#of course i know that team dark and team chaotix have their own thing going on

[knucklesnendo]

What are your opinions on the members in the four Teams?

Ya know, Team Chaotix, Team Dark, and Team Rose.

You can include Team Sonic if you want, it’s optional.

What? Teams? Huh... I guess I never noticed how we did kind of split up into four groups. That is if you're talking about when Metal Sonic tried to take over the world. Well... We don't really have those "teams" anymore. Shadow does his own thing too much, Big is often off on his own, and... well the Chaotix actually stuck together. I guess I'll go one by one then.

Sonic: Cocky, arrogant, and needs to stop messing with my island. He's good though, we used to be enemies but now we're friends and rivals. He'd just say friends, though.

Tails: Smart kid. Really handy too. He's a close friend and like a little brother, of course not as much as he is to Sonic. I like him. He needs to learn it's Hydro City, though.

Amy: Tough, strong, stubborn, kind. She's very passionate and made for a great leader for the restoration... after I stopped being the best one of course. A bit hot headed.

Cream: Good kid. I don't really interact with her much since I'm on my island and she is off doing her own things. I greatly respect her for how well she cares of her Chao. Helped save Angel Island too... all at that age. She'll do good things when she's older, I'm sure of it.

Big: I can never get a read on that guy. I've seen him on my island and I have no clue how he gets here.

Vector: Good friend, we don't talk much due to... well it's on me 100% but we still have fun when we do see each other. Maybe I should visit them. I do wish he wouldn't be a sore winner at monkey ball... it was one time and never again. Lucky Tails gave me something I can practice on...

Espio: We've been friends since the incident in the Newtrogic High Zone. He can be a bit melodramatic but honestly he's kind and smart. Although I will say, his poetry confuses me. I hear he still writes to Mighty, maybe we should all get together.

Charmy: Known him for a while too. He's a good kid if a bit much at times. A real life saver for their agency as well... Flight is handy, Newtrogic High Zone taught me that...

Shadow: He was a real problem when we first met him... But since then he has mellowed out. He's a good person at heart, I think we all know this by now, but he gets a bit stubborn. I don't see him much and conversation is often awkward. I feel like something has been bothering him lately.

Rogue: Annoying. She is the one who visits me the most. It always devolves into her talking about my emerald. She says it's hers and I need to get off the island and have fun. I tell her this is my duty and she cannot have it. She has a weird sense of humor too. She is, however, good at what she does and was a valuable member of the resistance. I don't approve of her theft. Stealing is not "treasure hunting" at all!

Omega: He hates Eggman more than I do. I don't know how it's possible but he does. Other than that... conversation is very one way with him. I tried to talk to him before but he told me he would rather every grain of sand in the deserts than waste more time not killing Eggman's robots. Rude.

[etaleah]

My Wish List for a Sonic Adventure 2 Remaster

I was recently able to play this game again and now I have a lot of thoughts on how it could be improved if we’re ever lucky enough to get a remaster of it:

Updated graphics.

Improved sound editing/audio quality so the characters aren’t talking over each other or drowned out by the music.

Subtitles for in-game dialogue in addition to the cutscenes.

An extra Shadow stage since he has the least of all the main characters. The easiest place to add one would be at Prison Island where he’s setting Eggman’s detonator.

A Chao garden that changes with the time of day and time of year so that it could be nighttime, winter, autumn, etc. This might not be possible for the Hero and Dark gardens since they have more specific aesthetics, but it could definitely be done for the Neutral garden.

Treasure hunting stages that don’t make you want to rage quit. They should be smaller with hints that actually make sense and a radar that glows whenever you’re near any treasure, not just the “right” treasure.

Extra details on Shadow’s backstory and what happened to him once he got to Earth.

Kart racing that’s similar to Team Sonic Racing in its design and handling, with customizable cars and more diverse, colorful courses. Throw in some customizable motorcycles too just for the fun of it.

Add Amy, Cream, Big, Chao/Omochao, the Chaotix, and Metal Sonic to the kart racing and/or multiplayer options.

Give Amy her own stage and have her be more active in the story while keeping the same role. Instead of tagging along uselessly to Prison Island while Tails does all the work, have her hammering some robots while Tails shoots open a door, maybe with the player alternating between the two characters in the same stage like the setup in Sonic Heroes. Have her actively searching for information on Shadow while everyone else is off doing the Cannon’s Core thing. She can learn about his tampered memories and make the deliberate choice to help him remember his promise to Maria rather than having that be a lucky accident that conveniently happens exactly when the plot needs it to. You could even add a stage here where she’s going through the Ark to find Shadow and has to hammer her way through some robots to get to him.

An online option where you can visit other peoples’ Chao gardens and do multiplayer with other gamers around the world.

A more generous (or at least, more transparent) grading system where the player knows what they need to do to get an A instead of having to guess or google it.

More stuff to do in the Chao garden, like building your Chao a house or playground or planting flowers for them. If I’m being honest, I really just want an Animal Crossing/Sonic the Hedgehog mashup and this seems like the perfect opportunity for that.

Have the rings follow the setup that’s present in Shadow the Hedgehog, where you only lose 10 at a time instead of losing all of them and only being able to get back 20.

[taki118]

Complaints with Sonic Prime

Overall I’d say it was a fun run with a gimmicky premise (par for the course with Sonic though) but I did have some issues with characterization and roles in the alternate worlds slight spoilers so i’m gonna go over it.

First was the background characters this is the most understandable have unique rigs takes time and money I know however its the presence of Big that makes it odd. Like i like Big but it just kept striking me as weird that aside from him and I guess Shadow there are no other recurring characters. I understand wanting to keep the cast small however the inclusion of big in this role just made me wonder over and over “Why big?” “Why aren’t we seeing other characters? like Cream, the Chaotix, Mighty, etc.” But it’s not that big a deal something odd I noticed.

Second and more importantly was the characterization and not surprisingly its Amy and Rouge I adore these characters and I have since I was a kid playing the adventure series. 

- For Amy it seems they took some cues from Boom making her crush on Sonic more hidden I think? He says he thinks she likes him at one point. Now see here’s my thinking I don’t think Amy’s crush on Sonic and her expressing that was ever really an issue it was how the writers often leaned on it as her only trait. I feel making her have a “secret” crush on Sonic is and overcorrection. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a character having a crush on another and expressing it, its just that it can’t be ALL the character does. Another is how they’ve mellowed her out more I can’t be fully sure till I see more of like base Amy but again her outbursts weren’t the problem it was leaning on them. 

- I had concern from the trailers about Rouge as it appeared she was in the main cast but the thing about her is she works best as a side character. Rouge is a morally grey character and is at her best when you don’t really know what she’s up to, she does what she thinks is right and that isn’t always what the heroes think is right. So having her in the main cast made me worry and not just cause Team Dark owns my heart. I was a little relieved when it appeared like her interests just aligned with theirs and got caught up in the chaos however then there’s the implication that she hangs out with Sonic’s group regularly which is odd to me then there’s the roles she takes in the Alternate worlds of which she seemed to get the worst of.

So the roles the characters took in alternate worlds often didn’t make sense to me and I don’t know if that was the point or not, like an attempt to keep fans on their toes by going very against type or character but it didn’t sit well with me. 

- Rusty Rose: The enforcer who was robotised due to wanting to survive and being made into a a weapon, I just don’t understand why it was Amy? I mean I guess they wanted the trope of the least expected or sweetest becomes deadlist but the backstory more fits Rouge. From her self serving nature to formerly working with Eggman it makes more sense for Rouge to be in this role than Amy. In fact their roles should have been switched she should be leading a resistance with Knuckles, a pair of characters who don’t often get to play off each other. (I have a sneaking suspicion that someone in the writers room is a big Rouge x Knux shipper as these alternate version are constantly working together) 

- The Monster: The frightening protector of a resource who refuses to listen to others and self isolates, you describe that to someone and you go “Oh thats Knuckles!” Cause like it is the entire storyline would work better for Knuckles than Amy whom they have added an new environmental angle to but even then it still would work better for Knuckles. 

- Capt. Dread: A self serving pirate willing to anything to get their prized treasure and throws others under the bus to do it......HOW WAS THIS NOT ROUGE!?!?! Like how was the jewel thief not the pirate captain????? I get the idea of Knuckles stubbornly sticking with things being his fault but again it would have worked better and been more inline with his character.

My final issue is why is Blaze not here? Like I thought this when viewing the first trailer for both Rouge being in the main group and alternate realities being used. Alternate realities is her whole shtick and I questioned it even more when Shadow showed up and he just felt very forced in almost like it was a mandate he be in this which I get Shadow is more popular than Blaze but he’s also been around longer. I just feel like Blaze would work better in the narrative than either Rouge or Shadow and it’s just kinda weird.

Anyway I know this is just my personal preference but I wanted to voice it overall the series isn’t bad but I just think these are missteps.  

[lowpolyshadow]

This is for the Sonic opinion ask thingy (but feel free to answer it privately bc I'm on the shy side) PS. I am sorry for its length:

Do you believe that the hate Shadow the Hedgehog 2005 gets to this day is deserved, and did it ruin Shadow's character? I feel like Shadow 05 gets a lot of crap thrown at it bc of its "edgy" advertising more so than the actual content of the game. The game itself is the Team Chaotix mission style levels from Sonic Heroes but with Shadow, and guns, lots of guns. And... the guns are honestly the best part of the game. Next to Shadow, of course.

Before I played it this year, I was under the impression that the game was terrible as so many ppl say it is and that it's the game that ruined Shadow by making him an edgelord. After playing it and having to beat it 10 times to get the true ending, I was so confused as to how the game has the bad reputation that it has. Yeah, the game is edgy, but Shadow isn't close to being an edgelord. He's a little guy, a little goofy guy who just wants to know his past. Idk... Maybe 2005 was too early for Sega to release such a tonally different type of Sonic game and market it as unSonic like as possible to Sonic fans. One can only wish Shadow 05 gets the Sonic Unleashed treatment: hated on release but gets love and praise years years later; but Shadow 05's less than well received legacy has a tight grip on it.

the in depth-ness of this ask is so (rattles it) that i wanna publish it GJASKLDFDF but if u don't like it lmk <3 but here's my equally long response

i think shth the game is like . not a great game. it's clunky, it's weird, it has literally over 300 "routes" for true 100% completion because of how oddly they made it (each individual possible connection between dark/hero/neutral being its own path with its own name in the credits/game itself meaning you need to do every fucking possibility in existence to get a true 100%) like it's just such an odd specimen of a video game that has the same sort of "issue" most sonic games have where there's not enough polish in certain parts of the end result

i think that + a mix of other factors (the edgy marketing, the gun thing, the fact that this is the first sonic character since knuckles chaotix and tails adventure to get a spin off) made it more susceptible to being criticized, especially because shadow isn't a longrunning character and was equally polarizing in certain parts of the fandom for that reason (he should've stayed dead vs he wasn't that good to begin with vs etc., he's like the most popular character besides sonic but that also means he has plenty of detractors)

this is also during like an awkward time period like following sa2 where people were split on whether heroes is good or not (my beloved), a lot of spin offs or smaller side games that aren't really here or there, and then of course 06 for the real plummet in public opinion, so like. shth was already going uphill lmaoooo

so like. factually. it's a fucking Weird game. adding guns and trying to make it cooler and edgier and let shadow + sonic swear (HILARIOUS) means there's too much room for people to say that the silly series about cartoon hedgehogs is trying too hard, and especially around 2005, trying too hard is seen as lame and cringe and not cool? which also means it's more popular to make fun of its writing than try to actually absorb what the game is telling you (which is hard anyways because the game tells it to you in its weird assbackwards multi-route off translation sonic way)

in my own personal opinion, the game isn't perfect and it's actually just fucking funny especially in like the dark routes (i LOVE dark hero ending), but it's not as awful as people make it out to be and i don't really think shadow's character was "ruined" by it or anywhere close. i'm a little bit on the side of "shadow probably should've stayed dead in sa2" because the impact of his story was just phenomenal with how his character goes, but yknow i'm a shadow fan which means im glad i get to see him stick around and be in future games

edit: also forgot to mention but i think shadow IS a little edgelord, it's just that he's been an edgelord since inception. listen to literally any of his lines from sa2 (one of the first things you'll ever hear from him is literally just "I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the world's ultimate life form. There's no time for games, farewell." among like "It all starts with this ... a jewel containing the ultimate power!") he's just so dramatic he's . he's always had edge. shth is just all about him so it's on full display all the time <3

shth was important because following his new heroes amnesia, this is the game that focuses entirely on heroes' team dark subplot with him trying to find out who he is, and all the routes are formed based on how much he actually learns (a lot of dark endings he ends up with little to no information at all, a lot of hero endings he learns some but not the other), with of course the true ending resulting in him coming to terms with all he is and what he was meant to be and what he will be going forward

he's over the top and dramatic but that's like half the fun of a sonic game i think (also, again, lots of the translation are straight up incorrect or just oddly done so it doesn't help with making things make. sense), like. it is a silly little game about cartoon hedgehogs. that SWEAR now! and use guns !!! !! ! but it's also a game where shadow gets to let go of the past and put it behind him, so that he can just. live. for once. lol

not to be used as a weapon for revenge on humanity, not to be used as a desperate cure for a dying girl, not to be . fucking anything besides a little freak of a hedgehog

it's soooo dramatic but him letting go of that picture of maria and gerald and saying goodbye to shadow is like. ?!??! idk. i think it worked for what they needed and 06 shadow showed the fruits of that labor where he's just so much more in control of like, himself and his lot in life i think .... modern shadow gets a lot of flack and yknow i agree but it's almost like a shadow off the shits level of flanderization lmaooo?? i hope they tone it down for a bit more of a balance between his cool collected reserved thing and his like oddly passionate side (like how amy suffered for. a few years now. with being just 'sonic fangirl' but they're finally bringing it back around to 'kind compassionate girl who loves her friends'), but it's not wrong to say he's a guy who doesn't care about what others think and is just doing whatever the fuck he wants

tldr i think shth the game gets more flack than it deserves, which isn't to say it doesn't deserve any it just. like satbk and secret rings, which are just not fantastic games in terms of actual gameplay, the writing is genuinely not bad at all. i really like shadow in lots of sections of shth even tho they're batshit crazy scenes... and i'm a sucker for . for the ridiculous "this is who i am!" ending quotes in the sense that they're so stupid. they're so dumb. half of them i can't take seriously ("i am the ultimate hedgehog" lmao?!?) but then you get the last story's quote and. yeah.

"I am Shadow the Hedgehog. I've left the past behind me. No one can tell me what to do now! I will destroy you, Black Doom!”

[multicolour-ink]

I just realised what the whole "tribe" that Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails formed together could mean for the Sonic Movie Verse.

It means that other beloved Sonic characters from the games (who at this point Sega have been treating as bland NPCs) can have a chance to be more active by joining this "tribe". A group who promises to look out for each other, and protect the Earth and galaxy from threats.

[waystobuild-blog]

Spare Room?

Hey everybody. Last year, I had worked on the Sonic Zine @stayhomesonic which was a fanzine that would be sold to fans each with pieces of art and writing about the pandemic, with the proceeds going towards Doctor’s Without Borders in the end. $612 was raised and it was great to take part in such a nice cause.

Now that the zine has been finished, I am able to post my piece to social medias which I am doing so now. Rather than something soft or emotional, I decided to go a little more comical with these characters while also going into the importance of staying home and social distancing.

Spare Room?

 With a global pandemic going on, everybody was asked to stay inside their homes. This was a good thing, it kept people safe. But if you were a guy that didn’t really have a house and just kinda camped out wherever you stopped running, then you were in for a problem. Unfortunately for Sonic the Hedgehog, that was his predicament.

He now stood in the Mystic Ruins outside of Tails’ lab where he hoped that he could crash until this whole thing blew over.

Tails arrived at the door decked out in a hazmat suit that even covered his namesakes.

“Hey, bud!” Sonic smiled and waved at him.

“Sonic, it’s good to see you!” The fox grinned.

Sonic was quick to go in for a hug, but Tails was quick to duck away. “Sorry, Sonic. No touching. You know how it is right now.”

The hedgehog sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry, Sorry. Forgot.”

“It’s all good. So what brings you by these parts?”

“Well, everybody’s been told to go inside for this whole virus thing, and I don’t really have a house so I’m like ‘Why not bunk with the best little bro in the whole world?’ y’know?”

“Sonic that’s great and I’d love to have you.”

“Perfect!” He beamed as he began to make his way towards the door.

But for the first time in a long time, Tails was faster than him as he quickly produced a remote control with a single red button on it and stepped back into the house.

Suddenly, metal bars appeared in front of him as warning sirens went off all around. Sonic was quick to cover his ears as he watched his friend’s shack basically become Fort Knox in a matter of seconds.

“Sorry, Sonic. I’d love to have you but I just can’t. I’m busy trying to find a cure so it’s not safe here.”

“They’re trusting an 8 year old to find a cure for a worldwide pandemic?”

“Yes and they pay me handsomely. Good luck trying to find a place to stay, I gotta get back to work.”

Sonic waved him off before leaving.

If Tails wasn’t gonna let him stay then who would? He wondered as he ran off.

However, quickly he found himself in Station Square and that’s when he realized that he knew someone that would have to let him in.

It wasn’t long before Sonic stood outside of an apartment and rang the doorbell, giving off his best winning smile.

When the door opened, Amy Rose stood before him, wearing her usual outfit but a facemask as well.

“Sonic!” She cried. “It’s good to see you!”

“Hey, Ames. Good to see you too.”

Sonic reached out for a hug, but Amy was quick to back away. “No, no mister, you know the rules. Keep a safe distance.”

“Aw, come on, it’s just one hug.”

“Sure first it’s one hug and then it’s one kiss and then it’s one virus.” Amy shook her head. “We’re not in good times right now.”

Sonic chuckled. “Who are you and what have you done with Amy Rose?”

Amy swiped her hand around and laughed with him. “Oh, stop. But seriously, what brings you by?’

“Well, with this whole virus thing going around I’ve been looking for a place to stay, so I thought Amy will definitely let me-”

“No.”

“Stay and so I’m just gonna go in and- wait, did you say no?”

Amy gave a placate smile and shook her head “Same thing, Sonic. Any other day, I’d love to have you over, but right now it’s just not a good idea.”

Sonic sighed at this but nodded in understanding.

Amy quickly closed her door and Sonic was left to find someone else to bunk with.

First Tails and now Amy. This was proving to be a lot harder than he thought. He thought he was a shoe in to get inside Amy’s apartment but the girl was far more serious than he initially thought she would be. Part of him was proud of her for sticking to her guns and staying safe, but another part of him just wanted a bed to sleep in for once.

Who else did he know that actually had some sort of roof over their head could he go to?

And then it clicked. While definitely not ideal, he supposed he could give them a try.

Sonic raced off from Station Square and shortly arrived in Westopolis where he went to a specific high rise apartment complex to find Team Dark.

Team Dark, having more government funds than they knew what to do with lived incredibly comfy in what was more or less a penthouse and they were 100% fine with that. It was a bit too stuffy and fancy for Sonic’s tastes, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Sonic’s eyes widened in shock when he went to the top floor of the building and found steel plating surrounding the entrance to their apartment.

Sonic looked confused at this as he walked over to ring the doorbell.

But as soon as he placed a finger on it, alarms began to blare causing the hedgehog to instinctively jump into a battle pose.

But no danger came.

Instead, a massive screen flared to life and there stood the face of E123 Omega. “Who dares violate the safety of Rouge?!”

“Omega?” Sonic looked confusedly.

“Sonic the Hedgehog how dare you try to infiltrate our place of dwelling during the infection?! Please vacate the premises immediately or lethal force will be taken!”

Suddenly a comically large laser gun appeared from next to the panel and pointed dangerously at the hedgehog.

“Woah, woah, woah!” A sharp voice came from offscreen. “Omega, put those away right now!”

“But Rouge, he-”

“We do not vaporize our friends, Omega!” Rouge shouted.

If Sonic wasn’t mistaken he thought he had heard the robot groan but the laser was in fact put away.

In a few short moments the camera was turned in a new direction and he could see Rouge the bat lying lazily on the couch wearing a bathrobe and slippers, a magazine discarded at her side.

“Hey, Big Blue.” She waved. “Sorry about Omega, he’s gotten a little extreme when it comes to the virus.”

“A little? Dude tried to blast me!”

“And I would do it again.”

Rouge rolled her eyes at this. “Omega put the place on lockdown as soon as news broke out and won’t allow me to leave the house. I don’t really care though so I’ve just made myself comfortable.”

“Okay… what about Shads?”

“Shadow?” She snickered. “As soon as he heard, he didn’t even bother with me or Omega, he just used his Chaos Control and left. Who knows where he is?”

“Knowing him, he probably thinks he can’t be infected or something and is off trying to figure out how he can punch the virus.”

Rouge simply shrugged.

“Anyway, you gonna let me stay?”

Rouge shrugged. “I’d love to… But I am 100% sure Omega will vaporize you…”

“I will!”

“And I just can’t stop him.”

Sonic sighed. “Alright, thanks.”

Sonic ran off yet again, trying to find where exactly he could go but to no avail. He had friends all over the world and yet, none of them were taking him. He tried the Chaotix, he tried Professor Pickle, he even considered Omochao but then realized nothing was worth that hell.

But soon, he ran into someone that actually wanted him.

If only he could say the same about them.

“Hello, Sonic!”

Sonic stopped his running nearly tripping over his own feet with how sudden the gravelly voice had come out at him.

He looked up to the source of the voice and saw a floating screen before him and on that screen was none other than Doctor Eggman himself, giving him a big cheeky smile. The doctor wasn’t looking to good, he was covered in a blanket, his face redder than usual, his usually bushy moustache drooped down low.

“Sonic!” He announced. “I hear you are looking for a place to stay!”

“Pass.” Sonic tried to run away but the same floating screen was quick to have two robot arms extend from it and grab the hedgehog.

“Now hold on there, Sonic. I would like to extend an olive branch to you. With these trying times, we all need to stick together and I happen to know that you need a roof over your head. So, stay with me and we’ll make great company!”

Sonic let himself go from where the arms were holding him. “You’re sick, Eggman.”

Eggman violently coughed at that. “N-n-no, of course not. I am of perfect health.”

“I meant you’re messed up but yeah, that too.”

Eggman frowned at that. “Wait, I promise that no harm will come to you.”

“Is that right?”

“But of course.”

“In that case…”

“Chaos Control!”

Sonic and Eggman both looked up in shock to see none other than Shadow the Hedgehog drop down and dropkick Eggman’s screen, causing it to break.

“I- okay, I wasn’t expecting that, Shadow.”

Shadow rose from where he was crouched down on the ground and glared at the hedgehog.

“So… since you’re here, I was wondering if I could bunk it in wherever you were hiding out an-”

“Absolutely not!” Shadow roared. “After Rouge called me on my communicator, she informed me of your little crusade to find a roommate. So I’m telling you here and now, stay away from space. If I hear you so much as step one foot off the planet, then I will not hesitate to-”

“Woha, wait, space? I didn’t even know that…” And then it clicked. “You’re hiding out on the Ark aren’t you?”

Shadow’s eyes widened in shock and he quickly tried to cover himself. “I- I- I- cannot confirm or deny that… I- I have to go. Uh… Chaos Control!”

Sonic sighed at this, being left all alone with flaming pile of machinery.

After trying all his friends he was left in complete isolation. What was he to do now that he had nowhere to stay, nowhere to run to… He was all alone.

But it was those thoughts of loneliness, isolation that made him realize that he had one friend that he had completely forgotten to ask and zoomed off.

It wasn’t long before he arrived at his destination. Lush greenery surrounded him, birds were singing, nature was alive and well, standing amongst it all was a great big altar where a massive green gem of power could be seen radiating a comforting energy that rolled over him in waves.

Leaning against the same gem was none other than the Emerald Guardian himself, Knuckles the Echidna and as soon as Sonic stepped foot on the Altar, he cracked open an eye and looked over at his visitor.

“Sonic.”

“Hey, buddy. It’s good to see ya!” He sheepishly waved.

“What are you doing on my island?”

“Well… ya see, there’s this whole virus thing going on and…”

“Virus? What virus?”

Sonic stood there in stunned disbelief for a moment, staring at the echidna in complete befuddlement as Knuckles looked at him expectantly.

He just shrugged. “Forget about it. Anyway, you mind if I crash on Angel Island for a while?”

Knuckles put a hand to his chin in thought for a moment. “Eh, sure. Just stay away from the Master Emerald and me for that matter.”

“Works for me.” Sonic shrugged as he left to jog a few laps around the island, finally having a place to stay during this pandemic.

[mobius-prime]

175. Sonic the Hedgehog #107

Crouching Hedgehog, Hidden Dragon (臣人豪猪臧龍) (Part Two)

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Ron Lim Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Yes, those are the same Chinese characters as last time. I was kind of hoping they would have used different ones so we could have a second nonsense phrase to laugh over, but alas. The morning after the dragon's attack, Sonic and Tails are playing video games when they're called to a morning meeting with Station Square's president. Once in the meeting, the president begins to explain his strategy for taking on the dragon, but Sonic is less than interested.

Sonic suddenly realizes he recognizes the team as the one that captured him at the beginning of Sonic Adventure 2, and promptly bursts into hysterical laughter, remembering how easily he disarmed them last time. Sally is quick to salvage the situation by claiming that it's Mobian tradition to laugh at their allies as a show of respect, and a confused president and annoyed Paladin Team look on as every Mobian at the table howls with laughter to keep up the ruse. Sonic, however, is not pleased with the tough-guy, humorless attitude that every member of the team exudes, and Sally, Rotor, and Antoine stay behind in the city as Sonic, Tails, and Bunnie airdrop in with the team to Pyro Island, where the dragon is believed to be hiding out. The Mobians are cheery, singing and chatting with one another, but the leader of Paladin Team admonishes them for not taking things seriously. While everyone is distracted, two of the Paladin Team members lag behind everyone else, not realizing that there's a shadowy, snakelike figure stalking them from behind. As the Mobians and humans begin to argue, they suddenly notice the disappearance of two of their team members.

While the humans angrily head out to find their missing team members, Sonic, Tails and Bunnie press on into the trees, trying to figure out where a dragon might hide. Tails spots a cave behind a waterfall, and they duck inside, to be immediately greeted by… Dulcy! It's been a while since we've seen her! Her arm is in a sling, but otherwise she seems fine and happy to see them. Suddenly, the red dragon emerges from behind her, but Dulcy quickly explains that this is Zan, and she's in a relationship with him. However, he begins to act aggressive, insisting that the others are their enemies and shouldn't be here, to her dismay.

Well, that changes things a bit. Everyone tries to convince Zan to settle down so they can talk things out peacefully, but Zan becomes even angrier when Dulcy agrees. He's interrupted from scolding her for relying on them when a net entangles his mouth, shutting him up, and the humans all rush in with guns drawn, ready to kill both dragons. Sonic utilizes his super speed to take apart all their guns before they can fire, but then Zan breaks free of his muzzle, gloating that now that they're unarmed he can kill them easily. Sonic steps in the middle to prevent that from happening either, and then Dulcy, from the back, quietly speaks up.

So this isn't the only "surprise domestic abuse" plot in a Sonic canon. Anyone who's played Sonic and the Secret Rings knows that an abusive romantic relationship plays a big part in that game's plot as well. But it still does come as a big shock here. Sonic freaks out, infuriated that Zan would hurt his friend, and begins wailing on him, while Tails and Bunnie rush outside to check on Dulcy. She repeats certain stock phrases that are common of abuse victims, such as "he loves me" and "maybe it's my fault," while Bunnie reassures her that she's not at fault at all and deserves better than to be treated this way. It's honestly a decent portrayal of the guilt that abuse victims become stuck with, just very condensed, because this comic doesn't have time to throw in a whole long subplot about Dulcy's emotional recovery. Instead, it takes a fast-track approach, as while Sonic and Zan fight, Paladin Team sets up explosives and blows up the entire cave, with Sonic and Zan still in it! That'll solve it!

Everyone outside is horrified and rushes forward to try to dig them both out, but Sonic emerges safely, tunneling his way out from under the rock. However, Zan isn't so lucky. The team contacts the president, informing him that the dragon that menaced them is dead and the city is safe again, and he agrees formally to take in the Overlander refugees, while Sonic, Tails, and Bunnie stay with Dulcy at the ruins of the cave till nightfall, letting her mourn despite the abuse.

Fittingly, our character file for this issue is for Dulcy! She's an outlier in almost every way compared to the other characters so far. Since she's a dragon, you'd expect her to be bigger than the others, but I wasn't expecting her to be so massive. She's a whopping 240 cm or 7'10" tall, and weighs 111.8 kg or 245.9 lbs! That's easily taller than Big the Cat and E-102 Gamma, the tallest characters in the games (not counting bosses such as Iblis or Dark Gaia), though not nearly as heavy as either of them. Her wingspan also comes out to 169 cm or exactly five feet, which correspond well enough to how they're usually drawn as proportionately small. However, that's not the most interesting thing about her file. Based on her behavior and this recent relationship of hers, how old would you say Dulcy is? Seventeen? Eighteen?

She's thirteen.

I was honestly shocked when I found this out. This means that most of the previous times we've seen her, she was literally only twelve, not even a teenager yet. This actually puts a lot of her behavior into perspective - her somewhat crybaby attitude and nervousness in the face of danger, all that is due to literal immaturity. This means she was only about two years old when the war against Robotnik started, with her birthday being August 23. The file explains that when Robotnik began his coup, he heavily targeted dragons before any other creatures due to their sheer power. One such dragon, Sabina, sought protection for her daughter Dulcinea (Dulcy's real name) among the Kingdom of Acorn before she too was captured. Dulcy grew up over the years and helped the Freedom Fighters, though she mainly lived outside on her own due to her massive size. Interestingly enough, the file also attempts to provide a bit of a retcon for the whole "dragons can sense truth" plot hole that I pointed out all the way back during Endgame, instead suggesting that Dulcy in particular is just a very trustworthy individual who doesn't like telling lies and has an instinct for knowing when someone is being truthful, which I can accept. It's a lot better than the handwave from before, anyway.

Reunification (Part II)

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Dawn Best Colors: Robbie O'Quinn

Lien-Da is pissed. Apparently, she actually didn't expect Knuckles to be able to reverse the effects of the Quantum Beam, despite Dimitri not only promising Knuckles he'd do so himself, but even encouraging Knuckles to do so on his own. Dimitri is also shocked, though more at the sheer extent of Knuckles' power, which exceeds even his own when he was Enerjak.

What, Lien-Da? You think you're gonna recruit Remington or something? Remington's an upstanding guy, man, I think your chances are… uh… well, I suppose we mustn't forget about the time traveler girl who apparently thinks he's gonna murder Knuckles. Remington asks her for her name and she gives the name "Jani-Ca," though internally she notes that she's trying to hide her own identity, meaning this isn't her real name. Wynmacher and Lara-Le rush up, concernedly asking after Knuckles, and while Remington states he hasn't seen him, Jani-Ca hides her surprise at seeing a younger version of her grandmother. Wait - grandmother?! Then that means she's…

The Chaotix are back as well, having landed right back in the ruins of the Grand Conservatory, with their dialogue again suggesting that they haven't been away for long due to the slower time scale within the Twilight Zone. In Haven, the various members of the Brotherhood are dismayed to find the place trashed from Knuckles' earlier bursts of uncontrolled power, though they instead suspect the Legion's hand. They notice that Matthias and Hawking are no longer there, realizing that they've both died and headed on to the "next evolution," AKA echidna heaven. They sense one more soul with them, whom we know is Tobor, but they can't figure it out. Locke briefly worries that it might be Knuckles before hearing Knuckles' ghostly voice reassuring him that he's fine and currently in the city. Far from reassuring Locke, this only makes him worry that instead of his great plans for Knuckles to be a savior, instead his worst fears have come to pass. What, Locke, you starting to think that maybe genetically engineering and irradiating your unborn baby wasn't a good idea after all?

*sigh* So, yes, everyone, this is Knuckles' future daughter Lara-Su. Anyone who knows Penders and his whole lawsuit debacle will know exactly who this is. Now, she's kind of an unpopular character because of this (and because many people essentially dismiss her as Penders' Mary Sue OC), and there are definitely valid criticisms to be made about her inclusion into the comics, but I'm not going to immediately jump into hating her just because of the circumstances of her creation. After all, we still know basically nothing about her, not even how she came to be, and anyway you all know that I prefer to judge a character or story on its own merits and not on how likeable its creator is.

Everyone's conversations are interrupted by a flash of light, and Dimitri materializes in the middle of the group. Remington, of course, steps forward intending to arrest him, but Knuckles stops him much to his shock. Dimitri grins in a super-duper-not-an-evil-villain way and says that Knuckles has finally seen that he and his Legion only wish to rejoin the rest of echidna society, and that they're prepared to do whatever it takes to reintegrate…

[firebirdtransam68]

30 Sonic Questions

1. Why did you become interested in Sonic?

2. How did you hear about Sonic?

3. How long have you been a Sonic fan?

4. Favourite male character(s)?

5. Favourite female character(s)?

6. Favourite game(s)?

7. Favourite vocal theme(s)?

8. How much merchandise do you have, if any?

9. How many Sonic games do you own?

10. Got any clothing or apparel?

11. AoSTH, Satam or Sonic X?

12. Archie or Fleetway?

13. Favourite Sonic form? Pick one.

14. Classic, Dreamcast or Modern? Pick one.

15. Favourite Sonic level(s)?

16. Favourite Sonic soundtrack(s)?

17. Favourite Sonic music track(s)?

18. Got any remixes you like?

19. What do you contribute to the fandom? (art, writing, edits, videos)

20. Do you closely follow Sonic related news?

21. Been to Sonic Boom?

22. Been to Summer of Sonic?

23. Got any fan characters?

24. Any artists you admire?

25. Favourite voice actor for Sonic?

26. Favourite official art style?

27. What do you like about the fandom?

28. What do you like about Sonic? (the character)

29. Met any Sonic friends through the fandom?

30. Excited for Sonic's next birthday?

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

This ask meme has been reblogged by @xsailormobian, who had the meme in text format (I changed the formatting, but I credited the user who reblogged this post).  And, since I had not found a decent Sonic ask meme as of now, I will take pleasure into answering all 30 questions.

I will answer as much as I can, since I have answered questions relating to Transformers; and since I am a fan of both Transformers and Sonic, I might as well answer this ask meme.  

Here it goes:

1. “Why did you become interested in Sonic?” - Besides the fact the franchise is based on extraterrestrials, have many different characters with many different complex traits, and contain an anti-hero, the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise shares a lot of things in common with the Transformers franchise (extraterrestrials, different characters, voice actors/seiyuu, styles, etc.), despite the former being set in the 1990′s and the latter in the 1980′s.  I took more interest when I realized Sonic X was an anime (characters speaking English, or throwing in English, comes to mind).  I took even more interest when a particular character has the same seiyuu as a few Transformers I really liked (hint: the character is a hedgehog).

2. “How did you hear about Sonic?” - When I was at a movie store a long time ago (I was around 5 or 6), I came across a character with spikey quills and a signature smile with a pose (it was on a wall in a children’s watch room).  I first heard of the name when an elementary school student was talking about it when playing a computer game featuring the blue hedgehog.  I wasn’t too much of a fan until much later.

3. “How long have you been a Sonic fan?” - Almost a year; I recently became a fan after Transformers.

4. “Favourite male character(s)?” - Sonic The Hedgehog, Shadow The Hedgehog, Silver The Hedgehog, Knuckles The Echidna, Jet The Hawk, Scourge The Hedgehog, Team Chaotix, and Mephiles The Dark (but mostly Sonic, Shadow, and Silver).

5. “Favourite female character(s)?” - Amy Rose, Rouge The Bat, Katella The Huntress, Wave The Swallow, and Sally Acorn (to an extent).

6. “Favourite game(s)?” - Shadow The Hedgehog (2005), Sonic The Hedgehog (2006), Sonic The Hedgehog (1991), Sonic Riders (2005), Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, and any fan game where a character and zone can be created (Sonic Forces is influential, even though I never played the game).

7. “Favourite vocal theme(s)?” - Many, but I took interest with Crush 40′s “Live And Learn” from Sonic Adventure 2.

8. “How much merchandise do you have, if any?” - None.  My cousin, on the other hand, has the games, toys, shows, and books (but not all, of course; though, I wish).

9. “How many Sonic games do you own?” - None; my cousin has the games; that is why I come visit his house.

10. “Got any clothing or apparel?” - Nothing related to Sonic; my clothes have regular (non-pop cultural) styles, or are just simply plain.

11. “AoSTH, Satam or Sonic X?” - Sonic X; with English subtitles; unedited.  Animation and some sound effects remind me more of Transformers: Micron Legend.  Also, Sonic’s English was awesome and funny (depending on how he throws in English).

12. “Archie or Fleetway?” - None of the above; not even IDW.  I don’t read comics as much.

13. “Favourite Sonic form? Pick one.” - Many, but since I have to pick one, I will go with Super Sonic.

14. “Classic, Dreamcast or Modern? Pick one.” - As much as I appreciate Classic, I will go with Modern.

15. “Favourite Sonic level(s)?” - Many; I can’t name just one.

16. “Favourite Sonic soundtrack(s)?” - 1991-1997, Adventure 1 and 2, Shadow The Hedgehog (2005), Sonic 06, Sonic X (Yoshihiro Ike, NOT 4Kids), Sonic OVA, and, to some extent, Sonic Forces.

17. “Favourite Sonic music track(s)?” - I don’t have one.

18. “Got any remixes you like?” - Do 1980′s remixes count?

19. “What do you contribute to the fandom? (art, writing, edits, videos)” - All of the above; fan media included.

20. “Do you closely follow Sonic related news?” - Not as much; I am not particularly into new trends; just what I like (whether old, new, or underrated).

21. “Been to Sonic Boom?” - No.  Next question, please.

22. “Been to Summer of Sonic?” - No; I never heard of it until now…

23. “Got any fan characters?” - Many, but not online.  One of them is Stella Stripes (female; Alignment: Good), the other is Silhouette The Hedgehog (female; Alignment: Evil), and I have a couple on DeviantArt (all female).  I also got many male fan characters (including a falcon whose Alignment is Neutral), as well as fan characters with different genders rather than male or female.

24. “Any artists you admire?” - Many, but mostly the official creators; also the creators of Sonic X.

25. “Favourite voice actor for Sonic?” - My favorite Japanese voice actor is Jun’ichi Kanemaru; I really admire the fact that this seiyuu speaks both Japanese and English, since he was also an English teacher at one point, and I really like Sonic’s quirkiness and fun-loving personality.  My favorite English voice actor is Jason Griffith; it was the first English-speaking voice I heard, and he nearly captured Sonic’s personality nicely.  My least favorite is Roger Craig Smith, since to me, he sounded off, and a little too old; and the creators drastically changed Sonic’s personality as a result, just like how they changed Shadow’s personality since 2010 or 2014.

26. “Favourite official art style?” - Sonic X (similar to Transformers: Micron Legend/Armada), Modern CGI renders, the 2005 game versions, Sonic OVA, and the classic styles.

27. “What do you like about the fandom?” - Extraterrestrials, many different characters, many opportunities to ship, has an anime I really like, seiyuu, and had female villains (Katella The Huntress came to mind; Merlina is a little weak, in my opinion); also, the fandom is very open to fan characters and fan media.

28. “What do you like about Sonic? (the character)” - Fast, confident, knows how to fight, is friendly, is quirky, throws in English here and there (Sonic X), and never gives up.

29. “Met any Sonic friends through the fandom?” - Some, but I don’t exactly remember their names.

30. “Excited for Sonic's next birthday?” - I am actually more excited about a crossover with Transformers (which this is hardly talked about), but I acknowledge Sonic had a birthday (although, to me, he will always be 15 years of age).

There should be more ask memes like this.  In fact, I am for adding many different ask memes for many different fandoms, including Sonic, Transformers, and Spore (there should be at least one Spore ask meme, since I cannot find any).

Well, that is all I will be saying for now.  Stay tuned for more posts (I am thinking of doing reviews for certain episodes of Transformers: Micron Legend and/or Superlink when I have the time).

This is FirebirdTransAm68 signing out.

[sonicforcesau]

Forced AU: Eggman’s Alliance Arc, Part 2

It was already a few months after Eggman had collected the six Chaos Emeralds, and his secret laboratory was filled with posted up designs, concepts, and calculations that could have made his grandfather’s project research on Shadow go to shame.

And here he was, sat in this same chair for who knows how many hours, as he obsessively planned new robot concepts that could possibly take out Sonic the Hedgehog and all of his friends and allies that could possibly side with them; such as Team Dark, and the Chaotix.

And of course, the general public of Mobius who didn’t want to be ruled by a scientist obsessed with building an empire to worship himself.

The more he drew, the more memories and flashbacks of every attack, every defeat, and every humiliation was brought back into his mind. It was a good thing he was drawing on a tablet - a real pencil might have already snapped with how tightly he held the thing.

He didn’t even have the time to celebrate Christmas last year! And all those sitting down only using his brain probably made him gain even more weight. The thought made his mood turn sour.

“Doctor Eggman!” a frantic cry of his name from Orbot. “It’s an emergency!”

“Orbot!” the fat man responded with a cry. “Didn’t I tell you not to disturb me while I’m designing mechs?”

“The Chaos Emeralds have disappeared!”

“What!?” The effect was immediate. Eggman stood up instantly, nearly knocking over all the paper and even the computers from his workstation. “What do you mean they disappeared?”

“Like I said, Doctor Eggman,” Orbot repeated. “They really just disappeared without a trace!”

“I don’t believe it.” grumbled Eggman as he turned to face his computer once more. Typing into the keyboard and navigating the control panel, he brought up a feed of the security cameras installed in the base.

And he recovered the recorded footage of the room where he stored the Chaos Emeralds in, and played the video back:

It was the usual thing he saw; the Chaos Emeralds glowing dimly in their own colour, with the occasional spark of additional colour being spiked off from the emerald. And suddenly, a static had interrupted the video footage slightly, but he could still see what had happened.

The six Chaos Emeralds suddenly glowed a brilliant white, and blinded the camera with their white light. And then when the light dimmed, the emeralds disappeared along with it.

“Hmm…” Eggman pondered, lightly tapping the desk with his fingers as he came up with possible answers as of to what could have possibly happened. “Could it be… some form of Chaos Control?”

“But, Doctor-” Orbot interrupted his thoughts. “-Chaos Control under natural circumstances require all seven of the Chaos Emeralds.”

“I know, and the Emeralds spread themselves across Mobius again.” Eggman responded. “But then, they have never been kept like this before…”

“Boss!” Cubot interrupted as he joined the two. “There’s something strange that the base sensors are detecting! We’re surrounded by them!”

“I’ll teach them that Doctor Eggman can’t be taken down easily!” said the rotund man, as he furiously swiped at the screens and pulled out another live video footage of cameras monitoring the base’s exterior, and he was greeted with the sight of… the vast emptiness of the desert.

“You sure those sensors aren’t malfunctioning?” Eggman narrowed his eyes at the yellow robot.

“I’m sure of it! There are six energy signatures surrounding the base!” Cubot defended himself as he took out a tablet to show his maker the radar.

“Well I don’t see any-” the fat man suddenly stopped speaking, as a sudden twinkle in the corner of his eyes caught his attention. It came from the camera feeds. “-wait… What are those?”

As Eggman mumbled to himself, he zoomed in a camera to aim for a closer look at the unknown object. “They’re energy signatures, you say?”

“Yes boss!” replied Cubot.

“They could be the Chaos Emeralds. Let’s go take a look.”

And so, the red robot, the yellow robot, and the red-dressed fat man took a walk outside of their base, for the first time in a long time. But it seemed like the walk was a short one as they were immediately greeted with the sight of a purple gemstone, half buried into the ground.

Squatting down with some effort, Eggman picked up the gemstone with his gloved hands and stared down at the object.

“Well, it doesn’t look like a Chaos Emerald.” he commented before looking back up.

It was everything he could have ever dreamt about! Eggmanland: The big, beautiful theme park; full of statues of himself where living beings all over the world come to visit and worship him - the great Doctor Eggman!

His jaw dropped open in bewilderment, as he unconsciously let loose of the object that was in his palm in the shock. It had only been a millisecond of whatever fantasy world that the universe decided to bestow upon him - and he was already absolutely loving it.

And suddenly, it disappeared.

The shock had dissipated, and he admit that he felt disappointed that Eggmanland was gone. Was it a hallucination? Did he work too much on designing those robots that he had finally lost his sanity?

Another glint caught his eye for the second time that day.

Perhaps… it was that jewel?

Maybe it was the jewel, that was now on the floor again, appearing to be almost inviting the scientist to hold it once more.

Normally, he would feel excited about discovering a new material for his plans. But with this one - the strange unknown jewel - made him feel uneasy. Why? Was it because they appeared just as the Chaos Emeralds disappeared into thin air? And coincidentally; six of them, too?

A link clicked in the scientist’s brain.

‘No. It wasn’t a coincidence.’ thought Eggman, as he picked up the jewel for the second time. This time, no fantasies of his appeared before him.

“Orbot, Cubot.” called the fat man. “Collect the jewels, and analyse them in the lab. Cross check their energy signals with Chaos Emerald data.”

“Right away!” replied the robot minions as they went to do exactly what their maker ordered.

A few hours after the gemstones were discovered and analysed, Eggman’s suspicions were confirmed to be true: The jewels did contain significant amounts of Chaos Energy and had traces of material similar to Chaos Emeralds.

“Right.” Doctor Eggman suddenly spoke up after reading and going through the results of the analysis in his head. “I have come to the conclusion that these six jewels are the Chaos Emeralds.”

“That’s excellent, Doctor Eggman.” responded Orbot. “Then perhaps you can now continue with your plans!”

“Not quite.” the scientist grumbled, slightly annoyed for some reasons. “Although they contain Chaos Energy, the energy signatures produced are vastly different from the original Emeralds.”

“Then maybe they are another form of the Emeralds?” Cubot chimed in his two cents.

“Excellent conclusion, Cubot!” Eggman exclaimed. “Perhaps you’re not such an idiot, after all.”

“I want to call them ‘Spooky Sapphire’!”

“I take back my words; they’re not even blue, you stupid robot!” Eggman snapped, before calming down once more. “Anyway, with my great mind, I’ve already come up with a brilliant name - that none of you dimwits could ever come up with.”

“It shall be named: the ‘Phantom Ruby’!”

And it is also time to find out exactly how this newly named Phantom Ruby caused that illusion.

[mobius-prime]

154. Sonic Super Special #14

Law of the Land

Writer: Evan Skolnick and Jim Spivey Pencils: Suzanne Paddock and Harvo! Colors: Josh and Aimee Ray

This is more of a silly story, which, while the timeline isn't specified, I estimate to take place sometime before Eggman's return at the beginning of the era. This is due to the fact that it begins with Sonic and Sally strolling peacefully through the forest while discussing how nothing has been going on lately, a statement which is hugely at odds with what has been going on lately. Suddenly, a zone portal opens up in front of them, and two echidnas in riot gear burst through, slap Sally knocking her out, and grab Sonic while telling him he's under arrest for "extreme mental anguish and permanent emotional scarring," which if you ask me just sounds like an average day on Tumblr. They drag him through the portal into the city of Litigopolis, and take him to the castle, where the J.U.D.G.E. - the Judgmental Unrelenting Digitized Governmental Enforcer, which of course looks exactly like original Robotnik - is to sentence him for his apparent crimes. He's greeted by Johnny Snively, the prosecutor, but luckily for him his lawyer is Sally McAcorn, there to act as his defense. It takes them ten hours in court, but McAcorn eventually manages to get him out on bail, and explains how the law became so strict in the city.

Eventually, the amount of lawsuits and crimes became so high that the king hired Robotnik Enterprises to build the J.U.D.G.E., a supercomputer which was supposed to help manage the city's legal system. It of course quickly took over, sentenced the king to life in prison for "ruler malpractice," created a bunch of new, unreasonably strict laws to keep the populace fearful and complacent, and hired a bunch of echidnas as his security force. McAcorn tells Sonic that no one has tried to shut off the J.U.D.G.E. because of their fear of said security force, which is of course Sonic's cue to race away hoping to pull off just such a scheme. However, as expected, the moment he enters the J.U.D.G.E.'s HQ…

He runs for his life, deciding to abandon his attempt for now and racing back to safety at McAcorn's residence. She's irritated at his rash decision, thinking he's only made the case for his innocence worse, even though they now have video proof from amateur videographers on the streets that the original crime he was arrested for wasn't even committed by him.

Of course it would have been Evil Sonic, zone-hopper extraordinaire. McAcorn cautions Sonic against committing any more crimes, thinking it best to lay low as committing even one more crime might cause the J.U.D.G.E. to have a massive meltdown. And thus, Sonic gets his second crazy idea of the day.

The plan works, and the J.U.D.G.E. blows up, sending Snively flying out of the building. When Lieutenant Knuckles of the police force tries to show up to arrest Sonic once more, McAcorn simply whacks him with her suitcase. Sonic worries about how he'll get home, since the technology used to create the zone portals was destroyed in the explosion, but you know who always ends up showing up when zone-hopping takes place - Zonic, of course! He cheekily sends Sonic back off to his home zone before he can get a grateful kiss from McAcorn, which is probably a good thing even though Sonic's mad about it, because… well, c'mon buddy, that may be a Sally, but that's not your Sally!

Best of Times Worst of Times

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Josh and Aimee Ray

So Knuckles' whole story has kind of been put on hold lately, due both to the cancellation of his own series, and the Sonic Adventure adaption that had been taking up all the screentime until recently. But Penders has finally found a solution to this: from now on, until the end of the fourth era (with only a few exceptions here and there between issues), Knuckles and his race get the backup story all to themselves. Karl handles most of the main stories of each issue, which all deal with Sonic and Knothole and, you know, the main thing most people are probably coming to the comic to see, while Penders gets to handle everything past each halfway mark. I would say this is mostly a good thing, as there's quite a few loose ends that need to be wrapped up from KtE, and y'all already know I quite liked that series. However, now that all of Knuckles and the other echidnas' ventures have been reduced to backup stories within the main comic, the quality of said stories begins to suffer drastically. This story is of the same quality of the original KtE, probably because it gets to be a normal story length thanks to the double length of Super Specials, but it also marks the beginning point of a pretty infamous arc within the comic, simply dubbed the Green Knuckles Saga by many fans. Wondering what the hell the Green Knuckles Saga might be? Well, we only have a few issues left before we find out - so for now, let's press on!

This story hilariously opens with an honest-to-god *record scratch* "Yep, that's me. You're probably wondering how I got into this situation" moment. A confused Knuckles finds himself running for his life from a massive, expanding orange blast of energy, which chases him all the way to the edge of his island. Having no other choice, he leaps for his life over the edge, into the ocean far below.

Well, that's probably not good. But how, indeed, did Knuckles *record scratch* get into this situation? It all began at his mother's wedding that morning. She and Wynmacher have finally gotten married, and while Knuckles is still a little torn about how to feel, ultimately he's happy for his mom, recognizing that Wynmacher really is a genuinely good guy.

Romance is in the air on this day, and Vector, predictably, has a bit of a sour attitude about it, flippantly dismissing the mood while Julie-Su happily hangs onto Knuckles' arm. They find Constable Remington in the crowd with his pretty companion Komi-Ko, but they don't get long to chat before he gets a call from the precinct, calling him back to deal with a brewing situation. While he leaves, telling Knuckles he'll call if he needs backup, we head over to Haven, where we find a very, very unexpected guest visiting.

Man, just when you thought Kenders had introduced enough grandfathers, we get one more! This guy is the father of Hawking, who if you'll remember is still lying in the medbay on life support in a coma. If you're wondering why we haven't heard of him before, it's because he apparently transcended his physical form a while ago so he could spend the rest of his "life" in quiet meditation in another zone, you know, as one does. However, just a little while ago he felt a disturbance in the Force, and realizing that Dimitri was amassing his forces for yet another attempt to take over the island and echidna civilization as a whole, Mathias just plopped himself back into the physical realm somehow so he could lead his many, many descendants into battle against the Dark Legion. I really just can't get over how this guy, never once mentioned or even hinted at before, has suddenly appeared out of goddamn nowhere to introduce the next plot hook. While this is going on, Knuckles, Julie-Su, and the rest of the Chaotix (still minus Charmy - he's really been missing for a long time now, hasn't he?) all saddle up on some streaking pashas and gallop out of the city to let off some steam. Really, now that the whole Chaos situation has been resolved, life seems positively idyllic on the Floating Island, doesn't it? After dropping Komi-Ko back off at her apartment, Remington hails a cab which just so happens to contain our old friend Harry, who is not at all happy to see him.

He tells Remington that apparently, General von Stryker has decided to organize a massive protest - meaning, since we're talking about the dingoes here, more like a riot - as apparently, conditions for the dingoes in the city still haven't improved, even despite Remington taking a personal interest. Remington is worried that with the High Council due to make a decision on the matter soon, things will quickly spiral out of control if the protest goes forward, and Harry apparently agrees, as he doesn't even demand payment for the cab ride, just telling Remington to forget he ever saw him there as Remington meets up with his men nearby. Meanwhile, we learn that Knuckles apparently didn't take everyone along on the pasha ride purely for leisure - he's in fact led them straight to the Grand Conservatory, the very place he first met Archimedes and fought Enerjak.

Well well, nice to see Julie-Su actually acknowledge the meeting she had with her adoptive father a while ago! Though it's certainly suspicious that he apparently just "disappeared" shortly thereafter… Now get ready for some rapid skipping around between characters! Knuckles isn't the only one who's come to the Grand Conservatory - Mathias has led the entire Brotherhood there, as it's apparently where the Dark Legion has holed up for now. Spectre rushes especially aggressively into the battle, with the others noting that this seems personal for him, and the entire Brotherhood teams up to begin the assault on the Legion's new makeshift base, causing them to begin an evacuation. Far away from here, Wynmacher and Lara-Le land in their personal aircraft on a landing pad at the "Albion Chalet," which despite its name is just a luxury destination on the Floating Island itself, for their honeymoon. At the same time, von Stryker leads his soldiers into their riot, firing their guns wildly into the air with the safeties off, shouting about how the echidnas aren't treating them nicely enough. Gee, I wonder why, General? Remington and his men arrive at the scene, and Remington orders everyone to hold fire, still hoping that he can convince the general to see reason. On Knuckles' side of the Conservatory, Legion members begin pouring into the room, and before Knuckles can react a group of soldiers grab Julie-Su and drag her off into one of their flying saucer vehicles, which flies away leaving the others unable to help her as they're attacked by more soldiers. And finally, back at Haven…

Man, I genuinely feel bad for Hawking - he was literally kept on life support this entire time, with obviously no hope of recovery, and he had to wait until everyone was out of the place to even be allowed to properly die. Remember, it's been nearly a year by now of him just lying on this table, with Locke even expending his own energies to keep Hawking alive at one point when he started to flatline. Julie-Su is taken to a large battleship flying just off the edge of the Floating Island, where Lien-Da gloats about capturing her and mockingly reminds her of how she's her half-sister, clearly still not over their father having remarried in the past. Geez, what a petty bitch, right?

Oh man, we finally get to see Simon again, as well as seeing Floren-Ca for the first time! Back on the bridge, Dimitri defends having had Julie-Su abducted to Moritori Rex, who has by now gotten rid of his visor to reveal perfectly normal-looking organic eyes (something which seems a little at odds with his previous backstory), saying that Julie-Su is still a part of his family whether Moritori likes it or not. Huh, didn't take you for the sentimental type, Dimitri. He then orders Moritori to fire the Quantum Beam, and it bursts out of the ship's cannons in an explosion of light, consuming every part of the Floating Island, interrupting every scene, happy and unhappy, over the entire island.

Goddamn. Honestly, this kind of reminds me of the scene from Sonic '06 where Solaris begins consuming all of time and space. Dimitri expresses regret that he had to pull the trigger with Knuckles still on the island, but ultimately recognizes that Knuckles only ever stood to get in their way, and claims that they can finally reclaim what is rightfully theirs. The ship flies off toward the island, which has begin to fade from existence as if into another dimension. No one is aware of Knuckles' survival, a lone figure floating unconscious on debris left in the waters far below…