#sonar au

[scribblestatic]

Big Retcon to the Sonar Series History

Okay, so, after some thought, I'm going to change a little bit about the story. After all, I've been writing this for, what, two...three years or so? Changes abound.

Some elements of the previous retcon will still stand. However, here's essentially the third draft details of the story:

Project Sonar started as a pet-project on Earth to study the relationship between chaos energy and water, partially based on the power seen from Chaos and Chao and their need for access to fresh water. He was also curious about Chaos Chao and their endless lives. Chaos Chao are rare, but they had documentation of their existence by that point.

To start his studies, Dr. Gerald Robotnik used several ingredients to attempt making a subject he could test. Some of these ingredients included Mobian hedgehog cells, Mobian wolf cells, residual power from Chaos, a Chao's grey cocoon, a Chaos Emerald, and more.

He used Mobian cells because many Mobians can also use Chaos energy, and since they are recognized as sovereign individuals, he cannot study them experimentally. So, he aims to create his own Mobian who can do similar, if not enhanced, actions.

Dr. Gerald Robotnik has several Ph.Ds. that allow him to do so on his own with relative success, including in robotics, biogenetics, bioengineering, and history. That being said, his first few tries failed because no life restored within the cocoon before it faded from existence.

Because he doesn't have funding for these experiments, he goes out and collects the grey cocoons on his own. He also acquired the residual power and Mobian cells through data collection and a few well-placed "community outreach programs," in which he integrated himself into a local Mobian population by providing free medical care...during which he acquired many, many samples of "willingly donated" Mobian blood and other cellular tissues and substances.

A narrative section for this point:

He had a preference toward Mobian hedgehogs simply because one that volunteered at his community outreach center helped him collect the most samples and had been a genuinely pleasant person. Her name was Aleena, a practicing nurse with a kind disposition. She worked for him after he helped save her life after a car accident. Out of all the samples he used for testing, the ones he'd collected during her recovery surgery had been the most responsive, likely because he'd also acquired one of her ovaries.

His choice to include Mobian wolf DNA was admittedly a bit less scientific. Wolves had a deep connection with the moon, which was also intimately connected with the water. Since his studies surrounded the use of chaos energy and water together, he figured adding Mobian wolf DNA would just kinda fit. Gerald got the wolf DNA from a burly Mobian who was stoic and had a severe-looking face, but who only showed up at his clinic so much because he often got hurt helping others. His name was Logan. He and Aleena eventually fell in love, and Logan proposed to her.

Because of Aleena's accident, she lost both ovaries, one to the wheels, the other to a doctor's hands. Despite wolves being pack Mobians, he married Aleena, knowing he wouldn't have children, which was a big deal back in the mid 40s. Gerard attended their wedding, eating at the potluck after the service and clapping as they cut their wedding cake, knowing full well Aleena possibly could've had children had he not taken her other ovary.

Later on, while having trouble finding the right combination of cells, chaos energy, and Chaos Emerald exposure to create what would essentially be an artificial Chao-based Mobian, he thought of their wedding day. He also thought of how lovely it had been to attend, especially considering how much Aleena and Logan loved each other. Huh...wouldn't it be funny if he made their child in his lab? He didn't exactly have Logan's sperm, but if he did have bone fragments from one of Logan's many heroic incidents, so if he played around with the genetic code a bit, he could essentially do it anyway...

So that's what he did.

He used seven different gray cocoons and tested several genetic mixtures plus other items needed to possibly hatch his own custom Mobian specimen. Of course, he knew he was running on borrowed time since he was using gray cocoons instead of pink ones, but he didn't want too many preconceived desires or traits to color his future creation. He wanted as close to a blank slate as possible, and he was more likely to get it out of a gray cocoon than a pink one.

He could've also tried using an egg, a truly blank slate, but Chao were known to be quite fiercely protective of their eggs, so meaningfully acquiring one without gaining negative attention would be rather difficult. He wanted to at least work in the shadows to keep from gaining too much attention before it was due. Besides, if he was able to bring a Chao back from its dying path, wouldn't that be exemplary? There would be so much more to explore on that front as well.

And what do you know?

Although six of the cocoons continued to fade, one of them turned a pale, pastel pink color.

Something inside was alive, and it was coming back.

He started doing scans, measuring its growth, and everything. All the duds disappeared naturally, so he was able to put all his focus on the single pink cocoon that remained pale but grew slightly over time.

The cocoon got bigger than usual Chao cocoons, whose sizes typically don't differ much between their child and mature forms. He knew he was succeeding well when he shined a light into the cocoon and saw little bitty hands at the ends of its arms.

He waited and waited, continuing to nurture the cocoon...but one day, it started fading back to gray. Life signs were decreasing, and if he didn't hurry, 001 (as he started calling it) would die.

Dr. Robotnik began working tirelessly to mimic the environment Chao would thrive in, and yet, it continued to gray out. So, it needed something somewhere between a Chao's needs and a Mobian's needs. Mobians were generally born live instead of in eggs, so a live birth...

He considered the idea, then went forward with it.

He created an isolation tube and placed the cocoon in it, a Chaos Emerald embedded into the top of the system. He then pumped it full of water, completely submerging the cocoon and allowing the chaos energy to flow through the water.

The cocoon...changed.

The pink tone faded, turning pale blue instead and elongating into a longer teardrop shape. Over a few more days, the cocoon hardened into a pale egg-like form that remained suspended in the water, continuing to give off restored signs of life.

He just may do it...he just might!

And then...one day, he wakes up from where he was sitting at a nearby desk, hearing a tapping sound. He woke slowly, but then startles and gets up, looking over at the container.

Pale green eyes stare back at him.

A Mobian is floating in the water, the egg nowhere to be seen (watching a recording later shows that it dissolved into foam). It looks to be a cross between a hedgehog and a wolf, with fur and spines on its head. It also has a long furry tail more wolf-like than hedgehog. It's covered in blue fur, with peachy tones on its muzzle, arms, and a little upside down teardrop shape on its chest.

Its sclera are pale green, irises a stronger green.

Despite not appearing to have gills or anything that would allow it to breathe underwater, it's doing so just fine. It's also giving off a high chaos energy signature, which is likely the reason for its green-tinted eyes.

But it's a success. He's succeeded in making his own Mobian. A product that he can study as he pleases.

---

It took so much effort to grow 001, so he doesn't try taking it out of the water just yet. Instead, he installs and uses a large freshwater aquarium for his initial tests. He doesn't start with anything too strenuous--just trying to see what the little one can do and how it evolved inside the egg.

The first thing he notes is that, again, it doesn't require gills to breathe underwater. It seems to use chaos energy, as though it simply breathes and powers its cells using that method rather than breathing naturally. As such, it could theoretically survive in environments absent of oxygen.

He also recognizes that 001 has paw pads on its hands and feet, so it theoretically could survive on land. But still, better safe than sorry for the time being.

Despite being underwater, 001 also recognized and quickly learned speech patterns. It learned to recognize orders very quickly, such as moving up, down, left or right, where to wait for dinner, and others. 001 didn't really show much ego growth at first--it had a habit of staring rather blankly and didn't show much interest in doing anything but watching him. However, within a few days, its sense of self became more prominent.

It began favoring food with stronger flavors than others, and it had gained a habit of swimming quick circuits around the tank. It also started mimicking his facial expressions, trying them out on its own face, so Dr. Robotnik decided to bring in expression cards with the name of the emotions on it.

Once 001 actually managed to stiltedly repeat the word back to him and it managed to find little hidden items he placed around the tank despite its lack of aquatic features, he decided to add a codename for his pet-project.

While he would only every record data for it under SE-8A429-001, he would refer to it as Project Sonar. Though it was something of a false name, considering the study had nothing to do with locating items via sound navigation, it would at least help keep his experiment under wraps until he needed to expand on it.

[toxicityriot]

Roblox game but make it an AU

[worldless-daily]

... I know this might sound a bit vain, but perhaps the Puppet Dance! Duo next?

AKA these two sillies

Day 15 // "Puppet Dance Duo"

[fancybendyboi]

Wait is toon Nathan a sea creature now? He doesn't look like one, is that why he came up from the water????

Ooc// ahah- no- um....... I don't know how to answer this without giving away the small project but-

The answer is no-

To put it simply because I'm not doing this half of the project but Nathan jumped into the ocean of his world which is slowly becoming tainted with ink due to Sin taking over the world and turning it Toonified ✨

In a sort of well whatever happens happens, better than being- a play thing for a monster yeah??

Nathan's expectation when falling into the ocean was to do what ink does when it goes into water, disappears into the water or he simply goes bye-bye-

But that's not what we see happens to him, he ends up in a completely different world

Nothing about him turns into a sea creature, nothing about him is water related at all, he just.... Teleported I'm going to say LOL

[the-antiapocalyptic-man]

Green Lantern Sketchpage, mostly redesigns of Silver Age characters. I want to recanonize Oans modifying Lanterns with invasive nanosurgery to kill their fear responses since it ties back into Krona and the Manhunters really nicely and provides a neater pipeline from Hal getting the ring to eventually being resurrected as a Spectre.

Ganthet got me thinking about the potential of Oans as fifth-dimensional entities, but that's a deep rabbit hole for another time.

Evil Star, Doctor Polaris, Sonar, and Tattooed Man are all obviously Silver Age GL villains, but I tried modernizing them a bit. Abel has a lot of potential, but I think part of that is giving him a higher force to channel, possibly the Anti-Life Equation?

Airwave I just think is great. Love Airwave, Airwave solo ongoing when, etc.

[lordgrimwing]

TWDD series version of Finging Bigfoot, but it's called Finging Entwives. This week, Legolas is leaning about using ground penetrative sonar to look for root evidence.

[cartoonfanaticmonsterrobotalien]

Solar Opposites: Mighty Solars The Movie Ch. 11

The next day, Miss Frankie is heading towards the metal detectors so she can take out anything magnetic. Then suddenly…

Miss Frankie: Wh-what’s happening to me?!

Miss Frankie suddenly gets metal claws

Police Officer: Holy shit!

Miss Frankie accidentally stabbed the guard as she screams in horror. Next, Principal Cooke was about to head into the lounge to get coffee until suddenly he blazed there.

Principal Cooke: Woah.

Then, Ms. Perez starts writing on her board until the power goes and she starts glowing, much to her shock. Mia was getting coffee until she can through the wall with her eyes.

Mia: What the fuck?

Later, Kevin was gettiing mail, until he digitals in the house, much to his shock as he faints. Then, Randall is staring at a Blackhole, that he actually created.

Randall: Wow...

Then, Darcy is putting their own mug until she creates a Star blast as she gasp. Then, Jamie was reading a book, until suddenly he is on fire.

Jamie: FUUUUUUUUCK! I’M ON FIRE!

Darcy: gasps Jamie!

Jamie heads outside and drop and roll, only to realize he is unharmed. Finally, Sherbet is at a Junior job at a sweets parlor, until suddenly her hands starts fizzing grape soda.

Sherbet: Huh? suddenly summons scotch mints Oh fuck! Everyone take cover!

Sherbet then accidentally combine the scotch mints as it makes a huge delicious explosion. Everyone is splattered in a mess. Sherbet looks at everyone in a nervous regret and runs off in a fast pace. Later, the humans starts panicking once they meet up with each other.

Jamie: What is going on?!

Miss Frankie: I don’t know! I got Wolverine claws but it wasn’t Yumyulack and Jesse this time and Perez can glow, Cooke can blaze and Mia has x-ray vision!

Ms. Perez: Okay okay everyone calm down.

Kevin: Well what do we do?! You’re not the only ones! I had powers like the movie Tron, Jamie is like a human torch, Darcy has Star powers, Randall can summon black hole and this kid here has powers based on desserts. We need a plan guys!

???: offscreen I have one.

The humans turn and sees the two hooded persons.

??? #1: How about we train you guys? To control your powers?

Sherbet: How?

??? #2: It’s okay. We’re friends. We have a training course. Come on.

Principal Cooke: You are? Huh, I think that’s good idea. What do you guys think?

Miss Frankie: I say...let's do it!

The Rest: Yeah. Seems a bit shady but I’ll take it. Great idea. Let’s trust them.

The scene then cuts to the training course.

Sherbet: Wow. That’s big.

Principal Cooke: I know right?!

Randall: So… when do we start?

Cue the song, “Untraveled Road” from Thousand Foot Krunch:

The humans put on training suits.

Miss Frankie: I look ridiculous.

Darcy: I think you look nice.

Jamie: I know you always look pretty, Darcy.

Darcy: Aw. Thanks boo. kisses Jamie on the cheek

???: Okay! Guys, it’s time!

??? #2: Get ready!

The training montage starts. Miss Frankie starts balancing. Principal Cooke is climbing up while dodging wrecking balls as he yelps. Sherbet is meditating with cotton candy color lights flashing. Jamie busy doing twirls to keep his fire powers balance. Kevin is doing electronic tennis while trying to dodge balls.

Kevin: Oh shit! dodges balls Fuck fuck fuck! Aaaah!

Randall is busy trying to use his black holes right. Mia is using her eye vision to see through the right stuff. Ms. Perez is busy concentrating on her glowing powers. Soon, enough as the training progress, the humans’ powers abilities starts to feel controlled as they starts to get the hang of it. The scene then cuts to Darcy doing gymnastic right and suddenly recieved a super suit of her own. Jamie blushes.

Darcy/???: Wow! I look rocking awesome guys!

Soon enough, each of the humans receive their own suits one by one as the training montage ends. The other humans grow amazed by this suits.

Sherbet/???: So, how do I look?

Randall/???: You look awesome!

Ms. Perez/???: I always knew look the sun.

Miss Frankie/???: Pretty great! Ooh, we should tell Korvo and the others about this later! They will be surprised!

We then cut to the Solars' house where AISHA is working and is worried about Korvo.

AISHA: to herself Oh man, how am I gonna tell the family? I don’t think I should do this. If I tell them, I’ll break their hearts. They are so happy with Sonya. I can’t destroy it…

Korvo: offscreen AISHA? Is everything alright?

AISHA turns around and sighs happily.

AISHA: Yes. Everything is fine…

Korvo: Thanks. I’ll leave you to it.. leaves

“What Was I Made For” from China Ann McClain plays in the background:

AISHA then flashes back to the good times she has with Korvo and his family throughout their lives. AISHA sheds a tear, when suddenly she hears something digitalizing.

AISHA: What the hell?

Then, MAX appears while laughing as AISHA screams and backs away.

AISHA: MAX?!

MAX: Hey, AISHA!

MAX hugs AISHA. Then she sees the family staring in shock.

Yumyulack: AISHA, is that another you?

AISHA laughs nervously.

Korvo: MAX?! What are you doing here?!

MAX: Korvo?! What’s up?! Your sister sent me here to keep on eye on you guys with AISHA. sees Sonya Who’s this kid?

Terry: Wait. You know the purple guy?

Korvo: Yeah. He’s a prototype my sister made back in Shlorp. gasp as he smiles in tears Oh my God! She’s here?! What did she say?!

MAX: Well, she wanted me to tell you-

AISHA gasp and covers MAX’s mouth.

AISHA: laughs nervously MAX, a word in private?!

AISHA sighs.

AISHA: MAX, we can’t tell them. Because we do, Korvo will die…

MAX: Die? He's already going to die without the spirit!

AISHA: I know! But if we tell them, they’ll be heartbroken… they have a new daughter now… we don’t wanna risk ruining their happiness…

MAX: But...

MAX then realize how serious AISHA is right now as he looks at AISHA sighing sadly.

MAX: Okay. But you must promise me we can tell him when the time is right.

AISHA: Of course MAX. We will tell them when the time is right. God, what have I done? I think I did the wrong thing MAX. Think about how Terry and the kids will react.

MAX: What do you think will happen?

AISHA: I think they’ll be crush if they find out. Mostly Terry. Korvo is his whole world… But I don’t think Janiz won’t like if we tell her we couldn’t tell them. She’ll be heartbroken if I don’t…

AISHA starts crying.

MAX: Hey come on… dries AISHA’s tears It’ll be okay… AISHA smiles

Korvo: offscreen AISHA?

AISHA sees Korvo smiling at her.

MAX: Don’t worry Korvo, I was really gonna say, your sister hopes to see you again. When it’s the right time.

Korvo tearfully smiles and hugs MAX.

Korvo: I'm glad you're back...

MAX smiles. The scene cuts to the hooded figure saddened as MAX tells her what happened.

MAX: So they have a new daughter… and Korvo never felt happy before… we couldn’t risk telling him.

??? #1: Oh God...

??? #2: But, he’ll die if he doesn’t know.

MAX: I know. But AISHA doesn't want Terry to be heartbroken...

MAX sighs sadly.

MAX: Even their kids too… and Phoebe… and their friends…

The hooded figure cries.

??? #1: This is all my fault… I should’ve told Korvo before Shlorp exploded… sniffles I have to go after him. It’s the only way I can make up for not being there for him when he needed me.

The hooded figure then removes their hood.

[e-icreator23]

Siblings

[springywinter]

Raise a Selkie | Hide-and-seal

It's a game most North Blue children have played at least once. Shachi didn't think his crew would shape it into a version of their own.

Seiuchi is the one with the black brimmed hat as below.

Quite a few animal facts here--a polar bear's insane sense of smell, ice birds don't get frostbite, and echolocation (my main prompt inspiration), which I find is one of the coolest animal superpowers out there :D Also, it's interesting that Oda would just randomly say that Ikkaku, Uni and Clione didn't agree to the Straw-Heart alliance at first. We never get the reason why. I do have my personal headcanons in this series for why they might've felt that way (all selkie-related btw)--as to whether I'll explore that in this series, maybe if an idea hits me. As for how I chose Seiuchi's name and animal, just look at that gorgeous beard XD Edit 17/1/24: Shachi will learn the ways of the whale/dolphin, eventually, from Ikkaku--it becomes a bonding point for them actually.

[askglassanon]

Abilities etc

He has your standard Spider-Man powers

Enhanced agility, reflexes, stamina and durability.

He can climb walls and ceilings.

His webs are tackier then normal webs and will actually harden over time. They're also pink

He's faster but he doesn't hit as hard so he tends to use people's strength, momentum and weight against them.

Aubrey's Spider sense looks like a wispy swirls spiraling near his head.

Not really a power but he smells noticeably sweet. (Specifically Cotton candy)

[fancybendyboi]

ITS THE BOYYYYY AAAAA

what does bendy most like about this realm?

Sorry! I lost interest in this au for a while. However, I'm trying to pull myself together.

Oh! and I'm going to answer most of the oldest questions right now, so don't worry that the name Bendy appears here, not Bennett ✨

[scribblestatic]

For a long time, the hedgehog is alone.

Not completely. There are little creatures that become curious of...what are they, actually? A her? A them? A him? Hmmm...

Him...sounds good.

Her does too, but something about her—

Pain pain lonely someone talk to me

...hurts.

The little creatures become curious of him, and he becomes curious of them in turn. He jogs around the island as he pleases, eats the fruits he finds, and sips water from the frequent rain.

But for some reason, the thought of swimming...

Agony

Loneliness

Testing testing

Locked away sick sick sick

The viruses crawl under your skin

The last time you were submerged

Nothing good comes from knowing water

He avoids it if he can.

Bathing is fine. Generally. Just scoop up the water, no need to submerge into it. So he stays clean.

Drinking is fine, too. No need to get into the water to drink. It's okay.

And he lives like this for a few years, his small, round body facing the world with little animal friends.

He helps them when they need it.

A tree fell over? He's not strong enough to pick it up yet, but if he spins real fast, he can cut through it.

Someone stuck on a ledge? He can vibrate his muscles enough that he becomes really fast. He can do it a lot better in his legs than his arms, so he becomes a fast runner. Simply run up the wall and catch the critter. All is well.

He experiments with his speed, running quickly around the island several times.

He likes the wind a lot. It brushes through his spines and he feels free. Open.

Uncaged.

He feels good. Freedom is good.

He thinks...yes...

Everyone should have freedom.

As he spends his time on the island, the ocean temporarily recedes. A path of land branches out, and he sees there's a way to explore.

Interested in this, he bids farewell to the little island, and he runs across the land bridge, hopping on rocks, glaciers, anything to keep from falling into the water.

He reaches other islands, ones that are much closer to each other with more land for him to explore.

Interested, he starts looking around.

It's around this time that he discovers...

Others.

There are more creatures that are not critters.

They are like him.

"Oh dear," one says, in a language he somehow understands, "Who let you run around without gloves? Without shoes? Poor thing, where are your parents?"

He's aware of what a parent is, but is unsure if he has those. He opens his mouth to try saying that, but for some reason, his voice doesn't come out. Like it's stuck. Like speaking would hurt.

You tried so hard to speak back then.

No one listened.

That won't change now.

His mouth shuts, and he simply shakes his head. The Other looks distressed by his answer.

"Oh dear... Oh poor dear. Come now, let me get you something."

The Other shows him to a town with more Others.

He learns they're called Mobians. That he is a Mobian.

Hedgehog, his mind supplies without him asking.

The Mobian woman, a dog? She buys him a little pair of shoes and gloves. She also takes him to buy a snack. To do so, she takes him to a market.

It's full of other Mobians, all of them wearing gloves and shoes, some of them wearing other clothes. Some have supplies from a place called "the Mainland", while others sell "local" things.

One Mobian is selling food from the Mainland has meat. It's in a strange cylindrical-like shape, but it smells really good. He hasn't had meat in a long time before.

The kind woman buys him the meat. The man puts something called ketchup on it, and he hands him the meat on a stick.

He takes it and, after blowing on it like the woman says, he takes a bite.

His eyes blow wide, and his tail starts wagging furiously.

It's divine.

The woman takes him to a place called a shelter, where he can stay and sleep. She can't keep him with her, but she hopes he does well and she was happy to meet him.

He's happy to have met her, too. And he trusts her, so he goes into the shelter.

But the shelter feels...cramped. Wrong.

Not because it's not comfortable, but bring in a building...in a room.

He leaves in the middle of the night, sleeping out in the forest instead. Napping in a tree ends up being a much better place for him after all.

[setacin]

“The thing is back,” Beef was quiet when he said it. No one was outside. There were no more seafloor walks– not when there was a sonar target the size of a city bus lurking in and out of their feed. Etho had insisted he was fine, that he could do his job. But even Beef and Doc had noticed something off, although Bdubs was pretty sure they weren’t paralyzed from it like he was. Bdubs couldn’t help but crowd forward now, unbuckling his belt. There was a different smell in the Nocturne than before– like hot ozone, like sweat. Like the inside of something's mouth. Bdubs thought it might be fear.

Introducing Nocturne AU, my concept for the @mcytblraufest reverse big bang! make sure to check out the fic written for it: Nocturne by @spectralsleuth (beta'd by @woseary ) :D

[termonitu]

M.GATOR WARMADE

I really don't know why I haven't drawn Monty sooner, considering my love for both reptiles and robots, but I really like how his design turned out

//lore stuff under the cut//

For the Glam-Rocks place in the Warmade au I would consider them as the newest and more advanced of Williams creations with the original four looking much more rudimentary in comparison. With features like Heat vision, sonar, and varying degrees of weaponry, the Glam-Rocks are built to track.

Glam Freddy had left the group after being found and freed by a small child, as a way of paying him back he protects and helps Gregory search for his lost brother Micheal.

Although some animatronics aren't so lucky, the reptilian construct seems to have no clear focus or knowledge of its surroundings having been left unfinished. Now it wonders the city aimlessly with violent and destructive tendencies.

I'm honestly thinking of redesigning every animatronic until the movie releases, including #1 Crate lol

[the-antiapocalyptic-man]

All-Star Green Lantern:

Runaway Jesa Cruz finds a glowing lantern and an unconscious person with pointed ears and red-pink skin on an active train track. Attempting to get the alien to safety, Jesa is too late as the locomotive barrels towards them…and is completely wrecked against a wall of solid green light. Growing up fascinated by stories of space--especially the lost crew of the USS Sentinel (Jordan, Stewart, Gardner, Ferris, and Rayner)--Jesa had always looked to the stars...they just never expected the stars to find them first.

Thaal is a Korugaran stranded on Earth after the death of his partner Abin, he befriends Jessica Cruz only to discover she’s runaway with a dark secret of her own. He gives Abin's ring to Jesa to protect herself. The Lantern used to power their rings is an incubator for an infant Oan, Aya.

Pursuing Jesa is the Cult of Blood, led by the charismatic sociopath Sebastian Sanger. He and his followers worship Atros, the Spirit of the Blood Lantern. While the Lantern has transformed others with its power--Bernie the Animal Boy, Johnny Rankorr, and The Great Red Beast Sorov--others await its blessing, Sebastian among them, and believe Jesa's sacrifice will curry its favor.

In Sebastian's employ are the Manhunters, a group of assassins hired to track Jesa. The team sent after Jesa includes The Tattooed Man, Sonar, Deathstroke The Ravager, though their mother organization is a much larger league of mercenaries and assassins.

Finally, there's Prof. Jack Crane: an former academic who inserted a “Fear-Entity” into his body via self-administered surgery. Moving independent of Sanger and the Manhunters to capture Jesa and Thaal, Crane may prove to be the most dangerous of all...

[ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral]

I was going to post a different au idea tonight, but this idea caught me in a death-grip and would not let me go, so enjoy!

Note: You can find the translations for the old English at the end!

EDIT: You can find part two of this au here, and part three here!

In this au, Merlin dies at Camlann instead of Arthur, and his magic was diffused into the king and kingdom he so loved upon his death, making everyone in Camelot immortal. After a few centuries of thriving though, Merlin's magic starts to fade, and everyone falls into an almost comatose state. It keeps them all alive and protected the kingdom from intruders, but it could not keep them awake. However, the people of Camelot did not worry about this. Both the druids and the dragon had proclaimed that Merlin would return to the world of the living again one day. So, they were content to sleep peacefully and await the day of their friend's return. Slowly, the earth rose up to swallow Camelot, and the sleeping kingdom was buried underneath the earth.

Fast forward to modern day, and Merlin's been reincarnated without any of his memories or his magic. He winds up as an archeologist, and eventually is sent out to a promising dig site on the border between England and Wales. There, his team unearths a window into an old fortress. Their sonar equipment has revealed a full castle underneath their feet, and they have everything prepped for a preliminary excavation! They've already found coins and a few blades on the site, dating back to the 6th century!

Now, stories of the "immortal kingdom of Camelot" and its undying and legendary king Arthur were commonplace, and Merlin quite enjoyed those stories as a child. However, historians doubted if Camelot was ever a real kingdom at all, and no one past the age of six believed in an immortal kingdom! Merlin, deep down, was hoping that the dig site was indeed the historical kingdom Camelot itself, as much of the kingdom's history had been lost and buried under ridiculous myths about magic and dragons.

However, the issue is that the window that they discovered is pretty small. Merlin, as the skinniest out of all of them, would probably be the only one who could fit through it. Excitedly, Merlin puts on his safety harness and hard hat and descends through the window and into the castle.

Merlin explores for a bit, constantly telling the team on the surface all about the amazingly preserved artifacts in the castle. There's tapestries, suits of armor, furniture, even clothing still in wardrobes all in perfect condition! The entire team is besides themselves with excitement! They've just made the most important discovery of their careers!

Merlin spends a few more days exploring the castle by himself. Eventually, he comes to a rather impressive and ornately decorated door and decides to find out what's behind it. It must be something pretty important to warrant such an impressive door! Perhaps the throne room?

As he opens the door though, he lets out a loud gasp, shocked by two things in the room. First, the large round table in the middle of the room. He knew that he was near the supposed site of the lost kingdom of Camelot, but this confirmed it! All of the legends spoke about king Arthur's round table, and here it was before him, confirming the legends!

However, Merlin's elation was dashed by the second thing he noticed: bodies. There were bodies occupying the seats around the table, all of them slumped over or slouching in their seats with their eyes closed, but they were not skeletal remains that should have been there, seeing as how no one had set foot in those room for hundreds of years. No, these people looked like they had only been there for a day, with no signs of decay on them.

As Merlin's fear began to rise, he tried to reason with himself. Maybe this kingdom had surprisingly advanced embalming techniques and had unusual burial rituals? What other explanation could there possibly be?

As Merlin reported the bodies to his colleagues on the surface, they warned him to be careful is something didn't feel right, which it certainly didn't. Something about these bodies creeped Merlin out in a way that no other human remains had ever done. However, Merlin's unease lessened somewhat as he described the bodies to his colleagues, his excitement at such a well-preserved find started eclipsing his fear.

There were in total five male bodies and one female body, with four of the male bodies being clad in chainmail, surcoats, trousers, and long bright red capes with an insignia of a golden dragon sown into it. The other male body was similarly clad in chainmail and a cape, but wore a golden crown on his head. Lastly, the lone female body, who was sitting to the left of the crowned male body, was a dark-skinned woman wearing an ornate and richly decorated dress along with a small silver crown on her head.

Merlin's heart stuttered in his chest as he came to the natural conclusion of these observations: he had just found the perfectly-preserved bodies of a king, queen, and four knights. Forget making his career, Merlin was going to be put in the history books for this discovery! Quickly, he called his colleagues (who had finally found a way to safely widen the entrance at the window) to follow the line of his harness and join him in the room he had just found. They needed to see this!

Finally turning away from the bodies, Merlin let his gaze wander around the room. He takes note of the impressively high ceilings for the time period, the repetition of the dragon crest on decorations around the room, and the designs carved into the wood of the round table. However, one of the most intriguing elements of the room, was the lone empty chair sitting next to the king.

The fact that there was only one empty chair was strange enough, but there were a few even stranger elements to the chair. The chair was directly to the right of the king, presumably reserved for the king's right hand, his chief advisor. Why would such an important figure be missing here? Another puzzling feature of the chair was the scrap of red cloth that was tied around one of the arms of the chair.

Stepping closer to examine the little piece of cloth, he could see at first glance that the cloth was old, battered, and made with cheap material, unlike the richer cloth that made up the knights' and kings' capes. What was this random piece of cloth doing tied around the arm of this chair, which presumedly belonged to a powerful figure in the kingdom?

A sudden piercing shriek caused Merlin to jump into the air. He looked up and across the table, relieved to see that it was just four of his colleagues who had just entered the room. They must've been freaked out by the well-preserved bodies too! Merlin certainly couldn't blame them for such a reaction.

Merlin chuckled a bit and spoke to his frightened coworkers. "Well, what did I tell you? This is going to shock the world! We've just made the discovery of a lifetime!"

However, his colleagues were only getting paler by the second, not even looking at him, instead looking... past him? Merlin frowned a bit and turned to look over his left shoulder, at the body of the king, which was where his coworkers were staring. What could possibly...

His eyes were open. His eyes were definitely not open before.

As soon as his brain caught up with what his eyes were seeing, Merlin let out a panicked shriek and flung himself backwards, away from the king who he swore was dead just a second ago what the fuck was happening?!

Unfortunately, Merlin desperate attempt to get away from the maybe-undead king sent him sprawling to the ground, having tripped over the empty chair, and his shriek had jolted his colleagues into action. The four of them ran forwards and grabbed ahold of Merlin, dragging him back towards the entrance to the room while never taking their eyes off of the maybe-undead king.

As they made their way back to the entrance though, something truly horrifying happened. The king moved. He blinked and moved his neck to track their movements.

Oh god, that thing was awake and aware that they were here! They needed to get out of there!

Together, the group turned and ran as quickly as they could back towards the entrance. Horrifyingly, as soon as they were out of sight of the king, they could hear the screeching sound of a chair sliding against the stone floor. Each one of them could feel their hearts pounding with fear as they all realized at once: the king, whatever he was, was going to chase after them.

They nearly all have heart attacks when they hear a voice roaring after them, "Gripan híe! Híe syndon fandian to niman Myrddin!"

After a tense few minutes of running with the terrifying echo of boots chasing after them ringing in their ears, they finally reached the hallway connecting to their window entrance. They could see the light outside! They were almost free!

Fear gripped all of their chests, however, when a group of what should have been corpses blocked their path, cutting them off from the sight of the daylight. For a second, Merlin thought about making a break for it and attempts to run through them, but then the probably-undead knights unsheathed their swords (which were still somehow sharp and pristine after 1500 years, this was getting ridiculous!)

The group quickly turned around, hoping to run back and perhaps find another path towards their freedom, only to have their hopes dashed by the sight of the undead king storming towards them with his sword (why was it golden?) unsheathed and rage in his eyes.

Looking between them, the closest thing that they had to a weapon were a couple hard hats. They were doomed, and they could see their death marching towards them.

Getting closer, the king furiously shouted at them again with unfamiliar words. "Hū darrst þū āsceacan hine from mē! Iċ hæbbe bīdode ofer þūsend geara for þisne tīman, and þū ātēowedest tō nīefre hine from mē stelan! Þū scealt āgildan for þis!"

The group of five archeologists are shaking in their boots at this point, fearing for their lives. Each of them had reached the only logical conclusion about their ludicrous and possibly deadly situation: they must have woken the king and his knights from their eternal rest, and they were now angry at the archeologists for disturbing their final resting place.

As the knights close in on them and grab ahold of each of them, they're all prepared for the worst. As the king barks commands at the knights, all of the archeologists are prepared to be meet with some horrible death.

"Nimðað þa ungewelwieras to ðære cyrcan cwellan, wē magon dēmian mid him æfter. Gwaine, nim Myrddin to his geardas and hafa Gaius locian ofer hine. And be mildheort, he sceal hæbbe geferod eft fram Avalon and mæg swilc bēon in pinunge fram his wundum! Gecyða eft to mē mid Gaius's gemetungum þonne hē geendod hæfð."

At the king's commands, the knights nodded, and while Merlin was led down the hallway to the right, the others were led back down the dark hallway from which they had fled. Merlin tried to call out to his colleagues and to shove his way out of the knight's grip, but the knight responded by picking Merlin up and slinging him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, eliminating Merlin's ability to fight back.

Merlin tried to calm his mind and to avoid thoughts of what horrible fate would be in store for him at his destination. His treacherous mind spun up terrible theories as to why he had been separated from his group, each one more horrifying than the last.

Finally, the knight seemed to have arrived at his destination. As the knight pushed the door open, Merlin tried to brace himself for what horrible instruments of torture were surely inside.

However, there were no torture instruments at all. There were only sheets of paper strewn about, some herb bundles here and there, lots of little vials and pots scattered around, and an old man slowly walking towards them.

The old man blinked in what looked like surprise, followed by tears seeming to brim in his eyes. What the hell was going on?! The man spoke softly, "Is hit sōþlīce hē? Āh, mīn cniht, þū eart eft tō ūs āgēan cuman! Hēr, Hlāford Gwaine, sete hine dūn on þæt cot and hæbbe hine his scyrte āweg þæt ic mæg gesēon gif his wund is ēac þǣr."

The knight deposited Merlin gently on a nearby small bed and gave him some sort of smirk before speaking to him in a surprisingly gentle, almost teasing, voice, "Þu gehyrde þone wer, Myrddin! Of mid þinum scyrte nu. Ic wat þu maegst beon sceamful be þan, ac þises sio tid is swiðe aðele."

When Merlin could do nothing but stare at the knight, more bewildered than he's ever been in his life, the knight seemed to take offense to his inaction and began tugging at the bottom of Merlin's shirt, trying to pull it over his head. After a brief struggle, the knight emerged victorious, holding Merlin's shirt in his hands and grinning like a loon. Why on earth had the knight wanted his shirt of all things? What was he about to be subjected to?!

After a tense few minutes, the old man pottered over to where Merlin was sitting, bringing a small bag along with him. The man then began looking over Merlin's torso, paying particular attention to a certain to a spot underneath Merlin's ribs, prodding it repeatedly.

Merlin was quite uncomfortable being examined like this, but with an undead knight in the room still armed with a sword, there wasn't much Merlin could do to without risking getting stabbed. Well, at least the old man wasn't hurting him, so he supposed that he could look on the bright side and be grateful for that.

Eventually, the old man seemed satisfied with his examination of Merlin and addressed the knight again. "Hwæt, he þinceð tō bēon on sīðfæt hāl! Þū mæġst secgan Ārthūre þæt ic blīðe eom tō secgenne þæt ic ne mihte findan nān tācn his ǣrran lȳtlunge."

The knight nodded at the old man, looking pleased at whatever he had just been told. Then, the old man turned to him and handed him the small bag. "Min cniht, ic eom swiðe blīð tō gesēon þē eft. Þū eart swīðe þearle gewilnod! Hēr, wē hæfdon sume þīnra reafa gehealdene for þē! Ic trowe þæt þū þē beteran gefēlan wille þonne þū sum þing gelīclicre gescēawian."

Merlin gently took the bag from the old man and tentatively opened it and pulled out its contents. Inside the bag were a scratchy red tunic, a pair of old trousers, a brown jacket, a thin leather belt, and a scrap of blue cloth. Merlin looked up at the knight and the old man, unsure of what to make of these clothes.

The knight just rolled his eyes, snatched the tunic out of Merlin's hands, and started pulling the tunic over Merlin's head. Did they... did they want Merlin to put on the clothes? That seemed like the correct answer, as they looked happy when Merlin complied and put on the tunic, and they pushed Merlin towards a small room in the back of the chambers with the clothing still in his hands.

Alright, Merlin thought to himself, he would change clothes in this odd little broom closet if that kept him from being stabbed.

(And he did not acknowledge the part of his mind that swore that he knew this room, that this room was his. That was ridiculous, he had never seen this place before in his life!)

After putting on the trousers, belt, and jacket, all Merlin was left with was the scrap of blue cloth. What the hell was he supposed to do with this? Should he keep it in his pocket or something?

However, it seemed like his hands moved before his mind had a chance to catch up, as his hands, seemingly of their own accord, wrapped the blue cloth around his neck a couple time before typing it in the front. Huh, that was strange. Merlin normally didn't wear scarves, why did he know that this piece of cloth was a scarf?

It was... strange. However, there were more pressing matters at hand, namely not getting killed by undead medieval knights. After taking a deep, calming breath, Merlin opened the door and stepped back out into the main room, where the old man and the knight were waiting for him.

They both smiled at the sight of him, and the knight quickly slung an arm over Merlin's shoulders, said what was presumably a goodbye to the old man, and started leading Merlin back out they way they came.

At this point, Merlin started struggling again. If he could just escape from this knight, he could get back to the surface and gather a rescue team to save the others! But the knight's grip of him was tight, and after a certain amount of Merlin's struggling, the knight just sighed and threw Merlin over his shoulder again. Damn it!

Merlin tried to reference places that he had already seen as the knight dragged him deeper into the castle. An escape route would be essential if he was going to make it out of here alive. However, Merlin's hope was quickly running dry as he was carried further and further away from the only exit to this godforsaken castle and further away from any area that he had explored so far.

What's worse was that, as they went, Merlin could see more and more undead (maybe undead? what else could they be?) people throughout the castle. And it wasn't just knights either: there were guards, servants, and even what looked like noblemen and noblewomen running around the castle. What made all of this truly eerie for Merlin though, is that all of them would stop and stare as soon as they saw him. Even though he was dressed like one of them, they could still somehow tell that he was an outsider, not one of their number.

After what felt like an eternity, the knight finally stopped in front of a large door and put Merlin down. Merlin's dread skyrocketed as the guards opened the doors and the knight dragged him inside.

The room itself was richly decorated, with a dining table, a study, and a plush canopy bed. If looked like a room fit for... a king.

Oh no.

As if summoned by Merlin's thoughts, the king rounded a corner and appeared before them, thankfully looking less angry than before, but still sending Merlin's fear into overdrive. Merlin jumped at the sound of doors slamming shut behind him, leaving him trapped with the king.

Merlin was sure that he was shaking terribly, but he managed force his joint to work and took a step backwards as the king began to approach him. Merlin continued to back away from the king until his back met the cold, unyielding wood of the door. Slowly, the king stepped towards Merlin, his eyes never leaving Merlin's form.

In what was entirely too short of a time period in Merlin's opinion, the king had closed the distance between them and was within an arm's reach of Merlin. Merlin's eyes desperately darted around for a weapon, anything he could possibly use the defend himself with, but there was nothing that he could reach.

As the king took one last step closer to Merlin, Merlin closed his eyes and braced himself for pain, even death. However, to his shock, no pain came. Instead, the felt the king's warm hands on his shoulders, and without warning, he was roughly pulled into a hug. What the actual fuck?!

Through the king's ragged breathing, he could hear more of those unfamiliar words, this time spoken tenderly.

"Oh Myrddin, hwǣr eart þū bēon?"

TRANSLATIONS:

Gripan híe! Híe syndon fandian to niman Myrddin! = Catch them! They're trying to take Merlin!

Hū darrst þū āsceacan hine from mē! Iċ hæbbe bīdode ofer þūsend geara for þisne tīman, and þū ātēowedest tō nīefre hine from mē stelan! Þū scealt āgildan for þis! = How dare you try to take him from me! I have waited over a thousand years for this moment, and you've attempted to steal him from me! You must pay for this!

Nimðað þa ungewelwieras to ðære cyrcan cwellan, wē magon dēmian mid him æfter. Gwaine, nim Myrddin to his geardas and hafa Gaius locian ofer hine. And be mildheort, he sceal hæbbe geferod eft fram Avalon and mæg swilc bēon in pinunge fram his wundum! Gecyða eft to mē mid Gaius's gemetungum þonne hē geendod hæfð. = Take the intruders to the dungeon cells, we can deal with them later. Gwaine, take Merlin to his chambers and have Gaius look over him. And be gentle, he must have just come back from Avalon and could still be in pain from his wounds! Report back to me with Gaius's findings when he's done.

Is hit sōþlīce hē? Āh, mīn cniht, þū eart eft tō ūs āgēan cuman! Hēr, Hlāford Gwaine, sete hine dūn on þæt cot and hæbbe hine his scyrte āweg þæt ic mæg gesēon gif his wund is ēac þǣr. = Is it really him? Oh, my boy, you've returned to us! Here, Sir Gwaine, set him down on the cot and have him take his shirt off so I can see if his wound is still there.

Þu gehyrde þone wer, Myrddin! Of mid þinum scyrte nu. Ic wat þu maegst beon sceamful be þan, ac þises sio tid is swiðe aðele. = You heard the man, Merlin! Off with your shirt now. I know you can be shy about it, but this time it's pretty important.

Hwæt, he þinceð tō bēon on sīðfæt hāl! Þū mæġst secgan Ārthūre þæt ic blīðe eom tō secgenne þæt ic ne mihte findan nān tācn his ǣrran lȳtlunge. = Well, he seems to be in perfect health! You can tell Arthur that I am pleased to report that I could find no sign of his previous injury.

Min cniht, ic eom swiðe blīð tō gesēon þē eft. Þū eart swīðe þearle gewilnod! Hēr, wē hæfdon sume þīnra reafa gehealdene for þē! Ic trowe þæt þū þē beteran gefēlan wille þonne þū sum þing gelīclicre gescēawian. = My boy, I am so deeply glad to see you again. You have been dearly missed! Here, we've saved some of your clothes for you! I'm sure that you'll feel better wearing something familiar again.

Oh Myrddin, hwǣr eart þū bēon = Oh Merlin, where have you been?

Well, I hope you guys liked this au! What I originally planned to be a short little prompt turned into this beast of a post! I probably won't be able to post on Friday (since I'm planning on adding a new chapter to my fic on ao3 on Friday or Saturday), so hopefully this will tide you all over until the weekend!

And, as always, thank you for reading through my ramblings! :D

(And please let me know if you'd like a continuation of this au!)

EDIT: You can find a continuation of this au here!