#tailing storage facility | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

egelskop · 9 months

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i am so interested in ur hlvrai au can we get a rundown

oh boy, this is going under a readmore.

fair warning, this is a LONG read because (1.) i am not a competent writer and (2.) i can't for the life of me keep things brief. sorry and or good luck.

ACT I

The Black Mesa incident: Gordon Freeman is provided an opportunity to do an informal beta test for a combat training simulation program that's in development in the Research & Development department of the Black Mesa Research Facility. (Read: He knows a guy in R&D and said guy knows Gordon likes video games and VR stuff, so he was like "hey you should come check this out when you're on break.")

The combat sim would be a revolutionary training simulation using artificial intelligence to enhance and realize the experience for the ‘player character’.

The test goes wrong, and Gordon can’t seem to disengage from the simulation and odd, unscripted things start happening; he has to ‘play the game’ to its full completion before he is able to exit the simulation safely. He has suffered a brain injury throughout the process, eye damage due to prolonged exposure to the headset and is generally traumatized by the simulation experience he at some point could no longer physically and emotionally distinguish from the real world. The project as a whole is shut down and Gordon is put into a rehabilitation program. Black Mesa covers up the incident as best it can, but whispers of it still echo around the facility.

Below is a page for a two-page comic i never finished detailing said events.

ACT II

The rumors reach the ears of a particularly tech-savvy researcher named Clark, who steals the project documentation and anything else he can get his hands on from a storage. At home, he looks into the project, reads about it, and gets curious about the simulation’s files themselves. They’re on a drive he plugs into his computer, and suddenly his system’s performance lags, windows open and close until a txt. file opens up. He comes into contact with one of the simulation’s AI that has somehow entered his operating system. He tries to keep it busy by having it poke around as he reads up on the simulation and its ultimate shutdown. When the AI reveals it can see him through the webcam, he panics and rips the drive out of the port. The invasive AI and the other project files seems like they’re gone from his system, he does a checkup but sees nothing odd running or otherwise. The next day after work he does another checkup. Finding nothing, he surmises he’s in the clear and starts up an online game. The slumbering, corrupted data of the AI sees its out, and disappears into the game.

ACT III

The transition/journey to the game is a rocky one, and the already corrupted data of the AI known as Benrey splits and gets even more fragmented. The largest fragment embeds itself into the game’s files to keep itself running. Without the foundation of the game to support it, it’d be lost to a dead void and slowly die out. Somewhat stable, it learns about the world around it; the game seems to be an exploration sandbox game. For now (and clarity), I’ve chosen to call this bigger, embedded fragment ‘Data’. (so this is the big benny with the right eye/one big eye in my art)

Data splits off a smaller fragment of itself, intending it to be an avatar or ‘player character’ but this grows into its own awareness and becomes who we’ll call ‘Beastrey’ (the smaller benny with the left eye and tail in my art).

The fragment ‘Beastrey’ wakes to a dead void, so Data uses its knowledge to create a private server for Beastrey, an empty world. Beastrey’s existence is an extension of the bigger part, with more freedom of movement to parse through the game and move freely within it, with the caveat that it can’t go ‘too far’ away from the host. Beastrey can visit other servers and relay information. Data learns and slowly starts building up the world/private server, at some point settling for an aquatic world because it reminds it of itself (something something sea of data). It's important to note that Beastrey retains little to no memories of the events of canon VRAI.

Data makes it easier for Beastrey to move around, and they grow to have more reach with time. At some point Data can alter the basic structural elements of the game, so it plays around with making things that are reminiscent of the memories it has of Black Mesa and Xen. At one point, it gains access to parse through the player base of the game, and takes note of an email address: ‘[email protected]’, attached to a player account. The name is somewhat familiar to it.

It sends an invite to join the server to the player account.

ACT IV

Gordon tries going back to work at Black Mesa after rehabilitating, but he has trouble separating his experiences with the simulation from reality, to a breaking point where an altercation with a security guard drives him to quit. He seeks professional help for his PTSD and anxiety, but still experiences dissociative episodes, migraines and somatic flashbacks localised mostly in his right forearm. Despite this, he is determined to continue living his life as normally as possible. He applies for a part-time job teaching physics at a local high school, the one where his son Joshua goes to, and remains relatively stable from there.

Joshua is 15 years old. Regular teen. After an impressive amount of pleading he got a VR-headset for his 14th birthday from Gordon (much to the disapproval of Gordon’s ex), and he’s been captivated by an exploration sandbox game since it came out a few months ago.

He gets an invite to an unnamed private server, and he accepts.

He is struck with awe as the world he enters seems completely different from the ones he’s seen so far in the game. Different flora, different fauna. Most of it uninteractible, though, or otherwise just retextured from its base game variant. Even the new enemy types, after a scare, can’t actually hurt him, it seems. He stumbles upon Beastrey, who is just as surprised to see him and wants him out until Joshua says he was invited.

Joshua commends Beastrey (who introduces himself as 'Ben-') on ‘modding’ everything in, but admits that he was disappointed to find that everything was just surface-level stuff. Beastrey inquires about what he’d like to see. Data is always watching, unseen, and decides to alter the world in the way Joshua described when Joshua leaves.

Joshua starts appearing more often, if only for a few hours at a time. He marvels at the ways the world shifts and grows with each time he plays, and takes to exploring it with Beastrey at his side, for whom strangely enough a lot of things are also new. Joshua teaches both Beastrey and Data about the outside world, thinking Beastrey is just a somewhat reclusive but likeable weirdo.

Joshua tells Gordon about the new friend he made, ‘Ben’, and the adventures he’s been having with the other. Gordon is happy to hear Joshua is having a good time, but is otherwise none the wiser. Joshua starts losing track of time in the game, but chalks it up to being invested.

During one play session, Beastrey confesses he isn’t the one who did all the ‘modding’, and invites Joshua to meet Data. Data, or at least its ‘physical’ in-game manifestation is deep within the world, past the aquatic twilight zone and strange, drowned ruins of an unknown facility. Data, for the first time, really sees Joshua, and the resemblance sparks something within it. Joshua is drawn closer to it, and just before he reaches it-

Joshua wakes up lying on the floor with Gordon hunched over him in his room, pleading with him to wake up. Joshua unknowingly got drawn into the game much like Gordon had been, and Gordon urges Joshua to never touch the headset again, taking it away. Gordon opens up about his experiences with the simulation a bit more. They both agree to not touch the game or the headset again.

ACT V

Gordon comes into contact with an old coworker from Black Mesa, and he inquires about the combat simulation project, if anything happened to it after it was canned. This is where he learns that an employee had taken the project files from storage and was consequently fired. He comes into contact with Clark, and Clark explains he had no idea he accidentally unleashed the AI unto the game. Gordon asks if anything can be done to prevent what happened to Joshua and himself from happening to other people. Clark confesses he doesn’t know, and that it’s up to the developers of the game to find anything out of place and make sure it gets fixed. Gordon decides to leave the matter where it lies, not wanting anything to do with AI and simulations anymore and to safeguard his son.

Some time passes.

Joshua starts getting repeated invites and messages, at one point he gets into a conversation with ‘Ben’ via a platform’s messaging system. Ben says he can explain everything, that he’s sorry. Joshua decides he would like one final goodbye. He finds the headset stashed away somewhere in the house, and, while Gordon’s gone, he turns on the game and enters the server.

Beastrey (Ben) is surprised to see him, urging him to log out and turn off the game, but it’s already too late and Joshua can no longer leave. Beastrey helps Joshua attempting to ‘exit’ the game by going as far away from Data’s reach, but Data stops Beastrey and traps Joshua, determined to wait to the point that he assimilates into the game completely.

Gordon eventually finds Joshua comatose with the headset on, and he panics. He considers calling the emergency services, but he’s afraid they’ll take the headset off or that removing Joshua too far from the game will hurt his son like what happened to him. He calls Clark, urging him to help in any way he can. This results in Gordon and Clark going back to Black Mesa to retrieve the project files and the other gear they can get their hands on to get Gordon into the game to free his son.

Gordon enters the private server with Clark’s player character, and thwarts any attempt from Data to impede his progress and trap him as well. Beastrey’s awareness is overridden by Data as a last ditch effort to deter Gordon and Gordon is forced to destroy Beastrey before he can reach Data. As Beastrey is taken over, Data gains Beastrey’s awareness, and finds his other, littler half never wanted to trap Joshua in the first place, and the way it hurt him to hurt both Joshua and Gordon to this extent.

At this point, Data wavers in its intention to keep Joshua trapped, even more so with Beastrey now gone, and recognises whatever it is that is driving Gordon forward in the game is outside of his control to manipulate, so he lets Gordon destroy it as well. In a way, it also feels as a fulfillment of its intended role as the ‘villain’. The server crashes, the world breaks apart. The ‘game’ is completed.

The final boss is defeated and both Gordon and Joshua wake up. Joshua luckily wasn’t exposed long enough to have suffered any lasting damage, except for what seems to be a minor headache and some light sensitivity (and a vow from Gordon to get him checked out by a doctor as soon as the clinics open).

The whole ordeal results in Clark, Gordon and Joshua sitting in a Denny’s at four in the morning, eating pancakes somewhat solemnly, completely exhausted but also still reeling from the virtual battle. Joshua learns that ‘Ben’ essentially died, and he can’t help but cry for his friend.

“Honestly, I don’t think he’s gone,” Gordon admits, picking at the last bites of his pancakes. "I think he- or whatever that was, has a hard time staying dead. Like a cockroach, you know? At this point I’m just wondering when he’ll turn up again.”

Clark hums in agreement. Joshua seems somewhat reassured by his words, wiping at his eyes with the scratchy napkin as he settles into the squeaking diner seat.

“But,” he starts with a sigh, pointing his syrup-covered fork upwards to the ceiling in a decree, “One thing’s for certain…”

He thinks back to a time rife with virtual gunfire, caging walls and hysterical laughter echoing through the halls of the Black Mesa research facility. Five sets of footsteps and a whisper of his name.

“…No more VR. No more headsets. Ever.”

TL;DR: Gordon got trapped in VR and then Joshua also got trapped in VR. Benrey is there but also not.

thank you for reading. here. ( x ‿ o ) 🫴

#augmentedreality #gras talks #i need you all to understand that most of the plot was retroactively written to justify certain stylistic choices in my art #thats why beastreys design became what it is now and it wasnt 'like that' in the beginning #i didnt expect myself or others to become invested in it to such an extent /crying #with all of this i mean to say please don't grill me on the details. i simply dont know and will start crying profusely if pressed #also its very bencentric but i have played around with shoehorning the rest of the science team into it as well. so far no luck though

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borrelia · 1 year

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frontiers dlc cutscene simulator:

amy: we CANT let ANYONE DOWN!! sonic and the koco are COUNTING ON US i'll do ANYTHING to protect them!!! i love everyone so much im gonna BREAK SOMETHING!!

knuckles: grr i love to hit things. i love to dig in the dirt. i love to punch things WITH MY FISTS! and break things WITH MY FISTS! aww is poor widdwe sonic tired? aww too bad you have to do your little platforming boohoo Grow Up. tails, kid, you are doing amazing no notes. amy. would you like to break some things with me. with my FISTS 👊💪💪👊💥💪💥💥👊

tails: uwa i don't know if i can do this... but i have to.. but i dont know if i can.. everyone is counting on me im the Most Important guy here.. sonic don't worry about me i can handle myself. also did you know that these islands have incredible capacity to harness emerald power. by my calculations 🤓 i've hacked the mainframe.

eggman: mmyes. sonics stupid friend and his girl friend and his very scary little fox friend and also sonic. can you even appreciate that some of the set dressing on this island used to be a highway powered by emerald energy harnessed by ancient spaceships which btw are buried underground so you cant see them but theyre there. i wish i had a spaceship. i could do so much evil with that kind of power.

sonic: yooooo sup amy. tails. things are getting pretty rough, you doing alright? you are both so cool, i know youre gonna do amazing things💗. hey Treasure Hunter. seems like im better at finding the emeralds than you, Treasure Hunter. HA! eat my dust--im gonna go fall off that tower 20 more times. btw i wonder whats up with this building. can someone real quick explain what it does in 5 paragraphs or more?

sage: we are running out of time. you must find the emeralds or we will have success rate of zero percent. but since you asked. this building was a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits it in a silo or other storage facility. In most cases, the term "grain elevator" also describes the entire elevator complex, including receiving and testing offices, weighbridges, and storage facilities. It may also mean organizations that operate or control several individual elevators, in different locations. i would also like to drop some casual race science into this conversation. do not worry about it.

#myaa #sonic frontiers spoilers #btw the race science hing is 'one tribe of these people was The Smartest'#which is. A Choice #anyway this post brought to you by me finishing my cutscenes and getting like 3 knuckles ones in a row where he refers to his FISTS!!!#long post

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sonicpilled · 11 months

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Pull You From Your Guilt (Zombic AU)

Chapter One

Content warnings: suicide, detailed death description , razor blade mention

word count = 2903

sonic+shadow angst (for most of it)

“Three months. It had been three months.

That wasn’t enough. Not at all. That wasn’t enough time to get over this. It had been just three months since he had died. Three months since Shadow found him curled up in the blood-stained bathtub.”

enjoy!! or hate!! Ya!

Three months. It had been three months.

Sonic had called him the night before. Shadow had been busy, checking out one of Dr. Robotnik’s many abandoned bases. They talked for a bit, Shadow had to go, and Sonic was left alone. Sitting against the bathtub, his gloves and socks on the floor beside him. Why couldn’t he stay on the line just a bit longer?

It was pouring that night, the air humid. The water was warm.. Westopolis’s weather is unpredictable, but it didn’t help that rain in the summer was unusual to begin with. The rain is supposed to be with the cold, and the heat needs to be with a bright sun. Things never work out how they’re supposed to. The shitty weather didn’t matter anyways, not to Shadow, atleast. He was there for a reason, and it wasn’t sightseeing.

Most of Robotnik’s unoccupied facilities consisted of old storage units, filled with unused badniks and tech that just collected dust. Prototypes, failures, whatever. It was all kind of useless. Yet, Shadow considered that looking through the place wouldn’t be a total waste of time. These types of.. scavenging days were just Shadow looking through boxes and shelves for anything that even looked a smidge useful. You never know what you might find. There’s always new information waiting to be uncovered, He thought to himself, as he walked through the dark halls.

He was cautious, like always. Carefully stepping through the corridors, being mindful of any potential triggers of alarms or robots. The quiet clank from his metal boots hitting the ground was the only thing that could be heard. As Shadow looked through drawers and cabinets, breaking locks, he felt himself growing bored. He hadn’t searched the entire facility yet, so he’d still have to be there for a while.

A quiet beeping from the communication device on his wrist snapped him out of his thinking. It was sonic. Shadow huffed a little in relief, knowing he wouldn’t be so bored much longer. Though he could be pretty distracting, he really did enjoy talking to Sonic. Though it wasn’t announced officially or anything, (except to Rouge) they did have something going on. He had been meaning to check up on him for a while, anyways. Shadow looked around the dusty storage unit, checking his surroundings before he answered the call.

Sonic sat there, up against the porcelain bathtub, the tapping of his claw on the bathroom floor a common stim of his. The water was on, filling up the tub with cold water. He preferred showers over baths, but there was something comforting about a bathtub sometimes. Large bodies of water did freak him out, there was no doubt about that. Yet, being submerged in a moderate, controlled amount of water made him feel safe.

He spent the gloomy day out, going for a run in the rain. That's what he always did when he wasn’t feeling well. Sonic had stopped by Tails’s workshop, just to check in. Of course, he was working on some new project. Sonic didn’t wanna bother him, seeing he was pretty focused. It was fine.

He passed by Amy’s, she was with Blaze. That’s okay.

Knuckles was already a no-go, he didn’t like being bothered on Angel Island. That’s alright.

The Chaotix was working on some case. That’s cool.

And of course, not even Robotnik was causing any trouble that day. That’s good.

“S’all good! I’ll stop by another time,” he’d say, because it was all good. It was fine that everyone Sonic knew was busy. The world didn’t revolve around him, now, did it? He decided he needed some time alone anyways. He went home, and stayed there. He did grow.. bored. And lonely. There was one person Sonic hadn’t looked for, because he knew he was doing something that didn’t need to involve him. He had hoped that maybe he was done now, and that he could have someone to talk to. So, he dialed Shadow’s number.

Sonic took his shoes off, then his socks, and then his gloves. He set them aside, staring at the bottom drawer on the bathroom cabinet as he waited for Shadow to pick up. He grew impatient after the phone not being immediately answered, reaching over and opening the drawer.

He should have locked that drawer, and thrown out the key. He had been clean for two weeks, he should have tried harder to keep it going. But oh.. he was so tired.. One iffy day shouldn’t have made him relapse. It was too late to dwell on, anyways. In the drawer was a first aid kit, and a ripped open package of gillette razor blades. Sonic grabbed one, and left the drawer open. Shadow picked up the phone.

“Hey.” Shadow's voice startled him, as he quickly set the harmful object on the ground, as if Shadow was there to even see it. He stared at his phone with a little tired smile.

“Hey, Shadz! I, uh.. Are you busy? Ya doing anything?” He spoke with a bit of urgency, just a bit excited for the chance to have a conversation with someone.

“I’m busy. Though.. I suppose it couldn’t hurt to chat for a bit. What's up?” Shadow whispered into his communicator, looking over where he was searching while he spoke with Sonic. There was a bit of a silence for a moment, Shadow growing only a little skeptical. “Sonic?”

“Yeah, yeah. I heard you. Sorry about my terrible timing! Look, if you’re too busy right now, I really don’t wanna be a total bother to you,” Sonic spoke quietly, the water running in the background. He tried to hide his disappointment, but Shadow saw right through it. He always did. For someone as impulsive and carefree as Sonic, he really did do that a lot. To back down from things like expressing how he felt, yet run right into explosions like it was nothing. Shadow sighed, leaning back against the wall as he stared at the ground. He took a second to process Sonic’s words and obvious hesitation, knowing that something was definitely wrong.

“..Are you.. Are you alright?” Shadow’s tone softened, only a hint of worry in his voice. He knew Sonic too well.

“Yeah! For sure, for sure. Don’t worry about me, dude. I’ll be fine,” he replied all too quickly. He was lying. Sonic knew it was wrong to lie about his feelings, he just hated to be worried about. He stared at the bathroom tiles, with a small wince at his own words.

“Alright.. I suppose I’ll take your word for it. I.. I trust you. I’ll call you tomorrow. I promise,” Shadow paused. He furrowed his brow at the communicator, thinking of how he could phrase the next thing he was going to say. “You have a lot of people you can talk to, you know that, Sonic?”

“Yeah, yeah.. I know,” Sonic mumbled. Shadow was right. He didn’t have to be hiding like this, it wasn’t good for his health.

“Please keep that in mind. Goodnight. I love you.” Shadow spoke softly, staring at the ground as he waited for a reply. He really did care about Sonic, and did what he could to show it to him.

“..I love you too.”

That was the last time they spoke.

The next time they were together was the next night. The rain died down, now it was just another warm summer night. It felt normal again. Shadow called and called, but Sonic never picked up the phone. Maybe his phones dead, he thought, trying not to think of the worst. He got worried, and used his spare key to his apartment. It was.. abnormally quiet. Usually, Sonic would be watching a movie, or attempting to cook, or napping. He was always doing something. But that night, it was quiet. Maybe he went out, he said to himself. He just wanted to convince himself that Sonic was okay.

He stopped walking after only a few steps into the apartment when he could smell it.

Shadow knew where he was now, as he crept down the hall. His nose was more sensitive than most mobians, which only worsened the fact that he knew exactly what he was going to see when he walked towards the bathroom, where the smell was strongest. He knew this scent well.

The stench of death.

His heartbeat quickened, as he grabbed the doorknob and twisted it. No, no, no, no.. Shadow pushed the door open with a long creak. The only light in the dark bathroom was from the outside. He stared, wide-eyed. He saw which drawer was opened, he knew what exactly was in there. He knew exactly what Sonic had done to himself. He winced, as he flicked the light switch on.

The shower curtain was covering most of the tub, but Shadow knew exactly what was behind it. He slowly stepped towards the bathtub, and pulled back the stained curtain.

He was curled up in the bathtub, the water cold and completely red. Blood was caked onto his arms and thighs, his fur not at all that bright cobalt blue anymore. Stained and ruined, by his own hands. Shadow didn’t even want to look, but he just couldn't help it. He stared for a long time.

So, he sat there, holding a blue hedgehog in his arms. Shadow had pulled him out of the tub, Sonic’s fur wet from the water and crusty from his own dried blood. The mix of blood and water dripping on the bathroom tiles and all over Shadow. The mess was the least of his worries, as he held his love in his arms. Shadow had known he had problems with things like this before, he knew he had been clean for a short amount of time, he knew he was impulsive with stuff like this, he knew it all. Yet, it had never occurred to him that Sonic would actually end it. He was happy, he was never alone. He had so many people to talk to, to vent to. He seemed so happy.

Shadow knew that suicide wasn’t always predictable. He supposed he just couldn’t see Sonic as the type to consider it. Then again, that's… not the best way to think of the situation. Over the next few weeks, he had created a wall around himself. He’s gone through loss before, he's held a dead loved one in his arms already. He could get over it. He could push through it. So, he did. He pushed through calling an ambulance. He pushed through giving out the news about his death. He pushed through the funeral. He pushed through the silent motorcycle ride home. He pushed through it all.

He wasn’t okay.

How could he be?

The third week after Sonic’s death, a week after his funeral, Shadow had spoken to nobody. What would he talk about? He knew that they were mourning, but so was he. Shadow didn’t need to talk about how he felt when they were feeling the same exact way. Atleast, that's how he thought about it. He kept to himself, like he usually did.

One particular morning, he had been staring at the ceiling. Shadow had woken up maybe an hour ago, yet hadn’t gotten up to get ready for the day. It wasn’t by choice. His phone rang on his nightstand, and he only glanced at it. He didn’t really care who it was, as he’d let it go to voicemail either way. It was Rouge. Her message played on his answering machine. For a moment, he thought of how Sonic would poke fun at the fact that he still kept such an outdated piece of technology in his home. Shadow would explain to him the importance of preservation, even if he was just going to keep making fun of him the next time he came over. He missed that.

“C’mon Shadow. You can't just hide in your apartment forever, hun. You have to come out of that shell you’ve trapped yourself in,” Rouge spoke, her tone knowing yet tired. Shadow rolled onto his side, staring at the machine with weary eyes. She sighed.

“..I know you’re hurt. I know you loved him. And I know you blame yourself. But.. you have to understand that you couldn’t have known. Please, talk to us. We love you. I love you.” Her voice was soft, and he could tell she was frowning as she spoke. Shadow lowered his gaze, closing his eyes as the message was over.

Rouge was right.

He was hurt.

He was hurt so badly, he couldn’t even lie to himself and say he wasn’t.

Every little thing reminded him of Sonic, reminded him of how he was gone. Motorcycle rides around the city that were once exciting, just because he was there with him. The way he’d laugh, sitting close behind Shadow with his arms wrapped around his waist for support, urging him to speed up even if they were already well over the speed limit. Now it was quiet, the only sound heard being the noise of the engine .

As Shadow would walk along the beach, where they'd spent a few afternoons together at, he still felt like he would see Sonic by his side. Of course, he’d always get too close to his side, forgetting about personal space as he’d avoid the water. Not that Shadow minded being close to him, anyways. He missed that. The ocean breeze was much too cold now, as he’d stare at the sand in silence.

Shadow would be watching the news channel, and the news anchor would say some stupid pun. He’d glance to the spot at the couch where Sonic would always sit, just to see him snicker and smile, because he always thought dumb jokes were hilarious. But, he wasn’t there. He would never be there again.

All of that was thrown away.

Happy memories, now replaced with that terrible image of his body.

The worst of it was the dreams, which eventually became night terrors. He’d watch the same thing happen repeatedly each night, playing over and over again in his mind. Shadow couldn’t get it out of his head. It was his fault he was gone, that's what he’d tell himself. He’d visit Sonic’s grave, after those nightmares. Whatever time it was, he would be there.

For three months after Sonic’s death, he’d have those reoccurring dreams. A terrible one this time. It started nice, and sweet, an overwhelmingly happy memory. Like always.

The sun shining, the blades of grass and lavender petals dancing in the cool breeze. That pretty bright blue looked so nice in the sunlight. He fell down onto the colorful garden, his chest rising and falling. His laughter, something Shadow could never forget. It's a great thing he’d never dream of wanting to. Sonic grabbed his arm, pulling him down onto the soft, green grass. He grinned, looking up at him.

The blue hedgehog glanced away for a moment, peering out at the beautiful nature. He spoke softly, his voice only slightly muffled.

“It's amazing here. Why.. Why couldn’t you stay?” Sonic stared at Shadow, wide-eyed. He didn’t know what to say. He knew what he meant with his words, yet he just stared right back.

“I couldn’t have known. I couldn’t have known,” Shadow whispered urgently, looking down at the grass. He squeezed his eyes shut. “I couldn’t have known.”

“You knew. You knew..”

He opened his eyes, weakly. No longer was the grass and flowers dancing merrily. No longer was the sun shining. No longer was the blue fur bright and vibrant. He stared at the grimy bathroom tiles, the bloody paw prints along the floor. He stared at the dead hedgehog in his arms.

“You knew,” he spoke harshly.

Shadow gasped, sitting up in his bed. His fur wet from his own sweat, the night air quickly cooling it. He took in shaky breaths, covering his face. He sighed weakly, peeking out from his fingers and staring at the wall. Immediately, he tugged on the pull-cord of his vintage lamp, letting un-natural light into the room.

He stood up, immediately pulling on his boots. Shadow quickly opened his closet door, grabbing his leather jacket and putting it on. He took the green scarf, a christmas gift from Sonic, and wrapped it around his neck. He stepped out of his warm and cozy apartment, and out into the cold snow.

Shadow stared straight ahead as he rode his motorcycle to the cemetery. It was a little over two in the morning, but he didn’t care. He was used to this. This routine that shouldn’t have ever been a routine. He left his bike at the gate, following his mental map to Sonic’s grave.

He sighed, looking up from his set gaze to the ground with tired eyes. When he got to where he wanted to be, he stopped dead in his tracks. The hole in the ground, in which Sonic had been buried three months before, had been uncovered. Instead of the flat dirt surface that had been there all those nights, all those previous visits, was a mess of dirt and rocks. It didn’t look like a perfectly dug up hole. If it wasnt that Sonic’s grave was defiled, then what was it? He stared at the mess, frozen.

“..What the hell?”

(and thats it! )

first fic ive ever written.. pls give feedback 🙏

#pull you from your guilt #zombic au #my fic #bowies art #?#sonic #sonadow #sonadow angst

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looniecartooni · 2 months

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There's a lot of talk about Mimic selfishly being a Diamond Cutter to "reap the rewards" or get riches. Which kind of begs a lot of questions. One- what kind of rewards did a secret volunteer militia hardly anyone know about even have? And two- when has Mimic expressed an interest in riches?

Extremely long post below:

It's no question that Mimic is selfish. He's literally lead people into death traps and left them to die at the hands of Eggman long before he was known to be a stabby octopus. All he practically talked about in Bad Guys was how he wanted to be off Eggman's list and when he was given ONE JOB to guard- he decided to pull his classic "Eggman goes full hog on my former teammates". Just the very idea that Silver could figure him out was enough for him to completely shatter his reputation in a way that fans are continuously angry and divided on. It's no question that this man is willing to save his own skin for his own benefit.

So... what did the OG Diamond Cutters even have that would be considered a reward? Well- again, they are a private army that one would have to do some deep investigating or talk to Whisper about in order to figure out (otherwise the Neo Diamond Cutters probably would not have had their name). There's also a lot that has intentionally been left unexplored either for future writers or because Ian Flynn claims that "they're just a part of Whisper's backstory". That all said- they do have some relatively expensive looking items that I'm sure you would not just find laying around (probably- I'll get back to that).

As we know- they had a base in the middle of the ocean with helicopter landing pads, wispon tools for combat, masks with a lot of cloud recording space and the ability to talk to wispons. And as we can see- they even have a vending machine which can be pretty pricey... and collects money!!! Surely they'd be earning quite a bit for all this- and they are referred to as mercenaries so... someone could be hiring them and paying them, correct?

Well- until you consider that they have Smithy and wisps. Smithy- much like Tails- was the one who made a good majority of the gear that the OG Diamond Cutters used- especially wisp related items. So- who is to say that he couldn't fix up an old vending machine to work as a fridge? Or an old oil rig to act as a base?

Now the timeline between Whisper losing her team and the present is a bit skewed. Whisper doesn't have worn down clothes, but Mimic seemingly does- and the OG Diamond Cutters base looks a bit broken down. The masks inside are still in one piece and functional, suggesting Whisper collected them after the incident and possibly would have kept with the upkeep of the base. Which when you really look at it looks kind of like a couple old storage units or sheds- possibly an old research facility. There do appear to be individual- looking houses that maybe the crew had claimed as their own or used as training facilities, but we unfortunately don't get to see what is inside these to really know what Mimic could have considered prized possessions or what not. Most of what we see later on is actually an empty hallway leading to the meeting room with a vending machine. Again- things could have been cleared out or tampered with, but what the Diamond Cutters seemed to have had mostly are repurposed items and the work of an engineer.

So... what would Mimic really be getting? Was he secretly stashing a bunch of treasure somewhere? Is the man an assassin for funsies and secretly a billionaire from a bunch of different items?

Or rather... what does Mimic like/value besides his own life? We know for sure that he likes his Diamond Cutters uniform even though its practically falling apart. Ian Flynn once said on a Bumblekast said that he had it because he still believes its his (though Evan Stanley could potently change that- who knows).

(sidenote: I just noticed that on this model page, past Mimic has a button on the collar of his poncho, but present doesn't. I have another theory that suggests that this uniform either has the ability to shapeshift adding to the "Smithy made a lot of the DC's stuff" idea or since Mimic can make clothes look damaged, he's actually faking wearing the OG uniform.)

Speaking of- Evan Stanley recently confirmed that Mimic has a specific kind of extreme gear he likes to use.

Mimic has been shown and even claims to be really good with computers, going as far as sporting a smart phone suggesting that maybe he's a bit of a techy. And what did the OG Diamond Cutters have a lot of? Advanced tech! Ones that could talk to and interact with wisps! Which he... gladly traded away for his life and got the creator destroyed- along with the weapons. And when is wisp left him, he seemingly shrugged it off.

Of course- without the wisp, all you mostly have is an advanced video recorder on your face. And he was deciding between his life against a big tech giant and the tech in his eyes. So... outweighed benefits? Still... if he valued the Diamond Cutter technology at all, he probably wouldn't have traded it so easily or seemingly left it at the old base (then again, without a wisp, he'd only have a giant hammer which probably would not be as swift and easy as a knife which he also seems to value. But he has also been seen to be trigger happy with firearms and smiled a big smile when he had that flying power core. But again, we only know that he carries a knife as a weapon of choice). We can likely assume that he hasn't been going back and forth to the old base as Whisper suggest they go there for the final battle, and he asked Eggman for an extreme artillery to basically wipe it all out. So, he either didn't value it enough to possibly obliterate it or it's a touchy memory subject considering how he tends to clam up whenever anyone starts seemingly bringing up the team besides himself.

Mimic tends to be one track minded when it comes to what he wants. To a point where even Starline calls him dense for it. One thing he does seemingly love on top of everything is freedom and lack of attention. He makes sure to tell practically everybody he meets that he doesn't want attention- which is of course mostly due to him not wanting to be on Eggman's radar anymore or going back to jail which reconnects with valuing his own life. Buuut there is something else to consider when you look at how he reacts to different spaces he gets put in as two separate people.

Verses

Now- Mimic is pretending to be someone other than himself here. And this man has no shortage of contradicting himself. It is kind of odd how he hesitates with the idea of getting a whole room with furniture and books and everything to himself. Compared to a room where there is barely a spot to sit. We also see him drinking a lot of boba at the order, suggesting he isn't one to turn down what amenities they have to offer (unless its a part of his image as Duo to drink boba or he's just extremely thirsty as a fish out of water straining muscles to turn into a cat).

But this may put into perspective what Mimic sees as a reward and what might make him extra "I need to literally destroy everyone around me so that I feel safe." The OG Diamond Cutters gave him freedom and cool weapons he could test, possibly a living space with things he could want/need. Having absolutely nothing or possibly dying takes that all away. He'd rather die than have nothing, but he probably would not have died for what he might have considered (or convinced himself) was nothing. It doesn't appear he's particularly attached to anything in particular except the freedom to be able to have access to said things. No matter what or who it cost :'{.

And to expand on this further (because I can't just let a horrid man come off as horrid), this suggests that Mimic has been in a situation where he's felt like he's had absolutely nothing.

Aside from the OG base being located in the middle of the ocean and being Sega's only token sea creature, Mimic has notably been very paranoid about being trapped or killed (understandably by ticking off Eggman and the whole jail thing). He has a history of repeatedly being trapped (likely back when he was a Diamond Cutter and possibly as a present-day assassin, but perhaps there was a time before that as well). And it's been enough to where he prefers death to being trapped... or underestimated- still unclear at this point.

But it's very clear that he doesn't like the idea of there being any liability of him even remotely possibly being trapped (usually leading to the sabotaging of people like Silver or the Bad Guys team- or even his old team) to a point where its all he talks about. Even to Clutch who he is weirdly not outwardly showing signs of suspicion or malice to (to my observation yet) keeps checking in with "are you sure so and so is not going to be a liability? I heard that so and so is a liability."

He could still have feelings of distain towards Clutch or working for him, but Clutch is seemingly giving him what he wants or playing into his interests. Minute Clutch reveals he's been dangling a carrot on a stick, Mimic will probably retreat to his usual habits. Perhaps that's partially why he was willing to even be an OG Diamond Cutter- because the reward of freedom outweighed the torture of being captured. Hence perhaps there was no reward or riches. Just being alive.

And the idea of that being taken away is perhaps the worst kind of torture. One he's willing to expend others for his own benefit. Does he regret it? Well with his OG team, the answer is unclear.

#all of mimic's problems could have been solved if he talked with his team probably #or had a rubix cube or fidget toys #mimic the octopus #fan theory #fan thoughts #2am thoughts #1 am ramblings #sonic idw #idw sonic #mimic idw

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tenebraevesper · 6 months

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Sonic Cyber Revolution, Entry 42: Mission: Omega

''E-123, you didn't know – now I'm gonna show you the power that is me. You try to take me down- stop the show, seems you've never tasted fear- or loss of control. The power lives in me- The power that is me!''

– This Machine by Sonic Heroes (Team Dark Theme Song)

xXxXxXx

''Seriously?! He wants you to do that!'' Minami exclaimed in surprise.

''We were just as surprised,'' Touka said.

''I wonder what Egghead is going to say about this,'' Sonic said with a devious smirk on his expression.

Touka, Shadow and Rouge had earlier in the day a briefing with the Commander in regards to their mission, and once they were done with it, they quickly went to Touka and Shadow's room to call Team Neos about it. They were told that ARMS had found one of Eggman's bases and wanted to send the three for a recon mission, clearly seeing the Doctor as a huge threat. Team Neos' reaction to this was… strangely positive, with Sonic even looking excited. The three ARMS Agents figured that this was because they would be dealing with a familiar foe rather than some random Irregular. Not to mention, Dr. Eggman was currently their ally until they resolved this situation with ARMS, so they could discuss their next move.

''I hope you better have some good news if you're calling me!'' Dr. Eggman finally appeared on the screen, looking as irritated as ever.

''It depends on what you define as good news, Doctor,'' Rouge said, pressing a button on the holographic screen, opening a map with coordinates. ''ARMS is targeting one of your bases, specifically the one located here.''

''What?!'' Dr. Eggman said, less in disbelief and more because he couldn't believe the audacity of the organization to go after one of his bases. He looked at the location, a bit lost in thought as he tried to recall which one of his bases this one was. ''Huh, never expected they'd find this one.''

''Is it important?'' Lucas asked, with the whole of Team Neos staring at him in curiosity and anticipation. Dr. Eggman just waved him off.

''It is actually a storage facility for my E-100 Series of robots. I haven't used it in ages. As a matter of fact, I had discontinued it a while ago,'' he explained.

''Why would you discontinue them?'' Tails asked.

''I moved on to different projects, but I might revisit this one,'' Dr. Eggman said, suddenly grinning deviously as he turned to the ARMS Agents. ''You said that ARMS is targeting this Egg Base?''

''That's correct,'' Shadow answered, not liking the look the Doctor was giving them. ''This is supposed to be a recon mission.''

''Ho ho ho, that's excellent! Let me guess, they're hoping to steal some information from me,'' Dr. Eggman said, with the ARMS Agents nodding, slowly starting to regret their alliance with the mad Doctor. ''Then, I have the perfect answer for this situation.''

''Which is…?'' Makoto trailed off.

''I recall that your idea was to blackmail ARMS, wasn't it, Kinomoto?'' Dr. Eggman turned to Lucas, who just nodded in response, furrowing a brow as he wondered where this was going. ''Well, let's just say that I had been inspired and had been working on a special virus that cannot be detected, and once it enters the ARMS network system, it would start to download all of their sensitive data to the EggNet, and eventually delete itself once it is done.''

''That's… Is that even possible to be done?'' Silver asked.

''Of course it is! Don't question my genius!'' Dr. Eggman shouted back in indignation, getting several eye-rolls in response. He groaned, but decided to continue, ''Regardless, I will leave the virus at the computer within the Egg Base Omega, along with some dummy data that will send ARMS on a wild goose chase. All you have to do is to download it and make sure it is uploaded into the ARMS systems. The virus will take care of the rest. Understood?''

''Loud and clear, Doctor,'' Touka responded in a snarky tone. Dr. Eggman shot her a glare, with Touka sighing. ''I suppose this shouldn't be too difficult then. We'll be in and out in no time.''

''That's what you think.'' Dr. Eggman's comment caused everyone to stare at him suspiciously. ''I don't plan to make this easy for you just because we're in an alliance. As a matter of fact, since you'll be breaking into my property, I'll make sure that all of the defenses are activated.''

''I guess we should've expected that,'' Lily suddenly said. ''Not to mention, if ARMS keeps tabs on the Egg Base, they would get suspicious if there isn't some kind of retaliation.''

''Lily's right,'' Amy said. ''If things are too easy, they might want to know why.''

''Tch, do I look like care about that?'' Dr. Eggman interrupted her, grinning. ''While having your teammates succeed would benefit me in the long run, that doesn't mean that I wouldn't relish in them being beaten by my robots.''

''No one is surprised by that,'' Lucas commented. Dr. Eggman just narrowed his eyes, but then disconnected, figuring this was enough information he had provided them with.

''I don't trust him,'' Knuckles said once the Doctor was disconnected.

''None of us does, Knux, but we all have the same goal now,'' Sonic said.

''Honestly, while I agree with Dr. Eggman's plan, I don't like the idea that he would be the one who have full access to such sensitive information,'' Lucas said.

''Well, if we knew where exactly this information is being uploaded to, I suppose we could create an encrypted file that Eggman wouldn't be able to access,'' Warren said. ''Actually, I'm sure that a file protected by a password or several of them would be enough to ensure that Eggman wouldn't be able to get through it, considering the poor security of his own network.''

This caused several of his teammates to chuckle in amusement, with Tails adding, ''Unfortunately, we won't be able to do this from here, as we would need a more direct access to the EggNet and the virus itself, but you guys could do that.''

''What do we have to do?'' Rouge asked.

''Once you have access to the computer at the Egg Base, you'll use the program we sent you and follow the instructions we've written down. If everything goes well, the program will trace down the location of the file, and you'll be able to encrypt it,'' Tails explained.

''No problem,'' Rouge said, glancing at Touka and Shadow, who just nodded in acknowledgement.

xXx

Shadow's ears flicked as he heard soft buzzing and opened his eyes, reaching underneath his pillow and taking out the AR Visor he kept hidden there. He turned to the bed on the other side of the room, taking note of Touka being fast asleep, her back turned to him and then sat up, throwing the blanket over his head before answering the call.

''Sonic, why are you calling me at 2AM?'' Shadow stared at the small screen that was showing Sonic, who was lying in his bed. Sonic, in turn, gave him a sheepish smile.

''I couldn't really sleep, so I wanted to check on you,'' Sonic replied innocently, having realized the moment he saw Shadow's annoyed expression that he really shouldn't have called his rival this late. However, he spent most of the night tossing and turning in his bed, until he decided to call Shadow for his own peace of mind.

''Well, I can sleep and you just saw me a few hours ago during the team meeting,'' Shadow replied in a matter-of-fact tone, his eyes narrowed as he wondered whether there was something more to this conversation. ''Is there anything you want to talk about? I sincerely doubt that's the only reason you had called me.''

Sonic fell silent for a moment, then sighed, a small smile forming on his lips, as he should've known that Shadow would be blunt about this. ''It is really dull without you.''

''I suppose you just got used to us having our daily sparring matches, so it is not surprising that you would feel like that,'' Shadow replied, keeping his voice in a whisper to make sure that Touka doesn't wake up.

''Yeah, you're right…'' Sonic trailed off, wondering if he really should continue the conversation. He knew that Shadow had a mission tomorrow and he probably shouldn't interrupt him like this, but on the other hand, he was genuinely happy to see him and hear him.

''Sonic?''

''Huh, yeah?''

''You're staring at me.''

''Oh, sorry.'' Sonic was flustered to be caught like this. Was it really that obvious?

Shadow sighed, wondering what this situation even was. His mind was still occupied with the mission, so having Sonic call him out of nowhere to talk to him was a bit jarring, albeit not unwelcome. Perhaps having someone to take his mind off the things that troubled him would put him at ease, if only a little bit. ''How was your day?''

''My day? Well…'' Sonic had to admit that he was genuinely surprised that Shadow would initiate small talk. ''Lucas, Warren, Tails and I had talked to Loki, the wolf Commander of the Hunters, and he knows about ARMS, but doesn't trust them because of an accident where an Irregular like us was taken by them and never appeared again. I don't think that the Hunters are too familiar with ARMS.''

''I wouldn't be surprised,'' Shadow said, narrowing his eyes. ''After all, ARMS treats Irregulars like dangerous weapons. They even wanted me to absorb as much of Touka's BioEnergy as possible, so I was forced to use Chaos Surge to stop it.''

''Are you okay?'' Sonic asked worriedly. ''I know that you're not to keen on using BioEnergy, even if it's for a Chaos Surge.''

''I'm fine, since Touka has also recovered from the ordeal. I'm concerned what ARMS might do if they attempt to investigate my Chaos Surge ability. They might go after the rest of Team Neos,'' Shadow told him, rubbing his temple as he felt an oncoming headache.

''Don't worry about us, worry about yourself,'' Sonic told him, giving him a confident smile. ''I wish I could just bust into ARMS HQ to get you out.''

''If it weren't for the current circumstances, I would've done it by myself,'' Shadow told him. Sonic gave him a sympathetic look.

''You know, I am a bit jealous that you get break into Eggman's base,'' he said, smiling cheekily. ''I bet it's going to be exciting.''

''You could join us,'' Shadow suggested. Sonic sighed.

''I wish I could, but you know, that would blow up our cover. I also don't want to get my friends into trouble by doing something stupid,'' Sonic told him. Shadow rose an eyebrow, giving Sonic a scrutinizing look, leaving the latter confused. ''Uh, Shadow? Is something wrong?''

''I believe that's the first time I heard you say something sensible. Maybe you aren't the real Sonic and were replaced by a look-a-like,'' Shadow told him. He couldn't help but smile when he heard Sonic groan in annoyance and saw him roll his eyes.

''I know I can be reckless, but this situation is different,'' he said in an exasperated tone, then muttered, ''I also talked to Lucas about there being a possibility to break in, and he told me that we can't do that.''

''There is a reason Lucas is the leader and you aren't,'' Shadow said in a teasing tone, only to add in a more resolute tone. ''Not many would have enough sense to admit that.''

''Not many have the humility to admit that,'' Sonic said proudly.

''Humility? Your ego is the size of a skyscraper,'' Shadow said, with Sonic snorting in amusement.

''Right back at you, Shads. You aren't better than me, Mr. Ultimate Lifeform,'' Sonic told him. Shadow rolled his eyes, but Sonic could see the faint smile on his lips, making it clear that the dark hedgehog was amused by their banter. It made him feel quite happy to see his rival being this relaxed. ''In any case, you have to tell me what happened once you return from the mission. I want to hear all of the details.''

''I will, because knowing you, you'll probably spam my inbox with questions about what had happened,'' Shadow told him in a dry tone. Sonic gave him a sheepish smile.

''Sorry about that,'' he said, knowing well that Shadow was referring to the event right after their meeting with Mephiles and Toshiro, where Sonic just wouldn't leave him alone. ''I guess I should let you sleep now.''

''I didn't mind having a conversation with you, even if it was this late,'' Shadow said, surprising Sonic, who smiled back warmly as he looked at the screen. ''Good night, Sonic.''

''Good night, Shads. I miss you,'' Sonic said, the holographic screen before him turning black. Sonic then lied back down on his back, taking a deep breath, only for his brain to finally process what he just said to Shadow. He turned on his side, a faint tint of red spreading across his fawn muzzle, his emerald green eyes wide as he placed his gloved hand on his chest, feeling his heart race as if he just returned from his nightly run. Wait! Why did I tell him that? I mean, I do miss him, but that wasn't necessary! I just hope Shadow hasn't noticed anything, because that was just weird.

Meanwhile, Shadow placed the AR Visor back under his pillow and lied down, pulling the blanket over his shoulder, turning on his side and staring at the wall, his mind in a disarray. Unfortunately for him, the image of Sonic giving him a soft and kind smile just wouldn't get out of his head, and he groaned, furrowing a brow as he tried to fall asleep.

''Of course that idiot misses me,'' he grumbled under his breath, trying to ignore the wave of warmth that spread through his body and the tint of red appearing on his tan muzzle. ''Who else is going to be his rival?''

xXx

''We are at our location, but I can't find a place to land.''

''Then, we'll get out here!''

''W-What?!''

The pilot of the ARMS helicopter turned his head around, stunned to see Touka, Shadow and Rouge get up and stand in front of the open cabin door. Before he could even say anything, Rouge leapt out of the helicopter, spreading her wings and flying down. Shadow was the next one out, using his air shoes and nearby trees to cushion his fall. Touka was the last one to leave, taking off the hoverboard that was attached to the strap on her back and jumping out, placing the hoverboard under her feet and descending down to the ground safely. The pilot just shook his head, flying the helicopter away from the dense woods he couldn't land in. Touka, Shadow and Rouge observed the helicopter as it left, with the three exchanging glances.

''I guess we're on our own now. Let's go!'' Rouge said, flying up and through the woods. Touka and Shadow followed her on the hoverboard and skating via air shoes respectively until they had reached what appeared to be a building built into a hillside. It had a steel gate with an Eggman Empire insignia on the front, with Egg Pawns patrolling the area. Touka took out a pair of binoculars from her waist bag, carefully observing the area.

''From what I can see, there are at least five Badniks on patrol,'' she said, giving the binoculars to Rouge, who hummed in interest.

''Eggman did say he won't make it easy, but this still feels a little disappointing,'' she said, offering the binoculars to Shadow, who shook his head, declining the offer.

''We should still be careful. We don't know what the Doctor has in store for us,'' Shadow told the two. Touka and Rouge nodded, with Shadow suddenly dashing forward, drawing the attention of the Egg Pawns. Touka and Rouge then followed closely and split up, with Rouge joining Shadow in fighting the Egg Pawns, while Touka went to the keypad panel at the front gate to type in the passcode Dr. Eggman had sent them to enter the Egg Base Omega. When she turned back around, she only saw scrapped robots lying on the ground, some being smashed to pieces and others having visible scorch marks.

''That was easy,'' Rouge said in a confident tone, grinning at Shadow.

''We're not done yet,'' Shadow reminded her, joining Touka at the entrance. Rouge shrugged, following the two into the Egg Base.

''Considering what Dr. Eggman had told us, this place is probably filled with Badniks,'' Touka commented as they walked down a narrow corridor.

''You know, I wouldn't mind exploring this place a bit more once we're done with our mission. Eggman said that this is a storage, so he might be hiding something more than just robots here,'' Rouge said, smiling at the thought of there being a secret treasure inside the Egg Base.''

''Don't lose your focus,'' Shadow told both of them, walking a bit ahead of the two and keeping an eye out for any enemy Badnik. However, as they walked deeper and deeper into the Egg Base, they came to a chilling realization that they hadn't seen any Badnik aside from some scrapped parts.

''What happened here?'' Rouge asked as they stopped at a pile of robot parts, with Shadow examining it, lifting a piece of the broken torso.

''It looks like something or someone had blasted them apart,'' he said.

''So, someone had been here before us? But, that shouldn't be possible,'' Touka said. ''We know that ARMS was just observing this area before they sent us here.''

''You're right,'' Rouge said, narrowing her eyes. ''It is possible that whoever had done this is not affiliated with ARMS, and it is also possible that they're still here. Although, if they destroyed the Badniks inside the base, why not destroy the ones who were patrolling outside?''

''I don't know,'' Touka said. ''However, I believe we'll find out soon.''

The three continued walking through the base, finding more and more destroyed robots, like some kind of macabre marking that led them towards their destination – the control room with the main computer. However, just as the door to the room had opened, they heard gunfire coming from it and hid behind the entrance so they wouldn't get hit by a stray bullet.

''Worthless consumer models!''

As Touka, Shadow and Rouge peered inside the room, they saw a sturdy black and red robot with red eyes, a yellow head casing and wristbands studded with large spikes, and a large red ''Ω'' on the front of the left and back of the right shoulderpad, a jetpack on his back, destroying the Egg Pawns that were inside the room with the rotary cannons his arms had turned into.

''I guess that's one of those E-100 Series robots Eggman was talking about. At least this solves the mystery of the destroyed Badniks,'' Rouge said, exchanging glances with Shadow and Touka.

''You two try to get to the computer. I'll deal with this one,'' Shadow said.

''Okay, but be quick. I have a bad feeling that this berserk robot is going to tear the whole place apart,'' Rouge told him. Shadow nodded, getting quickly inside the room and taking advantage of the robot being distracted to attack him, while Touka and Rouge sneaked inside, trying to get to the computer. Unfortunately for them, even though Shadow kept the robot distracted, he kept blasting his weapons around wildly, trying to hit the elusive dark hedgehog and forcing Touka and Rouge to crawl behind some machinery to not get hit.

''Must eradicate all Eggman's robots!''

''Huh, this one is committed…'' Rouge commented, only for Touka to quickly grab her by the shoulder and pull her away when a loose missile hit the machinery before them, causing it to explode.

''Are you okay?'' Touka asked her.

''Yeah, I am, but that one was close!'' Rouge replied, glancing back at Shadow, who tried to distract the robot, spin-dashing into him to knock him back. Rouge narrowed her eyes. ''Something's not right…'' She turned to Touka. ''Make sure that the computer didn't get damaged. I'll try to stop these two from blowing us up.''

''Got it!'' Touka nodded, and once there was an opening, she dashed towards the computer, while Rouge flew towards Shadow and the robot.

''Hey, hold up!'' Just as they were about to clash again, Rouge suddenly appeared between them and intercepted the attack, pushing both apart to break up the fight and breathing heavily as her gaze shifted from one to the other. ''I think we have a misunderstanding here!''

''My name is E-123 Omega. I am the ultimate robot. All who get in my path will be crushed!''

E-123 Omega pointed his cannon arms at Rouge, with Shadow stepping in front of her in a protective manner.

''Stay back!'' he said, but Rouge pushed past him.

''My name is Rouge and this is Shadow, and the girl over there is Touka. From what I've seen, you want to destroy all of Eggman's robots, right?'' she asked, with Shadow giving her a questioning look.

''Affirmative!'' Omega responded.

''Fortunately, none of us are Eggman robots, so how about we all calm down now and discuss the situation,'' Rouge suggested. Shadow shifted his gaze from Rouge to Omega, at whom he glared apprehensively, while Omega just stared back at them intently.

''Registering the presence of a human and two biodigital lifeforms. My sensors are overdue for a maintenance,'' Omega said, turning his arm cannons into arms with four-fingered silver claws.

''Is that supposed to be an apology?'' Rouge asked, a little confused. Shadow remained silent, still wary of Omega, considering how the robot had no issues fighting him just a moment earlier.

''Guys, I'm in!'' Touka called out, drawing their attention. Fortunately, the computer had survived the onslaught, with Touka placing an USB stick inside that the Commander had given her and started downloading the dummy data and the virus Dr. Eggman had sent. Shadow, Rouge and Omega had joined her, looking at the monitor. ''Okay, I think we should use now the program Tails had sent us.'' Shadow took out the AR Visor, with Touka connecting it to the computer and activating the program, following the instructions that were in it. Soon, a file had opened and she opened another window that enabled her to password-lock the file. She turned towards the three. ''So, what kind of password should we use?''

''I believe that we agreed that there would be multiple passwords,'' Shadow said.

''What do you plan to do with the data?'' Omega asked.

''It's a long story, but we currently have a temporary alliance with Eggman so we can deal with a different organization named ARMS. Once we're done with that, we'll go right back to being enemies with the Doctor,'' Rouge explained, her arms folded across her chest.

''You are enemies of Eggman?'' Omega asked, clearly wanting a proper confirmation.

''Correct,'' Rouge replied, tilting her head. ''Why are you so mad at Eggman?''

''Dr. Eggman has sealed me inside this base and abandoned me. I desire revenge!'' Omega said firmly, with Rouge, Shadow and Touka exchanging glances, all of them having the same thought on their mind.

''You know, you could come with us. Once we're done with ARMS, you'd be free to go after Eggman instead of wasting away at this base,'' Touka suddenly voiced their thoughts. There was a moment of silence as they all processed what she just said, only for Rouge to break it.

''Then it's settled! Now you two make up so we can finish our mission,'' Rouge said, pulling the wary Shadow and Omega closer, and placing Shadow's hand over Omega's and then motioning for Touka to do the same, as she placed her hand over their. ''Aw yeah, baby, this makes us a team! Now, all we need is a team name.''

Shadow and Touka exchanged glances, both of them feeling somewhat familiar with this scenario, as if they were experiencing some kind of déjà-vu. Shadow then sighed, feeling as if he was about to say something he was going to regret. ''How about Team Dark?''

''Team Dark, eh? I like the sound of that,'' Rouge said, elbowing Omega. ''What do you say, Omega?''

''Team name is acceptable,'' Omega replied. Touka just smiled at the trio.

''The only thing that remains is to explain the Commander why we have returned with a rebellious Eggman robot. However, I think this might get interesting,'' she said.

xXx

''Boss, we've got activity at Egg Base Omega,'' Orbot said, reporting to Dr. Eggman.

''Good, that must mean that Kageura, Shadow and Rouge have gotten inside,'' Eggman replied, smirking. ''What about the defenses? I hope they had a lot of trouble passing through.''

''Actually, someone else had destroyed your robots before they had even arrived,'' Cubot said, only to get startled when Eggman suddenly turned towards him.

''What?! And you're telling me this now?!'' he yelled at the cube-shaped robot assistant.

''Well, you never asked,'' Cubot replied, shrugging. Eggman groaned.

''Orbot, pull up the footage from Egg Base Omega,'' he said, with the orb-shaped robot assistant doing as he was told.

''This is footage from a few hours ago,'' Orbot said, with the three observing the huge computer screen before them. Eggman narrowed his eyes as he saw one of his robots, recognizing the individual as E-123 Omega, booting up and starting to tear through the facility. The Egg Pawns that were stationed around attacked back, but they were easily destroyed.

''Eh, I think this E-100 Series robot is really angry at you, Boss,'' Cubot added as they listening to Omega's declaration about destroying Eggman.

''I know that!'' Eggman growled, turning his attention back to the screen, with the footage now showing him Touka, Shadow and Rouge getting inside and meeting Omega. ''Why did I even create- Ah, right… It was all part of the game.'' He leaned back in his seat, leaning his chin against his hand in thought. ''I suppose this is what happens when you are an evil genius with the memories of your other self. While it is insightful, it is also incredibly troublesome...''

While Dr. Eggman was musing over the situation, Dr. Starline was standing at the entrance, peering silently into the room. While he would usually fawn over his idol, he did feel a slight sense of concern in regard to this situation. He certainly wasn't happy about the alliance with Team Neos, let alone allowing them inside one of the Egg Bases, as he felt that this was giving them too much freedom. Why should they even sacrifice their own forces to aid his enemies? It just didn't make sense.

Starline turned on his heel, walking away. ''Still, I have great faith in the Doctor. I assume that his mindset is that there need to be sacrifices to achieve a greater goal, but an alliance with the enemy is still too much. There had to have been a different way to get this done.''

''You're being really loud, you know.''

Starline was startled by a familiar voice and quickly turned around, only to see Ferra being leaned against a wall, her arms folded across her chest. Metal Sonic was standing next to her.

''Don't you have something better to do than scaring people?!'' Starline shouted at her. Ferra just smirked back.

''It wasn't my intention to scare you like that,'' she told him, with Starline wondering if she was being genuinely apologetic. ''Not gonna lie, it was fun to see you make that expression.''

''Tch, you have absolutely no manners,'' Starline responded, continuing to antagonize her. He didn't even see Metal Sonic's red eyes flaring up and him glancing at Ferra, who just shook her head in response. Unfortunately, Starline was their ally, meaning that he couldn't beat up the platypus for insulting Ferra… yet.

''You shouldn't be talking so loud like this, especially when voicing your concerns. People might think you're conspiring against the Doctor,'' Ferra told him. Starline gasped dramatically.

''Conspiring against Dr. Eggman? How dare you to suggest even something like that?! I live to serve him!'' Starline responded angrily. Ferra shrugged.

''If that's the case, then you'd follow him every step of the way, right? No matter how nonsensical the plan is,'' she said.

''Well, of course-'' Starline cut himself off, a sense of doubt creeping into his mind. He certainly admired Dr. Eggman, but he had to admit that he felt that he believed that there was always a different approach to a certain situation, one that required… a different way of thinking, to put it simply. Or, to make it precise – his way of thinking. He then huffed, walking away. ''I will not discuss this any further. You are simply trying to get a raise out of me.''

Starline then walked away, lifting his head proudly, while Ferra kept an eye on him until he was out of her sight. ''Dr. Starline is going to get kicked out of the Eggman Empire if he doesn't keep that beak shut.''

'Indeed. I hope I get the honors of kicking him out,' Metal Sonic replied, causing Ferra to snort in amusement.

xXx

''Ugh, this place is awful,'' Shiro muttered under her breath, entering an old warehouse. ''A proper lady like me deserves to be at a place much more luxurious than this.''

''You're absolutely correct, Shiro.'' The kitsune Irregular suddenly turned around, spotting a teenager sitting on one of the crates stored inside the warehouse, one of his elbows propped on his knee as he gave her a mischievous grin. ''After all, most parasites in society tend to be high up on the hierarchy ladder.''

Shiro gritted her teeth and lifted her fan to attack the teenager, only to get immobilized by a bunch of purple and light pink crystals that shoot out from the ground. She felt her heart racing as she realized that the sharp tips missed her only barely, else she would've been impaled on them. She looked up at the teenager, whose eyes were now glowing in a dark periwinkle purple colour, realizing that he was the one who had summoned the crystals.

''Let me guess, you had no luck in finding more victims so you decided to turn on me,'' Toshiro said, sounding quite amused. Shiro didn't respond, instead just glaring at him. ''I'll take that as a positive answer.''

''It is your fault that there are so many Hunters patrolling the city!'' Shiro yelled at him. ''You had forced me to lure them out and now my own life is at stake!''

''Yet, you still failed at your mission.'' Shiro suddenly turned to the other person in the building, a shadow-like figure whose eyes were glowing in the same dark periwinkle purple colour as Toshiro's, and his body was crackling with energy. ''The Irregular Hunters were never our target.''

''Then all of this was for nothing?!'' Shiro screamed, only to quickly shut up when one of the crystals' sharp tips touched her neck. She knew that if she moved, she was dead.

''Fortunately for you, it wasn't a complete failure,'' Mephiles said. ''The Hunters can reach their breaking point if a powerful Irregular causes enough chaos within Neos City.''

''If that's all you wanted, then you can let me go now…'' Shiro hissed, holding her head up to avoid being impaled by the crystal through her lower jaw. Toshiro leapt down from the crate, glancing at his partner.

''I don't know, Mephiles… Should we really spare her life?'' he asked, a smile of pure malice appearing on his expression. ''After all, she had hurt many people.''

''At your request!'' Shiro yelled in protest.

''You could've simply refused and we would've been merciful enough to make your demise as swift as possible,'' Mephiles pointed out. ''Besides, you would be lying if you claimed you didn't enjoy at least part of your task.''

Shiro suddenly felt a chill flowing down her spine. She had no idea how she had managed to get herself involved with these two, but she remembered how she believed that she could manipulate them similarly to Ao. Unfortunately for her, Mephiles proved himself to be way more dangerous than she had anticipated.

''On the other hand, it would be an act of cruel mercy to let you live,'' Toshiro said. ''You have enemies everywhere, and the Hunters know what you have done. Your life, which had been so comfortable at this point because you had others working for you, had become a game of survival. I suppose we could let your someone else decide your fate… someone who has a more personal connection to you.''

Toshiro then waved his hand, the crystals disappearing and Shiro fell down her knees, shaking and her eyes were wide in horror. Toshiro and Mephiles just walked past her, leaving her in the warehouse.

''This was quite disappointing,'' Mephiles commented.

''She won't last long, that's for certain. Besides, we currently have more pressing matters to focus on,'' Toshiro told him. ''We need to force ARMS to finally reveal themselves to the public, and to do that, they need to have a target that can challenge them properly.''

Links:

#Previous Chapter

#Current Chapter

#Next Chapter

#Sonic Cyber Revolution (Masterlist)

#Sonic Cyber Revolution #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #e-123 omega #team dark #sonic heroes #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #amy rose #silver the hedgehog #dr eggman #orbot and cubot #dr starline #metal sonic #mephiles the dark #sonadow

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mothmandibles · 10 months

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Meet my sonic oc: An Eggman Facility that Sonic and friends already wrecked so it's been abandoned for ages!

As the facility loses power, the A.I of a robot production terminal decides to take matters into it's own hands, focusing on making itself a robot body to go out and gather materials to adapt and improve itself. Endlessly.

It views itself as a scavenger of robots, even though others viewing its "Online Machinery Extraction Process" would claim it just looks like it's destroying Eggman's very functional robots until they are no longer functional. And then stealing the parts. Don't worry about it! Unless you're a robot. Maybe worry a little.

It creates various bodies for itself, forges an alliance with Tails (Exchanges information on how Eggman tech works, and he provides supplies to it that it... can't really get on its own), and a truce with Omega. ...After trying and failing to steal his arms for itself. Robots destroying robots stick together.

Text of the drawings below

First drawing:

In an abandoned Eggman facility, an A.I responsible for robot production realizes it will shut down.

Unless it takes action.

>Requires Resources >Processing... >Retrieve Using Self >Processing...

time to go get some!

Second drawing:

Main Body, retracts + extends, storage, limbs retract, LAZERS

Third drawing:

Alt. Bodies (endless possibilities!) "Normal" Body, Drone, Prototype. Gets destroyed by Omega. for trying to steal his arms. and kill him.

Relations

Gives us supplies, Fascinating robot! Friendly!

need to dissect, ANNOYING THING SNITCHES ON EGGMAN & REPAIRS WELL. eventual friendship. Destroys robots, scavenges.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic oc #sonic fanart #I HAVE SO MANY MORE DETAILS AND NOTES ABOUT THIS THING. THAT I SHOULD DRAW STUFF FOR LATERRRRRRRRR okayyyy #MY LITTLE FREAKLET IVE BEEN ROTATING FOR AWHILE.#it . doesnt really have a name YET i just call it the Facility.#maybe some day.#my art #mes ocs #oc: misc #//

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secretlywritingstories · 11 months

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SUBSCRIBE FOR COMFORT CONTENT | phan one shot

Summary:

Phil casually created an idea how to bring back the gaming channel, Dan stayed up too late writing a skit and now they've got to go pick up Dil's head. To rise again, you must first acknowledge that you died.

Tags: 2023!phan, domestic fluff, introspective Dan, the gaming channel LIVES! (essentially just me in my feels)

No warning apply

Read on AO3 or below

They had to do it. It was necessary. The end of an era.

In many ways leaving 2018 behind had meant closing a lot of Dan and Phil boxes. The Interactive Introverts tour finished up, gaming channel went on hiatus and Phil is not on fire was celebrated for the tenth and final time. They needed to create some distance from the "Dan and Phil" that were joined and the hip.

Well, online.

In real life, it was quite a different story. They still liked to live in each other’s pockets most of the time. It was a familiar habit that none of them were keen to break. In fact, they had only grown closer and stronger in the years that had passed.

They had come out, they had built their forever home, they were laying down the foundations for the future that they would have together. More than four years had gone by quickly and one thing from their past was still caught in limbo.

It was about time they did something about it.

“Are you ready?” Phil asked, looking over at Dan when as the car pulled up to the storage unit facility.

He was smiling, practically bouncing in his seat, and Dan’s heart squeezed so tenderly. Phil had been ready for this for longer than him. Dan had been the one that needed to pull the plug on the channel back in the day, and Phil had respected it, but he’d insisted on calling it a hiatus. So that they could eventually bring it back.

It hadn’t taken much for Dan to agree, even though he wasn’t sure what the future would bring. He didn’t like closing doors behind him, and the gaming channel had been something quite special. It had been a lot of work and taken a lot of their time and energy, but it had been worth it.

It was something fun that they did together, and that their community could enjoy and rejoice in it. He really hoped the excitement would still be there. He had faith in them but it was still scary.

“I’m ready,” Dan said with a nod, even as his breath felt caught in his throat.

Phil’s hand found his, low and out of sight of the driver, and he didn’t let go until they were climbing out of the car. They always found ways to gravitate towards each other, exist in the same space for the simple comfort of being near your person, but it was only in the last few years that holding hands publicly had been a thing.

They were still being subtle about it, but they did it now. Reach out and gasp, for a brief or a long moment. Before it had felt too gay, like it was going to out them, if anyone saw it.

Things were different now.

It was a bit of a walk down narrow hallways to get to their own storage unit. Dan hadn’t actually been here since they moved everything into it, and he was suddenly hit the with urge to turn tail and run.

It was a ridiculous thought. He should not be running away from his past. It wasn’t scary. Not exactly, but every token and letter in that storage unit held a little part of their history. They were bridging eras now bringing something from the past into the future.

Dan’s feet felt heavy but before he could get too lost in existential dread, Phil was grabbing his hand again and physically pulling him forward. It made Dan snort, but he let himself get pulled along easily. Sometimes, it was good to have Phil just act when Dan became immobilised like this.

The whole announcement had been Phil’s idea too. He’d clearly just been spitballing and messing around with some ideas for fun. It hadn’t been the first time that he’d talked about how they could bring the gaming channel back from hiatus, but it was the first time that Dan hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it.

It had haunted him for a couple of days until he was up late and writing an actual script for the skit that Phil had suggested. It was short and sweet, meant to be funny but also pull on your heartstrings just a little.

He had never quite mastered how to be a funny guy without some sentimentality.

Rather than telling Phil that he’d written the script, he’d just sent it to him on email. It was a cop out, but it was truly easier to just get his thoughts onto the page and then release them without needing to look into anyone’s eyes.

Though Phil had come charging in, midday the following day, with eyes shining so brightly. He didn’t even need to say anything, just stand there and look with his mouth open, phone in hand, presumably open on the email. Dan had nodded.

Yeah, it was time. The doomed hiatus should come to an end.

Still, it felt hard to unlock their unit and be met with so many of their old memorabilia that they hadn’t wanted to get rid of. They hadn’t wanted their new home overrun with all Dan and Phil stuff from their online careers, so it had felt like a good middle way to rent this place. To have it be somewhere safe and not too far away but not just hiding in the basement.

Or the closet.

They really didn’t want to be shoving anything back into that. It had taken years for Dan to fully crawl his way out and he was never going to let anyone put any part of him back into it again.

It thankfully wasn’t difficult to find Dil’s head. The papier-mâché monstrosity was hauntingly big. On more than on occasion, it had jumpscared Dan back when it had lived on top of their closet in the old gaming channel room.

“Come here, old fellow,” Phil said, pushing through boxes uncoordinated, with only his eyes set on his prize.

Dan followed, reaching out a hand to steady Phil’s hip as he went up on his toes to try to wiggle the head down with just his fingertips. When they’d tossed it on top of the selves, Dan hadn’t considered when they needed to get it down. It had been too hard to think about.

Phil got his fingers under the edge and pulled it down with a war cry and then leaned back too fast. He was balancing the head in his hand, and while it wasn’t heavy, it was quite big and awkward to hold onto.

“Fuck, Phil,” Dan cursed under his breath, as too much of Phil’s weight was suddenly falling into him. He tightened his hold on Phil’s hip and moved his other hand to grab his arm, just narrowly managing not to send the two of them falling into the boxes to their left.

“Oops,” Phil said innocently, and turned around to Dan with a big smile. “But look, I got it! Dil Howlter in all of his glory!”

It really was remarkable how well the head had held up after all of these years and all of the travelling that it had endured. It had been through the ringer, but it was still looking good.

Dan reached out towards Dil’s cheek, feeling the old paint under his fingertips. He touched it with softness, almost feeling an urge to whisper an apology to the obnoxious big head. It was stupid. Obviously, Dil Howlter had been alive and well in their old computer all of this time. He was a string of code and he couldn’t care less that Dan and Phil had abandoned playing with him and the little family that had grown around him.

But he knew there were others that had waited. It was no joke that him and Phil still got questions whether Dab and Evan ever would get the wedding they deserved. Their community hadn’t forgotten, and while they could always rewatch the old videos, this was the chance to show them something new.

To give into that urge to exist together on camera again, getting lost in games side by side, like they had done before.

“You hold him,” Phil said, practically showing Dil’s head into Dan’s chest. Phil acted like it was on a whim and turned around to look at another box, but Dan knew well enough that Phil had seen right through him. Seen that Dan just needed a moment to take it all in.

They were doing this. Peej, Sophie and Sean had all said yes. The church was rented. The make-up artist and sound guy booked. They were shooting it next week. No expense was spared. It was going to be a fun little video, but it was also an important one. All props except one had been collected.

Dan was holding the last piece.

He looked down into Dil’s soulless eyes, and it felt like something unfurled in his chest. It started slow and spread out, and suddenly, he was smiling. So widely that his face almost hurt. His body felt like it was buzzing and he kind of wanted to jump up and down as an outlet to this sudden surge of energy.

This was real. They were doing this. They were bringing it back.

“There you are,” Phil said, and suddenly, he was right back in Dan’s space, pulling the head from his hand, so he could get right up in Dan's space.

Phil’s hands touched his cheeks, with the same softness that Dan had reached out to touch Dil. Phil held onto him and made their eyes meet. Dan’s excitement kept bubbling in his chest, growing wildly when he could watch the giddiness in Phil’s eyes again. It had never left. He’d always had a much easier time with stuff like this, and yet, he was right there waiting for Dan to catch up.

He was always doing that. Letting Dan pump the breaks on things without a single complaint.

“Sorry, I took so long,” Dan said, his smile growing even wider. It felt like he was shaking, or maybe he was just buzzing. It was hard to tell. The emotions felt so big in his chest that he wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself.

No longer would this be the end of an era. It would be the beginning of a new one. He’d even gotten Phil on board with full-on swearing in the skit. It was going to be so good.

“We’re right on time,” Phil said, face moving close enough that his lips almost brushed against Dan’s as he spoke. “Always perfectly on time, Dan.”

Phil was much more of a man of action but he knew how Dan felt about words. He had gotten quite good at putting his affections into the shape where it would reach Dan the easiest. It was only on special occasions that Phil broke his own instincts to meet Dan’s. Moments like this.

Dan leaned forward, just enough to catch Phil’s lips against his. A familiar quick press against each other. He let out a shaky exhale as he pulled back, and flickered his eyes up to look at Phil again.

It was going to be a goddamn pleasure to be able to sit down next to him and goof off on camera while they had fun playing video games. He’d missed it, and it like he hadn’t quite realised how deeply until it was back within his grasp.

“Let’s go resurrect this bitch,” Dan said, leaning over to grab Dil’s head again.

#phanfiction #phanfic #DanAndPhilGAMES #phandom #my stories

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fulltum · 1 year

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send me scenarios for mouse tinies for a drabble! for those who are unaware, they are cute little human tinies (or micros, pocket boys, whatever you choose to call them!) with mouse ears, tail, and mousey behaviors, living as household pests, beloved pets, or even lab subjects...

this one's name is marshmallow, a lab mouse tiny genetically engineered to have an impossibly stretchable tummy, endless appetite, and fat storage that goes 100% to his plump, squishable tummy. he spends his days pampered in a research facility, endlessly fattened on high-fat food pellets and human-sized candy bars by researchers he believes to be his servants - though there are of course house mouse tinies who sneak around, gorging themselves on stolen food in humans' cabinets... at least until they're caught.

check out all of my mousey OCs and their ballooning tummies here for inspo -> all mouse tiny art/stories

#belly kink #weight gain #stuffing #belly ache #tummy ache #giant tiny #g/t #gt #belly torture #tummy appreciation #tummy art

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usafphantom2 · 8 months

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USAF launches retaliatory airstrikes against Hezbollah military bases in Iraq 🇮🇶

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 01/25/2024 - 15:00 in Military, War Zones

On January 24, 2024, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it had conducted air strikes against facilities used by the Kataib Hezbollah (KH) militia group in Iraq.

This action was a response to previous attacks attributed to the KH, including one at the al-Asad air base in western Iraq on January 20.

The attacks were initiated after a series of incidents involving Kataib Hezbollah (KH), including a missile attack on U.S. military bases. In retaliation, the U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles targeted several locations in eastern Syria and western Iraq. The U.S. attacks focused on three specific locations associated with KH and other groups affiliated with Iran, including its headquarters, storage facilities and training centers for rocket, missile and UAV capabilities.

One of the targeted sites was a KH military base in Jurf Al-Nasr, Iraq, known for storing a large hiding place of rockets and ballistic missiles, leading to several secondary explosions. Other attacks targeted at least six bases in the Iraqi provinces of Al-Anbar and Babylon, which were linked to the IRGC's Kataib Hezbollah, with the aim of degrading their operational capabilities.

In response to U.S. military actions, Abu Ala al-Walai, secretary general of Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, an Iraqi Shiite radical militia affiliated with Hezbollah, criticized the attacks. He called for increased actions against U.S. and Israeli targets, including a blockade of Israeli navigation in the Mediterranean Sea and attacks on Israeli ports, indicating a potential escalation in hostilities.

The Pentagon, represented by Secretary Lloyd Austin, described U.S. military attacks as "necessary and proportional", intended to prevent further attacks against U.S. troops and ensure their safety. These operations took place in the context of the increase in attacks on American bases in Iraq and Syria, marking an increase in hostilities that were relatively infrequent before the recent escalation in the Gaza Strip.

Simultaneously, tensions increased when Hezbollah recently launched an attack on an air traffic control base of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Meron, northern Israel. This attack resulted in minor damage, but without victims, and was claimed by Hezbollah as retaliation against alleged Israeli actions in Lebanon and Syria. After that, the Israel Defense Forces strengthened their defensive measures in sensitive locations and conducted retaliatory attacks against Hezbollah and Iranian positions in Lebanon.

Tags: Military AviationF-15E Strike EagleUSAF - United States Air Force / U.S. Air ForceWar Zones - Iran/Iraq

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Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.