#anyway they are Shiny Mobians

[iyumon]

Found shiny Tails and Shadow!

[galaxysodapopdraws]

I'd like to learn more about your ideas for meropis

SORRY FOR THE LATE REPLY I WANTED TO DRAW SOME DOODLES ABOUT SOME OF IT WITH UNDINA

Anyways here’s some quick ideas:

Meropolis has only one major city in the ocean which is home to the royal family: King Puff, Queen Angelica, and of course Princess Undina. The rest of the ocean is filled with smaller cities and towns scattered about. The best way I can describe it is tears of the kingdom and breath of the wild. Where it’s all under one kingdom with little “pit stop” towns (the horse stables) and medium sized cities (the towns/domains). They sort of rule fresh water areas but only if they connect to the ocean. If you live in a lake or pond that’s up to the mainland rulers.

Fish mobians tend to not really go on land much. Mostly because they don’t have legs and risk of drying out if they get lost or injured. You’ll only really see fish mobians out and about on land if you’re in a seaside town or a lake/river town. They do have water wheel chairs but they’re pretty bulky and sometimes not water proof. So they’ll have to rent one or in Undina’s case, get one custom made. For aquatic mammals such as dolphins, pinnipeds, whales etc. they can go back and forth between having legs and a mermaid like tail. They’re usually the ones who help fish mobians get to land and are even sometimes tour guides for them.

There isn’t a real currency in Meropolis, everything is mostly done by trading. They do technically have one in sand dollars but that’s mostly used for tourists who forget to bring items to trade and they aren’t worth anything on the main land (unless you really like sea shells). Thankfully fish mobians love shiny things like shells, hooks, jewels etc. and will happily take a fork off your hands for some fish made jewelry. And don’t worry about the teeth thing in the picture, a lot of fish tend to loose and regrow back their teeth in at least two weeks. It’s the equivalent of seeing a surfer dude with a shark tooth necklace around his neck it’s normal to them.

Most Meropolis buildings consist of either organic things like giant coral/shells or sunken ships and man made objects. It isn’t surprising that if a ship sinks and the owners of the ship try to retrieve it some fish mobians would try and bargain with the owners to let them keep it as a new home or shop. More high tech buildings in the cities have air pocket rooms so air breathing mobians can visit and even stay underwater comfortably. Air charms do exist so you can breath underwater but most land dwellers don’t find it comfortable to sleep and slowly float to the ceiling or have their hair and clothes constantly flowing about.

That’s all I got for now. If you got any questions let me know!

[frostios]

i love 2 see matilda posts! what kind of bedroom does an antkid have? 🤔

when she was a normal ant she lived in a little terrarium in shadow's room! with how sudden and out of nowhere her mobian mutation happened and with how small the team dark apartment is, shadow let her stay in his room (he doesnt use it too often anyways). they shoved a twin size bed in the corner by the only window so now theres like 2 feet of walking space and she wouldnt have it any other way. on the windowsill she has a bunch of jars filled with random stuff from anything shiny that caught her attention that rouge didnt want to just straight up leaves and twigs. shes got a bunch of wrestling and boxing posters and magazine cutouts taped to her wall as well as printed out photos shes taken from whenever she steals shadow's camera (really poorly taken shots of her family, a crack in the sidewalk, a pan in flames on the stove, etc etc)

[max-nico]

hey anon from the clothing ask here~

i meant the mobian culture around clothing but you can pick the one that you like more! :)

sorry for not clarifying

Ofc ofc !!!! You're all good Anon 🫶🏾 forgive me if I take a bit to answer this ask, I need to organize my thoughts into words lol as of me writing this sentence I'm trying to condense an essays worth of writing into somewhat easily consumable bullet points.

Hope this is to your liking 🫶🏾🫶🏾

Gloves

I've been Headcanoning gloves are worn for decency's sake, as in they are the Mobian equivalent to undergarments for humans, but I hadn't really put more thought into it than that

I'm sure it's either for practical reasons, or it's more of an emotional trust type of thing.

For example, cats typically don't let you pet their stomach or their paws unless they're sleeping and they leave them exposed to you, hence trusting you.

Or, animals typically don't all experience touch the same way. Some bugs can taste with their hands and feet, and I'm sure it'd be uncomfortable to be tasting every single hand you've ever held. So, gloves.

I'm also sure there are plenty of animals who are highly sensitive to touch or temperature, which would also make accidentally bumping hands in the street uncomfortable

I understand that, as someone who's touch averse and germaphobic I completely understand the need for everyone to wear gloves.

I'm sure some Mobians wear them less than others, like deer (idk much about deer so I could be wrong) probably can't feet much through hooves, and I'm sure their Mobian counter parts have hands but maybe the low amount of nerve endings carry over

Maybe it's more of a politeness thing? Like not wearing gloves in public is a bit of a dick move, because even if it doesn't affect you personally it could affect the person you're next to.

I also don't think young kids have to wear gloves. Have you ever tried to get shoes on a toddler who hates them, and will just take them off and lose them anyway? It's a lot of work for zero reward

You obviously have to teach your kids to wear them though. Especially once they start hitting about preschool age...

..But I'm just spit balling here lol

Clothes

I definitely think clothes are a human influence, Mobians don't really wear clothes generally. Most of our cast wears like- shoes and gloves + a jacket at most

Even Sally's original design followed that pattern

I think Mobians who grew up around humans, or have at least spent a long time around humans have adapted to wearing clothes most of the time.

Take Amy who has always worn clothes, and has basically always been in a city, compared to Sonic and Tails, who have always been living fast and free, yk?

Or Knuckles who grew up on a secluded floating island compared to Rouge who literally has a government job lol

Ofc, Shadow exists, and he doesn't wear clothes but he's also this half alien science experiment on immortality who grew up in space and then was put into stasis for 50 years and then suffered from severe memory loss

So... I feel like he may be a huge outlier lol...

I'm sure clothing for Mobians is a huge tell on where everyone's from, because Mobians from Holoska, Empire, Soleanna, and Spagonia, do not all dress the same, even if the patterns on their coat are similar

Basically the same thing people do when it comes to cultural clothing and skin color

I think it'd be cool if Mobians would've naturally progressed into face paints and hair(fur?) dye instead of clothes without human interference

Other

I was thinking about animal habits that carry over to their Mobians counterparts, then I started thinking about crows lol

Crow type Mobians, no matter where they live or are from, would typically gravitate toward maximalism and shiny garbs. But then I was like... Okay that's cool but where do stereotypes begin and instincts end?

Then I learned that crows might not actually collect shiny things and that it's probably a myth and decided to apologize to the crow Mobians I made up for stereotyping them lol

My question still stands though !! I also feel like someone asking a Mobian something along the lines of "So do you wear necklaces because wild crows like to collect shiny things?" Would be more of a human thing lol

I feel like Mobians in general have a better understanding of each other's instincts than humans do, which can definitely lead to inappropriate questions

But crows are still hoarders though... So maybe if raised by their own they all do tend to wear a maximalist style, but then would that end up being nature or nurture?

And THEN I was talking to my girlfriend about this and she was like, "well maybe these hypothetical crows all grew up hearing these stories about their ancestors that could be true or false, but they've just been honoring this traditionally shiny clothing for so long that it's second nature"

and was like wow.... And now there's even more questions to ask and we've been talking about hypothetical crows for a long time and I feel like we're getting too far from the original point bc now we're getting into specifics instead of more broad topics

But I figured I'd put it here anyways

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

Could you make a brief description of your main/favourite OCs or other important things, I have a bad memory and am confused 👉🏻👈🏻

HELLO! hi hi hi uh. hellow sienna :3 yes of course. i will choose a VERY MINIMAL AMOUNT OF OCS just the ones i’m always ranting about. ALSO I KNOW YOU SAID BRIEF BUT. I AM VERY BAD AT THAT SO HERE’S WHATEVER THIS IS:

1. GEMMA. (Gemma the ??? technically)

Gemma is a green… bird. We do not know what kind of bird she is. She’s Bean’s mom and she runs the criminal underworld of hybrid mobians, trafficking, and mobian puppy mills. She’s not particularly mean or violent though, the joke being that she’s also omnipotent and can break the fourth wall, just with the dark twist that she’s always known everything ever and knows she’s an OC and that I’m even talking about her right now, hence why doing the immoral shit that she does is not ultimately a bad thing since no one she hurts is real. ALSO, she’s based off of Gemma Teller-Morrow from Sons of Anarchy so if you ever draw her, try to make her look like a bird version or Katey Segal :)

2. BRANDO. (Brando the Hawk lol)

Jet’s Dad. Looks like Jet but if he was an alcoholic who somehow manages a receding hairline. Hansu once drew him with a monocle and top hat as a joke but I found it so hilarious we might just keep it. He sounds like James Lance (actor) if his voice was more broken and growly and mumbly, and if he was human he’d have Lance’s hair as well. (He misses his wife, Sienna)

3. ADAM!!! (Adam the Albatross)

Adam is Storm’s dad and he looks like him but instead of being round and fluffy strong, he’s abtastically ripped. You see how I draw mobians you know what’s up LOL. anyways, he was a teen dad and did a really good job, and he works at Prison Island. Well, he did, now it’s blown up, so he works at the inland prison instead. He’s a bit of a manchild and his girlfriend is Jewel’s mom Opal (hehe Lea’s OC) because he sorta has a milf problem. He’s like if Jesse Pinkman was an adult instead of an oversized teenager, yet is still quite childish (in a cute way! he eats dino nuggets for dinner). Think “drawing Storm but for a thirsttrap” and you’ve nailed him

4, CAREY AND DARLA!!! (Carey the Jackdaw & Darla the Swallow)

You really think I’m gonna just include one??? These are Wave’s parents and I’m in love with their designs. Carey is a jackdaw with vitiligo which means he gets patches of white feathers in certain places due to black pigment being a recessive genetic trait due to the Salem trials (long story, you asked for the short version lol). He dyes his front feathers red to be like Party Poison from Danger Days, and often wears a pair of working denim jeans that are kinda stained with oil and paint but that makes them look cooler. He’s Eggman level smart and super witty, but extremely humble and only wants to use his knowledge to help other people. It’s a jackdaw thing. He loves shiny stuff (read: he loves machinery) and also adores his wife. Such a wife guy but in the genuinely good and wholesome way. SPEAKING OF, DARLA IS A BUBBLEGUM PUNK TO ME! She was part of all the mobian riots in the 80’s and operated an illegal shelter for homeless youth via her massive roller rink that’s dead centre in her city that she refuses to sell for luxury condos or parking lots. That is HER block of land and she’s not moving it, so she helps keep kids (especially mobian youth who are disproportionately affected) off the street. She loves wearing full denim and is an array of blue colours. Also, despite her husband being super fucking tall, she’s also pretty tall for a lady! Very round too though, like a feathery ball, very cute and round and pudgy I love her.

I actually have acceptable fanart of these two on hand because Infifi drew them once so here’s that:

[destinywillowleaf]

for @missplayer30's drawings of the kids in the future. a series of drabbles.

-

Seven years.

Tails let loose the sigh he had been holding in. Seven years since the last time anyone had seen Sonic. Seven years of being completely on his own, left to build whatever he wanted.

But not anymore.

Tornado V had passed her last inspection with flying colors. Getting the old group back together wasn’t gonna be easy, but it was time for a change.

He secured the goggles on his eyes and knotted the fraying blue scarf around his neck. It was time to make things right. It was their turn to be the heroes of the world.

-

Cream sighed as she looked out the window at the sunset. Cheese nudged her shoulder with a cup of tea, which she took with a smile.

Mother and Amy had vanished without a trace seven years ago. They hadn’t been the only ones, but they were still gone.

The sound of a plane flying overhead caught her attention. Cream’s eyes locked onto a familiar logo on the side, descending from the sky and landing in the front lawn. She set the cup down and opened the front door to greet the familiar pilot.

“Tails?”

“It’s our turn to act, Cream.”

-

Charmy hovered around the empty office. It had been ages since he had gotten a case. It felt like they came in rarer than before, when Vector and Espio…

He blinked back the tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He shoved them out of his eyes and came to a stop in front of the board of information on the Disappearing Act. All of the “older heroes” had vanished, all at once.

The door swung open.

“Chaotix, how can I help ya?”

“You still have all the information?”

Charmy turned around. “Yeah, why?”

“We're gonna need it soon.”

-

Marine smiled as the waves crashed against her ship. Being the captain was what she had always dreamed of, and here she was, standing in her dream.

But it was hard to be a captain without a crew to command.

And with the dimension in chaos after Blaze vanished all of a sudden a few years back…

A portal stole her attention. “Oi, what’s the big idea?”

“Marine?”

She recognized the voice in a heartbeat. “Tails, izzat you, mate? What’re you doin’ ‘ere?”

“Fixing what happened and getting people back. You up for it?”

“O’ course I am! Let’s go!”

-

Ray had taken to travelling the world alone after Mighty vanished. They had been able to find out a lot when adventuring, so maybe if he did… Mighty would come back.

He readjusted his backpack. Travelling alone wasn’t easy. He never understood how Mighty did it for so long without anyone else to help him.

Shade filled the area as the sun was blocked out. Ray squinted his eyes and tilted his hat to see what happened. A plane?

“Charmy?”

“Not just me!"

The plane lowered and three others stepped out. “All of us. We’re getting answers. You want in?”

-

Violet plucked at the strings absentmindedly. There really wasn’t a band anymore to play with. Everyone was gone. No one had seen fur, scale, or feather of the missing Mobians for a while now, and hope had died a while back now.

A lazy melody played itself as she sunk into her thoughts, and someone started humming along.

Violet shot up and looked for the source.

A raccoon in a pirate’s coat was leaning in her doorway. “Who’re you?” Violet demanded.

“Just a gal lookin’ for some mates.”

“We’re getting everyone back.” A much more familiar face stepped in. “Everyone.”

-

Bean cackled as he disappeared into the smoke with his new shiny trinket. Sure, heists like this were easier with Bark - and Nack, too - but he was still fine on his own!

...mostly.

He could always just talk to himself! It’s not like Bark ever held a conversation with him anyway!

Bean shook his head frantically and headed for home... alone.

Or not.

A plane was waiting outside for him.

“You can’t have my shinies!”

“Do we need him?”

“Absolutely.”

The whispers reached Bean. “What?”

“Seven years, and seven of us.” A fox stepped up. “We’re gonna win this time.”

-

[chaosworthyarchive]

                                                                3.14.3226                                            Location ¦ Green Hill, Johnny’s Bar                                                           ————————

     The bar settled on the bare outskirts of the village was one of the newest structures it had to offer, and yet it was also one of the most lively. Even now in the early afternoon the sound of clinking cups, plates and animated conversation between the Green Hill citizens came from the restaurant. Adults and children alike were laughing over the ambient music playing from the building’s speakers, and despite the noise there was a peaceful air among the small crowd. The air of comradery, of a community that thrived together.

     Among it, gathered on the other side of the building where the bar was settled and currently empty save for them, were three of the six Freedom Fighters. And one, very shiny guitar. It went without saying that Sonic and Mina were passionate about music, and even that was putting it very lightly, but Johnny had a similar interest, or at least he had when the hedgehog mentioned his latest splurge. The rabbit was currently fixated on the purple hued instrument, eyes taking in the off gold trim and extricate bird design on the neck. It was fitting for the hero and even Mina was having a hard time not admiring it as the three of them conversed.  

     They had been talking about nothing in particular, simple day to day things, when the backdoor, the one within the kitchen, opened. A few moments later a rather rugged but, friendly looking, older rabbit walked through the double swinging doors. Upon settling his gaze on the group, a hearty laugh erupted from his throat and he smiled.  

     “Ain’t this a sight for sore eyes,” he began, smirking as he looked from Johnny, his son, to the blue hedgehog. Johnny’s father was a tall, darker furred rabbit with a gruff appearance but a good heart. Kind despite his size, but strong (something the hedgehog was reminded of as the rabbit hugged him outright). Often away on business it was rare that the elder was seen around the village and it had been a long time since the hero had done just that, let alone had a conversation with the man who had been a big part of his childhood. They had both been busy over the last few years, to say the least.

     It was something he could tell was going to be remedied as the older rabbit looked him over, that grin growing in a way both proud and curious. “How've ya been? Other than that mess on the news a few years back, I mean.”

     There was a collective glance from the three younger Mobians towards one another, all three of them thinking the same thing but none of them willing to voice that thought. At least not then, and not out loud. It was probably better they didn’t anyway, no need to drag down a perfectly casual conversation after all.

    “I’m still around, so I can’t complain much about that, I s'ppose.” Sonic couldn’t help but grin back, despite the memory, and made a nonchalant gesture. “As for things...they’ve been good, great actually. An’ after everything that’s happened there’s something almost terrifying about that.”

     “I know what ya mean,” the elder agreed, nodding his head with a particular weight in his voice. It didn’t last long, however, and there was something almost scolding that took over their tone, his eyes fixed on the hedgehog. “But I’ll tell ya what, while the world’s a lot better place with you in it, if ya ever pull a stunt like that crap in the city, you’ll be hearing from me. Got it?”

     The hero did get it, very much so, and even though he could tell there were burning questions on the elder’s end the conversation continued and drifted from there. Something Sonic was thankful for. It didn’t just give the four of them a chance to catch up (or, in the case of Mina and the elder rabbit, a chance for introductions and more than a few shared, embarrassing stories at the hedgehog’s expense) but managed to dispel the weight in the air. In fact, there was something entirely new by the time Johnny’s father pointed to the guitar on the counter. He didn’t need to ask whose it was, he had a pretty good feeling.  

      “Ya still play, right?”

     Sonic would have been lying if he said he hadn’t expected the question sooner or later, and Chaos knew he could already pinpoint the look in the other’s eyes. It was a look he had seen a lot as a kid, even Johnny had recognized it and had laughed as the hero answered with: “occasionally, yeah. Do you?”

     “Hey now, don’t forget who taught ya everything ya know.” The response came with a much heartier laugh, a look of enthusiasm in the older rabbit’s eyes as he jabbed a thumb off to the side, towards a different section of the restaurant they both knew all too well. “How about we give ‘em a show? Show me that natural talent of yours.”

     Oh yes, the hero had been expecting that indeed. It was rare that he got the chance to see one of the people who had practically raised him, apart from Rosie, and yet it never failed that the same request came up every time he did. Though, this time, Sonic would admit he had walked right into it. Had his father not asked the hero had a strong feeling that Johnny would have and he would have ended up playing in some shape or form regardless. Given that the middle part of the building was a small but functional stage only added to that possibility.  

     However, even now, there was hesitance as the hero pondered the question. There was a temptation, but still a reluctance and yet before he could say anything, someone else had taken the decision out of his hands.

     “He’s in.”

     If the look the hedgehog had just shot his girlfriend was anything to go by, they were definitely having a talk later. Something that likely would have happened right then and there had Johnny not added his own response to the pile.

    “So am I.” It was punctuated by the younger rabbit clapping the hero on the shoulder, his grin just as wide and exhilarated as his father’s had become. Honestly, it was times like that when Sonic realized the pair really were the splitting image of each other. But as the older rabbit followed suit, going as far to get up and grab the bass he kept as a spare in the restaurant, the hedgehog realized he no longer had a say in what was happening.  

     He wasn’t the only one either, and as he felt a hand slip into his Sonic looked back to meet Mina's eyes. There was an apology in her jade hues, but also that fire the hero had fallen in love with. Giving his hand a squeeze, she smiled at him, a supportive gesture. "Just this once, alright? For me? It’ll do you some good.”

     “You owe me, I hope you know that.” There was a semi-serious tone to his voice, one that the mongoose answered with a look that spoke volumes as the hedgehog grabbed the guitar from the counter. If he was going to do this, might as well break in a new instrument, right?

     It only took a few minutes for everything to be set up, and Sonic would have been surprised if it hadn’t broken some kind of record. Then again, the stage portion of the restaurant was used just about every weekend so things were ready to go at a moment's notice to accommodate any person or band who wanted to play for the night. It wasn’t the first time the hedgehog had been on the stage but standing there, even with a song already in mind between the three performers, there was still a heavy feeling his gut. A feeling only marginally helped when Mina smiled from a nearby table and Johnny’s voice rang out from the drum set behind him.

     “Ready?”

     The word ‘no’ had almost jumped off the hero’s tongue but he bit it down and nodded. Trying, and failing, to ignore the rapid beating of his heart as there was some more shuffling behind him and the countdown started, the hero let his eyes slip close.

     It was funny, some voice told him, how many things could happen in a few seconds – in just a few bars. How doubts could fester, all at once and suddenly, bringing with it an utter sense of dread that had quite literally turned the hero’s stomach. How all at once, despite shaking hands and the innate desire to hide from the dozens of eyes now on him, hearing the first beats ring out into the air was almost cathartic. Like the voice of an old, cherished friend.

     It was now, or never.

     With one breath, on one beat, he sang:  

          “Standing in the rain, with his head hung low.           Couldn't get a ticket, it was a sold-out show.           Heard the roar of the crowd, he could picture the scene.           Put his ear to the wall, then like a distant scream…”

     It was almost instinctual the way his fingers moved, like it was second nature, a gut feeling that he couldn’t think to fight. A feeling he didn’t want to fight, he found. The dread, the trepidation? It had all been nullify, replaced with something far more fierce; far more real.

     He never understood it, likely never would, but just like so many times before a sense of peace washed over the hedgehog, growing stronger with every passing second. Stronger with every passing note until his mind cleared, his body relaxed and those bright eyes opened once more.  

      And he smiled.

     Not the smile of someone forcing their way through a task, not the smile of someone who wanted to flee, but the smile that spoke of a true, unadulterated joy. A joy – fun - that bled into the next few minutes, into each note, each syllable.  

     Because there really was nothing better than music. Not to him.  

[mobius-prime]

256. Sonic the Hedgehog #187

Mister Popular

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Matt Herms Colors: Josh Ray

An unexpected team-up opens today's story - Geoffrey and Rouge, dressed to the nines and looking around a brand new Casino Night establishment, owned by none other than Mammoth Mogul! Wow, he certainly set up shop fast after escaping prison, didn't he?

I'm sure everyone totally believes that Mogul has turned over a new leaf and just wants to be a snazzily-dressed casino owner now, right? Coconuts calls Mogul away from the two spies into a meeting, where the Destructix, Nack, Bark and Bean are all waiting, with Grounder waiting on them as a bartender. Grounder is jealous of Coconuts' high status with Mogul, but Coconuts is more cynical, sharing his tale of how he was apparently the sole survivor of the crushed-up cube that Fluke created the other issue, and considers his current job to be demeaning. Mogul addresses everyone in the room, acknowledging that their common interest in money, and that he's willing to pay very handsomely for Sonic to be brought to him, dead or alive… Meanwhile in New Mobotropolis, Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Mighty, and Mina have all gathered together with Merlin, who is performing some kind of ritual in the center of their circle. A flash of light engulfs them all as Merlin speaks a few magicky-sounding words, and presto! Sonic and Knuckles are cured of any side effects from Finitevus' hex on the Master Emerald, and Mina, Mighty, and Tails are bound to Mogul's will no more.

Merlin is unable to explain why Sonic wasn't affected by Finitevus' hex, but doesn't have time to figure it out now. Apparently, he has quite the hot date with the Chaos Force and needs to go… I don't know, meditate or whatever, and so Tails says goodbye to him as Sonic likewise says goodbye to Tails, as Sally's called him to the Great Forest for a chat. She's feeling lonely and sad, not wanting to be without at least one of the other Freedom Fighters as she gazes out at the ruins of Knothole, and she and Sonic spend some time reminiscing about the old days of the war when they were just children, too young to understand just how serious everything truly was. Sally admits regretting her "transition" into adulthood, and feels uncertain when Sonic reassures her that no one blames her for her difficulties during that time.

I'm incredibly glad to see these two finally talking things out and easing the tension that's existed between them for so long. Unfortunately, it doesn't last - a bomb drops out of nowhere into Sonic's open hand, and irritated that his moment with Sally has been interrupted, Sonic tosses it carelessly aside before he and Sally get ready for a fight, dodging a flurry of more bombs. Of course, it's none other than Bean and Bark, there to ruin Sonic's day. The two duos begin to battle, with Sally taking a leaf from Fiona's book to distract Bean with one of his own "shiny" bombs, while Sonic ends up punched over the cliff he and Sally were chatting on top of. He lands right in the middle of the Destructix, who try to box him in and take him down. He's cocky as usual, but even he has trouble facing down six opponents at once. Before Bean and Bark can make their way down to help their fellow mercenaries, Sally calls them over and offers them a pretty sweet deal.

The three leap down and begin to turn the tide against the Destructix, with Sonic grateful for the save. Bean makes an interesting comment as he chucks bombs around about Predator Hawk being an "armada deserter," which Predator retorts by implying Bean is one too - again with this mysterious mention of "the armada," each time by a bird Mobian. Connection? Anyway, Sally tells Sleuth to give up on his attack, but he claims he has one last ace up his sleeve. Hey, anyone realize we still have yet to see Nack…?

Oh, dear.

Sally watches in horror as the Destructix busy themselves with shackling an unconscious Sonic up and throwing him in the back of their van. She tries to get Bean and Bark to help her free him, but they refuse, claiming that since they messed up on her job, they'll just go back to their original deal with Mogul for Sonic's capture. Nack tells the others to go on ahead and take Sonic back to the Casino Night club, because he has a personal score to settle with Sally, and as he's doing this job for free he wants a little something extra out of it. Sally is forced to stand and watch as Sonic is hauled away, leaving just her and a cool, smirking Nack facing off.

Nack begins to count down, and Sally sprints for the nearby Freedom HQ… I know this is meant to be a super tense ending where we just don't know if Sally can make it in time before being shot in the back, but come on, she's a main character! We're long past the days where Kenders could try to kill her off for good! She's got that sweet, sweet plot armor against permadeath, Nack doesn't stand a goddamn chance against that.

[simply-slu-slu]

Glaciality Chapter 4: "Partners"

Cassidy agressively dragged Slush down the vast hallway by the arm with a soft growl. The woman couldn't stand children, her boss knew this, and yet here she was stuck working with them anyways!

"Come on move it already!" She exclaimed as she yanked at the small canine's arm, causing Slush to yelp.

"Would you quit with the tugging already? I'm going as fast as my legs can carry me!" Slush snarled in response, lightly glaring up at the head nurse with disgust.

"Do you want to get shocked again, brat?"

Slush clenched her jaw, deciding to not even dignify the woman with a response. The husky averted her gaze to the shiny white tiles below her feet, now seeing the ice that remained coated over parts of her body.

'That's never happened before...'

She thought to herself with a soft sigh.

'Guess I got more stressed out than I thought.'

Her train of thought was broken by another tug from Cassidy.

"Go in here. Hurry up." The woman shoved Slush into a small closet like room, that was dimly lit by a single light bulb. Slush folded an ear before looking toward the woman with a confused look. "Put on those clothes there, quickly."

"It's...a little big don'tcha think?" Slush asked as her eyes settled on the orange and white t-shirt along with matching orange pants that was neatly hung up on the wall.

"Just put it on and quit asking questions!"

Slush scoffed as she glanced back at the suit once more. She shook her head lightly as she began to remove her hospital gown.

'Really, orange? What am I, a prisoner? I mean at least it's not yellow...but still couldn't they have picked purple or something?'

She reached out for the shirt, only to come into contact with a rather thin and scratchy material causing her fur to rise as she pulled her hand away in disgust.

'Ick...that feels ugly.'

"256 would you hurry it up already?"

"I'm going I'm going." She remarked as she reached for the shirt once more, taking it off it's hanger before putting it on.

Once she got it on straight, the shirt hung down to just above her knees. She then reached for the pants and attempted to put them on as well, but the pant legs practically covered her feet entirely, and they felt as if they were threatning to slide off at any moment.

"I'm sorry ma'am but these are way to big." Slush opened the door of the closet before looking up at Cassidy who clearly didn't care.

"Too bad. You'll just have to work with it." She reached over and grabbed Slush by the arm once more before dragging her off yet again.

"Seriously?" Slush stumbled and tripped over the pant legs, causing them to nearly fall off of her but she caught them by the waist using her free hand. "You knew I was leaving, so why didn't you have anything prepared?"

"We don't have anything in your size runt, you're only about 2'0", and most mobian huskies are at least 3'2" by your age. I honestly thought you were 6 by your height alone." Cassidy said in a snarky tone before laughing.

Slush's ears pinned back as she let out a small snort in response.

'When I grow some more, we'll see who the real runt will be.'

Slush remained silent as Cassidy continued to drag her along, only letting out a small gasp upon seeing a large group of children up ahead, around 100 or so that were beginning to line up against the wall.

"What's going on?" Slush asked.

"This is where you will line up, and then you'll fill into the assembly hall." Cassidy responded. "255, 257 raise your hands."

A parrot and a lamb who were standing by one another reluctantly raised their hands.

"What for?"

"You're going to be paired up." Cassidy began to push Slush toward the two creatures. "Now go stand between those two."

"Uh...alright?" Slush folded an ear before reluctantly making her way to the other two children with their hands up. The lamb and parrot made a bit of space for her to stand between in response as they put their hands down. "What does she mean by paired up?" Slush asked in a quiet whisper.

"From what I understand, these people have designated us some kind of work partner. Not so sure what happens next." The female parrot whispered softly.

'Work...partner? Why would we need that?'

Slush thought to herself as the line began to move into the assembly hall.

"Alright kids, you are to sit in order starting from the front row to the back once you enter the dome of the assembly hall." One of the facility staff called out over an intercom. "Do not get out of order, and do not disobey instructions. There will be consequences for disobedience. All questions will be answered by the speaker before the pairing session begins."

Slush glanced around as they slowly filled into the assembly hall, the ceiling was a large glass dome and snow could be seen falling and sliding off the outside of it. The wind from the storm outside could be heard ever so slightly as it whipped its way around the building. She then turned her attention to the red velvet theater-chairs that were lined up in various rows. The bottom half of the hall could hold up to 350 people, and the upper floor of the hall seemed like it could easily hold another group of 300 people.

Once all the children settled into their seats, the lights of the hall dimmed slightly as what seemed to be G.U.N. soldiers shut the doors of the hall. Two soldiers stood at every exit door, and about 10 more stood at the foot of the stage as the stage lights came on.

Pure silence fell across the room as a male cougar made his way to the oak podium that sat in the center of the stage, holding a few notecards in his hands as well as a tablet of sorts. He laid the tablet on the podium before straightening his cards, looking up at the crowd of young children with his vibrant Amethyst eyes.

"Good evening children," the cougar began. "Welcome to the Whispervale Sanctuary for Gifted Children of Wildelynn, or The W.S.G.C.W. for short. You shall all refer to me as Headmaster Kanjiro." The cougar glanced down at his cards, flipping one of them over before looking up at the children again.

"I am certian you all are disoriented and confused as to why you are here, so I will be answering a few questions before we pair you with your statistically chosen partners. Please place your hands on the of your identification plates found on your collars if you have a question. If I call your number, keep your hand on your identification plate until a microphone is passed to you. Do not speak unless you are selected please, and I'd suggest you be respectful if you know what is good for you."

A majority of the children lifted their hands to the metal plates found on their necks as Kanjiro glanced down at his tablet. The tablet appeared to have a map of the theater, and the children who had their hands to their plates could be seen as small red dots on the map.

"161. Your question please." A microphone was passed to a male eagle owl.

"Why are we here?"

"As we do annually, we select 650 children that are age 10, that have promising abilities to be taken into this facility. Due to Wildelynn's rising crime rates, we plan to make better officers for the city. Each and every one of you show promising abilities that could prove to be useful in lowering the crimerate of the city." He glanced down at his tablet once more. "427."

"Why do you only pick 10 year olds? Why not teenagers or adults?"

"You are at the perfect age, any younger than 10 children tend to be immature and difficult to manage. Any older, such as a pre-teen or teenager tends to be rebellious, and you are at such an age where we can easily put a stop to that rebellious stage before it starts. As for adults, although they can still learn, it often takes longer for them to grasp information and their bodies aren't as agile." He glanced down at his tablet before setting his gaze upon Slush. "256."

"But aren't many adults already going through police and military training? And aren't their laws against kids working?" Slush asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, but as stated before they learn slower and their bodies aren't as agile. We can train your body to do things in your youthful state, which will grant you exceptional flexibility and durability as you get older. And yes, you are correct. But the first 5 years you will spend here will involve vigorous training. Once you turn 16, you will begin regular patrolling. Given that you survive the first 5 years." The cougars face darkened slightly, his tone becoming rather grim.

'Survive? What exactly is he trying to say here?'

Slush thought to herself.

"421."

"Will we ever get to see our families again?"

"No. You belong to the government now, your parents have no custody over you, nor any say in what we do to you starting from the moment you set foot in this place. You will never see them again, unless they are the victims or perpetrators of a crime."

Many of the children became restless at this statement. Many, including Slush were already missing their families as it was, but to be told that they would never see their families again was just soul crushing to say the least.

'So...Dr. Emerson wasn't lying about that. I'm never going to see Dad, or Merci ever again. I can't even visit mom in White Acropolis either...and she'll never know why.'

Slush's eyes became covered in blue and white spirals as she cried lightly, as did many other children.

"332."

"Why are we reffered to as numbers instead of our names?"

"Names are useless here. You are not citizens, but subjects, data. Nothing more. 36 your question please."

"Why were we specifically selected?"

"As stated previously, you show the most promise out of all of Wildelynn's children. A good handful of you, I'm certian will be promoted to Trainee's for G.U.N." he looked down at his tablet once more. "29."

"When you mentioned if we survived...what did you mean sir?"

"The training regimen is not easy. It will be difficult and is adjusted to each of your needs. Some will breeze through it, others may die trying. And if the second outcome occurs, then and only then would you be reunited with your families."

"That's not fair!"

"You didn't even give any of us a choice to be here!"

"I want to go home!"

"I hate this place!"

Many children began to scream in disbelief, some beginning to activate their powers out of anguish.

"I'd suggest you sit back down and remain silent." Kanjiro said with a flat tone as he glared at those who were beginning to rise from their seats. Slush was not one of them, but she stared down Kanjiro as her blue spirals swirled rather violently over her eyes.

The children seemingly ignored the command, until their collars let off a harsh shock, causing them all to fall back into their seats with an outcry as burn marks formed on their necks, around the collars.

"I warned you. Do not make me do it again. Let that be a lesson to all of you." The Headmaster growled, "We have no time for such behavior." He straightened his cards once more before looking back at his cards. "That will be all the questions I will be taking. When I call your initals and plate number, you are to come up on stage, greet one another, and then follow an associate to your temporary rooms. You will have 3 days of team building exercises to get acquainted with one another before your G.U.N. fosters arrive. They will instruct you further."

The children moved slightly in their seats, whispering amongst themselves as they begrudgingly waited for their ID's to be called.

"R.T.S. 150, you are paired with P.E.Y. 500. X.E.Z. 10, paired with U.I.R. 12..."

***

Slush had her eyes focused on the snow fall that could be seen up above. The headmaster seemed to be taking ages to list off the names and frankly she was getting quite bored. It felt like she had been waiting over an hour, maybe even two and yet he hadn't seemed to even be halfway through all the kids just yet.

"V.A.V. 587, you are paired with S.L.I. 256."

Slush's ears twitched before she looked toward the stage with wide eyes.

"You'd better go..." the children around Slush whispered softly. "Hope you get someone nice."

"Uh...thanks?" Slush rose from her seat, lightly tapping her fingers together as she made her way to the stage. The canine could have sworn that she felt everyone's eyes on her at that moment...and honestly it was quite scary least to say.

'Oh gosh...'

She thought as her eyes focused on a navy blue Belgian Sheepdog that was making her way to the stage. Her fuchsia eyes darting around in fear as her ears were folded flat against her head.

The Sheepdog made her way onto the stage, walked up to Slush and simply gave a small wave before glancing back toward the crowd. Slush glanced back at the crowd as well before gently taking her new partner's hand, causing the other pup to jump lightly in suprise. The canine gazed at Slush with a confused look, she was clearly afraid.

"Come on, we gotta go to the staff..." Slush whispered softly.

"O-okay..." The other pup responded before being guided by Slush to the staff member. From there the two were guided to a room labeled with their ID's.

"In here kids. You'll be notified for dinner, but you are not allowed out of this room until then." A staff member said before closing the door once they were both inside.

Their room was quite bland, only consisting of white and black colors, almost as plain as the ward. The walls were painted white, and the carpet seemed to be pitch black. There were two beds which laid against the walls of the room, they had black comforters, white sheets and white pillows and looked rather stiff. There was nothing else within the room.

The girls silently chose a bed, Slush heading for the one on the right, the other pup for the left. They sat in silence for a moment before Slush finally decided to break the silence.

"So...what's your name?"

"Uh..." The sheepdog looked up at Slush, her ears pinning back. "Vitality...Vitality Valoore..." she glanced away. "And you?"

"Slush Icydra." Slush smiled softly.

The two sat in silence once more for a few minutes.

"I-I'm scared." Vitality managed to choke out, tears forming in her eyes.

"Me too..." Slush's ears pinned back as she looked down at her hands.

"R-really?"

"Yeah...I don't know what to expect."

"I just don't understand why they are doing something like this."

"Me either honestly...it makes no sense to me."

"D-do you...do you think we will make it Slush?"

"Make it?"

"Survive I mean..."

Slush remained silent for a moment, lightly rubbing her hands together.

"Maybe. I don't know."

Vitality covered her eyes with a small whine in response.

"But, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try." The husky said as she glanced up at her companion. Vitality's ear flicked as she removed her hands from her face. "If we try hard enough, if we learn enough...maybe just maybe we can get out of this situation."

"You really think so..?"

"Again...I don't know. But it's worth a shot. Maybe when we get older, they won't be as strict with us. But I really don't know at the moment."

"That would be nice..."

"Yeah."

"Slush?"

"Hm?"

"I know that we just met, but...is there any chance I can get a hug from you? I...I just really need one."

"Yeah, of course." Slush rose up from her bed and began to walk toward Vitality, who met her halfway to the center of the room. Slush wrapped her arms around Vitality into a small hug. "It'll be okay. We just have to work together..."

"Right..."

[getallemeralds]

Tell us more about shadowy

cracks knuckles. anon you have just opened the pandora’s box of leos infodumping

so, to set the stage here: he’s part of a setting called Shattered Worlds, in a totally different continuity from Chaosverse (where Checkpoint / askchaosverse takes place). there’s totally different rules and worldbuilding and all that, and while it TECHNICALLY takes place in the same multiverse (and has some characters in common, if EXTREMELY AU) it’s… also basically shoved in the twilight cage and locked off from everything else. it’s also a setting from 2007 that lasted until 2014, so it’s about to get wild

(it’s also gonna be under a cut bc this is gonna get VERY long. tl;dr: he’s a universe-destroying asshole that stumbled across an artifact of immense power, lost control of it, blew himself up, and is behind the entire plot of Shattered Worlds, both directly and because of consequences of him exploding. also he’s kind of an AU shadow/mephiles? i guess???)

Shadowy is something called an Outsider, which are… well they never got defined very well, but they’re a species that’s mobian-passing (and apparently is all hedgehogs, seeing as the 3 established Outsiders are hedgehogs?) and have the ability to jump from universe to universe at will, among other individual powers like Chrome’s telekinesis. they mostly use this to kinda hang out on various versions of Mobius, blending in as being an average mobian and either solving problems or causing them. Shadowy’s of the latter kind. they can be identified as an Outsider by their weird eyes, although that can get a bit blurry sometimes because theres some other SW characters that get them under specific circumstances which… usually involve an Outsider doing something.

anyway the point is Shadowy’s kind of a dick. the downside of being an outside force to the multiverse as we know it is… he doesnt really have any attachment to it? he’s not really a god but he’s near-invulnerable, can just bounce out of a universe as soon as he starts facing any consequences, and kind of sees everything as a game where he can just knock a few pieces over, see what happens, and then leave to do the same somewhere else but with a different method. he’s bored. the full effect of what he does doesnt really matter to him, he just entertains himself by making a mess of things. he’s also, like, a teenager with phenomenal cosmic power, which always goes well

so Shadowy’s running around from universe to universe, just kinda fucking with people to see how much he can get away with, when one of his worldhops kinda… fails. and instead of going through a portal directly from one universe to another, he falls into the void between worlds: Nullspace.

(”wait isn’t that a thing in sonic forces though” i came up with nullspace in like 2010 and can dig up old posts from my first blog talking about it, and there’s only gonna be more similarities to forces as this goes on, its COMPLETELY baffling and i swear to god it is a total coincidence that im still not over)

anyway so Shadowy accidentally dumps himself into the void, gets lost, but finds something that had gotten sealed there ages ago, potentially by another Outsider: something called the Phoenix Orb. im bolding it because its very important. this is like, THE plot macguffin. it’s also basically the Phantom Ruby, because as soon as Shadowy gets his hands on it he goes from “asshole” to “asshole with total control over reality”. and he REALLY wants to see what this shiny rock can do, so he goes back to his deal of universe-hopping and picks a world he thinks will be very interesting to fuck with.

meet Robo (left) and Recky (right)! Robo wants to be a hero. Recky becomes a supervillain to spite him. Robo assembles a team of random furries and they all go on a bunch of adventures, including meeting clones of themselves, having an EX Gear race, getting lost in the desert, and various other shenanigans, usually involving fighting Recky and his cronies O-Mel and Blade.

then Shadowy shows up.

Recky’d gotten himself in a tight spot, so he wasn’t exactly going to turn down help when a random hedgehog showed up and allied himself with him. …sort of. Shadowy was just kind of a pest to Team Ultimate Robo (or TUR for short), and sometimes would even intervene on their side if things went south. it was kind of hard for anybody to tell what side Shadowy was really on.

finally, though, Shadowy had all his pieces in the right place and set his plan in motion. he approached Robo and took advantage of the metal sonic’s insecurities and tragic backstory, and convinced him to ditch his team in favour of destroying Mobius with him. Recky found out and alerted the rest of TUR, and they teamed up to race Shadowy&Robo to the Eclipse Cannon before Robo used it to wipe out everything.

while Recky was up in space, O-Mel and Blade decided to stick to Recky’s original plan and kidnapped the members of TUR that had stayed behind on Mobius to.. i dunno, do something. mind control them into working for Recky, probably? back at the ARK, Shadowy got his face kicked in by Robo after he was snapped back to his senses, and fled back to Nullspace to recover and plan his next move. Robo had just made things personal… and Shadowy hadn’t taken full advantage of his new powers yet.

Robo freed the captured TUR gang and made a big distraction for them to escape, and in the confusion Shadowy appeared and kidnapped a specific hedgehog to use as bait. it worked, and Robo gave chase to try and rescue her. using the Phoenix Orb, Shadowy took control of SK and gave her enough power to near-totally destroy Robo, then sent her off to do the same to the rest of TUR. she basically got turned into Infinite, complete with having a realitywarping gemstone shoved in her chest.

it was a pretty solid plan, except it quickly fell apart when SK started fighting back for control and tried using the Orb’s power to attack Shadowy instead. he was losing control of the situation, and the two of them ended up in a struggle with Shadowy desperately trying to get the Orb back before she figured out how to use it. in a last-ditch desperate effort, Shadowy used the Orb’s power he could still draw on to forcibly fuse himself with SK in hopes that, if he couldn’t get it away from her, he could at least take control of the fusion and go from there…

…and things very quickly went from bad to worse.

turns out taping together an Outsider, a hedgehog with a shitton of Chaos powers and potential, and an artifact with total complete control over reality, is not good for the universe. or any universe. enter the Shadowy Phoenix, who kinda goes full Solaris except with like… realitywarping instead of time control. the creation of the Phoenix was literally shattering the world around them, and neither SK or Shadowy were in control– it was basically just the Orb itself running rampant and at threat of not only destroying TUR’s Mobius, but the entire multiverse if it wasn’t stopped.

so it got stopped. and exploded. the sudden death-explosion of a superdimensional being tore reality apart and flung everybody across the multiverse, with both Shadowy and SK gone… until SK suddenly showed back up 3 years later with no memory and with a shard of the Orb still stuck inside her. this is when the main Shattered Worlds plot kicks off!

as for Shadowy, it’s… not really clear what happened to him.

[evalynnmesserli]

A Bit Different Chapter One: The Meeting

Fandom: Sonic the Hedgehog

Summary: Sometimes, who you think you are isn’t you. Sometimes, the easiest answer isn’t always the right one. Sometimes, the truth you believe is a lie.

A/N: Two chapters posted so close together? Don’t get used to it. I’m sick and stuck at home and somehow managed to write this through the medication. Sonic’s in this chapter! Whoo! Also depending on if I manage to not pass out in the next ten minutes, there might be another chapter posted today. I was inspired to write this by @squigglydigglydoo, @spiritsonic, @monpian , and @whatisthisnonsense’s “Sonic is an alien” theory. So yeah.

Extra Notes: I spelt Robotnik as Robootnid the entire time I was writing this due to meds but I think I caught them all. If you see that I didn’t then now you know why.

————————

Doctor Robotnik was, in his (delusional) opinion, the greatest genius the world had ever known, in both his own world and in this one that he’d found himself trapped in over twelve years ago after wandering onto that blasted floating island that had disappeared into thin air and was nowhere to be found even though he had searched everywhere and--!

He really needed to learn to stay on track.

Ignoring disappearing floating islands (that leave him stranded as the only human on the entire planet--!), Dr. Robotnik felt that he could solve any problem that came his way. Any question or oddity, he could easily figure it out. Except for this. Except for the fact that on his screen showed him someone that should be dead being perfectly alive and healthy.

Sure, he looked older, it had been six years after all and he’d just been a small child when the incident had happened, but that didn’t matter because he still should be dead. Dr. Robotnik had seen his body himself. There was no way.

Yet there he was, on the cover of South Island’s newspaper. “Local Hero Sonic the Hedgehog Saves the Day Yet Again” the headline read. Dr. Robotnik thought for a moment then turned to the egg-robo at his side.

“This might actually be him,” he said to the robot. “All the facial recognition scans match up perfectly, but I know I saw him dead.”

The robot was silent.

“I know! It’s impossible, but here he is! Perfectly fine and healthy!”

The robot beeped quietly.

“Don’t use that kind of tone with me!”

The robot went silent again.

“The question is how? How did he survive? And why is he using a stupid name like Sonic? Seriously? What kind of a name is that? Does he think he can hide from me?”

The robot remained silent.

“You’re right. It might not actually be him. Hmmmmm, how about this, I put my Life Data plan into action. If he’s the real deal then I can capture him and harness the Chaos Emeralds to power Robotnikland. I’ve improved since the last time so it will succeed.”

The robot beeped.

“I was getting to that! If he’s not who I think he is then it’s simple: he’ll die and I’ll have already started my conquest so there would be no point in stopping then. If I really need to I’ll just find some Chao to use.”

The robot beeped twice.

“Good talk! Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time I had a bit of a reunion.”

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

“Thank you so much, Sonic!” the cat said, taking her books from the young hedgehog. “I really need to watch where I’m going huh?” She laughed loudly.

Sonic nodded, internally wishing she would actually follow through on her comment. This was the third time today that Garnet had tripped over something and nearly gotten one of her books trampled or destroyed. One more time and he was just going to leave it.

“--not thank you enough,” Garnet continued even as Sonic grew impatient. She finally seemed to get the hint though because she smiled and said, “Anyhow, I’ll let you get back to whatever it was you were doing. Bye!” With that she ran off...and bumped into at least six people on her way to round the corner. Sonic shook his head in exasperation. When would she learn? He decided not to dwell on it and leave before she called for his help again. He had no problem with occasionally helping the villagers, but he really didn’t want the them to start depending on him too much.

So, he turned around and ran.

A normal Mobian can run rather quickly when needed or even just casually a with a lot of training, but Sonic was no normal Mobian. He didn’t know how and he didn’t know why, but he could run much faster than anything else on the island. Trains, cars, planes, whatever it was, he easily beat it. Some found it strange but it was normal for him. He’d been able to do it as long as he could remember and even before that. He never questioned it.

As such, he ran and ran and ran. Out of the village and all the way to a small shack that he called a home. Most wouldn’t be alright with a random twelve-year-old living on his own in a worn down hunk of wood that looked like it would collapse under its own weight with the slightest disturbance, but those who lived on the island had grown used to it. Sonic was strange and they had learned to live with it.

When he made it to the shack, Sonic immediately went around back to the banged up red plane which sat, rusty and unoperational, just a few feet away from the hunk of wood Sonic called home, where it had been for six years.

Sonic put his backpack down as he walked around it. He’d named it the Tornado when he first learned that most people named their planes. It had no special meaning to him, he’d just thought it sounded cool. The words written on the plane however, meant something.

Sonic ran his hand along the blocky white letters on the side of the plane. His name sat there, startling against the red and gray. Noticeable. Demanding attention. Sonic had taken it as his name when it was discovered that he couldn’t remember his. In fact, he couldn’t remember anything before waking up in the village infirmary years ago.

There had been an explosion on the opposite side of the island and when a search group had gone to investigate, they found Sonic lying unconscious surrounded by rubble from a house that no one had even known was there. They tried to question him when he woke up, but found that he could neither speak nor remember anything. Not even his own name. Nothing from the rubble was salvageable enough to figure out who Sonic was, but they had found an old plane that had managed to survive somehow, though it was completely broken and useless. Still, Sonic took it and the name painted on as his own.

Six years later and he was trying to get the Tornado working again so he could leave the island. Don’t get him wrong, Sonic liked the island and the villagers well enough, but he wanted to explore the world. He wanted to find what else was out there and go on adventures and face off against dangerous foes like Fang the Sniper or even find someone who could keep up with him to race. He didn’t want to be stuck on this island where he was already an outsider his whole life. He was going to get out. He was going to fix the Tornado and find somewhere new. Even if he had no idea how to fix a plane. He’d figure it out. It was only a matter of time.

Sonic was so deep in his thoughts (at least for him anyway) that he didn’t see the flicky flying straight towards him until it landed smack in his face, surprising him to the point where he fell backwards onto his butt.

The flicky flapped desperately around Sonic’s head, panicked chirps escaping its beak. Sonic stared at it a moment after he stood up, trying to figure out what was wrong when suddenly a robotic blue wasp came flying at them and snatched up the little creature. It looked at Sonic for a moment before quickly flying off back in the direction where it had come from.

For a moment Sonic just stood there, unable to process what exactly had just happened. Then he realized that whatever that robot was must have been what the flicky had been afraid of. Without a second thought, Sonic raced after the robot and flicky, easily closing the distance between them. He was about to jump up and grab the helpless animal when he was thrown into a tree by a beetle-like robot.

Sonic groaned silently as he stood up only to come face to face with a strange creature he had never seen before. It was almost egg shaped and had a pale and shiny peach head and giant orange mustache. It also wore a bright red shirt, black pants that looked like they were also its shoes, and a tiny yellow cape. The creature grinned at him before turning to the robot that still held the flicky.

“Do it,” the Egg Thing commanded and the robot shoved the flicky into another beetle looking robot. Sonic watched in shock as the robot trembled for a moment before opening its eyes and rolling away, the flicky still trapped inside. The Egg Thing turned back to Sonic and grinned wider.

Today was the weirdest day in Sonic’s life.

“Hello, ‘Sonic’” the Egg Thing said. “Long time no see, huh?”

Yup. Weirdest day ever.

[luescris]

A Silent Road (Sonic One-shot)

Yes, this is a Sonic thing. But believe me, I don't think y'all have seen a Sonic one-shot like this one before. You might be rather intreiged in reading it. >:33

In all honesty though, I didn't know what I was doing when I started this. I just improvised so ye-

There was only so much a super fast blue hedgehog could do in his free time. A lot of things that normal Mobians do usually bored him quickly, too quickly, in fact, and sometimes that very fact bothered him. Sonic loved adventure, loved fighting with that addicting adrenaline rush he would get in near-death situations. Everyone knew that. But when there was no butt kicking to be had, it was difficult for him to find things to do a lot of times. Sure, he loved to take naps, and he would occasionally read a book or two, or simply lay somewhere to stare up at the sky. He’d chat with Tails here, hang with Amy there, have a brawl with a rather easily ticked Knuckles occasionally. When he wasn't doing those things, he'd be out on a run, though even that began to bore him slowly. All of the different cities and countries he'd passed started to feel the same to him. After all, he's traveled around Mobius so many times thanks to his faster-than-normal legs. It was starting to feel a little cliche to Sonic. He felt as if he had seen everything already, experienced all the new places there was to see.

Or at least, so he thought.

He was out on another one of his runs when his options had--yet again--ran out. He enjoyed the wind against his quills, how the world sped by him in blurred colors, but he couldn't help but feel as if… As if something was off. Like he was missing something. He then realized that nothing was in front of him to stop him in his tracks. Usually, there would be a few trees, or cars honking at him, or buildings he would have to run over. But there was just… Nothing. So, out of curiosity, he slowed to a stop to look at his surroundings.

All around him was a silent road.

No cars were on it, and without the sounds, the world suddenly felt quiet in an odd way. He didn't hear any birds, as the only signs of greenery was the yellow grass that swayed on the sides of the old and cracked road under his feet. The hot summer sun behind him beat down on his blue quills as he looked around, blinking. The entire area felt rather old-timey. The road went no other direction but straight for as long as Sonic could see, disappearing into the horizon of the light blue sky. Not a cloud could be seen, though far into it a single bird circled high above. All Sonic could do was stare, for some odd reason awed by the rare and strange place he had found. As he stood there, he realized that this road must have been abandoned for some reason, and wondered why. People were really missing out. A tumbleweed gently skidded across with the gentle breeze.

Then, Sonic felt the pieces click together, as he realized he too was missing out on sights like this. He may have ran through all those cities, but he only very rarely stopped to actually look at them and experience what wonders they had to offer. Not to mention all of the secret and new places he could find in forests beyond. He smiled at himself, placing his hands on his hips as he turned around slowly to look behind him, ignoring the heat.

Smart move, He told himself in his head with a chuckle.

The place was like an old photograph, and he wondered if there were other places like this. Then, out of the blue, he heard a car's engine in the distance, his ear flicking in the direction of the sound with his eyes. He watched as--slowly--something in the distance glinted when the Sun's rays hit metal. For a vehicle, it went rather slow, too. Just out of curiosity, Sonic simply stood there and watched as it approached, and for reasons unknown to him, he never once felt his impatience rise to make his foot tap on the asphalt. He guessed it was the effect of the road. Eventually, the car was close enough so that he could tell it had a white exterior, and while shiny, it did look rather old, as if to match the street, and an old man sat in the driver's seat, whistling to a tune that played on his radio. He only stopped when he had glanced over at Sonic, a smile on his face as he recognized the blue hero.

He pulled his car to a stop beside the hedgehog, shutting off his radio and engine, and raised a hand in greeting. “Why, isn't it Sonic the Hedgehog! Never thought I'd see you around these parts of Mobius.” He chuckled, having a slight southern accent to his voice. “What brings you here, sonny?”

“Nothing really.” Sonic replied with a shrug. “Just got caught up in sight seeing is all. Where's all the other cars?”

“Other cars?” The old man blinked, then understanding flickered in his seemingly ancient eyes. “Oh, ya mean all those other doohickey vehicles. See, this road was closed off a long, long while ago, back before you were as big as you were.” He then chuckled. “Why, I remember a time when we didn't have you, or that Eggman around. The first time ah heard o' you, you were so small it almost seemed impossible such a young thing could do so much. I watched you grow, though, and it was something.”

Sonic shuffled his feet awkwardly, scratching the side of his head. He wasn't used to people talking about when he was younger. Just how old was this man? “Er… Yeah. Anyway, about the road. Why'd they close it off?”

A dark look crossed the man's face. “Well… There was a lot of crashes and accidents that would happen here. So much so that people began to think that it was cursed, or haunted. For a while, it was this road that had the most amounts of accidents in this state. People began to tell stories about it soon after, sayin’ that they would see ghosts and other unexplainable things at night as they crossed, which led them to the crashes. Eventually, it got so bad, to where the government decided to shut it down.”

“All because of crashes?” Sonic scoffed. “That seems odd.”

“Odd indeed. However,” The man leaned forward, a strange glint in his eyes. “This wasn't no ordinary road. Before, it was a large cemetery.”

A chill went down the hedgehog's spine.

The old man sighed sadly, leaning back into his car. “Yes, a darned shame. The company that built over it had no compassion for any of the poor souls. Served them right, tho’.” He looked up and pointed. “You see that there over in the distance?”

Sonic turned his head to follow where he was pointing. At first, he couldn't see it very well, being so far off, but he strained his eyes, and saw that there was a large pile of wood shimmering in the heat waves. He nodded wearily.

“That's the ol’ church that ran it. Shut down right after the road was built. Got ran out of town.”

The blue hedgehog looked back at him. “Why would someone do that? And… How come you're still riding it?”

“Not sure, sunny. Whoever built this road though, better hope they be sorry. As for why I'm on the road, well… I like to reminisce every now and then about the good times. Don't hurt to be a rebel every now and then, don’t it?” He winked slyly. “You of all people should know that.”

Sonic chuckled. Suppose that's true…

A beeping then interrupted, and he looked down at his watch. His eyes widened. “My goodness, look at that. It's high past time ah head home.” He started his car again, the radio being turned on as well, and he turned back to the hedgehog with a tip of his hat and a smile. “Well, it was nice to meet ya, Sonic. You're a rather delightful lil fella.” He held out a hand, which Sonic took and shook it. “Maybe we'll meet again one day. Keep on doin' what you're doin’.”

Sonic grinned. “Will do.”

The old man pushed the stick drive, and went on his way again, continuing to whistle. Sonic watched him for a moment as the car rolled on, then shook his head and continued in the direction he had headed before, though his feet felt as if he was stepping on rather delicate glass. He wondered if the story he had told him was true, and if it was, he made a mental note to not come back here. Just so he could make sure he didn't, “disturb the resting souls” under his shoes. Then he remembered something, stopped abruptly, and turned around.

“Wait!!” Sonic shouted as he did. “I never got your-!!”

He stopped.

The old man with the old vehicle wasn't seen at all on the road. Not where he should've been seen. The blue hedgehog blinked, feeling rather unsettled, and turned around slowly. Instead of starting at a jog, he boosted at full speed, wanting to get off the rather strange area as fast as he could.

Sonic had a feeling he had just conversed with a ghost on a Silent Road.

[rxbelling-hxrald]

What would happen if Dan managed to get all the Chaos Emeralds?

Absolutely nothing, those mighty emeralds are powerful items but to Dan they are nothing more but that, just shiny gems. Does this mean he's stronger than them? Of course not! He's fully aware of how chaos can be used thanks to encounters with other mobians and arguably the master of chaos usage, Shadow.

Yes, Mobians are connected to chaos in some form overall, but Dan is not a true mobian and as such, he has no affinity towards them. He may feel the power within them if he held onto one but just like most others he'd be unable to wield them in anyway..

Somewhere in my archives there is a 'what if' scenario/drawing as to how it might be if Dan were indeed capable of using them and turning 'Super' but there is no chance of it ever happening outside of that, what ifs.

Dan also is a believer of a person being their own greatest strength. Not liking the idea of someone or something relying on a power that's not their own, if its not their own ability then your relying on a crutch in his mind, so again even if he did have the emeralds and had a connection to use them, he wouldn't. (Which yes makes him entirely hypocritical! Considering some of his past actions of trying to absorb power from sources he could)

The only reason he'd be driven to collect them is if he were attempting to keep them out of another's hands or in a darker lifetime, attempting to destroy them so their power cannot be harnessed.

[sonic-the-hedgehog-fanfiction]

Chapter 17: Even Rose Have Thorns

"I'm Amy Rose! A simple hedgehog with a simple goal - to find one true love. This will be my story. The story of when I met my hero - Sonic the Hedgehog!"

In the streets of a random Mobian town, some time before Chun'nan was attack, a pink hedgehog had set up a Tarot Card stand where she could tell fortunes to passerbys. Her predictions were...sometimes a miss and sometimes a hit. Though as of recent, the predictions she told were of a dark and grim prediction.

During her leaving, she began to doubt her own point of living a life that seemed so unfulfilling. During her trip she sat down and began to give herself a prediction.

"Hmm... 'Your savior...will be...your love'...? My savior will be my love? I know what that means, but... Savior? From what?" Amy asks, putting her hands on her hips. As she was going to throw a tantrum, she just sighs and pockets her cards away. Dusting off her green and orange dress, she begins to see dark clouds form.

"Oh come on rain! Don't start now!" she shouts, starting to hurry her pace to the next town over.

Once in the next town, she finds the streets oddly quiet. Hardly any signs of life in a place like this seemed to bring chills up the girl's spine. She knocks over a trash can, startling herself in the process before seeing glowing eyes appear in the darkness. This puts her on overboard before she starts running and screaming. But as soon as she hit the plaza, she is grabbed by metal claws from a shiny blue metal head.

"Ah! Let me go, you stupid bucket of bolts!" she screamed and struggled, kicking Metal Sonic in the face as he brought her to his master.

"Well well, Metal Sonic. What do we have here? We missed a little troublemaker, didn't we?" Robotnik asked as he just finished up roboticizing the last of Mobians of the small town.

"W-Wait! I-I only just came here! I don't know what's going on! I swear! Please don't hurt me!" Amy begged, trying her best to get out of whatever Robotnik was up to.

"Oh don't worry. You won't even be able to feel pain soon enough," Robotnik says before Metal Sonic is suddenly struck in the face by a Spin Dash, causing him to drop Amy.

As Amy fell, a blue stream catches her and lands on the ground softly. Amy slowly opens her eyes and sees...her savior. "My... My hero..." she says, blushing with stars in her eyes.

"Hey, you okay?" Sonic asked as Manik and Sonia arrive to help.

"Nice save, bro!" Manik shouts before going in for a Spin Dash to destroy the roboticizer. "You've been keeping us busy, Eggman."

"Hmph! Maybe its because I find it better to go out on occasion," Robotnik says before firing a flash bang at Manik's face, blinding him momentarily. "Metal Sonic! We're leaving! Little Planet is waiting for us!"

Metal Sonic complies and flies off with Robotnik. Sonic and Sonia help Manik up. "Urgh... I think he's out for a bit, Sonic," Sonia states, looking at her older brother.

"Don't worry. I'll take on Robotnik from here. I've got a score to settle with Metal anyway," Sonic says before turning to Amy, who just...tenses up with blushing cheeks. "And you. Be careful out there, kay?"

Sonic then rushes off, chasing after Robotnik to the mythical Little Planet with Amy just staring off. "If that's the hedgehog my cards were talking about then he's the right hedgehog for me!" she shouts before rushing after Sonic, albeit at a slower pace.

"H-Hey wait! You're... Gaah... Dang it... Why is she chasing after Sonic?" Sonia asked, staring at Amy leave toward Little Planet.

As Sonic chases Robotnik, he finds the Little Planet spoken about. The planet itself being a massive chunk of rock that comes out of a lake every year around this time. Whatever Robotnik was up to, he had to be stopped. As Sonic got ready, he suddenly spots Amy rushing at him.

"Wh-Whoa! Hey! What are you doing here?" Sonic asked, a bit startled by Amy just following him.

"I came to help out. I think you'd like a little back up," Amy says, though her intentions...did not seem to match what she was saying. Sonic was quick to pick up on this.

"U-Um... No thanks, miss...uh..."

"Amy Rose. Your now girlfriend!" she declares, much to Sonic's jawdropping shock.

"WHAT!?"

"Yep. You are to be my knight in shining armor, my savior against evil. My-" Amy is interrupted by Sonic putting his finger on her lips.

"No," he says very bluntly. "Look, we literally just met. If you're thankful of me saving me, that's fine. That's cool. I appreciate the sentiment. But to declare you and I are dating is...a bit much and comes off as a bit... Like... That's no good, Amy."

"But... But... My cards..."

"Tarot Cards, right? Yeah, I used to read into them too much. They're a bunch of malarky. Fortunes are nice and all, but I don't read into them much. I just go where the wind tells me and that's it," Sonic explains, giving Amy a good lesson on trusting herself over trusting some cards.

Amy looked...visibly defeated, her head hung as she just felt depressed now. "...Uh... Amy? You okay? I mean, I'm sorry that I sounded mean, but..."

"No... You're right... We did just meet... I'm sorry for bothering you," Amy says, turning and started to walk off, leaving Sonic to feel pretty guilty.

But as soon as there was enough distance between them, Metal Sonic swoops in and kidnaps her yet again. Amy starts screaming, before reaching out to Sonic. "SONIC!"

"Amy! Don't worry! I'm coming!" Sonic shouts as he travels up the chain leading to Little Planet, chasing after Metal Sonic.

With Sonic now in pursuit of Robotnik, he finds himself having to save a damsel in distress. Can Amy be saved or is she doomed to roboticization!? Find out next time on Sonic the Hedgehog!

[robotnik-mun]

Robotnik Art Historia- Part Four: Age of the Eggman

Welcome one and all to the Robotnik Art Historia, where we examine the visual depictions of Robotnik over the years! Well beautiful friends, we’re close to the end here, and it’s rather appropriate given that the particular ‘era’ of the books covered here is where things really began to end for the old Robotnik, with a new Robotnik emerging to take the place of the old- Robo-Robotnik, an early one shot villain, who after devastating his own Mobius was moving in to the current one in order to re-live the thrill of conquest. Uploading his consciousness into a body modeled after the modernized Eggman design from Sonic Adventure, he would take over as central villain to the book, and usher in a time when SEGA would finally start exerting more and more control over the book in order to align things more closely to the games, having decided that they wanted a more consistent depiction of their mascot and his world. To sound off that declaration, an adaptation of Sonic Adventure would become the first major plot after issue 75. Afterwards came what I like to call ‘The Dark Ages’.

Now, for each person, when and why ‘The Dark Ages’ started up is a matter of interpretation. Personally, I place the deterioration of things as happening after the Sonic Adventure adaptation finished- this is era that would give us Green Knuckles, the Love Triangle, Freedom Fighters In School, and the thrice accursed art of Ron Lim (more on him below). It was an age of uneven storytelling and even more uneven art. Yet despite having long since been permanently killed off, Robotnik managed to linger on all the same. Fittingly, this era would feature some of the crappiest art of Robotnik yet, and at the same time would signal his temporary return to the books... in what was probably one of the worst Sonic issues ever. 

19. Chris Allan

A former regular on the Archie Ninja Turtles comic, Chris Allan theoretically should have been a perfect fit for the book, having demonstrated more than enough skill in drawing anthropmorphic animals that would qualify him to handle Sonic. Unfortunately, Allan was a rather prominent example of what I call ‘Sonic Complacency Syndrome’- it’s when an otherwise skilled and competent artist’s abilities turn to complete shit when they try to do Sonic. It has felled more than a few, and serves as a good illustration as to why it takes effort to do this shit right- Allan’s Mobians were poorly, poorly executed, and try as he might he could never quite get them right. He was selected to illustrate the ‘Tales of the Great War’ stories, which helped to flesh out the (underwhelming) details of the Great War and how Robotnik came to be Warlord. While his Mobians were sub-par, he managed to do a pretty good job with Robotnik. There was nothing in particular that stood out about his take on the guy, but given how the rest of his work ‘stood out’, that’s prolly for the best. 

19. Frank Strom

Frank Strom’s enduring legacy on the Sonic Book was the creation of the Dragon Kingdom and all the characters associated with it, including the infamous Monkey Khan. Frank Strom before working on Sonic was heavily involved with DC’s Looney Tunes comics as a writer, and worked extensively in Adult Comics. When it came to drawing for Sonic, he was.... not really all that good, at least when it came to Mobians. He had more luck with humans, including Robotnik, and was among the few to draw the guy before he had the bionic earsa nd eyes. While there is nothing especially bad about how he drew Robotnik, there’s something very... off, about the way he looks. Bit of an uncanny valley thing going on there. And as many before him did, Strom is yet another to draw Robotnik with a bulbous nose. Out of all the features that artists drawing the guy seem to mess up, it’s more often than not its his nose- which is ironic, given that this design has the least exaggerated nose out of any Robotnik and Eggman out there. 

20. Suzanne Paddock 

Susan Paddock is a bit of a mystery- she has only two Sonic works to her name, only one of them being a proper story, and I can’t really find much of anything about her career outside of the hedgehog. Still, the one story she illustrated for was perhaps one of the most out there ideas in all of the book- a story where Sonic winds up in a rules obsessed zone and has to clear his name with the help of a lawyer Sally Acorn called “Sally McAcorn”. Yeah, that’s not dated or anything (for those of you who weren’t children of the 90s, Fox in those days had a comedy tinged lawyer show called ‘Ally McBeal’, best known for birthing the ‘dancing baby’ meme of the early internet).

 Anyway, Paddock’s art style in general was really weird, and her depiction of Robotnik was no different- in this Zone an AI called ‘J.U.D.G.’, at some point in the past there was an organic Robotnik, and just... look at him. He has teeny tiny T-rex arms! And his body looks like it was glued onto his legs! Damn this was a weird ass story, and I’m still not clear if it was meant to be implied that the past Robotnik became J.U.D.G.E or not... yeah in addition to being weird, this was a crappy story in general. It was also the last time Robotnik in any form would appear in a Super Special, as between this stinker and the even worse ‘Naugus Games’ the line was cancelled. 

21. J. Axer 

Jeffrey Axer was one of a number of artists on the book who started out as a fanartist, and easily one of the most well regarded- bringing to the book an incredibly detailed anime-influenced aesthetic, he was responsible for some of the most gorgeous artwork to grace the early 2000s era of the book. Which is why its such a crying shame that the only times he got to draw Robotnik 1.0 where in a pair of Pro-Art pieces, both of which were miscolored. Seriously, why is it so hard to remember that his eyes are red against black??? Why??? Ah well- Axer’s Robotnik was cool looking, taking much of the SatAM Robotnik and making it fit into the anime aesthetic very nicely. I especially dig  the fang-like eye teeth and attention paid to his cheek bones. 

22. Ron Lim

Hooo boy, Ron Lim... I still wonder if he was a victim of Sonic Complacency Syndrome or if he just didn’t give a shit. Either way, Lim was a former Marvel hotshot who was particularly well known for his work on Silver Surfer. I am convinced that the reason he got the job at Archie was purely on the basis of having been a big name at Marvel, because lord almighty his artwork was just horrendous. Well, that’s not entirely fair- Ron Lim is in fact a very skilled artist, but the problem was? He was a poor, poor, poor fit at Sonic with a near total inability to even vaguely grasp the kind of style you’d expect for a Sonic book. What was worse though was that despite how awful his work on the book was, Ron Lim stuck around for a long, long time, to such an extent that he was practically the main artist for the book for much of the early 2000s. Yeah, not fun times. 

Naturally, his touch of dung extended to his art for Robotnik. Much like Penders, Lim struggled to reconcile the realism he was used to with the toony exaggeration required of the book, and ended up failing on both counts. Ron Lim’s Robotnik as an end result was a stubby, wrinkly looking guy whose appearance made it seem as though he had been sculpted from butter and was in the process of melting. Not helping matters at all was the fact that the story he appeared in was one of the very worst of the series, and a personally despised one. Lim’s Robontik is noteworthy in that it might be the most realistic looking of the various attempts at drawing Robotnik... this however was not a good thing, as much like Penders, Lim’s Robotnik was caught in an awkward area between realism and tooniness, and executing neither well. Still, this wasn’t the worst drawn Robotnik on the book. That distinct honor would go to the next on our list...

23. “Many Hands” 

Many Hands. A name which will live in infamy. Okay technically ‘Many Hands’ wasn’t a person but a bunch of people, but twice this name has popped up and twice the end result was just odious. Look at this. Just... look at this. Do I really have to explain why this is awful? He looks like a deflated baloon, his shoulder pads are all wrong, and the coloring and shading is just *garish*. This is probably the worst drawn Robotnik in the entire series, and given all the shitty art that came before and after that’s REALLY saying something. 

24. Dawn Best 

Another of the ‘New Wave’ of fanartists-turned-pro that hit the book in the early 2000s, Dawn Best was a much anticipated addition to the books, having made a name for herself in fan circles as a superb artist. She showed a great deal of promise, much of which was unfortunately squandered thanks to Ken Penders’ absolutely abominable inks making a hash out of the bulk of her art. While he slowly improved down the line, the damage was done. Regardless, Best remained pretty popular. She only managed to draw Robotnik once- her take on Robotnik was an especially chunky and brutish looking specimen, with a shaggier and more unkempt mustache than most. As I say far too often than I like, its a shame we could not have seen more from her... both regarding Robotnik and in general.

And thus we bring this chapter of the Historia to a close. Well friends, it’s the beginning of the end now- after this there will only be one last post to this artist retrospective, as we exit the Dark Age of the book and enter into what was a bright and shiny renaissance- the Flynn Era!