#we on that flynn route at the very beginning but i can already smell the terrors creeping up

[littlegeecko]

yall wouldnt mind if i make a short sweet little flynn/carl comic based on a random thought i had right

[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.

[gold-and-rubies]

In It For The Long Haul - Chapter 3

Warnings for Violence. Claudia’s POV.

Claudia leaned against a wall of the Rexford as she waited for MacCready. They had finished at the Castle with just enough time to get back to Goodneighbor. The ultimate goal was to get back to Sanctuary, but it was too far away to reach by nightfall. So they settled at the Rexford for the night. Staying the night there was decidedly better than some random abandoned building.

She thought about MacCready as she waited for him. He was not what she had been expecting when the ghoulified Mayor Hancock had steered her in his direction. Sure, he acted like how she would expect a mercenary to act, for the most part, but she was not expecting him to be so young. It was a little jarring to her. It was like seeing what she could have become if she had grown up in the wastes.

“Boss,” MacCready said in greeting, shaking her from her thoughts.

“Ready?” she asked.

“When you are.”

Her nose wrinkled when she stepped out of the hotel. Goodneighbor was not exactly the best smelling place in the world. At least it was safer than the ruins that surrounded the place.

“I gotta ask, boss, why are we goin’ to this place? It’s on the edge of the Commonwealth,” he complained, trying to mask it as a question.

They had only been traveling together for a day, and she had already noticed how much he tended to complain. They usually came in the form of sarcastic or backbiting comments. She had learned that the hard way when she made him help clean up the Castle.

“It’s… where I live when I’m not on the road, I guess?”

“Seems a little far away to be helping people,” he muttered.

“There’s actually two allied settlements pretty close by, so it’s not as bad as you think,” she said, “Besides it’s safe, and there should be clean drinking water available. For free.”

He seemed to lighten up a bit at the promise of something free, even if he was not the one paying for it. She figured it was because it meant she could afford more ammunition.

The area around Goodneighbor was eerily peaceful. She closely followed him as he weaved through the ruined buildings. He paused every now and then to listen and watch for threats. They got to the Charles River in a surprising amount of time. He led them down the river all the way to the train tracks that spanned across it. It was not the most direct route, but it was certainly one of the safest.

When they got to the tracks Claudia took point. She looped around the farm that the tracks ran through, wary of the robots that were working there. From there they made their way along them until they reached the newly established settlement of Starlight.

A lone figure sat working at a water pump. When he noticed the pair, he reached for his gun. In response MacCready readied his rifle.

“Who are you, and what do you want?” the man demanded.

“Put your gun down, MacCready,” Claudia whispered.

He looked at her as if she was crazy, but followed her orders.

“Don’t worry, we’re friendly. I’m Claudia Flynn, General of the Minutemen. We’re just passing through,” she said calmly.

Her words seemed to soothe him. He still looked a bit wary, but he lowered his gun.

“General, huh? Sorry I pulled my gun on ya, especially since I should be thanking you for an opportunity like this.”

“It’s quite alright. It’s a rough world out there,” she said with a small smile.

“Well, you’ve given me a decent place to set up, so if you and the Minutemen ever need anything just ask.”

She nodded, “And if you need anything just ask. There’s a place called Sanctuary to the Northwest. Just head there.”

“I will, and thank you again, for this place.”

“No problem,” she smiled. She shot a look at MacCready. He was watching the man warily as they walked across the cracked pavement. His rifle was ready to be fired at a moment’s notice.

“He pulled a gun on us, and you just let him go?” he muttered.

“He didn’t know who we are,” she shrugged, “besides this kinda stuff is going to happen a lot. I’ve noticed people aren’t quick to trust. Even when you’re trying to help them.”

“Noticed? No shi- kidding, boss. If you haven’t noticed the wasteland isn’t like that vault you came from. You’re gonna get killed if you aren’t suspicious of everyone.”

She frowned at him. She could handle the complaining. The more sarcastic comments could be funny. She could not, on the other hand, handle him treating her like she was an idiot. She was new to the world, not a dunce.

She rolled her eyes in response.

“Yeah, I noticed,” she said sarcastically, “I’m not an idiot you know? Just new to the Commonwealth. If you have an issue with it you can leave.”

His eyes widened at that, seemingly caught off guard by her sudden change of tone. She hoped he did not take her up on her offer. At least not until she had someone else to follow her across the wasteland.

“No, no. Just trying to offer some advice,” he said, verbally backing off.

She relaxed slightly. She was thankful he did not walk off on her, but she wondered why. She decided not to ask, because she figured whatever the reason was it was good enough for her.

She led the way through Concord. As they got closer to Sanctuary she relaxed more and more, but she did not let her guard down. She doubted any raiders would be there for a while, but the wildlife was a different story.

As they crossed the bridge that spanned the river that wound around the island Sanctuary sat on, MacCready completely stopped walking.

“What is this place?” he asked, almost completely in awe.

She raised an eyebrow at him. His tone seemed out of character from the very little that she knew about him, but it also made her feel a bit sad. When she looked at the dilapidated houses all she saw was the ghost of a once beautiful neighborhood. A painful reminder of a past she was still avoiding coming to terms with.

“Sanctuary.”

“A bit on the nose, don’t you think?”

“It always has been,” she said wistfully. She started walking again before he could respond. He had to lightly jog to catch up to her again.

After a few steps off of the bridge Dogmeat bounded up to her. His tail wagged at a frankly ridiculous speed. Seeing how happy he was to see her made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

“Hey, boy. Did you miss me?” she asked as she scratched just behind his ear, causing him to thump his foot on the ground.

She smiled up at them, saying, “This is Dogmeat. He helped me clear out Concord and Corvega.”

“You cleared out Corvega?” he asked with wide eyes.

“Yeah. Given how easy it was, I’m surprised no one else had,” she said straightening back up. The moment she did Dogmeat started to aggressively sniff MacCready. She tried to stifle her laughter at his worried look.

“Should I be worried?” he asked.

She shook her head, “He’s just trying to make sure you’re not an enemy is all.”

When Dogmeat seemed to be satisfied with his assessment he bounded off back towards the heart of Sanctuary. She watched him run off with a smile.

“Seems like you passed the test.”

“Yay me,” he said sarcastically.

As they got closer to the house that had the workbenches stationed outside of it they caught Sturges’s attention.

“Hey, General!” he greeted enthusiastically, looking up from the turret he was working on. The table littered with various tools and pieces of the turret. A protective mask was pulled up on top of his head instead of covering his face.

“Hey, Sturges.”

“I hope you’re here ‘cause things went well at the Castle,” he said hopefully.

“Yeah. I can say with full confidence that the mirelurk infestation has been dealt with. Oh, and the old radio station is up and working again,” she said triumphantly.

“Looks like things are finally startin’ to look up, thanks to you.”

She smiled awkwardly at the praise, but before she could say anything he changed the subject.

“I see you’ve made a new friend too.” he gestured towards MacCready, who had been standing behind her silently.

“oh, yeah, this is MacCready,” she said, turning towards him, “he’s going to be helping me make my way across the Commonwealth.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. A friend of General’s is a friend of mine.”

MacCready merely nodded in acknowledgement. She frowned at him.

“How long do you think you’ll be stickin’ around for?”

“I don’t know,” she answered, “until someone needs us, I guess?”

“So, not very long then.”

She sighed. She had been hoping they could get some rest before they had to go somewhere else. The journey from Goodneighbor had not been hard, but it had been long.

“Did someone come by while we were gone?”

“Yeah. One of the Abernathy’s. Said they needed some help with raiders. They’ve got a farm just south of here built around an old electrical tower. Can’t miss it.”

“I know where that is. Thanks for passing along the message, Sturges.”

“No problem. Also, where’s Preston?”

“Oh. He stayed behind at the Castle. Wanted more people to be there before he left.”

He nodded thoughtfully before beginning to work on the turret again.

She turned back to MacCready.

“I want to repack my bag before we head out,” she explained.

“You sure we should head out today, boss? Sun’s gonna start setting soon.”

“We should have enough time to at least find a place for the night.”

“If you say so,” he grumbled.

She rolled her eyes in response as she headed towards her house. Inside she emptied her pack of everything she did not need and refilled the things she did. She noticed he did not follow her inside. She looked over her shoulder to find him awkwardly leaning against the door frame.

“You know you can come inside, right?”

“Don’t want to intrude on your space, boss.”

She chuckled, “My space is the room on the right side at the end of the hallway. Besides, I’m having you stay across the hall, so this,” she gestured to the room, “now belongs to both of us.”

“Why? There are other houses.”

“True, but that’s the only room that has a bed that hasn’t been claimed yet…” she paused, “...it’s also cleaner than the other rooms.”

She turned away from him, so that he could not see her struggling to keep her composure. It had been her grandmother’s room before the bombs. She had torn that room apart the day after she woke up. She had completely gutted the room of everything except a dresser and bed that were both in surprisingly good condition. That room being in a complete state of disarray was the exact opposite of what it had been before the war, and it hurt her too much to look at it like that.

“Fair enough,” he said walking over to the counter where she was sorting through supplies.

“I have extra supplies if you need anything,” she said. Her voice was far weaker than she had intended. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him raise an eyebrow at her, but he did not comment on it.

“You have any bullets?”

“Not the kind you use.”

“Then I’m good.”

When she was done packing they were on the road again. Claudia led the way through the tall grass. MacCready made snarky comments as they walked about it. Fortunately for him, she thought some of them were amusing. It seemed to her that he knew that he made his constant complaining more bearable if he made it funny.

They made it to Abernathy Farm in just over half an hour. As they walked closer to the house they were greeted by a man leaning against the railing of the porch.

“That’s close enough, strangers. We’re a peaceful farm. We don’t want any trouble.”

“It’s ok,” Claudia said, “We’re friendly. Not looking to cause any trouble.”

“If you say so. But be warned, we’re armed here, so don’t try anything. Let me tell ya, farmin’ ain’t easy. Out in the field, all day, every day? And every moment of it spent watching your back.”

“Farmin’s hard work.”

“Won’t argue with that. Blake Abernathy, you new to these parts?”

“Uh, no. Not exactly,” she answered hesitantly.

“Well it’s nice to see a new face. What about you, ever think about working the land?”

“I’ll probably give a try some day.” She was not sure if that was a lie or not.

“Well, good look to you then. Word of advice though. If you do start up a farm, be ready to deal with the raiders. Why do all the hard work when you can just take what you want at gunpoint?” he demanded.

“That’s why we’re here actually. I’m Claudia Flynn, general of the Minutemen, here to help,” she explained. It was weird introducing herself like that. It was only the second time she had done it, it felt just as odd. She figured she would get used to it with time.

Mr. Abernathy nodded carefully, before carrying on. His voice was pained.

“The last time those raiders hit us, my daughter Mary tried to stand up to them. Now, she’s buried out back of the house. Only twenty-one years old, and they shot her down without a thought. That’s why we need the Minutemen back, and the sooner, the better.”

Her heart broke at that. She knew better than anyone what it was like to lose a loved one, but thought losing a child was a whole other type of pain.

“My God… I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose a child.”

“I hope I never have to experience that feeling,” MacCready murmured from behind her. His voice was barely audible, and sounded almost sorrowful. She wanted to ask him if he was alright, but she knew that that would be crossing a boundary that should not be crossed.

“I… I don’t have much to offer, but those raiders that killed Mary took her locket too. It’s been in Connie’s family for generations. It would mean a lot to us if you could get it back for us.”

“Don’t worry,” she assured him, “we’ll get that locket back for you. And we’ll take care of those raiders. Just tell us where to go.”

“Thank you. There stationed at a place called Satellite Olivia to the northwest of Concord.”

“Alright, we’ll head there now.”

“Thank you again.”

As they walked away MacCready piped up, “You know, boss, we could have saved a lot of time if you had said you’re a Minuteman from the start? Why did ya let him drone on about farming?”

“Customer service?” she shrugged. Truth be told, she liked learning about people.

“Who cares? We’re savin’ their a- butts.”

“True, but we need support from them, and they’ll support us if we are kind to them,” she explained in an exasperated tone.

He grumbled something, but she could not make out what he said, so she took it as a sign that that conversation was done for the time being. She began to wonder if him being an ex-gunner had anything to do with his attitude. They definitely were not the nicest people in the world if she was to go off of what she had heard, but they sounded more evil than rude. She knew that greed could be a hell of a motivation, but she doubted anyone that bad would want to join up with a Minuteman. He did not even seem to be that bad of a person either so far. Sure, he was no saint, but he also did not seem to be a walking pile of human garbage either. He was grey, and as annoying as it could be, she could work with grey.

The sound of gunshots in the distance shook her from her thoughts. They were coming from the satellite as they drew nearer to it. It seemed as though MacCready read her mind. Before she could even get out a word to tell him what to do he lifted up his rifle and stared through the scope.

“Two raiders and an attack dog. Looks like they’re fighting… molerats?” he relayed back to her.

As soon as he finished speaking an explosion sounded through the air.

“Uh nevermind,” he said lowering his gun, “who the heck makes a suicide vest for a molerat?”

She looked at him in pure confusion.

“Did I-” she started.

“Yeah, you heard me right,” he interjected.

“Well… less work for us then,” she said walking off toward the bunker.

Inside they quietly walked down the stairs, and made sure they did not trigger the tripwire at the bottom. They wanted to make sure they had the element of surprise on their side.

When they encountered the first raider, he was in a room by himself with his back to them. Not wanting to draw attention to themselves yet, Claudia quietly sneaked up behind him, and planted her knife in his neck. He made a strangled noise, but it was not enough to alert the others.

The next room was more of an issue. Claudia peaked into the room without being noticed. There were four raiders inside, and one had a minigun. She motioned to MacCready to come towards her. When he was in position she mouthed ‘minigun’ to him. He knew what to do without further instruction. He poked his rifle through the doorway, lining up the shot. The raiders noticed this, but before they could do anything he hit the woman wielding the minigun right between the eyes. Together, Claudia and MacCready dove into the room, and took out the remaining raiders. When they went down, as if on a cue, the remaining inhabitants of the bunker were taken down.

“Do you think that’s all of them?” she asked.She tried to shake the way killing the raiders made her feel. She knew it was the right thing to do, but she was still getting used to that fact.

“Should be.”

“Then let’s start looking for that locket.”

“Sure thing boss.”

She turned to the small toolbox at her feet, and opened it. Sure enough the locket laid inside, glinting at her in the dull light. She picked it up. She let it hang from her fingers as she inspected it.

“That was easy,” MacCready said.

“No kidding,” she said “do you want to look around before we leave or?”

He shook his head, “I’m gonna go check how dark it is outside, and have a smoke. It was sunset when we got here, and it’s starting to set faster now that it’s getting closer and closer to late fall.”

“Alright. I’ll be in the main room when you come back.”

She scoured around the main room as she waited for him. She found an assortment of loot that she placed on a desk. Most of the ammo she found was either 10mm or 5mm, so she took most of it for herself. Even though she knew he would be happy to claim the minigun as his own, she also knew he would not want to haul it all the way back to Sanctuary. She evenly split the caps, stimpaks, and radiation medications. She left the chems she found alone, not wanting them for herself. She pulled the fusion core from the generator, and placed it on the desk as well. She doubted he had access to power armor, but she did not want to be greedy. Everything else was either weaponry, or something that could be considered scrap or junk. He could grab that stuff for himself.

When he came back he had an annoyed look on his face, but it softened at the sight of the various goodies she had found.

“Too dark to travel,” he said simply.

“Damn. Well, at least this place should be safe, right?”

“Except for some exploding molerats, yeah,” he joked.

She laughed quietly at that. She liked that he was already able to make her laugh easily. Not only did it make it easier to travel with him, it distracted her from the grief she was desperately trying to avoid.

She picked up the fusion core, “I’m assuming you don’t have access to power armor, so is it alright if I take this?”

“You have power armor?”

“Yeah. You didn’t see it at Sanctuary?”

“Obviously not. Why don’t you wear it?”

She shook the core in her hand, “Lack of power mostly, but it’s also not in great condition. Sturges is fixing it up.”

“Then be my guest. Power armor is worth more than a few caps.”

She placed it securely in her bag. Sturges would be happy with the find.

They searched the rest of the bunker for anything of value. They found a miniature warhead, which they agreed not to touch. When they finished they returned to the main room to settle down for the night. They sat around a trash can that had a fire burning in it. She pulled some deathclaw jerky Marcy had made from her bag, and started to eat. MacCready pulled some food from his bag as well. She could not tell what it was, and decided it was best not to ask.

After her small dinner she fiddled around with her Pip-Boy. She marked the location of the satellite, and poked around in the settings looking for something interesting.

MacCready broke the silence, “What’s with you vault dwellers and those Pip-Boys?”

She looked up at him, “What?”

“Every vault dweller I’ve heard of has had one. Do you know why Vault-Tec gave them to you?”

She saddened at the memory of pulling the device from the skeleton's arm. The visions of the vault being full of dead bodies haunted her. She cleared her throat before she spoke.

“This… was not given to me.”

“What do you mean? They’re one of the few things all the vaults have in common. That, the jumpsuits, and that every single one had some sort of fu- messed up experiment.” He suddenly looked like he regretted what he said. “Sorry, that was probably too far,” he winced.

She looked at him with wide, sad eyes. She had not thought of other vaults before. His mind had been full of other things.

“Does… does every vault have a different experiment?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah,” he said in a rather somber tone, “I’m sorry I should not have brought it up. I know how bad vaults can be.”

She suddenly felt incredibly alone. Everyone she had known was dead. Everyone who had been locked in that vault with her was dead. There was no one who had gone through what she had. No one who could truly understand.

“Boss?” he asked nervously, “are you good?”

“I’m fine,” she lied. It was an obvious one, but she was not ready to talk about the vault yet, especially not with him.

“Don’t worry about it,”she said, staring into the fire.

“If you’re sure…” he said hesitantly. “This place is pretty secure, but I think we should still keep watch. Why don’t you sleep, I’ll keep first watch,” he suggested.

She nodded in agreement, hoping sleep would keep her from her thoughts. She set up her bed roll silently. Sleep did not come easily, but it was dreamless.

Chapter 2 Read it on ao3