#how do you tag chaos now that 'chaos sonic' exists ?

[tekatonic]

I'm skipping a few drawings in-between these two for the sake of being related-ish, but we'll come back to those.

Technically this Chaos design could be considered OC-ish I guess ? Chaos is a deity here, and quite a major one considering chaos energy is the aura in everything ! Here he is mortal, for purposes.

[thel0llip0p]

A World Without Sonic

a sonadow prime ficlet, you can guess what it's about.

**disclaimer: i'm not a writer and I did not proofread it lol. this was the idea for my next comic but i got lazy to draw it so i wrote it out instead for now.

tags? sonadow , character death/mourning, platonic shadamy, mention of: tails, knuckles, rouge, big, eggman

____________________

Shadow finds himself in the last spot he was in right before the prism shattering, his arms held out and empty where the blue hedgehog once was, feeling disoriented for only a split second.

The cave!

Wasting no time, the black hedgehog dashes away making his way up to his destination. His heart racing wondering if Sonic made it alive and intact. A pit in his stomach grew on his way over, fearing the outcome. Like Schrödinger's cat, unfortunately there was only one way to find out, whether he liked it or not.

He makes his grand appearance at the mouth of the cave, and without thinking calls out

"Sonic!"

"Shadow??"

His heart dropped. At the scene, Eggman and Sonic's friends all staring blankly at him, both parties equally confused. But sonic was nowhere in sight.

This left him no choice.

"Chaos Control!"

and he disappeared just like that, along with the Paradox Prism.

___

Warping to a secluded location unbeknownst to anyone except himself, he sheltered the prism.

I guess this will have to do for now.

Against his will, he supposed he'd have to be the guardian of this thing for now, not unlike a certain echidna and the master emerald but he knew he couldn't entrust the prism with anyone else other than himself.

Now that the prism was taken care of for now, he could finally think about the burden on his mind.

Sonic...

Did he really not make it ?

He refused to believe that the bundle of blue joy was no longer in existence. He couldn't leave things at that, this warranted further investigation.

He needed answers now.

And he first person that came to mind was...

____

"I really... don't know who you are talking about?" Tails pondered with a hand to his chin. "Are you sure you're feeling okay, Shadow?"

"The name Sonic doesn't ring a bell? Really? Your blue hedgehog best friend? Try to remember."

"I feel like, it's supposed to be familiar but I don't really know. Nothing comes to mind. Sor-"

"Never mind, then."

Shadow walked away.

"Umm.. okay?" Tails shrugged him off, thought left a little dumbfounded.

On to the next one..

_____

"Hey redhead, where's your blue friend Sonic?"

"What did you call me?!" Knuckles didn't take so kindly to the nicknames and much less being interrupted during his midday nap.

"Where's Sonic?"

"Don't know 'im"

He sighed defeatedly and took his leave.

______

Tails didn't know. Knuckles didn't know.

Big and Rouge didn't know either.

Of course Sonic isn't going to be anywhere. He's not here. It's like he never existed. And even knowing this was venture was fruitless, he felt the need to ask everyone anyway, as if he was holding out hope for something.

How stupid. This behaviour wasn't like him.

And there was only one last person left, the only person who could possibly understand even a tiny bit how he felt.

____

"Oh Shadow nice to see you around. You don't normally stroll around so casually, did you need something?" Amy, oh so very cheerful as always.

"Have you seen Sonic?" Shadow was straight to the point.

"Sonic? Ummm.." she gave it some thought. She felt like she was supposed to know who that was and although she didn't, it did make her heart flutter a bit. "Is he your friend?"

"No, he's not my friend, just someone I'm looking for."

"Oh... well I noticed you've been asking and searching around endlessly. He must be someone important to you."

"...Yeah, I guess so." He melancholically looked off into the distance.

The two of them were sitting on a hill with a nice view of the green hill landscape.

"If you don't mind, can you tell me more about Sonic? Who was he? What happened?"

"He... was a hero, your friend.. everyone's friend.." he trailed off.

"..And I couldn't save him."

Tears began to well as he began to recall his last memories of their adventure together. A surge of pain growing in his chest and his suppressed feelings beginning to surface.

Amy turned to Shadow, concern on her face. He was normally never vulnerable with anyone but in this moment, for some reason he felt like he could confide in Amy with this. Even if he couldn't delve into detail.

"He sacrificed himself to save the universe, and now he doesn't exist and no one remembers him... except me." He did his best to hold back his emotions.

She listened to him with sympathy in her eyes.

"A world without Sonic, is not the same world at all. I can't imagine a world without him, and here I am. Here's not here anymore." Brushing away the tears, he turned away to hide his face from her.

Amy wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug.

"It's okay Shadow. I'm sure it's not your fault.

Knowing you, you probably did everything you could to try to save him. And surely Sonic is thankful for your effort."

He wanted to believe her but his emotions only welled further.

"It wasn't enough... I wasn't enough, and now he's gone. Forever."

She stroked his back, trying to comfort best as she could.

"As long as you remember him in your heart, he exists and lives on in your heart."

At this point , Shadow was basically crying into her shoulders, and although it was extremely embarrassing he couldn't help himself. The tears flowed like rivers, mourning the loss of the only hedgehog he saw as his equal, rival, possibly friend?

How could he live on like this ? First Maria, now Sonic.

His feelings of remorse, hopelessness and sorrow overwhelming him.

When would it end?

Amy's embrace brought him comfort, but oh how he wished he was in Sonic's instead.

He felt his sense of self drifting away until everything became black.

"Shadow?"

"Shadow ?"

Amy's voice tried to reach him but her voice sounding increasingly faint.

____

"Shadow ?"

A familiar voice...

"Hey you okay?"

"Nngh"

Slowly opening his eyes, he saw emerald green eyes looking down at him and a blur of blue and sunshine.

"S-sonic?" A sudden wave of relief came over him.

He sat up. "You're okay?"

"Of course I am?

He realized he had been sleeping on Sonic's lap? And oh, there was remnants of tears on his face?

"What was that about? Bad dream got ya?" Sonic teased as he layed back against a palm tree, hands behind his head.

Shadow sighed. "Guess you could say that," rubbing the back of his neck.

"I dreamt... you didn't make it back to Green Hill and everyone had forgotten about you. It's like you never existed."

"Oh you missed me so much you started crying in your sleep? Aww-"

Shadow grabbed his face with his hand, squishing his cheeks "Shut it, you." And kissed him.

"I'm just glad you're okay."

And the two resumed their peaceful afternoon by the beachside.

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

What theory do you have regarding Babylon's loss of wings? I can understand if it's just how their species looks, but Rouge having wings while they don't seems strange to me. Sega even gave Honey the Cat white feathered angel wings, but not the actual bird species. 🫠

(I myself put slits on the back lol)

Okay Anon, this may seem like an easy answer question, but (un)fortunately, it is not! I have a lot to say on this, so much so that I whipped out my laptop and a word document to answer you, so let's delve into my personal lore for Babylonians, birds, and mobian-human relations: this isn't my official post for it, but until I have time to write a 900K word document on what the hell my canon is, THIS IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS!

CONTEXTUAL NOTE: I wouldn't classify this as a disclaimer, but I want to explain to the other people in these large tags what this post is. No, I am NOT claiming this is canon lore. No, it is not an AU. This is my personal canon-adjacent lore that has been carefully crafted with thoroughly intense regards to every piece of relevant source materials, going as far back as concept pieces from development. In order to make things work for MY canon, details have been changed and will sometimes contradict fragments of regular canon. Could I make everything cohesive and non-contradictory? Yes, and that's a different project of mine. This is my sandbox, you don't have to play in it (but it would be REALLY fun if you joined me :p) ONE LAST THING: I started writing this the second you sent it to me, then abandoned it until now where I did 90% of the writing. I am tired and slightly incoherent but I wanted it done, so sorry if it's rushed. You can send me more asks to clarify but I mean... i will probably make it worse lmao

THE CURSE OF BABYLON: OUR FALLEN ANGELS

HISTORY

1.1 Babylonians in Space

The Babylonians originate from the planet Babylon (lol duh), which is currently too far away from the major galaxies around Earth/Mobius to pinpoint an exact location, or who their neighbouring planets were. (Translation: one day I will design the star systems of the Sonic universe, but today is not that day!)

While most of the Babylonians reside on their home planet, exploration ships did go out in search of new technology, as these aliens pride themselves on their Treasure and Greatness. One of the common misconceptions about Babylonians is that 'treasure' translates to items of monetary value, but what they actually sought out was new technological advancements so they could pull from other developing planets and take what they've learned to improve their own inventions. This distorted sentiment is a tragic detail that spoils the reputation and ambition of the Babylonian descendants who have lost the true meaning of their heritage, but it's safe to say that some of them still think this way (cough, Wave and Tekno, cough).

Circling back to the point at hand though, I want to make it very clear that the Babylonians of Earth/Mobius are NOT the entire species, nor are they pure Babylonians. The real Babylon exists lightyears away, lost to the vastness of the universe, and Babylon Garden (Astral Babylon) was merely one ship that had been scouting various galaxies for new technology.

While it is not inherently relevant to the topic at hand, there was a brief moment in pre-crash Babylonian history where they were in alliance with the Black Arms. This took place before the war on Argentium with the Xorda, as the Babylonians tend to remain neutral during conflicts that do not concern them, but back on Babylon there are a separate class of Babylonian-Black Arms hybrids known to us as Corvids. The black pigment of these birds combined with their superior intelligence and durability was given to them through the power of chaos energy, something Babylonians do not possess in concentrated amounts when compared to other alien species, but was the result of crossbreeding with Black Arms. While there were some Corvids on Babylon Garden, the ship that crashed onto Earth/Mobius, many were made once more once the Babylonians had settled on the planet, welcoming a new, less potent version of this genetic branch. These Corvids are less powerful due to the weakened genetic purity of the Earth/Mobius-bound Babylonians, but they are still exceedingly brilliant, albeit near-extinct by present day.

1.2 Babylonians on Earth/Mobius

After travelling to the Nameless Zone and having a close call with the Berzerkers, Babylon Garden (the ship known as Astral Babylon) managed to emergency warp one last time to Earth/Mobius, the nearest dominant zone. Because of the damage caused by the Berzerkers, they disconnected the Ark of the Cosmos which had been used to manipulate gravity and warp them anywhere in space. This particular vessel was thus stranded on the planet, but their hopes of being found by other Babylonians who could bring them back home are the reason why Babylonians (and anyone in general) are inclined to make wishes on shooting stars. Making do with an 'inferior' planet, the Babylonians got somewhat of a negative reputation for their reclusiveness on their island, and superiority complexes when interacting with the planet's other inhabitants.

As the Babylonians split into different factions based on 3 major dogmas (which we will examine later) they developed a range of reputations. Because humans look down on mobians, the Babylonians which assimilated with other mobians were treated about as poorly as them. Contrastingly, Battle Kukus and the Battle Bird Armada are praised, respected, and in alliance with human society, especially the government. Their alienness has long been forgotten as Babylonian in origin, but their distinction from other mobians makes humans trust them more. If anything, the dominant public opinion is that "these ones aren't so bad, they can keep the inferior breeds of mobian in-line" which is fucked up to say the least. The Babylon Rogues are still regarded as Babylonian, and yet, hardly known, so they are as invisible and neutral as you can get. The modern reputations of these factions will be brought up again later from a current point of view, but it is safe to say that we have a full range of Babylonian reputation spanning from negative to positive.

1.3 Humans

Humans are racist, big shock! I won't dwell on it too much since this will eventually get its own post, but humans and Babylonians are biologically compatible, meaning there are plenty of humans who have Babylonian heritage. I don't mean like our REAL Babylonian descendants, which I feel like I should clarify. The non-fictional and historical city of Babylon (located in modern day Iraq) was named after the alien Babylon/Babylonians (in Sonic, obviously) because the biblical Tower of Babel depicted the tale of humans trying to reach heaven by building vertically: this sentiment being shared with the Babylonians who looked to the stars and longed to return home to Babylon. So, essentially, the history is reversed here!

Some humans worshipped the Babylonians, and there were a good number of them who had Babylonian-Human children. They turned out normal, arguably more normal than the ones who ended up with mobians, but the racism kinda discouraged this. There was a good deal of fetishization of these hybrids so they don't exist anymore, not to mention how the recessive nature of Babylonian traits discourages this practice. BASICALLY, a lot of humans have some percentage of Babylonian DNA, but it's barely detectable in the modern age… it DID happen though.

GENETICS

2.1 Babylonians

Even back on their home planet, the trait of having full sets of wings was recessive. You can see even by looking at murals of Babylonians provided in the games:

Wings? Where are the WINGS?!? I mean, there's this:

... but if we zoom out:

it is clear that while full sets of wings exist, few Babylonians had them, and the ones that did were ranked higher and even worshipped for their abilities, making them angelic to some extent.

So, considering that only a "small" (subjective) portion of Babylonians were on Babylon Garden when it crashed, it is safe to say that our starting numbers for the winged gene are… actually not as minimal as we might initially think. (But I just mentioned a hierarchy???)

More specifically, there are two types of wings we are going to examine: forearm wings, and back wings. The former are more common albeit still not universally inherited, and the latter were always persons of great status and power, as marked by their organic ways of flight. Since our Babylonians could not go back home or attain more fully-winged persons, this immediately impacted social hierarchies with even more emphasis being placed on genetic superiority.

I am going to simplify the genetics, but essentially, the rules are as follows:

Back-wings are an AUTOSOMAL RECESSIVE trait. This means that both parents must be carriers for there to even be a chance of inheritance. Here is a handy dandy visual I stole from google images because I am too lazy to draw you a punnett square:

Armed-wings are an AUTOSOMAL DOMINANT trait. Look at the chart above, any square with a dominant letter (R) inherits the trait. Essentially, unless both parents are recessive with no forearm-wings (rr and rr) a Babylonian will inherit the trait.

Carriers of the Back-wing trait have a 50% chance of having armed-wings. Don't ask how this works, assume it is magic if you don't know genetics that well (genetics are magic anyways LOL)

From this, it is quite evident how traditional (back) wings phased out of the genepool. While it is true that non-Babylonians can carry the back-wing gene (mobians who have wings), Babylonians by nature are almost always recessive! Birdness? Recessive. Tall, humanoid proportions? Recessive. So while mating with a winged-mobian increases the likelihood of having a set of proper wings, the offspring will almost always be the same species as the mobian parent. Thus, it is far more likely for a modern day Babylonian descendant to have armed-wings as opposed to back-wings, which require a very lucky combination of genetic makeup to present as a trait.

Forearm-wings are capable of gliding and sometimes flight, but are very limiting in terms of regular mobility since the arms would have to be somewhat underdeveloped to work as wings. It's also a bitch to try and hold things or wear shirts when your long feathers take up so much space, not to mention how you'll have to choose between flight and non-restrictive clothing. Weight is also a factor, as there is not enough power in arm-flapping to fly, unless one is very light. Furthermore, while a Babylonian child may fly with forearm-wings, they will probably grow out of it.

2.2 Evolution via Assimilation

The recessive nature of Babylonian genes also explains how they evolved to look more akin to mobians than humans. The modern day Babylon Rogues and much of the Battle Bird Armada pass as mobians, hence why Babylonian heritage is long forgotten and perhaps extinct according to most. However, the genes swing both ways: many non-birds (both mobian and human) are also some percentage of Babylonian, the traits are just recessive (making them carriers). There's a huge mutation that I'm about to cover, but it is safe to say that foxes are probably the utmost carriers of it!

2.3 Mutated Genes

There are two main mutations I want to talk about, so I will section them off. I'm sure people can think of more, and I do have a handful in the works, but the ones that are interesting and important to my lore are as follows:

a) Blue Eyes

Ever notice how essentially, across the comics and games, basically every single bird has blue eyes? Speedy and Soar are the only two who are given eye colours outside of blue (they have brownish-red eyes) with the rest having either no colour (black) or blue. When you take a look at who else has blue eyes, basically all the foxes do! Look deeper, and a lot of the characters with heightened intellect/wit or innovative skills have blue eyes. I'm not saying all innovative characters have blue eyes, that's racist, but all of the characters with blue eyes are either birds, smarties, or both. Some of this is character design prejudice, as I am a sucker for beautiful brown eyes mwah, but the pattern does exist.

Wait… what about Eggman? Maria? ELISE, WHOSE ROYAL CREST IS ALSO A BIRD? Need I remind everyone that the real life blue-eye mutation was traced back to a common ancestor? BLUE EYES ARE ALSO RECESSIVE, JUST LIKE ALL OTHER BABYLONIAN TRAITS! I SAID IT FOR A REASON, GUYS! I've constantly brought up how Babylonians are equally compatible with humans and mobians, and it is because this genetic mutation was the result of breeding with Babylonians. Blue eyes are an alien trait that for Earth/Mobius, was Babylonian in origin. It goes beyond blue eyes though, because these inventor-types with blue eyes also tend to be taller and leaner, making them somewhat comparable to the original mural depictions of the Babylonians.

Take it or leave it, I'm not claiming this was intentional or intended to be canon… but it is. To ME. When you combine real genetics with anthropomorphic furries, you're allowed to take some liberties and come up with fun ways to explain certain genetic traits. (I also failed to mention earlier that foxes exist in the Nameless Zone and were tied to the fall of Babylon, so it makes sense that Babylonians upon crashing to Earth/Mobius would seek familiarity in the mobian foxes already inhabiting the planet, thus tying the wit of kitsune to the innovation of Babylonians on a historic level.) Oh and before I move on, blue eyes are a recessive trait in almost every circumstance... the exception is to Babylonians, where it is a dominant trait. Brown eyes, if you are a bird, are recessive, hence why we only have 2 instances of brown eyes! Okay, there might be a few other background character birds I'm missing, but we either cannot see their eyes, or they're black (stylistic) or BLUE! Let me have this lol

b) Ovisanguitan Testalysis (OT)

Wow, that's a fancy name for "eggs no work" isn't it? This may come as a surprise, but Babylonians did not lay eggs, they are viviparous: need I repeat myself on how they're humanoid? Anyways, while Babylonians have viviparous births, mobian birds that are NOT Babylonian still exist. It might feel like I am pulling this out of nowhere, and perhaps it is a bit hypocritical for me to say "not all birds are going to be Babylonian!" after attributing an entire recessive trait to them two seconds ago, I firmly believe that birds exist outside of Babylon with no genetic ties. This is because… (inhales) BABYLONIANS ARE NOT BIRDS! THEY ARE BIRD-ESQUE, BUT THEY ARE HUMANOID BIRD-ESQUE CREATURES! Wanna know what else look like birds? BATS! DINOSAURS! DRAGONS! CERTAIN INSECTS!

Just because the Babylonians pride themselves on their birdness, it does not necessitate that birdness is exclusive to Babylonians. However, if modern day Babylonians are birds who have assimilated to be very mobian in composition, it would seem that they would be conceived and developed via eggs, not viviparously. As I established though, Babylonian traits are recessive, and therefore still possible (though not probable) given the right genetic composition.

Some modern day Babylonians then, have a reproductive disorder called Ovisanguitan Testalysis, known as OT. While egg-laying mobians develop about 1/3rd of their offspring inside their body before laying, with the latter part of development occurring independently inside the egg which hatches when completed, Babylonians initially gave birth at the end of term like humans do. Modern day Babylonians with OT will "lay" the same time regular egg-laying mobians do, aka after the first trimester, but because of their Babylonian genes, their body does not physically form a shell around the embryo before it is expelled. Without a shell, this is essentially a VERY premature birth that cannot be incubated or salvaged, and is more comparable to an abortion or miscarriage resembling a bloody clump of cells than a premature child.

There are very few instances where Babylonians with OT are able to prevent their bodies from expelling the embryo prematurely with enough calcium supplements and full-time hospitalization that prevents the premature rejection of the fetus, but because the Babylonians with this disorder are almost always Rogues (I'll probably explain that later) it is essentially just a very rare disorder which affects a small population that aren't even registered as legal citizens to any country. It is not IMPOSSIBLE to successfully have a child with OT, just highly unlikely, and they will probably be underdeveloped in some areas (the most likely defect being a lack of immune system… so the child will probably die from disease even if they make it to term).

Also, if someone with OT were to carry a child to term via medical intervention, the strain this puts on their body will most likely kill them, and if by some miracle they survive, they will be incapacitated as they will never fully recover from the nutrient drainage and overall stress this puts on the body. If this rant feels completely out of place in this response let me have it please, where else am I gonna mention it!?

DOGMAS

With regards to the Babylonians on Earth/Mobius, there are certain branches of absolute belief (dogmas) that they dispersed into, each one thinking they are superior over the other two. These might not seem directly related to your question, but it provides so much scope for how genes are relevant to the three dogmas. Also, with all these groups splitting off, the genetic odds of back-wings decreases significantly.

3.1 Assimilate

Most Babylonians assimilated with the mobians… okay, and the humans. There are humans who have Babylonian DNA even in modern times, but I think we all know who the more obvious choice was, considering the racism and all. These Babylonians found no reason to fight internally about their blood purity or distinct alien features because birds already exist in the universe outside of Babylon. Being more bird-like has nothing to do with surviving as a species, so the truth of the matter is that a lot of Babylonians couldn't care less and therefore didn't! Due to most Babylonians adopting this dogma, the physical, recessive traits disappeared almost immediately, with wings being first to go.

3.2 The Battle Birds

Initially, the only group that existed outside of assimilation were the Battle Kukus, or the Battle Bird Armada. They believed in Babylonian supremacy, and still exist to this day with the same dogma more or less. However, the way Kukus go about defining "Babylonian" is… based on their birdness, combined with regular eugenics, of course. Kukus pride themselves on strength and unity as a faction, with defected birds being snuffed out and eaten up until recent decades… that we know of. They probably still are cannibals lol.

Despite their disdain for other creatures of flight, non-birds with wings can produce viable children for the Kukus and are permitted to do so, as the Kukus only desire the FITTEST members, not the ones with the most Babylonian DNA. More on this in a second, let's circle back to the non-bird policy. I want to make it clear that this is not a good thing, because the Armada is only using winged-mobians for the increased likelihood of the recessive wings trait! They need to be the ones carrying by the way, so it gets prejudiced and sick from every angle: come on now, we can't just use winged mobians for breeding farms… doesn't stop them though! However, only birds can join the Armada, and because of how it is often one or the other (you either are a bird or have back-wings) most of these "outsourced" offspring are not Kukus.

Kukus pride themselves on their birdness, so forearm-wings are permitted for those of adequate status: you have to clip them back until you are given permission to fly. They despise the use of flight-based technology, as it makes flight accessible to non-birds, which as we know, pisses them the fuck off.

3.3 The Babylon Rogues

The Babylon Rogues were initially Kukus, hundreds of years ago that is. During the Salem Witch Trials, black-pigmented mobians were hunted to near-extinction, as witchcraft was associated with the Black Arms, and the Black Arms are the reason mobians possess the black-pigment genes. Thus, even if one was not outwardly alien, being black (hah) made mobians targets for burnings or ritualistic sacrifice by both humans AND other mobians. They were dubbed Familiars of witches, or demons from the heavens (aka Black Arms) and killed for no other reason. Remember the Corvids? HAH! Yeah, there's a reason most of them are gone, even though the Babylonian-Corvids were initially able to grow their numbers with the birds on Earth/Mobius. Praised universally for their intelligence and superiority among Babylonians, the fall of the Corvids was a hefty tragedy that struck the Kukus horribly. Despite this, most of them did not care and continued to pride themselves on their birdness.

The Rogues however, objected, and believed that the Kukus had lost sight of what was important to them as Babylonians. Cooperating with humans? Becoming bird supremacists? Establishing a militaristic, ascetic regime that limits their power to the planet they're stuck on, claiming to only rule the skies and all below it? NAH. The Rogues care more about returning to the stars, and innovating their technology. Kukus pride themselves on their physical birdness which allows them to fly, but the Rogues care more about using their intellect and innovative skills present in their technological advancements. Speedy (the Kuku) even notes in the comics that extreme gear is outdated, and most original Armada content has little to do with the boards themselves. The Rogues however, are defined by their technological feats, which is technically closer to what the original Babylonians valued.

This generational disdain for Earth/Mobius and its people has led to some… moral corruption amidst the Rogues. While Babylonians were originally travelling across galaxies with good (albeit still arrogant) intentions on their quest of technological advancement, the Rogues are more thrifty to say the least. When non-Babylonians succeed at innovation, the Rogues believe that they just got lucky and accidentally attained genius, and make it their mission to steal the good parts from others and "make better use of this technology" after thrifting it. Other times, Rogues claim that other moments of genius were stolen from Babylonian technology, and thus, by stealing back any advancements made on Earth/Mobius, they are "reclaiming the culture stolen from them" or whatever. This is far more condescending and malicious than the initial Babylonians, which the Kukus dismiss as hedonism.

They're not WRONG, dare I said both sides are partially correct? Even so, the Rogues rebelled from their Armada and continued on their quest to find the best treasures and technological advancements on Earth/Mobius, stealing them for personal usage to hopefully fuel their ambition to reach the stars and find Babylon once more.

Before we move on, I should probably relate this back to wings with a fun fact. The Babylon Rogues CAN grow forearm wings, it's not that rare of a trait as we established. However, in order to distance themselves from the Kukus and reject their birdness, they tattoo their forearms: this floods the feather follicles with ink, preventing wing growth. The Rogues literally and symbolically choose their hands (INNOVATION, TANGIBILITY, INVENTION: to reach towards the sky… and to steal with) over their wings that honestly don't even work well enough to be effective. If they want to fly, they will use technology as the Babylonians once did, hence their reliance on and pride in Extreme Gear.

The EX Grand Prix was originally a community-based initiative for Rogues to show off their advancements and push the limits of Extreme Gear Mechanics to see who was getting closer for finding a way home, but the thrill of sports deterred them and now there are too many board restrictions (cough and shitty air-tank-exclusive shells mass produced by non Babylonians such as MeteoTech) to make this actually useful. Oh, and there are not enough mechanics to sustain the educational value of the Prix, which sucks. Sorry Wave!

Finally, if it wasn't already clear, the Babylon Rogues value what percentage of Babylonian DNA you have over your physical traits. They aren't inbred, but there's a reason we only have 3 remaining Babylon Rogues…

AFTERMATH

This is more of a "small things I missed" section because if you managed to read this far, I doubt you want MORE incoherent rambling. I'm tired, you're tired, we all just wanted to know where the wings went. BUT, since we're already invested I'm going to perform a lightning-round and give some concise wrap-ups for some of the loose ends I created!

4.1 Legal Rights

Members of the Battle Bird Armada were given equal rights to humans ever since they were instated to the government on a worldwide level. Almost every country endorses the Kukus; they are government funded and given full control of the skies so long as they keep mobians "in check" and work in tandem with GUN. You might be wondering why I choose to make them part of the human government when they're supposed to be aligned with Eggman, to which I point out that Eggman is ALSO in kahoots with the human government. When Eggman took over during Forces, human cities were spared from destruction so long as they were being compliant.

It is heavily implied if not indirectly confirmed that Eggman makes all the weapons and machinery for GUN, and the reason he has an infinite amount of resources for all his projects is because he is given permission from the human governments to do whatever the fuck he wants. "Oh but why does Sonic have to defend the humans from Eggman?" It's all about how Eggman and GUN can help one another under the table. Money. The answer is money and political corruption. The Kukus and Eggman can be allies or enemies, no one gives a fuck, they're both protected by government funds anyways.

The Babylon Rogues, as they are not assimilated mobians OR Kukus, are thus not registered citizens. This is why they can commit crimes and remain immune to genuine repercussions including imprisonment, but it is also why we do not know how many of them still exist. Jet, Storm, and Wave are presumably the last 3, but we have no way of confirming this since it's not like they exist in any databases within mobian or human censuses, or services such as healthcare or residency. They have so much money that it does not even matter, but as free as they are, it kinda sucks that they are not protected by the law either.

4.2 Present Day Relations (Very Concise)

No one knows about the Rogues, so who cares!

Humans love the Kukus... usually. Don't look into the cannibalism.

The Rogues despise the Kukus and will never cooperate with them.

The Kukus despite the Rogues, but believe that some of them are of use to the Armada. Lazy, incompetent, and inferior Rogues are hunted for the kill, but someone like Wave who is very Babylonian (genetically), has a Corvid father (in my lore), and is a mechamechanical genius unheard of and unchallenged… they really want someone like her. After they lost Tekno there was a horrendous void to fill, so while they will patronize the Rogues, they think that some of them can be "fixed" for a greater purpose.

Mobians don't typically like either faction as both dogmas are too extreme (read as: rooted in eugenics)

4.3 Predator Hawk

This pertains to my lore specifically, so feel free to skip it. Ehem:

MY Predator Hawk had back-wings. Emphasis on HAD. Remember how the Battlelord threatened to clip his wings off in the comics? Well, due to a black market intervention, a certain someone used the Battlelord's anger towards Pred to convince him that the Battlelord demanded his wings be removed for failing his mission to recruit and/or kill the three remaining Babylon Rogues: a final mission given to him after he attacked Speedy as a last chance to redeem himself. In reality the Battlelord did NOT actually request this to happen and actually has no idea where Predator Hawk disappeared to, but it remains the case that his wings were twisted off of him with a wrench (I swear it wasn't Wave's) and sold on the black market. He still has the large gashes on his back that are semi hollow, as the base of the wing-bones were merely cut off, not fully extracted as that would rip his spine. Rather, the base bones lay flush inside the crevices of his back, and if he were to tense, the nubs of the bones pop out by about 7 inches. The skin healed around the bones so there's no blood, he just has permanently exposed bones.

Pred obviously can't fly anymore, but I felt like it would be really stupid if I were to come up with all this lore for Babylonian wings only to NOT have any avian characters who possess back-wings. So… I retconned Predator a little bit and made him a fucked up creature with trauma! I have a lot of other rants about Predator Hawk pertaining to my canon, but I honestly need to stop typing this, so if anyone wants more... it is on a requested basis.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I'm sure I had some final thoughts when I started this, and it was not meant to be NEARLY this long of a response. While I feel like I didn't directly answer your question, hopefully there's some catharsis dispersed in everything I rambled about here. In summary though, I do NOT give the Rogues wings because the Curse of Babylon (ehem, recessive back-wings) makes it nearly impossible for Babylonians of the modern day to have wings. If they did have wings, they would be from forearm feathers: lots of birds in the Armada have these. Due to dogmatic differences and a convoluted history of identity-based conflicts though, the Rogues tattoo away the possibility of hybrid arms in the pursuit for technologically-based flight. The exception is Predator Hawk, who HAD wings, but then had them removed against his will. He is still bitter about it.

Did anyone make it this far? If so, you're a fucking FREAK, and I encourage you to send me more asks, because I could ramble forever about Sonic lore. It does not have to be related to the Babylon Rogues, you can ask me anything, but do take into account that I am clearly a bit obsessive and might take some time to answer. But when I do… it will be a shitshow like this response was. You read to this point though, so clearly you're into it. ENABLE ME! Love ya <3

[descendant-of-truth]

Well guys I did say in one of my tags that the Prime!Shadow analysis would be for another time and that time is now because I'm mentally shaking him around like a ragdoll trying to figure out his secrets

What I want to highlight is just, the sheer number of ways he's been set up as the odd one out in the first third of the season alone, and why I find that so interesting. So let's break that down for a minute:

The first thing we learn about him is that he's not Sonic's friend or enemy, but a secret third thing - his rival, as specified later

But despite having a clear label for it in episode 2, Sonic finds this particular dynamic "complicated." Shadow is the only person in his life that falls under that category, and it shows in how he describes him.

"He's a real buzzkill" (negative), "and he rollerskates!" (said with admiration). Sonic complains about Shadow and compliments him in the same breath, which is hilarious but also good for character building

In that same scene though, Shadow momentarily breaks into Sonic's narration to tell him that they're air shoes, not roller skates, which is ALSO funny but once again, he's the only character to do this. Even if it's for the sake of humor, Shadow is given a sort of... protagonist privilege, if you will. He's the only one to break the "Sonic POV," something he does not just this once, but multiple times over the course of a few episodes.

Now, there are other scenes that are from the perspectives of characters that aren't Sonic, but what makes Shadow's scenes different from theirs is that his are used specifically to show that Sonic can be an unreliable narrator.

The very first scene in the show after Sonic happily describes his status quo is the event with the Paradox Prism. A moment that Shadow was 100% there for, albeit towards the end, but who is conveniently left out until we return to the scene in later episodes.

And the framing is just. so deliberate on a rewatch that it hurts, because this is one of the very first shots we see of the show:

...and it takes place directly after Sonic knocks Shadow into a wall and runs away.

Literally the INSTANT Sonic takes his eyes off of Shadow is when the show's story begins, and it starts with Sonic narrating and completely glossing over Shadow's existence

(Is anyone else going insane over this. is it just me. does the implied mental gymnastics happening here make anyone else feel like they're vibrating)

Anyway as I was saying, removing Shadow from the scene with the Prism (even cutting out his voice when he shouts "Chaos Control") keeps us in Sonic's perspective just enough to share in his confusion when he starts to remember the incident more clearly.

(It also implies that he didn't consider Shadow to be important enough to take note of in the first moment we watch the scene, which. oof, sorry Shadow)

He's also missing in the scene where Sonic is first traveling through the void, despite showing up like two seconds after him - another instance where we're kept in Sonic's perspective just enough to miss the bigger picture that has Shadow in it.

Meanwhile, scenes from Shadow's point of view give us all sorts of information; the fact that Chaos Emeralds exist, more detailed effects of Sonic's speed-amplified explosion (it gave him a vision of some sort, which I'm convinced is implying something important about it beyond "it blew up part of a mountain"), how exactly he ended up in the void, why Sonic was late to the fight with Eggman, all that good stuff

It's a pretty consistent theme with Shadow, actually. He's always there to represent the bigger picture that Sonic isn't seeing.

...partly because Sonic keeps forgetting about him, in contrast to Shadow being the only other person to remember who Sonic is.

(I didn't know where else to fit this point in, but Shadow's lost in the void while Sonic is bouncing back and forth between worlds like it's a professional sport. Narrative foils and all that, we love to see it)

But there's another way that Shadow is made distinct from everyone else Sonic knows from the original world, that I think is going to have a big effect on his character development: Shadow doesn't care about sparing Sonic's feelings.

A lot of the conflict between Sonic and his friends is based on the fact that Sonic doesn't listen well, but another thing to consider is that his friends don't really... tell him when he's made a mistake, or what their point of view was, or what exactly he was doing wrong.

Tails? He could have explained that telling Sonic there was a trap was supposed to be a cue not to attack Eggman, and that he thought Sonic knew that, and so him attacking anyway felt like blatantly disregarding his warnings.

Instead, he brushes it off with an "it's fine."

Amy tries to explain that the palm tree gift has a lot of sentimental value to everyone, and yeah that whole situation went poorly, but it doesn't seem like she ever communicated to Sonic that him disregarding it hurt their feelings.

If he was just told that he messed up and explained how he did, you know he would have tried to make it up to them, like how earnestly he apologized to Tails. He could have been working on these problems a lot sooner, but because the others want to preserve their friendship with him and don't like getting into arguments, they don't communicate with him.

Shadow has no such hangups about their relationship. He tells Sonic exactly what his problem is.

...even if Sonic doesn't seem to hear him, and Shadow should really work on the whole "punching to get his attention" thing.

There's a lot of room for improvement here, but my point is that Sonic needs someone to be this upfront and honest with him. Straightforward communication is clearly what he understands the most - Thorn simply asking him (albeit rudely) what he knew about togetherness was all it took for him to really start thinking about that, though admittedly the circumstances around the question probably helped.

And because Shadow has been set up as the only person who still knows and remembers Sonic, the one who has a wider perspective on things than he does, and cares enough about him as a person to try to get through to him in the first place without being held back by a need to maintain a friendly stance with him... he's the perfect person to help accelerate Sonic's character arc.

And, y'know, hopefully Sonic can do the same for him - though it's hard to say what exactly Shadow needs help with (beyond Not Punching People) that Sonic could contribute to, given his little screen time so far.

Case in point: this show is setting up Shadow to be Important in a way that only Shadow can be and I for one am hyped to see it all play out

[lunaacity]

you can usually tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. put your favourite playlist on shuffle and list the first ten songs then tag ten people — no skipping!

thanks for tagging me @gothmoneyswag! i’d love to share

i decided to use last.fm because my biggest playlist right now is only like 150 songs and i dont think thats large enough

i wanted to leave a comment with each song too but thats optional if you want to do this too

1) Hackle - 1 Trillion Bars

my favorite drill song at the moment. hackle is the only HM member whose music i can say i love, i don’t hate turnagoat but hackle just has a vibe i cant really explain. recommended to sosa enjoyers and people who kinda like HM but haven’t really gotten into it.

2) chase plato - SET YOU FREE

found out a funny guy on tiktok made music and gave him a shot and it was really good. i love the final fantasy sample and chase’s vocals are really good. also follow him on tiktok @ chaseplato he is very funny

3) Oli XL feat. Ecco2k - Hesitate

song makes me feel like i’m the coolest mf to walk this earth. if my life was a movie, this would definitely make the soundtrack

4) Alex G - Bobby

a heartwarming and very bisexual love song. i have listened to this song only once or twice before making this list and i’m happy to come across it again. 

5) BCNR - Good Will Hunting

this song is amazing. objectively fucking brilliant. but i (thankfully) very rarely get in the mood to listen to BCNR.

6) Parannoul - Imagination

i wish i fucking understood korean i feel like i’m missing out because sonically this is really cool. everyone should try this album. i like the new slowthai album better but it’s second for my album of the year right now.

7) Bladee - D-925

it has a few classic bladee lines, but overall it’s one of bladee’s weaker songs. maybe there’ll be another bladee song on this list, but i’ll be disappointed if this is the only one i get to talk about.

8) yeule - Reverle

i fucking love everything about yeule. love love love love love yeule. listen to serotonin 2 and glitch princess or i will kill you.

9) Ecco2k - Peroxide

i mean....... e is a perfect album and this is the most popular song off it. it’s not my favorite, but it is the most accessible, and got me into ecco. this is the first song i recommend to most people who ask for music recs and arent drainers. if you discover 1 new song through this list, let it be this one.

10) MELO - Varovasti

i’m so happy a finnish song popped up here!!! it’s kinda like if brakence was good at making music. it would be pretty basic if it was in english, but very few people are actually making music that sounds like this in finnish, so he’s kind of doing a new thing here. if you don’t know how finnish sounds, i would recommend this just based on that. it’s a pretty language.

i’m supposed to stop here, but i hate rules and i like having fun so i’m gonna keep going

11) Manu Chao - Me gustas tú

another non-english song, and another song i discovered on tiktok. takes me to my happy place. love the song. i feel like it’s set in a post capitalist world where a person is truly free to do what they want and it’s beautiful to be there for a moment.

12) Varg2TM feat. Bladee - SHINIE

a quintessential bladee song in my opinion. Varg is the most underrated DG collaborator. the beat is fantastic, although far from varg’s best work. bladee pops off for a minute straight and the chorus is fantastic. it’s a travesty that there are no more varg + dg songs out there. they exist, varg has played them at shows but these fuckers just wont drop them.

13) Whitearmor and Gud - Frutta E Verdura

this shit makes me cry and it doesn’t even have lyrics. i cant describe it you just have to listen

14) Quadeca - Tell Me A Joke

as a hivemind enjoyer (subscibe on youtube), i’ve known for a while that there is more to quad than rapper impressions and disstracks. i couldn’t have imagined this album in my wildest dreams though. also fucking crazy that he said “what’s the deal with airline food” in the intro to a song about haunting his own childhood home and it doesn’t feel out of place

15) Varg2TM feat. Bladee - Perfect Violation

i swear to god i randomized this, but somehow the last song i’m doing is my favorite song of all time. I could straight up write an essay about it, and i will!

this is the most emotionally loaded song bladee has ever made. yes, more than deletee, more than destroy me. more than every single fucking song he has ever made. the beat is beauty in it’s purest form. every single word is painful. no one will ever capture the pain that stems from love like bladee did here. in a very drainy fashion, every line is nonsense at face value, but i still perfectly understood what the song was about from the first listen. the self hatred bladee feels because he can’t be good enough for the one he loves is so fucking visceral. i have cried to this song countless times. i’ve listened to this song seven hundred times since i first fell in love with it in october. i’ve listened to it around 5 times every day for 5 months and i’m not even close to bored. the best song i’ve ever heard.

There is also a remix that goes fucking stupid. google perfect violation empire line remix.

i’m still really new to this website so i straight up don’t know 10 people to tag so @honeyypunk @akajazy if you’re interested lmao

[rhodes-music]

Hi everyone! I’m so happy to announce the release of my new album ‘Friends Like These’! The full album will finally be yours on 27th January 2023 and the title track is available to stream NOW! LISTEN & PRE-SAVE HERE I’m so beyond grateful for all of your patience and support and I wanted to write a few words about the journey and how I came to release my second album more than 7 years after my first! So here goes… My emotions are mixed looking back on the last few years. I’ve been afforded some unimaginable experiences so far in my artistic pursuit of the next thing, but I’ve also been to some of the lowest depths imaginable to me. My constant need for creation and expression always keeps me here but it has been the love and support given to me by my closest friends and collaborators and my fans that have held me up when I needed it most. I will forever be indebted to you all and this is what led me to the album title song ‘Friends like These’. Growing up I never really had a place to belong, I would shift and change and move around. I would gravitate toward the most intense and all-encompassing thing I could find and obsess over it. Most of the time it’d fizzle out and I’d end up feeling abandoned and sad until the next thing came along. As I think about it now, I see that my anxiety and self-destructive nature caused me to run as far away from myself and my reality as I possibly could and I also see now how this has filtered out into my music and art. Almost like it is my place to hide. I am intense in life and music and I’ve changed direction so many times since releasing ‘Wishes’ in 2015, this is partly to do with industry pressures but also to do with my own lack of self-assuredness and it’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve realised and trust that it is my own voice and honesty that gives me a greater sense of acceptance and peace. I’ve been desperately trying to finish something I can call ‘my second album’ since early 2017. I’ve released singles and features, an EP, toured extensively and actually I’ve recorded and scrapped two full records, one in 2017 & one in 2019, after what seemed like endless, endless writing trips back and forth from the US and London and facing constant rejection from the team I had at the time. All of this whilst working my way out of some extremely toxic and damaging working relationships and trying hard to maintain my personal relationships and navigate my way around starting a little family of my own. ‘Friends Like These’ is 10 songs written over this period of time, some were written alone and in solitude and some were written in the middle of a drinking session with my best friends. All were written about moments of realisation, and reassurance, mostly they were born from night thoughts and dreams or conversations with very close friends about personal trauma and experience and trying to move beyond the feelings we cannot face alone. I picked out 10 songs out of about 100 that I thought best represented the chaos of my journey over the past few years both sonically and in narrative and just hit the studio to record them. It took a month to lay them down (with Rich Cooper) and then a lot longer on tweaks, mixing, additional production etc (with Rich Cooper & Ash Workman). There was one brand new song that I tagged on at the end (No Words) in replacement of one that didn’t turn out the way I wanted it (the song was called Despite All My Demons). The record is musically diverse and chaotic and this, I feel, is truly representative of my experience over the past few years of writing and finally now stumbling upon the right path with good friends, a good team and good people. I want this album to transcend all the things I thought it had to be and I want it to be heard and be a celebration of realisation, friendship and hope. My close friends are all over this record and if it wasn’t for them it wouldn’t exist. It took me a moment to get here but in such a chaotic and noisy world, I’ve always found that true beauty and clarity come in the pauses.

I’m also happy to announce that I’ll be playing a run of shows with Dotan across Europe this autumn and I will be doing a headline tour in the UK and Europe early next year.

All my love, always, Rhodes x 

[classicdaisycalico]

Im here for the most recent ask prompt. I didn't understand if we have to tell you a pair, but I will say #1 and #15 with shadouge

Short fic challenge

Anon I will do ANYTHING to liven up the Shadouge tag so HERE WE GO.

1. "A conversation you wish had happened in canon"

***

With the sheer brawn of Iblis and the devilish cunning of Mephiles, Solaris was the biggest challenge anyone on the side of good had yet to face. Without a doubt, the Emeralds were needed here. Sonic was needed here.

But he was dead...or so it seemed.

Elise mentioned something about sensing his presence in the wind, a sort of wishful justification that somehow the blue hedgehog was only mostly dead. Admittedly, Shadow would have been lying if he hadn't thought the same. That faker had a fighting spirit that could last as long as the ultimate life form himself could exist. Without that kind of motivation, any fight against Solaris would be for naught. Gathering the seven Chaos Emeralds, then, was the only right thing to do.

Somehow everyone had managed to pull through on this feat, and in record time, apparently. Granted, the destruction of time and space itself may have been a factor, but the speed at which the gems had been obtained was astounding, nevertheless. How ironic, Shadow thought to himself, that this process had been slower while the blue blur had been alive. Perhaps a well-timed nod to the idea after Sonic was brought back could give him the motivation to stay focused on the matter a little better.

Still, that would only happen if the revival was a success.

"Think it'll work?"

A voice next to him interrupted his train of thought. He turned and found Rouge standing at his side. "I don't see why not," he said. "The Chaos Emeralds had a hand in giving me life. They should have no issue in giving Sonic his back."

The black hedgehog couldn't help but feel his muzzle heat up when he realized how close the two of them were standing. It hadn't even been the first time the distance between them was this small. It was since that fateful day by the sea that he became more cognizant of the idea.

He remembered that day like it was yesterday. It was the same day he had been told of what was to come for him and Omega, their faithful E-series robot companion, in the future. It was that same member of Team Dark, in fact, who would betray him and seal him into stasis forever, after everyone else in the world turned against him.

Everyone except Rouge, who rescued him from stasis in Eggman's base, who saved his life on several other occasions, who had worked with him to defeat his own biological father and his alien offspring permanently. Through all the light and dark he had suffered, she had been by his side the whole time.

She would make that same point again that very day. The words echoed in his mind, over and over again, like a broken record:

"Shadow...even if you believe everyone in the world will be against you...know that I'll always be by your side. Remember that..."

He wasn't wrong when he said "I will". Until now, no one else in recent memory would stand by someone whose past was so painful, someone whose memory had been tampered with one time too many, someone who was abused to the point of distrusting everyone around him, someone whose path to recovery was like navigating a minefield. Anyone else who said this to him would have him wonder if they meant such a promise.

And yet, he believed her every word. At least, with her, he never had to doubt anything. He never had to second-guess himself. Recovering from his past never scared her away.

Shadow respected that. He respected her, and he trusted her. For him to hold anyone in such a high regard was not something that was given freely.

Still, "respect" and "trust" didn't feel like enough to describe what he felt.

He recalled a conversation long ago with Maria on the ARK, where she once explained to him the concept of love. For a 12-year old girl, her response was surprisingly mature. According to her, she knew someone loved another if they prioritized that person's else's needs before their own in times of trouble.

She was absolutely correct. Between her, Shadow, and Gerald, her definition checked off all the right boxes. Maria was family, after all; of course he and Gerald loved her.

He had also come to learn that Rouge checked off all those boxes, too. Of course, the only context Shadow knew of this kind of love was family. This bat was not family, not in the way he was used to.

But he still loved her.

He looked over at Amy, wringing her hands together while trying to hold back tears as Elise lay the Emeralds in a circle around Sonic. As much as Shadow couldn't seem to believe it, maybe the pink hedgehog was onto something. Perhaps whatever she felt for her blue hero, he felt for the spy next to him. The idea held water very well; there was probably no other way to describe it.

Elise was now lying next to Sonic in the middle of the Emeralds, which began to glow. All the while, the ultimate life form let his fingers brush against those of his ally. As it turned out, these newfound feelings had given way to something else on his mind. "Rouge."

The partner in question turned and faced him. "Yes?"

"He can't fight this alone."

She blinked, feeling his hand grasp hers. "What are you saying?"

"Solaris may well be the biggest threat we've ever seen. Sonic cannot face it alone."

Rouge's eyes widened. "So you're joining him?"

"Silver, too," Shadow replied. "And even among the three of us, our efforts may not be enough."

The Emeralds were floating now, revolving around Sonic's body. Only one scenario involved the gems acting this way. If he was to help the faker, this was the way to do it, but before he could join him, there was one last thing left to do.

He turned to face Rouge. "People may die tonight," he answered. "And if I should be one of them–"

"Shadow, we know that's impossible–"

"If I should be one of them..." he resumed, harshly, before taking a calmer breath to compose himself. "You said you would stay by my side no matter what. Is that right?"

She nodded slowly. "Absolutely."

He took another slow breath, reaching for the limiters on his wrists. "If I should live after this battle...find me."

He removed them, while Rouge could only watch in dismay. "Shadow–"

He urgently placed the limiters in her hands. "Find me," he repeated, and sighed, shaking his head. "If only I told you sooner..."

There was a sternness in her voice now as she heard the serious tone in his. "Tell me what?"

Looking at her, Shadow could see up close just how many small features of her he never paid attention to, like how her snow-white hair curled slightly at the ends. Like how her eyes were a perfect mixture of blue and green. Like how her skin somehow miraculously remained untouched by battle scars no matter how many fights she found herself in.

He chose to set himself up for this. There was no turning back now. Taking one last look at his ally, the hedgehog shut his eyes and pressed his lips to hers.

He could feel her gasp in surprise, but that was irrelevant. What mattered was that she needed to know how he felt about her before it was too late.

Before he knew it, the spy was kissing him back. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, reassured that her feelings were mutual. After all, her promise was as good as binding. Was that not a declaration of love by itself?

On any other occasion, he would have gladly taken his time with this kiss. He could have deepened it, ran his fingers through her hair, lightly stroked her velvety wings, let his hands venture down her back and along her hips and up again, mold the sharp edges of his own figure into the softer curves of hers until there was no space between them at all. Call it the territorial instincts of his Black Arms DNA, perhaps.

Take that, Knuckles.

But there was still a war going on, and he still had a role in it.

They pulled away as slowly as time would allow, their eyes only half open and gazing longingly into the other's. Their foreheads were still touching, along with the tips of their noses. One of his hands still clung to hers, fingers laced together. He could hear her taking slow, steady breaths, stark contrast to the rapid pulse of her heart. Who could blame her? She was caught horrendously off-guard. "What did you want to tell me, Shadow?"

He wanted to tell her. Badly. But all he could do was gently nuzzle the side of her face. "There's no time."

"You can't just–"

Rouge found herself holding Shadow's limiters against her chest, but there was no Shadow standing in front of her. Instead, she looked up and saw him slowly backing away, the ghost of regret clouding his eyes. "What are you doing?"

He shook his head, feeling a part of his heart ache as the distance between them increased. "I'm sorry."

The ultimate life form turned on his heel and ran towards the Chaos Emeralds, now rapidly rotating around Sonic. His only focus now was joining the blue blur and destroying Solaris for good.

He had to survive. Only then, could he find his ally and let her know the three words that echoed through his mind, but never found the right time and place to say out loud:

"I love you."

***

OKAY NOW FOR THE OTHER ONE LET'S DO THIS

***

15. "The scene that will give you, personally, the most joy."

***

The sun was going down, illuminating the sky with brilliant shades of orange and gold fading into red. Dusk would soon be near, which meant nightfall was not far behind.

Being a bat, a night creature, Rouge thrived during this time of day. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't slow down and appreciate the beauty that this sunset had to offer. It almost made her forget the rest of her surroundings, like the tree attached to the thick branch on which she stood.

Upon suddenly seeing Shadow pop up next to her, she yelped in shock. "Don't do that! You scared me half to death!"

"Rouge, I have a question."

There it was, the perfect opportunity to ask her about what was on his mind, about how it was always around Rouge that he found himself trying to keep a cool head a little more than needed. It was her that made his face flush a deeper red than the streaks in his quills. It was her who made his heart beat faster than he could run. It was her that caught every man's eye in a way so tantalizing that he felt a need to tell them all to back off.

Tantalizing...like the many gems she chased after. Her eyes were like turquoise, her lips like amethyst, her black catsuit like onyx, her hair like pearls. Who was she to talk about the mysterious brilliance of a Chaos Emerald when she herself was right there before his eyes? And just like a diamond, her personality was just as multifaceted. On one hand, she appeared cold and cruel, calculating and cunning. On the other, she showed a caring and compassionate side, a side she showed to no one else but him. She was everything a jewel could ever be: hard to find and even harder to obtain, but so beautiful one couldn't help but get drawn in.

In fact, he'd been drawn in for so long, he nearly forgot he had a question to ask. "...When was the last time you ever really got to see the world?"

The bat was slightly taken aback by this question. "I–"

"And not because of some jewel heist, either. I mean...REALLY seeing the world."

She sat down on the tree branch, now much deeper in thought. "I...don't know. Probably...never? Why?"

The hedgehog sat down next to her. "Because it's come to my attention that I never have, either." He smoothed some stray quills back, a tell-tale sign of the nervousness he harbored around her. "To be honest...I was wondering–"

"Of course I'll come with you."

He froze. "How did you know?"

She shrugged. "Lucky guess. Besides," she added, reaching for his hand. "It's what she would have wanted for you. Besides, with Eggy out of commission for good, you've got nothing but time to do it."

He knew immediately which "she" the spy referred to: Maria, his surrogate sister from long ago, whose wish to see the world had never been realized. He also knew Rouge wasn't wrong about Eggman, either. He was gone. Completely. Nothing could restrain Shadow, limit him, make him doubt himself and his decisions.

He was, for all intents and purposes...free. And Rouge wanted to fly in that freedom with him. She helped him find it, after all.

A smile slowly spread across his face. "Then why wait?"

He grabbed her wrist, ready to venture forth, until he realized what was under her hand was not her wrist. It felt loose. Round. Like a piece of jewelry, no doubt. "Rouge...what is that?"

The ultimate life form could see her pause, her muzzle turning bright pink as she searched for words. "...It was from a long time ago," she answered. "I meant to tell you earlier today, but I forgot."

He tilted his head to the side. "Care to show me?"

She took a deep breath, and slowly slid down part of her glove from her elbow down to her wrist. He gasped as he realized what it was he felt: on her wrist was one of his inhibitor rings. "Is that–"

"Yeah," she answered, sheepishly, trying to avoid his eyes.

"How...?" was all he could ask. "When did you–"

"Since the ARK. When you fell from space back down to Mobius. Sonic found it...he gave it to me when I asked you where you went."

The bat looked back up. "Everyone thought you were dead, but something told me I would find you again...and I did. But you lost your memory, and between all those androids, and the Black Arms, and Gemerl, and even beyond that..."

Her voice trailed off. She almost sounded shameful when she explained it, but Shadow didn't care. He could only stare back at her in wonder. "You wore it this whole time?"

She nodded. "I'd say it's more important than any jewel I've ever found. I value it."

The bat looked up at the hedgehog, the uncertainty in her eyes dissipating. "And I value the hedgehog that came with it just as much, if not more."

He was speechless. Even if she didn't say the exact words he expected her to, her intent was clear: she loved him.

And his feelings were certainly more than mutual. "Rouge...I–"

He was cut off when she reached up to kiss him. This wasn't just a flirty little peck on the cheek, however. This was a real kiss, one that represented all the pent-up passion and emotion finally coming out.

It was here that Shadow realized Rouge was not completely jewel-like. Jewels were hard, but her lips were soft against his. Jewels were angular and severe, nothing like the gentle curve of her waist. Jewels were sharp, unlike the smoothness of her skin and her hair.

No. There was not a single gem on the planet that could replicate this.

They broke apart almost reluctantly, but nothing could stop them from smiling. It was an unusual feeling for Shadow to experience, but it made sense that it was Rouge alone who could make it feel less strange.

He felt the spy nuzzle against his shoulder. "Where to now, ally?"

The hedgehog couldn't help chuckling. He called her "ally" as far back as when they found Emerl. It was the closest thing to a nickname he was comfortable calling her. "You're more familiar with this world than I am. You tell me."

She looked back up at him. "I hear Spagonia is nice this time of year. Might take us a while to get there, though..."

"Are you sure?" He reached from behind his quills and brought out a Chaos Emerald. "Just in time to watch the sunrise."

His hold around her waist secured itself further. "Ready when you are."

She was grinning from ear to ear. "Let's get moving."

He held up the Emerald in the air, effortlessly uttering the words, "Chaos Control!"

Together, in a brilliant flash of light, they disappeared as the sun sank down over the horizon, awaiting a new day in Spagonia, a new day that would usher in a new era in their lives, one full of adventure, freedom, and most importantly, one where they finally found peace.

[loudlypanickinginvenezolano]

Care for you. (Sneak, Sneak.)

Sonic has a bad day. A real bad, and rough day, that lefts him drained and tired in ways he feels are dangerous...

Shadow cant have that, now can he?

Now its a question of wherever Sonic will left him help ride this out, or not...

Soon on AO3!

You can read it under the cut though!

If you squint hard enough you can see some references to depression and/or panic attacks. If I missed something I should have known to tag, please, let me know.

Silence. Solicitude. Calmness. It wasn’t often that Sonic felt such a hard craving for them. That he felt almost a need, such a need so strong it was pretty much breathing down on his neck, and weighing down on his back.

Sonic was tired.

He was oh so tired, so weary to a soul-deep level he tried to not feel so commonly. He really couldn’t afford it, after all, and yet today… today was rough, to call it something.

Battling since early, public appearance all around the place, people screaming, calling his name, cameras being shoved into his face and all… he was used to it, it was…okay, of sorts.

What wasn’t okay was trying to manipulate him. What wasn’t right was using his name to pull people into things that really weren’tokay. What wasn’t right was getting his ears pulled or his body touched or grabbed just because they wanted a rise out of him. To invade his personal space like he didn’t have any kind of right over it anymore. Like it didn’t exist anymore.

What wasn’t right were the set up cameras always waiting for him to mess up.

Always.

The noise.

The fakeness of it all.

The sickening heat.

The hurt on his body.

The ache of his legs.

The pain on his neck and back.

The smoke filling up his nostrils.

The unsavory questions.

The objectifying looks.

It was too much, sometimes.

He ran, and ran, and ran. It felt like ages. It felt like a torture, like if everything was trying to claw out his body and just step on his heart.

His breath was shallow, hitched. His body was sweating, and shivering with an unknown force.

Sonic was tired.

he collapsed on his knees, and then on the soft moss covered ground with barely a sound, gasping with all of his might and trying to get back the feeling on his sore body.

He wasn’t even sure about how much time did he spent like that…he only came to himself when he felt someone approaching, and he had to change his sprawling figure a little, already searching into himself for the last bid of energy into his being so he could flash a smile and wave off any concern or rude question he knew may be on his way.

When he opened his eyes, startled red ones were everything he saw.

It was enough of a shock to had him of all persons spluttering rather unflattering in front of his boyfriend, who fell back on his bottom and was rubbing his eye with his fist, grimacing.

“I am not quite fond of the water plays, hedgehog. Try to keep them to yourself?” he gritted, a disgusted expression clear on his face.

Casual.

“What are you doin-How did you find me?!” Sonic squeaked, blinking furiously and trying to stand on his still jelly like legs. That was, of course, a failure.

Shadow just frowned at him, lifting the basket he held on his hand right on his eye level, half full with things Sonic couldn’t really name, and gesturing at it with this free hand.

Oh.

In Sonic´s defense he… well. He didn’t notice it, honestly, and how was that possible was a serious question he won’t dwell on.

He totally wouldn’t think about what could have happened had it been something AND someone different. Nop.

Not today!

“I was picking up things for dinner and tomorrow breakfast, as I always do, hedgehog. Always. Do. Shouldn’t you know that by now?”

“Yeah but you don’t… you usually don’t… just how late is it?”

Shadow´s frown deepened. “have you hit your head?”

“Aw, C´mon it’s a valid question! I… I…Don’t know for sure, but it is not why I- You were searching for me?” he changed the subject to what was, for him, a more pressing matter, doing the effort on sitting up even if all his body screamed at him to not do, to just lay there.

“Should I have?” Shadow tilted his head, some curiosity on his eyes as he didn’t bother in hide how his eyes trailed down Sonic´s body, searchingly, before looking back at his eyes, arching his eye ridge. “Something I should know?”

“No.” The word was out of his mouth before he ever really thought about it, a small shake that was everything his head could manage at the moment. “There…there really is not, babe. Nothing to worry your pretty head about, kay?” Shifting his weight, he reached out a hand, not minding a bit the slow spreading pain on his upper muscles, actually, it was the last thing on his mind right now. How could he stop to think about the annoying sensation when all of his focus was on the hybrid in front of him, a tender smile in those lips he adored so much as Shadow rubbed his cheek against his palm, letting him cradle his face with no complain. Damn.

He loved Shadow´s smiles.

“Up?”

“Whatever you wish.” Shadow´s hand came up as well, holding his still just so he could twist a bit and left a little kiss on his palm and then his knuckles, not paying mind to Sonic´s blush or the little burns or scratches littered on his skin. He didn’t comment, and didn’t ask neither.

Sonic thought he loved him a little bit more than before.

With barely a move, now the both of them were standing, Shadow´s arm finding its way around Sonic´s body, steadying him while holding him close, as finally, the hedgehog was able to plant a kiss on his forehead. “Sorry, I pulled you too hard.”

“…No biggie.”

Thing was…He didn’t. it was him the one at fault. The one that needed a second to find his right footing even now, as he felt his boyfriend kiss his cheekbone, and then his cheek. They just waited, for what? Shadow wasn’t sure, and he didn’t think Sonic knew it, neither, but they did, just breathing in, holding each other as the azure leaned more and more on him...until suddenly they weren’t, each taking a step back in synchrony.

Sonic stretched, glaze on the far away trees.

Shadow crouched, setting his basket in the ground so he could pick up the ingredients that fell off.

A peach bared hand was firmly perched on a dark shoulder, though, and a gloved one rested on top of it, quietly.

Neither talked for a while, content just as they were. Comfortable.

It really wasn’t something to scoff at in their life styles.

However, the sun was starting to go down, and the skies were darkening with quite the speed, suspicious raising in Shadow´s stomach as he eyed the gloomy clouds he could see.

They needed to move.

Straightening up once more, Shadow took Sonic´s hand off his shoulder, holding it to his lips so a small tender kiss could be laid on the [Wounded. Sonic is wounded.] appendage, softly lowering it and letting it go, despite his lover´s pout and confusion.

A small flicker towards the rain clouds ahead of them, and Sonic eyes cleared slightly in understanding. Good.

He started to walk away, calm, slowly, studying the plush greenery around him with scientific dedication, stopping from time to time to sniff at a few, or rub a single leaf between his fingers, sometimes taking a few and setting in inside his basket, sometimes taking the time to scribble down a few words after looking around.

If Sonic noticed or doubted his slow pace, he didn’t say something, focused in the ground at his feet, making sure the rain was still far, and trying to keep up with the ebony steps.

If he noticed Shadow´s lingering glances, he ignored them.

Shadow was okay with silence.

“I take it I was close to the house, then?”

But…maybe Sonic was not. Part of him was growing restless, and he kind of half hoped his boyfriend would suddenly propose to Chaos control away.

Usually he would say no. He knew that. even when tired, or slightly wounded.

Running, even walking, always gave him a rush. Life.

He was so tired though. He almost didn’t want to think of it at all…

“You would be quite right, dear.” A silence. Ruby eyes snapped to his left, getting lost in the deep mess of foliage. His words were also lost, apparently. Sonic could almost see the gears on his brain working overtime. “I take it you weren’t planning on coming home?”

Home…

Well. It was curious that from all the places he could have ended in he so casually found himself that close to Shadow´s house.

To home.

Yeah. He liked that word. It was especially lovely coming out of Shadow´s lips. It was especially lovely knowing that the dark hero saw him as part of that home.

“How could I not, Hn?! Wouldn’t have missed it for nothin´!” He assured, and this time the smile that grazed his lips came easily to him. It came with life, and love, and Shadow didn’t have any kind of shame at the way he marveled at it, before a small yet equally heartfelt smile formed on himself.

I adore you, it seemed to say. Thank you, it seemed to scream.

The dark hero looked away for a moment, bottom lip softly held between his teeth. He was happy. Sonic could tell. He was so happy and the only thing they did was smile at each other.

How simple, wasn’t it?

Sonic wasn’t happy. He didn’t think he was. But it was an improvement, that was for sure. Like calm was finally edging into his consciousness, closing, and closing in.

It was a good feeling.

In a way, he was happy to had it. He was happy to have Shadow with him.

He still felt tired. But it was okay.

Once home he was going to rest. And then maybe he wouldn’t feel so bad afterward.

It was going to be okay.

[bulgariansumo]

The Messy Relationship Between Sonic and Localization

Ask any Sonic fan and they’ll tell you that the fandom is one of the most fractured things to ever exist. It’s a miracle whenever we can all agree, and that usually comes from us collectively hating something (Sonic Movie’s original design, Ken Penders, etc.)--and even then, there’s a dedicated few who disagree. Many of us have such differing opinions on what the series “should” be, that satisfying all--or even a majority--of Sonic fans is next to impossible. How did it get this way? I think it has a lot to do with localization.

Classic Era

The 1990’s wasn’t the best decade when it came to localizing anything, especially not video games. Often, some creative liberties would be taken when adapting a source from Japanese to English.  The Sonic franchise was no exception to this. The first split comes from the game manuals. Me and @rontufox​ already made a post discussing this, but the Japanese manuals gave a little background info on the series’ lore and worldbuilding. The English versions gave a bare-bones description of the premise of each game, but that’s about it. There were no mentions of an apocalypse caused by people misusing the Chaos Emeralds, of Sonic finding the ring that would foreshadow Knuckles Chaotix, or of Knuckles thinking the Death Egg was a ‘Dragon’s Egg’ described in ancient legends. Sonic went to a bunch of colorful zones, beat up Dr. Robotnik, collected some magic stones, and maybe a new character or two would tag along, but there was nothing else to it. There was no dialogue and few cutscenes in the games at this time, so the English localizers could get away with this.

Since there wasn’t much to go on games-wise, English fans at the time got their perception of Sonic and his world from various comic and cartoon adaptations. The American-produced ones portrayed Sonic as an in-your-face smart aleck who was almost completely full of himself. The UK-produced Sonic the Comic starred Sonic as a self-described “cool guy” who cared little about the people around him, including friends. Whatever worldbuilding these adaptations had either didn’t exist or diverged completely from the games, because the writers, even if they did care, didn’t have much to go on. There also weren’t a lot of Japanese Sonic adaptations at the time, and the only one that got localized was Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie (aka Sonic OVA). To English-speaking fans, Sonic was an arrogant but funny hedgehog who despite everything, got the job done. Aside from Dr. Robotnik, other characters were an afterthought and could be replaced as needed.  

Adventure Era

Sonic Adventure released in 1998 with fully voice-acted cutscenes, and localization differences started catching up. Some things were easy to fix, such as Dr. Eggman (Robotnik’s name in Japanese) being a nickname for Dr. Robotnik. Other things weren’t that simple. For instance, some of those little things mentioned in the Japanese manuals started showing up again, specifically the apocalypse caused by people misusing the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic Adventure was a soft-reboot, where most previous characters and worldbuilding are still there, but some details are left behind so that newcomers have an easier time entering the series. There also might be changes in the series’ tone. For example, Sonic Adventure was somewhat more serious than previous games could be, but still overall lighthearted. This was also the first of many mainline games during this time to have an ensemble cast. Instead of just playing as Sonic, or maybe Tails and Knuckles, you were required to play all three of them plus other characters, with different stories and gameplay styles. This was a tall task, but these games pulled it off well enough to be very popular at the time. Themes of friendship became very prominent in the games around this time, and to further cement it, Sonic X, a Japanese-produced anime came out and got localized in the United States. Sonic was still a little cocky in English dubs of the games and anime, but he was also free-spirited and very supportive of his friends instead of being preoccupied with being the coolest person in the group. For the most part, his English and Japanese portrayals were nearly indistinguishable. Other characters also got more screentime and focus on their personalities, and popular new characters like Shadow and Rouge were introduced to the cast. All was going great.

Then 2006 came around. Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic 06) came out, ushering in a period of very poorly received Sonic games, the latter being seen as a contender for the worst game of all time. Shadow the Hedgehog was an attempt at explaining why the titular character was alive after apparently being killed off Sonic Adventure 2, but the gritty and somewhat melodramatic tone was seen as ill-fitting for the Sonic franchise. The gameplay was also lacking, in part due to other characters tagging along with Shadow and repeatedly telling him hints and mission objectives. The problem of characters talking a lot mid-gameplay was present in Sonic Heroes, but the gameplay itself was passable enough that the game didn’t completely suffer for it. Shadow the Hedgehog tied up the last plot threads the Sonic Adventure series left behind, so the series had to go somewhere different. Sonic 06 was another soft-reboot, so that newcomers wouldn’t have to study up on the games from Sonic Adventure to Shadow the Hedgehog. Because the game was rushed for the holiday season, it was glitchy, didn’t feel good to play, and the writing was… very flawed. The game’s tone was slightly lighter than Shadow the Hedgehog, but still a little too melodramatic for most fans.

With all of these changes in mind, further splits in the English-speaking fandom occurred. Many vocal Classic fans were thrown off by the series being heavier on plot, worldbuilding, and Sonic’s friends. They wanted to go back to a time when none of that existed, and when Sonic was just an arrogant jokester--a time that only existed in 90’s US and UK. Newer, Adventure-era fans grew up with these new changes and loved them, though many of them were also not happy with Shadow the Hedgehog and subsequent games’s handling of these things. Because of Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic 06’s spectacular failure in handling different characters’ gameplay, one sentiment was repeatedly echoed--that only Sonic should be playable. Since then, with very few exceptions, only Sonic has been playable in mainline Sonic games. This still wasn’t enough to save the games. Games after Sonic 06 often had a core gimmick to them, many of which weren’t received well, and the ones that were got replaced by the next game. The writing had the same feeling to it, though. It shied away from the melodrama of the most hated entries, but still retained the sincerity of entries like Sonic Adventure.

Modern Era

That changed in 2011 with Sonic Colors. Instead of Sonic Team writing the games, they hired Ken Pontac and Warren Graff, two American writers known for working on Happy Tree Friends. Neither had much knowledge of the previous games’ characters, worldbuilding, or stories, but this was intentional. Sonic games sell less in Japan, so Sega probably wanted to put more focus into pleasing audiences in America and Europe. The two went off some basics about the characters and setting, and what little they knew previously. There is some supervision by Takeshi Iizuka, a longtime Sonic Team member who is currently the head of the series after creator Yuji Naka left in the mid-2000’s, but he is interested in the series going in a new direction. Sonic Colors was another soft reboot of the series, but because of the writer’s lack of knowledge about the series a lot more details were lost and changes made than in any of the previous ones. The writing is lighthearted, but most of the sincerity has been traded for attempts at comedy, which tend to be hit and miss. Sonic as a character retains his free spirit and some kindness towards his friends, but some of the self-importance of his English interpretation is making a comeback. Many of the characters from previous games make returns, but they’re written oddly (“Y’got this, Sssonic!” - Shadow, Sonic Generations (2011)) and the writers don’t quite know how to integrate them. Sonic Colors was well-received for its gameplay, and even the writing was praised at the time, but most subsequent games have middling reception. None are considered outright bad (except Sonic Boom, but that was a spinoff that Sega contracted a different company to do) or outright good (except Sonic Mania, which Sega contracted a team of fans to do.)

Conclusion

As it stands now, the Sonic franchise is a strange hybrid of the Japanese and English interpretations of Sonic. A lot of the Adventure Era fans are old enough to start noticing the changes in the writing in the Modern Era, and some aren’t big fans. Some are, though. Some of the Classic fans are satisfied with these changes, others aren’t impressed either preferring the Classic or even Adventure Era. Some people like the Classic Era, but not the English interpretations of the series. There are likely Modern fans who grew up with this version of the Sonic franchise and love it, but there may be ones that have seen previous iterations and prefer those better. There are many differing opinions and few can agree on what would be good for Sonic. Would things have been different if localization had been handled differently in the 90’s? Who can say? All we have to go by are ripples from the errors of the past.

[maximura]

MVNALYSIS: GOD’S MENU by STRAY KIDS

Hello friends, seeing as 2020 is going down in flames anyways, there seems like no better time than to start my MV Analysis series, MVNALYSIS. Storytelling and cinematography are both important but the technical aspect is definitely more interesting to me. If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you’d know how often I yell about a good lighting scheme so this is just an extension of that.

There have been some great MVs this year but the one that really lit my fuse and prompted me to do this is God’s Menu by Stray Kids. If you haven’t seen it yet, go watch it first then come back. This is very long so if you’re not really interested in the technical aspects of music videos then I would definitely recommend scrolling past. 

1) The Cyberpunk-Anime Intro tracking shot. That flourescent-neon title card reminds me of cyberpunk aesthetic, especially if you’ve seen the trailer for Cyberpunk 2077. I really love title cards because they remind me of old movies and cartoons. To throw it up so nonchanlantly immediately sets the vibe and subconsciously triggers your mind to think about when you last saw something like that, be it a video game or anime or a movie. They use it a lot more often than other groups and I never noticed until I went back to watch a few of their videos for this post. 

The Intro to God’s Menu is both a sonic and visual assault. It’s so fcking good that I am almost sad I will never get to watch it again for the first time. 

That tracking shot for Changbin is just beautiful perfection because it has three levels of depth and a very controlled use of blocking. The deepest level is the chaos in the background, the main level is Changbin and the most superficial level is the one closest to the camera, with the marching band player. Interestingly, the movement and speed of each level progresses in descending order: the background is crazy busy, Changbin is moving through at a controlled pace and the marching band player is almost still, like a sign post to reiterate the depth of field. 

There are a few really famous and amazing tracking shots, so I’m just going to link them here if you are interested in camera work: Atonement (legendary tbh), 1917 (deserved the cinematography Oscar), Ava Adore (you can see the track they used for the whole video) and the Baby Driver introduction has one of the best tracking shots but I won’t link to it out of respect for people who might be triggered. 

Sometimes you watch something and you don’t know why it’s so cool. Well, this is why it’s so cool. This is why some MVs are so interesting to re-watch and why others have no re-watch value at all. 

2) Transitions and editing. Oh boy. The fcking transitions. Sometimes people think of them like a cheap trick in the vein of a horror movie jump scare but when you see a good transition, 'cheap’ should be the last word you think of. All the transitions are worth mentioning: Changbin seemingly changing the frame with his hand, Han’s mid-choreo transition and Hyunjin’s forced perspective to mimic the spotlight. I suppose they are are little flashy and tricked-out but it doesn’t change how cool they look. The video editer deserves all the credit for this one. 

It’s seems obvious but I can’t ignore the stop-motion DuDuDuDu editing either. It does exactly what the music does in that moment: it’s jarring and abrupt and literally like shots fired and bleeding red. Sometimes literal interpretations are cringey and don’t work but sometimes they work so well you wish everyone was on this level. 

A more subtle transition is one that I don’t see a lot of people talking about but it’s when the music shifts from the heavy rap to the smoother vocals. The first time it happens we went from the dark enclosed confines of Han’s kitchen rap to vast open air of the cars racing. The smooth flow of the vocals is echoed in the smooth silent roll of the car tires and then the smooth choreo from Bangchan with that bright God ray lens flare. It’s just like a smooth smooth smooth flow of water after total chaos and that’s exactly what the music is trying to do: the rap is a spicy meal, the vocals are a glass of cool water. Seriously, this MV is so well thought out and well planned. It’s like the director actually listened to the track. What a crazy notion, heh. 

3) Robot Camera. If you’re not sure which part I mean, it’s basically during Han’s rap, Felix’s 5 Star Michelin part and the subtle camera tilt for the group choreo. You can see it in action in their ‘Making Of’ video. You’ve probably seen this used before, most notably on Jungkook for DNA but I think it was made really popular in music MVs when Kendrick Lamar did it for Humble. Everyone is using it now but I still love it. No human can film with that precision and it’s seriously cool use of tech. I like that they didn’t overuse it though because it would’ve felt too repetitive. Restraint? In Kpop? Hell really has frozen over today. 

4) The colour and lighting. It’s generally really well lit and coloured but the most remarkable thing to point out here is that God’s Menu has only four sets. It feels like it has some meat and depth to it because they used those four sets to their full capacities. In contrast, I think I counted 9 sets for GOT7′s ‘Not By The Moon’ and let’s be honest, they were all kind of wasted. 

The scrapyard set is used four times with four different lighting schemes and you barely notice how repetitive it is because they all look so different. The garage scene is my favourite example of good depth of field because they’re in a tiny confined area for choreo but it doesn’t actually feel tiny or confined because of the huge open grandstand in the background. 

Also. It’s rad how the video goes from day to night. I didn’t even notice until the third or fourth re-watch. 

5) Kendrick Lamar. I just wanted to spend a little time on this point because I hear and see his influence on God’s Menu. Obviously, Kendrick doesn’t have a patent or copyright on use of RoboCams but the main backing track is very Humble-esque and the DuDuDu reminds me of old KL. It’s a little grating tbh but the producer at least showed some restraint with it. Any more of the DDD part and it would’ve been too obnoxious to listen to. 

6) Styling. I really love these black outfits because they look like a cross between a karate uniform/dobok and black chef aprons. I wasn’t really sure why they went with the racetrack imagery but there is something about this entire MV that reminds me of anime/manga...and then I remembered that Initial D existed. If you’ve never heard of Initial D until now? You’re welcome. 

Oh and Hyunjin’s hair. Damm. 

7) Bias: Okay, I’m Australian and I used to live in Sydney so part of me has always been invested in Chris and Felix. But. I have to be straight with you all, that tag-team of Changbin and Han is insane. Insane, I tell you! I wish I could hear that rap intro again for the very first time. It’s like when I heard Mingi’s rap in Wonderland for the first time. Some things are just inexplicable. 

8) Conclusion: This is one of the best MVs JYPE has ever made and it’s not even story driven. The modern tech and insane editing is truly next level and I hope people appreciate the work that went into it instead of just seeing it as another flashy kpop video with no substance just because it’s not “deep and meaningful”. 

[tev-the-random]

A casual Sonic Forces rewrite + some headcanons, because why not

Part 1 – Infinite and Episode Shadow

Just a warning: none of the images used here belong to me! They all belong to SEGA – the game screenshots, the official art and the comic pages.

Next Part ->

I have yet to see the Sonic Movie, because the universe seems devoted on not letting me do so, for some reason. Being as desperate for Sonic content but as determined to not receive spoilers from the movie as I am, I decided to go for the next coolest thing: writing really long and random posts about a game that came out three years ago and no one cares about anymore.

This shall be fun!

(Update: as of posting this, I have finally watched the movie! But I don’t want to throw this away, so I’ll post it anyway. We can have a nice talk about the movie later.)

*“Fist Bump instrumental” intro plays*

*“This is Our World: a New Hero” plays in the background*

I’m the type of person to always try and see the best in every game, and Sonic Forces is no different. Despite its obvious flaws, I love this beautiful game! Mostly the concept of it is one of the coolest things I’ve seen this last decade, but the execution… lacks on a few things. I mostly just fill in the gaps with my imagination and enjoy it nevertheless, but, upon going through the tag and seeing that some of my concerns were shared by other people, I decided to try my hand at rewriting Sonic Forces juuust a tiny bit. Just for fun!

For this first part (and I have no idea how many parts we should have), I’d like to share some of my ideas about…

*Infinite’s Theme plays in the background as I try hard not to sing along*

Oh, my poor jackal boy, what do we do with you? Despite being so heavily promoted and having an undeniably awesome theme song, Infinite’s backstory and general development throughout the game came out as lacking, having the self-proclaimed edgelord become a laughingstock amongst most fans. Nevertheless, I still love Infinite, and it saddens me how much wasted potential he had; it’s like they were trying to write a really interesting character, but gave up halfway through.

So yeah, let’s talk about it. And let us begin with his origin story.

I believe you are all familiar with this scene:

I… I want to defend my boy here, I really do. But honestly, the way this was portrayed, it just sounded like he was throwing a childish tantrum. It seems as if his entire motive for becoming a villain was “Shadow beat him and called him weak”; dude, you’re not the only one: Shadow does this to basically everybody who’s ever crossed his way! We’re not given a reason as to why Infinite gets so bloody offended, nor are we given a reason why we should care.

So, how can we fix this? I think we should firstly focus less on “I’M NOT WEEEEAAAAK!!! URRAAAAGHH!!!” and more on:

It doesn’t need to be – and I don’t even think it can be – as sad of a situation as the Rivaille Squad in Shingeki No Kyojin or anything, but I believe that showing us that Infinite lost something important would already do wonders to his backstory.

The simplest way – that is, the way that doesn’t majorly change how things go, but does give the jackal a clearer motive – to do this would involve the ever so humble inclusion of two new cutscenes and one new in-game battle, plus a few tweaks to some already existing scenes.

Episode Shadow begins not with the usual reading introduction, but rather, with Shadow’s voice. “I was a couple of months before the Doctor took over the world. The first time I encountered him… I didn’t know what he would become.” Then we open with what used to be a couple of months prior (aka where they presented Infinite’s memory, aka where they screwed up), so we’ll go through things in a chronological order instead of having a flashback inside of a prequel, because that’s confusing AF.

Now, instead of starting the Mystic Jungle level immediately, we should get a small cutscene: Shadow gliding through the jungle, cool camera angles/lighting and all – maybe something similar to the opening scene of Episode Shadow in Sonic 06? –, on his way to invade Eggman’s base as a voice coming from the hedgehog’s communicator reminds him about his mission (yep, that’s some subtle exposition to the audience so we don’t think Shadow is there just because). My idea for said mission would be the simple task of retrieving a Chaos Emerald (yeah, remember those?) from Eggman. Nothing too serious; just another day, another emerald stolen like usual; we’ve seen this before, there’s no need for a long dialogue.

As the black-and-red blur crosses the screen, the camera pans to a group of people hiding above in the trees: Squad Jackal. Infinite is not among them. One of the jackals asks “where’ the boss?” to which another one replies that he’s on the other side of the base/talking to the Doctor/whatever and they have no time to waste; their mission is to take down the intruder and protect the base. We get something in the lines of “the boss is counting on us. Expect no mercy, show no weakness. Let’s go!” and the camera fades out as the squad drops from the trees and runs after Shadow.

I believe that having the phrase “show no weakness” – or any possible reference to “I’m not weak”, really – appear earlier as seemingly common and then have it become something the character gives a lot of importance to due to consequences and parallels sounds a bit more interesting than having Infinite’s inferiority complex come out of nowhere.

The Mystic Jungle level plays as usual, except the dialogue in the background doesn’t say that “the Defence Squad has already been completely annihilated”, but rather that “the Defence Squad is on the case. They’re the best mercenaries there are, Shadow won’t stand a chance!” because Doctor Eggman is naive like that.

Once we reach the end of the level there’s another change: a boss battle against Squad Jackal. You see, we don’t want to hear the squad was taken down like some sort of lazy exposition, because it feels incomplete; we want to participate, we want to be the protagonist and see with our own eyes just what is Infinite’s squad. This gives faces and voices to something that will become an important plot point instead of just telling us “yeah, this happened or whatever”. This could also play as some sort of sympathy point for Infinite, because we, while in control of Shadow, took down his squad; it makes the villain’s animosity towards Shadow and his general anger at least a bit more understandable.

The idea is that this battle should play as some sort of field fight – that is, differently than most boss battles in Sonic Forces, this is not a racing track where you attack your enemy while running, but rather a large secluded area, much like the one we get in the fight between the Custom Hero and the DeathEgg Robot –, where squad members would attack individually in different patterns before going for a group attack. The individual jackals would have both projectile (perhaps something like a wispon, knives or some Eggman invention to keep it family friendly enough?) and close-ranged attacks, while the group attack would consist of this mass of wild jackals changing at you, trying to run you over. The opportunity windows could be either the moment when the opponents switch or band together for the group attack.

(I don’t know, maybe some of you can think of better ways to fight the Jackal Squad? This is just a random idea! I’d like to hear different ones!)

Once the fight is over, we get another cutscene: Shadow stands among the fallen jackals – don’t worry, they’re… sleeping… yeah, there’s no visible blood, they’re not dead… except they’re totally dead – and looks around for a second or two. His expression is indecipherable, and he soon leaves without saying a word – one might say he feels bad for them, or maybe he doesn’t give a damn; we leave that open to interpretation. Not a moment passes and we get to see the leader of the squad arriving at the scene. The camera moves in a circle around him as he looks at his fallen comrades in shock. How did this happen? They were the strongest, how could his whole squad be dead? This is a rather touching moment, where Infinite sticks his sword (because in his origins comic he used to have a super cool red sword and I want to pretend we have a reason for it not existing in the game) to the ground; there’s a feeling of anger and vengeance going on as we get a closer look at the last standing jackal. He clenches his fists and faces the direction of Shadow. “Expect no mercy, show no weakness,” he says in an infuriated, strangled voice. He starts to run and the camera fades out.

(Look at his sword and his squad, man. I do wish we could have seen them in the game…)

When the camera fades in again, we get that exact same cutscene from the game. Blah blah, “destroyed my squad”, blah blah, “ultimate mercenary”, a legendary ass whooping and Infinite falls to the ground, weak, pathetic and defeated.

Now, I’d like to add just a few lines to their dialogue, because this:

Doesn’t really sound like Shadow to me. I mean, man: you beat this random guy to the ground, called him worthless and pathetic out of nowhere and then you just leave? I know Shadow is rather apathetic and he’s supposed to be savage and all, but this just felt kind of out of place…

So instead of going full rude mode, what Shadow actually says is:

‘You’re part of the Defence Squad, aren’t you? Why would a bunch of mercenaries work for the Doctor? What is he hiding?’

‘The doctor paid well enough to not have his secrets spilled,’ Infinite retorts while trying to get up. He’s too hurt to do much, but he’s still willing to fight. He looks at Shadow with fiery eyes as he continues, ‘My squad… you took them down like they were nothing… why wouldn’t someone as strong as you be a mercenary?’

‘Mercenary work is for the weak,’ the hedgehog states matter-of-factly. ‘I’ve sworn to protect, not to follow the dirty line of work you did.’

This blows Infinite’s mind and he simply stares at Shadow, dumbfounded. He murmurs, ‘weak? How dare you, I’m not… We’re not weak! We’re the squad o-’

‘Where’s the Chaos Emerald?’ The jackal’s statement is completely ignored. However, Infinite is having none of this, so tries to attack Shadow once again in a fit of rage, only for the hedgehog to give him a signature roundhouse kick free of charge.

(Image merely illustrative)

‘What a waste of my time,’ Edgelord Number 1 says, aware that he’s not getting any useful information from this. He steps closer and Edgelord Number 2 flinches, ‘here’s some advice: don’t show your face around me ever again, or else I will finish you.’

And with that, Shadow teleports away, leaving Infinite to his existential crisis. He wasn’t able to avenge his friends; he wasn’t able to protect the base; heck, he wasn’t even able to hold his title of ultimate mercenary! How useless of a leader was he? Were mercenaries truly weak? Everything they’ve done… was it all worthless? Show no weakness… what did it even mean? They were all defeated, and Infinite can’t shake the feeling that he’s to blame for it. Wasn’t he supposed to be the best?

‘What is this? I’m…’ He looks at his hands, which are trembling ‘I’m shaking? I flinched? I... We failed… How pathetic… All because…’

Infinite stops as if he’s just gotten a moment of clarity. He then gets up and starts walking inside Eggman’s base. ‘I’m not weak,’ he says in a decided, chilling whisper; it’s almost scary. The view is set at the entrance, right in front of the jackal so that he starts blocking the light from the outside as he slowly walks towards the camera - while saying in that scary voice, “No mercy, no weakness”.

(I can totally see Liam O’Brien delivering this line perfectly…)

Then the last expository narrating happens about the same, except that Shadow narrates it – giving continuity to the fact that he was the one who started narrating this episode for a reason I will talk about later –, so we change a few words to match his speech more; it’s all in the third person and very husky and brooding, but with a subtle note of dread (oh, if only Jason Griffith would voice it… No disrespect to Kirk Thornton, but he just doesn’t hit Shadow’s perfect voice like Jason did; for me, at least. His Orbot voice is fantastic, though).

Now, instead of having Infinite looking forward for a few seconds before he gets the Phantom Ruby out of nowhere and places it in his chest very anti-climatically, we’ll do something different: as soon as he puts on the mask, he starts walking away, and we change settings to a dimly lit room, where we see Infinite from behind, fitting the frame perfectly. Following the beat of the background music, the camera changes to a close shot of his masked face as he’s holding the Phantom Ruby, which is glowing, reflecting on his mask and giving us a beautifully red-lit scene; it’s possible to hear very low, indiscernible whispers coming from the jewel. We then hear a small, evil chuckle from the masked jackal – he already sounds rather different from the guy who stuck his sword to the ground in honour of his friends earlier. The screen goes black, the whole “I was… Reborn!” thing dramatically happens in Infinite’s echoing voice and the not-flashback is over.

(I know this last part was quite specific and oddly detailed, but I had the scenes very clear in my head I wanted to try conveying how intimidating it looked to me o3o)

Ok, now that that’s done, prepare yourselves for an intermission. And by that, I mean prepare yourselves for a long analytical commentary on what I just wrote.

*”This is Our World: Phase 2″ plays in the background*

(Who is Shadow working for again? I don’t even know, man…)

Shadow isn’t just the guy who called Infinite pathetic. He’s the guy who killed Infinite’s squad (his friends) without any apparent remorse – and to be hypocrite as to say he’d sworn to protect when he just did something like this (yeah, Infinite doesn’t know any context of Shadow’s life, so of course he doesn’t understand what he meant); the guy who ruined everything he had going with his new job as leader of the Defence Squad; the guy who put him several levels under what he thought he was; the guy who questioned his entire way of living and the guy who put him under a lingering threat; “don’t show your face around me ever again” feels more intimidating now. Not only that, but, despite how Infinite might hate Shadow, he recognizes him as strong, admirable even – “why wouldn’t someone as strong as you be a mercenary?” Remember that Infinite himself is a mercenary; to actually acknowledge someone would be good at something you’re good at, specially someone you don’t like, has to be a sign of admiration, albeit a frustrating one. All of this puts a lot more of weight on how Infinite thinks of Shadow and why being stronger than the hedgehog is so important to him.

I made it so that “expect no mercy, show no weakness” is something like the Jackal Squad’s motto, their philosophy. I like to think it means that they should never count on someone’s mercy, for their enemies won’t spare them; they should always go into battle aware that they might actually be fighting for their lives. At the same time, they should always stand their ground and never let anyone think they can take advantage of a squad member. This is what the jackals live for. But seeing as Infinite’s world has just been shattered and he failed hard on everything, he revises his mentality. “No mercy, no weakness” is what he’s going for now, as he wants to be above everyone, he wants to effectively be the strongest and for people to know that; he will be the one who doesn’t spare others, and he won’t be weak at all. Never again would a failure cost him that much, for never again would he fail.

To have Infinite place the Phantom Ruby on his own chest in Episode Shadow contradicts the opening scene of the main campaign. Remember the episode is a prequel to Sonic Forces’ main game, so it shouldn’t be completely detached from it; things must make sense when put together. As the main game begins by showing us Infinite inside of a tube in Eggman’s lab, we can assume one of two things: he’s either a robot/biological experiment created entirely by the scientist, or he’s a guy who’s been experimented on, thus Eggman was the one who placed the Phantom Ruby on him. With this in mind, it wouldn’t make sense to show us Infinite doing something if you’re going to tell us that he couldn’t have possibly done it on his own. But to have him hold the ruby as someone who deeply desires its powers and who listens to its ominous whispering? Not only does it line better with the aforementioned scene, but it also makes Infinite seem more prone to the ruby’s power (instead of just… you know, “random angry dude”).

As this intermission has gone on long enough, I’ll only make a brief commentary on the Phantom Ruby: I like the idea of the ruby being somewhat alive and exerting influence over Infinite. Now, I won’t say it’s the kind of influence where it justifies his horrible behaviour or the awful things he did. It’s less “mind-control” and more “that best friend who always encourages you and never calls you out on your bullshit”. Its grooming Infinite’s ego and just nudging him to keep making bad decisions, to keep shutting himself in this new reality where he’s all powerful and above everyone else. So it’s the jackal’s pride, spite and grief, along with Eggman’s overall encouragement and the Phantom Ruby’s influence all put together that, in a general sense, make Infinite what he is. (I can go into more detail about this idea once I make a Part 2.)

Mission Accomplished: “angry bitchy boy turned edgy, OP and unimpressed” changed his status to “tragic boy turned edgy, bitter and extremely power-hungry”.

Intermission’s over, let’s get back to the story!

With Infinite’s backstory slightly redone (or rather, shown under a different light), I could stop right here. But I don’t want to, oh no! I say we take this a few steps further and just finish Episode Shadow! Yeah, I told you this was going to be a long post.

*”Battle with Infinite: Second Bout” plays in the background*

Ok, now we cut to a few months later, where Episode Shadow would originally begin. Rouge comments that Omega was on recon mission in that “unknown base of operations that seems to be totally outside the chain of command for Eggman’s army” (whatever that is supposed to mean) when he spotted an unidentified masked person with strange energy readings and an unknown battle ID. Omega reported a “large scale troop” and… that’s it, he just stopped talking. Rouge then talks about that “new weapon” Eggman was supposedly developing and sends Shadow to the base to investigate along with Omega. She makes a remark about how they should get the entire Team Dark together for this (“It should be fun”), but Shadow dismisses the idea, saying that he’s enough on his own. “Omega said the same thing. You two go together like chilli and hot dogs.”

We can keep this at the whole “dialogue on screen” thing. I don’t really mind and it sure spares the budget.

The City stage plays as usual, except the dialogue in the background changes a bit, because Team Dark bickering (or just talking in general, I love this team so much) is my jam.

‘E-123 Omega here. Extermination proceeding without incident. No problems to report.’

‘Omega!’ Rouge exclaims, ‘Why have you stopped responding earlier? We- wait, extermination? This is supposed to be a recon mission, what are you doing?!’

‘I was spotted. Priorities conflicted; therefore I decided to eliminate the enemy altogether. New Mission Objective: Defeat Eggman.’

‘But you can’t go making a scene like that!’

‘See, this is what happens when you send the giant killer robot for this kind of op,’ Shadow sasses. And I’ll imagine Jason’s voice for this too, thank you.

‘I have several reports of recon missions where you retaliated, Shadow.’

‘I might have to join you boys soon enough. I turn my back for five seconds and this happens…’ Rouge comments in a tired voice.

Omega is ready to start robotically recounting the reports of failed recon missions where Shadow retaliated, but he is suddenly cut by static and the vague sound of the Phantom Ruby. Rouge tries to contact him again and we get small bits of his original lines here – “All sensors offline”, “Casualty report”, “Unidentified system intrusion. Emergency withdrawal!” and “I am E-123 Omega, the most powerf-sjfpstswq”, that stuff – before his communication is completely cut. Shadow asks something like “what’s going on?”, but his communication with Rouge is cut as well. We play whatever’s left of the level in silence (except for the sweet background music).

(Oh yeah, this happened or whatever…)

Now, I know the next scene is a screen dialogue again, and I know I just said I don’t mind it, but watching this:

… Is so bloody uncomfortable. This feels dumb. This is so dumb. I feel like they robbed us an epic scene in exchange of some awkward reading with absolutely no context. What the hell is “!” supposed to mean?! What did Infinite do?! If I wanted to imagine the action scenes all on my own, I’d spend my time daydreaming! What, did they not know what to do here so they just threw in some random lines to fill the gap between this and the next level?!

… Sorry, I got a little carried away. This simple scene frustrates me a lot by not existing. So yeah, we’re throwing in a cutscene.

(I just noticed how salty this post is getting. This was not my intention at all, I still love this game, oh dear…)

Shadow reaches the edge of the city and encounters a dark silhouette hovering just above the flames that cover the ground; there’s debris scattered everywhere. The figure has its back turned, and the world seems to glitch ever so slightly around them.

‘The world’s most powerful robot is no more a challenge than crabmeat. Even the Doctor’s most daring designs can’t compete with my power… It is without peer,’ the figure chuckles to themselves.

Shadow starts approaching silently, analysing the situation. Despite this being Omega’s location, he can’t see the robot.

‘Wonder how easy it would be to end this entire planet. Don’t you…’

Suddenly, the voice speaks close to the hedgehog’s ear:

‘…Shadow?’

He turns around to see that the unknown person has appeared behind him, which throws him off. The hedgehog takes several steps back and puts himself in a fighting stance.

It’s hard to see past the jackal’s mask, but he seems amused as he looks down on Shadow. Twistedly so.

‘How wonderful to see that our not-so-tall, dark and brooding guest has arrived. I’ve been waiting for you, Shadow~’

‘Tell me what you did to Omega. Now,’ the agent demands.

‘Oh, come now, Shadow. Our long-awaited reunion and still you spout such nonsense.’ Infinite floats down to stand a few meters away from his enemy.

‘I don’t know you,’ Shadow states. The masked jackal tilts his head, but doesn’t say anything, so he asks again, ‘what have you done to Omega?’

‘Only what is ought to be done when someone stands in your way. Weaklings like E-123 Omega are of no consequence, don’t you agree?’

‘The only thing of no consequence is that big mouth of yours.’

Shadow launches himself at Infinite, who easily avoids his attack. The jackal starts laughing manically.

‘Ah, I suppose you would think so,’ he states. ‘After all, it’s not so funny to be the one losing the battle, is it? I am Infinite. You say you do not know me, and yet I remember you so very well… I’ve lost all I was, I’ve become what I am because of you. Savour that thought as I return the favour.’

Guess what happens? That’s right, we get another boss battle! I think it’s only fair that Infinite gets to have his rematch with Shadow. Besides, it establishes a comparison with the “old” Infinite and how much stronger he’s now – from Shadow’s perspective, that is.

I have no idea how this battle would play out. Maybe something similar to his second battle in the main story (no, don’t worry: we’ll talk about the exceeding amount of Infinite battles in the next part), with the 2D layout. Let’s say Infinite is surrounded with his Red Cubes of Doom while he’s not attacking, so you can’t touch him. Maybe he makes the fire glitch and get closer to you at some point. Maybe he makes clones and you have to defeat each of them to get to the real guy, I don’t know! Tag your ideas, I’d love to see them! ^^

Anyway, once the battle’s over and Shadow “wins” (because Infinite is not defeated, he’s just done with this fight), the jackal might say something in the lines of “I suppose I’ve let this duel go on for long enough. I have other matters to attend to, Shadow the Hedgehog.”

We get back to the cutscene and Infinite is glitching a bit, quickly recomposing himself, laughing. Shadow is panting.

‘What’s the matter, Shadow? Can’t take down a measly jackal anymore?’ The masked one says sarcastically. ‘It seems like I’ve overestimated your strength. You’re no fit to be a mercenary at all.’

There’s a beat and Shadow realises what this is about. He looks at Infinite, frowning. ‘It’s you… Defence Squad Jackal…’

Infinite stares at the hedgehog. He doesn’t seem to be as amused anymore. His golden eye’s glowing under his mask, and so is the Phantom Ruby on his chest. A tense background music plays as Infinite answers dryly:

‘Yes.’

‘I’ve spared you, but now you’re going too far. It’s time to finish this! Chaos Spear!’

The spears of light simply go through Infinite as if they didn’t exist. Shadow goes for a spin dash/homing attack/kick to the face or whatever you can think of, but the masked villain glitches out of the way with ease and lands an almost perfect copy of Shadow’s roundhouse kick.

The hedgehog glides across the floor, almost falling over. Infinite scoffs.

‘This new “me” has limitless power. I have no mercy; no weakness! I am the true ultimate force that will tear this world apart, and what may have worked to bring me down before…’ the jackal starts floating again; thousands of red cubes start dancing around him and, as he raises a hand, they all group in the sky not far above them. ‘… No longer does.’

(Why yes, this is a reference to Mephiles the Dark and that time he destroyed the Sceptre of Darkness!)

Infinite throws his “Take THIS!” and Shadow does the “!” – which is him frantically trying to get out of the way as the thousands cubes of doom come crashing down on him.

The screen goes black.

Scene ends.

The Virtual Reality level should play as usual from there. I don’t even want to change the background dialogue, because I really like it: it’s confusing, it’s weird, it’s unsettling and it slaps Shadow in the face in a way that we rarely see. I love it! (Although, I do think the gameplay should have a tiny little bit more of 3D parts. We love Green Hill, but we also love the freedom to move on more than two directions when playing as the Ultimate Life Form. But it’s cool)

After that, we could get another cutscene (we’re full of cutscenes, huh? Well, this is a hypothetical rewriting with a hypothetical budget. Also, Episode Shadow is more of an exposition episode anyway). In this cutscene, we would start with some shots of different known locations: Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Crisis City, Mystic Jungle, Kingdom Valley, Babylon Garden, you name it! And all of these places are somewhat “corrupted”; they’re glitching out, full of those red cubes, and there’s just this ominous atmosphere in them, as if they’re abandoned, desolated despite looking roughly the same as ever. We then see a black-and-red blur cross the screen, and a short narration takes place:

“I’ve been here for longer than I can remember. This… alternate reality, this fake world. There seems to be no escape. Rouge and Omega talk to me occasionally…”

We see Shadow leaning against a wall. His communicator plays only white noise, then Rouge’s voice comes in; it’s strangely echoed as it calls out to him. Shadow throws the device far away and sighs.

“… They’re fake too. No matter where I go, no matter how much I run…”

Shadow is skating through Pumpkin Hill or something, when the world suddenly starts to glitch out massively; we hear the Phantom Ruby’s noise and suddenly, we’re on the ARK.

“It’s like this place was made to torture me. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.”

‘I’ve moved on from this a long time ago,’ Shadow says to the void of the Universe as we hear gunshots in the distance. He’s not being completely truthful. ‘Putting me through this scenario dozens of times changes nothing. Don’t you have anything more creative at this point?’

There’s silence, except for the shouts in the Space Colony. A voice calls out to Shadow, and he promptly ignores it, albeit with a pained look in his eyes. He’s visibly tired, almost hopeless, if one could ever describe Shadow the Hedgehog that way.

He sighs.

‘Alright, how do I get out of this one?”

We then get a start of a short level in the ARK. Don’t worry, it’s not one of those hellish mazes that usually haunt every ARK level there ever was; this is more straight forward, with doors closing all around you so that you know where you shouldn’t go, and some G.U.N. robots trying to kill you, simple thing.

The catch happens when you’re halfway through the level: as you’re crossing a long corridor, the game begins to “crash” – in the sense of you losing control of the character, the visuals beginning to glitch and the soundtrack going weird, all in a way that makes the soul leave the body of the player for a terrifying four seconds of “HOLY SHIT, I BROKE THE GAME”. But nope, you didn’t break the game: the Phantom Ruby is trolling you. We soon find that out as the signature noise plays and the glitching effect on screen disperses to show a new scenario: Mystic Jungle. The real Mystic Jungle. Congratulations: you get to play in a totally different zone for the rest of the level.

‘My head…’ Shadow murmurs to himself. ‘That was too quick; this can’t be right, it- ugh, why is it so bright here? Where are all the red things? This place seems too normal… is it… am I back in the real world?!’

We then finish the level, get our nice score and head to the last scene of the episode.

Shadow is going through the jungle, taking in everything that isn’t an illusion. He passes by a red sword stuck to the ground and leans against a tree, still a little out of it, still struggling to believe that anything is real anymore. The hedgehog then takes his communicator – surprisingly intact; hadn’t he thrown that away? – and tries to make contact. There is static for a moment, when suddenly…

‘Shadow? Oh my- Shadow, is that you?!’

He’s startled for a moment, but so relieved to hear Rouge’s normal voice again.

‘It’s me, Rouge. What’s the situation? Where’s Omega?’

‘Omega? We lost contact with him months ago; the Resistance says he must have been shut down after the Doctor took over!’

Shadow raises both his non-existing eyebrows in surprise, barely holding a gasp. He then frowns.

‘Shut down? Resistance? What do you mean “the Doctor took over”? What the heck happened?’

‘What happened? What happened?! I should be the one asking you that! You’ve been offline for six months! Everyone keeps saying you’re working with Eggman and Infinite, and I couldn’t contact you or Omega, I thought… I thought we’d lost you for good…’

‘Nonsense,’ Shadow states. We start hearing voices in the distance, and the hedgehog starts looking around while still talking ‘I’ll tell you the details later, it’s long story. What’s the current situation?’

‘Shadow…’

The (Tired) Ultimate Life Form spots something from behind the trees. Still in hiding, he looks closer only to see the Custom Hero holding the prototype Phantom Ruby they just found and talking to Tails and… Classic Sonic, much to Shadow’s confusion.

‘… We’re at war.’

Shadow takes a moment to process what’s just been said. He doesn’t even pay attention to what Rouge says next (neither do we, as the background music starts getting louder than the bat’s voice). He still watches the avatar, Tails and Classic Sonic as they leave; he focuses on the Phantom Ruby.

‘Meet me in the City. I’ve got a lot to tell you,’ Shadow says.

And with that, he leaves, the scene fades out and Episode Shadow is over!

*”The Light of Hope: Menu Version” plays in the background*

Now, a few more analytical notes before we close this ridiculously gigantic thing:

The immediate reason why we have Shadow being stuck in the Virtual Reality for six months is to indicate to us why he doesn’t show up earlier in the main game. It’s not like he was being useless this whole time and just decided to show up whenever it was most Ex-Machina of him; much like Sonic, he was trapped by the enemy. A mental trap that put Shadow on survivor mode for months without any way of communicating with anybody; with twisted versions of his friends trying to get to him and remind him that, hey, they’re still out there, probably in high danger; with these illusions mocking him, reminding him of painful memories, isolating him in familiar places… I say: if you want to emotionally hit a character, hit them hard. And this experience is bound to leave Shadow with some emotional scar, alright.

(Ever heard of conveniently coming out of nowhere?)

Shadow is bound to lose his sense of reality and sometimes it should be hard for him to acknowledge that this is the real world. I hope I can showcase some of his reactions in the later parts of this o3o

The Virtual Reality isn’t all glitchy by mistake. No, no: Infinite is perfectly capable of making a “perfect copy” of the real world, but he doesn’t want to. He wants Shadow to know this is a fake world and to know that he’s completely trapped in it while his real friends and allies are out there doing who-knows-what in a world run by the enemy. He wants to throw Shadow off-balance as much as he can, because he’s spiteful and doesn’t just leave the hedgehog to the side without a second glance.

In the game, Infinite says that they didn’t really have time to tune his power yet, so we can tell putting Shadow in the Virtual Reality was more of a practice of sorts. But man, I think this is too much of a cool concept, so I’ll say Infinite did put his power to the test before all of this; because Eggman, sir: you don’t simply throw your super-secret, amazing, unparalleled weapon in the battlefield without testing it first. This is something that can be inferred, it doesn’t need to be directly told, it just- I’m telling you this right now, ok?

I know Shadow is supposedly “over” this conflict with what happened in the ARK and it probably feels over-used to add it in again, but… it’s a thing the games haven’t tackled in such a long time, I feel like this would be a nice call-back. Besides, Infinite would want to know what would bring distress to Shadow; what happened in the ARK isn’t exactly a secret, especially if he’s working with Eggman. And Shadow can be as “over it” as he wants: it’s still a scar that will never truly leave him. Even if he watches it happen dozens of times, it’s still at least a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster.

ALTHOUGH! I also think this ARK level could be easily replaced with some other random level if you want to argue that Forces happens in Mobius or something, where Gerald and Maria and G.U.N. maybe never existed and whatnot.

What brought Shadow back, you ask? Well, it probably has to do with a certain someone spontaneously activating a Phantom Ruby. Maybe the avatar was thinking of Shadow and how it’d be nice to have him on their side again? Maybe they were thinking of undoing Infinite’s evil deeds? Maybe the raw power of the Phantom Ruby prototype being suddenly activated by the Custom Hero just crashed something another Phantom Ruby user did, like magnetic waves interfering with each other? Who knows?

I also find it important to show the Custom Hero here not only to show that there’s a connection between Shadow’s sudden freedom and their actions, but also to establish the tiniest amount of early familiarity between Shadow and the original character. Then maybe (maybe) I’ll give them a bit more of interaction in the main game, because it’d be nice to have a cool interaction with Shadow; and as endearing as his smile after the avatar does their thing with the sun of destruction is, it feels like it comes out of nowhere, if you think about it…

(I mean... Does he even know who we are?)

Infinite’s sword stuck to the ground goes completely over Shadow’s head, as he has no idea what that is or who it belonged to or what it means. It’s really just there for the viewer to reminisce the beginning of the episode and have a slight existential crisis.

When playing the main campaign, we get some pretty convenient information from Shadow once he finally shows up. Episode Shadow should give us a sense of how he knows those things. Want it or not, he did spend a long time studying the Phantom Ruby’s power far more closely than anybody else – well, maybe Sonic spent almost as much time as Shadow in a similar state, but that’s something to cover in another part.

The fact that Shadow is the one narrating this entire episode is supposed to allude to him telling Rouge exactly what happened during those six months he was gone. But if you want to read it as him talking to himself in the Virtual Reality as he slowly descends into madness, then be my guest!

I don’t know if it’s noticeable, but I’ve tried to tune Infinite’s cheesiness down a bit. I don’t think I can rid him of it entirely – after all, he is somewhat of a pompous, edgy, over-the-top character in general; he’s a full-on drama queen 24/7 and the only character cheesier than him is Sonic. Now, what we do with Infinite is to at least give a base to what he says. Also, I wanted him to sound a bit more like he lets the power get to his head. Oh well, I surely hope we’ll be tackling more of Infinite in the future!

Episode Shadow is extremely short, even for a DLC. I mean, it’s about only 20 minutes long – even less, if you’re good at it! With the addition of the cutscenes, the small changes, the boss fights against Squad Jackal and Infinite, and the added levels, the episode shouldn’t get overwhelmingly longer, but longer enough for it to feel more satisfying!

And with that, we’re done! I hope you enjoyed this massive thing. Despite me really liking Sonic Forces, I do think a few things could be improved. It’s not like it will happen, but rewriting is a lot of fun!

And why, no: I don’t take myself seriously.

[yourrealitybeyondtime]

My OC Descriptions!

Thank you so much for your positive responses, @dasjansel @corvid-moon @teeny-weeny-ducklings @technoxslayer360 @incoherentmoose and @cake-and-roses ! Since you guys asked, I made overall descriptions of my OCs and a bit of a synopsis. Sorry it's so long! I hope you enjoy it and please provide feedback!

This is a story that takes the "chosen ones" and fantasy tropes and turns them on their heads. The main character never accepts his role. The guy doesn't get the girl. There's no prophecy or guide. The populace thinks they're monsters, not heros. Their powers are explained scientifically. They have to help themselves emotionally so they can help others physically. It's just a bunch of young adults with problems getting into shenanigans, figuring out life's lessons, and maybe saving the world.

Name: Adrian

Age: 18

Height: 5'8"

Gender Identity: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Bisexual (Feminine leaning)

Race: Human

Ethnicity: German/Portugese

Neurodivergent: Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Active Power: Super strength

Passive Power: Truth (Ability to see through illusions, understands foreign languages, can tell when someone is lying, etc)

Activating Emotion: Courage

Associated Color: Yellow/Gold

Associated Element: Air/Wind

Description: This rich, all-American, high school boy has had a near perfect life growing up until a burglar breaks in his home. Thankfully, he stops the villain… by tackling him through an oak door! First hailed as a hero, his social life then gets thrown into disarray as this new found strength that seems to randomly come and go ends up earning him the reputation of a destructive menace. On top of that, he starts passing out and having "visions." Doctors say he's having seizures, but these visions feel more real than his life ever has, and it's always of the same place, a magic lab where he's the experiment! His visions keep getting worse until one day he fully wakes up in the lab and escapes, but now he can't go back home!

Adrian finds out he's stuck in the world of Mythos, the parallel Earth where all of our fantastical dreams come from, and he's not happy about it! And the locals don't seem happy about him either. Just wanting to get this over with and go home, Adrian faces more ugly reality in this fantasy world than he ever did in his privileged life in our world. With no guides or prophecies and regarded as a monster, Adrian has to figure out how to find others like himself to help him save the world and go back home.

Adrian is the self-proclaimed leader of the group. He's obnoxious, self-centered, and stubborn, and completely uninterested in helping unless it benefits him somehow. You are supposed to dislike him at first. He matures and becomes much more open-minded and accepting through the journey.

Initial Motivation: To get back home

Journey: Breaking out of your bubble is more important than staying in it, others suffer in a way different from you, you cannot speak for others, use privilege to help those that don't have privilege, attraction to anyone who shows femininity or doing female-assigned tasks/behaviors (being kind, showing emotions, being vulnerable) does not make you less of a man, the greatest strength is facing the truth

Name: Iola

Age: 20

Height: 6'2"

Gender Identity: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Lesbian

Race: Human

Ethnicity: Afro-Columbian

Neurodivergent: Anxiety

Active Power: Shield

Passive Power: Acceleration/Regeneration (Subconsciously heals others, requires focus if needs boost in power, ie, if someone is bleeding out. Can cause things to grow, but also age. Cannot remove poisons/curses, cannot bring people back to life, conditional)

Activating Emotion: Care

Associated Color: Pink/Orange

Associated Element: Earth/Wood

Description: Iola's life had been pretty quiet since she and her dad started a farm out in the wilderness, until a strange boy pops up who brings a whole lot of unwanted attention. She stumbles upon her own powers as she defends her home, and then sets out to find others with Adrian.

Iola is the mom of the group, both the good parts and the bad. She is kind and caring and helpful and also stressed af and sometimes pokes her nose where she's not welcome. It's suggested at first that she may be the Adrian's love interest, but, surprise! She only likes girls. She seems to have lost someone precious to her, and it's not her mom.

Initial Motivation: Believes in following destiny

Journey: Self-sacrifice is not always necessary, mediation is more important than appeasement, give without expectation of return, worthy of just existing, important to take care of self in order to take care of others, rest is a type of work and just as important as being active

Name: Emlyn

Age: 21

Height: 6'0"

Gender Identity: Androgynous

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Pansexual

Race: Human

Ethnicity: Northern Irish

Neurodivergent: Complex PTSD, Depression

Active Power: Chemical Reaction (Interaction of two or more substances that results in different substances. Can only initiate reaction, cannot control the outcome. Usually uses fire as a weapon, but can use others. Can also stop reaction in process, but cannot reverse.)

Passive Power: Psychic (Ability to sense when others are nearby, can receive symbolic messages through dreams, not prophetic)

Activating Emotion: Passion

Associated Color: Deep blood red

Associated Element: Fire

Description: Emlyn finally seems to have found a home at the inn he works at when two strangers pop up with trouble following them. He unleashes his powers to defend them, but his loved ones reject him when his secret is exposed. With nowhere else to go, he tags along with Adrian and Iola, the only people who seem to accept him how he is. However, he harbors a terrible secret that he's hellbent on taking to the grave, and it creates a division between himself and the others.

Emlyn is very quiet and reclusive. He doesn't talk much, and seems to be insistent on covering as much skin as possible at all times. He's not the angry or brooding type, but surprisingly polite and soft spoken. And surprisingly strong. However, he seems like he'll do anything to avoid using his powers, and almost seems scared of them. Adrian bullies him frequently, threatened by the fact that he's attracted to Emlyn. Emlyn doesn't seem to care, but eventually lashes out, showing a very different, vicious side.

Initial Motivation: Redemption

Journey: The past is the past, use mistakes to learn and teach, secrets create unnecessary burden, it's okay to have darkness, do not let negative emotions rule over logical decisions, take both capabilities and lack of into account, sometimes you just can't do what you want even if others can, you are not damned

Name: Liesel

Age: 82

Height: 5'0"

Gender Identity: Genderfluid

Pronouns: She/Her, He/Him, They/Them

Sexuality: Abrosexual

Race: Fairy/Changeling

Ethnicity: Jewish

Neurodivergent: Autistic

Active Power: Freedom (Ability to unlock anything, create doors/portals with conditions)

Passive Power: Choice (Can tell what someone has decided before they act on it, very useful in combat; can see what future "paths" can be taken but cannot tell outcomes)

Activating Emotion: Hope

Associated Color: Sky blue

Associated Element: Water

Description: Liesel has had to protect her people for decades, so she's more than a bit reluctant to leave with some humans to go on some adventure. When she realizes that she needs to, she goes with them, but completely mistrusts them.

Where Iola and Emlyn are more passive, Liesel is even more aggressive than Adrian. She challenges everything Adrian knows and really gets him to start looking at things differently. They develop a weird rivalry dynamic and eventually soften up with each other.

Initial Motivation: Protect her people

Journey: Evil does not originate from the same place, no group of people are all the same, there's a difference between honesty and being cruel

Name: Uri

Age: ??? (They tell a different number every time they're asked)

Height: 5'4"

Gender Identity: Agender

Pronouns: They/Them

Sexuality: Asexual

Race: Dragon

Ethnicity: Nigerian

Neurodivergent: N/A

Active Power: Light Manipulation (Can be used to make self or others invisible, create illusions, blind someone, etc. Does not actually makes things disappear/materialize, just makes it look like it.)

Passive Power: Compulsion (Redirects electrical impulses between neurons. Makes people think certain things, somewhat like intrusive thoughts. The more impulsive someone is, the easier they are to manipulate. Often accidentally shares own thoughts with others. Usually uses for persuasion among foes and to pull pranks among friends. Cannot read minds.)

Activating Emotion: Elation

Associated Color: Emerald green

Associated Element: Metal

Other: Disabled/Born without wings

Description: Uri's just minding their own business, napping on top of their treasure trove when some adventurers break in. Those same adventurers open that weird lock contraption they've been trying to open for the last two centuries. Interesting. Rather than confronting the adventurers, Uri decides to join them in hopes of making sure their treasure doesn't get destroyed, to find some more, and to enjoy some chaos along the way.

Uri is confident, charasmatic, and devilishly handsome. They only care about their treasure, but slowly finds themself caring about the others.

Initial Motivation: To protect their treasure

Journey: Self-preservation includes helping others, happiness is worth going the long way for, people have different paths to the same goal and that's okay

Name: Oriana

Age: 19

Height: 5'6"

Gender Identity: Demigirl

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Pansexual

Race: Human?

Ethnicity: Cherokee

Neurodivergent: ADHD

Active Power: Sonic/Song

Passive Power: Empath (Ability to sense motives, can literally share emotions when making physical contact, can transfer powers between people)

Activating Emotion: Love (Both romantic and platonic)

Associated Color: White/Purple

Associated Element: Spirit/Aether

Other: Intersex

Description: Oriana has been waiting at the edge of the Ancient Forest for a long time. She doesn't remember why, but she knows she needs to guide five adventurers through the massive forest that covers half the world. For some reason, she's the only one who can survive traversing it.

Oriana is sweet and kind and too naive for her own good, having never been exposed to civilization or other people before. She seems to have a mind of a child, but has the wisdom and understanding of someone who has been alive for a very long time. Emlyn develops a crush on her due to her friendly and accepting nature and eventually confides in her. Their past is far more intertwined than either of them remember, and is the answer to why this is all happening.

Initial Motivation: Because she was asked to

Journey: Evil lives in everyone, purity is non-existent, be kind to those who "don't deserve it" without allowing self to be walked on, different facets of love

[cutegirlmayra]

Ember’s Story (Sonic OC Commission) - All Current ROUGH DRAFTS Example

This is all writings for @marydragneell compiled into a huge post. If you’d like to commission me for your own story, please check out my rules and prices first (We can discuss how much you want to pay depending on how many pages you want the story to be :)b)

This is super long, so please remember that ^^ (This contains several chapters and separate commission purchases.) - and Yes, you can pay again for a continuation of the last story I wrote you. :)b

A Spark of Ember

By: Cutegirlmayra (Assisted Story for Marydragneell)

It was the dark of night.

I guess you could say she had been traveling for hours, or at least, still on the trail of G.U.N.

Man, where had the time flown off too?

She paced the dark night, strung with fireflies and lost in her thoughts. The only thing pulling her forward was the dirt in her nails from digging the children’s graves before swearing she’d seek revenge.

‘It shouldn’t have happened that way.’ Her teeth clenched, gripping an object in her hand, round and with the inscription G.U.N. ‘I won’t lose more to those… those monsters!’

***

Maria ran through the ARK, excitedly racing away from something. She was young, full of energy, and wasn’t afraid to skid her knee on the cold steel of the floating spacecraft.

She laughed and laughed, as two figures followed behind her, open-eyed and seeming rather calm though the girl was obviously elated at the game.

“Tag me! Tag me~” she chimed, giggling some more as she twirled around.

One figure looked to see the other’s eyes fixated on Maria’s youthful beauty, her innocence and charms, and smiled.

“Maria!” the figure called, racing even faster, breathing so much harder now, as she reached forward to tag her.

“STOP!”

Maria and the two figures paused, scared out of their game as a large, round man walked into view. His towering figure had his arms wrapped behind his back, his glasses gleaming in the vast sparkling lights of deep space behind him.

“How many times must I remind you.” He handed Maria a vile, and wearily, she trembled and stepped back.

“But grandfather…” she pleaded, before he shook his head, and bent down to her. His mustache moved with each tender word he spoke.

“Now, Maria. You were coughing up blood last night… you must take your medicine and rest more than play. I know you want to play, and feel exceptionally invincible with Shadow and Ember by your side… but you must remember…”

He then looked with a shaded stare to his creations… less tenderly than he had the child…

“They are still dangerous.”

The figure held her hand… stepping back and looking in the light with widened eyes.

Claws…

The other figure entered the darkness, “We can’t actually play with her, Ember.”

In horror and sorrow, the figure began to cry, and lifted a claw to touch it, unsure of what it was.

She flinched back as it scratched her, unaware of her body or her abilities.

She looked to the other figures hands, and shouted, “Why were you created differently!? You can play with her!”

“…No, Ember.” Shadow stepped into the light, his eyes glaring down at her in all seriousness. “I can’t.” he lifted his head up, pride and protection filling his brilliant red eyes.

“We never will.”

***

Ember had crash landed in a separate pod from Shadow. Gerald had sent her down first, having created her to protect rather than cure humanity, as was Shadow’s true design.

In all honesty, she was created as a companion to assist Shadow… but since she couldn’t find him or even know if he existed anymore, she wandered around the earth in search of anyone who needed help.

Her memory of everything was perfect. As was part of her creation, she was a walking scrapbook of every detail she had ever witnessed in her life.

She had stumbled upon a village, who accepted and welcomed her in.

Every day she would venture out to gather food and supplies for them, beginning to learn more about the world Maria loved so much, and happily did her designed purpose of watching over the earth and keeping its people safe.

Until that one day…

***

“Sing, sing!”

Ember, an immortal wolf with dark grey hair, red streaks much like Shadow’s, who she considered her brother; white tips on her ears, feet, and hands, eyes a deeper purple than amethyst, was given new clothes and a home. It was more than she could ever ask for.

“I… could maybe sing… one song~” she winked and stuck her tongue out to the side. The kids all cheered, as the adults smiled and nodded their heads.

Sweet is the winter,…

Calm is the thunder…

And don’t you cry~

Mother is here now…

To bring in the spring and create the things of life~

Rain, rain, rain…

Do you remember the warm rain?

Be patient, my child, and sing without guile

Bittersweet is the spring, that carries in the breeze…

Calmed by the melting snow…

And don’t~ you~ cry~

Before Maria would go to sleep each night, she would ask Ember to sing to her. And soon after that, Maria would sing it to Shadow before he was placed back in his experimentation pod for further study and… ‘fixing’.

Ember’s tail flicked as her face lit up from the children cheering and begging for her to sing it again, but the adults hurried them to bed.

The orphans… on the other hand, wouldn’t stop pleading.

The orphans were rumored to have parents who funded the ARK project, since the pod she escaped in was programmed to land somewhere ‘safe’ she figured it meant one of the funders.

Then… that horrible night… a night she wished to simply forget.

But such was her curse…

To never… forget.

There was smoke everywhere.

G.U.N had tracked down the children, sent to the village for safe keeping… and performed… a horrible, horrible deed…

“No…” Ember dropped all the supplies she was carrying, seeing the village on fire.

“No…” She dropped to her knees when her feet carried her faster than she thought possible to the orphanage.

Blood.

Crimson blood mingled with ash and smoke.

Her claws gripped into the floorboards.

“NOOO!!!”

She tore into them, as something on her chest burst free from it’s hiding and shined brightly around her.

A dark aura rose.

She had failed her purpose…

She was created to protect humanity…

She had failed.

“We can’t actually play with her, Ember.”

Her eyes jutted open, having not realized what she had done.

“We never will.”

She had taken down the whole building. Shredding the beds, ripping the burning roof and ceiling down.

She cried and cried… staring up at the smoky sky, grey as her fur…

Then, she felt something like a ‘tink!’ hit the ground hard and roll towards her feet.

With her horror-stricken eyes, she slowly gestured her head down to it.

Her eyes flinched in a sharpened focus at the words inscribed on the smoke-grenade.

G.U.N

***

“I’ll kill them.”

She huffed, leaning a bruised arm against a nearby tree, and looking out at the G.U.N headquarters.

“I’ll… urk… make them pay.”

She was tried, weary, and but her silliness never stopped coming. She leaned her head back, “Then I’ll buy ice cream~” she laughed, in a maniacal, broken-spirited way before collapsing to the ground.

“50 years… and you’d think Gerald would have considered putting some healing properties into me too.” She struggled, but quickly lifted herself back up again.

She hadn’t eaten in days.

***

“Sir! There’s been a disturbance in sector B!”

“What in blue blazes is going on here!?”

“General it’s… it’s a girl!”

“A girl!? What the devil… Someone’s Ex?”

“Sir… she’s…”

The Solder froze at the monitors, shaking as his mouth and knees wouldn’t move any further.

“…Crazy Ex?”

The general looked old, his short white beard lifted to the side as did his confusion.

“Give it here!”

He shoved the boy aside and then gawked at the image.

Blurred and with a lot of static, you could make out the tail and ears of a figure moving quickly and jumping around the scene, attacking and knocking men and robots alike down with a single strike.

“…She’s fast!”

“No… teleporting.”

“What?”

The General quickly walked down the stairs of his upper division computer-room, pointing and shouting at people in various desks below them. “Get me a Chaos reading on that girl. I want to know what this thing wants. What’s her power level? Do we have Rouge on standby?”

“Sir! Rouge is currently on route to cracking Project Inferno.” A woman stood perfectly straight, having a head-mic that spiraled in a cord around her neck before curving upon her cheek.

He grabbed his hand and threw it against the railing, leaning on it.

Then… slowly, in his moment of feeling trapped… he turned around. “… Put her image on the big screen.”

The soldier looked to his commanding officer, who nodded. He wearily, with sweat dripping down the side of his forehead and cheek, flicked the switch and hit a button.

Ember’s face came in on a close-up, her teeth rearing open to chomp down on a robot, shaking the disk-like gun from it’s small pole and shaking it till it ripped free.

“…More like a monster than little girl.” The General scoffed… before putting his hat back on, and adjusting it.

“…Bring out…”

“Project Shadow.”

(My thoughts: While writing this first chapter I wanted to get the information the reader needed as soon as possible. When going back for edits, I’d like to organize it to be more compelling, but with so much data on her, I wanted to make sure the essential of ‘need to know’ basis was there. I’ll include more based on the Patron’s wishes, but for now, I really wanted to show Ember as loving, conflicted, protective, wild, and still a goofball as her description made me believe she is. I included some minor details about powers, but I want to expand upon them on the following pages. This is simply my first few chapters in introduction before moving on to ‘rising action’ where she will be reunited with Shadow, who won’t remember her until she triggers a memory, which is part of her job/task. I wanted to stay true to her, but leave her as a mystery the audience still wants to figure out, and learn more about. This was the ‘interest’ and ‘hook’ of the story, something I hope to go back and work with if the Patron has any further comments for. : ) Overall, I deeply enjoyed my first attempt at writing for Ember the Immortal Wolf, and hope many others will enjoy her story as I continue writing it!)

The Ashes of Embers

Ember teleported, feeling the radiating warmth of the lost Chaos Emerald Gerald Robotnik stole from Angel Island long ago…

It was imbedded deep in her chest, peeking out on occasion, though she never fully knew the extent of its power.

During times of hardship, she’d sometimes blackout and awake to see her glowing… but what did it mean?

Chaos Emeralds weren’t common knowledge, even to Gerald.

Ember simply tried to harness or ignore it, worried it may control her more than she let on.

She knocked out more robots and security cameras, before the whole sector started shutting down.

She looked around her, her eyes shifting as the lights cut off and large, metallic doors slammed in her wake.

“…So, we’re playing hide and seek in the dark, eh?” She smiled, but a small bit of sweat trinkled down her spine.

What were they playing at?

She couldn’t trust them. She couldn’t even trust the dark. They would play dirty… they always did.

Suddenly, a green glow shined through in lines above the ceiling, and she cautiously looked up, before jumping back in fright.

“Ah!” she put her hands up over the front of her head, trying to defend herself if something should jump down from the air-conditioning units above.

The barred lining above did get dented and hit, before crashing down, along with some ceiling debris, as a figure leaped down and threw out his arm in the dusty green light.

“Chaos Spear!”

“W-woah!”

Instinctively, she raced on all fours away from the explosion, only seeing the shadows of the spears and carefully tumbling into the side of the adjacent wall to avoid injury.

“Offph!” she landed upside, her butt crashing against the wall and taking most of the damage. “Yyyyyeeee-ooooww…” she groaned in some pain, her eye twitching a bit as she turned herself over on the ground.

Getting to her knees, she heard a gun cock, and frightfully looked up with eyes shrinking in terror.

She saw the dust settle… as the front of the gun pierced her vision and hovered steadily in front of her face.

“Don’t move.”

She obeyed, but her eyes couldn’t help and wander up to the figure as the green light still beamed a beautiful aura around him.

She suddenly recognized the red stripes… the hedgehog quills… the serious frown.

“…Shadow?”

She couldn’t believe her eyes!

He raised an eyebrow to her.

“Shadow! It’s me..! It’s-!”

She moved to her legs.

Then a gunshot.

Her vision went blurry as something warm and wet traveled down her leg…

***

“Ember, come with me!”

“But, Doctor, what about Mari-!”

“Shadow’s taking care of her, you must be preserved! For his and her sake!”

The two traveled desperately down a long corridor, on the opposite wing of what they feared were the other G.U.N solders hunting down Shadow and chasing Maria.

Ember would have never guessed the sound of the gunshot, nor the escape pod was only holding one experiment… and not another human life.

“Doctor…” she saw him panting, and realized he wasn’t going to make it.

She tried to take the initiative, gripping his hand tighter that was holding hers and racing ahead of him. “Come on!”

He looked to her in amazement.

“Why… why are you so determined to..?”

An explosion happened by the right side of their faces, and the Doctor was having a hard time stabilizing himself.

“We have to keep moving!” Ember encouraged, her heart full as she dared not turn around to see him suffering to run any longer.

When just in front of the escape chamber, Gerald collapsed, holding his side.

She spun around and gripped his arm with both her hands this time, being careful to not dig her claws into his fragile, old skin.

“Gerald, please!”

“…Gerald?” He looked up at her, “My dear girl…”

Her eyes began to water.

“You’ve always known… you can call me… Grandpa.”

Her eyes widened.

She thought only Maria could address him as true family.

He always seemed so strict…

She started sniffling as her nose became filled with her emotion as well, and in her embarrassment, she shook her head and tears flew everywhere as she cried out.

“Don’t leave me behind!”

“My creation… how beautiful you’ve grown… but I’m afraid it’s me you’ll be leaving behind.”

Another explosion, and this time, they were both thrown against the wall. Pieces of the ARK crash against them, and when Ember came too, footsteps were already approaching.

“Doc… Granpa…”

She wearily summoned the last of her strength, pushing the metallic pieces off of her and digging ferociously through the pile of debris.

“GRANDPA!!!”

When she found his face, her eyes shone with gratitude for seeing him still alive.

“Grandpa…”

“Y-you must go…”

She clenched her teeth. That shine fading.

She looped an arm over her shoulder and hoisted him up, carrying him fully over her shoulders and racing into the room.

“Coordinates…” she stated.

He didn’t respond, just looking at her blankly…

“Coordinates!” she turned more fiercely to his face, demanding he let her save him.

“… 0.003. 27. The planet Earth.”

She typed such things in, and it looked like a speed-dial for earth.

“…You’ll be safe there?”

“…”

He looked down.

“Gerald?”

She looked worriedly up at him, before shaking her head.

“I mean..! …Grandpa.”

“…Hurh..”

He moved himself up, and she lightly set him down, allowing him to lean on the console.

He rested a hand by his chest, and the other… tenderly upon her cheek.

“If only I had the chance to tell you this…with Shadow by your side, so that he may too know how I truly feel.”

“…W-… what are you saying?”

“Open the door!”

Ember gasped, flinging her tail back as she turned around, squatting on her knees before racing forward to grip a large, angular and pillared machine all the way around.

She grunted, squirmed, but her super strength came into play and she hoisted it up from it’s controls, which sparked around as she threw it at the door, causing a barricade.

“That won’t last long…” she feared, speaking out loud, and racing back to Robotnik.

“We have to put you in the escape pod!” she reached her arms out. “Please!”

“…If only Shadow was here…” His sorrowful voice pierced her fragile heart, and she felt the insult of a thousand needles upon a thousand swords rip into her being.

“…Why… Am I not good enough?” Her hands balled into fist, shaking…

She lowered her head, “Why did Maria always favor Shadow?... cause he could hold her? And I could hurt her?” she looked at her clawed-hands. “Why… why did you make me in the image of a monster!?” she started to cry, before Gerald lifted his hands to her face.

“My dear… I created you to scare away the evil of humanity… you’re more beautiful now than I could have ever imagined your design to take form in.”

She slowly opened her shaking eyes, “Grandpa…”

“We’re moving in! All units standby!”

The door was being budged open by powerful hits, freaking Ember out as she turned around, but Gerald moved forward, pushing her back little by little while he moved on his knees.

“You’re all humanity has left in this time of cruelty and panic. Find Shadow. Protect Maria and all humanity. Don’t let my research die in vain. And with all the love of a father… know that I created you and Shadow with the intent to serve and provide humanity a service for the future! You are its last hope! Do this for me..! Do not fail me! Do not fail Maria!”

Her eyes widened, “Granpa…” he shoved her into the escape pod, and pulled down the lever.

“Heh…” he smirked.

“I..! I love y-!”

The pod dropped, as Ember watched the men storm the room with explosives and gunfire. “Drop to your knees-!”

***

“It was over instantly.”

“That’s our Shadow!”

Ember slowly rotated her head, realizing her since of gravity was off, and looked at her restrains on a tilted countertop.

“W-…Where the heck am I?!”

“Silence.”

Her ears recognized the familiar sound and turned to Shadow. Her eyes trembled with joy. “Shadow!”

He looked at her… but there wasn’t anything in his expression that showed the same familiarity.

“Shadow?” She became confused, had they brainwashed him?

“State your purpose.” A man approached her.

She growled, her tail flicking around in annoyance. “To seek revenge for all those innocent children and families you slaughtered to cover up the ARK incident 50 years ago!”

Shadow’s eyes widened, as he unfolded his arms to grip his head.

He seemed in his own world, trembling slightly as he seemed to have a triggered headache.

“Impossible! How can you say such a thing!?”

“As if you don’t know!” She spat out, hitting a guy in the eye.

“My eye!” he screamed and raced out the window.

“Someone get that sergeant a napkin and a new pair of privates, private.”

“I know what I saw…”

She snarled down, glaring at the man speaking.

“You wimps can’t even admit your wrongs!!!”

She struggled from her binds, “RAhhh…!”

“Secure her soldier!”

“Touch me and I’ll rip your arm off with one fell bite!”

The soldier stepped back as she clamped her mouth down with a nip his way.

“Shadow, teach our ‘guest’ some manners.” The man folded his arms.

“…Shadow?”

He didn’t look at him.

“…Shadow! For pete’s sake!”

“…No.”

Shadow rose his head up, fire in his eyes.

“For Maria’s sake…”

“What?”

Shadow pulled up the gun.

“What on earth are you doing!?”

The men stepped back, all aiming their weapons to Shadow.

“What on earth indeed.”

He smirked and aimed up.

He shot a sprinkler-system, causing the rest to go off and then started fighting the men in the room.

They tried to fire, but the water made their gunpowder moist, leaving the guns useless.

“Darn!” the general cried out, before being knocked down.

Shadow turned to Ember.

She held her breath a second, before waving her tail out as if saying ‘Hello, remember me?’ as he raised his arm across his chest.

“Chaos…”

She started panicking, humorously wiggling and shaking in her now cold restraints.

“Spear!”

He shot out some spears that cut her restrains clear-clean off her skins, and she happily leaped down from the counter.

“You do remember me-!”

She went to hug him, but he slammed a hand in her face, and threw her over his shoulder, carrying her out as he blasted the door down.

“Nooope. I think you don’t.”

She blinked her eyes in silly understanding then.

Maybe he had brain damage?

But with his fast recovery…

She then looked to her side, and realized her injury had been patched up and healed as well.

“Phew…”

She was glad something was done to it before it got infected and polluted her recovery.

“Stop them!”

Shadow raised up the Chaos Emerald, as she noticed it was similar to hers…

There was a huge missile that blasted through the water at them.

“Hang on!” Ember, even stationed on his shoulder, still summoned a bubbled-shield around her and Shadow, her emerald glowing from her concealed chest, and guarded them against the blast.

He looked over to her, “…Hmph.” Then away.

“Ah, don’t tell you weren’t impressed.” She looked cockily over to him, waiting for him to thank her, but it never came.

“Woah! Is it possible you got even more serious with dementia?”

“Chaos Control!” Shadow teleported them away, as G.U.N soldiers blocked their every move.

“Dang it!” The general raced out, holding his disabled gun. “She had to mention Code Blue!”

***

(Author’s note: Although this second chapter carries the amount paid for, I decided to give the Patron more for her money. Enjoy! :D I also really liked giving her a silly side, along with an interesting and compelling backstory!)

Shadow dropped Ember down roughly to the ground, and walked towards a tree upon a hill, before turning back to her, the wind rapidly pressing against the two of them.

His quills moved swiftly in the wind, but his face remained stationary.

“Who are you? And how do you know about ARK?”

Ember rubbed her head, “Ouch… can’t you be easier on me? I’m your sister after all.” She sighed, dropping her head. “You always did play rough.”

“Sister? No such thing.” He raised an eyebrow, before turning fully to face her. “Speak up… I have no time for-“

“As far as I’m concerned, you have time to bake as many cakes as you want and eat them all on different days too.”

He seemed confused, unsure of her riddle, as she waited to see if he would laugh, but then knew he never would.

She got up, holding out her hands. “My name is Ember. I was created with you. To be a aid for you and protect humanity. I’ve failed protecting humanity… but maybe I can still help you.”

She then walked forward, cautiously as he seemed to be looking for any sign of lies.

“It’s hard for me to trust people… I’m sure, with whatever you went through, it’s just as hard. Tell me what happened to you and Maria, and I’ll relay everything.”

His eyes looked down, a deep painful sorrow before back up at her, “...What do you mean… relay?”

“Heh.” She smiled, “The word you should get hooked on is… everything. Thus, why I emphasized it.” She joked a little, before straightened up and stretching a bit. “Alright, alright. Here goes nothing.”

She leaned forward, hands on her hips, looking him straight in the eye as she tipped her boots up slightly, trying to look cute and sister-like. “I have a perfect memory. I can remember everything I’ve ever seen. The joy outweighs the sorrow, the anger… but family triumphant over all my memories… no matter what they are. Or how tragic they appear.”

She took a deep breath, leaning up. “Shadow The Hedgehog.” She out stretched her hand to him again.

There was a long pause…

“I’m your family.”

(This was all that was paid for, plus the tip! I would like to remind you to please send me a link where you post this, and also if you could give me a review of your experience with me and the product, I would be very appreciative! As always, you must keep my name and who made this product for you on the document. If you post it anywhere, I have to be listed with it. And please send me a link cause that’s always fun to show-off something I’m proud of making XD I hope you enjoyed it! I really liked fiddling with Ember and figuring out how to organize her backstory for you. You can always pay for me to continue this story, too. So there’s that option. Thank you and I hope you’re satisfied with your purchase! Ember is so interesting because of her emotions being so complexed. For one, she’s kind and silly, but on the other hand, she’s got a darker tone that can almost match Shadow’s. It’s fun to play with those complicated emotions and I really gravitated towards the emerald in her chest and also her detailed memories. Flashbacks would be so common, in my logic anyway, if you had a perfect memory of everything; mostly cause everything would trigger it! Shadow gets triggered a lot, I figured Ember would get triggered even more so. Thank you and I hope to work with you in the future as well! :D If there’s any concerns or things you want me to elaborate on, I’d be happy to go back and review this rough draft. If you’d like anything edited, I should remind you that this is the time to consult me to do the revisions. There is no refunds, and the rules state that only I can edit this document/product. So make sure it’s everything you want before we shake hands. Thank you and I really do love your amazing Sonic Character: Ember the Immortal Wolf! *Also, thanks for the tip ;Db)

(Friendly reminder to please give me link if you're submitting it anywhere, a review of how your experience with me and how the product was for you, and lastly to mention me wherever the document is submitted or posted to with a link or mention. (This is enforced by the rules you agreed to upon your purchase!) I'd also like to reblog or share wherever you posted it so that many may enjoy the work!

 This is the last look-over. So please let me know what you like or would like edited. There will be no refunds or post-edits after this call, and according to the rules only I can edit this document. So please, remember to tell me if you see any errors or things you'd like mentioned. If there's anything you want elaborated on and such. I'd be more than happy to go over the document/product with you till you are satisfied :) )

Embers and Coals

Shadow stared at the hand, a deeper narrowing of his eyes revealed his skepticism, as he swat the hand away from him.

“Yee!” Ember withdrew the rejected hand and spread her frown down, revealing her teeth as her eyes shook in fright. “You don’t have to be so blunt!”

“Family? Heh. Don’t be ridiculous. Did you think I’d fall for your little games?” He stepped back, angling himself away from her. “I’m not sure how you know about G.U.N, or the ARK… but if you think for a second that this changes anything-“

“It does change everything!” She spread her arms out again, on both sides, leaning forward to convey her sincerity once more.

This caught his eye, as she left herself defenseless to attack.

“I’m a lone wolf, not a cunning fox! I’m from the ARK, just like you! G.U.N took everything away from us! Even that nice village…” She looked down, moving her hands back to her chest as she recalled each of their smiling faces… “But… even so… At least you were with Maria…” She sighed, seeming at ease with that.

Shadow stared at her…

“Please, just tell me! I know she was dying already… Gran- I mean,” she shook her head, growing more tender as she spoke now. Not quieter, but in a tone of respect and love she shifted her tough appearance. “Dr. Robotnik wanted to make her immortal too, you know… it was his last resort though. He wanted you to be her cure, first and foremost.” She looked up at Shadow, before shaking her head and gripping it. “But those stupid humans!!! They feared your power! I was just… like a prototype! Maria loved you from the start… but I was…” she removed her hands and looked at her sharp claws…

Her memory flashed back to the soggy dirt piled in them. Burying all those lifeless bodies…

No more smiles… no more singing.

She fisted her hands and took a deep breath.

“I just want to know if she lived long enough to enjoy the planet she loved so much. The world she dared to call home.”

She turned around, facing her back to Shadow, and looking firmly up at the sky. “This world…” the wind was still harsh, blowing her long hair and tail back. “It’s.. dangerous. Not as dangerous as us… but scary.” She looked down, her eyes falling to shadows.

Shadow kept his comments silent. But closed his eyes for a moment.

“W-well?” fearing his silence as a concern for something being wrong, she turned around, a little cautiously. “Did Maria get to enjoy the earth she loved o-or…” she could barely stomach the next thought. She swallowed hard to keep her emotions at bay.

Shadow remained silent.

***

“That little pest! That maggot! That-!”

“Sir, please stop slamming your fist against the expensive tables…”

“Darn it!!!”

Another hard hit collided with the black, sturdy table. Taking the brunt of the General’s anger, before he turned to the operative that had addressed him.

“I want all forces out looking for Shadow! I want that thing captured! We want Shadow unharmed if possible.”

“…If?”

“Alright. Give him some bruises and let him gush out a little bit. He can heal while I’m giving him the scolding of a century! To betray your own people!” he rose his fist to his face, seeing it grow white with the amount of tension he put on it. He then opened it, seeing the true redness of the pulsing blood and impact areas where he slammed it to the table.

“…She knew about Code Blue…” He lowered his hand, and rubbed the bottom of his chin. He wiped some sweat from the back of his neck and shook it off. “She knew the files… I’ve recently reread them. We were covering up Project Shadow. Probably the worst military mistake of all time. We hit a low. Giving an animal the right to supersede humanity. That’s a crime even in and of itself!” he slammed his fist down again, gritting as the pain finally started to burn and turned his head to the side, cursing.

“…Sir, why let the girl survive?” the operative stepped forward, hands behind his back, perfectly straight as his glasses shone to reflect the light from the huge light above them. It encircled the room like an interrogation unit.

“Heh. She’ll try and take him away from us… from our side, I mean.” He pulled himself away from the table. “She’ll want him to side with her. And with Code Blue so sensitive to the hedgehog as is… I don’t know what he’ll do. He’s now unpredictable. Dang it all. And I thought after all that training and successful missions with Rouge… he might as well have been triggered and gone rogue on us again after all these years…”

“Sir? Your orders were given. Shall I execute them?”

“I don’t want the girl dead…”

He then turned around, “Not yet.”

“…Sir?”

“There’s something I wanted to do first… something she got away from once. But won’t this time around… First secure Shadow. I can’t let an asset like him get taken away from us. He’s too valuable.”

“Two of a kind wouldn’t be so bad. If she is like him-”

“No… she ain’t nothin’ like him.”

“…She could be useful. We could use her to our advantage like Shadow-“

“We can’t hope on two brain-concussions AND forgiveness due to an unbroken promise whisked upon by some little girl to happen twice!”

He flung himself around, leaning his plum-sized self with a hunch forward and a hand on the table, supporting it.

The operative stood silent.

“There, now,… you see?” He gestured to the man. “If all of humanity could learn to keep their mouths shut..! … We wouldn’t need to clean up so many messes now… would we?”

“…Yes, sir.”

“Get me Shadow.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And find out where the devil Rouge is? She’s been missing out on call-ins…” he turned away from the light, his figure suddenly more darker than before, and faced the wall. “This room is pitch black. No windows. Just like how our Corporal likes it…”

The man about-faced, but first, clicked his heels together and bowed forward a little, marching—in a sense—out of the room.

“…Keeps our secrets well enough in.”

***

“I don’t understand why you were with them!” she walked right back to him, not liking his silence and getting annoyed by his obvious avoidance on the subject. She stopped in front of him, seeing his eyes open slightly to warn her not to get closer. “…Brainwashed?”

“….”

“Well, they could have probed you for all I know.”

“How can I be sure you’re telling me the truth?” Shadow raised an eyebrow. “What color were Maria’s eyes?” he shifted his head back to her, a sign of interest maybe? If her story were true… what would that mean for him?

“The same as her dress.”

I’m your family.

He grew defensive, biting his teeth down.

“Her hair! What color?!”

He stepped forward.

“B-blonde…” she grew weary and stepped back, holding up a hand to defend herself if needs be…

But finding him… she didn’t want to fight anymore.

She honestly just wanted to embrace him.

Allow herself to cry.

Okay, maybe she wouldn’t cry.

He used to poke fun at her when she cried too easily.

An eye twitched as he rose a fist up in front of himself.

“Grr… And how do I know you didn’t just see some old achieve picture!?”

“I can show you.” She held out her hand.

He lost all of his anger suddenly, moving back and shaking.

“Gr…erk… eh.” He strained to hold himself back, but was clearly distressed.

“…Shadow?”

“What are you planning to do with that?”

He dipped his head down, growing even more hostile as the topic continued…

“I’m… You’re shaking.” She looked worriedly down at his arms and body. “Shadow…”

“Your hand!”

She flinched back.

“Hey! No fair! That was a jump-scare!” she glared.

“Enough toying with me!”

He shook his head and stepped forward, his whole-body tensing.

“If you have no proof… then were done talking here.”

“No, wait!”

She touched his forehead.

Shadow’s eyes widened as a picture formed in his head.

“What… what is…”

“This…?”

***

Maria peeked around the corner of the room, seeing her Grandfather patching up somethings around the laid chamber-pod of his experiment.

“…He’s quite handsome… isn’t he, Ember?” She looked down, as Ember pouted as she looked at how much time the Doctor was spending with this ‘new’ creation.

“I’m his little sister… he told me that.” She responded, and looked up to Maria. “But I was made first,… right?”

Maria gave her a tender, close-eyed smile.

She giggled and snuck back as the Doctor walked out, looking through some clipboard notes, before scurrying in the room.

“Come on.” She whispered, sticking her hand out and gesturing with her finger for Ember to follow her.

Ember didn’t like the idea… but her tail wagged to show she liked being mischievous with Maria.

“Are we gonna pull his plug?” she asked, “Or draw a funny face on his pod? I call the eyes!” she grinned, her tail wagging faster.

Maria gave her a light scold, looking to her with an eyebrow raising and her head tilting to the side and downward, as if saying ‘really?’.

She then lovingly leaned over the chamber, seeing the creature sleeping, her eyelids fell in a motherly way, and she lightly skimmed her fingers over its surface.

“I can’t wait to meet him…”

“Yeah. Someone to wrestle with.”

“A new friend…”

“H-huh?”

Ember looked to Maria, seeing a shift in her eyes from how she looked at her.

She looked away, her ears bending down.

Then Maria turned back to her, surprised by her sad actions, and smiled in understanding. She moved her other hand to rub the top of her head, and laughed sweetly.

“You’ll always be my friend too, Ember! You protect me… and he…”

She turned back as Shadow lightly opened his eyes, and stared up at her.

He tilted his head up, amazed almost at the sight of her.

She smiled warmly to him, looking excited to see him.

She gave him a shy wave.

“Hello, my little Shadow.”

She cooed, like a mother to a child.

Ember noticed the strange connection the two were having and grew more jealous, tugging on her dress and jumping down to pull her down too.

“Maria! Maria! Let’s play tag!”

“Haha, Ember. Quit it.” She played and tugged the end of her dress back up.

“Offph!” Ember toppled over, and let little tears form on the sides of her eyes as she watched Maria turn back to Shadow.

“We’ll play later… Shadow? Grandfather says your to be my savior… But I want you to always know… you’ll first most and forever be… one of my most treasured friends.”

Shadow blinked his eyes, but couldn’t take his sight off the lovely being in front of him.

She lowered her hand back to the top of the see-through pod, as his hands moved off from being folded across his chest…

He looked to one of them, and then to Maria’s hand.

He gently placed it upon her hand.

She smiled and giggled.

He tried to mimic the expression, and was able to smile back.

“Ah!” she rose up from leaning over and looking at him. “Ember! Ember you have to come up here! He’s… he’s smiling!” she cheered, aweing every second of him being awake and vigilant.

“He placed his hand on mine! I think he understands!”

“…Great.”

Ember had sat down and leaned up against chamber-pod, folding her arms and letting her tail flick around in annoyance.

She lowered her head and hunched up her shoulders… ‘pfft’ing out to the side of her mouth.

Maria continued to giggle…

***

Shadow sight returned to him as Ember removed her hand from his forehead, then placed both hands on the sides of his head and pulled herself closer.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t really like you when you first created. But once I got to know you, I could see what Maria saw in you.”

She then closed her eyes and placed her forehead on his again, as he continued to remain motionless and overwhelmed at the memory he had seen.

“But this… this memory will show you why we can’t let G.U.N go unpunished…”

The memory started with Gerald, then to the village, the ruined orphanage…

Still unable to handle the first image he saw, Shadow broke off and resisted her sight-vision she was relaying back to him.

“Woah!”

Shadow shoved and pulled away, pushing her and once again smacking her hand away. “Enough!” he gripped his head, “What… what was all that?”

“The truth.” Ember’s eyes turned fierce, not taking anymore of his hesitance. “This is what G.U.N really is!” she gestured her hand out to her side. “Shadow… help me destroy them. They can’t go unpunished for imprisoning Gerald and taking Maria from us!”

“…Mind tricks.” Shadow turned away.

“Why… why don’t you understand..?” She stepped back, her eyes in amazement and fury at him rejecting her yet again.

She couldn’t handle it. “I… I searched for you everywhere… I thought maybe… you’d be searching for me b-but…” she looked down, starting to cry, her emotions getting the better of her.

“WHAT WERE YOU DOING ALL THOSE YEARS?!”

“….”

“THE YEARS I NEEDED YOU!”

She collapsed to her knees.

“When Maria finally left this world… did you just not want to find me?”

He remained still, before a crack of thunder revealed an on-coming storm.

The grey clouds rolled quickly over them, showing that the wind was foreshadowing this inevitable conclusion…

“….She’s dead…”

Ember looked crossly up to him.

“Well, no duh! It’s been 50 years! Of course she’s-!”

“She died.”

“Wha-…”

Her eyes suddenly widened.

Shadow looked down to her, stepping up, seeming completely unaffected by what this could mean to her.

“Her last wish was to give humanity a chance. I promised her I’d do anything for her. I even could kill… if necessary.”

Ember couldn’t understand… but her chest grew in warmth and she could feel the raw power slipping into her body.

“I… I can’t trust anymore… not after what humanity has done.”

She looked down as a light rain started to pour.

Shadow dropped to a knee, staring straight into her, as if into her soul.

“Ember… was it?”

She gripped the ground.

“Quit acting like you forgot me too!”

“…G.U.N found signs that your hostile actions were being powered by chaotic influences… they wanted to take the Chaos Power they found in you. I was meant to rip it out.”

Ember shook her head, crying.

“I can’t control it! What happened to Maira!?”

As she shouted out into the night, Shadow remained still and stoic.

The lightning started flashing down and the rain grew heavy, turning the gripped ground beneath her claws into mush and mud.

She sobbed as Shadow leaned his back away from her, looking off into a void of darkness within the forest ahead of them…

“…We should contact Rouge. If that is what I suspect to be a Chaos Emerald… a certain red Echidna may be after you.”

“WHAT. HAPPENED.”

She gripped his white chest fur, pulling him back down to her as he stared expressionlessly back at her.

His attention on her was brief, as he closed his eyes.

“You don’t listen very well.”

“Then tell me a story.”

He hesitated.

A flicker of light. Tiny hands pushed with all their might. A mourning creature lay hysterical, trapped in an escape pod, banging on it’s surface.

A man. A loud blast of gunfire. A shot that pierced more than his heart. His very soul.

She lay in blue and red… she begged in beauty and love… and she used the strength of her fall to send the soul she treasured into the world she cherished.

Into the world… that killed her.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”

Ember’s Chaos Emerald blasted Shadow away, leaving him to roll and grip to the tree near him.

He used all his strength to hang on and strained against the power surge.

The Chaotic blast revealed that she had shifted. Her whole being animalistic and tearing into the ground, ripping the mud all around her and crying out like a wild beast.

She blamed him, then swore to rip into the hides of G.U.N, and destroy the world that destroyed Maria.

Everything Shadow knew, felt, understood.

None of her words were unfamiliar.

When the blast stopped, he simply got himself up.

And he walked.

The rain crashed down to the side of him, but his eyes never blinked.

The storm roared and was muffled by Ember’s cries, mud looking like blood in her eyes, trying to hurt the earth that hurt her, as he came over to the massacre of dirt. She cried out something like a ‘Chaos Slash’ that rent the earth in twine and split right by him. A rockslide happened far behind him from the continuing strip of power, before the earth shook slightly in aftershock and stopped.

He just kept walking, before pausing in front of her, looking at her with no sign of anger,… no sign of anything at all except-

Empathy.

“That’s enough.”

She kept ripping into ground, screaming her revenge.

“…Vengeance… was Maria anything like how your feeling now!?”

He punched her in the gut.

This stayed her, snapping her out of her frenzy as the pain snapped her momentarily out of it.

She still was in her dark, sinister form… but she refused to strike him.

Even if she did blame him for not protecting her, she couldn’t help but feel she wasn’t alone because of his presence.

She did care about him.

She wanted her family.

But to hear of Maria’s death…

“How…”

She slowly came out of it, collapsing into his arms.

“How did you forgive them..?”

“…I didn’t.”

She looked almost blindly up at him.

She gripped his arm tighter than before.

“Shadow… Why…”

“…I simply spared them.”

She cried into his chest.

“…I…”

He slowly rose his hand to the back of her head, as something about it felt familiar…

Similar…

His eyes shook as he felt the unexpected reaction was more reflex than anything else.

“…I keep my promises…”

He thought suddenly…

“There was a song… you sang it… to Maria..?”

Ember’s head jerked up, her eyes full of tears and rain.

“Shadow?”

He seemed apprehensive, afraid of whatever this was triggering.

“…A song… about…”

“Rain?”

(Author’s notes: This was really fun to do! I already had an idea on how to continue the story, so getting the opportunity to really helped! Finding paths and ways to tie in the first 20 pages with the next chapter was really fun to discover and figure out! I wanted that head-touch with Shadow and Ember. I wanted that symbol of family to resonate, along with being reunited. I didn’t except myself to write Shadow remembering Ember, or anything about her. But now I feel I can continue the story with a flow of that theme more easily now. With Shadow being able to connect to her like no one else, and having that bond with her, I feel like they can strengthen and cling to each other in different ways. Shadow for the emotional support through her achieve of countless memories, and Ember for needed that emotional connection and family tie. She needs to trust SOMEONE, right? And having Shadow back should help :) )

From the Embers Come Past Flames

After passing out from so much stress on not just her body, but all the emotional and mental stress her memory-sharing and breakdown from learning of Maria’s fate brought her through; Ember woke up to find herself on a raft, heading towards a strange floating island.

Instantly having anxiety, she leaped up and began to softly nipple on her tail, looking around.

“…You’re awake.” Shadow was on one knee again, letting the raft follow the current to the dangling green vines of the lush floating island.

“Y-yeah… I had a dream… that you punched me in the gut.” She continued to bite on her tail.

He frowned, and patted her head in a scold, “Stop that.”

She pouted, but swished her tail away from her mouth.

It was like… old times.

That gave her some comfort, at least. She could barely remember everything, only that she knew Maria was dead from G.U.N. Strange… she had these random blackouts… but she only recalled that happening one other time…

“I couldn’t use Chaos Control… Your Emerald kept… shining and cancelling it out.” Shadow held up his emerald, showing that when he moved it towards her, the emerald in her chest flashed and stopped the other Emerald from activating.

“…Huh.” Ember looked down her shirt and tapped her Emerald between her chest. “I didn’t know it could act on its own.”

“It can’t.” Shadow glared, “Clearly, you don’t trust me.”

“I was asleep!” she cried out, “As were you, apparently. For 50 years!” She crossed her arms, upset by learning this.

Shadow suddenly shifted his head to her, as if he had been threatened, “How do you know that?” He looked as though he was growing defensive, but let it go as he tried to regain his calm demeanor. “I never told you that.”

“You’re probably lonely after having no one understand you until now. If that dream was real, then you carried me, and before I passed out, I was able to sense your mind remembering different events in your past. I saw them all, Shadow. Your plot for revenge, Maria… Even that Rouge girl you talked about before. And yeah, a real deep ‘technological’ sleep… By humans, might I add!” She lifted a sharply pointed finger, matter-of-factly. “And all while I was off facing wars, tracking down the killers of innocents, and treading through snow, mud, and the drops of blood from battle… Hey, Where are you taking me?” she folded her arms, leaning away.

“…Don’t do that without my permission again.”

“No promises.” She winked, but grew worried he was truly upset and dropped it.

“Rouge said Knuckles has all the 7 Chaos Emeralds. It’s impossible for you to have one embedded in your chest. He’s doing some research and wants to confirm it’s truly a Chaos Emerald.”

“And how’s he going to do that?” Ember covered her chest, blushing in embarrassment.

Shadow didn’t seem to understand and looked back to her. “What do you mean?”

They climbed up the island, her complaining and trying to explain by beating-around-the-bush what exactly that meant before Shadow looked fixated on a plane that was landed not far from the where the Master Emerald’s shrine lay.

“Not him…” he growled out, and in sheer exasperation, he turned to walk on. “Not now…”

“Whose ‘him’?” Ember dropped the conversation and grew curious, following after Shadow. “And there’s no way I’m letting him look down my-“

“Ah! If it isn’t Shadow! Huh? And company? Say, you’re not getting lonely are you, Shadow? Or maybe it’s a new recruit your training, hmm?”

A blue hedgehog turned around and folded his arms, raising an eyebrow to Ember, and poking fun immediately at Shadow.

Ember clearly saw the annoyed expression on Shadow’s face, but was impressed he didn’t say a word.

He only folded his arms and dipped his head.

She trembled in fury that he wasn’t going to explain, and exploded in rage back at the fur-ball. “FOR YOUR INFORMATION I’M HIS SISTER! AND I EXPECT SOME RESPECT BE SHOWN TO ME AND TO MY BROTHER! AND ON TOP OF THAT I WOULD NEVER JOIN THE LIKES OF THOSE HEARTLESS, MONSTEROUS, MURDERING SAVAGES!”

“W-woah… brother?” Sonic looked to Shadow, holding his hands up in hopes at calming ‘the raging beast’ down. “There’s more of you?”

Shadow looked away, sweat dropping as he grew embarrassed by her outburst. “So she tells me…”

“You know the truth!” she hollered back at him, as Tails stepped forward and bowed himself a little, giving her some respect.

“I’m Miles! Miles Prower! That biplane over there is mine.” He pointed to it. “It’s a later model, but I thought since this wasn’t a fight against Eggman, I could give it a short joy ride! For old times sakes.” He rubbed behind his head, “But you don’t need to worry about calling me Miles. Everyone just calls me by my nickname now, Tails!” he seemed excited to mention that, before stepping to the side of her, looking her over. She covered her exposed midriff, feeling vulnerable to all these people she didn’t know and trying to close herself off, before his sweet voice kinda broke her rude silence. “What��s your name?”

“Eggman?” she seemed confused, but remembered vaguely hearing about him.

Tails laughed, “No, no, no… haha! Your name!” he turned to Sonic, “She’s funny.”

Sonic shrugged, “Man, you must really hate G.U.N…” he smiled in a friendly way though.

“…Ember…” she looked away, unable to refuse him after he kindly did as she asked and showed her respect.

“Wow! That’s a really cool name! Do you have fire abilities?” He curiously wagged his tail and tilted his head. “Or maybe you’re like a phoenix. You rise from hardships and become even stronger!” he puffed up his chest and threw his arms up, trying to look tough.

She couldn’t help but think that cute but had to keep up her tough demeanor. “…Insightful.”

He grinned.

“Wait, wait, wait… hold on.” Sonic walked forward, waving his hands out in disbelief a moment and stood before Ember, making her feel like she had to be ready to attack if necessary.

“…Isn’t Shadow 50 years old… or something or other like that?” he seemed to be always joking around.

She nodded with a huff. “That’s right. I’m immortal, just like Shadow.” She folded her arms and turned away, acting above-it-all.

“Oh, really?” he leaned up, thinking her acting cute and playing along. “Well, then…” he put a hand under his chin and use the other to grip his elbow. “Excuse me for being rude… Granny.” He smirked.

She twitched a lower eyelid.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!?”

“Enough already. Sheesh. Give a girl a break.” Rouge walked out, or what she figured would be Rouge, and looked a little more distrusting as she saw her confidently walk right up to Shadow.

Being aggressive protective of him, her only real ‘kin’ so to speak, she zipped as quickly as she could behind him, peeking out over his shoulder to her as she placed both hands on them.

“Rouge, where’s Knuckles?”

“Coming soon.” She gave him a flirty look that made Ember growl slightly. “And who’s the kid?” she curiously looked over his shoulder and smiled fondly to Ember, before crooking her neck to the side but holding eye-contact.

She turned her head, “Shy… isn’t she? A younger sibling… perhaps?” She batted her eyes to her, before flapping her wings a little. “Oh yes, I know all about you, little pretty.” She pointed to her then, “I hear you have a gem in your chest. Lucky find, but hard to retrieve.” She moved herself in a feminine way, as if calling Ember out, who looked away and sized her chest-size with hers at once, before giving up and looking away.

“Hmph!”

“Sorry, sweetie. I wasn’t looking for a fight. Besides… competition for gems can be rough for girls like us. We should be friends.”

Ember heard her alluring voice but didn’t accept that as real. She forced herself to believe that everyone around her was instantly and undeniably an enemy…

Until… proven… otherwise…

When an echidna, who she assumed to be Knuckles, came racing down the hill; she unfolded her arms and clung back to Shadow, barking at Sonic and wagging her tail at Tails in a ‘shooing’ fashion.

She only wanted her and Shadow, if you weren’t family, then get out of her circle and space!

(Author’s note: Although I’m not done with this chapter, I wanted to add that I enjoyed placing different facts and things, like shared ideas Marydragneell (the customer and original creator of Ember the Immortal Wolf) sent me so I could include them in my rendering of her story. I didn’t know how to include all of them, but I included as much as I could. I’m stilling looking for places to put things, but I think I got the majority of what I wanted to put in here ;) I think she’ll notice a ton of them! Lol Trying to make sense of Ember in the world of Sonic wasn’t too difficult, however, I did want to give logical reasons for everything she could do or was. Which is why carefully working out her backstory is helpful as I move on. I know Shadow’s reasoning seems a little on the weak side, but that’s because he’s so sure and at his core, strong enough to not care about anything other than his resolve to do what Maria asked of him. He will keep his promise, no matter what Ember’s reasons or logic are. I hope I showed that well! Okay! Back to the show!)

Knuckles saw Rouge leaning to see something behind Shadow’s back and was surprised to see Ember there.

She lightly growled and bent her ears back, looking over to him but Shadow moved away and used the side of his hand to bonk her on the head a bit, scolding her.

“You’ll remain alone if you continue to act like a wild animal.” He spoke very plainly, but you could also tell he was trying to distance himself from her.

She felt bad then, fearing he may not want her around… Did she make him uneasy? Learning about having someone from the past still alive and able to be with him today…

Was it more painful than comforting?

She held her head close to her chest where the emerald lay… he was more worried about that than personalizing her existence to himself.

She looked away, dusting her tail in a swish to cover her. She felt a little… trapped.

“It could just be an emerald made to act like a Chaos Emerald. I’ve made one of those before.” Tails interjected, looking back at Ember with a kind, reassuring smile.

Maybe he noticed she had bundled herself up a little bit in uncertainty.

But she still didn’t think she could trust him…

She turned her head further away.

“Either way, G.U.N’s on the hunt for you too.” Rouge intersected, as Ember’s eyes went wide with fury. “It may be safer if-“

There was a loud whirling in the air then, and suddenly the gang was blocking against a powerful wind and the metallic ring of machinery.

“Is it Eggman?!” Tails called out.

“No!” Sonic exclaimed, looking up to the sky, “We’ve got company!”

Missiles fell from the G.U.N helicopters, as Sonic smirked and dived for the emeralds.

“Knuckles!” He called out, but Knuckles was already protecting the Master Emerald and carrying it away from the shrine, watching the missiles damage it.

“Grr… Those… You hooligans!” his mouth fully opened to shout above the sound of the spinning turbines before a voice boomed from within one of the copters.

“SHADOW. THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING. SURRENDER THE GIRL AND RETURN TO YOUR POSITION.”

Shadow scowled, moving a hand out over Ember.

Seeing that gesture… Ember’s eyes shook, being extremely touched that he still wanted to protect her, even if he was uncomfortable with her existence being made known to him again.

Her eyes grew a bit glossy, missing the feeling of having someone there for you… someone to protect you… just as much…

As you wanted to protect and serve them.

She felt her emerald glow and suddenly her eyes flash black, covering the whole of her eye sockets, and then her body blaze with white.

She flew up to the helicopters, actually feeling she had control over this form, and shot out a powerful move, “Chaos Slash!”

A helicopter was perfectly split in two, and the pressure kept the two parts moving away from the other, before the pilot ejected along with his gunners. While they parachuted down, the copter exploded, and the Chaos Emeralds shone brightly once again.

“Hey!”

Ember turned around.

She wasn’t expecting the former blue hedgehog to turn a golden gleam, even less expecting that he’d charge into her.

“Ah!”

“You can’t hurt people!”

“W-woah! HEY! Geeeeettt offff!!”

He was pushing her far away from the island, but she threw him behind her, turning around to fight him if needs be.

“Ember!”

She widened her eyes again to the familiar tone of voice, but when seeing Shadow’s colors change and him charge her too, she felt almost betrayed.

“Enough!”

He spun a kick at her, plummeting her through the sky and straight for the ocean.

She began to cry as the wind whipped past her on her decent…

… Why… would he attack me?

Why… did he care so much over that filth’s lives?

G.U.N was a monster.

Why did these two… how did they transform? How did she get this power? It wasn’t like when her emerald overacted the last few times…

Shadow…

Did he love murderers more than…

Than his family?

…Maria…

She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes as she hit the ocean’s floor.

She allowed herself to sink.

Maybe she could just… slip away.

That would make Shadow happy…

Wouldn’t it?

The last of Gerald Robotnik’s creations… he would live out the rest of his days being the last.

Wouldn’t that ease her pain.

Knowing she wasn’t causing pain or discomfort to anybody else.

Then there was a bright light.

Her body faded back to it’s original form before a huge claw, below an even larger net, broke the water’s surface and came in after her.

* * *

“Her name is Ember. For she is the beginnings of my experimentation into immortality for all humankind! Go on, she’s not perfectly harmless but…”

Ember slowly blinked her eyes open, the world was blurry… and she couldn’t decipher all the images around her.

She shook her head back and forth slowly, feeling each muscle and tension squeeze or release in them.

Life was strange… existence was memorizing.

She looked up to see a pair of blue eyes, the first color she noticed in waking up for the first time.

“…Gentle now. She’s unused to her surroundings.”

“She’s… Beautiful.”

That voice… was soft and loving.

She gravitated to it at once.

Ember lifted her a moment.

“Careful!”

A hand quickly strapped it down, and she could feel the added weight and limitation.

She didn’t know what she did wrong, or even what ‘wrong’ was.

She moved and she was restrained, so she felt that was life. For what was normal?

“Grandpa!” Maria exclaimed, still holding Ember’s head and positioning her and her upper back on her lap. “She didn’t do anything wrong! She was just trying to explore!”

“Her claws were given her for your protection, Maria! I won’t allow her to unknowingly harm you. You’re frail as it is and—“

“Grandpa… please… Give her a chance to say hello.”

Ember closed her eyes, feeling weary suddenly, before feeling the strap loosen from her arm.

“…You’re far too kind and trusting, Maria… I would warn you… but I fear you’ll only reprehend me back.” There was a small noise, a chuckle? Was he happy? Content?

She twitched out a finger, testing her limits, before turning her sleepy head back to the form of the girl.

“…Hello, Ember.” Maria smiled, like a loving mother or angel over her head.

Ember wouldn’t know it, but when the time came for Maria to smile to Shadow like that, she would be insanely jealous, wishing to have Maria never cease to smile to her like that.

She would love to remember that that smile never did leave her side.

But when Shadow first woke, that smile was for him and him alone.

Maria claimed to never have favorites.

But Ember always knew… She was the puppy,… and Shadow…

Shadow was her favorite.

Shadow was hers.

* * *

“Subject contained, wearing a red cloak, heavy dark boots with straps, and fingerless gloves. Subject appears to be waking up, standby for quarantine.”

“Emm… huh?”

Opening her eyes, Ember was in some sort of cargo-transport. She could feel it shifting in the air, as though she was being pulled away by helicopter.

Where was Shadow? The others? Though she didn’t really care about the others, but all she could remember was the sinking of falling into a vast ocean…

She touched her head, shaking it before sharpening her claws, looking at the metal around her.

“Pfft. If they think I’m going through isolation again…” she spat out to herself, leaning back and relaxing a minute. She usually sharpened her claws when she was bored… but this… was for a purpose.

Shreek.

Shreek.

Shreek.

“Subject appears to be sharpening long claws on her fingernails.”

Tip, tip, tip.

“Subject is flicking thumb and index finger against the surface of those nails. Small sparks are being created… wait a minute—”

She smirked.

“Dumb human.”

When the crate was about to land, there was a sudden hold up from the helicopter.

The crate was suddenly thrust into by large claws, shredding their way down the sides and frightening all who were ready to engage out on the landing dock.

It was inside the G.U.N, heavily-guarded artillery base. Retrieving her hand back, Ember continued to shred from the inside out the metal surrounding her imprisonment, before crying out another Chaos Slash and exploding the remaining container.

She dropped with the floor of the crate down as lights flashed on and sirens roared to life.

She bent her knees, holding her hands out to defend herself whichever way anything was about to come.

“Subject loose! Repeat! Subject not contained!”

“Who’s first?”

As the bullets and other such explosives rose around her, she covered her face and laughed.

“Child’s play!”

She jumped up and slashed through launchers and other canon fire, the machine gun getting knocked out by the repercussion.

“I’ve been wanting to slaughter your sorry butts for a long time now!” Ember was having a field day, destroying all their machines with agile accurately, although it looked like she was just quickly racing around on all fours and being unpredictable.

She was actually bidding her time… waiting…

“General!”

“I know! I know!”

Cocking his pistol, the General swiftly moved down the stairs and sternly walked through the demolition of his forces, having a handful of men protecting him before he fired a shot and hit her arm.

“Ack!”

She spun around, her tail quickly lifting up behind her as she hunched over and held it.

“You…” Her cape swiped back to her side as an explosion went off to the side of her.

He slowly lowered his gun.

“You know I can’t let you live with the knowledge you possess about Code Blue.”

“...”

Ember just kept a small look of resentment. Her eyes slightly honed in on him… and the revolver in his hand.

“A pistol?” she laughed, shaking her head. “You guys were all about hiding your mistakes… but if Code Blue stands for what you did to Maria and Gerald Robotnik…”

“He was a mad man. She was an unfortunate causality in a list of-“

Ember’s head shot straight up to silence him.

“…I know… I saw that list… I saw their cold bodies being warmed by the fresh blood on their faces… I saw how you ‘clean up’ your messes… and I’ll dish out the same justice.”

She got up, beginning to walk towards him.

He staggered back.

“You don’t want to do this!”

He cried out, remaining in his place as many more men went to cover him, aiming red dots all along her body…

Rage filled her eyes, she wasn’t going to stop now.

“I knew them by name… you didn’t even look twice.”

She positioned herself for a Chaos Slash, but a noise stopped her.

Something crashed through the ceiling and landed straight between her and the General’s gap apart.

“…Shadow?”

Super Shadow slowly rose up from his knee, glaring in all seriousness at her.

“I’ve got G.U.N.” Super Sonic was behind him, facing the general, but looking over his shoulder to Shadow.

For the first time, she saw seriousness in his face too.

“What’s going on? Why are you protecting them again!?” Ember roared, feeling the emerald in her chest begin to feed a dark power into her…

She didn’t want to lose control in front of Shadow… not again.

Sonic smirked and waved to her, before charging into the fray with the rest of G.U.N.

“Hey! Let’s not disrupt the family reunion!”

“Sonic!? Cease this instant!”

“Not likely! You’re willing to hurt another little girl? Shame on you!”

He spun through their tanks and other machines they were wheeling out into the open indoor area, as the general was rushed away from the scene.

“No!” Ember saw him being forced to retreat and quickly leaped to follow, but Shadow jumped to speedily grab her by the waist and throw her down.

“I didn’t mean to knock you out.”

“Wait!? Let me go!”

“I… I can’t do that.”

“You..! You’re the real reason why they’re able to get away with all these killings! It’s you! It’s you, it’s you, it’s you!”

She struggled, fighting him as he kept her pinned down.

“…You fight like a child.”

“I’m your little sister! But I was made first! Why is that!? Why did Maria choose to be protected by you!? I was made to defend her! I had the claws! I was supposed to be with her and you were supposed to be for Gerald’s experiments! Why!? Why did she pick you!?”

Ember began to cry, shaking her head as Shadow’s professional uncaring look suddenly bent into one of passionate sorrow.

“You’re… You’re just… letting her killers go.”

He looked to her hands,… seeing the sharp, long claws on the ends of them.

“You… You’re failing her. Cause you weren’t designed to protect her! You were designed to cure her! Make her immortal! All humans—Evil, stinkin’ humans—Immortal! Only Maria should have been like us! Only Maria should have been spared!”

She kicked and squirmed again.

“If Maria knew what they were like-RAUGH! Then… Then she would approve of-!”

“No. She wouldn’t have. She knew.”

Shadow pulled her hand to his head, as she gripped it and pierced her claws down into his skull.

He twitched at the pain, before the anger in Ember suddenly died down… and she leaned up.

“Shadow… what are you-?”

“Look… into… my mind.”

He squinted through the pain, barely able to speak through it as her claws were crushing into his head.

“…See… Maria’s… Last wish…”

She couldn’t look away… what was he thinking?

She gulped and closed her eyes, loosening her hold on his head as she breathed faintly to try and stop herself from crying any further.

* * *

Sirens.

Panting.

Shadow awoke to being inside a containment pod.

He cried out her name.

Standing at a distance, near the ejection switch, she held her chest where a bullet had recently pierced…

“Shadow… I beg of you… Please do it for me. For a better future.”

“MARIA!”

“For all the people… on that planet…”

She softly let out a faint breath, trying to breathe.

“My planet…”

“No! Stop! Maria!”

The doors were about to be crushed off their hinges, and soon, a swarm of G.U.N soldiers were about to appear…

“…give them a chance to be happy. Let them live for their dreams… Shadow, I know you can do it.” She slightly fell to her knees, before willing herself back up, hearing the doors being to budge, and looking back at them.

She looked to Shadow with fear.

“Maria!!!”

He wanted to throw her in the capsule, not him! He wanted to die in her place, not her!

ANYTHING BUT HER!

“That’s… the reason you why… you were brought into this world.” She leaned on the control panel, coughing.

Everything in him loved her, and wanted nothing more than for her to not suffer. He threw back his fists and pounded them into the capsule, but the pod never even shook, only toned out a mellow sound to show the impact had landed.

He was… useless to stop her.

“Sayonara… Shadow The Hedgehog.”

“Maria… I…”

Shadow reached a hand out to her.

Just like upon his awakening… she rose her hand, and smiled.

Just before the capsule took off, her body leaned and he saw her fall on the switch, her eyes losing the radiant shine of her life.

He never saw the body hit the floor… as the capsule was launched away.

“MAAAARRRRIIIIAAA!!!”

* * *

“I promised her. You need to do the same.”

“Dreams..? Happy..? What about our happiness!? Our dream!? We wanted to be on earth with her! We wanted… we wanted her to live…”

Ember pulled and tugged her claws out from his head, as he reeled back in pain and gripped it.

“Shadow…”

Her eyes watered again, seeing the pain she gave him.

“I’m… I’m a monster…”

“No… If Maria loved you…”

Through the pain and blood she couldn’t see through his quills, he squinted his eyes to look back at her.

“Then you were worth the whole of the world to her. You were not a monster!”

It was as if he was also addressing himself, pulling Ember up by her arms and shaking her.

“You are part of her family!”

“Shadow!”

Sonic called, flying into view and looking back behind him.

“They’ve taken the whole place into a shutdown! They said something about being compromised? Whatever that is. We probably should head out though.” He looked to Ember. “Yikes, she looks shook.”

“Enough games.” Shadow glared up to him, “Take my sister and get out of here.”

“What about you!?” She ripped his arms right back, that look of not wanting to lose anything precious to her again still apparent in their fear…

He tenderly looked back, but then closed his eyes to open them in a return of his old stoic ways.

But something had changed in his tone of voice, and she knew he was accepting her now.

“Make that promise to Maria… I’ll be back.” He lightly placed a hand on her own, holding his arm before slowly moving it away, and then getting up.

“Trust Sonic… He may be a clown at times… but…” he looked up to Sonic, who was slowly coming down to stand before the two.

He smiled and put a hand to his hip, waiting to hear how Shadow would finish that last comment.

“…He’s still a hero to this world.” He smiled, a mutual respect as Sonic nodded.

“Geez, Shadow. That’s the first kind thing you’ve said to me.”

“Don’t let it get to your head, Hedgehog.”

“Save me the sentiment. I’ll only say that you’re not half bad yourself. Although mostly an angsty brooder.”

He looked annoyed with an unamused face to Sonic, who only grinned widely and then offered Ember his hand.

“Shall we? It’s nice to see Shadow finally found himself a little sister. I think every dude wishes he had one just as cute.” He tilted his head and closed his eyes, showing some trust and kindness to her.

She pouted, “… I’m… I’m not a child!” she took his hand, and Sonic helped get her into a bridal position in his arms before looking to Shadow.

The two nodded, and Shadow raced off further into G.U.N.

“Why won’t he let me go with him?”

“…Because you haven’t made that promise to Maria in your heart yet.”

Sonic looked back at her.

“Before, we lost track of which helicopter you were in. So Shadow took down, single-handedly, each copter they flew in the sky.”

Sonic relayed the story as he flew out, while Ember clung to him as she listened carefully… cautious as to not dig her sharpened claws into his hide…

She pressed her head against his chest and listened… much like a child.

“He interrogated the crews. Tied them up and shouted in their faces. Heh. We were all pretty surprised he cared so much. It was if Maria had reappeared to him, and now, he wasn’t going to lose her twice.”

Ember’s face shifted into pure shock and love. She had no idea… maybe he wasn’t as uncomfortable with her as she had supposed.

“He was… protective?”

“Huh? Oh… hmm… I think he was just worried about ya.”

Sonic continued to fly off, as Ember felt her body losing its power, slowly slipping off into sleep.

“But I could tell something had changed in Shadow. It was like he had a purpose again. Someone to protect. He found out where they were taking you and what tactic they used to get away from us. He felt horrible about using so much power and force on you. He thought, if you were like him, then he needed to be aggressive and strong. After all, it wasn’t easy changing Shadow’s heart. He was a real power-house. But… I guess you are slightly different. Since you are Shadow’s sister, you must equal his power, and maybe he was a bit too much…”

“…It didn’t hurt that badly…”

Ember looked away.

“I just… I gave up.”

Sonic looked down at her, and then smiled.

“Well, I know you’re both siblings but… can’t you stop fighting enough to realize that you two care a lot about finding the other?”

She smiled and let out a sigh, falling to sleep.

“Thanks… Hero.”

“Heh, don’t mention it!”

Sonic winked down to her, before seeing her close her eyes.

“Oh? You’re not falling asleep now are ya? Aww… and I wanted to talk more.” He acted bummed out, but she peeked an eye open to see him smiling and flying faster now.

“Don’t worry… I don’t think Shadow’s gonna leave you behind anytime soon.”

When she woke up the next morning, Shadow was standing a little ways away from her.

He turned and smiled to her.

“…I promise.”

She gave him the same smile back.

(This was a really fun adventure! I think it was important to relive Maria over and over again to establish how much the character meant to Ember just as much as she meant to Shadow. I wanted to nail the feels, lol xD But another thing is that Ember needed to let go of the past just like Shadow did. He understood that, and by giving her a memory she never had before, I felt like did the trick. This was fun and Ember was always a delight to write! Thanks for everything and I hope you enjoyed your commission! ^^ Please remember to give me a review of the experience and also please look through and tell me if there’s anything you wish to edit as well! This is the end of the story, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!!!)

Fires from Embers

(Bonus Chapter)

By: Cutegirlmayra (For Mary! :D)

“I don’t understand.” Ember held her arm and lightly scratched at it with her sharp nails, being careful not to damage herself, but still looking antsy.

“You’ve given me your memories, although you have a mutual respect for Sonic, you yourself aren’t very close to him. So then… why do you think it’s a good idea for me to spend time with his team?” she raised an eyebrow and held her hand up in a light shrug of curiosity. “I want to spend more time with you-“

“Enough.” Shadow stopped walking as she abruptly halted from behind and to the side of him. He tilted his head back to her, over his shoulder, as he addressed her again, “You have a lot to learn. All that anger for humanity… you need something Sonic and his friends have reminded and taught me further of…. You need to learn the significance of this planet.” He then looked forward. “Of humans… and their dreams.”

“Dreams?”

It was an odd thing to her. Usually, her dreams would consist of nightmares from past, perfect memories.

She looked down, saddened that Shadow still saw her as something needing correction. All she wanted to feel like she had some of her family again.

Then again, his rough exterior wasn’t much compared to his melancholy nature when she last saw him 50 years ago.

He’s lost a lot… so has she… yet she can still smile and joke around at times. He seems to only smile when it’s appropriate or acceptable too.

He’s so choosy with these things…

As they approached Sonic’s best friend’s house, Tails the Fox, she worriedly fixed her attire and tried to look presentable.

‘This was the fox that was nice to her… or, relatively kind back at the floating island.’ She reminded herself.

She sucked her lips in and tried not to breathe as the door opened, and Tails looked puzzled to see her.

“Oh, hello.” He looked to Shadow, then smiled weakly. “W-what can I do for you?”

“I need Ember to spend time with your ideologies.” Shadow placed a hand on Ember’s back…

…And pushed her into Tails’s home.

“W-woah!” she fell, landing on the poor fox and having dizzy eyes as Shadow lowered his seemingly uncaring eyelids and looked down with authority over Ember.

“Learn all you can. I’ll be back before the month has passed.” He then turned around and called out, “Chaos Control!”

“He had that this whole time?!”

He vanished with a brilliant flash of green.

Tails held his head, still a bit dizzy himself before shaking his head to balance himself. He looked around and then to Ember, seeming apologetic and also a little frantically worried.

“W-wai-wait! I can’t just-! You can’t-!” he flew up and looked out the door, seeming concerned. “Shadow!!! She’s your sister! Don’t just…” he slowly turned to look back at Ember.

She had curled herself up with her tail cutely wrapping around her legs in front of her, whimpering and tearing up with big, chibi-anime eyes as her ears flopped down on the side of her face.

“He abandoned me…” she whined out, clearly upset by his dismissal of her into unknown company.

Sweat-dropping in clear awkwardness, Tails hung his head down and sighed, closing the door. “Want some ice cream?” he smiled.

Later that day, Tails turned on a record and played some music, heading to the garage and offering her any of the books on his shelves to read while he worked.

After a few hours, he turned the drill off and sighed, wiping some gunk from his face and rubbing the oil-stained cloth all over his face before breathing in that tainted air and sighing in relief.

“Done~” he looked satisfied, before realizing something was echoing from inside the house.

“H-Huh?” his ears perked and twisted a little back to try and hear better.

It was so faint, so he quietly spun his tails and slowly made his way to the door, creaking it open with a soft turn of the handle. He was being careful not to make too much sound to startle her, but also to hear more clearly what she was singing…

Sweet is the winter,… Calm is the thunder… And don’t you cry~ Mother is here now… To bring in the spring and create the things of life~ Rain, rain, rain… Do you remember the warm rain? Be patient, my child, and sing without guile. Bittersweet is the spring, that carries in the breeze… Calmed by the melting snow… And don’t~ you~ cry~

“Wow.” Tails smiled and flew into the room, spooking Ember who was sitting on an armrest near the record which kept spinning but didn’t make any more sound.

Frazzled, she jumped up and blinked her eyes, blocking with her arms before swiping her index-claws together up and down. “S-so-sorry… I… It stopped singing so I…”

“Is that your favorite song?” Tails glided down then, and walked over to the record player, taking the tonearm and placing it off the record.

“I…” she looked down and away, being strangely shy, and not knowing how much information to tell him.

But… what could be the harm in talking about music? She had a deep passion for it… although… music meant something entirely different to her.

“…I only know one song…” She admitted, and again, embarrassedly clicked her two claws together as she blushed shyly and looked away.

She clicked them right near her nose,… making some faint sparks by her eyes and pretending to not be afraid of getting burned…

“O-oh.” Tails crooked his neck to the side, thinking it odd she hadn’t heard other songs before. “Have you ever thought about listening to them? Or making your own?”

“My… own?”

“Tails!”

“Sonic!”

Suddenly, a gust of wind blasted Tails’s door open, shocking her out of her thoughts and having Tails look ecstatic to see his friend.

He flew up to him and to two high fived.

“What’s up?” Tails greeted, chuckling a little before Sonic nodded to him.

“This.” He held up a letter. “My folks found me. I’m not sure how to respond, but they’re coming down in hopes of hanging out and catching up. I’m not much of a talker but…” He scratched his head, looking at the letter.

Tails scoffed, “Sonic? Not being able to brag and boast about his many epic adventures?” he folded his arms, landing by the door as Sonic smirked to him and then looked over to Ember, losing the smile.

“Woah, you have company!”

“How unobservant of you,” Tails smiled, teasing and closing the door. “That’s really why you should knock before barging into people’s houses, Sonic. At least call first.”

Sonic made a face, before walking happily over to Ember and offering her his hand. “Sonic. But we’ve met.” He winked, trying to be charming.

“H-hello.” She looked away, not sure how to feel about him.

“H-huh?” He blinked his eyes, not sure why she didn’t take his hand. He looked back to Tails, a playful smile on his face, “Looks like I’m not the only guest who doesn’t talk much.” He snickered to himself as Tails rolled his eyes, used to Sonic’s joking and smiling along with him.

“She’s a singer.” Tails pointed out, as Ember flinched with him so willingly giving such personal information out like that.

Maybe she should have been more careful…

“Really?” Sonic cocked an eyebrow up, getting an idea… “My folks are musical. Hey, that’s it!” he snapped his fingers, “We can play in a band again! That’s how I’ll avoid conversation!”

“You’re really funny, you know that, Sonic?” Tails looked slightly amused at seeing Sonic struggle for ‘activities’ to do with his family, but figured Sonic just wasn’t very social about these things.

“So, when are they coming?”

“Soon. Hey, Ember… right?” Sonic scooted his foot closer to her, making her nervous before he bent his head down to match her lowered gaze.

This also startled her, and she regrettably felt a reflex to stab at his stomach.

“You wouldn’t mind singing with us, would you? I mean, if you don’t mind.” He rubbed the back of his head.

She didn’t even have time to speak and say ‘NO!’ before another Pink Hedgehog raced in.

“SONIC!!!”

“Ah! Gotta run! See you in a couple of weeks!” Sonic quickly dashed out the back window and took off lickety-split.

“Huh? See….” She stopped herself, taken aback before shifting her eyes slowly to Ember. “YOU!?” she pointed dramatically to Ember, “Who are you!? And what are you to my Sonic!?”

Her Sonic?

Ember lowered her eyelids in annoyance.

They seem made for each other… what, with all their assumptions and what not.

“Amy, wait! This is Shadow’s sister-“

“Shadow has a sister?” Amy withdrew her finger, which Ember was strangely tempted to chomp at, but withheld herself as Amy did take it away…

“Well… this is kinda recent news. It happened a while back…” Tails also seemed to pull back and withdraw into himself, blinking a little more and sweating harder.

What was this girl’s deal?

Amy placed her hands on her hips, and turned to give a scrutinizing eye up and down Ember’s body.

“Hmm… Well, then. Let’s make one thing very clear then.” She straightened herself up and gave a pleasing smile, offering her hand. “I’m Amy Rose! Official Girlfriend of Sonic The Hedgehog.” She closed her eyes and said this proudly, as if she had worked all her life for that title.

“…Self-proclaimed.” Tails coughed into his hand, “Sorry, cold.” He made an excuse when she glared over her shoulder to him, but then snickered silently and pointed to his throat for only Ember to see, then pretended to strangle himself, as if stating Amy was a bit much for him.

Ember pfft’d, but tried to hold it in.

“What? You think it’s funny?” Amy furrowed her eyebrows, pouting a minute as Ember put her tongue to the side of her cheek.

“Nnnnothing.” She responded, and then smirked slyly back to her. “I just think it’s funny your boyfriend left on such short-notice.”

She blushed in embarrassment, as Tails covered his mouth in shock before slapping his knee and holding in his snickering.

“Shut up, Tails!” Amy turned around, growing upset.

“Hey! Don’t bark at me!” Tails held up his hands defensively. “You saw where he went…”

“Hmph!” Amy started for the door. “I saw him coming here, I just wanted to say hi!”

“Some ‘hi’.” Tails looked sarcastically to Ember, who continued to hold in her laughter.

“OOOOooooOOOhhhhHHH.” Amy whined out, her signature cry, before racing off. “I’ll be back!!!”

“That’s her way of saying, ‘nice to meet you’.” Tails informed, “She was just riled up from seeing Sonic. He did leave pretty fast, and in an extreme fashion…” Tails looked awkwardly back to his window. He sighed, “You’ll have to excuse them. This is kinda a normal occurrence with those two.” He twisted to turn back and look to her before gesturing an arm out in apology.

“Is she always this… um…” Ember didn’t know how to put it, sucking her lower lip in, and trying to think of a ‘polite’ way to say it.

“Proud?”

“No.”

“Direct?”

“Nu-huh.”

“Entitled?” Tails kept going, as if none of these words were new to him.

Ember laughed.

“Hey! I finally got you to laugh!” Tails looked thrilled, but his enthusiasm bothered Ember and she quickly quieted down again.

“I was just gonna say much… Ehem.” She continued, “I guess ‘dramatic’ would be a good way to put it.”

Tails noticed her shift, and pulled back, bending his ears to try and give her some space. “R-right. That is a good word.” He smiled again and gestured to the couch. “Uhh… I know it’s not usually right but… Amy kinda left before I could ask you to bunk with her. I’ll make a call, and until then, you can room on the couch for now if you like.” He tried to be hospitable, and Ember appreciated it.

“Sure.” She nodded, and went to take a small nap.

---

Not too long after that, Ember was working on lyrics, not sure how to do music quite yet until Amy came in with breakfast.

“So, you said Shadow wanted you to learn the importance of something found here on earth?” She dusted off her hands on her apron, as Ember began to touch and test the food, seeing it didn’t look disgusting, and began to eat it. “Did he mention why? Or what?”

“Dreams.” She responded, not caring about being secretive anymore. Besides, Shadow would pick her up eventually. She was assured by his parting words.

If he was just abandoning her, he wouldn’t have given her a set amount of time.

She slurped up her eggs and began devouring her ham sandwich, then started to sip at the milk.

“Wow, you sure eat a lot.” Amy giggled, “That’s good! I once heard something from a show or… was it an article? Men like women with a big appetite!”

“I don’t think I care much about those things.” She took the napkin and happily began to shred it, liking the noise and fiddling with something her claws could do, as Amy looked a bit horrified by the image.

She looked straight at Amy.

Amy looked straight at her, then the napkin.

Lifting another napkin up, Ember never broke her creepy smile or eye contact as she raised her nail to the paper napkin… and gently stripped it down to cut the napkin in two.

She placed it by her side and then entangled her fingers together, politely leaning over her empty plate.

“That was delicious!”

“Emm…hmm…” Amy shivered in fright, before quickly pointing to the plate.

“Yes, I’d love some more.”

Amy took the plate and quickly stopped talking to her, giving Ember a rather quiet day, which was kinda what she wanted.

Lifting her feet up on the table, Ember flipped through channels, leaving scratch and jabbed marks on the buttons and device, but finding something she enjoyed and watched as people sang on t.v.

Amy was doing dishes, before hearing the channels finally rest on something and sticking her head out.

“…You like music?”

Turning a little defensive, Ember decided she had scared Amy enough today with intimidation and just remained silent. She lifted a leg over the other and kept them off the ground still.

She tried to relax, but Amy made her nervous for some reason… maybe it was because she was so… so… open about her life? Herself? Maybe she slightly envied that in her.

“…Well.” Amy walked over the T.V, turning it off and looking sternly to Ember.

This new direction made her lower her feet from the table.

“Oh, thank you.” Amy saw the unpredictable movement of her taking her feet off her lovely table and was a little surprised by it, but continued as she folded her arms. “I’ve been nothing but kind to you! The least you can do is let me help you out!”

“…Huh?” Ember was under the impression she had been helping her this whole time…

“My dream. Let me tell you about my dream.”

“I’d… rather not.” Ember sunk into the couch, before Amy came over and excitedly sat next to her.

Was that intimidation not enough?

Ember was hoping to wait out the time and just get back with Shadow, pretending to have learned something and spout out general things just to continue traveling with him.

But no…

No, there was Sonic and his friends…

They seemed determined to get her to open and liven up around them.

She sighed as Amy continued, “I want more than anything to marry Sonic The Hedgehog!”

Ember thought that odd, and put a hand to her cheek, leaning on the couch.

“Okay.”

“But that means more than just being with Sonic.”

“…?”

“My dream can only be realized if Sonic understands how much we both need each other.”

Amy looked up above the fire place at many photos of her friends and her with Sonic.

“Sonic wants a carefree life, and I want more than anything to be with him. In order for both of us to have what we dream of, we need to find ways that we both can be happy living and being the way we are.”

She closed her eyes and smiled, as Ember wasn’t sure if she understood that… but seeing Amy’s sudden passion and drive…

It slightly… moved her.

“One day, you’ll meet someone that you want to share your dreams with, too.” Amy opened her eyes and rose her head to once again give Ember an incredibly unselfish smile, full of grace and unconditional love. “I hope you’ll find ways to be happy too. Living both your lives the way you wish too. The way you dream it to be.”

“The way I… dream it… to be.” Ember looked down and daydreamed about her and Shadow, living peacefully as a family, and taking care of one another.

A sudden understanding rose in her like a wave upon the shore, and she nodded with a new found energy inside of her. “I think I get it!” she picked up her notepad that Tails had given her and wrote some lyrics down.

“Hmm?” Amy peeked over to see her notes.

Twisting and falling in a sea of oceans, I find my memories~ Threaded and woven into shreds that bleed my anxiety~ I long for your dream. Whatever it is, I’ll seize it through any means~ I want a dream~ I want you!~

Amy’s eyebrow twitched, thinking the lyrics a little punk rock or dark.

---

Back with Tails, it was getting close to the time that Sonic’s friends would show up.

Ember watched the clock, still unsure if Sonic still thought she’d sing in his family’s band.

She looked over at Tails, deciding the time would go faster if she spoke with him.

He was cleaning some dishes at the open kitchen and cleared her throat, getting his attention as he looked up.

“Hmm? Did you need something?”

She placed the book she was pretending to read down and tried her best to not look scary, “…What’s your dream?”

He froze up a moment, startled she supposed, before dropping a plate into the sink and quivering in nerves.

“W-w-wha-what brought that out… all of a sudden..?”

“May I know?”

She tried to look innocently inquiring, but she wasn’t sure why she felt she needed too. Were dreams meant to be secretive?

“…My dream? Hmm..” Tails thought about it. He looked up and absentmindedly began to speak out loud, rubbing a plate he had picked up from the dirty, soapy dishes below in his sink. “I guess… to be of use to my friends and Sonic! I used to be bullied a lot as a kid… so…” he nodded and smiled kindly over to her. “Definitely to be an asset to the team!”

“…To not be lonely again?”

“Ah!”

He dropped another plate, having it splatter into the water and wet his face. Luckily, it didn’t break, but he rubbed the water off his fur and looked a little nervous to reply to her.

“I… Um… p-perhaps? Haha…”

Maybe that was too direct or personal.

“Hmm…” she took out her notepad and began to write.

“Oh! My notepad!” Excitedly, Tails flew up a little and looked over her head from in front of her. “I’m glad you found it useful! … huh?”

Am I just a burden, to your living nightmares? Tell me where I need to go? Tell me where I need to be? There’s only one hope left for me. I must survive~ I must thrive~ To keep your sacred dreams alive. Tell me what’s your dream? Whatever it is, I’ll seize it through any means~ I want a dream~ I want you!~ And I want to be of use~ To you~

Tails shook a little in the air, clearly spooked a little but happy she was writing something. “S..Song.. lyrics?”

“Hmm.” She nodded, sucking her lips in.

Do or die, you will survive. I’ll never give up, even through countless lies. These dreams we carry, it’s much to heavy, but I’ll push you through, till the battle’s, murders, are done and over!

“This sounds good.” She smiled, seeming to really connect to it all, but Tails slowly shied away, unable to handle words like ‘murder’ and ‘die’.

---

Finally, the hour came and Sonic joked and laughed, seeming at ease with talking although Ember silently knew the truth of his comfortability with seeing them all again.

She kept mostly away from them, until food was served, and helped Tails and Amy pass out food.

She was looking for one last plate to hand out, not sure where the guest was, considering Sonic said he had a brother who was hiding out somewhere in the other rooms.

The garage was fashioned into a ‘concert’ of sorts, and she decided it was best to check there.

Opening the door, she heard the tapping of some metal and closed the door behind her, seeing a green hedgehog making a rhythm on the constructed band set.

He was playing drums, or rather, was in front of the drums and tapping a stick to the most annoying part of it; the cymbal.

Her ears hooked back at each ‘ting’ or ‘clank’ it made before clearing her throat and handing him the plate.

“Here.”

“Oh? My bad, miss.” He certainly looked like someone was a past era, the way he dressed and held himself.

He took the plate but flinched back.

“Y’ouch! Plate scratched me, man!” he looked at his hands, a cut had noticeably formed and was bleeding as Ember put the plate down and quickly looked at her claw.

She had accidentally scratched him while trying to hand him the plate!

“I’m sorry.” She held her finger, not sure what to do but quickly turned to get help.

“Woah! Hold your horses, cowgirl.” He pulled her back, and the sudden touch of someone’s hand on her arm unwillingly froze in her in mid-step.

No one had touched her for a long time… she was living on her own, after all… all those years…

Even this time with the Sonic gang… them laughing and smiling with her… They never really approached or touched her either.

She wanted to yank her arm back, but something about the way he held her arm left her completely in the blank, and she just stared at his hand, listening…

“It’s only a scratch. Those are some rad, long nails you got there! Freaky~” he snickered, only trying to compliment.

She grew self-conscious and looked away. “Sorry.”

“Nah, dudette. You’re alright. Battle scars are cool.” He licked his finger and then pulled out something to wrap it in. “It’s not very deep. Man, you must sharpen them like blades! How long you’ve had them?”

“What?” she didn’t understand, and lifted one hand up to show him her claws. “I was… created with them.”

“No, no, man! Haha! I mean the length. Do you trim’em?”

She didn’t know why she laughed, but the two of them started bursting out laughing.

He put a hand to his forehead, “Haha! You must be Sonic’s friend. I’m Manic. Lil Sis in there is Sonia. Though she’s not really lil, we’re all triplets. Spooky, right?” he twiddled his fingers in front of himself, then snickered to himself again, putting his hands to his sides. “Man. You’re chill. What’s your name?”

“..Ember.”

“Epic band name. Sick.” He gave her the finger guns, and she thought that so weird but strangely cool when he did it.

“Do you play, my dudette?”

“Your?” she raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, my bad… uh… Ems. Do you play?” he gestured to the instruments. “I prefer drums, here!” he raced to the seat as she thought over his strange, and quickly inspired nickname for her.

“Listen to this!” He lifted up his sticks, tapping them three times before playing a fast-paced drum beat.

It was… loud… but wonderfully rhythmatic.

She smiled as he finished it off and then tossed his stick, grabbing it backwards and handing her the front of it.

“Here you go.”

She only stared at it a moment.

“Don’t worry, just try it out for size! It’s amazing what one little tap of this baby can do.”

She carefully took the stick in two fingers, pulling it out delicately as to not scratch him again, and then started tapping the cymbal.

“Yeah… real nice beat.” He nodded.

“Hehe, thanks.” She couldn’t help but find him charming.

He leaned forward a bit, “I guess your instrument isn’t drums?”

“Nah.” She smiled, then tapped his nose with the stick, “Guess.”

He looked completely smitten by that action, and immediately started listed a ton of instruments. “You don’t look like a violin kind of girl… Guitar? Bass? Tell me it’s… Oh, not the triangle.” He covered his head as she shook hers, giggling and leaning over the drums.

After a moment, he was officially stumped, and she pointed to her throat.

“Woah, Ems, hang on… you’re…” he pointed to her. “…A yodeler?”

She laughed, “What!? No! I sing!”

He smiled, seeing she liked his little joke. “Right. I should have guessed! The instrument of the soul, man.” He tapped his forehead and then gestured out to her.

She thought that funny, “Soul?”

“Yo, Ems. Got any music for your soul-song?”

She looked down, almost saddened, “I barely have a dream to give it.”

“Woah, deep.” He placed a hand on his heart. “You know, dreams are meant to be played through and learned from. It sometimes takes a band to play your soul-music, Ember. Allow me.” He spun his one drumstick, and offered her his hand to take the other. “To demonstrate~” he winked to her, with as much charm as his brother usually showed off as well.

Creating a phenomenal beat, Ember tossed the notebook and sang the last part with all her might, grabbing the mic as Sonic and the others came down into the garage, picking an instrument up and picking up where they left off.

Tell me what it’s supposed to mean? The meaning of a soul? The loneliness frightens me, I need your dream to breathe! Ohh-ooohh-oh-oh! ohoh~ Gather family and friends, loves ones- come and see! I’ve found, at long last a dream. Now that I know what it is, I’ll seize it through any means~ I want this dream~ I want to be, with, you!~ Ohh-oooh-oh-oh! Ohoh~

“Girl got some lungs!” Manic praised, as Sonia nodded in agreement.

“She would be fantastic as a career girl!” Sonia clapped for her as Amy drooled over Sonic, who tried to ignore her and turn his attentions to Ember.

“Want to go again?” he offered her his hand.

With a new resolve, Ember nodded confidentially, and took his hand.

I want to make more dreams with you!

Songs:

- Sweet is the winter,… Calm is the thunder… And don’t you cry~ Mother is here now… To bring in the spring and create the things of life~ Rain, rain, rain… Do you remember the warm rain? Be patient, my child, and sing without guile. Bittersweet is the spring, that carries in the breeze… Calmed by the melting snow… And don’t~ you~ cry~

- Twisting and falling in a sea of oceans, I find my memories~ Threaded and woven into shreds that bleed my anxiety~ I long for your dream. Whatever it is, I’ll seize it through any means~ I want a dream~ I want you!~ Am I just a burden, to your living nightmares? Tell me where I need to go? Tell me where I need to be? There’s only one hope left for me. I must survive~ I must thrive~ To keep your sacred dreams alive. Tell me what’s your dream? Whatever it is, I’ll seize it through any means~ I want a dream~ I want you!~ And I want to be of use~ To you~ Do or die, you will survive. I’ll never give up, even through countless lies. These dreams we carry, it’s much to heavy, but I’ll push you through, till the battle’s, murders, are done and over! Tell me what it’s supposed to mean? The meaning of a soul? The loneliness frightens me, I need your dream to breathe! Ohh-ooohh-oh-oh! ohoh~ Gather family and friends, loves ones- come and see! I’ve found, at long last a dream. Now that I know what it is, I’ll seize it through any means~ I want this dream~ I want to be, with, you!~ Ohh-oooh-oh-oh! Ohoh~ I want to make more dreams with you!

 The Crackling Embers

By: Cutegirlmayra (Thanks for the commission! Here’s something sweet! 😉 )

Ember was rotated backwards on a steel stretcher, strapped with leather, she laughed and figured she could tear easily through them.

Except… she couldn’t move.

The electric steel receptor would zap her even on slightest movement, but that didn’t stop her from wiggling her tail when the door slid open and she saw Shadow.

“Shad-! AHHHHEEEEEOOOO…ouch.” The electricity immediately turned on, shocking her into a stillness again as her tail flopped down over her.

“Hello.” She smiled sweetly to him. “You gonna bust me outta here?”

“…We need you for something.” Shadow stopped in front of her, folding his arms.

“Ohh~ A mission?”

“For G.U.N.”

“Pass.”

She frowned.

“…For Sonic… and his friends.” He glared a warning, showing his need for her to reconsider.

“Ehmm… we’re buddies, but… favors?” she was only stalling now, playing around.

She hadn’t seen Shadow in a while, so she was hoping-

“…For me?” he looked agitated.

“Sure, anything for family!”

He nodded to a camera and she was rotated back into a straight position as he untied the straps.

“This is serious… Sonic team requested backup.”

“Little Hedgehog got his foot struck in a drain?” she teased, smirking.

“… Eggman has taken over 20 percent of the world… And Sonic couldn’t stop him.”

He seemed to grimace at that fact before helping her down.

“Thanks.” She took his hands and hopped off the steel, “One sec.” she lifted a sharp claw…

She shred through the steel with a few quick and precise swipes.

Sparks flickered everywhere and she cockily placed her claws up to her mouth, blowing on them.

“Alright, continue.” She grinned, looking over her shoulder to him.

“But I warn you… I will never work for G.U.N…”

“Hmph, then work for me.”

He looked annoyed, and she wagged her tail.

“There’s never a ‘good side’ to you, is there?”

She followed him through the sliding door of G.U.N’s base, looking around and pretending to be amazed at the technology, but mostly there for Shadow.

“As family, it’s almost like my job to try and find that good side to ya, bro.”

“…Bro?” he seemed confused, turning around. “You were created as my prototype, a companion to me and have restored more memories of Maria than I can count. I owe you that much… but no. We are not ‘family’.” He glared, holding a hand up to her as she went to take it, but winced back when he said such a cruel thing.

She puckered her lips and side-commented over her shoulder, “Grumpy quills…”

They continued to walk and she didn’t take his hand, seeing as he was only gesturing, but she didn’t quite understand the socialisms…

She was still living alone… sometimes running into Sonic and his friends, but not much.

“Who’s Eggman?” she asked, walking into an elevator with him.

Shadow turned around and clicked a button, which fascinated her when it turned bright from the touch.

“He’s Gerald’s evil grandson.”

Her finger went to spike into the next buttons, hoping to see them light up, but her shock at hearing that made her miss and stab the side through instead. “WHAT?!”

Shadow saw the fizzing of the area as she struggled to try and pull her finger out, sighing in disappointment at her childish ways and rubbing the bridge between his eyes with his fingers…

They arrived at an upper level, and Ember looked very confused, finally seeming to take some things seriously.

Her eyebrows furrowed and she followed Shadow out of the elevator, “You mean… Gerald had other family we didn’t know about?” She made a face, showing some sorrow. “Shouldn’t we try and reform him? I mean,… he’s kin!” she ran after him, but Shadow pivoted and continued his cruel stare at her.

“Reform Eggman?” He scoffed, “He’s bent on taking over the world. He’ll robotize every living thing till there’s nothing left to conquer. Then he’ll build a ridiculous theme park!” he swiped a hand out, making Ember step back and look down in greater sadness. “He’s insane… and once again, we have no kin… we’re experiments. Remember your place.” He went to continue walking, but a voice from above suddenly spoke out, making him look around.

“My, my… you’re so cruel to her, Shadow… I’m glad I’m used to it.”

“Show yourself, Rouge!” he almost demanded, making her pout as she was sitting on a beam in the shadows.

Her wings flexed out, making a sound that spooked Ember as she dove down and landed quite gracefully.

“Remember me?” she batted her eyes and then winked to Ember, who swiped a claw at her and growled.

Her ears drew back, not liking this bat girl…

As Rouge flew up again and circled Shadow, she grew even more tense, shaking as she raced to grab Shadow’s back quill. It was instinctive, she just didn’t like other people around Shadow… especially those she didn’t know really well.

She poked her head over Shadow’s shoulder and stuck her tongue slightly out at Rouge.

Rouge smiled back to her before landing by the control panel, revealing monitors as she typed in certain things.

“Eggman has conquered a continent, but he’s not done there. According to Tails, he’s spreading out. We’ve let sleeping eggs lie for too long… it’s about time we stop underestimating Eggman’s potentials.” Rouge turned to them again after typing, “My guess is you’re taking the rocket?”

“Yes.” Shadow turned and grabbed the back of Ember’s red cloak, pulling her back to follow him.

“Whhaa-a-a!” she was startled, tip-toeing back before pouting and turning around. “Yeah, yeah… I’m coming, I’m coming…”

“G.U.N only protect certain areas… we’ll have to infiltrate his base and take him down at the core of his invasion…” Shadow grabbed a large rocket, then gripped her hand.

This made her look down and smile, thinking he was going to help her into the rocket.

But… his grip was really… really strong.

“You should brace yourself…” he mentioned.

“Wait,… What do you meeeeeeAAAANNNNNN!!!” she was shot into the air as he held her hand while the rocket shot up and arched through the skies, a direct route to the continent.

Her gums flapped everywhere, making a silly expression as they finally began to move swiftly through the open skies towards their destination.

“This is gonna take time to get used too!” she screamed through the disturbance in the air, but Shadow kept his eyes fixated on the direction of the rocket.

She frowned again, arching her eyebrows back. “Shadow…”

Her purpose… if he didn’t need her, what was it? She hated the fact that she was just a companion. A prototype… the second favorite…

She looked down at the ground, gripping her arm and starting to feel some pain from dangling behind him.

She looked back at him.

No pain? Or was he masking it under that cold exterior?

She wanted to believe there was kindness in him… and she was sure there was! But…

Will he ever show it to her?

She squinted her eyes shut, biting her jaw down. ‘We’re family! Yet… he says we’re not!’

Once again, she went to inquire, “Shadow!”

His eyes shifted frighteningly fast down to look at her, but his head never moved.

She gulped, “Uh… shouldn’t we be serving Eggman? If he’s Gerald’s grandson…”

“What part of ‘evil’ and ‘taking over the world’ did you not understand?” he scolded.

She looked away.

Suddenly, Shadow’s face shifted, and he looked back at the rocket…

“Hhhmm…” he seemed to disagree with his tone and spoke out again. “I understand that Gerald means a lot to you… perhaps how Maria meant to me…”

She looked back up at him, hearing his voice turn a little more empathic.

“…But Eggman’s not like Gerald. He’s eccentric. Maniacal. There is some good in him but only when the odds are against his favor… then he helps us to defeat a foe that challenges himself.” He glared forward. “He’s selfish and has no care for nature. Life or not, he’ll stomp on anything just to seize power over it…”

“…Sounds unforgivable.” Her mind raced to the children…

“….Ember.” he looked down to her, less angry now.

“Yes?” innocently, she looked up.

“…Stay close. I…” he looked away, being vunerable for a moment. “…I don’t want to lose you.” He stared off into the smoky distance yonder… there, in the grey and brownish hue of cloud cover, or was it smoke..? There came a few robots with jetpacks on, holding guns as their arms, and a large—oversized and ugly—megabot that’s eyes glowed red through it all.

“…Get ready.” He took on a serious look, pulling out a gun.

Ember, seeing the amount of foes waiting for them in the skies, narrowed her brow and swiped her cloak away, revealing her black emerald imbedded in her chest.

“Bring it on!” she cried out.

He protected the rocket as long as he could, but then released his hold and pulled Ember towards him as it exploded from being fired at.

He didn’t even glance at her, just kept shooting, but she used her Chaos attacks to knock out the littler robots flying after them.

“We’re heavily out maneuvered!” she cried out, looking around and noticing they were dodging a lot of their hits. Her chaos moves weren’t necessarily fast enough to get the targets right away, and Shadow’s gun was running out of ammo.

Click, click, click!

Shadow glanced down at his gun.

“Shoot.”

He threw the gun and a robot’s jet spiraled out of control.

“Ember!”

“Right!”

She exposed the spot on her chest and he gripped the outer, slightly protruding part of the emerald.

She closed her eyes.

“CHAOS CONTROL!”

They were teleported before a huge beam of light from the giant robot was able to melt them out of their immortally…

They were flashed back into existence as Ember fell into his arms, exhausted from the dark, prototype power that dwelt within her.

She breathed heavily as Shadow removed his hand and hoisted her up. “Are you alright?” he looped her hand over his shoulders, another hand to help lift her waist up.

“I just… need a moment to breath.” She admitted, but they heard a strange noise…

“What was that?”

Water noises and engines were heard in the distance…

Then, quickly, Metal Sonic and Chaos swerved around the corner of some ruined buildings. A red light flashed and Shadow looked up.

“Darn!” he threw her up into a bridal style hold, and raced on his skate shoes away while the two of them chased them down.

“Find Eggman!” Shadow shouted.

“What!? I won’t leave you!” she gripped his chest fur…

He glared down, “You want to be of use to me?”

Did… Did he know?

“Then stay alive! And get your job done!”

“B-…But what about-!”

What about you?

He threw her into another alley way, flinging her quickly through the air as she flailed a moment and landed in a garbage disposal.

The two raced by her, focusing on Shadow and not noticing the difference.

She shifted around a moment, before coming up with a banana peel on her head, looking upset.

“…Hmph!” she gripped it and threw it down.

“Yuck! Now,…”

She turned around with a glare, bearing her fangs.

“WHERE’S EGGMAN!?”

Pacing around his base, Eggman looked at the blips on his monitors. “Where’d he go…” he gripped his floating chair… “I’ve only conquered this continent… no big deal! Why send him of all things!?” Eggman shoved the chair away as it swiveled in the air and spun rapidly away.

It regained a neutral hover as Orbot and Cubot continued to cower away from it.

“M-may I suggest… we also call in our own backup?” Orbot lifted a finger up, and then placed his hands together. “There are some lovely mercenaries who would be happy to dispose of-“

Eggman’s rage got the better of him. He soared his fist up into the air, and it came crashing down with a terrifying power against the control board.

It dented the area and he lifted his hand, now quivering from the pain and rubbed his other thumb inside the palm of the hurt hand. “Grr… I’d rather deal with this pest myself…”

“Gosh, that looked painful!” Cubot chirped.

“To what? His hand or his ego..?” Orbot muttered, but the two scattered in fear as a wrench was thrown at them.

“You’ll see… I’ll destroy Shadow, and then next-!” he stomped towards them, making a big scene before something rattled above them.

“…What the-?”

Ember smacked a air vent’s entrance down as it slammed against Eggman’s raised head.

“OFFPH!” he fell backwards as she dropped down, landing on his stomach. “IIIEEEE!!!” he arched forward, hovering his arms up as he stared at the unfamiliar face, but Ember didn’t seem to notice him.

She flicked her tail and hit him down, not feeling anything really and looked around.

“Huh? I thought I heard an evil monologue?”

“T-the… The Boss!” Orbot shivered, his hands quaking up by his mouthpiece.

“Boss..? OH!” she looked under herself. “It was so round! I thought it was just a rug or something!” she jumped up and down.

“OFFPH! OFFPH! OOOOO!” Eggman was like a squishy trampoline, every time she jumped up, she stomped both feet down, smiling giddily.

Finally, she jumped off on the third hop and he gripped his stomach, turning away with tears starting up from under his glasses… only on the far edges could you see a trace of them bundled up by his eyes corners.

“That hurt… you little…” he whimpered out while she dusted herself off.

“You know, those air vents really need some dusting.” She then struck an animalistic pose, showing off her claws as she scraped them against each other in long swipes.

Sparks flew off of them and Cubot ‘ooh’d and ‘aw’d as she did so.

She smirked, “So… you’re robotnik’s grandson? You look a little like him, I’ll give you-“ her smile faded, seeing him rise up and shake his head, then turn around to loom over her.

Her perfect memory triggered and before her wasn’t Eggman anymore… it was Gerald.

“And how do you know my grandfather..?”

Her eyes shook, unable to break out of the vivid memory.

She stepped back.

He looked too much like her former master… how could she ever battle him now?

“Who are you?”

He cocked an eyebrow up.

“I… I’m Ember…” she felt her whole body wanting to obey, falling slowly to her knees, catching herself before she did so.

‘Why… Why am I acting this way? My fidelity… is it this strong?’ she twitched violently every few seconds, unable to figure herself out for a moment.

“Ember..? Ah!” His glasses shone a moment across before he put a finger up to his chin.

“Ember Wolf? The immortal prototype. Yes… I remember reading something about that…”

She suddenly looked up, amazed he knew about her.

But how..?

“I… I thought all records were-?”

“Born as one of the first experiments. First to live, however. You’re embedded with a cursed Emerald, one my great Grandfather found and tried to erase from history… It produces a dark energy from time to time… corrupted and unpure, it’s said to completely envelop you in utter chaos...” He looked up, nodding to himself. “Yesss… I think I understand now. It described you as a companion to Shadow. Someone designed to protect, unless Shadow. You’re primary purpose was to-“

He paused, looking down at her and smiling.

“Say… you would be a fine asset to my cause!”

“What cause?” she glared, almost growling out the words as she bent her head down, trying to will her body out of submission. “To rule and ruin the known world!?”

“…What has the known world done for you?”

Her shook and she felt something sink within her heart.

“Join me… Ember~” he spread his arms out, “You’re… family…”

“My what!?”

Now she was able to push herself off the ground, stepping back as Eggman moved forward, snickering…

“Hohoho… Yes, indeed. Ember. For burning passion and everlasting flames that never burn out of loyal love! This is what your name means… I could teach you about yourself… the many things you possess… the many things you can do…”

He lifted his pointer finger up, winking beneath the glasses before moving closer to her.

Shadows of their silhouettes loomed behind Cubot and Orbot as the two watched the scene. Scarily enough, as Eggman grew closer, his shadow turned more diabolical, and Ember’s began to decrease in size…

“We could make this world anew… the way dear old Grandfather Gerald hoped it would be…”

“S-…Stop talking. You don’t even know him!” she struck her foot hard to the metal floor, a vibration came off of it that stopped Eggman’s eager approach. Her tail swished behind her, readying for a counter…

“Oh? Do I?” he leaned back, his smile growing and curving up across his face. “No sick. No afflictions of any kind. A world without sorrow and hunger… an immortal realm of perfection.” He spread his arms out, stating his grandfather’s ideals as though it were poetry.

“You… weren’t you designed to sustain these ideals?” he raised an pronounced eyebrow up, looking back to her. “I mean… you were designed to protect Shadow, and all other experiments. To keep them doing their jobs… After all…” He put his hands behind his back, leaning forward with an all-knowing look and losing his smile. “Shadow was the cure. You were to deliver the package safe and sound…”

“I…” she gulped, unsure if that really was the meaning behind her life. “I’m a delivery girl?”

“Hmm?” He blinked his eyes, surprised by that. He then leaned his head back and let out a mighty laughter, making her flustered and embarrassed as she growled.

“What’s so funny!?”

“Hoho! I meant that figuratively, my dear. This… wonderland that I’m proposing… it’s what you and the doctor always wanted. Even Maria would have been satisfied…” he outstretched a hand to her. “Join me… it’ll be fun.”

She stared at the hand… remembering how Shadow’s hand outstretched to her but she chose not to take it.

She looked away.

“Come… now… be a good little guard dog.” He smirked wider now, his eyebrows coming down slightly as Cubot and Orbot rushed over to her.

“It is rather fun.” Orbot admitted.

“Well, when you stay on his good side.” Cubot countered.

“Ember…”

She froze.

“What would dear old Grandpappy want..?”

Her shoulders fell slightly…

“My Ember…”

She looked up, eyes filled with purpose and determination.

Shadow races through the barren streets, looking to see Chaos and Metal Sonic have disappeared. “Where is she..?” he mutters to himself, whispering it as a quiet plea it seemed to find her. His head shifted back and forth, “She couldn’t have gone far…” worry seemed almost apparent in his voice as though he wasn’t trying to hide it.

“HYAH!”

“What!?”

He spun around, getting taken down by an unknown enemy.

He tossed and fought through the fog…

Gripping their hands, he held the enemy in a lock in front of him. “Show yourself, you coward!” he spoke through gritted teeth.

As the fog cleared, Ember breathed heavily, matching his power…

His eyes widened, “What..? Ember..?”

“WHOHOHOHO!” Eggman’s eggmobile floated down from the smoke above. “HOHOH-ACK! HOFF, HOGH, HAR!” he coughed from the smog and lifted a foot up, standing in his carrier to hack out the dust that entered his lungs, among other unwanted chemicals…

He wiped his mouth and then sneered down to Shadow. “At least one of you is proving useful! Behold! My great grandfather’s experiments do still remember their purposes!!! To serve me!”

“Ember…” he glared at her, but his eyes looked torn between fighting her or not. “What’s going on? What did he bribe you with?”

“No bribe, simply loyalties.” Eggman took out a handkerchief, blowing into it. “Poor little dear…” he faked sobbing, “All she ever wanted to serve her delightful creators. And now that she has one again, she’s putting everything else aside to serve her dear family~”

“Ember, no!” At the word ‘family’, Shadow’s eyes widened in horror. “He’s lying to you!”

“I’m more of a father than you are a brother. After all, tossing her to the side? Tsk, tsk, tsk.” He shook his head, waving his finger as a scold. “You should know better. Well, Ember knows her place now. Best to serve real family than those who refuse to be so!”

“Ember… you’re better than this!” he pushed back against her power, but she stepped forward and challenged it.

“…I…” he looked a little shaken up, something she wasn’t used to seeing. “I don’t want to hurt you…”

“Heeeeh… too late for that. Ember! Dispose of him! He’s not upholding the measure of his creation!” Eggman rose up again, swiping out his hand in a dictator fashion.

“Roger.” Ember cried out and swung Shadow over herself, causing him to crash down.

“Erk!” he sweated profusely against the new outcome… he rolled into a ball to avoid most of the damage, hitting her away by rushing into her gut in a spin-dash, then uncurling away. “Ember, what is this madness?! Your purpose is to be my companion!”

She turned around, smiling. “No…” She swiped a Chaos attack back at him, but he dodged the air slash…

Still looking torn, his eyes shook as he narrowed his stare at her, unable to bear a glare…

“I was designed to keep you in check. Just in case you failed your purpose and went on the unbeaten path.” She rose her head up.

“And looks like you did…”

“Destroy him!”

“Is this about G.U.N?!”

He dodged another attack as she raced up to swipe her deadly claws at him.

Jumping from building to building, the two began a chase, which Eggman followed willingly, enjoying the spectacle.

“Ember! Don’t do this..!” he cried back, “Chaos Spears!” he swiped his arm and yellow spears of energy mass were created, hovering for a second in the air, remaining still until shooting forth after her.

She raced between them, jumping from left to right, before crossing her arms and then slashing them out to cut the beam in half.

His eyes twitched again, her power was much like his.

Since he was startled and in the air, Ember used this chance to leap up, slamming him down.

“WHOHOHOHO!” Eggman stuck up his nose and showed his mouth creating an ‘o’ as he laughed. “Splendid! She’s proving more useful then you ever were, Shadow!”

As they crashed through old, half-burnt buildings, they finally hit a floor that wasn’t just loose debris, but sturdy enough that it could catch their fall.

She held him down by his neck as he looked up to her, reaching for his power limiters…

“Ember…” He wearily spoke out, straining against her hold. “You leave me no choice… I… I didn’t want to lose you… but …” he began slipping one off, “I can’t lose the world… Maria… I promised to give the world she loved a chance… she… she loved it so much…” he was about to get it off before a dainty and gentle hand was placed over his own.

“What?” he looked up, amazed.

Ember smiled lovingly down to him.

“No need…” she stated.

“Brother.”

“Ember..?”

His eyes shook in awe, but she slowly leaned up and off of him.

“I know how to stop Eggman. I gained his trust long enough to at least secure that.”

She winked, flicking her tail.

“Honestly, did you really think I’d get so butt hurt over one little toss?”

She rotated her shoulder, feeling it a bit hurt from the fall and then extended her hand to him, leaning down.

“Let’s defeat him… Together, Shadow.”

He stared for some time, leaning up and then smiling down as he closed his eyes and put his limiters back on.

“I should have known… a double-agent.”

He then looked up with a much kinder expression.

“See? I know my purpose.”

He lifts his hand.

“And what’s that?”

His smile is contagious, and she smiles bigger as well.

“Taking care of my little brother.”

“…Excuse me?”

He looks unamused by that phrase.

“Alright, alright.” She giggles, “Being your helping hand…”

He smiles again, taking her hand with as he’s hoisted up from his spot.

“Then let’s take him down… Sister.”

She squees in delight, crunching her body up tightly and lifting a leg up, glad he finally said it!

“It’s about time!” she exclaimed.

As they came out, they both targeted Eggman’s eggmoblie, holding one another’s hand and remaining close in their leap skyward.

“H-huh!?!?!?” He rears back, moving out of their way. “What’s this!?”

She looks over to see him smiling again, ‘I’m so glad…’ she thinks to herself.

‘He seemed so shaken up when he thought he had to stop me… I’m glad I know my true purpose.’

She then turned back to Eggman, a look of fierce conviction on her face.

‘…To never break his heart…’

After a huge explosion and Shadow and Ember taking down some of Eggman’s forces… Eggman flies home on a half-broken Eggmobile, smoky from hits and his head all crisped up from their Chaos attacks.

He falls onto the floor and starts bashing his huge fists into it. “It’s not fair! It’s not fair! Everything was looking up so well…” Eggman sprayed chibi-tears, whining about his mishap of trusting Ember.

“Sir… if I may…” Orbot hovers over, typing some things into the monitor as Eggman throws his tantrum, kicking and crying, before looking over to the screen.

“Hmm?”

Cubot wipes his tear with a handerchief, “Here, blow.” He instructs lovingly as Eggman turns back, broken down and defeated, and blows his nose into it.

“Yuck! This blows!” Cubot didn’t like the snot on his hand and ended up making a pun as the handerchief stuck to him. He waved his robotic hand frantically around in disgust, “Ahh..ahhh!!!” flying around in despaired distraught before Orbot showed the mercenary group he mentioned beforehand.

“There. Now these are some of our finest allies! You should hire them.” Orbot scanned the screen closer in on the face of their leader…

“Oddly enough, he’s never known defeat. Sound promising, boss?” Orbot turned to look back at him as the screen kept closing in on the main leader…

Eggman sees them,…

Then the leader.

He smirks with a shine in his glasses…

“They’re perfect. Hehehe…hohoho…WHAHAHAHA!”

End

EMBERS OF SOULS

 By:Cutegirlmayra

 “Hyah! Rah! Take that! Have some more! Stupid rocks and trees! Taste my fury!” A grey wolf spun and tumbled away, hitting and kicking trees and rocks as she trained herself.

She scratched her nails in a wild swipe against a large, mostly flat-sided boulder and left sparks trailing in its wake. She breathed hard a moment, smiling as her white teeth showed her satisfaction at the mark left on the rock.

She wagged her tail a moment in sharp swishes before putting a hand behind her back, using the other’s pointer finger to carve her name into the rock.

EMBER – THE LAST OF GERALD ROBOTNIK’S CREATIONS

And underneath that she wrote:

SHADOW – THE LAST OF US ALL.

She smiled at the oddity, wondering what some passerby would think of her little, funny inscription. But she began to wonder about it. Life and death… but then she got a call.

 “Huh?” She pulled the communicator out of her red cloak’s pocket and place it up by her ear, careful to not stab the buttons in with her newly sharpened claws. “Is this Shadow? If not, I’m not talking.” She stated firmly, but a sigh was heard on the other end and she excitedly perked up. “Hey, Big Brother!”

 “…I have a mission for you.”

 “Oh! This is a first. You didn’t even backlash about the ‘Big Brother’ comment.” She lightly itched her nose, not sure what he wanted but glad he was finally accepting her as part of his ‘forged’ family.

“Sonic and the others have a bit of a crisis. Eggman’s attack left one of their friend’s house decimated in the crash. Luckily, there were no serious injuries except for a young girl needing a cast on her arm.”

Ember heard the line and closed her mouth. A deep sorrow stung at her heart. A little girl..?

“I was hoping I could send you to watch over them and help fix their home. Sonic and the gang still need to track down the other parts of Eggman’s machine that scattered when Super Sonic destroyed it. It could have caused more damage. Stay there until further instruction.”

 “So… you’re sending me on clean-up duty.” Ember arched her eyebrows, pouting childishly at that remark. “Hey… when can we ever… you know… hang out again or something?” she was started to feel lonely. She hated the mission assignments Shadow gave her from G.U.N, mostly because they were always apart and never had time to reminisce together.

She knew he was a loner… but still.

She hated being alone…

“Enough chatter. I’ll entrust you to this matter.” The phone clicked on the other end and she held it away from her ear, swallowing her feelings down and just looking off into the sky.

“…He’s always so busy… I guess that kinda makes me happy though.” She put the phone away, carefully, since she knew she could barely control her strength after a training session. “It means he can keep his mind occupied on other things… instead of that thing.” She was referring to Maria and the incident that happened over 50 years ago.

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Ember followed the coordinates and came across a crash site. Seeing the debris of wood and home appliances everywhere, she figured she was in the right place.

She grimaced at a burnt oven with its door agape and scratched her neck lightly. “Man, this looks rough… poor kid.” She thought, “Poor family…” but she spoke aloud, which gained the attention of a older woman, a bunny whose ears perked up at the sight of the stranger coming by.

 “Are you the friend Sonic spoke about, young lady?” she was removing things from the mess her house was now in, rubbing her hands to clean them on an old dish towel. “With everything going up in an array of chaos, I was very pleased to hear that Sonic and his friends would send some help to clean up the awful mess Eggman made.”

 Ember immediately felt herself tense up at the stranger. She seemed polite and kind, warm and friendly in her face, but the tenderness was swiftly ignored as Ember braced herself.

She pulled her shoulders up and clenched her fists, sadly, a case of having learned to distrust others flooded her memories and kept her from speaking right away.

“I guess we’re friends.” She slightly spat out, not liking to admit it. “But Shadow asked me to… attend… so here I am.” She put her hands to her hips and tried to relax herself, but her attitude was rude and she knew it.

She looked away, ‘Why am I being this way? I should have outgrown this behavior by now…’ she mentally scolded herself, but the bunny lady just blinked her eyes in surprise at her passive comeback.

She giggled sweetly, throwing Ember off guard and causing her to falter on her stance just a moment. She wiggled in the imbalance that suddenly came from her feet and looked back at the woman, her arms flailing about, “W-w-why are you laughing at me!?” she didn’t mean to make it sound so demanding, it was more a curious question out of shock and less from anger.

“You remind me a bit of him.” She cooed, and it left Ember with a faint red on her cheeks.

“R-really… you really think so? Me?” She put her finger up to her face, pointing at herself in disbelief.

She didn’t know why the comment made her so happy, but she gleefully smiled and pounced up to the lady. “The name’s Ember.” ‘I like her.’ She stated, finding the woman much more approachable now.

“I’m Vanilla.” Vanilla offered her hand and Ember stared at it a moment. She leaned forward, sniffing it, finding only wood and burnt smells on it and lightly placed her finger and thumb on her fingers.

“Pleasure.” She ‘attempted’ to shake her hand, but it was just awkward.

Vanilla giggled again, “You’re so funny! May I?” she gestured to Ember’s hand. “You don’t seem used to our ways… are you not from around here?” she took Ember’s hand and lightly placed it in her own, letting Ember feel the soft but tight embrace of the hand wrapping around her own and then shaking it gently with light jumps.

“…Fascinating…” Ember twitched a moment, but then watched with fixated wonder as she allowed the stranger to take her hand and intimately hold her hand with it.

It was like…

Maria…

“Are you alright, deary?”

Vanilla blinked again in confusion at her silence, but Ember shook that thought and continued, smiling and waving her other—free hand—to show Vanilla she shouldn’t be concerned for her.

“O-oh! Just a memory! Nothing to worry about!” when Vanilla released the hand… however…

-flashback-

“Hold my hand, Ember. That’s it! No need to fear. Grandfather is hard into his study, let’s just enjoy this time together being he ruins all our fun!” Maria took her hand lovingly, careful to avoid the tips of the fingers where her claws lay in wait.

“That’s it… like so.” She bounced the hands up and down together, then more quickly as she noticed Ember’s hold stick more and more.

“This is dangerous…” Ember nervously allowed the girl to do whatever she wanted too with her hand, but the thought of Shadow or her creator charging in and scolding them worried her.

“Nonsense! This is how people on earth communicate with one another.”

Ember looked up into Maria’s beautiful eyes.

“With hands?”

“Sometimes. It’s a form of greeting. How do you do?” Maria nodded her head and shook the hand again.

“…How… do you do?” Ember repeated, but barely copied the motion back.

Maria delightedly laughed and praised her, “That’s it! You’re a refined woman now.”

“Refined..? Like metal?”

“Uhh… like a well-rounded human being with manners.” She corrected, but very lovingly as she took her other hand and held Ember’s again.

“…Promise me you’ll always remember your manners, for when you go to earth someday… promise?” She leaned forward, and Ember was slightly taken aback.

“G-go?” she leaned back, holding up her other hand in a flinch of fear over her herself, her arm crooked to show that emotion very clearly. “To earth?”

“It will be wonderful! We’ll be a proper family then.” She nodded again and released Ember’s hand, leaning up, and kissing her forehead.

“Be good, Ember. I’ll try and sneak some treats from the kitchen!” she winked and scurried off, being careful to check down the corridor before charging to find some goodies for themselves.

Ember continued to kneel on her legs, looking up from the floor to the door that Maria just exited from.

She looked down at her hands, longing for the warmth and comfort the sweet touch had given her moments before.

“People… greeting one another… just like Maria and me.”

She imagined that, and smiled.

-End of flashback-

“W-wait!” Ember was cautious as she reached forward to take the woman’s hand again, making sure that this time, she would keep her promise to Maria.

Slowly, she formed the proper handshake with Vanilla, leaving her slightly speechless at the sudden touch from Ember reaching for her out of nowhere.

“…How… do you do.” She shook the hand, then tenderly smiled down to it. “Sorry… I shouldn’t forget my manners.”

Vanilla stared a moment… before nodding with a kind and understanding smile.

“That’s alright. You don’t know me very well, and I just met you. I can understand if you’re nervous.”

Ember smiled up at her, “You’re very kind. And could you not call me ‘Deary’ please? I know you meant well, but it makes me slightly uneasy…” she bent her ears back in apology, she just didn’t like the loving pet-names right now. It wasn’t a good time.

“Alright, forgive me then.” Vanilla also looked apologetic. “Ember.” She stated. “What a beautiful and true name.”

 “True name?” Ember cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean by that?”

“A true name. As in, it matches you very well.” Vanilla smiled gleefully, releasing her hand after the awkward moment of Ember forgetting it was even there.

“Ah! Sorry!” Ember apologized again, scratching the back of her head. “Ow!” she accidentally spiked herself with her claw, and pulled it out to stick it in her mouth.

“My,… you really are just bursting with life! That’s why I think Ember is a great name.” she looked back into the burned and torn apart house. “Cream, darling? Would you please introduce yourself to our new friend, Ember?”

‘Cream..? And Vanilla?’ Ember raised an eyebrow, ‘What a weird ‘true’ name they have. But both must be sweet.’ She silently thought with a cheery smile.

But when Cream walked out with her cast on, Cheese hovering in the air after her, and the burned down house around her…

Ember’s eyes changed…

“Hello!” Cream stated, but then a flash changed the setting. A dark sky, a miserable sack for a dress and a little girl beaming her big, innocent eyes up at Ember.

“Pleasure to meet you!”

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Back at G.U.N, Rouge was typing some things into a computer when Shadow walked in, removing his limiters and placing them down on a table.

“Oh? You look pretty banged up.” Rouge turned around, smiling as he groaned and rubbed his arms.

“Eggman give you and the gang a hard time?”

“Sonic was being careless and reckless again… but we finished the job.” He commented, “What news on Ember..?” He looked behind his shoulder at Rouge, as she smiled and kicked her leg up onto the other, tapping it in the air a moment.

“These days it’s never about ‘Hi, Rouge. How are you doing?’ but always, and I mean, quite frequently about your little sister’s well-being.” She smirked and looked back to him from the corner of her eye. “Makes a girl slightly jealous sometimes…”

“Hmph. Quit playing around, Rouge.” He began to stride towards some water, picking it up and cupping of it in his hands. He dumped it over his face and looked as though he was trying to relax. “I don’t know her well, but I do know that there’s some sort of… connection between us two. I only ask because she knows my past perfectly. I owe her for the memories she has granted me.” He shifted himself back to Rouge, letting the water drip off his quills and over his muzzle. “Now… what news of her dealings with Vanilla and Cream the Rabbit?” he asked very directly, not taking any more funny busy.

Rouge frowned, but then shrugged, “If you must know, she apparently went through an episode and nearly scared the two half to death.” She clicked on the computer and showed a white figure screaming up and tearing more of the house apart, her eyes black—blinded by rage.

“She fell unconscious soon after. Vanilla and Cream made it out alright but were unsure why she suddenly started attacking the house. They’re caring for her on their torn sofa and waiting for a reply-“ before Rouge could finish, Shadow had grabbed his limiters, his eyes wide in horror and shock, and was charging out the sliding steel door.

“I won’t be back till late!” he called out, just before the doors behind him slammed.

“Heh, knew you cared.” She closed her eyes. Even if he never outright stated it, Rouge could tell he cared for the girl and went back to her boring work… she tilted her head, “Aw man… now I’m stuck here again…” she continued to type up her reports.

Ember went rogue again. Requested Shadow’s Assistance. Project Shadow went to secure her. End of Update.

“These reports on her behavior are starting to look grimer and grimer by the minute.” Rouge didn’t like writing it, but knew she was under contract too. “Pfft, since when did I ever listen to rules?” she back-spaced and typed again.

The unit known as Ember is still under mission. Requested backup by Project Shadow. End of Report.

She smiled.

“Go save your family, Shadow… I’ll help from this end. Just…

—Be careful.”

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Shadow skidded to a halt near Amy’s home, since Rouge had sent him coordinates stating they left the ruined home and came there instead.

He breathed a bit heavily, worry striped over his face like a paintbrush. He immediately composed himself and knocked on the door.

When Amy opened the door, he glared, “Where is she?”

“Don’t be too hard on her, Mr. Shadow!” Cream’s voice rang from inside, causing the two to turn and look to her.

“She honestly seemed to be having a PTSD moment… She was screaming something about G.U.N…” Vanilla also piped up, her hand daintily coming up towards her face.

Cream nodded and took her bundled fists up near her cheeks as well, “Please don’t be angry at her, Mr. Shadow! She didn’t hurt us, honest!”

“Chao, Chao!” Cheese waved his hands about in a pleading manner too, his face showing the love and concern of his family’s desires within them as well.

“We moved her from the scene, thinking this might trigger her less. She’s inside.” Amy turned to reply to Shadow, looking sorrowful at the situation but allowing Shadow the right to make his own decisions based on what he heard. She opened the door more and stepped aside, letting him enter.

“She didn’t harm any of you?” He repeated the information, checking to ensure this was correct.

The girls nodded, “Not one of us were harmed. Even while moving her.” Vanilla stated. “I reached out and soothed her to calm down, she fell right into my arms and let me carry her about.”

“…Let me see her.” He moved past the girls, clearly calm but inside, he was shaken up at the news.

“Did she injure herself?” he knelt by the couch, seeing Ember breathing with her mouth open and looking fairly passed out.

“I don’t think so, she just lashed out and started destroying the already crumbling house.” Amy was only stating what she had heard from Vanilla and Cream, and then looked to them kindly, “I’ll get us something to drink.” She smiled, trying to reassure them it was all alright. “Now that’s Shadow’s here, I’m sure Ember will come around and tell us what happened.” Her positive attitude did in fact calm Cream and she smiled with a nod.

“Thank you, Miss Amy.” She stated as Cheese leaped in the air towards the kitchen after Amy, wanting to help.

“You should go help Amy, Cream.” Vanilla turned to Cream, lovingly. “She may need help with carrying the trays in.”

“Yes, Mama.” Cream got up and caressed her cast, looking to Ember one last time before bounding off after Amy.

“Thank you.” Vanilla nod, “Please be careful not to trip with your cast!” she cried out as she noticed Cream’s fast pace.

Cream stopped and turned around, waving and then nodding apologetically. She used her ears and flew carefully after Amy.

Vanilla turned to Shadow, a look of worry again she didn’t want Cream to see. “What do you think could have caused her to snap like that? All Cream did was say hello. Did she had a past with children in it before?”

“It wasn’t just the child.” Shadow had his eyes fixated on her stressed body, seeing it heaving for air and her head slightly tossing at irregular intervals. “I believe it was the sight of an injured child.” He reached out, lightly preparing himself as his hand hovered over Ember’s head.

“What are you doing to her..?” Vanilla asked, raising her head up to see what he was going to do.

 “Ember has the unique ability to share her memories with others through mostly touch.” Shadow explained, a strand of wary sweat fell from the side of his head as he readied to dive into her thoughts. “She’s so engrossed in her mind right now… she’s not even aware of the physical world around her. I believe if I touch her, she may feel my presence and let me enter her thoughts.” He was about to do so, but Vanilla asked another question.

“Is it dangerous? She won’t lash out again, will she? I mean… how will she know the touch is by your hand?” Vanilla’s worry was deeply appropriate, considering Ember could tare into Amy’s house like she did Vanilla’s. Or worse… what if she attacked him?

 “…I hold chaos power within me.” Shadow stated. “But perhaps you’re right.” He removed his hand, “Out of the slim chance she may retaliate, it’s best to drop us in the middle of the woods somewhere where you’ll all be safe.” He looked back at Vanilla. “I was hoping to clear her record of her mischievous actions since she’s joined G.U.N. They’re still hesitant to trust her, and for good cause, but… this didn’t end well.” He looked back to Ember. “I’ll take her out and leave you three be. Sonic and the others should be informed that you still need help with your property. Forgive her… she’s…” he looked back up at Vanilla, seeing a mother’s care in her face, and took a bit of mercy into his consideration. “Deeply disturbed by the pains of her past.”

 “If I’m not mistaken, when we first encountered you, you were the same.” She smiled in the understanding that Shadow figured she would have concerning this event. He nodded and smiled lightly up to her. “You’ve taken her under your wing, haven’t you, Shadow?” her inquiry was more suited for a statement, but Shadow just bent his head and closed his eyes.

A light chuckle escaped his lips.

“She’s certainly a handful.”

“Like a child.”

“But children must grow up.” He opened his eyes and the sweet moment was lost. He picked up Ember, careful not to disturb her restlessness and trigger her again.

“I’ll take my leave now, tell Amy I won’t be around for the drinks.” He continued to look to Ember, cradled in his arms as he then nodded to Vanilla and departed.

She bowed respectfully to a guest leaving, and then worriedly looked out the window. “Please be safe… Shadow… Ember…”

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Deep in the woods, where owls hooted with frightful, intimidating cries—Shadow lay a tossing Ember down on the cold, grassy ground with slight mud patches here and there.

“Alright… now let me in.” He held his hand up by her head again, “And this time… don’t try to break my limps.” He slowly lowered it down to her head.

Nothing happened…

“Tsk.” In disappointment, he rubbed her head and tried to stimulate her to feel his presence.

She made slight noises of discomfort, shaking her head left and right, still out of it.

“Ember… let me in.” His words were more gentle this time, but still firm with command. “You have to let me see… let me help you…”

He rubbed his thumb between the bridge of her eyes, then patted her head to try and again alert her of his presence.

Her tossing fit stopped and she continued to breathe hard, but then…

There was a flash of light.

Shadow’s consciousness slipped and he fell beside her, his hand still on her head as the vision of a burning village was now before his dream-like appearance.

“Am I… a ghost?” he looked himself over, “No… I’m not supposed to be here. That’s why I’m like this.” He noticed his hand was see-through, and looked around the dream. It had never been this strong before, her memories… and seeing them so vividly disturbed him.

The air was silent except for the roars of the flames, and he searched for any other sound that could indicate people in the village, but there was nothing but silence…

“Where are the screaming? What has happened to the people?”

He then heard a loud cry, “NOOOOO!!!”

“Ember!” he turned himself around and started skating towards her. He saw her fall to her knees on a hill, seeing the destruction, then racing up and charging towards the fires.

“She’ll get herself killed…” he bit down on his words, glaring as she wobbled into a house and burst into her super form.

“That foolish girl… she’ll get burned in the flames.” He watched, knowing he couldn’t do anything.

After the destruction, he witnessed her digging the ground, “What is she doing..?” He came behind her and folded his arms. “…She’s been at this all day…” he looked up to the sky, watching the memory speed by and slow only when she carried a limp body in her arms.

Suddenly, Shadow’s eyes trembled at the sight of the burnt child’s body… it’s face hidden from view as the shadows of the following night came into view.

“She… no…” She had to bury the bodies… all by herself.

He watched in sudden agony as she placed each child in a grave, each adult that was also found into separate and larger piles.

In her hands… was a piece of metal with the G.U.N insignia.

“No… They couldn’t have…” He didn’t understand, and something within him didn’t want to know.

“They..!” he turned around, a hand over his face as he was overcome with emotion, but dared not to let it out.

“I’m through with this memory! Take me out of the vision! Now!” he swiped his hand and a flash of light returned him to his body, laying on the ground, blinking his eyes open.

He watched as Ember rose up, no more harsh gasps for breath and walking away from him.

The wind lashed against her on the cliff side as she staggered, then took on a firm stance.

“You serve a people of murderers!” she cried out, tears breaking the barriers of her eyes. She sharply swiped her head to the side, “You… You work for them… the people that killed any and all survivors that could retell our story… Gerald Robotnik’s story… Maria’s… story…” she clenched her fist.

He rose up, “Gerald Robotnik was a lunatic.” Shadow stated with no sound of remorse, causing a spike of anger in Ember as her eyes burst open and a flood of spraying tears leaped from her eyes.

“HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?!” she flung her cloak behind her, holding her twitching and enraged hand out in front of her. Her claws were drawn… but she was trying to hold back. “HE’S OUR CREATOR! He wanted a better world than this!”

“He was willing to kill an entire planet upon the death of his research!” Shadow opposed, stepping boldly to her and swiping out his own hand. “I loved Maria just as much as you and he did..! Maybe even more than the two of you combined!” he declared with a somber but heroic tone. “I had to place her wishes above my own… she never wanted us to revenge the mistakes of her grandfather. She wanted us to help the world! G.U.N has many crimes under their belt, but they’ve paid for their misdeeds! They’re a new order now!”

“NOOOO!!!!” Ember charged forward, swiping her hands at him as he skillfully dodged and lurched back. “They’ve deceived you! You’re becoming one of them!” she tightened her fist and pulled back the claws, finding an opening and punching him back across the face.

He stumbled but then swiftly replied with a punch in her gut, causing some spit to fly out of her mouth and get pushed back and off of him.

He wiped his cheek, not seeming too phased by her as she gripped her stomach. An open frown revealed her clenched teeth, her eyes shaking at him attacking her back.

“I had to master my own demons.” Shadow continued, “What have you done to forgive?!”

“Maria… You want me to believe that Maria would forgive murderers..?!” Ember shook her head. “Why does everything revolve around what she would want and what she would do!? As though she was an angel!” Ember shut her eyes tightly, as Shadow’s anger now spiked.

“Because she was-!” he threw a kick forward, but Ember caught it and used her arm to push it back.

She stumbled back, “I don’t want to fight!”

“Then what do you want!?” Shadow crouched down, ready for anything.

…Ember’s shoulders bounced.

Sounds of crying ensued.

Shadow held himself back, leaning up as he saw the tears but not her eyes, hidden by having her head held straight down in misery.

“Maria wanted me to save them… to properly greet the world with a kind and warm handshake…” she began, before shouting out at Shadow. “You haven’t cured anything! You want your purpose to be about pleasing Maria’s memory. You don’t even have every memory that you spent with her unless I was there to witness it! You don’t even know who you were back then! You can’t know… you just see it through my eyes and are content. Who are you, anyway!?” she fell to her knees, sobbing.

He lowered his fists… walking slowly up to her.

“You want me to just put thousands of lives behind me!? Act like they never existed just because their one wish was to live a life free of strife and panic!? You want me to-… to…”

 “It’s never easier just because it was one life or more.” Shadow bent down, placing his hand on her shoulder and kneeling in front of her. “What makes us so powerful, Ember… is that we craft our own purposes. This is something I had to learn. Something you’ll have to discover for yourself.”

 She continued to listen to cry. Overcome by her own memories she couldn’t shut out.

“It’s difficult to bury the past… I’m sorry you had to do so alone… but you’re not the only one who’s lost loved ones. Who’s witnessed injustice go unpunished. We must consider the welfare of all over the few. We must try and save those few. We must try and redeem ourselves and see the world for all that is good within it. We shouldn’t ignore the bad, but we should protect what is right and pure.”

 Ember shook her head, “You’re not making sense… murderers should die. They should.”

 “…You’ve killed before… haven’t you?”

 She suddenly jerked violently, unable to speak.

 “…So have I.” Shadow moved a bit away, “But those days… I’ve tried to rectify through many more good deeds… knowing they can’t outweigh what I’ve done… or tried to do.” He looked back to her, lifting a hand and placing it on her cheek.

The sudden touch filled her with that same warmth from the handshake, and she looked up weakly into his eyes.

 “…Do we deserve the same fate? To die?”

 She bit her lower lip.

 “After all the good we’ve done since… do not even we deserve a second chance at redemption?”

 “…I love you… brother.” She lowered her head, shaking his hand off of her. “But… I will need time to answer that.”

 “Then give yourself time. I don’t blame you for anything, Ember. The house will be repaired, so can a soul, so can the past…” he stood up, offering her his hand. “And I… Care about your wellbeing too.”

 She looked up, a strange, childish and open smile coming across her face.

 He lightly smiled for a moment too, but when it became too odd or sentimental, he turned to look behind him and away from her.

 “You’ll discover your truth… I just want to prevent you from thinking and feeling as I did… so long ago.”

 “Don’t worry.” She took his hand, careful of her claws and feeling secure in his touch. He helped hoist her up, “I don’t feel like blowing up the whole planet over a few people’s misdeeds.” She sighed, “But… I can’t say I’ll just agree to everything G.U.N says or does willy-nilly… I’m only doing this for you. To be close… to you.” She looked away again.

“…Well, we have eternity.” He ruffled her head in a sign of comradely, which made her giggle and wipe the remaining tears from her eyes. “Let’s not waste it on tears.”

 She nodded.

 “Is… is that little girl, okay?” She looked down, “I tried to control myself… tried not to hurt them…” she seemed disturbed by this fact.

 Shadow smiled again, “Actually… she was more worried about you.”

 Ember turned to Shadow, hearing him repeat Cream’s pleas for him not to be angry with her, and carried Ember back to the G.U.N headquarters.

 Ember heard how Rouge covered for her, but didn’t thank her, still uneasy with the bat.

 The next day, Ember did come by Vanilla and Cream’s home, helping them pick up the pieces of their broken home and even helped with repairs.

 Rouge was relieved to write a good, honestly decent report about Ember for once.

 Success never felt so sweet… especially with delicious treats at the end of their hard days work provided by Vanilla and Cream themselves! Oh… and of course, Cheese too. “Chao, Chao!”

  https://marydragneell.tumblr.com/post/155863341779/oc-mobian

 From the Embers

By: Cutegirlmayra

Commission for Marydraneell

Ember sharpened her claws by striking at a tree, then turning around to rapidly spin and slash a bolder. She was training, having decided to travel some ways away from G.U.N and where Shadow occupied his time. He was gone on a mission and told her to stay put. She pouted, remembering how stern he had been.

“He never lets me play with him…” She mumbled, practicing some techniques like kicking her legs up in the air to stretch and full force strike the air.

When she had done everything she knew, she lightly skimmed the emerald on her chest, feeling it’s stony hide and wondering if she should practice her chaos powers.

She looked it away… it was pretty risky. If she lost herself, she could turn insane. But she had always wondered about that archived data of Sonic and Shadow turning super to save the Arch. Shadow had asked Rouge to show her the data and read some documents, which would have been cooler if they were written like a story and not a government conspiracy.

Still, she missed Shadow… Maria… Gerald…

She sighed and sat down, still tracing the smooth surface of the emerald. “Why would I be given a cursed emerald, and Shadow tainted blood?” she wondered what Gerald was thinking, her beloved doctor who saw her more as a prototype and dangerous than he did Shadow. He let Shadow and Maria interact because Shadow knew to keep his distance and not play too much with her. Ember didn’t have that kind of self-control… she wanted to play with Maria, but even just one nick and Gerald would have scolded her. Shadow might have even punished her.

It was a hard-knock life…

She laid fully down, letting the shimmering light bounce off of the emerald as she pulled her shirt a little down to let it soak in the sun.

…Wouldn’t it be nice to just be a normal wolf?

She thought maybe that was going too far.

Her eyes watched the sky… What’s so great about chaos anyway?

She just wanted to be with Shadow…

“Now!” A voice billowed out the command as Ember’s ears twitched, leaning up and looking around.

Robots flew everywhere, swarming in different sizes and all sorts of different designs as they fell around her.

They grounded themselves with a loud stomp as wind picked up around them, a huge airship suddenly dropped its invisible camouflage and she gasped.

“Eggman!” she saw the symbol on the side of the airship and powered herself up with chaos power. “I thought I trashed you a year ago!”

“I got better.” She could imagine Eggman smirking behind the speakers. “I hate to make our reunion so uncharacteristically short but I’m on a tight schedule and I have no time to dawdle!”

“But I like dawdling…” Ember smiled, looking at the robots surrounding her from the ground to the air.

“Chaos-!” she withdrew her hands in, feeling the power begin to soar through her.

“Not so fast!” Eggman’s voice rang through the skies as Robots began to put up a forcefield of some kind.

“Control!” She spread her arms out to create a huge explosion, but somehow, the reflective shields caught it and pushed it outward, barely touching the airship.

“H-huh?!” Ember was flabbergasted. “That… usually works.” She sweat dropped, but it was almost humorous how surprised she was.

‘This doesn’t look good.’ She thought, ‘I could take them all out one by one but… I’d only be climbing up to the ship…’ she looked around her, swishing her tail for balance at the powerful wind gust from the chaos explosion.

“Maybe I could teleport away using the cursed chaos emerald…” she gripped it, but something told her it was no use.

“Nice try! Whohoho! But I’ve taken extra precautions this time!” a hook dropped from the air ship, and then millions of them started to dangle down and reach out for her, zipping down through the air with loose chains that held them to the ship.

“Wahhh!!!” Like a crazy crane game, Ember jumped and dodged as many falling claws as she could, but with the surrounding robots it wasn’t easy.

She was trapped!

“Grab her, you fools!” Eggman cried out as the robots began to maneuver around the bungy-jumping claws and keep her tightly in place within a small area.

She growled, slashing and striking down a few, missing others in her frenzy to get away.

There was too much action going on now, her mind was racing just as fast as her eyes could follow movement.

If she didn’t get away…

She ran on all fours, trying to increase her speed as she slashed Chaos strikes through the air and managed to damage one of the claws chains, having it crash to the ground.

“Grrrrahhh!” she picked the broken chain up and swung it around, using it to knock down other on-coming robots and tie other claws together, leaving them uselessly opening and closing while tied and spiraled together.

“Vermin!” Eggman insulted, “I was hoping to use this new strategy on Sonic after testing it out on you! But clearly you’ve found a few kinks in the matrix!”

“Heh, you flatter yourself too much, Eggman.” Ember smiled, though panting at the exertion of keeping the robots back. She began to power up her swings, having her emerald glow as she used abnormal strength to bring the chain and claw she was swinging up over her head.

��Hmmmm????” Eggman’s voice seemed enraged but also curious as to what she was trying to pull off.

“You’re not smart enough to form a matrix with anything!” she threw the claw up to his ship.

“Eeeeee!!!” Eggman’s airship started pulling up. It’s long, blimp-like nose diving upwards towards the sky in hopes of dodging her attack.

The claw gripped the airship, driving its sharpened talon trio into the metal like paper against scissors.

“You little-! What’s this!?”

Hanging by the chain, Ember used her upper body strength to grip onto the chain and pulled up along its side. ‘There was no way out of there besides up! I didn’t want to board the ship… but I’m gonna have to!’

“…heheheh….hohohoho!” A laugh came from Eggman’s mic. “Welcome aboard!” The ship suddenly began to spiral, turning as it twisted upwards like a rocket, causing Ember to have to hold on for dear life.

“Whaaa!” she couldn’t climb while the wind pressure flung her back so heavily. She ducked her head, hoping to breathe but it was difficult too with all the wind smashing into her face.

“We’re experiencing some minor wind turbulence, but nothing a failed experiment can’t handle, right?” Eggman mocked, flying the ship horizontal again and having the robots all surround it. “Fire!”

They shot at her as she found her breath and grip again, climbing towards the claw as the other dangling ones were withdrawn up into the ship.

She saw a hole opening, and though her back was being fired by gunfire, she jumped and managed to get air-sucked into it.

When it closed, she crashed on her back and winced in pain.

“Great… now I’m in the ship.” She wondered if that was what Eggman wanted in the first place.

She felt fire suddenly and gripped her emerald. “Awh… Ow! Why?” it was burning in her chest, something it didn’t usually do.

“What’s happening?” she turned to look at something glowing green in the center of the large metallic area.

She walked towards it, hearing a slight hum that continued to flare up her emerald.

She blew down towards her chest, not sure how else to stabilize its sudden rapid temperature spike.

Then she saw it.

“The… Master Emerald?”

It was hooked up to the core of the ship, and Ember thought it might be convenient to destroy the ship from here.

There were large tubed wires hooked up to the Master Emerald, and flicked her claws together, creating sparks.

“I could start a fire… but then at this height, the smoke could really choke me.” She was trying to strategize, something Shadow had taught her on missions to stop and do.

She hated thinking too much, since her nature was naturally to just go and have at it, but she wanted to do this right.

Without Shadow to come and save her, she wanted to make sure she did this job proper, maybe get a praise or two from her figurative brother.

She smiled and closed her eyes, wagging her tail at imagining Shadow patting her head in approval.

“Here I go~” She began to swipe at the tubes, easily cutting their rubber skins and having gas fly out everywhere.

“Huh? No electricity?” she was shocked she wasn’t zapped a little. “What was this? A ruse?” the lights suddenly turned off as red eyes turned on all around her.

“Look at what you’ve done!” Eggman’s voice came back on the radio throughout the airship. “You’ve ruined my stage!”

“It’s a fake!” Ember exclaimed.

“Not the Master Emerald, how else would I get Sonic into my perfectly disguised trap?”

“So, I’m just a guinea pig to you…” insulted, she formed a tight fist with her hands, but was careful to keep her claws out of her palms. “Don’t you know you shouldn’t cry wolf?”

As the robots charged their blasts, a yellow light in the dark, it illuminated just enough to show her cocky grin.

“Chaos control!” she blasted the area, sending the robots flying.

“Hahaha! Do you know why your emerald is cursed?!” Eggman suddenly blurted out.

“H-huh?” Ember felt her whole body on fire, falling to her knees to grip her chest. “It burns, it burns!” she cried out, tears falling from her eyes as the emerald felt like it would melt her from the inside.

“My grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, found that emerald in the rubble of the Ancient ruins! Thoughts turn to power with Chaos’s abilities, but all their evil thoughts, including his own, were given to that emerald… It became so polluted with their selfish and dark desires, that the Master Emerald has rejected its power! Shadow can control chaos, while you… you are cursed with it.”

“I already knew it couldn’t be purified.” Ember strained to move her legs, still hunching over and gripping the emerald with her arms intercrossed to do so.

She turned to the speaker, enraged but too hurt to do anything. “W-why am I even here? What’s your game? Your trap failed.”

“On the contrary,” Eggman’s voice sunk into a wicked state, like a submarine turning into position to strike. “You’ve become the trap!”

Electricity suddenly zapped around her feet. She cried out in pain as the electric bolts scaled the surface under her and danced about in jagged forms.

She collapsed.

When she woke up, she ached everywhere. It was dead silent, with only a few lights above her. Bright white, dulled by a blanket of dust in the air.

It was a stuffy room, but she could feel she was restrained and looked down.

More tables with straps to keep her in place?

She would have struggled more but just flopped her head down. After all, she was exhausted from the effects of the cursed emerald being repelled by the Master Emerald.

“Stupid thing.” She growled, closing her eyes.

“Powerful thing…”

She immediately was startled into lurching up, eyes wide open. The strap caught her though, stopping the motion as she looked in front of her.

In the back, a faint form stood, until he walked into the light with a big white smile on his face.

His glasses glowed a devious shine before he rubbed his hands together from the side. “Allow me to remove that burden for you, dear…”

“R-remove it?” she started growing nervous, seeing him jerk down some analog sticks. The action followed with surgical equipment slowly, like sentient vines, wiggle and sharply turn as they fell down above her.

“N…No,” her eyes shook in horror.

“Oh yes…” Eggman beamed.

“No!” she tried to kick her legs, but she just couldn’t summon enough power to break free of the restraints!

“Yes…” He leaned forward, clicking a red button on the top of one of the sticks and having the saw turn on and slash around the air.

“Stop it!” she screamed, trying to use her tail to some use but it just flailed around and knocked over a few cans on the ground. They were full of cotton swabs and bandages.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Eggman pulled the machinery up, and for a second, she stopped struggling and breathed hard.

Giving her some time to rest wasn’t wise, but she was thankful for his ego as he started to ramble. “I haven’t told you why I want your emerald yet.”

In her mind, she wondered why it mattered. But it could give her just enough time to recover… she better keep him rambling. “Yes…” she swallowed hard, trying to calm herself down. “Do tell.”

“Hahaha! Well, it all started with… eh, why stall? Hahaha!!!” he turned the devices back on, toying with her as she started to freak out again.

She tried desperately to move around, break free, but it was no use.

The machines encircled around the emerald, a beam of red laser light began to slowly make its way towards her like a surgeon’s blade.

With hysteria at feeling the heat of the small laser touching the surface of the emerald, it immediately retaliated.

The device was meant to give a small incision, not really do much damage to Ember, but as soon as it scaled the side of the emerald to get to removing it, her whole body shone with a dark aura.

She was lost in the shock and fear, and her body was fully possessed by the 8th cursed emerald. It looked like she had fainted, but her eyes shot open to reveal black, then stripes that shone a black light and her body flaring up into white.

“What!?” Eggman pulled the weapons back. “I thought she couldn’t control it?!” he was growing panicky.

“This looks an awful lot like…” Orbot was manning the grids, checking out her power levels and seeing them begin to rise. “Super form.”

“That’s impossible.” Eggman swiped a hand back to him, “Cubot, get the backup machine ready. I don’t want her blowing my place up in unbridled fury!”

“Right away, doctor!” He saluted, but rammed into a wall and had to readjust himself, rubbing his square head.

However, the intensity of the insanity lead to her almost growling or roaring in slight, agitated aggressions. She continued to fight to be free, but the straps were holding tight.

They transferred her to a machine, locking her in by her arms and legs, holding her up as the power flared around her, like a misty glow that warned danger.

“She hasn’t tried to attack yet.” Orbot stated.

“That’s obvious. The Emerald’s only concerned with defending itself. She’s too absorbed in the madness to figure out how to summon enough power to fight back. She’s not even really there, so it seems.” He snapped his fingers, but there was no response from Ember.

“Hmm… Start draining her, like the aliens on those planets.”

“But sir! That technology is out dated! Wouldn’t you rather use the world sucking life-“ Orbot tried to suggest an alternative but Eggman just gave him a look and he quickly retreated from the idea. “Eep! Right away, Doctor Eggman!”

“Bumbling bots…” Eggman grumbled under his breath. “Metal!”

Just then, Metal Sonic emerged from the shadows.

He looked to Ember’s insane head shaking and slamming herself against the machine’s back to try and escape. He then turned to Eggman, ready for an order.

“She’s delirious and weak from the Master Emerald’s influence right now. But soon… she won’t be. Guard her and make sure Sonic doesn’t wander in here by mistake. And if he does…” Eggman leaned down, raising an eyebrow to see if Metal Sonic had understood his implications.

Metal Sonic immediately slashed into a defective body of a robot beside him and ripped it out.

“Excellent.” Eggman grinned, patting Metal Sonic’s head and storming off. “Cubot! Orbot! To the main ship!”

Metal Sonic looked over to Ember, he walked up to her and began to shake his head, mocking her for her illogical movements.

After several minutes, and the insanity still present, Metal was alerted to Sonic and his friends having infiltrated the trap area. He wondered if he would even be needed… Infuriated at the thought that he would only play guard here while Sonic was running around the rest of the decoy ship.

Her grunting and snarls picked up pace, continuing her savage look and actions.

He simply tapped his finger on his folded arms, waiting for something exciting to happen… like for her to really lose her mind.

He lifted a claw up, suddenly getting an idea.

How easy it would be to just…

He started to move his hand towards the emerald radiating its light from her chest…

He was bored, so why not give it a try?

But as he began to try, the pressure around his arm began to crunch it inwards, and he quickly pulled it away.

Studying what the emerald’s power had done to it, he glared her way.

Then there was an explosion at the door.

Metal Sonic turned his attention away from her and she let out a cry, the pressure causing the machine and its electrical circuits to malfunction and begin shorting.

Sonic rolled into the area, uncurling with a hand up behind him and one knee pressed firmly to the ground.

“Miss me?” Sonic cockily smirked up to Metal Sonic.

His engine flared in response, a spark of rivalry and endless loathing as the two began to duke it out.

“H-huh?” Tails looked around the corner to see Ember, “Ah! It’s Shadow’s friend!” he hollered out.

“What, Ember’s here too?” Knuckles charged in, “Darn! What’d he do to her?!” Knuckles began to pound his fists. “You turn off the machine, I’ll punch her out of there!”

What they didn’t know, was once the electricity stopped shocking her, and the machine’s hold on her released, that she was just getting enough power to really wreck havoc again.

And they were in her way…

“Ember?” Amy raced in, hitting away some following robots and dodging Sonic and Metal Sonic’s fighting to successfully catch her from her slight fall.

Knuckles nodded.

 “But why here?” She continued to ask, but Ember was still far from everyone as her body was still being possessed.

Her head rolled back, hands twitching, like a panther readying to pounce and storing energy inside itself for the kill.

“What made her so weak..?” Amy noticed she didn’t have a scratch on her, but the power also made her concerned.

“No time for any more questions.” Tails pressed a button and the side of the ship exploded, creating an opening to the outside where they were. “Let’s get her on the X-Tornado!”

“Not without my emerald we’re not!” Knuckles protested, stepping forward.

Sonic and Metal Sonic still fiercely battled behind them.

“I’ve already got the Master Emerald when we first broke out of his trap!” Tails explained, “But we don’t have time to talk about this right now!”

The wind rushed by everyone, and immediately, Ember’s head shot up and a blast burst from her.

“AHHH!!” Everyone took cover but Amy was shot to the side.

Sonic grabbed Metal Sonic’s foot, seeing Amy get flung back, he threw Metal Sonic’s body in front of her to stop the blast from spreading past him.

It gave him just enough time to grab Amy and roll to safety.

The blast grew over the entire ship…

Their bodies were being singed, so Knuckles quickly grabbed Tails, throwing him out the opening and fought through the burns to run past Ember and get Sonic and Amy.

Metal was slowly boiling, but he got up, resisting it enough to still fight.

“My eyes… ahh!” Knuckles had kept one eye open, but the blast had stung them so badly that he was forced to close them. “It’s like their melting out of my sockets!”

With the two under his armpits, he raced out of opening and fell through the sky.

“What about Ember! Ah!” Amy felt her tongue burn as though they were too close to the sun.

Then…

The entire ship turned to ashes…

A second power, lighter in color, overlapped the first ball of chaos power and took everything in its wake.

Metal Sonic was just about to strike her, when he became nothing but soot through the air.

Tails called the X-Tornado over, and the gang was quickly caught but…

“Were we too late?” Sonic commented, looking through the skies before Tails pointed to something falling.

“There!”

Fully having spent her power, the emerald had withdrawn and Ember was returned to her fainted state of consciousness. She fell through the sky, free but very much in danger.

“She’ll lose oxygen way too quickly.” Knuckles tsk’ed.

“Hang on!!!” Tails maneuvered the ship to bank hard and then point straight down. “Amy! You’re hammer!”

Amy was straining against the wind pressure, but nodded. Sonic held onto her as she held her hammer out to ‘hook’ Ember’s limp body and pull her into the seat.

“We got her!” Sonic called, squinting an eye open to see Amy hold her upside down into the plane.

“Pull uppppp!!!” Knuckles cried back, seeing the ground steadily approaching at a rapid speed.

Tails used all his might to bring the plane from its freefall into a spiraling recovery, showing off amazing piloting skills as Knuckles looked back to see the Master Emerald had broken lose from its ropes and began falling down to the small amount of space between the ground and their aircraft.

“My Emerald!” Knuckles’s eyes turned white in rage, his mouth huge with rage. He jumped off and glided through the air.

“Knuckles!” Everyone called.

They figured he’d be okay, he was just gonna chase down the emerald after all, but that’s when Eggman’s main fleet showed up, firing at the Master Emerald to try and break it into pieces.

You know, just to be annoying.

“Should we go back and help him?” Tails asked, but that’s when Ember—head turned on the ground and legs up by Amy’s face—began to slowly come too.

“H-huh..?”

“Let Amy take care of Ember! Knuckles can rough it out for a little while.” Sonic seemed to be suggesting it, but Tails took it as the plan.

“Right!” he nodded in all seriousness to him and began to land the plane.

Ember slowly woke up laying on the ground, Amy attending her with bandages. It spooked her out at once so she flung back and pulled her arm away, “Wh-wha…?”

“It’s okay… Calm down…” Amy gently bobbed her hands up and down in a rhythmic motion, like waves upon the ocean.

Ember breathed heavily, scared but also unsure.

She then saw the burns on Amy’s arm, and although distrusting of Amy, realized that she’s seen those burns before and drew closer.

As she crawled closer, she spoke, “I know these burns… They’re from my cursed emerald.” She touched her emerald gem and then looked up at Amy. “Why are you helping me?”

Amy giggles, throwing Ember off as she flinched back, surprised.

“Because we’re friends! All of us.” She nods, confidently and then looks over her shoulder. “Sonic and the others are finishing off Eggman’s fleet right about now.” The air was littered with blasts and sounds, smoke and raids. She figured it was just a storm coming, but when she squinted her eyes and leaned up a bit, she noticed the small dots of robots targeting a plane.

“This was my fight, I should-“ she was about to get up, but Amy lightly touched her arm and she sat down, flinching at the pain.

She groaned with a hiss at the obvious state she was in, as Amy continued to try and bandage her up. “It’s alright. I told you, I’m here to help. You’re in no condition to fight so let me just-“

She swung her arm away from her.

“Hey!” Amy protested, pouting at her defiance.

“Hmph.” Ember attempted to fold her injured arm into her other but had to keep it loose to stay comfortable.

“Ohhh… You’re just gonna make yourself worse like that. But I can see the resemblance between you and Shadow, haha!” Amy laughed into her hand, but Ember took that as a slight compliment.

“You think so?” She looked back at the girl, surprised she wasn’t scared of her.

“Absolutely! You two are truly made from the same element.” She teased, but Ember smiled with a blush.

She decided to let Amy heal her, after all, it was the least she could do after… “Sorry.” She looked away, seeing the burns on Amy’s body again.

“Oh, this?” Amy followed her eyes before she looked away and smiled. “You really helped us back there. You completely disintegrated Metal Sonic though!”

Ember’s ears flicked, “Good.” She grumbled. “He was a jerk.”

“So you remember?” Amy tilted her head to her.

“…A little.” Ember looked away again, nervous around this girl. “Could you tell me everything? From your side of the story?”

Amy went on to explain the story from her side, speaking about Sonic and the gang along the way and what they saw when they found Ember.

“We all saved you, every one of us!” Amy concluded, and turned back kindly to Ember, who was sinking more and more to the ground in embarrassment at almost ending everyone’s lives. Amy must have not realized it or didn’t care to bring it up, but Ember’s power could have easily done the same thing to them as it did to Metal Sonic…

“But I don’t understand…” Ember swallowed some spit, sitting up and taking some courage to bring it up. “Why did you all save me? I mean nothing to any of you...”

Amy gasped, “Who told you that!?”

“But… you-you don’t know me! At all! I’m dangerous-!”

“Anyone can be dangerous, that doesn’t mean they can’t be our friend.”

“Amy!”

Amy turned to see Sonic waving from the X-Tornado. Knuckles had his Master Emerald strapped to its back and the ruins of what was left of Metal Sonic.

Tails landed and Sonic jumped out, bending down to stare at Ember with a pleasant look of curiosity in his eyes.

She pulled away into Amy, not liking the sudden attention from the man.

“Looks like sleeping beauty’s awake.” He teased.

“Sleeping ‘death bomb’ if you ask me.” Knuckles chucked the remains of Metal Sonic and Ember watched as the burnt steel slammed to the ground in front of her. “Hmph. Did a number on Eggman’s ship too…” Knuckles put his hands to his hips.

Why was everyone treating this like it wasn’t a big deal?

“I-…” Before she could say anything back, Tails just strode up to her and sat down, startling her terribly.

“What’s wrong?” He noticed her flinch away from him and depart further into Amy’s hold, but didn’t understand why she was so afraid of their reactions.

“You… You should be afraid of me.” She admitted, and hugged Amy, finding this whole situation unreal and unsettling.

Tails just smiled and pulled out his MilesElectric. “I hate to tell ya this… but we’ve befriended bigger threats than you.” He chuckled to himself, “One of them being your big brother.”

“Little…” she muttered, but realized the truth of their words. “Wait… are you friends with Shadow?”

“Sure!” Sonic chimed in, “Whether he wants to admit it or not, we’re all on the same side.”

“Can I check your vital signs? I need to make sure that chaos explosion you did back there didn’t hurt you too badly.”

Why… Why were they being so friendly and kind to her?

The Echidna was right, she was a death machine! So then… did they just not care about their own lives?!

She hesitated, thinking them all insane for helping her, but let go of Amy and let Tails take her hand.

“Honestly, she’s a little… jittery, isn’t she?” Sonic looked to Knuckles.

Knuckles just shrugged.

“I’m right here, you know…” Ember pouted, not liking how chill they were. But more so than that, she was uncomfortable with them playing her off as something ‘shy’ rather than ‘dangerous’.

“Hey,” Sonic squatted down beside her as Tails started to record and measure her breathing and heartbeat. “You feeling alright? You know, we’re pretty easy to get along with. No need to play up anything. We’re not afraid, just worried about you, okay?”

…Worried?

She thought only Shadow could feel that way about her…

She saw how they all had singed markings on their fur arms, … she looked to Tails and felt the need to cry but held it back.

She just squinted her eyes shut, not daring to look up at Sonic’s sweet face again.

Sonic arches his eyebrows back, seeing how emotional she’s getting.

“Well, come on. I think you’re alright. Let’s get you back to Shadow, where I’m sure you’d like to be.” He gently coaxed her eyes open, lightly rubbing with some tender care her arm so she would.

When she looked back at him, he took her hand and pulled her up, helping her to her feet.

“Well, Tails?” he looked to him.

“All signs point normal.” Tails winked, and then got up as well, helping Amy to stand.

She watched in silence for a moment at everyone just… acting like comrades and remembered her small village of children.

She looked down and thought about Shadow, if he really was a ‘friend’ to them more than just an ‘ally’ who helped saved the world with them.

She never saw him hanging out with them…

But this feeling… she liked being liked. She liked being worried about.

She remembered Amy talk of heroism in her re-telling of the story and saw the friendship she mentioned all around her.

“Alright, I’ll go back with you on some conditions.” She began, and the team all turned to her after hearing the serious note take hold in her voice.

“What’s that?” Knuckles inquired, as Amy giggled.

“She’s trying to cover up her silliness with a new found powerful tone now.” Amy put her hands behind her back, and embarrassed at her words, Ember blushed and shushed her.

“T-that’s not true!”

The gang all laughed, seeing her ‘tough girl’ attitude suddenly break from her face.

“Hey!”

“Oh yeah, that reminds me. Powerful.” Knuckles turned to her then, stopping mid-way into laughing.

His eyes blinked as he processed what to say, then walked directly face to face with her, “Where’d you get that emerald in your chest from, anyway? I thought I had the only seven left?”

“G…Gerald imbedded it into me.” She sweat-dropped. Maybe if they knew what a real monster she was, they wouldn’t be so carefree around her… She ducked her head down, “The echidnas used to it to try and conquer the world and chaos, directly. When Tikal died, they used this emerald to try and bring her back.” She touched the emerald, as the team’s faces lit up with the name.

“You know Tikal?” Tails questioned.

“…I used to see her in my dreams.” She admitted, “But not anymore… They failed to revive her because of their wickedness. Chaos’s power is of destruction, not life.”

They all looked a little sad to hear that but understood her logic.

“So… how’d it become cursed?” Amy’s sorrow was apparent in her voice, but she was also trying to be delicate about the matter.

“…” Ember took a deep breath, “The Master Emerald is connected to the seven servers. When thoughts are powerful enough, enriched by the heart, they take form and become power. However, the echidna’s thoughts were evil, and because their hearts couldn’t enrich the power, they polluted the emerald. This caused the Master Emerald to reject it. Thus, there was only seven pure Chaos Emeralds, and one Cursed.”

She skimmed the emerald and then lowered her shirt a little to reveal its full look.

The team gasped.

“Filled to the brim with negative chaos energy, it’s only destructive, and not healing.”

The team remained silent for a moment… before Sonic chuckled and turned on the charm.

“That must be annoying. Bet when you feel a scratch, you can’t just turn it to it’s side or whatever to get it, can you?”

She looked up with a blank stare before laughing at his joke. “My nails would scratch me if I tried!”

They goofily laughed and caused the atmosphere to revert into one of playfulness.

She boarded the plane and continued to combat Sonic with joke after joke, her tail wagging as she got her to forget about her problematic nature and turn to something more engaging… a friendly game of ‘unlimited jokes’ instead of ‘deadly power’.

As they flew through the skies, Amy also talked with her, happy to have a female friend to talk to for a change and Ember slightly agreed on that.

Trust formed slowly, but Ember noticed more and more how accepting she became of them, because they accepted her and all her faults first.

Once arriving at Tails’s place, they held a small celebration when Ember announced she felt she had fully healed from going berserk. There was food and drinks, and when candy was announced Ember grew excited and grabbed two large handfuls of it, almost breaking the bowl in her rushed frenzy to get some.

“Thanks! You guys rock- ICE CREAM!” Ember’s gratitude was cut off when Amy and Tails brought out more desert and treats, causing her to once again stuff her face with sugary treats.

Before anything else could commence, the door was suddenly flung open with a powerful kick, and a dark figure briskly walked into the room. “Where is she?!” He declared.

“Sh-Shadow?” Ember ducked, her ears bent back as she saw how seriously ticked off he looked…

He saw her and immediately came at her, “You fool!” he hit away her food as she stumbled back.

“G-wah!”

“You fought an Eggman Airship!?”

“It… it turned to dust?” she shrugged her arms out, making Sonic and the gang feel bad for Shadow scolding her.

“Don’t play dumb with me…” his eyebrow twitched at her innocent reply. He grabbed her coat and pulled her towards him. “You were reckless and you know it! I told you to lay low but you deliberate got yourself into danger! What if Sonic wasn’t there!? What would you have done if-!”

“H-hey! Relax, we got her out.” Sonic tried to distill the situation, but Shadow just glared at him from the corner of his eye.

“Stay out of this, hedgehog. This is between me and Ember. Not any of you.”

“But Ember’s our friend!” Amy announced, standing up to him with her hands bravely on her hips, taking control over the situation to help Sonic. “She didn’t do anything wrong! She said Eggman was after her emerald and she went berserk. She could have escaped on her own to be fair…”

“What?” He looked back to Ember. “You mean… you didn’t pick a fight with Eggman?”

“No, he came to her!” Tails spoke up, “At least, that’s what Ember told us.”

Ember scratched the back of her head, not used to having a team of ‘friends’ help her out and side with her on anything before…

“Hmm… Is that true?”

She remained silent and looked down, clicking her pointer finger’s nails together in sheepish peace.

“…Hrrm.” He let her go, “Guess I haven’t heard the full story yet. Only that an Eggman Air fleet was annihilated by a huge chaos surge. I knew it was you, but I didn’t realize you were only defending yourself.”

They… defended her?

She looked to the team, who smiled and nodded for her to tell the truth.

She took some candy and held it up to Shadow, nervously. “Hehe… He basically had me surrounded.”

Shadow stared at the candy, and put a hand up to it, turning away. “Then I’m at fault, forgive me for rough-housing you like that. Continue with your little celebrations. I have work to do.”

She cut him off, grabbing his arm, “Wait! Just one… piece of candy?” she continued to wave it around. “As a true apology to me?”

“I’m not one for sweets.” He growled, not liking her stopping him.

“Aw, instead of outright refusing, try at least a chilidog?” Sonic held up the food in front of Shadow.

“Eat it, eat it, eat it!” The team and even Ember joined in on the peer pressure.

Shadow looked around, before swiping the food out of Sonic’s hand and closing his eyes. “Hmph, if it’ll get you to let me leave faster… I suppose I can tolerate some kind of meal…” He took a bite.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up and the team all gasped.

“I… I think he likes it.” Amy stated.

“I think he loves it.” Tails exclaimed.

Ember, like a proud sister, held her hands up to her mouth in pure joy. “I think he really, really loves it!”

The rest of the night, Shadow ate and the team partied all together. Ember could finally say… she felt she had friends and a family again.

-The Fire’s Scourge.-

The Fire’s Scourge.

Commission for the lovely Marydragneell

By: Cutegirlmayra

Dear Manic,

Your song lyrics are so funny, not everything has to rhyme or sound like a poem. But I appreciate it, it’s great to read. I’d rather hear it though! Or at least sing it! When do you plan to visit me? It’s gets boring here sometimes… especially when Shadow bosses me around about being all ‘responsible’ and ‘acting my age’. I’m the same age as him! I was even created before him! I’m practically the oldest… anyway, I’m grumbling on paper, haha! Send me a mix-tape sometime and don’t be afraid to write back. I enjoy these letters.

I enjoy scrapping my claws against the thin paper as I write to you.

Sincerely, The most epic wolf you’ll ever know! Ember

P.S: Ember is easy to make songs out of, try and be more creative next time!

It was the last letter she had written Manic… before the letters stopped coming.

Ember lightly made sure her claws wouldn’t crease too much of the paper, deciding to write another letter in hopes he may respond this time. Like he used too…

The letter folded neatly into an envelop as Ember sealed it with a lick. She held it close to her face, letting it touch her nose as she excitedly withheld herself from getting her hopes too high.

Again…

She had been pen-paling Manic The Hedgehog, Sonic’s brother, for a little while now. Ever since Rouge gifted her a writing kit, trying to make peace with her since they sometimes had to work together, she’d been writing him back and forth like this.

She hopped down from the G.U.N HQ’s desk she was at and went to put it in the mail chute when Shadow stormed up to her.

“Where were you?”

His voice sounded annoyed, not like his normal, causal brooding…

“I was… um…” she hadn’t told Shadow about her little crush…

He looked at the letter in her hands, but she quickly stuck it in her tail and smiled nervously to him, “I’m just writing Santa!”

“Hmph.” He shot air out of his nose at her humor. “When are you going to start-“

“Acting my age?” Ember rolled her eyes, “Get to work? Be nice to Rouge? Hang out with people? I thought we were passed this already, I’m a grown woman! Let me live my life!” she folded her arms before exaggerating her independence, “I do jobs for G.U.N, don’t I?”

“Speaking of which, there’s been a portal breach near where you’re supposed to be patrolling.” He glared her down, seeing her trying to wiggle the letter out of her fluffy tail and get it in the mail chute.

When she saw him staring, she pretended she was just wagging her tail in excitement.

He pinched the middle bridge of his nose, “What am I to do with you?”

“Love me?” She moved back a bit, not sure if he’d find that funny.

His look certainly showed he didn’t.

“If you’re not going to take this mission seriously, I’ll go myself.” He grabbed what looked like a brown, dirtied cloak with rips all throughout it, but Ember immediately reached forward, grabbing a bit of it.

“No!”

“No?” he pivoted, “What do you mean, no? I thought you were ‘enjoying your life’?” he seemed to be spitting the same wording she had used in previous discussions right back at her.

Ember sweated a bit, seeing how angry he really was at her, but realized he was trying to cut her some slack. “You’re a good brother, Shadow. Whether you want to be or not.”

He raised an eyebrow, but she slowly began to tug the cloak off of him.

“And you do make a valid point… I need to prove I can handle this. You’re always worried about me-“

“-And for good reason.” He fully faced her, his tone full of distain.

She gulped, folding the cloak in her arms and continuing as she draped it over her arm. “B-but that’s why I’m going to show you I can do it! I’ve done big missions before, I can do some recon too.” She stood confidently, placing the cloak back on the hanger and tugging her own tighter onto her back, flexing it forward. “Trust me a little, I won’t let Eggman kidnap me again!”

Shadow’s eyes turned softer then, his shoulders going limp.

“Sonic said you passed out, turned insane again… how can I-?”

“I do reckless things, but most of the time, I’m only trying to make you proud.” She took his hand, shaking it lightly. “And do what’s right.”

“…Do you even comprehend what’s right?” He muttered the sentence out, but worried about her maturity level…

It was more tender a question than she had realized, and she quickly was caught off-guard.

Not wanting to continue the topic further, feeling a bit of hurt by those untrusting words, she let his hands go and tried to look chirpy.

“Well, brother. I promise to at least try and not get into trouble… of my own accord… if I can… deal?” her inputs made it all the more unbelievable.

He shook his head but conceded with a shake.

“I just don’t want you getting hurt…”

“I won’t!” She embraced him, knowing he wouldn’t embrace her back but still.

Shadow flinched at the touch, but relaxes after a moment, knowing this is just how Ember shows her affections.

She only gave hugs like this to him, anyway.

He was about to put a hand up to her head, attempting to reciprocate some family love before Rouge intervened, flying down with a sweet smile on her face.

She stretched her wings out a moment before retracting them back behind her. “Aww… look at the cute little siblings… finally getting along?” she teased.

Shadow quickly turned his head and hand away. “Ugh…”

Ember released him and glared at Rouge, sticking her tongue out. “You ruined our moment!”

“Oh? Did I?” Acting innocently, Rouge placed a finger up to her mouth. “Hadn’t noticed.” She winked, being playful. “Shadow, command wants to know about that portal…”

“Ember’s on it.” Shadow looked over his shoulder at her, and then back to Ember. “I hope.”

“Hope is enough!” she waved him off and dug through her tail, getting the letter she stashed out and dumping it in as quick as lightning.

“What was-?” Shadow peered down the mail chute but Ember was already booking it away.

“Bye, bro!”

“Wait! Ember!” He called after her, but she had already raced out.

“Wild one. How ever are you going to tame her to be a good little soldier like ourselves?” Rouge put her hands together and struck a very fake pose, she was clearly mocking the fact that Shadow was in charge of Ember’s training.

He sighed, still watching where she had run off too. “Sometimes… I worry I don’t know her full strength… as well as I pretend too.”

“You of all people should know her best. She doesn’t hide anything from you.” She walked up next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, showing more comradery than teasing now. “To her, you’re family.”

“…She is the only thing I have to an actual family.” He muttered out, as though admitting it aloud for the first time.

“Oh my! What a declaration.” Rouge took her hand off him and covered her mouth, but smiled at his tender comment. “Such a softy under all those quills…”

“Hmph.” He moved away from her, trying to signal he was done talking but she flew off after him anyway.

“Do you know who she’s writing with my little present?”

He froze, looking back at her.

“Someone who may be close… but differently, compared to you.” She fluttered her wings and took off, giving him just enough to drive him crazy with questions.

He openly showed his teeth, frowning deeply. “At least she has a friend… that’s what she meant… wasn’t it?”

However…

Below where the letters are delivered, a few shadowy figures lurked. One suddenly caught the falling mail and tapped it against his shoulder, opening it up and pretending to barf. He shredded the letter and snickered, writing his own back with a click of a pen.

“Hehehehe… Dear Manic… Get lost.”

The other shadowy figures snickered a moment.

The mailman came and the new letter was sent, as the old one’s remains drifted down in steady, shredded pieces…

“And now, boys… let’s go catch a spark of flame~” A devious voice spoke through the darkness, and the gang all raced out to follow Ember’s figure disappearing into the woods…

----

Ember couldn’t remember much, which she wasn’t used to with such a profound memory. She could only recollect something hard had struck from behind, knocking her out pretty hard and leaving her mostly unconscious. Now, as she woke up, she noticed the jerking of a brown, dirtied bag squishing and bobbing her between mysterious footfalls that carried her in the bag.

“She’ll probably have portal-lag. Might as well set her down here till she wakes up.” The voice wasn’t familiar to her. It wasn’t from Sonic or from his gang, so she figured she was just kidnapped.

‘Kidnapped!?’ she plugged her mouth immediately after thinking that awful thought. ‘No, no, no! I just told Shadow I wouldn’t be kidnapped! Ohhh! Now I’m mad!’ She squirmed a bit in the tight space, her tail taking up most of the free space. ‘I’ll thump’em! I’ll trounce them! I’ll- I’ll-!’

“Are you mad?” Suddenly, she did pick up on a voice. Her bag was gently lowered and she could feel the swinging weight of her body finally rest upon cold ground.

Was that… Sonic?

Was this a joke!?

“We have a powerful entity on our hands… I just want the fiery babe to feel comfortable enough to not burn the whole place down to smithereens!” His sudden tone change,… that sarcasm,… the joke about the portal-lag…

Was she in another dimension?

“Tsk. I don’t see why you’re so fixated on chaos power again.” Another voice spoke out a grumbly tone, feminine this time. But…

Could she maybe..?

She tried to wiggle her finger around the opening of the bag, seeing if her claw could get the band on the bag a few more inches loose.

“…You don’t get it?” Sonic’s voice turned dark again, and she flinched a minute as her ears tried to adjust to the strange rhythm it had. Sonic was always full of life, vigor, and general velocity in his actions and words to match his quick feet. This… couldn’t be Sonic.

She felt a shift and the bag toppled over. Ember had to keep silent but could feel a breathy ‘yelp!’ escape her lips just barely. She instinctively plugged her mouth again, and quickly.

“What do you think I’m running here, Fi? You worthless Destructixs are in this for me. Got it? We broke out of jail for the sole purpose of lighting this world on fire with my iron fist pounding it into submission! To light the world… we need a match.” Ember could hear a fist pound into something, probably the other hand, but felt the shift in atmosphere… as though eyes were on her.

‘Light the world on fire..?’ She thought a moment, ‘Destructixs? Where have I heard… Ah!’ Ember suddenly recognized this speech pattern wasn’t Sonic’s at all! She remembered perfectly the name, where she had heard it too. Immediately, she decided she couldn’t—No, wouldn’t stay quiet and hide forever!

She had faked her unconsciousness to get information, but now, she was getting impatient.

‘Gerald Robotnik created me for good! To defend! I know who these guys are now…’ She flexed her claws, getting ready...

It only took a moment of further silence before the bag was shredded in seconds, and Ember rose up with a quick swipe toward where Sonic’s voice had previously come from.

“Scourge!” she cried out, “You rascal!”

“Woah. The kitty’s awake.” He smirked, stepping back to dodge her assult before tugging on his black, flaming jacket. “Boys?” he gestured to the gang as Ember’s arms were thrown behind her.

“Pfft. Who thinks they can hold me down—Ohhhhh…” She struggled a moment before turning her head around to look up at a large, imposing figure. “A big boy.”

The extremely large and tall giant growled down at her, at least, that’s how she saw him.

“Simian, make sure our guest knows her place.” He began to walk toward what looked like a stone throne. Around Ember was a large, black and blue stoned castle, or the remains of what looked like one.

She was able to fight a bit back and get her arms almost away from her back, but Sgt. Simian’s strength was certainly a match for her.

“Okay… Not so easy to break out of.” She grumbled, disliking the change in the situation.

“Stone, babe.” Scourge tapped the stone beneath them, looking at her over his shoulder. “Want to have a go at making this place light up?” he teased, moving over to his throne and sitting rather reclined in it. “Welcome to my realm. Not much. But all mine.” He put a hand up to his chin to rest his head on, “Well… anymore.” He snickered as the rest of the team seemed to chuckle back.

He motioned for the rest of the gang to come forward. “You know how hard it is to track down a little firefly like you?”

Ember spat on the ground, “Call me a firefly one more time…” she tried to resist being dragged forward from behind, her feet scuffing at the stones below her, but there was no traction strong enough to withstand Sgt. Simian’s brute strength. He basically dragged her towards Scourge at his request like a vacuum cleaner across a rug.

“Tsk. Like I care!” Scourge responded, watching as she was pushed forward towards him.

In protest at being man-handled, her feet began to spark against the stone, but no fire was produced.

‘Shoot!’ she thought to herself, ‘I’m surrounded! And on top of that? I’m not even in my own realm! Guess back-up’s out of the question…’

“You think we have time for a new carpet? This place is fireproof, baby! Hahaha!” He leaned his head back and laughed and laughed.

“Whoo… I have to hand it to ya. You’re one hard dame to find…” he clapped a little with his hands, as though congratulating her and rubbing some ‘tears’ out of his eyes after his such a good laugh. “Had to send every mercenary I could intimidate on the hunt for you. Glad you remember me though.” He winked.

“So… I was kidnapped, I’m in a different world, and you’ve sent spies to figure out where I was. Am I missing anything?” Ember raised an eyebrow, being rather composed as she relaxed. She was hoping it would make Sgt. Simian’s grip on her arms loosen, at least let his guard down, but that didn’t seem to be the case…

A red fox walked up to Scourge, turning around to face Ember and folding her arms, clearly not liking the other girl’s presence. Ember assumed this was the girl he called ‘Fi’, simply because she was the only girl in the group. So? Deduction stands that she must be the feminine voice she had heard previously...

“Show some manners and don’t directly talk to the king.”

“Wow. You even got her playing pretend.” Ember snapped a quick line back as the girl tensed up, her tail flicking in rage but Scourge just raised a hand.

“Feisty, feisty, feisty… I like it. But you’d do well to remember what situation you’re in.” he took his raised hand and leaned forward, snapping. “Snap!”

Suddenly, there was a harsh spark of pain in her arms. Ember was lifted up in a painful hold as Sgt. Simian held her suspended in the air.

Her eyes flinched, but she kept any grunt or utterance of pain at a minimum.

“Aaaaannnddd… Hold for dramatic effect… Snap!”  Scourge reclined again and snapped, having Sgt. Simian put her down again.

Her arms twitched under the uncomfortable position, and she swore a few jerks would have had her shoulders pop out of their sockets.

“Do I have your attention now, little spark?”

“It’s Ember.” Ember gritted her teeth. “And when Shadow finds out what you’ve done-!”

He suddenly rose to his feet, “I’ve defeated Shadow! And Sonic! At the exact same time!” he swiped his arms out, growing annoyed. “Don’t you dare think you can threaten me!!!”

“Tsk.” Ember emoted, not seeming to have known that before. She sweatdropped, nervous now if Shadow could even jump realms… ‘Maybe I should have laid low a little longer…’

“Scourge.” A hawk stepped forward, as though gently reminding his leader of his purpose.

“Hmph. I know!” Scourge dismissed the comment, swiping a hand at him, “In my own due time!”

He turned back to his throne, “As you recall, I was trying to lure out Sonic through a staged ‘setup’ if you will…”

----

It was a vivid memory—though Ember’s memory never failed her anyway. No matter… how hard she would try and forget.

Scourge had run into her vigilante G.U.N attire, not having fully recognized her as she continued to foil his criminal activities of trying to seize control over the world. Sonic and his friend would naturally call upon the Freedom Fighters to put a stop to his plans, but this time was different.

G.U.N had actually assigned her to stop a village fire,…

Little did she know it was a trap.

The citizen’s screamed in terror as wood and falling debris littered the skies, their homes and city collapsed around them in the flames.

Their city was deep within a crater formed in the earth, with sharp, jagged cliffs encircling them. There seemed to be a drainage system in place for floods, but for some reason, the drains had been clogged and the fire had no where to escape too. If they tried using water to put out the massive fires, which started up sporadically in different locations, then they would be trapped within the crater.

What made matters worse is that the fires had burnt the electrical powers, so even their way out was blocked besides long, carved stairwells which would be too dangerous for a mass of panicked people to scale in an efficient manner.

So what was Ember to do..?

“Help! Someone!” A woman cried from within a building as Ember quickly leaped up and scaled the tall skyscraper with her claws.

“Haaannnggg ooonnn!!!” she ripped through the flaming surroundings and grabbed the woman, rushing down and helping her to safety. “Does anyone know who started this?” Ember set her down lightly as the woman frantically turned around, wanting to aid as much as possible now that she was out of harm’s way.

“They called themselves ‘Destructix’. They said-“ as the woman began to cough and mutter, a voice suddenly rose from the flames atop a hill.

“Too bad! Looks like Blue didn’t have time to save any of you. Guess you’ll just burn straight to the underworld then!!!” A figure stood looming above on a cliff. He looked like a light green hedgehog with bright sunglasses, having the city’s flames dance in their shades, tugging on his jacket. He flicked his wrist as a few other figures came up: a monkey, red fox, frog, dog, hawk, and wolf. They stepped ahead of him and poured what looked to be gallons of gasoline down onto the streets below.

Like a skillet having oil poured on it, firing up everything for a split second of pure horror. The flash blinded the citizens as the heat swept their breaths up and burst the rest of their hope they had at survival.

People shrieked as he smirked, turning away before Ember’s rage couldn’t contain itself anymore.

Her fingers twitched, head pulsed with trauma as she saw children rushing away from the quickly moving flames…

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

She couldn’t control it. It was too much on her heart.

The cursed emerald pulsed, cloaking her in a bright white as her eyes covered in pitch black smoke that rippled along her eye sockets. In this hysterical super form, she covered herself in chaos energy and burst through the trailing gasoline.

It was like an arrow through water, she would thrust one hand out and burning gasoline would splash out of her way onto the buildings and away from the cowering citizens. One hand at a time, she propelled herself through the streets. Her power turned the flames into nothing more than burnt oil stains against the city’s skyscrapers, extinguishing them as fire swarmed her being. With enough force, she had spared the majority of the city while they continued to evacuate. Some had burns, but it looked as though no one had died, miraculously.

“B-Boss!” The shaking hand of the Wolf gestured behind him towards the powerful streak of Ember’s power charging like a swift beam of light towards them.

“…Hmm?” Scourge turned around, his glasses suddenly shining with the light she was emitting as he strode back up to the edge and peered down at her. He smirked, his eyes completely consumed in the image of her magnificent flaming display of power and skill.

She scaled the ledge, climbing in a ferocious tantrum towards them. Below, people cheered and huddled close to their loved ones, scaling the escape route out from their precious homes now destroyed to mere ash.

Some of Scourge’s men got ready to fight, but he rose a hand up to stop them. “Wait!” His sharp teeth glistened when his tongue licked over their dry frames. The chaos energy and the flames left a streak of dry wind, smoky to the smell, and excited Scourge for a moment.

“Well, well… I think I remember you.” He backed off, “We’ll meet again, little spark!” he then escaped in the nick of time, just before Ember ripped through the skyscraper in her way, leaping straight through it, and landing off into the mountain’s cliffside. She attempted to pursue him in her fury, but his buddies and him had portal capabilities, and were gone without a trace.

Ember huffed and puffed, standing away from the fires still licking at the lightly fuming city before she collapsed and gripped her head. “How could… How could people like that still exist..? I thought… G.U.N was the only organization capable of being so cruel… I’ll find them. I’ll stop them no matter what it takes!!!” Ember’s oath was never forgotten, but she hadn’t found a rumor about the mysterious Destructix’s since.

----

So while Scourge finished his recollection of the story, Ember was still locked inside her own perfect memory of the event. The smoke that rose from that black pit… the reports of missing individuals that some witnesses say they saw escaping up the stairs… the families being left with nothing but soot on their faces and half-burnt clothes on their backs…

Scourge didn’t seem to notice her shaking pupils, but did see how quiet she was, staring off at the ground as she began to realize what a mad man he really was.

He took off his sunglasses, his eyes widening in glee. “That power was something else, babe. Mind telling me why you’re not summoning it now?”

She flicked her nose up, ‘Is that what he’s after?!’ and looked away. ‘At first it was to find Sonic… but now he might do something horrible like that… to find me.’ She couldn’t bare to think about it, biting her jaw tightly shut as she tried to hold in her rage. ‘What… what awful things did he do while he searched for her instead of Sonic..? Was it her fault..? That more people were hurt by his crazy, terrorist attacks?’

“Playing coy?” He teased, jumping down from his throne and walking over to her, standing by her side and checking her out. “That power’s not asleep, is it? Hate to wake it up…”

His threats fell on deaf ears, which she twitched to show her ignorance of his roaming eyes…

Her tail maneuvered itself between Sgt. Simian’s legs… waiting for a good opportunity…

“I remember how you looked, sweetheart. Covered in the light of flames and spouting oil this way and that.” He gestured with his hands, flinging them out left and right to show a live demonstration of her feat. “You almost made me think you cared for all those people down there…”

She growled.

After seeing his eyes light up at her reaction to him, she forcing her mouth shut again, but she refused to let him taunt her.

He wanted a fight, but she wouldn’t give it to him.

He put his glasses back down over his eyes, his smirk fading slightly. “You’re not one to talk back or pick fights, are you? Caution is the most annoying trait, babe.”

Ember sighed, “You want my power. That’s annoying in and of itself too.” She lowered her head, playing into the ‘I give up’ motive and waiting for Simian to drop his guard.

She felt his hands loosen with her bending body and knew the moment wouldn’t be too far off now.

Just a little longer…

“Well, yeah. I find it hot.” He suddenly lurched forward, straight at her face. It startled her, but he reached directly at her chest and grabbed her emerald, sticking just slightly above her shirt as she felt the Master Emerald’s power suddenly rejecting it, inflicting Ember’s essence with its powerful, pure chaos energy.

“AHHHH!!!” she flung her head back as he poured some of his chaos energy into her, causing immense pain as the cursed emerald seemed to be repelled when it wanted to fight back and defend itself.

“Hahaha! So it is cursed!” Scourge kept his grip tight, laughing as the fox girl saw where his hands were and quickly grew defensive.

“That’s enough, Scourge!”

Her jealous burst made him stop laughing, turning to look at her with a frustrated expression as his hand released Ember.

She fell to her knees, taking a moment to recover from that torture before she felt Sgt. Simian’s hand let go of her, now holding her with one. He did so to avoid falling with her, since he was much larger than her anyway.

Now was the time, she just needed her strength first.

“Fiona, baby, I’m working here.” Scourge began to walk up to her, seeming calm but Fiona knew his act all too well.

She stepped away a moment, seeing him immediately grow hostile and grab her neck.

He screamed in her face, dipping her down and gripping her to him, hollering down her throat. “Don’t interfere!”

When he let her go, she fell and coughed, clutching her sore neck before pointing towards Ember, “She’s nothing! You’ve seen me take down stronger foes than her! Let me fight her! I’ll prove how useful I can be-!”

“Pfft. Save it, toots. You and I both know little spark’s far more devastating than some freaky kung fu moves.” He waved her off, making Fiona look down and slam her fist to the ground.

“She’s the freak with the moves… I can do it. I can beat her if you’ll let me just-“

“Quiet!” He swiped an arm out, silencing her again. “You’re getting on my nerves. Take a chill pill and walk, Fi!” Immediately, as though understanding the context of his words, some of his men came up behind Fiona. She looked behind her, getting upset as she struggled and glared to Ember.

Ember didn’t have anything against the girl, besides that she followed a lunatic, but the look she gave her made Ember feel even more irritated.

Fiona shook off the men’s arms and got up, silently walking away with the men, clearly having some resolves.

“Hmph. Women, am I right?” he folded his arms and then looked back to Ember with a joking, sinister smile.

Now!

Ember tripped up Sgt. Simian, wrapping her strong tail around a leg and pulling him back to fall down behind her. He was already bending over to keep one hand on her, it was his own fault for thinking she couldn’t recover fast enough.

She got her arms back and pounced towards Scourge, raising a clawed hand up. “HAAA!!!”

“Oh! Something interesting!” he chimed, jumping back and out of her way as her claws dug into the concrete of the old castle, near his throne.

The stone bricks flew out of place and crashed all around, tink, tink, tinking onto the ground as rubble and chalky dirt launched everywhere into the open air.

Scourge wiped his mouth of the grey dirt and readied himself, looking thrilled at some violence. “Finally… I was thinking you were just gonna lay down for me, sparkz.”

“Ember.” She growled.

“Right, right. Well, you either have two options. As far as I see? It’s join me-“ he flicked off some rubble that was sticking to his shoulder, “Or death.”

Ember also got into a fighting position, summoning all her strength she had regained from resting a moment to her hands and feet.

“And it’s not really a request…”

Ember felt her power soar through her being, the cursed emerald still pumping chaos through her in a means to recover after that last attack.

She flung her arm out again, but it was a feint. Soon as he tried to dodge, she gripped the ground and swung a foot into his stomach.

“Offph!” She watched him recline back from the pain, his lips pushing forward at the intensity of the hit.

“Heh.” She had the advantage and wouldn’t let it slip away! “Here’s a taste of my power you want so badly! Have itttttt!” she roundhouse kicked, knocking his head back but he lifted an arm up to grab her other leg as she circled for another blow and threw her down.

Quickly getting back up, she saw his hands come together and slam down on the concrete where she had just rolled away from.

‘This is gonna take more than strength…’ she recognized that his strength was equal to that of her powered cursed emerald. He must have been powered by the Master Emerald too… but how?!

She didn’t have time to dwell on that. She wanted to prove, not just to herself but to Shadow too, that she could complete a mission on her own!

She summoned some power to her chest and filled her claws with chaos energy, making them grow out like beams of light. “Try dodging this, don’t underestimate me!” She leaped up and feinted a swipe as though about to cast Shadow’s Chaos Spears.

It worked. Scourge recognized the familiar motion and went to dodge what he thought was the onslaught of chaos energy spears, but she pushed off the wall nearest to her, her eyes twitching, ‘There! An opening!’

She kicked off the wall and threw herself fully at him, “Haaaa!!!!” she slashed his already permanent scar with fresh new claw marks across his chest.

“Agh!” he was blasted back, the pulse from her Chaos Claws sending the cursed emerald’s power through his body and having it repel his own stolen Master Emerald power.

The two didn’t mix well, the power kept blasting the other back, but at least she knew she could push him back if she summoned her power faster than he could counter it.

He still had that advantage… but for that moment, he wasn’t using it at its full potential. Even Ember could see that…

She landed a bit away from him, watching him grip at his chest. He seemed surprised to see no blood. “The damage was more to your energy.” She slowly rose up, the power in her claws fading as she returned to her usual twitch of sharpening her nails. “But I still got’cha…”

Indeed, she saw the wounds reopen on his chest, only a little blood oozed out but just enough for Scourge to look down and see the delayed reaction.

His face shifted to lines of anger stretched up from the dip in his narrowed eyebrows.

As though refusing to let loose his full power just yet, his energy subsided and he just looked back up at Ember, fixated on her form.

“Interesting…” he licked his lips, getting up. “Very interesting…” he still held his chest, some blood on his glove now, but the bleeding would stop momentarily as the chaos energy began to reform again.

She disengaged and stepped away, feeling the power in her claws slowly dwindle. “Tsk.” She kept sharpening them as sparks flew around her. ‘His attack on me from before weakened the cursed emerald… I can’t do what I normally can now… is that why he so directly attached the Master Emerald’s power to it? By doing so, he probably knew it would cripple me somewhat… I’ll have to play a bit of a waiting game to get my lost power back.’

She smirked.

‘Perfect. I’ll keep him talking…’

“So? You really think you’re going to somehow get me to join your little uprising?” She decided to play along, swishing her tail and moving back as to lure him up and think she wasn’t going to strike anymore.

“Heh… do you really think me that stupid?” He growled. She could feel his own chaos power recharging, and knew he was probably adopting the same strategy.

“You’re lucky, you know… I haven’t even begun to fight!” he suddenly let loose a Chaos Blast, shattering the ground and exploding outward as Ember couldn’t react fast enough to block against it.

She was blown into the wall, crashing hard against it and getting a headache when she landed back to the ground with a hard thump!

She groaned, trying to sense her surroundings again when a foot was pressed on her back, keeping her down.

Then… she felt a hand move through the back of her hair, gripping some strangled strings as smoothly as moving through water. But then her head was ripped back, forcing her to turn toward him.

“Erk!” it hurt like none other, but she could hear him shifting his muzzle through her hair, pulling her head back to lean and press against it.

“My, my… Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?” he mocked with an alluring pleasure to his voice. “I’m not.”

“Back off!” she threatened, flailing a moment but his touch never wavered.

“You’re so enticing, Ember… like a warm fire that burns anyone who dares to touch it.” His words hissed in a pleasure-seeking tone that made her uncomfortable. What was that? Some sort of intimidating praise or actual flirting?

From back in the front of the castle, the gang watched on, having all scattered back after that fight.

They knew when not to intervene with Scourge, but Fiona couldn’t contain herself.

She lurched forward, only to have a hand grip her shoulder and the frog shake his head. This time she gritted her teeth, seeing how they all weren’t keen on Ember, but wouldn’t dare disobey Scourge again.

She held silent reservations, but looked on and held herself back. “I hate her…” she mumbled.

The rest of the team sighed in tense pockets of air, letting them go gradually. They seemed to be silently agreeing with her.

Maybe this girl was more a problem than a useful pawn…

“You know what’s crazy good about you, Toots?” Scourge smelled her hair in a deep, creepy whiff. Ember reached her hands back to get him off her hair but he gripped her wrists and spun her around, pinning her on the ground.

“Ack!” she felt the cruel stone scrape against her back. Her clothes survived the Chaos Blast, but some of it had ripped somewhat.

“You know what..?” He moved close to her face, his fangs skimming her forehead as his tongue taunted her eye.

It was disgusting, she twitched her eye and finally turned away, giving into some fear deep inside herself.

“After I broke out of jail for the hundredth time… I decided, hey, wonder how my dear emotionally distraught castaway was doing.” He pulled back and winked. “Found you again… a dog to those goody-two-shoes, and it’s been sparkz ever since, Cinder~”

“Ember.” She growled, as though cursing loudly, she tried to push against his strength.

For a moment, it was working. She could feel her power returning to her, inching him off little by little and getting her hands to lock in his own and steadily push him away.

But he only smiled, watching her struggle must have looked like a game to him.

“Whatever. Still on fire.”

“Ugh, What is?”

“My heart and your body, babe.”

She rolled her eyes, “I’ll make a fire in you, alright… one that burns you to a crisp!” she started to summon her own Chaos Blast, struggling under him.

However… his head jerked down and his fangs gripped her emerald.

“Ack!” she blushed before another huge wave of the Master Emerald’s power shot through her and electrified her body. “AHHH!!!”

Again, Fiona could not remain still, so as she went to leap forward, about to call out his name when the rest of the Anti-gang grabbed her and pulled her back, covering her mouth.

“Tolerate it.” the Lynx threatened. “He’s only getting what he wants.”

Her eyes were green with jealousy, but her face was red with anger and revenge.

Scourge let go and Ember collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily as it felt her entire insides had been fried.

“Ever since you raged from that burning town,” He wiped the spit off his mouth, letting her go and looming over her. “I’ve always had the hots for ya.”

She coughed and breathed heavily, sliding herself out from under him and leaning against the stony wall. She gripped it for support, rubbing her imbedded cursed emerald before gathering enough strength to speak again. “Me? Or my power?” she turned back to him, playfully folding her arms, faking that she was fine.

“Boo, it’s all in the same body.” He lowered his sunglasses down to get a better look at her. “What’s the difference?”

He must have called her bluff, because he moved right back where he was, pinning her against the stone and letting his nose skim her muzzle. He whispered, “What to do… what to do…” As though taunting her feeble state. “What ever should I do to you first..?” he smirked, looking back at her.

Ember ignored the power-plays, quickly changing the subject and trying to restore her strength back, struggling to push him away again. “My power isn’t me. I-I mean… I’m more than my abilities!” Her head rolled a moment, feeling nauseated from the two chaos powers conflicting each other.

“Sure, sure. But my abilities could send you to a whole new world…” He gave her a suggestive eyebrow movement.

Ember couldn’t let him just toss her around like a ragdoll! No matter how much his chaos power repulsed and diffused her own… she would have to fight!

Ember chuckled, trying to still play cocky as best as she could, even if she was stuck against a wall and a madman. “I’m already in another dimension.”

“I know, right? Exciting, isn’t it?”

He suddenly let her go.

It was then that Ember felt her body fall back to the ground. Was she unable to keep going?

She tried to slide her feet under her, but they skid back to being weakly shaken upon the ground.

She began to panic. ‘No… No-no-no, get up! You can’t let him win!’ She was growing more and more anxious and worried, but he just watched her face as her internal struggle grew more and more dire.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Someone can’t admit when she’s beat.” He chuckled right back, turning his head a bit upside down to get a better look at her. She hid her face and he gripped it with his hand, forcing it back into view and up to look at him.

He stroked with his pinkie the side of her cheek, still humming a bit of gleeful victory before flicking his head, flirtatiously. “Join me and we can have a bonfire later tonight~”

He moved dangerously close to her lips, “You and me… no sounds but the constant cries of you wanting more…”

She gagged. “Do you honestly think girl’s fall for that?”

Fiona had been taken away, pushed against another wall by her comrades, her fierce rage rising with each sentence she heard from the other room. She gripped at her captors backs and threatened to scratch and peel their skin off, but for her sake, they didn’t let go. “Sorry, not into ‘green’ fads.” Ember spat out.

“Ouch.” Scourge’s smirk was replaced quickly with a frown. “Touchy, touchy.”

“You seem to be.” Ember tried to bite at his wandering hands, but he pulled them back, apparently turned on her by actions as his eyes widen with intrigue.

His head perked up, and he mimicked a cat’s ‘rawr’.

“Ohhh… look who’s talking back. I like you.”

“Clearly…”

“Only… my love’s a little conditional. Pricey as it seems, I’m a man of material desire.” As he slipped a hand around her waist, she punched him back, summoning everything into that blow that forced him away.

“Grrk!” he gripped his eye, where she had punched.

Ember rose up and began to deal more hits, taking him off-guard as she spun and whacked him with her foot, leaving him prone before diving onto him with her knee, continuing the onslaught.

As though summoned by the sudden shift, the Anti-gang pounced and let Fiona go.

“W-what!?” Ember was tackled down, fighting for her life again as the Anti-gang began to beat down on her, protecting their so-called, ‘king’.

When they moved away, Ember was left utterly beaten and weak. Bruises forming along her muzzle and arms now… The only visible ones, anyway.

“Y… You cheated.” Ember stated, gritting through the pain as she crawled to try and get back up again, but was failing miserably. “I overpowered you… overcame… I would have won if-!” she was kicked across the room by Fiona, leaving her rolling along the cobble floor. “You… played fair.” She finished her sentence, but at what cost? She gripped her stomach and got up to her knees, panting as Fiona’s face looked like seconds away from murder. The Anti-gang turned to Scourge, who was getting up with a wobble in his step, gripping a hand over his eye.

“I’m starting to lose patience with you…” he muttered under his breath. “You say you don’t like green… but I know a certain hippie drummer boy you tend to write through G.U.N’s mail delivery service..! Too bad most of those letters don’t always end up in his hands…”

Ember was confused at first, not understanding before her eyes widened. “Are you talking about..?”

He didn’t let her finish, “I’m not one to be jealous, honestly. Only possessive. Which brings me back to my earlier demand…”

Suddenly, the Chaos Emeralds floated out from behind Scourge’s flowing jacket, revealing themselves as they gently swayed in a circle around his body. He approached his throne but stopped, turning his head back to her with another evil look of desire and pre-victory gloating.

“I want you… but all of you.” He turned back around and spread his arms out, the emeralds stopping their turning and remaining still… his presence was extremely intimidating, and Ember could feel she wasn’t at full power yet… The healing would need more time!

‘He knew about Manic? What else did he know!?’ She couldn’t continue on like this. Her panic was reaching its maximum capacity. She could feel the Cursed Emerald wanting to retaliate with the dark madness she knew all too well. ‘He knew how to reverse the Cursed Emerald’s power onto me… He knew about G.U.N, Shadow… what else is he hiding up his sleeve?!’ she felt the world caving in on her. ‘Shadow… Sonic… Manic…’ she closed her eyes, remembering her dear friends she had collected along the way. ‘What if they can’t save me..? He clearly gathered and stole all the Chaos Emeralds from our world… he’s… so powerful now. He can trump me at every turn!’

She looked to his team, slowly withdrawing with a sick sense of gloating in their boss’s power, staring at her and waiting for him to deal a finishing blow. ‘I… I can’t do this, can I? Shadow was right…’

Then… a letter returned to Ember’s memory.

Those words…

“Won’t happen.” She suddenly felt a courage spark in her.

“I won’t let you win.” She felt her fist tighten. The words her friend wrote her sang in her ears now, the last letter she had read from Manic…

Dear Ember,

What’s up? Sorry I haven’t written in a while! I hear it’s been pretty rough for you. Shadow sounds a bit like a downer, man. In all honesty, you gotta keep your head up. No matter what rain falls in the summer, it just turns to snow in the winter, and then a pleasant shower in the spring. I guess that’s super poetic, heh. But you like that kinda stuff, right? Anyway, what I mean is, don’t let things that seem hard keep you down. You have a really unique spirit, Ember. Kinda like your name, you’re a spark to the flame. Riding and gliding, you’ll always be the same, but evolve toward your name. Ember, Ember. Spark and shine. Embers and cinders, lighting the night! It’s hard not to write lyrics for ya, I know you laugh at me when I do, but it’s so easy for me to get inspired off of ya. You must be some kind of muse to me. Is that okay? Whatever, I’m not a very good letter writer, but I hope you know…

You aren’t just the embers, but the spark to the flame.

- Manic The Hedgehog

Her head reared up, his lyrics giving her strength as her heart pumped rapidly and her power swiftly returned to her.

“You want to see fire and brimstone?” She blasted her energy out, her super form taking effect again. It would cost her this time… but for once, she felt her mind just a little more clearer—it peeked through the haze of crazy power, and gave her the confidence to remain calm.

“We’ll see about that.” Scourge’s evil, scheming smirk reappeared. He lowered his eyes, attracted to her rebelliousness but also trying to not get frustrated again. “I’m not very patient.”

“I’m not very outspoken, and yet, here we are.” She smirked back, unwilling to be intimidated by his confidence. She proved she could beat him once. Time to do it again…

“This time, I’m going to push you around!” She took a few steps forward, her power sucking away at her now, like one last shot of adrenaline to end it all or be ended herself. “I’m speaking out against your bad fashion sense.” She egged him on.

“That’s it! I’ve put up enough with this! I’ll just take you here and now!” he blasted a deep purple, much like her Cursed Emerald’s power. His chaos had turned negatively charged and dangerously unstable.

At least she had some practice with being an uncontrollable mass of destruction.

“Bite me.” She threw her hand out, spiking out artificial chaos claws a few inches ahead, glowing purple in radiance once again. Her white form and black eye-sockets fanned like a raging fire, waiting for him to come at her.

“I’ll try!” his smile turned devilishly crazy, as though it was blood-hungry now.

The two clashed in what looked like an array of lights, flashing and blinding the other Anti-gang members as they held their arms out to shield themselves from the aftermath. The force tossed them back and around, skidding on their feet to avoid falling back.

“They’re gonna kill each other!” One of them shouted out, but it was hard to tell who with the constantly clashing lights that blinded their sights, and the rapid whipping of force pounding them in different directions as Ember and Scourge duked it out with everything they had.

“Dang it, Scourge! He’s going to take the whole fort down with him!” That one sounded as though it was Fiona, but before anyone could say anything more…

There was a large explosion, blasting the stone walls as Scourge shoved stones off of himself. He looked enraged, huffing and puffing a moment, wiping some blood off his chin.

“Heh… heh… Okay, doll. You’ve got my attention.” He breathed as though exhausted, bruised up and singed in different locations on his fur. “That power has a kick to it. Mind if I take a bit of it?” He shot up through the air, “Or how about all of it!?”

He rocketed down to Ember who had let her super form take over her actions. Though she was conscious and aware of herself, her reflex was stronger than her mind could keep up with. It was the ultimate instinct, a great offense to his aggressive—and unconcentrated—attack style.

She was battered and bruised though, but countered most of Scourge’s hits. This wasn’t looking good for either of them. They had different ways of utilizing chaos energy, both in dangerous ways, but with grave consequences on both of them. Especially mentally…

“Urk!” Under his sunglasses, which had fallen with the swing of his head down to his eyes, he suddenly winced in a bit of fear. “W…What-what gives you all this power!? Why won’t you just give in to me!?” It was almost pathetic, his sudden realization of how far Ember’s power could take her, but Ember liked to hear she was getting the advantage again.

She strained against his energy, him charging at her again, her pushing him back and holding her own as she tried to summon enough strength and sanity to speak again.

“It’s… because…”

Shadow… Sonic… Rouge.

“I have…”

Cream, Amy, Knuckles, Tails…

“P-people…”

Her memories, Maria… Dr. Gerald Robotnik.

All of her experiences.

All of her strife and happiness, pain and sorrows.

…Manic…

“I want… to protect!”

She sent a large energy wave out of her, rippling through the air as he remained stunned at the intensity of her Cursed Emerald’s power.

It was almost as though her very chest was shaking, the Cursed Emerald looking as though it was being rocked from her very core. Her soul taking full swing at him, him locked in her grip as she refused to let go.

“How’s that possible!?” he cried out, but it was too late now…

“I have all 7 Chaos Emeralds! You have only one!”

“Guess you didn’t do your research, but this little emerald was cursed for a reason!” She formed a beam at the tip of her protruding emerald, Scourge’s eyes glazed over with its wild radiance as he pulled his head back, whincing as he knew…This was gonna hurt. A lot.

“HAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

She spread a beam of dark purple energy out from her chest, propelling it into him as she held his fighting hands in place. A direct shot. A finishing blow. All she had left to give.

 She left him with nowhere to dodge.

 She had grappled him, causing his flimsy form to fly out in front of her, being forced to remain in the shock-blast of her immense power.

To keep from having the power push her back against the wall, she dug her feet into the ground of the cobble floor.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” the hit finally died down and caused Scourge to fall flat down on his face when she released him and backed away.

She gripped her arm, feeling the fatigue as her form disappeared and she fell down too. “You may be ticked… hah… hah… but no amount of fighting… hah… will keep me from forgetting… hah… hah… my friends.”

That was all. The last of everything. At least, she thought it was. Her vision so blurry and her body so numb.

The Cursed Emerald faded… as though Ember was left only to her mortal capabilities now.

“Grr…” he gripped the ground beneath him, “…Ow.” feeling the Chaos Emeralds shoot out from him, he forced his crisp self to get up, still steaming from the hit.

 “YOU LITTLE-!” he reached out to her. “Whether you join or not, I’ll just kill you and dance on your corpse!”

While the two were distracted, they didn’t notice a portal open and his Anti-gang getting beaten in their attempt to block out their powerful and heated light energy.

“You can’t win! Ahh! Ow! Hot! You can’t burn me! I’m raw to the core, babe! I’m-… I’m not done,… I’m well done! Haha! Ouch… Get over here…” he began to crawl to her, and it was pretty impressive that he had even survived her attack.

‘How?’ Ember’s eyes were too exhausted to shake in fear, her body too tried to fully react to his advances toward her. ‘He’s totally beaten… He can barely move… the Chaos Emeralds… He must have used them to block some of the attack… but they’re drained too. How… How powerful is this guy?’

“I won.” She countered.

He fidgeted in his painful crawl towards her.

His face and belly were scraping against the floor, his knees skidded with fresh burns that only made the stone sting further against the cold, rough touch. The surface was like sandpaper on his blackened hide, but he kept moving, he kept crawling… his gloves ripped and his sunglasses blasted like a comic book page’s BAM. He kept coming. He wouldn’t back down.

“I’m not just gonna lie down and die! I’ll take you with me!” he raised a crazy eye and gripped her head.

She was powerless to stop him, she could barely move her body, let alone keep her eyes open.

“You… cheated.” She muttered again as he attempted to use her head to push him off the ground, but she didn’t have enough strain and just toppled with him.

“Dang it…” he finally let out what sounded like his own acceptance of his defeat. “You and I… we’re too alike.” He just managed a smirk. “You and I… we’re bad to the bone.”

“No…” Ember breathed out and managed to look him in the eye.

“I’m nothing like you.”

Then…

“Scourge!”

Scourge stopped in his pursuit, still gripping Ember’s head. She was so close to fainting that she couldn’t move out of his grasp.

He turned to the sound and noticed his gang tied up and on their knees, looking ticked at three figures who walked into the shadows of the room.

Scourge quickly removed his hand and grabbed Ember by her neck, forcing himself up while pulling her with him.

He wobbled to his feet, clearly annoyed and struggling to find a joke in the situation. “So much interference… Can’t a man feed his ambitions first?” he licks his lips. “What is this, the Calvary?”

The figures halted.

“Heh. Might as well make a lasting impression, hmm? Fire girl’s mine! You’re too late to save anyone!” He was fibbing. It was all a fake show to mask the fact that he knew he was beat. He couldn’t do anything and neither could Ember now. His strength to rise to his legs was nothing but a mortal attempt to look like a god. He was really just a rag-doll with his stitches coming undone, the fluff of powerlessness inches from snapping out of him and spreading like dandelion fuzz around the air.

For a last kick, a final punch, icing on the cake of trying to reclaim an authoritative stance, he leaned in to kiss her…

“I… won’t… lose…” his façade was failing him, he was about to collapse. He pushed his thumb up to get her chin to rise…

A moment away from some petty form of victory… not willing to admit defeat…

But a noble drumstick hit the side of his cranium.

His eyes blinked, dazed and confused.

One figure stuck a hand out into the light where Ember and Scourge had made the ceiling fall apart, but some of it dared to stay intact.

One pointer finger rose up and wagged itself in broad daylight. “No, no, no… that’s no way to treat a lady, dude.”

Scourge squinted his eyes as Ember slowly began to go limp in his hold.

She was too exhausted to try and look and see who it is, but ever ounce of her felt it knew that voice. Like a steady drum beat… like a rhythmic pound within the sound of the man’s voice.

“And you are?”

“When Ember’s letters started turning sour, I figured something wasn’t right.”

That voice… She knew that voice…

“Sonia said they were forged when we compared handwriting with previous other letters she had written me.”

It couldn’t be… but Ember’s eyes struggled to force themselves open just a little longer…

Hoping for a glance of him…

Of…

“I went to Sonic for some answers. Turns out Shadow was looking for her too and well,” he shrugged, but his voice was immediately recognizable to Ember.

 “M-…Man...ic?”

 “Well, now we’re saving my luscious lady from your filthy little hands!” Manic, Sonic, and Shadow both stepped out of the shadows, revealing their forms as Shadow narrowed his eyes, a deep glare upon his broad brow as he noticed the state Ember was in. Sonic was also acting a bit more serious than Ember had ever seen him look before, but that soon changed to a proud smile when he noticed Scourge was thoroughly beat-up by her before they had even gotten there.

“L…Luscious?” she could barely get any air to escape her throat and respond to him, but he seemed to be proceeding with caution, noticing her frail state. Still, it made her want to chuckle, bringing a corner of her lips up to a smile at hearing his ridiculously outdated talk start-up again. It wasn’t nearly as annoying as Scourge calling her ‘spark’ or ‘baby’. She’d rather hear Manic say it than him.

“It means you’re rocking!” Manic drummed the air, hearing her faintly whispered reply to his shenanigans. “But in a- ‘pretty and wonderful personality’ kinda way.”

“This is annoying.” Scourge lowered his eyelids, tilting and trying to regain his lost balance again. It was clear he wasn’t ready for a round 16… as he had previously already taken Ember on a good number of times.

“This is the bozo I have to rival with?” he looked comically to Ember, as if not understanding her taste. He pulled on her hair again to get her to look up at him, and through the pain, she laughed a moment.

“He’s the right… shade of green.”

Scourge showed his fangs on that comment, not liking it one bit.

“I can still take him.” Ember protested, but weakly pawed her claws at him. This only made the scene funnier and more desperate.

“Right. Don’t mean to steal your thunder, babe, but let me and my bros handle this.” Manic turned back to the Anti-Gang as Sonic and Shadow leaped forward.

Scourge’s eyes widened, not ready for this new encounter at all.

With that last comment, Shadow darted up and launched a Chaos Spear, which forced Scourge to jump back. He released Ember, leaving her to drop like dead-weight on the ground, flopping a bit and not even trying to stop the fall… even just a little bit.

She wouldn’t call out for help though, she just tried to keep breathing and keep her eyes from fully shutting. She wanted to see this. Shadow kick some butt, Sonic do his thing, and Manic… she just wanted to stare at him as long as she possibly could.

It was good to see him again. So, he didn’t hate her? All those sent letters never reached him? What awful things was Scourge writing to him, under her name?

Scourge was injured and woozy, so when Shadow’s feet hit the ground, he was still unsteady.

Shadow dealt a number of powerful blows, causing more noticeable blood to spit out from Scourge’s mouth, revealing the internal injuries were getting just as bad as his outer appearance…

The Chaos Emeralds were flung from his being— Pik, pik, pik!

They bounced against the ground, tumbling, and finally rolling through a half-demolished wall’s jagged holes where stones had been hit out of place.

Sonic watched the emeralds scatter and raced along the still remaining walls, letting his hand skim their grainy exterior before rolling into a ball and ducking into the holes of the same wall after them.

“I’ve got Scourge, you get Ember!”

Sonic’s voice rang out as he sped through the barely hanging walls of the destroyed castle, revealing his super from as he blasted the remaining structure away. With that wall gone, the whole place started to shake and loosened stones began to fall around them.

The Anti-Gang looked up, realizing the whole place was about to go down.

Scourge’s super form immediately faded with a knee to the face as Sonic easily began to pummel him down while Shadow turned his attention back to Ember.

Right before she fainted, she felt Shadow quickly scoop her up. A tight, firm grasp upon her sides made her flinch a bit in pain, but his words made her happy in their weird way. “Stupid girl, what did I tell you about making enemies!?”

“Only twice a day?” she joked, and then her eyes rolled and she fell unconscious.

She only vaguely remembered voices. Shouting from Scourge, mostly. She did hear Manic and figured he must have been the one who rushed over, skidded to his knees, and felt her face…

But she could have imagined it…

The next morning, she admitted what she had done was reckless, and should have tried to escape instead of fight.

Manic had tended to her wounds with Rouge and other G.U.N officers, but Sonia was the one who helped create the portal to get her out of that mess.

She personally thanked her before Sonia had to return and govern her own kingdom that Sonic and Manic willingly gave off to her. Neither wanted to rule, but Sonia was a natural leader who was born for the role, quite literally.

Laying on the gurney, she slowly blinked her eyes to adjust to the light, having taken a long rest since then. Shadow, Sonic, and Manic had stayed at different times to check on her as she dozed off repeatedly back to her deep, recovery slumber. However, this time, they all seemed to be in the room.

She immediately opened the conversation, weakly and groggy at first, with a gentle explanation of her behavior for why she didn’t try to run but fought instead.

“I just wanted to see how far our little ‘game’ would go.” She withdrew herself back from Shadow’s glare as she rose from the gurney. “Who defeated him in the end… might I ask?”

In her heart, she still believed she succeeded. “Cause honestly,” she began, unable to keep it to herself. “He cheated.”

The men had different reactions to that. Sonic chuckled while Manic rolled his eyes with a smile on his face, and Shadow just grumbled something under his breath… probably a curse she was glad she didn’t hear. Maybe he was holding back..? Due to her condition?

Shadow turned to Sonic, who looked back at him and then over to Manic. They seemed to be thinking the same response…

“We all kinda chipped in.” Sonic stated, before Shadow shook his head and sighed.

“Far to modest… I completely obliterated him.” Shadow immediately bit back at Sonic’s rather ‘humble’ comment.

“What!?” humbleness went out the door as Sonic suddenly spun to confront Shadow’s claim, “We all fought him! And besides, I beat him up waaaaaay before you or Manic stepped in!”

“I believe you have failed to recall how I dealt with him swiftly first. You’re the one who called me off to get your own share of the action.” Shadow folded his arms, turning at an angle away from Sonic’s childish behavior. “Honestly, you’re no better than her at claiming all the glory…”

“You’re the one making a fuss!” Sonic pointed an accusing finger before looking over to Manic, “Well? Am I right? Or am I right!”

“I’m a peacemaker, yo. A pacifist at heart.” Manic drummed the side of the gurney, refusing to be apart of the contention. “But for you, I couldn’t help but summon my old drum set. Sent beats of righteous justice his way.” He winked to Ember, admitting that he did join a little bit in the fight, even if it was indirectly and through the power of his sick, twisted beats.

“You were ranged, but still effective.” Shadow still didn’t know how to address the fact that his so-called ‘Sister’ was writing a complete stranger. To him, anyway, he didn’t know anything about this ‘Manic’ fellow but trusted him after all he’d done to find and save Ember. “However, you have yet to explain your side of the story…” Shadow turned to Ember again, “How exactly do you two know each other?“

“It’s been a while since you’ve fought, Manic.” Sonic smirked, turning his attention away from Shadow’s stubborn crossed-arms, not willing to admit it as a team effort, but also avoiding his brother and his possible girlfriend from having to admit anything.

“I did most of the work, though…” Sonic muttered through the side of his mouth, pulling up a hand to side-mouth the statement towards Ember, grinning widely as he winked to her.

This only made Ember smile, seeing them all try to lighten the mood for her.

“You merely distracted him as I got Ember to safety and defeated him only after I had stepped in.”

“I had to let you have a few blows, you were acting like the angry big brother all the way there! And what? Are you trying to look ‘cool’ in front of your sister now or something?” Sonic teased, calling Shadow out with a hint of casual backstabbing.

He leaned towards Shadow, lowering his eyelids with a wicked sense of pleasure on his face, waiting to see Shadow’s reaction to his words.

“Why?” Shadow closed both his eyes, refusing to give Sonic what he wanted. “I have no need for that. She already looks up to me far more than she should.”

“Yeesh, what a double-edged sword.” Sonic sweat dropped a bit, flinching back at how arrogant Shadow could be when provoked.

But… Ember noticed that he didn’t protest Sonic’s words too severely… It made her heart lighter than air… hearing him accept her being called his little sister without too much of a complaint.

“We searched a few realms before finding the right one. Sorry for being a tad late—not so fashionably—But it was far out and about, man.” Manic twirled his drumsticks into a holster and walked over to Ember, subtly reminding the other men in the room that it was about Ember, not them.

He leaned on her bedside, “Just glad you’re alright.”

His smile melted her worries away, and she tilted her head towards him, wishing to be closer to that positive aura his smile gave off. She tilted her chin down with a faint blush…

Then something crossed her mind, just as quick as her blush disappeared.

“T-those letters, though… the fake ones. W-wha-what did they say?” Worriedly, Ember’s face turned sorrowfully up to him with regret. “If I had known…”

“Don’t worry about it.” He flicked a finger under her chin, tapping it playfully but remaining at a distance. Especially with Shadow around… she took a quick glance at him before pulling a bit away from Manic, respecting that he was just as nervous with being affectionate around her with Shadow in the room as she was towards him. “I’m just glad we were able to nab that bad dude. He should be in prison now, right?”

“Him and his goonies.” Sonic nodded as Shadow took a few more turns looking back and forth between Manic and Ember.

‘Just what the heck are you two, anyway!?’ was the expression on his face, leaving Ember to awkwardly look away and wag her tail as Manic scratched behind his head and nervously laugh the constant double-glances Shadow gave him away.

----

Far away, and in a dusty jail cell, Scourge and his team were separated.

He was thrown into quarantine with a ripped-up jacket that freed his arms from their insanity hold around his waist, gripping the bars. “I vow to never rest till Ember’s blood is burning on my hands, or at least something of hers..! I will have my REVENGE!”

“Keep it down over there!”,

“Ahhh, shut up!”,

“Is that..? Ah, man. Why’s he back with us?”

The other inmates could hear his ranting cries clear across the courtyard, where Fiona and the gang pop some bubble gum. She stuck it to a nail file and threw it up over the wall. Quickly moving through the bars of his small, rectangular window, it flipped a few times before descending and clinging its gummy, pink, and spit covered substance against the wall.

It stuck to the inside of his cell, slowly being pulled down by the weight of the nail file and stretched towards him. Finally, with Scourge leaning up against the wall, grinding his teeth together in frustration, he heard it tink just above him.

He stopped scowling and looked up, seeing the metal gleam in his eyes, his sunglasses upon his head also reflecting their bright, silver exterior.

“First freedom.” he smiled with evil glee.

“And then, that day… will come soon.”

Laughter echoed the walls of the isolation unit.

End.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

One Punch Man 13 (S2 Ep 1) | Afterlost 1 | RobiHachi 1 | Kimetsu no Yaiba 2 - 3 | BSD 25 - 26 (S3 Eps 1 - 2) | King of Prism - Shiny 7 Stars 1 | Shield Hero 14 - 16 | Double Decker! EX 3 | Sarazanmai 2

The shows that have made it this season will be getting their tags...soon. Because I fell behind early in the season, trying to read ahead is nastier than it really should be...

Update: I forgot to roll out the tags...! Sorry about that.

One Punch Man 2 1

This season’s name…sounds counterintuitive, to say the least.

I love how Genos is carrying a box of hijiki (which looks like hair) and Saitama’s wearing a shirt that says “hair” (in kanji) all over it. It’s funny for a bald man and his “work of modern art”.

I never knew Genos was so blunt. Maybe because the last season was a good 2 – 3 years ago…and was by Madhouse and Shingo Natsume, and so this feels slightly different.

Oh, Sonic…! I didn’t realise how much I missed you! (Not to mention, you look hot with the off-the-shoulder shirt, y’know?)

“Enoki” is a type of mushroom.

Oh, Garou!...Oh wait, there isn’t much more of the episode left, is there…?

Afterlost 1

Oh great…this is the second time the subs don’t work on my device of choice. Then again, it seems to be a problem with the ad blocker and not the video…Okay, fiddling with the ad blocker worked.

Let’s play Spot the Main Character Amongst All the CGI Guys! Yay! (obviously sarcastic)

Without the volume…this OP is, to not put it lightly, s***.

Shoumetsu means “extinction”, not “lost”.

And the reward for Jankiest CGI this season belongs to…

Okay…this is stupid…if it f**ks up even more, I’m out of here!

I know the horned owl is your mascot, but that doesn’t mean you needed a real owl.

Waittttttttt…how did the scientists know Yuki’s father was responsible for this stuff anyway?

I feel like Takuya was shoehorned in. I mean, there’s a better example of this character type in Naofumi (Shield Hero).

This guy’s name, as we know it, is Geek. Wow (sarcastic). Also, I find it funny Takuya has a “ta” on his licence plate.

“…she’s just a package.” - Welp, you don’t get any more blatant than that for female denigration! I think Anime Feminist had a field day with this one.

Come to think of it, I saw some helmets back at Geek’s place but Takuya never seems to use one…

You had one job, Takuya…*sigh*

I swear I said a few previews ago I don’t like 1st person cam…no one ever listens to me, do they???

Not dis shitto agen!

Okay, enough complaining. It seems Yu-no wasn’t bad enough, so they had to produce something like the Chaos Dragon and Seisen Cerberus of old…

RobiHachi 1

It’s Takamatsu being Takamatsu again. Also… I forgot to mention this earlier, but…Taiga Umatani seems to be related to Kurari Umatani (who is credited for Boueibu), so…I wonder if it’s a collective writer’s name for Studio Comet, like Izumi Todo for Toei? The only thing that goes against that is the fact “Kurari” existed during the Diomedea days of Boueibu. Also Isekandar seems to be related to Yamato’s Iscandar (which Takamatsu seems to like, based on the fact he once used Matsumoto metres as a shorthand for being in space). If you don’t understand, Yamato’s endgoal contains a place called Iscandar and that’s by Leiji Matsumoto.

Okayyyyy…what are these rabbit creatures…? But yes, it does smack of Boueibu simply because the episode layout’s the same.

Hmm…? So Robby seems be En (the do-nothing life) in spirit, but Kinshiro in background, but also he runs away from his fortune. “Hmm” indeed.

Oh! That’s what this string of misfortunes reminds me of! The monsters of the day from Boueibu.

Acrymalide.

Hatchi is a Kinshiro in looks but an Atsushi by being a goody-goody.

Hmm…they actually bother to show girls now…apparently Takamatsu went to a boys-only school, which is why his original works focus on dudes (as in, you can pick out when Takamatsu is adapting someone else’s work because it has a heavier focus on girls as supporting characters).

Mechs and spaceships are probably two of the only ways I accept CGI…and you, Takamatsu sir, have just done it (the latter)!

Aw! Lookit his (Hatchi’s) face light up like a Beppu’s! It’s cute!

Hatchi getting out the hatch…lame, but still somewhat effectve on me (because that’s my wordplay game you’re playing, Takamatsu…!).

LOL, it’s a transforming mech. It seems my words from a few comments earlier were basically foretelling the future.

Kimetsu no Yaiba 2

Yikes, “Sakonji Urokodaki” has a lot of strokes…

My Little Sister Lives For Headpats…hey wait, don’t all anime kid sisters do that(?)

For some reason, I know the “Don’t Lose Your Way” meme from Kill la Kill and yet I’ve never…watched KlK…?(!)

I swore that was Giyu (it’s the haircut, I swear), but it’s a random demon…

When all you have is a hatchet…use your head. (LOL)

Ooh, nice eyecatch!

This is really black comedy, in a sense. (I remember this demon fight from the manga which is why I say that.)

Hmm…this wispy stuff wasn’t in the manga.

Come to think of it, I don’t know how Tanjiro got his scar…

If you squint really hard, you can see CGI Urokodaki and Tanjiro…

He probably has no footsteps because of his shoes. Or the fact he’s a ninja. Were there ninja in the Taisho era…? Update: Tanjiro has the same kind of shoes…oops.

Come to think of it, Daisuke from DN Angel had to dodge traps every day before he became Dark…(thinking of this because I reread the first volume of DN Angel recently)

Oh! Manga panel preview! That’s quite fun, really.

Kimetsu no Yaiba 3

I just really like how Tanjiro’s eyes grew larger with what was clearly resolution before he closed the door.

Why do the non-descript hunters look like Giyu too…?

I’ve never seen KnY so comedic…and that’s coming from someone who thought the Head Demon fight from last episode was funny.

Welp, this is…kinda interesting (<- says a fan of Touken Ranbu).

This letter writing…it reminds me of Kekkai Sensen somewhat.

This realistic water…it’s beautiful, but it looks like it came straight out of Niagara Falls. Is that…too realistic for anime?

“No matter…”

It’s a fox version of Speed of Sound Sonic! Then again, the real Sonic is around this season and probably won’t be happy about that comparison…

Is “that guy”…Giyu? Or the demon who slaughtered Tanjiro’s family?

Spider lilies! I didn’t mention it last time, but the symbolism of the spider lily makes the ED real cool.

Bungou Stray Dogs 26

I’v read the wiki page for Chuuya enough to know the next few eps involve the LN Fifteen, so even though I haven’t read a translation of the source material, I know some of the ins and outs of it already.

Ooh! Kitty! (If you’re a manga reader, you’ll know the cat’s significance.)

I think at this point in time, all viewers are used to Dazai’s bulls*** by now.

Is it just me…or did Bones use CGI for the city? It actually looks kind of good…! Sasuga Bones!

I have a fic that predates Fifteen and could be set in the same period (the fic’s vague enough that it could’ve been them at 15, 18 or even 12)…and basically the only thing I got wrong was the fact Chuuya doesn’t have his hat (because I wrote Chuuya as having his hat in the fic). Also, the banter is tenser than I imagined it, but that’s subjective and something only I, the fic writer, can compare.

I wonder who the yellow-tinted Ability holder is…? Update: That’s Randou. Spoke too soon.

There was a box in the subs…I wonder what symbol that might’ve been.

“…closest to the explosion.”

BSD 3 2

Oh, so that’s what Randou was for! I see now.

Chuuya may be OP, but he’s one heck of a fun character…also, he’s not as OP as Saitama, so…yeah.

Oh, the ED from last time is the OP. I should’ve known.

I like the almost storybook-style of this episode!

I thought Dazai was faking releasing the hostages…I was wrong.

Face-stealing aliens return! (They were around last ep too, I think, but they were harder to see then.)

Again, watch for the cat!

Well, with only one suspect (or 3, if you count the Sheep kids), it was quite easy to figure out one of them was behind it. I kind of suspected Randou, anyway, considering what I’ve learnt from all the mysteries I’ve read.

Because I was watching this episode with the volume down low (so I could hear the OP and ED), the volume really did work wonders for the plot this ep…!

King of Prism – Shiny 7 Stars 1

This is the final debut of the season, so basically how this and Shield Hero perform will decide what will stay and what will go. Oh, yeah…apparently this is the companion to a movie, but the movie and TV series have slightly different content.

This dude’s (the one at the very start’s) so grumpy.

…welp, I didn’t expect it to be that much CGI.

This chunk of exposition…makes me feel like I missed something. It was probably in the previous movies, come to think of it…

Basically, this is…uh, Makura no Danshi or Room Mate all over again??? I’m noping out of here…! Bye!

Shield Hero 14

I’m putting this on the chopping block…just so you know.

…uh, age gap romance? It’s hard to tell at this stage, but they (Filo and Melty) sure act like it is romance.

Welp, this survived the chopping block. “Raphtalia backstory” is a good enough reason to stick around for, isn’t it?

Double Decker! EX 3 (FINAL)

I always miss the OP when I’m not watching Double Decker, but I miss the ED even more…

I can’t believe they tried to get away with a Spirited Away parody…!

I can’t believe I get to see Dr Apple all buttered up like this…

I love how Kirill is censoring himself. (At least he can prove he’s not a girl, unlike Valery/Milla, whose entire shtick is the confusion between genders.)

Oh! I think I know the answer to the case already! It was Kirill’s soap, so Doug is the “killer”. But then…why is it Derick, of all people???

LOL, the angles were so reminiscent of Detective Conan…

Underwear-stealing sextuplets…? Why does that kind of sound like Osomatsu-san…?

Ahh…I really am going to miss this ED. See you next time!

Shield Hero 15

I never thought Raphtalia would be so angry…that’s Naofumi’s job.

Okay…it’s the age-old question: do demis listen with their animal ears or their human ears? Do they even have human ears??? (That’s 2 questions, isn’t it…?)

Uh…CGI dinosaur, much?

Shield Hero 16

…and of course, the Queen is a loli. Of course (<-sarcastic).

“Why’d I even have to feed this KFC farm?” – LOL, but I wonder what it sounded like in Japanese…? (i.e. I didn’t listen to it and when I try to do that, there’s always something over the top of it…)

Sarazanmai 2

I wonder if I’ll ever get used to watching Ikuhara on a weekly basis…?

Kappamaki…geddit?

Wait…y’mean, Keppi’s breath smells like cucumbers? Uh…okay, TMI.

Enta’s Japanese house kind of looks like the one in Mawaru Penguindrum.

Wait…why does the Japanese word for “Fish Buffet” (Osakanazanmai) end in –zanmai? Does that mean Sarazanmai is…Dish Buffet?! (LOL)

Notably, one of the signs said “Union” in katakana. It must be an English play on words…y’know, trade union and union = connecting with each other? I’m surprisingly enjoying myself a lot with Sarazanmai, by the way. I didn’t think I would, but I am!

I think that might be Irohassu water. Or Dasani. I saw both those brands in Japan, but I don’t remember which had the green flowers.

Oh…my goodness! Nekoyama (Cat Mountain) Mokichi (written with kanji for “hair” and “luck”). It’s a Boueibu monster! Frick, I’m laughing too hard!

It’s very small and very thin, but the word next to the cat in the eyecatch is neko.

“…Meow God!” – It’s a pun on “Oh, My God!” but with a “meow” in it. It’s pretty forced, but it does get the nuance of the joke across…

Why the heck did the subbers choose “herb” as the word for weed in this? “Weed” is sufficient, right? Right…?

Well…if that spurt of water wasn’t symbolic…I don’t know what is.

The title translates better as “…but I want to steal”. Y’know, add a little force into it.

The two As and the “sara” below it seem to make a zombie face, huh?

Ooh, that ending…

[donnerpartyofone]

21 Questions

Tagged by @getoutofmyhouse who had oddly similar answers to mine

Nickname: only the one I use here, that I gave myself--Claire Donner, which has to do with my famous love of cannibalism. Claire is my real first name, though.

Zodiac: I am so very cuspy. I was born at about a quarter to midnight on April 20, so I tend to relate to, and feel insulted by, the suppositions about Aries and Taurus equally. I’m one of those jerks who will tell you astrology is a bunch of hoo ha...and then drone on with my Many Esoteric Ideas about it, so I’ll just stop myself right here.

Height: 5’ nuthin is what I prefer to say...because saying I’m 5 and 3/4′ sounds a little like saying I’m 10 and a half years old.

Amount of sleep: It’s all fucked up. Until I got into my 30s I could, and would prefer to, sleep endlessly. Now I go to bed around 10 (depression), get up around 5 or 6 (being old), and for extra fun, I’ve developed this insomnia that often keeps me up from about 2am-5am. I try make the most of it by getting up, getting high, watching a movie or two, writing...basically just having a secret private day by myself. I’d really rather go back to just sleeping constantly though.

Last movie I saw: I saw GRETA in theaters tonight, which was ok. I guess I thought any Neil Jordan film would be headier than this, but watching Isabel Huppert just running around acting like an absolute maniac is a rare treat! My last video experience was RAW, which I put on to bother my husband right when we got home from the theater. (I think he liked it more than I originally did, to my surprise)

Last thing I googled: The correct spelling of Sylvia Likens’ last name. I’m obsessed with this type of crime where a group of people (usually a family and/or some of their friends and neighbors) fall into some kind of shared hysteria where they protractedly torture to death an acquaintance for no particular reason. Some times there’s an element of mystery as to why the victim didn’t leave while they were still able to, which suggests to me that the murdered person was just as much a victim of the groupthink as the perpetrators. Other example victims include Suzanne Capper, Vera Jo Reigle, and I think to some degree Sophie Lionnet, James Bulger, and Junko Furuta. (Also a crime they briefly discuss in the book Lords of Chaos, where several people murder a friend in their trailer, but I can’t remember it specifically enough to look up the names--the other last thing i tried to google) I keep thinking there should be a psychiatric and/or legal term for this kind of crime, but I’ve never heard one, so let me know if you got one!

Favorite musician: I have trouble with questions that involve ranking anything, so I’ll just say that right now I’m listening to a lot of old White Zombie. I didn’t know anything about their origins as an East Village noise band, and I’m fascinated by the stories about how apocalyptically miserable it was to be in that group. I’m increasingly obsessed with people who work their asses off doing something they barely even enjoy, for what must be borderline spiritual reasons.

Song stuck in my head: Nothing right this second, for which I am very grateful. There’s something awful in my brain that causes me to wake up with some maddening, babyish tune stuck in my head more often than not. It is most frequently the Ten Little Indians nursery rhyme. This is literally killing me.

Other blogs: @anhed-nia, which started as a dumping ground for long posts about mental illness, and turned into almost only movie writing. at some point there was just so much movie shit that i started to feel awkward about posting anything personal there again. i also got @getoffyrass which is a group blog, and a repository for images that make great drawing references. everyone is encouraged to post their drawings, too, although it is seldom used. i still like having it around, for when i have time to draw. my “real” drawing blog is @neveratendermoment but i don’t draw often enough anymore...

Do I get asks: i used to get tons! i really enjoy them, even the trolls to some degree. i must have seemed like more of a regular tumblr geek girl back in the day. also tumblr has just changed a lot since then. my blog was definitely a casualty of Best Stuff First, i think my follower count stopped dead forever right when that happened, and now that practically every single fucking thing on this entire site is either fandom shit or *discourse*, i really have nothing to offer tumblr anymore, anyway.

Blogs following: 1,057. 

Lucky numbers: 2! Also 5.

What I’m wearing: black wool long john pants from Chrome, and a white v neck teeshirt with the words BLACK MAYONNAISE on it in black Rocky Horror font. i live near the notoriously toxic Gowanus Canal, and “black mayonnaise” is the actual term used to describe what’s on the bottom of it, by the scientists who are trying to figure out what to do with it.

Dream trip: i am really excited by travel, it’s hard to pick. i’m hopefully making a dream trip soon though: my father’s mysterious finno-swedish family is from the åland islands, and my husband and i will be planning part of our honeymoon there, whenever that happens.

Dream Job: i think about this a lot, because the older i get, the more i object to the entire concept of having to work to live. i’m into the whole universal basic income thing. i’m at this point where i can barely stand to think about capitalism in any way--like i think about how the need for money is so mortally serious that there’s a lot of physical stuff in the world that only exists because someone was scared of starving, tons of useless products and packaging and factory byproducts and all kinds of fucking straight up garbage that was only invented due to the lethality of poorness. i would rather be left totally alone forever if possible. however, if i HAD to do something and i COULD do anything, it would probably be film criticism. this fantasy takes place in a world where people care so much about what i have to say that i can make a career, not only out of movie writing, but out of only writing about the specific movies i want to write about, referring to nothing other than my personal reactions.

Favorite food: i wish the answer weren’t just “cheese”, but it probably is. also mushrooms. anything cinnamon. i’m a pretty adventurous eater though. the most important thing for me is a variety of flavors and textures.

Languages: english. i took several years of italian in junior high-high school, and did nothing with it. i taught myself to read french pretty fluently, but i would fold right up if someone tried to speak to me. i learned a bunch of swedish on duolingo, shoulda kept it up. i’ll get back to it! i really regret never learning spanish though, so i’m easily torn on what to do with my time.

Play any instruments: clarinet in junior high/high school, also alto sax which i did not enjoy at all, a little guitar. i bought a used electric bass last year that i have really been enjoying, but i feel a lot of guilt around not playing enough. so much of it is just strength training. that’s probably what i like about it, though. also i got a lot of electronic music software and midi controllers and stuff...and then i realized that it could take me months to sort through the thousands of samples i have to program this stuff, and i only got so far into it before i started to get discouraged. i need to get back to it, it’s ridiculous to let that stuff lie around. this is a rare example of me wishing i knew someone local to play with, who could speed me along on how everything works.

Favorite songs: another one of these impossible questions! anybody who is even reading this can probably guess the answers from the handful of music posts i reblog over and over and over. the other night i got all hyperactive and forced my husband to drop everything and listen to “buffalo stance” by nene cherry, which i never ever get sick of. real top contenders for favorite song might be “Stand By the Jamms” by the klf, and this recording, which has gotten me through many difficult hours:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8k1HsF3EvY

https://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/sunray-sonic-boom-music-for-the-dreamachine-cd/STRAWB.003CD.html

Random fact: i’m sure i’m missing out on something really funny and cool, but for now it’s just the well-known fact that i read palms.

Describe yourself as aesthetic thing: man, how do i answer this without being totally pretentious? maybe nobody can! i’m coming up with something really hard to describe but it will be worth it. the other day i watched this insane, completely unnecessary movie about lorca and salvador dali (played by robert pattinson) as gay lovers. there’s a scene in it where lorca does that “pick a hand” thing to dali, and dali picks an empty hand. of course, they’re both poor students who couldn’t be buying any gifts, so they do this obnoxious pantomime where dali pretends lorca actually gave him something--but then it turns out that lorca really DOES have something. he opens his other hand and gives dali...SOMETHING. i don’t know what! they make such a big deal out of it, but what the hell? you see it for a second in this closeup, but it’s shot from like, behind and slightly underneath, and it is just unrecognizable. it’s sort of an orange blob? it’s probably meant to be a sculpture. but, i love the idea of doing the “pick a hand” thing to somebody, and the other person is just like...hey wait a minute, what the fuck even IS this?? 

it reminded me of one of the most amazing things anyone ever did at my school, bard college. this genius art student who I WISH I COULD NAME TO CREDIT HER did her senior project as this like...made up product. i saw them at the senior show, hanging off a spinner rack, like you’d see next to the register in the drug store. they were called Toilet Buddies. they were these plastic, brightly colored objects that looked like toys, but they didn’t have a familiar earthly shape, and because of the title, it was IMPOSSIBLE to imagine what to do with them. so, she gets the lipstick cam from the film department, and shoots this video of herself sneaking some Toilet Buddies into Walmart. then she takes them to the register and BUYS THEM--the baffled cashier looks for them for a while, and eventually just rings them up as a general grocery or something. then in part 2, the artist TAKES THEM BACK TO THE STORE WITH THE RECEIPT AND GETS A REFUND.

so anyway, i see myself as like a fake product--something that looks just familiar enough to exit, and that appears to have a designated purpose, but it’s just kind of cheap and foreign and it becomes nightmarish to try to imagine what to do with it. 

I don’t know if anyone i know will want to do this, but i tag @negativepleasure @moviesludge @former-contender @dimestoreman @thefuzzydave @darkarfs @theoddsideofme @blueruins ...um, i don’t really know who would enjoy this. the ultimate would be @garbagenacht

[axemetaphor]

OC Masterpost

I need an organized place to put info about all my OCs so that’s what this post is gonna be for!

In addition to basic bios and some reference images, I’ve also got links to Spotify playlists for every character, because music is a strong association with personality for me. (If you don’t use Spotify, or if you know of a streaming platform more easily accessible than Spotify, send me an anon and I’ll duplicate the playlists to that service then add a link here!) I also have moodboards for every OC.

This post will be rather long so I’ve put in under a readmore for the sake of convenience.

It’s also important to note that my OCs exist in an AU where some things are a little different. For example, Infinite in this AU is 17 and that’s definitely not because I assumed he was an edgy teen like Shadow, and after Robotnik’s defeat in Forces, the Resistance became the Restoration. All the troops who had been battling were reassigned to rebuilding whatever town they happened to be in at the time of victory, with extra troops being redistributed as needed (leading to the formation of small roving teams traveling from place to place to help out).

It’s a little bit of an unorganized info-dump at some points, but I’ll update it to be more organized at some point.

Updated 01/20/2019

Rhys the Serval

Spotify playlist | Moodboard

Rhys was designed by @creative-sanic and she also came up with most of his backstory!

Rhys is a gender-nonconforming cis gay dude. He was born to a ‘feral’ mother in the wilderness closest to Central City (between the City and Mystic Ruins, far enough away from civilization to be undetected for a majority of his early life). At age 7 or 8, a massive fire swept the forest, putting him and his mother in massive danger. Officials sent to contain the fire discovered that she and Rhys were living alone in the forest, and took the two into protective custody while working through the devastation caused by the fire. The city pressured Rhys’s mother to join civilization, but she adamantly refused, and as a consequence, Rhys was stolen from her and put up for adoption, leading to her having a violent breakdown. She was moved to a containment facility and hasn’t seen Rhys since; he has only the faintest memories of her. He was adopted at age 13 or 14 (having been shuffled around in foster care before then) by a family of bears, and went on to be a fairly average Mobian citizen, working as a waiter at Penne For Your Thoughts. That’s where he met Vitriol, who is now his boyfriend. After dating for a few months, they decided to move in together, with Vitriol moving into Rhys’s apartment, which was the larger of the two. Rhys is now roughly 19 years old (18 or 19).

Rhys and Vitriol have a steady relationship relatively devoid of problems. They love each other enough that no problem is too big for them to tackle, and when Vitriol became part of the Restoration (the collective effort to undo the damage done by Robotnik and the Resistance), Rhys moved with him all over the world, glad to have a reasonable excuse to travel. Neither wanted to attempt a longstanding long-distance relationship; their being separated briefly during the Resistance was frustrating enough for the two of them.

Rhys is unaware that he possesses Empathic abilities, and simply assumes he’s very good at figuring people out/being sympathetic, but in truth, the forest fire in his youth served as the catalyst for his abilities. Since his Empathy doesn’t require the same physical drain as, say, Vitriol’s Strength, Rhys mistakes his Chaos-Energy-related fatigue after using his powers to be emotional exhaustion. When he’s that tired is roughly the only time he can show unprovoked anger, but he’s also in-tune enough with himself to recognize when he’s being needlessly mean, and he’ll usually apologize right away. This happened most frequently during the events of the Resistance, where Rhys was tasked with helping to get survivors to safe places; he was very good at comforting those who may have lost friends/family in the attacks. From that, he’s begun to entertain the idea of becoming a therapist someday, though he’s not sure how he would afford the college degree for that. 

He gets along very well with Unknown due to them both having rather upbeat personalities. Though Unknown can be a little overbearing sometimes, Rhys likes talking to them and sometimes they’ll gush about how cute Vitriol is. 

As mentioned previously, Rhys doesn’t conform to typical gender norms; he’s a fashionista of sorts and doesn’t care what gender clothing is associated with. He thinks skirts are cute and feel nice, and he thinks makeup is a lot of fun, though he doesn’t do either every single day, just every now and then. For the most part, unless he’s feeling adventurous, he wears a hoodie and jeans, though his work outfit is a fancy suit. So, it’s often nice for him to just wear something low-effort. That being said, he always jumps at every opportunity to do his boyfriend’s makeup, and though Vitriol isn’t the biggest fan of it, he likes seeing Rhys smile, so he usually gives in.

Rhys often prompts Vitriol to keep up with his health, and the two go on camping trips whenever Rhys can convince Vitriol to go. He’s very good at camping; he can build a shelter easily, knows which plants are edible, etc.. Vitriol, by contrast, is pretty clueless, but Rhys is more than happy to teach him. 

When speaking, Rhys normally has a somewhat-formal tone, and he uses little to no slang (usually just words like “gonna,” and he almost never drops the G’s at the end of words). He’s very polite by nature (and some of the formality was ingrained by his job), and he tends to not talk a lot. When he’s really comfortable around someone (like Vitriol), he can chatter a lot, but if he catches himself, he’ll get really embarrassed about it. He has a soft, lilting voice that many find pleasant to listen to and soothing. When he gets excited, or raises his voice, it gets slightly higher in pitch. He’s not an anxious person (as in, he doesn’t have an anxiety disorder) but he’s rather shy and awkward around new people. He’s more of a reserved person than an anxious one, and he is by no means meek; having been raised (post-adoption) by a family of bears taught him how to roughhouse and hold his own against bigger enemies.

For the most part, Rhys isn’t bothered by his past. His life in the forest is far enough away, mentally, that to him it doesn’t feel like it even happened to him. However, the fire was a traumatic event for him, and to this day he has a deep-seated fear of fire. It’s rare, but on occasion, he will have nightmares about that day, and he doesn’t handle that well when alone. Fortunately, Vitriol is fairly helpful to Rhys—his simply being there is very comforting, even though he never really knows what to say.

Toxic the Porcupine

Spotify playlist | Moodboard

Note: while this character started out as a sonicsona of sorts, they’ve somewhat evolved from that and I don’t see them quite so much as “me” anymore. They do, however, share my name (or rather the name I’m using currently, as I write this). To further complicate things they also look the way I do right now and I use them for vent art lmao so, if I happen to draw myself as a mobian ever again I’ll tag it as #not oc. That way it’s clear what’s Toxic the OC and what’s Toxic the...uh, human being I guess. 

Toxic is an agender porcupine who hasn’t settled on their sexuality yet--they know they’re asexual, but they haven’t thought any further into their romantic orientation. They were born in a tiny unnamed village settled in the shadow of Scrap Brain Zone, and only recently did they leave after a majority of it was burnt to the ground...by them. They showed signs of being trans at a young age, and were subsequently bullied quite harshly by both their peers and their family. They came out to their family at age 17, which only deepened the rift already forming, and subsequently Toxic ran away for a week, spending that time in Scrap Brain Zone. That was their first overnight foray into the Zone, something that would eventually become a staple of their life.

At age 19, they discovered an abandoned prototype Wispon in Scrap Brain Zone (devoid of Wisps), which they then decided to retrofit with the flaming spouts from Scrap Brain Zone to make their own strange hybrid flamethrower. A few nights later, after a particularly awful verbal spat with their family, they decided to fake their own death by setting fire to their own room. However, things quickly got out of hand, and the whole town ended up in flames. They fled, unsure if anyone made it out alive that night...and a little less than sympathetic if they didn’t. (Fortunately, a majority of the little village’s populace wound up trickling into neighboring villages and towns)

Since then, they’ve been absolutely destroying almost everything in their path. With no direction and no impulse control, they are a complete loose cannon throwing a wrench in both Eggman’s plans and Sonic’s adventures. They live by a motto of recklessness and “I’m here for a good time, not a long time.” Being an un-powered Mobian, they can’t do much of anything with the Wispon taken away, but taking that Wispon away is much easier said than done. Shortly after their ‘debut’ as a villain-of-sorts, Eggman reached out to them with a message essentially reading, “hey, do you want a direction in which to burn everything down (that is preferably not my everything)?” Since joining forces with Robotnik, though, their chaos has become much more controlled, and now incidents of mass fires can usually be linked to Eggman sending them off somewhere. They are a persistent thorn in the Freedom Fighters’ sides as they just love to fight and don’t really care who they fight.

They will not, however, attack civilians directly. Their fires might pose a threat to cities, but they don’t outright attack people unprompted--their chaos isn’t fueled of malice but rather of recklessness and an extreme lack of forethought. If harassed, however, they aren’t above punching someone in the face, and civilians are warned to just stay the hell away from Toxic. Their behavior overall is best classed as “more of a danger to themselves than others, even when provoked.”

Toxic only owns one jacket and one pair of boots, as well as no other accessories save for the spiked bracelets and collar, since everything else was burnt. One item they are occasionally pictured with, but rarely wear, is a long ankh necklace, the origins of which they refuse to elaborate on. However, it’s clearly important to them… Prior to burning everything, they often wore ripped jeans, loose half-torn-up tank-tops with a variety of detailed patterns, and lots of bracelets. They despite feminine-coded clothing and would rather die than wear it. Overall, they’re fond of clothes that look like they’re being held together by safety pins and hope.

Their speaking pattern is completely all-over-the-place. Their accent is untraceable, they mix slang from a variety of regions, and mix pidgin street-slang with oddly formal sentence structure or complicated words. They alternate between dropped G’s at the end of words and dropped H’s at the beginning, but inconsistently; rather than being a sign that this accent is faked, it’s more a reflection of how scrambled they are on the inside. Toxic’s voice is prone to cracking, especially when they yell (which is very often), and it has a certain hoarse quality to it most of the time. It rests in a midrange between stereotypically “male” and “female” voices, and can be mistaken for a young boy or slightly-older girl interchangeably. This irritates them to no end—they’re no stranger to yelling in demand for their proper pronouns to be used.

Toxic has frequent nightmares, but never speaks of them. They often suffer from broken sleep, only getting a few hours at a time, and on occasion are struck with insomnia. During that time, they doodle or write, dealing with rather dark subjects, but never share this willingly. Oddly enough, they have a rather intense fear of fire (ironic given their Wispon) and of heights. Strangely they seem to use their fear as an adrenaline boost of sorts, embracing it to use as a motivation. (It’s somewhat similar to how Batman uses bats as his main motif, despite having been traumatized by an experience with bats in his childhood.)

They cannot be swayed to being “good,” because they truly believe they are an awful person who could never be good even if they tried. So, they just do what they want out of a very specific, Nihilistic worldview, and truth be told they’re simply a chaotic being who’s in way over their head. Despite being a villain, however, they are a big fan of Sonic and his friends, and they consider it a huge honor to be able to fight him. They’ve created an odd sort of parent-child bond between themselves and Robotnik, adopting him as their dad (he didn’t really get a say). Robotnik isn’t exactly doting but he does view them as his child in a sense, and often makes them new weapons to use alongside their Wispon (which they refuse to part with; he repairs it fro them as-needed). 

Vex the Cat/Fox Cross

Spotify playlist | Moodboard

Vex is a bigender aroace genetic experiment who most closely resembles a fusion of a fox and a cat. (Any pronouns are applicable to them, but I use she/her most, because I have a lot of “he” and “they” OCs already) She has lived roughly 17 years, the first 14 of which were spent in the facility that created them. Partway through what would have been the 15th year, a catastrophe occurred at the facility, giving Vex, Vitriol and Unknown a window to escape. During this process, Vex and Unknown became separated from Vitriol, escaping the facility and winding up on their own. They traveled in a world absolutely foreign to them for months, eventually, through a strange turn of events, joining a thieves’ guild in an attempt to forge new identities. They had great success as a thieving duo up until the unfortunate disappearance of Unknown, after which Vex abandoned the guild to search for them. Instead of Unknown, however, Vex ended up reconnecting with Vitriol in Central City, after which the two worked together to find Unknown, eventually finding their sibling in the Resistance. Since finding each other, the three have not been separated, and now form Team Motley.

Vex is generally regarded as the smartest of the trio, having a sharp wit and capacity both to plan ahead and think on their feet. Her Manipulation ability makes negotiations and covert ops very easy for them, with its one flaw being that it doesn’t work on others with similar abilities, such as Empathy. All three experiments possess low natural levels of Chaos Energy, below what is healthy, and their bodies cannot contain it well, so their abilities rely on the Energy around them, both in the environment and other people. Mobians often report “a strange sort of tiredness” after being Manipulated by Vex, as her power functions by draining a bit of Chaos Energy from the target and matching its wavelength.

Due to her affinity for making others do as she says, Vex is the leader of Team Motley, and, despite being the ‘middle child,’ the other two often go to her for advice. She is the organizational backbone to the team, a natural leader with a kind heart hidden behind a few layers of selfishness. Vex values family and friends above all else, and has a keen sense of right and wrong, even if she doesn’t always do what she knows to be right.

Vex is aware of her Manipulation ability, and does her best to curb its effects when she isn’t intending to use it, but given that it’s activated by her voice, sometimes she can’t control it very well. In addition to that, Vex is more than a little greedy; coming from a background where she didn’t even own her own life, Vex fell in love with her life in the thieves’ guild, mainly for the riches they earned and the thrill of the escape.

She’s a fan of loud, gaudy jewelry, luxurious metals, and other frivolous high-class things, though she doesn’t wear them in public. During their time in the thieves’ guild, Unknown and Vex lived in a network of caves, where many of the things they stole during their heyday are still hidden. While she misses those days, she doesn’t regret leaving them behind, and rather considers it an... option for future employment, once the Restoration is all said and done.

Despite her love of jewelry, Vex prefers not to wear clothes at all. They’ll wear their binder or a sports bra, and that’s about all; if necessary, they’ll wear baggy army-pattern pants or a baggy jacket. They don’t like the feeling of most fabrics on their fur, and don’t care a lot about fashion, but they tend towards more masculine clothing, often for its less-skin-tight properties. They also don’t mind skirts, but only wear them casually, as sometimes the extra fabric can get caught on things or be uncomfortable for them to sit on.

All three experiments tend towards more formal speech, but of the three, Vex has been trained out of that habit the most. She’s a real smooth-talker who adapts her speech patterns to mirror those of the person she’s talking to. When speaking casually, Vex is fairly neutral and doesn’t have any specific quirks to their speech pattern. When she’s comfortable around someone, she speaks in a rather husky voice, but not a very deep or gruff sound. It’s more of what would be described as “butch,” because their voice is closer to the stereotypically “feminine” sound than the stereotypically “masculine” sound.

Vex’s main phobia is having their mouth covered by something—anything from someone’s hands to fabric to a muzzle. This is because when her Manipulation was discovered by the scientists who created her, they immediately recognized it as a threat and she was kept muzzled for extended periods of time. The muzzle had supposedly been ‘humanely designed,’ but if at any point she frustrated her keepers, they were no strangers to shutting or covering the air-intake of it until she cooperated. Of the three, Vex has dealt with her trauma the least, and her sleeping pattern is just as broken as if not more broken than Toxic’s, and she tends to grind her teeth when she sleeps as well. She doesn’t speak of it much, but she and Vitriol have really bonded the most over their shared trauma. He is, essentially, the only person remaining who knows what they went through. 

Because they’re aroace, they have little concept of how flirting works other than when they’re using their Manipulation ability (which isn’t really calculated, more an instinctive knowledge that saying or doing certain things will achieve the effect they want). In other words, they’re extremely oblivious. The only thing they really care about is family, and they will do anything to protect them--when fighting they have no qualms about “fighting dirty” and will use anything to their advantage. Unusually, Vex has the ability to climb along walls quite easily using their claws, practically like a lizard. This combined with their night vision makes them quite formidable to fight in the dark. 

Vitriol the Ferret/Porcupine Cross

Spotify playlist | Moodboard

Vitriol is a gay cis guy who most closely resembles a fusion of a porcupine and a ferret. He has lived roughly 18 years, the first 15 of which spent in the facility that created him. During the calamity leading to his escape, Vitriol separated from Unknown and Vex in order to give them a chance to get out, taking on the officials sent to stop them. He ended up leaving via a different route, resulting in him coming into this world in a completely different place from Vex and Unknown. Vitriol spent the next half-year wandering across Spagonia’s countryside, often stopping to spend a night or two on a farm in exchange for helping its owners, who never questioned why a mysteriously-strong stranger would be wandering the wilderness. Many took him to be some kind of nature spirit, and treated him kindly; he realized through this little pilgrimage that he quite liked helping people out, though he never stayed more than a week in one place. Searching for his siblings was his main priority.

Eventually Vitriol came across a little town, the port of which was a dock for ferries to and from Central City (primarily used by high-end citygoers for transportation to their summer homes). He was told that Central City was a place many people lived and an even larger number of people visited; Vitriol resolved that, if Vex and Unknown were to wind up anywhere, it was likely a place like that--a place people are expected to wind up at. Not understanding the concept of having to pay for things, Vitriol snuck aboard, and managed to go undetected for the entirety of the trip by packing himself nicely into a tiny corner belowdecks. The night before the trip was to end, he snuck off the boat and swam to shore in Central City. Immediately enraptured by the city’s many brilliant lights, Vitriol decided to stay there and do his best to keep an eye out for his siblings.

He spent his first two weeks sleeping on the streets and wandering through the city, until one evening, allured by the glowing neon signs on the inside, he found himself inside a rather lively nightclub/bar. One thing led to another and Vitriol ended up breaking up a fight, catching the attention of the bar’s owner (who was, at the time, half of the staff, as well). Vitriol was offered the job of security officer, no questions asked, and, having begun to come to terms with the fact that money wasn’t just something that one town invented, Vitriol accepted. For the beginning of his ‘career’ he still lived on the streets, but eventually he saved up enough for a tiny postage-stamp of an apartment. It’s only enough space for him to just exist, but that was plenty of space for him. Over time he earned enough money to live comfortably—comfortably enough to get gauges and a septum piercing, both of which helped him in his line of work immensely (as most of his ‘security’ work was simply to look scary enough to keep people from misbehaving). 

Vitriol worked there for roughly the same amount of time that Vex and Unknown “worked” as thieves, and it was during this time that he met and started dating Rhys, moving in with him after roughly three months together. He only reunited with Vex upon happening to run into her when wandering the town one weekend night. The next day he quit his job and left to travel with her, searching for their last remaining sibling. Now that the three are reunited, Vitriol serves as the muscle of the team, doing all the heavy lifting and door-kicking necessary. While he vastly prefers sitting on the couch and watching TV with plentiful snacks nearby (preferably cookies), he’s not the type to shirk responsibilities. He’s just looking forward to going back to relaxing in Central City with Rhys when the Restoration is over (and, though he won’t admit it, he does miss when his only job was looking mean).

Vitriol doesn’t have a lot in his wardrobe. His usual staples are a crop top and leather pants, though he also wears skinny jeans and ripped t-shirts. Sometimes he wears pants without a shirt, and, overall, he doesn’t care a lot about fashion. He just picks up what he thinks is cool, which is usually a t-shirt or crop top with a few words on it (his favorites are “BORN FOR HELL” and “LIFE RUINER”). From there, he’ll often tear off the sleeves of the t-shirt, or cut holes and slits into the body of it. The only thing he always wears are the red fingerless gloves with lightweight chains dangling off the backs. 

He tends to mumble the most when he speaks, unless he’s angry or using his “Work Voice.” His “work voice” is the particular loud, gruff tone he takes that he picked up from his job; an intimidating deeper and more snarling version of his voice, often accompanied by a very stern or frightfully blank expression. This is made more intimidating by the fact that all 3 of the genetic experiment characters have a habit of needing to initiate conversation through eye contact, much in the same way that a small child might gently rest their hand on the arm of an adult whose attention they want, albeit much more unsettling. So often if one of the three wants to speak to someone, they’ll stare very intently at the person’s face until acknowledged (Vex has adapted the most of the three and therefore only does it to the other two and Rhys). When not using his “work voice,” Vitriol has a rough undertone to his voice, not necessarily a snarl so much as a growl. His voice is naturally deep, and lends itself well to singing his favorite music—rock music.

Vitriol often suffers night terrors and nightmares* linked to his trauma. When living alone, after waking from a nightmare, Vitriol would pace his apartment or wander around Central City to cool off, but after moving in with Rhys, he’s processing his trauma a bit more as opposed to just avoiding it. He hasn’t told Rhys much, just that he came from “a horrible place, where [he] was trapped,” and Rhys doesn’t pry; oftentimes it’s enough to just be reminded that he’s free for Vitriol to calm back down. 

Despite his prickly exterior (both literally and figuratively), Vitriol is much more cuddly than Rhys is. Perhaps it’s from being touch-starved in the facility for so long or perhaps it’s just part of his nature, but either way, Vitriol is no stranger to snuggling up against Rhys (most often) or his siblings (slightly less often as Vex is somewhat touch-averse). Rhys isn’t exactly annoyed by this, and often finds it endearing, but on occasion Vitriol has been known to act like a housecat--flopping down right in Rhys’s way to get his attention. He’s also a bit of a jokester, but only around Rhys and his family.

His deepest fear is of being helpless. He doesn’t tend to show much external emotion besides smiling at Rhys or his siblings, or glaring if he’s annoyed by something, but if he’s being dragged along the floor—especially if he’s being dragged by his underarms, as was his keepers’ favorite way of moving him from place to place—he will absolutely lose his mind in a panic. He also panics if cornered, lashing out with uncontrolled strength to get away, which usually doesn’t end well for his captors.

*Nightmares are your standard bad dreams that occur during REM sleep. Usually when waking from a nightmare, the person remembers what they were dreaming about. Often someone suffering from a nightmare will toss and turn, and maybe sleep-talk. Night terrors, however, are somewhere between dreaming and being awake; someone suffering a night terror might yell, thrash, kick or scream, or sit upright in bed with eyes wide open. They cannot, however, see or be woken from the night terror, and will flop back down anywhere from ten minutes to a half-hour after initial panic. They can often be confusing to the person suffering them, and only a vague recollection of what was going on remains when the person wakes up.

Unknown the Raccoon/Hedgehog Cross

Spotify playlist | Moodboard

Unknown is an agender bisexual polyamorous genetic experiment most resembling a fusion of a hedgehog and a raccoon. They have lived roughly 16 years, only four of which have been spent outside. When Vex and Unknown ended up on their own, Unknown took on a role of the silent intimidator between the two. Vex’s Manipulation came in handy most times, but when necessary, Unknown could provide some intimidation.

Unknown was a vastly different person then from who they are now. They were far more focused, and taught themself parkour, as well as having put themself through rigorous training to maintain a good physical health. They rarely spoke, and refused to give themself a new name, unlike Vex and Vitriol. They weren’t interested in the riches, though they did suffer from a bit of a hoarding impulse, enjoying the feeling of owning something. They didn’t care for jewels or finer things, unlike Vex; they were more participating for the adrenaline rush. At that point in time, they fully understood the brevity of their power, and it was imperative for them to keep a calm demeanor at all times; they were far less animated than they are now.

Then, about a year and a half after they’d escaped, Unknown abruptly went missing. A heist went sideways, the two became separated, and suddenly Vex couldn’t find them. A few months after that, Robotnik began taking over the world, and shortly after that, Unknown awoke in a dumpster somewhere in Park Avenue, with no memory of any life prior to that. They gathered all the information about themself from this police flyer:

From there, Unknown wandered the city amidst the chaos, confused and curious. Through that, they met Sonic when they helped him fight off a few robots. Impressed with their skills, he asked them to join the Resistance, which they cluelessly agreed to, definitely not because a cute boy was offering it to them. Unknown ended up being quite helpful to the Resistance, despite presumably having no Chaos Powers. They got along well with virtually everyone save for Omega and Vector, as they have a slight fear of people taller than them.

After being reunited with Vex and Vitriol, Unknown has stayed relatively close to them; the three are inseparable, traveling in a group for the Restoration. Shortly after the final battle, as the Resistance members were celebrating for the night, Unknown stumbled across Infinite while walking home. Unsure whether to turn him in or not, they decided to take him home and let him heal from his wounds first, then figure out who to turn him in to. In the end, after two weeks of Infinite recuperating (during which he revealed his name to be Zero), Unknown decided instead to keep Infinite in their home, unsure what would happen to him otherwise. For a short while, they didn’t tell anyone else, but once they told Vex and Vitriol, they were urged to tell the Resistance as well. It wasn’t taken well at first, but eventually the issue was settled—Unknown would take care of and reform Infinite, because having him close by and watched over is better than having him roam around unsupervised. Despite that, Unknown doesn’t treat Infinite like a child or prisoner but rather a friend. Currently, Infinite resides in the home Unknown was occupying during the Resistance, which was rather close to the site of the final battle.

Unknown’s usual ‘work clothes’ are a leather bodysuit of sorts with buckles similar to an airplane seatbelt’s buckles (and a hole for their tail) and combat boots as well as padded gloves that help absorb shocks), but in the past, they would wear a large cloak. It’s not clear where this went during their disappearance. In their free time, they prefer to wear clothes with deep v-necks to let their neck/chest fluff breathe, and they often wear ripped clothing like Vitriol. Unknown’s thick fur makes them more prone to overheating, but despite that, they enjoy running as a hobby and a way to stay fit. They often wear fitness clothes (a tank top and gym shorts) when they’re in an urban area, though if in the wilderness, they’ll just wear running shoes.

Typically, their voice has a bright and happy tone to it, all the time, and they’re very good at faking it when they’re actually not okay. Vex and Vitriol can usually pick up on when they’re lying, but most others can’t, something Unknown is actually very happy about. When it comes to negative feelings, Unknown is very secretive, but with positive feelings, they love to share—and overshare. (The only exception to their secrecy is anger; an angry Unknown is frightfully quiet and cold, and painfully obvious.) Oftentimes they don’t realize they’re oversharing, but Vex (or Sonic, if present) is more than willing to quickly interrupt and divert the conversation. Unknown tends to use overly-familiar language with just about everyone, especially words like “buddy” or “pal.” It’s unclear if they’ve picked this up from Sonic. 

They often suffer from night terrors, similar to Vitriol, but they claim it has no effect on them, as they don’t remember the trauma giving them nightmares. In the beginning, this was the truth; however, they refuse to open up to anyone, even their siblings, about what’s going on in their head. They’re well aware that they’re the most positive of the trio, and part of them doesn’t want to ruin that idea. Another thing they never tell anyone is that they often suffer from sleep paralysis*, wherein they often see strange things from their past, but existing still in the present. They don’t really know how to verbalize the experience to anyone else.

Unknown doesn’t have many fears, but they are downright petrified of needles and electricity—not in the sense where they’re scared of electronics, but they’re more frightened of visible electricity, like a fizzing outlet, lightning, or the Electric Wispons.

That being said, they do have a few insecurities, namely their sharp teeth. They’ve accidentally frightened people with them in the past, so when they first meet people nowadays, they try to smile with their mouth closed only. The anxiety dissipates eventually, as they’re more concerned about first impressions. 

*Sleep paralysis is an event where a person is mentally ‘there’ but unable to move or speak at all. It occurs when they are falling asleep or just waking up, and episodes usually last less than a few minutes, but can occur multiple times, not just once. It’s thought to be linked to a dysfunction in REM sleep, and is caused by sleep deprivation, psychological stress, or a poor sleep schedule.

Extra stuff:

Files from the experimentation: Basic knowledge on Vex, Vitriol and Unknown, as they would’ve been presented to their guards.

Scrap Brain Zone (writing from Toxic’s perspective)

Unknown meets Infinite (Comic) Part 1 | Part 2

Experiment origins (Flipnote) [old] (Flashing light warning)

Unknown waking up (writing from Unknown’s perspective) [old] 

OC Voiceclaims (video)

Chaos Vision (superemeralds’ idea) doodles | Click bold text to see his post on his blog.

Chips Ahoy (goofy non-canon animatic that im just really happy with)

Test animation for Toxic (Flicker warning)

Pride (doodles of 4/5 OCs for pride [toxic didn’t exist yet])

Moebius AU (Drawings with short description) | Moebius!Unknown video (Flash warning)

First Punch (Animated comic feat. @creative-sanic ‘s Aurora) | Still version

Rough concept writing - Toxic’s powers [will be removed when I decide on their abilities and how they get them in canon] (Writing)

Character Turn-Arounds (Comic/Animation ref) (Includes colour hex keys!)