothing about the way Scourge is written is in any way poking fun at the tropes of these fancharacters and stories. It's pretty much all played completely straight. So not only do I hope Ian wasn't trying to mock these fancharacters, but there's also little reason to believe that he actually was. He's not a parody, he is a send-up. And on the one hand, it's kinda nice to throw a bone to those kids. But on the other hand... is Scourge really the character you want to represent your part of the fandom in official material? A cruel, violent, abusive, vicious monster that spends his time palling around with a girlfriend that the writer reforged to be the most unlikable character in the entire comic? Yeah, can't say that's what I'd want if I were one of those people, but he seems to be popular enough, so maybe I'm in the minority there. But now we get to the meat of the problem. You see, the way Scourge is written is one of those things that you can do in fanfic, but you shouldn't do in canon. Part 2: What is a Mary-Sue? The term "Mary-Sue" gets thrown around a lot these days. It's gradually lost all meaning, and has slowly become a term for "Female character that I don't like," mainly used by whiny, easily-offended Broflake Youtubers, who get all pissy that Star Wars films aren't specifically catering to them, to the point that you only have to make a girl be good at something in a movie and these pissbabies lose their shit. I liked Episode VII and VIII more than I, II, or VI, get fucked. But what, then, is a Mary-Sue? And why is it relevant to Scourge? The answer to that first question is a lot more complicated than it might seem. Not just because there are now several different varieties of the trope, but also because the trope itself evolved as it began to be applied to non-fanworks, and additionally because the name itself is somewhat non-indicative. A male Mary-Sue can exist, though these are normally referred to as "Marty-Stue" or "Gary-Stue", or more cynically "The Protagonist". Check out the average Batman comic these days and you'll see what I mean. Originally, the term applied only to a self-insert character in a fanfic, that was an overly-idealised version of the author, dramatically overpowered, hugely popular, normally dating whichever member of the cast the author wanted to bone, or sometimes multiple partners at the same time, along with a few other traits. It's actually pre-Internet term, originating in a Star Trek fanzine when "Mary-Sue" was created as a parody of other fans' similar characters. Over time, the trope evolved to the point that, while the "author avatar" feature is still a pretty big indicator, it's not really necessary. So while there are probably plenty of people out there who want to be Batman, not every character that is a Mary-Sue is someone for the author to project themselves onto, and not every author avatar is a Mary-Sue. Generally, the important features of a Mary-Sue are now: 1) Receives a great deal of favouritism from the author 2) More powerful than the rest of the cast, often to the point of absurdity 3) Faces zero consequences for their actions. 4) Liked by characters that have no reason to do so 5) In a relationship with a character that has no reason to date them, previous relationships be damned. 6) Most importantly, the story will bend over backwards to give them easy wins, even in situations where they logically should struggle. You're probably starting to get where I'm going with this, and if you're not... Part 3: Creator's Pet Scourge is a Creator's Pet. He gets shown a fair bit of favouritism from Ian Flynn, primarily the guise of how much focus he gets. Scourge is the most prolific villain in Ian's run, aside from Eggman himself. While other, better villains like Mogul and Naugus were being imprisoned repeatedly until one retired and the other became a dog, and a huge chunk of the comic's remaining antagonists were being subsumed into the Eggman Empire, Scourge was only moving up, not only being the villain of Ian's first two issues on the book, but continuing to make sporadic appearances for the next twenty issues, before appearing as the new leader of the Destructix under Finitevus in the Enerjak Reborn arc, followed swiftly by a stint as the Big Bad in Bold New Moebius. Does he actually deserve this level of importance? You be the judge, but personally, I don't think so. Even within those stories, Scourge gets special treatment, the biggest and most obvious being Metal Scourge. Now, personally, I think Metal Scourge was a better character than Scourge himself, but the fact that, of all people, Scourge got a Metal counterpart before anyone else, including Knuckles, who had such a counterpart in the games for over a decade by that point. Especially since, well... Metal and Mettle is a fun story, but it doesn't really do anything for Bold New Moebius as a whole, does it? It's basically pure filler, only really serving to add another dead Metal Sonic to Ian's list and stall the plot out for a bit longer. And, of course, the most clear indicator of Scourge's favouritism is that he was he first Archie character to receive his own Sonic Universe arc, and the only one to do so without needing two or three SEGA characters also making up the rest of the lead cast. "Lockdown" isn't a particularly good story, but its existence speaks to not just the insane popularity that such an unworthy character received, but also Archie's willingness to indulge that. Sonic Universe was largely intended to tell stories revolving around the members of the SEGA cast that, for whatever reason, weren't able to regularly appear in the main book. This... frequently got broken, with Sonic, Tails, Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, and Amy all taking centre-stage in the book before obvious candidates like the Chaotix got a look in, some of them twice over, but Scourge was the only time they were willing to try a story based entirely around one of their characters, and they gave it to the already extremely prominent Scourge. It's pretty clear that Ian loved using this character, and did so as much as possible. YMMV on whether that's good or not. Part 4: Scourge OP plz nerf Let's be real, he's overpowered as fuck. Now, overpowered characters aren't necessarily bad, but it's significantly harder to write an OP character than an on-average one, and Scourge didn't work out so well. From the moment he turns green, he's basically unstoppable. The one time he actually seems to remotely struggle is actually in 161, where he looks ever-so-slightly winded after curbstomping Sonic and Shadow at the same time. From then on, while he does start to slowly even out with Sonic, he also continues to utterly demolish basically everyone else, especially his easy conquest of Moebius. It's been suggested that conquering Moebius should be easy, because the big threats are all good, kind people there, but that somewhat ignores that there are anti-versions of the heroes kicking about too. All the (Mostly) benevolent rulers of the Primeverse should be tyrannical despots there, and there are excessively powerful entities like the Anti-versions of Merlin and the Guardians, not to mention whatever horrors Anti-Gerald would've unleashed on the world, and that's without the Suppression Squad themselves. While the comic has generally treated Sonic as being able to stomp the entire rest of the FF, well, who says it has to be a fight? Why the fuck doesn't Patch just poison him? I mean, the obvious answer is "Because then Bold New Moebius won't have a main villain", and sometimes contractual villain immortality has to be a thing, but a good writer should be able to avoid putting the characters in that position. Following on from that, Scourge gets to fight basically the entire FF and Suppression Squad at the same time, (Sonic and Amy are absent and Fiona is on his side), and he's winning until Sonic shows up. Then directly after that is the hedgehog brawl, and despite Sonic managing to get everyone against Scourge, he easily manages to escape and break out his Super form. Even after spending his time in the No-Zone completely powerless, Scourge manages to break out the moment he gets his powers back, despite the prison being full of characters who should be equally or more powerful than him, and the police force that caught them all, basically unchallenged. Scourge never faces an actual challenge in the comic. He never struggles, and the one time he actually loses? Ian makes up some new lore on the spot, which is contradictory to SEGA lore from the same year, and then uses that to have Sonic trick Scourge into depowering himself. Not only does Scourge never struggle with anything, but he also never actually loses a fight. Part 5: When will you learn, that your actions have consequences?! Probably never, because Scourge's actions never have consequences. Throughout his entire run, Scourge gets to go wherever he wants, do what he wants, with or to whomever he wants, and he never has to deal with the fallout of the decisions he makes. Absorbs the energy of a matter world into his antimatter body? He's better than fine, it only made him stronger. Turns up in Knothole with his secret girlfriend's hated arch rival by his side? Never mentioned again. Blows Fiona's connection to him, costing Finitevus' operation a potential spy in Knothole, where Knuckles is? Not even considered a factor. Ditches Finitevus to go and make Moebius into an egopolis? Finitevus isn't bothered, and supports Fiona's efforts to rescue him later down the line after than plan backfired on him. Blinds Patch in one eye out of jealousy/spite? The guy that poisoned Armand and Max, took a torch to Antoine's personal life, took advantage of Sally's frayed mental state, emotionally damaged Bunnie, and tried to assassinate Elias to get what he wanted lets him get away with it. Openly announces that he's going to destroy both worlds? Conveniently does it when he's alone with Sonic so nobody can tell Fiona what she's letting herself in for. He eventually does get sent to jail, but he breaks out with ease the next time he turns up. Because, y'know, that's just what we want to see. Villains never having to deal with karma. Part 6: What does anyone see in him? Scourge doesn't quite get the "everyone loves him" treatment, but he still gets a whole lot more respect than he's ever earned. Both Sonic and Zobotnik are portrayed arbitrarily deciding that maybe there's a shred of good in this monster, and this is the part where I stress that he's abusive again. Maybe if I repeat that enough it'll sink in. Despite knowing full-well the sort of person Scourge is, Sonic's response to Scourge's crappy cribbing of the "One Bad Day" speech is to try and turn it around and claim that Scourge only needs a tiny bit of decency to be a good person, and this is outright untrue, and given what we see of Scourge later, I'm frankly disgusted that Ian tried to pull this with a character he'll pretty much unambiguously portray as an abuser. Zobotnik's case is even more baffling. We're introduced to the guy in the Lockdown arc, and it's implied that he's effectively a tyrannical warden, ruling over the No-Zone with an iron fist, taking an almost sadistic delight in punishing the inmates. But yet, for whatever reason, he decides that it's a good idea to try and rehabilitate Scourge, for no adequately established reason. Even on the other side of the morality line, we have Finitevus, who apparently respects Scourge enough to not just make him leader of the Destructix during the Enerjak Reborn arc, despite him very clearly not being a leader, and not being liked by any of his comrades except Fiona, but then when he promptly ditches the whole plan toward the end, Finitevus apparently decides that he not only wants to get him back, but is willing to go to great lengths and risk losing the only team of mercenaries dumb enough to work for a guy who is quite open about his intentions to "purify the world with Chaos fire" in order to do it. And speaking of, the most egregious case of this comes again in Lockdown, where the Destructix all end up siding with Scourge. Across the second half of the arc, Scourge learns his new team's backstories, and despite them clearly showing traits and beliefs that should make them respect him less, this somehow works in his favour, and he manages to wrest leadership of the team from Fiona. Especially galling is that it appears that Fiona loses their respect early on because of her faith in Scourge, who to them, looks pathetic, but then they end up supporting him anyway, despite doing nothing to earn it. But wait, one's missing... Looks like it's that time again. Part 7: Oh right, he's an abuser. It's time to talk about Fiona. Fiona's heel turn is really, really effective at selling you on the idea that Fiona is a vile, cruel, and selfish person. It's a dramatic, "big bang" moment that, in basically a single panel, got an entire fandom to hate a character. Now for some it was more of a "Love to hate" thing, but there are plenty of people out there who just really hate Fiona for this single moment. And when you're introducing a new major villain, maybe that's what you want to accomplish. What it doesn't do, however, is sell you on her motives for taking that course of action. Fiona, for the rest of her existence, mainly antagonises Sally, whom she has no worthwhile connection to on either side of her turn, other than being the evil Sally to Scourge's Evil Sonic, and stands around or clings to Scourge's arm, looking smug about her abusive relationship. And yes, it is abusive, verbal abuse is still abuse, and the implications that he's physically abusive are present too. I know this is something that Scourge's fans don't really want to accept, but it's true, and we're going to get into that later. For now, what matters is that this character's run as a villain mainly consists of: Fiona: "Hey Sugar-Queen, look at how much my boyfriend yells at me and insults me, and probably beats me when he's angry. I make smart decisions and you suck." We never come to understand why this character, who is so motivated by her belief that everyone will eventually double-cross her that she has decided to start lashing out at people before they can turn on her, is willing to put her faith 100% in someone so repeatedly deceptive that he first approached her by pretending to be someone else. Like, in terms of bad first impressions, that's up there with arriving at a job interview in full clown regalia. The comic makes no effort to show why these characters like each other. Scourge allegedly likes her because she chooses to turn evil and join him, rather than being born evil, but this clashes with not only the fact that Fiona is a genuinely good person before this, who makes a solid effort to stay loyal to her friends first, and is lured into villainy by him, but also the fact that she blames everyone but herself for her current situation, but especially with the fact that all of the foreshadowing for Fiona turning evil consists of people not trusting her because she has a shady history. Scourge claims to appreciate that Fiona is a good person that chooses to be evil, but the narrative has a clear message of "If you started evil, it doesn't matter if you try to become good, you will always revert to type." Which isn't exactly a good message, Ian. In return, all we get from Fiona's side is that Scourge "has no expectations of her and just wants to have fun", which clashes entirely with how we see them interact in subsequent arcs, where Fiona frequently looks disturbed or apprehensive, or just bored, while Scourge yells at her and threatens her for not meeting his standards. Seriously, why do people ship this? But okay, okay. Scourge is a good liar, and Fiona's established paranoia and history do make her vulnerable to manipulators like him, so maybe she falls for his lies and gets taken for a ride. That could happen, sure. Doesn't really explain why she becomes a horrendous person all of a sudden, but whatever. Maybe he convinced her to do it as a sort of hazing, and a means of ensuring she couldn't go back. That fits with his abusive nature (You might also notice that this the explanation I used in Revival). But why does she stay? And why does she refuse every out she's given? Why, after everything that pulled her to his side has turned out to be bullshit, does she remain devoted to him? Now, you can argue that due to the abuse and the manipulation she's suffered, she believes she has to stay with him, and that's a fair shout, but her appearance in Journey to the East is kind of a stumbling block for that theory, because we're shown a Fiona who is fully capable of functioning without him, and even after making efforts to establish herself... the next time we see her she's gone back for him. And now... well, it's time to talk about that "A" word I've been bringing up a lot in this section. Scourge is abusive. I've frequently referenced that he verbally abuses Fiona every time she displeases him across the book, but the most telling scene is this one from Issue 190.

"You do not want to be sent back with me." Translation: "If I get sent back, and you're sent back too, I'm going to beat the shit out of you." Fiona (With her invisible left arm) isn't excluded from this threat. Fiona isn't surprised by this threat either. Nor does she not take the threat seriously. She looks like she's expecting to be struck. He beats her. And please, nobody say that "he's just angry", that's apologism. Now, I dunno if this was in the script, or if Fiona's face was something Yardley did on his own, but given that this arc ends with Super Scourge announcing his intention to destroy both Mobius and Moebius, simply because he can, regardless of the collateral, I'm willing to bet that this relationship wasn't a happy, stable one. But, unfortunately, this element was never made clear enough. Now, your mileage may vary on whether you think Sonic the Hedgehog comics are the appropriate place to discuss abusive relationships or not, but we've got one now, and Ian dropped the ball. This wasn't a Joker/Harley, where the pairing was clearly abusive but also sold DC/Warner millions of dollars worth of merch, this wasn't a RWBY, where Adam took three years to show up and had already won a huge number of fans from his admittedly cool design and powers, so people already liked him before they even knew what his personality was like. Ian had full control over this, no merch to worry about, and Scourge's prolific appearances gave him plenty of opportunity to make it clear that this was an ugly, repulsive thing that Fiona needed to get out of ASAP. And he didn't. Because panels like this, and all the yelling, clearly weren't enough for the fandom. No, you point this detail out to them and they'll make excuses, try to pretend it didn't happen, or just get offended, or worst of all, outright say they don't care and still ship it. We have fanartists who became real official artists creating stories where this garbage-fire pairing is used for sad feels, not because Fiona got stuck in a relationship with a controlling, violent monster, but because oh no they really loved each other and now Fiona's dead isn't it tragic don't you feel sorry for Scourge? No. No I don't. I feel sorry for the thousands of teenagers who support an abusive relationship because Ian was too cowardly to make it clear that the relationship in question was just that. Now, do I think that Ian is an intentional abuse apologist? No. Do I think he wimped out of taking the necessary steps to make it clear that this was bad because he didn't want people to dislike his shitty pet villain? Oh yeah, I do. Scourge's reputation was more important to Flynn than appropriately and sensitively portraying a destructive, damaging relationship between a woman and her monstrous partner. Well, I say "Woman", let's not forget that Fiona was meant to be sixteen, and realistically if you take her timeline into account she's more likely to be about fourteen. Real fucking classy. Part 8: Effort? What effort? So, now we get to our final criteria. And frankly, it's the easiest one to cover. From the moment, Scourge turns green, his life becomes a cakewalk. Everything he ever wants is handed to him with zero actual struggle on his part. Wants to be stronger than Sonic? He is. Zero side-effects to using a Chaos energy form from a mirror universe, or having a Super transformation interrupted, he just seemingly gets to be half-Super forever. Wants another leg-up on Sonic? Here's Fiona, sans personality. Sonic says he's just a lame ripoff of himself? He conquered a planet in a week, look at how cool he is. Also his team all roll over and make him their leader even though they hate him and they could easily kill him. He gets to walk through the entire FF/Squad teamup, and the Hedgehog teamup, and then when he gets to the No-Zone, Zobotnik, who has kept far smarter and more dangerous characters locked up for decades arbitrarily decides to reform him and gets completely suckered by him. The Destructix fully throw in with him, despite him never actually earning their respect. He never loses a fight where he wasn't depowered first. You know what the irony of this is? Ian has a character whom he is contractually obligated to never have lose for longer than an issue or two. And honestly, he wasn't awful at disguising that. Sonic gets a few wins that feel too easy, but for the most part, the issues with this rule mainly manifest in Sonic's limp responses to the tragedies happening around him, and a sprinkling of minor failures and pyrrhic victories ensure that the rule looks more like shoddy writing in a few places unless you're explicitly told about it. And even then, he still manages to make it look like Sonic struggles to attain those victories, that he has to actually put his back into it every time. He is challenged. Scourge isn't allowed to be challenged. That's the irony. Ian has a protagonist who he is not allowed to have lose, and Sonic still manages to be avoid looking like a boring invincible hero, while Scourge just never faces anything that can actually pose a threat to him. Powerful opponents crumple before him. Characters' personalities and development shift to suit his needs. The plot warps to benefit him. Because heaven forbid Scourge actually have to work for his wins. Who needs stakes when you can have the writer on your side! Part 9: In summation... I think you should've all twigged where this is going by now, so let's wrap up. 1) Does Scourge receive a great deal of favouritism from the author? Yes. 2) Is Scourge more powerful than the rest of the cast, often to the point of absurdity? Yes. 3) Does Scourge face zero consequences for his actions? Yes. 4) Is Scourge liked or respected by characters that have no reason to do so? Yes. 5) Is Scourge in a relationship with a character that has no reason to date him? Yes. 6) Most importantly, does the story will bend over backwards to give Scourge easy wins, even in situations where he logically should struggle? Yes. According to these criteria, Scourge the Hedgehog is almost a textbook example of a Mary-Sue. Which is probably why something as disgusting as him got away with so much. I guess, then, that his role in Revival, and a lot of the stuff before that, is the unfortunate reality of a Mary-Sue who suddenly has to deal with the fact that they're no longer getting that special treatment from the writer. That now their actions have consequences, that now the universe doesn't shape itself to their desires.

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Archie Sonic #Ian Flynn #Scourge the Hedgehog #Fiona Fox #Evil Sonic #Critical #CW: Abuse #TW: Abuse

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chaos-societies · 6 years

Text

Episode 3, The Journey to Cap

Sonic Tails Amy and Rouge sat around the outside of the tavern just as they had earlier the day before. Weariness from the craic of Tails’ Induction being all spent, each had a glass in hand – even Tails though being nearly two ages too young. Mina was able to sneak him one as she waited the tables that evening.

“I’m telling you all,” Sonic said to close the conversation they were having, “it was the strangest thing I had ever felt.” He left it at that but in thought went into more detail. Into detail about how the moment he saw those bones arranged so, he was chilled to the core but his flesh burned with instinct to run. How he exhaled what seemed like for a moment his last breath. How he felt like three worlds, past present and future imploded into a moment that left him frozen in time and space.

Tails swirled his drink around a bit, staring at the small bubbles of foam that clung to the glass at the wakes of the alcoholic ripples he was making. He took another nervous sip all the while looking around to ensure no one but his friends saw him do so. “Same thing for me; I don’t think I had ever felt such a cold loneliness.”

The group fell to a sorrowful silence. There was not really any way to follow up the conversation without being abrasive about it. Luckily and with convenient timing, Chuck had walked down the main road of the village. As soon as Sonic and Tails returned from the Stark Ruins and informed him of their findings he decided to set out himself to take a look. However it being so late the previous day he waited until morn. His grim and pale face upon his return did not comfort the two but they were anxious to hear what he had to say.

“Come on Tails,” Sonic said just before downing the rest of his drink. He continued with a small bubble of carbonation in the back of his throat, “let’s go see what he’s got to say!” He put his mouth in the pit of his elbow to conceal the small burp that was forming before speeding off. Tails followed in his wake with the same actions but coughed and gagged a bit after chugging the remaining contents of his glass as he was still not as used to it. He slammed down the cup and with his fluttering tails spinning up dirt behind him he zoomed to Chuck’s hut behind his friend.

“Well I guess that’s that. Surely they’ll fill us in.” Rouge said raising her drink to her lips.

“Yeah.” Amy sounded a tad down. “Call it a gut feeling but,” she paused momentarily, “I don’t like what may come of this.”

“What do you mean?” Rouge asked.

…

Tails and Sonic sat quietly as Chuck paced back and forth in his hut. There was a strange tension in the air as they anxiously waited for the old hedgehog to speak as not yet had he done so in the few minutes since they arrived.

“Chaos.”

Sonic and Tails’ ears perked at the breach of silence. “Chaos?” They stated close to simultaneously.

“That’s what is spelt out by the arrangement of bones you saw.” Chuck peered down at a little paper with the design from the ruins etched onto it. “It’s Ogham. An ancient alphabet not used in at least a millennium and by much older civilizations than what was around back then. As for the seven marks surrounding it I can only assume it means for the Seven Societies. But–” He scratched behind his quills. “–there is no reason for anyone to do this. It is pointless. And yet,” he paused again, “not sure I am if anyone actually did this.” Chuck looked back at the two as they lingered in curiosity on every word that dripped from his mouth. “I felt the same eeriness when I went to investigate after you told me what you saw. There is evil at work here.” He turned to the kitchen sink and washed his hands.

“Come on Uncle Chuck,” Sonic broke from his enthralled attention to a more down to earth stance and continued, “you saying some ‘evil magic forces’ are playing pranks on us? How do we know those damn desert Reds didn’t just want to spook us?” He didn’t believe his own words – but still wished them to be true.

Chuck didn’t verbalize the answer he had to Sonic’s inquiry but yet spoke only what he knew needed to be done. He turned to them. “There is a library in Cap, just north of the Greater Area. There’s a book there about the ancient legends and myths of the Lords of Seven. It is old and frail and not to be borrowed by the public but I have read it. I know the librarian well and she will surely heed my request for it. I want you two to retrieve it.”

“Wait…” Sonic stood up, a thrilled expression on his face. “You’re asking us to venture past the Greater Area?!”

Chuck took off his specs and cleaned the lenses on the worn vest he was wearing. He sighed, “The short answer is yes.”

Sonic jumped up enthusiastically with a fist tossed in the air. He turned to Tails who by now was also on his feet showing a bit of excitement, though not near as much as Sonic. They high fived before Chuck spoke loud and stern, stopping their celebration and bringing them back to attention. “But listen still to the long answer!” He put the glasses back on his face and turned to them. His mustache furled up then back down as he drew in and out a heavy breath. “You both know damn well why I normally forbid you to go far out of the village. You kids wandering out in the Greater Area is something I am still nervous about and it took me a year before allowing you all to do even that. Both your parents were victims of this world’s hatred and I will not let you to fall victim to it as well.

“Cap is just outside of the Greater Area and some would even argue that. The only reason you are going is because there is less dangers on the path north and I have great concern for the reason behind the vandalism at Stark Ruins. You will go to Cap, you will talk to no one, you will go straight to the library and get that book. If you leave before first light the trip up can be made in a day,” he shot a slight glare at Sonic, “at a normal pace. Eiméar the bandicoot is the librarian there. She will house you for the nights. I will prepare a letter for her and adjoin it with the sketches I made from the ruins. Same rules apply for your return. Stay in Cap only one day mostly to rest between the journeys to and fro. If you do not make it back eve of the third day, I will know you either hit trouble,” he tossed a finger at the two of them, “or you didn’t listen and found yourselves detoured.” He paused and stared to ensure the notion sank in. “Either way, I will send out a group if you do not return on time.”

“We won’t let you down Chuck!” Sonic proclaimed still with a bout of enthusiasm.

“I don’t suspect you will. But it won’t be just you two either. Amy and Rouge will be joining you.” Chuck stated. Both Sonic and Tails did not mind the declaration and half intended to bring them along anyway – with or without his knowledge. “They too are strong and if you hit any trouble out there you can use all the help you should muster. You all are close enough to watch out for each other and that includes making sure no one makes any stupid decisions.”

“Geez Chuck you really are serious about us going out there aren’t you.” Sonic said with the intent to relieve some of the tension in the air.

“You’re damn right I am.” He said flatly. “And I wouldn’t even risk it if I didn’t feel the need to. Bring me that book. You leave tomorrow; see you dark and early.”

With that, the two brothers felt the need to take their leave. They left Chuck’s hut and walked back over to the tavern to inform the other half of their new venture party.

…

[x]

It was early morn the next day and Rouge was accompanying Amy as they prepped and packed for their venture. Amy was currently in front of the mirror fixing some of her quills while Rouge was packing some of Amy’ outfits she put out for the trip. Sonic was over with Tails, likely conversing in the same fashion, which gave the two gals their own time. “OH!” the bat exclaimed as she clutched one of Amy’s outfits before properly folding it and rolling it in her pack. “I can’t believe the old man is actually letting us journey out of this place!”

“Calm down Rouge, he wouldn’t let it happen if there wasn’t some need for it and you know that. We have to be serious with all this.” Amy spoke, always the voice of reason; committed to the task at hand.

“I know, I know. But think about it, we get to see some place outside of this place – something new. This town turns like a wheel stuck in a rut and sooner or later you can’t argue that all the spokes end up looking the same. I can’t wait to see what another village will be like. And not just a village, a city! Shops, peoples, fashion!” She couldn’t contain her excitement.

At that, Amy came into the same room as Rouge. She stared blankly at her friend before breaking down with a similar thrill. “It is pretty exciting isn’t it!” She hopped a little in her words. She ushered Rouge to relax and sit as she took charge in the continuation of packing her own things. The deed was almost done as not much was needed for just three days so she rolled the last garment and tucked it away.

They walked together to meet with the rest of their party. It was not quite dawn but the faint hue of a warm sun far beyond the horizon was proof of it soon to come. To no surprise of their own, Sonic and Tails were already and waiting by the village center. The two were talking with Chuck and from Amy and Rouge’s standpoint his finger pointing were notion enough that he was drilling a few more holes in their head on what to do and most importantly, what not to do on this trip. Vanilla was also there to see them off. Being the innkeeper, she was usually up early to tend to any guests she may have. She also a small food pack for each of them as they would be on foot until late evening.

“Good morning Sir Charles!” Amy stated so formally as was her tendency. “Hello Miss Vanilla!”

“Ah, Amy. Rouge.” Chuck answered, “I want you two lasses to make sure these knuckle heads don’t get into trouble. It’s not yet dawn and they are giving me a headache!” Behind Chuck’s frizzled mustache a playful and joking smile was noticeable. He looked at Sonic and Tails as they both chuckled. Chuck couldn’t help but give a lighthearted laugh back at the banter he tends to receive from them.

“Oh I’m sure we can keep them in line.” Rouge confirmed.

“Good. Now, I told you all yesterday what you are doing so I don’t feel the need to cover that again.” He paused, “I hope this journey is but a precaution, but in all sense take it seriously.” He looked at the youngins before him and smiled. “I’m not too sure why I had any reservations about sending the lot of you off. You’re all strong brave and beautiful and those three things alone can get you far. But do keep your wits about you. Cap is not an untrustworthy place but you know well enough from your small treks into the Greater Area that there are friends and foes and they are hard to discern. Best keep to yourselves.”

“Don’t worry Uncle Chuck, you can count on us!” Sonic said as enthusiastic as ever.

“I know I can.” He admitted and brought Sonic in for an embrace. He gave a few stern pats on the back and Sonic returned with good squeeze as well before they broke off. “Now you best be off. Get there soon enough and you might be able to enjoy some of the sightseeing.” He stated with the knowledge that that would get them on their way even the slightest bit sooner. But as they waved and turned to walk on their way, Chuck snagged Rouge’s arm. “Rouge.” He stated firmly. “I need you to take this parcel to Eiméar. Don’t,” he emphasized, “open it. It is from some long unresolved business.” Rouge took it and tucked it into her pack. “I would have trusted me sonny boy with it but he seems to be the epitome of a Cyan and I can’t let his curiosity get the best of him. She shall see its contents and no one else.”

Rouge was taken back a bit but soon composed herself and nodded in agreement before turning and joining the others.

“I know you are worried Charles. But they are good kids with gifts and good minds.” Vanilla said to Chuck to comfort him.

“That they are. As you likely know, I just like to be a bit cautious. I am forever haunted by the fate of their parents.”

“I do understand. I feel the same way with my young Cream. It is hard raising young ones alone but you have done these kids right. Some of the older Greens here are up and stirring and we will be having some morning tea soon. Please join us and ease your nerves.”

The four departing turned back one last time and waved as they turned down the road toward the main bridge. Chuck and Vanilla waved back and with that, the four were on their way to Cap – the first place they’ve never been.

…

The distant sun was bleeding into the ocean far off the rocky cliffs of the Greater Area’s edge. Soon it would rise high enough to scab and the light that poured into the ocean would gather in the sun’s reflection. They had not made it far and the main bridge to South Island was faintly visible beyond the early morning dust at this moment. They did nothing much beyond talk as besides walking, that was all they could do.

“Hey Ames,” Sonic began, “why do you keep calling Chuck by his honorable name?”

“Because it seems I have a greater capacity for respect than you.” She toyed with him. He stuck out his tongue in a response of similar humor. “But in all honesty, I do have a lot of respect for him. He made sure my grandmother got the care she needed when we first came to South Island. Never knowing my parents, Nani was the closest I had to a mother. Ch–… Sir Charles made sure in her trailing years that, along my side, she was tended to and cared for and I can’t thank him enough for that. I still remember how much more joy was in Nani’s eyes in those last years that she found a place so peaceful and void of the hatred between Societies that we hear is so common in the rest of the world. And when I told her I wished to be a Cyan instead of a Blue like her and apparently my relatives, she even said that just a few years prior to coming to South Island her own discord with a certain Cyan Chapter would have caused her to fret. But after living here and seeing the world in a new light, she was happy for me. It meant a lot that the love from one tiny little island could do that and help an outsider like herself in such a way. And I give that credit to your uncle.” Sonic immediately felt a little somber as he knew how much Amy’s grandmother meant to her. But he was also humbled with her words.

There was a lot more talking, and even more walking, done on their journey to Cap. Thankfully for them their company kept time fast and the day enjoyable. Tails occasionally brought out his whistle and blew a tune. Some new, some quite familiar and of those the gang even joined their voices in.

Seven seas and seven skies, I've seen them all with these wanderin' eyes. But n'or better sight did I did see than that sweet island by the sea!

Cast our lot to leave or stay To find a home we hoped we prayed. Of our rove, in our last mile we found the haven at South Isle.

To this, our new found home we made, and sent away dangers each day. By Chaos if it ever fell, It'd be a sorry day in hell!

Cast our lot to leave or stay To find a home we hoped we prayed. Of our rove, in our last mile we found the haven at South Isle.

It was no hotter than it normally is in the Greater Area, which was still stifling, and they both packed and wore garments they knew would be suitable for the journey. Sonic, knowing he was not likely going to do any running as per his uncle’s request, brought along his jacket to keep the sandy wind from pelting his chest. Tails too had a light hooded shirt he liked to wear on occasion for the same reason. Anything else might disrupt his tail-propelled flight. They might have retained heat more than comfortable out in the pseudo-wasteland but a bit of sweat was always better than a lot of chafing and rashes. Rouge tossed a scarf around her head to make a headdress to keep any sand from embedding itself in her hair. Amy had no need for any head garments as her quills were not has thick or as hard to maintain as Rouge’s hair but went with her normal garment which protected her same as the others.

They stopped at a large rocky settlement a few hours after mid-day and they were overjoyed with the rest and relief. The sun was pelting their fur at this time and they camped under the shade of the towering stones to eat their packs that Vanilla had prepped for them. It was no other than Tails that was in charge of their navigation and unraveled the map he had packed to see their progress and location.

“Hmm,” he mindlessly sounded as he pondered at the parchment, “So it seems we’ve made it here, labeled clúdach.” He pointed at the labeled point on the map. He was mostly speaking to himself as the others were enjoying their meals. In most senses of land navigation, the landmarks were not always so far and in between or so specific. The Greater Area’s barren sands made the exception. So when Tails would shoot an azimuth in juncture with his map, they had to make sure they did not deviate from that direction. Fortunately they succeeded pretty well. The continued trek was much further though than what they had made through the first half of the day. It was, however, not as sparse and instead of soft sands that rolled into endless waves of dunes, it was rockier in certain areas and then opened into a small plain of as close to marshes as could be found in the Greater Area. They would likely make much more ground over the next half of the day traversing over terrain of that kind.

It was the furthest north they had ever gone as not much interested them this way. Their local exploring was confined typically to The Lookout, Stark Ruins, and some of the further edges of the Jagged Browns that bordered and ran southeast. Though they were far out of the territory for the desert Reds that resided in Rockbase there was the constant danger of running into them as their buggies made travelling through the sand much more efficient than on foot and they enjoyed harassing the South Islanders. They did not know the four were travelling though so they had no need to head their way.

They finished their meals and continued on despite their deep desire to continue to rest. They were hot and tired but Chuck gave them a timeframe to abide to in order to make it to their destination. It wasn’t an hour later and they could feel their feet landing on more sturdy surfaces. Their calves ached in their release of lactic acids through the strenuous actions of walking on sand for over half a day and though solid ground was a godsend, it was still tough work for how much they were travelling. Close to two hours later they came across a bizarre sight for anything outside of the lively island they resided; greenery. A third of a day of marching through their corner of Mobius and they had seen nothing but the tan brown and red sand and rock that was native to this part of the world. And though it was not any jungle, one or two thin green bushes per square yard stretched for miles over the plain before them. Amy even admitted that she would have never expected something like that out in the Greater Area. Rouge agreed but commented that it still was not much. They continued and found that every once in a while their foot would sink into soft and wet patches of sand and dirt showing another miraculous feat for the region.

The sky held strong an evening glow that even without the obvious orb that was descending over the far off mountain peaks of the Sléibhte Scáthaigh, the travelers could tell dusk was near. Tails had let them know that they were close but maybe still an hour’s trudge off. The land beneath them steadily got greener and denser and soon they found themselves in a wetland. The terrain seemed oddly similar to when they first entered the bushy patches – flat and smooth – but now it was covered in moss and weed that with each cushioning step was much needed relief upon their soles. Small divots and basins in the area harbored an inch or two of stagnant water which brought a fresh, clean scent to their dry nostrils. The air was denser and by it alone they almost could have been fooled into thinking they made a large circle in the span of their travels and had arrived again back at South Island. But alas they had never seen parts of the world as this.

For the first time since they waved goodbye to Chuck and Vanilla, they saw other persons. Some far off some closer, but Mobians were out in these areas crouched low, bending down and plucking some of the mossy weeds that rest below their feet. They each took some, quickly inspected it and put their gatherings into a sack they had fastened to their hip.

Sonic Tails Amy and Rouge came upon a small hill and as they did, they saw the city of Cap. They stood on the top of the hill that descended down to a tiny stream with a bridge off to the west and a port or two that sat in artificial channels to the east that caused the stream to open to a small river that fed into the ocean many miles off. The same flora that surrounded them also was on the other bank of the stream but they were surprised to see that it stopped a few yards past before the ground had a sudden change in coloration from the thick, dark green back to desert tan and red. Tails being ever the knowledge seeker and Sonic being curious enough, made note to ask this friend of Chuck’s why that was. The sun must have found a low window in the peaks of the Sléibhte Scáthaigh as the city was gleaming in the light of evening dusk.

The city seemed to have been forged up from the ground out of heavy red clay, likely from upriver of the stream. Even with the lush green wetland they traversed through over the past hour or so, Cap was still a desert city and the land north to it seemed quite similar to the rocky expanse they encountered just after their lunch stop. But a city nonetheless and the sounds they could hear even from the hill and the constant movement in its streets were enough to invigorate the gang for a bit more until they finished their task. They continued on over the bridge and into the city.

[x]

It was no doubt a much livelier place than the village at South Island. Shops and stands were lined different alleyways making some places a tight squeeze with the crowds that surrounded them. Rouge was weaving excitedly in and out from the shops, not with the intent to purchase anything, but just to see what kind of things were around. Each merchant had a cloth either lined or hung from the stand they were selling from and it did not take long for the gang to realize it was to associate them with a Society. The buyers of these merchants too wore clothes that were or close to what was likely their Society as there seemed to be a lot of yellow adorned persons buying from the stand with a yellow cloth and green adorned persons buying from green stands and so forth. Some people were not wearing any one color in particular however. Maybe it was coincidence or for some other reason they thought. But when they went up to a stand, it was obvious as to which Society they belonged. Sonic even caught a glance of an exchange of the secret Cyan greeting between a merchant and customer. It always amazed him how each Society surely had their own secret greeting and it was so subtle that it could be done in front of anyone and no one would even know.

It seemed that they had entered right into the market district of this town. Passersby were calling to them to look at their merchandise and they often tried to appeal to whatever Society the sellers were from. It was a good tactic as they couldn’t upright tell which Society people from the crowd belonged to so their shouts of ‘the best cabbage a Green could buy!’ or ‘finest clothes for all your Yellow needs!’ would bring the attention of their respective company.

One of the hustlers took a gander at Rouge and how she was browsing the products being offered and stepped in front of her path. “Excuse myself miss, I see that you are looking a bit out of place without some of the finest jewelry a White in Cap could find.” He traced his eyes up and down her figure and she immediately felt both assaulted and annoyed. “Such a fine young lass,” his brow rolled and his eyes softened, “the shame it would be if one could not know her name.”

“The shame is all mine then.” Rouge answered with a laugh. She brushed past him and gave a nudge on his shoulder as she did so.

The catcaller fumed red. “Hey, what kind of lady are you!” At this time, Amy noticed Rouge had fallen behind the group and she stopped Sonic and Tails to go back for her.

Rouge stepped back and bumped her hip into him, accidentally brushing her hand into his side. “One of a kind.” She said and walked off, ignoring whatever words he continued to spit. She joined back up with the others as she fastened a brand new necklace to her collar. It gleamed in the fading sun and the diamond or two inside the pendant glistened beautifully and bright.

“Was that really necessary?” Amy asked pointing to Rouge’s new piece of jewelry.

“Hey now, I had no intentions of robbing the poor fellow. But that silver tongue of his just sweet talked me into it.” She answered behind a proud grin.

“Guy deserves it though. The jerk!” Sonic exclaimed with a disgusted glare at the man as he faded back into the crowd.

They soon passed the hustle and bustle and entered into a less populated area. They were so caught up in the energy and awe of this new spectacle they forgot to ask where to find the library.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” Sonic stepped aside to ask a woman who was sweeping the stoop of what was suspected to be her home. She turned and glared at him as he continued, “Do you mind telling us where the library is?”

“What’re ya?” She spat with skepticism in her eyes.

Sonic was taken back a bit. “I’m sorry?”

“I asked ye, what’re ya?! Get the twigs out yer ears and speak! White? Green? Blue like yer fur?”

“Oh,” Sonic took a step back, not liking how this was developing. He glanced up above the door she stood in front of and saw a white swap of paint over it. The other doors around all too had white above them. Not wanting to risk making false identities he answered truthfully. “I’m a Cyan. We all are. We–” He tried to explain that they were not from there but she cut him off quickly.

“Ack!” She spat at his feet. “Ya awkward folk’re out far from yer ghetto aren’t ye? Leave!” She thrust her broom in Sonic’s direction and he instantly bolted off back alongside the others. They continued walking but were now extra weary.

They no longer felt a desire to ask for directions, instead just hoped they found either another market or any Cyans where more friendly folk could be of help.

They continued through the streets and though they did not find any market, they found a square with signs posted. A White chapel in one direction, a Yellow one in another, cemeteries of the likes, and finally ‘leabharlann’. They headed to it with haste as the sun had already descended behind the mountains.

[x]

They came up to it and it was grand. The structure seemed much older than the rest around. It was tan like much of the desert city but it lacked the red clay that many of the residential housings possessed. It was made of large rock that was sculpted and carved away in the style of an era long passed. Maybe three or four stories tall but there was a large spire in front of a copula that likely had a view of the far ends of the city. They climbed up the worn steps up to large wooden doors which had to have been imported as they have yet to see a tree of any kind since they left South Island. They entered.

The sight inside was almost as impressive as it was outside. The building was longer than it appeared to be and stretched off opposite to the entrance. There were spiral stairs rising from each floor to the next and the center remained open with a glass ceiling overhead, alternating in all seven colors of Chaos, which brought in the sun’s light to the interior. Sand was seen built up on the outside of the glass but it did nothing to hinder the rays that shone through. Hallways of bookshelves branched out from the center on each floor and persons were walking through with the noses deep in texts.

They each were awestruck at the sight but it was Amy and Tails who found it most impressive; inspired by how much knowledge must be housed in these great halls.

For Mobians, it was much easier to find someone they had never met if they knew their species. They walked through the great halls, Sonic and Rouge pulling back Tails and Amy respectively as they tried to wander off, until they found a bandicoot hunched over a cart unloading books into a shelf.

“Excuse me, are you a Miss Eiméar?” Sonic asked, reaching into his pack to retrieve the letter that was prepared.

The woman’s ears flicked as she turned around. “Yes? Yes I am.”

Sonic extended the letter to her and she took it. “I’m Sonic the hedgehog from South Island. My uncle Charles, sent us to–”

“Oh bloody no! I tought your voice sounded familiar.” She quickly stood up. Her snout scrunched in annoyance and she crushed the letter in hand, and pushed her cart away. “I don’t want nothing to do with dat man’s business no more!” Her accent was strong but nothing they hadn’t heard before.

“But wait! He said you’d help us!” Sonic called back.

“Did he now?” She stopped and turned to them. “If I do recall it t’was him that made a fuss like no other when I asked him ta help with me brother’s dealings in Bastard’s Bay but did he help any? No! He tell you anything about dat did he? Eh?”

Sonic didn’t know what to say. Not only did he have no idea what she was rambling about, he was also surprised there was a person in this world that did not find his uncle in a good light. “He…hasn’t.” He finally stated.

She puffed. “Of course he hadn’t.” She turned back around and pushed her cart way. “If ye no more business in this library then I kindly ask you to leave.” The gang stood in disbelief, unsure of what just transpired. They stepped back not knowing what to do as they had not expected anything but cooperation.

They walked back and sat down at one of the many tables situated in the center area of the first floor. “Well?” Sonic asked. “Any ideas guys?”

Amy and Tails looked at each other and knew exactly what the other was thinking. “Nope.” Amy said as she stood up. “But I think while we are here, Tails and I are going to see what some of these dusty old books have to offer!” Tails’ face gleamed at her statement and the two vanished in the maze of shelves that held more information than one mind could hold.

Sonic and Rouge sat for a short while, but not too long before Rouge stood up. “Well I for one won’t sit here and mope after an entire day of walking through a desert to take ‘no’ for an answer.” She began to walk away. “I know you were hoping for a positive and simple outcome here, but I don’t like to sit around when I could get things done myself.”

Sonic was getting a bit restless as he sat by himself at that table. The sun had set and the illumination of the library had switched from natural light to candlelight. It gave a new feel to the place but the feeling was still that of history and solitude.

“Alright you lost pup!” Rouge called out after a couple minutes of being away. Eiméar is taking us in. I already found Amy and Tails and they are with her in her residence quarters in the back. Come on.”

Sonic jumped up with excitement both at the change of pace and the fact that progress was made. “Wait, how did you convince her to hear us out?” He asked.

“I asked her nicely.” She said inconspicuously. Sonic was awfully curious on what that meant but received the explanation nonetheless. He followed Rouge back to meet with the woman. He wondered though how successful they may be in retrieving a book that was ‘old and frail and not to be borrowed by the public’ as were his uncle’s words, if she was so reluctant to take them in in the first place.

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#sth #sonic au #chaos societies #episode 3 #the journey to cap #geez that took too long to post #had it done nearly a week ago #uncle chuck #sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #amy rose #rouge the bat

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eternityengine · 4 years

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okay so I wrote a “review” (really just my thoughts in a disorganized way) of Sonic Forces about a year and a half ago and never got around to posting it, but I still have it so I’m posting it now because I have opinions

Main Game

Green Hill. Again. Argh. I mean at least they tried to change it up a little by throwing sand over it but that didn't really make any sense. (sega plz)

Look, I like Chemical Plant alright (for some godforsaken reason), but it's already been in Gens and Mania. Just give us Mystic Cave Zone or Mushroom Zone or something! Hell, use both! We could have Mushroom Zone instead of Green Hill Zone!

I gotta say the goop waterfalls in Network Terminal are really flow-breaking, you just come to a dead stop if you touch them and have to stop half the time to avoid hitting them, and you can't reliably avoid them very well. You can't even boost through them!

Luminous Forest is pretty and all but uuuuuggghhhhh casino levels suck

Infinite is delightfully edgy and I thoroughly enjoyed him, but they didn't utilize him very well.

Infinite's battle themes reflect his boss battle quality!

First battle: total banger of a song, pretty good boss fight (runnin’ on a SNAKE)

Second battle: excellent song, decent boss fight (best use of his nightmare zone powers, at least in the first half)

Third battle: okay song, boring reskin of the Metal Sonic boss fight

Why did they not give us a Chaos boss fight :( lame

Also why did Infinite use Chaos 0 instead of literally any other version, all of which are stronger? Like, would Perfect Chaos use too much energy or something?? He made giant snake versions of himself just fine...

Actually, why couldn't those have been Chaos??

Metal Sonic fight was okay but way too similar to Silver's in Gens

Also why is Metal Sonic a copy?? Just use actual Metal, come on, Eggman

There was no resolution to Infinite's plot and I am disappoint

Why does Infinite just flip the Avatar around with the Phantom Ruby in Metropolis? I feel like he should be at least shooting cubes at you or something instead of just occasionally passing by to frick with your gravity in suspiciously convenient ways

If Sonic was tortured for six months why is there no indication of this? He doesn't look or act any different than usual. Even without being tortured (as in the JP script), he should at least have some ill effects from being imprisoned for half a year.

I'm okay with Knuckles being the commander of the Resistance but who thought it was a good idea to let him come up with strategies? He's mostly a traps and punching guy on that front. I realize Tails was gone and all but I feel like most of the other characters could have strategized better.

Classic Sonic does basically nothing of note and has the worst levels and gameplay. Why is he even here if they weren't going to use him properly?

Caveat: I'm mostly going off of other people's statements re: his gameplay, I suck at Classic games overall and would probably dislike his levels regardless

Why does destroying the Phantom Ruby send Classic back to his dimension? I wouldn't think the Ruby would need to actively hold him there...

First of all, I feel like Tails should have been able to fix Omega. Secondly, why did they leave him there for six months?? Thirdly, HOW DID HE GET FIXED????? (Loved that he was here, though.)

I want to see the fight between Silver and Infinite, it was probably super awesome

Okay, so I can kind of excuse the giant snake given the giant worms of Lost Hex, but why would it try to eat Sonic. He'd be a tiny snack. What does it even normally eat? Other giant snakes?? (Is it an illusion??)

Why are both of Classic Sonic's boss fights just bomb tennis

Why is the final boss called a Death Egg Robot? The only similarities are in the first form's head (when protracted) and its primary (shoulder) arms. The rest is tentacle snake nonsense. And the second form is a straight-up tentacle robot, and somewhat similar to the Nega-Wisp Armour. And it's not even on the Death Egg!

Final boss was really ominous though, I liked it. First, dramatic orchestral music. Then, it murders you repeatedly by barely telegraphing its attacks to a first-timer. (Stop killing the floor!!) Then you "beat" it and a chestburster tentacle robot explodes out and dumps you in null space. The actual tentacle bot fight was kind of a letdown though, it was basically just the Nega Wisp Armour from Colours instead of something new... (also I was bad at timing my laser dodges so some salt there)

How is Classic Sonic doing Homing Attacks in the Death Egg Robot's third phase? He literally can't do them yet, wtf. (I choose to believe Modern Sonic and/or the Avatar is throwing him at it :P)

The water slides in Aqua Road are neat and fun the first few times, but when you're trying to S-rank the level they are such a pain. The RNG with the Motobug bouncing is the woooooorst. (Getting unavoidably knocked into spike balls sucks.)

Also why were a) spike balls there to begin with, it's enough of a challenge not falling out, and b) the spike balls moving slower than everything else in the slides? And then slow you down to their speed if you hit them, so when your invincibility runs out you're still glued to them and die?

Avatar gameplay is really fun, but I'm not a fan of how many automatic grapple points there are. Just let me do it!! It's not hard!!!! (Plus some of them are really unnecessary)

No boss fight with fake Shadow either, but that's less disappointing than Chaos for whatever reason (maybe because he's around more?)

Gotta say though I liked a much larger portion of the music in this game than usual, it's really good

However, the music for Classic's Green Hill stage is screechy garbage.

A good chunk of the stuff conveyed with the overworld dialogue would have been better presented as actual cutscenes (esp. the ones that use sound effects :/)

There is literally an area called "City" are you freaking kidding me

Okay, so Eggman decides to drop the sun on the Resistance...but he's also there?? I assume he's like, just not included in the illusion and is just laughing at their stupid faces, but it would have been nice to have some indication of that.

Why even make Zavok copies?? He sucks and no one likes him. Also he's kind of part of a set, where are the other Zeti copies?

I realize this is a video game, but why does Infinite make such easily dodgeable cube obstacles/attacks? "Ah yes let me make some long rectangles with big gaps to go through at each end, this will never fail"

I would like to thank Sonic Team for not making Imperial Tower a timed mission, that shit was hard enough as it is

I would also like to thank Sonic Team for making Imperial Tower so easy to cheese with Hover Wispons

I really wish the Null Space level had more...Null Space. You're in it for like 30 seconds, and it's a waste of a really pretty level design. AND it's just a straight shot that's 80% Double Boost.

Why is Double Boost a thing? The Avatar is just some random civilian, they shouldn't have weird team-up super speed powers.

I love that basically all of Sonic's friends are here doing stuff again, it is glorious. (Even though they were kind of epic fails until the Avatar joined/they got Sonic back...)

However, it would have been nice to see them occasionally doing stuff in the levels (like beating up robots in the background or something), rather than just in cutscenes.

Classic Sonic doesn't get an Infinite fight. :(

Which is weird, since he's the only playable character with Phantom Ruby experience/story.

In Final Judgement, the radio chatter includes them going "so this is where Eggman built Infinite" and...there are several things wrong with that. First of all, "built"? He's organic, it would be better to say something like "created" - even putting aside that that would be more metaphorical, as Eggman didn't straight-up create Infinite the person, just his current identity (not that they have any reason to know that - but they have no reason to think he made him either). Secondly, how are they coming to this conclusion? There's no tubes or assembly machines around until the end tubes with Phantom Ruby prototypes(?) in them, and those are part of the reactor. Plus an early cutscene has Infinite in a tube in a completely different area, though it could have been contained in the same superstructure. I mean I guess you could argue that the level looks like a factory?? Thirdly, how can they even see inside? They're not there.

Episode Shadow

Why is this so goddamn short. Only three levels? Really??

Why is the last cutscene just the first one from the main game?? They should be explaining where tf Shadow's been during the main game! So lazy.

Aqua Road is like 80% waterslides whyyyyyy

Infinite is really bad at getting revenge, holy shit. He just...illusions him for a bit until he gets away?? With some cube attacks tbf but STILL...

Also this shit never comes up in the main game why exactly? (I know the answer is probably they came up with this later like FOOLS, but argh)

ALSO also why do Infinite's attacks not send Shadow into the nightmare realm like they do in the main game?

Why do they go to such lengths to hide Infinite's face if they just straight up show it in his comic??

Honestly the way Shadow treats Infinite in this feels kinda out of character. I feel like he wouldn't be quite that harsh. (Definitely in character if it was Boom!Shadow, though...)

I am disappointed that Shadow is just a Sonic reskin. Let me use Chaos Spear! >:(

Also disappointed that Shadow can only be played on Modern Sonic stages; why not also Tag stages??

Misc

Infinite's theme is hilariously edgy and I love it (could do without the rap tho)

Kinda disappointed that this game has no fancy CGI cutscenes. I always look forward to those...

I think they had way too much nostalgia-baiting in this game. Classic Sonic, four previous Sonic villains (mostly Chaos and Metal Sonic though), Death Egg Robots, Green Hill and Chemical Plant and Death Egg...it just smacks of desperation. Not sure if it's "Generations was popular let's do that again" or just general trying to get fans back, but it's silly. You expect this sort of thing for Generations bc it was an anniversary game, but this one decidedly isn't and it feels like they're grasping at straws trying to get/keep players.

Also this is a Modern Sonic game, why is 50% of the content not playing him. Why is Classic even heeeeeeere

#sonic forces #sonic the hedgehog #eternal yakking #eternal griping

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cutegirlmayra · 7 years

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Im not used to asking these,but i admire your work!

(x Archie comics)

So, I’m pretty sure only in Underground and Archie Sonic was ever a prince..? It’s not actually modern canon that he is one. But I can pull a few strings here and there and do my best to combined Underground with Modern :) Making it more a ‘past’ than anything else, and awww~ This is your first prompt request for me? ;w; so excited then!!! I hope you enjoy it :) as always~

Prompt:

Sonic was his usual self for a while, until a fancy letter arrived that took those fond times of laughter away from him…

He was sitting with everyone outside of Tails’s workshop on a hillside, close to Angel Island when a mailman handed him the letter with a neat-looking seal attached to it.

Sonic’s smile immediately faded, taking the letter and suddenly looking it over in his chair…

His feet were up, one over the other, and warming by the campfire as the others laughed over stories they were telling, before Tails noticed the shift.

Amy took notice of Tails’s silence and also looked curiously worried over to Sonic. Knuckles caught on with a few blinks, turning to the main attention of everyone else’s interests…

In their little friendship circle, Tails took notice of the man leaving…

His head cocked upwards to look over the fire’s glow… and squinted passed the flames.

“He doesn’t look like the normal mail-delivery guy.” it sounded like a joke, but he was… just observing in all seriousness.

Amy frowned too, narrowing her eyes in suspicion a bit too. “And I’m pretty sure no mail comes at this hour…” she looked with concern over to Sonic, her expression softening in her care. “Is it urgent?”

Sonic continued to stare at the letter, having leaned back far down in the chair already, he seemed frozen in his own thoughts…

The lights flickered as he shifted his eyes over the first few details of the letter’s heading and address… before sitting up and leaning on the edge of his little lawn chair, and rubbed the back of his neck.

“…Heh, must be serious.” Knuckles put his hands together and also leaned forward, waiting for Sonic to clue them in. “Care to enlighten the rest of us?”

“…” Sonic was still a moment, before smiling up to Knuckles, “Isn’t it illegal to read someone else’s mail?” he joked, but it was clearly an avoidance mechanism.

“And Knuckles?”

He perked his head up, along with an eyebrow… just slightly raising to answer his call.

“You’re far passed due enlightenment.”

“Hey!”

“The rest of us have evolved since then.” Sonic teased, before leaning back and starting to open the letter.

The laughing stopped and so did his hands…

He looked around and gave everyone a teasing scold. “Can’t a man have his privacy?”

They smiled.

But didn’t look away…

He got nervous suddenly, shifting his eyes to all of them and then getting up to sit in the chair normally again.

“Hey, what is this?” he held his arms out, questioning them. “Can’t you all take five minutes to talk with each other instead of relying on me to get the party going?”

Their smiles grew, a few heads tilting as if they were innocent to his claims, but also clearly knowing they weren’t being so.

“We want to know.” Tails piped up, also putting his hands together and leaning on the edge of his seat. “I don’t recall you ever having a pen pal.”

“And it better not be a girl..! Ehem.” Amy spoke rather quickly and loudly on that one… but silently restrained herself from accusing him further.

Sonic gave her a look,… “It’s not a pen pal. And it’s not one person…” he then looked at the letter in the light.

He took it out and quickly skimmed it.

His eyes grew soft and gentle… as if nostalgia of fond memories returning.

The crew were silently waiting…

Sonic then looked around, and tossed the letter into the fire, leaning back with his hands looping behind his head and legs kicking up over the other.

“Ah, well! Wrong address.”

“Sonic!!” the three jumped up but were too late.

The fire took the letter, but Amy could make out one word…

“High…” she squinted her eyes, tilting her head as the paper burned to yellow, red, and black; curling up on it’s ends. “…Ness..?”

“Highness?” Tails gave her a funny look.

Sonic broke from his chilled stature and suddenly clung to the chair, his feet flying everywhere before landing to the chair in his shock, eyes wide open.

Knuckles looked over and smirked suddenly, “Ohh… I bet it’s some code word, huh!”

Sonic weakly smiled but that ended quickly, looking at the ground.

“Must of miss read it, Amy.” He sat back and folded his arms, looking away.

Amy pouted, puffing up a cheek. “I know what I saw!”

“I saw ‘ess’. So I believe her.” Tails stood firm on that too, before looking back to Sonic with a matching offended expression. “And with how you freaked out,… I’d say she was right on, too!” he pointed, accusing him of lying to them.

“What are you not telling us, Sonic?”

Sonic was surrounded.

turning his ‘trying to not freak out’ eyes back to his friends, he noticed that Amy, Tails, and Knuckles had all gotten up and walked over to him.

Tails held the chair and Amy put her hands to her hips as Knuckles glared and took Sonic’s chest, lifting it up and back down.

“Come on! Ol’buddy…” Knuckles smirked. “Fess up! Who you writin’ too..?”

“Er… It’s not who I’m writing too… it’s whose writing to me.” Sonic admitted, sweat dropping at how serious they all were for wanting to know. But they were also just playing… and he knew that.

Knuckles let him go, blinking. “Wait… the highness… is who you’re writing? W-wh-wha-woah!” he stumbled back as Amy knocked him away, tears in her eyes as her fists came up to her face.

“WHAT!? Oh, Sonic, it can’t be true! Tell me you’re not cheating on me with some… some.. Princess!!! WAH-HA-HA-HA!!!” She started to cry, raising her hands to her eyes as Sonic sweat dropped again, his eyelids coming down at Amy’s dramatic explosion.

“W-well.. you wouldn’t be half wrong…” he mumbled, before getting up.

“Look, look. Everyone calm down.” he swished his hands out, trying to calm the guys down.

“It’s not my girlfriend…” he sternly gave Amy a look, and she started to sniff and calm down. “It’s also not JUST their title…” he looked to Knuckles.. and then to Tails.

“It’s mine.”

He lowered his hands, and took a deep breath.

“That was my brother and sister… My sister’s getting married.”

The group’s jaws all dropped at the same time.

“S-sister?” Tails stated.

“Brother?” Knuckles replied.

“MARRIED?!?!?~

“This can’t change anything.” Sonic shook his head, moving his hands out again to his friends, looming a bit over them.

“I don’t want anyone thinking they can’t just be real with me.”

“So… you’re a… prince?” Tails leaned his head forward, looking up and blinking disbelievingly up at Sonic.

“Woah.” Knuckles took a step back for a minute. “…I need another smore.” he wobbled back to his chair, sitting down and shaking his head. “Whoo.. that explains that pompous attitude of yours.”

He shook his head, as if it all made since, as Sonic glared at him with a poutful frown.

He didn’t seem to appreciate that deduction.

Tails laughed, but then gripped his head, “Woah, I think I’m light-headed. You mean to tell me… my best friend… is royalty?!”

“A royal pain! Hey, that actually makes MORE sense now!” Knuckles billowed another insulting laugh, as Sonic folded his arms and gave him a killer look.

“Explains why he’s such a stinker too…”

“Amy!” Sonic unfolded his arms and threw them up, done with them judging him. “This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you-!”

Amy jumped up on the chair and hugged him, “Aw! My prince! I knew it was meant to be! Emmm~ My own little fairy-tale.”

He looked like an over-sized doll in that girl’s hands… and he didn’t look too happy about being in her arms either…

Tails chuckled nervously, pointing weakly to the two, “Haha…ha… I love how no one is questioning this.” Tails gestured around him, as if this was ridiculous. “Don’t tell me.” he put his two fingers to his forehead’s temples and closed his eyes.

“…Runaway?” he peeked back up at Sonic. “Are we gonna go with cliches with this fable?”

“LEGEND.” Sonic teased, and got Amy off of him.

He pulled her arms down, and gave her a look like, ‘Okay, stop.’ and then turned to Tails, hopping down as Amy followed him, not disturbed by his discreet asking for less ‘hugs’ from her still.

“I’ve been asked to bring some company along…” he gestured a weak hand out.

“Tails?”

“Oh-ho. Me? Sitting through a boring, royal wedding? That’s got to be the funniest thing I’ve ever-”

Sonic nonchalantly walked by him. “My sister’s ladies-in-waiting have mentioned wanting to be some intelligent men for a change…”

“-On second consideration, is food involved?” as if not hearing, but clearly analyzing what Sonic was saying, he turned to his best friend.

“Oh… three or so meals? Maybe four for the… ‘party’ occasion?” He turned with a smirk. “But my sister said there’d be a buffet.”

“…And will this buffet be symbolic of our previous discussion?”

Sonic and Tails both tilted their heads in.

“Tails, I promise you both.”

“And they like shorter men?”

“What are you two talking about?” Amy didn’t hear what Sonic mumbled as he passed by Tails, so the two turned and wrapped an arm around each other’s shoulders, laughing quietly to themselves.

“And Amy… I’m sure you won’t object to… meeting royalty?” he beamed sarcastically to her.

“Oh, you know I have to meet your family, Sonic.” she placed her hands back on her hips, “After all, I’m sure she’ll LOVE me! Ah-! Will she love me? Oh no! If I don’t get your sister or brother’s approval I may never be able to marry you!” she turned to an aside as the two looked at each other with comical expressions.

“Cause I’m sure they control his life.” Tails rolled his eyes, and then the two looked back at Knuckles.

“There’s still room for one more… buddy ol’pal of mine..?” he was clearly teasing him again, but Knuckles looked back up, and then away to poke the fire.

“I don’t think I’d be able to fit in with such a crowd…”

Tails lowered his eyes and smirked, “Buffet, Knuckles. And I mean the literal kind, cause the figurative were offered to me, you savvy?”

He broke arms with Sonic and hit Knuckles lightly in the shoulder and laughed, gripping his stomach.

“I’m only playing.” he admitted, “I’ll go to support you, Sonic. And nothing more.” he winked to him.

Sonic smiled and nodded, but then leaned in to whisper, “You better be. Cause you know the code, Tails. Bros before-”

“Flowered prose. I get it.” he smiled back.

Amy was still freaking out, and Sonic rolled his eyes, kicking a leg out to go over to her.

“I better calm the ‘raging seas’ before it floods the ‘good news’.”

“Ah! I knew it!” Knuckles leaped up, pointing accusingly at Sonic.

“You are speaking in codes!”

Sonic and Tails rolled their eyes.

(Haha, this was fun xD)

#sonic prompt #sonic #tails #knuckles #amy rose #sonic gang #modern sonic #prompt #sonic the hedgehog #cutegirlmayra #prince sonic #sonic au

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disrepairhouse · 4 years

Text

::Return - Chapter 9

Itara watched from her spot against the wall as Zero and X spoke amongst themselves. Zero was demanding to be put back on whatever watch he’d been on before he disappeared and, though X overall agreed, he was mostly attempting to convince Zero to get some rest first. There’d been some changes to whatever the ‘watches’ entailed and he would need to be updated before being sent out again. Itara suspected that might have been more an excuse than legitimate reason as X seemed more concerned with the other bot’s well-being than getting him back in the field. In a way, he kind of reminded her of Sonic. Just less infuriating.

Once the argument finally ended and they came to an agreement, X turned his attention back to her and offered with a more relaxed smile, “How about a tour around the base, then?”

Zero rolled his eyes but Itara nearly darted to her feet at the offer, “Yes!” The sudden movement sent her flailing back to the floor with a wince, though, as she looked down at the line of dried blood and gravel down her leg. “I… I mean, yes. That would be nice, but, uh… do you have anything I can wrap my leg up with?” She’d been running on adrenaline since entering the forest but now that it was ebbing away, the throbbing pain was becoming more apparent.

“Of course, let me go grab you a medical kit, wait here,” X moved towards the door, though stopped halfway there and looked down at her with uncertainty, “We keep medical kits for organic beings on hand, just in case, will that work for you?”

Itara looked up from where she’d been pulling the larger pieces of gravel out of her fur, “Oh, yes. I’m not mortal, but I’m at least organic, if that’s what you’re asking. I just need something to clean the blood off and wrap it up, really.” X nodded and continued out the door and Itara went back to tending to her leg, watching Zero out of the corner of her eye. He looked around the office for a short minute before moving to the window to look out. After a moment of silence, she asked, “Have things changed since you left?”

He glanced back at her before looking out the window again, “Not drastically.”

Always a bot of few words. Itara sighed and shook her head, “Are you happy to be back with X? You talked about him a lot.” Zero remained silent so Itara looked up. He was facing away from her but she could see the look of discomfort on his face in the window’s reflection. She tilted her head, “He definitely seems happy that you’re back.” His expression didn’t change, but for the briefest of moments, Itara thought she saw the icy glare in his eyes soften. Though that could very well have been a trick of the reflection because his expression was right back to the resting glare.

Before she could push the point further X returned with a small first aid kit and knelt down beside her, “Will this do?” Itara nodded and went to clean out the gash on her leg. There was even a small tube of antiseptic in the kit. “Did that happen during the fight earlier?” X questioned, watching curiously as she worked the antiseptic around her fur.

“If you mean the fight here in this world, no,” she clarified, “It happened before the portal appeared in my world. I just got clipped by one of the monsters from my world. It was a horrible beast of a monster. It looked like a Nightmare and Biter mashed together. It was awful.”

“A… nightmare?” The concern in X’s tone grabbed both Itara and Zero’s attention.

“Yeah, one of Dark Gaia’s monsters, we call them Nightmares. And Biters are one of Solaris’ monsters. I can usually control those, since I’m part of Solaris, but this one…” her ears flattened as she shook her head. “A-Anyway, it’s no big deal. I’ve had worse.”

“I see,” X frowned, looking off before shaking his own head and standing back up. Zero eyed him across the room, but decided to ask later. Once Itara was finished with her leg and had it properly bandaged and ensured X that she was fine to walk, she just might be a bit slower than usual – which caused Zero to roll his eyes again – the three finally headed out to start the tour. X led the way out of the office and turned down the hall towards the entrance while Itara did her best to keep up and Zero took up the rear.

The building, itself, wasn’t all that interesting. Long, paneled, dark grey walls, wide hallways, and light grey tiled flooring. There was a thick, metallic uniform door every few feet with a single small window. The only difference Itara could see between the stretch of doors and the one leading to the office was that the office door was wider, the window was larger, and there was a nameplate towards the top. She had to stop and wonder about his title for a moment, though. “Is X short for something?” she questioned, causing them to stop and look back.

X frowned and looked away, “I’m… unsure. I don’t know much about my creation.”

“Oh.” She looked away and they continued to the wide entranceway they came from. “What about Zero?”

X stopped to look back at her quizzically before realizing what she was asking and reached up to rub his neck uncomfortably, “Oh, no. Not that we know of, anyway.” Though he paused for a moment to study the now silent other bot before shaking his head and looking back to Itara, “Neither one of us know much about our creation. I know I was created by a scientist named Dr. Light and I know my name is X, but that’s all.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she frowned, looking between them, “I thought maybe X was like a model number or something.”

“It could be, we just don’t know for sure.”

“Hm, if Metal went by that name system, I guess we would call him Neo,” her face twisted as she considered it before she laughed at the realization, “Or would we call him Sonic?” The realization caused several minutes of uncontrollable laughter as she imagined it. On the one hand, Metal was always saying Sonic was the fake one, but she imagined if they actually started calling him Sonic, he’d kill them all. Eventually, she calmed down and shook her head, “No, Sparky suits him best.”

X and Zero had exchanged looks, X looking to Zero for some sort of explanation, while Zero only shook his head about the ridiculousness of it all. Once Itara finally stopped laughing to herself, X questioned, “Metal is one of the robots you lived with?”

She nodded, “Yeah, his original name was Metal Sonic, but his current form is an upgraded version of what he called Neo Metal Sonic. He’s a robotic counterpart to a hedgehog from my world named Sonic. There’s also Metal Knuckles – who tends to go by Robo-Knux or RK for short – who’s from the same series as Metal Sonic. They were both created by Robotnik, the scientist Zero met, but they’re both rogue. There’s also Tails Doll, who I call Kipper.” She frowned and looked down at the pocket with the gem, “called…” She shook the thought from her mind and looked up again, “No one really knows Tails Doll’s origins. He’s a ghost stuck in a crystal that used to be attached to a fox doll fashioned after Sonic’s friend, Tails. We found him in an antique shop. He’s a brat.”

X watched her strangely but shrugged and motioned towards the entranceway. Beyond the massive sliding metal doors, there wasn’t a whole lot to look at. It reminded her of one of Robotnik’s bases, just less… infuriating. “Well, this is the main entrance. I don’t think I need to explain but if you ever get lost, this is an easy spot to find and shouldn’t be too hard to find someone to help you out from here. My office is a straight shot down the hall, as you saw. I’m not in there all the time, but if I’m here at the base, there’s a good chance you can find me there. Otherwise, feel free to wait in there for me or Zero.” Itara nodded and grabbed her notebook again to draw a map out. X continued down the hall on the opposite side once she was finished. There was more of the same for quite some time but at the far end was an open archway where a great deal of light was coming from, as well as the beeping of computers and the chatter of conversation.

“Down this way is the main computer and debriefing room. We meet up here before and after missions for updates and status checks. There’s always at least one person in here monitoring the computers and keeping a check on who’s out on the field,” he explained as they entered. The room was the most interesting by far. It was huge in comparison to the hallways, with monitors lining the far wall, a number of desks, computers, and projections, as well as empty seats all around the back wall. The chatter they’d heard was from the robot Itara saw back at the fight, that was commanding the soldiers. For how much Zero towered over her already, this other robot was monolithic in size and stature. Everything from the armor fashioned after a captain’s garb to the commanding voice that had only stopped upon their entrance told her he was definitely some kind of leader around here. Though she’d assumed either X or Zero were the leader, she questioned whether she may have misjudged their placement. Then again, if X’s office was anything to go by, she had to guess he was at least high up the ladder.

A long, questionable life of being on the wrong side of history made her distinctly more concerned about the intimidating robot before her. X and Zero greeted him with familiarity, but it did nothing for her automatic wariness.

“Welcome back, Zero,” the towering robot greeted, getting a nod from the robot-of-few-words. Just like before, attention turned back to X as he questioned, “I assume you finished debriefing?”

“We’re glad to see you back, Zero,” the other side of the earlier conversation chimed in. Another robot with a more feminine voice that sat in front of the largest computer with the projection screen. She had red and pink robotics and short blonde hair wrapped tightly up behind her. She also looked much friendlier than Zero but apparently that wasn’t exactly uncommon. As intimidating as the much taller robot was, even his calculating stare was less sharp and icy than Zero’s.

X moved forward to address the group, nodding to the question, “For the most part, yes. I’ll give you the details later but,” he glanced back towards the hedgehog half attempting to hide behind Zero’s legs – for lack of a better option – and explained, “Signas, Alia, this is Itara. She’s what’s called a ‘mobian’ from another world. Her world is apparently where Zero’s been this entire time, to give you the… very, very short version. She may know something about the energy that’s been showing up lately as it was happening in her world, as well. They believe that may have been how Zero ended up there and how she ended up here with him. She’s going to help look into the cause and a possible solution while looking for a way back home.” Turning to Itara, he motioned towards the larger robot and explained, “Itara, I’d like you to meet Signas, the leader of the Maverick Hunters,” then towards the robot at the computer and continued, “And Alia, our communications head.”

Itara gave a slow nod as she studied the other robots. Everyone was too tall. She wanted RK. She wanted to be back on his shoulders, her neck was getting cramped having to look up so much. She was half tempted to climb on one of those desks so there was less craning to do while she talked. Zero, meanwhile, moved over to the computers to get updated on what he missed.

“It’s nice to meet you, Itara,” Alia smiled and turned to give her full attention.

“I’m glad someone will finally be able to clear up this energy spot problem,” Signas stated.

Itara mumbled an incoherent greeting under her breath, avoiding eye contact with the many towering robots, frantically searching for a vantage point. Eventually she gave in and shuffled over to X, motioning for him to get within earshot so she could quietly ask him to help her up onto one of the desks. He gave a short laugh before nodding and doing so, setting her on the edge of a nearby desk. She took a moment to recollect herself and calm down before opening her eyes again and looking up. At least it was a bit less distance. “I’ll… do what I can to help,” she stated at length. “I don’t know exactly what it is yet, but from what X has filled me in on, I should be able to figure it out.”

“So was it hers and Zero’s appearance that caused the reading earlier, then?” Alia asked, turning to X, who nodded. “Well, it’s nice to get good news from those readings for once, at least. What about the attack at the construction site?”

“Zero was already on it by the time I got there,” X explained, looking to Signas, “Apologies for leaving before it was cleared out, but with Zero’s appearance…”

“It’s fine, it was all just clean up by that point. Just make sure you fill us in on what you learned.”

X nodded and explained, “Zero and I were giving her a tour of the base since she might be here for a little while, but once I get her situated, I’ll do that.” Signas nodded and X turned back to Itara, “Ready to continue, then? Or did you have more questions?”

“We can continue, I have plenty of time to ask questions,” Itara responded, though sighed at the realization that she would have to get down again. Her leg was burning a bit, though she knew that just meant it was healing so she could deal with it.

X helped her back to her feet and turned to Zero, questioning, “Did you want to stay and get caught up?” Zero glanced back at them, specifically to study the hedgehog girl with heavy scrutiny before turning back and nodding. X turned his attention back to Itara and motioned towards the archway, “Alright, looks like it’s just you and me for now, then.”

“I’m fine with that.” Itara glanced back towards Zero while Alia waved to them and returned to the computers, as well. She intended to return to this room once they finished. It would obviously have the most information and she preferred being near computers. Then again, apparently she was surrounded by robots so it seemed wherever she went in this base, or even this city, she would be surrounded by computers. She didn’t know if that was comforting or not.

The majority of the tour, Itara realized, was mostly the same rooms and hallways throughout. She didn’t know what she expected. It looked exactly like a base full of robots. She was glad she drew herself a map because she saw herself getting lost often. There were really only two or three areas that differed from the rest. The first of which was a massive inside training area. They entered at the top, where there was a long, open hall that wrapped around the edge of the arena several feet below. The arena was empty at the moment but X explained that, if Zero wasn’t out in the field and she couldn’t find him, he’d likely be here.

The next location was an auditorium of sorts. A large, mostly empty room with a stage and podium at one end. Exactly what she would have expected for an auditorium. They apparently didn’t use this room often but it could apparently fit every current Maverick Hunter in their ranks. The final area was outside in the fenced-in yard of sorts. It was similar to the training arena in that it was set up with equipment of all shapes and sizes and uses, but there was also a small area she assumed was for relaxing towards one side of the building. It didn’t look particularly used. Itara studied the wide, barren field on the other side of the fence but wrinkled her nose up at the heavy industrial scent of the outside air. Despite the cooler atmosphere, everything smelled like factory and she’d seen no sign of a forest since her arrival. She wondered if it was just a desert area or if this was what this world was like.

“It’s very barren out there,” she commented. The look on X’s face told her that this was, in fact, not just a desert area. His brows furrowed as sorrow spread across his expression and he nodded slowly. For once, he offered no explanation. Perhaps he didn’t want to talk about it. Or maybe he didn’t know how to. In either case, Itara thought it best to change the subject, “You guys are different from the robots in my world.”

She could easily see the relief as he looked over, “How so?”

“Well, for one, you’re far too tall,” Itara stated firmly, getting a light chuckle. “But I suppose that’s because most of the robots with proper AI in my world were created by Robotnik with the sole purpose of fighting Sonic so they’re designed with mobians in mind, rather than humans. When Metal Sonic and RK were first built they were the same height as Sonic and Knuckles, who are about three feet. They’ve both been upgraded a lot over the years, though, so they’re about four now. Well, Metal is four feet. RK is four-three. Zero was a bit of a giant back home.”

“Funnily enough, from what I’ve been able to gather, my initial design was meant to be much shorter, as well,” X explained, “around four feet, if my files are correct. There isn’t much I know about my creation, but I’ve been able to find scraps and pieces of design plans here and there.”

Itara studied him for several long moments, her eyes narrowing slightly, before closing them and turning away, stating firmly, “You should have stayed that height.” The statement got a good laugh from the tall, blue robot, enough so that it caused even Itara to open one eye and look up again, smirking. After a moment, she looked out again, “So… why is Zero such a grouch?” There was another snort from X before he let out a breath and shook his head.

“Zero is… complicated. It’s a long story.”

“I thought Metal was the grouchiest robot in the universe. Then Zero appeared and started glaring at me from Metal’s pouting corner for the next eight years,” she sighed and shrugged, “the only time his tone ever lightened up was when he was talking about this mysterious ‘X’ he brought up like clockwork.” She side-eyed the tall, blue robot to watch his reaction, mentally smirking when he stared off much the same way Zero had earlier. “He liked to regularly remind me he was only helping us because it was ‘what X would have done’.”

“Heh,” the hint of a smile cracked X’s face. Itara watched him carefully, mentally nodding, until X shook his head and turned back to her, “How about we finish that tour? Let’s find you somewhere to sleep while you’re here.” Itara nodded and the two turned back around, going back inside, and roaming down the repetitive grey hallways until X found an empty room. It wasn’t anything fancy. A small, square room with a small window to the outside far above Itara’s reach. There was a desk built into the wall and a foldout chair next to it with a couple of small shelves equally out of Itara’s reach. It had the same grey paneling as the hallway and a lighter grey tile for the floor, but was otherwise empty. Hardly the comforts of home, but Itara had slept in far worse places. X promised to find her a bed by the time she went to sleep and asked if there was anything he could get to help her get comfortable.

She only shook her head, “Just a bed is fine. I get comfy easily. When I first came into existence, I slept under heated stone slabs for about two-hundred years before I even knew what a bed was.” X raised an eyebrow but she waved the question away. That was yet another long story for another day.

“Well, I think that about sums most of it up, then,” X explained, crossing his arms to think, “If there’s anything you need, just let one of us know and we’ll do what we can to help. In the meantime, I need to go back to Signas and catch him up on everything. Did you want to stay in here?”

“Actually, would you mind showing me back to the computer room? I want to get better caught up on what’s going on here.”

“Sure,” X nodded and led the way back out of the bedroom, pointing down the hall as they walked, “the main entrance is just down the hall and to the right from here so you should be able to find it easily enough.” Itara followed as closely as possible, mentally mapping the hall out again so she could draw it once she sat down.

However, as soon as they reached the computer room again, Zero was on his feet and Alia was pulling up maps and several city cameras. As soon as she caught sight of X, she jumped to attention, “X! Good timing. There’s trouble in the city again, I was just about to call you.”

X’s expression became immediately serious as he questioned, “What are we looking at?”

“There’s a large group of suspected Mavericks. They’ve surrounded an entire block, meaning heavy civilian occupancy. Possible Investigator sighting.”

Itara’s brow furrowed as she remained near the door and crawled up into one of the chairs to stay out of the way and listen. Another attack? Like the one at the construction site? How regular of an occurrence was this? They all looked serious, but calm, a sure sign of experience. It wasn’t long before the tall, captain robot returned, demanding an update on the situation and Alia quickly obliged.

“Have there been any civilian injuries?” X questioned, his dread all too clear in his tone despite his attempt to keep it hidden.

“We don’t know,” Alia frowned as she turned back to the map of the city to pinpoint locations, “Zero, cover the south side street. There are less… possible casualties here. But be aware, nonetheless. There are humans and innocent reploids stuck in the mix.” Zero grunted in response, but nodded. He reminded Itara a lot of Shadow sometimes. “X, I want you to take a frontal assault from here. It’ll be the most heavily guarded but you’re the most capable of handling it.” X studied the map and nodded in agreement. “Once Zero clears out the southern street we can go in and work on evacuating civilians, but it’s going to be a tight situation. I need everyone on their guard to minimize casualties.”

X agreed while Zero simply stood and readied himself to take off without a word. Signas gave them a final word of caution about the ‘Nightmare’, which caught Itara’s attention, before they were both gone and Alia returned to her seat at the desk. Signas commanded Alia to keep him updated on them and informed her that he would ready the others for evacuations. Itara, however, took off after Zero. “Hey wait,” she called out before they could lose her. Despite Zero’s obvious eagerness to move out, he stopped and looked back. “Is it an energy spot?”

“No. Stay here,” he snapped and was out the door before she could question him further.

X sighed and stopped to turn back, “It sounds like it’s just a Maverick uprising. We should be back soon.” He turned back around to take off after Zero, leaving Itara alone in the entrance, filled with many more questions. Then again, she wasn’t used to the sense of urgency others had, being a time traveler. She often forgot not everyone could take the extra few minutes, or days, to explain things.

“No one has explained what a Maverick even is yet,” she huffed to herself and crossed her arms, deciding to go ask the remaining robot back in the briefing room. When she returned, Alia was already speaking to someone else over whatever communication device they used, though it didn’t sound like X or Zero. She was instructing someone else about the plan and how to proceed as backup so Itara sat nearby to listen. Maybe it was the team Signas was mobilizing. Were they the same soldiers she saw before? X said there was a whole team of ‘Maverick Hunters’ at headquarters but most of them stayed out in the field and that Alia was the main point of contact between everyone.

“Do your best to stay out of Zero’s way, but we need to get the civilians out as quickly as possible,” she commanded while Itara found a comfortable spot to sit, half under the desk, half beside the chair. “And please be careful of any innocent reploids, as well as humans. Not all of them are Mavericks.” So Mavericks were a type of reploid? From what Itara had gathered, ‘reploid’ was just this world’s term for robot with some form of AI, so what was the difference between the two? She desperately needed to know. She waited for there to be a lull in the conversation before speaking up.

“What is a Maverick?”

Apparently, she startled the robot, as she jumped and nearly knocked her chair over before looking down and taking a deep breath. “I didn’t see you come in!”

“Sorry. I wanted more information. But what is a Maverick?”

“No one’s explained that to you yet?” She shook her head. “Oh. Well, you see,” Alia looked up at the computer screen again with a contemplative look. It seemed to be a long explanation. “Do you know what a reploid is?”

“Your world’s term for a robot, correct? I’m assuming a self-aware robot.”

“That’s right. X was the first of us, every reploid was built based on a basic source of his systems. No one’s ever been able to perfectly recreate him, though, so he and Zero are amongst the most powerful. For the most part, we reploids try to live in peace with the humans and we do our best to sustain that peace but… well, no world is perfect. Whenever a reploid becomes a threat, either due to a programming error or bug or, in the worst-case scenario, a virus we’ve been unable to completely eradicate, they’re considered a ‘Maverick’ and are dealt with as quickly as possible. We don’t know the origin of the virus, but there was an ex-Maverick Hunter who became infected and has since caused a great deal of destruction because of it, including spreading it to an unknown amount of reploids.”

“So, it’s… faulty programming?” Itara wondered, curious and a little baffled.

“Essentially, yes,” Alia nodded and looked down at her again, “X has been fighting Mavericks for a long time now. There was a while where he and Zero were the only ones.” She smiled now with an almost conspiratorial gleam and added, “The two have been very close for a long time now. You may not be able to tell, but X is ecstatic to finally have him back. He did his best to hide it, but he was utterly distraught when Zero went missing.”

Itara couldn’t help the smirk that broke across her face, “Oh, I’ve noticed.” She thought back to the many conversations she’d had with Zero over the years and continued, “I think Zero also greatly missed him. He often used X as the excuse as to why he was helping us.”

Alia laughed and returned to the computer, “Sounds about right. X is a bit of a sweetheart when you get down to it. He wants nothing more than to end this war and live peacefully. Zero, on the other hand, loves nothing more than to fight.”

“I gathered,” Itara sighed, “he and Metal are too similar in that sense. Eight years in a relatively compact space with two idiots constantly egging each other on was stressful.” She rested her elbow on her knee and her head on her fist to stare off, “I imagine they’re both happy to be free to fight again now.”

“Metal?”

“One of the robots I live with back home. RK likes a good fight when it comes looking, but Metal goes out of his way to start one. Even though, and hopefully he never hears this, but I’m pretty sure Zero could beat him. He’s fast and powerful, but he’s also built more lightweight to achieve that speed. I’ve seen Zero punch things and he’d snap Metal in half. RK’s more suited to fight him, I think. They’re both heavy hitters and built for durability. But RK knew better than to start fights in the base.”

“So, you’re accustomed to being around robots?”

“Very much so. In fact, I’m more used to robots than mortals.” She shook her head and sat up straight. “But that’s irrelevant. Thank you for the explanation. I’ll let you get back to your work.” Alia passed her a quick smile and nod before returning her attention back to the computers. Itara watched her carefully, studying everything she did and said, watching the markers on the screen carefully until a wave of exhaustion rather suddenly came over her. Every ounce of adrenaline and curiosity had steamed itself right out her ears and left only the heavy weight of the day’s events. She glanced up at Alia, distracted by the goings-on in the city, then down at the space under the console.

There was no bed in her temporary room yet and she wanted to know as soon as everyone got back to the base. Besides, despite the years of sleeping in normal beds and couches and even RK’s lap, somehow, underneath a computer console – or underneath her bed – was still the most comforting spot to her. With her decision made, she pulled her backpack off and crawled underneath the computer desk, being careful of the wires that ran along the back. She snuggled up as far back as possible and fluffed her backpack a bit to create a pillow, which she promptly laid her head on and curled up in a tight, comfortable ball. A nice, hour nap was exactly what she needed, now that she was here. She had no idea how tired she actually was until she laid down but she was out cold in a matter of seconds, the world becoming a big, dark blur.

#Disrepair House #Zero #X #Itara #Signas #Alia #::Return #Chapter 9 #Arc Three #sonic fanfic #mega man fanfic #fanfic #mega man x #apocalypse #found family #rogue robots #worlds collide #mega man x6

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terryblount · 5 years

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Team Sonic Racing – Review

One of my favourite things in gaming is the subliminal rivalries between protagonists. Sam Fisher has Solid Snake, Duke Nukem has Serious Sam, Nathan Drake has Lara Croft, and of course, Sonic has Mario. While they start off as a product of fandom, I like how these little feuds inevitably trickle down to a developmental level. Because whenever studios start competing, you just know someone will end up with a great game.

I therefore think Sonic has every right to star in a racing game even if ‘The Blue Blur’ could probably outrun all the karts and then some. To me, a Sonic kart racer is a salute towards the long-standing duel between Sega and Nintendo trying to one up each other. While other kart games tend to feel like a knock-off of Mario Kart, the attempts by Sega somehow always felt more like a proper challenge.

That moment when your game is just as good as Mario’s

The PC has criminally slim pickings when it comes to the selection of decent kart games at our disposal, and Team Sonic Racing represents a good choice. All the strengths that Nintendo fans have been enjoying for years can be found right here. However, I was confused by several decisions made by Sumo Digital in the aftermath of their previous game, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. When compared with its prequel, certain aspects of Team Sonic Racing just feel like a step backwards.

Sub Sonic

This is still a great Sonic racing entry, so let’s get the nasty stuff out of the way starting with this game’s biggest let-down: The plot. Indeed, here we have a kart racer where someone actually deemed it necessary to shoehorn a story into the career campaign. I have probably driven virtual karts almost as much as my actual car, and I have never felt like the experience would be enhanced by, or even needed, a story.

Perhaps this is his biggest rival.

The narrative plays out within cut scenes between races, where characters speak to each other in a speech bubble, JRPG-style. Basically, a tanuki named Dodon Pa holds a huge racing tournament for the friends and foes of Sonic. He need to examine how well groups can race together so that he can develop an engine that runs on the power of… teamwork.

That’s right, teamwork. As a surprise to no one, Doctor Robotnik/Eggman joins in on the action with the ultimate goal of stealing this extraordinary new engine. It’s up to Sonic to protect his friends, and thwart the plans of the rotund, mad scientist. Again. Though, I have no idea why Doctor Eggman wants this engine so bad because he hasn’t got friends anyway.

Not the worst example, but it is all downhill from here.

I can usually turn a deaf ear towards the cheesy dialogue in Sonic games, but the exchanges in Team Sonic Racing’s story are on the level of an explosion in a cheddar store. Which nine-year-old was tasked with writing their lines? It becomes utterly cringe-worthy at times, and this represents the final nail in a coffin for a story that should not have been told in the first place. Nothing beats a good old career mode, and I have never been this grateful for a skip button.

A prickle of hedgehogs

Despite the story made a flub out of introducing the notion of teamwork, Sonic Team Racing’s main selling point is that you can race both against and with other people on the track. Whether it be couch co-op or online, the emphasis here is racing as your only little squad in a style that reminded me a lot of Need for Speed: Carbon.

What you can therefore expect is a lot of slip-streaming, helpful shunts as well as sharing items with your team all so that your overall positions can contribute to the win. It really does not matter who crosses the finish line first since the game assigns a consistent score to each place. This was a nice feature since I found other team-based, racing games still emotionally blackmail you, player 1, to cross the line before anyone else.

Drive in the yellow trail for an extra speed boost!

This makes for an interesting dynamic not just in terms of how the game plays, but also how Sumo Digital could make one vehicle type actually feel completely different from the next. As I mentioned, karts leave behind a yellow trail for the team to slipstream in, and if anyone missed the item collection points you can toss them a rocket or a boost power-up. Players can also shunt, or be shunted by, their mates back into the race at full speed if they spin out.

Also encouraging the notion of working together is that your squad of three always consists of three different kart types. The technique cart types, driven by characters such as Tails or Silver, drift just a tad more easily around the corner, while the speed type cars of Sonic and Amy have a higher top speed. The power type vehicles of Knuckles and Big are a bit more sluggish, but they are far less affected by knocks and rough terrain.

His car is actually pretty solid on the track

You can really tell the difference between them, and each type of kart encourages a slightly different play style. Players that really want to dominate the competition in a tactful way should combine the strengths of their carts, and thankfully the AI make excellent racing partners.

Further encouraging the notion of team work is of course the Team Ultimate power-up. Like the All-Star ability in the previous game, this power-up grants you a substantial boost in speed and invulnerability. The only way to obtain this beauty is by doing all the team based activities I mentioned above. Nevertheless, let me reassure those more inclined towards playing solo that Team Sonic Racing offers every race mode in both team and single-player options.

One step forward and two steps back

It was surprisingly good relationship therapy for me and my girlfriend to play in cooperation with each other in a kart game for once, but I do miss the transformation aspect of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. The tracks felt far more vertical and dynamic with this mechanic, and considering that Mario Kart 8 has also jumped on the anti-gravity bandwagon, I have to wonder why it was omitted in the latest Sonic kart racing game. It gives Team Sonic Racing a slightly dated feeling akin to older kart games.

I also have misgivings about using wisps (remember Sonic Colours?) to symbolise power ups since it took some memorisation to learn their purpose. For example, you pick up a white wisp, but what does it mean? Is it a projectile? No it’s a boost. Okay now a blue one. Is it a shield? Nah it’s a block. Not a major issue since you instinctively remember their functions eventually, but I should note they failed to contribute to the gameplay as much as I hoped. In general, the power-ups feel a little ineffectual, and I gave mine to my team mates most of the time.

Drive through the red arch for a score multiplier, drive through the yellow for score. Do you have any idea how hard this is????

At least I can tell that Team Sonic Racing really wants me to feel rewarded in my driving skill. Rewards become substantially more generous at higher levels, but there are also single player events designed to train the player. These races are time trials in things like drifting while collecting rings, or a particular favourite of mine where you must dodge through little robots to learn evasive driving.

They are superb little distractions to sharpen your edge on the competition, but I must say that the requirements for gold medal, heck even for silver medal, are a little steep. I am the laziest achievement hunter in the world, but at one point in the career I needed a silver medal to unlock the next set of races. Not cool.

Kart racing delight

Team Sonic Racing fell short in a few areas for me mainly because I feel like Sumo Digital was really giving Mario Kart a serious run for their money at one point. Don’t get me wrong, I really love Nintendo. I just feel like this game made unnecessary sacrifices for the sake of the whole team racing dynamic, and I think Sumo Digital would be wise to reintroduce them in coming titles.

As it stands, I can still see myself returning over and over again to Team Sonic Racing for the rest of this year at least because there is still tons of sweet kart mods to unlock, and so many gold and platinum medals keeping me awake at night. This is an essential game for Sonic fans, and a lovely quantum of solace for the kart lovers that feel like their first choices are growing a bit long in the tooth.

Number of tracks

Vehicles feel unique

Selection of characters

Kart customisation

Soundtrack

Inconsistent difficulty spikes

Awful story

Ignores strengths from previous game

Play time: About 14 hours total. Single player campaign around 12 hours.

Computer Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4690K CPU, 16GB RAM – Played using an Xbox One controller

Team Sonic Racing – Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

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kaiserdingus · 6 years

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The Return of Classic Sonic - Part 4 - Sonic Mania/Sonic Forces

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Over the past couple of years, and especially recently with the release of Sonic Mania, we’ve seen a resurgence in media depicting the classic version of Sonic the Hedgehog from the 1990’s. He’s shorter, he’s voiceless, and he represents a simpler time in video games from before voice acting and cinematic cutscenes.

In recent games he’s been offered as an alternative to the modern aesthetic and play-style that’s been the standard since Sonic Adventure. How did we get to this point? How has Sonic changed over the years, and why are there now two Sonics?

In this series I plan to observe the time period in Sonic history where SEGA decided to shake things up and make what was once old new again. This is The Return of Classic Sonic.

Sonic Mania

After the release of Sonic Generations, things seemed to be going well for Sonic Team. In 2013 they announced an exclusivity deal with Nintendo for their recently released Wii U. The deal was that the next three Sonic the Hedgehog titles would be exclusive to the Wii U. Sonic Lost World, Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, and Sonic Boom were the three Nintendo exclusive titles as part of the deal. After how good Generations was, things were not looking good for Sonic the Hedgehog fans who weren’t fond of Lost World or Boom.

Things felt dark at the time, but then in July 2016 Sega held a big Sonic-themed fan event where they announced two new titles. The first was a new collaboration with Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, and PagodaWest Games called “Sonic Mania”, a true return to the classic 2D gameplay that Sega and Sonic Team tried to achieve with Sonic the Hedgehog 4.

The second game was an untitled 3D game introduced with a pre-rendered trailer showing Sonic in a dystopian wasteland, and joining him yet again would be Classic Sonic. The trailer looked drove home the idea that this was a new modern-style Sonic game that followed the style of Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations, except now with a darker, more serious story. Even though the trailer featured Classic Sonic, the producers were quick to express that this wasn’t a sequel to Sonic Generations. Eventually, the title would be revealed as Sonic Forces, and we’ll talk about that a little later.

Despite Sonic Forces raising a ton of questions, the real show-stealer that night was Sonic Mania. An officially sanctioned new title in the classic Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, one that compiled new, original stages with stages from older titles that were remixed for a new generation of fans.

The game launched in August 2017 and was a smash hit, having the highest score for a Sonic the Hedgehog title on review sites in years. Previous Whitehead produced Sonic titles include Sonic CD, Sonic 1, and Sonic 2 which were remakes of classic titles with some enhancements. Now, his team were able to fill it with not just new enhancements, but completely new features. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are all playable with their own moves and character-specific paths, but now Sonic has a new “Drop Dash” that allows him to charge a spindash while in mid-air.

Similarly to Sonic CD, Sonic Mania opens with an animated full-motion video. Animated by Tyson Hesse, a comic book illustrator who previously worked on Archie’s Sonic comics as well as having done Sonic fan comics online, it’s the perfect cherry on top to complete a wonderful game. Hesse’s art has been celebrated in the Sonic fan community, from his parody comic “Sonic’s Big Fat Adventure”, to his Sonic CD/Sonic OVA style designs in the Archie mini-series Sonic Mega Drive.

Something that’s usually considered taboo when adapting another’s work is adding new elements, but that taboo has been successfully broken with the addition of the Hard Boiled Heavies as antagonists assisting Dr. Eggman this time around.

Originally Egg-Robos from Sonic & Knuckles, they’ve been corrupted by the Phantom Ruby which is given each of them individual personalities. The boss fights against the Hard Boiled Heavies are some of the best in the entire game, and I would not be opposed to seeing more of them in future titles.

The marketing for Sonic Mania disguised one of the bigger plot points to the game, and the game itself doesn’t make it clear, but Sonic Mania cleverly ties into Sonic Forces which was released 3 months later. The Phantom Ruby, Eggman’s world-altering MacGuffin, appears in Sonic Mania and is the force that transports Sonic to Modern Sonic’s world in Forces. They even snuck Sonic Forces’ theme song “Fist Bump” into the final boss battle.

When Mania came out I played the hell out of it and cleared each of the 8 save files. The special stages from Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles return, but now they replace the pinball bonus stages. They quickly become irritating as you find yourself entering nearly 3 special stages per level. It’s not that they’re not fun to play, but rather that they take longer than standard bonus stages so they break up the pace of the game.

I loved Sonic Mania, I thought it filled a much needed desire in me to play a game that really understood what makes Sonic great. The way Sega released Sonic Forces following Mania made Mania seem like an appetizer, but one that’s infinitely better than the perfectly acceptable main course.

Sonic Forces

Originally announced alongside Sonic Mania in June of 2016, Sonic Forces was released in November 2017 and landed with an unfortunate thud. Dr. Eggman has taken over the world and now it’s up to Sonic to save the day, only this time he’s joined by a new friend - YOU. Oh, and also Classic Sonic returns from Sonic Generations for no clear reason. This game isn’t bad by any means, but it certainly isn’t seen very positively within some parts of the fan community? The fans celebrated Sonic Generations, how did Forces go so wrong?

When planning this game simultaneously with Sonic Mania, it’s assumed that the producers wanted to cater to two very specific audiences: people who grew up with and prefer the style of the classic Sonic games, or people who prefer the more story driven modern titles. Mania was meant to be for the fans of the classic games, while Forces would be aimed at those who liked Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations.

The only problem with basing this game off of Generations is that by the time this game would come out, that game would already be 6 years old. For some perspective, that’s the same amount of time between Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic Adventure. With that big of a time gap, it was assumed Sonic Team would be able to make a game that would surpass the quality of the ones that came before it. Instead, we got a game that feels more or less like Generations 2 (more like Generations 2 Late).

This isn’t to say the game is bad, it just feels dated, ironically its biggest competition is a game that’s entire gimmick is how dated it is. The game follows an edgy storyline about Dr. Eggman capturing Sonic and taking over the world, and the resistance group that forms to stop Dr. Eggman and liberate the world. Typical for a Sonic game post-1992, Dr. Eggman has a new friend with him, a jackal named Infinite who’s been made incredibly powerful with the strength of a magical MacGuffin known as the Phantom Ruby.

The story wouldn’t be an issue if it weren’t for the fact that none of the characters develop or grow, aside from the player’s Avatar character. The avatar is the last of their people after Infinite showed up and killed them all for no apparent reason, and now they’ve teamed up with Sonic and the resistance to stop Eggman from… keeping control of the world.

That’s right, besides the lack of character development or growth there’s also a lack of motivation for the villains. Dr. Eggman beats Sonic with the help of Infinite at the beginning of the game, Sonic gets captured and taken to the Death Egg, and his friends break him out.

Sonic Adventure 2’s edgy storyline worked because characters had motivation and they grew as the story went. Shadow wanted to avenge the death of his friend, but eventually discovered that vengeance wouldn’t be what she wanted. Rouge offers her skills as a jewel thief to help Dr. Eggman, only to double cross him when it’s revealed she’s a spy working for the President. Tails, having overcome his fears in the previous Sonic Adventure games, asserts himself as a competent mechanic and hero. Even Eggman realizes the error of his ways near the end of the game and helps the heroes stop the destruction he caused.

Gameplay wise, the game plays just as good as Sonic Generations did, and it even looks better. Sonic Lost World and Sonic Boom, the two titles to come out in the years between Generations and Forces, were too radically different and didn’t work. Sonic Forces might feel like too little too late, it its very playable. The levels are more cinematic this time around, but they’re also a lot shorter. While Generations had 9 different areas with two stages each, Forces only has 6 areas with a combined 24 action stages. A casual Sonic player can easily clear the game in under 4 hours.

The game has a lot of replay value, though. Especially in regards to the Avatar, who can equip clothing and accessories that you gain by clearing stages and missions. The Wispons act as different equippables for your character’s grappling hook, giving them new abilities that can help them reach different pathways.

Classic Sonic, honestly, feels a little tacked on in this game. Like I said previously, Classic Sonic felt integral to Generations, but this time he feels like Werehog-esque filler. I love the gameplay and the dedicated 2D levels, but you they didn’t need to shoe-horn Classic Sonic into the game. It feels like a cheap gimmick to bring in people coming down from the high of Sonic Mania, rather than something that’s important to the story.

Sonic Forces really isn’t a bad game, it feels like a love letter to the fans of the 2000’s era Sonic games. It’s cheesy, with the grim-dark story, the DeviantArt-esque character creator, the butt rock theme song featuring Hoobastank singer Doug Robb, and the incredibly edgy Infinite who automatically replaces Shadow as “most cringey Sonic character”. It probably won’t ever be seen in the same light as it’s companion game, but I enjoyed it for what it was.

After 9 years of attempts by Sega, prompted by the passion and dedication of the Sonic the Hedgehog fan base, we’re finally seeing a resurgence of classic Sonic. Sonic 4 was a shallow attempt, Sonic Generations was an honest try, but Sonic Mania nailed it completely. A team of fans have done the impossible and have used their skills from making fan games to make a perfect Sonic game. Something any Nintendo fans would’ve been shut down for, Sega allowed to happen and are now benefiting from it.

It’s an exciting time for fans of Classic Sonic, as this July Sega are releasing a definitive edition of Sonic Mania called Sonic Mania Plus. The new content will be available as DLC for players who already own Mania. Alongside Sonic Mania Plus is a new animated series directed by Tyson Hesse. Five short episodes released in the weeks leading up to the release of Sonic Mania Plus.

What’s next for Sonic fans? Beyond Sonic Mania Plus, not much. If fans respond to Sonic Mania Plus well and it sells enough copies, I’m sure Sega will produce more games in the classic style. Hopefully using Christian Whitehead’s Retro Engine and with the same love the team put into Sonic Mania.

Where to Buy

Sonic Mania (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC)

Sonic Mania Plus (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)

Sonic Forces (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC)

Click Here To Support Y2K Fun Zone on Patreon

#Return of Classic Sonic #Classic Sonic #Sonic the Hedgehog #Modern Sonic #Sonic Mania #Sonic Forces #Sega #Sega Genesis #Sega Dreamcast #PS4 #Xbox One #Nintendo Switch

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chaos-societies · 7 years

Text

Episode 2, The Prescribed Order

“You have to help us!” The plea was much more heartfelt than desired – partly because of the cries and whimpers of the men women and children that were in tow – but mostly because it was coming from his brother. “…Chuck?” It was a relatively cool night as the seasons were in the middle of changing. It was just after dusk and the air was still bearable from the warmth of the day but in even a short hour or so some more layers of clothing would be required for anyone to be out for a while.

“I thought I told you never to return here Jules.” Charles said with a scorn that masked both pity and regret.

“Please…W-we have no place to go.” Jules replied. Charles and the stragglers in Jules’ party were rendezvousing just past the main bridge entrance to South Island. Charles had decided to meet them there once he heard of their approach; he wouldn’t allow anyone to enter the village without his approval, not even his own brother. He looked over the ragtag group and saw they all looked quite weary and pathetic. Some of their clothes were ripped and they reeked of sweat and dirt. It was clear they had been travelling nonstop for days now. But why, he wondered. The thought discomforted him. His eyes finished scanning the group and they rested on a female hedgehog clinging to his brother’s arm with desperation in her eyes.

“…Is this her?” Charles spat. He looked over the hedgehog his brother had wed as she cradled a tiny kit in her free arm. “The white from Portsmith?”

It was then a mouse in the back spoke up. “Is this really the time for petty quarrels and rivalries between societies?!” Her green fur contrasted her fiery orange eyes beautifully while her tail was flicking behind her. Her face fumed with anger and exhaustion which riled up an ache that was quite divergent from Charles’ constant scorn at the time. “We’re from all different societies. So your brother married a white. Who gives a damn… We got yellows, we got greens, hell, Marcy over there is a red but that child holding her hand? A young bat from a couple of whites. Our dead friends.”

There was a silent stalemate as Charles and this gal’s glares burned holes through each other’s heads. The sniffling and whimpers of the pleading crowd seemed only to be part of the ambiance by this point. “Please, brother.” Jules begged once more. Charles’ gaze with the mouse was broken by his brother’s words. He looked at him, then back at the mouse and saw in her something different than what the brash woman had with her first impression.

Charles let out a reluctant sigh. “Come along. We have room at the inn for now.” He stepped aside and extended his arm in direction to the village. As the small crowd passed, they each issued their reply of ‘thank you’s’ and ‘bless you’s’ and made their way into the village at South Island. When Jules came to pass however, Charles gave him a shove on his shoulder to stop him. He gripped him firmly. “You are going to explain to me what is going on, why you and this shoddy group are here, and I swear brother if you just brought trouble to my little haven, I’ll banish you and your white bride without hesitation.” Clear was the contempt on his face.

But Jules wasn’t easy to back down. “And of your nephew if that’s the case? Surely you wouldn’t sentence a young kit to exile too would you?” Words are such like a game of cards between persons and when both have a strong hand, it called for an interesting game. Jules shook off Charles’ grip and made sure to brush his shoulder with his own on his way by and the brothers departed.

...

[x]

Charles’ eyes slowly creaked open with sorrow and acceptance. He got up from his bed, stretched his limbs out as far as he could, a requirement for his aging and aching joints, and staggered over to the window. Just as he figured; trash was slung across the village center and at least three citizens lay passed out from the party the night before. He exposed a small smile. “From chaos comes creation the lords all said. Change that to from fun and banter comes mayhem by the end of it all.”

The village lay silent in the wake of celebration and too much of a good time. The passed out drunks in the village center were so inanimate that their bodies collected the fine layer of morning dew one would only expect to be found on more permanent debris. Luckily for the gang, everyone had found a more comfortable place to crash than those unfortunate few previously mentioned. Sonic and Amy were in their own hut, Tails was picked up by Ms. Vanilla and brought to the couch in her homestead, and Rouge was at her place with Knuckles on the floor (as that was as far it seems he could make it). Charles seemed to be the only one up at this point, giving the bums outside a gentle few kicks to stir them enough for them to get to their feet and make it to their residences to spend the rest of the day sleeping off their recovery. With nothing better to do, he started to clean up the area.

The morning had passed and it was mid-day at this point when everything on South Island seemed to finally get back into full motion. With not much to do at the moment however the gang was found doing what they liked to do best; nothing at all. They were gathered around the front of the Tavern with no one feeling daring enough to start drinking again. No, right now they were just using the locale as a hangout. Sonic had his guitar and was strumming away to random tunes here and there while Amy sat and listened. Rouge was carefully putting some color on her nails while Tails was reading a book. Knuckles at this point had departed and made his journey back to his home at Angel Island – it was hard for them to remember sometimes that South Island wasn’t actually his place of residence.

“Huh. D’you all know that around the time the Great Lords of Seven split up, there was a tribe of echidnas that was known to be the smartest and wisest of all creatures in existence? That some argued they could talk to the elements like water and fire?” Tails broke the silence of the quad’s self interests.

“You saying Knux would have been considered smart way back in the day?” Sonic stopped his strumming and looked up with sarcastic sincerity. Tails couldn’t help but chuckle.

Amy however was quick to call Sonic out. “Sonic! You know it brings bad omens to jest about someone when they’re not present.”

“Oh come on.”

“You all give that man less credit than he deserves.” Rouge coolly stated as she extended her hand to gaze at her progress from an arm’s length.

“Uh, we do? Have you heard that guy speak? I mean he’s my bro and all but…come on.” Sonic said in a way as to uphold his ‘reputable’ attitude.

“Hmph. Sure, something might be breaking the connection between his mind and his tongue sometimes but call it… a language barrier.” The bat continued to defend the non-present member of their clique. She brought her hand in to blow on her fingertips to try and quicken the drying process.

“Language barrier. Does he speak any other? Besides, we’re just cracking jokes. Despite how flustered Old Red would probably get if he were here, slagging is just slagging. Not like we mean harm or anything of it.” Sonic explained and continued to strum away at his six string. His random chords were so strewn that it seemed only chaos was controlling their order. Rouge glared at him and asked if it were possible to play anything more consistent to which Sonic responded proudly that he could. Amy beckoned to play something romantic which earned her a grin from Sonic with a twinkle in his eye. He agreed.

Strumming in a single stroke and letting it ring, he struck a chord, ‘It’s been a while’ then another chord, ‘since I’ve seen your face’ and finally a single stroke of third chord. Amy was quick to smack Sonic to have him stop right there as she knew exactly what song he was about to start playing and wasn’t ready for his antics just yet. Tails knew as well and laughed at the banter.

[x]

“A real song Sonic.” Amy beckoned.

He gave a few chuckles. “Romantic you want and you’ll get but you know too well I can’t be all too serious in the matter.” He said before clearing his throat to start again.

“A maid so fair with friends she sat giggled and laughed with much delight. The men would stare with a tip of their hat hoping to take her on lover’s flight.

But lo she was stolen by an unlikely lad a timid boy she knew for years. The men were jealous of the woman he had and wagered a fight much to his fears.

Not the strongest but surely not the slowest he knew what it took to win. With a miracle of strength, not likely in the slightest a plan he had with a grin.

With the sun ripe and hung most high the boy dodged many good hits. His foes grew weary with exhaustion they cry and fell, each bested by wits.

The gal and the lad shared a strong embrace no matter the outcome it wouldn’t change fate. She gave the boy a whisper and red turned his face They couldn’t wait for privacy when day turned late.”

...

[x]

The day seemed much rougher than others and the credit was without a doubt given to the night prior. Knuckles was having more trouble than usual as he climbed a tall mountain far to the east of South Island. Tails was kind enough to drive him out there earlier in the day in the Syphon as the long walk through the desert would have been excruciating. Not only that, Knuckles’ arrivals and departures to South Island were very time dependent. Like the movements of the celestial objects in the night, the overpassing of his strange homeland abides by a strict but uniform schedule.

He dug his spikes into the rockwall with a sturdy punch making his way to a ledge above his head. A few more vertical strides and he pulled himself to it. He sat down catching his breath for a moment and looked down at the area below. The Greater Area spanned for miles. The horizon was so hazy from the dust and heat but the cascade of mountains in the distance brought the sight picture closer. The wind was stronger higher up and he made sure not to let a gust take him off his perch. But this was not his first ascension up the hill side or even others similar to it. He has been doing this for over half a decade and has not yet once lost his footing.

As he looked out he made mental notes of the geography of the area. The Lookout was in the distance, closer to South Island. The rocks and smaller cliffs around the main bridge even from his vantage acted as cover for the small haven that was South Island. To the south was the Stark Ruins. Knuckles never really took note of that place. But knew well it was a solemn place for his friends as it had turned into somewhat of a burial ground for the residents of South Island and many of their parents were buried there. Knuckles felt a pang of unjustified remorse. Though it was never confirmed, the belief is that it was an outlander gang of Reds that caused the massacre that did in both Sonic’s and Tails’ parents as well as a good few others. Not the same Reds that Sonic and Tails had encountered the day prior. But a vicious group of vagabonds that were already out for blood for one reason or another.

The thoughts were flicked away as a huge and sudden shadow draped the area. He looked out one last time and saw it sweeping the land quickly. Knowing his time of rest had ended, he turned around to see his home incoming overhead.

To anyone not used to the sight it would have been something out of fiction. But behold, creeping through the air thousands of feet above the tallest mountain peak was a giant landmass. The misplaced piece of their world was floating through the air on a never ending trajectory around the globe. Knuckles could see the dusted green on the upper edges of the floating rock and only a little bit of the snow capped peak of a central mountain on top the island as it crept toward him. Though from where he was, low and close to the majestic landmass, he mostly could only see its rocky underside. Though cliff sides normal shoot upward and scrape the sky, the underbelly of this airborne anomaly was a mirror image of that traditional concept. Angel Island was the name of this place.

Though not like any other island, such as the one he just came from and where his friends resided, this was a floating island; an island in the sky. A landmass large enough to fit just inside the mountain range that Knuckles now stood upon and the seawall of the Greater Area. Yet it flew through the sky like a bird gliding on the wind. There were legends and myths as to how it managed to stay afloat but even Knuckles and his fellow residents had never found such explanation. But for how consistent it has trudged through the skies throughout the past few millennia, it was disregarded as just another piece of their fantastic world.

Knuckles waited until a low point on Angel Island’s underside was approaching before leaping off the ledge he climbed up. A bit strange from the typical attributes of his species, Knuckles though could glide through the air. He could not fly, no. He could only force himself to glide on a gradual descent back to the ground but he found that with the thinner air at higher altitudes, he could gain a thousand feet or two before gravity took its inevitable hold on him. Thus it was a necessity for him to get as high as he could when traversing between the world below and his home.

With just enough push and climb, he made it to a low jut and clamped on with the spikes that protruded from his namesake. He took a second to breathe before working once more on ascending up the rocky wall now on this inverted mountainside.

Once he finally made it to the top, all the sights and glories of Angel Island were bestowed upon him. The landmass had its own environment, its own weather. The mountain which owned the peak he saw earlier was nearly dead center and protruded from the backdrop of forests and hills. A waterfall or two could be seen in the distance as well as some old ruins dominated by growth from a civilization of his own ancestry, yet gone long before Knuckles’ time. He continued to trek inland.

[x]

“Well well, ole Knux comes back from flirting with his little Cyan friends down on the ground.” Nack the Weasel said so cockily as Knuckles came up. He was sitting down on a stump cleaning out his favorite rifle. He wore a dusty brown leathered sable fedora that contrasted his purple fur and had a snaggletooth that stuck out from his muzzle becoming much more prominent with his toothy grin. “You might as well let me take over this place with how much you’re down there Knux.”

“Not happening Nack.” Knuckles said flatly. “Don’t forget who’s the one who let you Bark and Bean live here.” He walked up to him and snagged the weasel’s small canteen that was resting on the stump he sat on, popped off the cork and starting chugging the water inside. Once he felt his thirst was temporarily quenched he wiped the wetness off his mouth with his forearm. “I could always just kick you off and let…who was it again who was after you?”

“Some broad named Breezie and that was years ago – we’ve probably got a clean slate now.” Nack latched the bolt of his rifle back into place and hopped off the stump.

“And you’re still around why then?” Knuckles taunted him as was his nature.

“I can’t leave my comrades eh? Unlike you hanging out with them Cyans down on the little island, I like us Reds up here on the bigger island. That and all that talk of power and energy and such. Those are some awesome values to have.” He reached over and snagged the canteen back from his friend and turned it upside down. Only a few drops feel out. “I was planning on drinking that on my walk back.”

“I was thirsty.” Knuckles said through a smirk.

The two continued their march back to their homestead. Angel Island was a queer place, full of sights not normal to the world below. Other than the abundance of greenery which alone was apart from the desert land surrounding South Island, there were mushrooms as tall as Mobians, flora and fauna with bioluminescence that made even a new moon seem like it was full, and species of bugs and animals that looked absolutely fantastical. There was a strange energy to the place that seemed to rejuvenate anyone on the island. Knuckles even felt the dreariness of the night before wearing off at unprecedented rates as he and Nack walked through the trails home.

Knuckles and his island mates all lived in a cave over near the central mountain. Knuckles Bean – an eccentric duck with a love of all things explosive – and another Red from their chapter, Mighty the Armadillo, excavated the place a few years back and have made the place quite homey.

Long before the hooligan trio of Nack Bean and Bark, a solitary polar bear, found their way to Angel Island it was just Knuckles Mighty and his unofficial adopted brother Ray, a coy little flying squirrel. Before even that it was just Knuckles.

Knuckles could never recall anything past a young age. To him, all he remembered was wandering the floating island on his own. He’d sleep in the old ruins and felt a strange connection to them since the hieroglyphics around the structures depicted people of his exact likeness. He figured they were some far off ancestors of his and he was a lowly survivor whose lineage must have trickled down through time to leave him as the last.

A little over a decade ago he ran into a peculiar armadillo trudging through the jungles of Angel Island. Mighty was looking for Ray who he said flew off to Angel Island after a quarrel between the two. Mighty was able to get up there in a similar fashion to Knuckles’ normal transition from the floating landmass and the ground below except somewhere on another part of the globe was a mountain tall enough for the armadillo to leap from the peak of one mountain to Angel Island’s base. At least that was what he claimed. Never to Knuckles’ knowledge had the island passed by a mountain so tall and if it had it hasn’t since. Mighty’s claim always puzzled him though because if his words were true, that means Angel Island may come close to striking the world below. And that he knows has never come close to happening.

The two became close friends however and the story of Mighty’s transit is what inspired Knuckles to venture to the world below. Living alone, Knuckles never had reason for a name and it was Mighty that addressed the echidna as such due to his estranged fists. Mighty too had a strange gift which was the basis for his name as he was much stronger than he appeared to be. Mighty and Ray brought the attributes of the Red Society to Angel Island and Knuckles immediately took interest and they formed their chapter. It felt great for him to be part of something, part of this world that before this encounter he figured was only him.

“Finally back Knuckles!” Mighty called out as Nack and his addressee walked into the entrance of their carved out home. The cave didn’t seem like one at all. Like Sonic and the others with their island huts and buildings, the cave looked like any normal structure but acted like the inn that Vanilla ran on South Island, just with different style. “How was the ceremony? I bet Tails was ecstatic!”

“Well I couldn’t really go to the ceremony.” Knuckles explained.

“Right, you know what I mean.” Mighty said lightly.

“Well, the little guy was a little nervous beforehand but Sonic helped him out. Afterward though,” Knuckles couldn’t help but smile, “I’m not sure I’ve seen the guy so happy. He loved it for sure.”

“Th-th-that’s good. G-gl-glad he l-liked it!” The young Ray stumbled to show his joy for their friend. He and Mighty knew the South Island Cyans but weren’t as close as Knuckles was.

Mighty gave Ray a smile. “Yeah, we’re happy for them all. They’re lucky to get someone like Tails with them.” He gave Knuckles a few nudges with his elbow. “And of the after party?’

Knuckles let out a blush of embarrassment. “From what I remember it was a blast.” His voice then got a little softer. “I woke up on the floor.” The statement earned a hearty laugh from Mighty.

“Blah blah blah! Them Cyan, us Red, together they make Nack!” Bean shouted out in his typical incoherent babbling as he reclined on a couch, flicking his wrist in the air with his statement.

“I hope you weren’t trying to insult me. My purple coat is one of sheer beauty.” Nack said proudly.

“Your mother spoke true words when she told you that but beauty is in the eye of the beholder... and she has better vision then all of us!”

Bark silently watched the scene waiting for the inevitable to unfold. Nack froze for a second as he took in the joker’s words before it finally clicked. “Why you piece of–” Nack dove over the couch to take a few swings at the duck but Bark was quick to grab the weasel by the belt and lift him up with ease. Nack fidgeted wildly in his grasp until he calmed down.

...

[x]

The day trudged on and it continued to be a slow one. The main quartet had dispersed to spend the rest of the day on their own agendas; however Tails remained back at the tavern entrance. He had long put down his book and now was lost in the tunes coming from his feadóg. Whether he was whistling a somber tune or an upbeat one, it seemed to be bringing the crowd in to the tavern for a surprisingly successful day after the caliber of party that was thrown the night before.

“Hey buddy.” Sonic came up to him surprised to see him still there hours after they all departed that place. “Not feeling like moving any?”

“Not that.” Tails answered, drawing the tinwhistle from his lips. He surely must have been playing for a while as the muscles around his muzzle ached with the new orientation. “Just enjoying the melodies.”

At this time a large shadow was quickly cast over the village. Sonic and Tails looked up to see Angel Island passing well overhead. In a matter of a couple seconds it had already passed and the sunw as shining again. “Knuckles must have made it back in time. Figured he’d be back here again with how late he got up.”

“I drove him over to the mountain ridges before we met up earlier today.” Tails explained.

“Well that makes sense. Not sure how he can handle climbing a mountain after a night like last night.”

“Sonic?” Tails called out hesitantly.

“Yeah buddy?”

“Can we go see our folks?” Tails seemed a little shy. “Want to let them know I’m a Cyan now.” He was supposed to be an adult now that he was inducted so the request made him feel a little small. But this was Sonic he was talking to – he would never judge him.

“Sure thing bro.” He smiled reassuringly. The two often went over to Stark Ruins to pay their respects and visit their parents. It gave them solace to talk to them and grieve every once in a while. To let them know how things were; to talk to them. The two often went together.

“OH! And I’m too low on gas for the Syphon since I took Knuckles out.” Tails fessed up as the two began walking toward the main bridge.

“Guess we’ll have to tail chase. Like old times.”

It was well known between the two of them that there were few things that could match Sonic’s speed. And even more well known than that was that he hated running any slower than what he considered normal. So to compromise, long ago Sonic and Tails came up with a method they called ‘tail chasing’ where Tails would fly and hover a couple feet in front of Sonic as they both zoomed forward. The backwash from his windmilling tails would cause an artificial headwind to Sonic as he ran effectively slowing him down without ‘running’ at a slower speed. He generally needed to don his goggles for this though. The two used to do this often in their early adventures in the Greater Area. Sure it would take Sonic longer to arrive at a place but it made sure he arrived with his buddy at the same time. Because friends don’t leave friends behind and Sonic (and now Tails) being devoted Cyans knew this well.

Maybe a good half hour trek through the desert they reached Stark Ruins. They weren’t as far out as The Lookout but they still were a good deal outward from South Island. They stopped ontop a large hill where the desert sand started to transform into rocky ground. The ruins were just at the base of where they stood.

The place used to be an outpost for travelers almost a hundred years back. South of the ruins are a small cascade of jagged hills that travelers coming from the north would need to stop at the then called Stark Outpost to pick up supplies. Travelers coming from the south would have just passed over the cascade and thus would likely have needed to resupply prior to venturing through the Greater Area to get to their next destination.

[x]

However the world had become an increasingly violent and savage place in the past century. Less and less travelers passed through and more and more bandits and pillagers found easy targets. It did not take long for those who settled at the outpost to themselves depart, leaving behind the stone carcasses of a tiny settlement. It wasn’t until the massacre that killed their parents that the residents at South Island started using Stark as a burial ground. They simply did not have enough space on the island to bury so many. They’ve been burying their dead and sending them to the eternal chaos there at Stark Ruins ever since.

As Sonic and Tails stepped into the ruins, they couldn’t help but feel eerie. It was normally an eerie place as any cemetery or burial ground would be but usually they felt a gentle calm there as they knew their parents were watching over. Today was different. A cold chill was on the breeze. They hadn’t noticed until now but the sky was now a light grey with sand and clouds that blew overhead. A distinct howl was echoing through the empty structures and stone foundations from the blowing wind. It would almost seem as if even the spirits had left this place that day.

The two remained silent but it was mutual in the fact that each knew the other felt the same creepy sensation. Tails went one direction while Sonic walked up to a nearby wall and noticed what looked like ash rubbed and painted in a weird array. Vertical and slanted lines formed a symbol which he never saw before. He didn’t like this.

He tried to justify what he was feeling. What they both were feeling. Graverobbers? No, that wouldn’t explain the supernatural vibes. Ghosts were not an option as that would be ridiculous. He couldn’t explain it…but something felt…menacing.

“SONIC!” Tails shouted from not too far away. The call immediately sent chills down Sonic’s spine and he bolted off to aid Tails in whatever caused his cry.

“Tails?! What is it!” He came up behind the young fox and found what Tails’ attention was fixed on. They didn’t know what it meant but it sure meant something. “…We need to tell Chuck.”

Starting at their feet and covering much of the ground in what used to be the center of the old outpost was a terrifying display. Bones. All covered in dark soot and ash, arranged with seven x’s circling a bridge of intersecting lines.

Sonic and Tails dared not think of who the bones may have belonged to but deep down…they knew.

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#sth #sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #tails #knuckles the echidna #uncle chuck #sonic au #chaos societies #episode 2 #the prescribed order

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