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#they are very obviously just another form of the metal sonic that we normally see not a separate character? hello where am i
sonknuxadow · 1 year
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it confuses me that so many people treat neo metal sonic as if theyre a completely separate character from metal sonic. theyre a transformation? that would be like saying that any of sonics transformations are a separate person from him or that super shadow is a separate person from shadow or that burning blaze is a separate person from blaze etc
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bonesaldente · 3 years
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Ferocious I Darth Maul x Reader
Chapter 10: Trust
last chapter
all chapters
ao3
warnings: nudity, mildly suggestive language
words: 4000+
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note: For… reasons, this is an alternate universe in which space ships have actual showers with water, not just sonic showers. Also, Maul’s cybernetics are waterproof. I don’t make the rules... wait- I do. Also, make sure to read the end notes today :)
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Stars, you hate it here.
Everything, from the endless nights to the lack of clean water and the ever-looming prospect of going to prison increases your motivation to somehow fix the communicator yourself and run off before Kenobi can take you with him, leaving him stranded on the planet.
For exactly a decade, just to be even.
“It should work,” Kenobi remarks with very apparent annoyance. “Everything is connected and the power source is on.”
“Well, it’s obviously not working.”
“Thank you for your observation.” He drops his hands into his lap, looking quite defeated. And tired.
While you’ve been keeping some structure in your days, he’s been working tirelessly on repairing that communicator. Until he did tire out, occasionally.
Now was one of these occasions.
“I’m losing focus and I can hardly see anything. It’ll be best to continue when the sun comes back up again.”
Which is precisely what you were hoping he’d say, but you still force yourself to make another snide comment. “Maybe it’ll fix itself while you’re resting and we are magically transported off this planet.”
He pays you no mind and heads to what’s become his sleeping spot over the past days - or has it been over a week already?
“I trust you’ll keep watch?”
You just huff, but don’t refuse his request. It is an agreement you’ve come to quite early on when you both realized that the death of one would make the other’s survival significantly less likely. So while he sleeps, you make sure no animals sneak up and attack him, which, apart from the “dinner” incident a few days ago, only happened once, but still rattled him enough to make him remind you of your duty evry time he went to sleep.
Except tonight, you plan on shifting your attention to something completely different. 
You have not, in fact, come to terms with the probable reality that you’ll spend the rest of your days in a prison of the Republic. Instead, you’ve been observing what exactly Kenobi is doing to repair the life-saving device and despite your lack of aptitude in such things, you, too, see that the communicator should - in theory - work. Kenobi is overworked and agitated; it would only be natural for him to miss something.
Something you might be able to catch and use to your advantage.
 You remain still where you are until you hear his quiet breaths evening out, indicating he has fallen asleep.
“Kenobi?” You whisper into the silence, a last test to check if he is still conscious.
No response.
Your heart beats fast in your chest, all too aware of how pressing time is. For some reason, this man rarely sleeps more than two hours at a time, which could be partially blamed on you for always nagging at him when he isn’t trying to fix the communicator. But then again, you have the feeling that he usually doesn’t have very different habits.
With the kind of stealth only someone who has been trained in these arts could bring up, you sneak across the clearing to where the source of all your troubles and hope lies on the ground.
The device has been taken out of the starfighters cockpit and thus looks pretty out of place and… unfinished. But you know better, having watched the Jedi dismantle and reassemble every little piece.
The metal glints in the shine of your flashlight as you crouch to be on eye-level with the device. At first glance everything seems to be in order, just like the Jedi remarked, but that is not acceptable. Fixing the cursed thing before Kenobi is your only way to freedom and you will not allow your own incompetence to stand in your way.
So you look again. And again.
You shine light into every little corner, every port, under every wire and in between each panel. Time is passing too quickly, you are aware, and your chances are dwindling.
But then you see it.
Tiny and inconspicuous, something organic - a seed maybe - is blocking one of the loose wires from connecting with its respective port. 
You bite your lip to suppress a victorious exclamation, looking over your shoulder to check if Kenobi is still fast asleep.
Heart thrumming in your ears, you take a deep breath to calm your nerves and steady your hand for the task ahead. Cautiously, you lift some of the metal paneling to give you access to the section, fingers weaving through the wires with extra care since many of them are not firmly in place due to the crash and were only pinned to their receptors by Kenobi.
At last, your fingertips graze the disruptive piece of forest that has made it so far into the technology. Slowly, you remove it from its spot, moving the wire back to where it was supposed to connect.
Now let’s try this.
You turn the power on, holding your breath and praying to whatever force there is out there that it won’t make any noise.
A quiet whir is the only indication that the power is flowing, causing a small smile to creep over your hidden features. The display comes to life, faintly glowing blue. You throw looks over your shoulder every few seconds, hastily pressing the buttons to type in the private comm information Maul and all his commanding warriors kept as a backup for emergencies. You have no idea how many emergencies must have occurred in these past weeks, but you hope your message won’t be drowned out by others. This is the only shot you get.
You pick some coordinates that, if your knowledge of space navigation isn’t misleading you, should be a few miles north of your current location, then sign the message with ‘ -S ’ .
You stare at the numbers, forcing your mind to absorb them, then you hit send and a series of green lights tells you it at least went out successfully, meaning all you can do now is to hope that it will be received the same way. 
Kenobi is still fast asleep, chest rising and falling steadily. You almost feel sorry for what you’re about to do, but there really aren’t many alternatives. 
You take out a small vial from a pocket in your belt, filling a syringe with it. It’s been a while since you last used it, but you made sure you always have some tranquilizers on you, and now you’re thankful for that.
On your tiptoes, you sneak to Kenobi’s sleeping form, narrowing your eyes to make out the exposed skin on his neck.
The needle is buried in his neck in a matter of seconds and his eyes shoot open in shock and confusion while his hands fly to his neck.
“Why-”
“Nothing personal,” you assure him when his eyelids droop and his words lose coherence.
Normally, this should knock a person out for at least three hours, but you don’t know how a force sensitivity might influence that. One way or another, you should take off now and get as big a headstart as you can. But first, one more thing.
You give the heap of beige robes that is the Jedi knight one more almost regretful look, then you crush the communicator beneath your heel. Can’t risk him calling for Republic forces while you’re still in the area after all, and you’d have no way of taking the device with you, since it’s hooked up to the ship wreckage.
Why you spare his life, you don’t know, and you’d rather not spend too much time thinking about it. Perhaps you should kill him, after all he’s done to Maul, and why your conscience decides to pipe up now of all times will remain a mystery. You have killed people in less honorable ways, but…
“Ugh,” you grunt, finally turning your back on the Jedi and starting your journey north.
 *
 “Maul! Maul, come here!”
He jerks up, briefly having fallen asleep leaned against the wall. For a second, he fully expects to see your gleaming eyes staring back at him, that’s how familiar the voice is. It takes him a moment to understand that it’s not you, but Loa calling him.
Which is supremely peculiar, because the young woman rarely ever addresses him, let alone command him.
He is out of the room, your room, in a flash, looking over Loa’s shoulder at the message displayed a second later.
Both of his hearts seem to skip a beat.
The message consists of nothing but a set of coordinates, the only indication of its origin the ‘ -S ’ with which it is signed.
S as in… Spectress?
It must be you. There is no one else with access to this line of communication who would send this kind of message.
Loa gapes at the writing. 
“It’s… It’s her, isn’t it? It’s gotta be her, I’m…”
“Set course,” is his only response, sitting down in the copilot’s seat, several scenarios already running through his mind.
“Looks like some type of… forest moon,” She remarks, readying the ship for hyperspace with outstanding speed and routine. You weren’t exaggerating at all when you said she had become a good pilot.
He ponders for a minute. If you are somehow stranded there, they won’t need reinforcement, with their forces stretched thin as it is. But if any threats lurk nearby and he puts your little sister in danger…
He will die by your hand, then. Or his own.
“How long?”
“Estimate of four hours.”
“Very well. I will try to find out what to expect when we arrive there.”
 According to his sources, there has been no Republic activity in the system in question over the past month - that’s what he found out after two hours of vehement research. Really, he already knew that after thirty minutes, but you being so close yet so far from him drove him to bury himself in databanks and records by his spies.
His thoughts travel to a darker place.
He doesn’t know what state you’ll be in when he finds you - if he finds you. And even if you’re fine, everything else is far from fine. Mandalore, the crime syndicate and most of all, Savage…
Something on the dresser that takes up most of the cramped space clatters to the floor when he loses control of the chaotic force inside him and he flinches, immediately worrying he broke something of importance to you. After all, he has taken up residence in what used to be your small quarters on your ship, before everything happened, before you joined the Death Watch, before you saw him again.
When you were still living relatively safe, off the Republic’s radars.
Out of Master’s reach.
It’s been torturing him every waking moment to think that you might meet the same end that Savage did. The speculation of what could have been if he hadn’t reentered your life has become a constant in his mind. Because if he ever has to see the life fade out of your eyes, the way he saw the nightsister magick leave Savage when he exhaled his last breath, he isn’t sure he could forgive the galaxy. He vows to himself, already vowed to himself few days after he first laid eyes on you, that he will do anything to keep that fiery soul safe.
His fingers run over the cold piece of metal that has fallen, curiously examining it. No, not normal metal, beskar . There are letters forged into it, but they look like traditional Mando’a scripture, which he is still unpracticed in reading.
He contemplates putting it into the uppermost drawer, lest it get lost during more daring flight maneuvers, but he hesitates. He’s never opened any of the drawers, despite the very persistent curiosity he felt. The last he’d want is to invade your privacy; you hadn’t even consented to him sleeping in your private space (although he doubts you would mind after he has literally slept with you).
Maul makes up his mind and pulls the drawer open, not intending to even look, but his gaze still gets caught.
He expected to find clothes, maybe, or, knowing you, weapons. What he finds instead is a collection of… trinkets. 
It’s not new to him that you have a tendency to collect items, sometimes out of sentiment, sometimes as a trophy. He didn’t realize you kept them so meticulously stored.
It’s quite endearing, he thinks.
Some of the items he recalls you talking about, but others seem entirely random. His eyes linger on a piece of flimsiplast that looks like a child has drawn on it. 
He is tempted to take it out and hold it into the light, but quickly realizes that it would go against his original decision not to pry.
There is so much personal history collected in that small space. Dozens of untold stories, so many parts of your life that he missed.
He won’t rest until he knows you’ll still be able to tell them.
 *
 Oddly enough, you miss Kenobi. More precisely, you miss his ability to sense danger before it has reached you.
Every little noise startles you, every swish of wind making your heart stop and you increase your speed a little.
By now, you’re nearly running through the woods, less than half a mile away from the coordinates you chose.
Chances are, he has woken up by now. And you’re not stupid; you know it’ll be easy for him to track you down when there is no civilization around. From what your understanding of the force is, he should be able to sense your force signature from a larger distance when there is nothing else to disrupt it. That also means that he will be hot on your tail, so whoever shows up to rescue you better hurry .
With a heavy heart, you turn off your flashlight and lean against a tree while you remove your mask for better air supply and allow your eyes to adjust. It still takes so kriffing long, you wonder if that’ll ever change.
If Kenobi finds you first, it won’t make much of a difference.
You get moving again, slower but also less of a beacon in the dark.
The trees start coming in more sparsely now, until you can actually see farther than twenty feet without trees blocking your view. This allows you to pick up speed again and thus make up for the darkness that is slowing you down, until the landscape is so open that you’re actually running now.
And that’s when you hear them.
Branches cracking somewhere behind you. 
Probably just the wind. Keep going.
The dull thud of feet hitting the ground makes your breath catch in your throat.
So maybe he did wake up earlier than anticipated.
You whirl around, seeing nothing but his black silhouette and desperately wishing for a lightsaber, which you - unwisely - have sworn off after the Naboo incident. That, and running around wielding a lightsaber wasn’t exactly the level of subtlety you were going for at the time.
But now, you could really use it.
“I spared your life!” You yell.
“And destroyed my only way away from here,” he responds, sounding almost hurt as he makes slow steps towards you. You take just as many backwards.
Something in the sky beyond him catches your eye and suddenly, the situation looks different.
“I’ve got to look out for myself first,” you argue. “Surely, you understand that.”
“You know I can’t let you go.”
“I do,” you say serenely, taking a deep breath, then whirling around to make a run for it.
You don’t need to look over your shoulder to know he is following you and, even worse, gaining on you.
The small headstart you got, combined with the distance between you two in the first place isn’t nearly enough, even though you are in great shape and a truly fast runner.
The ship you spotted earlier now flies over your head, approaching the ground and you could laugh and cry at the same time. It’s not just any ship, it’s your ship. Your home, and aboard, you hope, your family.
It doesn’t touch the ground, but it flies low enough to be accessible from the ground while slowing to a speed that should allow for you to jump on, if you could only run a little faster.
Damn, ten years ago this would have been easier.
The blast door in the back, only about twenty feet away from you, slides open, revealing a figure that even in the dark you can make out to be…
Maul.
He extends his hand and you instantly know what he wants you to do.
So, you take a deep breath and jump .
The moment your feet leave the ground you feel the tug of the force pulling you to the zabrak while your own hand reaches forward and you fly through the air, until your hand finally reaches Maul’s.
You are not safe yet, still hanging from the edge of the ship when you suddenly feel a different pull on one of your ankles. Your eyes widen in shock and you try to tell Maul that it’s Kenobi, he is pulling you back, but all that you manage is a terrified shriek when your hand almost slips out of his at a particularly strong pull backwards.
Not this time, Kenobi.
Your determination sets in and you look down to see Kenobi standing still, arms extended to manipulate the force. With your one free hand, you reach for your blaster, aiming and-
The hold on your ankle abruptly loosens and you are yanked on board at once, the blast door sliding shut immediately, drowning out the deafening sound of wind.
You are panting, sprawled out on the floor, not even realizing that you did it .
“Hyperspace, as soon as possible,” you distantly hear Maul say, but the thrumming of your heart is too loud to properly hear his voice, until he somehow sits you up and…
Embraces you. 
Warm fingers run through your messy hair, soft murmurs that you can’t quite understand coming from right next to your ear.
“I’m filthy,” you protest weakly, half-heartedly trying to free yourself from his hold but he only holds on tighter and at last you melt into the affection, burying your face in his neck.
“Is Loa…?”
“In the cockpit,” he instantly calms your worries and you sigh happily. For a moment, everything is alright.
“What did I miss?” You eventually muster up the courage to ask.
His grip tightens so much you can feel his fingertips dig into your hip and you immediately know something bad happened.
“It was… Master. He killed Savage.”
Your heart sinks, the previous relief replaced by a dark type of sadness. There is anger and, most dominantly, fear.
The Sith lord doesn’t intend on letting Maul off, which by extension also means there is a target on everyone he surrounds himself with.
You can’t even find words to console him, only taking in a shaky breath against his skin and whispering, "I'm sorry."
"He's free now."
Eventually, you find the strength to get up, tiredly patting over to the cockpit.
“Hey.” Loa presses a few last buttons, then jumps up and crushes you in a tight hug.
“I thought I would never see you again.”
“You know me better than that,” you retort mildly.
“I suppose so,” she sighs, holding you at an arm’s length. “You need a shower,” she assesses, plucking a leaf from your hair.
Self-consciously you run a hand through the tangles, then look down at your muddy clothes.
“I agree.”
 Maul waits for you when you leave the cockpit, immediately taking your hand as if to reassure himself that you are truly there.
“Missed me?” You joke half-heartedly, doing nothing to hide the way the tension seems to melt from your body at the touch.
“Every minute,” he answers earnestly, not a hint of a joke in his voice.
“Come with me, then,” you offer, making your way to the refresher and pulling him along. As expected, he follows you all too willingly, thumb rubbing circles on the back of your hand.
You don’t even bother undressing all the way before getting under the water stream, suddenly realizing how much you’ve been longing for it. While your clothes soak, the water pooling around your feet turns a muddy brown as the dirt from the forest is finally washed off.
Maul steps in the small shower behind you, holding a hand into the falling water.
“That’s cold,” he states.
“Not for me, it’s not.” You eye his frown. “But we can turn the temperature up.”
The heat does feel good, and not much later you finally attempt to peel off the remaining layers of clothing. Red tattooed hands come to your aid fast and within seconds, your skin is completely exposed, the stress of the past weeks running down the drain along with the dirt and… blood?
You bring a hand up to touch your forehead at the same time that a scowl makes its way on Maul’s face.
“Kenobi,” he growls, but you shake your head.
“That’s from when I crashed the starfighter.” You examine your bloodied fingers with moderate interest. “I think it’s healed already, that’s just dried blood coming off.”
He huffs, lightly running a finger over the area on your face.
“Any other injuries?” His eyes roam your body, not in a sexual, but in a concerned manner.
“None I can think of,” you sigh as he gathers soap in his hands, closing your eyes for a moment as the warm water runs over your face. When you don’t hear another noise from Maul, you open your eyes again, only to find him staring at you with something like bewilderment in his eyes.
“Are you okay?”
He responds by crashing his lips into yours, expressing so many emotions through his actions that he otherwise can’t find the words for. You very nearly fall at the suddenness of it, but his arms are wrapped around you in a heartbeat, pressing you into his chest and giving you the skin-to-skin contact you’ve been missing so terribly.
Your eyes water as emotions overcome you, the relief, the sorrow, the uncertainty and… guilt.
When you break apart, his are shining in a similar way.
 You lean against the weapons locker, facing the ceiling while you let the details of your situation soak in. The havoc that was wreaked on Mandalore by the resistant Mandalorians, the coming and going of the crime families, and the looming threat of Sidious’ grand plan finally coming together.
“I have a suggestion,” you begin slowly. “But you’re not going to like it.”
“Go on.”
“The Jedi are not our main enemy anymore, if what you foresee comes true.” You recall him talking about the envisioned destruction of the Jedi order, something that Sidious has been plotting for a long time. “If we give them the right tools to do so, it’ll be them who need to fight him, not you. Not any of us.” Your eyes dart to the cockpit where your sister is holed up.
“Tools, such as… knowledge?” He touches his chin the way he always does when he mulls over an idea.
“Sidious is but one man. He only thrives on secrecy, so if we-”
“A Jedi will never cooperate with a Sith .” He snarls. “Their self-righteousness wouldn’t allow it.”
“Maybe not.” You sigh with exhaustion. “All I know is that the better equipped the Jedi, the higher the chance of them actually defeating Sidious before it’s too late. And that’s why I have another proposition.”
“What is it?”
“We make a small transmission to the Republic fleet, sending them the same coordinates I sent you.”
“You’re trying to save Kenobi?” He doesn’t sound angered, he sounds… surprised.
“As much as I dislike him, he is one of their more capable knights, and it’s become pretty obvious he and his padawan are quite invested in uncovering Sidious’ identity.” 
You are astounded he even considers the idea. 
“Also, helping him could be interpreted as a show of good faith. Might get them off our back for some time, until we figure out who to fight,” you add.
For a minute, he remains silent. Then, his arm is wrapped around your waist and his lips brush over your temple.
“I trust your judgment,” he mumbles. “Do what you believe is right.”
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SOOO, after a two week delay, I have elected to post once more... my bad. In the next 2-4 weeks I’d like to edit and improve the older chapters because I’m not 100% happy with the writing in them anymore, so because of that there won’t be another update during that time. Don’t worry though, I’m not done yet, the story will go on - just after a short break :,)
@princessayveke @spaghetti-666 @noiralei @larawl @secretnerd00 @bagpipes606 @zabrak-show @brilliantbutbatty @eleine-t1d
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haonsnow · 5 years
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Tails vs Amy: Underdog vs Slow Progression Character
...I’m doing this again. I came across @skull001‘s post about how they think Amy is the underdog of the Sonic series, not Tails. I’m pasting my reblog comment to help continue the discussion further since I had a lot to say. If Skull001 is reading this, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way. I just want to keep the discussion going. Also, I know the comment is very long, but I just wanted to make sure I painted a clear picture about the how Tails is an underdog and Amy is a slow progression character. Here’s Skull001′s original post. Now I’m going to paste my original comment below.
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I agree with a lot of your points about Amy’s growth and her treatment in the series. However, I would still say Tails is the series underdog, because I believe Amy is more of a slow progression character. Allow me to elaborate:
An underdog is someone who is thought to have little chance of winning a fight. Some examples include Krillin from Dragon Ball Z, Wendy from Fairy Tail, and Joey/Jounouchi from Yu-Gi-Oh. The reason I believe Tails is the underdog has more of an in-universe reason, than an out-of-universe one. I believe it comes down to his role in the series and his self confidence. Tails, in and out of universe, is seen as Sonic’s sidekick and little brother. Thus, it is understandable that Tails would feel the pressure of doing what Sonic would need to do if he were to be absent in a dangerous situation. However, this would lead to Tails having self-doubt issues. You can see this in SA1, where Tails’ whole arc has to do with gaining confidence and not having to rely on Sonic all of the time. Therefore, Tails has to step up and stop Eggman from destroying the city on his own, and what do you know, not only did he stop the missile, he also destroyed the Egg Walker. Of course we as the fans know Tails is more than capable of taking Eggman down, but it’s not about us. It’s about Tails, simply needing to gain the confidence to get the job done, and that’s what makes him an underdog. He has the potential to do great things. He simply needs gain confidence and “believe in himself” *wink*.
A slow progression character is someone who is obviously not as strong as their companions or other main characters from their first appearance, and has to grow into the role (in this case a hero) over time. Some examples include Lucy from Fairy Tail, Nami and Usopp from One Piece, and Sokka from Avatar the Last Airbender. This applies to Amy as she had to go from damsel in distress in Sonic CD to eventually being able to stand on her own legs in future titles. Her growth comes from wanting to become more independent and capable, as opposed to Tails. Tails also wants to become more independent (SA1), but is already more than capable, and simply lacks confidence. A slow progression character also tends to find others ways of approaching confrontations in order to succeed than what is considered normal with other main characters. For example, in a shounen anime, a slow progression character may have to be more strategic in battle to win, as opposed to winning with brute force alone. This definitely fits for Amy. On more than one occasion, as opposed to using force, Amy uses to her words and kindness to help “win.” In SA1, when Sonic (or Tails) and Gamma are fighting, Amy runs in the middle of it to stop it. She not only manages to convince Sonic and Tails that Gamma isn’t bad, but she also manages to convince Gamma that working for Eggman is wrong. This would lead to Gamma leaving Eggman’s forces to go after the other E-series robots to destroy them and save the animals inside. Had Amy not tried to save Gamma or convince him that he’s on the wrong side, then we would have never gotten Gamma’s rather touching story, and Amy might have never been able to completely reunite the flicky family. Then, in SA2 when everyone else is off trying to stop the arc from crashing into the Earth, Amy finds Shadow, and realizes she needs to try her best to save the World, too. To do so, she believes the best thing to do is to have Shadow realize saving the Earth and it’s people is the right thing to do. She manages to do this by inadvertently reminding Shadow of his true promise to Maria; to give the people of Earth a chance to be happy. Without Amy’s influence, Shadow would not have helped to try and save the Earth, wouldn’t fulfill Maria’s dying wish, and the Earth likely would have been destroyed. And finally, in Sonic 06, Amy saves Sonic from Silver, and helps Silver to rethink his methods to save the future. She could have attacked Silver, and try to force him to stop. However, I think Amy knows that’s not the best way to go about it. Thus, she takes a different approach and tries to convince Silver that Sonic would never destroy the world. I believe her faith in Sonic has a strong affect on Silver, and would lead to him thinking about what truly are the right acts to take to save the future. While it would also take Shadow’s influence to have Silver finally see Sonic as a good guy, Amy still helped to start this change. Without Amy’s help, Silver probably would have killed Sonic, thus Elise would probably not be saved, Iblis would be released, and Silver would have helped to cause the End of the World. I know this may have gone on a bit of a tangent, but my point is that Amy’s more empathetic approach to certain situations not only helped save lives, but also the world.
Now then, to really run home the idea that Tails is an underdog and Amy is a slow progression character, let’s compare their roles and gameplay in some of the mainline games. Tails’ first appearance was in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. In that game, Tails can do almost everything Sonic can. He can roll into a ball, do the spin dash, and do a spin jump. He even has the ability to fly, which Sonic lacks. The big difference is that Tails can’t go Super, even if he collects all of the chaos emeralds. Even in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic and Knuckles have both Super and Hyper forms, while Tails can’t even go Super without the Super Emeralds. Then we get to Sonic Adventure, and Tails is shown to do just as much as before and then some. He can spin jump, roll into a ball, and while he doesn’t have the spin dash, his flight ability is still great. He even has a new tail attack. Basically, Tails has almost always been shown to be able to do a lot of the things Sonic can, and this would continue into some future games (Sonic Advance Trilogy, etc.) It should also be mentioned that Tails is almost always by Sonic’s side, thus he is almost always involved in the conflict because of this. Sonic tends to be more of the front runner, while Tails is right behind him, ready to help when need be.
Amy’s first appearance was in Sonic CD. She was not playable, as she was kidnapped by Metal Sonic, and had to be saved by Sonic. Despite being playable in multiple spin-off games, Amy wouldn’t make another mainline appearance until Sonic Adventure. It’s shown in this game that while Amy has some skills of her own (using her hammer, her hammer vault, etc.), it’s obvious she’s not very close to Sonic’s level. She can’t spin jump, spin dash, or even roll into a ball. By comparison, Amy does come off as much less capable. However, one must remember that this is the game where Amy decides to become more independent. Thus, this would lead into SA2. While Amy isn’t playable in the story, she does take a more proactive role, in that she manages to get to Prison Island on her own, helps Sonic break out, and as mentioned before, convinces Shadow to help save the Earth. You can also look at how she plays in the Multiplayer. While she is slower, can’t jump as high, and can’t spin dash, she has gotten better. She is faster, can spin jump, and do the homing attack. However, she still has growing to do. Which then leads into Sonic Heroes, where Amy finally reaches her true potential. In terms of her role, she is no longer a support character or a follower, and is instead taking role of leader in her own team, Team Rose. Throughout most of the game, she has to keep Cream and Big’s morale up, so that they can all save Froggy and Chocola. You can read more about this in this post. From a gameplay stand point, she is no slouch. She has finally reached Sonic’s speed, and can easily keep up with him. She can do almost everything he can: the spin jump, homing attack, rocket accel, tornado, etc.
When listing all of this off, it can seem like Amy could still be an underdog, and that mindset is understandable. A slow progression character can easily be mistaken for an underdog. The key difference is about their growth. With Tails and Amy, Tails has always shown to be capable in his own right, and has been a hero from the beginning. With Amy, she had to grow from being a damsel in distress she was before into the hero she is now.
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ihaveatheoryonthat · 4 years
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(This is from before SUF aired; I’m just cleaning out my drafts)
More on the Gem AU:
Fusions:
In this ‘verse, a gem can fuse with anyone sentient enough to make that decision, regardless of whether they’re a gem, organic or robot.
Gem-gem fusions are the only ones that can last for longer stretches (on the order of centuries+), due to physical requirements.
Gem-robot fusions last longer than gem-organic fusions for this reason.
Gem-robot fusions can last decades, if said fusion is careful, but tend not to last as long as gem-gem fusions.
Fusions are way more fluid, for lack of a better term, than in SU. A fusion will always reflect the most current relationship between their components as of fusing.
How well the components are working together can be observed in a fusion’s number of limbs, eyes, etc. and changes from instance to instance. If the components have a stable relationship, their fusion’s appearance rarely changes very significantly.
That being said, a “perfect” fusion could still have four eyes, four arms and hands for feet, depending on what the gem’s preferred form is and what kind of being they fused with in the first place.
Misc-Gem-related:
Like the Zoni-- and for very similar reasons-- gems are extremely vulnerable to sonic attacks. The Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler is an abomination.
I’m thinking Darla Gratch may be a gem just for the regeneration joke, and I like the idea that Max Apogee was a gem who was enchanted by the lombax race and spent centuries studying them.
Ace Hardlight may be a gem, because with that last name, how can I not.
Nefarious might be a gem who created a metal body for himself instead of using his light form. I’m not sure why that would be at this point, but it’s a possibility. Probably has to do with Qwark. He may be Raritanium.
IRIS is still a supercomputer, but with a gem as part of her inner workings.
I considered giving the Plumber this treatment, but it’s funnier when we don’t know what his deal is. You do you, The Plumber. You do you.
If he was a gem, though, he would 100% be Sewer Crystal.
I kind of want him to be a gem just for that.
Story related:
Obviously with such a massive shift in Ratchet’s origin, ToD is pretty screwed. I figure Tachyon still goes after him under the impression that he is a lombax and tries to play it off like he knew he missed one. Nobody corrects him until the last confrontation. He doesn’t take it well.
Because he’s not a lombax, Ratchet’s not nearly as desperate to use the Dimensionator. He’s viewing the situation with the lombaxes as a way to make up for not being able to save Kaden. He’s stubborn about it, but things don’t get nearly as heated as they do canonically.
Alister is pissed when he first meets Ratchet, because he still looks a lot like Kaden, and, in this universe, Kaden didn’t have any children, so it’s obvious something’s up. He eventually calms down when he realizes they have similar histories (if on massively different scales) and both want to atone by bringing the lombaxes back.
Because there isn’t any familial/emotional connection to his best friend, Alister sees Ratchet as more a means to an end than anything.
The rescue scene absolutely results in a mid-air fusion. He separates as soon as he reaches solid ground not because he has to, but so his components can see one another again.
Alister still attacks Ratchet, and all but shatters him. Clank reaches him before that can totally happen, and manages to fuse with him out of desperation, but Ratchet’s gone by that point. Physically, he may be a fusion, but he’s the only consciousness there. The choice to reverse time is entirely his, because I think that’s really important.
I like to call this scenario ‘A One-Sided Conversation’ because I love suffering.
They fight Alister as a fusion.
100% projecting Stronger Than You feelings onto this.
Specifically, I’m feeling, “I am even more than the two of them, everything they care about is what I am.”
Character specific notes:
Both Ratchet and Clank can store items. They tend to split it up so Ratchet handles the weaponry and Clank holds onto anything else they deem important. They have differing ideas as to what constitutes “important”, so both tend to hang onto things the other considers junk.
Fleeting thought, but it would be funny if Ratchet attempted to store the Zoni similarly.
Their fusion has access to anything either of them has put away. This isn’t always a good thing.
It took a solid chunk of time for Clank to realize that Ratchet was also a gem. He introduced himself with his adopted name and keeps his gem hidden most of the time, so it’s less that Clank didn’t notice and more that the measures Ratchet took to protect himself were working properly.
It would still happen over the course of the first ‘game’, to be clear.
In the public eye, nobody seems entirely sure which of them is a gem or if either of them is. This includes Qwark, who definitely knew at some point, but didn’t care enough to remember.
Ratchet’s older than Clank by a little under two decades. By gem standards, they’re more or less the same age-- and are both super young and inexperienced.
They first fuse at the end of the original storyline, the part where, under normal circumstances, Clank’s arm would break and they would fall from the Deplanetizer. In this version, he loses his form in the blast and Ratchet unintentionally draws him out via fusion while they’re falling. Neither has experienced fusing before-- and may not even be aware that it’s a thing-- so it’s just a whole lotta “?????”
The UYA-era fight against Nefarious might be one of the few fights they specifically fuse in anticipation for.
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