#Prompt-Big World

[hazel-of-sodor]

Day 23-Greater than Yourself

Traintober 2023

Other Stories

Day 23-Big World

Greater than Yourself

Samantha sprinted down the street, running desperately for Nicole's place. Behind her, she heard the jaguar-like growl of the thing behind her.

She risked looking and saw it leap out from behind the corner, its frames bending and arching like a jungle cat. It was a sports car...or had once been in the 30s. Now it was a twisted creature of hate and metal.

She swore and pushed herself faster, cursing that Nicole's apartment was so far from any rail lines.

She heard the animalistic growl of the car's engine grow louder as it approached, the streetlights flickering out as it raced down the street after her.

She saw Nicole glance out her window, drawn by the noise before racing to the door.

Samantha finally reached the stairs to the apartment, scrambling up them as she heard Nicole unlocking the door. 

She slammed into the door, Nicole pulling from the other side...but it didn't move.

The car slowed, stalking forward, its engine revving in a harsh mockery of a laugh.

Nicole beat on the door, attempting to batter it down, but her attacks bounced off. The car reached the bottom of the stairs, waiting. Samantha could see Nicole's neighbors had been drawn by the noises, and all were struggling to open their doors, but like Nicole's their doors refused to move.

The car laughed again. Samantha closed her eyes, they were too far from any rail lines, she would never make it to the Ffarquhar sheds, but she had to try

"Nicole, I'm sorry"

Her firewoman stopped beating at her door to glare at her, "Samantha don't you dar..."

Samantha dove over the car, hitting the ground with a roll and coming up running.

She heard the car growl almost approvingly as it spun its tires, whirling around to pursue her. As she heard it approach she dove to the side, its bumper barely missing her as it swerved trying to hit her, frost spreading across her skin from the proximity. She rolled as the car turned towards her. She made the mistake of glancing towards Nicole, who was screaming as she beat at her door. The car took advantage of her distraction and lunged. Samantha rolled desperately...

SLAM! Crunch.

The street was suddenly bathed in golden light and the car yowled in pain.

Samantha looked up to see the impossible sight of her engine shaking the car like a dog with a rat, its rear fender caught in his jaws. She scrambled for the safety of Thomas's cab as the fender ripped free of the car with a screech, turning to golden dust between his teeth.

"Don't you dare touch my driver." 

Caomhnóir's voice shook with rage. Gold light shone from his lamps with burning intensity.

The car flinched back from the light, its metal melting in its heat, before roaring in defiance, shaking the stones of the street loose.

Caomhnóir let out a screaming whistle in return. But it wasn't his whistle. This whistle was much higher and shriller. The car's roar had shaken the street, the whistle shook the sky.

The car was sent flying back from the force, tumbling fender over hood.

Across the island and beyond engines awoke, shaken from their sleep by Caomhnóir's battlecry.

Samantha couldn't prevent the shudder that ripped through her when she realized Thomas had called upon the Lady's whistle, and she had answered.

The creature was struggling back to its wheels when the tank engine spoke.

"I would run if I were you."  He said, menace dripping from every word. "If I catch you, there won't be enough left of you to die."

The car locked its gaze with the golden eyes of the tank engine before giving a sharp nod, preparing to pounce.

Samantha felt Thomas tense beneath her, ready to meet the foe head-on. Golden light spilled from his cab, melting the frost from her shoulders.

The creature leaped...only to be caught.

The creature shrieked in surprise, twisting to see what had caught it.

From the ground, shadows stretched in long sinuous tendrils, cutting through Caomhnóir's golden light to wrap crushingly around the sports car's frame.

Slowly, but surely, the tendrils dragged the car towards where they reached, a puddle of shadow darker than the darkest night. The car twisted, shrieked, and bit at the tendrils, but to no avail.

Finally, as its rear wheels began to dip into the shadow as if it was liquid, it looked towards its foe.

Thomas glared, "Be grateful."  He said, "They will be more merciful than I would have been."

The car was dragged under with one last screech of defiance.

***

Far away on the Uman and Din Railway

The car broke through the ground, spitting out shadows as the tendrils withdrew. It rose to its wheels growling, only to freeze at the sight before it.

A Great Western 47xx towered above it, shadow tendrils drifting in the air around it like a mane of shadowfire. While they would have been enough to make such a beast pause, the car could see the truth.

For once something could see the truth of the beast towering before them, towering with the mountains behind it, a thousand thousand tendrils whipping around it, some thin and sharp enough to cut paint from metal without scratching it, others larger around than the engines alongside it. More teeth than those of every creature to ever live grinned at the car in predatory hunger. Eyes, countless eyes watched their prey from every angle.

"Well little beast," the being uttered, "did you truly think Caomhnóir so powerless?"

Its voice rang from a thousand angles, threatening to rip the car from the ground on which it stood from the meer force of its voice alone. 

"Did you think there were none greater than yourself that would answer his call?"

The car trembled under the presence of the being before it.

The titan leaned forward, grinning eagerly, "Know this little beast. I was not the only one to answer his call, merely the swiftest. Be grateful I was the one to reach you instead of the Lady."

The car whimpered under the onslaught of her attention.

The former 47xx's grin sharped, and she lunged.

***

Samantha was slow to leave the safety of Thomas's cab. Even when she heard Nicole nearly rip her door from its hinges in opening it when the creature's grip disappeared, she could only sit and try to control her panicked breathing. Nicole scrambled up into the cab, wrapping her arms around Samantha even before she stopped moving. 

"Don't you dare do that again."

Samantha clung to her firewoman, "I told you that your apartment was too far from the tracks," she tried to joke weakly, but Nicole just nodded, "First thing this weekend I'm finding a place by the line. I can't go through that again."

"Agreed," Thomas chimed in.

Samatha's eyes widened as she realized no one had checked on him, she scrambled down from the cab and began examining him.

Thomas huffed fondly, "I'm fine driver, physically. It'll be a while before I can sleep though."

"You're telling me," Nicole grumbled, but her hand was rubbing Thomas's side as she said it.

As other people began coming out of their houses, Samantha remembered the elephant in the room, or rather, the tank engine on the street.

Thomas stood in the middle of the street, when she looked down she saw the stone pavers had been pushed aside, revealing worn rails underneath.

"How are you here?" Nicole asked from beside her.

"The tramway used to run through here to reach the quarries," Thomas said, glancing down at the street. "The line was closed in favor of the new route in the fifties."

Nicole gave him an unimpressed look, "I know that. I also know those rails were pulled up, and multiple buildings stand where the line used to go. How did you get here."

"The land remembers the line," Thomas said defensively, "I asked the Lady for her aid in reaching you."

Samatha was the first to realize what her engine wasn't saying.

"You have no idea how to get back do you?"

The tank engine sagged embarrassedly, "No...I didn't think about it till after I had reached you."

Taking pity on her engine, she kissed his cheek, "Thank you. I have no idea how we’ll get you out, but thanks for saving me."

"I'd happily do it again." He said softly.

***

The next morning on the Uman and Din...

Freda and Gwyn were having a pleasant morning until they came within earshot of the sheds. A horrendous screeching and crunching could be heard. Freda sighed and increased her pace, wondering what her engine had gotten into this time.

She walked around the corner to find Screech happily chewing on a mangled Mercedes. Causing it to squeal horribly. The car was pinned with her tendrils, leaving the eldritch engine free to peel off pieces of metal at her leisure.

Freda glanced over to Abbey, the star class watching with vindictive enjoyment.

"Just what did the car do?"

"It tried to attack Caomhnóir's driver." The express engine said grimly.

Freda turned to glare at the car. Screech politely pausing so the car could focus on the glare.

"You've missed the trunk," Freda said flatly.

Riiiipppppp

[savanir]

You shouldn't summon a Ghost King

Danny had felt the weird tug to the entirety of himself and instantly knew he was finally actually getting summoned for the first time. 

He'd winced through the whole process, knowing he should have listened to Clockwork and changed the requirements now that he was Ghost King... but even though Clockwork had seemed pretty serious about it, it just... kept slipping Danny's mind.  Listen, it's not that he didn't want to! executive dysfunction is a bitch alright, and it sounded like boring ghost paper work.

And it's been like... months now, maybe even a full year, maybe even longer. People don't really summon the Ghost King apparently, and Danny has been busy! He has school, he's trying really hard to get his grades back up. At some point he just completely forgot about it. 

He's really regretting not taking it as seriously as he probably should have now that he's randomly on top of a skyscraper in some massive city he doesn't recognise. And the city is... for a lack of better words, on fire. 

He can feel the suffering he can hear the screams, there is pain, chaos and fear all around him. Like a physical force pressing down on him.

The sickening part of it all is that he feels stronger than ever like someone injected him with 50 energy drinks directly into his veins but at the same time his stomach is recoiling violently, extreme jitters but not in a good way, absolutely nauseous. 

He's not really listening to whatever is going on directly around him on that roof, that's all far in the distance somehow, maybe he's disociating, maybe something else other ghost thing is going on, but Danny is just floating there in full king regalia. 

All he cares about it is snatching the weird creepy looking grimoire and getting some answers. 

And answers he gets because its very clearly stated in there that the Ghost King (Pariah Dark) wants a tribute to himself. Whomever deigns to summon him must prove willingness to his cause. Aka the whole conquering and genocide and tyranny thing. 

Over five hundred deaths would probably do but over a thousand was preferred, even more was obviously even better. That would show dedication and earn favour and- blah blah blah. 

Danny thinks he's going to throw up. 

It doesn't help that that's when the heroes show up and Danny is very clearly the big bad in this scenario even if it was completely unintentional.

Maybe they'll let him explain? Oh shit, that one looks so upset they're crying- maybe he can just go invisible instead...

This might be the worst night of his life. 

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

A whole new meaning to Gay Chicken.

(For: Anonymous raffle winner!)

[emacrow]

Babysitting duty calls, Klarion

It another world threatening battle for the justice league, young justice against the league of Villains and chaos children before most of the chaos children froze as if they sense something bad was approaching and immediately dipped out.. except klarion whom was fighting with raven who immediately froze up too late in front of the portal.

Only for a green portal to appear, as a worned out floating glowing green, but blue skinned teenage boy who turn into a man with red eyes, a clock staff in hand and a glowing white hair baby in a baby carrier.

Klarion is literally struggling like a feral cat who got wet in cold water against some invisible force speaking in some odd static like language before giving up after half a minute when the man spoke back with a short word.

The man now just shape-shifting into turn elderly just gave klarion the baby carrier before noticing how the heroes and villains have stop in mid battles looking at both klarion and him.

"All in soon time, but be warn Flashes whom break the laws of times will get their due if you keep messing with the past and future." Spoken the elderly now shape-shifted into a young boy before he turn back to klarion leaving him a note and glowing baby bag before floating back into the swirling green portal.

Klarion could only look at note with his eye twitching, Teekl meowing as she climb into the baby carrier purring around the glowing baby.

"Why do I keep getting babysitting duty, it so unfa-..." klarion grumbled as he pick up the baby carrier and bag teleporting away..

....

....

....

"What just happened?" Said Dick whom only one question would be put on hold til later in the watchtower of what just happen before the fight resuming with the young and original justice league winning since the league of Villains were distracted.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 106

Dan absolutely despised his parole at first, but honestly this is a blast. Sure, he’s stuck in the form of a cat, a kitten even, but he’d found an absolutely wonderful companion. Partner. Ally? Baby Chaos Lord? He’d work on it. 

Klarion is just happy to have found such a great familiar, he even named them Teekl II, which is a great name thank you very much hero-babies! So now he has two Teekl familiars, and Teekl II always gets so gleeful whenever they successfully pull a prank! He even has his own fire magic which is so fun! 

Danny is not happy to get thrown into another world, stuck as a kitten. He’s also not pleased to have found a sick baby liminal, but fine. If this is what he’s supposed to deal with then he’ll deal with it! Even if he has to be a familiar for a teeny tiny bit of time. It’s fine, and the dude has a pocket he can peek out of on his coat. 

Jason has no idea where this kitten came from but the Pit is being surprisingly chill about it. Something about a baby? Whatever, he’s made the furball a little matching outfit and they like to sit in his pockets and peer out. No idea how Cat Hood is making the shadows all spooky now or why the eyes went from blue to green, but whatever. 

Ellie is utterly delighted in this situation. She was just wandering, but now she’s a lil fluffy kitten, and ended up landing on this kid’s head. This magic kid’s head! He even has a talking tiger friend too! So cool! She’s definitely sticking with him! This will be so fun!

Billy was worried about making sure the kitten got food, she’s so tiny! Mr Tawny is a big help though, and apparently she’s his familiar now that he’s given her a mortal name? He doesn’t fully understand but apparently she’s connected to his magic now, if the shouts from the gods are anything to go by. Look, an electric cat is cool. Pakhet is amazing, and Fawcet thinks it’s adorable that Marvel has a kitten clinging to his shoulder

[mechanicalwyrmz]

rain world art month day 14 — achievement: the nomad

another oc yay

[moregraceful]

cycling rpf coming in like a hurricane less than 40 minutes in, only people i respect on this bitch of an earth fr

[xiiithhazard]

The Grim - Chapter 1

I didn’t like the fact that an amazing setting like The Grim was sidelined and turned into a glorified battle arena. So, this is what The Grim should have been. (Sonic Prime Universe.)

…

Word Prompt 11 – Adventure

@year-of-the-echidna

…

Chapter 1:

“Not agaaaaaaain!” Sonic screamed, frustration tearing through him as he found himself falling into yet another new world. This one just as different as the last three he had been dragged into through unknown magical means. But something was off this time. Something was missing. Something important.

Land

And not in the same way as No Place, heck he might have even preferred the water at this point. As this world appeared devoid of – well – a world. It was just night skies and clouds, for as far as he could see.

“Okay, okay. Don’t panic.” He told himself, trying to flip around in the air, to control his movement. And searched in every direction for – something – anything. And he found it. However, it came in the form of a massive cyclone of angry-looking clouds, and he was falling right into the eye of it.

“Oh, come on.” He grumped, but the sound was ripped away by the howling winds, that were quick to throw him around like a BB in a can. It only took a couple seconds before he had no idea if he was even going down anymore. Until he smacked face first into something very real and solid.

“Ow.” He muttered into the object, as the rest of his body collapsed. But let out a sigh of relief, glad to be on solid ground again.

Or – was it?

He opened his eyes, as he heard rock music playing nearby, and noticed that themetal thing he’d landed on was moving. Pushing himself up, he looked around, growing more apprehensive by the second, as he realized that he was on the deck of an airship.   

“Uh oh.” He whispered for the only people he knew with ‘airships’ would be the council or Eggman. “Da!” He gasped when a sleek, metal arrow hit the deck, not an inch from his face, and proceeded to explode with electricity. Prompting him to bolt to his feet, and dart across the deck, as another flew past his ear.

“Uh – I come in peace.” He tried, when he ran straight into a wall and turned toward the source of the arrows. Only for three more to lodge themselves in the metal surface. Forcing him to stand at an awkward angle to avoid them all. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He cried out in a panic. Running in zig zags, trying to find a way off the ship without having to go through the sharpshooter from hell.

Fate had other ideas, however, as a bolt of lightning proceeded to strike the ship. Sending the whole thing careening to one side. And, seeing as he wasn’t fortunate enough to be bolted down, Sonic was also sent sliding across the deck, until he splatted against the railing wall again. Though he was glad to see a huge piece of machinery sucking up the electricity, he wasn’t burned to a nice black crisp.

“I hate walls.” He complained, rubbing at his repeatedly abused face, before a pair of feet landed directly in front of him. Forcing him to backpedal, managing to escape the crossbow shoved in his face by inches, before he got back on his feet. Only for the ship to right itself and he promptly fell on his face. While his attacker just descended the rotating walls with effortless control, each step secured by their magnetic boots.

“Hey, look I’m not –” Sonic tried again, holding his hands up, only to freeze when he got a look at the sharpshooter. Though they were clad in an outfit reminiscence of a ninja’s, complete with a hood that covered the face, he was able to catch a glimpse of their crossbow, which was attached directly to their right arm, which was robotic.

“Well, that makes this easier.” He whispered to himself grinning, as he no longer had reason to hold back and flipped backward, catching the robot’s weapon on the upward kick, while also getting him back to his feet all last. Thus, he was able to get back up to speed. Though keeping ahead of the insane marksman proved harder than he would have liked, as the slick floor, constant winds, and lack of space to run made the whole process rather difficult. So, he decided to just use it to his advantage instead.

With the wind at his back, he took a chance and ran at the robot, allowing himself to slide across the deck and under its legs, to get into its blind spot. However, before he could even manage a sassy remark, the air in his lungs was expelled, when something wrapped around his arms and chest. He hit the deck a second later, hard enough to leave him counting the little birdies, before he was unceremoniously yanked across the floor. Coming to rest at the feet of yet another of the ship’s residents. But, after taking a peek, Sonic realized that he recognized this one.

"Knuckles?" The name left his mouth before he could stop it. And the echidna paused for a moment, as he curled the other end of the rope around his hand, slight recognition on his face. And, for the first time since arriving, Sonic felt a flicker of hope.

Maybe—just maybe—he was finally home.

But Knuckles planted a firm foot against the closest section of rope, keeping Sonic pinned in place and allowing the hedgehog a clear view of his face. Which made it very clear that this was not in home world, or any of the others for that matter.

Not only was this Knuckles wearing a cowboy hat and leather jacket, but he was also quite a bit older. His was taller, his dreads were longer, and he now had one normal and one mechanical eye.

“Don’t move.” He ordered, his tone was calm, but there was an underlying level of warning, that made Sonic obey out of pure fear. Only for the ninja he’d been fighting earlier to run over as well, causing the hood to be caught by the wind and thrown away, revealing yet another of his friends – that were not actually his friends.

“Amy?” He whispered in horror. Realizing that he had almost attacked her without restraint. If Knuckles hadn’t been there, he might have hurt her – or worse.

“Quick little nuisance, isn’t he?” She stated with annoyance. Before leveling her crossbow arm at him again. But he only found himself deflating at the realization that this was yet another version of her that had been robotized. Well, at least it was just her arm this time. But still. “Now how did you get on the ship?”

“I – fell.” Sonic answered, trying to get away from the point of her arrow, but the rope made it impossible.

“From where?” She countered and he snapped his mouth shut, realizing that even from the little he’d seen of the sky, there was nothing that he could have fallen from. “Are you an Aparoid?” She snarled, her bow ready to fire, if he so much as blinked the wrong way. That is until Knuckles reached over to put his hand on the weapon, forcing her to lower it. However, Sonic found himself almost preferring the bow, as he now had to deal with that scary red laser of an eye narrowing in on him instead. But it didn’t linger this time. As the echidna reached up to touch his ear instead.

“Yes Captain.” He spoke into what had to be a com-link, his tone displaying a great deal of respect for whoever was on the other end of the line. “Uncertain.” He admitted, looking back at Sonic from the corner of his eye, then paused again. “Contained.” He answered, before his attention shifted to the sky, as lightning struck the ship and everything shifted again. But neither Knuckles nor Amy appeared to notice, as their boots kept them attached to the deck.

Sonic was about to ask where he could get himself a pair of those, when a shadow flew through the clouds behind his two other-dimensional friends. Causing them both to turn, as if instinct alone had informed them of its presence.

“What was that?” The hedgehog squeaked. As the thing hadn’t looked like any living creature he’d ever encountered. It had been too disproportionate – too sharp.

Not-Amy didn’t bother to answer him. As she readied her crossbow again and moved to stand back to back with Not-Knuckles. Guarding their position, while he continued to talk to his com-link, as if nothing was amiss.

“Looks like we have a swarm, Captain.” He spoke over the wind. Pulling a gun from the holster at his side, and casually examined the clouds, as more and more of the shadow things swept through the storm. Then at random and without even looking, he fired off a round of what looked to be pure light. The sound it made it return was nothing short of actual thunder, causing Sonic to duck despite knowing he wasn’t the target. Only to look up again, when something large and squishy smashed into the deck.

He couldn’t get a good look at it, as he was still wrapped up in rope and the storm was only getting worse, making it so dark that he could no longer see his own feet. But that didn’t stop him from bolting when the cry of some kind of animal screeched from the clouds, like something straight out of his worst nightmares. But Not-Knuckles yanked him back with the rope, causing the hedgehog to face plant with the metal floor once again.

“They’re starting to land, Admiral.” Not-Amy spoke from the darkness. The sound of her crossbow coming every couple of seconds, which was followed by more screams or thunks of impact, as creatures fell to her skill.

“Noted.” Not-Knuckles declared, somehow still keeping calm, as he fired off a couple more rounds from his gun. Then he yanked on the rope again and Sonic found himself flung up to be carried like a bag under the guy’s arm.

“Hey, I can walk.” He complained. Only for the gun to be fired again, right over his head this time. And he made an undignified noise of shock, before a creature splattered into the deck and slid through the water, until it stopped mere inches away. ‘Okay, I’ll admit it. This Knuckles is kind-a cool.’ Sonic thought to himself. Though there was no way he would concede that fact out loud.

Not-Knuckles didn’t even register the danger, as he took off running. Hopping over the body of the thing he’d killed. And began navigating the deck of the ship, like he could see in the dark. In the end, all he had to find was a wall. Where he dropped Sonic again, giving the hedgehog only a second to realize that he’d been untied, before something was slapped around his wrist, which beeped, as he found himself magnetized to the metal wall.

“Oh, come on, I can help.” Sonic complained, trying to pull free, but the cuff wasn’t having it.

“No.” Not-Knuckles declared. Before turning back around and shot another thing in the dark, which cried out with more anger than pain, prompting the echidna to adjust his aim ever so slightly and fire again. This time earning himself a thud, as the creature collapsed on the deck. “Captain, we could use a little light down here.” He spoke into his com, giving his fancy railgun thing a rest, as it appeared to reload itself on the electric charges in the air.

As he watched it, Sonic realized something. The thing didn’t even have a trigger. Instead, the echidna’s metal eye reacted a split second before the gun went off. Which explained how he was making such amazing shots, in near pitch darkness.

All of this made it pretty clear to Sonic that there was a Tails in this dimension as well. And he, if Knuckles’ eye was any indication, he on par with his own best friend. Maybe even Nine. Which meant all was not lost. If he could just convince someone to let him talk to the fox.

Of course, before he could even make the attempt, a large shadow flew over his head, heading straight at his friend’s back. “Knucks!” He called out, trying to go to his aid, but was pulled back by the cuff. But the echidna had it covered.

With a simple step to the side, he let the creature fly past. Then, in a single motion, he unraveled his rope, now revealed to be steel cable, and lashed it out like a whip, striking the nightmare from the sky with a crack of thunder and a flash of electricity.

Sonic winced as the violent light sparked and snapped from the darkness. Leaving the thing a smoldering husk on the ground. And he found himself grateful Knuckles hadn’t used that particular setting on him when he’d been captured.

He jumped again, when a loud *pop* sounded overhead, then a bright blue flare erupted in the sky. Setting the storming clouds around them ablaze and allowing Sonic to see the creatures they were fighting. He wished he hadn’t.

There were hundreds of them. Though they took the general shape of animals, that was about the only thing they shared, If he had to guess, they looked something like a sentient, insectoid, virus, with a pension for spikes and the color black, that had taken over the bodies of either bats, birds or flying dinosaurs. They were so warped it was hard to tell which.

The good news though, they hated the new light source. It wasn’t hard to see why either, as they started to smoke, as if they were being burned from the inside out. This left them sitting ducks, allowing Knuckles and Amy to pick them off like flies. But no matter how many they killed; it seemed like seven more would just take their place. And any they didn’t focus on right away, fell out of the sky and started – eating the ship.

Well, Sonic wasn’t sure what they were doing, just that the metal would begin showing signs of a blue, green, and purple corrosion that pulsed with phosphorescent light, after it was touched. But it seemed the sky pirates had this covered, as well. For when the ship was once again struck by lightning, the creatures were electrocuted, until they were burnt to a smoldering crisp.

“Preparing lattice.” The commanding presence of a female voice spoke over a speaker somewhere. Prompting Amy to retreat behind an unseen line. While Knuckles strolled back at a easier pace, recharging his gun again, as if this were a mere walk in the park for him. Only deviating from his task, when one of the creatures flew at him with a hideous screech. But he just raised a fist and allowed it to run directly into him. Not so much as breaking his stride, as the creature crumbled like a sheet of tinfoil going up against a bowling ball.

A second later, he too crossed some invisible line, just as the whole deck of the ship unfolded behind him. Whipping out four long devices, that soon extended three more times. Then fanned out to lay four massive metal nets on either side of the ship.

Within moments, all four were struck by lightning and the power was siphoned off in a beautiful effect that made them look more like wings, as they beat up and down, pulling in even more lightning from every direction. Until an unknown limit was reached, and they raised up to meet each other at the tips, causing a spark and then the world exploded with light.

It only lasted a second, but as Sonic blinked away his temporary blindness. He looked up to find bits of smoldering and blackened pieces of body parts falling all around them, as the entire swarm was culled. Leaving nothing alive to retreat.

“Whoa.” He whispered in awe, as the rain broke through their little pocket of vaporized water and started falling again.

“Report.” The female voice, whom he guessed was the Captain, commanded over the speaker. Prompting Not-Knuckles to walk out over the deck, kicking the remains of nightmare fuel away, as he went.

“No serious damage.” He stated. Though he appeared concerned about a part of the railing wall, where the corrosion seemed to be spreading. “Feel free to Parse, Captain.”

“Parse?” Sonic repeated, looking at Not-Amy for an explanation. But she just lifted her metal arm, allowing the crossbow to fold away and give her better use of her hand. Other than that, she ignored him, instead addressing Knuckles again.

“Admiral, you’re infected.” She pointed out, prompting him to check his right hand, which he had used to bludgeon the creature before. It was now showing signs of that same strange, pulsating corrosion as the ship. But he didn’t look that concerned. As he just flipped his gun back into its holster and tapped a small glowing device strapped around his chest. Something Sonic realized they both had.

A moment later, the echidna winced, as he was shocked with a brutal display of electricity. And, for a moment, Sonic thought they had all gone nuts. But then Knuckles whipped his infected hand through the air, flicking the now dead and burned corrosion away, before going about his business.

Sonic pulled his eyes from this weirdness, when the nets lifted again, fanning overhead like twin pairs of protective angel wings, before releasing the captured electricity directly into the ship’s hull. Causing Sonic to cringe as it came for him as well. However, it didn’t appear to have any effect on anything other than the persistent corruption, which was burned away along with most of the creature remains on the deck. Then, with one last flick of the wings, they folded back into the floor, and everything was normal again.

Well, aside from the fact that they were still sitting in the eye of a giant hurricane.

A few more flares were shot into the sky, as the light from the wings faded. Allowing Amy and Knuckles to walk around the ship, checking for anything of concern.

“All good, Captain.” Knuckles reported, as he returned to where he’d left Sonic. “What should I do with the stowaway?” He waited a moment for the answer to come over his com. Then leaned down to grab Sonic’s free hand.

The hedgehog tried to protest, but the guy’s grip was like a steel vice. And in the end, all it took to end his struggle was another sharp glare from his mechanical eye.

“Wow man, who or what got a good shot on you?” Sonic found himself asking, without checking in with the smart side of his brain. So, he wasn’t all that surprised when he didn’t get an answer. Instead, Knuckles just slapped another magnetic cuff over his other wrist. Then released his trapped hand, allowing the two to magnetize to each other instead. “Oh, come on Dude. There’s no need to be like this. You can trust me.” Not-Knuckles gave him a look, that just said ‘No I can’t.’ Which – okay, that was fair.

With this, the echidna stood up again, attaching something to his belt, as he walked away. And, for a moment, Sonic thought that maybe he’d been given some kind of freedom. But then his cuffs activated, and he was pulled off the floor by his wrists.

“Is this really necessary?” He complained over the storm.

“Yes.” Knuckles stated matter-a-factly, and Sonic glared at his, but he was once again ignored, as the echidna turned back to address Not-Amy. “Can you handle the rest?”

“Don’t insult me.” She countered, raising her metal arm in warning. “Unless you’d like a second fancy hole in the head, to go with the first.” Sonic blinked at that and took a step to the right, so he was standing behind the echidna. ‘Gees, she was a little intense.’

Not-Knuckles only laughed and tilted his hat in a respectful manner. “Apologies, my lady.” He offered, then walked across the deck. Forcing Sonic to follow along, as the key on his belt insisted.

Of course, he did not appreciate the idea of being led around like a dog on a leash. So, the hedgehog zeroed in on the key and smiled. His hands being bound didn’t stop him from going fast. Therefore, it only took a split second for him to reach his goal, and had the key in his hand, just before an electric force blew him back, like he’d been hit with a giant invisible fist.

He whined in pain, as he found himself once again on his back, with everything hurting. Then Not-Knuckles leaned over him, his smile indicating he was more than just a little amused. “Don’t do that.” He warned and Sonic lifted his bound hands to give a thumbs up of agreement.

Expecting to be dragged back to his feet, despite the fact that he was pretty sure his legs had stopped working after that. He was instead shocked, when the echidna gave him a few minutes to recover, before helping him up, in a rare of gentleness.

His brain began to hurt, as he tried to reconcile this action with Knuckles the Echidna, as he received some much-needed walking assistance, until they reached a door, and escaped the downpour of rain at last.

Once inside, Knuckles gave him another couple of minutes to recover, as he removed his hat and squeezed the water from his dreadlocks. Which made Sonic’s rattled brain focus on the strange fact that it hadn’t blown away in the wind.

“So – uh. You got a name?” He asked, as they traversed a barren, metal hall. Lit with a line of soft blue light at the bottom of one wall. “Knucks?” He tried when he didn’t receive an answer, even though he already knew he’d be wrong. But that didn’t stop him from trying. “Gnarly? Dread?” He guessed. That wasn’t unreasonable, they were both pirates, right?

In the end, the hedgehog was just left to pout when he didn’t so much as receive a grunt of response. “Admiral it is, I guess.” He muttered. Only to think about it a bit more. “Hang on. I don’t know all that much about the Navy. But – isn’t an Admiral the same thing as a Captain?” In fact, he was pretty sure that Admiral indicated he commanded more than one ship. Which would give him an even higher rank.

Again, Not-Knuckles didn’t answer and just continued to navigate the corridors, ignoring him all the while. “You don’t talk much, do you?” Sonic went on, walking up a little closer to the guy. Trying to gauge his reaction. “You know, you remind me of a friend of mine.” He continued. “Though he can be a real hot head. I’ll bet you can too.” Despite his better judgement, he reached out to poke the echidna in the shoulder, before zipping away, expecting to be swat at. But – nothing. “Oh, come on, I know it’s in there.”

Instead of an answer, the Admiral just turned a corner, forcing Sonic’s cuffs to follow at a sharp angle. And he had to struggle to readjust himself. As they started up some narrow stairs. “See – told ya.” He quailed, though he wasn’t sure why that made him so happy. “I could always get under Knuckles’ skin. It’s kind of my thing.” He bragged as they took a corner on the staircase, allowing the echidna to look at him, without turning around. Causing Sonic to snap his mouth shut, as the glare he got from that silver eye was just downright scary.

However, yet again, this was the only form of hostility he received. Which was just plan jarring. All the other versions of Knuckles had been easy to rile up and quick to anger. Just like the original. It had been almost comforting in a way. The one constant between the worlds. But this one was almost unnaturally calm and collected. Without it he was just reminded that this was not his world, and this was not his friend.

“I miss Knuckles.” He muttered to himself, then cringed away from the statement. “I can’t believe I just said that.” Distracted by this revelation, he ran straight into the Admiral when he stopped moving. And proceeded to rub his abused nose, before peaking around the roadblock, to find that they had arrived at what could only be the bridge of the ship.

Here he found yet another non-friend, this one a copy of Big, who stood working at a high-tech looking table of maps, compasses, and schematics, his constant companion Froggy, asleep on his head. Both of which were, once again, older. Big was even showing signs of gray hair.

And on other side of the room, stormed the brooding, furious form of yet another version of Rouge. This one much more – mature. Her hair was quite a bit longer too, and she was clad in a stylish pirate-looking getup, with a long frilly coat. However, yet again, there was one thing that made it very clear that she was not Rouge the Bat. Her wings – which had been replaced with a fully mechanical set.

“Damn bugs!” She swore in a tone so full of promised death, he started to feel bad for any nightmare creature that stumbled into her line of sight. “Eat my ship, will you? Next time I’ll blast your brains right out through your –”

“Captain.” Not-Knuckles interrupted, smirking with amusement at her rant. Which earned himself a glare of disapproval. But he was spared the fate of being spontaneously combusted, as her attention soon turned to Sonic. Causing him to stand at attention for – some reason.

“And what are you supposed to be?” She asked like he was a surprise tax audit.

“Uh – a hedgehog.” He answered, trying to offer a smile as well. But she just turned back to Knuckles.

“It speaks?” She noted.

“Almost constantly.” The echidna reported earning a glare from Sonic.

“And how did this stowaway get on my ship?” She raged. Though this time it was directed at Knuckles. Prompting Sonic to become defensive.

“Hey, hold on. It’s not his fault. I just – kind of – landed here. That’s all.” He tried. Though it sounded stupid even to him. And Not-Rouge appeared to agree, as she just glowered at him again. Gees, and he thought Knuckles was scary. This lady had a look that could shave the fur off a cat.

“Aparoid?” She asked, turning back to the Admiral, who just shrugged.

“Not that I can see.”

“What is an Aparoid?” Sonic insisted. Realizing that was the second time he’d been called that. But, as usual, he was ignored, as Rouge just beat her wings in an irritated manner, forcing both Sonic and Knuckles to shift out of the way or be cut in half by the razor-sharp metal.

“Whatever it is, if you’re going to let it on my ship, it’s your responsibility.” She proclaimed, glaring at Knuckles again before storming away to stand next to the wheel.

“Yes Captain.” The Admiral muttered in an irritated tone of voice, lowering the brim of his hat to hide the unhappiness in his expression.

“Hey, I said it wasn’t his fault.” Sonic tried again. Only for the Pirate Queen to turn on him in with some much fury, that he could have sworn he felt his soul leave his body for a moment.

“Knox.” She growled, her voice calm despite the radiating waves of eternal torment she was directing their way. Which did more to silence Sonic then the fact that Knuckles had slapped a mitt over his mouth and held him in a death lock, keeping the hedgehog from speaking again. “I don’t care if you have to throw it overboard. But get this nuisance off my Bridge.” She whispered, causing Sonic to recover from the shock.

Though, despite gripping the echidna’s arm with both hands and fighting to escape, he didn’t even cause a disturbance in his stance, as the Admiral bowed. “Aye Captain.” He agreed. Causing the hedgehog to make some uncouth and unmanly noises, as he was hauled from the room without another word. But he could do nothing to escape the promise of certain death that was now coming for him.

…

Please share some reviews and comments, I’d love to hear what people think of my work.

[wanderingmaskdragons]

dragon doodles: warmth 🧡

❤️ more on my ko-fi ❤️

[lamina-tsrif]

a few screenshots from cxlvxn's new video, there was definitely more but i like sun

[asfdhgsdkjhgb]

i think we as a society moved on from that funny feeling far too quickly. "the backlash to the backlash to the thing that's just begun" "the whole world at your fingertips, the ocean at your door" "twenty thousand years of this, seven more to go" "googling derealization, hating what you find" "the quiet comprehending of the ending of it all" IM INSANE

[kangaracha]

bay tree + skz

Bay Tree: 'how we conquered the world'

written by @keepswingin

---

Felix stands at his side. Neither of them flinch at the fire that rains down from above, igniting forests and villages alike. They can hear screams from here, can smell the smoke and breathe in the life that's being taken by their own. 

Chan shivers.

His body aches with the urge to join the fray, to spread his wings wide and far, to take flight and not look back. He feels powerful up here, but not as much as he would down there, unleashing flames and stomping out swords with his claws. He always felt untouchable when he was anything but human. Humans were too fragile, their skin too easy to cut through, their hearts too small to last. He preferred being anything but. 

"You're not scared?" Felix asks him, interrupting his thoughts. 

Chan glances over at him, taking in his state. He knows he's exhausted but he hides it well, his clothes still tattered and dirty from where they had held him. Chan could relieve the very moment over and over again, the anger surging through his veins, the feel of ripping muscle from flesh. They had thought wrong, taking Felix and holding him hostage as if that would really change anything, as if Chan would bow down and let them win. He wasn't one to give in easily, even with one of his own on the line, even when he was able to hear Felix's screams from across the valley - 

"No," he answers steadily. "There will be no one left to oppose us." 

Felix is silent for a long moment, shifting from one foot to the other. There's a tremendous roar as one of their kin unleashes scorching fire, hot enough that they can feel it from miles ahead. Lava spilts what remains of the village in two. Bodies turn to ash. "I'm scared," Felix admits, braver than most. "I'm scared that we'll be seen as a threat. As something to get rid of." 

"We've always been seen as a threat," Chan says, turning to face him. "They took you because they wanted to see if I would take the bait." His keeps his words careful, not wanting to pass the line that's been drawn in the sand between them since. "If it was anyone else, I would've let them die. For our kingdom." A pause that seems to stretch centuries. "But it was you." 

"It was me," Felix repeats quietly. "But I wasn't worth the risks." 

It takes Chan aback, how easily he says it. He says it like his life isn't worth the sacrifice, as if he isn't the second in line to a kingdom that has always thrived on their leadership. He says it like it's not Chan standing in front of him, like there are still chains wrapped around his wrists and whips tearing at his back. 

Chan doesn't like to think about how he almost lost him. 

He doesn't like to think about how close their kingdom actually was to falling and not recovering. 

"You're worth everything to me," he says, betraying everything he shouldn't say. "If you aren't by my side, none of this is worth it." Felix's eyes widen, as if he hasn't already known, as if all these years together haven't told him a single thing. Chan nearly smiles. Nearly laughs before remembering that neither would really be becoming of a king. "It's you or nothing."

There's more screams. More fire. More death. 

Felix looks at him like he never wants to look away. 

"You're stubborn," he says, like that'll change Chan's mind. But he moves closer and turns back to what awaits them, a kingdom destroyed, a kingdom made, and leans against Chan's shoulder. "Selfish." 

"Only when it comes to you." 

Felix stands at his side. He doesn't leave. He never leaves.

--

permanent taglist

@amyyscorner @kokinu09 @rainfallingfromthesky @keepswingin @rylea08 @puppysmileseungmin

@thatonedemigodfromseoul @atinyniki

[a-gay-bloodmage]

Day 26: Isn’t It Improper?

(Josephine Montilyet x Semiha Silva-Adaar)

Now that she’s fought for Josephine’s hand and won, sealed the Breach, lost her arm, and disbanded the Inquisition—listed in no particular order of importance, of course—Semiha Silva-Adaar can’t help but wonder if she can do anything to properly endear herself to the Montilyet family.

Written for the @loveofdragonage event!

Rating: Explicit

Read on Archive of Our Own Here!

[tohruies]

hi hi mrs yao !!!! christmas is coming up, are you going to celebrate anythinf with xiangli ? :33 btw, since miss coco doesnt have a tree, here's a little something to say thank you for being one of my lovely moots 🥺

oh! 😁 hi hello mr puppetgear! 😁 christmas celebrations with xiangli you ask! 😁 well actually! 😁 you see, i was th— *dies upon seeing the image you’ve attached to this ask* 😳😲🤯😱😱😱😵💀🪦

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 258

Halfas are like selkies. Or more like they’re similar to many animal spouses of myths and legends, trapped in (mostly) human forms should they lose their cloak. 

That at least, Vlad warned Danny about within the first time of realizing what the other was. It’s a line neither will cross- not even the timeline where Dan came into being. An unspoken acknowledgement of not crossing such a boundary no matter what happened. 

Even after his parents’ deaths. After Jazz’s near-death and coma. 

It’s not exactly something Danny thinks of, really, especially not that he’s now survived highschool and practically moved across the country. Not to mention the fact he has Ellie and Jordan to care for. But it definitely comes to mind the moment Dan- only five at the moment- screams for him. And he’s not going to let anything happen to his kids

[befuddled-calico-whump]

Augusnippets Day 17: Resolution

cw: loss of a friend, grieving

for the @augusnippets challenge // word count: 659

=~=~=

Monty could hardly believe it when everyone showed up.

It had been five years since the team was disbanded, and a lot could change in five years. He still kept in touch with everyone else, more or less, and they'd all seemingly adjusted well. Moved on, grown past the past.

But the team hadn't reunited because Monty had asked nicely. It was because everyone still felt the loss.

He certainly did.

No one had taken the time to talk about what happened when it happened; they were all a bunch of dumb kids playing dumb games, left to grapple with feelings too big to hold when everything suddenly got real.

Tom hadn't shown them the footage, but the way his voice shook when he told them what happened, the look on his face… Monty knew it must've been awful. And none of them had been able to stop it. None of them had been able to save him.

Sen was the first to show up. They'd all agreed to meet in the park. Near the facility they'd trained in, but not too close. 

“Hey,” he greeted them. “Been a while.”

“Yeah.” They nodded, their expression pensive, like they didn't know what to say next. Did any of them? How did you swallow something like this, even after so long? How could you have a team reunion when it was supposed to be five of you, not four?

Faye and Emery made their appearance a few minutes after Sen, hand in hand. They’d started dating after the team was discontinued, taking comfort in one another. Something about shared experience, about being one of just a few people who understood. Monty was glad to see they were still together, but he couldn't help the pang that came at the sight of them.

He could've been holding someone's hand too, if only…

“How do we start?” Emery was the first to speak, after the four of them spent a good several minutes in silence, staring at the grass where they used to take lunch breaks, or study, or spar.

“What can you say?” Faye murmured. “He's gone. There’s nothing we can do.”

“Only remember,” Emery offered.

“Remembering hurts.”

“Don't we owe him that much?” Monty’s own voice, thick with a tremor, almost surprised him. The others gave him looks he might've called pitiful, if they weren't all suffering the same loss.

“He was… he was always the one who pushed us to keep trying,” he continued. “Never just gave up and called it quits when things got tough in training. That's how I remember him.”

Sen nodded. “He would've made a good leader. I know we always said there was no leader, but it would've been him.”

“He didn't hold grudges,” Faye added with a short laugh. “I… I was kind of a bitch to him for the first month, and he still just… welcomed me into the group. Y'know. He was—” Her voice broke. She covered it with a cough. “He was a good guy.”

“He was a giant nerd,” Emery said. “Remember how much he used to talk about Dungeons and Dragons?”

“Oh my gosh, don't get me started—”

“He was always saying he'd run a campaign for us one day.”

“Remember the one story from his highschool campaign he always used to tell? About the rat in the cellar that just wouldn't die?”

“It just wouldn't die.”

Soon they were laughing past their tears, the somber air dissolving into recounted memories. It was better this way, wasn't it? How remembering was supposed to be?

“Maybe we should get a campaign started,” Emery said. “I can run it if you guys want.”

“Yeah.” Faye wiped away tears with the back of her hand. “Yeah, I think we should.”

Emery threw an arm around her shoulder. Sen joined in the hug, already crying again. After a moment, Monty joined too.

“Look at us, becoming nerds. I think Ander would be proud.”