#sonic’s trapped in that pose

[shadow-von-vamp]

collecting these pics from the sonic speed simulator twitter account

[time-can-fly]

Ripple the Platypus

Here he is, Shimmer's adopted son in the future that I mentioned on the adult refs. He's about 6 when she finds him, but in this picture is 8. I used Starline's design as a ref for the bill and tail because I love the parallel that the only two monotreme species have opposite tails. (echidna's are 'down, up, down', and platypus seem to be 'up, down, up.') He was found alone in Mystic Ruins shortly after a tourist group visit while Shimmer was doing cleanup, but even after weeks of trying to find out who his parents were, they mysteriously couldn't find them, even with Tidal's help of trying to hack into the train's systems to see who was on the last route to Mystic Ruins. Plus, Ripple seemingly would rather stay there than go back. And with how things work in the Sonic Universe- that's just what happened. He stayed, under Shimmer's care. He's explorative and exciteable, but also cautious because of living on Angel Island. Thanks to his mom and grandpa, he knows where all the traps are, and if he doesn't, he knows how to tell if one IS there by sight alone. He loves his family, including the 'friend found family' (Tidal, Jade, Chive, ect. The Silvaze family is technically crossed over because of Rowdy and Ashes) His favorite uncle is Rowdy because he sees him more but because he also brings back cool rocks. When he meets someone he starts out shy, but eventually if he's comfortable he won't stop yapping. He loves to talk and learn new things even if those new things are unimportant or he doesn't fully understand it. (Love uncle Tidal for that one. They can yap back and forth for hours) He does have his spurs! I just couldn't showcase them with this pose. So while he isn't very strong (yet, certainly Shimmer can't allow that) he can definitely defend himself with that. His favorite place is the chao gardens, which he likes to spend time with Chive there. Rosy is still growing up by this point (She'd be roughly 14 when Shimmer's 25) so she's his "lets do some crazy stuff" aunt. (nothing too crazy for mobians, but probably like hanging from trees and stuff (At least she's a bat, he is- in fact not I imagine it's a bit harder with webbed hands) He loves to weave, taught how to by Knuckles. Anyways yeah. You can ask questions about him if you'd like ^^

[kinopioa]

The DC crossover, woo

Ok first off, it gets me how much fans hate when the games reuse areas, but Flynn unironically did that the entire issue. Never Lake (stated later) and Green Hill are just blatantly used

Second, ABT wtf, this is not how you chomp on a hotdog. Herm's coloring the fleck dark red makes it seem like Sonic has 2 mouths...

Though funny enough, I like how Herms colored this issue for the most part

Back to writing, I don't like how fandom trope egotistical Sonic is. Like it's obnoxious

I shouldn't be surprised, but maaan...

Also uh, whiplash

Sonic saying this feels weird, and this is ignoring how much Flynn downplays Amy's love for the blue blur

The way everyone is set up in pairs doesn't surprise me as that's expected for contrived collabs. What gets me is how most are off screen or barely verbalized. It's mostly Sonic and Silver with some meat

Speaking of, Silver haphazardly is here as well. So either this is IDW based as he's trapped in the present for no reason (given Sunset City, likely), or Flynn is mistakenly assuming that Silver is trapped in the present in games as well. If the former, the serious lack of IDW OCs makes this confusing

And of course...

Fans are praising Batman being able to tell that Shadow had trauma, but are oblivious to how severely disingenuous it is for Shadow to just leave and NOT try to stop this threat. This is well past Shadow 05, he's not gonna ignore this. 06, Rivals, Rivals 2, Colors DS, Forces, even noncanon stuff like TSR show him lock in to stop shit if he's aware, only being annoyed by actual distractions, but alas

It isn't even consistent *mid issue*, as he saved that possum mother

Surprisingly, no Rouge and Omega tacked on him. A first for Flynn

Shout outs to ABT drawing Chaos Spear weird. Could be worse admittedly, like treating it as an actual spear. I'll ignore Shadow's stanky legs

Oddly nerfing here, Tails already has an emerald detector

Like Riders shows it. 3K mentions it in the Japan manual

It just seems like yet another way to dismiss his own feats again, which happens a lot in IDW

Even ignoring games, this isn't even consistent for IDW. Evan's issue 68 has the Miles Electric have a built in detector, and Flynn's Season's of Chaos anniversary story also has Tails (used by Amy) have a detector

Like he already has a portable detector that has decent range, just saying

Moving on...they noted the urgency in stopping Darkseid, yet...

Amy and Shadow went back to get their vehicles? That's funny, but nothing prevented Wonder Woman from simply carrying Amy, and Shadow can simply skate. If this were a more casual context I wouldn't mind it, but nahhh

And again, blatant references

You'll notice I didn't talk much of the story. That's largely cuz it barely has any, it's a series of very disjointed events for this forced crossover

So effectively most I can do is complain of the setting, characterization, and minor art wonkiness. ABT isn't as off model as he typically is, though the streak forshortening is wack for legs this issue. Ironically he seems to be more on point for Silver's eyes/pose than what writing suggests

Also they abandoned Kalibak, lol. No mention of what to do with his beaten ass

[samobservessonic]

StC Post-Mortems: Metamorphia

Metamorphia is one of the StC villains who has a complete arc that spans across the sort of “middle era” of the comic. She’s always been somewhat well-known within the fandom and has a lot of potential, making her pretty easy to talk about for these Post-Mortems

How it started

She looked a bit different in her first appearance in the comic, huh? But if the name doesn’t make it obvious enough, Metamorphia is a shape-shifter. She was created by Grimer in order to serve Robotnik, who she adores. On her first appearance, Metamorphia posed as a bear Mobian who needed help in order to trick Sonic into leaving the others and following her into a trap

She soon revealed her true colours, however, and after a battle, Sonic was able to defeat her, wrongly assuming she met her end when she fell into a fire after their battle

How it went

But second time’s a charm, right? No? How about third time? No again?

Shortly after her first appearance, Metamorphia makes two more attempts to trick the Freedom Fighters, posing as a hedgehog both times, though neither time ending in success. But here’s the interesting part about Metamorphia: There’s follow-ups to her defeats. It isn’t a simple case of “Sonic stops the bad guy that was sent after him, the end”. We get to see her performances reviewed by Robotnik and he’s none too happy with them

Metamorphia presented a strain on the relationship of Robotnik & Grimer - with Grimer wanting desperately for his boyfriend to approve of his daughter, but Robotnik not giving her an inch

She had one last chance to prove herself to Robotnik in a battle against Shortfuse & Tekno. But when Metamorphia failed that as well, Robotnik ultimately decided to strip her of her powers and toss her in a badnik. This wouldn’t be the end for the character, however

How it ended

Although technically not her final appearance, Metamorphia’s character arc is concluded in issue 83. She must've been trapped as a badnik for sometime, before happening to cross paths with Tails, who frees her from this. After being saved, Metamorphia has a good cry over how badly Robotnik treated her, before vowing to never work for him again This sparks one final change for the better, causing her to turn back into a bear Mobian, just like she was during her first appearance. I guess she subconsciously liked this form? After this, Metamorphia is free to start a new life, unable to be tracked by Robotnik

She did technically make one more appearance after that, a long time afterwards in issue 130, when Robotnik used the powers of the Chaos Emeralds to make himself a god and create a reality where Sonic never existed. In this reality, he brought back several of Sonic’s former foes, including Metamorphia, who posed as Tails to trick Sonic once more. But this version of Metamorphia was destroyed in a blast from another villain called Plasma and we can assume that, when reality was returned to normal, Metamorphia was also returned to her new life with no memories of what had happened

Were there any unused future plans from the StC writers?

I couldn’t find any further plans for Metamorphia, but despite her prominence as a villain, this doesn’t surprise me too much. Her arc as a character was finished and her writer, Lew Stringer, was quite reliable at finishing up his characters’ arcs and then being done - Metamorphia, Brutus and Shortfuse all have conclusions to their stories within StC. Which is for the best, seeing as if they hadn’t, it would’ve been even more unsatisfying when the comic would one day abruptly stop making new stories and thus any chances to give the characters proper closure would be gone

What would I personally have liked to see next for her if StC continued?

I have two ideas for what I’d have liked to have seen from Metamorphia if she’d returned to StC. I think I’ve mentioned this one before, but this is my main one. Assuming that Metamorphia stayed good, I’d like to see her come back as an ally for Tails in his solo stories. I do think the Tails stories were lacking a consistent supporting character to make them stand out a bit more. Amy’s stories have Tekno, Knuckles’s stories have Porker and Tails’s stories could have Metamorphia

It’d be fun to see her come back, perhaps having realised she still has some limited shape-shifting abilities, and wants to use that to help fight against Robotnik this time. Actually, her appearance in issue 130 could even be a good excuse for that - have it so that when reality was returned to normal, Robotnik’s meddling with that Chaos Emeralds’ power accidentally reawakened her shape-shifting abilities again after so long - easy as that!

Alternatively, have her reunite with Grimer. This could either be as an extension of the previous idea or if you want her to go back to being a villain, have her team up with Grimer as part of a villain duo instead. Grimer ultimately quits working for Robotnik at the end of the series, so it’d be interesting to see if he would seek out his creation to potentially make amends with her after that, as well as see how Metamorphia might react to that. I could see Grimer potentially returning as a villain separate to Robotnik in the comic, but despite having a few outings of his own in StC, he’s not exactly got the fire-power without his tech, so Metamorphia could be a good way to add some muscle to the team. The two of them could become loose cannon villains who equally will fight against either the Freedom Fighters or Robotnik when they cross paths

What if she was in other Sonic media?

Metamorphia did make a small cameo in Archie Sonic! It’s not as obvious as the Tekno, Ebony & Pyjamas cameos in this same image, but you can just see her behind Big the Cat here in the original bear form that she first appeared in during issue 30

Outside of that, I think that, like Windy Wallis, you could easily make a case for Metamorphia working as one of the Egg Bosses in post-reboot Archie. Of course, IDW has their own shape-shifting character in Mimic, so there’s less need for her over there. But outside of that, shape-shifters are versatile by design, so you could probably put her in most other Sonic universes to fill the role of a shape-shifting villain without needing to do too much work. Sure, Grimer doesn’t exist outside of StC, but I hate to say it, you could always just cut out the middleman and have her be made directly by Eggman instead. She could even be an older sister to Sage! Give Sage a character arc where she realises that Eggman doesn't treat her big sister as well as he treats Sage and have Sage develop some morality feelings about it. I’d like that

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic the Hedgehog's 900th Adventure (Part 2)

I apologize for the wait folks, but I got swept up in some important work, as well as a personal project (which also explains the lack of a Sonic Cyber Revolution chapter, but I promise it'll be out this week). Nevertheless, I was determined to finally finish this Issue today.

We continue Sonic's 900th Adventure by opening up on a part written by Daniel Barnes. Eggman is destroying some random abandoned city, all while praised by Orbot and Cubot, when the Warp Topaz suddenly falls into their hands.

Eggman praises them for finding it, saying how they should bring it back to his lab and run some tests before- Sonic shows up. I swear I can hear Eggman rolling his eyes when his hated nemesis just casually greets him.

Cubot, out of all people, attempts to fight back by using Topaz Control... which predictably fails. Eh, I guess it was worth a try. Sonic tries to take it, but Orbot and Cubot refuse to give it to them, with Eggman taking the chance and not only slicing the EggMobile, but also a building up in two.

Not gonna lie, that was actually really cool, and Eggman even strikes a pose for all of his fans. Meanwhile, Sonic is still tussling with Orbot and Cubot over the Warp Topaz, using it to cause Eggman to hit himself.

Deciding that he's had enough, Eggman brings out the big guns, shooting rockets at Sonic, but Sonic being Sonic, rides one of them and redirects it towards the mecha, causing a huge explosion.

Sonic is sitting on a building, completely unharmed, much to Eggman's shock. He then calls Eggman's mech nerdy, saying his good-byes and vanishing into another portal.

Eggman seems to be completely taken aback, as he starts defending his robot design, but Sonic is already gone. I also love the conversation in the last panel, it's just hilarious. Big oof, indeed.

We then move to a part written by Aaron Hammerstrom, which also has very gorgeous art. Here, Sonic runs into Blaze, Cream and Cheese, who were just sightseeing. It seems that Blaze is still on her vacation trip, letting Cream and Cheese tag with her. She also got a call from Tails about Sonic's current predicament, noting how Cream has been weirdly quiet.

Cream goes on a rant how, despite how dangerous these kinds of adventures are, she is determined to help her friends, stunning both Blaze and Sonic, with Sonic giving her a thumbs up, tossing the Warp Topaz to Blaze and telling them to follow him.

I love Sonic's deadpan look when he realizes that tossing the Warp Topaz maybe wasn't such a good idea, with the three ending warping around different places. Well, at least Cream and Cheese get to enjoy themselves, while Blaze nearly gets separated from them.

Blaze, who is just casually blocking a fire trap, wonders if she should find the resting point on her own, when Sonic and Cream follow her through the portals.

They all link hands, with Sonic and Blaze focusing back on the gorge they were at earlier, opening another portal and having Cream, with some boost from Blaze, fly them up to it.

Fortunately, they're back at their starting point, with Sonic continuing his adventure as Blaze, Cream and Cheese look after him. I have to say that it is nice to showcase Cream's courage and determination to help her friends, as well as Blaze's sense of duty towards protecting the world, whether its the Sol Empire or Earth, but also happy to accept help when she needs it. It might be just a moment, but it shows far they have come.

We then move on to the next part of the story, this one being written by Caleb Goellner. Sonic appears to get closer and closer to his goal, directing to a decommissioned Eggman mine in case the Warp Topaz goes crazy again.

Sonic, despite some initial reservations, enters it and is immediately stopped by our next team that have a cameo in this Issue:

It's the Babylon Rogues and they want that Warp Topaz to sell it to the highest bidder. Sonic basically tells them ''Nope'' and starts dodging them as they attempt to catch him.

Being The Fastest Thing Alive, it is no surprise that he gets away. Storm is annoyed that he escaped, but Jet points out how the cave has a dead end... which would be problematic if he hadn't ran into Shadow and Rouge, who were notified by Tails to help him.

Let's be honest, there is no reason why they wouldn't join in on the fun, since it involves a gem (for Rouge) and the world being in danger (for Shadow). Hell, they even confirm what I said in the last panel. X3

The Babylon Rogues come in flying to get the Warp Topaz, but now it's three on three... and then Shadow demands that Sonic gives him the Warp Topaz so he can handle the situation on his own.

It seems that someone forgot to inform Caleb Goellner that Shadow is supposed to be a team player now after what happened in Urban Warfare. Either that, or it's just supposed to be a funny moment ramping up Shadow's arrogance again. Still, maybe he could've expressed himself better.

Either way, I literally facepalmed when I read this, and it seems that Rouge shares my thoughts. Sonic, of course, doesn't care, and instead speeds off, carving his way through the cave by creating another portal.

While I wasn't initially happy with how Shadow went back to ''arrogant shonen rival'' for this Issue, him having beef with the Babylon Rogues is kinda funny, especially with how he looms behind Jet and basically uses Chaos Blast to blast them away Team Rocket style.

Let's be fair, Jet did deserve it by calling him a ''wannabe Ultimate Lifeform''.

Sonic gets out of the cave, with Tails calling him and hoping that Shadow didn't try to start a fight. To be fair, if there's one consistency with Shadow, it's that he and Sonic have their own way of trying to save the world and they will butt heads over that, but I feel that Shadow's arrogance could've been toned down instead of immediately going to calling himself superior.

Either that, or I'm being nitpicky since this came out before Fearless Year of Shadow and Sonic X Shadow Generations, and we know there is an Issue coming out soon focusing solely on Shadow, so we'll see how he's handled Post-Sonadow Generations.

Either way, we see that the Babylon Rogues crashed into the mountainside. Shine on, you crazy birds.

Lastly, we're back to Ian Flynn, with Sonic getting teleported once more to a cave system, while doing some amazing acrobatics and landing on point.

The Warp Topaz starts going crazy again, with Tails calling Sonic that they found the right spot and to hurry the hell up. Also, something's telling me the Warp Topaz has a mind of its own.

Sonic immediately starts searching for the right spot and- pffft!

Yeah, only someone like Dr. Starline would commemorate his achievement by graffiting the cave. I'm surprised he didn't bring a neon sign which says ''WARP TOPAZ FOUND BY DR. STARLINE HERE!'' since that would definitely be something he'd do.

The Warp Topaz causes the cave to crumble, but hey, this wouldn't be Sonic the Hedgehog without a high-speed escape. Sonic is happy that he's victorious and we end the story him running off into the distance.

So, what are my thoughts? I think it's a fairly nice Issue, allowing us to see most of the game characters, and while not much happened besides getting rid off the Warp Topaz, it is was cool to see all the characters (my nitpick about Shadow aside). I do have one question, though-

WHERE ARE THE CHAOTIX, SILVER, OMEGA AND BIG?!

Seriously, if you're gonna show the game characters, at least add these two to the mix. Big and Froggy could easily cameo in a scene, and Silver and the Chaotix could also have a moment of helping Sonic, while Omega could hang out with Team Dark. Yeah, I'm sure they're off-screen doing their own thing, but com'n!

*sighs* I guess there was no time or space for adding them.

In any case, we will at least see the Chaotix soon enough in the next Issue - Sonic the Hedgehog: Halloween Special!

Until next time, see ya!

#Previous Issue

#Next Issue

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)

[egg-emperor]

New Sonic Channel EGGMAN wallpaper!

THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL HE'S SO PERFECT I LOVE HIM WITH ALL MY HEART AHHFKSBAHFKABDKAJFSJ!!!!!! 💕💜💖💕💖💜💗💜💖💕💜💗

I MUST include the description on the page because OMFG I'm losing my mind!!! Translation of what I could get through DeepL, seems slightly better than what I can get on auto translate on the page:

"It is no exaggeration to say that the Sonic series would not begin without him! He is pushing forward towards his ambition of world domination: ...... He has an IQ of 300!

You all know what I'm talking about, don't you?

The evil genius scientist who has no equal in this world.

It's Dr. Eggman!

It is rare to see Dr. Eggman, a scientist, in a fighting pose: ......! No, or perhaps he is watching with a look of satisfaction as he beheads his enemies with the mecha and robots he has created himself......! Either way, he looks really cool with his fearless smile and kanroku poses!

As you all know, Dr. Eggman has been Sonic's nemesis ever since his debut in the game "Sonic the Hedgehog" and has been a big villain who has been plotting various devious schemes. Sometimes he acts as a serious and dignified "evil genius scientist," and at other times he shows a slightly off-kilter "angry old man" side. ...... I think that this variety of charm is the reason why Dr. Eggman is not only a big bad guy but also a great villain.

Coolness like in this illustration is also one of his many charms!

The latest game title to feature Dr. Eggman is "Sonic Frontiers," the third free major upload of which was released today!

In this title, Dr. Eggman is trapped in a mysterious place called "cyberspace," but even in such a situation, his clear mind, strong will ...... He is still a very smart, strong-willed, and selfish man, and this time, too, he is "as good as Eggman! He was very unique with his new subordinate girl, "Sage". The unique relationship with the new subordinate girl, "Sage," is also not to be missed. ......"

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

Let me just gush about WHY I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THIS:

"It is no exaggeration to say that the Sonic series would not begin without him!"

It really is no exaggeration to say many of the games and entire series wouldn't have even began without him and that's why he's so important!

"The evil genius scientist who has no equal in this world."

That's right because he's the BEST and he knows it so that's why his ego is huge! XD

"It is rare to see Dr. Eggman, a scientist, in a fighting pose: ......! No, or perhaps he is watching with a look of satisfaction as he beheads his enemies with the mecha and robots he has created himself......! Either way, he looks really cool with his fearless smile and kanroku poses!"

They say he's possibly either got a "fighting stance" like the big strong handsome man he is or he's watching with a look of satisfaction as he "BEHEADS HIS ENEMIES" with his "mecha and robots he created himself" !!!! FUCK YEAH HE LOVES VIOLENCE AND DESTRUCTION that's the real dynamic he has with his creations!!! And yes he does look "really cool" with his pose and his "fearless smile" AHHHH 🥰

"Dr. Eggman has been Sonic's nemesis ever since his debut and has been a big villain who has been plotting various devious schemes.

Sometimes he acts as a serious and dignified "evil genius scientist," and at other times he shows a slightly off-kilter "angry old man" side.

I think that this variety of charm is the reason why Dr. Eggman is not only a big bad guy but also a great villain. Coolness like in this illustration is also one of his many charms!"

THIS SUMS HIM UP SO PERFECTLY, he's a big villain that plots devious schemes of world domination! He's an "EVIL GENIUS SCIENTIST" AND an "ANGRY OLD MAN" side! I love how he's an evil scientific and evil old man, my favorite way to describe him!

"Coolness is one if his many charms." Yes he IS cool and that IS one of the many parts of his charm!!!!

"Dr. Eggman is trapped in a mysterious place called "cyberspace," but even in such a situation, his clear mind, strong will. He is still a very smart, strong-willed, and selfish man."

HE'S A VERY "SMART, STRONG-WILLED, AND SELFISH MAN" YOU'RE GOD DAMN RIGHT HE IS!!!!! 💗💕💜💜💕💗💕💜

"He was very unique with his new subordinate girl, "Sage".

AND acknowledgement that Sage is his "SUBORDINATE" as his servant and protector not the other way around‽‽‽

This is saying absolutely EVERYTHING I'm saying about him ALL THE TIME, it's like they reached into my mind and pulled out every single thing I've ever observed about his character and summed it up here!

I'm so glad I was right and that he really is the man I fell in love with and that OFFICIAL JAPANESE SONIC TEAM/SONIC CHANNEL MEMBERS who really get the say agree and describe him that way when it comes to their own character- I'm so happy I could cry :'D

[alterchaos]

SUPER SLEUTHS

It all began one bright summer day at the home of the Mobius' greatest detectives...

PREVIOUS CHAPTER: INSECURITY

NEXT CHAPTER: DYSFUNCTION

Upon a hillside beyond the woods of South Island sat a house, its shingles ever so slightly peeled yet never truly falling from their roof. The plaster walls were cracked in various places, though filled and patched with love. Summer sun beams bounced off the rounded, maroon door, beyond which the home’s owner sat joyously listening to the music from his headphones. The scaly Mobian’s head bopped to each jazzy beat as his flowing, red locks rested on his folded hands from behind his long neck. A cheap fan whirred overhead, providing some cool air and circulation that balanced perfectly against the heat of the season. It was a moment in which everything felt peaceful and right in the world.

…

…

And then that moment ended.

“VECTOOOOORRR!!!!!”

The crocodile continued to bop.

“HEY VECTOOORRR!!!”

He didn’t have a care in the world.

“...”

The bee grabbed the crocodile’s headphones, pulling away one ear before shouting.

“VECTOORRRR!!!!!”

“GAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!” The detective in question nearly jumped out of his scales, “CHARMY!!!” He grabbed the small bee by the wings, “WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT PULLING OFF MY HEADPHONES!!?”

Charmy held up a finger as he recited his lesson, “Only on detective duty…”

Vector sighed, “That’s right. Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to get back to my sick detective beats.” He let go of the bee, leaning back in his chair as he readjusted his headphones.

“But Vector, there’s this strange man outside who’s clearly Eggman and-!!!”

“Mmhm uh huh…Eggman…” He began to bop once more before suddenly jolting and pulling off his headphones, “WAIT, DID YOU SAY ‘EGGMAN’!!?”

“Yeah! He’s outside in this REALLY shady disguise and wants in!!”

“Espio.”

The chameleon in question appeared in a flash, “On it. I’ll observe him and report any hidden weapons or traps.” With that, he disappeared once more.

After a few minutes that seemed to drag on for hours between the two detectives, the third returned, confirming that the dangerous man outside was, thankfully, unarmed. As a result, Vector decided to let him inside on the condition that Espio remained invisible and ready for arrest. Once he had, the three detectives acted oblivious to the man’s true identity, gathering as much information as possible while offering the evil doctor their highest level of hospitality. If not for his despicable ways, Vector might have possibly enjoyed the unwelcome company. To his surprise, Eggman was actually very cordial and carried a high amount of class. 

Still…he was Eggman…

Not exactly welcome company for anyone on Mobius…

The mad doctor, ��disguised’ in a classic trench coat and fedora, informed The Chaotix of a fake doctor impersonating his geniu-NO-UH-the evil Dr. Eggman (Boooo!). This faker was none other than one of his earliest robot models named Metal Sonic, rebuilt after that BLASTED hedgeho-SONIC beat it out of commission on Little Planet nearly five years ago. This latest model was upgraded with nanotechnology, which allowed the badnik to shapeshift into those it came into physical contact with during battle. Such meticulous programming was a failsafe to prevent any sort of uprising, however, it was not enough to prevent the robot from easily taking control. With a simple punch, the robot had copied the doctor’s form and used his image to usurp power, taking control of the doctor’s fleet and vowing to destroy Mobius once and for all. 

It then claimed the identity, ‘Neo’, and took on a will of its own.

Its motives, however, remained unknown to all, including the genius doctor sitting before the scaly detective.

…

…

“Espio! NOW!!!”

The ninja appeared quickly, tackling the mad doctor. In a matter of minutes, he was taken into custody in South Island’s prison, no longer able to pose a threat to the people the detectives knew and loved.

Now, with that settled, The Chaotix made haste in their quest to take down Neo Metal.

They were Mobius’s only hope…

“Yeah but…what about Sonic?”

The crocodile jolted, not realizing he’d been narrating out loud to the traveling group.

He cleared his throat nervously, “Eh! Erm! Well! Y-You see…Sonic is just always so busy being Mobius’s greatest hero! H-He wouldn’t have time for something as small as world domination!”

The group stared at Vector deadpan.

“W-Well! Who knows! Maybe we’ll run into him on our adventure!”

“...”

Eve remained silent, staring ahead blankly with folded arms.

“...”

Vector watched her, taking note of her somewhat guilty expression.

“Hmm…”

“Vector? What is it?”

“...” The crocodile turned back ahead, “Nothing, Charmy…Just thinking…”

“Ooh…What abou-?”

“We’re here.”

Team Chaotix halted their tracks, taking in the sight of the massive base before them surrounded by canyons and rails. 

Vector’s gaze grew intense, “Stay sharp, gang. Neo could be anywher-”

“WATCH OUT, VECTOR!!!”

“-!!!”

The crocodile leapt backwards at the girl’s warning, dodging an upper slash from the metallic puddle below.

“Phew! Thanks, kiddo! You have a sharp eye!”

“FOOLS. YOU. DARE. TO. FOLLOW. ME. HERE. TO. MY. BASE.?”

Neo appeared, everyone drawing their weapons as they stood protectively before the girl with the golden hair, her fright at the menacing robot’s presence not lost on anyone.

“Espio, stay close to Eve and draw his fire. Charmy, you’re with me.”

“Roger.”

“On it.”

“...”

The crocodile and bee charged the sinister badnik, Espio leaping before the human and deflecting any projectile attacks. In a matter of moments, Neo was pinned, Vector using his immense jaw to bite into and tear some of the non-vital circuitry from his arm. Metal screamed, Charmy only adding to his agony as he stung the robot’s hand, causing a few wires to spark as they broke free. 

“DAMMIT. NOT. HERE.!!!”

“KEEP AT HIM, CHARMY!!! DON’T LET UP!!!”

“...”

For once, Eve was thankful to have backup.

“...”

And yet, she still felt as though she didn’t deserve it.

“...”

She…needed to do bette-

“ESPIO, LOOK OUT!!!”

“-!!?”

The girl with the golden hair snapped out of her thoughts momentarily just in time to catch sight of a duplicate Neo appear from the ground below the chameleon.

TAPTAPTAPTAP-

She leapt at him, pushing him out of the way of the oncoming attack.

“-!!!”

The second Neo aimed his blade at her defenseless figure.

“EVE, GRAB ON!!!”

Espio threw a kunai attached to a grappling rope past her face, the girl with the golden hair barely able to grab hold and be pulled to safety before Neo’s could strike. Espio caught her, holding her safely against his figure as his back hit the ground below.

“GNH!!!”

“OH NO, ESPIO!!! ARE YOU OKA-!!!?”

Eve winced as a sharp pain shot through her leg, rendering her unable to move or respond. Neo leapt at the two of them once more, Espio throwing his kunai in response. This time, it was a perfect hit, causing the duplicate robot to collapse into a puddle of nanites instantaneously. The two teammates remained on the ground as they caught their breath, Vector making quick work of the main body before it could duplicate once more.

Except this one disappeared into a puddle as well.

“GRRRRRR!!! WHERE DID HE-!!?”

“BAH! JUST LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO MY PRECIOUS CREATION!!!”

“Huh?”

Every member of Team Chaotix turned towards the doors of the base as a familiar figure stepped outside.

“EGGMAN!!?”

Vector paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing.

“Wait…how did you escape prison?”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Eggman smiled.

“Why, with my own genius of course!”

“...” 

Vector continued to watch him.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The mad doctor walked towards the group…

Tap. Tap. Tap.

He slowly walked towards the girl standing in the ba-

WHAM!!!

“GAH!!!”

‘Eggman’ looked up at the ferocious crocodile in fear as he growled.

“Give it up! We know your tricks!”

Espio jolted as he felt a sudden presence, drawing his kunai once more in response, “Everyone stay sharp! There’s something fast approachin-!!”

FWOOSH!

Everyone froze as the sudden gale died down.

“Huh?”

The trio of detectives jolted, shouting in unison.

“SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!!?”

“...”

The girl began to sweat as her best friend stared her down in confusion and hurt.

“Eve…?”

TO BE CONTINUED…

[solalunar-eclipse]

Sonic Boom - S3E18

Chapter title: Co-op Mode

Summary: Nominatus returns, team-building ensues, and the author jams as many references into a single chapter as possible.

AO3 Link

First | Previous | Next

[Episode opens on our six heroes all gathered together in Tails’s house. Sonic and Amy are playing a fighting game, while the other four watch from various positions around the room.] 

“You’re up against a champion of Ultimate Smackdown Siblings, Amy, so get ready to get smacked down!” Sonic cried, pressing buttons on his controller as quickly as he could.

“Psh. Please!” Amy scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You’re just button-mashing! It takes a master of strategy to win this game.” With that, she dealt Sonic’s character a particularly brutal combo, prompting a chorus of “Ooh”s from Tails and Sticks. 

“Excellent move.” Shadow commented, currently leaning against the back of the couch. Sonic pouted in protest, somehow managing to direct his expression towards Shadow despite never allowing his eyes to leave the screen.

“Aw, come on, why’re you siding with Amy?” he protested, his voice pitching up into whining indignance. “I thought you said you were gonna be a neutral party!”

“I am,” Shadow maintained a tone somewhere between infuriatingly calm and effortlessly smug—somehow both an improvement from and yet also worse than the tone that had so easily aggravated Sonic back when they were rivals. “I’m just enjoying the entertainment, no matter whose side it comes from.”

Unfortunately for Sonic, he was just distracted enough by this opportunity for some of their usual banter that he didn’t see Amy’s Terminal Smack activating…and then was promptly forced to watch as his character got blown across the screen and disintegrated in a blast of light.

“No!” he wailed, sliding off the couch and onto his knees. “How could this be? Betrayed, by my very own friend!”

Shadow hid a far-too-fond smile at being called Sonic’s friend. Thankfully for his pride, the hedgehog was far too caught up in his own lamentations to notice…but both of them were soon interrupted when the TV screen began to crackle with static.

“Tails, what’s going on?” Amy leaned forward to eye the screen suspiciously, her hands opening and closing in preparation to summon her hammer.

Before the fox could speak up, the connection suddenly resolved, revealing a black-and-red demon with four horns and an arrow on his forehead. 

“Nominatus?!” Tails cried. “I thought you were trapped in Eggman’s lab!”

The demon folded his arms, scowling out from the screen. “What, you assumed I’d just stay there once my episode feature ended? As if! That man was far too busy with his robots to pay attention to us, so it was almost insultingly easy to escape.”

Shadow had been watching the entire scene with increasing confusion, and took this opportunity to speak up. “Who is this, exactly?”

“Oh, he’s just some sort of evil computer guy!” Knuckles explained.

“Just—wh—” Nominatus sputtered. “I am not ‘some sort of evil computer guy’! I am Nominatus! Viral sensation! Trending on every platform where there are trends to be had!”

Sonic and Tails shared an extremely skeptical Look, and that was the final straw. “You think you can mock me, hm? Well then! I’ve faced you twice in your own realm, but no more fooling around!” the demon barked. “This time…you’re coming to me.”

And with that, he snapped his fingers, causing everyone to vanish into thin air.

The controller that Amy had been holding clattered to the floor as the television shut off abruptly, its screen cutting to black. The house was eerily silent, every hint of life within its walls having been rudely blinked out of existence.

…and then the energetic music of the introduction kicked in, utterly shattering the mood.

[The intro sequence goes off without a hitch…but this time, the characters are drawn in pixel art for their signature poses, with an 8-bit version of the theme tune to boot. Otherwise, the individual character introductions and team shot all stay the same.]

[Nominatus takes the villain position this time, tossing various ‘like button’ symbols  back and forth between his hands in a manner reminiscent of a certain ‘bad ending’ from a specific game released back in 1991.]

[The intro then continues on, before ending with the title of this week’s episode.]

In a blinding flash of light, the six heroes appeared in a white shopping mall filled with neon store signs and decorations everywhere. Above, an unmistakably vaporwave—inspired purple sky, complete with pink-yellow sun, was visible through the glass ceiling. 

Each of them also carried their own personalized weapon, styled in silver with neon accents in their specific color. Amy had her usual hammer, while Sticks held a high-tech bow and arrow. Knuckles wore reinforcements for his hands (and a pair of angular blue sunglasses atop his head, for some reason), and Tails carried—of all the things—dual handguns. Sonic, of course, had a one-handed sword, which was currently attached to a white belt around his waist. Shadow, on the other hand, had an odd sort of pole with an octagon and the word “STOP” at one end strapped to his back, which he immediately removed and stared at with a distinct amount of bewilderment.

Just as the six of them had finished recovering from the shock of being in a totally new world, a projection of Nominatus appeared in front of them. “Welcome to the Mall of Metalloid Madness!” he announced, proudly spreading his arms wide. “This is the lobby for a new game I’ve invented called…the Labyrinth Zone!” 

(Curiously, while no one else reacted to this, Sonic shivered for reasons even he couldn’t quite explain.)

“Once you all declare you’re ready, you’ll be dropped in teams of two into my carefully constructed labyrinth! It’s your job to find your way out without using all three of your lives, or else…” The demon smiled wickedly. “You’ll lose a lot more than just the game.”

“And what if we don’t want to?” Tails gave him a look so flat it could’ve had a job as a cardboard cutout. “What if we just find you and blast you until you put us back?”

Nominatus frowned. “Well, you wouldn’t want to disappoint my millions of followers, would you?”

Nobody said even a single word of agreement. The crickets remained silent in solidarity.

The demon sighed. “Fine, then, if you don’t do it I’ll never let you go and your island will fall prey to my inevitable conquering forces, blah blah blah, you know the rest.”

Sonic sighed unhappily. “Okay, guys, I guess we gotta do this.”

Tails shrugged. “At least I’ll probably get to blow some stuff up.”

“Nice positive thinking…I suppose?” Amy said hesitantly, but with a faintly resigned smile. 

Nominatus perked up considerably at this, regaining his previous energy. “Well then, when you’re ready to proceed, press the button with your color.” Behind him, six pedestals rose from the ground, each with a lit-up button on top in blue, yellow, red, pink, orange, and black.

Before he could switch off his hologram, the team rushed directly through him, making him glitch out and yell after them, “Hey! Show some respect for the villain who’s holding you hostage, maybe?!”

Of course, none of them did this, instead opting to all hit their buttons (Knuckles even doing so with such force that the pedestal nearly crumpled). Instantly, they all vanished in a burst of light, teleporting into the referentially named Labyrinth Zone.

[We cut to Sonic and Amy, who are together in the maze.] 

“Huh.” Sonic muttered, taking in his surroundings. They largely consisted of tall, black-and-grey gradient walls, contrasting with a blinding white sky.

“It seems like we really do get to work in pairs—that’s nice, at least!” Amy said brightly. 

Sonic shot her a grin paired with a thumbs-up. “Sure is! You mind whacking me up high so I can get a good look at the layout, Ames?”

She pulled out her hammer, but then hesitated, squinting upwards. “Hold on a minute, let me try something first.” Abruptly, she hurled her hammer straight up…only for it to smash into a force field right above the walls and crash right back down.

“Ah.” Sonic stared upwards. “Thanks for saving me…a lot of broken bones, apparently.”

“I wouldn’t want to mess up your handsome face, now would I?” Amy asked, in a manner that was only half joking.

The hero abruptly choked on his spit and began coughing vigorously, before stumbling after Amy as she walked forward to enter the maze. “Hey hey hey, you’re not supposed to be the one who’s leaving me behind!”

The two of them rounded the corner and came face-to-face with a series of platforms and badniks (obviously just Nominatus-themed recolors of Eggman robots), an obstacle that was more than manageable. Sonic tore through the high route immediately, bouncing between badniks like the showboater he was. Meanwhile, Amy trawled the lower route at an admittedly slower speed, with the trade-off being that not a single robot escaped her wrath.

As she progressed onward, she found herself having to dodge several spike traps, before leaping onto a moving platform. Unlike her speedy friend, she preferred to handle these platforms with care, making sure she knew exactly when they’d be closest before using her hammer to launch herself into the air for a bit of extra leeway. 

Amy jumped to another platform, this one moving up and down instead of side to side. Carefully, she focused on the feeling of it climbing beneath her feet, until—“Hyah!”—she slammed her hammer down just as it stopped its ascent. 

Astoundingly, her hammer launched her into the air, complete with a spray of hearts where she had previously stood. So we get bonuses for perfect moves. Noted. she thought to herself, quite pleased, even as she stuck the landing.

The pink hedgehog scanned the sky for her friend, watching as he revved up a spindash and launched himself across a particularly massive gap ahead of her. She hesitated to say this too often, lest it become ego-stroking instead of a compliment, but his speed really was quite impressive—

—at which point she watched in horror as his jump fell just ever so slightly short—

—and he slammed into the edge of the other side, uncurling in shock just in time to plummet into the pit below.

Amy raced forward, heedless of the careful tactics she’d previously used as she skidded to a stop, throwing herself to her hands and knees by the void below. The darkness seemed endless, with no speck of blue to be found in sight.

“SONIC!!”

xxx

Tails and Knuckles blinked into existence next to each other, looking around themselves in surprise. “Hey Tails!” the echidna cheered, waving happily at his friend. “I’m glad we got put together.”

Tails beamed up at him. “I’m glad too! Between the two of us, we should be able to get through this place no problem!”

They fist-bumped lightly, Knuckles taking care not to break his friend’s hand in the process. “So, where do we start?”

Tails frowned, staring up at the sky. “I think I see a distortion up there…maybe there’s some kind of invisible ceiling keeping me from flying? Let me check…”

The fox flew carefully upwards to the top of the wall, reaching out a single finger to touch the force field above—

—and promptly exploded.

“Tails?!” Knuckles yelped, stumbling forward and staring upwards wildly, as though his friend would reappear at any moment.

As a matter of fact, Tails did reappear right next to Knuckles, with a sound straight out of a 16-bit game and several flashing invulnerability frames. A ring of repeating, glowing text surrounded his middle briefly, reading: TWO LIVES REMAINING.

“O-kay.” the engineer remarked. “No touching the weird barrier. Honestly, I probably should've used a wrench, but oh well. We get it now.”

Of course, the next room they entered then proved to contain platforms that would slowly rise towards the ceiling, before abruptly dropping back down once they had successfully crushed any occupants into the deadly force field. 

Tails instantly facepalmed, but then narrowed his eyes at the puzzle, thinking carefully. “So, we’re going to need to time this really carefully, Knuckles. It’ll be tough to get over these platforms, and we only have five lives between us. I know I’ve got my tails, but are you gonna be okay moving that quickly while also staying low so you don’t get zapped?”

“I could also stay even lower,” Knuckles remarked glibly, without any further elaboration.

“…what do you mean by that?” Tails tilted his head, his brow furrowed.

“What if we just went under the platforms?”

Tails turned to look back at the puzzle, and immediately facepalmed again.

xxx

Shadow and Sticks appeared together, in the third and final starting area of the labyrinth. 

“Fancy seeing you here.” Shadow remarked, half to himself.

“Huh?” Sticks blinked at him, clearly confused.

“It’s just a joke—obviously you were brought here with the rest of us and are now visibly partnered with me, so a comment that implies surprise is meant to be sarcastic.”

Sticks stared for another moment…and then actually snickered. “You’ve got a good sense of humor,” they said casually, as though they were discussing the weather instead of dropping a massive compliment bomb directly on Shadow’s head.

The android’s eyes immediately dropped to the floor. “Ah. Thank you.”

“Just telling the truth,” Sticks said, taking a couple of steps forward before glancing over their shoulder to see Shadow properly. “I don’t get why people bother with saying anything but what they mean.”

“I know why they do it, but I don’t necessarily enjoy it.” Shadow explained sympathetically.

While he had been speaking, Sticks had already peered suspiciously around the nearest corner to see what Nominatus had in store for them. Abruptly, their eyes widened, and they shot back around the corner as quickly as possible. “Shadow?” they said, looking over at him warily. “Can ya use this—” they held out a leather hair tie—“and tie up your quills real quick?”

“Certainly.” Shadow began to put up his quills without complaint. “I don’t doubt your judgment, but might I ask why?”

Sticks frowned. “I think you probably need to see for yourself, but I just have one other question first, while we wait for their backs to turn around again.” One of their ears twitched, signaling that they were listening to something. Indeed, when Shadow focused on his own auditory receptors, he could hear the slow, methodical pace of feet drawing nearer. Metal feet, to be exact.

“What is it?”

“The parts and schematics used to make you, they’re the only ones that exist in the world, right?” They rubbed their upper arm uncomfortably.

Shadow frowned, baring his fangs ever so slightly.“Yes. I have the only set of blueprints, and spares for almost everything. It’s enough to do patch jobs, but not enough to build another android.

“Sticks…what exactly did you see?” 

“Something that shouldn’t exist.” they muttered, their ears flicking back briefly against their head. They gestured to the corner, letting Shadow know that it was safe to take a look.

He walked up to the edge of the wall, looked around it, and saw…himself.

Copies of him.

Walking right there.

In the hallway.

xxx

Amy still knelt at the edge of the pit, staring down into the darkness. By now, she had begun to scan the interior of the abyss, searching for any type of foothold that could be used to scale its sheer sides. So far, she wasn’t having much luck, but if there was one thing that she made sure everyone knew about Amy Rose, it was that she did not quit.

Suddenly, she was startled out of her intense focus by a chiptuned sound behind her.

She whirled around, lunging forward and swinging her hammer as hard as she could at the threat—

—and blinked, wide-eyed, as it passed right through Sonic’s flashing body and the “TWO LIVES” message.

“Huh. Respawn invincibility, that’s helpful.” he remarked, before shaking his head (and rustling his quills in the process) as he came back to reality.

“Hey, wait, what was that for?! You were gonna hit me!” Sonic complained.

Amy huffed unhappily. “I thought you were down in that pit! I was just about to climb down there and look for you!”

Sonic grimaced. “Yeah, no, probably don’t do that one. I…don’t think it has a bottom.”

“…what.”

“I didn’t hit anything, I was just falling, and then all of a sudden I reappeared back here.” he explained, making Amy glance back over her shoulder and shudder.

“Alright, so how are we getting over it?” she asked.

Sonic shrugged. “I dunno, maybe you could just hit me over or something?”

“…how would I get over after doing that?” Amy gave him a decidedly unimpressed look.

“Ah. Yeah. Right.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I could run along the wall and take you with me?”

Amy smiled confidently at him. “Now that sounds like a plan.”

“Alright, lemme just—” Sonic stretched out both of his arms, did a couple of quick side-lunges, and then shot her one of his trademark grins. “You ready?”

“Of course I am.” she said proudly, tossing her quills.

Moments later, a blue blur had grabbed her and was already racing across the wall, moving so quickly that gravity didn’t even have time to consider dragging them both down into the pit. (Gravity might have been tempted to post an incensed rant on the internet about this lack of respect for established institutions, namely laws of physics, were it capable of doing so.) Somehow, they even managed to tear back down the wall on the other side, before skidding to a stop safely on the other side of the pit.

It was at this point when Amy noticed that Sonic had taken her hand to pull her across. Coincidentally, it was also exactly this moment when Sonic realized just what he had done. He immediately pulled his hand away with such speed it’d have given her friction burn had she not worn gloves, and refused to meet her eyes.

Amy, meanwhile, smiled quietly to herself. She understood.

“So, how about we finally get out of this maze?” she asked, granting him freedom from his own internal embarrassment.

Sonic perked up immediately, his energy fully restored. “I thought you’d never ask!”

xxx

“Alright, Knuckles, are you ready for this?” Tails asked, once again. “We’ll need to move quickly under these platforms if we want to make it before they drop back down.”

“I was born ready!” the echidna insisted, cracking his knuckles and beaming confidently. “Literally—echidnas are meant to dig in enclosed spaces anyway, that’s why I’ve got these bad boys!” He dropped into a boxing stance easily, showing off the newly-reinforced spikes on his hands.

Tails smiled, shaking his head and running a hand through his bangs. “Okay, just promise me you won’t try to dig through solid steel.”

“Pinkie promise!” Knuckles replied cheerfully, holding out his hand with little finger stuck out and all.

The fox snickered, but held out his own hand and linked their fingers, as requested. Then, he turned to the platforms, flicking his tails a few times in an effort to warm them up somewhat. “All set?” he asked his friend.

Knuckles shifted into a stance that was even closer to the ground, letting more of his innate instincts take over as he prepared to power through the obstacle ahead. He flexed his fingers, curling them into fists once more, before giving Tails a thumbs-up.

Tails gave him one back (along with a smile that looked astonishingly like Sonic’s) and then, sucking in the biggest breath he could, yelled “GO!”

Immediately, Tails tore off, blasting forward and around obstacles with a speed cultivated from following his older brother around for years on end. Knuckles was no slouch himself, however, able to squeeze into unexpected places while the platforms were low from his lifetime of practice digging tunnels. His sense of direction was second to none as well, helping him avoid obstacles even when they didn’t register consciously in his mind.

He did almost try to dig once or twice in an effort to stay down, especially as the ceiling began to rise, but he thankfully remembered his promise to Tails each time and didn’t do more than push off a little awkwardly from the ground as a result. Meanwhile, the engineer had pulled out his dual pistols and was firing off shots at the platform mechanics ahead, trying to at least get one or two of them to slow down without actually compromising his own speed.

However, as they pushed themselves further along the course, the tangle of uneven machinery posed more of a threat than they would have liked. Tails struggled to maintain his top speed while dodging pistons, and Knuckles nearly got his spikes snagged on wiring a number of times.

Vaguely, out of the corner of his eye, the echidna registered some of the pistons beginning to extend to their fullest heights, even as the end was in sight, and so—

—launching himself off the ground with all fours, he hurled himself towards Tails and curled around the fox with just enough momentum to get them clear of the platforms right before they crashed down.

After a moment of silence, Knuckles uncurled, to reveal a perfectly unharmed and extremely delighted Tails. “We made it!” he cheered, holding up a hand that Knuckles had no hesitation in high-fiving right back.

[Camera gives a close shot of the high-five, before cutting to the next and final group.]

xxx

Shadow felt a prickle of cold run down his back and lodge itself right in what passed, in him, for a stomach. “Those…what are they?”

Sticks jumped on his shoulders, making him nearly overbalance and grip the corner of the wall in an effort to prevent them both attracting the attention of the things. “Fakes,” she said simply, distracting him from any ire he might have felt towards her. “They’re walking weirdly, nothing like how you do. They don’t even seem to know how to use those skates they’re wearing.”

Shadow tensed further. “They shouldn’t know much of anything, since they’re not made by the Ancients or the doctor.”

“Do ya wanna smash ‘em?” Sticks asked eagerly, but seemed to hesitate when he couldn’t think of a reply. Sure, he didn’t want them to continue existing, but it felt a little strange to smash things with his face on them…especially so soon after this little group had convinced him that maybe his face didn’t deserve to be smashed.

She hopped off his shoulders, pulling him back behind the wall. “…do you want me to smash ‘em while you wait here?”

Shadow shook his head. “I don’t want you to get hurt. I just don’t really like the thought of hitting a bunch of weird robots that someone’s made to look like me…” he muttered.

“Well, how about this? You go out there and Chaos Blast them, then just hang back and cover me!” Sticks offered, grinning in a distinctly feral manner and slamming one fist into an open palm.

“You’re okay with beating up a bunch of other Shadows?” he asked, frowning.

Sticks shook her head hard. “No, I’m okay with beating up a bunch of robot imposters trying to impersonate my friend! This is my dream!!”

[Camera shows a close-up shot of the lower part of Shadow’s face, as well as the top of his chest. His mouth has a small, yet very genuine smile.]

“Well then, let’s not waste any time, shall we?” he said, activating his skates and blazing around the corner.

“CHAOS BLAST!”

xxx

Not long after their scrape with the bottomless pit, Amy and Sonic found their way into the center of the labyrinth. Before either of them even had a chance to consider any of the other pathways, Knuckles and Tails came running out of one of them, seemingly in high spirits. It only took the two teams a second to register the sight in front of them, before the four were practically crashing into each other with excitement at finally being reunited.

They didn’t have long to wait before Shadow and Sticks arrived, moving at a much slower pace. Shadow’s legs, skates, and gloves were smeared with a strange black substance, but he was otherwise clean—in stark contrast to Sticks, who looked like they’d just been through about fifteen oil changes. There was hardly a body part that wasn’t splattered with the stuff, not to mention their bow and quiver, which were practically dripping.

“Are you alright?!” Amy cried, rushing over immediately and pulling out a spare glove in an effort to help Sticks tidy up somewhat. “Oh my goodness, what happened to you?”

Sticks, meanwhile, folded their arms triumphantly. “We fought a bunch of fake Shadows! I got most of them, but Shadow hit a lot with his Chaos Blast powers.”

Shadow sighed, nearly going to rub his face but then looking at his glove and reconsidering. “It certainly was an experience.” he muttered.

Sonic made a move towards him, but just as he did, the ground began to shake. The six heroes wobbled briefly, stabilizing each other just in time to register that the labyrinth’s center circle they stood on was actually a platform—one that was slowly rising towards the final level. But after the strangeness of the labyrinth, there was no real way for any of them to guess what might be coming next.

The platform delivered them into a dark room, marked only by a dome of red cross-hatching that gave off a faint glow. Automatically, they all grouped into a tight circle, watching each others’ backs carefully.

With a flash of light, the dome lit up around them, showing hundreds of thousands of message bubbles winking in and out of existence each moment. 

ohc nominatus streams never disappoint

stacicoot just subscribed!

GET THIS BREAD!!!

I mean, it’s not like we wanted to watch this, but nobody else could be bothered to spend any time with us…

Suddenly, Nominatus dropped from the ceiling, landing in a surprisingly striking pose as his cape billowed behind him. “Welcome…” he bellowed, “to the final boss!

“You’ve done very well so far, and I honestly do appreciate it.” he continued, striding towards the team. “It’s been a while since I had a big event, and I needed something like this to boost my ratings in the algorithm. You all definitely delivered! I haven’t had this many viewers in a while! But I’m afraid…these people certainly aren’t here to watch you win.”

He smirked. “They’re here for me. So while you may have survived this far—

“—I suspect you’re about to break that streak.”

“Oh, no way!” 

Sticks pushed to the front of the group, her teeth bared. “I just hit my personal best in ‘number of enemies defeated in solo combat’, and I plan on living to beat that another day, gamer boy!”

All five of her teammates burst into various degrees of laughter behind her at the name she’d chosen for Nominatus. Bolstered by their support, she continued: “Nobody else might want us to win, but we want us to win! And guess what? That’s enough for me!”

Around her, the others burst into cheers, drawing their cool cyber-weapons. And then, they charged.

[For the rest of the fight scene, the animation kicks up a notch. It starts with a fast circle pan around Nominatus as all of the heroes attack him in their own unique ways, from a whack that only a quick forearm block kept from hitting him in the face (complete with comical CLANG sound effect) from Shadow to an earth-shattering ground slam delivered by Knuckles. 

However, the camera then reveals that this has done absolutely nothing to significantly damage the digital demon…

Then, the team begins to work together in similar ways to what they did during their time in the labyrinth, and nearly every strike hits perfectly. Nominatus hits back with lasers and harsh swipes with his claws, now finding himself struggling to even the odds. It becomes clear quickly that teamwork, as it often proves to be, is what helps the heroes succeed in their battles.]

When he saw an opportunity left by a successful hit from Shadow and Sticks, Sonic raised his sword, dropping into a fighting stance. He shot a wink over at Amy, smirking. “Hey Ames, you ready to see my Terminal Smack?”

The hero revved up his legs, faster and faster, until they formed a figure eight—and then he shot forward, leaping into the air, and slashed his sword downwards. 

Nominatus went flying backwards, skidding across the ground. As he came to a stop, the various messages began to flicker out, one by one, becoming more sparse as time ticked by.

The demon struggled to push himself upright, his arms shaking. “No…no! Wait, chat! Chat, I can still win this! No!!”

Sonic grinned, pointing his sword down at Nominatus. “You want us to keep kicking your butt on livestream? Or are ya gonna let us go?”

“Ugh…fine!” the demon snapped. “Just go! I’ll find other ways to diversify my content!”

And with that, the world broke down around them, becoming more and more pixelated…

…until then they were back in Tails’s living room.

“Aw yeah!” Sonic cheered. “Did you guys see me with that sword? I was all like hah—hyah—” he continued, mimicking his movements from the fight moments prior.

“Yes, Sonic, we were all there. We definitely saw it.” Shadow replied, voice drier than a Meh Burger bun.

All of a sudden, the TV blinked on behind them, their game of Ultimate Sibling Smackdown still loaded. “Ready for another round?” the announcer asked, cycling through one of its preset voice lines.

All six heroes either screamed, jumped, or did some combination of the two. Tails even ended up in Knuckles’s arms.

“Uh…maybe we should hang out on the beach for a while. Far away from any video games.” the fox suggested, after an awkwardly silent moment.

The rest of the team, still in varying states of sheepishness, wholeheartedly agreed with that particular statement.

[roll credits]

[shibascrem]

Monster Hunter x Splatoon: What weapons would the characters use?

I keep forgetting I can just post whatever I want. I'm going to make no sense if no one plays monster hunter on here. Iceborne specific because that's the one I'm most familiar with (with exceptions). I do miss unga bunga MH4 charge blade.

Callie - A hammer main no question, unga bunga, ledge crits, sliding sonic spins, just here for a good time.

Marie - Heavy Bow Gun, specifically with a Wyvern Snipe and pierce setup, although she is not averse to using stickies and clusters, whatever gets the job done fastest. One of those players who never lets the monster get up.

Pearl - Dual Blades, obviously. She loves doing the Attack on Titan spin and the evade shot. Somehow really good at tail cuts.

Marina - Lance when playing just with Pearl, Hunting Horn in a bigger group. Best weapons for best girl. JK, I just think she'd get a kick out of counters and memorizing HH song combos. She has stuck with HH through all its changes and will continue to in the future. Really aggressive as Lance, health augment is her friend.

Big Man - Great Sword. He's the type to have a monster's moveset memorized and capitalize damage to the nth degree. Almost no whiffs and has amazing positioning except when playing in groups, but there's no helping that.

Frye - I feel like Insect Glaive is a good weapon for her, she vibes with the flowy moveset and LOVES the insect customization. Names her bugs after her eels. Regularly competes with Pearl about who can cut the tail first.

Shiver - Bow, what else. Wannabe speedrunner, so many armor sets, and extremely customized radial menu. Cannot stand playing in groups because it messes with their flow, but will do it for Deep Cut while looking like this:

NSS kids:

Captain 3 - Longsword. Weeaboo emo roots run deep okay. Prefers Sunbreak's iteration of Longsword because SO. MANY. COUNTERS. but will make do with Iceborne. Does the weapon pose after every hunt.

Four - Sword and Shield or Light Bowgun. Versatility is the name of the game and Four is winning it. Will wreck house with status builds, traps, and well-placed barrel bombs.

Eight - Charge blade. Obsesses over Guard Points and has the know how to perform them regularly, even the savage axe guard point. Loves the technicality of the weapon.

Neo 3 - Switch Axe. Took one look at this goofy ass weapon and fell in love. Also prefers Sunbreak's iteration because more mobility options, but Iceborne just has that explosion oomph.

Lil Buddy - Gunlance. Blast dash and Wyvern's Fire. No further explanation needed.

*Sidenote: I am a Lance main and, while I love the Clutch Claw Counter in Iceborne, Sunbreak's Lance is just *chef's kiss*.

[catiecat1320]

New fic! For @eggseabutter (sorry for tagging you again)

Eggdad propaganda! It’s a 5+1 fic

Sometimes you find family in the most unexpected of places. You know what they say— keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

Read Below 🔽

Dr. Ivo Robotnik was bored. Very bored.

But esteemed doctor, you ask, how does one such as you get bored? There’s still a world to conquer!

You see, conquest is only so entertaining. It’s no fun if there isn’t someone trying to stop you, is it? The terror of villagers tends to get tiring after a while, especially when they simply run and hide at his approach.

He mulled over his problem as he flew around aimlessly, having been testing his new aircraft. It’d definitely make things more interesting if there was someone to help out the other side. His evilness was exceeding his own expectations. There was too much of an imbalance.

He needed an enemy. An archenemy! Someone who was heroic and kind and brave and whatever they say heroes are like. Someone who’d be fun to mess with, someone who’d pose a challenge. Yes, yes. He just had to find someone. 

Where was the only question…

A sharp scream, abruptly cut short, startled Robotnik out of his musing, causing him to pout. He looked around to find an unusual sight— a gaggle of kids, not older than twelve, had… what’s the word… ganged up on a little blue hedgehog and were carrying him, each one gripping a squirming limb, to somewhere undetermined.

Peculiar. It didn’t look very friendly to him, but maybe this was something children did now?

The doctor watched the strange procession, because why not. The kids hadn’t noticed him at all— at least, that’s what he thought… until the victim of this happening suddenly stared up at him with wide emerald eyes; terrified, pleading. 

Robotnik was taken back by the direct eye contact, but he didn’t have the time to think about it. Nor did the boy, who peeled his gaze away with a strangled whimper. Right then, the older children stopped at their destination. Before he realized what was happening, the band tossed the hedgehog over the side of the cliff, leaving him only enough time to cry out before a loud splash announced his plunge into water, probably a lake, eliciting a cheer from the bullies above.

Something surged within the doctor right then— anger, perhaps. Heart over mind, he fired a few shots from his aircraft, scattering the mean bunch, before diving downward to check on the hedgehog.

He was not faring well. It was clear at once that little blue couldn’t swim, yet was making a pathetic attempt at it, splashing frantically and taking in enough water to rival a sinking ship. 

That angry feeling grew stronger.

What kind of children would do something like this? Condemn another to what could very well be death?

A metal claw extended and caught the boy by the scruff, quelling his struggle, and pulled him back up to where the bullies stood just moments prior. As soon as he was let go, the hedgehog squirmed and coughed up water violently, gasping. 

Robotnik hopped to the ground and knelt beside him, awkwardly patting between his back quills as the events that had transpired sank in (pun not intended). Oh Chaos, this is weird, he thought. What am I doing? 

He wasn’t supposed to save people. That’s what heroes do. And he was a villain.

To make himself feel less uncomfortable, the doctor began to talk. He’d always been good at that. “You know, kid, you need to stand up for yourself. Get a weapon or something. Fight back” he rambled, and an image of the little hedgehog carting around a blaster made itself known in his mind’s eye, causing him to snort. “Okay, maybe a blaster’s a little extra. That’d definitely scare them off, though. It’d be funny to watch. Or— Ooo, maybe you could set up a trap. That’d be fun. Pit traps, net traps, cage traps, bear traps… the possibilities are endless! They step in the wrong place and BAM! Problem solved.”

The hedgehog peered at him curiously, emerald eyes tinged with what was probably horror, and Robotnik realized that he’d gone off on a tangent again. Oops. “Ahem. Uh, just something to think about.” He hoisted himself back up into his aircraft, settling comfortably. 

Meeting the gaze of the wide-eyed boy as he lifted off the ground, Robotnik spoke in a hushed tone. “If anyone asks you, this whole saving-your-butt thing”— he waves his hand for extra effect— “never happened. Got it?”

The hedgehog blinked, then offered him a small grin in response, giving a playful salute as the doctor flew off, engine sputtering faintly.

And if anyone saw him smile at that gesture— no, you didn’t.

[sonicthetarot]

SONIC THE TAROT Card Previews #13

Today's previews are for the Suit of Pentacles' Queen of Pentacles and King of Pentacles, as well as the Suit of Swords' Ace of Swords and Two of Swords! See their guidebook entries below, and check out our website for more and our storefront to preorder a copy!

Queen of Pentacles (Capsule)

Eggman-branded Capsules are key to their inventor’s prosperity. In their role as the Queen of Pentacles, they capture and secure animals or other small objects to be used by Eggman in his Badniks, the core of his financial and villainous goals. However, Capsules are also used to mark the end of zones for Sonic and friends, with their destruction marking success in freeing the trapped creatures within.

Of course, the Capsules’ role as glorified prisons is evident when the Queen of Pentacles is reversed. Only an arguable sociopath like Eggman would lock living beings inside cramped containers where movement is hardly possible. Additionally, there is a lack of safety measures installed on the Capsules: they can only open one way, meaning those trapped inside cannot escape in dangerous situations, such as that faced by Vanilla within the True Area 53 mech.

The Queen of Pentacles excel as tools of business but reflect the cruel possessiveness of their master.

Upright Keywords: prosperity, sensible business practices, growing finances, success

Reversed Keywords: exploitation, mean-spiritedness, abuse, impracticality

King of Pentacles (Master Emerald)

A powerful artifact guarded by Knuckles and his ancestors, the Master Emerald’s solidity represents the King of Pentacles. It acts as a stabilizing “leader” for the Chaos Emeralds, neutralizing or amplifying their power depending on the situation, seen when they halt the Space Colony ARK’s descent on Earth. The Master Emerald is also a provider for Angel Island, allowing it to float in the heavens and supporting the local ecosystems so the creatures living there thrive.

The Master Emerald is the target of power-hungry foes when the King of Pentacles is reversed. Eggman consistently yearns for its power, stealing it a number of times to use as an energy source for machines like the Giant Eggman Robo. The Master Emerald has even caused the undoing of grand empires: most of the Knuckles tribe was ruthlessly eliminated by Chaos following their attempt to steal it, requiring Tikal to seal Chaos and herself within the Emerald to restore balance.

The King of Pentacles is a grounding force for good, so long as greedy hands are kept away.

Upright Keywords: stability, supportiveness, good provider, dependability

Reversed Keywords: power-hungriness, greed, ruthlessness, hasty decisions

Ace of Swords (Eggman Nega)

Cold and calculating, Eggman Nega’s intellect represents the Ace of Swords. Embittered by the actions of his ancestor, he asserts himself as the superior brain and rarely makes the same mistakes as Eggman does, even outwitting and posing as him at certain points. Part of Eggman Nega’s skill lies in an ability to manipulate others, such as successfully tricking Rouge into gathering the Chaos Emeralds for him to summon Ifrit.

The Ace of Swords reversed reveals Eggman Nega’s ferocity. Unlike Eggman’s goal of conquering, Eggman Nega seeks to destroy, threatening to level the Sol Empire with the Power of the Stars. Conversely, he does not handle his plans going south, such as being too focused on a small miscalculation to prevent Super Sonic and Burning Blaze from destroying the Egg Salamander.

The Ace of Swords’ new innovations puts him above the rest even as his hostility tinges his successes.

Upright Keywords: intellect, success, learning from mistakes, manipulation

Reversed Keywords: hostility, destruction, frustration, miscalculation

Two of Swords (Infinite)

Infinite, also known as the Ultimate Mercenary, has let his inferiority complex control him. Defeated handedly by Shadow in the past, he constantly seeks to conquer his fears of domination and oppress others as the Two of Swords, instead. Yet denial is key to Infinite’s existence: in his quest to never be made weak again, he has discarded all that he considers a flaw—including companionship like he once had with the Jackal Squad—despite the different kinds of strength to be found within them.

Once the Two of Swords is reversed, Infinite’s tenuous grasp on sanity turns into delays and sloppiness. Instead of dealing with the Avatar right away, he lets them go to bask in their fear, allowing them to find their own courage and defeat him later. Furthermore, Infinite’s almost-anxious obsession on getting revenge against Shadow manifests in grand speeches and actions that are less effective than just defeating him outright, such as trapping Shadow in a virtual reality he quickly breaks out of.

The Two of Swords’ mental and emotional irregularities lead to ignorance of the truth and avoidance both.

Upright Keywords: difficult decisions, facing fears, denial, avoidance

Reversed Keywords: delays, dismissal, obsession, ineffective action

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE AND PREORDER NOW!

[sapphanimates]

2023 Art Summary

I originally created my blog back in April, but I've decided to jump on the trend and share a compilation of some of my favorite works.

JANUARY

My first attempt at a digital painting style, featuring a character I don't believe I've introduced here before. A reimagining of the Tails Doll, with a Phantom Ruby twist: The Phantom Amalgamation (or Maggie, as my friends call them), made for Project Alacrity. I'll have to get around to redrawing them so they can have a proper introduction.

FEBUARY

Fanart for YouTube creator, Miharu the Fox. Whilst watching one of her streams, I asked what I should draw, with her co-host Marc suggesting that I should "Draw Spyro glitching into the abyss." Seeing that they were playing Spyro Enter the Dragonfly, it seemed only fitting. So I drew him shaking on top of a trapped baby dragon in ice.

MARCH

An attempt at a papercraft style using a tutorial by YouTube user, CariadsCoffee. The character pictured is Squirrelflight (or rather, Squirrelstar) from Warrior Cats, using my own design. Learning this method of drawing is what eventually led to me adopting the lineless style I use in many of my posts.

APRIL

Parody designs of Silver and Blaze, aptly dubbed Pothead and Lighter. They originate from a Sonic 06 parody comic for 4/20 that was written by my friend, @alzikeiswrong , and was illustrated in TuxPaint by me. Whether or not I decide to actually finish and post it is a mystery.

MAY

A post made as a gut reaction to discovering the amount of articulated parts the Jakks Pacific Tails Nine figure had. 70 points of articulation is ridiculous, but man is the figure amazing. I just wish he was to scale with the normal Tails figure.

JUNE

My second attempt at a digital painting, this time featuring Blaze the Cat. Manipulating the flames and how they interacted with Blaze and the background, was a fun challenge, as well as figuring out the textures and posing.

JULY

This is the point when I discovered my lineless style. Specifically the one I use when drawing my fursona, Sapph. Her design has developed a lot over the years, from being a Minecraft X Warrior Cats crossover OC, to slowly rounding out and becoming less Minecraft, gaining new design details in the process, to where she is now.

AUGUST

A drawing of multiple AU designs of Tails for Project Alacrity, socializing at some sort of get together. This was mainly a test to practice how to frame a drawing with multiple characters in it, as well as giving them each something to do. To show the differences between these various different versions of the same core character through their designs and how they interact with one another.

SEPTEMBER

One of the ask answers for my MommyClan cat's ask blog, @stepcousinclawspeaks . Stepcousinclaw was originally created for the fanclan in August, but this panel was one of my favorites. It shows his chaotic and often arsonistic side really well. I'll return to the blog soon for a big story update. Stay tuned!

OCTOBER

October brought with it the Sonic OC Showdown 2, which I had miraculously managed to get my Trace the Tasmanian to participate in. She passed the first round by a close call, but lost by a wide margin in the following. It was a good fight, with a good string of propaganda art coming from me and some of my supporters as a part of the campaign. Thank you all for supporting me while I was a part of it.

NOVEMBER

Whilst exploring through old files, I came across a template I saved. I used it to share the designs I made for various Warriors characters, some who I already had made designs for, and others I had to make up on the spot. One of my favorites was Spottedleaf. The balance of colors and details seem just right to me, as well as being a vast improvement from the color inaccurate one I had made as a ten year old.

DECEMBER

December's was fun. I haven't ever really had a "set style." Every time I try to revisit one specific design I always make something a bit off. Same can be said for this sketch style. I loved doing it. It felt the most accurate to how my art on paper feels as I draw it. Rough around the edges, but lifelike. Sadly I've had a hard time returning to it after dumping out all my thoughts around the 06 AU onto my screen. I've been working on it. There's more to see in the coming year, so I hope you'll stick with me to see how I can grow as a young artist!

Template is by @zontarzon !

[bitter69uk]

The first time I ever read about seminal New York art-noise band Sonic Youth was in Creem magazine as a teenager in the early 1980s. The accompanying photo depicted the scowling musicians posed menacingly around a car with a smashed windscreen while the article singled out singer-bassist Kim Gordon as “the scariest Youth”, noting her “Germanic voice totally devoid of femininity.” Colour me instantly fascinated! Flash forward to 2024 and – long past the dissolution of both her marriage to Sonic Youth co-founder Thurston Moore and the band itself in 2011 – the now 70-year-old Gordon remains the epitome of unassailable, ineffable deadpan cool. On her challenging and confrontational new solo album entitled The Collective, that bleached, alienated voice cited by Creem four decades ago is gloriously intact. I’m still absorbing the songs (I properly listened to it for the first time at the gym on Friday night), but on “Bye Bye” she hauntingly hisses and whispers what sounds like a “to-do” list (“Buy a suitcase, pants to the cleaner / Cigarettes for Keller / Call the vet, call the groomer, call the dog sitter / Milk thistle, calcium, high-rise, boot cut, Advil, black jeans / Blue jeans, cardigan purse, passport, pajamas, silk …”) over juddering, anxious trap beats. And on “I’m a Man”, Gordon – who’s always loved a feminist diatribe – scrutinizes toxic masculinity (“Pass me a black napkin, please / Dropped out of college, don't have a degree / And I can't get a date / It's not my fault … So what if I like the big truck? Giddy up, giddy up!”). In conclusion: Kim Gordon is absolutely slaying right now and it’s a beautiful thing. Pictured: portrait of Gordon by Danielle Neu.

[samobservessonic]

StC Post-Mortems: Extra Life

I received another request for a Post-Mortem, this time from @hikingsuper, about a character who appeared way back in issue 13, just less than 100 issues ago from where I’m at now! But I really liked Extra Life and also the site I get the StC scans from is down rn, meaning I can’t work on the next issue, so let’s take a brief detour to look back

How it started

Extra Life had a single appearance in StC and given that he was created by early writer Mark Millar, who bowed out of writing regularly for the series after issue 16 and only wrote a few single stories after that, he wasn’t ever revisited within the series. I can’t find any real world extra info about Extra Life - Millar is an established comic book writer with a vast bibliography on many different series to his name, so it’s likely there was never anything more to Extra Life than what we saw

In terms of the story he appeared in, Extra Life was an evil being created by Dr. Kintobor prior to Kintobor becoming Robotnik, who Kintobor sealed away in a 1-Up Box. Sometime later, Extra Life would trick Tails into thinking that he was Sonic, so Tails would release him. There isn’t any explanation as to why Extra Life is evil or how Kintobor made him, but it’s really not that deep, so this doesn’t bother me 

How it went

…I didn’t plan these sections to work for characters who only have one appearance, did I?

Regardless, Extra Life caused chaos posing as Sonic for a while, before the real Sonic stepped in to fight him. Sally was also in the story a lot, which keeps me happy, and hilariously, she briefly banished Sonic from Green Hill years before Archie would write a story about Sally banishing Sonic lol

How it ended

Punted him into space! They trapped Extra Life back in the box and then Sonic kicked him so hard that he disappeared from the comic for good

Were there any unused future plans from the StC writers?

As I said before, there really wasn’t anything about Extra Life that I could find outside of the book itself. Beyond some speculation about the differences in his writing choices to Kitching’s, Millar’s short-lived run on StC doesn’t have a lot of information out there about it, sadly

What would I personally have liked to see next for him if StC continued?

This is quite a bit ahead of where I’m at in my read-through now, but StC issue 161 features a character called Turbo - an alien who bears some resemblance to the Mobian hedgehog design. Turbo is a nice lad as far as I remember, so since they’re both already in space, the two of them could be good foil for each other, potentially with Extra Life tricking Turbo into helping him and the consequences of Turbo believing him. If we can have “Sonic’s World” stories about characters like Shortfuse and Captain Plunder, then I’d gladly extend that to Turbo and Extra Life as well. I think that in another life (hur hur) this duo could’ve been popular supporting characters in StC

I’m also far from the first person to consider teaming them up, but that just solidifies my belief that the potential is there

What if he was in other Sonic media?

Classic Sonic Games:

I really like StC’s habit of looking at things that aid Sonic and going “What if that was turned on its head?” A category that Extra Life falls into. Yes, we know in the classic games that if you break a 1-Up Box with Robotnik’s face on that you die, but what if it was more of a gamble than that and if you break one with Sonic’s face on you could either get an extra life or have to deal with Extra Life? It could also be fun to make an “easier” version if you play as Tails, where the boxes still appear with Sonic’s face on, so you know that’s the Extra Life that’ll cause you a problem and not an extra life for Tails

How exactly he causes problems could be handled in a range of different ways, mostly focused on attacking the player until he’s dealt with. In my head, I mostly picture this in a classic Sonic setting. I’m sure it could work in modern Sonic as well, but other than Metal Sonic, there are less Sonic doppelgangers or rivals for him to compete with in classic. Not that this has ever stopped the franchise either way

Modern Sonic Games:

Beyond that, I’d honestly rather stick to using the character in settings where 1-Ups are a mechanic, since I think that’s where he’d be the most effective. Maybe have the box he’s stuck in float past as space debris during the Finalhazard fight in SA2 as a callback - that’d be funny!

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic Cyber Revolution, Entry 62: Neo Genesis

''Like a million faces, I've recognized them all, and one by one they've all become a number as they fall (as they fall). In the face of reason, I can't take no more. One by one they've all become a black mark on the floor. Is it me, you say, you're looking for? Let me show you who I am and what I have in store... (in store)''

– What I'm Made Of (Shadow Remix) by Sonic Heroes (Zarkator Cover, Sonic X Shadow Generations, Theme of Neo Metal Sonic)

xXxXxXx

Dr. Eggman was holding a mug of hot coffee, sipping it calmly as he looked at the monitors. He had to admit that it was quite amusing to watch Ferra and Metal Sonic's plan unfolding. Technically speaking, he had nothing to do with what was going on, as all of this was planned out by Ferra and Metal Sonic. The two had actually approached him after they failed to locate Sonic due to Team Neos being away in the Surya Empire and asked him for help with a plan they had prepared, as they needed to borrow the Badniks and take control of the AR Fields. Eggman patiently listened to the two, at first a bit weary, but eventually started to agree with them on their plan, giving them access to whatever they needed. Admittedly, the plan wasn't anything grand, and it appeared that they were still struggling a little with how they would approach the situation, but overall, it was decent enough.

Eggman had to admit that hearing their plan wasn't the only reason why he let them do whatever they wanted. In comparison to Toshiro and Mephiles, as well as Dr. Starline, Ferra and Metal Sonic had proven themselves to be his most efficient subordinates, fulfilling all of their tasks with little  to no complain, and although Ferra could have a snarky attitude, it wasn't anything Eggman considered outright disrespectful.

As for the plan itself, they had decided to wait for Team Neos to return and use the Egg Pawns to distract them, so Neo Metal Sonic could copy their bio-data directly and empower himself, as well as trap the two most powerful fighters of the team within an inescapable AR Field. He wanted to eventually confront Sonic in this new form and overpower him, if not outright destroy him. Eggman agreed to all of that, but he did notice that both of them were a little apprehensive, understanding well why they would feel like that.

After all, they had been dealing with Sonic the Hedgehog, and the blue hedgehog's victory always seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Eggman himself knew well that even gods capable of ending the universe couldn't stop his arch-nemesis, which is why he decided to turn this whole enemy thing into a game for himself, where he could plot the hedgehog's demise while keeping things entertaining for himself. That is why he had been waiting for so long for Sonic's appearance as an Irregular instead of conquering Starpoint Area immediately after he built his robot army. While he was certain that the military would be capable of fighting him, he never considered them worthy opponents, and if he wanted to conquer the world, he would do it properly. After all, victory without any significant struggle would be incredibly boring.

He had hoped that Ferra and, especially, Metal Sonic, would understand that.

xXx

Sonic sighed as he and Shadow sat back-to-back on a checkerboard-designed platform on the beach that was Seaside Hill, immediately voicing his frustrated thoughts, ''This AR Field is the same as Green Hill. We're stuck in a loop!''

''I'm not surprised,'' Shadow replied in a matter-of-fact tone, his arms folded across his chest and his legs crossed. ''The Doctor and Metal Sonic are well aware of the danger we pose to them.''

''I know, but I still thought that we would be able to find a way out…'' Sonic trailed off, only to perk up a moment later and turn his head towards Shadow. ''Hey, what about Chaos Control?'' Sonic suddenly asked, feeling excited. ''You could summon the Chaos Emeralds and we'd have our way out of here.''

''That's not possible unless I release a huge amount of Chaos Energy to distort the AR Field.'' Shadow shook his head, with Sonic's expression falling. ''Even if I tapped into all of the Chaos Energy I had, I wouldn't be able to do it. In order to succeed, I'd need to use Chaos Surge, and since Touka isn't around, that option is not viable.''

''In other words, we're stuck,'' Sonic said, turning his back to the dark hedgehog, with Shadow nodding. Sonic took a deep breath, staring at the bright blue sky. ''Although, I don't think we'll stay here for long.'' Shadow didn't say anything, but his eyes did flick to the side. He didn't turn around though, his ears perking as he continued listening to Sonic. ''Lucas, Touka and the rest of our friends will notice that we have gone missing and that they can't reach us, so they will do everything they can to find us and get us out. That, or Metal Sonic will attempt to challenge me, because I don't think he'd just keep me trapped here without proving himself to be the superior one through a battle.''

''So, we'll have to be patient and wait for an opportunity.'' Shadow smirked. ''Tch, good luck with that.''

Sonic narrowed his eyes, his ears twitching in ire. ''I can be patient when I want.''

''We'll see,'' Shadow responded, with Sonic pouting. The azure hedgehog folded his arms, deciding to show Shadow that he could be patient and focused on staring ahead at the sea and sky, trying to find something that would keep him entertained. His ears drooped slightly when he saw an orca swimming in the deeper waters, frowning at the memory of it chasing after him whenever he and Shadow explored the areas closer to the water. In fact, it didn't even go after Shadow, it actually went only after Sonic as if it held a grudge against him. Sonic swore to himself that he wouldn't go anywhere near the water.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the orca was the only interesting thing in this AR Field, leaving Sonic with nothing to focus on. Admittedly, he could take another lap around the AR Field, maybe find different ways to navigate through the area. It sounded like a good idea to him, but he knew that he could complete the track in a short time and he would find himself searching for new ways to entertain himself. Not to mention, he wanted to prove to Shadow that he could be patient.

Therefore, he remained sitting on the spot, trying to focus on waiting. Except, maybe a few seconds had passed until he started fidgeting. He glanced back at Shadow, the dark hedgehog having closed his eyes and listening to the rush of waves, still in the same position as earlier. Sonic pouted, wondering just how it was possible for his rival to be able to sit so still for this long. He turned around, sighing again.

''I think Metal Sonic is trying to torture me with this,'' Sonic said.

''Two minutes.''

''Huh?''

''You've been quiet for a little over two minutes,'' Shadow said, finally turning around and meeting Sonic's gaze. ''I've been counting.''

Sonic's expression fell. ''Fine. I wish there was something to do rather than just wait. I thought about going for another lap, but I have a bad feeling about the orca.''

''I believe that there is something you could occupy yourself with,'' Shadow replied. Sonic gave him a look of surprise.

''What is it?'' he asked.

''We had both been caught off guard by Metal Sonic shapeshifting into Ferra. I don't believe that this ability is something he'd usually be capable of, so how is that possible?'' Shadow responded. Sonic hummed in thought.

''Yeah, that was weird…'' he muttered. ''I guess he got some kind of upgrade.''

''If he did, let's hope Lucas and the others know what kind of upgrade it is and how to combat it,'' Shadow replied.

xXx

''Metal?''

Metal Sonic ignored Ferra, being deep in thought. He was still pondering over Ferra's question and, more importantly, what his next move would be. He had copied the bio-data of the three strongest members of Team Neos, and if he desired so, he could've gone for the others as well. But even then, he battled with a sense of self-doubt of whether he would even succeed in his plan. It was an illogical thought, especially for a robot like him; someone capable of making all kinds of calculations in a matter of seconds to pick the most beneficial outcome. But, now he was gripped with a sense of fear, the belief that he wasn't strong enough. That he wasn't good enough.

This makes no logical sense. This isn't me. Metal Sonic stared ahead blankly, his claws balled into tight fists. I should be better than this. I need to prove my superiority! Sonic is my fake, and I-!

''Metal!''

Metal Sonic was startled when he heard Ferra shouting for him. He turned his attention to her, a bit taken aback when he saw the look of concern on her expression. He didn't understand why she gave him that look. He hadn't shown any behavior that it would require such reaction. Or, did he?

''What's wrong?''

''You don't look well,'' Ferra replied. ''In fact, you looked like you were about to fry a circuit.''

Metal Sonic fell silent once again, only for a moment later to respond, ''I was trying to find an answer to your question.''

''I think there's more to it,'' Ferra said in a calm, but firm tone. She took note of Metal Sonic's puzzled gaze, well aware that it was still a bit difficult for him to understand how she was even capable of reading his mood given how there wasn't much of a way for him to emote. However, considering how much time they had spent together, it shouldn't be too surprising that Ferra would be capable of understanding him. They were partners, after all, and developing a deep bond was part of it. ''I think it would be better for you to tell me what it is before you make any move you're going to regret.''

''…'' Metal Sonic glanced at her, before staring ahead. ''It's self-doubt, and I hate it.'' He stepped ahead, melting into a silver liquid and emerging as Neo Metal Sonic, the black cape around his waist swishing as he suddenly turned around, his voice growing louder. ''This is my grand scheme, but despite being ahead of my loathsome copy in terms of power, I still feel like I'm being held back!'' Neo Metal Sonic shouted in frustration, his right arm stretched out behind him, pointing upwards, while the other was clenched into a tight fist. ''To make it worse, there is no outside obstacle that is holding me back, since I can easily destroy any obstacles placed in my path. Instead, I'm dealing with something inside me that keeps me chained from unleashing my true potential, and I absolutely hate it!'' Neo Metal Sonic's eyes flared up in a dark red colour, glowing in rage as he continued, ''All of my calculations have confirmed that I have enough power to destroy my rival, yet I cannot even force myself to take that crucial step, and I don't understand why.'' He lowered his arms, his fists shaking. ''I concluded that it had to be self-doubt, and I want to erase that emotion from my programming, but I can't. Why? What do I have to feel like this?!''

Ferra kept silent during this whole rant, deciding to wait for her partner to be done. She then asked him in a kind, gentle tone, ''Have you always felt like this?''

''Insufficient, inadequate, defective, incomplete… I had these thoughts since the very start,'' Neo Metal Sonic responded in a matter-of-fact tone. ''Their intensity varied from time to time, but they never left.''

''You felt that way because of Sonic,'' Ferra said, her response being a statement rather than a question.

''That hedgehog is the bane of my existence,'' Neo Metal Sonic responded, his voice being a chilling balance of tranquility and fury. Ferra tilted her head slightly, giving him a curious look.

Ever since she had first found him, Metal Sonic's goal had been to destroy Sonic, so he could not only prove his superiority over his biological look-a-like, but replace him as the real Sonic the Hedgehog. Ferra had wondered from time to time whether Metal Sonic believed he was the real Sonic, but didn't care much about it, as she was only there to support Metal Sonic in reaching his goal. Nothing else mattered to her. However, she understood that she would have to address this at some point.

''Say, Neo…'' Ferra started, drawing Neo Metal Sonic's attention. ''I know that you have been driven by the desire to destroy Sonic once and for all, but is that all?'' Neo Metal Sonic gave her a serious look. ''I mean, do you understand the truth about your connection with Sonic…''

''I have looked into my origins once you told me about them,'' Neo Metal Sonic responded. ''I had been programmed for the sole purpose of destroying Sonic using abilities superior to his. I am the better Sonic in every way, since I possesses the best performance, a tireless body, and plenty of other factors that should make me unbeatable. I understand that I was created after Sonic, but that won't stop me from proving my superiority. However, I also know that is impossible because my copy will always win, no matter what I do. This paradox drives me into madness!''

''That is the video game lore…'' Ferra muttered, a relaxed smile spreading on her lips. ''However, this is the real world, and from what I've seen, you have proven yourself.'' Neo Metal Sonic gave her a confused look. Ferra simply continued, ''Didn't Sonic experience defeat during The Starfall? You had him on the ground, and the only reason he was still alive was because we had to leave at the time.''

''Indeed, but…'' Neo Metal Sonic fell silent as he reflected on that memory. Back then, he had celebrated this victory, believing that it was a sign he was better than Sonic. How could he forget about it?

It appeared that Ferra knew exactly what was going through his head, as she gave him a sympathetic look, adding, ''No offense, but perhaps this upgrade also resulted in this sense of self-doubt and ego becoming stronger. You are more powerful, that's true, but you still keep comparing yourself to Sonic, reflecting on his accomplishments and fearing that you will never be on his level.'' She then gave him an encouraging look. ''How about reflecting on your own accomplishments instead? After all, you had managed to not only copy Sonic, Shadow and Silver's bio-data to make yourself more powerful, but you also trapped Sonic and Shadow in an inescapable AR Field. Besides Dr. Eggman giving us access to the Badniks and AR Field, this was all you. I'd say that it's quite impressive.''

''But, it's not enough…'' Neo Metal Sonic's red eyes suddenly stopped flaring, and he gave Ferra a determined look. ''Unless, I decide what is enough.''

''So, what do you want to do?'' Ferra asked, placing a hand on her hip. She felt quite relieved that she had managed to help her partner restore his confidence. ''Should we still go after Team Neos as a whole as we planned initially?''

''They're not important, especially since they shouldn't even have any access to the AR Field,'' Neo Metal Sonic said. ''However, you should keep an eye on them. I have no doubt that they will attempt to interfere.''

''Don't worry, I'll take care of that,'' Ferra replied in an assured tone, with Neo Metal Sonic nodding in response. He then held up his hand, his eyes glowing as an AR Field opened before him and then closed after he entered it.

Ferra sighed, reaching for the hoverboard that was lying on the ground. She had hoped that Neo Metal Sonic knew what he was doing.

xXx

The AR Field was changing. Sonic and Shadow had only mere seconds to even react when their entire environment had vanished and they found themselves standing instead onboard a predominantly gray and red, whale-shaped warship. There were various floating platforms over the skies that were heavily guarded by tough Badniks and cannons, and were connected by yellow, glowing grind rails. This warship, the Final Fortress, was flying over an area surrounded by rough, stormy weather.

The strong winds whipped the hedgehogs as they tried to make sense of their surroundings, their eyes squinting at the sight of lightning and their ears twitching at the sound of thunder. Suddenly, a powerful bolt of lightning struck Shadow, the dark hedgehog crying out in agony as he got electrocuted in the most brutal way possible.

''AAAAAAGHHHH!''

''Shadow!'' Sonic could only watch in horror as his rival fell over, his fur charred and smoking. The dark hedgehog wasn't moving, seemingly lifeless. Sonic's heart raced as a chilling sense of panic set in. ''No no no, Shadow!'' Before Sonic could even move to aid him, he was met with a cyan barrier that stopped him in his tracks. The same cyan energy then enveloped Shadow's lifeless body, throwing him off the warship and into the depths of the dark sky. ''Shadow!!''

Sonic's scream of anguish was drowned out by the boom of thunder, followed by heavy raindrops. Sonic turned around, trying to find a way to leap after Shadow, but what caught his attention was the figure standing on top of the warship. He could recognize that it was a familiar blue robot, the cape billowing in the rough wind.

''Metal…'' Sonic breathed, staring at the robot in disbelief.

''That is Neo Metal Sonic to you, my loathsome copy!'' Neo Metal Sonic responded, leaping from the top of the warship and landing right before Sonic, who managed to snap out of his stupor and quickly ran over to the edge of the warship, but saw nothing but dark clouds below him. Sonic turned to Neo Metal Sonic, a furious gaze on his expression.

''What have you done to Shadow?!'' he shouted.

''I have removed him from the battlefield. This battle is between you and me,'' Neo Metal Sonic responded coldly. Sonic gritted his teeth, feeling pressure on his chest. He had no idea whether Neo Metal Sonic just removed Shadow from the AR Field or outright killed him by throwing him off the warship, and he didn't want to think about it. He knew that there was nothing he could do in this situation, forcing himself to focus on defeating Neo Metal Sonic.

''Fine,'' Sonic replied, his eyes narrowed. Neo Metal Sonic gazed back at him, feeling almost amused that Sonic even considered fighting him like this. This wasn't a battle he could survive, he didn't care, something the robot had acknowledged a long time ago as he confronted Sonic.

''Let me show you just what I'm made of!''

xXx

''It is fortunate that everyone has gathered,'' Ferra muttered under her breath as she observed the group that was standing on the street. Besides Team Neos, there were also the Vector, Espio, Charmy, Rouge, Omega, Big, Froggy, Cream and Cheese, discussing the recent Badnik attacks and trying to make sense of them, as well as talking about Sonic and Shadow's disappearance. ''I suppose that it is kind of ironic that Team Sonic, Team Rose, Team Chaotix and Team Dark, sans Sonic and Shadow, but including Silver, are present for this.'' Ferra sighed, knowing that, while Team Neos and their allies had no clue what was going on, they would eventually figure things out and set up a plan to counter them. ''So, the best move here is to interfere and keep them busy as long as possible until Neo is done with Sonic.''

Tapping on her AR Visor, she activated the AR Field. She observed the group as they were dragged into the field, finding themselves in a highly advanced city, not unlike Neos City, consisting of tall, green skyscrapers and a massive factory. This area was known as Grand Metropolis, and Ferra choose it as her own battlefield due to the easy access to an army of Badniks. The robots drew the attention of the group, with Ferra leaping down from the building she was standing on, using the hoverboard to cushion her fall. She smirked, meeting Lucas' gaze.

''Ferra, what is going on?! What have you done to Sonic and Shadow? What is Dr. Eggman up to?'' Lucas demanded, glaring at the teenager.

''First of all, the Doctor is not involved in this,'' Ferra responded, surprising the group. ''As for Sonic and Shadow… I suppose you will find out soon what happened to them. Lastly, does Sonic Heroes sound familiar to you?''

Lucas' eyes widened in shock, as this wasn't the answer he had expected. He was clearly familiar with that video game and its events, but why would Ferra even mention them… Then, it clicked. ''You mean, this was all for Neo Metal Sonic?''

''Bingo~!'' Ferra replied in a sing-song voice. ''I may not know the exact details of what Neo wants to do with Sonic, but I know that my task is to keep you away from them. Badniks, attack!''

The group was met with a horde of the Pawn Series of robots, ranging from Egg Pawns to Egg Hammers to Egg Spears, and were immediately forced to use Chaos Surge, so the human partners could fight them off. The only ones who had to stay out of action were Lucas and Touka, whose respective partners were missing, but fortunately for them, Omega was more than delighted to take their place as he changed his cannon arms into machine guns and started firing at the Badniks.

''This is the best day of my life!''

''Good to know that at least someone is enjoying this,'' Touka said, standing next to Lucas. ''What should we do?''

''The obvious answer would be to find Sonic and Shadow, but considering the situation, it is possible that they aren't even in Grand Metropolis, but instead in a different AR Field, most likely fighting Neo Metal Sonic, who has not only absorbed Silver's bio-data, but possibly theirs as well. The worst case scenario for them would be dealing with Metal Madness or even Metal Overlord,'' Lucas explained, gritting his teeth in frustration. They had no way of communicating with Sonic and Shadow, nor had access to anything that would allow them to cross between the AR Fields, like the Chaos Emeralds. The only way of reaching their partners would be to force Ferra into letting them through.

Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Their friends were fighting through the hordes of the Badniks, and even though they destroyed a good chunk of them, the natural environment of the AR Field allowed for their data to be reconstructed, causing new Badniks to spawn. This became evident when Amy and Big, joined by Makoto, had to knock down an Egg Spear Cream and Cheese had already taken down, the Badnik getting revived and attacking again. Even breaking their cores, something Vector, Espio, Charmy and Warren attempted to do, has proven to be futile, as the Egg Hammer they faced stood up once again. Omega and Rouge were doing their best to take down group of Egg Pawns, with Rouge engaging in melee combat alongside Minami and Lily, while Omega acted as the support unit, spraying a barrage of bullets at every Badnik that came close to them. Lastly, Silver took Sonic's spot, leading Knuckles and Tails against a Super Egg Pawn, which proved itself to be much more durable than the average Egg Pawns. It was chaos all around, with Ferra standing on the other end, observing the madness before her.

Lucas wanted to move towards her, hoping to catch her off guard, but he got distracted by Touka's loud gasp. There was an interference within the field, with a dark figure appearing on the ground, lying there motionless.

''Shadow!'' Touka quickly ran, kneeling on the ground as she picked her younger brother into her arms, devastated to see him in such an awful condition. She lowered her head on his chest, breathing heavily as she felt a sense of relief when she heard his heart beat, and turned to Lucas. ''He's still alive…''

Their attention turned back to the dark hedgehog when he stirred. The damage was so great that it took all of his strength to open his eyes even slightly, feeling relief to see Touka and Lucas. ''Sonic and I were ambushed… at an Eggman warship…'' He tried to sit up, but his whole body felt like he was on fire, the pain spreading through it in waves. He could feel Touka's grip around his body tighten, the warm sensation of the BioEnergy colliding with the agony. ''I need to…''

There was a soft glow when Touka enabled Chaos Surge, allowing Shadow to breathe easier as the process started healing his injuries.

''We know Sonic is fighting Neo Metal Sonic, but we don't know how to get to him,'' Lucas told Shadow, whose eyes narrowed. He understood now why he was targeted, as in this condition, there was no chance for him to summon the Chaos Emeralds.

The guilt hit him like a wave washing over him.

xXx

Sonic felt a dreadful, chilling sensation spreading through his chest as he fought against Neo Metal Sonic, dodging the bolts of lightning, which were weaker than the ones the robot used on Shadow, but not less lethal. He ran across the deck of the warship, trying to escape Neo Metal Sonic's relentless attacks. There was a sudden clap of thunder, colouring the dark sky in white, and multiple bolts of lighting shot downwards, one of them finally hitting the azure hedgehog.

Sonic cried out in pain, agony shooting through his body as he fell on the ground. His nostrils were hit with a smell of charred fur, and even though it wasn't as strong, he felt almost paralyzed by the attack.

''Is this all you can do? Pathetic,'' Neo Metal Sonic spat in disdain, with Sonic trying to get up, the wind whistling in his ears and his eyes slightly blurry due to the rain.

''You haven't seen… anything,'' Sonic took a breath, only for Neo Metal Sonic to charge at him using his own super speed, punching him straight in the face. He was sent flying, landing hard on the deck as he felt a metallic, tangy fluid in his mouth. He wiped it off, his eyes widening in horror as he realized that his robotic rival managed to draw blood.

''You are nothing,'' Neo Metal Sonic said in a cold tone, observing Sonic as the latter sat up, trying to catch his breath. ''You are all alone, with no friends to help you in this fight.''

''Truth to be told… I don't want to put them into unnecessary danger,'' Sonic said, with Neo Metal Sonic suddenly launching Chaos Spear-like projectiles at his biological counterpart, with Sonic charging towards him, managing to dodge the energy bolts and getting close enough to Neo Metal Sonic to get into a melee fight. He landed a hit on the robot's head, followed by another on the side, followed by a punch to the chest and culminating in sweeping Neo Metal Sonic off his feet, then curled into a ball and finished him off with a spin-attack.

Breathing heavily, Sonic stepped back, his chest hurting and his lungs burning. He felt cold, his body ached, and he knew that he was injured, but he needed to defeat his robotic rival if he wanted to escape this place and go back to his friends. Suddenly, his body was surrounded by cyan energy and he was thrown hard into a nearby cannon, leaving an indent and flopping over as he fell on the ground, only one thought crossing his mind.

That's Silver's power.

It seemed as if Neo Metal Sonic had read his mind, because when he approached the azure hedgehog, he said, ''I have scanned Silver, Shadow and your bio-data, which allowed me to copy and replicate all of your attributes and abilities flawlessly. So, don't be too surprised when I use them.''

''Is that so…'' Sonic muttered. The reckless side of him wanted to continue and show Neo Metal Sonic that he wouldn't be defeated so easily, but his common sense prevailed, reminding him that if what the robot said was true, his chances of defeating him were zero to none. He knew from first-hand experience just how powerful Silver and Shadow were, and unless he had a proper way to counter Neo Metal Sonic, he was done for. There was one thing he could do, but he wasn't sure how well it would even work. However, it was his only chance.

To Neo Metal Sonic's surprise, Sonic suddenly ran off, leaving the former wondering what his counterpart was up to. He found Sonic standing on the far end of the deck, with the azure hedgehog taking a running stance and suddenly dashing towards his robotic counterpart. Somehow, his speed was even greater than before, with Sonic utilizing his Boost, surrounded by blue energy as he became a destructive high-speed projectile. He then curled into a ball, combining it with the spin-dash, alarming Neo Metal Sonic. The robot managed to raise a protective barrier resembling the Black Shield, shocked when Sonic managed to push him back, with small cracks forming in the barrier as the hedgehog desperately tried to break through. Directing his own energy from the barrier, Neo Metal Sonic made the snap decision to fire a bolt of lightning at Sonic from up close.

''AAAAAGHRR!'' Sonic screamed in anguish, feeling as if his whole body was on fire, only to have his air supply be cut off when Neo Metal Sonic grabbed him by the neck and slammed him brutally into the ground, dragging his claws across his chest and causing red lines to appear across the skin, droplets of blood staining the peach fur. He then lifted Sonic up, still holding him by his neck.

''It is satisfying to see you writhe in my hands, weakened and helpless, unable to stand up to me,'' Neo Metal Sonic said, his red eyes glowing as he met Sonic's defiant gaze. Despite his injuries, he wasn't willing to give up yet, with the robot leaving a cut across his cheek. ''I could finally fulfill my purpose of destroying you…''

''Then, why don't you do it?'' Sonic asked through gritted teeth, blood flowing down his cheek. Neo Metal Sonic was strangely silent, merely staring at him in curiosity.

''I have already proven my superiority,'' Neo Metal Sonic said, his tone cold, but also interlaced with a sense of elation as there was a boom of thunder. ''I will grant you this mercy and let you live with that knowledge.''

He then threw Sonic over the warship, the hedgehog falling through the clouds, his desperate screams growing faint as he disappeared into the darkness. Neo Metal Sonic was standing on the deck, observing his rival vanishing and feeling a sense worthiness. He had finally achieved his desire, feeling complete for once.

He had won.

xXx

Ferra blinked in surprise, staring at the message she had gotten from Neo Metal Sonic. She then smirked, realizing that her own mission was over. She stared back at Team Neos, who were still involved in a futile battle, and then turned the AR Field off, causing them to find themselves back at the same street in Neos City, then quickly left.

Lucas was just as stunned as the rest of the group when the AR Field deactivated, but there wasn't any time for discussion as he spotted a blue figure lying on the ground of what used to be the battlefield.

''Sonic!''

He ran over to his partner, cradling the hedgehog in his arms and feeling horrified when he saw just how badly battered and bruised he was, not to mention bleeding from his chest and muzzle. Fortunately, Sonic was still breathing, but the sight of him being so heavily injured set all alarms off in Lucas' head, and he felt as if someone threw a bucket of ice cold water over him.

Sonic, what had happened to you?

xXx

Dr. Eggman was laughing mirthfully, enjoying the show he had been watching. Seeing his arch-nemesis, Sonic the Hedgehog, being defeated and humiliated by Neo Metal Sonic made him feel excited. It was amazing from start to finish, and it was another win for the Eggman Empire. Even if Eggman himself hadn't directly participated in it, he still counted it as a personal victory since Neo Metal Sonic was his Enforcer.

It took a bit, but sure enough, Ferra and Metal Sonic showed up at the Egg Base, with Eggman greeting them with a glass of champagne in his hand, while Orbot was holding a bottle and Cubot held another glass for Ferra.

''Congratulations on your, well, our victory!'' Eggman said proudly, with Orbot and Cubot poured a drink for Ferra, who shook her head.

''Don't worry, it's ramune, not champagne,'' Orbot told her, with Ferra accepting the glass.

''Hah! That hedgehog saw nothing coming! You have managed to execute your own plan flawlessly!'' Eggman praised them, with Ferra and Metal Sonic giving him a confused look. Usually, Eggman never praised anyone, but it appeared that he was in a good enough mood to give them credit for their accomplishment. Eggman then gave Metal Sonic a curious look. ''Although, you not destroying Sonic for once and all makes no sense.'' The response was just beeping and buzzing noises. ''Huh? Haven't I upgraded you to talk?''

''Metal Sonic decided to revert to this form for his own comfort,'' Ferra explained to the bewildered Eggman. ''As for why he hadn't killed Sonic, he had come to the conclusion that leaving him alive would give him the opportunity to fight him again and defeat him in an even more brutal fashion. If Metal Sonic had to live with a sense of inferiority for so long, then Sonic should experience the same kind of humiliation.''

''Hm… That is an interesting approach,'' Eggman said, smirking. ''Regardless, well done you two! I hope that that rodent will be haunted by his defeat in his nightmares, ho ho!''

Ferra and Metal Sonic exchanged glances, both proud of what they achieved and looking forward to their next battle.

Links:

#Previous Chapter

#Current Chapter

#Next Chapter

#Sonic Cyber Revolution (Masterlist)

[glapplebloom]

Since Death Battle has changed, so have my notes...

As mentioned previously, I’m changing my output on notes. Instead of right after a Death Battle I researched, I’m going to do it based on the things of the year. So let’s see what events happened.

Before the Shutdown...

As people expected, the matches this year were matches meant for Season 11. For me, I was head researcher for Bowser Vs Eggman, which was a match we wanted to do for a very long time and was originally meant for Season 10. As for Wile E Vs Tom, while I didn’t get the position of Head Researcher for either of them, I was a part of the planning since I knew so much about the two. They asked for a clip of Tom playing the piano, I got them the exact one they’re looking for. I showed them a clip of them explaining why they've been chasing each other for years. I was the one who discovered Anti-Looney DNA. So I can confidently say I was involved in it. We were even going to get a pay raise and...

Goodbye Rooster Teeth

Yeah, this came out of nowhere. I don’t think anyone knew it was going to happen until it was announced. Maybe a select few but overall a surprise. So I got a severance pay and that was it. They were hoping Death Battle could continue in some form, so I waited. I still had my own projects to do so I was able to keep going without Death Battle. But that did let me loosen up on my own self-appointed rules. I didn’t promote other Vs Shows (ones with research) that were similar to DB but now that it's no longer available, they’re keeping the community alive with their own unique matches. And even with DB returning, I am putting them in my MG Must See Playlists when I update on the Middle Ground.

Pre-Kickstarter

A great day was finding out we were coming back as an independent show. I immediately came back to their current HQ for Death Battle. Then I got hacked. The hacker in question got my friend and wasn’t automated. It was like a person was actually behind it. So much so when they entered the Middle Ground Discord, they were pretending to be me. Luckily, the instant I realized what happened, I went to Twitter to tell people I was hacked, made a new Discord account to let people know, and was about to nuke my Discord account to prevent anymore spreading. Luckily Discord itself came to me to restore my control. But that means I was kicked out of the DB and couldn’t participate in any of the Pre-Kickstarter stuff. But once it got announced publicly, I was back on. 

Bardock Vs Omniman

One thing that was different than before is my participation in the editor streams. Sometimes the editors or animators stream their works and talk with the others there. Sometimes asking for help. In this episode, I helped by finding Bardock firing a beam. I also tried to help find the Leprechaun Car scene, but Max found a better quality. It is nice to help beyond that.

Bowser Vs Eggman

I was the head researcher for Eggman. And sadly, I knew coming in Eggman was likely gonna lose. Bowser’s superior strengths plus the fact he had access to all his magic on him Vs Eggman needing various machines to do so made it obvious. But I did try to turn the tides which influence the script a bit as the Metal Virus and Displacement Traps were things I was pitching could be ways for Eggman to counter the advantages. They were not. Another thing I tried to do was pitch the idea that Eggman conquering the Planet was more impressive than Bowser conquering the Galaxy because he had to face adversaries.

But that just highlighted how dumb Sonic Forces was. A few months later Eggman nearly conquered the planet. Yet Shadow, Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Silver, the Chaotix and others were there and didn’t pose a threat? Shadow is on equal footing and he doesn’t show up to beat his own faker until like half way till Sonic shows up. And it's only when Sonic comes back that the tides turn... How? Seriously how?

Another stupid thing about Forces: their (as in Sega’s) insistence on calling the Phantom Ruby perception manipulation despite the fact there’s so much evidence that it does change reality. The Hard Boiled Heavies were made by the thing and continue to exist after its disposal. Between Encore Mode and IDW, Heavy King and the others still are there so how is it not reality warping? It works on machines too, who shouldn’t be affected by such things since their eyes work differently. I even saw a Japanese Translated gameplay of Forces to see if America just messed up the translations. Nope, even in Japan it's considered perception manipulation. Why did they show the thing create dimensions, change gravity and create things that could actually hurt people if it's all just perceptions?!?

It probably wouldn't have changed the result since Bowser could also do that without a McGuffin, but it would have saved me a headache. Another thing, Sonic Dream Team and Frontier’s Final DLC came out after everything was settled, but nothing really added to them other than showing clips from them as well as Nightmare Eggman in the Alternate Scenario. And one more thing: Moro was asking us about adding anything to the background. My suggestion made it in: an Egg Robo riding a Motobug. They saw it as a reference to Heavy Rider, I saw it as a Reference to Jimmy. 

Fall Guys Vs Among Us

For this one, we were playing the games to get footage, so I got to play with pretty much all the researchers, editors and our two hosts. We began with Fall Guys and I don’t think I ever made it to the final round. I was there when they created that scene about Boomstick trying to push off Wiz, but I was off screen. Sadly not clipped was me basically being swung around a hammer for a long time before getting off. 

Sadly, as for Among Us, I was going to play the role of Dummi in the game. But after my first kill and a report, my internet died. It didn’t come back on until the morning, where I had to call Spectrum to get it back on. So my only influence on Dummi was giving him his color, the Dum Sticky Note, and the Pet Ellie Rose from Henry Stickmin. 

Next Year

Research has gone underway for next year as I got one fight done and another on the way. I won’t reveal who they are, but let’s say a feat was so unbelievable that basically decided everything.