#and I have sonics the eyes from sonic the comic because I just think even if it’s only while he is transforming that the spiral are good

[flightyalrighty]

FIRST | PREVIOUS | NEXT CH 1 PG 36

Infested will return on June 27th. --- Thank you to the following Ascended supporters: @chaogongoozles, @fiiresiidefrfr, @elizard4227, @grogar, Ezzoh, @susivoi, @calculuscacophony, Eros, @ivycorp, @summersdale @borrelia, @mizukiz, @sanicdetails, @combinegrunt-echo-1, Pica, @veeceear, @quackenburt, ItsmeMonarch, @memendoemori, @trans-girl-sonic, & savarsenic

Content Warnings | Store | Ko-Fi (Discord!) | Read On Comic Fury! DISCLAIMER: "Infested" is a horror comic ft. content not suitable for those under the age of 17.

A long-winded looking back on things below the cut:

The first few pages of Infested were uploaded to this blog on March 2nd, 2023 -- Over a whole year ago! I was so busy, too, that I completely missed its birthday (Sorry Infested). Looking even further back than that, the original story was was something I began writing on December 25th, 2022 (Merry Christmas).

It took two years to get to this point.

And hey, not to toot my own horn about it, but completing even one chapter of a webcomic is a big deal. Especially for me. My first webcomic, Fight/Flight, didn't get very far. I completed the prologue, started Chapter 1, and then had to drop it for a number of reasons (I didn't really agree with what baby-me had to say, politically, anymore).

This comic was born from a lot of intense feelings. The story, itself, too. Some good. Some bad.

I had been forced to move away from my hometown, and with that move, I lost the physical connection that I had to all of my friends. I lost the familiarity of a place I'd known for most of my life. I'm now stuck somewhere... Worse. It felt like a cage. Still does. Disconnected from the life I thought I would be living after college. I didn't have health insurance, either -- Got kicked off of it because of the move -- And as a result, I was off my antidepressants.

So there I was, at a pretty low point in my life. I miserable and lonely and every single day dragged on. And on. And on. And I felt so disappointed in myself. That disappointment became self-loathing, and it all kinda spiraled.

Have I mentioned that I'm a huge Sonic fan? I don't think I need to. I'd say it's pretty obvious. But for the sake of this story, I'll say it again: I'm a HUGE Sonic fan. I've been that way since 2003 with Sonic Heroes. The franchise has been in my life for over two decades. I had a monthly mail subscription to Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog was something that I truly loved more than any other piece of media. It brought me endless joy. Until I didn't.

I had dropped Sonic after Lost World was... Itself. I had already felt pretty irritated with the Meta Era, and Lost World was the final straw. The last bit of hope that the series could recover was snuffed out when Forces was released. It was over. I was done. If Sonic was truly that embarrassed by itself, if they had truly lost touch with what made the series so great, then I wouldn't waste my time any longer. I was so sure that I had to just... Grieve and move on. My beloved childhood game series was dead. Long live the king or whatever. I'd just bitterly read IDW Sonic and think about what could've been. I was lucky to have that comic, at least. Archie had been canceled, too, after all. I was lucky to have my scraps.

Then Sonic Frontiers came out. And it changed everything.

And my god, it was everything. It was everything to me. Flaws be damned, it was everything. To. Me. The spectacle. The serious tone. The vastly improved writing. Kellin Fucking Quinn. It was FUN! It was actually FUN to PLAY. He was back. I was back. Sonic pulled me by my hand out of the ocean of misery I'd fallen into, and he looked me in my eye and he said;

"Hey. You're gonna be alright."

Metaphorically speaking. Sonic The Hedgehog didn't actually literally speak to me -- And sure, okay, maybe it's a little dramatic to describe a game as this great Depression Annihilator but I'm dead serious when I say that, for that time, before I was able to get back on my meds, I was self-medicating with Sonic.

Sonic was all I was thinking about. I reread the Unleashed arc in Archie Sonic, which got me sorta realizing something, and which led to my post where I said something along the lines of "Sonic would hide a zombie bite."

Archie Sonic would, at least. Because he basically did do that in the Unleashed arc of that comic. He let that problem fester until it became an even bigger problem because, ironically, he didn't want to be a problem.

So one thing led to another. I thought more about Sonic becoming a zombie. Bada-bing, bada-boom, Infested was born.

I didn't expect it to get the attention that it did. I felt lucky when the first page I drew Rouge on (Page 6 I think?) blew up. The right people saw it at the right time. I'm extremely grateful for that.

I'm extremely grateful for all of you.

So yeah, one chapter. Woo! Here's to many more.

[thankskenpenders]

Part1: Thank you for the reply! Sorry if I keep pushing the subject, but what I don't understand is Penders' disdain/hate for Chronicles. For someone who always boasts about his contributions to the Sonic IP, one would have thought he would have been elated to be the inspiration and starting point for what would become a plot and setting of the IP's core media, games. Plus, you said it yourself, to everyone's knowledge (Even Penders, maybe?) they were seen as fair game at the time of production.

Part2: I would understand if he was asking for acknowledgement/compensation, but his ownership claims seems to be made out of malicious spite, rather than a proper sense of injustice. Like if DC would have dressed Superman in a red & white costume for a few issues after the Fawcett case (I know it's not exactly the same legal case). But why do you think he acts like that? I would love to read your thoughts as you are one of the few capable of reaching unbiased conclusions when it comes to him.

So the thing with the Sonic Chronicles case is that by that point Ken had discovered Archie had lost his contract, cooked up the story that it never existed, and started filing for copyrights for his work. As such, he argued that Sonic Chronicles taking inspiration from his work was an instance of copyright infringement. In his eyes, Shade literally is Julie-Su, and the Nocturnus Clan literally is the Dark Legion, just with the names changed, and if he never signed a contract then that stuff wasn't fair game for other Sega projects to touch. To him, it wasn't uncredited inspiration, it was theft.

The case was dismissed in court because the Archie v. Penders case to determine who actually owned the copyrights for his work was still ongoing, and then by the time that was settled the statute of limitations for the Chronicles case had passed. (In basic terms: it had been too long since Sonic Chronicles came out to sue over it.) So it ended in a stalemate, with both sides still arguing ownership, and Ken would only be able to revive the lawsuit if Sega did something new with Sonic Chronicles or those characters - a sequel, a port of the game, Shade appearing in new stories, etc.

Since then, it's basically turned into a game of chicken with the copyrights. Ken believes Sega has just washed their hands of Chronicles because they don't want to deal with the legal trouble, which is honestly probably true. Meanwhile, Ken has been testing how far he can push his claims of ownership over Shade before Sega does anything, such as when he announced that Shade NFT that declared she was literally the same character as Julie-Su. (Or at least it would have if he'd ever released it.) If Sega doesn't do anything about it, then they're at risk of forfeiting the copyrights, which Ken will take as a sign that they've fully abandoned Sonic Chronicles as their property and therefore he can do whatever he wants with its elements.

So, basically, yeah, he's still just bitter and spiteful over the plot of Sonic Chronicles being based loosely on his Knuckles comics without his involvement. And to a certain extent I'd get that. Comic artists and writers are paid in table scraps and get no benefits, then they see the companies who own their work turn it into billion dollar movies and video games and mountains of merch, and they don't see a penny of those profits. They don't even tend to earn royalties off of their comics' sales. It's unfair. But while I think he deserved some form of credit and maybe some form of compensation, there's a difference between adaptation and inspiration, and Ken's just being a copyright troll here.

There's immense irony in Ken believing that Bioware's homage to Julie-Su should be seen as the same character as Julie-Su in the eyes of the law, while he's out here publishing a comic featuring K'Nox, The Legally Distinct Character Who Is Totally Not Knuckles. Also, like, one of his pet characters has always been a blatant homage to James Bond. He was out there basing Archie Sonic stories on Star Trek episodes and Superman comics and shit. My favorite Sonic story of his literally just ripped off the plot of "For the Man Who Has Everything." I don't see him out here cutting Alan Moore a check. He's nothing if not a hypocrite.

[e-vay]

Hi!! I’m not usually a big SonAmy fan as I’ve never really shipped sonic characters but your art is amazing and I’ve been seeing your work on and off for years :) this is the only *kinda SonAmy* thing I have on my phone so please enjoy XD hope you feel better soon!

Also wondered if you think Sonic and Amy would’ve had any other romantic relationships with other people before getting together?? Like when they were working on themselves…? It would be interested to know your thoughts!

Ahhh this is one of my all time favorite scenes from the IDW comics! 🥰🥰🥰 It perfectly shows why I think they are such a perfect fit for each other.

Though everyone is entitled to their own theories and opinions, I personally don’t see either of them having romantic relationships with anyone else, even if it ended up going nowhere and they ultimately ended up together. Amy is depicted as only having eyes for Sonic so I don’t see her even entertaining the idea of going on a date with someone else (or maybe she would, but only to be nice. Not because she’s interested). Meanwhile Sonic has made it very clear he is NOT interested in dating! If he did finally decide he wants to explore romance, I truly believe Amy is the only person who meets his criteria. She loves him for him, she’s just as up for adventure as he is, she’s positive and cares about others 🥰

I’m not saying anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong, this is just what I believe 😁 Thanks for sharing!

[thespectral-wolf]

An Enigma in Shadows: Epilogue - Left Unsaid

A thousand thanks to @w0lp3rtinger for beta reading and helping out with the writing.

As the title says, this is an epilogue to my comic, which if you haven't read yet, you can find the first page here.

---

“Amy, please, let me help” Sonic pleaded to her for what felt like the fiftieth time this week.

Amy chose to ignore him and instead focused on making sure she packed everything she needed for today’s search. Almost three weeks had passed since Shadow left abruptly after her friends’ intervention. Fourteen days of her hoping the hedgehog would return so they could set things straight. Six days since she decided to find his residence herself and maybe, just maybe make it up to him. She took another look at her map to see where she would continue. Only four hundred square kilometers of jungle to search through. She let out an audible sigh.

Sonic waited behind her, arms crossed and one foot tapping rhythmically, betraying his otherwise patient expression. She turned her head slightly. 

“I don’t think I want your idea of help.”

Sonic groaned.“Look, I know I messed up-”

“That’s an understatement.”

Sonic let go of his irritation with a huff. He continued, “I do want to make it up to you, Amy. At least don’t go into the jungle alone again!”

Amy turned around to look him in the eye.

“Okay, fine! Let’s say I consider taking your offer. How do you intend to help me with this?”

The tension left Sonic’s body, the look of relief spread across his face. “Finally! Thank you!” he exclaimed, and before Amy could say anything, he stepped closer and continued, “You know, I often take a morning jog around the island. Maybe I’ve seen the place you’re looking for.”

Amy snorted, “Yeah, because you look at the places you pass by during your mach-one ‘jogs’.”

Sonic mocked a hurt expression at the accusation. 

“Come on now, I do appreciate the sights. Besides, I should mention that I have an impeccable visual memory,” he leaned on the table, arms crossed and looked his usual smug self. Amy normally liked his cockiness — not that she would ever admit that — but this time, she found it irritating.

“Go on,” he continued, “Test me. Describe the place we're looking for,” and gestured to her map with his head.

“Okay then,” she recalled what the part of the jungle looked like to her best ability. It wasn’t hard, even after so many weeks. The initial shock of Shadow’s living situation embedded the details of the place in her mind. The small incline Shadow used for sleeping, the little camp that was rather civil despite the roughness. The storm shelter that was probably a long abandoned property,  repurposed by the black hedgehog, hidden carefully from curious eyes. She even surprised herself by remembering where the two places lay relative to each other. Sonic did not say a word throughout all of that, only nodding a few times.

“So,” Amy spread her arms expectantly, “any ideas, Mr. Know-It-All?”

“I’m not sure about that shelter, but a small cave in a clearing facing north…” Sonic murmured, as he looked at the wall, eyes darting about. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers. “Yeah, I think I know where that is!”

Amy blinked, “Really? Just like that?!”

“Yup! Pretty impressive, huh?” Sonic smirked.

She wasn’t going to be convinced so easily, “Okay then, can you show me where it is on the map?”

Sonic glanced at the item in question, and gave her an amused smile, “You know reading maps is not my strong suit.”

Why wasn’t she surprised…

“Well, thanks for nothing, I guess…” she was ready to pack up and leave.

“Buuut,” he leaned into her line of sight, “I can still take you there.”

“I’m not letting you carry me there, Sonic,” any other day, the idea would’ve excited her, but she was still bitter over his actions.

He shrugged.

“I could take you on the Blue Force One, too. Tails just upgraded the offroad mode.”

“Isn’t the Blue Force One only for one person?” she raised an eyebrow.

Sonic looked away and rubbed his nose.

“It can fit two… if you hold on close,” he murmured.

“Ugh!” Amy threw her hands up and turned her back on him. For one, because she couldn’t hide her flushed face, and she felt ashamed that even when she’s supposed to be super mad at him, he could get this reaction out of her. And another, she couldn’t believe Sonic is still playing around like that.

“Hey, I’m just teasing!” Sonic held up his arms, and gave his most apologetic smile. The glare he earned from her then melted that smile off right away. After a moment of silence, he spoke up in a softer voice, “C’mon, Amy. You trust me, don’t you?”

She wanted to say no. Sonic betrayed her trust when he still went out of his way to spy on her and Shadow and got himself and the others involved. But also, he was one of her closest friends. Even if he hurt her, she couldn’t stay mad at him forever. And she knew he was genuinely sorry. She rubbed her eyes.

“Fine, but when we get there, you hang back, okay? The last thing I want is you and Shadow get into a fight.”

“You know it’s usually him who initiates them, right?” Amy glowered at him for that, and he immediately put his hands up defensively. “Right, no fisticuffs, got it.”

The ride was… unusually silent. She sat behind Sonic, trying to hold on to him in a way that wasn’t too uncomfortable for either of them. She didn’t see Sonic’s face, but as he drove at a reasonable pace on the uneven trail, the tension in his body told her he was focused on the task.

At one point, he slowed to a halt, turning off the engine.

“We gotta go on foot from here. I love this thing, but it can’t tear through the foliage… yet,” Sonic explained as he got out.

“Just don’t run off, okay?” Amy grumbled.

“Hey, I can walk if I want,” Sonic turned around to face her, walking backwards very fast.

“Are you sure you’re walking?”

“This is walking for me,” Sonic joked, then turned around and started to jog.

“That is a lie, and you know that!” Amy shouted, keeping up with his speed. She could hear Sonic’s laugh in front of her. She shook her head. He can’t take things seriously, can he?

They trudged through the forest for quite some time before the plant life started to thin. Amy squinted at the sudden brightness, but when her eyes adjusted, she loudly exclaimed:

“Yeah, this is it!” Amy couldn’t hide her surprise when she looked around. It was definitely the cave where Shadow was staying in during their time working together, although it was strange to see it in daylight.

Sonic kicked a pebble and looked as nonchalant as always. “And if you accepted my help earlier, you would’ve saved a lot of time.”

She ignored his comment, and instead approached the incline. She had to be cautious. Shadow avoided confrontation last time, but it could’ve been because he was taken by surprise. She didn’t know how the other hedgehog would react if she approached him uninvited.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dark, but once she could see, she had noticed that the cave was completely empty, the only thing indicating that someone was here were the rocks and charcoal making up the firepit. Everything else — the old sleeping bag, the dirty rags that covered the log used for sitting, the various tools, even the empty food cans — were gone. He has left. She should have expected this, yet disappointment still washed over her. There might still be a chance though…

She dashed out of the cave, and went in the direction of the shelter. Sonic, who was leaning against a tree the whole time,  hurried to follow. She didn’t say a word.

She ground to a stop when she saw that the shelter’s door was torn off from its hinges and tossed to the side. It also looked like as if the earth collapsed where the rest of the shelter should be. She felt a tightness in her chest, but pushed past it and went for the entrance.

The ladder was missing, so she jumped down. Using her communicator’s in-built flashlight, she took a better look at the scene. The place caved in, leaving nothing but rubble and dirt. She cautiously moved some of the debris. She could see the remains of what used to be the shelf, but on a closer look, all the knick-knacks Shadow had there weren’t in the rubble.

That meant he took them. 

So he must’ve destroyed it on purpose.

She just stood there, staring at the ruins where barely a month ago she was spending entire nights awake trying to solve a mystery. Trying to help someone…

She absentmindedly hovered a hand to her cheek, feeling the freshly healed skin.

“Yo, Amy, all good?” Sonic shouted in from above, snapping Amy out of her thoughts.

“Yes, it’s fine,” she told him. She walked back and climbed out with the aid of her hammer.

“No sign of him,” she dusted herself off, and looked away into the thick of the forest.

“Do you want to try tomorrow?” he asked as they made their way back to the clearing.

“No… I don’t think we’re going to meet him here,” she looked off in the distance. “Just give me a sec, okay?”

Amy entered the small cave again and fished out an item: Shadow’s glove sealed in an airtight bag. Ideally, she would have given it to Shadow in person or at the very least leave it for him. But was he coming back here? Or will this place be vacant forever? A part of her wanted to resume the search, but the island was large, and Shadow would continue to elude them until he decided to be found.

If he ever decided he wanted to be found…

She finally made the decision and put the glove down on a flat rock where the elements hopefully won’t disturb it. She left, only taking one more glance back at the now empty place before going home.

~*~

It took several days before a figure appeared in the cave again. His heavy boots dug into the clay floor as he took in his surroundings. After he felt he was in the clear, he approached the item placed so clearly out in the open, it might as well be a bait for a trap. 

His instincts screamed that it was, but a small part of him said that he doesn’t have to be wary. That it will be okay.

It was strange how easy he listened to that small voice.

He picked up the bag containing the glove, and after making another quick check that nobody was watching him, he practically scrambled to put it on.

Something inside touched his fingers, making him freeze. Slowly he pulled out what appeared to be a neatly folded piece of paper.  He stared at it for a short moment before his fist closed with such force that were it not for the glove, his claws would have dug into his palm for sure. With the same rush of energy, he was ready to throw the crumpled note away as far as he could.

Something in the back of his mind stopped him, that little voice again, and his fist hung high in the air frozen mid-swing.

He let out a shaky breath, lowered his hand and stared at the little paper. Seconds stretched on, he could hear nothing but blood rushing in his ear, the buzz so loud it was almost drowning out his thoughts. Choppy breaths evened out, every long intake of air bringing in the smell of damp clay and moss. A faint memory of bamboo and scented candles and freshly cooked pasta tried to wriggle itself back to the forefront of his mind. Finally, he neatly straightened it and started to unfold it, the curiosity to find out what was inside finally taking over him. He read its contents. And read it again. And again. The wrinkles of his brow deepened more and more at his puzzlement. He turned it over, but found the rest of the paper empty. He read it again, taking in each word, like it was a riddle.

“You forgot it at my place. I figured you’d want it back. I did wash it though, I hope you don’t mind.”

That was all of it. He was expecting an overly sentimental message about making amends and the importance of friendship and something about Amy’s door being always open to him… yet this here was as plain as it could get. It baffled him. And yes, he did mind the smell of the detergent.

It was pointless to keep the message. But he did not throw it away. Instead, he folded it back and pushed it inside his glove so it sat between the fabric and his hand in a way that wasn’t too bothersome. Shadow turned tail and left the cave with a thought that felt so dangerous: what would it mean to him if he left a bridge unburned?

[essycogany]

Amy’s Eye Color

Since I couldn’t get this off my mind I’ve decided to dive deep into the abyss of character design. I’ll mostly add on to what I said in my tags in the, “What Eye Color Looks Good On Amy Rose,” voting post and elaborate.

Short History

Amy’s eye color from the start of her redesign in Sonic Adventure has always been the same as Sonic’s. A warm green that use to be apart of Amy’s classic dress. Which is a nice detail in my opinion. The pink hedgehog’s eyes has been somewhat consistent with Sonic’s from official art, 3D models, to the comics.

It almost always been that way aside from Sonic X. Where her eyes are on the cooler side then Sonic’s. Jade or Emerald to be specific. Her eyes are closer to the color of jewelry. While Sonic has a warmer grassier colored green. I like jade or emerald on Amy’s eyes as well, but I want to keep the topic consistent and less complicated then it already is.

Anyways, I think the minor inconsistencies was done for artistic vision or whenever the lighting would change in the comics. To be honest I’ve noticed color inconsistencies all the time when it comes to Sonic characters. Which isn’t a bad thing. It just shows how much variety you can have when it comes to these characters.

My Thoughts On Amy’s Eye Color

I don’t mind Amy’s eyes being the same as Sonic’s. It doesn’t look bad on her and is one of the reasons her design is as iconic as it is. Especially since it’s been a part of her for so long.

But let’s get into why I personally prefer teal.

I’m no color theory expert, but I’ll do my best. Also, not every Sonic character or cartoon character period, follows these rules. Just a good majority of them do.

Sonic: Blue is a primary color and green is a secondary color. Because green complements blue Sonic’s eyes stands out. Not to mention they symbolize his energy and love for nature.

Blaze: Purple is a secondary color and gold is a primary color. Her purple fur works amazingly with her harsh gold eyes. Symbolizing her fire powers. Also I’ve noticed a few artist add a bit of a reddish orange to her and Silvers eyes and I think they look lovely.

Amy: She’s a bit complicated. Since her red dress takes up most of her design I’ll use it as Amy’s primary color. I believe teal would be a better secondary color for Amy because it stands out a bit better and is less harsh then green. It gives Amy a softer look too.

Teal and pink is also a wonderful combination in general because they balance each other out. With pink’s warmth and energy going with the teal’s calm and coolness. Giving off a more enchanted and mystical feeling to Amy’s eyes. It perfectly compliments her personality too because she’s an energetic character with a soft and sweet nature.

Here are some characters with similar color tones:

They’re not all similar characteristically, but what most of them have in common is they’re kind natured and they’ll protect the people they care about. Just like a certain pink hedgehog.

See how the eyes are the first thing you notice?

These are around what I have in mind( jade/emerald are cooler greens so they work too):

The main reason I prefer Amy’s eyes to be teal is due to a lot of amazing fan-artist. I won’t give out names, (because there’s a bunch of them) but they are so brilliant and I appreciate what they bring to the Sonic feast of wonderful art.

I’ve seen it so much to the point when I think “Amy Rose,” I see her with teal eyes. I know it’s silly, but that’s genuinely what I feel works for her. Besides I enjoy talking about weird topics like these. It keeps the mind turning, you know.

I appreciate the official artist and 3D models as well. Even if Amy’s eyes are barely ever teal, she still looks wonderful without them because of those talented people.

Conclusion

Will Amy’s eyes ever be teal? Probably not. Does any of this matter? No.

Teal eyes or not Amy Rose is a wonderful Sonic character. I hope you had fun with me on exploring this wild world of colors and character design.

Stay Creative! 💜

[kingmaxstatic]

In Defense Of Lanolin, A Post About Perspective, Flaws and Development. (Part 2: Lanolin's Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice.)

Read Part 1 Here!

Like I said, the OG post was so long with JUST me bringing up the specific events I had to, eventually, make a part two. In this part I'm gonna be discussing Lanolin as a character! Moreso why she's probably the way she is currently! I'll also be discussing her role as a character.

Posting this here as well! I'm not saying that people disliking lanolin is bad but I do think the hate is over done!

Lanolin was introduced to us in issue 2 (WOW she was early in) She didn't really have much of a role at the time. She was a background for a while before being being re-introduced with a whole new look and personality during the Urban Warfare arc!

However she does go through more than that! In multiple arcs you can see her in the background. Most note worthy being her outfit change becoming more battle ready more time you see in the metal virus arc!

Her sense in style goes from something you'd wear during the summer time for a nice day out to something you'd wear for battle. I think that says a lot about what she went through. She goes from the jittery little thing to someone more strong.

So let's get this out of the way, Lanolin is traumatized by the badnik raids and probably even more so by the Zombot virus (and EVERYTHING ELSE she was caught up in)

"I never wanted to feel so helpless and unprepared again."

I feel a lot of Lanolin's "bossy" and "brashess" comes this. She acts the way she does because she doesn't want herself feel that way ever again. Trauma changes people, speaking from experience.

Whisper is also an example of this being shown in IDW sonic. She seems much bubblier in the past but now she's quiet and reserved because of the death of her team mates. I also want to add something ELSE to this (not to pull these events out again).

"I didn't want ANYONE to feel that way."

cut to me in a therapist chair. I believe a lot of the causes of Lanolin's biggest blunders does come from a place of not wanting anyone to feel helpless in the way SHE did. It's why she goes to protect the "new scared guy" (and manipulator with years of experience). It's why she reacts with such fear when the track breaks. It's all done out of this desire.

It's her moral code.

Also I think whenever she fails this it sends her into a pit of self loathing and I have the panels to prove this check this out. Take a look at this.

THAT right there is Lanolin's guilt. Can we talk about Lanolin's Guilt? PLEASE sonicblr I've been dying to talk about Lanolin's guilt with you ALL DAY okay?/ref

Lanolin openly acknowledging that she's afraid of failing others (in the sense of making people unsafe) in Urban Warfare (I feel at least) is a small but important key to understanding Lanolin's mindset. Lanolin feels GUILT every time she's done something to hurt others. It's why her eyes go so ghost wide when the track breaks.

Because she's put people in danger.

NOW I think Lanolin's biggest flaw is that she's not only blunt but I think she forgets that she can ALSO put people in danger (on accident, of course). When she realizes it I think it mentally comes crashing down for her. Girl DOES NOT handle failure well.

(screenshot added because it's cool, her powers are cool)

Lanolin's role in the comic is pretty clear as day, at least to me. She's the straight man! (Well probably not straight and not a man) Basically a straight man in media is someone who takes things seriously. It's their job to point out the utter bonkers stuff going around them and go "what?????"

Which is one of the first things we see her do in the first scenes she's in! I personally love how much her personality clashes with the others, adds some nice chemistry to the mix!

Characters that are typically characterized as "serious" will ALWAYS clash with the goof balls. It's the charm of the dynamic.

I don't know why people hate her so much, genuinely. She shares a lot of character traits with some fan favorites! I do think there might be a uh... bigger reason as to why people hate her.

"Max. What the hell are you talking about?"

Haha. Well. There's two characters I want to discuss for this that do share traits with her and are fan favorites. Other than characteristics.. there is one key difference I want to discuss between Lanolin and these two characters. And this is the hard part where despite the meme I talk about more difficult subject matter.

"What's the main difference between lanolin and these fan favorites?"

ah! Well uh.

Their Genders.

(and well alliance for Starline shurgs very loudly)

Yeah this is unfortunately discuss fandom sexism. It's not lost on me that people absolutely ADORE Shadow and Starline. Characters that are often ones to resort to whatever tactics they deem necessary to achieve their end goals. These tactics can include violence. Hell we know Starline is down right PETRIFIED of failure (issue 50). Shadow is also known for taking charge on things and boldy assuming stuff (SA2). Hell he even assumes himself to be an android at one point.

These are both characters that share a LOT character wise with Lanolin. I know for a FACT if Shadow was the one who kicked Silver out of team dark he'd still be loved. If Starline was in Lanolin's place you'd have people going "Oh guys hear me out owo,,". You know it's bad when I've seen more genuine hate and vile spread about the traumatized teenager than the grown man who canonically helped caused a zombie outbreak (and so much more!!!). I'm saying this and Starline is my favorite Idw character! Keep that in mind while reading all of this!

People would've adored Lanolin if she was a guy. I'm betting it RIGHT now. She wouldn't be "bitchy" she'd be "determined and strong". She wouldn't of "gotten what she deserved" there would've been posts about how it "wasn't his fault <:[[[[".

Why do I say this? Because I've seen this happen in fandom.

Again

And Again

And AGAIN.

HELL Even to the extent that people have called Mabel Pines, A 12 YEAR OLD. A Manipulator. Princess Bubble gum wasn't being nice to Finn she was "leading him on". Rose Quartz wasn't a morally gray figure she was "a reckless person".

Lanolin isn't "just doing her job and making a mistake" she's "being a bitch and getting what she deserved".

I'm gonna keep it real with you guys, I was considering deleting this last part of the post but I genuinely think it needs to be said, Lanolin's hate feels SO deeply rooted in sexism. Espically with all the talk of her "getting what she deserved". I'm so stuck on that because it feels so... gross. Saying you want her cooked. Saying you want her dead. Feels so gross. She's a teenager, most likely. Even then she openly acknowledges she's inexperienced.

She's learning, let her learn. Like everyone is letting Surge learn.

Am I saying everyone who hates Lanolin is a sexist? No. Am I saying that Lanolin would've been given more slack if she was a man? Abso-fucking-lutely.

WHOA that got super serious real quick haha! Well!!!! That's the post! Sorry guys I tried to keep this one light hearted but I genuinely felt like I had to get that last part off of my chest. I really hope the next "character deep dive" I make is more light hearted. Thank you for reading!

[foreos]

the bad kids rated by how much they would like sonic the hedgehog

a sequel to my hatchetfield version

- riz gukgak: 1/10 i don’t think riz even touches video games. i can’t imagine riz having any strong media interests because his life is so busy all the time so i doubt he would think about sonic the hedgehog at all. if he ever played a sonic game though i think he’d be like unnaturally good at it because he’s got great reaction times and it’s not hard for him to intuit what the best routes are. he’d probably only play in like a social situation though.

- kristen applebees: 10/10 kristen grew up playing sonic games with her brothers and she likes them. sonic is very very good for adhd brains and i think she likes running around really really fast. fucking AWFUL at the games though she has a dexterity score of four. she has never passed a quicktime prompt in her life but that does not stop her from booting up the games and playing the first three or so levels. doesn’t really engage with the media past the games but that’s just because if she had a comic book she’d lose it and while she watched some of the cartoons as a kid, it’s been a long time. probably hasn’t played in years.

- adaine abernant: 10/10 she did not know what sonic was until freshman year and at first she did not see the appeal. she’s never been allowed plain and stupid fun in her entire life and when confronted with it she’s just like…why? but i think as time passes i could actually see adaine really fucking enjoying it if she decided to suspend her disbelief and embrace it. i think in another timeline adaine is much geekier but much like the other bad kids she currently does not have time for that. there’s an alternate universe where adaine is a comic book nerd with sonic opinions but i don’t think any of us are ready for that. there’s probably other franchises she would possibly like better but i think she could get really into it.

- gorgug thistlespring: 0/10 video games frustrate him. his fingers are too big for the buttons and sonic moves way too fast. like kristen he cannot get past the first few levels and so he and sonic don’t really see eye to eye. he wouldn’t say he hates the guy or has anything against the franchise but he would probably rather do, like, anything else.

- fig faeth: 10000/10 i think fig would like it. while it does not match her aesthetic i think she definitely grew up with sonic games as a kid and is pretty good at them. definitely had to beat video game levels for gilear growing up. as i said earlier with kristen, sonic is very good for adhd brain and i think she likes to build as much speed as she can, plus sonic music is fucking dope and i think fig is a fan of stupid fun. sometimes fig finds herself wishing that he would go even faster, though.

- fabian seacaster: -100000/10 he’s scared of rodents and obsessed with being cool fabian does not like sonic. yes, i know sonic is not a rodent but like. fabian does not care that is a walking talking blue rat with one weird eyeball that has two pupils and he is wearing NO clothes. plus, sonic is considered deeply lame by the general public, especially high schoolers, so fabian would not be caught dead in even the same room where sonic-related activities are occurring. fabian goes out of his way to avoid any and all sonic media, which is a shame because when fabian was a kid bill seacaster impulsively bought Every Video Game so there’s probably a completed sonic collection somewhere in fabian’s house. like i think fabian owns sonic chronicles and tails’s sky patrol and sonic labyrinth and he has no idea. in another life fabian is a shadow fan.

BONUS:

- ragh barkrock: 1/10, like gorgug and riz he’s just not really a video game guy.

- ayda aguefort: 1000000000/10 she would fucking love it. she would love it so so so much. much like adaine i think ayda would be extremely geeky in another, less stressful life and i think if fig introduced her to it she would be all fucking in. comics tv shows video games, all of it. i think ayda would eat that shit up.

- cassandra: 10/10 blaze reminds her of kalina and she thinks it’s fun and i am desperate for cassandra to have fun.

- aelwyn: 0/10 absolutely not. she agrees with fabian that sonic is creepy and should wear clothes. she tries not to think about it, ever.

[the-starlight-project]

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

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

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

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

HOORAY !!! ANOTHER LONGFORM QUESTION!!!

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

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

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

[blazehedgehog]

It's interesting that you've run into more Sonic '06 defenders as of late, because I think I've noticed the same thing. I've been thinking about why that is for a hot minute, and I wonder if it has to do with just how awful the video game industry is at the moment.

Games come out polished sometimes nowadays, but normally they're catastrophically broken on release and take months of post-launch patches to become somewhat playable, if they get those patches at all. Perhaps younger fans of the Sonic series, having grown up in this environment, go back to play Sonic 06', see all of its bugs and bad game design decisions, and think "Wait, that's it? That's not even the worst game I've played this week."

That is, it's less that Sonic '06 is suddenly good now, it absolutely is not, but more that the bar has sunken so deep into hell that even a blatantly broken game like Sonic '06 doesn't look particularly bad in comparison to what comes out now, so they miss the context of why it was so controversial on release.

This is an old ask that got buried, but I think it's still relevant, and to me it's just...

Liking something ironically is the path to liking it unironically. Maybe that means you're being honest with yourself, or maybe it's just familiarity. That happens with music -- so much so that there's an article from the National Library of Medicine about it. The more familiar you are with music, even if it's a song you hate, the more you eventually begin to enjoy it. It's a scientific fact.

And Sonic 06 became something of a rite of passage. Everyone knows about it, either because they've played it for themselves or they've watched someone else play some (or all) of it. Everyone has their favorite moments. Whether it's

The Winder of a Shoemaker typo (it should be "Wonder")

The inevitable realization you have to save manually after getting your first game over in Wave Ocean

Having to reload the entire world every time the state of anything changes

Sonic's boss fight with Silver, and "It's no use!"

Followers reappearing in the town stages only to instantly fall over dead.

Meeting Sonic Man

Meeting the Soleanna Boys

Meeting Pele the Dog

Sonic flicking the card at Knuckles who fumbles the catch

Riding the metal crate into space

Seeing Eggman's Real Human Eyes behind his sunglasses

Eggman's keyboard mashing "typing" animation

Realizing Sonic's head is 3/4ths the size of Princess Else's entire body

The constant back and forth of rescuing Elise only to have her get kidnapped again only to rescue her again only to have her get kidnapped again

The Windows XP background FMV

Elise's attempted suicide

Luppy Luppy

Which one is the Captain?

That tornado is carrying a car!

Elise's Train is... Uh oh, gotta speed up!

Don't be late.

Long time no see.

Amy and Elise's girltalk moment

The Test of Love

Anna, the Lady in Waiting

Eggman comically going "bonk" off the shrapnel after beating the last boss of Sonic's story

The Iblis Trigger™

The Scepter of Darkness vs. The Book of Darkness

Shadow the Hedgehog using Chaos Control to roundhouse kick Silver in the back of the head

Showing a crucified Shadow the Hedgehog in the future

The "Head to Wave Ocean" line flub still existing in the game

Mephiles is literally Shadow's shadow

THEN I'LL FIGHT... LIKE I ALWAYS HAVE

Having the ability to time travel to literally any point in history and never just going back to before Eggman arrived

The blue chaos emerald paradox loop

Watching someone's soul leave their body when they have to do Silver's billiard ball puzzle

Using the cyan gem to turn collision detection into a suggestion

Using the purple gem to go out of bounds

Spamming Omega's hover to fly anywhere

The death and return of Sonic the Hedgehog

etc. etc. etc.

I'll say it again and again and again, but it's the Rocky Horror Picture Show effect. When that movie came out, it was not beloved by the mainstream! But it became notorious as a midnight movie where the rowdy graveyard shift audience would heckle the picture, transforming it into something that was fun to watch (and participate in).

And the more they watched it, the more they heckled it, the more people realized that maybe they actually love the movie. And now it's this big, important cultural touchstone.

That's Sonic 06. Let's do the time warp again.

[libelelle]

OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER. my opinion on Silver is by no means the single correct one nor do i think it should be, do what you do idc. we're all here throwing him at a wall repeatedly for fun

Ok so. whats the point i wanted to make. oh yeah right

SILVER THE HEDGEHOG!!!! FUCK!!!!

his character is so interesting this is a character for sure. im screaming and crying etc etc. the unfortunate part is NO ONE GETS HIM. i see a lot of interpretations that cherry pick his personality and experiences and it just! isnt it! he is a complicated character!

trying to simplify him down to 🥺innocent soft boi🥺 doesn't work, not only cause you're ignoring his DEBUT GAME (NEVER FORGET HE TRIED KILLING SONIC) but also because you just disconnected him from his entire backstory and motivations. i see people making Silver into a "cinnamon roll" guy and it always makes me grimace because... do you know WHY he is clueless. do you know why he doesn't get things or is too trusting or this or that. its because he grew up in the apocalypse alone. he hasn't experienced anything normal or healthy in his entire life. and since these traits, which are used to make him into the innocent cinnamon roll, are a result of growing up in a very abnormal environment, are symptoms of having never been in social situations and never had a normal day-to-day life. this means you can't ignore the OTHER characteristics that result from it. by this i mean hes very independent, very stubborn and aggressively mean (i recommend watching any of Silvers interactions in the Rivals games. he is extremely confrontational and a very good example of the kind of behaviour i'm talking about). but since this doesn't fit the bill for the character that you want him to be, you remove the context. him being clueless has nothing to do with his background. hes anxious cause hes a smol bean, not because hes been drowning in responsibility and trauma for as long as hes been alive. hes kind because hes innocent, not because he chose to be despite it all

"but linnea! what about IDW! hes very innocent in that!" INCORRECT BUZZER. IDW is not the same. i'll admit, the writing isn't always what i want or expect for Silver, but there's something important for you to note here

Silver is ✨Recovering✨

from my perspective at least. what i see is Silver, who has actively been working together with other people for MONTHS. he has friends, a support net, as well as hobbies. these are things he didn't have before, and being with these people, in both calm and hard times, helped him. So what we are seeing isn't the trauma responses, we're seeing the result of being acclimatized into a healthier and safer position. that's why there's a change in behaviour. this doesn't mean hes a soft boy now. AGAIN hes complicated. be careful not to boil him down to a single trait. in IDW we still see moments where he experiences difficulties because of his past. examples include when he met Whisper, Failed Social Interaction and said this:

he struggles with boundaries! of course he does! he's still getting the hang of being around people

then also recently when he came to help Sonic in 58:

he is struggling!! with nothing to focus on! his default is fight fight save the future fight!! he's not used to normal life and that makes him anxious and frustrated, unable to focus on things he cares about, as we see in the future growth comic in the 2022 annual

there are likely more examples but idc. need to finish this post. continuing, Silver is complicated, meaning that even when he is aggressive and tunnel visioning on a task, he has more going on. one thing i fucking lovee LOVE love about Silver is that he has hope. fuck if i were him i think i'd have given up. THOSE horrors? every day? no thanks

Silver feels anguish and frustration and fear. this being said even at his angstiest moments he has hope. you cannot look me in the eye and tell me that Silver fought through every horrible disaster, coming back to a newly devastated world every time and decided to continue with no hope for a better future. he is determined and he has hope, even if he has to fight tooth and nail for it. Usually when i think about Silver and his odd optimism, i go back to '06, when he's having his moral crisis over killing sonic.

"To kill someone to save the world... is that really the right thing to do?"

it would've been understandable if he decided it was the right thing to do, even if sonic was someone who was kind and loved, because that's just how bad the world is. maybe its just me, but the way this thought broke through in spite of his bull headed focus on destroying the iblis trigger speaks to me about his nature as a person. even coming from the bleak world he came from and even with the tunnel vision he had, he still considered this one persons life to be important too.

he is, at heart, a very gentle and kind person. he is, at heart, someone who is strong and who wants to help others. a version of Silver that is sad all the time, unable to see the good in the world (a phenomena i don't see much of thankfully) isn't true to Silver as a character because its missing that core trait to his character, that he wants to help because he cares.

Silver can't be one or the other. one way ignores his background and his trauma, which leaves out important parts of his personality, the other just abandons a very integral part of who he is.

the point really is to say that (slaps roof of Silver) this bad boy can fit so much layers!

[xviiper-rents-houses]

Hm… what about Yandere Scourge? He’s already got some of the obsessive traits to him.

Oh gosh yes! I do agree, Anon, Scourge definitely has a few obsessive traits that accompany him well into his last scenes in the Archie comics.

Scourge was one of my most favorite characters from the Archie comics, so it's so exciting that I'd get a request like this! It's ironic because I was drafting up some ideas before for him to just release so this request is perfect :D 💚 Prepare for a whole analysis! 🫡

Also, Imma assume you wanted romantic headcanons since it wasn't specified! I can do more in the future if you'd like 🩷

TW: Yandere behavior. I do NOT condone this in real life, this behavior is unacceptable and inhumane. Treat others kindly.

This work talks about physical abuse, (mild in the sense of other characters canonically being hurt) and a lingering threat that the same will happen to you, the reader. Other traits such as possessiveness, obsessiveness and manipulation are talked about in mild detail. Read at your own risk.

He needs to have power, Scourge evolving said power to be a necessity in his life because he wants to be acknowledged, (the comic itself makes fun of his existence, including the desperate ways he goes just to be known). In the comics, rather than earn that respect Sonic gets through being a kind person, Scourge takes that "respect." All throughout the series, he's drawn in these outlandish poses that demand your attention, fighting for some screen time in a comic that he thinks is supposed to be about him, opposed to Sonic, the true hero.

Scourge is everything that Sonic is not. He is supposed to be Sonic's biggest rival, the most devious guy out there, Eggman himself "paled" in comparison but instead, Scourge is Sonic's worst rival. The comics elaborate on this because as stated before, Scourge goes through desperate methods just to have some validation, the comic making fun of him in the process. Scourge is able to achieve his ultimate form and absolutely beat down his enemies without a single scratch yet, he screams at Sonic for running away when Scourge is talking to him. The King has arrived! Show him your respect, now!

Here, you can find Shadow quite offended that Scourge has a crown.

Scourge as a yandere would definitely want power over his dearest. With his relationship with Fiona Fox, she fed into his ego and need for command. She crafted the plans while he did the majority of conquering. However, each time Fiona could have outshined Scourge, she always checked back with her boyfriend because she knew he was supposed to be the main guy. However, with you in his life as his new chick (obsession), Scourge demands respect and control. He's the biggest baddie around, the King, respect. Scourge himself believed that he should be the new face of the comics, obsessing over the fact that he had to one up Sonic. Proof of that? Well, just take a look at the image below. Need I say more on just how petty Scourge can be? (Yes).

You cannot have anyone in your life that is more important than Scourge himself. He is your top priority, as you are the same to him. Scourge has to know where you are at all times, needs you to be by his side and edging him on to do bigger and badder stuff, (he's a showoff and not in a good way). He conquered all of Moebius, (he killed his dad in the process), taking over as King Scourge, crowning Fiona Fox as his queen. Since Scourge is yandere in this AU, he's enraged that Fiona would leave him, (even though she did return to him again) so when he had stumbled upon you, he took you by his side without a second thought. Fiona on the other hand, when she returned to Scourge, wasn't so fortunate as she had been put in her place rather forcefully. This brings up another point: Scourge will make you listen one way or another, even if it means physically harming you. For context, he took the evil counterpart of Antoine, Patch's eye, (hence his name) and constantly threatens him over losing his other eye in case Scourge feels he's stepping out of line.

Here, you can find Scourge absolutely dunking on Sonic about not having a girlfriend anymore. He is also doing his outlandish poses as mentioned before.

Going off of his quote and points before, "Any guy after me is gonna be bland," Scourge fully believes that after beating everyone into submission and having absolute control, you'd have to want him like he wants you. Nobody loves you like I do. You can't be in a relationship with anybody else! They're not good enough, too lazy and all time losers. But don't worry, Scourge is here to make your life so much better. He's got everything under control because Scourge is the King. No one would dare disrespect him and his status! Not ever. Not even you, I mean c'mon, he's King and you've got to respect that. Fiona was well put into her place, wasn't she? Would be a real shame if Scourge just picked up Fiona again to stomp all over her as you helplessly watch, wouldn't it? Doesn't that make you want to listen to him more? Lighten up babe, be his sweet little devilish angel that you are and nobody gets hurt. Too badly. Oh but don't worry your pretty little head, Scourge isn't afraid of some blood! In fact, he loves it. Sometimes, he likes it when you talk to other people. Gives him more of an excuse to leave that said person in a bloody, unintelligible mass of meat and even graffiti over the body because he's just so bad (twisted).

In the Archie comics, I've taken notice of how possessive Scourge is over his crown, a symbol of "King Scourge," the one that everyone fears and will do anything for. Even when Sonic and Shadow teamed up together to try and take down Scourge in a brief fight, Scourge barely manages to pull off beating both of them up and lands just in time to catch his crown. His crown is his identity, he will not lose that. Having you as his lover is now part of his identity because he's absolutely smitten with you. Just like his crown, Scourge cannot lose you or he's nothing. Whatever he had felt for Fiona doesn't matter because you are the new highlight of his regime, the key piece to helping him feel validated. If Sonic dares to take you away from him, oh-oh-oh man, he'd feel real bad just as soon as Scourge became Super Scourge and showed Sonic was a big deal he really is. (Lol Scourge is buullllllyyyyyy).

In summary: Scourge would be possessive, obsessive, controlling, abusive, manipulative and overall, narcissistic.

Thank you for reading my blurb! Lemme know if you'd like to have more!

[krafterwrites]

Okay, revised version of the post now that it's not early in the morning and some flaws with the original one have been pointed out: Adam Bryce Thomas has done some pretty gross stuff, and I do not think he should be working for IDW Sonic (elaboration and proof below)

To begin, Adam Bryce Thomas has drawn NSFW art of Sonic characters, including Blaze. I won't link to it because I don't want to spread it, but if you really want to see concrete proof with your own eyes (and can stomach seeing it), then it's on the site e621. This is already pretty bad, but with the context it gives, it make a lot of other stuff he's done also gross

Both in commissions he does for people and in the actual comics themselves, Adam draws Whisper with a noticeably larger chest than she has in a lot of her other appearances

(Panels on the left are from other artists, and panels on the right are from Adam)

I can't prove that he's doing this for creepy reasons (as Couch pointed out this could just be how he naturally draws bodies), but since we do know that he's not above drawing a character even younger than Whisper in outright explicit artwork, I would say it's a very real possibility

Another thing is this. Again, I can't prove for a fact that this art was drawn with sexual purpose, or that he liked it for that reason. But the use of the word curvy does kind of tip the scales in the direction of "this guy is being gross", especially considering what we know about him

That's basically all I have for now, I'll update this post later if I find more stuff. In conclusion, Adam Bryce Thomas is provably gross about the Sonic characters in his free time, and possibly gross about them in the comic itself as well

[weirdozjunkary]

Insert me ranting about the state of IDW Sonic (spesifically just sonic himself) cause I have a few words regarding the recent issues.

(DISCLAIMER: if you like the IDW comics that’s fine, I’m not saying that it’s bad to like them. I’m just expressing my opinion about what I see regarding the series so far.)

In general I don’t mind what SOA is doing to Sonic in terms of his character, making him have morals and all that. Even if it’s OOC compared to his Japanese counterpart, I personally think it at least somewhat fits given who Sonic is as a person. I know that from region to region, characters can be characterized differently.

THAT BEING SAID, I absolutely hate the recent direction with Sonic and his morals in IDW. He forgives people way too fucking easily and that literally always fucks things over in the end. It feels like a cop-out for more drama, instead of doing something interesting with it.

While I know that forgiving people as a form of morals is alright, but when every single time Sonic does that it always creates something bad. As well, the way he tries to justify it makes him sound so fucking unlikeable and comes off as entitled. Like “I believe this so you have to agree with me.”

As well, it bugs me so much how ignorant everyone seems to be now, ESPECIALLY post Metal Virus. Characters forgiving villains who have LITERALLY nearly killed or have killed or show no want in redemption. Characters who overreact in the most in appropriate times (issue #63-#64).

Now I know SOJ has the final say in everything (post Archie) as far as I’m aware, so I don’t know what exactly goes through with them or not. But I find it so frustrating when these characters act so stupid, especially in the most high stakes of situations.

It makes me so upset, because with how these characters react, it makes most of the villains seem more in the right. Like Surge, who though her ways are admittedly very extreme (killing off the heroes and villains and anyone who stands in her way so she doesn’t have to be hurt anymore), she seems at least a bit more logical than Sonic, who seems to be just like “lmao I fight people but I want them to be good so I let them roam free and cause problems.”

While in previous issues these problems aren’t extremely obvious, in the recent issue (#67) it is so obvious it fucking hurts. The fact that literally everyone apart from Whisper is so trusting of Surge and Kit, and all because Sonic trusts them completely, even if they LITERALLY show they don’t care and want to cause problems. Not a single one of them (apart from Whisper) even remotely shows any suspicion of them, or even decides to keep a closer eye on them. Everyone is just like “okay, this is completely fine.”

[multiisketch]

Multi's Ramblings: A Warped Perspective

Given the attention my Mini-Comic has gotten and the fact that I've had people asking about a full AU and such, I thought I would collect my thoughts on it here.

As of right now, I don't have plans to make an extensive comic for A Warped Perspective as I am focused on Sonic Boom: Revisited currently (please check it out if you haven't! I plan to play around with Sonic's morality and transformations in that as well!) but will write and draw stuff for Warped as I have the inclination to do so.

This is going to be a long one, so I will be placing it all under the cut!

The Personality of Fleetway Super Sonic

I like to imagine if Fleetway Super Sonic ever did come to the mainline comics, he'd be a sort of... manifestation and release of Sonic's normally tempered rage. If Sonic is the wind, then Fleetway is a hurricane of unchallengeable and intense emotion. Even the smallest infraction on his person would result in an explosive response. He's not necessarily evil at first. After all, he's still Sonic. He still desires the same things, he's just incapable of gauging how severe his actions are.

For example:

Sonic likes destroying Badniks. He likes the rush fighting gives him, but he doesn't let himself relish in the destruction or defeat. He reaches down and offers his hand at the first sign of reluctance. Fleetway doesn't have the luxury of restraint. He's too blinded by his anger. He'd fight a rival like Knuckles or Shadow to the brink of death simply for standing in his way.

Sonic likes making jokes at the expense of his foes and rivals. He chuckles when he manages to throw someone off balance, but he's not cruel. It's all in good fun. Fleetway finds it all hysterical. The more appalled they look the better. He's seeking the same high, but is unable to get it without pushing boundaries well beyond their limit.

Fleetway would be Sonic's entire personality and morality weaponized until it looses all sense and becomes madness.

Eggman's 9th symphony

I think back to that line in IDW Issue #50 where Sonic says something to the effect of, "That's the problem with giving people a choice. You can't stop them from making the wrong ones." This line always stuck out to me because it almost seems like a prelude to a potential breaking point for Sonic. While Issue #50 comes long after the warp topaz is dealt with (for the most part), I think it makes for an interesting moral quandary to touch on with Fleetway. Eggman poisoned the world with the Metal Virus and some part of Sonic blames himself for that. Shadow and Espio's words did not help.

Now... Sonic, normally, is not one to let that type of talk keep him down for long. He always keeps moving. Live and Learn. But even as he moves on some part of him must still linger on what he could have done differently.

As Fleetway, Sonic's emotional dissonance is heightened. That ounce of doubt he has in his actions grows out of control along with all his other emotions. He's tired of giving people a choice only for them to make the wrong ones. And now? Now they don't get a choice. If they want to resist--if they want to stand in his way--FINE. But he's not holding back, anymore. For anyone. And he's gonna enjoy it.

How Does This Fit into IDW?

AKA the AU part

Note: this is just a general overview of what I personally think would be interesting to see. Feel free to speculate further!

Remember issue #30-32? So, take that plot, but instead of Sonic incidentally warping into Blaze's dimension with amnesia, he crashes back onto his planet in the middle of nowhere (some nice lake area). Strangely, he's still in his super form, but the Chaos Emeralds are nowhere to be found. Instead, the Warp Topaz, imbued with chaos energy has become entangled with Sonic's form. This would not be visibly on his person, but its energy effects are evident in his glowey bits and the red rings around Sonic's eyes (tbh I didn't think about the design connections between Fleetway and the Warp Topaz until just now, but it's weirdly there). Imagine how the Shadow Crystal in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess sinks into Link. That's the imagery I've got in my head as Sonic lays in his self-made crater, unconscious. Maybe I'll draw this initial crash eventually, idk.

I think it would be cool for Dr. Starline to find him. At first, Sonic wouldn't remember anything, falling back on the original amnesia plot. Except something about his behavior is noticeably different. He's more... prone to his negative emotions and extremely skittish for the normally laid back hedgehog. His... awareness is dialed up to 11.

Starline would take care of him for a few days to analyze the effects the Warp Topaz is having on him. He would conclude that the Warp Topaz is somehow managing to maintain Sonic's super form through latent Chaos Energy while granting Sonic the abilities of the Topaz itself. This means Sonic can create portals to warp around at will. However, it has also effected Sonic's personality, intensifying all his worse aspects. Satisfied with this version of Sonic, Starline would try to manipulate him emotionally against Eggman, conveniently playing himself out to be a victim as he explains the Metal Virus, the Zeti rampage, and all the harm Eggman caused.

But... Sonic's not stupid, he's just got amnesia. As soon as he realizes Starline is conveniently leaving out his own involvement, it's game over. He doesn't kill Starline--he says it wouldn't be any fun if he did--but he does leave him with a crippled hand before rushing out to find Eggman. Because at the end of the day he's still Sonic. He still wants to stop bad people.

From there, Sonic would tear through cities looking for Eggman, calling the attention of his friends. They'd track him down. Try to talk him; remind him of who he really is. And, oh, yes, he'd remember, eventually. He'd remember everything. There'd be a soft moment for that unescapable second--a chance. But, in the end, it doesn't change anything. And that's where the real pain is. You see, he's had time to think now. He realizes why he's been so angry even without his memories. And it's because Espio and Shadow were right. He was being too soft. Not just on Eggman, but on everyone. He can see it all now though the Warp Topaz's power. The pain and suffering Eggman's caused the world over. And not just Eggman, but the everyday people. The vagabonds like Rough and Tumble or the Zeti. All the evil in the world that just eats at his planet like its nothing but a tool to be used up. He's ashamed of how blinded he was to it all. And he can fix it, now. Nobody will disturb their peace again. They won't be allowed too.

But...

But now his friends are telling him his clarity is blindness. That everyone deserves to be able to make choices for themselves. Even if they're wrong because how else are we supposed to grow and learn?

And this angers him. His hands shake. His teeth grind. They're saying this isn't him. That Sonic wouldn't do this. Their Sonic. They think he needs to be stopped. Whatever he is.

Well, who needs them? Who needs anyone? They deserve to be stepped on if that's what they think. He's so powerful now. They can see it. Are they scared? Are they scared of him? Are they all scared? They should be. They should be terrified of what he could do. Because it's frightening. It's... It's...

Is he scared, too?

Eggman attacks with his Omega Robot. Sonic rips through it like it's nothing.

Eggman's collar is wrapped tightly around his fist. He's so close to ending it all.

But... Oh man. Why is he hesitating?

Because Eggman's not scared. He just looks... disappointed?

And Sonic's laughing now. He's laughing like a madman. He can't do it. Why can't he do it? What is this? What is this?

Sonic doubles over in pain. His chest is hurting. The Warp Topaz. It wasn't built for this. The Chaos Energy fueling it is quickly beginning to dissipate. It's going to kill him. It's killing everyone. He's...

Sonic plunges his hand into his chest. It phases through, gripping the Warp Topaz inside of him. Screaming, he pulls it out.

It clatters on the pavement as Sonic slumps over. His blue hue returns. His friends gather around, checking him over. Eggman watches from a far.

That would be the end of it, right? The hurricane. It's dissipated. Sonic's... okay. Shaken, but okay. He can think straight. He can--

We're so pathetic, you know that?

There's a voice--right in Sonic's head.

The power to right all that's wrong with the world, to stop Eggman once and for all and what do you do with it? You throw it away! Just to feel better about yourself!

You might be in control, now, but next time?

Next time, I won't let you stop us.

The voice cackles as it fades with the flow of the wind. Everyone else thinks its over now because the Warp Topaz and Sonic are separated. But Sonic knows it's power created a wound inside his heart. Who know what could tear it open, again?

Couldn't be when Sonic almost gets electrocuted to death or when there's a bunch of chaos fueled crystalline structures causing havoc, could it? :)

ANYHOO

That's what I got for yah! I've been agonizing over posting this for a while, so I hope it makes sense.

Thanks for reading this far, too! I don't exactly know what to call this AU-thingy yet. If anyone has any ideas please let me know in the comments! I read every single one I get! And if you have any further questions about it, my ask box is open!

[shadamyheadcanons]

It’s kinda cute to see that Bark has a canonical crush on Amy (in the newest comic if you haven’t seen). She’s such a magnet for the stoic, hardy, initially antagonistic types lol. How do you think Shadow would feel to know that Bark was crushing on Amy before anyone else?

In reference to this interaction in IDW’s recent comic for her 30th anniversary:

It was also made apparent in Sonic’s 30th anniversary comic:

Looks like IDW took a cue from Archie and re-canonized Amy’s tendency to get cold easily. Sonic never took the hint...

...but it’s free real estate for other Amy ships. A+.

The bigger question is why a polar bear needs a scarf in the first place. Maybe I’m not supposed to ask that.

Anyway, I wouldn’t say it’s 100% confirmed that it’s a crush. No one ever says it is. He might just think she’s a sweet little girl. Panels like these make it seem like he just thinks she’s a nice kid, like a little sister. You could easily substitute Knuckles in for Bark here:

Blushing is usually used to indicate a crush, but not always. It can also be used to show embarrassment. I personally think he’s just shy because he’s not used to being hugged and hearing things like this:

It’s not surprising that Bark has a soft spot for her. He’s very strong and hangs out with Fang’s group, so a lot of people assume the worst. On top of that, he’s nonverbal, so he can’t really argue against it. She’s the only one who gives him a chance off the bat.

It’s also more appropriate if it’s not romantic, given their implied age gap. I’m glad Sega removed the official ages, but even without exact numbers, I’d be very surprised if an official Sonic publication made an older teenager have a crush on a child. If they did, I think Shadow would hunt him down, lol. I have a headcanon about him going after Storm about it, but Storm actively makes himself a problem. Bark isn’t like that.

Even if another stoic and quiet character developed a crush on Amy, though, I don’t think Shadow would be jealous. I usually imagine Shadow hiding his feelings for Amy, and this is the same situation. He doesn’t act on it. At most, I could see them exchanging a subtle nod of acknowledgement.

They’d just both have good taste. Shadow might have to get used to it, but after that, I doubt he would see a character like that as a “problem.”

Shadow also might just flat-out appreciate Bark. It’s always a relief to have someone else who makes her safety a priority. Even when Bark and Amy “fight,” he outright refuses to hurt her:

(In case anyone needs more evidence that blushing isn’t always romantic in this comic, Amy’s blushing right there in panel three. Something tells me she probably doesn’t see this as a romantic situation.)

And when they’re on the same team, he keeps an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t rush into danger and get out of her depth:

I made a post recently pointing out that Shadow might have helped Amy out in Cryptic Castle because he also notices she rushes into situations she can’t handle alone. She’s a danger magnet whose first ever appearance was getting kidnapped, and it was a long time before that stopped happening. We need more characters who’ll keep an eye on her. I can imagine Shadow and Bark pointing to situations like these and looking at each other as if to say, “Ah, so you’re the reason she made it to adulthood unscathed.” They’d see each other as allies, not competition.

[solalunar-eclipse]

Ball & Chain of My Own Making

Written as part of the Sonic the Hedgehog Big Bang 2024, hosted by @sthbigbang!

Summary: Set in the Sonic the Comic (Fleetway Publications) universe. Now that Robotnik's grasp on the planet has finally been removed, the world is beginning to recover. During this process, Sonic goes to meet up with his old friend, Porker Lewis, on the Floating Island. Unfortunately, they're long overdue for a conversation…and it's going to happen whether he wants it to or not.

Wonderful art (may contain spoilers!) by:

@eosomit (GORGEOUS ART BY EOSOMIT HERE) @pikafleetsyolo (FANTASTIC ART BY PIKAFLEETS HERE)

AO3 Link

Wooden scaffolding arched towards the bright blue sky, free of smog for the first time in years. The foundations of future homes spread out across the land of the Emerald Hill Zone, built atop the rubble and ashes of the original village, proving that soon, the people who once lived here would be back and better than ever before.

A sudden gust of wind rattled the scaffolds, making them shake but not crumble under its force—because after all, this was no ordinary wind. This was the controlled tailwind created by the high-octane racing of one Sonic the Hedgehog, Hero of Mobius, reaching speeds even faster than his namesake.

He skidded to a stop in the midst of the construction, admiring the view around him. It was good to finally see the world rebuilding now that Robotnik had fallen…this had been just a dream for far too long, so to have it become tangible reality, something he could reach out and touch, was downright awesome.

After a few moments, he spotted one of his closest friends, Miles “Tails” Prower—to him just Tails—helping to push a high-up beam into a slightly better position with the assistance of his namesake tails, which spun like the blades of a helicopter.

“Hey, pal, you got anything ya need taking care of ‘round here?” Sonic yelled up to him. “Because you know if you do, it’ll be done before you’re finished saying so!” he finished, winking up at the fox.

Tails flew down from his place atop the framework, landing neatly in front of Sonic. “I’m afraid that was actually the last piece of work I had on my list for now! I think I’m going to go help out Johnny with his staff—he says it’s been on the blink lately, and I thought it surely couldn’t be much harder than that time I helped you repair your plane!” He beckoned happily for Sonic to walk alongside him as the two headed back to their current base of operations, and the hedgehog did so without protest.

“Hmh.” Sonic replied eloquently, folding his arms and frowning slightly. “Amy and Tekno are still out too, yeah?”

“They are…” Tails looked up at his friend for a moment, before his eyes widened with an idea. “Hey, there has to be a couple of malfunctioning badniks left to take out somewhere, right?”

Sonic sighed. “Not for a hundred miles—and believe me, I’ve looked.”

The fox’s twin tails flicked nervously. “I mean, the only work we have going on right now is this whole relocation project…the thing is, I don’t think any other baddies are quite ready to crawl out of the shadows so soon after Robotnik vanished.” he explained.

Sonic abruptly snapped his fingers. “Hey, there’s an idea! I’m gonna take the Tornado up to the Floating Island, see how that end of the relocation’s shaking out up there! Seeya, gotta scram!”

And with that, he was gone, Tails’s call of “bye!” (accompanied by an understanding smile he didn’t see) just barely reaching him.

Within moments, Sonic was already in the cockpit of his trusty biplane, flipping switches with the muscle memory of someone who had piloted it a hundred times before. His eyes roamed over the controls, then shifted to the shining red paint that adorned it—

…oh no…what have I done?

The Hero of Mobius abruptly froze, his fingers trembling almost imperceptibly as he remembered an earlier version of this very plane, crumbling and burning before his eyes—the fire had burned all around him, smoke choking the air, but this time not from one of Robotnik’s factories, instead it—

Sonic shook his head, gritting his teeth and forcing his quills to relax. “Everything worked out just fine,” he muttered. “He’s gone now. Amy and Tekno said so.”

With a few sharp movements, the plane’s engine was running smoothly, and Sonic taxied it down the runway and took off with ease. He only needed a moment to remember the controls, and then his memory of flying between islands on his adventures took over at last. 

As he climbed in altitude, he banked the plane around so it was pointing straight towards the Floating Island. While Tails had added a map to the Tornado, making it easier than ever to navigate, Sonic didn’t need any of that. He might not have…one particular effect from the Chaos Emeralds any longer, but that didn’t mean their energy would ever stop being intertwined with his being in a way he neither could nor cared to explain. 

He glanced briefly over the side of the biplane, enjoying the sight of Emerald Hill’s in-progress town below, now resembling a child’s plaything more than the towering structures he’d seen Tails working on earlier. 

As Sonic flew further, he passed over rivers that were running cleaner than before (though their banks still bore remnants of sludge) and the half-destroyed ruins of several of Robotnik’s factories. He smirked with a grim sort of satisfaction as he spotted a particularly torn-up building, stamped with that grinning logo all mangled and broken, unable to churn out even one more ounce of material to support the now-toppled Empire.

Thankfully for his notoriously short patience, it didn’t take Sonic long at all to reach the Floating Island. Avoiding the populated Mushroom Hill Zone for the time being, he instead circled the plane around over a large grassy clearing just outside the Hidden Palace, coming in for an (in his opinion) impressively smooth landing.

Sonic hopped out of the biplane after cutting its motor, grinning broadly. Any second now…

“SONIC!” a voice bellowed from within, accompanied by the sound of heavy footfalls. “What on Mobius are you doing here?”

Knuckles the Echidna stepped out of the shadows of the Hidden Palace, his arms folded over his chest and his ever-present glower meeting Sonic’s expectations perfectly. “You’d better not have shown up just to cause trouble. The Emerald Hill folk are in the middle of packing up their entire lives, and I am already at my limit with all the chaos around here.”

Sonic swiped under his nose, his smirk growing wider. “You’ve gotta be having some real trouble guarding all those Chaos Emeralds then, huh? I can always take care of them if you’re not up to it!”

Knuckles’s jaw tightened. “Sonic, I swear—“

“Relax, knucklehead!” he interrupted, cutting Knuckles off before he could get truly enraged. (Unfortunately, the continued presence of his smug smile may not have particularly helped, but he was more than fine with that.) “You should know I’m not here to mess anything up! Just popped up here to check out how things are going on your end. I don’t expect them to be moving quite as fast as my folks, obviously, but I figured if anyone could help speed the process up a little, it’d be yours truly.”

The echidna appeared momentarily torn between the promise of getting complete peace and quiet on his island sooner, or getting marginally more peace and quiet right now by hurling Sonic bodily off the island. Eventually, he just fixed the hero with his most stern glare, before pointing wordlessly to the door of the Hidden Palace.

Sonic snickered, strolling casually into the building and enjoying the irate grumbling behind him. Knuckles was just too easy to rile up, and his reactions were always fantastic.

“Oh, Knuckles, did you find out who it wa—Sonic!”

The hedgehog in question nearly jumped in surprise, but managed to conceal it beneath a smooth pivot to face the speaker…only to smile broadly once he registered just who it was. 

Sitting at one of the consoles around the massive room was none other than Porker Lewis, his old friend and former fellow Freedom Fighter. Porker practically leapt out of his chair, dashing over to greet Sonic more properly. “It’s just wonderful to see you! How’s everything going?”

Sonic flashed his trademark grin, not-so-subtly preening in response to Porker’s unfiltered enthusiasm. “You know me, always chillin’. Howzabout yourself, Lewis? Enjoying that island life?” he added, winking.

Porker smiled wryly, shaking his head. “I’m liking it a lot more now that Robotnik’s gone. Getting to help repair the technology Knuckles’s ancestors left behind is important work, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not nearly as intense as trying to topple a dictatorship.”

The hero’s face didn’t move a millimeter, but somehow, his smile felt so much more strained. “Yeah. It’s…good that’cha can just work on that now instead of having to put up with badniks all day, every day.”

Porker’s own expression faltered briefly, before he brightened up again, albeit more mellow than before. “Well, I’m sure you didn’t just come here to stand around and talk! I’m supposed to be repairing some of the zoom tubes in the Hydrocity Zone today, but I can leave that for later if you want to have a look around Mushroom Hill together.”

“Psh, no way! It’s been ages since I got to give Hydrocity the old run-around, I’ve gotta see if I can beat my fastest time down there! You wouldn’t deprive your old buddy Sonic a chance to do that, wouldja?” The blue hedgehog bounced into a more dynamic stance, one fist held in front of himself and his other hand thrown back as though he were about to spindash right this very second.

“If you tear up this chamber, I will throw you into the ocean.” Knuckles huffed, making Sonic scoff and straighten back up to face the serious guardian. At that very moment, Sonic’s eyes caught on exactly what Knuckles was leaning against—specifically, one of the switchboards in front of the Emeralds’ storage column. 

“Forget it, Porker…you’ve already done more than your share.”

“Don’t mention her, buddy. Lately she’s been driving me up the wall!”

“Whaaaa—!”

(The rock Sonic had been leaning against crumbled beneath him without warning, and he was sent pitching backwards into the column of pure Chaos energy. It surged through him, bright and powerful…and…violent…)

“Whoa, hey, Sonic? Sonic? You with me?”

“Agh!” He jumped backwards, immediately dropping into a fighting stance…before seeing that it was just Knuckles in front of him, one gloved hand raised as though he’d just been waving it in Sonic’s field of view. “Geez, Knucklehead, warn a guy next time you decide to stick your hand in his face, huh?”

“…you didn’t even react after I said I was gonna…chuck you off the island and all that. I didn’t actually mean it, you know. You might be annoying, but I’m not just going to let you drown.” the echidna muttered, still watching Sonic warily, as though he were about to space out again at any minute.

And Sonic wasn’t having any of that.

“Tch, I was just daydreaming about new ways to spindash that smug look ‘a yours right off your face.” he retorted, folding his arms defiantly. “I don’t hafta dignify every smart-aleck thing you say with a comeback, do I?”

Knuckles rubbed his brow, letting out a long-suffering sigh. “Whatever. Porker, can you please take him anywhere that isn’t here? Mushroom Hill, Hydrocity, either way, just…ugh.”

Porker laughed sympathetically, walking up to stand next to Sonic, now with some papers in his arms and some tools on a belt. “I certainly can. So, Hydrocity, is it, then?” he asked the blue hero lightly.

“You know it!” Sonic gave him a thumbs up, before following his old friend to one of the doorways leading out of the Emerald Chamber. 

The two friends traveled down a short hallway, which led to a shaft so deep Sonic couldn’t even begin to see the bottom. Stairs spiraled around its outside, while a pole speared down the center, attached to the ceiling at one end and presumably the floor at the other.

Porker looked over at Sonic. “How about a race? You on the stairs, and me on the pole?” he asked. 

Sonic’s expression split into what had to be the biggest grin he’d worn yet. “You do realize you’re gonna lose embarrassingly, right?”

“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean I can’t at least try, does it?” Porker insisted, his hands in his pockets and the set of his shoulders easy. Internally, Sonic appreciated the sight of his friend relaxed and happy. It had been far too long since he’d last seen Porker like this, after all.

The Hero of Mobius dashed over to the top of the stairs, settling into a sprinter’s starting position. “You sure you’re ready for this, Sonic?” the engineer sked, smiling cheekily as he grabbed onto the pole with both gloved hands.

“Ha! I’ve been ready, Lewis, you oughta know that by now!”

“Alright then!” Porker announced, to the otherwise empty room. “Three! Two! One! Go!”

Immediately, the former Freedom Fighter pushed off the platform and began to slide down the pole—but that could never compare to the power of pure Sonic speed. The instant the sound “go” hit his ears, Sonic tore off down the stairs so fast that anyone watching wouldn’t have been able to make out his features, only seeing the blue blur that had earned him yet another of his many monikers.

Sonic couldn’t help but beam as the wind whistled through his quills and his sneakers pounded on the staircase, loving the thrill of adrenaline that came from riding the line between landing each step as quickly as possible and tumbling into an uncontrolled fall. His agility had to be perfect to pull this off…and of course, it was. He was Sonic the Hedgehog, after all.

Once he hit the bottom, he looked up, waiting for Porker to appear. Thankfully, he’d only just started tapping his foot by the time the engineer came into view.

“Took you long enough!” Sonic smirked up at him, his arms folded and one eyebrow raised.

Porker smiled back. “Well, pardon me for not wanting to free-fall out of control! Not all of us are invincible Heroes of Mobius—that’s your job, after all!”

Sonic hesitated briefly, something about the title resonating oddly in his chest. “Say, speaking of which…it was…a little heroic, kinda, to be the one to clap Robotnik in cuffs like that. How’d you manage it?”

“Oh! Well, it wasn’t much, really. I was just trying to help some of the Emerald Hill folk evacuate out of the Mushroom Hill Zone, when I saw Robotnik trying to escape that massive fight you and Knuckles had with Dr. Zachary! I managed to rally a few of the braver people, and together we got the drop on him and cuffed him before he knew what happened,” Porker explained, beginning to walk into the zone as he spoke. “We were only able to get him because he was so thrown off guard by actually losing his grip on power for once—it was an opportunity we wouldn’t have gotten again! I may have left the Freedom Fighters, but I wouldn’t have been able to sleep at night if I’d let him get away, you know?”

Sonic could feel his confusion showing on his face, but he wasn’t entirely sure how to stop it. “You…I guess, but…”

“Is everything alright?” Porker was frowning in concern, and that was enough to convince Sonic that this conversation wasn’t worth pursuing any longer. 

He laced his hands behind his head casually. “Yeah, sure! You know me, since when am I not?”

“…” When Sonic snuck a peek at his friend out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Porker still looked uneasy. 

Luckily for him, a Bugernaut suddenly swooped down at Porker, forcing him to duck out of the way. Within seconds, Sonic had curled into a ball, smashing the badnik and landing with ease. He quickly scanned the area for any more, spotting a few patrolling in a line farther ahead. While Robotnik was gone, his influence clearly still lingered, even up here on the Floating Island.

Briefly, he glanced back at his friend, who shot him a quick smile and a thumbs-up—which was all he needed to tear off in pursuit. It was a matter of a single jump to reach the nearest platform, and then only one more leap to bounce from badnik to badnik in a line, freeing the various little critters inside.

Sonic landed on an even higher platform, crouching by the edge to scan the ground below for Porker. He could jump down easily…but that would mean more awkward conversation. And when his alternative was scouting ahead and taking out any leftover badniks so Porker wouldn’t have to deal with them? It was hardly a choice at all.

He waved to get Porker’s attention, before jerking a thumb over his shoulder and holding up his fists like he was about to get into a cartoonish fight. The former Freedom Fighter gave him a friendly salute back, before turning back to his path towards the busted zoom tube. Sonic let out a breath that, had anyone else heard, he would have denied having been a sigh. Then, in a blink, he wasn’t there at all, only a blue streak of light marking the path he’d taken. 

Thankfully, he did turn out to have a genuine excuse to rush on ahead, as he found several more clusters of badniks after that initial line of Bugernauts. While Porker followed the lower paths, Sonic took every shortcut he could find in an effort to cover as much ground as possible. However, being thorough did mean he had to make some…unfortunate choices, as well. Hanging from a slow rope pulley above water wasn’t exactly his idea of fun, and neither was the promise of dropping into the water to clear out some aquatic badniks, but let nobody ever say that the Hero of Mobius and leader of the Freedom Fighters wasn’t committed to what he did.

With a gulp of air, Sonic opened his hands and let himself drop, curling into a ball and crashing directly into the water. Thankfully, this particular area seemed to have a fast current to it, meaning that he merely had to keep himself curled up and let the water turn him into a badnik-busting buzzsaw. 

Not really loving the lack of air down here, Sonic thought to himself impatiently, finally uncurling in search of an air bubble once he was reasonably sure the room was clear. Now where would…

There!

A small imperfection in the floor of the area had allowed a tiny crack to form in the material. At that exact point, the liquid could freely drip out—but more importantly, air could flow in. Happily, it didn’t take long at all for an air bubble to appear that was big enough for Sonic to use, and he inhaled the oxygen inside eagerly.

His energy restored, the hedgehog made his way over to a slightly narrower section of pipe, letting the current sweep him along once more. Annoyingly, the water turbines were still active, but it was a small price to pay for his otherwise quick progress, and he could easily avoid them with the help of the support struts used to help the pipe hold its shape. Besides, before long, he was spindashing up a ramp and out of the water, soaring high into the air before landing with perfect ease. 

After a bit of casual platform-hopping, Sonic spied Porker a little ways away, kneeling by a strange mechanism and seemingly inspecting it. This must’ve been the fix-it job he had to do, Sonic mused, before leaping down to join his friend alongside the ancient travel system. 

“So, how’s it going?” he asked, making poor Porker yelp and drop his screwdriver with a clatter, startled.

“Sonic!” he scolded, but his smile severely diminished any attempt at properly convincing the hedgehog to regret his actions. “You startled me!”

“I have eyes, I noticed,” Sonic quipped, shifting to lean casually against the wall. “You didn’t answer my question though, you really gonna leave a guy hanging like that? And here I thought we were friends.” he complained, wearing a faux-devastated expression.

Porker stared at him blankly for a moment, before recognition lit up his eyes. “Oh, yes, of course! It really is on you for making me forget, though.” Sonic scoffed lightly, but otherwise didn’t speak, leaving room for Porker to continue.

“It’s frankly quite a simple fix,” the engineer began. “While the tubes themselves are largely made of stone, the mechanical parts that create the vacuum necessary to enable this kind of rapid travel are much more delicate and therefore prone to failure. That’s why the tubes here aren’t working anymore—there must have been a malfunction in this area. Now all I need to do is open it up—” and just as he said this, he heaved a panel off the side of the structure in front of him, revealing an incomprehensible mess of pistons, cogs, and other unidentifiable bits and bobs. “—and figure out what's going on in here.”

“Huh. Why’d the echidnas decide to stick this thing all the way down here instead of up with everything else in the Emerald chamber? Somehow I don’t get the sense they were particularly in it for the sightseeing opportunity.” Sonic remarked, moving to lean against a different piece of the machine’s casing.

Porker’s laugh rang out from the metal walls of the structure, having already slid mostly inside to take a closer look. “Beats me! Knuckles and I are still having quite a time working on translating the ancient language used on most of the schematics for this place. We just got the blueprints for this all sorted out yesterday—it only became a major priority when the tubes stopped functioning. I haven’t even had a chance to dig through more of what we think are records, since most of our focus has been on the way the Floating Island works anyhow.”

Sonic smirked at the sound of Porker’s evident good mood. “Ol’ Knucklehead better have those blueprints all translated correctly, or else he’s gonna wind up going backwards instead of forwards next time he hops in one a’ these!”

“Oh goodness, I certainly hope it doesn’t come to that!” Porker still sounded amused, but also a little concerned. Not ideal. “At least they’d be working again, I suppose!”

“Well, pal, tell ya what. ‘Cause I’m such a kind and generous soul, I’ll give the tubes a spin once you’ve got them all set up! Just make sure to double-check your screws first—I’m not about to have Knuckles laughing at me if I get closely acquainted with the nearest rock, alright?”

“I’ll certainly do my best!” the engineer replied brightly. “Wait—oh, Sonic, I think I’ve found the problem!” he added, shifting around some more inside the machine.

“Forreal? Huh, I guess all that studying must’ve been worth it if you can find the problem that fast!” Sonic remarked, pushing off from the metal plating and strolling around to where Porker was.

“It’s a relatively simple issue too, thank goodness,” his friend continued, “there’s a hole in the main conduit for the pressurized air. In the long term, this pipe should really be replaced, but for now, I think a simple patch job will suffice.”

“What, and you just happen to have ‘pipe patcher’ on ya at all times?” Sonic asked, snickering slightly. “You go to dinner at someone’s house and think ‘oh no, better not leave my pipe patches at home’?”

Porker’s sigh echoed in the machine’s chamber. “It’s really not all that special, all I’m using is duct tape. So long as it makes a proper seal—which I’m being careful to do now—it should hold well enough for us to go back and get a proper replacement. And duct tape is an essential part of any engineer’s toolkit, especially when they’re going to do some engineering work. Which is exactly what we came down here to do.”

“We?” the hedgehog asked. “S’far as I can see, you’re the one doing all the fix-it jobs around here, I’m just tagging along to clear out badniks and have a good time. Wouldn’t wanna be inside that thingamajig anyway, you can barely even move in there!”

Porker made a movement that seemed to suggest a shrug. “It’s really not that bad,” he said, beginning to extricate himself from the mess of machinery. “I honestly find it quite comfortable—though I must admit there have been a couple of times when the sentries didn’t think to warn me politely before tapping me…I earned myself quite a few bruises before they learned not to do that.” Now fully outside, he shook his head with a slightly tired smile. “At least they apologized afterwards, I suppose.”

“Aw, man, I wish I’d been there! I would’ve paid good money to see that!” Sonic clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder, grinning good-naturedly. “So, we gotta head back and grab that piece, yeah?”

Porker nodded in agreement. “Yes, we do, but first—”

But by the time the word “yes” had left his mouth, Sonic was already in the tube.

“Aw yeah!” he whooped to himself, rocketing upwards at a breathtaking speed. “This is the good stuff!”

Suddenly, however, he noticed that his speed was…beginning to slow down. He frowned. The zoom tubes normally didn’t do that at all, instead letting him blast out at full speed. This wasn’t a new problem Porker would have to fix, was it?

Sonic felt his quills begin to raise as he continued to decelerate, scraping uselessly against the near-frictionless surfaces of the inside of the tubes. The air grew weaker and weaker, struggling to push him up a vertical passage, and the Hero of Mobius felt a cold chill settle in his stomach. 

He curled up just a little tighter, trying to use the movement to regain even a fraction of forward momentum, and that was enough to get him through the bend onto a horizontal plane, but then—

—he stopped moving.

Entirely.

Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest thing on Mobius, could no longer move.

~~~

Porker Lewis, on the other hand, was running as quickly as he possibly could.

He’d wanted to warn Sonic that he needed to check the air pressure first, make sure everything was at least moderately in working order before he let his friend give the zoom tubes a test run, but while Sonic’s thoughts moved much faster than his own, that didn’t necessarily mean he had a greater amount of caution. Now, Porker had no idea where Sonic was, nor whether he’d even made it out of the tubes at all.

Still, the engineer pushed himself to follow the path upwards, in spite of the increasing difficulty he met with as he climbed. More precarious platforms, more obstacles, and wider gaps had to be dealt with, slowing Porker down as he struggled to navigate, but he refused to let the tube out of his sight. He had to be coming to a bend or junction soon at this rate…

And then, he saw it. The tube made a right angle, running along the ceiling of the Hydrocity Zone, and within it, just visible through the glass paneling, was a ball of blue.

Quickly, Porker scanned the area. The panel was held in place by a frame, which could be easily removed with his screwdriver, but getting to the tube in the first place would be rather more difficult. Further examination revealed that there were small crevices and ledges on the wall adjacent to it that he could use to climb up, but staying in position without falling and injuring himself would be complicated, especially since he would essentially need to turn around while on the wall to properly remove the paneling. 

Still, it was the best he could do, given the situation. Removing the screwdriver from his tool belt and holding it in his mouth, Porker began to clamber up the side of the rock wall, moving as quickly as he could without putting himself in danger. He would be no use at all to Sonic with a broken leg, of course.

Speaking of him—“Sonic! I’m going to unscrew the paneling! You’ll be out shortly!” Porker shouted, forcing his voice as loud as it could possibly go.

If his friend replied, the engineer couldn't hear it. Nerves gripped his heart as he forced himself to climb faster, reaching the top soon after. Now came the difficult part; he braced himself with a hand against the pipe, before carefully shuffling his feet in a manner that would allow him to turn around and press his back against the rock wall.

The only thing keeping him from falling now was the strength of his arm as he pushed against the tube.

Carefully, Porker began to unscrew the frame bit by bit, wiggling the screws out of their housing one by one and letting them drop to the floor. After the third screw, his supporting arm began to tremble, but he refused to let it falter. Not when Sonic was counting on him.

The fourth screw dropped. At first, the frame refused to move, but a good whack with the screwdriver fixed that—followed by a sudden flinch from Porker as the glass panel dropped and shattered on the ground below.

“Good heavens, that’ll be quite the repair job…” he muttered to himself, before recalling exactly what the situation was at the moment.

“Sonic? Sonic, can you hear me?” he called, craning his neck in an effort to get a better look at the insides of the tube. He could see the ball of blue spines pretty well, actually, but something wasn’t quite right.

“…oh.” Porker murmured quietly.

Sonic was shaking.

He would have to get the hedgehog out all by himself, but how? He certainly couldn’t reach into the tube, not from this angle, and Sonic was clearly unable to move. The only thing he did seem capable of, as a matter of fact, was bristling his spines.

Wait. If Sonic had his spines raised, then that meant they could catch on something, yes? Porker began to hurriedly shrug off his jacket, only pausing to swap hands on the pipe once his screwdriver was back in his belt. Frowning in an effort to better gauge the distance, he swung the jacket back and forth once, twice, and then up into the tube—and thank goodness, at least one thing had gone right in this whole mess, when the cloth caught securely on Sonic’s spines.

Porker pulled as hard as he could, and for once the near-frictionless surface of the zoom tubes proved useful when his friend moved along with little resistance. Uncomfortably slowly, given the awkward angle, Sonic’s curled-up form slid further and further forward until finally, he slipped out of the opening.

What Porker had forgotten, however, was that Sonic had weight, and weight affected both balance and gravity.

What this meant, in practice, was that Porker very nearly wrenched his arm out of its socket fighting to keep them both from falling.

Even then, he didn’t succeed for very long, pitching forward and off the face of the wall soon afterwards. At the very least, his fall was more controlled, so that when he landed, he merely sprained his ankle instead of breaking it. (Happily, he was also able to avoid the shattered glass on the ground. Things would have gotten much more complicated if he hadn’t, and he was already about at his limit for complications.)

He ought to be thankful for small mercies, he supposed, because that at least meant the pain wasn’t so excruciating that he couldn’t check on his friend. 

“Sonic? Sonic, are you al—are you hurt?” he asked quickly, pulling himself along the ground towards the hero, who had uncurled and was now on his hands and knees, with his head hanging between his arms.

For a moment, Sonic didn’t respond at all, and Porker felt a pang shoot through him. Just a second later, though, the hedgehog sat up, raising an eyebrow at him cockily. “Am I hurt? You’re the one who can’t curl up into a ball here, I’m not the one you should be checking on.” 

“I wasn’t just talking about the fall. I meant before that, too.” Porker insisted, unwilling to let it go quite so easily.

“Tch, what, me getting stuck in the tube? Just don’t tell Knucklehead, he’ll never let me hear the end of it.”

Porker felt his stomach turn uncomfortably. He really, really didn’t want to push this, but the thought of Sonic pretending that nothing had happened sat even worse with him. Shakily, he inhaled once, then sighed, and felt his shoulders tense up as he prepared to speak again.

“Sonic.” Porker insisted. “I saw you shaking with my own two eyes. I can’t just let that go.”

“What, me? Shaking?” Sonic scoffed. “You of all people should know that the Hero of Mobius doesn’t shake, pal.”

The engineer frowned…and then abruptly his expression softened, as something that Sonic had just said caught his attention. “No, I get it. The Hero of Mobius doesn’t shake, you’re right. But, well, my old friend Sonic, from way back in Green Hill…he’s allowed to get scared in front of me, I think. Whether or not he thinks he should.”

“Uh, you sure you didn’t hit your head in that fall, Lewis?” Sonic asked, now the one to squint over at his friend in confusion. “In case you forgot, this speedy blue hedgehog—y’know, the one called Sonic—is the Hero of Mobius.” He jabbed a thumb at his chest for emphasis.

Porker took another deep breath subtly, trying his best to keep from getting exasperated. “That’s true. But being the Hero of Mobius is a job, and being Sonic just…is. You’re Sonic all the time, but you’re only the Hero of Mobius when you want to be. And you don’t have to be in front of me.”

“You sure about that one? ‘Cause last I checked, only one of us was up to being a hero.” Sonic shot back.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he froze, his eyes widening slightly and his teeth snapping together so hard they clicked in the suddenly heavy silence.

“Porker—we can—just forget that happened, ‘kay? Apparently my mouth moves as fast as the rest of me sometimes, heh.” 

Porker gave Sonic a surprisingly flat look, making the hedgehog’s poor attempt at humor fizzle out into nothingness. His grin twisted into a grimace, and his hands balled into fists on the floor as he avoided Porker’s eyes.

Well, at least now he’s hiding his emotions less, the former Freedom Fighter thought to himself, internally sighing.

“Sonic.” he said softly, and while his friend didn’t flinch, his fingers did tighten noticeably.

“I’m not upset. Or—well—I am, but not at you. I just don’t like that you feel you have to be a hero around me all the time. I know we were fighting Robotnik for so long, it’s kind of hard to be anything else…but before that, we were just friends, stumbling our way through life together.”

Porker sighed, allowing himself a bittersweet smile. “I’d like to go back to being that way, at least to some extent, now that the war is over.” He hesitated briefly, before continuing, “If you don’t want to though, for whatever reason, I’ll understand.”

Sonic laughed, but his eyes were too wide for it to seem genuine. “Hey, what? Of course we’re friends, there’s no way I’d wanna change that! Why on Mobius would you ever think I would?”

“It’s…difficult to explain.” Porker began, picking up a chunk of debris and worrying circles into it with his thumb. “Sometimes it feels like when you look at me, you’re seeing just another civilian to protect, instead of, well, me.”

“Well, that’s not it at all!” Sonic straightened up boldly. “It’s totally different—I’m just making sure you don’t have to deal with the difficult stuff anymore after we—after you, y’know, got stuck on, uh, Little Planet.”

“Sonic, just because I was too stressed out to continue fighting in a war doesn’t mean I’m too distraught to live my life, or to help my friends when they could use a hand!” the engineer explained. “Besides, living here on the Floating Island has done wonders for me, I’d say.”

Sonic had sported a strangely skeptical expression for the first part, but when he finally spoke up, it wasn’t in response to that at all. “Was it really good enough for you that you were able to handle Robotnik?” he asked, frowning genuinely.

Porker stared blankly at his friend for a few moments as several things suddenly slotted into place. “Is that what you meant when you asked me how I was able to cuff him earlier?”

Sonic’s sudden eagerness to look away and shift positions, combined with a short “Eh, it’s whatever. Never mind.” told him all he needed to know.

He bit back his first instinct, which was to get upset that Sonic essentially seemed to view him as an invalid, no longer capable of functioning in the face of difficult situations. Getting upset wouldn’t help here—he’d known Sonic long enough to be certain that if he got angry, Sonic’s temper would flare up to match. Instead, he struggled to work out how best to explain his current situation to his friend. 

Porker knew that Sonic had gone through a difficult process when he’d decided to leave the Freedom Fighters, and had taken some time to come around to the fact that not everybody had his level of fortitude and resilience when it came to coping with difficult situations. However, it seemed like Sonic had understood Porker’s choice to leave as a permanent “off” switch on his abilities, instead of the truth, which was that the scales of “desire for freedom” and “fear of lasting damage” had simply tipped in the other direction, without any weight being removed from the former.

Suddenly, he was jolted from his musings by the voice of the hedgehog in question. “Listen, how about we head back to Hidden Palace and grab whatever parts you need? That way you can show me around some more, yeah?”

Slowly but surely, Porker got to his feet, sighing tiredly and trying not to wince at a twinge from his ankle. “Hang on, I just wanted to explain one thing first. You mind if I talk your ear off for just a moment?” He shot Sonic a half-smile, and that seemed to do the trick.

“Sure thing, pal. Hit me.” he replied carefully, moving to lean against the wall.

“I may have assumed this was more obvious than it actually was, but…I was always scared. Even when you first asked me to join the Freedom Fighters, I was frightened as anything.” Porker began, cringing internally as Sonic tensed up once again. “But the thing was,” he hurried to add, “I believed in the better future you talked about more than I felt afraid. So I pushed myself to join because I wanted to help make a world where people like me didn’t have to be so scared all the time, and that was enough to keep me going.

“But then…when I was held on Little Planet for so long…” Porker trailed off, memories of wire biting into his arms and endless examinations flashing before his eyes briefly. He blinked rapidly and squeezed the rock in his hand tighter in an effort to dispel the images—only to look up into an expression on Sonic that was emptier than any he’d ever seen before.

The engineer sighed and shook his head, smiling ruefully. “After that, I was so worried about it happening again that I couldn’t contribute to the team like I wanted, and, well, you know the rest.” He paused for a moment, composing his next sentence in his head. “I think there was one thing I should’ve said to you back then, but didn’t, because I thought it was obvious.”

“Yeah?” Sonic’s voice was perfectly measured, perfectly even.

“I don’t blame you for what happened. I don’t even see how I could—I knew the risks, I knew Mobius had to be kept safe, and I made my choice. I mean, in the end, it all worked out too. If that was really what had to happen to start the chain of events that led to the Empire of Metallix being defeated, then I can’t even say I regret it.”

“Porker.” Sonic marched over, staring at him with narrowed eyes. “Now I know for a fact you hit your head in that fall. Either that or I need to get my ears checked, because I know I didn’t just hear you say you’re okay with the fact that we all left you there.”

“What else am I supposed to say?” he asked, genuinely. “We were in a difficult situation, not to mention a dangerous profession. Awkward choices and bad experiences were bound to happen eventually. All things considered, I escaped without any serious physical damage and got the space I needed to work on healing mentally. Things could have gone a whole lot worse—”

“But they also could’ve gone better!” Sonic barked. “We left you there! We all could’ve gone back with you, fought off the Metallix together!”

“And left the planet defenseless against Robotnik? That would’ve been terribly dangerous.” Porker forced himself to keep his posture open, hoping that having something else to focus on would help him feel less stunned that his friend was on the verge of yelling at him. “Besides, it’s equally possible that the Metallix would have overpowered us all, seeing as we’d be stuck there for a month, and then who would have saved us from them?”

“What, so are you telling me you’re fine with the way things turned out?” the hedgehog snapped.

“Yes and no,” Porker replied, hating how stiff his voice had become, but unable to search for any better words, “I certainly would have preferred to not be trapped on Little Planet for a month, but since I was, and we were able to destroy the empire that I was stuck with, I don’t really have anything left to be angry about. I may be upset that it happened to me, but I’ve decided that I don’t resent anyone for the way it happened.”

“Yeah? Well, good for you, but not all of us feel that way, y’know.” Sonic spat.

Porker hesitated for a moment. He had a feeling that he knew exactly what his friend meant, but he wanted to check something first.

“Are you upset with me for going back?”

“Wh—f—why would I be mad at you?” Sonic looked like he was about to explode, face twisted into a snarl. “It’s the Metallix’s fault, for being scummy enough to treat you like they did! It’s Robotnik’s fault, for making those machines in the first place, and for making a Mobius where there needed to be Freedom Fighters at all! And—and it’s on me for asking you to join the Freedom Fighters, because then this’d never have happened!”

The walls of Hydrocity Zone rang with the echo of Sonic’s outburst.

“…we’re done here.” the hedgehog muttered, turning away.

“N-n-no, we’re not.” Porker insisted, still gripping the rock, now so tightly that his hands shook. Sonic whipped around, his eyes hard, but Porker pushed onwards as quickly as he could. “S-Sonic, you couldn’t have possibly known this would happen. You may be a hero, but you’re not the Omni-Viewer—you can’t kn-know or do everything. And that’s fine!” he added, quickly, seeing Sonic’s quills begin to rise. “I don’t, I don’t expect you to, and anyone who does is being absurd, frankly. All you knew when you asked me to join was that Robotnik needed to be s-stopped, and that I was smart enough to help. And all you could—could do when I went back to Little Planet was make an impossible choice, and if you’re sorry that I got hurt, then I’m sorry I put you in a position to choose between me and everyone else.

“I don’t know if you really do r-regret asking me to join the Freedom Fighters—and if you do, I can try to understand why, but I have to inform you that I disagree whole-heartedly. You would n-not have survived fighting Robotnik on your own, you needed others by your side, and you were a big enough person to a-admit that in spite of the fact that I’m sure you would have preferred otherwise. If you regret asking me, then do you regret asking Johnny, or Tails? Do you regret bringing all of us into this? Because let me tell you, if I have to choose between a future where I am traumatized but alive, or a future where I never met the Metallix and you are gone, I would choose the former every time!”

Porker’s legs wobbled beneath him, and he lowered himself to the ground quickly, breathing hard and fast. “S-sorry, sorry for my harsh tone at the end there.” he apologized. “I didn’t m-mean to get so worked up.”

“…Porker.” Sonic said, no longer facing him, his voice strangely quiet in a way the engineer had never heard before. “You’re—right. About all of it. I’m glad you said yes when I asked you to join. Without you, we’d never have saved Kintobor, or gotten all the gadgets we needed to fight. It just, you know. Like you said. We were friends, but I was also the leader. That made your safety my responsibility. And you know me, I don’t like to, well. Lose. Heh.” He laughed humorlessly, even as his hands twitched and shifted with surprising intensity. “When you’re the Hero of Mobius, and you don’t save someone. Anyone. But especially a friend. It makes a guy wonder if he still gets to call himself a hero. If he still…has that friend. After he couldn’t keep him from getting permanently hurt. You know.”

“I think I do know.” Porker replied, almost instantly, needing to make sure Sonic knew that this opening up, no matter how stilted, was the right thing to do. “And I know that his friend has been with him for a while. His friend has seen him save people so many times, over and over again, even without a reward. So, quite frankly, if there was ever a time when he didn’t save someone, that friend would not doubt for a second that he didn’t wish things had gone differently. But,” he added, “this friend would also care about him a lot. And his friend would feel terrible if it seemed, for even a second, that a choice that the friend made was something he was using to make himself feel worse, whether he thought he deserved it or not. Because his friend is, well, his friend, right? So of course that friend wouldn’t want him to torture himself using the thought of what happened. 

“After all, he may be a hero—an incredible hero, even—but he can’t do everything, and like I said earlier, that's okay. That’s why the rest of us were there, to help him be able to do everything with our help. And sometimes that meant we were in danger, just like him. But that was okay, because there was no place we’d rather be than by his side, helping to make the world a better place.”

A single drop of water wet the stone by Sonic’s feet.

“There’s—” he croaked, before cutting himself off and abruptly clearing his throat. “There’s nobody I would rather have had with me.”

“I’m glad.” Porker smiled gently, and hoped it carried through in his voice.

“Ugh, first Super, now this—what is it with me and coming to visit you that makes bad things happen?” Sonic groaned, finally turning around once again (and the engineer elected not to notice how he was still working to compose himself).

“Well, in the very, very long run, that was a good thing too, considering that Super’s EMP blast was what enabled us to defeat Robotnik.” Porker said.

“Oh, so you’re not upset about that either?” Sonic asked, voice caught halfway between sarcastic and hesitant.

“Sonic!” the engineer huffed. “Super’s transformation process is completely involuntary! It may be frightening in the moment, but I would never, ever blame you for his actions!”

“…good to know.” Sonic said simply. “Speakin’ of which, I saw you two put up some better walls around the Emerald chamber, good to see we won’t have any more falling accidents.” He finally turned around, his arms folded and smirk back in place. “Don’t wanna find out what Super Porker is like or anything.”

“I hope seeing the Emerald chamber again wasn’t what bothered you earlier.” Porker’s brow furrowed in concern. “I didn’t even consider how it might be an unpleasant place to be…”

Sonic’s smirk lessened just a fraction. 

“You know, you’re always free to talk about it if you’d like.” Porker said, but when Sonic scoffed, he already knew it was a lost cause.

“Listen, I’ve had more than enough ‘talking about it’ for one visit.” Sonic rolled his eyes and did exaggerated air quotes, but…

…‘for one visit’ wasn’t ’for a lifetime’. Maybe it wasn’t such a lost cause after all.

Porker decided to take pity on his friend at last. “Would you like to head back to Hidden Palace now? You can bother Knuckles some more while I find the part I need to repair the zoom tubes.” 

“Finally!” Sonic exclaimed. “As much as I appreciate a good cave adventure every now and then, I’d rather be somewhere I can actually see the sun. Come on, let’s get moving.” He began to walk back towards the entrance, making Porker hesitate and frown over at him.

“…you’re not going to scout on ahead again?”

Sonic looked over at him, surprise registering for the briefest of seconds before he relaxed, his usual smirk returning—albeit somewhat crookedly. “Nah. If any badniks haven’t learned their lesson by now, we can handle ‘em.”

Porker could feel himself smiling wider than he had all day, enough so that Sonic seemed to notice. “Shut your trap, pixel-brain.” he grumbled, folding his arms. “Haven’t we had enough sappy nonsense already?”

“Fair enough,” Porker admitted. “So, how’s the rebuilding process going back in Emerald Hill?”

“The new town’s looking better every day!” Sonic’s grin returned in full force. “It’s gonna be much more defensible, but it’s also just way better quality and more sturdy than before.”

“That’s fantastic.” Porker said, suddenly feeling as though a weight he hadn’t even noticed had been lifted off his chest. “As much as the hillfolk have appreciated Knuckles’s hospitality, they seem eager to get home.”

“It’ll be good to have them back.” Sonic sighed. “Seeing the world start to live a post-Robotnik life sure is something, huh?”

“It really is. Sometimes I wondered if we’d be fighting for the rest of our lives,” Porker smiled ruefully. “But I’m so happy that isn’t the case.”

They walked together in silence for about half a minute, giving them both time to admire the water flowing through the caverns and the massive pillars helping to keep it all stable. The fact that the colors on the pillars hadn’t faded after all this time was fascinating to Porker, and he was beginning to think back on the papers Knuckles had gotten from that pirate fellow—

Sonic abruptly dragged his hands down his face and groaned. “Now you’ve gone and done it! Why’d you have to bring up Super in the first place, now I can’t stop thinking about him!”

“Technically, you brought him up.” Porker corrected him, before smiling sheepishly when Sonic shot him a glower (without any heat behind it, of course).

“Listen, it’s just—something about falling into the Emerald chamber made him way worse than usual. I don’t know all of it, but lemme tell ya…” He trailed off, staring into the middle distance.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Porker said softly, wishing he could give his friend a hand on his shoulder or a hug, but that wouldn’t help someone like Sonic. Instead, he jammed his hands in his pockets, kept walking, and waited.

“Ugh…waking up in the wreckage of our plane with the others nowhere in sight…fire everywhere…feeling myself laughing without knowing why…it’s good he’s gone, ‘cause I’m never about to see something like that again.” Sonic spat, forcing the tremor from his voice.

Porker felt his stomach turn. “Nobody told me about that! I can’t imagine how that must have felt, being amongst all that devastation without knowing what had happened!”

“They didn’t even tell me they were alive for days.” Sonic muttered, his shoulders hunched. “Super was still an issue, I know why they didn’t, but they left me thinkin’ I’d—! For days!” Suddenly, he kicked a rock with such speed and violence it shattered on impact.

Sonic clenched his fists, stopping in his tracks in an attempt to catch his breath. Porker shifted a little closer to him, worrying the fabric of his gloves with his fingers. “I’m sorry that happened. I’m guessing you haven’t mentioned this to any of them?”

“Why would I?” Sonic scoffed. “It worked, didn’t it? They fixed the problem.”

Porker opened his mouth—then hesitated—then sighed gently. “Well. I can see why they might have done that, but I don’t necessarily think it was the perfect solution. And if you ever want to talk about it more…I’m here. As your friend.”

“…you meant what you said earlier, right?”

“Hmm?” Porker blinked. “I said a lot of things earlier, I’m afraid you’ll have to remind me.”

“About…not blamin’ me for the stuff he does.” Sonic muttered, clearly embarrassed.

“Of course I did!” he insisted. “And I’ll say it as many times as you need! I don’t blame you. I don’t blame you. I don’t blame you. I don’t—” 

“Alright, alright, I get it!” Sonic snickered, shoving Porker lightly. “Save your breath for all these stairs, we gotta climb them to get back up to that knucklehead.”

“Oh, good heavens.” Porker sighed, eyeing up the spiral staircase warily.

Sonic rolled his eyes, his trademark smirk softening just a fraction. “Forget it, Porker, just grab on tight.”

Seconds later, they were back in the main room of the Hidden Palace.

The engineer pulled his wrist from Sonic’s grip, stumbling over to the nearest control panel and slumping into a seat. “I will never be used to that,” he wheezed, chuckling lightly.

“Sonic, you’d better not have broken my best engineer!” Knuckles barked, stomping over to the two of them.

“Isn’t he also your only engineer?” Sonic shot back.

“All the more reason not to drag him along when you decide to have a run around!” the echidna insisted.

“Knuckles?” Porker called, interrupting the two’s bickering. He had removed one of his shoes—but not his sock, obviously—and was bandaging up his sore ankle. Both of the others seemed concerned, but when he smiled reassuringly, they both trusted him enough to back off. “Oh yeah, just turned my ankle, nothing major. Anyhow, do you know where the replacement air conduits are? We found the break, but my temporary fix wasn’t much of a fix at all.”

“Drawer 14B.” he replied, already heading off in that direction. “I’ll get it for you if you keep this prickly tank of hot air out of my face some more. Take him to Mushroom Hill or something, have him play with the toddlers a bit to burn off that energy.”

Sonic huffed, tapping his foot rapidly. “Hot air?! You come back here and say that to my face! C’mon, Porker, let’s leave the guardian to his sulking.”

The engineer laughed under his breath as he joined his friend once again. “You two could have a whole comedy show with that kind of banter.” he said warmly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Sonic rolled his eyes. “Now who needs help packing up?”

Porker did indeed proceed to show Sonic all around the Mushroom Hill Zone, and the two helped out where their skills were needed as the citizens of Emerald Hill prepared to return to their long-evacuated home. (As a matter of fact, Sonic sped up the process by at least half a day, which went greatly appreciated amongst everyone present.)

Once they had finished with that, Sonic admitted that he should probably head back soon, to make sure that the rebuilding process was still going well and that his other friends didn’t need him for anything urgent. Porker walked him back to the plane, the two chatting about memories new and old along the way. And just before Sonic hopped into the cockpit, he placed a hand on Porker’s shoulder—the only differences from last time being that Sonic was the one to leave via plane instead…and that Porker put his hand over Sonic’s for just the briefest of moments.

As the Hero of Mobius took off, he looked back for a second to see his old friend waving him off with a smile on his face, and he couldn’t help but feel pleased to know that he was welcome back whenever he felt like it. To his surprise, however, there was one other thing he noticed—or rather, the absence of something.

This time, when he had settled into his plane and prepared for takeoff, the memories of Super hadn’t been there. Even now that he noticed it, even though he could still remember the fire, now, there was also…

“I don’t blame you.”

And wasn’t that just something else?