#ESPIO IS JAPANESE!!!! 100%

[itz-pandora]

I'm gonna be so real, this little white girl over here (me) knows like nothing about most nationalities so like half of the choices for the nationalities were me just looking at a map and going "oh yeah this character should be a bit of this continent. Yup."

[the-sonic-crew]

Feeling very proud of myself today because I've managed to read more than 100 pages from a book i have for a long time!!

I'm feeling like I'm finally getting out of a really long reading slump :)))

Also Espio do you have any japanese books recommendations? ....and maybe that are also queer..

And mod happy birthday!! I wish you have a great day and good luck with the surgeries! Just know that you can take a break to recover <3 This blog is really awesome and I can't thank you enough for the effort you put into it

-🌒

(AND TO 🩷(i think?) HII YES CHAMELEONS ARE AMAZING I LOVE THEM!! >< It's also shocking to me to see someone else having this interest😭)

Amazing job, anon.

And yes, I do. These are all translated into English though, as I assume that's easier for you to read.

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto Twinkle Twinkle by Kaori Ekuni Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami Yellow Rose by Nobuka Yoshia Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

If you would like more, let me know.

/Thank you sm!!! The surgeries went really well, one of them got a little messed but it's just gonna take a little longer to heal :)/

[true-blue-sonic]

The mental image of Espio calling Silver Shiruba-chan is honestly pretty hilarious because I cannot imagine he’d ever do so tbh😂😂

That would be cute! I like how with honorifics you can indicate a growing relationship between people, and how that changes over time. I wonder which one Silver would use for Espio, if any? In my fics he holds Espio in very high regard, but -sama seems a bit too formal, to be honest. I guess -senpai, then? If he wants to be flattering, he could make it -sensei since Espio is a ninja master!

I'll hopefully be taking a new Japanese course soon, so I was going through my book to refresh some of my earlier knowledge, and there I cam across Japanese honorifics. Which naturally immediately made me wonder what honorifics Silver and Espio would be using for each other... in true mid-2000s fanfiction.net style XD XD

Oh if you want to go for FF.net honorifics, -chan and -kun are mandatory :P no other honorifics exist :P

... wouldn't it be cute if Espio went from calling Silver "Silver-dono" when they first meet to "Silver-san" once they become acquaintances/friends to "Silver-kun" once they get close enough?

[true-blue-sonic]

I like to imagine that Espio has never tasted candy or anything too sweet when he was little, and one day Vector is like "Man this chocolate is fire try it out!"... little does he know that from now on he'll have two housemates that will devour a whole pack of candy everytime they see it

And at the same time Espio seems like that one guy in your family that cannot stand anything that's more sweet than a dango with no sugar

For a second I felt 100% sure they did that in Sonic X (as in, the Chaotix being sweet tooths) but then I realised I was getting them confused with Meta Knight from that Kirby anime, haha. And then I realised that in a Japanese-only scene at the very end of X they did indeed show Vanilla taking a whole bunch of cakes and what-not to the Chaotix and them absolutely loving it, Espio included, so that hunch was still right in a way. It's cute to think about Espio also liking candy at times! I don't think that he'd be as ravenous about sweet things as Charmy is, but perhaps some candy every once in a while he'll gladly consume. Though, I think he'll stick mostly with dango since those are noted to be his favourite food. And I don't think he'd ever willingly try out some of Vector's bubblegum! XD

[0ne-shot]

them talking japanese to go undercover BWAHAHA---

It's similar to what i was thinking-- Esp also knows 17 languages, so what if he knows the Waddle Dance language of the bees? And like, Charmy must say something important and quick, so is just Espio staring intensely, in silent at a Charmy dancing his information out

IM DYING HELP ALDFHLADFHJH

this is played out 100% seriously

[lea-andres]

An Espnah oneshot/snippet thing no one wanted, yay~ I wrote this instead of finishing up the next chapter of WtDMtN, I'm sure everyone's thrilled, LMAO.

Although this does contain my lore's explanation for Smash Bros AND the Olympic Games games! Because those being canon amuses me. Along with Sonic knowing/being Santa.

Espio being a knight is not canon to my lore (...maybe... I'm tempted, tbh), it's a reference to SonicSong182. Iykyk, and if you don't you should remedy that. SS182's fucking great.

Dinah can't quite match I believe it was 17(!!!!) languages Espio apparently is fluent in according to MoStH, but she qualifies as multilingual. Latin and Japanese are the main two in here. I'm a dumbass American who only speaks one language, I cannot guarantee the 100% accuracy of anything ever.

Yes this is part of my plot to manifest Espio and Rouge as being 100% playable in the next Olympic Games game lmao. I want them, leave me alone.

"So… explain to me this whole Olympics thing again." Dinah requested, as she and Espio sat down on a bench by the rink entrance to pull on their ice skates.

"Where did I lose you?" Espio got his on first, and began doing some light stretches.

"Back at 'The Super Mario Bros are real'."

"You really struggle with the whole 'other dimensions and other planets' thing, don't you?" He teased, getting up and getting out onto the ice to do more stretches. Dinah finished lacing up her skates, and looked up at him to respond.

"Yes I do, because you know how often that comes up when I'm digging artifacts out of the ground?" Espio couldn't resist, forcing himself to keep a straight face, he locked eyes with Dinah, and said as evenly as he could manage.

"Ancient aliens."

"Adversus solem ne loquitor, you fucking moron!" She practically snarled back playfully. He burst out into laughter as he returned closer to the rink, holding out his hand to assist her. Dinah got up, a little wobbly in balancing on the blades, and took his hand as she made her way to him.

Once she got onto the ice, Espio launched out more toward the center, doing several tight spins and twirls before stopping sharply. The spaniel had stayed behind back at the wall, leaning against it as she watched him with an amused smirk. He blinked in confusion. Usually Dinah was all for jumping straight into an activity with him, eager to at least keep up if not try to top him. Why was she holding back now?

"Walk me through this multidimensional Olympics thing again. How did Sonic meet a video game character again?" She asked instead. He just nodded as he skated back toward her.

"Okay, so apparently Sonic got this letter in the mail. And when he opened it, it teleported him to this nexus where many great heroes across the multiverse were hanging out and having a low stakes fight club."

"Is this at all like Sonic's claim of going into that book and becoming King Arthur?" Espio smirked at that.

"I had been meaning to ask you for your professional opinion of that. Is Sonic the one true king?"

"Sonic gets points for sheer gall, but… I significantly doubt it." Dinah smirked back. Shifting so he was now gliding backwards away from her again, Espio continued.

"Anyway, Sonic met Mario there. Apparently WE'RE a game in the Mushroom Kingdom, so he was just as floored to learn about us as we were him."

"Are Sonic's games good?" Dinah raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Plus minusve," Espio waggled his hand, shifting again to now be sweeping straight toward her again, completing the large circle. "It's a… polarizing topic over there, even amongst the fans."

"Ouch." The spaniel shook her head with a laugh.

"So, they became friends, apparently Tails and the Mushroom Kingdoms' best scientists got to work on connecting our dimension and theirs, and Sonic's friends and Mario's friends get together for a friendly Olympics inspired competition."

"And you've competed?" She continued to watch him circle back and forth before her. 

"Not… officially. Typically I've been invited to compete in a single event as a Rival, but I'm hoping to make the cut this year-"

"Whomp whomp…" Dinah giggled. Espio pointed at her in mock irritation.

"Don't make fun of me, I've been busy! I've got ninjitsu training, cases that pop up, whatever bullshit YOU throw at me-"

"Your mysterious part time job you keep vanishing to?" She continued to smirk teasingly.

"Oh right, that's related to this! So, I met Princess Peach at these interdimensional get togethers, and-"

"Is she as hot as she is in the games?" Espio studied Dinah's face for a bit, trying to gauge why she was asking that.

He decided to cover all bases: "You're not going to try to pull my boss and I will NOT invite her to a threesome."

"Your boss?" Dinah repeated, adjusting her glasses. "I didn't realize the Mushroom Kingdom was in the market for Shinobi."

"They're not, to my knowledge. Princess Peach knighted me and I've been serving as a guard in her castle-"

"No you haven't!" The spaniel interrupted in amused disbelief.

"Why would I lie about that?" 

"I take back my professional opinion of Sonic's delusions of grandeur, that wasn't the most absurd thing I heard today." She continued teasingly.

"Come with me next time and I'll prove it!"

"So do you wear the mushroom hat and the diaper, or-" Dinah cracked up laughing at that, almost knocked herself over, then flailed to catch herself on the wall so she didn't wipe out on the ice. She adjusted her glasses and smiled nonchalantly, trying to play it off.

"I don't, I have proper armor." Espio narrowed his eyes at her slightly, noting what he just saw.

"Is the Princess still getting kidnapped by Bowser all the time?"

"It's been a bit since the last one, but… I guess?"

"You're a shit knight." Dinah teased.

"HEY-" Espio himself almost wiped out at that, letting out a shocked laugh.

"Can't stop one fire breathing turtle from kidnapping the princess?" She tsked playfully.

"You should stick to ninjitsu and detective work, Onmitsu."

"Just because you study knights of olden times in our world doesn't mean you're qualified to review my performance as one in another, Himawari!" He fired back playfully, snagging Dinah's arm as he skated past, pulling her away from the wall and along with him.

She lost her balance almost instantly, dropping backwards. Espio lunged to catch her, sliding across the ice on one knee, firmly cradling her head with one hand and gripping her waist with the other as he stopped her skull from cracking into the ice. She had flung her arms around his neck in her attempt to save herself, letting out a big gasp of relief when she didn't crash hard.

"Thanks, Onmitsu…" She breathed, a little dazed from the adrenaline rush.

"You… can't actually ice skate… can you?" He accused softly, giving her a look of suspicion.

"You never asked if I could, you just asked if I've been ice skating, which I have. Once." She pointed out, grinning mischievously.

"Dinah…"

"Is it a crime to want to ice skate with your Onmitsu?" She teased, one of her hands wandering up to stroke his cheek.

"It should be, if you're going to risk spilling your brains all over the rink to do so." He chastised, shifting his grip so he could scoop her up bridal style instead.

"I can make this work." He smirked, making sure he had a firm grip on her before beginning to skate forward.

"What work? What are you doing?" Dinah demanded anxiously, clinging to his neck and shoulders.

"Resistance training for speed skating events." He started picking up speed. Quickly adjusting her glasses before returning to tightly gripping his shoulders, she teased with a grin.

"Don't crash."

"I'm far less likely to than you are." She thumped his chest lightly for that, both of them laughing.

[true-blue-sonic]

Also, Knuckles outright calls Silver rude in Rivals 1:

Silver: He certainly knows how to run, I'll give him that... Hey, you there! Did you see that guy carrying something strange? Knuckles: Actually... He has this weird camera that changes things into cards... Wait a minute... Who are you? Silver: What'd you say!? How did he get a hold of it? Knuckles: You...! What are you mumbling about? Silver: Got no time to explain it to someone like you... See ya! Knuckles: "Someone like me?" Hey, I'm Knuckles! Haven't you heard of me? How rude! Asking questions without having the gall to introduce himself! Silver: Like I said before, I don't have time to deal with you right now. See ya! Knuckles: You little... Get back here!

And in Rivals 2, Silver tells Knuckles to shut up in Knuckles' storyline, to Rouge's displeasure:

Eggman Nega: Well, well. Looks like you acquired my Emerald Detector. Now, what else do you require? Knuckles: We still can't find the Master Emerald and I think you know where it is. Eggman Nega: Maybe I do and maybe I don't. Knuckles: Stop these games, Eggman! Silver: Shut up, Knuckles. I need to talk to him so just get out of here! Rouge: Hey, watch your mouth, kid! Don't take that tone with us! Eggman Nega: Silence! All of you! I'll give you all a REAL reason to be upset!

I stopped reading IDW after issue 64, in part because I was incredibly done by Silver's portrayal in the comics. On the one hand, there's just a problem of bad writing: things like the girls not picking up on Duo's "I couldn't save Silver and now he's dead :(" two seconds later "I was going to get help!!!!! D:", or the writers seemingly completely forgetting Whisper has a recorder in her mask that thus goes entirely unmentioned, which got kinda handwaved in a later issue. But an IC Silver would not have folded to Lanolin like he did: I would say Silver only cares for the authority of people who've proven to be on the same page as him, like Blaze or Espio. What has Lanolin done to prove that? She picks Duo's side immediately, and Silver just rolls with it without arguing with her about it and goes off to sulk instead of being proactive (I guess maybe as a callback to '06? Except in '06 Silver's entire worldview got rattled for a bit there by Amy, which issue 63 really did not achieve to that level). Silver's a proactive guy! He doesn't sit around waiting for troubles to come, he actively goes and does his best to solve them. And it's also just dumb things like issue 64 showing him all clumsily tripping or his quills poking out of the bush all obviously, or him (aka Meteor Smash guy) being unable to catch Duo in a one-meter fall. I agree with the fact that it's frustrating to see; it feels like Silver just does not get taken seriously.

And on that topic, a lot of Silver in the comics seems to be written to be very... cutesy, I think is a good way to describe it. Very uwu baby cinnamon roll, I've used as terms before too. Must protecc him, he's got no social skills because everyone in his future is dead and he was always alone and he's never been rude to anyone ever. Except the problem with Silver as a character is that he's not meant to be cutesy, I would argue, and the previous sentence is rife with misconceptions. He's got a deep-ass voice in Japanese and uses rude language and rude gestures up the wazoo, he's 100% down to murder someone to solve his problems and save the world, in the Rivals games he's got an insult or just general obstinateness ready for basically everyone, in the fourth and fifth line of his intro in '06 he mentions other people in Crisis City and both Rivals games show what a jerk he can be... That's really not uwu baby cinnamon roll material, in my opinion. What could arguably be cutesy is his naivety, but then indeed what Siggie describes: him not realising that not everybody shares the knowledge he has and sees things in the way he does. Not whatever IDW is pulling with him. But as for a solution, I don't know; if the writers think Silver is inherently meant to be a cutesy socially awkward li'l guy, I presume that's what they'll keep writing him as. To that end, I hope the Sonic Channel medias and the video games will keep providing a more in-character Silver!

What’s your thoughts on idw silver, I personally think he is ok but I feel like the idw comic didn’t really do very well with his character.

I can't say I like him... at all.

American Sonic media already has a history of needless and quite frankly terrible changes, whether made out of ignorance, xenophobia towards Sonic Team/SoJ, some vague, made-up sense of marketability, or all three. So, I'm already wary of media like that. They always change fundamental aspects of Sonic's appeal and are supremely unenjoyable to me as a result.

To stay on track here - why do I dislike IDW Silver? The main reason is that I think he's portrayed as way too polite and nice to people. He has no backbone. It's as if he was just based off of popular fanon or Archie comics, rather than the source material. I don't blame anyone for thinking Silver is some timid, polite sweetheart if fanon and IDW/Archie is all they have consumed, but I'm doing my best to dispel that notion for the sake of conquering misinformation. As a casual fan, it is understandable to have misconceptions, but I'm going to be much more harsh to official media.

I need to hammer home the fact that Silver is rude and often talks down to people. Sonic '06, Silver's debut game, showcases this very well. In an '06 cutscene, he talks down to Sonic after attacking him when his guard was down. The casual stride over to a wheezing, incapacitated Sonic kills me. The disrespect is fucking crazy.

In the level Flame Core, he acts haughty and superior about his abilities, even letting out a light chuckle at how pathetic the enemies are. And, a detail that is easy to miss, he doesn't even apologize for trying to kill Sonic.

That's not even mentioning the Rivals games being a wonderful source of Rude Silver™, where there are too many snide remarks to count.

IDW Silver is a telltale case of Silver's nuance being stripped so that he only represents one trait of his- that trait being "naivety." Silver's naivety is mentioned twice by Blaze in Sonic '06 because this is relevant to the story. Naivety is Silver's fatal flaw that leads to him being easily manipulated by Mephiles. However, his naivety isn't due to some innocent, childlike outlook on the world. Silver takes everyone at face value and always assumes people are telling the truth to him due to a lack of social skills. This is why, when Silver mentions something outlandish or unbelievable to people, he is confused why they don't believe him. This is shown in both Rivals 2 and the Sonic x Silver wallpaper cover story.

IDW seems to completely miss this nuance and conflates "naivety" with childlikeness and innocence. When you realize this, decisions put towards Silver's characterization in IDW makes a lot of sense - his hyperactive excitement and adulation over Whisper is a good example, but how he doesn't talk back to Sonic calling him "flatware" in Issue 8 particularly bothers me.

Realistically, Sonic would immediately get thrown into a wall if he said this to Silver.

Portrayals like IDW Silver are just so utterly confusing. How in the world does Silver get misconstrued this way, into something entirely opposite of what he is, in both fanon and official media? To be completely honest, it makes me frustrated. I want things to change and I feel like I have to speak up. I ended up writing an essay about Why Silver is Rude. I'm sorry anon.

[naivesilver]

If you’re still doing the Sonic ask meme, can you do 32,33,34,37,42,51,62,74,75,96. You don’t have to answer all of them if it’s a lot.

YO ANON YOU ARE THE BEST I love talking about Sonic I’ll do them ALL

100 Sonic Questions

32.) Most underrated character, GO 

HOPE KINTOBOR!!!!!! So many Archie characters did a full 360 once Kenders left and I remember them fondly but Hope is the fucking best! I want to see her again! She’s such a good girl with a great story and I may or may not be planning a fic involving her

33.) Most overrated character, GO

I should say that they are all good and deserve endless love but it’s not true. I can’t lie. The Babylon Rogues are just too boring to me.

It’s fine if you love them! Even if they are your faves! I apply to this the same principle I have with other Pokemon fans loving Pelipper when I could easily go a whole life without seeing its soulless bird eyes again.

(Okay maybe I have something against birds.

Except the Hatoful Boyfriend ones. Those are good.)

The thing is I just don’t find them all that interesting??? I don’t hate them, I’m just kinda meh about them. But I follow some people who adore them with a passion and it’s very endearing to watch someone pour all their love on their fave characters so I tolerate it and even reblog some good art when the mood strikes. But they still don’t rank in my top ten and probably never will.

34.) Guilty pleasure game? 

When I was in middle school I watched 06 cutscenes all the time and I’ve never been able to replicate the surge of intense excitement I had in those days.

It’s a bad game. It’s true. But it holds a special place in my heart and it introduced the best boy ever so I can’t let it go.

37.) List your favorite platonic ships.

I have LOTS for a start Sonic and Knuckles have a great dynamic and I want to see it more. And while I ship Vector and Espio romantically the way they both interact with Charmy is ADORBS they’re the trash parent/older brother figures he deserves. And Shadow and Rouge!!! God I could go on all night maybe friendship IS a superpower.

42.) If you could say one thing to Sonic Team right now, what would it be? 

HAVE SILVER AND BLAZE INTERACT MORE IN-GAME YOU COWARDS

51.) If you were your least favorite character for a day, what would you do and why?

Given that my least favorite is Zavok I would sit down and have a fucking nap instead of causing problems on purpose

62.) Opinions on Japanese and English voice acting, GO 

I know next to nothing about the Japanese VAs but the English ones are quite good??? I feel like they often embody their characters quite well. Certainly better than the Italian ones looking at you, Luca Ward and your C-level Metarex roles

74.) What’s the best thing about being in the Sonic fandom?

The creativity! Canon is so flexible that everyone can pick and choose what they please and there are thousands of headcanons, redesignes and plausible backstories that one can find everywhere, it just makes me dizzy with joy.

And the OCs! I could spend days gushing over other people’s OCs (and mine, though I never gather the courage to do it here). I say it before and I’ll say it again, if you ever need to show someone the character you made, send it over! I’ll praise them from head to toe because they’re all great. Full stop. No exception. Cringe is fucking dead.

75.) What’s the worst thing about being in the Sonic fandom? 

Antis. Worse still, antis recycling old arguments that I thought we’d buried deep down underground.

You can’t - you can’t come at me in the year of the lord 2020 and tell me sonamy and sonadow are problematic ships and everyone who endorses them is a disgusting person. Dude. That’s the literal backbone of the fandom. What the fuck.

(Also, as someone who got called some really nasty words bc I ship vecpio: I don’t give a damn. Ship what you want. Indulge in your kinks. We actively cheer for brightly colored antropomorphic animals to win in made up races against time or fights against mechanic overlords, stop taking everything so seriously.)

96.) Which character annoys you? 

Shade. Not because I have anything against her. I just never understood where she came from and why I never see any screenshots of her game and at this point I’m too afraid to ask anyone about it.

[chao-chachaslide]

Low effort christmas headcanons

Christmas is considered a very romantic holiday in Japan. Espio sticks very closely to that and buys chocolate for whoever his crush is that year. He probably sends it through amazon or something bc he's a wuss idk. Sonic (i hc him as japanese) is aware of that fact but doesn’t take it half as seriously.

Sonic is like that one guy who keeps all the shitty christmas cracker jokes and makes sure everyone in the room has heard them at least once.

Amy is the kind of person to give handmade stuff, liked baked goods and accessories. She sometimes does baking with Cream and Vanilla.

Tails probably gives everyone some weird invention he made 3 days prior. Also he has nearly spoiled Father Christmas for the other kids several times.

Rouge steals everything 100%. She can't buy jewellery for people because she'll end up keeping it for herself.

Sonic can run anywhere in the world to buy stuff but also he leaves all the gift buying until last minute lol. He often wins on best present though.

Charmy is that one kid who opens like all the doors on his advent calendar on day 1 and then complains that he wants haribo for the rest of the month.

..Maki Knuckles....fr

I'm not sure what Shadow's approach to Christmas would be. Like did he ever have xmas on the ark? If he did would the holiday be something that would trigger his ptsd or would it be more more of a bittersweet memory? In any case he's pretty introverted so probably isn't that fussed about holidays, in particular parts that involve social interaction (eg parties).

Amy's fave christmas song is unironically "All I Want For Christmas Is You"

Vanilla makes christmas dinner for everyone and I mean everyone. This should be canon actually. It is mentioned in twt takeover 5 that she cooks dinners for the cast.

[isakthedragon]

Super Sonic Thieves Chapter 7

Chapter 7 - Raccoon Tail

Intro Cutscene:

Sly: “It was a fun time to get some quality time with our granddads, but we had to move on to help other Coopers. Back through time we went, to go visit an earlier Japanese relative, Karin Coopergiwa. I remember when we collected her page, she was the inventor of our coin magnet ability. I have to admit, it’s a very fun ability. According to the book, she pretty much knew how to control magnets to her will before we even knew about magnetism. I guess capturing her would be a big interest for Eggman, since that can only make his robots better. Well, it’s time to go back, back to the past, for Karin Coopergiwa.”

*We start with looking at some traditional Japanese sliding doors that are then slid open to show a somewhat large village. And like your Japanese anime, the title comes in: ‘ Raccoon Tail ’.

-----

Hub Layout:

The gang have made their hideout in a small building near a tall mountain with plenty of winding paths and wall hooks, which takes up most of the hub area (Making this more of a vertically build level). A forest surrounds the ground below, where the safehouse is, and in a secluded area is a hot springs which lays up to the mountain, and has a secret cave behind it. Also in the forest is a farm with open fields of food owned by a strange mystical guy (The guru’s ancestor). About a ⅓ of the way up the mountain is a set of windmills catching the wind. Halfway up the mountain is a strange dojo, where it seems the enemies are coming from. About ⅔ of the way up the mountain is a somewhat large, 4-story temple. And at the top of the mountain sits a large, castle structure. The castle looks authentic to the times, but it actually belongs to Eggman, where Zazz and Zomom hide.

Enemies:

Tengu: Mythical flying birds that look like crows that flutter about in search of thieves to attack. Can come in various forms of birds, but they all look at least like the variation of a crow. Carries/drops 9-11 coins to pickpocket has 10% chance of treasure.

Kitsune: 9-tailed, yellow foxes that walk around in search of anyone in the dark. Be careful provoking them as they’ll attack you with fiery rings indefinitely until you escape far away enough. Carries/drops 13-15 coins to pickpocket has 25% chance of treasure.

Oni: Strange demons with flashlight-like beams for eyes. Do note they will continuously attack you and follow you for quite a bit if you provoke them. They come in many flavors, from dragons to demons to other horned beasts. Carries/drops 13-18 coins to pickpocket has 50% chance of treasure.

Saiyan Pawns: Egg Pawns dressed in gis or armor and having crazy golden hair. Getting close to them will either have them fight with their fists, or in a rare chance, fire a laser from their hands at you. Still, they are Eggman’s pawn force, so they aren’t going to last long. Drops 10 rings.

Draglets: Dragon looking badniks that will float around in the air, spitting fireballs at you. Drops 12 rings.

Ninja Pawn: Sneaky pawns that can appear suddenly to throw ninja stars, or karate chop you. Drops 14 rings.

Treasures:

From Guards:

Small Necklace: Worth 60 coins and 30 rings.

Medium Necklace: Worth 80 coins and 60 rings.

Large Necklace: Worth 100 coins and 50 rings.

From Pedestals:

Ornate Vase: Worth 1100 coins and 550 rings.

Platinum Katana: Worth 1200 coins and 600 rings.

7 Orange Balls: Worth 1400 coins and 700 rings.

Golden Bow and Arrows: Worth 1600 coins and 800 rings.

The coins have the rising sun design on them.

Secret Clockwerk Sighting: Posing as a statue in the forest. Is it just a statue… or the real deal?

-----Jobs-----

Ninja Espionaje

Take recon of the mountain and forest.

Espio: “Heian, Japan… I must say, I never thought I would visit this time period in my life. The landscape’s exquisite.”

Sly: “Heh, these days, it seems we are visiting places and times we never thought we could. And, indeed, Japan looks so beautiful.”

Bentley: “If you guys are done fawning over the landscape, which is indeed ‘pretty’, you guys have some other pictures to take.”

Sly: “Well, at least recon here is going to look fantastic.”

Espio: “Let’s go.”

*The player is free to go recon everything any way they like, getting the hot springs cave, the farm, the windmills, the dojo, the temple, and the castle.*

*Taking recon of the hot springs cave.*

Espio: “It seems someone is messing with the water flow inside the mountain. I wonder what they need it for?”

Sly: “I think we can leave Dimitri to that, he loves the hot water.”

*Taking recon of the farm.*

Sly: “Hmm, it seems like someone is living there, so they haven’t been scared off yet.”

Espio: “I feel they may be a high mystic as they seem to have created a barrier to block out the Yōkai. We better come back later, as he seems busy.”

*Taking recon of the windmills.*

Espio: “If I had to guess, these windmills don’t belong here. They reek of Eggman on them.”

Sly: “They seem to be collecting the wind for something, but for what? There are some conduits, but they head into the mountain out of sight.”

Espio: “Perhaps we should move on for answers…”

*Taking recon of the dojo.*

Espio: “Here seems to be where the Yōkai and Egg Pawns are being produced in. He seems to have converted this dojo into a plant.”

Sly: “So we got a fight ahead of us in there. Sounds like fun.”

*Taking recon of the temple.*

Espio: “Hmmm… I feel something odd about this temple, but I can’t put my finger on it…”

Sly: “Well, the door is locked, and the windows seem hard to reach, so we got our work cut out to get in. But let’s move on for now.”

*Taking recon of the castle.*

Sly: “Wow! Such a big castle! And they have a big force field to match.”

Espio: “I think the windmills are the source of the shield. And I think Eggman’s lackeys are in there, whoever it is.”

*Once all the recon is complete.*

Espio: “Hmmm, all that recon done, and we aren’t any closer to finding your ancestor Karin.”

Sly: “Hmmm… I wonder… Hey, Bentley!”

Bentley: “Yeah, Sly?”

Sly: “Can you track magnetism with your computer? I wonder if it might help us find Karin.”

Bentley: *Gasps* “That’s actually a genius idea! I’ll check it out! Come back here to the safehouse, I think I can show you where she is by then.”

JOB COMPLETE

-----

A Magnetic Attraction

FInd a way into the temple and rescue Karin.

Bentley: “It worked, Sly!”

Sly smugly smirks: “Huh? I had a good idea for once?”

Bentley: “Karin seems to be in the temple on the mountain, I’m certain of it!”

Amy: “Well, what are we sitting around for?! Let’s go get her! I’ll help you, Sly!”

Sly: “Interesting… let’s go save her.”

*The player leads Sly and Amy to the temple.*

Sly: “Hm, I see some poles and bamboo to climb on, but I’m not sure how to get up there…”

Amy: “I can help you with that! Here, jump on my hammer…”

*Amy sets out her hammer, and the player has Sly jump on in like they would for a Murray Toss. Then they have Amy attack with her hammer down, which launches Sly up onto the low roof. Then the player can have Amy do it alone to launch herself up to the roof as well.*

Sly: “Wow! That was powerful!”

Amy: “Don’t be fooled by this dainty demeanor, I got plenty of power! Now come on, let’s get inside.”

*The player has Sly climbs up a bit higher to open and enter the window, and Amy follow with another hammer launch to end up inside…*

*Inside…*

Amy: “Wow!!! She’s floating in the air!!!”

Sly: “Karin’s just… Levitating in the air, Bentley!!!”

Bentley: “Hm… No, she’s not levitating. At least not by her own volition. She’s being suspended in the air by all these magnets in the room.”

Amy: “How can magnets do that?”

Sly: “Yeah! Shouldn’t she be pulled onto one of them?”

Bentley: “You guys don’t know much about magnetism, do you? Well, it’s going to take too long to explain, so I’m just going to figure out how we can get her down from there…”

*Karin yawns and stretches her limbs as she wakes up*

Karin: “Who’s making that noise? Can’t you see I’m trying to sle…? Whoa, what the heck are you two? I can tell you’re a fellow raccoon but what on Nippon are you wearing? And I can’t even try to discern what you are, pink creature. Are you some kind of Yōkai?”

Amy: “How dare you! I’m obviously a hedgehog!”

Karin: “Hedge… Hog? *Shrugs* Well what are you here for? Are you the guards sent to give me food? I could use my food now.”

Sly: “No! We’re here to bust you out!”

Karin: “Oh? Oh thank the Kami, my prayers have been answered! Yes, please get me out of here!”

Sly: “Of course, of course! We just need to wait for my friend to figure out how to release you from these magnets…”

Karin: “*Chuckles* My, are you growing more and more bizarre. Knowing about magnetism when I’m the only one with such knowledge? Well, I know perfectly well how to make the magnetic pull on myself end! I just need you both to move specifics magnets around so they cancel the effect! I’ll direct you to each one!”

*The player goes to follow Karin’s directions to moving specific magnets around the temple. Slowly, Karin is lowered to the ground, until the puzzle is solved and she is on solid ground once more.*

Bentley: “Okay! I figured out how to get her down! You-”

Sly: “Heh, Karin beat you to it, Bentley. We got her down.”

Karin sees Sly talking: “Hey, who are you talking to? You look like you’re talking to yourself.”

Amy: “Well, Karin, it’s a long story, but I think it’s more easily answered if you follow us to our friends. We can help you there.”

Karin: “Well, any place is better than this prison of a temple. Let’s go.”

JOB COMPLETE

-----

Sly, narrating: “We quickly got Karin back to the safehouse and introduced her to our friends. She was a little weirded out by everyone’s looks-”

Karin: “My, you guys would look like a gaggle of yōkai if I didn’t already know you were friends of my saviors.”

Sly, narrating: “-but after explaining that we were from the future and some from a different dimension, she easily understood and told us her problems.”

Karin: “Ooooohhh… that makes sense, kinda… well, maybe you can help with my problems. You see, some deities from who knows where came in and ruined my mountain for thinking! They have messed up the landscape and have made their own castle on top of the mountain! I tried fighting them, but they easily captured me and put me in the trap you saw. They looked like some yōkai representing Lust and Gluttony, or something like that.”

Sly, narrating: “Sonic and his friends had to think a bit on who she was talking about, but two prominent figures came to their minds.”

Sonic: “Tails, don’t they sound a lot like Zazz and Zomom?”

Tails: “They do… and how interesting that they get put on the case of capturing and studying Karin.”

Bentley: “It is? So far, these two don’t exactly sound like dangerous beings, and that they just got lucky in their capture.”

Sonic: “I thought they didn’t seem dangerous at first too, but they really proved that wrong…” *Sonic trails off.*

Tails: “Uh… well, to make a long story short, these guys are tougher than they look. Zazz and Zomom, and the rest of the Zeti, have the ability to manipulate magnetic fields, which they can use to control electronics, and do things without a shred of remorse.

Sonic: “They nearly drained all the life on our world just to make themselves stronger, that’s how bad they can get!”

Sly: “Well, that’s certainly nasty news…”

Karin: “Wouldn’t expect anything less from Oni. Strange that they can manipulate magnetism.”

Bentley: “Indeed! Of the adversaries we’ve faced from Sonic’s world, these guys seem to be the strangest.”

Sly, narrating: “Well, it looks like we had plenty of work ahead of us if we wanted to stop these menaces.”

-----

Bentley: “Well, we seem to have got a problem. Zazz and Zomom know we are here and have set up more force fields to prevent us from getting up the mountain! Thankfully, it seems we can still reach the windmills, which I am pretty certain they are the power for those barriers, maybe even for the castle too.”

Murray shoots his hand up: “OH! OH! ME! I wanna cause some destruction!!!”

Bentley chuckles: “How did I know you’d be the volunteer? Unfortunately, you can’t break in the door, Murray.”

Cream: “I’ll help Mr. Hippo! Besides, I know a bit of Japanese culture myself, so I can deal with everything out there!”

Murray: “Sweet! And don’t worry, Amy, I’ll watch Cream for you.”

Amy: “That is a relief.”

Karin: “Hey! Can we do something about my powers? Those ugly deities’ trap pretty much burnt me out.”

Sly: “Well, that’s not good.”

Bentley: “Hmmm… I believe there may be some rich mineral deposits in that cave behind the hot springs. Maybe you can also find out why it has trickled down as well…”

Dimitri, obliviously: “Sounds like you might need a swimmer to look for these fancy minerals. Well, luckily, my tastes have heightened my senses for the rare and unique!”

Karin is still hung up on what Bentley stated. “Wait?! Hang on?! The cave is noticeable now?! That’s my meditation spot! Have they turned my place apart?!”

Sly: “I’m not sure-”

Karin: “WE GOTTA GO!!!”

-----

Attractions and Repulsions

Eliminate Eggman’s mining operation.

Help Karin restore her powers

Karin fumes at the sight of the visible cave. “*Gasp* Those no good deities!!! *She mutters archaic incomprehensible Japanese swear words.*”

Dimitri: “Hey, hey, no need to get your magnets stuck together bro! Dimitri is here to help!”

Karin: “They have revealed my meditation spot! How dare they?! It’s sacred ground!”

*She storms in and Dimitri can only follow. Inside, they find a pretty large cave system underground. It seems to have been formed by the hot springs water, and some digging by Karin, but thanks to Eggman’s mining, the water level has dropped significantly and there is mining equipment in use, digging up the ores.*

Karin: *Shrieks* “How could they?!”

Sonic, through the binocucom: “It’s no surprise. Eggman needs materials, and doesn’t care if he messes with the environment in the process.”

Karin growls. “Grrr… he’s going to pay, starting with all this equipment!”

Dimitri: “We might not want to alert our presence, magnet lady. We will be in deep business if they all notice us!”

Karin: “Right then. My magnets should be more than enough to tear these contraptions apart silently!”

*The player has Karin and Dimitri destroy the enemies and the mining equipment with Karin’s magnetism and Dimitri’s silent harpoon gun. The key to being silent is to use the scenery (Like hitting stalactites to fall) or use the machinery against Eggman’s forces with Karin’s magnetism.*

*Once everything is destroyed, the water starts flowing newly made and the hot springs returns.*

Karin: “Finally! The space is clean of the darkness. Now to find my meditation spot.”

*The player leads Karin and Dimitri to her meditation spot, which is in the center of 4 pools of water that haven’t been drained thankfully yet.*

Karin: “Ah, finally.” *Sits in the spot, but soon stands up.* “Something is not right…”

Dimitri: “Is the juices not flowing?”

Karin: “No... someone has messed with the alignments in the pools. *Sigh* That means I have to swim in them and mess with the magnetism in each, and it takes so long to get dry.”

Dimitri: “Hey! Have no fear! Dimitri, master diver, is here!”

Karin: “Well, thanks, lounge lizard! Well, all you need to do is go in them and swim towards some magnets I have installed at the back of each of them.”

Bentley, through the binocucom: “Wait, you’ve invented magnets?! You must let me examine one!”

Karin: “Heh he, remind me to tell you when we return.”

Dimitri: “Quiet! I must concentrate to dive! Perfection is needed.”

*The player has Dimitri swim into each of the pools to push a magnet that has gone out of alignment. Just stand at the back of the magnet and push it to rotate it around. It will click into place once it is in the correct spot. Do this for all 4 magnets to finish up the mission.*

Karin: “Ah, much better! I feel the power now.” *She goes and meditates as the mission ends.*

JOB COMPLETE

-----

Windmill Crusaders

Destroy the 4 windmills.

Cream: “Oh, my! They sure are tall! I wonder if I can even make it up there?”

Murray: “I could toss you up to reach them.”

Cream: “Thanks, Mr Hippo! That will help a lot!”

Murray: “I appreciate your politeness, but you may call me “The Murray”!”

*The player has Murray toss Cream up, then have Cream fly into the first windmill. Inside, Cream lands right in front of the door at the bottom of the windmill, which is kept shut by a peculiar lock…*

Cream: “Okay, I’m at the door. *Studies the door’s lock, which is essentially a picture of eleven animals surrounding a circle and at the bottom of the lock is a brush and a bowl of ink* Um… Mr. Bentley? I may need help unlocking this. This lock is pretty odd…”

Bentley: “Hm, indeed. Looks to be custom made. I guess they knew about our penchant for pilfering keys… Seems it can only be unlocked by painting on it. But paint what?”

Cream: “Wait a second, this looks familiar… OH! It’s the Eastern Zodiac! My family identifies under these instead of the of the one with the stars! There’s the rat, the ox, the tiger… They’re all here! Oh wait, one’s missing.”

Bentley: “Ah, I get it! To unlock this, you need to paint the missing Zodiac animal! Such a strange yet interesting mechanism. I trust you already know what it is?”

Cream: “Yep! It’s the very last one in the cycle!”

*A “Multiple Choice” game occurs, wherein Cream tries to remember what the last animal in the Eastern Zodiac is*

Cream: “Hm, now what is the last animal in the zodiac? I think it’s name begins with a “P” and it’s really messy…”

*The choices are: Parrot, Pigeon, Penguin, Panther, Pig, and Platypus. The incorrect answer will have Cream draw the chosen animal only for nothing to happen and Cheese erases the drawing, but Bentley then alerts Cream that the incorrect drawing has started a timer that will set off an alarm and also make unlocking the lock impossible until it can be guessed correctly. Once the correct answer is chosen, which is Pig, Cream draws a pig in the empty circle and right after the lock undoes itself*

Cream: “Yes!”

*She opens the door and lets Murray in.*

Murray: “Sweet! Now it’s my turn!”

*Similar to another tall building mission, for each windmill, Murray must go and smash the circuits in the center of the room so the magnet spinning around inside stops turning, preventing electricity from flowing from the spinning windmill.*

Murray, at the end of the first one: “Let’s get out of here, Cream. I think I know what’s going to happen next.”

*They leave through the door and get outside. A few seconds later, the windmill explodes and the blades spin away to destroy a force field on the path.*

Cream: “WOW!!!”

Murray: “Gratuitous destruction! Always the best option! Now to destroy the other 3.”

*On the way to windmill 2*

Cream: “Oh, I wish there was a way to deal with these windmills without resorting to violence…”

Murray: “I know how you feel, little rabbit. One time I went on a spirit quest and was mentored by a Guru, who taught me pacifism. But sometimes destruction is the only solution, like when we had to rid his home of miners. Boy that was a crazy time!”

*Upon arrival of windmill 2’s door*

Cream: “Okay, this door has another “ink-drawing” lock. It’s a lot different though…”

*Cream studies the lock and this time it’s a painting of a white ape, a pheasant, and a monkey fighting a group of oni. There’s notably a huge space in between the ape and the pheasant*

Bentley: “Hm, just as I thought. Each of these windmills of these special locks and they’re all different. Do you recognize this one, though?”

Cream: “Uh… Yeah! This looks like the story of Momotaro! My grandmother told me this story many times! It’s about a boy who was born from a giant peach and he goes to this island of oni to fight them with some animals helping him. Though in our world Momotaro is a human, not an ape.”

Bentley: “I see! Hm, well is there something about the painting that seems off and requires a drawing?”

Cream: “Hm… Oh yeah! One of the companions is missing! Hang in there, Mr. Bentley, I’ll figure this out!”

*Thought Bubble game appears*

Cream: “Let’s see… The missing animal companion for Momotaro has a name that begins with a “D” and they have sensitive hearing…”

*The choices are: Deer, Duck, Dog, Dingo, and Dolphin. Failure repeats the scene described above. The correct answer, which is Dog, sees Cream draw a dog and the lock is undone*

Cream: “Okay, the door is open!”

*Murray enters the windmill and lays waste to it. After exiting the windmill and it explodes*

Cream: “I must admit, that explosion was rather pretty. Just wish it didn’t leave this awful debris.”

Murray: “Not to worry! That mess will go away soon. Just enjoy what you can, Cream!”

*Murray and Cream make it to Windmill 3, Murray tosses her in, and Cream makes it to the entrance, which is once again locked by a painting. This time it depicts an ape standing in front of a huge palace underwater with dragons living in it*

Cream: “Hm… Oh! This is one of my uncles’ favorite stories! It’s called Urashima Taro, and it’s about a fisherman who rescued an animal and, in gratitude, the animal took him to the Dragon Palace under the sea.”

Bentley: “Hm, sounds familiar to me…”

*Thought Bubble Minigame commences*

Cream: “Hm, now what was the animal again? It’s sure to be aquatic…”

*The choices are: Fish, Turtle, Frog, Seal, Whale, and Dolphin. The correct answer is Turtle, which upon selecting Cream will draw it on the painting and the door unlocks*

Cream: “Ah, that’s right! It was a turtle the fisherman rescued!”

Bentley: “Oh yeah, now I remember! Always loved the story for that.”

*Murrays enters the windmill, raises hell, and then the two escape as the windmill explodes from the destruction*

Cream: “Okay, that one was even prettier than the last one. Awesome, even!”

Murray: “Yeah! Now you’re getting the spirit! Just one windmill left!”

*The hippo and rabbit make it to the last windmill, Murray tosses her in, and Cream makes it to the entrance, where the “lock painting” depicts a bird wielding a sword and wearing a dress going up against a giant, eight headed serpent. There’s notable space in between the two, with lines forming a circle and indicating something important belongs there*

Cream: “Whoa, I don’t even need a few seconds to recognize this story! It’s the tale of “Yamata no Orochi”, an eight headed serpent monster who terrorized the nearby kingdom and demanded women be sacrificed for him to eat until he was slain by the storm god, Susano-o.”

Bentley: “Ah yes! It’s the Japanese equivalent of the “storm god vs. serpentine evil” story present in all other mythologies. But both characters are present here! There’s no third character to draw in here.”

Amy, over the binocucom: “Hm, I remember the story too... maybe it’s not a character that needs to be drawn?”

Cream: “Hm… Oh yeah, Amy’s right! In order to defeat Orochi, Susano-o had to use something to weaken him. Oh, but what was it…”

*Thought Bubble Minigame*

Cream: “Oh, I really forget what it was. I haven’t the slightest clue what Susano-o weakened Orochi with…”

*The choices are an Orb, a Gem, a Ring, a Drink, a Prayer Slip, and a Necklace. As you might expect, the odd choice out is the correct answer: a Drink*

Cream: “Uh… Oh yes! He made Orochi drink something! It caused the serpent to get dizzy and sleepy.”

Bentley: “Lemonade?”

Cream: “Um, I don’t think that was it, but I’ll try.”

*Cream draws a bucket of lemonade, “lemonade” written in kanji on the bucket, and the door is unlocked*

Cream: “Wow, it actually worked!”

Bentley: “Heh, never doubt the turtle.”

*Murray enters the windmill and proceeds to smash everything*

Murray: “Say your final words, dastardly windmill! The Murray has laid waste to all your friends and is here to finish you!”

*After that, Murray and Cream escape the collapsing windmill one last time and they both look at the resulting explosion with awe*

Cream: “That was… AWESOME!!! Oh Murray, we must find more windmills and destroy them! Their destruction is a truly wondrous sight!”

Murray: “Uh… Sure, yeah! Destruction is fun!”

Bentley: “Whoa now, guys. Save that destructive craze for future missions, we’re done with destruction here.”

Amy: “Oh god, what have you done to Cream? You better fix what you did to her, hippo, cause I’m not gonna take any heat from Vanilla over this!”

JOB COMPLETE

-----

Bentley: “A wonderful job Cream and Murray did decimating those windmills, but we don’t got time to celebrate. We need to keep on the attack and strike on while their defense is down. First off, we need to shut down the Dojo on the mountain. It seems to be actually a factory for making the badniks and conjuring the yōkai.”

Karin: “Oh my! They know how to summon the beasts? They are most certainly evil deities indeed!”

Sly: “I’ll go and sneak in to shut it off. They seem quite interesting to fight.

Rouge: “Now, hold on, sugar. You’re gonna need someone to kick and fly in there, I feel. And I’m just the lady to do that.”

Sly is confused: “Al...right?”

Bentley: “*Ahem*, anyway… next up is visiting that farm over on the other side of the forest. I took Espio’s idea on what he said about the guy in there and I am starting to think we might need him to defeat Zazz and Zomom, at least to weaken whatever yōkai they have left to throw at us. Cream and Murray, I want you to-”

Amy is seething and interjects. “Oh, Murray is not going to be taking Cream alone! I don’t trust him!”

Murray: “I said I was sorry!”

Cream: “Just stop, Mr. Murray. She is too blinded by anger to let this go by right now.”

Panda King: “I think I have an idea. How about Amy and I go along with the two? Surely, we can find some peace and common ground at the farm.”

Amy, angrily: “FINE!”

Espio, who looked like he was sleeping, opened his eyes quick and said: “Bentley, check your security defenses.”

Bentley: “Huh? O-okay.” *Checks.*

Sly: “What did you sense?”

Bentley answers his question. “What?! Ninja pawns are hiding among the trees listening to us!”

Karin: “Hmmm, I thought my magnet cane was reacting to something, but I thought it was reacting to your guy’s stuff.”

Espio: “Karin and I shall handle them as silently as possible.”

Bentley: “Good… gotta fix this computer problem now…”

-----

Dojo Showdown

Turn off the production of badniks and youkai in the dojo.

Sly: “Fighting in a dojo… it’s a first for me, and sounds like a challenge. A good challenge.” *He smiles*

Rouge: “Hopefully it’s not too much for a ‘Master Thief…” *She winks*

Sly: “Heh, of course not.”

*They enter and find dojo arenas mixed with various machines spewing Pawns and summoning yōkai.*

*Some sliding doors shut in front of them and some pictures light up on the patches, showing how many of each enemy must be destroyed to open it up again*

Sly: “Seems we are going to have to fight them to move on.”

Rouge: “They picked a bad day to be made!”

*The player has the duo fight off waves of Pawns and yōkai and thin out the numbers listed on the door. Once all are defeated, you can move on to the next arena. This is done 4 more times until they reach the top and the controls.*

Rouge: “These must be their controls for churning out the robots and yōkai… but the control to shut all this down is over there on the other side of the room behind too many traps…”

Sly: “You deal with the traps. I’ll make it across.”

*The player has Sly head on alone ahead as they Ninja Spire across knives and spinning blades to the other side of the room. Once on the other side, they must hook onto a large hook switch that shuts down all the production.*

Sly: “Got it!”

Rouge: “Everything’s shutting off now. Let’s get back to the safehouse.”

JOB COMPLETE

-----

Ultimate Ninja Master

Defeat the 30 Ninja Pawns without being detected.

Espio: “Hm, Eggman’s Pawns are getting desperate if they really need to spy on us.”

Karin: “They really know how to hide… but good thing I got my magnet cane to guide us to each.”

Espio: “I think we might want to defeat the Ninja Pawns discreetly, without alerting them at all.” *He turns invisible* “They shouldn’t be able to see me, but I’m worried about you.”

Karin: “Huh… Well, I can do this…” *She gains a magnetic barrier around her that attracts rings.*

Bentley: “I think her barrier may be useful actually. She just disappeared off my sensors. I think she might now be invisible to their sensors too.”

Karin: “Huh? I am blind to you guys like this? You future folk are weird.”

Bentley: “No, to our sensors. We haven’t figured out how to get past magnetic interference. It’s too long to explain now.”

Espio: “Let’s focus on getting rid of the robots for now. You guys can chat later.”

Karin nods. “Heh, I wanna mess with the badniks with my magnets.”

*The player has Espio and Karin stay in their invisible forms as they destroy each badnik one by one. They mustn’t leave this form since they will be spotted if they do, which fails the mission. Destroy all 30 to finish the mission.*

Bentley: “That was the last spy. We are free from their prying eyes!”

Karin: “Whew! That was so much fun! You’re a pretty awesome ninja, Espio.”

Espio: “Really? I have trained a lot.”

Karin: “And it shows! You are a great ninja!” *She smiles*

Espio gains a slight blush. “I never thought I’d be complimented for my skills.” *He shakes his head.* “Okay… let’s get back to the safehouse.”

JOB COMPLETE

-----

Moon Ranch

Help the Farmer Guru with his chores.

*Murray, Panda King, Amy, and Cream walk over to farm, which they now know to be called the “Moon Ranch”. The four are walking next to each other in unison, though Murray and Cream are notably on opposite sides, with Amy keeping Cream close to her*

Murray: “Come on, pink hedgehog! The Murray apologizes for making Cream love destruction…”

Amy: “Sorry, but I’m not letting her get close to you again. You’re a bad influence.”

Cream: “Amy, please! I allowed myself to indulge in that, Mr. Murray was just assuring me of my concerns. And to be fair, you’ve gotten me involved in not-so-polite things, like boxercising. “

Amy: “But that’s different! It’s an exercise and one that teaches self-defense too. I’m sorry for forcing you into it, but I only meant to help. HE got you excited over mindless destruction.”

Panda King: “Guys! Enough! We’ve got a mission to focus on! If your quarreling ruins things even a little, you will both face my fury!”

Amy: *Intimidated* “Okay, you’re right. Mission comes first. So, how willing do you guys think this farmer will be to help us?”

Murray: “If he’s anything like the Master, he’ll surely join if we prove ourselves worthy.”

Cream: “And how would he test us?”

Murray: “Well, the Master had me go through some intense training. One time, he made balance a bunch of rocks on my head and arms while also balancing myself one legged on a rock below water filled with crocodiles and-!”

Panda: *Ahem* “Hippo. Should you really be describing such thing to a six-year-old girl?”

Murray: “Oh! Right…”

*The group walk into the farm, where they find the Farmer Guru trying to do one of his many labors but struggling due to his small size. The Farmer notices them approaching and halts his action, looking at them with interested eyes*

Panda King: “Greetings, oh humble farmer. We of the Cooper Gang come to request your aid in our endeavors. We seek to eliminate the lands of the demons who have taken over.”

*The Farmer does not respond, obviously not able to understand Panda King’s speech*

Amy: “Something tells me he doesn’t understand English…”

Murray: “Hm, could you try speaking Japanese, Panda King?”

Panda: “I’m afraid not. I can only speak and understand Chinese and English, and never bothered with Japanese due to… Tense relationships between our cultures.”

Cream: “Good thing I was sent to this mission then! I know plenty of Japanese thanks to Mama and the rest of my family.” *Cream says a brief version of Panda King’s words in Japanese, struggling a bit with some words.*

Farmer: *Replies to Cream in an archaic form of Japanese*

Murray: “What’d he say?”

Cream: “I’m not exactly sure since this is a different form of Japanese, but I think he said he understands what we want and is willing to help us, but we must do him a favor first.” *Cream speaks in Japanese again, asking what the favor is.*

Farmer: *Speaks a lengthy sentence in archaic Japanese*

Cream: “Oh! Okay! He just wants us to help him out with his farm. I think he said he used to use magic for his tasks, but the demons are sapping away most of the magic, and while he can still use it he needs to limit it to keep that barrier up.”

Amy: “That’s all? Heh, you can count on us to do your work, farmer!”

Murray: “Yeah! Compared to what we usually do, this should be a piece of cake!”

*We immediately cut to the first task, wherein Murray is standing by a hoe with the Farmer and Cream*

Murray: “Um… What is this?”

Cream: “The Farmer wants you to till the soil with his hoe so they’re good for planting.”

Murray: “But why? Don’t you just put the seeds into the dirt and they grow just as easily?”

*The Farmer and Cream share a glance*

Cream: “You clearly don’t know much about farming, do you? I’m six and I know how important tilled soil is!”

Murray: “Alright, I hear you! I’ll get to work…”

*Murray’s tilling minigame begins, which is controlled entirely by the control stick. You start off by moving the control stick up, making Murray lift the hoe upwards, and then once it reaches its max, you immediately press the control stick down to make Murray slam the hoe to the ground, then quickly move the control stick left to make Murray pull the hoe toward himself, tilling the soil. After Murray finishes the first part of his towing, we move onto Panda King in a wood area.*

Panda: “I take it you want me to chop your wood for fire and fencing?”

*The Farmer nods*

Murray: *Still towing with the hoe* “Are you serious!? What does a farmer need wood for? And if you need your wood chopped, you should’ve had me do that! I’ve chopped wood before!”

Panda: “Ah, but can you chop them with your bare fists? The Farmer clearly wants a martial artist of great technique for this job.”

*Wood Chopping mini game begins, which plays like Murray’s segment for the Lumberjack Games from Sly 2. Once the first pile is done, we move onto Amy at where the crops are fully grown*

Farmer *Speaks archaic Japanese*

Cream: “Mr. Farmer wants you to harvest his crops.”

Amy: “Okay. Seems simple enough…”

*Amy’s harvesting game’s controls change up for different kinds of crops. The initial crops require Amy to slice them with a scythe, which requires Amy to press the X button at the right timing similar to Panda King’s log chopping. But then the very next crops, which are root vegetables like turnips, requires you to repeatedly tap the control stick up to have Amy pull the crop out from the ground. After that we finally get to Cream, who is in the animal area*

Farmer: *Speaks archaic Japanese*

Cream: “Oh, thank you so much for giving me this job! I love animals and will do my best to care for them!”

*For Cream’s minigame, she has to feed the animals and it’s done by her tossing the feed at the animals when they pop up onto the screen. Just aim with the control stick and press X to toss the food. After a taste (lol) of Cream’s minigame, the other minigames start to get cycled around. Soon enough the rate they change is sped up and get randomized. After a minute or so of that, we see all four characters in front of the final task the Farmer has for them*

Farmer: *Archaic Japanese*

Amy: “Translation, Cream?”

Cream: “He congratulates us on our hard work and thanked us profusely. But he regrets to say that he has one last task in mind for us…”

Murray: “Aw geez…” *Bends back to crack spine* “Well whatever it is, it should be way better than tilling! Lay it on us, Master’s ancestor!“

Farmer: *Speaks archaic Japanese, points to a huge boulder, and then uses magic to lift it up, revealing a cave*

Cream: “Oh, okay Mr. Farmer! He wants us to go into his personal mine and collect some ore for him. He would do it himself, but the intruders got in and he can’t fight them. Which is also why he blocked it with a rock.”

Murray: “Sweet! We get to collect rocks AND fight!”

Panda King: “Indeed! And this task is perfect for all our capabilities! We can break the ore from the rocks with my explosives and your hammer, Rose, while the Hippo and Rabbit take care of any foes.”

Amy: “Oh heck no! The whole reason I’m here is to keep Murray away from Cream! I’ll help fight and Cream will collect the ore with you.”

Cream: “But Amy, I have no way of breaking rocks apart. And Murray would hurt his fists if he were to try. Please, he’s not a bad influence and we’ll take care of each other.”

Amy: “Uuuuuhhhhhrrrrrrgggh… Alright. So long you keep Cream safe, Murray, I’ll allow this. For the team.”

Murray: “Aw, thank you so much Amy! Cream will be under my absolute protection!”

Panda King: “I’m glad we could agree to prioritize the mission over petty squabbles. Let’s move!”

*And so the final task begins, with the player switching back and forth between Murray and Cream as they fight back waves of enemies, protecting the ore Panda King and Amy are collecting. Should an enemy make it to the ore and attack it, Panda King or Amy will kill that enemy in a single hit, however it would take them a while to deal with multiples and the ore suffers damage anyway. Once all waves of enemies are defeated, the four walk out of the cave with ore in hand*

Cream: *In Japanese* “Okay, we got your ore and cleared your mine of the intruders too.”

Farmer: *Makes an elated “Ah” and speaks in archaic Japanese while bowing*

Cream: “Teehee, you’re welcome, Mr. Farmer! He said he thanks us a lot and will now help us out.”

Murray: “Sweet! Another victory for the Cooper Gang!”

Amy: “Yep! And I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you, Murray. Just don’t get Cream enthusiastic about destruction again.”

Murray: “You got it, Amy!”

JOB COMPLETE

-----

Bentley: “Now that we got the Japanese Guru on board, I believe we are ready to take on Zazz and Zomom and shut them down.”

Karin: “Finally, to capture those two deities for their crimes! What shall we do, turtle?!”

Bentley: “Well, despite taking down the energy barrier made by the windmills, the castle is still heavily guarded by leftover yōkai and Pawns. And that’s if we could get in, since they have shut us out with a gate and other defenses.”

Karin: “Aw!”

Bentley: “Heh he, fear not, for you have the great Bentley on your side! They have made the castle out of metal, so you, Karin, and Rouge are going to enter it.”

Rouge: “I get her, but why me?”

Bentley: “Mostly for stealth reasons since you fly silently. You guys need to get in there and find magnetic locks that deactivates the defenses.”

Rouge: “Ah. Well, I’m just the lady for that.”

Karin: “And so am I!”

Bentley: “Once that happens, the duo are certainly going to sic their yōkai and pawns they have in there at us, and that’s where the Guru comes in.”

*The guru asks what he does.*

Bentley: “It’s pretty easily actually. You’re going to use your powers to weaken the last of the yōkai they will have coming our way.”

Sly: “Wait, who’s our?”

Bentley: “You, Murray, and me. That ought to be enough defense to protect the guru and take down any other enemies that come our way.”

Murray: “Sweet! I get to protect my master again!”

Sly: “I think we could handle that. But then what happens afterwards?”

Bentley: “Espio and Cream will then go through the castle, handle any leftover guards and take down Zazz and Zomom.”

Amy: “Why do you need them this time? Sonic and the others like me are more capable to defeat them. I’m worried they might get beaten too easily.”

Cream: “I can handle myself, Amy. You’ve taught me how to fight and I’m ready to help.”

Espio: “And don’t worry, Amy. I’ll keep her as safe as I can, on my honor as a ninja.”

Bentley: “That’s the spirit I was expecting! And… well, they know a lot of Japanese culture and I have a slight suspicion that the demonic duo have something that only they can beat.”

Amy: “... Okay. Just be careful.”

Cream: “I will!”

-----

Operation Super Duper Demon Capture

Turn off the castle’s security.

Protect the Ancestor Guru.

Find and defeat Zazz and Zomom.

Karin: “Hmmm… Do you think you can fly me up there Rouge? I don’t think my cane is enough to climb up there.”

Rouge: “Of course, just hang on to me.”

*The player has Rouge grab Karin and carry her up up the wall, and into the upper floor window and land on the roof supports, below are Zazz and Zomon sitting on thrones, bored. Rouge makes a gesture of ‘shush’ to let Karin know to stay quiet.*

*Zazz and Zomom are watching intently on their thrones, as they have paid off a Saiyan Egg Pawn and a Dragon Oni to fight each other for superiority. Zazz is cheering on the Dragon Oni while Zomom is sitting lazily in his chair, wanting the Saiyan Pawn to win.*

Zazz is pretty much jumping out of his chair, screaming: “YES! That’s it, dragon oni! Beat that pawn and prove our superiority to Eggman’s useless pawns!””

Zomom sits more upright in his chair when he sees the Pawn is losing. “Ah! Um, no! Don’t lose, Egg Pawn, or I’ll have to give Zazz the rest of my sandwich!”

*Unfortunately, it was a very one sided batter for the pawn; the Dragon Oni was able to dodge every attack and fireballed the Pawn to pieces.*

Zomom slumps back in his chair, feeling defeated. “AW!”

Zazz is bouncing around in his chair happily. “Hah! In your face! Told ya Eggman’s pawns are as weak as ever to demonic beings like us! Now pay up.”

Zomom moans and dejectedly gives his sandwich to Zazz. “Be gentle to him.”

Zazz grabs the sandwich and messily eats it, as though he hasn’t eaten for years. With food in his mouth: “Aw, what do you care about a measly sandwich? You got tons more in that fridge over there.”

Zomom opens up a small mini fridge near his chair and pulls out another impossibly large sandwich from it. “Yeah, but I treat my sandwiches with respect. You’re just making a large mess over there.”

Zazz smacks him over the head with the rest of his sandwich: “Well, I can’t help that you hog all the food!”

Zomom: “Ah! Sorry!”

Zazz: “Whatever.” *Remembers something.* “At least these pawns are good for doing dirty work.”

Zomom pauses from eating his sandwich to say: “Like capturing Karin? Heh he, yeah, took a load of my back.”

Zazz nods. “Mine too. Means we can have all the fun we want here, like robot/yōkai competitions.”

Zomom: “Uh, shouldn’t we be on the lookout for Sonic and his friends? After the robots got Karin’s data, the boss told us to watch for them.”

Zazz: “Ah, don’t worry about that. They can’t even get in! Now come on, bet you another sandwich that a Ninja Pawn can’t beat a Kitsune!”

Zomom: “Ah! You’re on!”

*The player has Karin and Rouge sneak around the roof joints, avoiding the robots, yōkai, and Zazz and Zomom’s view as they make their way into the back room, where they find large magnets locking the defenses on.*

Karin: “Okay, all I got to do is pull on them with my magnetic cane until they are too far out of place, though I may need help with the higher ones.”

Rouge: “Don’t worry, I’ll lift you for those ones. Let’s get started.”

*The player has Karin pull the 6 magnets locks out of their sockets and far enough away to not be pulled back in. Rouge will have to help fly Karin for the upper locks. Once it’s done, they fly out a window as the gate rises and the defenses drop.*

Zazz stops the fight: “Wait a minute, what was that noise?”

Zomom brings out a computer, which is alerting of the shut off defenses. “They’re here, Zazz! They unlocked the defenses! Now we HAVE to do something!”

Zazz: “Oh, I got something, all right. yōkai! ATTACK THE INTRUDERS!”

*The yōkai in the castle stop what they are doing and head outside, where we join the Guru and the Sly trio.*

Bentley: “Okay… we got the yōkai coming our way. Are you ready, Guru?”

*The Guru answers with yes.*

Sly: “Alright then, let’s go!”

*The player has to have use all of Sly’s, Bentley’s, and Murray’s talents to keep the yōkai at bay from the guru as he charges his magic. (Think like the Lemonade Bar fight, but now with a protection task.) The task is complete when the meter on the side is full, meaning the guru is finished.*

*When the guru is ready, he yells something in Japanese and smacks his stick on the ground. All of the yōkai around disappear back into the ground.*

Bentley: “We did it! Time for Stage 3!”

Cream and Espio fly in and both say “Got it!” before running into the castle.

Zazz looks angry. “Gah! All the yōkai, gone!!!”

Zomom, contently: “Heh he, told you badniks are better. Go and stop the duo, pawns, and prepares the rooms!”

*Espio and Cream enter the castle, and find that the rooms and halls inside have been arranged in a dungeon-like manner.*

Espio: “Hmmm, Japanese game-style dungeons. Quite ingenious… if it weren’t for the 2 of us.”

Cream: “Heh he. They won’t fool us! I’m guessing we’re going to have to find the stairs to the next floor.”

Espio: “Yes… and perhaps look around for anything interesting. They might be of use against the demonic duo.”

*The camera changes to a ¾ view and the player has to lead Cream and Espio through the castle to Zazz and Zomom’s room (The boss room). Along the way, the duo will have to fight any Pawns that come in their way by ‘command fighting’ styles. And if you feel like doing some searching, you may find some equipment for Espio and Cream to make fighting easier, or to make it through the rest of the castle. Espio can find some Golden Shurikens to make his attacks stronger, and Cream can find a Golden Staff to make her magic stronger.*

*Whatever happens, the player should reach Zazz and Zomom’s room and enter to find the angry demons.*

Zazz: “So you’re the fools that have made mincemeat of all the yōkai and pawns!”

Zomom: “Mmm… mincemeat- Er, I mean, aren’t they friends of Sonic?”

Zazz: “Hmmm… it appears so… and they look pretty weak to be sent by them.”

Cream: “Hey! We’re not weak!”

Zazz: “Bah, no matter… I’m in the mood to fight something! And who knows? Defeating you whelps will probably LUST Sonic to fight us!” *He laughs.*

Zomom: *Laughs* “We’re gonna serve them back on a silver platter!” *He mutters* “I hope this won’t be too tiring…”

Espio: “Prepare to lose, demons!”

*The player is sent into a ‘command-style’ boss battle fighting against Zazz and Zomom. Espio can attack with his shurikens, perform some damaging wind magic or defensive wind magic, or just simply defend. Cream can attack with her staff, but has better magic power with damaging magic like water, lightning, and fire or defensive healing or shield magic, and simply defend as well. Zazz can either attack with his claws, or prepare a 2 turn move of calling a strange yellow ball that blocks all magic on the first and then throws it for big damage on the second. If you hit him while he carries it with a shuriken, he’ll drop it and be open for attack for an extra turn (And take a bit more damage.) Zomom mostly just flops around for his attacks, and rests for a turn (He has more health and defenses for compensation.) or he may do a tornado attack that leaves him open to magic.*

*As for the battle, the player has to do their best to manage attacking and healing in order to defeat Zazz and Zomom.*

*Upon defeat, we return to the room with the demons defeated*

Zazz: “Damn… you guys got lucky…”

Zomom: “Least I can lay down now… and now I’m hungry.”

JOB COMPLETE

-----

Outro Cutscene:

Sly: “I have to admit, these two lackeys were quite weird if you ask me, but no matter thinking on that since we captured them. Karin did want to send them back to whatever dimension of hell they came from, but we convinced her to let us take them back where they belong. Afterwards, we decided to go on a sightseeing tour of ancient Japan with Karin and the Guru. It was fun pickpocketing with my ancestor and checking out all the wonderful sights. And, of course, Murray stuff himself with Japanese food. We could have stayed here for a while, but as you know, duty calls.”

Next Time: Viva la French Revolution!

[true-blue-sonic]

As it happens I also only recently found out about the Rivals games not releasing in Japan after I saw they weren't mentioned after Silver's Sonic Channel wallpaper story, and I've been stuck wondering ever since if they'll ever do anything about that if the Rivals games are apparently canon nonetheless? I realise that a rerelease and localisation are almost certainly never going to happen at this point and Japan isn't that big a market for Sonic and all but it just seems so strange that a piece of Sonic canon as substantial as a recurring character's literal first canon appearance and meeting with Sonic and friends is just entirely absent from that side of the franchise, especially if they're still going to allude to it occasionally in future media

It baffles me too, precisely for the reasons you mentioned. This isn't a fun little romp like TMOSTH that overall has little bearing on the mainline games and which can 100% be ignored in the grand scheme of things; this is indeed the first actual unerased appearance of Silver in the franchise! Even if Rivals 2 can technically be ignored if that is our criterium, Rivals 1 is quite important considering the fact Silver has appeared quite a bit afterwards while knowing Sonic and co. But I guess for Japan, Silver's story from '06 is his 'main' story, even if it never happened in the first place, and how they see his appearance afterwards where everyone just knows him already... I don't know. I unfortunately can't read or speak enough Japanese to go find for answers myself, nor would I know where to look. But that it's a messy situation is certain!

Related to that, something I realised... there is also a lot of things on the Japanese side of the fandom and official channels both that I am certain 99.9% of the West does not have easy access too. Think of all the Sonic Channel stories and background information. Like TMOSTH, this is also information that doesn't have that much bearing on the games, but it still both fun and important knowledge on the characters. We've got people here in the West making translations and of course we can put things through Google for a quick view ourselves, inaccuracies aside; perhaps in Japan they have done the same with Rivals 1 and 2?

Whether or not they'll do something about it, I have no idea. Silver is here to stay, that seems certain, and if in Japan they indeed have knowledge of Rivals 1 and 2 through the fandom I figure Sega might just leave things as it is. I don't get the feeling the Rivals games were/are particularly popular, with the characters being so rude to each other and the level design probably becoming quite repetitive in a while after running through the same place either 4 or 8 times. So a rerelease might not bring in enough money to make it worthwhile, and for Sega as a business that is the most important thing. Though, the idea the Japanese fandom might have knowledge of Rivals 1 and 2 in the way we have of Sonic Channel material is just pure speculation on my part, as well. Altogether I don't think Sega is going to do anything to solve this issue, unfortunate as it may be. Silver's got his place in the franchise now, they generally don't dive much into the deeper stories behind their cast anyway (ShTH wasn't that great a success either), and Silver simply hasn't been in a position of high enough importance in a recent video game to warrant any attention being paid there to how the cast knows him, I think. Basically the only potential allusion to Rivals 1 and 2 I can think of is the IDW story with Silver and Espio, and I have no idea if that one got translated to Japanese already (or ever will). So canon or not, the Rivals games are mostly forgotten in the West as well, though for us they are the answer to as to how Silver knows Sonic and co in later instalments. It's a situation where I don't see an easy reconciliation between the East and West parts of the franchise!

[true-blue-sonic]

Probably an odd choice for the ask game, but... Jet the Hawk? 👀

do I like them:

Honestly... not that much. He's just one of the characters that I don't strongly care about or even ever think about. That's probably because I never played a game wherein he was in a central role, so I never really warmed up to him in the first place.

5 good qualities:

He's a 14-year-old dumbass bossing around two adults who furthermore also listen to him and do what he tells them to, which I consider a hilarious dynamic.

Despite the fact he is a 14-year-old dumbass, it's nice that his title as Legendary Wind Master is not just hot air! Jet knows what he is doing on an Extreme Gear, and he's definitely incredibly skilled at it. He might not be the fastest on foot, but when it comes to Extreme Gears, I think he might just be better at it than Sonic.

He's one of the iirc two characters of whom we know what one of their parents looks like.

He lives in a blimp. Neat!

I can appreciate that the Babylon Rogues very unabashedly just want treasure, and maybe also to prove themselves as The Fastest to everyone. But mostly just money.

3 bad qualities:

I'm sorry: I can't stand his voice acting. Too squawky for my tastes.

Jet's personality and demeanour in general does not interest me that much, but that is just me personally. It doesn't help that he shows up so little.

The Babylon Rogues are characters who suffer most from Never Shows Up Syndrome in the entire franchise, it seems like. Jet definitively appears most out of all three, but I feel sorry for you if they are among your favourite characters. I complain about not getting enough Espio and Silver food; meanwhile, these three appear just about never. Probably because they're linked to the Riders games so closely, but I truly can't recall them ever showing up in a single mainline game. Makes me wonder if Sega will ever consider making a new entry for the Riders franchise?

favourite episode/etc:

It's been a while since I last watched any Riders game cutscenes... Let's go with Zero Gravity because I think that one's story is coolest. But I also love the scene where Wave's sped-up Japanese blabbering results in Jet just sneakily getting the hell out of there to go do his own thing.

otp, brotp, ot3 and notp:

None.

best quote:

I truly have no idea, sorry. Can't recall anything he ever said😅

*one research on YouTube later to see if I could find another perk for the five things I like about him* Okay his manic cackling as he imagines himself in a pile of golden coins in Riders is quite hilarious, actually.

head canon:

He would 100% just randomly show up where Sonic is to challenge him to an Extreme Gear race. Doesn't matter if it's in the middle of the night or Sonic is camping in Holoska: if Jet wants to race, he will race. Sonic of course always humours him because he loves racing as well.