#the spindash is busted

[violetjosh]

yeah sex is cool and all but have you ever tried speedrunning cyberspace 4-f?

[antirepurp]

thinking about the garbage data in the out of bounds of sonic 1's special stages it is frankly everything to me. you are in a world that twists and turns and is so unlike anything you've ever seen before, the safety of the boundaries keeping you from slipping away. but should you remove a barrier you find yourself exploring that which you're not supposed to see, world created from pieces that weren't designed to be used in such way. the world twists and turns and you are a part of it as much as you are something foreign to the alien masses holding you afloat for the time being. the pieces warp in front of you, become unrecognizable, incomprehensible to you in new and terrifying ways, yet a profuse sense of safety holds you in its arms. the world is foreign but it loves you and you are a part of it, reading the code that makes up that which is it and you. you stare into an abyss of color and it reaches out its hand for you. i need to lie down now

[crashems]

SA1 is one of those games that just like keeps growing on me as the years pass. Like I started with not really caring for it too much to now being one of my favorite games of all time I adore it. I love so much about it man.

[nordiccowgirl]

A small thing from the Sonic trailer that I love is how Shadow fights. This is something that I've REALLY started focusing on since Sonic Prime, so I'm going to try to talk about it like I'm not just losing my mind lol.

I noticed in Sonic Prime that they put effort into making Shadow and Sonic look different while fighting. It honestly took until I wrote this whole essay that I never published about Shadow's air shoes and how he clearly uses them to boost his strength - hence why his most well known fighting move in the roundhouse kick. With the air shoes behind it and his natural, unnatural strength, the roundhouse kick would/should KO basically every standard enemy he would come across.

Shadow is a very physical fighter in Sonic Prime.

Yeah, Sonic uses force when destroying robots and things, too, but he clearly relies on his speed and spindash more to propel him through enemies rather than just obliterate them. I noticed this a lot in Sonic Prime and I LOVED it.

I love this move to differentiate them more - I don't think they've really done that in the games since Shadow the Hedgehog (2006) tbh and it was definitely a bummer to get through the Shadow levels in Sonic Forces and basically feel like it was just a Shadow skin over a Sonic level. I really hope that Generations has some Shadow combat abilities and not JUST the Doom Powers lol.

Which leads me to the Sonic 3 Trailer, as all things do today.

Shadow's scenes are very physical in the Sonic 3 trailer. The very first thing he does is bust out of the containment unit (alas I couldn't find a gif of it lol).

And then he goes into the roundhouse kicks (thank you Shadow 2005) and, as I stated above, those kicks pack a PUNCH.

Those soldiers are FLYING across the room lol.

Then there's everything from the First Encounter, starting with snapping Knuckles' wrist like kindling and ending with him rocketing Sonic into the ground in a chokehold.

Again - using his shoes to his advantage in fighting. I love to see it!!

Shadow moves fast and brutally and it takes a lot for Sonic to deal with him. Even in Sonic Prime, when they're not trying to kill each other, fighting Shadow in S1 before the Shatter took all of Sonic's attention. Once Shadow focuses on destroying Sonic in the movie, I expect a LOT of super intense fight scenes like the one we saw in the trailer.

Even Shadows movement in the movie is more physical. Sonic always makes running look effortless:

While Shadow looks like he's putting strength behind his skating:

They did this in Prime, too:

I really hope that we get to see even more of this distinction between the two and if the rumors of more spinoffs are true, I would love to see something like Sonic Prime where they get to work together using their differences, like how they've really pushed the differences between Sonic and Knuckles.

I'm deeply in love with the Paramount Sonic Team and I honestly haven't felt like they've missed (yes, I even loved the Knuckles show). I'm so happy to see all of these parallels in the trailer and I can't WAIT to see how it all comes together in the movie!

[the-starlight-project]

On page 14, "Shadow" says "I know they said you were a method actor, but..." which sounds more to me like someone who isn't very familiar with Nicky, like they've just met recently. Has Nicky just recently taken over the role of Sonic or something? That line doesn't sound like it would come from someone who had known Nicky for 19 years.

I'm wondering if there's something going on in Nicky's life off set that he's suppressing, intentionally living in this fictional world to escape it all. Or maybe there's someone in the "real world" who has done this to Nicky intentionally. Was "Shadow" told that Nicky was a method actor because someone involved in the whole process made Nicky think everything was real? And they told "Shadow" that Nicky was a method actor to try to keep him from questioning anything weird Nicky said or did?

That doesn't explain the glowing eyes or the spindash or the quill in the busted badnik... did someone give Nicky genetic enhancements? Could that tie into the suppression part of my theory?

Changing gears: If the year on that note is '17, assuming that means 2017, then "Shadow" joined in 1998 at the earliest (if the current year is 2017). But I think it would make more sense for him to have joined in 2001, the year SA2 came out/Shadow was introduced, which would put us in 2020. If this is before Frontiers, the latest year it could be is 2022 (under the assumption that the games release dates are relevant to this world). So that note could be as new as the day before or as old as 5 years old, if the year range is 2017-2022. I have no idea if that has any relevance to anything but it's an observation I made.

HOORAY !!! ANOTHER LONGFORM QUESTION!!!

In reference to the date that this comic takes place, I can confirm that you're correct - this comic does take place in 2020, which means that Shadow joined in around 2001 (though it is worth noting that, whilst this comic follows the game canon, some release dates have been slightly moved for ease of access/story reasons).

Also, this comic was conceptualized, doodled, drawn, and made ALL before Frontiers was even ANNOUNCED. Anything plot-relevant to Frontiers that might skew your theories or perception of the comic (e.g Cyberspace or SAGE or the Ancients etc) WILL NOT and DO NOT impact the plot in ANY WAY.

Your observation that Shadow does not appear to know Sonic very well is correct, though recognition is not a two-way street. Its less that Shadow doesn't know Sonic, and more that Shadow doesn't know Sonic. If you catch my drift (aha, Team Sonic Racing reference /j)

[greenhillguy]

“your optimism is touching but a waste of time.” // from erm .. shadow t. hedgehog :3

RE-ANIMATOR STARTERS !

"you'd know all about wasting time, huh, grandpa?" the grin sonic gives shadow is juuuuuuust this side of shit-eating. he plays it off as he does a few stretches -- crossbody, arms above his head, then rolls his neck until he hears the pop! and ugh what a relief.

maybe it's bad manners to poke fun at someone who spent half a century in stasis, but then it also seems bad taste to jump into a battle with a scowl and that never stopped shadow before.

sonic's ear twitches as the shrill whistle of an incoming missile cuts through the air. in less than a second he's up, knocking it aside mid-air with a spindash. it explodes, and as the smoke clears the first wave of eggbots can be seen stomping toward the pair.

this time, sonic doesn't attempt to hide his smile, sharp with challenge as he flashes it to shadow. "first one to bust fifty bots wins," he says, lowering himself into a runner's crouch. he doesn't wait for a confirmation before giving a little two-fingered salute and vanishing with a cloud of dirt. let the games begin.

[estellardreams]

Terios is probably a speed type character so he doesn't quite rely on powerful attacks to destroy enemies. Also generally not the intended fighter.

I can see a spindash and homing attack at a base level, but let's throw in Shadow's chaos energy moves.

... Okay, that's just Shadow's moveset. He's literally a reflection and copycat of Shadow's moveset. That's not working out-

To force it to be unique, let's refer to Terios' moveset as a "Chaos Shard" set. Shadow's moveset is going to be referred to as a "Chaos Energy" set.

And for funsies, let's base each move on Doleon's brothers. Like father/family, like son.

Yellow - Flashbang. Generates extreme light to blind enemies before attacking them while they can't see.

White - Shard Control. Literally just Chaos Control.

Cyan - Shard punishment. Works the same as Chaos Snap, however time stops and every attack during this period deals more heavy damage.

Red - Shard Flame. (Based on Aeron's similarly named ability) Generates chaos energy flames which have a multitude of effects dependant on color (blue = ice, yellow = electrocution, etc)

Blue - Shard Boost. An enhanced form of a normal boost and can make Terios go extremely fast for a short period of time.

Green - Bolt of lightning. An ability normally stuck under Super Shadow, however Base Terios can preform it. Causes form to shift into a powerful lightning bolt and rocket towards the enemy.

Purple - Shard Rift. Generates a vortex and forces the enemy inside. Once it slams shut, the enemy has a 50/50 chance of being completely destroyed or returning but with barely any health back.

Other abilities: Spindash, homing attack, base boost.

... Yeah, this just made him extremely BUSTED, didn't it?

Sometimes I wonder how Terios would function in the style of an actual sonic game, say he were given a moveset or something like frontiers

[blazehedgehog]

What are the GOOD Sonic games?

It's a matter of perspective. "Good" is subjective. However, if I didn't know the person and I wanted guaranteed safe recommendations, I'd say:

Level 1: Safe, Universal Recommendations

Sonic 2 - The classic crowd pleaser. Sonic 1 is rough and full of levels that are still figuring themselves out. Sonic 2 is it feels like Sonic truly becomes established. We get the Spindash, we get Tails, we get the Death Egg, and we get the first appearance of a version of Metal Sonic. The main bummer is that the last quarter of the game (Metropolis-Sky Chase-Wing Fortress-Death Egg) kind of sucks. Unnecessarily difficult or gimmicky or both.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles - If Sonic 2 established Sonic, then this is where it feels like Sonic was truly defined. We get Knuckles, The Master Emerald, and the Floating Island. We get the elemental shields, introducing the bounce attack and ring magnets. Big huge levels, with character-specific routes and lots of exploration. Again, not all the levels are winners (Sandopolis) but it's shocking to think this game was the most frantic, rushed Genesis Sonic, because it is such a heavyweight.

Sonic Advance - It's not a life changer but it's basically Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Good artwork, decent music, just a little bland. But safe. A solid 7/10 experience.

Sonic Colors - I personally am a little cold on this game, but I acknowledge a lot of people like it and it was once considered where Sonic "bounced back" after Sonic 06. I will accept I am maybe too hardcore of a Sonic fan for this game, but maybe I also have a video about this in the works. But for, uh, "normies" (for lack of a better term), this works.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing - One of the few legitimate contenders to the Mario Kart throne. Stands toe to toe with games like Crash Team Racing and Diddy Kong Racing. Nearly everybody loves a good kart racer.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed - The sequel is as good if not better than the first one. Depending on the day of the week, I might say this is better than Mario Kart in some aspects.

Sonic Generations - Probably the most all-around modern Sonic game (still). Almost everybody loves this game. I love other games more, but it's not about me, and I can't deny the universal appeal of Generations. It's telling that the two games to follow this one were equal parts trying to recapture the magic of both Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations (and failing miserably).

Sonic Mania - You can't go wrong with the highest rated Sonic game since 1994. A celebration of Classic Sonic like no other.

Level 2: For the Curious

Sonic 1 - It's not a great game, but if you graduate from experimenting with liking a Sonic game, it's worth looking at once. But it's very difficult, weird, and if I'm being honest, not very memorable. Everything done here was done better in other Sonic games, but you don't get those without starting here first.

Sonic CD - Some people really love the slower, more methodical pace of this game. There's a reason its earned a reputation for being this amazing classic, even though it really isn't. It's easy to be hot/cold on it, because it truly has some fantastic style and great ideas.

Sonic Adventure - Pretty ambitious for the era and the thing that established the tone and candor for so much of 3D Sonic. Been through a cycle where people loved it for its ambition, hated it for being busted and weird, and now love it for being a nostalgic ugly duckling. They definitely don't make games like this anymore.

Sonic Adventure 2 - Almost a necessary chaser to SA1. You gotta see how things evolve between these two games and how much they were willing to ditch. Also a prime example of Sonic's tendency to have 3D games that are described as "When it's good, it's amazing, but when it's bad, it's the worst game on earth."

Sonic Rush - Just barely makes it in to this category for being an extremely difficult game (as in, I almost put it in level 1). But it's got a killer soundtrack and invented the boost mechanic that is so important to a lot of future Sonic games. You just gotta stick with it and be willing to optimize routes.

Sonic Rush Adventure - A kinder, more gentle version of Sonic Rush. If you bounce off that game, give this one a shot. It doesn't have quite as much audiovisual style, but it's still a heck of a great game. I almost put it in to the first category, but I feel like its tied to the first Sonic Rush and both games have to move together. Can't play one without playing the other.

Level 3: For the Sickos

Sonic Unleashed - I almost put this in level 2. We would not have Sonic Colors or Sonic Generations if this did not exist. I love this game deeply, but the parts that turn people off really, really turn them off. Like rage-quit inducing. You gotta be extremely dedicated to see the credits roll on this. I've done it twice, almost three times.

Sonic R - This game has a reputation for being a nightmare to control. It's also comically short -- once you master the odd controls, you can blow through the whole game in about fifteen minutes. But you can't deny it is jam packed full of a certain type of charm.

Sonic Advance 2 - In a similar vein to Sonic Unleashed, we would not have Sonic Rush without this game. And like Sonic Unleashed, the people who hate it truly hate it. Very much based on twitch reaction times and memorizing level layouts.

Sonic the Fighters - FGC people hate this game for its shield mechanic, but it was made by AM2 during the peak of their output. I think it's a great game, with a fantastic visual style and a uniquely energetic soundtrack. FGC people are just afraid of what they don't understand.

Sonic Battle - Another Sonic fighter. This has a weirdly deep story mode but it eventually turns in to a difficult grind that most people won't see through to the end. Has, or had, one of the greatest stories in the entire Sonic franchise. I loved it at the time, but I can't bring myself to ever replay it. I don't know if it holds up.

Sonic Riders - This is an overly-complex racing game where everybody (including Sonic) races on hoverboards. If you can break through its learning curve, I think it is great fun. But a lot of people bounce off of it because it can be rather unforgiving to newbies. Later Sonic Riders games completely redesign the mechanics, too, so this is the only one that plays like this, and the only one that I personally think is any good. You just really gotta dig to find the fun.

Knuckles Chaotix - This is one of those games where the music, art direction, everything about it is great... except the part where you have to play it. It sucks to play. But it's easy on the eyes, easy on the ears and easy to imagine all this stuff being used in a better game.

Sonic 2006 - If you're ready to dig in to the depths of Sonic the Hedgehog, this is the one turd everybody has to smear on their forehead. It's almost a rite of passage at this point. It is Sonic's "The Room." Try to play it with friends, because you're going to want an audience to make fun of it. Trust me. Misery loves company.

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

I've noticed that X!Sonic gets ranked high for intelligence and whatnot in the Sonic Universe memes. It feels that he may be one of the smartest ones out of all of them. Could you explain that if you can? Thanks.

Short answer: X!Sonic is the only Sonic with braincell custody in his respective team

Long answer: While X!Sonic is still very impulsive, he definitely has... a bit more survival instinct than the others, as well as slightly more forethought. He still races off across the country to find flowers for Cream, or thinks busting into Area 51 is a good idea, yes. But there's several scenes where he's just sitting in thought, usually on the roof, and he's often very quiet and thoughtful, to the point where he seems to go nonverbal at certain points. And he can very quickly outsmart Eggman in a battle scenario, strategizing as he goes along; he strategizes on his feet quite a lot, usually coming up with a plan before anyone else.

He also seems to have a great deal of book smarts– there's an arc in S2 where he literally starts explaining how the moon's rotation around the Earth intersects with the Earth's rotation around the sun, which confuses everyone around him, and in this canon he had his plane before meeting Tails, so he apparently knew how to build and maintain that. According to episode one, he also is able to recognize the constellations to the point where he's very quickly able to ascertain that Earth and Mobius have the exact same ones.

And not to rag on the rest of the team at all- this [the not-4kids version] is my favorite iteration of Sonic and so I love the way the characters were portrayed. But often it takes them longer than Sonic to figure out how Earth works, or how societal interactions go down, and honestly Amy's more impulsive than he is in this show. Hence why I call him "the only Sonic with custody of the braincell in his respective team." They're all smart in their own ways, but it's made very obvious that Sonic's the leader because he can strategize and improvise as fast as needed. In SatAM, he's more the powerhouse and/or distraction while Sally is the clear leader, so he doesn't have to be the the fastest thinker, just the fastest spindasher. In Sonic X, even without the superspeed, you can tell why they put him in charge.

[spiritsonic]

Since most Sonic characters seem capable of doing it, would Tangke theoretically be able to do a spin dash? Or are spin dashes exclusive to a only a select few characters?

Honestly I don’t know? There seems to be a discrepancy between what characters can do in gameplay and what characters can do in other story content. In a regular story, I don’t think Tangle can spindash. Only a handful of characters have that as part of their regular moveset (for example, Knuckles can totally spindash in many of his game appearances, but is that a thing you’d expect him to bust out in a comic? No, because he’s the punchy-climby guy). 

But in the context of a game? Yeah I could totally see the game mechanics requiring Tangle to have that move. It all depends upon what the moment demands, and what feels reasonable in context.

[lightdash]

Almost… Almost…!

Sonic makes it to the other side of the room and begins to frantically follow the contour of the crack; find the weakest spot and bust it wide open. He can hear Spinbot yelling close behind but pays him no mind — they’re both past the luxury of fighting now. And with how rapidly this place was coming apart, his plan will have to be a lucky one.

He takes a few steps back and makes fists out of his hands; knees bent, quills sharp, in position for a spindash…

And then everything got worse.

The sudden cacophony of explosions causes Sonic to falter, stumbling to the side and away from the wall. He barely manages to secure his footing, allowing for a narrow dodge; the onslaught of debris comes raining down… and buries Spinbot.

It’s a brutal scene. Sonic’s very breath catches as he watches it happen — somewhere nearby, the wall he’d been aiming for finally splits, leaving a hole large enough to escape through. It’s the exit he’d wanted… and he should take it. He should leave. He should leave.

Sonic looks back at the middle of the room. Another explosion shakes the entire facility. Shit.

In the blink of an eye, he sprints over to the pile of rubble and starts to dig... before a quick glimpse of blue grabs his attention. Spinbot’s gloved hand, now tattered and covered in dirt. Sonic makes a grab for it and pulls, bracing one foot against the debris for extra support. It takes all his body weight, and the clock is racing against them, but finally… after a few, tense moments, Spinbot is freed.

And in horrible condition, but there’s no time for concern. Lifting the enforcer up and into his arms, the heat of the fire licking at his heels, Sonic takes it as his final cue to leave. They just fit through the wall, leaving the base to fall apart in their wake.

    --Okay well that smugness was incredibly short-lived! His moment of gloating was soon replaced by a look of surprise, as well as a short, audible yelp, as he and Sonic spun and toppled over one another. Landing on the ground, Spinbot felt his sensors struggling to re-orient themselves.

    "Oh no you don't!!" He snarls, planting his hands on the quaking floor, and attempting to bolt right after him--only to trip over his own feet and crash to the ground once more, even rolling a little. Frustration was mounting, "Come on, come on!!!" He hated failing. Sonic was no doubt laughing at him. Him! Lord Robotnik's top enforcer! His prized trophy! The thought of his Master being disappointed in him spurred the roboticized hedgehog further into action, trying to force himself up again. Sparks of kinetic energy began to crackle across his quills like bolts of static electricity as Spinbot's irritation mounted.

    But before Spinbot could actually make his attack on the other blue blur, a thunderously loud explosion rang from the facility--and in that few seconds of calm, both would only have time to take a breath.

    Soon, explosions rang throughout the facility, and waves of fire engulfed the halls, ripping and tearing through the building, causing the room they'd both been fighting in to suddenly cave in. Where Spinbot would usually be able to dodge no problem, he was very strongly at a disadvantage here due to that magnetic pulse he'd taken during their battle.

    "---!!" With a turn of his head, Spinbot couldn't even find the words before debris collapsed on top of him, burying him in the destruction. And if he'd made any sound, it was impossible to hear him over the blasts.

[rolling-orb-bot]

Can you spindash?

"Unfortunately, I can only roll. You see, the very important part of a spindash is the appendages that the user has. For Sonic those would be his spikes, for Tails - his tails. They serve both as a weight or a lever to push them forward faster and as weaponry that they use to bust through obstacles. When I am in my orb form, I am perfectly smooth, so... Such a move is impossible for me." The robot sighed regretfully.

[mobius-prime]

272. Sonic the Hedgehog #199

Knocking on Eggman's Door

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: Matt Herms

Well, we're finally here! It's the morning of the final fight against Eggman, and the Freedom Fighters awaken to find that Rotor, unable to sleep, has set up a live feed back to their city. It seems that Sally has elected to stream the battle live back to the citizens of New Mobotropolis, which seems… excessively unwise, given that if something goes wrong you could easily be broadcasting your violent deaths to children and innocent civilians.

Eh, whatever, we all know how this is gonna go. After all, the heroes have this one in the bag! As they gear up and move out, Lien-Da instructs her troops to create a barricade to Eggman's specifications within the base, though she has little confidence in his plan.

See, this right here just sort of sets up why I think this final two-part finale to this era ends up feeling flat and devoid of any real excitement. Right off the bat, the heroes are being set up to win with little resistance. Eggman may think he has a chance against Sonic and his friends, but literally all of his subordinates are feeling disillusioned and traitorous, and actively plotting to make sure he fails. The result is that while we're curious about what exactly their plan is and who Snively is inviting over to hook up with, we already kind of know Eggman isn't gonna win this one. While we already tend to know that anyway given that an ending to a Sonic comic where Eggman wins and annihilates everyone would be horrifically opposed to everything we would expect from such a series, at least in cases like Endgame and the destruction of Knothole, there's some real tension where it really seems for a while like the heroes are screwed and Eggman is about to win everything. It makes the final payoff where the heroes overcome all obstacles and win the day that much more satisfying.

Anyway, Mighty and Bunnie use their combined super-strength to breach a hole in the front door, and the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix pour in, surprised when they find no immediate resistance waiting for them. The Freedom Fighters take one hallway while the Chaotix take another, clearing out all routes to the center of the Eggdome and planning to meet up further in. While the Freedom Fighters punch their way through the Legionnaires in their way, they cheerfully reminisce about the last time they had a big showdown with a Robotnik, bantering back and forth about their roles in Endgame.

Wow, I actually think that's the first time the comic has even acknowledged Sally's coma at all ever since it happened. Fun times, huh? On the Chaotix side of things, Vector and Julie-Su end up bickering a bit only to then save each other simultaneously from sneak attacks by a couple of Legionnaires, at which point they curtly agree to never speak of this again as they don't want anyone finding out they actually do like and respect each other. They get deeper into the base, and Julie-Su becomes briefly concerned about Knuckles' state of mind as she's worried he may be feeling that old guilt again about fighting members of his own species, but Knuckles reassures her that he's fine and that he feels they need to stop them from working with Eggman for their own good. However, they suddenly find their way blocked by Dimitri, who's using his tentacle-dreadlock-things to bar the door they need to get through. Further into the Eggdome, Lien-Da reports her troops "losing on schedule" and awaits further orders, but then nearly begins puking when she smells something awful, which turns out to be cologne that Snively has received from his new beau. He mocks her for not appreciating the scent before ordering her to move on to phase two, blaming her species for being the reason she doesn't like the smell. That would definitely seem to indicate, then, that his new girlfriend is human and not Mobian. The Freedom Fighters, who have ended up pinned down at the end of a hallway, are trying to come up with a plan to bust through the group of Legionnaires up ahead when out of nowhere they retreat, much to the heroes' surprise. At the same time, Knuckles, Julie-Su and Vector all confront Dimitri in their own hallway.

You know, at this point, it's definitely feeling like Dimitri is coming back around to not being such a bad guy after all. Ultimately, he cares more about protecting his people than anything else, and is looking for any way out of his current sticky situation with Eggman, which he believes allying with Snively will help him with. The two invading teams finally meet up at a central door, which has been thoroughly blockaded save for a small hole just big enough for a spindashing Sonic. Both sides discuss how the entire invasion feels too easy, and become very suspicious about the hole, reasoning that it's meant to simultaneously draw them into a bottleneck for easy pickings, as well as let Sonic through for a one-on-one showdown against Eggman. Sonic immediately announces he's taking the bait, and when the others ask him if he's crazy he points out that their only other option is to waste all their time and energy taking down the barrier, which would just give Eggman a chance to regroup or escape. They agree that he'll go on ahead and they'll provide backup as soon as they can break through the wall, and after a few tearful words of encouragement, including an emotional embrace from Sally, he zips through the hole and lands in the middle of a very strange scene on the other side.

Sonic, of course, has no idea what's actually going on, as Snively and Lien-Da watch through hidden cameras along his route. Snively orders Lien-Da to ensure her Legionnaires hold back Sonic's friends until he's sealed into the final arena with Eggman, before preparing for himself and Dimitri to head to the landing pad on the roof of the Eggdome to meet up with his mysterious new girlfriend. Sonic enters the chamber, the doors slam shut behind him, and he faces down Eggman inside a giant mechanical spider, ready for the final epic showdown.

[the-alien-enby]

Metonic Week- Machine

Metal had only been a part of Sonic’s team for a short while, after abandoning his own creator due to difficulties. Sonic had gladly accepted his metallic copy on his team, but as for Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, they weren’t entirely on board with it. Metal even knew this, but as Sonic had asked of him, he tried not to think too much of it. After all, he had so many other things to worry about. Like what if Eggman tries to control him again? What if he somehow leads his new team into danger? What if he... did something horrible to Sonic. On the outside of his thoughts, Sonic was standing beside him, tapping his foot and watching Metal’s optics going in a swirly motion.

“Uhh Mets?” He asked, “Ya doing okay, bud?”

In response, Metal spazzed out some, mostly in surprise as to Sonic’s voice suddenly chiming into his internal thoughts. His optics turned back into their usual oval shape as he looked at Sonic.

“yes. I am doing ‘okay’. Please do not... scare me.. like that again.” Metal spoke, only somewhat in his usual monotone voice, now kind of developing his own special voice.

“Fine, Metal. Anyways, Tails and I are about to go invade one of Eggmans bases! Wanna come?” Metal had noticed Sonic had his brown backpack on. The same one with an emerald colored charm. Only almost matching his bright green eye color.

After Metal gave a simple nod in response to Sonic’s offer, he, Sonic, and Tails headed out. The base was located in Chemical Plant. Of course, Sonic would have something to say about this.

“Mann! Egg-head always builds a base there, huh?”

“Well,” Tails began, “There are a whole bunch of.. well, chemicals, there for his machines. And a lot of machinery in general! That could be why he likes building so many bases there.”

“What do you think, Mets?” He looked over at the blue robot, who didn’t expect to be a part of the conversation, “why do you think Egg-head loves building bases there?”

Metal thought for a bit. “I will be honest, even though I’ve worked for him for as long as I’ve even existed... that’s a great mystery. But Tails’ answer seems to make more sense to me.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right!” Tails laughed some, causing the other two to laugh along.. even if Metal’s sounded more awkward than normal.

————-

It took the group a few hours, but they were soon at the entrance of Eggman’s new base. Metal wondered if Eggman had even changed the entry passcode since he left him. Wouldn’t be surprising if he didn’t, considering how much of a buffoon he was.

“AAlright, Guys! So what’s the plan? Sneaking in? Busting in?” As sonic spoke, he was doing his usual pre-running stretches.

“Now hang on..” Tails had his Miles Electric out, and was using it to scan the base’s entrance and beyond, “It seems that Eggman loaded this place up with security. Even if we do sneak in, we’ll have to be a whole lot more caref-“

Tails was interrupted by Sonic. “Psh! Funny, tails. But what’s the worst ol’ Eggface can do? Catch me?” Sonic continued laughing.

“Sonic, this is Eggman we are talking about. My creator. He knows I work with you now, so he has most likely created something stronger than even myself to take care of you. Tails is right. We do need to be careful.” Metal spoke in a serious tone. Of course, being a robot, he almost always sounds serious.

“An egghead is an egghead. Even if he’s lost one of his creations, I think his limit is at you.” Sonic chuckled, “now let’s get a move on!”

“Fine..” Metal followed Sonic as the spindash drilled through the metal door, immediately afterwards dashing in. Tails stuck with his plan of sneaking in carefully.

Inside the base, it was almost pitch black dark. The only source of light Sonic and Metal had were Metal’s bright red optics, but even that made it hard to see. Sonic used his “hog-sense” to figure out where he was going, as Metal simply scanned around.

“Sonic, this really was a bad idea.. now that there’s a gaping hole in the door, that’s sure to alert someone..” Metal said, almost expecting a snarky response from Sonic.. but to his surprise, nothing. “..Sonic?” Even after that, nothing. Not a sound. He scanned around for the blue hedgehog, but nothing. Metal had a bad feeling about this. But there’s no way Sonic himself could’ve been captured, right?

Well, unfortunately, Metal was wrong. Sonic was in fact captured. Silently knocked out by Eggmans newest creation... which was literally just a spy bot. Eggman did want a new killer robot. But he currently did not have the materials to build a new Metal Sonic. So what’s just as fast and could easily be made as strong, if not stronger? The real deal. This was also a great opportunity to test out a new creation of his; the Roboticizer. A machine that can turn organic matter into machinery through a painful process. Perfect.

Metal was growing worried, but soon spotted a light. From what he could tell from silhouettes, someone was being carried into that room. Metal already had a feeling who it was, and ran towards it. Quietly and slowly however because he didn’t want to have whatever was gonna happen to sonic happen to him as well.

The spy bot dropped Sonic off inside of a cylindrical container, and left before it sealed Sonic inside. Eggman, seeing this, laughed to himself.

“Oh OHOHOH!! Not only do I get a new powerful robot, but I finally have the problem with this blue pest out of the way!!” Eggman continued to laugh before stopping himself. “Right then! Let the Roboticization process... INITIATE!!” He quickly pressed a button, just after Metal had walked in.

“RELEASE SONIC, DOCTOR. OR THINGS WILL GET MESSY.” Metal had his sharp claws out, not joking about how things would get messy.

“Ah, well if it isn’t my former robot, Metal Sonic. I’m afraid you’re too late to save Sonic now!!” Just as he finished that sentence, the roboticization process on Sonic had finished. The cylindrical container lifted, revealing Sonic... only now robotic. His optics now a red color similar to Metal Sonic’s. “Mecha Sonic.. ATTACK!”

Following the orders of Eggman, Sonic got out of the roboticizer and attacked Metal.. but oddly enough, seemed to deactivate right as he was about to actually try hurting him. Both Eggman and Metal were confused as to why this was so.

“N.. NO! HOW COULD I OVERLOOK SUCH A FLAW!!?” Eggman exclaimed, “I HAD MADE SURE THE PROGRAMMING WAS PERFECT!!”

“And yet, here I am leaving.” Metal said, as he picked Sonic up, “Oh.. and for your own safety, get lost.” Metal walked out of the room, leaving Eggman just whining about his defeat. As Metal left, he contacted Tails to let him know that an escape was required, due to what had happened to Sonic.

———-

Hours had passed since Metal brought the now robotic Sonic back. Tails was trying to reactivate it, Amy was horribly worried for Sonic, and Knuckles was blaming Metal for all of this.

“Maybe had you just been left as scrap metal, Sonic wouldn’t be like this!” He yelled at Metal.

“Knuckles I’m sorry, but can you shut up!? It was Sonic that didn’t listen to my or Metal’s warning and rushed in anyways!” Tails was defending Metal’s case. Sure he didn’t entirely trust him yet, but he had seen the warning before his eyes.

“Oh so now you’re taking his side!? What’s next?! Are you gonna be trusting EGGMAN of all people next!?” Knuckles raised his voice. Metal has had enough by now. He went between Knuckles and Tails and of the first time, showed true emotion through his voice.

“YOU KNOW WHAT?! I get it!! I get that you don’t like me! I get that you won’t accept the fact that I have changed! That ive decided to be my own person- robot- whatever!! And I get that you would think that I would be responsible for this happening to sonic!!”

No one had known this, but Sonic was already reactivating, actually acting like himself, green optics instead of red, just in time to hear the rest of what Metal had to say, “and you know what?! I’ll accept responsibility for what happened to him! I should’ve forcefully kept him from breaking in like that! I should’ve kept a better eye on him! So you know what?! Maybe I don’t belong here after all! Maybe you’re right! I SHOULD JUST BE IN A SCRAP PILE!!” And with that, Metal stormed out. Everyone in the room was baffled. None of them, not even Sonic, had ever seen Metal like this. Sonic finally got up.

“METAL!! WAIT!!” Almost as soon as he got up off the table Tails and Metal had set him on, he had fallen down. When getting up, he finally realized what had happened to him.. or was at least getting an idea of it.

“...huh.. Well Tails.. you were right. I should’ve listened to you.” Sonic was beginning to tremble some, but soon stopped. “I’ll ask about how the heck this happened later. I’ve gotta stop Metal from doing whatever he’s probably about to do!!” Sonic ran off again, but unfortunately for him, going at a normal running pace.

“Oh come on!! GO FASTER, FEET!!” And almost as if they listened to him, he began going his usual speed. Thanks to the thrusters on his legs. Tails tried to go after him, worried that he would deactivate again, but Sonic was already gone.

It didn’t take him long to catch up with Metal, as Metal was not using his back thruster. Sonic was about to ask him to come back, but Metal beat him to the first words.

“You know.. you know it’s my fault Sonic.. dOnT you tell lies..” Metal kind of sounded like he was crying, his optics in a sad expression.

“Metal.. why would I even lie to you!? I’m not one to lie anyways!” Sonic slowed down to talk to Metal, “And assuming that you’re blaming yourself for.. this..” he motioned to the rest of his now robotic body, “well don’t. It’s my own fault for not listening to you and Tails.”

“But..” Metal robotically sighed, “What about the others? Even if you defend my case, they’ll still think it’s my fault.”

“No they won’t.. they’re only rough on you because of things you did in the past. Even then it was only because you were following your programming. But now you’re your own bot! You’ve even developed your own personality!”

“You’re.... you’re right about that.” Metal finally stopped.

Sonic stopped as well. “Now come on. Don’t go and scrap yourself over all of this. That wouldn’t be good for either of us.”

“..Alright.”

—————

-Epilogue-

Sonic and Metal soon headed back to Tails’ workshop. Sonic had confronted Knuckles about how he basically told Metal to go kill himself, and pretty much made Knuckles apologize.

Tails began figuring out Sonic’s situation further, with Metal helping out. Unfortunately for Sonic, he would be stuck like this for the rest of his days, if not just for a long time. While this did upset the blue hedgehog, he understood that this was what he gets for going into everything head first. Metal was there to help Sonic get used to life as a robot. Their relationship began to blossom over time, causing them to begin to crush on each other... but what happens afterwards is only to be assumed.

——————————

This took forever to write

@metonic-ship @enigma--machine

[tingethehedgehawk]

The hedgehawk often came across less than pleasant Mobians on her runs, ending up in a fight if they had the balls to try and catch her for their own uses. As much as she tried to stay undercover, there were people aware of her existence. Tinge felt as though she was being watched, most days, and the eyes watching her were less than friendly.

A Chaos user couldn’t stay secret for long, especially one who bore the traits of the infamous Shadow the Hedgehog. Today’s menu, a ragtag pack of mammals with their eyes set on capturing her. They seemed not to care if she was brought in alive or not: in their hands were viably lethal weapons. Guns, tasers, bear traps: you name it, they had it. 

First grabs came from the big, orange, cyborg bear. He flung his cybernetic hands at Tinge, maximum speed. Nearly grabbed by one, she charged up a spindash and rammed him in the gut. He tried to entangle her in his metallic arm ropes, but seconds after he thought he had her, Tinge blasted out of his grasp with a flash of a weak Chaos Blast. The bear panicked, his mechanical arms a mess on the ground.

Second dibs came from a cyan rabbit, trying to pump the hedgehawk with lead. The two almost danced around in the forest, the rabbit speedily jumping from tree to tree, but Tinge was faster. She got the drop on the bunny... with a harsh elbow drop, straight into her sternum. Crack. Tinge simultaneously loved but hated to hear that noise. Maybe she inherited some sick, twisted enjoyment from her creator. The rabbit cried out in pain, dropping her shotgun. The hedgehawk grabbed the weapon, snapped it in half before drop-dashing to face the next goon.

Lastly came a high-flying yellow snake. He swooped at the hedgehawk in the small clearing, catching her off guard. He had her pinned against a tree, using all four of his cybernetic arms to keep her there, and his powerful cybernetic legs and jetpack applying more than enough pressure. The only thing stopping Tinge from being crushed into a fine paste was the Chaos energy she was using to reinforce her own bones. 

She cried out, using a combination of a Chaos Blast and a Chaos Control to teleport her just above where she’d previously been, while also knocking back the yellow serpent. The hedgehawk curled up and came down with all her weight and strength, her quills now faintly enchanted with Chaos energy. 

A sickening crack emanated from each of the goons’ heads as she slammed down, using them as stepping stones to get up and away. The hedgehawk unfurled and landed on her feet, taking a second to look herself over. She made a ‘tsk-tsk’ sort of sound as she took note of the blood covering half of her body, and the spatters all around the little clearing. Out of the three of them, the big bear was the best off. Sure, he didn’t have his arms, but, hey, he’s conscious.

Don’t worry. They’re fine. Probably.

❝ ...Sometimes you’ve gotta bust a few skulls to keep your own head. ❞

She sighed as she wiped the blood off of her face, spindashing off into the woods, losing her stunned wannabe-captors. If anyone wanted to get this hedgehawk, they’d need to go full out for a high-speed chase. Tinge was a stubborn beast; she’ll never go down without a fight, and she won’t play nice, either.

[waystobuild-blog]

A Hero’s Fall

So this is way long overdue and honestly, I forgot that I even wrote this. So what I do is I write in between my college classes and yeah. This is something I wrote in 2018 as a request for one of my friends. He wanted to see Sonic succumb to darkness and I decided to write that. So, I hope you and everybody else reading this enjoys.

Sonic didn’t know when it started.

He didn’t understand what had changed.

And unfortunately… He didn’t know if he could stop it.

It was almost unnoticeable at first, he would get slightly rougher with the Badniks or a little testier with Amy than usual. It wasn’t like him at all.

But it just kept on getting worse and worse…

A few months prior, Tails had tried to speak to him about him about it.

“Sonic…” The fox tentatively approached him.

“Yeah, bro?” Sonic grinned.

“Are you…” He paused, trying to find the right words. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Never better! Why?”

“Well….” He held the end of that at the tip of his tongue, still unsure of how exactly to put it. “You were a little more… rough on the Badniks than usual…”

He gestured to the land around him to show the busted robot parts scattered all over the place in odd directions, the indents in the ground from thee spindashes and homing attacks that had been done with a little too much fore and the trees that had been sawed in half by the aggressive nature of the supersonic hedgehog.

But Sonic brushed it off. “Eh… you know me. Always getting into trouble. Nothing out of the ordinary, buddy.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m fine.”

Tails looked tentatively at his older brother and slowly nodded.

“What the hell was that?!” Shadow snapped at him.

Sonic just shook his head. “What’s wrong?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, idiot. Breaking the sound barrier in the middle of a city!”

“I had to!”

“No, you didn’t!”

“Yes, I did!”

“You caused immeasurable destruction with that stupid stunt!”

“Eggman was getting away!”

“You’re not this irresponsible!”

“Who cares?!”

“People could’ve died!”

“Well more would’ve if I didn’t catch him when I did! For Chaos’ sake, I didn’t have another choice, Shadow!”

“You always say there’s another choice!”

“Well, this time there wasn’t!”

The Ultimate Life Form glared at the fastest thing alive for a long time, inspecting him, trying to see what was wrong with the fast footed hero. Sonic the Hedgehog was never like this, at least not in the years that Shadow had known him. Shadow knew him as a fool with an ego bigger than the amount of Chaos Energy he had packed into him. But he always respected him for his desire to help others and make sure everyone was safe even if it was in his own unorthodox way.

But what he saw before him today, he had zero respect for. The scowling hog with his back to him, brow furrowed, arms crossed and nose upturned in disgust was more like looking into a mirror than looking into the usually calm emerald eyes of the true blue hero and he hated it. Sonic was reckless but he wasn’t stupid. Not where he would risk the lives of thousands in favor of catching the mad doctor or any reason for that matter. And this whole argument was different than his usual brand of immaturity. He was usually met with snarky remarks, dumb jokes and the coolest smirk the hog could muster not this foolish defensiveness that he was facing today.

Just what was the matter with him?

And that’s when he felt it. Like a slap to the face or a bucket of ice cold water dumped on his head, he felt it.

“Y-your Chaos Energy-” Shadow stammered.

Sonic looked at him, raising an eyeridge.

“It’s negative.” Shadow stated.

Sonic brushed this off. “Please, you must be joking.”

Shadow didn’t stop glaring at him.

“Nothing’s wrong!” Sonic yelled. “You guys keep moaning and groaning about something being wrong with me. But I’m fine! And right now, the only thing I care about is stopping Eggman.”

With that, the hedgehog ran off, not uttering another word.

“I have to admit Sonic,” Eggman smiled. “I’m a little impressed.”

“What are you talking about?” Sonic snapped back.

“Exactly that.” Eggman laughed. “This new attitude you have lately.”

“I don’t have an attitude.”

“Oh, but you do.” Eggman insisted. “But even that’s not the part I care too much about. Not really.”

Sonic continued to glare at him.

“No, I am impressed that you’ve finally put all that power you’ve got to good use.”

He then gestured to Metal Sonic who was missing an arm and a leg, had fire spilling out of the thruster on his back and was spazzing uncontrollably on the floor. The glass that made up his eyes had a spider web of cracks that if one squinted they could see his eye flickering between his usual irises, line of code and just emptiness.

“You took down Metal Sonic as soon as I called him out. I had heard rumors that you had turned to rage but seeing it up close? This is beyond what I ever could’ve imagined.”

“I am not angry.”

The Doctor laughed. “In all the years we’ve known each other and you think you can lie to me? I can read you just as easily as you can read me, you know? And even so, that unbridled rage is written all over your face. It’s hilarious.”

Sonic growled. “Cut the chatter, Eggman. You know why I’m here.”

“Yes, but I’m going to keep talking. I just want to say that this is a good look for you, Sonic. We’ve always been two sides of the same coin, you and I. Playing this game of cat and mouse since you were a mere child. And now? Well, it seems we’re more alike than you’d care to admit.”

“I am nothing like you!”

“But you are. Using your rage and aggression to fuel you; using all the power at your fingertips to take the world and have it bow to your will. Who does that sound like to you?”

At that, he didn’t even get an answer. Instead, his eggmobile shook and he was surprised to see his nemesis had clung onto it. He was so fast that he hadn’t even seen him move. Just as quickly as he landed on it, he had grabbed Eggman by the collar of his shirt.

“Stop it!” The hedgehog snarled at him. “Stop all of it now!”

But the doctor simply laughed. “And this is exactly what I’m talking about. But stop? No. Not when I’m so close to attaining the ultimate power.”

Sonic growled at him, pulling him even closer.

But the doctor was prepared for this and quickly punched a large yellow button on his console.

Immediately, thousands of volts of electricity jumped off of the hull of the pod and into the hedgehog’s body. He could feel himself collapsing to the floor before everything went black.

And now he stood on the day of his enemy’s triumph watching as the world set ablaze and everything he knew and loved was destroyed. It was all his fault.

He looked on in his anger, in his rage, in his pure unbridled hatred at it all.

And he knew he had to be the one to stop it. And with that, he called upon the seven emeralds.

They appeared before him in a radiant flash of light. He dug deep, calling on the power within his heart and within the emeralds.

At that, his fur turned not to the comforting gold that those knew but to a spiteful obsidian; his eyes were not a righteous crimson but instead a soulless black void and his aura an ugly coal color instead of the powerful sun.

Darkness had taken the hero’s heart and as he took in his new form, he couldn’t help but be fueled by more hatred.

Dark Sonic had arrived and he wanted nothing more than revenge.