#i also think knuckles and sonic have tension

[nearisqueer]

I don't have the strongest opinions about any sonic ships really but also shadonic was meant to be

[sheepslaps]

are any of your human sonic characters in a relationship or have any crushes (can be now or in the past)? Have you thought about any of their sexual/romantic orientations?

oh i have had thoughts about some past relationships, and a few current ones; here we go-

in the past:

sonic/amy - dated in high school, broke up in senior year. amy fell first, sonic fell harder but it didn't work out - he still has some feelings for her though

shadow/rouge - it never got that far with them, it was ultimately FWB. rouge still thinks shadow is attractive and teases him just to fuck with him and knuckles

sonic/blaze - slight rebound from sonic's end after amy, they never went that far but blaze broke it off since sonic having no prospects was a turn off for her

rouge/vector - it was ONE night okay, both of them deny it

plus amy being flirty, has done it to; shadow, silver, blaze, jet

currently:

metal/amy - it's mainly a platonic flirty relationship bc amy is like that, metal likes the attention from her and her only

silver/blaze - he makes her laugh, she motivates him to keep improving. nobody believes silver and blaze are dating bc of how awkward he is, and blaze stays private about it (she's not a gossip). plus, silver actually has goals for himself and that's attractive to her

sonic/shadow - sonic flirts with shadow a lot bc it pisses him off. shadow is irritated by it but doesn't stop it. so much tension between these two (rouge: if you two don't just fuck each other already)

rouge/knuckles - rouge stays over at knuckles place so often that she might as well live there. every time these two are seen together, they're either fighting or making out. both just head over heels for each other. rouge will flirt with other guys to piss knuckles off, but there is NOTHING she wouldn't do for that man.

vector/vanilla - it started as vector coming over for food. then the flirting started. then the fixing up around her house started. a dependable young man with a heart of gold that never hesitates to help her? oh, vanilla is crazy in love like she's in college again. and vector gets a milf who shows him affection all for doing his job, it's great

assume all characters are pansexual unless otherwise stated

espio is the otherwise, he's aroace, thank you

edit; metal and amy are queer platonic (me only now remembering the name for it)

also it's kinda funny that amy and blaze both are into sonic but both metal and silver have that little extra that sonic doesn't

[whisker-biscuit]

Sonic Big Bang 2024

Close Encounters of the Grim Kind

Rating: Gen

Summary: Sonic did end up telling his friends about the Shatterverse, but it’s clear to Tails that he's still hiding something. In an effort to find answers and with Shadow’s reluctant help, he uses the Paradox Prism to create a device capable of jumping dimensions. When he sends it out, however, what was meant to be a one-way trip returns to him with a cryptic greeting from a stranger who seems interested in researching the dimensions with him.

Now, Tails finds himself trying to solve two mysteries - why Sonic is acting so weird around him, and who this unorthodox, anonymous cross-dimensional pen pal really is.

It's a lot harder than it looks.

--------------------------------------------

Chapter 1

The day Sonic finally told his friends about the Shatterverse and all that entailed within it, Tails had no idea how significant it would truly end up being.

He, his brother, Amy, and Knuckles were gathered together at the beach. The fox was in the pilot seat of the plane, adjusting some of the inner controls, while everyone else lounged about. They all listened with rapt attention as Sonic described the disaster that would have happened had he smashed into the Paradox Prism – the disaster that had already happened, if events were to be believed.

Frankly, it wasn’t very hard to go along with the idea. Weirder stuff went on in their lives at least twice a year; dimensional and/or timeline shenanigans sounded like par for the course.

“A bunch of miniature dimensions, huh?” Tails drummed his fingers against his screwdriver, thinking about the logistics of such a thing. Alternate universes were an aspect of quantum physics that he’d never delved very deep in.

“Yep! There was a pirate dimension, a jungle dimension, and even a dimension with five Eggmans!” Sonic shuddered and stuck out his tongue. “I always thought ours was bad enough, but then I met an Eggman baby. That’s one memory I’ll never be able to get rid of.”

“Did you kick the Eggman baby’s butt?”

“Knuckles!” Amy scolded.

“What?” The echidna asked defensively. “It’s a valid question! If that version of Eggman was still evil, then I don’t see why you wouldn’t also teach him a lesson.”

“Oh, trust me, he was definitely evil. Kicking his butt was extremely satisfying.”

Knuckles folded his arms with a self-satisfied smirk he tossed Amy’s way. She huffed and rolled her eyes, gesturing for Sonic to continue his story.

“There weren’t just other versions of Eggman, though,” he said with an excited gleam in his eye. “Every dimension I visited had new versions of you guys! Even Rouge and Big and Froggy!”

“Ooh, really?” Amy clasped her hands together. “What were we all like?”

“Well, the pirate versions of you all talked with these funny accents and were on a ship’s crew together. Knuckles was your captain but he was a big bonehead.”

“Hey!”

Tails smiled, going back to the wiring in the Tornado as he listened to the hedgehog tell them all about this strange new adventure that he’d found himself in. One eye he kept on his work, the other he kept on Sonic to show he was still paying attention, tuned into the rhythm of his brother’s storytelling just as much as the words themselves – and that was the only reason he caught the stumble.

Sonic was in the process of telling them how the Chaos Council had put the entire Shatterverse in jeopardy by punching holes between dimensions using shards of the Paradox Prism, and that he, Shadow, and an alternate version of Tails had stolen the shards back and were planning to put the prism back together. Then he paused, very briefly, and sheepishly admitted that they were unsuccessful before the Council had caught up.

That pause had been barely half a second long, but for the hedgehog it might as well have been a full minute. Tails stopped working as Knuckles began teasing Sonic for letting any version of Eggman be faster than him. He watched his brother carefully, noting the tension in his quills that the fox could only see from his place in the cockpit above. To the others, it seemed like Sonic was embarrassed about his failure, but Tails knew that wasn’t what it was.

Embarrassment was fidgeting in place and wanting to change the subject immediately. It was not standing rigidly with fingers twitching like they wanted to curl into fists, nor was it too-loud laughter at the ribbing his friends were giving him.

The fox quietly placed his tools in his lap and turned his full attention onto his brother.

When the teasing finally stopped and Sonic got back to the rest of his story, it felt different than before. More pauses, shorter descriptions of events, and vague answers to questions about how the Shatterverse was saved from ripping itself apart. The hedgehog’s expression was tight with sadness as he told them of the goodbyes he’d shared with all the different versions of his friends before he and Shadow found their way back to Green Hill.

“Don’t get me wrong, I was so excited to see you guys again – the real yous instead of those weird ghost holograms – but I also knew it was a permanent goodbye for them. All those different versions of you…they were still their own people, with their own goals and dreams and lives. I got to know each of them, and it was hard to walk away knowing I’d never see any of them again.”

“It’s not like you to dwell on goodbyes,” Amy said gently.

“I know. I just…” Sonic glanced up at Tails, then looked away immediately before their gazes could properly meet. The fox narrowed his eyes in confusion. “It was really bittersweet, in the end. I wish you all could have met each other.”

As Amy pondered over what her “sisters” might have been like and Knuckles pointedly declared that the other hims would have probably just gotten on his nerves, Tails’ namesakes curled around each other in a slow mimic of his flying movements. It seemed like the hedgehog was simply melancholy over the loss of his new friends, but it still felt…off. Like there was something he hadn’t told them, or even something that Tails had missed, that was obscuring the whole picture of his experience.

He briefly considered asking Sonic outright when they were alone later, then immediately nixed the idea. His brother was open about nearly everything right up until he suddenly wasn’t, and then pulling information from him was just as hard as convincing Knuckles to part with the Master Emerald for more than a week.

“Do you think the other dimensions are still out there even though you put the Paradox Prism back together?”

Everyone fell silent as they all looked up at the fox. Sonic’s mouth pulled sideways like he wasn’t sure how to answer.

“I mean, I assumed they are. Don’t really like thinking of the alternative.”

“I’m sure they are!” Amy was quick to reassure. “You can’t just unmake a bunch of worlds once they exist, right? And you said it yourself, Sonic – the Shatterverse collapsing only happened because the Eggmen misused the Prism Shards. All you did was make them whole again.”

Tails tapped the end of his screwdriver twice against the Tornado’s steering wheel. An idea was starting to develop in his mind, formed from a swirl of thoughts and his admittedly shallow knowledge of Quantum Physics. He kept it to himself, however, as he continued to study his brother’s body language and the tension still present there.

Just a few days later, that particular tension was gone from Sonic but the idea was still firmly in the fox’s head. He took every physics book he had that touched the subject, plus several that were “liberated” from one of Eggman’s laboratory libraries, and began researching. It didn’t take very long for him to conclude that no matter what theories he read about, or potential blueprints he began to draw up, he wasn’t going to make it very far on speculation alone.

If this idea was to become tangible, then he needed the Paradox Prism. And achieving that, Tails remembered with a grimace, would be more difficult than any mathematics he puzzled through.

He could only hope that its keeper would be in a good mood.

-------------------------------------------------

Contrary to popular belief, Shadow was not particularly difficult to find. He was a creature of habit, much like Sonic. The real issue was that those habits tended to seem erratic at best and completely nonsensical at worst to anyone who didn’t know them well. To the average person, Sonic was flighty and never settled down in one place for long, and Shadow just couldn’t be found to begin with.

But Tails was not an average person, and he had a lot of experience in tracking down speedy hedgehogs.

There was a large waterfall in Green Hill that overlooked an even larger lake. It cascaded constantly down from a giant cliffside that was difficult to climb and get down from. Sonic avoided the area entirely unless absolutely necessary, but Tails loved to practice his aerial maneuvers there. It was for those three reasons – his many visits, the general seclusion, and the consistent lack of Sonic – that the fox knew how much Shadow preferred the place, too.

It was here that he looked for the black hedgehog first. He started at the base of the cliff, shielding his eyes against the sun as he peered up past the waterfall while lake water lapped just a few inches short of his shoes. After a minute or so of squinting and scanning, Tails caught sight of a dark figure standing at the very top of the cliff, arms folded and looking out at the scenery.

Excited, the fox began to fly up towards him, making his presence known as obviously as possible so Shadow knew he wanted to talk. He felt the moment those piercing red eyes snapped over to him. The fur on the back of his neck prickled by instincts honed from years of Eggman battles before settling down immediately afterward, recognizing the gaze as non-threatening.

That didn’t mean the hedgehog was happy to see him, though. Irritation was visible in every line of his face when Tails touched down a few feet away from him.

“Is Sonic with you?” Shadow asked, in a tone of voice that suggested he was going to teleport at the first syllable of a ‘yes.’

“No, he doesn’t know I’m here. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

One black-furred eyebrow rose in mild surprise. He tilted his head the tiniest bit forward to acknowledge he was listening.

Tails took a deep breath and took the plunge without wasting another second. “I know you have the Paradox Prism. I was hoping to run some tests –”

“No.”

The answer came so strong and curt that it made Tails’ mouth click shut before he even registered what was said. He blinked, caught off guard by both the reaction and the way Shadow’s entire body seemed to tense. It almost looked like he thought the fox was going to attack him, which was as bizarre an assessment to make as the realization that Shadow saw him as a viable threat.

“Why not?” He asked, thoroughly confused. “I didn’t even tell you what kind of tests I’d be conducting.”

“It doesn’t matter what kind; the answer remains the same. The Paradox Prism isn’t something to be tampered with.”

Tails resisted the urge to let out a huff. “I’m not going to tamper with it. I just want to learn more about those other dimensions Sonic was talking about.”

“Then ask him about them and stop wasting my time.”

The hedgehog turned on his heel and began walking away. The hum of his hover shoes coming to life threatened only a few seconds left before he disappeared entirely. Tails knew his one and only chance was slipping out of his grasp.

He didn’t think; what came out of his mouth next was pure panic.

“I think something’s wrong with Sonic!”

Shadow froze mid-step. The fox blinked and then suddenly they were an inch apart. That unreadable glare seemed twice as potent now as it searched his face for any kind of deception.

“…Elaborate,” the hedgehog finally said in a quiet yet uncompromising demand.

“W-Well, he told us about the Shatterverse, and you guys trying to get home, but I feel like he’s…omitting things?” Tails paused, thinking over the last week or so. “He’s been clingier, too. He wants to hang out with everyone more than usual. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him plan so many get-togethers before now.”

Bringing everyone together had usually been Amy’s or Tails’ idea, and Sonic always popped in at the last minute or stumbled into the group in the middle of a run. Now, he was asking them all to hang out so often that Knuckles had threatened to slug him if he didn’t leave him alone for at least a day.

“And then, yesterday…he got really upset when he couldn’t find me.”

Tails remembered it vividly. He’d made an impromptu trip to the nearest junkyard in search of parts for his idea, forgetting to leave a note for potential visitors because of how short the excursion was, and had come back to his workshop in disarray and one agitated hedgehog looking ready to tear down the walls in search of him. His brother had grabbed him in a tight hug without any words, visibly shaking, and had stayed with him in the workshop for hours afterward. There hadn’t been any explanation; Sonic had remained tight-lipped in embarrassment and so Tails had assumed it had to do with the brief loss of his friends during his Shatterverse adventure.

But putting that odd encounter alongside the clinginess and simultaneous avoidance now, it was starting to paint a much more concerning picture. The fox wanted to kick himself for not connecting the dots sooner. Hyper-fixating on a new invention was no excuse.

Shadow was still watching him. Tails took a deep breath and spread his hands out in an honest, pleading gesture.

“I’m just really worried about him. I think there’s stuff he’s not telling me, and I don’t know how to approach him about it.”

“What makes you think studying the Paradox Prism will help with that?” The hedgehog’s voice was flat but no longer as harsh. He had a funny look in his eye that was impossible to place.

“I want to figure out whether those other dimensions are still out there. If they are, I think it will perk Sonic up. But the only way I’ll know for sure is with the Prism’s help.”

Silence floated between them for a long time. Tails swallowed the urge to continue making his case, and instead waited as patiently as he could for Shadow to come to a decision. A myriad of emotions flitted across the other’s face, all small and fleeting and unreadable.

“…Fine. I’ll let you look at it.”

“Really?” The fox gasped, excited, but Shadow held up a hand before he could say anything else.

“On three conditions. One: that I’m present the entire time you’re with it. Two: that you do exactly what you told me you want to do and nothing more. No using it to power machines unless it’s explicitly for finding other dimensions, no tampering with it or trying to break it apart, and no additional investigations. I don’t care how fascinated you are with it.”

“Okay, I can do all of that. What’s the third condition?”

“That you don’t involve Sonic in your studies.”

Tails frowned. “Why would I involve –”

“Agree to all the terms, Fox, or you’re not seeing a hint of that crystal.”

“I agree!” He replied, quick as he could before the hedgehog changed his mind. “You’ll be with me the whole time, I won’t mess with it, and Sonic stays out of the process.”

“Good.”

With the deal struck, Shadow nodded once before walking off again. The fox watched him, uncertain, until he threw a glance over his shoulder.

“Are you coming or not?”

Tails didn’t need to be asked twice.

-------------------------------------------------

And so, two hours later, they were both back in Tails’ workshop with the Paradox Prism floating innocently in the middle of a containment chamber. Shadow leaned against the closed garage door – which he had demanded stay locked while they were working – eating out of the can of raw coffee beans he’d requested when Tails had offered food. It would have been quite the sight if he wasn’t already used to the bizarre black hole of a stomach that belonged to his brother.

Maybe liking weird food was just a hedgehog thing.

The fox, meanwhile, was in the middle of making complex calculations as he studied the Prism, adjusting for energy levels and power output with every spike that appeared on his scanner. He was quickly realizing that developing technology that could reliably run on this energy was going to be a careful balancing act; it fluctuated sporadically in seemingly indecipherable patterns, and every sudden jump was volatile at best, downright dangerous at worst.

If not for all his research into chaos energy, handling the Prism would’ve been infinitely harder. Their properties weren’t all too dissimilar, now that the thought crossed his mind, and it took a lot of willpower not to get sidetracked by that line of theorizing. The promise he’d made to Shadow was one he intended to keep no matter how painful it was for his scientific mind to ignore every other possibility.

“What are you doing now?”

The hedgehog’s question broke the melody of furious pencil scribbling. It was a common occurrence while Tails worked; he barely even glanced up when he answered.

“I think I’ve finally isolated the most benign wavelengths of energy the Paradox Prism is giving off. Using that, I can power the interdimensional device without risk of it exploding.”

“What is this interdimensional device for?” Shadow asked, suddenly right behind him.

Tails absolutely did not jump, but the grip on his pencil went tight as he pulled back from his blueprints a bit to blink owlishly at his suspicious companion. “I told you already – it’s to determine whether those miniature dimensions still exist.”

“How is it going to do that, exactly?”

The fox resisted a great urge to sigh. “It’s just going to be a probe. If prism energy is capable of making things jump between dimensions like Sonic said, then even a tiny amount will make my invention cross the theoretical inter-dimensional barrier and hopefully tell me what’s out there.”

“Hmph.” Shadow’s eyes darted across the schematics laid out on the table. It was hard to tell how much of it he understood, but Tails had a feeling it was more than most people usually could. “Remember: only for this function.”

“Loud and clear, sir,” he mumbled with a roll of his eyes before he could stop himself. The hedgehog’s glare sharpened considerably, but he went back to his place against the door to finish off his coffee beans without another word.

Now that Tails had successfully found a safe power source from the Prism, it was time to actually build the device that would make use of it. He wasted no time getting to work – grabbing scrap metal and wiring and as many tools as he could carry, then starting the process of putting together his newest invention piece by piece. Just like with anything powered by the chaos emeralds, the probe couldn’t simply be built and then pumped full of Prism energy. Every aspect and every addition had to be tested for durability. If it could channel its power source without issue, then he moved onto the next section and repeated the testing process. If it couldn’t, then he had to rework his calculations completely until it wasn’t at risk of frying from a single jolt of energy.

A tedious endeavor, but one he enjoyed wholeheartedly just for the way it occupied his mind. The fact that success meant a new, fully-functional invention was just the icing on the cake.

When at long last the fox was satisfied that his interdimensional probe wouldn’t blow up the moment he turned it on, he swiveled in his chair to hold it up triumphantly. Shadow, to his credit, had not made another sound nor moved a single inch through the hours it had taken to complete the device. He peered at it with a mix of curiosity and wariness.

“Are you going to send it out, now?”

“Yeah, but first…”

Tails turned it around in his hands to reveal a tiny screen and keyboard on one side, pulled straight from Knuckles’ most recently-busted flip phone. He typed in a string of code and watched with a satisfied snicker as a message appeared on the screen in response.

– Hello Worlds! –

“What is the purpose of that?”

“Tech joke.” He placed a solid metal cover over the keyboard, but left the screen visible. “I doubt anyone is going to find this, because it’s supposed to only travel through the space between dimensions, not actually visit them, but it’s funny to think about.”

“Hm.”

If Sonic were here, he probably would have told Shadow to lighten up. Tails, on the other hand, was much more aware of the precarious state of their arrangement, so he didn’t do that.

Was definitely thinking it, though.

Before turning the device on, the fox double checked that its connection to the Miles Electric was strong and secure. Sending it out without a way to relay information back would have been a silly mistake to make. Confident that there was nothing else to be done, he flipped the single switch on its underside, and they both watched as it hovered out of his hands for a few seconds before disappearing in a flash of rainbow light.

Shadow eyed the spot where it had just been, expression tight, then lifted the Paradox Prism’s container with ease. “Keep me informed on what you find. I’m…curious, as well.”

“Okay.”

Their gazes locked for one brief moment before the hedgehog also disappeared with his charge – in a green flash instead. Tails let out a long exhale. He was exhausted but in a good way, like running a marathon and beating your best time.

He checked the Miles Electric. Nothing yet. That was to be expected; interdimensional travel was probably not as instantaneous as Sonic made it out to be. All he had to do was wait.

So, he waited. And waited.

And waited.

A week passed with no signal. Not a single, shallow blip on his radar to show that the probe had survived its attempt at escaping the barriers between their dimension and whatever lay beyond. Disappointed but not entirely surprised over the possible failure, the fox stopped checking for it as often. Every hour dropped to a few times a day; a few times a day dropped to only once per day. As yet another week began creeping by with nothing to show for it, he finally took the Miles Electric off his desk and put it away to make room for other, more pressing projects.

The device might have ended up a bust, but that didn’t mean there weren’t other ways to confirm the existence of the Shatterverse. Tails began sketching up tentative ideas for his continued research. He didn’t have any Prism energy left to work with, though, and Shadow probably wasn’t going to be as generous if he asked for help again. The power to cross dimensions was going to be the biggest hurdle.

Just as he was debating whether chaos energy would work as a potential substitute, there was a sudden flash of rainbow light to his left. The fox startled, whirled around with his hands up in preparation for a fight – and stopped.

Stared.

There was his device, hovering in the air. Tails’ ears twitched as the Miles Electric suddenly let loose a muffled cacophony of sounds from within the desk drawer; the familiar, loud pings that meant a probe had been successfully connected to. Stunned and unable to think of doing anything else, he slowly reached out to stop its hovering and hold it instead.

From the way he had grabbed it, the little digital screen was visible. Tails looked down at the message and felt his heart skip a beat.

[ hello stranger ]

-------------------------------------------------

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A/N: Several months ago I joined the Sonic Big Bang event, and today is the culmination of that event where we flood the fandom with fics and art! We are Sonic Fans and we cannot be stopped lol. Expect a chapter release every day until the fic is finished!

The fantastic artists paired with my fic are @currantlee, @phantom-howl, and @dewdropdraws. I'll link their artwork when it's all posted, please please check them out cause they're all wonderful! Thanks so much to @sthbigbang for hosting this and letting me participate! I had a blast!

[welcome-to-green-hills]

A list of predictions I have for the Sonic movie I think are at least likely to happen

- opening shot is with either Stone or Robotnik (or both) breaking into the facility holding shadow

- definitely more homoerotic tension between Sone and Robotnik

- tails has built his own workshop/treehouse he likes hanging out in

- knuckles similarly has built his own shrine for the master emerald (just for fun)

- sibling and family shenanigans

- Sonic gets arrested after Shadow goes around stealing shit, also GUN knows that its Shadow and not him, but they arrest Sonic as a cover up, the public is decided because half of them are like “that’s clearly not Sonic”, but the other half is like “what are the odds of there being two alien hedgehogs that just so happen to be on earth?”

- prison break scene

- flashbacks of shadow and Maria living on the ark

- what exactly happened to Maria isn’t revealed right away, similarly to sa2

- the death scene plays after Shadow remembers the real promise he made to her. His memories were repressed rather than altered, so remembering her death is a big character moment when he realizes he needs to accept her death and honor her memory rather than seek revenge

- Maria’s death definitely won’t be on screen. My guess is they’ll take the Sonic x route (the original, not the dub) and cut away to just show Shadows reaction (pretty much like in project shadow)

- if Amy isn’t in the movie, then Sonic will be the one to give Shadow the big speech to convince him to help save the world

- shadows origins will be a bit different. I think Gerald Robotnik studied and somehow traveled to the gangs home planet, and he found DNA from a creature capable of harnessing the power of the emeralds (the same alien race as sonic, tying into the reason Longclaw was afraid of someone taking Sonic for his power)

- eggman has the broadcasted speech while he shows off the capabilities of the Space Colony Ark (by blowing up the moon) and it shows the residents of green hills all watching and reacting (if it starts with Robotnik saying the words “I’ve come to make an announcement” I will be very happy)

- if Tom and Maddie don’t get to go with them to the Ark, they’re given the sacred task of looking after the master emerald for them. If they do get to go to the Ark, then Knuckles will go to Wade and count on him to protect the Master emerald (Wade will probably become more responsible and aware during the knuckles series, so much so that Knuckles puts his trust in him)

- alternate plot for Tom and Maddie, they investigate the cover up of Project Shadow and discover the truth about what happened (essentially everyone was killed except for Gerald and Shadow). Bonus points if they find out a Wachowski was involved (or even the one responsible for killing Maria, but that’s a stretch)

- also if Tom and Maddie go to Space Colony Ark, emotional moment where they have to see Sonic get ejected via the space capsule (he’s fine, don’t worry)

- Tails, Knuckles, Tom, and Maddie all going absolutely ham on fighting Robotnik afterwards because they think Sonic couldn’t have survived

- Sonic and Shadow team up (potentially a begrudging truce with eggman because he realizes he can’t take over the world if it’s destroyed along with him)

- Knuckles is the least enthusiastic about a team up considering Eggman used him before, and everyone is of course like “we really don’t like it either, but the world is literally going to end if we don’t”

- Super Shadow and Sonic pushing back the Space Colony Ark (I don’t think the prototype will be in the movie just for simplicity sake) while a rendition of Live and Learn plays

- Shadow inevitably sacrifices himself, all while thinking of his promise to Maria

- Sonic trying to save Shadow (and doesn’t)

- Tom and Maddie being so happy to see Sonic alive and well but then their faces drop as they see the distraught look on his face and notice he’s holding Shadows inhibitor

- Group hug where they all comfort him

- Post credit scene hinting Shadow survived

I have many more predictions involving Amy and Rouge, but I don’t know if they’ll for sure be in it. I have a feeling if they do pick at least one character to introduce it will be Amy.

Oh! Oh, these are some very excellent suggestions, my dear! I love them a lot. It looks to be that you and I share some of the same thoughts! Great minds think alike you know😎

I do agree with Shadow losing Maria: we won’t see it on screen, but it could be familiar to how it was done with Sonic X.

I’ve been cackling over the idea of Stone and Robotnik carrying a ragdoll-sized Shadow. He’s quite eepy.

[the-sinful-voice-witch]

The Time has come, I shall speak now about my one true pairing, the couple I love the most in Sonic's universe: Knuckles×Rouge

Knouge is a relationship trope that simply works sooooo fucking well!!😖😖 It's fresh juice of the finest quality👌👌, I have seen this kind of relationship a lot: Scrooge x Goldie, Carmelita x Sly, Puss x kitty and of course Batman x Catwoman... 😏😏 (by the way all this couples already kissed, what the fuck are you waiting for SEGA? 😒😒) Is basically the kind of relationship that has losts of banter and tension and honestly they give a lot of material for good juicy stories.

This was the first relationship that could be considered canon in the games regarding having mutual feelings for each other (because at that time Sonic didn't have the relationship with Amy that he has now). When Rouge was introduced in Sonic Adventure 2, she was created to be Knuckles' rival in skills but not only that, she was intended to be also his love interest in a more specific way but in the end they decided to keep things more subtle and not as completely obvious as Amy's display of feelings for Sonic, also she was going to be named Nails the bat, so Nails 💅 and Knuckles 👊 rhymes with Tails but they named her ROUGE which means RED in French a ROMANCE language, red like Knuckles I'm just saying.

SA2 in fact has the very first "romantic" scene between two sonic characters, because absolutely no one will convince me ever that the moment when he saves her and they look into each other's eyes holding hands wasn't a romantic scene, like seriously 😤😏👇

and look what I found, this is an official sonic book from SEGA:

Do we need more proof than this? Ok 👌 let's continue then:

So the best words to describe them are: "Polar opposites attraction" "Pure vs flirtatious" "Honor vs dirty play" "Guardian vs Thief" "Endless banter" "Arguing married couple" And of course: "SEXUAL TENSION" 😂😂 even in the damn soundtrack!! Have you listened to Knuckles theme? "Kick the rock (Wild Canyon)" SEGA approved that song! 😂 Here let me show the best part of the lyrics:

"I gotta chase a bat, uh" "Yeah Rouge she is sexy and smooth, a double cross spy thief that's out for my jewels, uh! I'm feeling her in mysterious ways" Boy... Knuckles suddenly got hit by puberty or something 😂😂 he was unknowingly horny for her already...

"Who could'a did this? That snitch named Rouge! When I catch her I'm gonna get her with these tools" There you are, come here little thief! Think you going to fly and get away quick? Uh, uh! Give up the Emerald or die! I don't love you!! " And now he becomes a tsundere denying feelings nobody asked him if he has 😂 and we all know he wouldn't let her die.

Also the most important thing that makes them absolutely canon is that Sonic ships them, Sonic's shipping mind is indisputable, he did it a few times already: in Sonic Rivals he asks them if they are on a date, in one of Sonic's phone games they start arguing because Knuckles was salty that Rouge was so nice wishing Sonic happy birthday and that she wasn't that nice to him in HIS birthday (jealous much?) and Sonic says to tails that that is true love and then Rouge goes full tsundere denying it 😂😂😂, precious 👌👌.

Let's also mention what happened in sonic X specifically with the original Japanese dub, Rouge just wouldn't stop flirting (+backstabbing let's be honest😛) and knuckles wouldn't stop reacting to it 😂

In this scene ☝ in Japanese she purposely asked him if he was "active" At night too 🤣🤣🤣 she just meant she is active at night because she is a bat... But the way she said that 😆, she was known for making lots of dirty jokes in the Japanese version... Ok but leaving that aside I want to mention only one specific moment because in general the dynamic was the same: she flirts and jokes, he falls for it ect... But this scene was my favorite because this was literally a date.

Don't fight me. THIS WAS A DATE.👇👇

So many things to say about this scene, first the romantic full moon night background, in Japan when someone says the "moon is beautiful tonight" Means "I like/love you", unfortunately none of them said anything like that but with all this is just plain obvious this was a romantic setting, Rouge was trying to get Knuckles to be emotional because she knows he misses Sonic and wanted him to think she is so caring and compassionate and give her jewels 😂 but he ends up being stubborn breaking the mood and accuses her to be the one who misses him making her angry and start a fight but after a while they see Sonic in the sky and Rouge says they look dumb and wonders why were they fighting for in the first place, Knuckles laughs at her messy face and THEN she playfully jumps on him and he says she is tickling him??????? Of course this part is conveniently out of camera and we can only hear whatever the hell they are doing 😂😏 but now think about it... What were they doing? She was on top of him on the floor under the moonlight tickling him.... AND NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED?? Yeah come on! I don't believe that 😏, we know Rouge doesn't waste time:

Boy that's an ugly ugly comic and speaking of comics, remembering the old Archie comics too... After that dark era where Rouge was a unfairly represented as a villainous cruel bitch 😤🤬 there was a reboot before the IDW reboot and finally my waifu got at least some justice! I just love this particular comic where she shows how she actually respects Knuckles and cares about him, she is someone who never gets attached too much to big responsibilities if that cuts her freedom, she values her freedom (something in common with Sonic) and she wanted Knuckles to have that kind of freedom too:

Look at her being a peacemaker between her boyfriend and brother 😆. Well anyway I hope Ian Flynn gets more freedom eventually because it's clear he is holding back in the current Sonic comics😭😭😭 (even made a joke with the love triangle 😂😂)

Let's give it time... They managed to put some furry lesbians in the comic so anything is possible... I'll just wait forever 🥲🥲🥲🥲

And well we also got some good stuff in Sonic Prime!! 😍😍😍 we finally saw him carrying her bridal style in a angst situation 🤩🤩🤩 for a brief moment and from long distance camera shot but is still something 🥲🥲 just zoom it.

Well, that's it. Enough evidence IT'S CANON. Caso Cerrado😂😂😂

[sonicstorybook]

The King's Champion

A SatBK AU where Shadow is the one sent to Camelot and Sonic is the doppelgänger- the one and only King Arthur!

Part: 4/4

Summary: Arthur the Hedgehog pulled the legendary sword Caliburn from the stone, and he became King Arthur, the ruler of Camelot. Shadow the Hedgehog appears in a flash of magic in the middle of his banquet hall, and he becomes Arthur’s problem. As the sun rises over the kingdom, a pre-dawn conversation between both hedgehogs also helps them reach... well, not quite a mutual understanding, but progress is progress!

(Shadow doesn’t know where he is, what’s going on, or why he’s there- but it doesn’t matter. He’s Shadow the Hedgehog, the world’s ultimate life form, and he’s going to play this weird game by his rules.)

Contains: Pre-relationship/platonic Arthadow (Arthur the Hedgehog x Shadow the Hedgehog)! Lamorak (Jet the Hawk) and Percival (Blaze the Cat) are siblings! Gawain (Knuckles the Echidna) and Gareth (Mighty the Armadillo) are siblings! Gawain and Gareth are Yvain’s (Ray the Flying Squirrel) cousins! Kay (Scourge the Hedgehog) is Arthur’s adopted brother!

Rating: G

Word count: 2,252

Note: The close of the first chapter of Shadow’s stay in Camelot! C: Will there be more? Yes, because I have no self-control. C,:

Reminder of characters: Sir Kay is Scourge the Hedgehog! Sir Gareth is Mighty the Armadillo!  Sir Yvain is Ray the (Flying?) Squirrel! Percy is Percival the Squire, aka Blaze the Cat! 

All chatter ends and the courtyard is deathly quiet as everyone collectively holds their breath, certain they must have misheard Shadow just now… but the black hedgehog doubles down.

“You heard me,” Shadow repeats, turning to face Gawain with a challenging arch of his brow, “Lancelot can keep his Queen- I’ll take the King.”

“What!?“ Half a dozen voices cry out at once. Arthur barely manages to contain his own surprise, whipping his head to look at Shadow so quickly he almost flings the circlet off his head. 

Shadow does not flinch under the heavy weight of the stares, cool and determined with a haughty hand on his hip.

“Shadow,” Arthur wishes he had a moment with Shadow alone to explain what the black hedgehog was getting himself into, tenting his hands in front of his face thoughtfully, “Once again, I am asking you to reconsider this request. That is no light commitment or task. Are you sure this is what you truly want?”

“I’m going to prove that I am superior to this Lancelot in every possible way,” Although Shadow says Lancelot’s name, the challenging glare he levels in Arthur’s direction indicates that Camelot’s king is included as well, “By the end of it, all of you will be comparing Lancelot to me.”

“You are completely mad if you think the king will accept such outlandish demands!” Gawain is so worked up he throws his hand out, hitting the unfortunate Sir Yvain in the chest with his barbed knuckles. The yellow squirrel is knocked off his feet and into Sir Gareth behind him, who barely manages to keep them both upright, “Who are you?! What are your designs on our king?! Are you a spy or assassin?!”

“I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the world’s ultimate life form,” Shadow is arrogantly self-assured as he literally turns his nose up at Gawain, “Don’t flatter yourself. I don’t care about you or this kingdom. And if I wanted your King dead, there’s nothing you could do to stop me!”

“You churl-!”

It’s very clear that Shadow and Gawain are about to start slinging hotheaded boasts, vicious insults, and blows again. But before Arthur can try to restore order, aid comes from an unexpected source.

“Hah! You are a saucy one!” Sir Lamorak’s squawk of laughter shatters the tension like ice, pushing past Gawain to stand directly in front of Shadow. 

“Brother!” A small purple cat darts out from the crowd, grabbing onto the hawk’s hand and giving him a stern shake, “Do not be foolish!”

“I know what I’m doing, squire,” Lamorak hisses at her, low enough only those nearby can hear him, shaking himself free and pushing the child behind him, “Watch and learn, Percy!”

‘Percy’ gives a loud, annoyed groan as she stomps her foot irritably, sulkily crossing her arms and watching her brother with an incredibly unimpressed expression. Who was this girl, again? Lamorak had asked if he could bring his sister in as his squire, but that had been only a few days ago and she wouldn’t have been able to make the journey so quickly, could she? She also seemed a little too young to be a squire… 

Lamorak flips his visor up with one hand as he looks down on Shadow with a condescending grin, “Do you have any idea what you are asking for? Do you really think an untried knave without any weapon or armor of his own has a chance?”

Shadow is coolly defiant, eyes boring into Lamorak ferociously, “I don’t need anything but my bare hands to beat you.“

Lamorak’s grin falls immediately, and his hand reaches to the scabbards where his twin swords are sheathed on his back-

“Enough!” Arthur steps in before Shadow manages to make more enemies, putting himself between his combative guest and his strongest knights, “Shadow is new to the realm and not familiar with its customs, and yet you treat him with great hostility! Where is your courtesy? Your patience? This is a most inhospitable way to treat my personal guest!”

Arthur hates having to use his authority like this, he really does, but Shadow is going to wind up as unpopular as Kay at this rate. 

The stunned silence lasts only a moment. 

“Your guest!” Gawain sputters indignantly, gesturing at Shadow like he doesn’t know what else to say, “Your guest!!”

“My lord,” Gareth puts his hand on Gawain’s shoulder, choosing his words carefully, “It is most unusual to have someone enter the kingdom with the visage of one of the round table’s most illustrious and well-regarded knights-”

Kay blows a dismissive raspberry, smiling when the armadillo gives him an annoyed side eye. Gawain leans over his brother’s shoulder to give the green hedgehog a full on glare.

“And it would be imprudent to rush into something like this without considering all potential factors and viewpoints,” Gareth finishes primly, bowing his head respectfully as he meets Shadow’s eyes, “While still giving Sir Shadow the same opportunities we would extend to every other child of Camelot.”

“You cannot be serious!” Gawain turns to his brother incredulously, “He disguised himself as Lancelot!”

“I have no need to disguise myself as anyone!” Shadow’s eyes narrow as he takes a step toward Gawain.

“Enough, enough!” Arthur massages his forehead as he glances up at the sky, knowing that this argument will cost him the rest of the morning. He will be struggling to meet all his daily obligations at this rate, and will likely be working late into the night... “I will hear your arguments in the great hall at the round table- after we break our fast.”

Before anyone can say anything else, Arthur turns to his guest, “Come, Shadow the Hedgehog, bringer of chaos! Before you end up creating blood feuds with the entire round table!”

Shadow doesn’t look the least bit chastised, incredulous and amused as he gives a flippant shrug, “Fine by me.”

“With these jests, it sounds like you’re better suited to the role of court jester!” Lamorak laughs boisterously, arms crossed over his chest as he grins mockingly. His squire stands behind him, less than enthused at her knight’s actions, but doesn’t say anything. She simply grips onto his tail feathers and digs her feet into the ground below, trying to physically keep him out of the range of Shadow’s fists. 

“Have you any more?” Lamorak jeers, obviously trying to get back at Shadow for that earlier insult. (Even though the brash hawk brought it on himself. Again.)

The air around Shadow turns positively murderous, and he flexes the fingers of his right hand as he brings it up mid-chest, “How about a magic trick?

Sparks crackle around his fingertips as he looks at Lamorak over his shoulder, eyes narrowing like he’s honing in on a target.

“I can make you disappear-“ Shadow starts to say, bringing his hand down in a vicious arc-

That Arthur jumps in to stop with his hands. The strange energy spreads through Shadow’s fingers and into his own, leaving behind a tingling sensation that seems to seep into his skin and to his very bones. Arthur lets go quickly, but it travels up the length of his arm and into his shoulder before radiating through his entire body.

“My Lord!” Half a dozen voices cry out at the same time in dismay.

“It’s nothing!” Arthur doesn’t have any time to dwell on any of this, even as his body seems to buzz with the energy. He wants to shake his hand out, but he knows that will just worry his knights, “I said this will wait until after breakfast! Be still, all of you!” 

He grabs Shadow’s hand tightly as he ushers his taciturn companion forward, as if afraid the black hedgehog is going to run off and punch someone else in the face. (Which seems very likely at this point.)

 “Come along!” Arthur’s hand buzzes where it touches Shadow, even through the fabric of his glove. He half expects the dark hedgehog to push him away, and is surprised when Shadow’s hand squeezes him. But painfully so, like this is a challenge he can win while making sure Arthur doesn’t let go. The king glances back as Shadow, curious to see why the prickly hedgehog would touch him without a clear purpose- when it becomes clear this is a calculated power play.

Shadow is staring Gawain down, using this simple gesture to establish himself in the king’s entourage, annoy the echidna and the other knights who regard him with suspicion, and show his clear disregard for hierarchy of the court. For some reason, Arthur is disappointed… but he pushes that feeling aside immediately. Shadow would be a fool if he did not use the king’s political and social position to his advantage.

Arthur pulls Shadow towards the now doorless archway, whispering as he discreetly elbows the black hedgehog, “What are you doing? I don’t know how it works in your world, but you’ll accomplish more with friends in Camelot’s walls rather than enemies!”

“I don’t need friends,” Shadow gives Arthur a flat look, answering loudly as he glowers back at Lamorak, “And if you want to keep yours in one piece, they shouldn’t start what they can’t finish. I don’t like leaving loose ends.”

Arthur rolls his eyes in exasperation as he hurries through the corridor, ear swiveling backwards to pick up on the disgruntled chatter that is naturally amplified by the stone hallways. Shadow’s combative attitude and abrasive demeanor are certainly not doing much to endear him to anyone.

“You don’t seem to like casual conversation or friendly advice either,” Arthur quips back, shaking his head, “And certainly not comfortable beds. What of mead and bread? Do you like that?”

“You're starting to irritate me, hedgehog-” Shadow answers back automatically, annoyed, before blinking rapidly. He gives Arthur that look again, like he’s seeing him in a completely different light, “You are going to drink mead for breakfast?”

Arthur finds Shadow’s baffled confusion amusing, quietly chuckling to himself, “Would my new champion prefer wine instead?”

“Sure, why not,” Shadow lets Arthur open the door to the chamber himself, purposefully ignoring Gawain’s outrage and rubbing it in by refusing to let go of the king’s hand the entire time, making Arthur do it one handed. Arthur can’t remember the last time he’s opened a door for himself, let alone another person. It’s strangely thrilling, “Where does the echidna sit?”

“I sit in the red velvet siege,” Arthur nods at the plush seat with the crown carved into the wood above it, “And ‘Wain sits to my left-”

“Good,” Shadow doesn’t wait for Arthur to finish explaining or sit down, plopping himself in the seat to Arthur’s right like it belongs to him. It belongs to Sir Kay, who seems less than amused- but, in a rare move of self preservation, also doesn’t seem very keen to attract Shadow’s ire on himself directly. Arthur shrugs to his brother apologetically, making motions to an attendant by the door to bring another chair.

In fact, Shadow goes out of his way to make himself look as comfortable as possible, throwing his crossed legs over one arm rest and propping his elbow on the other, resting his chin on his fist. Incredibly bold… Arthur sits down quickly himself, hiding a smile behind a sip of his cup.

“MY KING!” Gawain yanks his chair out from the table so violently the wood cracks under his grip, splinters falling to the floor as he sits in it heavily and unhappily, “THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!”

Shadow stares at Gawain with a bored expression as he filches a piece of cheese from Arthur’s plate, popping it into his mouth as the echidna slams his hands back down on the table. 

Well, this is certainly turning out to be a very different and complicated day! When Arthur first rose this morning, he didn’t think he’d end up having breakfast with Shadow the Hedgehog sitting on his right hand side after causing a feud with almost half the round table. Or to have Gawain, one of his most powerful and influential knights, squabbling with the black hedgehog like a petulant child.

One of the many large and small problems he needs to solve... Arthur nibbles on a roll absentmindedly as he listens to Gareth’s argument from the other side of the table, pretending he doesn’t notice Shadow flick a piece of apple at the side of Gawain’s head.

He needs to nip the budding tension between Lamorak and Shadow before it leads to bloodshed… Lamorak is very pointedly glaring daggers at the hedgehog until his sister kicks him in the shin when he doesn’t pass her the jam quickly enough, and that quickly devolves to the hawk arguing with a literal child. 

Arthur needs to make Shadow’s self-appointed position as his champion palatable to the majority of his knights and advisors, many of whom are regarding Shadow with guarded suspicion over the rim of their mugs. 

He needs to find and check on Lancelot, whose absence in the siege at Gawain’s right is painfully obvious. And Arthur needs to soothe Kay’s wounded pride before his brother does something reckless and foolish that causes them all unnecessary grief. (Especially Kay himself.)

It was exactly as Sir Ector had warned- the secret wish of excitement in his heart had been answered in the most unexpected way. But Arthur has no regrets. 

Despite it all, he is eager to see how this new adventure unfolds.

[caffeine-clouds]

What Your Favourite Sonic Ship Says About you! (Part 2)

(Sonuckles, Sonaze, Sonilver) (Part 1 is here - yes, this is the one with Sonadow) FULL DISCLAIMER: Shipping is a hot topic of debate, but this post is lighthearted fun! I'm a multi-shipper, I love most of these ships - and I can see why some people like the dynamics that I might not. This is not a bashing post, this is fun time. So, without further ado-

Sonuckles

So you took Knuxouge off of the shelf, took it to the counter - and you said: "Hey, can I get this kind of dynamic but reduce the amount of fighting and sexual tension a bit to instead replace it with a more friendly rivalry... also make it gay and uhhhh... can you also throw in just a fuckton of bromance? Your entire stock of it?" The result was thusly - Sonuckles. The rivalry dynamic of Sonadow is also appealing to you, but you just prefer dynamics on the healthier side. But does that mean you don't like angst? Fuck no, you love angst. In fact, you won't shut up about how Knuckles is one of the most tragic characters in the series to literally anyone who will listen. You just want good things for the red boy, and that means giving him a boyfriend - and that's so valid. And it makes perfect sense to you, right? Opposites attract - Sonic the freedom-loving hero who's always running free, and Knuckles - the sturdy rock, chained to his island. They're good for each other, aren't they? Sonic encourages Knuckles to get out there and live, while Knuckles teaches Sonic to slow down sometimes and take more responsibility. They improve each other, just like any good ship does. As far as Ao3 goes... you're a hurt/comfort person, right? And honestly, angst and fluff - you can take both on. You're either new to this ship, or you've been here a while and you're just so fucking stunned at the amount of fuel 2022 ended up giving you, but you are so happy either way. For you, there's no greater time to be a Sonic fan.... Anyway, sun and moon symbolism - am I right? Sonaze

Honestly? I think you're fucking based. The more I look at this one, the more it just makes sense. I see you, I absolutely see where your headspace is at. You are a person with taste and class, okay? Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. This ship is like - the pistachio ice cream of Sonic ships. To an outsider - it might seem strange, but as they grow older and wiser - they'll have an appreciation for it. Again - Sonic, free as the wind - cocky and chaotic, paired with the more rigid and formal Blaze? Again, it's the similar appeal of opposites attract - and you prefer a ship where they don't beat each other up as a ritual. And just like Sonuckles - they bring out the best in each other, and encourage each other to try different lifestyles and values. A pair of mutual respect, both can kick ass - and that Blaze/Percival blush in Black Knight? That is all the source of your joy. You still aren't over the Rush series, and you keep returning to see the end of the first Rush game. I looked on Ao3 for tagged Sonaze fics for the sake of this post and you only have 77? Absolutely criminal, I say. You poor shippers are starved, especially with the lack of Blaze content you're getting in canon. You poor things. Let's hope things get better. But let's think about your favourite tropes for a second... destined/star-crossed lovers, is it? Forbidden romance too? You are a fluff enjoyer but you'll occassionally dabble in some bittersweet endings. Seriously, I'm not exactly a strong shipper of this one - but the fic potential this ship has that isn't acted upon baffles me. Like - Sonic and Blaze struggling to navigate a love across entire dimensions? Blaze being a princess, and despite loving her - Sonic wants nothing to do with the royal life? UGH! I came up with that in a literal minute, so the lack of fan content you have? Abysmal. We need to do better. Sonilver

I... apologise in advance because this one I'm not quite so familiar with. Like, I knew this ship existed but I wasn't so aware of it's popularity. Like, there are more Sonilver fics on Ao3 than there are Sonaze - that fascinates me. Although I do have to wonder how many of those are Sonic, Shadow, and Silver poly fics... I'm trying to figure out the appeal and my best guess is that rivalries are nice and all but just not your personal cup of tea - your cup of tea, when it comes to gay hedgehogs ships - is wholesome - and you need a lot of it. What's better than one dork? Two dorks - and that's what this ship gives you. It has everything you need to be happy - and I understand. I get you. But honestly, it's so hard to deduce what your Ao3 preferences are - I do feel as though you are a bit of a wild card. However I do feel as though you're a fluff, hurt/comfort kind of person - for the most part. Either way, you're probably a cool person irl. This ship has flew straight past my radar which means you probably aren't vocal in shipping debates - which means you're not obnoxious. So congratulations on being cool, and so dang self-assured in your preferences. As with Sonaze shippers, I would like to sincerely apologise - because you are also snubbed in the content department.

[sonikkublue]

Do you have a master post of all the mafia au info? I've been scrolling through the tags and I fear I'm missing info

Tysm for lookin thru my au i rly appreciate that, but also plz excuse my secretive behavior, as I trouble myself with sharing barely any info on my projects🧎 specifically AND especially this AU of mine

I’ve been thinking of making one whole archive of it alone for the art, as well as a page that just explains the characters and a little of the story, just so ppl know a bit of what’s goin on, and who they are. Since I know illustrating this whole story as a comic/manga will take a while, especially just getting one vol out with only 2 ppl workin on it together- I want to keep my audience busy, informed and happy with, until the first vol comes out

To make up for not havin a proper explanation of ANYTHING yet, I will list some characters in brief for u. Mostly the ones u need to know. Others will show up over time:

Mr. H (he is the Sonic in this au. 30 yrs old and has been running his Uncle Chuck’s company, as well as the family mafia. He’s greedy and only cares for what’s in it for him, and money. He has no interest in relationships or love, but would make u pay to date/marry him)

Miles (he is the Tails in this au. Plays the role of Mr. H’s son, being adopted since day 1. He also hates Shadow. He looks up to his dad and wants to be just like him someday. He just doesn’t know abt the mafia…yet)

Shadow (he’s Mr. H’s right hand man, his consigliere, his lackey. Him and Mr. H have a little romantic connection, even tho H is not the romantic type)

Amy (she is one out of a krillion of Mr. H’s exes. They had a married life together at one point, but that only last abt a year. She has been there for all his troubles n struggles. They’re friends now, but when they bump into each other, they’re bumping heads. Amy does it out of fun, as she still cares for H somewhat. Mr. H always means it, bein a bit oblivious to Amy’s care for him nowadays)

Knuckles (he’s a detective in this au, currently on a secret case that has Mr. H involved as a suspect of a crime. Someone could be framing him, but honestly who knows. Knuckles has a bit of dumb in him, but when he finally puts the pieces together, he can close that case faster than H makin easy money in his free time. H n Knux have a little tension between em, w/ H flirting with Knux most of the time when he walks into his office. H doesn’t even know he’s flirting with Knux, he just thinks he’s messing with him)

Robotnik (he’s like a toy maker in my au, but also a tech genius. Mr. H and Robotnik still have that ‘Sonic vs Eggman’ relationship, but also like a ‘Mr Krabs vs Plankton’ one too. They’ve been at each other since childhood. Mr. H always bein better and succeeding, than Robotnik LMAO)

Oh ya Metal H is also exist HSKDKFKF

[nightfurylover31]

I decided to write something for a special someone. Happy birthday @starrjoy! What happens when I take a scene from Sonic Frontiers and sprinkle it a bit of their Pandora AU with it? You get this! I loved the moment Sonic and Knuckles had in the game, and I hope you like it too. Just a bit of what might be going on in Sonic's head during this heart to heart chat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the first time, the vibe on Ares Island was calm and stale. Even more so for being a desert environment. Things were seldom after the final vision of the Koco, and their… departure. These little guys were fighting in a war, and seemingly, none survived. Only their souls remained in these little figurines, but now they were just empty husks. 

Knuckles sat on top of one of the ruins overlooking the plain. Sonic made his way over and sat beside his friend. There was tension in the air. Sonic was about to make one of his wisecrack comments to cheer him up, but stopped himself. It didn’t feel like the time.  

Knuckles was taking what happened to the Koco hard. He did lead the Resistance during the war. He also panicked a bit when those robots were going to attack the bunker earlier. Maybe that brought back some bad memories.

Finally, the echidna spoke. 

“Ages ago, my people were wiped out by a cataclysm. I know the Koco faced something similar. It reminds me I’m the last echidna. That I’m alone.” 

A strong pain echoed in Sonic’s heart then. A pain he hadn’t thought about in years. The pain he felt losing his home, his entire culture, and his family, to such an event. One that he caused. It surprised him he didn’t think about it that much anymore. Old memories did start to pop up when he heard that spooky sky voice. The beginning of how it all fell apart. Every fiber of his being screamed to ignore it. But with his friends’ safety on the line, how could he? 

Still, it finally dawned on him how similar his own past was to Knuckles’. All alone in the world, with no family. All because of some sort of deranged water deity took it all. At least you weren’t the one to cause the cataclysm, Sonic thought to himself. 

Sonic did not say a word about his past. Knuckles might be the most understanding, since he shared a similar burden. But then again, Rad Red might start a rant about Sonic screwing up everything in his life. Maybe not right now, but later. No, now was not the time for that. Right now his friend needed cheering up. 

“You may be the last, but you’re not alone. You’ve got us, knuckle-head,” he said with less sass than usual. And I’ve got you guys.  

That did seem to perk Knuckles up a bit. To be reminded of the friends he made whom care about him so much. Despite their repeated fights and bickering, the two of them were very close. 

“I’ll admit, I do envy your lifestyle,” Knuckles continued. “Freedom to go where you want, when you want.” 

It wasn’t like the echidna to say something like that. Guess being stuck in between cyberspace and the real world left him wanting more. Amy said the experience made her feel detached. And Knuckles was a hands-on guy. He did come off his island occasionally when Eggman’s schemes, or anything, got too threatening. But he never really got the chance to explore the world freely. To truly enjoy it. It made Sonic happy to hear Knuckles say that.

“So do it! Get out there and live a little.” He had tried to encourage that before, but now it felt like the offer was ready to be taken.

“Maybe I could.. but first I need to be back to normal.” Knuckles stood up and added some extra sass to his voice, along with a smug grin. “So hurry up and get me back to normal!” 

“Anything to get you away from me,” Sonic barked back.

The two glared for a moment, then bursted out laughing. To anyone, it would probably seem odd. But Sonic and Knuckles have known each other long enough to read pass the insults to know what they really meant. Their playful banter becoming one of the things that made their bond so strong. 

For the most part, Sonic saw himself and Knuckles as opposites. One as free as the wind, the other strong as a mountain. Sonic lived by his own feelings; Knuckles was full of a sense of duty. It seemed amazing that the two became friends, but opposites attract, I guess. 

Sonic was not one to believe in fate, but he did feel that maybe the two of them were brought together for a reason. Their cultures’ actions impacted their lives. The blue hedgehog realized Chaos had to have been the god that Pandora was separated from by his ancestors, back when he first saw it in Station Square. The one who used him to wipe out everyone on Christmas Island. Sonic never told Knuckles about this; he never even told Tails. How could you tell someone, no matter how close they were, about your greatest mistake? The one that costed the lives of thousands. 

Sonic pushed those feelings and memories back down, focusing on what was happening right now. A peaceful moment with his dear friend.  

Maybe one day I’ll have the courage to tell you the truth, Knux. But for now, I’m glad to have you by my side. As a rival, and one of the best friends I could ever ask for. 

[the-sky-queen]

JUST FINISHED EPISODE 6!!! Before I unblock the Knuckles Series tags, I wanted to give my closing thoughts.

Overall, I really REALLY enjoyed this! :D I laughed a lot, the tension was good, the animation and choreography was incredible, and everything was just all around amazing. I wish we got to cut back to Green Hills every now and then though. Getting a little side plot with Sonic and Tails would have been cute and very nice. But I really enjoyed Wade and Knuckles' dynamic, though I think Knuckles should have had a bit more development and screen time.

One thing I absolutely ADORED was the theme song, along with the constant theme of older music scattered throughout the series. I gasped out loud when I saw Wade's discman. (My sister still has one!) I grew up listening to CDs. When it was time for a roadtrip, my family would grab one of our big CD cases for the car ride. So looking at that theme song animation made my heart absolutely soar. ❤️ And while I didn't recognize any of the songs they played in the episodes (save for a couple), I can really appreciate the vibe. I also grew up listening to my dad's music. Stuff from when HE was growing up. It just felt right to have Wade into all kinds of music.

I have only a few complaints. First: Wanda was kinda really, really annoying. She got better as time went on, but she was really bad at first. She felt like a kid who never grew up. Like seriously, why is she still picking fights with Wade??? You're both adults! Act like it! The whole dinner scene over all was just painful to watch. It felt waaaay too similar to some dinners I've had with my own family, which yes, points for accuracy I guess, but I just felt like Knuckles the entire time. Awkward, wishing they'd just quit arguing and enjoy dinner, feeling out of place. I'm not sure if that's what they were going for or not. (The fight scene to protect the candles was very nice though :D)

Second: Pachacamac. I dunno, he was really annoying, and not at all like his power hungry, war mongering, cold, game counterpart. I also feel like he was really unnecessary? He probably could've been written out really easily. His 'funny' bits weren't even that funny and there was so many other opportunities for comedy during the episodes. He was really unneeded.

Finally: Almost everything in episode 4. The . . . low quality rock opera thing???? I'll admit, that the way they did all the practical effects and stuff was really cool! But everything else? WHY. Why are we doing this? Why are we singing? Why are we cutting Knuckles out of almost an entire episode? Why?????? I feel like this episode could've been done so many other different ways. HOWEVER! I really enjoyed the bit at the end. Seeing Wade stand up to Sinclair was AMAZING and I was cheering him on the whole time.

I kinda also wish they'd hinted at the third movie a bit. For a bit of set up. But they did clear up that GUN didn't always go by GUN, which I guess fixes our 'how did GUN kill Maria if they were only created after the first movie' problem!

Anyway, save for a few rough patches, this is a really good show! (Probably would've been better with one episode per week though. Can you imagine the suspense factor?? Would've been EPIC!!)

[theflavorofmyautismisspicy]

Why I like Vanessa/Natasha

Here’s some incoherent thoughts about why I think they have a lot of potential together (and also some thoughts about their characters in general I kinda just went off with this at times)

They share the same struggle since both of them get judged for their hobby because it’s not something that’s seen as “traditionally female”, with Nessie being into soccer and Nata being into skateboarding. Something I also find very interesting is that due to this Vanessa hates pink high heels as she feels like they represent what the world is expecting her to be just because she’s a girl and Natasha hates pink ballet shoes for the same reason. Maybe pink shoes were just the only thing that the writers could think of to represent a thing girls are expected to be interested in, but I still think them both having hate for such a specific thing really just shows similar their struggle is. They also have similarities in their personalities, they’re both shown to be stubborn, moody, sarcastic, have hard time accepting help from others, passionate about sports and they both also have a softer side to them.

Speaking of which, I know a few people have already talked about this but it was honestly just such a missed opportunity from the show to not have these two become friends😭 Like they could’ve bonded over the struggle they share, it would’ve been great for Vanessa to get a female friend (maybe a controversial opinion but I’ve actually always interpreted Vanessa being able to let go of her internalized misogyny at the end of s1e4. Like that episode is painful with its “strong female character is when a girl hates other girls and is more like one of the boys”, even as a child it left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s very much this clip from Sonic Boom https://youtu.be/dWBn0nS8s0A?si=HxN5Xq90vPPQrLE0 expect the writers stopped listening before Knuckles started speaking. However I don’t think internalized misogyny was really a problem that Vanessa had through the series, I don’t really think she acts like that way in the other episodes, but maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part. However the writers could have made the internalized misogyny not being a thing she deals with anymore more clear, if that was their intention like I hope it was, by giving her a female friend). I think it would’ve also been great for Natasha’s character and especially her redemption arc if she bonded with Vanessa and even made amends to her since that’s who she caused most problems for. It has always bothered me how that was just never acknowledged so having them fix things between them would’ve been so good. Have them skate and play soccer together !!

Okay now it’s time for me to sound a bit delusional and say that these two had some very gay enemies tension in some scenes. Like the “hey Adora” sort of tension.

I couldn’t stop thinking about this scene after I first saw it when I was like 8 but I couldn’t understand why. Peak antagonist flirting with the hero

Yeah that’s the look everyone gives to their enemy

Natasha, did you really just go to hang out next to Teufelstopf on your free time just in case Vanessa would ride by and you could yell a few mean words at her? Man you’re obsessed🤨

Can’t believe toxic yuri was invented by a kids show about soccer.

And lastly to tie it all together, I just think these two have a dynamic you could use in a lot of different ways in fanworks. There’s the whole enemies with gay tension and evil flirting I just talked about. The whole “hey Adora” dynamic is always interesting. There’s the possibility to give these two what the writers didn’t dare to do and have them bond with each others and realize they’re actually quite similar. Enemies to friends to lovers with Natasha facing the fact that her dislike toward Vanessa was probably born from her jealousy towards her (like her thinking “she’s a girl yet she’s allowed to play soccer but I’m also a girl and I’m not allowed to skate? If I can’t have that neither can she!”) and then having a redemption arc and becoming friends with Vanessa and then falling for her. If you think internalized misogyny was still a thing Vanessa struggled even after her introduction episode (all though I personally don’t agree with that, I’m not surprised people read it that way, the show fell really flat with its “feminist” message) have her unlearn it thanks to her friendship with Natasha and then realize “wow I’ve been suppressing my true feelings and I actually want to kiss girls, especially Natasha”. They could light pink shoes on fire together and call it a date. Maybe make them date in secret because their friend groups don’t get along and create a Romeo and Juliet like situation for them to deal with. Or have them be sporty girlfriends in an established relationship that watch each other play and then flirt.

So yeah in conclusion, girls should kiss girls👍👍

[bunnymajo]

Surge? (Or Elias, if you’ve already been asked about Surge or want to double up)

Sure!

Surge:

NOTP: KitSurge (romantically) for sure. But aside from that uh. I still don't like Sonic x Surge very much. There's just other characters I think compliment Sonic more and are more fun for me to examine with him, than the girl who's been brainwashed to hate & murder him. If you like the ship that's totally fine, there's nothing wrong with it, it just does nothing for me. (Currently. never say never.)

BROTP: Surge & Kit. I know they're in an unhealthy relationship now, but I really hope it can grow to something better, I believe in them.

OTP: out of characters Surge's allowed to court, SurgeAmy & SurgeBlaze make a lot of sense. I really like the SurgeJewel stuff I've seen too. The problem is that Surge hasn't interacted with anyone outside of like Sonic, Eggman & Whisper, so there's hundreds of different ways she could interact with them and I haven't picked a favorite yet.

So in the mean time I'm holding on to the Teen-Elias x Surge ship for as long as I can lol.

2nd Choice Pairing: I've toyed with the idea of Tumble having like a one sided crush on Surge. I think it would be funny. They both have stubby tails.

I think Silver or Knuckles could also potentially have a fun chemistry with her too. (they just have to not mention that they're part of Sonic's inner circle)

Fluffy Pairing: Elias x Surge, like no contest for me

Angsty Pairing: Anyone with Surge is going to cause some angst to happen lol. The Surge & Blaze interactions I've been imagining are probably the angst-iest though.

Favorite Poly Ship: none. I think Surge would be too selfish to share.

Weirdest Pairing: I'm up for whatever as long as Surge is happy.

Elias (I'm gonna keep this as firm as I can to just Archie Elias lol)

NOTP: Just the gross ones that I don't even want to mention

BROTP: Him & Sally. I really like their relationship, I'm extremely sad that if Sally were to come back Elias can't come with her or even be alluded to.

OTP: I'm alright with him & Megan. I just wish Megan was given more of a dynamic with him than just "patient loving wife". Like give me something to work with. What are her hobbies? Where's their favorite date spot? Does Megan also have lumberjack skills? Also I think it's funny she also agreed to marry Elias soon after meeting him and losing her 1st partner, girly saw a 10 walk into town and wasted no time. Good for her.

I would say Elias & Geoffrey but every thing I've read between them they act more like ex-boyfriends without ever having the boyfriend part. There's some tension there that I can dig though.

2nd choice pairing: ....what if in Archie's universe there's a mysterious amnesiac green tenrec girl that's Elias & Megan's age and-

Angsty Pairing: (non romantic obv.) Elias & his parents...

Favorite Poly ship: Idk, Elias has enough to worry about.

Weirdest pairing: You know what, Elias & Larry Lynx. I can see it. It starts off one sided on Larry's part but the more missions the Secret Freedom Fighters go on they start to form a deep connection... (I literally just made this up just now I'm not doing this for real...I don't think..)

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic Cyber Revolution, Entry 34: Green Hill Zone

''I hear my name blow through the wind, temptation to chase but who knows where it goes. I don't have a choice, the race begins, leaving behind a life that nobody chose.''

– So Much More… by Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing

xXxXxXx

Sonic stretched his arms, listening to the rustling of leaves, feeling the gentle breeze on his fur as he lied on a thick tree branch, having taken a nap. Below him was Lucas, sitting on the grass and trying to clean his hoverboard, which was drenched thanks to a particular someone deciding to cross Cosmo River and kicking up a wave that almost left Lucas soaking wet. Lucas glared up at the hedgehog, who appeared to have sensed his unspoken anger, curved his lips into a sheepish smile, sweatdropping as he still kept his eyes closed, acting like nothing was wrong. Admittedly, Lucas wasn't the type to get annoyed or angry easily, and despite the tension in the air, Sonic was confident that he wasn't in trouble. Lucas just stared at him, wondering if Sonic would falter, but when he didn't, he sighed.

''You know, there is something I've been wondering lately,'' Lucas started, only to hear an audible sigh of relief from above, causing him to snort in amusement before continuing, ''Have you ever thought of visiting other countries?''

''Well, sure. Blaze and Sana invited us to the Surya Empire and we promised to visit them,'' Sonic responded.

''I meant more in the sense of going on an adventure on your own somewhere that is not Neos City, or even the whole of Starpoint Area,'' Lucas replied. Sonic hummed.

''I guess I could do that…'' He lowered his gaze, giving Lucas a questioning look. ''Why are you asking?''

''I had figured that you might be getting bored staying here. Neos City has a lot of stuff to offer, but still, wouldn't you get bored at some point and just seek a change of scenery?'' Lucas asked. Sonic sat up, a bit intrigued by Lucas' question.

''You sound like you're trying to get rid off me,'' he said, grinning as he saw Lucas giving him a flustered look, clearly about to explain himself, with Sonic adding. ''Hey, chill, I was just joking.''

''You almost gave me a heart-attack,'' Lucas said, trying to sound irritated, but it was clear that he was on the verge of laughing. Sonic then leapt off the tree and sat next to Lucas.

''I could just leave Neos City whenever I want to, and maybe it'll happen one day, but that doesn't mean that I'd do it because of boredom,'' he explained. ''I like being at Neos City. After all, this is where all of my friends are, and we also know that Dr. Eggman has his base somewhere here. I can't just leave so easily.''

''Really?'' Lucas gave him a curious look.

''Yeah!'' Sonic exclaimed, acting as if it was obvious, and then started counting on his fingers. ''I already made several plans with my friends, like my training with Shadow, going on a hunt with Amy to find the best confectionery stores, searching for Rouge together with Knuckles since he is suspicious about her absence, having a hoverboard race with Jet, helping Silver with his vegetable garden, testing Tails' new invention, and of course, hanging out with you, Lucas.'' Sonic then grinned widely. ''See, I wouldn't even have the time to leave, since I'm so busy.''

Lucas simply chuckled in response, well aware that with his super speed, Sonic could easily get everything done in a short time, but decided not to continue the argument, feeling that Sonic had already proven his point. He was adamant to stay.

''Besides, I'm certain that you'll be doing your best to keep up with me.''

''Huh?'' Lucas gave Sonic a confused look.

''Your hoverboard! You're keeping asking Warren for modifications and then trying out how fast it goes in order to keep up with me. Don't think that I didn't notice,'' Sonic replied.

''Well, isn't that obvious?'' Lucas asked, still puzzled. ''You're fast, and as your partner, I don't want to slow you down.''

''I really appreciate it,'' Sonic replied, taking a deep breath and leaning against the tree, thinking a bit about their situation.

He understood well that Lucas had his own concerns in regards to their partnership. He wasn't someone who would want to go on some exhilarating adventure unless he had to be convinced, so him actually trying to race against the blue hedgehog was a huge step out of his comfort zone. Sonic wondered what Lucas' limits were, how far he would actually go to keep up with him, but he wasn't going to test that now all of sudden. After all, this was supposed to be something they'd both enjoy, and Sonic actually had plans for doing something that would be more at Lucas' pace. Both of them loved reading books, and Sonic wanted to surprise him with a quiet day at home. Of course, that would only happen as long as they weren't any attacks from Dr. Eggman, Ferra and Metal Sonic, or any of the Irregulars not affiliated with them.

''That's how it works, partners look out for each other,'' Sonic said loudly, not even noticing that he was voicing his thoughts until Lucas gave him a confused look.

''Uh, what do you mean?'' Lucas asked.

''I've just been musing about something,'' Sonic responded, giving him a sheepish smile.

xXx

Tails hummed as he read the data on the screen. He and Warren had managed to salvage something from Dr. Starline's AR Field generators, and they focused on how the platypus managed to lock them inside the AR Field and how to escape them from the inside. They had managed to develop a device that would affect the AR Field as long as the device was in use, but it needed further testing, and for that, they would have to recreate the AR Field Starline used and have one of their friends stay inside it. Tails asked Sonic for his help, who agreed, but also explained that he would be busy with hanging out with Lucas. Understanding that he wanted some bonding time with his partner, Tails instead decided to enter the AR Field himself and trying to break out of it. As a precaution, Warren would monitor the AR Field from the outside and if he got stuck, get Tails out remotely.

''I think we got everything,'' Tails said, turning to Warren. Warren placed his thumb over his lips, staring at the screen for a moment. He then turned to Tails.

''I suppose we could've done more, but yeah, I think we should move to the testing phase,'' Warren said, reaching for the device and placing it in the middle of the room. ''Ready?''

''Ready!'' Tails nodded, the device that would help him escape already in his hand. Warren activated the AR Field generator and the twin-tailed fox entered the barely visible, flickering AR Field. The AR Field itself was quite generic. It was just a grassland spreading endlessly with a bright blue sky and a sun partially obscured by clouds. Overall, nothing special. Tails then tapped his AR Visor, a holographic screen appearing beside him. Unlike the one Starline used, this AR Field allowed for communication between him and Warren.

''I'll try to get out of the AR Field without the Exit App,'' Tails told Warren.

Warren nodded in response and turned back to the computer screen, monitoring his partner's state. The way AR Fields were designed was that the person would find themselves inside a field that was placed like a layer over whatever location in the real world. While AR Fields didn't have a visible exit, unless one programmed one into it. However, there would be strange flickering where the exit of the AR Field was and Tails searched for it. He started walking around, but as he had expected, he couldn't find any exit.

''Warren, I'm trapped. I'll try to see whether I can use the Exit App,'' Tails said.

''Got it!''

Tails held up the device, pressing the button on it in hopes to distort the AR Field. ''Does it work?''

''It looks like it does. There is a distortion,'' Warren replied, noting the waves emitting from the Exit App. He fell silent, reading the incoming data, only to suddenly get a wave of errors. ''Wh-What the-?! Tails, are you okay?!'' In panic, Warren turned to the monitor, which now showed just static. He quickly turned to the computer, turning the AR Field off manually, with Tails appearing in the middle of the room, looking completely dazed.

''Tails, are you okay?'' Warren quickly walked over to his partner, checking on him. Fortunately, he didn't appear to be injured.

''Yeah, I am, but the AR Field suddenly started to fall apart,'' Tails replied, rubbing his temple. ''It seems as if the Exit App made everything worse.''

Warren sighed. ''If we managed to recreate Starline's AR Fields correctly, this would mean that he also had some kind of fail-safe in case someone had figured a way to escape them.''

''There has to be a way to exit those AR Fields without them falling apart,'' Tails said, walking over to the computer and looking at the data. ''Perhaps, we could use a sudden energy spike to break through it.''

''Or, perhaps it would be possible to teleport out of them?'' Warren suggested. Tails furrowed a brow.

''You mean, as in using Chaos Control? Should we call Shadow and Touka?'' he asked.

''I suppose we should try out all kinds of approaches,'' Warren replied, shrugging as he smiled sheepishly. ''Let's just hope they'll agree with this experiment.''

xXx

Shadow hummed as he threw another chocolate-coated coffee bean into his mouth, then returned the small bag of coffee beans to the plastic bag he was carrying. Kisaki had had asked him and Touka to go to the grocery store to buy some ingredients for dinner. Neither was in the mood for going to the grocery store, so they played Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who'd go. Obviously, Shadow lost.

I suppose it isn't that bad. I got myself a snack out of this deal. Shadow smirked, imagining Touka's annoyed look when she realized that she was deprived of some kind of snack or sweet just because she was too lazy to go along. Serves her right.

Shadow stopped when his AR Visor signaled an incoming message. Intrigued, he opened the holographic screen and saw, to his surprise, that for once, the message wasn't from Sonic, but from Tails. He was telling him how he and Warren needed his Chaos powers for a project they were working on and whether he could drop by the Taylor Workshop. Shadow thought about the proposal for a moment. He certainly wasn't in mood for any kind of experiments, especially after his awful experience at the Codex Research Facility. However, this wasn't Codex and he knew that he could trust Tails and Warren. If they were calling him for help, it had to be for a good reason. After thinking about it for a moment, he vanished in a flash of cyan light, appearing in the living room of the Kageura household, startling Kisaki.

''Shadow, you're back-'' Kisaki was felt her heart racing when Shadow appeared right in front of her, only for him to reach for something inside the plastic bag before giving it to her.

''Where's Touka?'' he asked.

''Upstairs, why?'' Kisaki asked.

''We have something to do,'' Shadow replied curtly. Kisaki just smiled in response, figuring it had to do with his and Touka's newfound friends. After all, they would sometimes talk about Team Neos and what they did.

''Okay, but could you do me a favor?'' Kisaki asked, with Shadow stopping on the stairs to turn to her. ''Next time, don't give a heart-attack with your warping power.''

Shadow snorted, cracking a tiny smile. ''No promises.''

He went upstairs to the attic, spotting Touka reading a book on the bed. She looked up, noticing him staring at her. ''Hey, Shadow…''

''We're going to the Taylor Workshop,'' Shadow suddenly said as he sat on the bed, reaching for the bag with the chocolate-covered coffee beans and placing another in his mouth, eating it. Touka rose an eyebrow as she sat up.

''Why?''

''Tails asked me to help him and Warren with a project. It involves Chaos energy,'' Shadow replied, eating another coffee bean. ''I had figured that we might need Chaos Surge depending on what they're planning to do.''

''I see…'' Touka muttered, only to narrow her eyes when she saw Shadow loudly eating and enjoying the coffee beans. ''You didn't buy me anything, did you?''

''You should've come along,'' Shadow replied, smirking at her in amusement. Touka just groaned in response.

xXx

Dr. Starline placed his hand under his beak, his eyebrow raised as he stared at the monitor. He had been here for a couple of days and he had to yet understand the brilliant mind of Dr. Eggman. Fortunately, it appeared that his idol was quite flattered about his genuine interest in the project and would answer whatever question Starline had. Of course, it was obvious that Eggman was just ego-driven and as long as he had someone compliment him on his project or be interested in them, he was satisfied.

''Sir, may I ask you a question in regards to the AR Fields?'' Starline asked curiously, clearly trying to understand what was shown on the monitor before him.

''Of course, Starline,'' Eggman said, still focused on fine-tuning his project.

''Is it really necessary to make every AR Field unique? Wouldn't it be much more efficient to just create the same AR Field with minor differences to suit the victim that is trapped inside it?'' Starline asked. To his amazement, Eggman appeared to be quite amused by the question.

''If I wanted to do what you suggested, I would've done it already. However, I won't, because I want to give myself a challenge,'' Eggman responded, with Starline being confused by his response. ''I know that you want efficiency, but I believe that we should always strive for more. What is the thrill of a battle if you don't put in some flair into your style?''

''May I know what your style is, Sir?'' Starline asked curiously. ''I know that you have an affinity for robotics and that your current goal is to conquer Starpoint Area, but what do you plan to do with it? I imagine that turning it into an industrial zone would be the end goal.''

''While I wouldn't mind more factories for my Badniks, I actually have other plans with it,'' Eggman responded, snapping his fingers. On the monitor above them appeared a huge map with the Eggman Empire logo, with Starline wondering what they were looking at. ''This is Eggmanland, a city/amusement park hybrid and my ultimate robotic utopia. It would be the capital of the Eggman Empire, from where my rule would spread.''

Starline gave him a blank look. ''Eh… A-An amusement park?'' He shook his head, still baffled and tried to collect himself. ''I-I don't understand. Why is it an amusement park?''

''It's simple, I like amusement parks,'' Eggman replied in a blunt tone, then grinned deviously. ''If I want my enemies to suffer while surrounded by the smell of old cotton candy and oil, then I'll make it happen.''

''I see! You're quite a visionary, Sir!'' Starline said, having to admit that, while shocking, Eggman's idea of turning Neos City and, by proxy, Starpoint Area into an amusement park was a rather unique.

''Of course I am,'' Eggman said, putting the finishing touches to the AR Fields. ''As for Sonic and his friends, they will fight on the battle field I have chosen.''

xXx

Warren and Tails heard a knock on the door, with Warren opening it and seeing Touka and Shadow waiting outside, with Shadow addressing them, ''You said that you needed my help with something.''

''Yeah, we do,'' Tails said, motioning to him to follow him inside. ''Remember how Sonic, Knuckles and I got stuck inside those AR Fields Starline had created?'' Shadow nodded. ''Warren and I had managed to recreate it, and we're currently trying to figure out how to break out of it. One of the ideas we had was the use of Chaos Control.''

''Do you really need Chaos Conntrol to escape an AR Field?'' Shadow asked, raising an eyebrow.

''We have tried out other methods, and we figured that we should also take a shot at Chaos Control,'' Warren explained. ''Will you be okay with that?''

''What do I have to do?'' Shadow asked.

''You simply enter the AR Field and then try to warp out of it with Chaos Control,'' Tails said, pointing at the computer nearby. ''Warren and I will monitor what is going on, and in the case you cannot escape it, we'll turn off the AR Field remotely.''

Shadow scoffed, while Touka rolled her eyes at his reaction. ''I don't think that will be necessary.''

''We just want to be ready for anything,'' Tails replied. ''Besides, if Starline teams up with Eggman and they attempt to use these kinds of AR Fields, we'll know how to escape them.''

''I see,'' Shadow muttered, with Tails then pressing a few buttons on the computer and activating the AR Field. Shadow then entered it, finding himself inside a green field. A holographic monitor opened beside him, with Tails appearing on it.

''Okay, could just activate your Chaos powers, but without using Chaos Control? I want to see how the AR Field reacts to it,'' Tails explained. Shadow nodded and closed his eyes, Chaos energy crackling across his body, then waited for further instructions.

In the meantime, Touka was looking over Warren's shoulder at the computer monitor, the latter looking at the incoming data. ''Is this good news or bad news?''

''I'd say it's neutral news. The AR Field doesn't appear to be affected by just having the Chaos energy active,'' Warren replied.

''Perhaps, Shadow should try using Chaos Blast?'' Touka suggested in a dry tone.

''No, that might either have no effect on the AR Field or destroy it,'' Tails responded, turning to the monitor again. ''Okay, now try Chaos Control.''

He received no response from the dark hedgehog within the AR Field, who was enveloped in a cyan flash of light and then promptly appeared back inside the workshop. Understandably stunned by Shadow's feat, Tails quickly turned to the monitor, him and Warren analyzing the results. ''It looks like, while the AR Field did get distorted for a moment, it didn't fall apart.''

''How do you feel?'' Touka asked Shadow, who looked at his gloved hands, then turned back to his sister.

''I feel no different than usual,'' he told her.

''It seems that one can indeed use Chaos Control to escape those AR Fields,'' Warren said, only for Shadow to cut him off.

''Hmph, was there any doubt?'' he asked. Warren just gave him a sheepish look.

''I believe that we now have our answer to why Starline didn't target you, Shadow,'' Tails said. ''Those AR Fields can't contain Chaos energy.''

''I have my doubts that this will be a permanent weakness,'' Shadow replied, with Tails and Warren giving him a confused look. ''You saw Dr. Eggman creating a robot that could withstand my Chaos Blast and even Silver's psychokinesis. If Dr. Starline is with him, they have probably found a way to overcome this obvious flaw.''

''Yeah, you're right,'' Tails responded, only to give him a confident gaze. ''That's why we plan on researching it until we find a way to counter it. Your Chaos Control is a good start.''

Shadow simply nodded in acknowledgement.

xXx

''Orbot, I want a status report! Where are the rodent and his friends?'' Dr. Eggman told the red spherical robot, who pored over a monitor.

''We have a signal coming from Sentoraru-'' Orbot paused, turning to the monitor again.

''Oh, it's now at Erekiteru… no, now it's going towards Kita,'' Cubot chimed in.

''That has to be Sonic,'' Eggman grumbled, taking a look at the monitor as the signal changed at rapid speed. ''It looks like the rodent has gone out for a run. So, let's slow him down a bit. Dr. Starline, if you please.''

''Of course, Doctor!'' Dr. Starline bowed to his idol and then turned to the nearby computer and pressed a button. Then, a new screen opened in front of all of them, Ferra and Metal Sonic standing in the back of the room and observing what was going on. As expected, the monitor before them showed Sonic and Lucas trapped inside a custom-made AR Field, one filled with greenery and palm trees, and surrounded by a sea and waterfalls.

''Ho, ho, ho, this turned out better than I had expected!'' Eggman laughed mirthfully, a malicious grin spreading on his expression. ''Welcome to Act 1, Hedgehog!''

xXx

Sonic and Lucas had to admit that they had absolutely no clue what had happened. One moment, they were racing towards Kita, the next they found themselves in a completely new place. It was a giant field blessed with greenery and beautiful blue lakes. Topographically, it varied from having a plateau-like terrain, with short mountains; to being a mountainous area with massive mountains, slopping cliffs, giant peaks, and tight paths high up in the sky supported by natural pillars. Either way, the location was filled with large waterfall vistas, palm trees, and tropical flora of various types. Most distinctively, the soil was checkered brown, and most of the local plant life appeared to have unfamiliar geometric appearances to it. However, what made this place incredibly unique was the ''crazy'' terrain. Though there were gently-slopping hills, the whole area was filled to the brim with impressive set pieces such as loops, corkscrews, floating platforms, tunnels, among others; which left an impression of a ''twisty, bouncy beauty of nature''.

''Huh, where are we?'' Sonic asked, both confused by this location and mesmerized by it. It felt quite familiar, albeit in an uncanny way, as if he was here before. ''Hey, Lucas, do you know… Uh, Lucas?'' Sonic cast a puzzled look at his partner, who appeared to be not only astonished by their surroundings, but also seemed to have recognized them. However, he didn't respond to Sonic's call, still trying to process what he was seeing. ''Hey, Earth to Lucas!''

''Huh?'' Lucas shook his head as he felt Sonic tugging his hand, the Hedgehog giving him a questioning look.

''Dude, you look like you saw a ghost,'' Sonic told him. ''Do you know where we are?''

''Yeah, I do… and I can't believe that we're here,'' Lucas replied. ''This is Green Hill Zone!''

''Green Hill…'' Sonic trailed off, trying to remember where he heard those words before, only to snap his fingers. ''You mean, from the video games?''

''Yeah, exactly!'' Lucas nodded in response, then stared at his surroundings. ''But, I don't understand- How did we end up here? Is this an AR Field?''

''I'll call Tails, maybe he and Warren can help us,'' Sonic replied, tapping on his AR Visor. However, the holographic screen that appeared before him showed nothing but static. ''Uh, this is not good.'' Sonic closed the holographic screen, thinking about their situation for a moment, only to frown and give Lucas a serious look. ''Hey, how much do you want to bet that this is another one of Eggman's schemes?''

''Well, he seems to be the type of person who'd come up with something like this,'' Lucas responded, placing his hands on his hips. ''I suppose that we're inside an AR Field, because there's no way that Green Hill would just appear out of nowhere.'' He then furrowed a brow, groaning in annoyance, ''Why Green Hill, though? Why not some other place? I get it, it's iconic, but I dunno, couldn't we have gone to some other place? Maybe Little Planet or Angel Island or some other place? I don't mind being here, but still…''

''For someone who doesn't mind being in Green Hill, you sound just as grumpy as Shadow,'' Sonic commented, giving him a sly smile.

''You'd be also fed up with Green Hill if the video games tried to kept shoving it down your throat as the standard location instead of coming up with something new,'' Lucas replied. ''Trust me, I'm not the only person who complained about it.''

''So, what do we do now?'' Sonic asked. Lucas reached for his hoverboard, taking a deep breath.

''I suppose we should find an exit, if there is one,'' he replied.

''Right, because there is no way Egghead would leave us here without some kind of challenge,'' Sonic added, and then took a starting position. Lucas rose an eyebrow. ''Well, if we're already here, why not play along with the game? Who knows, maybe it'll be fun.''

Lucas snorted in amusement, getting on the hoverboard. ''Okay, but watch out where you're going. I'm sure that there will be trap and Badniks.''

''Pfft, as if that is going to be any problem for me,'' Sonic replied, then focused on the green path before him. ''Ready, set, go!''

At once, both Sonic and Lucas then raced down Green Hill Zone, hoping to find a way to escape it.

xXx

''Hey, Makoto, Silver!''

The teenager and the teenage hedgehog looked up, surprised when they heard Lily calling for them, her and Knuckles approaching the two at Eden.

''Hey, guys, what brings you here?'' Silver asked.

''We've been searching for Rouge. Have you seen her anywhere?'' Knuckles asked.

''No, I'm sorry, but we didn't see her,'' Silver replied, glancing at Makoto, who shook his head in response.

''Why are you searching for her?'' Makoto asked.

''Because she hadn't appeared to challenge me in the past few days. This is not her usual behavior,'' Knuckles answered.

''We had asked Sonic to keep an eye out for her,'' Lily added. ''We also came across Minami and Amy, and they told us they'd be looking out for her.''

Makoto fell silent for a moment, humming. ''I don't know whether this will help, but I heard from a visitor how a white Irregular has been terrorizing people at Kita. The Hunters were on the case, but the Irregular has disappeared before they could get them.''

''A white Irregular…'' Lily muttered, trailing off. Knuckles suddenly shook his head, his arms crossed on his chest.

''I sincerely doubt that it is Rouge,'' he told them. ''She wouldn't be interested in tormenting people unless they have gems on their person.''

''Yeah, you're right,'' Makoto noted.

''Why are you so worried about Rouge?'' Silver asked Knuckles. The echidna frowned, glaring at the hedgehog.

''I am not worried about her. I am well aware that she's capable of taking care of herself,'' Knuckles told him, with Silver's mouth opening as he gave the echidna a stunned look.

''Uh, that's not what I meant-''

''I've been merely trying to figure out what her next move is,'' Knuckles continued. Before Silver, or Makoto for that matter, could respond, both suddenly disappeared. Knuckles and Lily were shocked when their friends vanished, only for the surroundings around them to morph and turn into a completely different location.

Lily felt the ground beneath her vanishing and finding herself mid-air. She fell, but was saved just in time by Knuckles, who had grabbed her hand, holding onto a stone platform. ''Hold on!''

''Don't let go!'' Lily shouted back, the wind whistling in her ears and her legs flailing as the echidna tried to pull her up. She didn't dare to look down below, instead try to grab onto the edges of the platform. Knuckles grunted, putting all of his strength into pulling her up. Luckily, he managed to pull her over the edge, with Lily crawling onto the platform and both sitting down as they tried to catch their breath.

''Are you okay?'' Knuckles asked her.

''Yeah, but…'' Lily rubbed her temple, looking around. ''Where are we? This is not Eden.''

''It appears that we're at some kind of floating platform,'' Knuckles replied, with both taking a closer look at their surroundings.

The place appeared to be is an ancient, aerial temple, located high up in the sky above the clouds. It was made up of ancient ruins made of white, mossy stone that float in the sky; as well as of dark blue glass with a technological pattern. There were various pieces of ancient technology, but the ruins themselves, however, were very damaged, and looked like they would collapse at any moment. Apart from the moss, fruit palm trees were also in the area. Both Knuckles and Lily felt weirdly familiar with this location, with Knuckles feeling as if he had been here before, while Lily was certain that she did see it before. It took her a moment to remember.

''Wait, are we… in Sky Sanctuary?'' she asked aloud. Knuckles gave her a confused look.

''Sky… Sanctuary?'' he asked, feeling as if he should be familiar with that name. Lily perked up, walking around the platform.

''Yeah, this is Sky Sanctuary! We're on Angel Island, a place in the Sonic the Hedgehog video games!'' Lily explained to him. She breathed, almost laughing due to just how shocked she was by the sudden realization. ''Knux, we can go explore Angel Island, maybe even go find the Master Emerald!''

''The Master Emerald?'' Knuckles narrowed his eyes, remembering how Lily had told him how the Master Emerald had been protected by the in-game character he was based on. ''I suppose we could, but wouldn't it be better to learn how we had ended up on Angel Island.''

''Yeah, you're right,'' Lily replied, giving him a sheepish smile. ''I suppose I got caught up in the moment.''

''I understand your desire to explore the island. Perhaps, we might find an answer in regards to how we had ended up here,'' Knuckles replied. ''Do you know your way around here?''

''Well, we are at Sky Sanctuary, so give me a moment until I figure out where we should go next,'' Lily said, looking around as if searching for a clue. ''If I remember correctly, Sky Sanctuary is supposed to be accessed via teleporters from Hidden Palace Zone, and it also has a connection to the Starfall Islands. Perhaps, we might even run into a Chao.'' Lily turned to her partner. ''We should go explore for now and familiarize ourselves with the area.''

Knuckles nodded, with the two then getting off the floating platform and taking one of the walkways through the Zone, hoping to find an answer to their situation.

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#Sonic Cyber Revolution (Masterlist)

[shadowoffandoms]

cw: long ramble post that i made at 4 am before I go and get five hours of sleep let me just say; wow, it feels like I'm seeing the rise and end of Sonic games.

Seeing all the amazing fanart creators have done gives me a feeling of endness that I can't describe fully, but it also reminds me there's more to come.

Sonic Frontiers was only the beginning, and Sega is going to actively try to make something akin to it.

It's the goddamn start of a new generation, and I'm so glad I was looped into it. I've always had my eye on Sonic (stares at Shadow The Hedgehog), even if I've never played any of the games myself or seen the movies (I DON'T HAVE PARAMOUNT, I WOULD IF I COULD.) But it always seemed like a banger series with cool ass characters but learning there's lore? What the hell are Mobians? What the hell do the Chaos Emeralds do? To be frank, Sonic Prime got me back into loop from the killer ratings. I was able to watch that, thankfully. And god I craved more. I remembered hearing about Frontiers when it was going to come out, at the time going "oh cool" and carrying on, but now? IT'S ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT! I LOVE THE STORY, THE DYNAMICS, THE TENSION THAT IS SO SOMETHING WITH KNUCKLES AND SONIC, EVERYTHING. SAGE IS BABY, IVO NEEDS A GODDAMN NICE AND HAPPY FAMILY OH SO HELP ME GOD.

tl;dr: i am now obsessed with a blue hedgehog that goes god levels of speed and his 50 year old rival who seems edgy but isn't really that edgy

[iloriatower]

9 people you want to get to know better tag game-- tagged by @nearo (thanks <3)

Three ships: Gideon, Ianthe and Paul from The Locked Tomb series. I think they would make such a beautiful mess of a throuple. I would love to see Abe and Jack from the Repairman Jack series have a cozy sunset to their adventures <3 Inuyasha and Koga because the tension is unbearable and I just want them to kiss and be happy.

First ship: Sonic and Knuckles! I read a big 48-page special and the whole time I remember thinking I just wanted them to fight a bunch, and then got very confused when they were fighting and that changed to wanting to see them kiss. The hard evidence of this is lost to time.

Last Song: Burn Your Village by Kiki Rockwell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMtnktpF_t0

Last Movie: Paddington <3

Currently Reading: Inuyasha, Ranma 1/2, Guyver Also Imajica by Clive Barker, but it's been a few months since I picked it up.

Currently Watching: Nothing :) Consumptive energy is directed to reading lately!

Currently Consuming: lemon lime gatorade cuz i want that sour, baby. And also Pokemon moon, if games can be included.

Currently Craving: Romantic touch. Gummy snacks. Eating out at all anywhere i miss it so much.

[sunriseinorbit]

i have thoughts about sonic frontiers and nowhere to put them, so i am throwing them under a read more on tumblr dot com that you are free to peruse if you so desire!

okay i know it's going to sound like i'm complaining, so i want to stress first that i enjoyed this game a lot, as you can probably tell! there's a lot of good here, and at the very least, i would definitely consider it a step in the right direction. however. the honeymoon phase is waning.

thought number 1: sega hire this man

a lot of people have said that this game needed more time in the oven, and while i do agree with that, i think the thing it needed most was more people. i don't remember how many people worked on this game, but it is a massive step up from forces and deserved a much larger team to match. while it may not have solved the conceptual problems with the game (which i promise i will get to) it definitely would have softened the technical blow, because as it stands, and as i'm sure anyone who's played the game has noticed, there are a lot of technical issues, particularly with 3d-2d transitions just not working. (also maybe it would have given us more complete 4th and 5th islands but that's a discussion for

thought number 2: rhea island

rhea island is the point in the game where it became very obvious that sonic team ran out of time, money, or (more likely) both. and that makes me sad because rhea island could have been so cool as the spot where the tension in the story reaches its peak, and here's just a few ideas for how i would have made it better:

have something to do between the towers. maybe you have to unlock the map to figure out where the next tower is. maybe you have to go through a maze or do another challenge to find the next tower. maybe you have to do a miniboss rush. literally anything would be better than what we have right now.

DYNAMIC MUSIC. rhea and ouranos island only have one music track each where the other islands had seven, and rhea could have used it the most. with every tower you find out something new about the ancients and sonic gets closer to death, i would have loved to see the music reflect that somehow.

something at the end. my personal pick would be end of the world from sonic 06 but good, where tails, knuckles, amy, and possibly sage go through a cyber space gauntlet to save sonic, but i also don't know how that would work gameplay/playstyle wise.

thought number 3: sonic frontiers would be a better game if cyber space just straight up was not in it

i don't know if that's a hot take, but i was watching somecallmejohnny's review and he mentioned that he enjoyed the little platforming challenges (not the memory token stuff, like the part on ares island where you have to go over the water to get to knuckles) more than cyber space, which is something i totally agree with. not only because in those challenges you have your open zone speed upgrades, but because they directly address the elephant in the room when it comes to cyber space, which is what this section is entirely about:

the recycling of old level content is absolutely fucking ridiculous. i could forgive reusing level aesthetics if they were from something we'd never seen before (and since cyber space is supposed to be running through memories, it would have been cool to revisit something new) but no, it's just green hill, chemical plant, and sky sanctuary with reused generations assets to match (and most of the city levels don't show up until ouranos). i do not want to see green hill zone ever again.

but frontiers threw something new into the mix with reused level layouts and geometry, and i don't think that's inherently bad. i think calling back to specific set pieces or iconic chunks of old levels could be really cool, like circling the tower to get up to the rocket in metal harbor. however, i think the key is doing it in moderation, which frontiers does not do. because they will just copy entire levels. granted, i didn't notice a lot of the reused levels my first time playing, but that doesn't change how blatant they are.

and i think it's especially egregious when combined with the reused aesthetics, because some of these levels are copied from their sonic generations counterparts. and they use generations graphics and assets. at that point, why am i not just playing generations? i'm definitely not playing the cyber space levels for the physics!

i really think they should have just put the energy they used for cyber space into just making more interesting challenges and stuff in the overworld, because i had a lot of fun with the stuff that was already there and as much as i enjoyed the levels, on a conceptual level cyber space feels like a holdover from the forces era and sticks out like a sore thumb.