#valley of the cubots

[orbot5]

orbot and cubot splatoon lore

orbot is a rival/enemy octoling

cubots like a inkling (from Inkopolis,,,grew up in octo valley,,,,)

they just usually hang out in kettles or like…do what they would usually do…

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

I've started a buncha stuff for Sonic and Tails but have I actually finished any yet? Nuu. I've got an excuse-- I just wrapped up sophomore year at college and spent three days traveling halfway across the country

HAPPY WHOLESOME SONIC AND TAILS WEDNESDAY!! :D

Thus, this Wednesday, behold, I screenshoted the boys' "evil" scheming from Sonic Boom while trying to figure out what happened to Tails' tools. Actually, it was just Sonic saying he had a "foolproof plan" and Tails just automatically copied his expression. It was adorable. (Episode: "The Valley of Cubots" or something)

[i-am-a-cloud-2-boogaloo]

I've noticed smth really cool in Sonic Boom!

Season 1 Episode 36, the Valley of Cubots, we meet a bunch of Cubot predecessors, some green, some just having accessories, but one of them stood out to be a lot, Cutebot, the only one who was referred to as "she/her", where I assumed she was trans. Of course this was my hc from the first watch through, but throughout my other watch thoughts I realized a few things which do support this hc, so I will now not only call it a head canon, but a full on theory!

In the flash back we see, where the Cubots get thrown into a room, a handful of Cubots, where of course we do not see her. The whole scene is only about a few closeups of the Cubtos with an eye patch, two with seemingly the same glasses, the green one, off to the corner the one with the bowl hat I assume and a bow tie and a few more off screen. This might be just an animation error, but when the Cubots crawl out of the pipe, one is weirdly without any accessories, which is who I theorize to be Cutebot further on.

Even if this doesn't hold up and we really didn't see Cutebot yet, we can assume that Eggman, as he did with any of the other Bots created them all with an intention of making them all male/at least reffered to as he/him, so when Eggman, near the end of the episode, storms in and greets everyone as "boys" we can pretty much assume he doesn't know that Cutebot really exists, at least isn't aware of her identity and assumed that they all are, as he built em, male, which does support the theory much better than the first point.

Tell me whatcha think, bc I love the thought of a "canon" trans character, even if it is just a mute Cubot variant :D

[galionne-speeding]

How do they find out about more bots the Eggman creates?

How do they find them/decide to bring them to the sanctuary?

The Sanctuary being an old base, it came equipped with an Eggnet Computer that is still connected to Eggman's network and gives the group access to his files (although it's only surface-level documents ; the more secretive stuff is hidden away).

These include blueprints and reports on the Doctor's new bots which are regularly updated, so much so that Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts could read about Bocoe and Decoe being built almost live. The same goes for Bokkun and later Orbot and Cubot ; as well as any other robot being built at the time that wasn't meant to be, like, a super secret weapon.

They also have access to a map displaying (almost) every bots' location in real time. This is because Eggman outfitted every single one of his machines with a tracker so he can monitor his troops at any time. This is how the AoStH trio figured out Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun had been kicked out ; because they went from being at Eggman's side almost at all times to wandering around aimlessly, running critically low on battery and having their files deleted and scrubbed from the database. As you can imagine, this is also what later happened with Orbot and Cubot.

Deciding to go and get whoever's files they've been reading is usually based on how close they are to the Sanctuary and, especially, if they seem to be in trouble or not.

There are other Badniks who have gone rogue such as Coachnik, BlackBot, Ro-bot (and everyone else in Scrap Valley), E-77 Lucky, E-51 Intelligente, etc. who are on their own but seem to be doing alright. They're always fully charged, their movements make sense/they don't appear to be lost and they stick around places that aren't known to be particularly dangerous (or places they are adapted to ; such as BlackBot usually being found smack in the middle of the ocean...)

[srkizer]

eggman, and by extension, orbot and cubot just bluff about charity for orphaned robots and stuff. which apparently was good enough to trick amy.

but shadow might as well be actually doing it. he does leave innocent robots alone - never did he touch the robots in scrap... cubot valley, nor the associate of dave's.

and he wouldn't be afraid to reveal it. if eggman actually did charity, then he would keep it as a tight secret, referring to street creds just like how sonic would with attending fuzzy puppy convention. but shadow won't care about such creds. he knows he's cool regardless of what he does. if someone asks if he helps people in need, he'd give a straight answer of yes, yet he just don't find the need to mention it first.

meanwhile at that, that might as well be why sonic can't get himself to help people who shadow helps. he'd end up getting dissed to the fullest extent from shadow, citing suboptimal peformances and wordings, after they leave the spot. shadow is a professional, and that means knowing to control his mouth depending on where he's at. and full rights to badmouth sonic's capabilities on construction.

sadly this contributed to shadow giving team sonic extra retaliation in s02e51. in the previous episode, d-fekt ends up taking over the cubot valley to look over them, and this ends up ridding need for shadow's help. team sonic is so good at (indirectly) threating shadow's job security. when he was resting in his cave, trying to control his anger, eggman came at the best(worst) time that shadow would fall over to his schemes extremely easily.

though, friendbot has always been pretty independant, and was also more of helping out at cubot valley rather than having to live there. since nobody told shadow that friendbot is modeled after sonic, they'd get along, and friendbot would intervene when he sees sonic and shadow bickering about shit. eventually when shadow learns the origins of friendbot, rather than also dismissing the robot entirely, shadow'll compare the robot to sonic so that he can prove a point on how sonic sucks.

or it's all an elaborate plan of sonic's. he wants to make shadow keep losing whatever job he gets so that his only remaining option becomes to join the team.

[cutegirlmayra]

Prompt: After the Boom episode "Return to Beyond the Valley of Cubots", Sticks finds D-Fekt in Cubot Village.

So, the video games and cartoon series don’t mix/talk and aren’t consistent with each other. But I decided to write this with that idea of trying to blur the line a little more between the two.

Prompt:

Sticks, peeking her head out of a dead bush, surveys the area with shifting eyes. Once clear, she rolls behind a rock and jumps up on the rock and lands on all fours.

“Day 2. After the unanimous decision of keeping tabs on D-Fekt’s progress with the Rejected Cubots, and especially after his little robo-demise operation fell through, I’ve been assigned to do this recon mission!”

She then flopped down and scurried behind a large rock mass, formed to include their desert surroundings and caves.

“Ah-ha!” she excitedly spotted the Cubot’s all huddled together, passing rocks and then laughing when one Cubot dropped it.

“Hmm… seems innocent enough. But my expert experience with robot takeovers confirms to me that there is nothing too innocent to be overlooked!” she climbed the rock formation, hovering over the little village as she looked around for D-Fekt.

“bbbzzz… S-Sticks?…bzzz… Sticks, this is Tails! Do you copy?”

“Nah, I’m losin’ ya. I think I gotta go this alone.” Sticks took out a wrist communicator but barely looked at it, keeping a sharp eye on the Cubots.

The same Cubot was unable to take the rock when passed, and the group laughed again.

“I’m going to stake out the night. I’ll report in 1800.”

“Sticks!?! Bbzzz.. Don’t be a hero!”

“It’s my job.” She squinted her eyes as she saw the Cubot with twisted black locks about to drop the rock.

As the rock started to fall, a pair of hands under the rock formation lifted up and Sticks watched as the power levitated the rock…

It flew right into her arms, and she smiled with a swooning sigh to D-Fekt, observing with his pitchfork as a body-guard, and had a proud, strong look on his face.

He puffed up his chest before she turned back to the game, then collapsed his ‘tough-guy’ appearance and put a finger to his mouth. Hearts swirled around his head as he lightly chuckled at being noticed.

Sticks smirked, “Gotcha.” She started to observe the way they interacted, before still unable to see D-Fekt, only seeing that he helped the girl Cubot when she would miss the rock exchange.

“Ohh… That’s not fair! He should be helping all of us!” One Reject admitted, and suddenly D-Fekt’s countenance changed and he started overusing his power to help all the Cubots pass the rock from one to another.

“Huh. He seems to be overexerting himself…” Sticks suddenly felt her heart changing towards him, seeing him frantically try and make sure the rock never fell as the Cubots passed it, and sweating oil as he did so.

“…Hard to watch over them when they can be so demanding…” Sticks suddenly felt her military-spirit die out…. And withdrew further into herself.

She looked like a cat watching the mice squirm under their sad circumstances. And then…

“WAHHHHAA!!!” she had accidentally put too much weight on her center, her hands under her, allowing some loose rocks to slip underneath her weight and roll her down off the cliff.

“It’s raining rocks!” One Cubot exclaimed, overjoyed. They all reached their hands up.

“It’s a miracle! Ow!” One got his head hit, another got his hat knocked off.

“Ah! My identity!” he patted the ground, his hand only a few inches from the hat, but he acted as though he had lost his glasses.

Once the last of the rocks fell loose, D-Fekt flew into action, holding his pitchfork, and looking aggressive.

“Stay back!” he flung his arm out, warning the Cubots.

They all floated back as he helped the one Cubot regain his hat.

He then poked the pile of rocks, “Grr…” he got frustrated and rose his hand up. “Reveal yourself! Coward!”

The rocks lifted up and Sticks looked like her eyes were rolling around, her tongue out as if knocked out and seeing stars.

“Huh? Sticks! What are you doing here?!” he threw the rocks away and pointed the pitchfork at her. “Do you dare disturb the Valley of the Cubots!?”

“Ugh… my head.” She shook it and then looked at D-Fekt. “Aww… you remind me of my little poochy~” she clasped her hands together and put them on the side of her face.

“… Come again?” D-Fekt thought maybe something in her brain-programming was damaged. He wasn’t unfamiliar with damaged machines…

“I had a robot dog… he felt strongly about protecting too. Until a few loose wires… well, anyway. Amy’s got a Beebot. We’ve got Buddybot… heck, we all even have Robot copies of ourselves! Whom I still can’t trust.” She glared to the skies, hunching down as if her other-robo-self was watching her.

“Anyway, I understand now that some robots like to feel they have the purpose of protecting something. It’s odd because we of the organic variety have the same kinda wishes as well.” She got up, rubbing her head and behind before D-Fekt stuck the pitchfork out in front of her.

“You hate robots!” he argued, as the Cubots all fled behind him.

“W-…Well…” Sticks, feeling a bit guilty, looked away and held her hands up. “Guilty. But only the bad ones. You know, that either choose or are just forced to be evil.” She nodded.

“…And what am I then?” D-Fekt kept his aggressive look.

“…I’m not sure yet.” Sticks admitted, her eyebrows suddenly bending back as if her mind was being conflicted against what her heart had seen him do. “You really do care about your friends here… and I can understand that.” She looked over at his cowering Cubot friends.

“And… You seem to have a kind heart… or… ticker.” She corrected herself, but he seemed to be lowering his guard a little at her words.

“Look, everyone’s special and needs some attending to. It’s awesome you’re protecting those that need protecting and guidance. We just wanted to make sure you weren’t using your friends here like last time to get your own vendetta.”

D-Fekt looked down, processing the information…

The Cubot with curls placed her hand on his shoulder, and he looked back to her with kindness.

“Alright. I’ll let you go! Just quit spying on me!” he removed the pitchfork from her face.

She smiled.

“I don’t like your reasoning… I WAS helping the Cubots cause!…. But I won’t lie and say I wasn’t putting them in danger through it.” He looked away. “I just didn’t want them to fear… if they had me, I wanted them to feel empowered.”

“Uh-huh.” She was slowly sneaking closer…

“Well, you and your friends won’t need to worry about me for a while. The Cubots have a lot to work on. I need to strengthen them. If you dare step foot in this valley again though, I’ll-! AH!”

He was scooped up and Sticks gave him a big, dotting hug.

“Aww~ Look at you~ A little hero~”

“P-put me down! This instance!”

“Hehe~ You know… Robots might grow on me…”

Suddenly her eyes widened, “ROBOTS MIGHT GROW ON ME! AHHHH!!!”

She placed her hands on her cheeks and dropped D-Fekt, who landed with a harsh hit on his metallic bum, but got up and floated away from her, moving the Cubots as well.

He shook his head at her craziness. She ran around and jumped up in a panic, before fleeing away.

“Lifeforms.” He sassed, judging her. “They’re as unpredictable and stupid as-“

Suddenly he looked around him, not seeing the Cubots.

“C-Cubots?!” In worry, he turned fully around.

They were passing the Cubot’s hat that once lost it as a rock.

He was on the ground again, searching. “My Hat! My Identity-y-y!!!” he cried out, shaking his head and hands in the air as the Cubots kept passing it, before dropping it and laughing at the Cubot who dropped it.

[sodapunkz]

Scribble dump

[boomgoestheprower]

[adhd-sonic-the-hedgehog]

The feelings runnin' deep Ain't no time for sleep A second to unwind Head up in the sky

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog- "Mass Transit Trouble" [1993] Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog- "Robolympics" [1993] Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog- "Boogey Mania" [1993] Sonic the Hedgehog- OVA [1996] Sonic Boom- "The Haunted Lair" [2017] Sonic Boom- "Beyond the Valley of the Cubots" [2015] Sonic Boom- "Muckfoot" [2017] Sonic the Hedgehog [2020] Sonic the Hedgehog 2 [2022]

[itsnicky13]

They are cute 🙈

[roughandtumble-r]

Issue 38 came out, so let’s talk about it!

So Tangle and Belle run around the base place until they find out that Orbot and Cubot are the ones controlling it, and they’re also aware that Sonic, Tails, and Amy are there and told Eggman...

Then, Belle reveals to Tangle that she is in fact a badnik (which we kinda already knew since it was pretty obvious she was made by Eggman and/or Mr.TInker), but Tangle still wants to help her out.

Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, and Amy are walking around this town simulation thing when they stumble upon a badnik having a bath...

In that badnik’s defense, they should have knocked first. No wonder he’s so upset :3

They then realize that the building they’re in is surrounded by a bunch of badnik hybrids, and Eggman also starts talking to them through a toaster...

So the simulation thing they’re in is a test chamber for Eggman’s own robots, and he wasn’t intending for Sonic and pals to show up at all, but he’s still interested to see if they can complete it.

That’s it for Issue 38, but there is one other thing I want to talk about... So I recently brought up the solicit for the Sonic 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition thing, but what I didn’t realize at the time is that that was just for a special version of another thing called the Sonic 30th Anniversary Special, which is set to come out on Sonic’s anniversary on June 23rd and also has it’s own solicit that goes more into detail about what both versions of it will be about...

After 30 years of going fast, it's time for fans to celebrate the speediest hedgehog of all time! It's an unbelievable birthday celebration for Sonic the Hedgehog with his first Classic Sonic special! First, in "Seasons of Chaos" by longtime Sonic scribe Ian Flynn and artists Aaron Hammerstrom & Reggie Graham, Sonic goes on an adventure from pleasant spring valleys to wintry wonderlands in search of the Chaos Emeralds. But Sonic's not alone, with a little help from his friends Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Mighty the Armadillo, and Ray the Flying Squirrel, they'll race, fight, and fly their way to victory against the baddest of baddies! Then, in "Dr. Eggman's Birthday," the vile, villainous Dr. Eggman takes center stage in a story written by New York Times bestseller Gale Galligan (The Babysitters Club)! And how does the bad doctor celebrate the occasion? Only his Badniks know for sure… Finally, in "Sonic Learns to Drive," Sonic's up against a tough challenge: Driving! When the fastest thing alive can outrun any car, will Sonic have the patience to learn… or will he finally get left in the dust? Written by the hosts of My Brother, My Brother, and Me, The Adventure Zone, and New York Times bestsellers, the McElroy Brothers! Grab a slice of chili dog cake and don't get left in the dust on the most way past cool book of the year!

So it’s going to be a collection of stories made by a bunch of different writers and artists in the same way as the Annuals, which makes me wonder if they’ll even do an Annual this year sepreate from this. Maybe they’ll do this first and then release this year’s Annual at some point during the Fall, but it might take a while for us to find out.

[egg-emperor]

Having a pretty shitty day so please share some silly headcanons of eggman that make you smile

I'm sorry, I hope you feel better soon! I find it a bit difficult to choose which headcanons of mine to share without a particular prompt but I picked out a few that make me laugh and put a smile on my face when I think about them. I hope you like them too! 💜

He really likes to sing even though it's not considered a talent of his. I think his singing voice is beautiful but Orbot and Cubot, who get to hear it the most, don't agree. He sings in the shower, he can't resist singing along when songs he actually likes finally play on the radio, and he just likes to sing when he's in a good mood wherever he is!

He doesn't sing with a smoother voice like Boom Eggman can seem to do, it stays as gruff as it usually sounds. Because his voice has its Jiminy Glick inspired peaks and valleys to it, he can't keep the higher and lower notes consistent when singing. He uses the opposite of the required pitch each time by accident.

But he still breaks into song with such bold confidence, regardless of judgment. Sometimes he's loud and proud and other times he sings in a quieter mumble. He also hums and whistles tunes, like how he hummed his theme song in Sonic Universe #39! Whether he's signing, humming, or whistling, it's always cute and funny to hear!

The way he tries to hide how he's amused by something, such as how ticklish he is, is absolutely adorable. His first reaction is a little yelp and then he quickly covers his mouth. It's always obvious that he's trying to hide a smile behind his big hands and while he can muffle giggles with them, he still snorts with a loud 'snrk' from his nose.

More often than not he ends up failing to hold back and bursts into laughter, especially if he's trying to hide how ticklish he is but his sensitive spots keep being targeted. Whenever someone tries to prove that he's ticklish, they always win! He starts with a quieter hesitant giggle but it gets louder and harder to control.

The more amused he is, the more likely it is for his "hoho" laugh to surface. And his way of absolutely howling with laughter is his "hoohoo" laugh, which is rare outside of him laughing maniacally at his evil plans. If something else manages to make him laugh that way, he gets a bit blushy after it slips out when he's trying to hold back, especially if he's told just how adorable it is. 💘💕

He's so happy when he gets an opportunity to talk about his passions and show off his work to someone that's genuinely interested. He could do it for hours! His enthusiasm shows with how energetic he is, how wide his smile is, and the excitement in his voice. If his glasses are off, people can see the way his eyes light up too.

When he's really excited he shakes both of his fists together and jumps for joy! He also does some happy dancing and prancing around to express the exhilarating energy that he feels inside. Sometimes he does it so much that he's quite tired and needs a nap after but it's a lot of fun and it feels good to release it!

He loves to go for random rides both night and day, whether it's his egg mobile, E-Rider, or egg mobiles he turned into cars for the racing. When flying in the egg mobile, he can go anywhere, however fast he wants without obstacles in the way. It's good practice for driving at top speed without falling out like he has in the past.

When he's nearer to the ground in his E-Rider or egg mobiles-turned cars, he sneaks onto the tracks in the after hours when they're empty, not only when he wants to practice for future races but also just to have fun! He loves to go as fast as he can and the feeling of the wind in his mustache makes him feel so alive.

He also loves to ride the rollercoasters he has (that he actually made safe enough for him to ride unlike the deadly ones for the visitors XD) at his theme parks after hours for a similar thrill!

He likes to make use of his many terabytes of selfies by adding hearts and sparkle effects to them, along with little love notes about how handsome, intelligent and great he is. He also prints and frames his favorites (which is most of them) and uses them to make collages. There's been a lot of times where he's found gazing dreamily at them.

He always takes a moment to admire his beautiful self in every reflection. During the occasions that he's in a public area, his reflection on cars or buildings catch his attention too. He forgets that certain reflections are one sided and that people are on the other side, so they see him grinning at himself with adoration and posing at the window. XD

When he's sure he's alone in his Eggcave, he enjoys playing with the figures he's created. He creates scenes to test out battle strategies and acts out Sonic's defeat and his glorious victory. He often breaks the figures of Sonic and friends after hitting them with his toy robots and mechs. He doesn't mind when they break as long as they aren't the figures of himself or his brilliant creations!

And he doesn't just have figures to play with, he also has little plushies of Sonic and friends that he likes to destroy and use as target practice. He also has cute plushies of himself that he treasures likes to dress up to match his outfits. Some of them are produced in his factories to be sold at his theme parks but he also has handmade ones like the dolls in Final Egg in Adventure.

Because the planning stages of his work requires a lot of sketching, he's a skilled artist. He likes to keep paper nearby so he can draw designs for future creations the moment the ideas come to mind. He's done this since he was a kid and improved immensely over the years to the point that he can draw detailed and complex designs.

But his style looks much more simple and scribbly when he's filling up pages with silly little doodles when he's bored. He often draws cute self portraits and things that make him laugh, like Sonic meeting his doom in comedic ways and him celebrating the victory. He can often be heard giggling to himself while drawing those. 💖

[orbviously]

HEADCANON H...WEEKEND

okay so i have a lot of thoughts about Orbot and Cubot and here are some more! (This headcanon corresponds to Sonic Boom verse only, with some minor additions.)

Their personalities are programmed, as in, Orbot being that subservient yet sassy subordinate, whereas Cubot is loyal but also gruff and kind of blundering. Eggman is really good at giving his robots personality, but the real point of Orbot and Cubot was to create and perfect Adaptive AI, aka AI that can actively learn things independently and also learn from their mistakes. 

My reasons for believing this largely come from the episode BEYOND THE VALLEY OF CUBOTS, where Cubot and Orbot encounter an entire pack of Cubot prototypes that are....frankly hilarious but also mind numbingly stupid.

They don’t know how to put out a fire, they think shooting it will be better, they keep running into walls, they bump into each other repeatedly, they don’t understand consequences or how A leads to B. 

Cubot, however, does. In fact, he tells them to pour sand on the fire in order to suffocate it, and then says “When you’ve started as many accidental fires as I have, you get good at putting them out!” 

The prototypes are speechless! One of them says “You mean, you LEARN from your mistakes? No wonder Eggman stopped after he built you, you’re the ultimate prototype!” 

to which Orbot responds “No, you IMBECILES. He’s the finished version!”

Except we learn that Cubot is in fact also a prototype... of Orbot.

The Cubot we know was as far as Eggman could get the Adaptive AI software to work in that model, but the problem was that Cubot’s personality wasn’t merging properly with the Adaptive AI and therefore even though Cubot could learn from his mistakes, he was MAKING mistakes faster than he could learn from them.

So, Eggman gave up on Cubot and moved onto the Orbot Series, where he created SA-55 aka Prototype Orbot 

The problem was, he wasn’t really sure what personality to give this robot. He wanted loyal, but he was super tired of the Cubot personality, and so he decided he’d go for someone who was very subservient but would also give him the needed kick in the pants now and then to stay motivated.

It was both a success and NOT.... as SA-55 (or Ergo as Cubot started calling him) was able to very quickly learn from his mistakes and understand consequences, he also was very VERY sassy and criticized Eggman at nearly every chance he had. And it infuriated Eggman because Ergo also dodged his attempts to smack him. 

So, Eggman scrapped Ergo and moved onto SA-55 2.0 aka Orbot. This personality was much more meek, spineless and subservient, but still a bit more willing to critique the scientist. The addition of the Adaptive AI software merged perfectly, and Orbot became somewhat depressed, but also kinder and VERY SARCASTIC on top of it. But he was more able to learn from mistakes, understand consequences, and even come to his own conclusions.

Technically, Orbot and Cubot are just the test models for this Adaptive Ai, but Eggman put so much work into them that he feels it’s a waste to throw them out, so he keeps them around as personal lackeys. 

Fun Extras: Orbot and Cubot actually can’t NOT answer questions. Cubot doesnt understand Rhetorical Questions so he answers any and all, and if someone asks Orbot a question he has to respond, even if he doesn’t want to. It’s part of their programming, and sometimes they hate it.

[crusherthedoctor]

Sonic & Tails: Beyond the Stars - Chapter 4-5 Interlude

The Will to Act

Ambience filled the air of a cold laboratory, filled to the brim with countless deranged experiments still in progress. A dark blue hue encompassed the facility, and only the beeping of computers and the flowing of liquids cancelled out the silence. That is, until the high-tech gate marking the entrance opened suddenly, and in walked Dr. Eggman. The lights immediately switched on, though the inherent darkness of the surroundings was still prevalent. He still had a grin on his face, and his swagger remained confident as he walked. His diminutive lackeys followed right behind their master.

"Sir, aren't you at least a LITTLE concerned that the Wraith failed to defeat them...?" Orbot asked, though he knew the doctor would brush him off before he even got his answer.

"Bah!" Eggman scoffed, as he walked up to a large metallic table with blueprint papers. "If you worry over every little setback, you'd never get anything done. That's something I've learned over the years. You gotta roll with the punches if you want the last laugh."

He then took out a single grey crystal, evidently one of the crystals from Zephyr Mountain he managed to get away with. He examined it closely... He seemed to be able to sense the power within just by holding it, as he let out a heavy exhale through gritted teeth.

"Oh yes..." he paused, before putting the crystal down onto the table. His body crouched slightly, perhaps overwhelmed by what he just experienced. "I can feel it... right through the course of my veins... It feels... amazing... This will be so good when everything's done."

"So uh, what do these pretty crystals do, exactly?" asked Cubot. "They for a Christmas tree or somethin'?"

Eggman wordlessly glared at the robot for his inadequate levels of awareness. "No... they have a much greater purpose." He pointed at one of his papers, which included a sketch of two crystals. One grey, the other fully colored.

"The crystals we have now can already achieve great things. They can power my creations to new heights, and give them amazing strength. But these ones... " He placed his finger on the drawing of the colored crystal. "...are twice as much. No, ten times as much. These crystals are the ones with the most remnants of the Ethereal Zone's power on this planet. With them, one can control the elements, and maybe even more..."

"But if that's true, why are you looking for the Ethereal Zone itself?" Orbot questioned, while Cubot scratched his cuboid cranium. "Surely the crystals would be enough to satisfy your proverbial hunger?"

"It's about climbing the scale, idiot," Eggman sneered arrogantly, complete with a clench of his fist. "With these crystals, we get those crystals, and with THOSE crystals, we get closer to finding the Zone."

"And what about the Chao?" the round robot asked again, as he mildly fidgeted.

"They're still a priority as well. I wouldn't waste time capturing them if they weren't." The doctor snapped his fingers, and pointed at both of his minions. "So I expect the two of you to investigate where Sonic and his annoying friends could have taken them, and where else there could be more Chao."

"You got it, boss!" Cubot gave a hearty salute, and pulled Orbot close to him, much to the latter's chagrin. "When you feel you're gonna sob, Orbot and Cubot are on the job!" With that, he dashed out of the laboratory in seconds, dragging a distressed Orbot by the hand all the while. The scientist stood there for a brief moment, before shrugging to himself in resigned annoyance.

"I'll do it myself later, they'll probably screw it up somehow. But first..."

He picked up the grey crystal again, and this time he walked over to a row of test tubes, all of which were filled with a mysterious green liquid. Silhouettes of different sizes and shapes could be seen in each of them, but one test tube in particular caught his attention. With a growing grin, he pressed one of the buttons on the panel beside the tube, and slowly, the liquid began to clear away. The silhouette from within was still obscured ever so slightly by the shadows, but even those who weren't the mad doctor himself would know straight away what was in that tube. Sonic certainly would.

"Wakey wakey," Eggman called out in a sinister sing-song voice. He showed the crystal, and shook it a little, like a parent interacting with their own baby. "I've got a little present for you, son. Fancy settling your little vendetta with the fake once and for all...?"

Immediately after he asked, a pair of red rings sprung to life where its eyes would be...

---

"So what do you think Eggman wants the crystals for?"

"Dunno. Maybe he wants them to give that monster more power... Or maybe they're for some other weapon, like a laser cannon or something."

"Oh, like the Eclipse Cannon?"

"Well, he's tried some things more than once before, hasn't he?" The hedgehog shrugged. "How many Death Eggs has he had again?"

Tails and Sonic continued to debate the motivations for Eggman's crystal hunt as they made their way back from Zephyr Valley to Lutrudis' castle. Lutrudis herself was walking beside them, with her hands behind her back, listening to her friends' chatter while she looked around at the beautiful scenery presented by the valley. Her mind appeared to be elsewhere...

"You ever think Eggman will give up some day?" Sonic asked half-jokingly.

"I think we already know that'll never happen," Tails answered with a light chuckle.

"But he's done everything to try and win!" Sonic pantomimed dramatically with his hands. "He's sicced Chaos! He's tore the planet apart! He's disrupted the flow of time and space! And he STILL can't beat us!" He grinned knowingly. "And you wanna know why?"

"Why?"

He suddenly brought Tails close to him and gave him a soft noogie. "Because he'll never be as awesome as us!"

"Aww, come on, not in front of Lutrudis!" Tails laughed sheepishly, trying his hardest to cease the noogie. Lutrudis herself let out a small giggle at the sight of Sonic's antics.

None of them noticed the top hat-donning robot hiding away through the trees. The robot's hands continued to move erratically, as it spied on the heroic trio walking through the display of vibrant vegetation.

"You may be certain about that for now," it whispered to itself in a feminine voice. "But in time, you will surely bow... ~hmm hmm hmm~..." It vanished in another puff of fancy smoke, leaving as quickly as it appeared once again.

"Listen, guys," Lutrudis spoke up, having decided to bring up what was on her mind. "I've... had an idea I've been going back and forth on. It's about the crystals."

"Oh?" Sonic let go of Tails, and the fox regained his composure. "What kind of idea are we talking about?" Sonic pondered.

The horse rubbed the back of her neck with one hand, and her eyes glanced over to the ground at her side. "It's probably a silly idea, but... Suppose we were to fight fire with fire..."

"You mean... to use the crystals ourselves?" Tails correctly sussed. His tails swished at the mention of this prospect.

"Heh, close. You guys are probably fine as it is. But I had an idea involving... well, myself." She pointed her thumb at her back, which her trusty bow was currently tied to.

Sonic raised an eyebrow at the implications, though he trusted that his friend knew what she planned on doing.

"Well, lead us the way, Trudy."

---

After having returned to the castle, they immediately went back to the cavern underneath it. While Sonic went down the rocky steps like the previous time, Tails was generous enough to simply fly Lutrudis down to the cave, having remembered her struggle with steep steps. When they went inside the cavern, it looked exactly as it did last time, as rustic yet radiant as ever. The crystals once again gleamed heavenly, in all their multitude of colours to choose from.

"So..." Sonic started, curious as to what the horse had in mind.

Lutrudis motioned with her finger to halt Sonic's words, indicating non-verbally that all will be explained. She walked up to a wall in the cavern, and with her other hand on her hip, she casually tapped it thrice with the back of her fist. Right on cue, a bunch of ropes came down from the roof, each of them holding onto what appeared to be plushies based on Eggman's Egg Pawns. Sonic and Tails looked at each other in surprise at this sight.

Then, Lutrudis looked at a selection of crystals beside her. Each of them were glowing, and pulsating with the mysterious power they still hadn't quite learned the full story of. Slowly, very slowly, after a brief moment of hesitance, she put her hand on a red crystal. She closed her eyes as she took a moment to exhale deeply through her nostrils, having felt its unexplained heat. Once she was ready, she opened her eyes once more, and gently plucked the crystal out of the ground.

Sonic's quills straightened up slightly, and he and Tails looked at their friend in concern, uncertain as to what she was about to do. Nonetheless, they let her continue, knowing she was far from careless.

Without a word, she pulled out one of her arrows, and slowly pulled the tip of it off. After a few seconds of her glancing between the now-incomplete arrow, and the crystal itself, she carefully placed the crystal where the tip of the arrow once was. It was inserted onto the arrow with little issue.

"Woah," Tails muttered in surprise.

Lutrudis grabbed her bow in one hand, with the new, specialised arrow in the other, and she turned her head in the direction of her two friends. She motioned towards the entrance to the cave, to which they understood immediately and backed up so they were further away. They clearly understood she wouldn't want there to be an arrow in someone's eye if something went wrong.

Still perfectly silent, she took her time to put herself into position, as she stared down one of the hanging Egg Pawn targets. She closed one eye, and got her bow and arrow ready. She could still feel the intense heat of the red crystal by being so close to it. A light bit of sweat went down her forehead. But she didn't budge. She was ready... She aimed...

The hedgehog and fox closed their eyes, and crouched in anticipation...

FWOOOOM

Sonic opened his eyes abruptly at the noise he just heard. He couldn't see any arrow through his body, much to his own relief. He nudged Tails with his elbow, to which the younger one opened his own eyes in response. When they looked at Lutrudis, they couldn't believe their eyes. She stared at the Egg Pawn plush... or what remained of it, as it had almost completely burned apart due to the crystal that remained stuck in its chest.

"Holy..." Sonic stopped himself, before Tails could hear. "That's some Blaze business right there..."

Lutrudis still said nothing. There was little emotion on her face as she looked at the burnt Pawn... but something was clicking in her eyes. She went to the closest selection of crystals again, and this time, she picked out a blue one. She repeated what she did last time. Took an arrow, pulled the tip off, replaced it with the crystal. Her body mildly shivered, as the coolness of this crystal was a palpable contrast to the warmth of the previous one. Once again, she prepared herself to aim at another hanging Pawn, and when she felt ready, she fired away.

CCCLLLIIISSSHHH

Another direct hit... but instead of burning up, this one was inexplicably frozen in an appropriately sized ice cube.

"Nice...!" Sonic muttered out loud, with an impressed grin on his face. Tails was similarly amazed by what he was seeing.

She decided to try out one more. She looked at yellow crystals, green crystals, among all colours upon colours... Her eyes stopped upon noticing a purple one. Its glow was significantly darker, more dimmer than the rest... and almost as black as the night itself. Despite showing even more hesitance than the previous two examples, she put her lingering fears aside and carefully plucked out the purple one, and repeated the process once more. This one didn't feel hot or cold. Instead, it felt... strange. She couldn't pinpoint what it made her feel. She aimed, braced herself...

But neither she nor her friends could have predicted what this one would do...

WWWHHHOOOOOOSSSHHH

Everyone's eyes were wide in complete and utter bafflement. Lutrudis in particular looked enormously dumbfounded. Did that Pawn just get... sucked into a void? She looked to her side at another purple crystal, and then looked back at where the Pawn once was. The look on her face remained the same. She was completely puzzled, and possibly aghast.

Sonic and his little bro went closer to the green equine, still full of shock themselves. All three of them had trouble getting a single word out of their mouths. Even for as much as they already knew, they had no idea the crystals were capable of that much power.

"Well..." Lutrudis tugged on her ponytail nervously, and let out an embarrassed chuckle. "This would be quite awkward if my aiming stunk."

"Trudy, this is... this is incredible! And kind of terrifying... We've GOT to show this to Amy and Cream!" Sonic looked again at where the Pawn was before it got whisked away by an actual, literal void. "No wonder Eggman's after these things!"

"But if nothing else, they sure do look as though they could come in helpful," Tails added. "Although, surely you'd run out of crystals eventu-"

Before Tails could even finish his spoken thought, a brand new red crystal popped out of the ground, exactly in the previous red crystal's place. Likewise, a new blue crystal emerged from the ground in its place, and a new purple one came to fill its own. Tails' jaw hanged low. Sonic simply whistled in amazement.

"Oh yeah, that's another thing," Lutrudis smiled coyly, as she tilted her head and swung her leg back and forth while leaning on the other. She clasped her hands. "It's not a finite resource. If you take one, another takes its place."

"Man..." Sonic stroked his left quill, still dazzled at what his friend could do with these abnormal jewels. He was far from a stranger to them. He's seen and used the Chaos Emeralds who knows how many times. He's seen the Sol Emeralds. He's seen the Master Emerald. He's seen the Time Stones. He's seen the Phantom Ruby.

But none of them were so prominently... multi-purpose in their specific capabilities. The rest would boost your power, distort time, create illusions, but these crystals had a whole slew of bells and whistles. And is it possible that they could stack up? If this was what they had to offer, what on earth could the Ethereal Zone itself be capable of...?

It was a scary thought for the Blue Blur. On one hand, he was glad he had a compadre who could use them effectively. On the other hand, Eggman would be able to do so much in so little time if he got his hands on them. And since it's an apparently limitless resource, he'd never run out of that power...

"So... was the sheer level of power why you were hesitant about this?" Tails asked while he rubbed his ear.

"Well, it's one of the reasons," Lutrudis sat down on the nearest rock, and put both of her hands to her sides. She crossed the ankles of her boots. "They say power corrupts and all, and I'd like to believe I'm more responsible than an entitled manchild with the nose to match."

"You already are," Sonic chuckled softly.

"But talking of Eggman... I've been a little morally conflicted about it," the horse admitted.

"How come?" Tails questioned.

Lutrudis glanced at the crystals all around her, before she looked at her friends' faces, visibly unsure of herself. "I want to do everything I can to help, and I really mean that. But... If I used the crystals this way... would that make me no different from the likes of him? You know, using a powerful natural resource for one's own benefit... would that not make me just as contemptible as him, and others like him...?"

"Trudy, pal, it's not the same thing at all, believe me." Sonic sat beside her, and put an arm around her back, much to the horse's surprise. "Eggman only cares about power, and nothing but power. That's all he ever wants... that and maybe my head on a pike. When he uses shiny magical doodads, it's for the purest of selfish reasons, to appeal to his own ego at the expense of others... Trudy, I may have not known you for long, but I already know you're not like that. Not one bit. Heck, unlike half of my other friends, we didn't even fight after an easily avoidable misunderstanding!"

"Your reasons for using these crystals are perfectly benevolent," Tails continued along, with a comforting smile. "You want to help protect our world, to give our fellow people peace and security, instead of taking it away from them... you and Eggman couldn't by any more different with your intentions."

Sonic pointed his thumb at himself, with the characteristic smirk to match. "I've used the Chaos Emeralds to fight big bad monsters and giant scrap piles for years. Don't see me going full Egghead, do you?"

Lutrudis looked at one of the crystals behind Sonic's position, before exchanging eyesight with him once more. Her demeanour relaxed. "No," she smiled tenderly. "I suppose not."

"Uh, sorry to interrupt the scene guys, but..."

The three of them were immediately alert at the sound of a new voice entering the scene. It didn't sound at all like Eggman, thankfully, but it was also too gruff to be Amy or Cream... and masculine.

"We would just like to talk with Sonic," another voice piped up. It sounded younger than the first voice, but it too was gruff, and definitely male. "Your friends told us you were down here."

"Those crystals are so PRETTY!!!!" a third voice shouted enthusiastically. The pitch was notably higher with this one. "Can we take one? Pleeeaaase???"

"Quiet already, sheesh!"

Sonic breathed a sigh of relief, as he soon recognised their identities before he even saw their shadowed figures. "Oh, it's just you guys, the... what are you guys called again?"

"The Chaotix Detective Agency," Vector the Crocodile announced with pride as he entered their field of vision. "At your service, sirs and madam!"

Sonic and Tails exchanged blank looks with each other. Lutrudis merely waved awkwardly at the newest face.

---

Back to Chapter 4...

To Chapter 5...

[latin-dr-robotnik]

What happened the day Eggman conquered the world? [Sonic Forces fic]

The following is something I wrote down way back in February 2018 and originally posted elsewhere in Spanish. Since this post inspired me to dig it up again I thought it would be nice to share it with everyone. It’s canon-ish, trying to tie in with the comics and the game, but there are mayor points where I try my own take of the events. Also because of translation differences some parts may have been completely rewritten, and if anything seems oddly written, please tell me! Enjoy!

“This can’t be happening...”

Sonic gripped his fist in a mix of fury and shock as horror unfolded by his eyes. He just arrived at the City and it was already too late. All of Green Hill got turned into a wasteland, and now the City was under siege, about to fall under the same claws of destruction and desolation. Nobody could comprehend what was going on, since up until yesterday everything was alright!

Last month Doctor Eggman already tried to attack the City with an all-new, never-seen-before army of Egg Pawns, but he still got defeated! How is it possible he could unleash such a massive force now, without anybody noticing?

Everything started one sunny afternoon at Green Hill. 

Sonic was returning from one of his many adventures. He stopped at a viewpoint over the hills to appreciate the view of the true place he calls “home”, and to also search for a location to lay down and chill a little, when he heard a familiar voice calling him...

“Soniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic!” The voice was closing in fast, from none other than Amy Rose.

“A-A-Amy! H-how are y-you?” Sonic stuttered, just before turning away from her, looking down the horizon, trying to stay cool. “It’s a really charming afternoon, don’t ya think?”

“I’ve been calling you for half an hour, and you didn’t even look back!” She was visibly tired and a little upset. “Didn’t you hear me?”

“Uhh... no?” Sonic turned back to her and tried to act innocent, waiting for Amy to summon her hammer and chase after him...

But it didn’t happen.

“Doesn’t matter!” She struck a confident pose and started walking around Sonic with the sweetest of smiles. “Now that I have your attention, and seeing you enjoy this view so much... I wanted to propose we spend the afternoon together, we’ll have fun!”

“Uhhh...” At first he felt a little unconfortable in front of Amy’s confidence, but he quickly took control of the situation again with all his charm.

“Alright. But with one condition...

I decide where do we go.”

And winked at her.

Amy was pretty satisfied with this outcome, but also centered in trying not to bother her hero too much to make him lament the decision and run away again. Since the Lost Hex incident, Amy started to appreciate every single moment she could spend with him, even if it wasn’t the perfect date at the perfect moment, as it could easily be the last one.

Meanwhile, Sonic’s plans were simple: a tree, a nap, an afternoon.

Sonic rested at a tree with Amy laying dangerously close to him for his liking. She fell asleep pretty quickly, clearly exhausted after giving chase to Sonic, but he managed to stay awake long enough to see a strange shockwave in red-cubes form.

And then, a loud, metallic-like noise was heard.

“Sonic...? What was that?” Amy woke up, visibly confused.

Sonic tried to downplay the situation, but inside his mind he kept on thinking about what he just saw...

“I would say it was some kind of explosion... But I don’t see anything different, so I’d say it was an Eggman ship getting wreck, and if that’s so, then it’s music for my ears~!

...

...but I’ve never seen anything like this before...” Amy didn’t hear that last part, and was pretty sleepy to keep thinking in what happened, so Sonic’s words were enough to ensure nothing is wrong. 

She cuddled up to his arm once again. Some time went by like that, but Sonic still couldn’t understand what’s going on.

“Hmm... that’s strange.” He thought to himself. “By this point several hours should’ve passed, but the sun is still there, going strong...” He thought to himself. “Well, I guess the world is just that more boring when the egghead is not around! 

...

...

...But man! this afternoon is becoming infinite to me, I can’t stand waiting so long! I need to take a run, Amy won’t even notice. I’ll be back in a flash!”

As he started running towards the valley, he felt the shockwave and the loud metallic noise again. He stumbled and fell while looking at the sky, now realizing Green Hill turned into a desert.

“Hey, I don’t remember Green Hill being filled with sandy rivers and everything... I should explore a little more and find out what’s going on!”

Suddenly, Sonic’s communicator started picking a call from Tails.

“Sonic? Sonic! Are you there?”

“Tails! What’s up buddy, what’s the hurry? Is your new toaster trying to attack you again?”

“Sonic! Eggman’s forces are surging into the city! We need you here, now!”

“What? Wait, when did this happen? Tails?”

Tails was in the City looking for some equipment to take back to his laboratory when the second shockwave caught him. Suddenly the place went under heavy siege from Egg Pawns, some Buzz Bombers and... Death Egg Robots?! There was no way he could handle all of this with just Sonic, he needed to call the entire team.

“Amy! I need your help!”

“...Tails? What’s going on...? What was that creepy noise again... and where is Sonic?”

“I don’t know, but Eggman is attacking the City with an unstoppable force. Sonic is coming, but we need every bit of help available!”

“Eggman is attacking? I’m coming!”

Tails kept desperately calling.

“Knuckles, this is Tails! Eggman is laying waste to the City, the Chaotix are here holding out and evacuating the civilians, but we need reinforcements!”

“Tails? How is it that the City is under attack? Oh no... Silver! You were right, the attack just started! How did we not notice it earlier?”

Tails got confused as to why Silver was with Knuckles.

“Yes, we have no time to waste...” Knuckles returned to Tails. “Hey, Tails! I’m coming with Silver, just hang on, the cavalry’s coming!”

Tails was hiding behind some rubbles, as Eggman’s forces pushed harder into the City.

“Rouge! Shadow! You guys there?”

“Hey Tails, I’m watching security footage right no---wait a minute... Shadow! Look at that screen, isn’t that the guy you were telling me about?”

“Rouge?”

The call dropped, and Tails heard heavy footsteps coming his way as he tried to get civilians back into safety...

Sonic arrived in the nick of time, rescuing both Tails and the civilians, but at the same time receiving the beating of his life, courtesy of the new and misterious Eggman creation.

After a very brief fight, Sonic dropped to the ground. 

“SONIC!”  Tails was horrified, completely paralyzed by seeing his best friend fall before his eyes. He stood there a moment, as the misterious figure started hovering above his best friend...

“You weak creatures... run like the cowards you are. Go tell the rest of the world your precious hero Sonic is nothing more than a pebble under my shoe... 

And always remember this name... Infinite. Now run... or perish under my power!”

Seeing he couldn’t reach Sonic safely, Tails had to run away and escort the rest of the civilians. They reached the laboratory over at the City limits, now almost in ruins. Some equipment was still usable, but they had to relocate at a nearby cellar, where Tails set up a beacon for the rest of his friends to rendezvous.

The sole thought of having Sonic left behind was painfully hurting him.

“What have I done? ...Sonic! I abandoned him... what if he died... because of my fault? 

No, no, pull yourself together, Tails! Sonic wouldn’t let that happen... but it’s true, I have failed him. 

What kind of person leaves behind his best friend? 

He trusted me...

I can’t stay here and wait for the others, I have to search for Sonic!

...but how?”

In this moment of shock Tails lost all the confidence he built over the years, all that progress just... gone by just looking at that masked... monster. Sonic wouldn’t let his friend act so desperate, but he wasn’t there now.

The rest of the team reached the rendezvous point just fine, yet there were no signs of neither Tails or Sonic. 

Meanwhile, at the City’s main plaza, Eggman was celebrating his victory.

“Oh ho ho ho! This is wonderful! Not even in my wildest dreams I could’ve achieve such a feat. Sonic is mine!

Orbot! Cubot! Hack into every electronic device, I want to spread a message to the entire world...”

Back on the cellar, everyone was starting to look nervous at Sonic and Tails’ absence. Tails even left his Miles Electric sitting on a table, making him harder to track down. Over at some old radio, a message started playing...

*Ehem* Citizens of the world! This is the Doctor Eggman talking to you, or should I say, this is your new Emperor Eggman! Starting today, all of you are now citizens of the new Eggman Empire. And because I’m such a benevolent leader, I’ll give you a brief explanation of what’s going on.

Over the last month, I managed to charge enough energy on my new ultimate weapon to launch such an attack not a single one of you knew! You may think I conquered your world in just a few hours, but in reality seven days have gone by! Seven days none of you felt like they passed, but during which my forces marched completely unopposed over every single region of this world!

Oh, and as a friendly recommendation from your new leader, I would turn myself over if I were you. This is the one and only chance I give you. Turn yourself in, and you’ll be granted a dignified life under the wonderful Eggman Empire; confront my power, and you’ll end up like your hero, Sonic the Hedgehog-- He’s not even alive to tell you! Mwahahaha!

[[This Public Service Announcement has been brought to you by the all-mighty Emperor Eggman. Join now the Eggman Empire, or die.]]

Knuckles decided to step up amongst all the confusion.

“Easy, everyone, that’s just pure nonsense. Nobody will buy Eggman’s lies!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, sweetheart...” Rouge intervened. “I’m affraid y’all have to watch this security tape I just found...”

In the video, Sonic was clearly seen getting beaten and then taken away by what looked like Zavok.

Everyone was now in shock. They wanted not to believe it, but it’s real, that was Sonic.

“So... is everything true? Seven days have just passed in a blink of an eye? And that was... Sonic?” For once Knuckles was speechless.

Amy refused to believe it.

“No way! It’s just a dark, twisted lie from Eggman! Earlier today I was with Sonic, and he was alright...

It can’t be him... It cannot be... Sonic?”

She broke in tears.

“What do we do now?” Silver stepped up. “I came from the future because I knew this was going to happen, but I didn’t know it would be so... sudden.”

“Don’t worry, Silver. This is just the beginning. Eggman may have won the first round, but we are still able to turn around this situation.” Knuckles was getting more and more serious as he talked. “I don’t think Sonic is dead, but whatever took him down, well, it’s not an enemy I would like to play with. We have to stay strong, and stay together.”

“We should make a Resistance force, just like in the war movies!” Charmy was enthusiastic about the idea of fighting for a better tomorrow.

“Charmy! This ain’t no movie!” Vector exclaimed. “Also, we are completely trapped on this one. Who would be our leader? Sonic was our only chance, and we certainly don’t know where he’s at!”

Everyone looked to Knuckles, thanks to that short speech he just gave.

“Well... I can be your leader, but I’ll need all of you with me, too. I know I’m the strongest person here right now, and I understand why would you like me to lead the Resistance to victory---”

“Actually, I would’ve prefered my leader to be a blue and cocky hedgehog, or a really inteligent fox with a heart of gold before some red echidna who protects a giant emerald, and not that well if I do say so myself...” Rouge was playing around with Knuckles, but in fact she wasn’t so sure about his skills at leading a entire Resistance force.

“We’ll see about that, bat girl.” Knuckles was upset about that insubordinating act.

Espio intervined between them.

“We’ll also need more powerful equipment. We cannot defeat such a powerful enemy in just one night. We have to move quietly, study and understand our enemy before striking, there are lots of Eggman’s Sentinels outside.”

“I guess there’s someone that could help us.” Knuckles wasn’t going to let the Rouge affair without retaliation. “Rouge? Such a good spy like you should know where to find some advanced equipment, right? Or should I pay for someone better?”

“What?! Of course I know lots of secret places, ‘boss’. I know some spots that could let us ‘borrow’ some equipment, and I even know where to find some wispons, that is if you can’t handle ‘things’ with your own hands...”

Knuckles lost his serious face for a moment, blushing a little bit.

“V-very w-well. Everyone, let’s do this! We need to set up our HQ, find Tails and rescue Sonic! Remember to stick to the shadows, and by all chance avoid that masked guy. 

Good luck, you’ll need it.”

And thus, a new hope for this grim world was born.

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

And that’s it! I know it’s quite a long read, but to be honest, there are lots of loose ends left by the original game, and all of this is just for the first level. 

Let me know if you would like to see more, as I have another fic developing Amy’s feelings during Sonic’s 6-month absence, and it’s something I haven’t ever released (not even in Spanish!). See ya!

[boomgoestheprower]

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