#well I guess the sea lion caves

[galaxycunt]

So I was supposed to go on this hike but the is coming off and on and the bed is cozy so I don’t wanna leave yeah I’m an outdoorsman

[asexual-spongebob]

The Waves That Lap The Shore - Chapter Ten - Peso and Shellington and The Angel Shark

Chapter Notes

PEARL MY BELOVED!!!! I love her so much!

All im giving away for chapter 11 is that there’s gonna be some hurt/comfort stuff!

ALSO FUCK YEAH ANGELSHARK !!!(im surprised there isn’t a episode abt that tbh, unless their is and I just missed it)

I’m really excited to post chapter 12 bc something will happen >:3 I love sublime and weezer so I added some references :’3 sorry that this is so short btw Im not giving context to the artwork in this one lmao 😭

Tweak and Kwazii were playing Super Mario Brothers on Tweak’s Nintendo 64 while Sublime was blasting from the speakers.

Peso and Shellington went down to the Launch Bay “I smoke two joints in the morning. I smoke two joints at night!” Kwazii and Tweak chanted. 

“what are they singing?” Peso asked, glancing at Shellington “a sublime song” Shellington answered. 

•••

Peso and Shellington went for a swim out of boredom.

Shellington and Peso swam around on the sea floor, until Shellington heard some strange noises “what was that?” Shellington questioned, Peso just shrugged its shoulders, Shellington whipped  out his magnify glass and figured out what was making the noise. An Angelshark! 

“I know what’s the making the noise!” Shellington proclaimed, “it’s an Angelshark! They’re critically endangered! Come on Peso let’s go see what’s wrong!” Shellington guided, dragging Peso over to the hurt creature.

Shellington carefully swam towards the shark, he knew not to disturb it “hey there, is something wrong?” Shellington asked softly, the Angelshark nodded “well we’re the Octonauts! I’m Shellington and this is Peso! We’re here to help!” Shellington informed “Hi Peso! Hi Shellington! I’m Angie and my tail hurts” she frowned, showing the injury. 

Her tail was bruised. Peso took a closer look “now hold still Angie!” Peso stated,  wrapping the bandage around Angie’s bruised tail “that feels so much better!”  Angie remarked “thank you!” she said before swimming off into the distance “Bye Angie! Take care!” Shellington called, “adiós!” Peso called, both waving goodbye. 

•••

By the time Peso and Shellington got back Tweak and Kwazii were still playing video games and blasting Sublime and singing it at the top of their lungs, Peso went to the sick bay to restock some of it’s supplies and Shellington went to his lab to read a book about Lion Fish for fun.

Shellington was very invested, taking long pages of notes and doodles as a slowed reverb version of “Why Bother” by Weezer played in the background. 

However, the sound of his phone ringing interrupted his train of thought.

“Oh!” Shellington jolted up Pearl was calling him! 

Shellington picked up the phone “hello!” Shellington greeted “hey there Shellie! How’s it going?” Pearl greeted back “it’s been going great!” Shellington beamed.

The two talked for a bit, mostly catching up and infodumping, Peso and Kwazii were also with him. However Shellington had almost forgotten to tell her one thing. 

“Hey I think there’s something you should know.” Shellington began Pearl went silent, Shellington guessed she was confused “Im a fish.” Shellington dropped the bombshell “huh?” Pearl mumbled “merman..” Shellington clarified “yeah he went to these weird ass sea caves and they turned him into a merman.” Kwazii added “oh! Neat!” Pearl replied. 

“We’re not sure why it happened but we think it’s pretty cool!” Peso chimed in, after Shellington and Pearl talked for a little longer they said their goodbyes and hung up. 

“That went better than I expected.” Shellington put simply, placing his phone in the desk, Tunip waddled into the room “dinner is done!” He said “what did he say?” Kwazii mrrped 

“he said dinner is done” Shellington clarified, getting up from his chair and rushing down to the Octo-chute, Peso and Kwazii following behind.

The Vegimals had made garlic buttered noodles with some water  on the side, Shellington sat down, along with Peso and Kwazii.

Captain Barnacles and Inkling were talking about something, Kwazii and Tweak were having a conversation about Sublime, Dashi and Shellington were talking about clams and Peso was playing with the Vegimals.

[auggie-beaniessssss]

Cancelled Episode 18 "Sparrow Farmer"

"Yo mama so fat, Hitler gave up and killed himself when the Jews all hid in her earlobes!"

-yo mama jokes series

Twenty minutes of oxygen left...well, we staretd with 30 minutes, and it does take some time to find the entrance to the relic chamber, plus my whole act of the chilly ocean devouring my body and freezing it, ehehe...

But anyway. We've already found the entrance, AND IT'S ANOTHER CAVE SETTING BUT UNDERWATER! WHAT THE HELL, BLACK VENOM KING?

So...he said we needed to find a "Wandering Evenstar"...well, whatever, this isn't the first time.

Disparage hand-signs that he'll go in first to check the coast, before diving straight down into that cave...

It's a pretty cave though. Hand-stone-carved walls and stone lion statues perching precariously, as if to warn intruders of impending doom due. Well, guess we're doomed death either way...

Pretty corals adorn-well, rather, infest it-with clownfish nestling comfortably in the embrace of the corals. Algae creep all over the lion stone statues, a clear indicator of the many millenia that passed without someone to properly maintain it.

Well, it would definitely have been well-maintained and a beautiful site to visit, OH BUT IF ONLY IT WASN'T IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!

Disparage soon emerges from the cave entrance and signals the all-clear with a bright thumbs-up...well, quite literally, using his Tengu powers to illuminate his opposable thumbs.

Anyway. Upon acknowledging the signal, the gang followed suit, diving straight into the suicide cave for the suicide mission to retrieve a suicide relic.

And I must say...the inside is even more beautiful than the outside, and much more well-maintained too. The classic, iconic stone carvings are still there, but they're not creeping with algae anymore-instead, they're shining and even reflecting the light off the jellyfish and other sea creatures (this is quite underwater, after all, there has to be some fishes who developed internal lights to adapt to the absence of light so deep underwater). A clear sign of proper maintenance.

And with proper maintenance comes a person, system or programme set to maintain it...meaning we aren't the only ones in this cave...

Well, now, to call it a cave would be derogatory. It's illuminated and lit up beautifully by those bioluminescent creatures, I can really see and appreciate its true beauty fully and clearly now-it's more like a castle than a cave, really.

With a red carpet extending from the entrance into the long hallway-like...hallway and elegant curtains draped over the stained-glass windows, and the electric puppet band playing an automatic song..."Four Seasons", probably, it's simply a wonderful sight, really, a sharp contrast from the outside of the cave-no, castle.

But that's precisely why we should keep our guard up. I don't trust big, fancy castles and palaces like these-especially not one that is underwater, seems well-maintained despite seemingly no one being here, and this being the temple holding site for an ancient relic needed to unseal the Lord of all Lords strongest enemy...

"Are you done daydreaming, girl? Let's just go get the Wandering Evenstar and get over with it already!" Snowball, once again, snaps me out of my daze to remind of the present situation. Why, also, thank you once again, Moonshadow Elf, I certainly couldn't have done it without you! But, really, let's just get this over with.

We swim further down the hallway, slowly admiring the "scenery" and design of the architectural building, and appreciating the music created by the puppet band...I think it's already reached Autumn? Ah....the music plus the relaxing walls is setting me in another daze again...

Wait! No! This is definitely another trap to get us to lower our guard before the army of this place-and whoever's maintaining this castle that it may be so perfect-comes out and gets all our heads in one fell swoop!

Although, I'm definitely sure Erik and Nemean were daydreaming along with me, being mesmerised and enchanted by the delightful sights before us...Disparage, Snowball, and Hydrogenium, on the other hand, seem uninterested in the design of the castle.

We swim until reaching the end of the hallway, which is just a wall...with a door, that...isn't locked, from what my pickpocket's experience tells me.

Snowball gestures that he'll go in first this time before carefully opening the door and swimming in, completing each stroke with utmost vigilance.

"Can we really trust him, now?" I hand-signal to the rest of the gang, expressing my discontent with him being the coastal guarder.

"Relax. Has he ever done anything bad to us?" Disparage hand-signals back.

"Well, now would be the perfect time to," I hand-signal, refuting Disparage's point.

"Relax. He still needs me after all," Nemean hand-signals.

To that I say nothing-that point's difficult to counter, after all, what with Nemean being a whole Moonshadow Elf and that.

After a while, he swims back out and gestures that the coast is clear, before swimming back in.

Following that, we swim back in as well, of course, being careful of any traps or ambushes that Moonshadow Elf may have set up against us...but really, there are none.

In fact, the entire room looks much bigger in the inside than from the outside...and much prettier, too...this entire castle's getting prettier the deeper we go in...another trap, perchance?

There's beautifully rainbow corals shrouding the entire room, with book decorations that aren't actually readable and are just there for decoration adorning the towering bookshelf that surrounds the entire...rather circular...room, and covers every last bit of what would have been the wall of the circular room. The corals, however, as living beings, aren't fazed by the towering bookshelf-and choose to be scattered randomly about, growing wherever they choose to be grown. Honestly, it looks like someone sprinked glitter everywhere, and then they slowly grew into the coral we see now.

Such beauty...is certainly such a trap...

Oh, right, and the most important part of the room now-the jaded emerald-ruby-pearl rested in the middle of an ocean clam raised on a pedastal in the middle of the coral-and-towering-bookshelf it's being surrounded by. That beautiful, gorgeous, precious stone of wisdom, otherwise known as-the Wandering Evenstar.

[tyrantisterror]

IMPORTANT GRINCH TAXONOMY UPDATE

Today at the daycare we rotated in some new books from our collection to give the kids some new stuff to read, and one of the books we got was Horton and the Kwuggerbug and Other Lost Stories, a collection of Seuss stories that had been lost for DECADES until they were republished in 2011.  And guess what was in it?

A GRINCH STORY!  Specifically, a story of a creature called a grinch that fleeces a creature called a hoobub (whose species name could possibly be shortened to just ‘hoo’ or ‘who’) out of its money.  Notably, this story was made BEFORE the famous Christmas Stealing Grinch had his big debut, making this little brown grinch his predecessor.

Now, let’s set aside some of the obvious anatomical differences for a moment (we’ll get to them, I promise) and consider some other facts about this grinch.  As the preface to this story collection notes, this particular short tale was published when Dr. Seuss was working for an advertisement agency, in which he used a very familar design in his ads:

Why, isn’t that a very familiar looking grinchy face?  The collection notes that there may have been some intentional self deprecating humor here.  Both our brown grinch and his more famous green furred Christmas hating relative share some DNA with this ad mascot - the brown grinch being a conman who sells shit products through shady tactics, and the Christmas Grinch sharing more explicit physical similarities (and, for that matter, also believing that people are all gullible rubes who will do anything to consume product).

This low view of people as capitalist drones supports the popular theory that another famous Seuss character is, in fact, a grinch:

That’s right, the launcher of a thousand self-targeting ships himself, the Onceler, could well be a member of the Grinch species!

Now, before I FINALLY get to where I think all these grinches and pseudo-grinches fit in the grand grinch taxonomy, I have to address the big hiccup in all of this.  There is, in fact, ANOTHER grinch who predates these fellas.

The beagle-beaked-bald-headed grinch appears in the obscure Seuss story Scrambled Eggs Super, and, unlike our other grinches here, clearly does NOT belong to the same taxa as the Christmas hating crank.  While the other grinches are these strange, bipedal, vaguely feline humanoids, this thing is very definitely a bird.  How do we reconcile this?

Well, the obvious answer would be that “grinch” is a nonsense word that Dr. Seuss liked the sound of and used a few times for completely different one-off characters that he never intended to connect in any meaningful way, and that the Christmas hating grinch’s popularity only made these other girnches notable retroactively.

...but let’s get stupid about it instead.

Clearly there are at least two grinch species, which for simplicity’s sake we shall call the Great Green Grinch and the Adequate Brown Grinch.  The Green Grinch is the larger of the two by a significant margin, but the Brown Grinch is sneakier and more cunning.  Both species have an adversarial relationship with the sweet-tempered Hoobubs (also called simply “hoos” in some circles), despite the fact that hoobubs are in fact a closely relative to the grinches (though not members of the same genus).  While Green Grinches generally live solitary lives in caves and mountains, their brown-furred cousins are significantly more social, often fleecing other species (particularly hoobubs) out of money and resources with sleazy schemes.  This doesn’t mean Green Grinches can’t take part in coning hoobubs, though, as more than a few have made names for themselves as titans of industry (as the extinction of the Truffula Tree can attest to).

While Green Grinches are subject to changes in their coat thanks to seasonal molting as described here, brown-furred grinches live in climates with far less extreme changes between seasons, and thus don’t have as much of a pronounced transformation.

The beagle-beaked-bald-headed grinch is an entirely unrelated species, and was given the name grinch for the same reason as creatures like sea lions and mudpuppies - because it resembles the more famous grinches in temperament, rather than physiology.  A large bird with a surly disposition and mercenary attitude towards others, this grumpy avian may not be part of the grinch family via genetics, but more than earns the moniker through its antisocial behavior.

[c-atm]

Connie 3A slide 1

Requested by @hopefulkidweaseleclipse

Steven.no,' Connie thought, watching with horrified wide eyes and shrunken pupils as the light from Steven's eyes paled before his body falling forward onto the ground.

As she took a step toward him, a pink beast landed between the two startling the ex-weapon. She watched as the beast stood protective over Steven's body, snarling as if ready to attack if she dared move near him. 

“I…” she blinked, trying to find the words as a tear ran down her right eye. Seeing the Beast step forward caused her pause as she lifted her right arm to her breast height and held her left mid-length, fear over Steven's condition taking more control over her than the protective animal.  Her brows creased the middle of her head as she tried to speak again.

“I have to get to Steven, please… let me by.” She pleaded to this four-leg guardian who kept his guard up. She cautiously took a few steps to her fallen hero. The eyes of the beast trained on her as she moved cautiously.

Despite her anxiety, the feeling of familiarity she had for the beast, the same one she had when she 'met' Steven, ached in her heart.

She sighed when it seemed that the pink beast would not stop her.

Kneeling to his fallen form, Connie wiped her eyes as she inspected him. Her hand gently graced his nape, scanning the feel for any discrepancies. "The way he lost consciousness, the fading of his eyes and the dead drop…" she was too aware of what transpired. 

She slipped her fingers under his collar, and that was where she felt it. 

A tiny bulge of skin and a small pin.

"Poison." She whispered, pulling the pinout and sniffing it, 

Her face grew cold, her demeanor steel, as she tried to find the culprit. She knew they were still around, but the night breeze made it hard for her to sniff them out.

*poit* 

Her attention was broken by the slight sound that perked her ears, and she felt the beast push her down onto her back, snarling behind Steven at empty space. Turning to the statue, she saw something fall, twinkling in the natural blue moonlight.

A pin.

'They're hiding their scent.' Connie acknowledged looking as Lion seemed to search, sniffing the air as he did so while guarding them. "Hey.." she called for the beast. "Pink Lion…?"

The lion turned to her, his eyes still darting back and forth.

"We need to get Steven some help." She spoke calmly, despite being worried sick.

As she sat up, her eyes caught it. A silent, unnatural bending of grass. As if it was being parted or moved through, and it was heading towards them. 

Climbing to a kneel and wiping off her shorts. She allowed some inner distraught to show on her face, "We have to go, Steven…."

She paused mid-sentence and swung her left fist in a wild hook. Fueled by rage, love, and the shards embedded on her back. 

"KOOFFAGG-HUH-HAUH!"

"Bingo." Connie darkly taunted as she felt her fist caving into something fleshly and began grinding it in, "was that sternum, I think that was your sternum..which would put your cloak mask..." 

-Krush!-

The sound of metal and machinery being shattered broke the tranquility of the field as Connie's knuckles tore through face, mask, and illusion; revealing a boy, a bit younger than Connie, wholly covered in a bodysuit made of silver scales, with a tube connecting it to the now destroyed face mask, a tactical harness that held many pins and bottles of a clear liquid. He now also sported a caved-in chest cavity near his heart and a jawless mouth. She took the rest of the mask off and stared into the pale, freckled face boy with gray eyes that showed no emotion. 

"You're a stone…." She stated, taking five of the pins, pulling the top of his suit, and jamming them into his throat. 

"Is this the antidote?" She pointed to the bottles, getting the slightest affirmation by his eyes darting in the direction. "Guessing you still didn't go through a full conversion yet...It seems you're hella durable, though. Explain the gear and tactics, and the reason you have not tried to take me out, despite being close...or maybe the force and ease of your jaw leaving your body and your chest breaking put you into a state of shock?" She didn't stall any longer, taking the bottles before she delivered one more strike straight to his heart, letting him expire on her fist. 

She felt a little sadness, 'he was one of their victims as well after all,' she conceded as she walked to the edge and tossed the corpse into the waves below, a sea burial of sorts. 

Now, she could not relax and be emotional as she turned to rush to Steven's side again, only to pause at the scene. 

Steven already draped upon Lion, still unconscious but visibly breathing, with a pink water-like portal behind the two. She was further surprised to see the Lion ducked down slightly towards her as if waiting for her to mount.

She had to bat her eyes, feeling them moisten again as the familiarity of the scene struck her at full force.

She climbed behind Steven, propping him up in a lean against her frame as she held him protectively. 

"Let's go, Lion. To the fountain." She commanded gently, almost maternally. 

As they leaped through the portal, she couldn't help but think about the ease of both her action to the would-be assassin and words she spoke just now. 

How both felt instinctive...How they both were calling of the present and past. The contrasting duality and the question of which one was the real one?

[opal-owl-flight]

Okay, challenge thing(?) I guess

Choose both your most & least favourite characters in Sky and try to find a song for each that represent them well.

Is this a stupid & convoluted idea? Obviously. I came up with it.

NOT a stupid idea, my guy. I actually have been thinking abt this for a while!!

Fav character…oh boy. That is tough. Ill just list the ones that come to the top of my head-

Alef: Grow, Soap, Glowing, Like the Dawn, On the Mountain Tall by The Oh Hellos. You Were There from Ico also catches his vibe. Theres Through Heaven’s Eyes from The Prince of Egypt, Once Upon a December from Anastasia… I also gave him this song specifically when thinking about how he fights. (Its Iris’s battle theme from Pokemon, but its a remix) and okay, ik this is kinda cheating, but Overture from the official Sky ost really makes me think of him.

Resh (theyre the same as above but a different time) : The Fall, by Christopher Tin. Boreas, Soldier Poet King, Second Child Restless Child, by the Oh Hellos. This dude is just Oh Hellos apparently. Oh and Lacrimosa, (its a classical piece), In the Dark of the Night, from Anastasia. And surprise! Twisted, from the Starkid musical of the same name.

Moss: Passerine, by The Oh Hellos, Ashes, Heres a Health to the Company, specifically the cover by The Longest Johns, Dear Fellow Traveller by Sea Wolf, The Moss, Wriggle, and Come Along by Cosmo Sheldrake. Moss was named after one of these songs! Cosmo Sheldrake in general just catches his vibe tbh.

Talib: Constellations, New River, Heiroglyphs by the Oh Hellos, Waloyo Yamoni by Christopher Tin, Ol Shoshone, from Firewatch. I just realized I havent done much to characterize him WHOOPS

Id put more characters but its spoilers for the comic…and I just havent thought of songs for the others.

But heres a list that catches their vibe:

Lapis Lazuli, O Sleeper, The Valley (+ Reprise), I have made Mistakes, The Cave, In Memoriam, Rose, Rounds, by the Oh Hellos (I KNOW, JUST PUT ALL THE OH HELLOS ALBUMS IN HERE BC DAMN)

Kia Hora te Marino, Sogni di Volare, Hamsafar by Christopher Tin

On my Way from Brother Bear

Where I Belong from Hercules

Into Yesterday by Sugar Ray

The Wolves and The Ravens by Rogue Valley

Such Perfect Peace from Owlboy

I cannot mention characters I hate by name as it is again, spoilers. But heres a “Sky bastards” list of songs

Mother Knows Best, (and reprise) from Tangled

Be Prepared, from Lion King

Zira’s Lullaby, from Lion King 2

Poor Unfortunate Souls, from The Little Mermaid

Torches, Bitter Water, Eurus, Wishing Well by The Oh Hellos

I know you said song. I gave a fuckin playlist. Theres probably more but I dont remember-

[actress4him]

Whumptober 2020 - Day 26

I had such a hard time figuring out what to write for this one. I knew I wanted to use this alternate prompt as soon as I saw it, but there are sooooo many good possibilities for water whump! I could NOT make up my mind. So I went to @trope-appreciation-tuesdays again, which gave me even MORE ideas, but I finally ended up settling on a mashup between two ideas submitted by @aliceinwhumperland and @theironcarey . I was pretty happy with how it turned out!

Read on AO3

Read on FFN

Day 26 (Alt 12) - Water

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Warnings: drowning, broken bones

Branches tore at his face and clothes, weird colored leaves sticking in his hair. Dodging left, then right, missing each tree by a fraction of an inch, Keith was racing quite literally for his life through the forest, and as fast as he was running he was pretty sure he was losing the race. After, all these psychotic aliens lived in this forest. They knew it much better than he did.

He came to the cliff so suddenly that he almost pitched right over it, catching himself at the last moment on a tree. His stomach dipped down into his toes before righting itself. For a split second he just stared over the drop off into the sparkling green water below. The ocean. Great.

But there was no time to pause, no time to even look back and see how close the hoard of angry neon aliens had gotten. He didn’t need to, anyway. He could hear them well enough to know they were close, too close. Changing course, he took off again, parallel to the ocean this time. Maybe he could lose them. Maybe they’d think he fell over. Keith winced, not liking the thought of how close he had come to doing just that.

Then again, maybe down was actually the best way to really lose them. The thought was ridiculously stupid, one of those ideas that would get him yelled at by the rest of the paladins. But this whole situation was ridiculously stupid, and if he could find somewhere that he could jump and not land in the water...well, it seemed like a better option than getting mauled to death by aliens that looked like they belonged in a nightclub.

He found his opportunity a few long, breathless dobashes later. A glance over the edge showed that a ledge had formed about halfway down, one that should be wide enough for him to land on. From there, he would be able to contact the rest of the team, make sure they had gotten away, and get someone to come pick him up. As long as the neon aliens didn’t decide to leap off after him.

He gulped, and went for it.

The freefall was forever long and far too short all at the same time. Keith waved his arms instinctively, trying to keep upright in the air, planning on going into a roll as soon as he hit the ground.

What he didn’t count on was landing with his foot at a funny angle, instantly snapping his ankle. Nor did he expect that interrupted momentum to send him careening to the side, slamming his ribs into the side of the ledge before he tumbled over the side. Wide-eyed, he scrambled desperately for something to grab onto, but came up short. 

He was falling again, and this time there was only endless water below.

The surface came to meet him all too quickly, the impact bruising his spine. Instantly the water engulfed him. It was freezing. And he hadn’t gotten the chance to take a good breath, so already he was running low on air. 

As the light sparkling on the water began to draw further away, Keith kicked and flailed his arms, trying to get reoriented and keep himself from sinking further. Every kick sent pain shooting through his ankle. 

But somehow, it worked. Sorta. His face broke the surface for just long enough for him to gasp in a breath, but he ended up sucking in a bit of water, as well, as he immediately went back under. His lungs spasmed, desperate to rid themselves of the foreign substance. Frantically, he kicked again, and though this time only his hand surfaced, he felt something besides just air and water. Something solid. 

His hands went into overdrive as black spots started to dance in front of his eyes. Just when he thought he wouldn’t be able to hold out any longer, they found purchase, and he gave everything he had left to haul himself upward.

Glorious air brushed cold against his face. Keith spluttered, coughing up the water that had been sloshing in his lungs and sucking in gulps of air in between. His chest hurt from the exertion, and that wasn’t even to mention the bruised or cracked ribs on his left side.

When he was finally able to draw in slightly rattling breaths without going into another coughing fit, he finally looked around to see where he had ended up. It seemed to be the opening of a cave. The sea went right up into it, but maybe further in there would be some dry land, which sounded glorious right about then. 

Slowly, hand over hand, he began to make his way deeper into the cave along the wall. Twice his fingers slipped, and he almost plunged back down into the water. Each time he had to stop, take a breath, and try to stop his heart from pounding out his chest. He hated big bodies of water. Not that he was scared of them, he just...didn’t know how to handle them. And so far this whole experience was close to the top of most terrifying moments of his life. He did not want to go back under. 

After what seemed like an eternity, he reached what he had hoped was the back of the cave. Unfortunately, up close it was clear that it merely went around a bend and kept going, with no end to the water in sight. There was no dry land. Nowhere to rest. 

It was then, thankfully, that his comm crackled to life. “Keith, do you copy?”

Thankfully because he wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be able to hang there, and thankfully because he hadn’t been sure after that spill in the ocean if his comm was even still working.

“I’m here.”

“Thank goodness.” Shiro sounded more than relieved. “I’ve been trying to get you to respond for several dobashes.”

“Sorry.” Keith attempted to adjust his grip on the stone, wincing. “Kinda got wet. Might have taken a bit for my comm to dry out.”

“What do you mean, you got wet?” Lance broke in.

Shiro ignored the interruption. “Most of us are back in the Lions. We have to swing by and pick up Hunk. Where are you?”

“Um.” Suddenly he was quite aware of how embarrassing his situation was. “I’m...in a cave...in the ocean?”

There was silence over the comms for a moment. Then, “Mullet, please don’t tell me you jumped in the ocean to get away from the nightclub aliens.”

“No,” he shot back a bit too quickly. “I didn’t jump in the ocean. I...fell.” It was mostly true. And possibly a worse admission than agreeing with Lance, but he couldn’t stand the tone of voice he was using.

“Are you okay?” Shiro immediately asked.

“Mostly. A little banged up, but I’ll survive.” He’d get lectured later for calling a broken ankle and cracked ribs “a little banged up”, but that was better than making Shiro worry.

“Alright. I’m gonna send Lance to come pick you up, since his Lion will be best if he needs to land in water.”

He wanted to protest. Like, really really wanted to protest. Lance was the last  person that needed to see him right now. But Shiro had a point, Blue was the best Lion for this situation, so he snapped his jaw shut and locked it.

Lance spent the entire flight crowing and preening via a private comm channel over the fact that he was coming to rescue Keith from an embarrassing predicament that Keith had gotten himself into. For his part, Keith just gritted his teeth and bore it in silence, while trying his best to keep his exhausted, trembling arms from giving out and dropping him back into the frigid water. His lower body had long since gone numb. The good news was that that meant his ankle was mostly numb, too, only occasionally giving a throb to let him know it was still broken.

“Are you almost here?” he eventually growled. 

“What, you in a hurry, Mullet?”

He wanted to say, “Yeah, I am. Did I mention that I was in the water?” But that would have just given him more fuel to make fun of him. 

Instead, he griped, “The planet isn’t that big.”

“Well excuse me, but the shoreline is pretty quiznaking long. All you told us was ‘in a cave in the ocean’. I’m still looking.”

Which, that was fair, he guessed. Not that he would ever tell Lance that. And not that his body agreed. “Maybe if you’d stop talking you could concentrate better on looking.”

“Or maybe if you would stop talking to me, I- oh wait, I think I see it!”

Sure enough, the unmistakable whoosh of a Lion’s flight was drawing nearer. “I hear you. You’re definitely close.”

A moment later, Blue’s face filled the opening of the cave. Lance promptly began cackling. “Holy crow, Mullet, this is the best moment of my life. You look like a drowned rat!”

Keith glared, which probably didn’t look all that menacing considering the circumstances. “Ha, ha, very funny. Now are you gonna come in and get me?”

“Sorry, bro, no can do. This is as far as Blue goes. Shoulda picked a bigger cave.” He still hadn’t stopped laughing.

“Yeah, but...ugh. Never mind.” No way was he handing Lance any more ammo. His arms would just have to deal with it. 

His fingers had gotten so cold that they had gone stiff and didn’t want to let go of their hold to start with, but he pried them off and began to painstakingly make his way back toward the entrance. Inch by inch, knuckles aching and muscles quivering the whole time.

“Dude, are you seriously gonna crawl along the wall the whole way?”

“Shut up, Lance.”

A minute of silence. His ribs were starting to smart again, stirred up by the movement.

“Oh my stars, this is gonna take all day! What are you doing?”

“I said shut up, Lance!”

“No, I’m not gonna shut up, this is ridiculous! What are you, Spiderman, now? Why don’t you get off the quiznaking wall and swim?”

“If you’re just gonna sit out there and do nothing but watch, then you have no right to compl-” 

Mid-sentence, his broken ankle bumped up against the rock and his vision whited out. The next thing he knew, water was up over his head again. Panicked, he tried to pull himself back up by the one hand that hadn’t lost its grip, sliding the other one frantically around the wall until it found another handhold and he was able to haul himself out. He came up gasping, coughing, and spitting once more.

“You okay there, Mullet?” Lance’s voice came echoing through the cave a few seconds later. Glancing over, Keith saw him sitting up on Blue’s nose.

“‘m fine,” he spat. He was shivering so hard that he wasn’t sure whether he could keep crawling.

“You got a water phobia?”

“No. I’m not scared, I just...just no. Shut up.”

“You sure? ‘Cause you sure looked scared. And if you’re not scared, then why wouldn’t you just swim over here like a normal huma-”

“Because I can’t, okay?” Keith exploded. “I...I just can’t, so leave me alone and let me get there my own way.”

He kept still, despite that demand, still not able to will his arms into moving again. Amazingly, Lance stayed quiet for longer than expected.

“Did you hurt yourself and lie to Shiro?”

“No.”

Lance groaned. “Then I don’t get why you can’t swim -!” He paused. “Wait. You...can’t swim. Is that what you’re telling me?”

No, no, that was not what he was telling him, that was the last thing he wanted to tell him, of all people, the three time swimteam champion and competitive surfer. But if he continued denying it he would just sound stupid. 

“So what if I can’t? I grew up in the middle of the desert, okay? There was no need to know how to swim.” And no one who cared enough to teach him, for most of his life.

There was silence again, and Keith couldn’t bring himself to look at what kind of face Lance was making at this new revelation. For all he knew, he was laughing so hard it wasn’t making any sound. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Then there was a splash, and Keith snapped his head around to see Mr. Three Time Swimteam Champion popping back up out of the water next to Blue and shaking his sopping hair around.

“Dude! This water is freezing!” 

“Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn’t noticed. What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, Lance started swimming straight toward him with strong, steady strokes. In seconds - covering a distance that had taken Keith forever - he was stopping right next to him, treading water. 

He grinned. “I’m coming to rescue you like I was told.”

Keith clenched his jaw and stared hard at the rocks. “I don’t need rescuing.”

“Oh, okay, so should I just go back to Blue and fly away and leave you to do this yourself?”

He wanted to bash his head against the wall. He didn’t think he had the energy. “No. Ugh, fine. I need rescuing. But you didn’t have to get in the water and come all the way in here. I could have handled it.”

“Sure you could.” Keith could hear the eyeroll without even looking. “Look, dude. You can’t swim. That’s okay. It’s not your fault no one taught you, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. I grew up on the beach, so of course I know how. You don’t have to pretend like you’re something you’re not just to save face.”

That...was not at all the reaction he’d expected. He kinda wondered if maybe all the water he had inhaled had gotten to his brain, or if the neon aliens had gotten to Lance and done some kind of body swap.

“And besides,” Lance continued, “even the best trained swimmers would have a hard time after being in this temperature water for as long as you have. Which means we should, you know, get going before I can’t swim, either.”

He still wasn’t sure what in the world had brought on this...kind? understanding? very un-Lance-like response, but he wasn’t going to argue against getting out of the water. Even if it did mean having to let Lance drag him around like a little kid.

“Okay. Fine. How...are we gonna do this?”

Lance grinned again. “Well, I’m thinking maybe if we put our arms around each other like this, so we can each use one arm, and we can both kick…” He threw his arm around Keith’s torso, drawing an involuntary hiss as it bumped into his sore ribs. Lance just stared at him, one eyebrow tilted up.

Keith looked away. “I...may have possibly lied to Shiro.”

“And to me.” Lance sighed dramatically. “Fine, so you busted your ribs or something. Any other injuries I should know about?”

“I may have also possibly broken my ankle.”

“Seriously, dude? Alright, don’t kick with that leg, then.”

“I can -”

“I said don’t.”

Keith glared at him. “Fine.”

“Good. So, you just move your free hand like I’m doing, and kick your uninjured leg up and down, and I’ll do the rest. Got it?”

“Got it.” They adjusted until they were in position and were ready to take off toward Blue.

“Hey Mullet?”

“What.”

“You’re an idiot, you know that?”

Somehow, he was pretty sure based on the tone that this was more about his refusal to accept help than the whole falling into the ocean thing. He kinda owed Lance a thank you. He definitely would if he actually managed to get them back to Blue without drowning. 

What he actually said was, “Takes one to know one.”

He was pretty sure based on the tone that Lance would know what he meant.

[heyitsmejona]

I am exited for Cantha and just got the new Skimmer mastery but don’t know what to do with it or myself - A GUIDE!

Hello fellow GW2-players! This is a guide for cool places you can explore with your Skimmer!

Requirements: 

You theoretically only need the Skimmer but to get the full experience you may also need the Springer (bunny) or any other mount you feel is appropriate. You can follow this guide alone but it may be more fun to do this in a group, as it is most likely you encounter a few difficult situations! If you want to make some money with it you need to bring a few gathering tools like sickle & pickaxe.

You can also only do most of the stuff if you have PoF and LW Season 3 & 4!! However, this guide has 15 steps in total and if you want to save money, the first 5 steps can be done without using waypoints. Don’t worry if you don’t have the map on your character yet, you can use tp to friend if a player of your party is on the map! Furthermore, I did not calculate the time needed to complete the guide but I would estimate it might take ~ 2 h if you’re fast and 3+ h if you are in a group and/or you want to complete everything!

Oh, and to all the roleplayers out there, this includes a few awesome places for some rp-sessions. 

DISCLAIMER: I am not accountable for any danger you get into or deaths that will happen to you!! Also this is a super super long post with visuals so I’ll hide the rest under the break!

If you’re ready: mount-up and let’s get into it!

Overview:

map

1. Bitterfrost Frontier:

Start from the Sorrow’s Eclipse WP and dive down! You’ll find a quaggan city and some corals! You can also loot all the chests gathered on the ice lake and maybe farm a bit of Winterberries if you feel like it. If you are finished you can leave through a portal to Frostgorge Sound and travel to the Earthshake WP and move on to the next step! 

2. Fireheart Rise:

On this map are two cool places! The first one is in Highland Thaw (upper left corner of the map), to reach it you have to start at the Rustbowl WP (Portal from Frostgorge Sound) and move up/north. You’ll find a lake with some underwater ruins and if you’re lucky a rich platinum vein. But be aware, there is sometimes a group event to kill an ice worm, at least 3-4 players are required to finish it.

The second place is further down on the map, you can travel to the Severed Breach WP and swim in dirty water and travel up/ north again until you reach a cool spot where some lava rivers hit the water. Looks really beautiful. Also, if you’re feeling extra fancy, there is one jumping puzzle and a hidden mini dungeon near the lake you can complete.

To reach the next destination leave the map over the Sati WP to the Iron Marches and travel south to the Dew Claw WP and leave the map.

3. Plains of Ashford:

Start from the Ascalon City WP and go east to Foefire’s Heart (poi) and if you glide down with your skimmer you’ll reach a blue cave with a cool hidden spot for some roleplaying!

To reach the next step, travel to Lion's Arch with the portal in the Black Citadel and go through a portal there to the Southsun Cove.

4. Southsun Cove:

Start from the Pearl Islet WP and go down/south to the beach where you can roleplay a bit and then move west to Sawtooth Bay where you will find some cool sunken ships and lots of sharks. Sometimes there even is a group event to kill a shark! Also a cool fun fact, you can enter the Privateer's Moorage and go down to the  cargo bay/the heart of the ship! Which is also a cool spot for some roleplaying as there are only some craps inside.

5. Rata Sum:

Go to the Port WP. There is nothing special in the water except some Triopen and weird electrical fishes but if you travel north you’ll reach a dam (wall) which you can climb onto with your Springer but be aware if you dare move further north you’ll land in Asura Jail, and I am not joking about that, try it out with your friends! To reach the jail like a normal person go to the Research WP and go north to the Peacemakers HQ where you can go down the stairs and you will enter the cell block of Rata Sum. Very cool for some roleplaying, if you are into that. (jk)

6. Draconis Mons:

Wow, have you ever wanted to swim in the sulphuric water of the volcano without dying? Now your time has come, mount-up and dive down. But not to deep or the game will threaten you with murder! You can start from the Mariner Landing WP and go wild. You won't see much anyways.

7. Ember Bay:

Start from the Promontory WP and travel south to the Sulfurous Deep, you’ll find a seaweed farm spot, some corals and if you feel like it, go farm some lotus on the nearby island/shore as well.

8. Malchor’s Leap:

There is much to explore here! It’s best if you start from the Lights WP and move west. You’ll find some cool statues from Malchor, an abandoned quaggan village, sunken ships and weird orrian architecture! Near the sunken ships is a group event where you have to kill a captain and her pet and in the big ship is something weird??? I haven't figured it out yet, but if you enter the bridge of the Harbinger (poi) there is like a veteran creature and some corpses swimming around, from there you can go deeper into the ship and you’ll find a door with some weird dialogue, idk man. Something cursed is going on there. Also The Harbinger has some cool lore, you can check out the Marriner Plaque on deck. If you move south from there you will find some weird swimming architecture and a group event with three bosses no one does, like ever.

9. Sirens Landing:

Okay, soo this one might be interesting for some of you! You can start from the Camp Reclamation WP and lo and behold, there are some shirtless Sylvari volunteers in the bay area! Yeah, moving on… you can find some orrian oysters and corals in the water and if you move east you’ll find The Buoyant Bough (poi) which has some nice plants on deck and if you put two and two together you’ll find some implied bouncing mushroom (HoT mastery) lore. Overall a good spot for some roleplaying! You can move up/north afterwards and do the jumping puzzle on the island, if you feel that's necessary. Otherwise there are more orrian oysters in the water and if you swim into the direction of the Choking Depths (what a cool name, you guys) you’ll find some very big and awesome sea urchins on the ocean floor!

10. Thunderhead Peaks:

Start from the Revolution’s Heart WP and move down to the Shattered Bay (poi in the bottom left corner), collect Volatile Magic and some Dragon Crystal Nodes on the way and if you finally reach the bay, there is a clam farming spot deep down in the water. From there you can move east to the Ice Floe and on the ground of the ocean you’ll find a seaweed farm. But be aware, both farming spots are guarded by some dangerous creatures.

11. Desert Highlands:

Start from the Brightwater WP and move west to the Transcendent Bay, if you have the Jackal portal mastery you can collect a chest in the giant vases, otherwise swim further east and you’ll find an underwater farming spot for clams!

12. Crystal Oasis:

Start from the Amnoon WP and take your Raptor on a walk and travel west to the harbor area, you can dive down and visit the old city of Amnoon, some sunken ships and a few corals. Afterwards swim south, you can make a stop at the swimming party boat for rich kids, do some roleplaying and move on. In the furthest bottom left corner of the map, like really far down you’ll find another clam farming spot. If you are lucky like me you’ll see a salomon and a shark fighting and a whale between the giant seagrass pillars. (Which was really beautiful, I cried a little bit.) And if you feel extra fancy and want to challenge yourself, you can climb on the weird cliff structure where the mastery point is. On top of the rocks are some Scarab Caches where you can get a Mini Scarab (small drop chance) if you’re lucky!

13. Domain of Vabbi:

You can start from the Market Ruins WP and move up/north or you follow the river down/south. Really far down in the south is a small chest, you tell me if it's worth it or nah. However, if you move up/north you can enter a cave right next to the red raid portal. The cave is super pretty and if you make it over a small wall you can enter a jumping puzzle of some sort, but there are super many branded elementals wandering around and at the end chest spawns a giant Volatile Magic man, whom you need to defeat for an achievement. (forgot which one though, sorry!) This one’s really dangerous, it's best if you do it with some friends. But I mean if you’re feeling especially daring like me you can do it alone too, I guess. I warned you though!

14. Domain of Kourna:

This one’s not really all that special, I just wanted to include it because I really like the meta on that map and would totally recommend it to you! I somehow like the map i.g., idk don’t question me. It’s best if you start from the Allied Encampment WP and follow the river and move down south, the water there is slimy but you’ll find some mussels on the shore! You can travel until you reach the bottom left corner where you’ll discover cute coelacanths swimming around and about. (Honestly, f*ck you Joko for polluting the water, have some Respect.)

15. Domain of Istan:

Phew, you have reached the last step! Start from the Champion’s Dawn WP and follow the river into the ocean. There is like a small empty fishing boat, cool, cool, great spot for some roleplaying. When you’re moving on, dive down to the ocean floor and travel further south until you reach Mehtani’s Blade, there is like an awesome anchor in the water, 10/10 would recommend. Also, more coelacanths in the water and in a much better and healthier environment. I am happy for them, this is what they deserve. Whoop, getting off track here, soo the bigger ship, the Mehtani’s Blade has some cool lore, you can speak to the ghost captain! (Also, a good inspiration for a character's story/backstory!) And to finish your trip on a good note, go west to the entrance of the Grotto of the Defeated where you can read some funny notes on the wall, really, go check them out!

Thank you for your attention, I hope you had lots of fun and discovered some new stuff in GW2!

[narniachronicles]

So I've been reading Weta’s book on art, creatures and weapons in “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” and “Prince Caspian” movies and this is what I have learnt:

(I apologise in advance for how long this is, I ended up taking over two pages of notes to write this)

Narnia

The Battle of Beruna was meant to be on a larger scale (there is a gorgeous concept art with fire, arrows in the air, cloudy sky and Aslan with Lu and Su bringing the sun with him, which the book describes the sun as being the promise of hope). Jadis was meant to have ice creeping on the surrounding ground, and be summoning a storm overhead (so it would have been very cloudy) representing her power returning and then Aslan was meant to show bringing the sun with him. Also, mermaids and naiads were intended to come out of the water and fight in an aquatic sequence as well. Basically it was meant to be a multi-layered fight, with water, low ground, human level and sky. I’m guessing they cut this early in production to save money.

A number of creatures were designed but excluded including pegasi, naiads, nymphs, sprites (little woodland creatures), toadstool people and evil dryads.

Peter's gifts, in particular his shield, don’t just bear Aslan but also engravings based on the rising sun and the Tree of Protection, it also bears small PP at the bottom. His armour was deliberately made, so he stood out and looked like a Knight, much of the engraving on his armour was of oak leaves (something you will also spot on his crown) symbolising courage, strength and kingship. His helmet also bears oak leaves but in a pattern made to resemble Cair Paravel (interestingly an alternate design featured the leaves with the lamppost in the middle). Additionally, Peter’s armour along with Edmund’s was deliberately made look run down and worn for Prince Caspian to represent its use whilst Peter was High King and the years that have passed since then.

Susan's gifts are interesting, because the concept of her quiver and horn being one single piece of Ivory was Andrew Adamson’s idea, which Weta then worked with. Much of the design on the quiver, bow and arrows are based on ash leaves (the shape of the tips of the arrows are shaped like ash leaves) as ash was a common wood to be used in the creation of bows. Another strong feature was that of daffodils (again, you can see these featured on Susan’s crown) which are meant to symbolise the coming of spring, you can see these across her quiver, and even the mouthpiece end of her down is shaped like a daffodil. Her armour from Prince Caspian was not designed by Weta but the costume designers, but Weta did design some amazing armour for her which was clearly an inspiration for the end result. However, they did make her vanguard (her arm brace) which was based on concept art from LWW, and again features ash leaves and daffodils in the ivory inlay.

Edmund's weapons are fascinating, both his shield and sword are inspired by the lamp-post which was a hint at how Jadis brought the post to Narnia (also ironically Ed is Duke of the Lantern Waste, I don't know if Weta knew that when designing his weaponry). The dark magenta is also meant to define him as different (the others gifts are bright crimson) showing his weapons were not a gift. His armour is intended to reflect Peter’s to an extent, but instead features birch leaves (again which can be seen on his crown) which represent renewal and redemption, and on his helmet they are patterned like Cair Paravel. In Prince Caspian, they had to significantly alter his armour due to Skandar growing, they took the idea of Edmund being a ranger, so his armour would be light and gained the additions of leather components, so he could be light on his feet.

Lucy's gifts are designed to be more ceremonial than for battle. Lucy’s Dagger is basically a smaller version of Rhindon (which I think we all knew), but is also intended to be a nod at the close relationship between Lu and Peter. The Cordial is decorated with Yarrow leaves, which is a plant known for it’s healing qualities and the flowers and meant to represent the fire flowers which make up the healing elixir within (also it is engraved with LP, much like Susan’s Quiver has SP on it.

Some bonus information, the key to Tumnus’ cave was in fact sketched by Adamson himself and Weta based the end piece on that, it bears leaves and the Tumnus family crest. The Centaur’s armour is largely inspired by their study of celestial bodies, so much of their armour and weapons has inlays of the sun and moon (the stars were also intended to be featured, but they took they were dropped). Reepicheep’s sword is actually a real object, the smaller sword Weta had produced at that point, and it features a tiny mouse on the hilt.

The Witch

The Witch appears to have the most concept art of all the characters, but in the end her costumes were designed by the costume department. However, you can see they took some inspiration from Weta’s work as one of the designs show the Witch wearing fur like a mane, intended to mimic Aslan’s mane - something you can see in the film on Jadis’ armour, where she appears to be wearing Aslan’s literal mane. A lot of her designs are crystal like (making it look like ice), this includes her wand which is intended to look like a weapon (specifically a sword or javelin), the end of her knife, her vial, the Turkish Delight case and the goblet. The Stone Knife was originally intended to be a curved blade, but at Adamson’s request they made it straight so as it was not confused with Ginnarbrik’s curved knife (on a personal note, I’ve studied obsidian weapons and this a good design choice because curved obsidian blades just are not a thing, you could ret con it as being exclusive to Jadis because of her magic, but still the straight blade works better for obsidian and gives it the appearance of something that may have been made and then gifted to the Witch). Also, speaking of the goblet and case, the designs were made intentionally ornate with jewels in order to tempt Edmund’s naïveté and greed.

The Witch’s army in general is made up of a lot of original creatures, due to Lewis not giving specifics on the creatures. A lot of the symbology on their armour and weapons is that of snowflakes, however this was not the case for all the creatures. The Dwarves for example had designs with the integration of hammer and tongs, as intended to symbolise how they are natural blacksmiths. The Satyrs had horn motifs on their armour and weapons (this is also the case for the Narnian Satyrs/Fauns as the hilts of their swords had bore horns).

Telmarines

The Telmarine’s designs generally are based on their marine heritage (which is interesting given Lewis insinuates they fear the sea). The Colour palettes resemble this with blues and greens, and many of the designs feature sea monsters, fish scales and most importantly the compass, which is the star sign (in particular on banners and shields) we see throughout Prince Caspian. Their armour was also inspired by this design, and included the bearded faceplates as a means to make the Telmarines more threatening and impersonal.

The castle and village were massive undertaking, but the interesting part is the area surround it was actually meant to be this barren area full of chopped trees intended to represent the deforestation taking place. However, this was changed in favour of the grassy fields we see Caspian ride through at the beginning of the film.

Miraz's armour and weapons and very complicated and over the top. The cross guard on Miraz's sword alone as an intricate depiction of Telmarine history. His armour bears no less than six engravings of Miraz himself, with Telmarine backgrounds, this is meant to reflect how egotistic he is and be a stark comparison to Peter’s silver armour, as well as Caspian’s armour/sword which are basically regular Telmarine equipment slightly altered. Miraz’s shield takes the Maritime inspiration by bearing fish scales, the compass in the middle and the surrounding edge is a depiction of Telmarine history, specifically the Telmarines evicting the Narnian’s and “civilising” the realm.

Also, Prunaprismia’s bow, which features briefly in the film is shaped like that of a seagull and originally was intended to bear a nameplate with her name on it, but Adamson asked for it not to be included.

I hope you enjoyed reading about this, I know I did. If you want to know more on what the book says etc. send me an ask and I’ll endeavour to answer it.

[crusherthedoctor]

Sonic & Tails: Beyond the Stars - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Dunes of Intrigue

“...What do you mean it's all connected? In what way?”

That was the question Espio demanded to get an answer for, as befitting of the Chaotix’s mystery solving status. Eggman continued to share his prideful superiority in generous quantities for all to see, no matter how dirty of a look everyone else in the room gave him.

“It's a small world, don't you know,” he said in an upbeat manner, with another stroke of the famous 'stache. He still refused to make any secret about his enjoyment of the proceedings. “This big blue globe of ours may have so much to see, but when you get down to it, all the mysteries of life have a relation. Some more than others, perhaps, but always to an extent.”

“Stop speaking in riddles, breakfast bozo!” Vector cracked his fists. “Get to the proper details!”

Charmy attempted to mimic his partner by cracking his own fists, but he wasn’t quite able to master it. Espio stoically rolled his eyes, as he often found himself doing, through no fault of his own.

“We're still here, if anyone cares...” a depressed lion muttered in his cage. He was on his side, head on hand, resigned to the fact that him and the rest would probably have to wait some more before they were so much as acknowledged, let alone set free.

“If it involves Chao...” Sonic pondered, rubbing his chin all the while. “Then it involves... Chaos?”

Eggman paused... before letting out a sudden, bizarre cackle. He puffed his chest, rubbed his hands, and leaned forward dramatically to confirm the hedgehog's interpretation.

“No.”

Sonic blinked in utter confusion. He exchanged looks with Tails, then back to Eggman. What on earth was he trying to get at then?

“How about the Black Arms?” Tails randomly guessed.

“No.”

“Little Planet?”

“Nope!”

“The Gaias?”

“Noooope!” Eggman's merriment only grew with each incorrect answer.

Sonic stared at the ground dejectedly. He was struggling to think of any other potential candidate for the correct puzzle piece to Eggman's mystery jigsaw. He threw his hands in the air.

“...Babylonians?”

“Ha ha! NO!”

The doctor cackled once more, clapping his hands like a seal, and fist pumped the air multiple times in triumph. “Clueless! Completely clueless, all of you! You're not thinking big enough! This is how it feels to be me, surrounded by nothing but idiots 24/7! And here I was considering lending you another hint, but since you lost the game, it's time for... the penalty.”

Right on cue, a small quake began, which increased in intensity every couple of seconds. The heroes zipped their heads around as poles were knocked over, banners fell over, and even the cages in the arena opened up with how aggressive the quake was. The scared witless inhabitants immediately got out of dodge, as if knowing things would only get even worse if they stuck around... which, considering it's Eggman, they had every right to assume that.

Despite losing his prisoners, Eggman didn't seem to mind, as he was far too giddy at his visitors’ reactions to the rumbling... which eventually simmered down... and at last came to a halt completely. The anthros weren't stupid though, and every one of them, young or older, put up their dukes. Something was coming, but they didn't know what.

“Alright, what's going on?” Vector pointed a finger at the scientist. He snapped his jaws menacingly, ready for some Scrambled Eggman if need be.

The madman fiendishly kept his mouth shut, crossed his arms, and wiggled his eyebrows knowingly.

Then, calmly, he clicked his fingers.

As soon as he did that, the entire roof of the tent was violently ripped to shreds by an unseen force. Everyone struggled not to fall on their sides as an extreme breeze suddenly filled the ring, though the doctor avoided its pull or push by protecting himself with a purple plasma shield. His throne soon broke off from where it rested, as did the mini-thrones that Orbot and Cubot sat on beside him, and it floated in the air triumphantly as his enemies witnessed exactly what he wanted to share...

To their horror, an absolute behemoth of an airship was now floating directly above them. Far greater in size than the Wing Fortress, the Flying Battery, the Egg Carrier... any and every airship he had made in the past positively paled in comparison to the gargantuan scope of this grim monument to one's ego. A far cry from the reds he was prone to plastering over his modern ships, this one instead took on a jet black colour scheme, though there remained several red accents. It took on the general shape of a blimp, yet it remained armored with high-tech to the last detail. If you could even see them from the tent's smaller frame of view, four lengthy wings could be spotted, two on each side, at symmetrical angles, in the shape of curved blades. A twisted parody of the doctor's own face could be seen on the front end, in pristine silver steel, with glowing red holes for eyes.

And of course, countless cannons and engines were planted all over. Because when you're Dr. Eggman, the dial starts at eleven.

“Oh my god...!” Amy gasped, as she struggled not to fall on her behind with the gale force at work.

“What's THAT ugly thing!?” Charmy questioned. He flapped his wings as fast as he could to combat the wind.

“Ran out of resources, doc?” Sonic called out to his nemesis, feigning a lack of interest, though he had to admit it looked pretty fearsome. “What happened to all your armadas that I smashed up? No more cash to rebuild them?”

Eggman belted out even more jolly laughter, as he stood on his throne like a little boy playing make believe with his action figures. His throne floated directly in front of the ship's view, and he gesticulated wildly. “This time rodent, I'M the king of the wind! One is all I need! In exchange for quantity, I have more quality than you could ever know! It has all the power of the Egg Carrier-NO, all the power of the entire Eggman Fleet combined! Behold, my greatest flying fortress yet! THE EGG CLOUDBURST!”

He sat back down on his throne with much pride, not bothering to acknowledge that neither Orbot or Cubot were in fact inside his purple shield, and thus were likely to get sucked away. They were both hanging onto their own thrones for dear life. “And I didn't pick that name for no reason, boys and girls! With this baby, so long as it’s nearby, any destination's wind and seas bow down to me and me alone!”

“...Sorry, what?” Tails blurted out in absolute bewilderment. “Are you saying you can control the weather now?”

“That doesn't sound nice...!” Cream held tightly onto a banner, as her ears billowed in the wind, with Cheese holong tight onto one of them.

“You fool!” Espio cursed as he attempted to stick to a wall, to no effect on account of just how powerful the wind proved to be. “No mortal can control such forces!”

Even Sonic couldn't deny that Eggman's claim was not a light statement. “How is that even possible? Is that what you're using the crystals for, which AREN'T yours by the way?” Even as his life depended on not poking the proverbial tiger, he never ceased the opportunity to jam a pencil through the doctor's bluster.

“Hohoho, you think this is all I have to offer? As glorious as it is, this is merely an alpha-project of mine, a small teaser of what's to come in a future paved with my brilliance! I have even more fun surprises in store, and boy oh boy, I can hardly WAIT to show you them... but until then, have a free sample of my fully operational Cloudburst! TTFN, ta-ta for now!”

“Don't let go!” Orbot advised to Cubot, as they continued holding onto their small thrones while their creator flew away to head inside his new Egg Cloudburst. On the ground, everyone was trying desperately to hold onto something, anything, even each other... But it was no use. As the eyes of the Cloudburst glowed brighter, the gale force dialed it up a notch, becoming an outright hurricane in the process. One by one, they were sent tumbling and flying across the night sky, while the tent finally caved in and crumbled into pieces entirely.

“Ahhhh!” Amy screamed.

“Woahhhhh!” Tails cried out.

“Don't get sick...! Don't get sick...!” Lutrudis struggled.

“I swear I'll get his money...!” Vector echoed.

Sonic glared at the Egg Cloudburst for as long as he could still see it, and cursed the doctor as he too was sent flying. “You won't get away with thiiiiiiiissssssss...!”

---

“URK!”

“Eck!”

“FFUH!”

“Ungh!”

Each of our heroes landed right onto the ground in a tragic heap. Sandy ground, to be exact. Tails and Cream had some leeway in that they were able to soften their impact with their tails and ears respectively. The latter instantly checked her bag in a panic, but to her relief, not a single Chao was lost in the hurricane.

Amy was not so lucky, landing squarely on her posterior, and while Lutrudis managed to soften her own landing with her own tail, it was to a more limited extent. If there was any consolation to be had about all their landings, the sand itself was not rough at all. In fact, it was some of the softest sand one could find.

And Sonic?

Well, naturally, he landed face first.

He grumbled incoherently as his face was deep into the substance. Lutrudis and Amy quickly helped him up, and he gave a small, somewhat distracted salute to both of them... before abruptly spitting out some sand from his mouth.

“Yuck... Why does this-” He paused to spit out more sand. “Why does this always happen to me...” he asked to himself, as he tried valiantly to remove the taste. “You'd think I could land on my back just this once?”

“Now we're far away from where we were, thanks to that stupid ship,” Amy mused. She turned to her left and right, and soon realised not all of the group was with them. “What happened to the Chaotix?”

“Must have got sent flying someplace else,” Tails reasoned, as he directed his spinning namesake away from his friends so that when he was getting the sand out of his tails, they wouldn’t accidentally go in anyone’s eyes.

“Oh no, will they be okay?” Cream worried, with her hands clasped tightly. Even if she barely knew them, she'd hate to think they got hurt, or worse.

“Ah, don't worry about them Cream, they'll manage.” Sonic sniffed as he looked around, scratching the back of his head. Something that stood out to him was that due to the night time, the sand was not yellow or orange as he would expect, but rather a soft shade of pink, which complimented the deep purple sky nicely. Sonic had to admit that this desert was a pretty pleasing one for the eye, even if he still hated the taste of sand.

“This is pretty common anyway,” he added, still looking around. “I meet up with pals, we get separated, then I meet up with them again. Happens all the time.” He snickered to himself. “Who knows, by the time we regroup with them, they might have actually solved a mystery!”

“So anyway, where are we now?” he asked Lutrudis, the one group member who would be the most likely to have an answer. “You know, aside from 'the desert', which could mean anything.”

“I'm not familiar with these parts on a personal level, but I know it's not that far away from home.” She took a moment to snort out that one speck of sand from her nostrils, which caused her a bit of embarrassment due to realising it was a rather unflattering look. Still, she continued without a fuss. “There's a train system around here. I don't think it's been used in an awfully long time, but it'll make our path easier, I know that for certain. Though with all the dangers that might be out and about in such dry conditions...”

“Pfft, those dangers will be no danger at all.” Sonic stretched out his arms, ready to go out into the great unknown. “We've done swell so far, what's the worst that could happen?”

Lutrudis simply looked at him, then switched her view to the endless mounds of arid dust. It's not been all that easy for her, as evidenced by how she had previously been sent flying by a hurricane summoned by a giant airship. But their combined skills have proven to work wonders, and there was no reason to start doubting its effectiveness now. Not when despite everything, she felt oddly secure, even in the midst of all the danger.

“You coming?” Amy called out, knocking Lutrudis out of her thoughts. Everyone else had already started exploring. “As if we'd leave you behind!”

The horse stared at Amy thoughtfully. Maybe this was just how it felt to have friends to turn to...

---

Dune Borders Zone

Act 1: Dark Canyon

Lutrudis’ Badnik Logs: Roller - “There's only one Sonic, so these armadillo bots have come to kill and replace. They come in two forms: blue ones are straightforward and roll around without a care, while the red ones have more advanced AI, and can block your attacks if they're too conspicuous. Uncouth ripoffs, so they are...”

Sol - “The desert is overwhelmingly blistering as it is, do we really need to start a fire? They'll keep their fireball projectiles close by, but if you get closer, they'll expand their range by a significant margin, creating a widening circle of fur-intolerant flame... but they’ll also leave themselves open. ~Oopsie~”

Scarabesque - “Atop the dusty cliffs will you find these wily beetles, who use their plethora of boulders to disrupt your progression. At least the boulders are made of steel, and not... what Eggman is full of.”

Cactinaut - “The latest and greenest innovation from the Orbinaut family, not only can they spread their spiked projectiles - a common courtesy with this model - they can also inflate their heads afterwards. Not to imply a lack of faith in your independent rationale, but don't touch them when they do that.”

Bulldust - “Predictably, these rowdy sorts come charging at you on sight. Less predictably, they can kick up sand to obscure your vision, therefore giving them more chance of making your internal organs particularly unhappy. Perhaps Amy should consider a change of wardrobe...?”

Deputy Pawn - “I question the validity of their promotion. These yellow gunners don't just play out the part with their bizarre strutting, they're actually halfway decent shots. I'd say they've had their six, but I’ll bet they’ve got six billion more to spare.”

The deserts in Viridonia are the epitome of vast, and as you'll discover, it's not exactly a static desert, shall we say. You'll see what I mean soon enough... if you can make it out of here alive. But what's a couple of Sand Hills for a tourist like you? This may be a Dusty Desert, but you've been through loads of Desert Ruins before, so as long as you don't lose your mind and stumble into the Mirage Road, you'll make it through the Arid Sands in one piece... something something Sandopolis.

And I mean it when I say vast. This area is truly huge. The empty fields of sand can be spooky in its own way, but that's not to say there's nothing of interest out in the open at all. The sandy terrain is broken up by a selection of gigantic purple mesas, and wooden windmills that are larger than life. While the moon is the only thing that can be found in the purple sky, its sheer size casts some much needed light onto the pink sands below.

The colour of sand is not the only oddity around here, though. What else can you see all around you? Well, you can see cliffs... lonely trees... watering holes... crystals...

Amy: More crystals?

Tails: Out here in the open?

Sonic: Grey crystals, just like in the mountain!

That's right Sonic, the dunes are packed with the grey variety of crystals. No doubt Eggman's robots are after these ones too, so do your bit and knock them out for even entertaining the thought. The mining areas out here likewise contain plenty of them, but because it's nighttime, their muted shine does little to dispel the shadows that cloud the mines. Shallow pools of water serve as your main light source indoors, aside from the rotating flames of the Sol units.

Not that the outside is any less dangerous. It's not a complete desert package without everyone's favourite desert-flavored obstacle... quicksand. And oh boy, there's a LOT of quicksand around these here parts. It pulls you in, and it pulls you fast. But don't bring out the blubbering hysterics, for there is a way out of the situation should you need it. All you have to do is tap the jump button rapidly, and you'll be out of there faster than you can sue me for giving your thumb a blister. Remember that quicksand is a lighter shade of pink, so that's how you can tell it apart from the regular, safer sand.

Also note that an easy way to avoid quicksand entirely is by skimming along the oversized bones you see spread around the wilderness. What sort of fantastic creatures do these bones mark the remains of? Who knows, but hopefully they won't be spinning in their grave at the sight of bite-sized hedgehogs and foxes running along them like it's a skate park.

When you're up on the cliffs, or inside the mines, you can use the rickety pulleys to get yourself around. Do be careful however, because not all of them work the same way. Some of them go slower, some of them go faster, some go left, some go right... and if you're really unlucky, they can fall apart halfway through. Know the risks, and make a bold leap if it comes to that. Aside from the pulleys, you can also use the rotating windmills to get through the desert extra quick, though you're hardly any safer, for the Deputy Pawns will make a boisterous effort to shoot you down from below, when they're not occupied with their harmonicas.

Halfway through, you'll get to explore an abandoned western town. Any trace of civilisation here is long lost, but the town remains tall and proud regardless... Even if the red paint is a little chipped on some buildings, and some doors are half broken, and Eggman's goons are going full method actor and shooting the place up in search for you and your bundle of friends...

The noose in the center of town is also kind of discomforting.

Cream: What's that rope thing over there?

Amy: Um... you'll find out when you're older... maybe...

Tails: Maybe it's a weight system of some sort?

Sonic: I wish it was, Tails. Yeesh...

Lutrudis: Probably for the best that I wasn't around in the old days...

Interestingly enough, you can tell how far you are into the level by where the moon is positioned. See, it starts off high in the sky as you'd expect, but we're slowly reaching the early morning period, which means the moon will lower that little bit more with the further you go on. Whenever it lowers, it can have the side-effect of temporarily blinding you, so if you want to avoid the blinding moonlight, then simply hide behind a mesa for a second.

Not too often that you see a moonset, is it?

Towards the end, the moon has disappeared completely, and in its place, an equally mesmerizing sun slowly begins to rise into view. But pressing matters are afoot, for you can see plenty of patches where crystals should be... but aren't.

Lutrudis: These ones have already been taken... but by who...?

Sonic: Someone fast, by the looks of it... Really fast... Hmm...

The end of the stage is marked by the presence of a single building, even grander than the empty town we saw earlier. It looks even older, and equally worn out, yet it's still standing. As you crack open the capsule to free the local critters, you can only wonder what's inside... if there is anything inside...

---

Act 2: The Badland Express

Lutrudis’ Badnik Logs: Turbo Spiker - “You can't touch them while they've got that huge drill, but be patient, and it'll fire away and let you do them in... you'll need to then avoid the flying drill at the same time, though. How kind.”

Bomber - “The name is commendably honest, if only to compensate for its unoriginality. When it opens the dome on top, it dispatches bomb after bomb, and will not stop in the slightest until you put it down. They never run out, because defying us is apparently worth defying logic.”

Vultron - “Well... they fly, otherwise they wouldn't be effective bird-based bots. But they're also crafty, and enjoy confusing you with their fancy loops and daring maneuvers. Let's hope their choreography is the only thing they're killing.”

Coalision - “These miniature choo-choos store an endless supply of black coal, and they'll be glad to share it with you while it's still hot... literally. It's a waste to be sure, but that holds true for many of the doctor's career choices, doesn't it?”

Returning Enemies: Roller Cactinaut Bulldust

The title is a bit misleading, because if we want to get onboard the train, we have to go through the station first. Luckily, since it's seemingly abandoned, we won't have to worry about needing a ticket... Unless that's what the robots are after us for.

Anyway, you start off just outside the station, lit up by a row of tall lamps. By this point, the sun is still rising, so now the surrounding sand is given a lovely shade of deep red, with a redder sky to match. Too bad you'll be spending most of this level indoors then, eh? If you want though, you can take a quick peek at the books in the nearby info center, which mention in great detail the once proud history of our poor station. It also name drops the Great Oasis, which is apparently where the train would be headed for if it were still in business...

Unfortunately, since the station is abandoned, the interior has seen better days by comparison...

Sonic: This place could sure do with some of Amy's decorating magic...

Amy: I'll say! All this dust can't be healthy.

Lutrudis: If I've got enough spoons in me, I'll gladly lend a hand.

Try not to get too spooked in here, because with the creaky echoing of the oversized rotating gears, intertwined with the cobwebs and scrambled papers, it can be easy to get a heart attack at the slightest thing... and I don't just mean the prices.

Your enemies are all too aware of this, particularly the Coalisions, who love to make a beeline at maximum volume, which echoes throughout the station. The bombs ejected from the Bomber units also cause an echo, but at least it gives you an idea of where they are. It's brighter in here than it was in the canyon’s mines, but it can still be pretty dark, though the sunlight that shines through the windows and the occasional glass ceiling will get you through. And yet, even the glass here can become an obstacle, as the Turbo Spikers are fond of sending their drills through them to make a dynamic entry.

Despite mostly taking place indoors, there are still the occasional outside sections, which include the rooftops. The rising sunlight is at its most gorgeous here, so feel free to bask in the sun despite being in a rush in the context of the actual story. Rollers are especially plentiful up here, in red and blue. They can even gang up on you if they feel like it, so don't stay in one place for too long. They're easier to deal with if you're playing as Tails, since a tail swipe is sufficient enough to deflect them while they're in ball form.

You'll know you're nearing the end when you enter an old diner in the station. Sadly, it too has long since decayed, but the “employees” will still do all they can to serve you... literally. On a plate. To Eggman. The Vultrons love to poke through the windows in the diner, so be on the watch for them, lest their fancy maneuvering cause your eyes to start swirling. If it weren't for all the decay, Amy would find an appeal in the cutesy aesthetic of the diner.

And not long after, you'll finally make it to an outside chamber, where the titular Badland Express rests in all its rustic glory... You know, this level felt a bit short, didn't it?

Nevermind that, are those burn marks on the ground...?

Has someone visited here recently...?

---

“Well, this is it... ~ta-da~” Lutrudis made use of appropriate jazz hands to befit a proper introduction for what rested before the lady and her friends. A red locomotive with golden accents sat alone and isolated, and even though it hadn't been used in years, it looked surprisingly healthy for its age, moreso than the depressing station it was cast aside with. Both Amy and Cream looked as though they might as well have been in a candy store.

“Ooooooooh...” Amy let out.

“Ooooooooh...” Cream repeated.

“Ooooooooh...” Cheese completed the rule of three.

“Doesn't look half bad for a crusty old train,” Sonic rubbed his chin as he examined the entire vehicle. “And this will take us closer to home? Er, your home?”

“That's the idea,” Lutrudis inspected the locomotive herself with hands on hips, and her tail swished out of interest. “Unless its course has drastically changed and it takes us to the arctic or something, but I'm willing to estimate the unlikelihood of that.”

“Shall we get going then?” Amy anticipated, anxious to see what the train looked like from indoors. Her own tail wagged slowly in excitement. “I love a romantic train setting...”

“Hang on, aren't we technically kind of... stealing this thing?” asked Tails, with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. “Are you guys sure this is a good idea?”

His friends all exchanged looks with one another. Back, then forth, then back, then forth again. They returned their gaze to Tails without a word, all sharing the exact same blank expression.

---

“Good thing I learned how to do this,” Tails cheerfully quipped as he mastered the controls, and got the train rolling along without issue. “Or else this would be a lot harder.”

“Thatta boy,” Sonic ruffled his foxboy pal's head with a proud grin, to which the latter let out a humble chuckle as they walked into the next room. As it turns out, the Badland Express proved to be charmingly old-timey despite its lingering glamour. The dark green walls were filled up with muted diamond patterns, and the floor was softened by a comfortable red carpet. The curtains, sharing a similar shade of red to the carpet, were made of soft velvet, which Amy couldn't help but constantly brush inbetween her fingers, clearly enjoying the texture of it. Wooden banisters lacked any trace of dust, which in some ways was almost eerie, but they couldn't exactly complain. Even the seats were soft and snuggly, and they looked just as clean as the rest of the inside.

“So that's it then?” Amy asked Tails. “We're up and away?”

“Well, it's already moving,” he looked back at where the controls dwelled. “So unless something completely unexpected and unpleasant happens, we'll be totally fine.”

“...Yeah,” Sonic stated, out of slight concern. His eyes darted between different windows.

“Agreed,” Amy added. Cream simply nodded.

They all stood around for a few seconds, almost aimlessly so, until Tails piped up again. “Well, I don't know about you guys, but I think I could do with some shut-eye. I've barely had any since we arrived in Viridonia.” He looked back at the control room again. “Although... I guess I should stay awake to pay attention to the controls if something unexpected and unpleasant does indeed happen... But there won't be anything unexpected and unpleasant, surely... I mean, if I keep bringing it up, it won't happen, right...? I know how reverse psychology works...”

“Dude, chill. It's okay, you can go right ahead,” Sonic put a gentle hand on the fox's shoulder, and gave him a warm smile. “I'll stay up in case anything happens. You deserve the sleep.”

Tails looked up at his big bro, and slowly returned the smile in earnest. After all these years, the innocence in his blue eyes remained perfectly intact. “Thanks, Sonic,” he uttered gratefully, before he started looking around to find the nearest seat.

“I think I could go for a sleep too, to be honest,” Amy muttered groggily, as she rubbed both of her eyes.

“Me three,” Cream yawned as both herself and Amy sat down. This was followed up by Cheese letting out a yawn of his own. “And um, him four,” she added with a giggle.

“So...” Tails peeked at the window to remember the time of day. “I guess it'd be correct to say... Goodnight?... ...Good morning?... ...See you later.”

And with that, the orange fox instantly conked out on his seat as if he were inebriated, and the pink hedgehog and creamy rabbit similarly went into a fast snooze. Cheese snuggled up with his owner, and slept peacefully, as if sensing that no matter what struggles Eggman and his mechanical menaces would put them through from here onwards, everything would work out okay in the end. Once they were all asleep, Sonic made sure to carefully, quietly, move their bodies a little bit to ensure they were resting extra comfortably. He did this with all three of them, and he took an extra minute to slowly move Tails' namesake so that the three of them could lay their heads on them.

Satisfied with his work, he dusted off his hands, and gave his dozing friends one last look. As he watched them sleep, he realised how nice it felt to be on an adventure with the gang again. Not that he minded going out on his own by any means, but it had been so long since they were all together on a journey... Well, Knuckles wasn’t here, but luckily for them, they had someone to fill in his place...

He tried not to make too much noise as he tip-toed over to the table that Lutrudis was sitting by on her lonesome. Contrary to the rest of the group, she looked wide awake as ever, and her gaze was focused on the view from outside.

“Figured you'd be fast asleep as well.”

Her head briefly tilted left to acknowledge the blue speedster coming over to her, before it turned back to the window. “Eh, I'm not tired. My sleep schedule has a mind of its own, to my own chagrin.” She scoffed, albeit quietly so as not to wake her other friends up. “That's what this body does to you.”

Sonic looked at her silently for a couple of moments. Slowly, he took his hands off the seat he was standing behind, and sat down opposite of her at the table. He looked to his left, as if to find inspiration for a conversation starter. In the process, he took the time to admire the desert plains in all their vast glory. The sun was hiding behind several towering red mesas, but it wasn't enough to obscure the light completely. He didn't say anything at first, but after his brain focused on the endless red sand outside, a small burst of nostalgia sparked within him.

“You know, all this sand reminds me of my time in a book.”

“In a book...?”

“Yeah, the 1001 Arabian Nights... What, you're not familiar with that one?”

Lutrudis pulled up the arm of her long glove. “I'm familiar with the tale, obviously, but my knowledge of your time in it is unfortunately more limited, since you know... it's a book. It's considerably more challenging to locate records of what you went through compared to your other achievements.”

“Hmph, and I thought you were the Sonic Expert.” He grinned lightheartedly.

“Well then, perhaps you'd care to share the details, o brave adventurer?” She leaned her right elbow on the side of the window playfully, and rested her head in her hand. “I'd love to hear it. We've got plenty of time.”

“Err, actually, there's not too much to say in all honesty, heh.” He took a moment to adjust himself on his seat. “Just mostly me and a friend running after a genie.”

“An evil genie?”

“Unfortunately so. He had a few screws loose, that's for sure. Wanted to burn his world to the ground and remake it in his own style.” He scratched an itch inside of his right ear. “Kind of like Eggman, I guess.”

“All would-be conquerers do tend to feel similar after a while, don't they.” The horse's eyes looked to the side, at the desert fields. “Different flavors, but always the same greed... the same lust... gluttony... wrath...”

“Yeah... well, this guy did a bunch of uncool things,” Sonic continued, trying his best to not dwell for too long on what those things were, at least when it came to his ally from that journey. “Even turned a king into an undead husk.”

“Oh dear, really?”

“Yep. AND he cursed me with a fire spell. If I didn’t do as he demanded, the flame within would force me to kick the bucket.”

“Goodness...”

“I know, right? Guy was mental. But he wasn't free to be an evil dude for long. Because...”

“You came along?” Lutrudis couldn't help but add an affectionate ring to those words. “And made everything all better?” Her face lit up, and she didn't bother hiding her smile at the thought.

“You bet I did!” Sonic winked with two finger guns. “Sent that genie packing, literally! I beat him, humiliated him, sent him back in his lamp, never to be seen again. So the story could continue living, without his interference!”

“Of course it could...” Lutrudis sighed contently. She looked rather diffident, as if she wasn't all that sure on how to word herself. “You sure are a paragon to the people, aren’t you... a ray of light to everyone you meet...”

Sonic blinked twice, as the green equine's flowery compliments once again left him unsure of how to respond. If he wasn’t imagining it, he could feel his cheeks getting a little warm, and with possible hesitance, he let out a soft chuckle.

“So... you're just gonna believe all of that?” he asked jokingly. “Just taking my story about going inside a book at face value? For all you know, I could have made it all up.”

“Oh, I believe it. I utterly believe it...” The lady's expression grew even wider, as if the mere thought of Sonic doing his thing was enough to fill her with internal solitude. “There's so many crazy things out there, but so many beautiful things too. And you've stepped up to the plate no matter what comes your way, no matter how alien, or ancient, or ridiculous. So, when you say you went inside a book, to save another world from a corruptive influence... there's no doubt on my end.”

Her eyes opened up slowly, and they locked with the hedgehog's own. “It's hardly beyond your capacity, is it? You're like another world all on your own, in a strange sort of way... a world of majesty, and wonder...”

Her smile grew softer, and in time, so did Sonic's. The hedgehog failed to respond verbally to yet another kind remark, but deep down, he knew he didn't really need to say anything. His quills lowered, and he rested a single hand on the table, its distance not too far from her own. If it were to remain undisturbed, it's possible they could carry on with their quiet exchange forever.

Revealing herself to still be partially awake all along, Cream had secretly witnessed this scene for herself. Despite being half-asleep, her and Cheese exchanged delighted looks with each other at the display. They weren't necessarily sure what to make of it, but as far as they knew, their friends were getting along, and that was all that mattered.

As the rabbit turned back around, she noticed a closet that looked a bit ajar. Deciding to fix it herself, she quietly walked up to the closet, and grabbed the door handle, until her curiosity suggested she at least take a look inside to see if there was anything in there, after all these years of the train's disuse.

Alas, there wasn't much to write home about. Just some old-fashioned shirts, dresses, Metal Sonic...

Wait.

“AIEEEEEE!!!!!”

“What the-” Sonic stood up in an instant, as did Lutrudis. Amy and Tails likewise woke up just as fast at the sudden noise, and all of their eyes widened as Cream, now more awake than ever, stood in paralyzed fear at the sight of Metal Sonic standing right there in the closet, towering over the poor bunny like a cybernetic grim reaper. Not a moment too soon, the robot immediately raised a claw, ready to strike down at Cream and grab her bag of accompanying Chao in the process.

Sonic was predictably the first to react, and ran up to give his copycat an uppercut, which appeared to dislocate the robot's head... before it jolted back down as if nothing happened, complete with a hellish metallic clang. Thinking fast, even at the expense of her sensitive limbs, Lutrudis made a daring leap over a table and kicked Metal back into the closet before he could lay a finger on either Sonic or Cream, and instantly followed it up by putting one of her arrows through the door handles as a makeshift blockade. Picking Cream up by her side, she turned tail as fast as she could.

“I've got you, honey,” Lutrudis assured her friend. “But we must hurry, he won't be stuck in there for long!”

Lo and behold, mere seconds later, Metal's fist came shooting straight out of the wooden door, and his second arm used its strength to create an even bigger hole in the now ruined closet. He stood once more, stepping slowly out of the closet's remains, and not once did his gaze turn away from Sonic’s, who was standing directly in front of him, with his friends at his left and right.

“He's been on board this whole time?” Amy let out a disturbed glare. Her grip on her hammer tightened, as she was all too familiar with this machine. “That’s not creepy at all!”

“What's he spying on us for?” Tails wondered, his tails tensing up at the presence of Eggman's notorious exterminator.

“Let's hope he's not around long enough for us to find out,” Sonic muttered, as he directed a sneer at the peeping tom. “Nice of you to drop in, Metal! I'm the one you want, right? I'm the one you want to prove you're oh so superior to! So what are you waiting for? Wanna be Sonic? Come and get it!”

Metal stood still for what felt like forever, until he raised a single finger, and ominously waved it across his own neck. He then clenched his fists, and started marching through the hall, slowly, towards his eternal rival. As Sonic extended both of his arms to defend his friends, the metal menace started up his engine, ready to go...

---

BOSS: Metal Sonic

It was only a matter of time before Metal Sonic interfered with our affairs. He may be different from our regular, heroic, green eyed, sociable Sonic in a lot of areas, but if there's one trait he has in common with his organic counterpart, it's a ruthless level of persistence. This will become very obvious over the course of the encounter, so you better be quick on your feet for this one. You have no excuse if you're too slow, given who you are.

The unique thing about this match is that you'll be going through all the different sections of the train, as you do all that you can to keep Eggman’s top enforcer off your back. But it's also not merely an escape sequence disguised as a boss, because you actually have to make an effort to fight back at the same time. Amy will be your main assistance here, since Lutrudis will be occupied with keeping Cream and all the Chao on her person safe and far away from the mad robot... that, and someone has to make sure the train is going where it's supposed to while it's being terrorized by a killer machine. A train delay is the least of your worries.

You start off where you were in the previous cutscene, by the tables, and all you can do for now is avoid the lasers that come shooting out of Metal's chest. It's possible to use the tables for cover, but don't rely on them for too long, since with enough laser power on Metal's end, they will eventually break apart like tissue paper. If you want to fool around with him, you can spin dash under him as Sonic, or fly over him as Tails, though if you get too cocky, he can halt the proceedings by grabbing you and slamming you on the floor. Amusingly enough, you can actually throw broken table pieces at your opponent, which you'll want to do since although it merely annoys him, any brief distraction is everything here, and you'll be given time to properly damage him without getting swiped at by his claws. Pretty straightforward so far, right?

After four hits, Metal will change tactics by flying outside the train. What's he doing? Why, he's absorbing electricity from the nearby power lines! He's never done this before... not in his regular form. Granted, a power line may not be on the same scale as a living being, but wasn't he only able to do this vampiric business when he took the form of Neo Metal Sonic some time ago? Perhaps he's been given an upgrade by the good doctor... one that doesn't require an undignified appearance.

Let's not ponder for too long about it, because now Metal's lasers will cover two thirds of the ground, which is bad news for you due to how little free space there is on the train. He'll also throw in some new moves, namely charging straight at you, and firing one energy sphere after another, which have a tendency to home in on you. You'll want to get beside Amy during this, as she's quite good at knocking them away with her hammer.

By this point, you'll be chased through the different bedrooms, all of which are fortunately empty, but if you VERY QUICKLY search the drawers, you might nab yourself some ring capsules to help you out. Although be careful of a jump scare, for one bed inexplicably has a skeleton inside... Seems to be a recent skeleton too... was this Metal's doing...? Let's forget we ever saw it, and hope we don't end up the same way.

Tails: I think I'm too young to be seeing stuff like this...

Eventually, you'll end up in the engine room, which is filled to the brim with old pistons and gears. As you may expect, these count as obstacles, so try not to get crushed by them while you're focused on Mr. Lookalike. What you want to do here is time it so that a piston comes crashing down when Metal is underneath. He'll grab it effortlessly with his robotic strength of course, but in the process, he'll accidentally leave himself open for you to do your thing. A spin dash or tail swipe will do the trick in this case. This will get more difficult each time, as Metal proceeds to destroy the piston you used against him afterwards. So what happens when all the pistons are destroyed? With nowhere else to turn to, there's only one option... out the window.

You are now climbing the side of the train, and don't think the awkward position will convince the evil duplicate to go easy on you. Luckily, your climbing speed is fairly quick, though diagonal movement can be something of a minor inconvenience. Know the right times to go vertical and horizontal, and you should be golden. Where is Metal Sonic during this sequence? He's the camera apparently, as it switches to Metal's perspective as he fires his lasers at your climbing self. You'll also have to navigate carefully around more homing spheres at the same time, because you know what they say... so you don’t need to be told. Keep a cool head, and you'll get through without getting your tail(s) singed.

Finally, at last, you end up - where else - on top of the train. Metal isn't playing around here, and he makes that clear by pulling out a couple of grey crystals from that magical area that all anthros place their belongings when they don't have pockets. Seeing them in his hands is quite alarming, to be sure...

Sonic: So it was you who took them... bring it, faker.

Not wasting any time, the robot absorbs more power, this time from the crystals. His limbs shake violently, as if he were struggling to adapt to his new energy. A shadowy aura surrounds his body, which provides an eerie contrast with the sunrise behind him. His eyes light up brighter than ever, glowing with malicious intent, and he beckons his enemy to come forward with the back of his hand... Well, who are we to disappoint? Let’s show him what we’re made of.

In this final section, you run and hop along the roof, and you'll want to keep track of time here, because if you take too long, you'll reach the end of the train and have nowhere else to go. Metal will make a projectile of himself here, by zooming through here, there, and everywhere, with dark energy seeping from his being. He's also fond of whipping out his famous Black Shield here, and he can rev it up like your own spin dash. This has the side effect of ripping up the roof a fair bit, even creating a few holes in it. Jump at the right moments to avoid the holes, swerve at the last possible moment to avoid the zipping Black Shield, and when Metal is about to turn around to give it another go, quickly pounce on him like a man possessed. He'll bring out the lasers again at this point, which are now given a darker aura of their own, but you've got this in the bag.

Once you give him four more hits, the next cutscene will commence. Congratulations, you've bested the notorious Metal Sonic... for now...

---

Sonic and Metal Sonic were still on the roof, kicking and swiping away at each other as they both got closer to the front of the train. Tails and Amy ran as fast as they could to make sure Sonic wouldn't fall off the train entirely, but Metal wasn't making that easy for them by firing devastating lasers in the middle of his scuffle with the hero, all the while he was pounding Sonic's body into submission.

They soldiered on anyway, dodging the blasts left and right, until they managed to dogpile onto the robot themselves. Despite the three on one advantage, Metal was more than capable of taking all three of them on at once, and announced that in no uncertain terms by clutching Amy and Sonic by their heads. As he choked Sonic by the neck, he stared straight into Amy's eyes, as if to inject the same fear that he instilled in her during her youth on the Little Planet.

Before it could have any lasting effect however, Tails slammed down on Metal's head with both of his tails, and while he was rewarded with an eye laser for his troubles, Amy seized the opportunity to whack the droid on the side of his chest with her hammer. Regaining some of his energy once his neck was accidentally let go, Sonic then spin dashed Metal's body in the air not once, not twice, but three times. Yet the doppelganger recovered, and made a threatening beeline towards the one he despised above the rest.

While all this was going on, Lutrudis and Cream were at the controls, and they could see from the increasing amount of holes on the roof that things were getting serious... and that they also just had an idea. With a firm nod from both of them, they quickly looked all over at the controls. It went without saying that neither of them had driven a train before, so to say they were unqualified to drive would be something of an understatement. Luckily however, in this urgent scenario, there was only one thing they needed to do...

“Hold onto me,” Lutrudis said to Cream, which the bunny immediately obeyed, knowing what was about to happen. Lutrudis then called out as audibly as she could to her friends above. “Guys! Quickly! Grab onto the roof!”

Initially fearful as to whether they heard her or not, her doubts were put to rest by Sonic staring straight ahead, his eyebrows raising in realisation, and he soon repeated the equine's words to his teammates. He then planted his chest on the roof and grabbed onto two edges of the nearest holes, which was followed by Amy and Tails doing the same thing.

Metal Sonic, meanwhile, tilted his head, as if he were amused by their sudden action. But he got over it quickly, and slowly raised a claw to tear into Sonic's undefended back...

...that is, before he was abruptly sent flying off the train and out into the open desert at insane speeds, like a twinkle in the distance.

As the train itself grinded to a halt, the three on the roof hadn't quite grasped what just happened. Realising the coast was clear due to both the train stopping and Metal disappearing, they slowly let go of the holes, and looked all around them to make sure they weren't about to get a nasty fakeout from their enemy. As Tails and Amy took a moment to catch themselves, Sonic looked down at Lutrudis and Cream, who both grinned sheepishly.

“Sorry for the jolt,” Lutrudis muttered with a nervous shrug. “You okay up there?”

Sonic, not quite able to speak at the current moment, simply gave a half-dazed thumbs up. Cream couldn't help but giggle to herself at this.

“How much do you think this will cost in repairs?” Tails asked with a hint of dread, as he examined the sorry state of the entire train. Amy let out a shrug of her own, followed by a nervous laugh.

---

After Lutrudis reassured her friends that she would pay for the damages once Eggman’s activities were dealt with (assuming anyone found out about what happened to the train), they took a collective moment to analyse where they actually were now that the train had arrived at its one and only stop... and to say they were experiencing a mild form of culture shock would be accurate.

For although they were still in a desert, with the immense heat and intense sands that came with it, it was not at all like the one they had just been through. Far from the foreboding western cliffs and abandoned shanty towns, the tastes they were witnessing now were undeniably of the eastern variety. Even from afar, the streets were glittering, decked out in majestic blue carpets, and the tallest towers in view were purest white and gold. Townspeople were freely exchanging idle chatter with each other, a far cry from the lonely wilderness they had seen beforehand. And although they had spotted the occasional watering hole prior, here you could find water everywhere, including by the streets themselves. All completely fresh, at that. Shops of all shapes were also inviting their intrigue, beckoning for them to check out their contents.

And for that last detail alone, Amy was instantly smitten.

“Good timing, I think we could all use a drink,” Sonic suggested, fanning himself in the scorching heat.

“This place looks wonderful! Let's have a look around!” Amy bounced merrily, seemingly unaffected by the heat, as she clasped her hands together in excitement. “I love places like this! So full of culture! I wonder what dresses they have here?”

Not necessarily arguing with her insistence, Sonic marched on down to the exotic streets, his team following after. Of course, it didn't take long for them to split up. Cream stayed with Amy, and Lutrudis did the same with Sonic, while Tails went on his own. A grand total of five seconds ensued before Amy dashed inside a clothing shop in an adorably gleeful frenzy, with Cream being considerably more relaxed as she happily followed.

Even Sonic had to laugh at his friend's constant energy. He knew full well that she always had a taste for exquisite fashions.

He turned around, and instantly grew curious as to what Lutrudis was paying close attention to. Upon witnessing, he couldn't help but let out an impressed whistle. By the window, in three rows of ten, were a selection of identical silver necklaces, each of them customized with a different colour of jewel, and a simplistic pattern of the same colour. As far as he could see, Sonic could spot them in ruby, sapphire, emerald, garnet, amethyst... and a bunch more that Tails would probably recognise before him. He was reminded heavily of the Chaos Emeralds he was all too accustomed with... and all the other colorful minerals he had seen in his young life, including his friend's own crystals.

“They look gorgeous, don't they,” Lutrudis muttered dreamily, with adoring eyes. Not that she had any intention to buy any for herself, simply getting the chance to observe their beauty was enough for her. They were probably more deserving for someone else anyway.

“Oh yeah, definitely, they look stunning.” Sonic's eyes went to the sapphire necklace. “Heh, come to think of it, I bet that one would look spiffy on you,” he casually commented, and carried on walking with a carefree smile. Lutrudis looked as if she was caught off guard by his comment, and after a few frozen seconds of taking it in, she shyly fiddled with her ponytail.

As she got ready to follow the Blue Blur however, she immediately paused, and looked back at the necklaces, glancing up at the emerald and garnet ones in particular. She turned her head to Amy, who was far away in complete and utter awe at something else. Her focus turned to Cream, then back to Amy, then back to the necklace selection. Her own smile grew as she rubbed her chin in thought. They're a bit pricy, certainly, but it would be worth it...

Tails was examining a bunch of unique gadgets in a different store. All of them appeared to resemble clockwork animals... or at least he assumed they were meant to be animals, but they still looked pretty eye-catching all the same, even without taking their shiny coat of paint into account.

“Any you fancy?” asked the camel shopkeeper, as he drank his glass of water. He was clearly hoping the young fox would buy even one, not least because it would provide a fair bit of dosh.

“Just passing through,” Tails politely declined. “Where did you get these things, out of interest?”

“Oh ho, they're relics of a bygone era, my friend!” the camel boasted, as he alluded to what may or may not be an elaborate ruse. “The Ancients of Viridonia were very advanced in their time, you see.”

“Right...” The kid seemed unsure about the story’s legitimacy, but he wasn’t going to argue with the man. “Are those... crystals you have, back there?” he questioned, pointing towards the small hill of grey shinies behind the shopkeeper. The casual display of them in a shop was weirdly offputting.

“Oh no, not the genuine article, I'm afraid. They're merely... fantastically sculpted replicas. Definitely didn't pluck them anywhere, no siree.” He crossed his arms and nodded firmly, though his eyes betrayed him by shifting left and right.

“I see... well, see ya!” Tails happily waved farewell as he left the shop. Once he knew the fox was gone, the camel muttered to himself out of annoyance. Getting anyone to buy these gadgets was hard work these days.

Resigned to his job, he took another swig of his glass... then promptly spat the contents back out upon seeing a green robot standing beside him, with a katana right at his throat. Where did he come from...?

“Crystals. Now.”

Meanwhile, Sonic was walking around aimlessly, taking in the environment more than what there was to buy. It was typical that he recalled the Arabian Nights adventure to Lutrudis beforehand, because this scene made him reminisce all over again, to the point where he questioned whether this place or that tale came first. His mind went back to his guide of that world...

Shahra... Another friend he hadn't seen in a long time, but one that he nonetheless hoped was doing well. He knew for certain that she ended up better than she started, with her former partner no longer having any control over her.

The hedgehog frowned, as the memory of Erazor Djinn came flooding back to him. He only had to deal with him once, and he was grateful for that, lest he be continuously confronted by one of the vilest evils he had ever faced. He shivered in disgust at the memory of all that he did, whether it related to Shahra or otherwise, and he could only be thankful that the malevolent spirit was last seen in his lamp, in a pool of magma, never to be released again.

...Unless Eggman found out about him and used one of his lava-resistant machines, but he hoped that wouldn't happen. He's already doing enough as it is with all the mayhem he's sent the hedgehog's way in Viridonia. The last thing he needed right now was for Erazor to come back.

His frown deepened. Speaking of the doctor, his own actions were getting pretty concerning as well. His risks were still growing in scale, and his cruelty was still growing in scope...

“Hey there, blue boy.”

Sonic looked dazed for a moment as his contemplations were interrupted by another voice. He looked all around him to figure out where it came from, only to express surprise as he turned to a familiar face, who was currently relaxing in the shade on a carpet.

“Rouge?” He raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing here? Where’s your groupies?”

“Oh, they're busy with other things, dearie,” she casually announced, as she took out a small mirror to check her tufts of hair. “So I decided to spend some time over here, my home away from home. I mean, it's partly on business for G.U.N. as well, but that's the great thing about being me, isn't it? You can work and play at the same time.”

Her eyes went to Sonic, who was still kind of shocked to see her on her lonesone. “Why so surprised? With all the treasure around here, surely it'd be more of a shock if I wasn't here.”

“Well, yeah I guess, I just...” He sheepishly looked to the side. “It's been ages since I've seen you on your own.”

“Hmm, has it?” The bat continued adjusting her makeup without a care in the world. “I'm not handcuffed to them, you know. I have my interests, and they have theirs... although Shadow could really do with pursuing more of them.”

“And how has Knuckles been doing? Haven't seen him since the last time we all teamed up.”

“What, am I his caretaker?”

Sonic remained awkwardly silent, not sure what to say in response to the accusation. Rouge let out a light chuckle, and carried on.

“I'm kidding, he's doing fine. He seemed pretty pleased with his latest defense system for the Master Emerald... ~but let's see how long that lasts~”

The hedgehog turned his head slightly, and his suspicions arose. “You're not thinking about nabbing anything in THIS place, are you?”

Rouge mockingly put her fingers to her mouth, as if she were deeply considering it. “Well, who knows? We'll just have to see, won't we? Sure is a good thing I have money, right?”

Sonic paused again to take her words into account, before finally smirking at her joke. With all the tales that go on about her thievery, it made sense that they could be a little exaggerated sometimes.

“Besides,” she added. “Someone else is hard at work with the stealing around here. Believe it or not, but I’ve actually been attempting to track them down... and not just because I’m slightly bothered that they’ve been beating me to the punch.”

“Someone else...?” Sonic thought. Who could she be referring to? Metal Sonic?

As this was going on, Tails and Lutrudis came on over to where Sonic was, and it didn't take long for them to notice who he was chatting with.

“Hey, it’s Rouge!” Tails greeted. His own history with the bat may be something of a complicated and frankly weird one, but he was happy to welcome her regardless. Lutrudis likewise gave a little wave of her own, even though this was her first time meeting her.

“Oh, hey!” Sonic was all too eager to make the necessary introductions. “Rouge, this is Lootru-...Latrue-...Trudy. This is Trudy. Trudy, Rouge.”

“Another playmate of yours, hedgehog?” Rouge raised an eyebrow of her own, followed by another chuckle. She rested her chin on her hand. “My my, where do you get all of them?”

“...Pleased to meet you as well,” Lutrudis replied as she shook her hand. Her body language made it obvious that she wasn't quite sure what to make of Rouge, given the latter's somewhat mixed history, but she was willing to give her a chance, since she was aware that the batgirl had helped her friends out plenty of times before. “Liking what you see around here, I presume?” she asked to strike up friendly conversation, with her hands clasped behind her back.

“Truly,” Rouge answered. Her voice was dripping with bliss. “Believe me, this place is a treasure of its own.”

The horse looked a tad puzzled at her comment, but before she could ask for an explanation, Amy and Cream soon arrived. Both of them appeared to be incredibly overjoyed, and the amount of bags on Amy’s person did not make it a mystery as to why.

“We have GOT to come back here when Eggman's done with! You'll never guess what we found! So many dresses, so many hairpieces, even found a new bowtie for Cheese...!”

The pink hedgehog paused, as she acknowledged Rouge's presence. Her arms lowered a little, and her head shifted slightly away. While not wanting to be rude, she was certainly conflicted about this twist.

“Oh, hey Rouge,” she muttered with a somewhat half-hearted wave. Cream's wave was more enthusiastic by comparison.

“Hey,” Rouge said back. The pink girl's suspicions were not lost on her, but she didn't bother commenting on it.

As if sensing the potential awkwardness of the situation, Sonic quickly changed the subject, as he clapped his hands with much gusto. “Say Rouge, I know you don't normally hang with us, but uh, Eggman's doing his thing again and endangering the planet like always, and we thought maybe you'd like to help us kick him up the butt again for being a maniacal idiot?”

The bat let out an overly dramatic sigh, with a raised leg in the air, as she prepared to stand up and stretch her wings out wide. “Well, if you care that much about my assistance...” She fluttered her eyes at the blue one, to which he just sort of looked in the opposite direction, clearly used to this behaviour. She laughed, even as Amy proceeded to put her hands on her hips in mild annoyance.

“Go on then, I'm game. Might find that thief along the way, and I do love a good thrill, almost as much as I love my precious jewels... Almost.”

With a roll of the eyes, Sonic sped off further into the desert in search of more robots to bust open, with his friends - and Rouge - in pursuit. Seconds after they left, an oryx walked out of the building that Rouge had been resting beside, holding a sizable glass of fresh lemonade. Preparing to serve, he looked down at the carpet she was using, and quickly realised the carpet was now on its own.

His smile turned upside down... until he looked to his left, then to his right. Checking the coast was clear, he started gulping down the lemonade himself.

---

Act 3: The Great Oasis

Lutrudis’ Badnik Logs: Clamer - “Resting by the oasis are these brightly colored clams, who just so happen to conceal a portable cannon. It's a risk to take them on while they have it out, but it's an unavoidable one since you'll merely bounce off their azure exterior otherwise.”

Skorp - “Now this is a vexatious one. They already have a good defense as it is, but not only that, they can sling their pointy tail in your direction, and considering how far it can reach, it's extremely easy to underestimate. I suppose even a maniac can make an effective design twice a day.”

Sandworm - “They're worms, and they come out of the sand... Yes, that's right, yes indeed. They do like to catch you off guard though, but with a keen eye, you can catch their shuffling through the substance.”

Swordsman Pawn - “These purple guards are full of showmanship, but those scimitars prove they can back it up. Their skills are as sharp as their blades, although they do like to goof off if left to their own devices.”

Neo Djinn - “Now the doctor thinks he can improve mythology! Goodness sake... They appear to have some control over the wind, as they can strike you down with lightning, or hit you hard with weaponized gust. Never had a foe like him, huh?”

Floatin' - “I'm not sure if anyone informed the doctor, but these are meant to help save lives. These flotation rings are essentially circular blades, and should you catch them while they're spinning, you might not have anything left to catch with.”

Returning Enemies: Sol

The previous half of the desert may have been sparse in civilisation, but this area more than makes up for it. Life is brimming everywhere in this exquisite landscape, and with the sun up well and high now, the sky is now a subdued mix of pink and cream. It's a more inviting sight than the canyon, so what are you waiting for? Head on down to the Arabian... Days!

In town, you'll find rooftops to climb, and just as many marketplaces to vandalise to your gamer's content. Indeed, you actually can interact with several of the fruits on the market, to the point where it's possible to use them as projectiles against Eggman's robots, just like in the Tricky Tropics. Though I imagine the dealers won't be too pleased that you’re messing around with their fruit like it's no big deal...

“Could you, uh, stop that please?”

“Hey, that's not yours!”

“How am I supposed to ship these to Sapphire Tundra if you're spreading them all around on the sand!?”

“I don't care if it's for 'hero business', the least you could do is PAY for it.”

The snazzy carpets won't be the only drop of blue you'll be seeing around here, for even in the center of town, there's a reason why this is known as the Great Oasis. Small river trails can be found along the perimeters, large fountains can be found aplenty, and specialised domed houses even come with minature waterfalls. Even within the bazaars, there are plenty of blue roofs and patterns along the walls, though if you take a closer look, you can see more specific patterns involving anthropomorphic creatures, with claws outstretched.

First there were the carvings in the Gleaming Meadows... then the carvings inside the mines of Zephyr Valley... now we have these patterns right here. What's the full story? It pertains to the Ethereal Zone, that much is obvious, but to what extent...

Anyway, if you think the streets have got more than enough aquatic brilliance, wait until you see the oasis itself. Bright green grassy patches surround the round lakes of healthy water, and the palm trees remain arched, as if to pay respect to the tranquility of this land... either that, or the coconuts they hold are really heavy. Marble pillars are free to traverse and knock over, and you can also find plenty of statues and monuments, which remain magnificent in scale despite the expected rust collected over the decades. These statues seem to resemble... something reptilian possibly, but it's hard to make out for definite...

Ironically, despite all this water, there's barely any underwater sections, although it is possible to have a swim for some Lightning Shields and other goodies. Or maybe you just want to admire the scene, as when you're underwater, everything has a turquoise sheen, and the schools of fish you can find come in many a healthy colour. Watch out for the Clamers though, they can hide under the water just as they can by the side of it.

And remember, Tails is more suited for swimming than Sonic, since he has the distinct advantage of actually being able to swim. Though like always, it's far from impossible to explore under the blue as Sonic anyway.

Out of all the enemies here, the Skorps and Neo Djinns will be those ones, if you know what I’m saying. Skorps need no introduction or explanation, and I regret to inform you that the 3D plane has done absolutely nothing to diminish the obnoxiousness of their fiendish strategy. As for the Djinns, because they can attack in more than one way with their wind magic, it means they can attack you directly AND push you into other hazards. Doesn't help that they like to hang around with the faithfully stereotypical Swordsman Pawns.

When you reach a particularly large river, a cruise ship will be bobbing along it, known to all as the SS Sandline. It wouldn't be out here if it was meant to be ignored, would it? Hop aboard the cruiser, and pay no mind to the folks on board who are no doubt perplexed as to where you arrived from, and why you're here.

“Is that Sonic the Hedgehog? I thought he wasn't good with water...”

“Who cares about that? Get me his autograph, pronto!”

“Did he get in for free? I had to pay an extra 50...”

They'll have to wait for their autographs, because we're too busy avoiding the pack of Floatin' that managed to find their way on board without anyone noticing. They blend in by hanging on the walls outside, but their colours make them easy to spot in spite of that. As for inside the Sandline, there's not much that will kill you, but you're welcome to spin around the roulette tables, go for a splash in the jacuzzi, and swing along the chandeliers. Contrary to what your gut is telling you, they won't fall off, though they can go a bit wild with their directions if you swing on them for longer then necessary, so best to not spend too much time on them in any case.

The end of the cruiser is characterised by the use of a jacuzzi fountain, which will send you soarin' through the cloudless air like a free bird. During which, you're treated to yet another gorgeous view of the sky and the dunes alike.

Cream: It's so pretty out here!

Sonic: *pulls out a camera* Heh, this would make for a great group photo! Lean in, everyone!

Amy: What? Up here!?

Tails: Seriously?

Lutrudis: I hope my anxiety isn't showing...

Rouge: Be sure to get my good side, please.

The end of this stage is represented by a considerably emptier segment of sand, with little water to be found. This will last for a small while, with seemingly no progress made... but eventually, from a distance, you will start to spot some pools containing another liquid entirely. A black liquid, to be precise.

And along with that, a peculiar cavern system that appears to be part stone, part machinery, with a spider web’s worth of pipes poking in and out. Wanna bet our rotund arch-fiend has a hand in this?

---

Act 4: Petroleum Province

Lutrudis’ Badnik Logs: Tunnelbot - “This machine was present during the regrettable destruction of Angel Island's ruins, wasn't it? Well, there's a bunch of them now, and they're equally as fond of using the rubble against you, alongside their twin hydraulics.”

Flybot 767 - “See those alarms on the ground? Please make an effort to not set them off, for if you do, you'll get a small handful of these divebombing fowl on your tail... Although, maybe we SHOULD set the alarms off, since that way we can bust them open and get their living batteries out...? I'd hate to leave those adorable critters inside their robotic cages...”

Spitlick - “I think this is based on the gila monster, but you never know half the time with these do-no-gooders. Pure venom in design and demeanour, they'll happily lob a blob of it straight from their mouths... Why doesn’t it melt them...?”

Motor Pawn - “Using their hot new rides, these red daredevils leave a brief trail of fire wherever their wheels take them. Almost makes up for their tacky leather jackets.”

Rock Golem - “What the... This isn't a robot at all! It's a creature made entirety out of arid stone! It doesn't appear to be sentient, yet it follows the doctor's commands... How...?”

Sand Demon - “This isn't a robot either! These... entities seem to emerge from the desert itself, with the desire to provide you a sandy burial. What on earth is going on here...?”

Returning Enemies: Sol Bomber Skorp Neo Djinn

Another immediate segue into the next act, and no surprise that Lutrudis has her bandana over her face for this one.

Eggman is no stranger to oil profiteering - after all, he's got an ocean of it to his name - but this facility is more complicated not just in design, but also in navigation. Sure, you have your expected pipes and catwalks, even sharing an identical purple and green colour scheme, but since this place goes in and out like a rollercoaster, it can be easy to get lost. Not only that, but quicksand has returned, this time a murky brown, so you'll have to avoid that along with the black pits of oil you see all around. Note that it's still very much possible to prevent yourself from sinking in either of them by constantly jumping, though in the case of quicksand, you'll have to be that extra bit faster.

Oil Ocean is not the only Eggman compound you'll be reminded of in this level. There are also gimmicks and even visual references based on the infamous Launch Base, which largely include its twisty tubes, its yellow and semi-arabic structures, and those irksome Flybot 767 models. Don't be fooled into thinking this is merely Oil Base however (Launch Ocean?), for despite the resemblance to both past zones, there's some original flair to be found as well. Not so much on the outside perhaps, but on the inside?

The interior sections are where this place gets very intriguing. You've got your hollowed out tunnels, your cavern railways, your palace hallways... hang on, palace hallways? For whatever reason, Eggman has decorated the inside as though it were an actual middle eastern palace, complete with golden elephant statues, cobra-shaped pillars, and exotic chambers. Why has he done this? Come on, you know the answer to that. Why does Eggman do anything?

Unsurprisingly, Neo Djinns can be found in heavy abundance in these areas, and while they don't hang around other robots as much in this stage, they instead hang around with other Neo Djinns. Try not to get caught inbetween their wind elemental antics, or else you could end up being the unwitting ball in a game of wind tennis.

Tunnelbots will also be all too happy to welcome you, by drilling the roofs above, in the hopes that the resulting debris will knock you clean out. As for outside, you'll have cylindrical, armored trains to deal with. It’s evident that their purpose is to transport the oil to wherever and whatever Eggman needs it for, so we might as well smash them up to reduce the amount by at least a little bit, although try not to get splashed by oil in the process. It won't kill you, but it'll make your movements rather sluggish for a brief period of time. Shouldn't it be seriously unhealthy for our heroes though? Shhhh, Sonic doesn't care about it, and neither should you.

Their cleanliness, on the other hand...

Sonic: Trudy's got a shower in her castle, right?

Tails: I hope so, this oil is kind of hard to get off.

Amy: This better not stain my dress too much...

Rouge: A high quality bath is in order, I reckon.

Cream: I think the Chao would appreciate being clean again too...

Lutrudis: It's unsanitary, but if it means putting a stop to the doctor's doings, then I'm willing to trudge through... And yes, I do have a shower.

Sonic: Whew, what a relief!

Lutrudis: *giggles* Surely you wouldn't seriously think I'd lack one?

Sonic: Well, no, but...

It's at this point that the Badniks will start using the oil against you. The fireball-toting Sols will use an old strategy of theirs by dropping their fireballs above their respective pool of oil, thereby setting the whole pool aflame, and Bombers will set off explosives that unleash unstable geysers of oil, which you can spot early on by paying attention to the cracks in the hard sand. If all this wasn’t enough, Motor Pawns love to leave their blazing trails near oil.

But as Lutrudis acknowledged in her Badnik Logs, some of our enemies here aren't Badniks at all. Or at least, not your typical Badniks. The jaguar-esque Rock Golems and snake-like Sand Demons are equally common here, and both of them will cause an extraordinary amount of trouble for you if you're not careful. Of the two, Sand Demons are the greater evil, since their tendency to hide in the sand itself makes them harder to spot before it's potentially too late. The Rock Golems are more straightforward, and will settle for pouncing on you with all their rock hard weight, but since they're big boys, it can still be somewhat hard to avoid them.

If you're not too preoccupied with them, you might spot an Egg Robo perched atop a single catwalk, paying close attention to your progress. Rouge recognises him right away... and so do you.

Rouge: There he is! There's the REAL thief you're looking for!

Sonic: Ugh, not THIS guy...

Shinobi: Hello.

After a polite wave, he'll then disappear as if he turned invisible... then he'll reappear on top of a different catwalk, as if he came out of thin air. A new trick in his ninja guidebook, from the looks of it. If Espio were with us, he might be impressed. For now, you'll have to chase down the lime green Hard-Boiled Heavy for a bit. Don't panic, it's not a true chase, there's no timer or anything. You just need to not die while you're following him. You can do that, right? Although with the increased amount of deserty beasts and oil fires, you'd be forgiven for kicking the bucket once or twice. (Three times is pushing it.)

Once you seemingly have Shinobi cornered, you know in your heart that he won't be going down without a fight. And that's very much true...

Shinobi: You, all pests. Interceptors will be vanquished. Observe, and despair. The guardian... shall rise.

...only, it's not him we'll be fighting today, as he mysteriously waves a single hand in the air, rhythmically. Puzzled at first, our heroes aren't sure what to make of it... until it becomes apparent that it's some sort of enchanting hullabaloo, and before even Sonic can react quickly enough to interrupt his routine, he's successfully summoned something real bad. REAL bad.

How bad, dare you ask? Out of the desert pit below erupts a tower of sand, chiseled into a muscled physique, and we see its full appearance in all its terrifying glory: a grimacing, multi-armed, weapon-wielding... thing. Is it a monster? A robot? A statue? It really doesn't matter for the time being, because all we're focused on is putting it back to sleep.

Amy: What the heck is THAT?

Rouge: You're asking me!

Sonic: Come down and face me like a true Eggman robot, ninja man!

Shinobi: No. Important matters to attend to. Your opponent lies here, today. Let battle, commence.

BOSS: Desert Goliath

And with that, Shinobi has left the scene as quickly as he was introduced. The disappointment is understandable, but don't worry, we'll see him again one day, and we’ll be ready. For now, we'll have to focus our attention on... this lovely fellow.

A desert-themed boss in the middle of a circular ring arena. This feels familiar, doesn't it? But since this guy has four arms, each with a weapon in hand, you'll have more on your plate here. And on top of that, each arm has a different weapon. Those weapons being: a scimitar, a cannon, a clawed clamp, and a morning star. The good news is that Rouge will frequently drop rings from the air to help you out. The bad news is everything else.

You can guess how each of the Desert Goliath's arms will operate here. When he uses the scimitar arm, he'll slash at the arena, creating two fiery shockwaves from both sides that you must leap over. With the cannon arm, he'll aim at three different areas and launch balls of green plasma energy. This is probably the hardest weapon to avoid due to how fast he is with it, and how fast he turns around, but you'll know where he'll fire away because there's a brief pause before he does it. Should he use the clawed clamp, he'll reel back the appropriate arm for a few seconds... then IMMEDIATELY make a grab for your character. Finally, with the morning star, he'll put the unique strategies aside and simply attempt to crush you into dust with it, a total of five times to be exact.

So what's our strategy then? It's not like there's a giant button on his head. No, there isn't, but there is a way. It'll require a few steps... and it'll also require good ol' Miss Hadeer to whip out her bow again. This time however, it's not the yellow crystals she'll be using... It's the blue ones.

First, notice that the arena includes six metal pillars, each of them sporting a circular pattern that just so happens to resemble a bullseye mark. When the Goliath uses the cannon arm, you'll want him to aim at one of these barriers so that the plasma will come right back at him. As expected, this alone will not hurt him, but it will temporarily paralyze him... and grotesquely, his chest will ever so slightly open, revealing a stone structure within that looks a lot like a heart. That's your cue to go, Trudy!

Lutrudis: Here I go! Time to... chill out!

With a launch from her bow, an ice crystal-imbued arrow will be fired straight at the monster's chest. She might miss on the rare occasion, but not as much as she would miss in previous boss battles, for her aiming is still improving even more as she grows used to the heat of battle. This will freeze the Goliath's “heart”, thereby immobolizing the entire beast even further through the power of video game logic. Well, it worked with Chaos aboard the Egg Carrier back in the day, didn't it? Waste no further time and strike that chest while its stone organ is encased in ice. You'll be rewarded with a pained scream from the titan, and the match will resume.

But that's not all there is to it, is there? Ha ha, you're getting savvy about this, aren't you. Sure enough, he'll predictably get more aggressive with each hit, he'll increase the amount of plasma shots, the amount of morning star slams, he'll get a bit faster each time... But then, after the third hit, he'll suddenly and jarringly change tactics completely, a fact that he makes apparent by sending all of you flying far away from the original arena. The Chao staying safe in Cream's bag are rather shaken by this.

Chao: Chaoooo!!!

Cream: Hold on, little guys!

Sonic: Jeez, this big lug needs a chill pill... and we've already given him three!

You land on your derriere on an open terrain, and after some rumbling in the sand, the Goliath will rise once more, letting out a furious roar despite not a single muscle moving on its stony, frowny face. Now he'll try combining the powers that his arms bestow upon him, often using the clamp to throw you onto the ground before slamming you with the morning star right after, or using sword slashes and plasma shots in unison.

And it's only getting from bad to worse, because a fifth arm comes bursting out of his back. Unlike the initial four arms, it doesn't resemble an arm at all, but rather a horribly mutated scorpion tail. This tail will be the absolute bane of your existence if you don't stay on guard, because it comes with a special kind of poison that - should you be unlucky enough to experience the full injection - will slow you down to 2006 speeds for a whole fifteen seconds. Not pleasant, to put it nicely.

You could use a little leeway here, couldn’t you? Well never fear, Rouge is on the job. You'll have to wait and avoid the Goliath's attacks for a while, but soon enough, using her bat expertise, she'll belt out a couple of sonar waves to distract the beast. It won't distract him fully, since he's got multiple arms to spare and all, but two of his arms will be swinging away at Rouge, leaving you with the other three to deal with. Which three arms remain your own problem is randomized each time, so cross your fingers that the scorpion tail isn't one of them. Since he's stretching out his body between you and Rouge, his chest will keep opening again without him noticing. Lutrudis doesn't even need to use her ice crystals now, since its rocky heart is already weakened and sensitive from all the prior freezing. Quickly bash it with all your might whenever the chest opens, and keep away from him at all other times. He'll get angrier and angrier, and predictably faster in the process, but you'll manage.

Three more times, and with a final ear-piercing scream, the titan will fall, crumble, and clutch the ground as he slowly sinks back into the sand. Looks like Shinobi's pet needed some extra lessons.

---

“So what was up with that thing?” Tails asked to the group, as they all took time to gather themselves after the confrontation. The fox's heartbeat was still thumping. “I don't remember the Heavies being able to do THAT.”

“I don't remember ANY of Eggman's junk being able to do that,” Amy added, still out of breath herself, resting on a stone wall nearby. “First a giant airship that can control storms, and now this... This is just getting crazier and crazier!”

“On top of sending Metal Sonic and the Heavies all after us... and that Wraith thing,” Sonic thought to himself, with a clenched fist. He didn't look pleased about their growing power. “It's like the Phantom Ruby... but it’s all real. And those bolt brains were bad enough already.”

“Maybe that Mr. Robot was using crystal power too?” Cream suggested. In all fairness, there was no reason to doubt it. The Chao poking out of her bag were at least relieved that the giant sand abomination was gone. Cheese, meanwhile, was hiding behind the rabbit's ear, still unsure as to whether or not the sand abomination really was gone.

“We can't afford to let them obtain too many,” Lutrudis firmly stated, after she caught her own breath with her hands on her legs. “As powerful as they are, an individual crystal isn't enough to summon a giant raging sand fiend, and I also suspect a single one cannot command the weather like it's nothing, though at least the latter seems to have limited range for now...” She briefly paused to fan herself. “We know the crystals can stack up or combine their abilities if used together, and it's possible that the more they have on them, the closer they are to getting a taste of the Ethereal Zone's true potential...”

The horse's eyes widened subtly, as another undesirable thought came to her. “And the only crystals we saw around here were grey crystals... the less potent ones. Yet they were able to power up Metal Sonic greatly. If they got their grubby mitts on colored crystals, and started stacking them up... mixed with Eggman's unique imagination... we cannot let that happen.”

“Funny you mention that,” Rouge raised a playful finger, with her other hand on her hip. “As it just so happens, I've gathered a few reports of what I've learned about them while I’ve been visiting.”

“Reports? For G.U.N?” Sonic questioned with much suspicion, as he placed both hands on his own hips. “For what reason?”

"Oh, you know, safety of the population, yadda yadda,” the spy replied, as if it were basic knowledge. She soon frowned at Sonic's tone. “Unless you expected something else?”

“Well, I wouldn't put it past them to have shadier motives...”

“They're not the same as they were back then.”

“They DID go after me like a bunch of crazies,” the hedgehog muttered with great distaste, eyes closed. “I still can't believe they mistook me for Shadow.”

“Look, they didn't actually mistake you for-”

“Don't care.”

A brief moment of silence ensued. Tails and Amy weren't sure how to address Sonic's lingering thoughts about the G.U.N. ordeal, and Cream barely knew anything about them anyway. At the same time, Rouge knew the hedgehog well enough to know deep down that he probably wasn't going to be convinced otherwise about the current state of the infamous military organization for the time being. And true, she couldn't exactly blame Sonic for feeling that way, but...

Lutrudis' eyes switched to and fro between Sonic and Rouge. With a deliberate clearing of the throat, she decided to break up the tension. “Well, if Miss Rouge is okay with the idea, how about we go back to my place and go over her reports there? We're a lot closer to my area now, thankfully.” She gently nudged Sonic with a wink and a cheeky smile, to lighten the mood. “You can finally get that shower you wanted.”

“Oh, sure!” Sonic perked up in an instant, and rubbed his hands in childlike glee. “I can't WAIT to be clean again!”

“The Chao could do with some breathing space too, I guess,” Amy motioned towards Cream's bag full of them poking out. The desert heat was doing a number on them. “They've been in there for a while now, poor things.”

“Fine with me,” Rouge agreed, with a casual shrug. “And don't worry, I won't take anything... important.” Another smirk couldn't help but manifest on her lips, as she glanced to her side at Sonic. "Lover boy has provided much entertainment already.”

“Whuzzat?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh, before I forget,” Lutrudis switched her perspective to Amy, as they began marching back home, with the green one in front to lead them the way. “They might be a little messy thanks to the oil hijinks, but I found something for you while we were in town.” She looked down at Cream, who was nuzzling up against the horse. “You as well.”

“Ooooooh...?” Cream beamed brightly.

“Ooooooh...?” Cheese repeated.

Amy's intrigue was also clearly piqued. She smiled humbly at her friend's generosity. "You shouldn't have, really. But what is it?”

“You'll see,” Lutrudis smiled in return, and playfully winked, with a tap of the finger on her own forehead. “Just, uh, might want to clean them off first when we get back.”

---

In the middle of the barren desert, Heavy Shinobi appeared out of thin air once again. The round ninja glanced at the beautiful sight around him, yet its luster did not appear to enrapture him, so much as it was merely given acknowledgement.

As he stood on his own - or seemingly on his own - a mechanical claw came bursting out of the sand, followed by an identical claw. As they scrambled through the sand, creating a round pit in the process, the ominous figure of Metal Sonic slowly raised from the pit. He stared directly ahead, in the same direction the ninja was facing. His fate had left him visibly banged up, but he didn't seem to notice... or more likely, he just didn't care. Not when that accursed copy was on his mind, as it always, always was. He continued staring straight ahead, his body tensing up, with cold, bitter hatred coursing through his circuitry. He was down, but as long as the fake was out there, he would never be out.

Shinobi turned to Metal Sonic. He shared the latter's silence. With how stiff his own body language was, it was unclear as to what exactly his thoughts were on the robotic hedgehog... If he had any particular thoughts, they would have to be saved for later, as a third presence revealed itself.

“Well?”

Metal and Shinobi both looked up to see their master hover down in his famous hovercraft. Despite cleary knowing from Metal's dented state that Sonic and his friends were still alive and at large, Eggman's shining optimism shared throughout his Viridonian operations remained consistent even now...

“Crystals have been obtained,” Shinobi explained, as his scarf swayed seamlessly in the hot wind. “Weak crystals, but plenty. They are yours.”

“Greeeeaaaatttt,” Eggman replied in a jolly sing-song tone of voice, his grin refusing to falter even once. He turned to Metal, not fazed in the least by the latter's defeat. “Roughed up my boy, did they? Well don’t be glum, we'll get you into shape for Round 2 very soon. Perhaps you're in need of some practice with those crystals of ours... and we've got plenty of them now. They may have messed up my lovely refinery too from the looks of it, but there's no time to worry about such smalltime matters.”

He opened his arms at the sun, confident as ever. “The sun is shining on me, gentlemen. And it shall remain that way.”

“In addition,” Shinobi spoke up. “He has footage.”

“Footage...?”

He nodded his head towards Metal for confirmation, and without a word, the droid looked down at his chest. After a few seconds of charging up, it released another beam of light, a completely harmless beam this time around. Within Eggman's line of sight, a rectangle was formed from the light, creating the illusion of a screen. Said illusion became even moreso, when it began to play the promised footage... the footage that Metal recorded aboard the train... It didn’t take long to catch his interest... all of his interest... He leaned slightly back, and crossed his arms, as he kept watching.

“You came along? And made everything all better?”

“You bet I did! Sent that genie packing, literally! I beat him, humiliated him, sent him back in his lamp, never to be seen again. So the story could continue living, without his interference!”

“You sure are a paragon to the people, aren’t you... a ray of light to everyone you meet...”

“The tale that he mentions... could be of use,” Shinobi mused.

Eggman didn’t respond, despite the promising offer. While the talk about great and powerful genies may have caught his interest on any other day, his attention today was already taken...

“So... you're just gonna believe all of that? Just taking my story about going inside a book at face value? For all you know, I could have made it all up.”

“It could be worth looking into, sir,” the green robot mentioned again, though deep down, he had already subconsciously acknowledged that the doctor was completely uninterested. He did not give a single rudimentary thought to that aspect of the footage. He was captivated by something else entirely.

“It's hardly beyond your capacity, is it? You're like another world all on your own, in a strange sort of way... a world of majesty, and wonder...”

Eggman kept watching. His goggles were glued to the screen, as if it was of utmost urgency. Even after the footage ended, and the screen provided by Metal Sonic faded away, the scientist stayed perfectly still, taking a few precious seconds to contemplate exactly what he just witnessed. Because even though it was, by all accounts, a mundane conversation between two of his enemies...

“...Something's up,” he finally stated.

Shinobi turned his head to Metal, in what could be interpreted as puzzlement. When the blue robot predictably gave no verbal response, the Heavy returned his gaze to Eggman.

“I thought this was business as usual,” the doctor started, with his usual compulsive gesticulating. “Another pig to the stew. Fiery cats, telekinetic hedgehogs, chocolate-obsessed dog-imp... thingymajigs, now posh horses. Sure, why not. They overfilled ages ago, what difference is one more at this point? More for me to put down.”

He quickly sneered. “But there's a... look he shares with this one. I've seen that look. I see myself in the mirror every morning, I KNOW that look. And let me tell you, this is not like him at all...”

His Egg Mobile slowly turned 90 degrees to the left. The scientist rubbed the side of his head, as if he was still taking in his newfound information. And yet, he looked oddly invested, maybe even... excited...?

“Could it really be...” he continued, practically muttering to himself, as if there was no point to his two accomplices being there. “Never in my wildest predictions did I expect him to...”

“His habits do not differ to me,” Shinobi commented, as if to question what the doctor was getting at.

“No, not externally,” Eggman emphasized, as he leaned over with a clenched fist. “He ACTS the same as always, yes. Same stupid face, same stupid swagger, same stupid everything. ‘Hi, I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, please punch me in the face’. It's all the same... But it goes deeper than that. It's the little things, the details that the average joe wouldn't notice... But I'm not your average joe, and when I see that stupid smile curve a tiny bit differently, when I see his eyes grow ever so slightly, when I hear his cocky swagger grow lesser, even a tiny modicum... I don’t write it off as nothing.”

“Your initiative, sir?” the Heavy requested, as he slowly pulled out his frosty katana. His subsequent tapping of it against the palm of his hand made it not too subtle that he already had an idea in mind himself. “Suggestions on what to do?”

“Oh, we won't DO anything, not yet,” the doctor firmly answered, though the smug glee in his voice made it perfectly apparent that this was not in any way a benevolent decision. “We'll carry on as normal for now, and we'll let this little panto continue on for a while longer... see if my theory has merit. I've got a new surprise party to deploy, and that's plenty of time for you to brush up on those crystals, isn't it Metal?”

As still as a statue otherwise, Metal Sonic responded by projecting a miniature illusion of the organic Sonic into his own hand... before crushing the illusion slowly, digging his sharpened digits into it with violent intimacy, until it faded out of existence. He stared up at his creator the entire time, and although his expression remained the same, as it always did, his body subtly shivered, as if he were eagerly anticipating the next opportunity to brutalize the alleged copy.

Eggman's Mobile spun around clockwise in a perfect 180, as he continued to bask in his new revelation. The sunlight reflected in his goggles, making them appear pure white.

“And if it IS true - and it will be, because I'm never wrong - then oh... oh ho ho... this is gonna be sweet...”

A chilling laugh echoed throughout the desert.

---

Back to Chapter 5...

To Chapter 6-7 Interlude...

[taurealuna]

let me get to know you!

so sorry for the wait but thank you for tagging me @astrojules!! 🥰 i really enjoyed reading yours 💞 this is my first time doing and it was so fun!! hope you guys enjoyed reading! 💗💕

name: you can call me diane!! 🤍

nicknames: d, diana(?)

zodiac sign: pisces sun, taurus moon, aquarius venus

height: 5′2

languages spoken: english / mandarin / korean & (i really want to learn how to speak thai!) ❣️

nationality: hehe feel free to make a guess! i’m from asia 

favorite season: in my country we don’t really have seasons, but i really enjoy the transition from winter through spring! december-april are also my favorite months 🌞🌟🌼💫

favorite flower: baby breath, lily, sunflower, water lotus and daisy!! all of them are so pretty and symbolic on their own. cotton flowers are so cute too! 🌻🌻

favorite scent: ahh i can go on forever~ i love caramel, cinnamon, coffee scent as well as subtle floral notes!! citrus fruity notes like bergamot and peach are also my favorites. my favorites are typical scents found in a cafe as well as fruit garden! ☕️🍑🥭🍒

favorite colors: white, shades of blue, pink, purple, earthy nude tones from yellow to beige, brown and pastels are one of my favs!! not sure if iridescent is considered a color but i alwaaays gravitate to it. 🥺🥰

favorite animal: uwu animals are so cute!! i’d pick sea otter, sea lion, cats and sloths! 🦦🦥💛

favorite fictional character: nairobi from money heist is my role model oop she’s hot

coffee, tea or hot chocolate: i swear i drink all of them! but personally i’d prefer coffee especially macchiatos and lattes because they taste so good i can’t resist :( but it’s too acidic for my stomach sometimes so hot chocolate and teas are good alternatives! i really love oolong milk tea and red tea ! 💕💕

average sleep hours: this is sad but probably ranges from 7-12! although i’m tired no matter how much i sleep uwu

dog or cat person: since young i’ve really been a major cat person!! i’ve also been told cats are my spirit animal which is so interesting and explains why i can relate to them :’) but over the years dogs have really grown on me! they’re so playful and fluffy i want to hug them all!!!! 💫💫

number of blankets you sleep in: 3! one of them is from my childhood and 2 others are for keeping warm!! i love blankets 🥺

dream trip(s): ohh i’d love to visit santorini, greece, bali, korea and japan! all these are such dream places if i have a chance to go! ✈️🎡⛲️

blog established: if it’s duration perhaps a month or two ago! 💗

followers: around 181 followers and i have no idea how since i only post content that i am interested in but i’m so thankful!! tumblr is a great place to learn together and to practice tarot !!! and all of you are so cute 🥺💘 i’m so thankful!!

random fact: i’ve only practiced tarot for less than 2 months!! it’s really short but i really enjoy it and i learnt it from my friends initially 💕💕 the tarot deck i use is Luminous Spirit Tarot, and my oracle used is Claves Astrologicae ☺️✨

ill try tagging some blogs here that i really enjoy, even if we may not interact very often! feel free to join even if i dont tag you! really looking forward to reading yours!! @ my followers please feel free to do it too!✨ 

@aqualeo123 @birdlingstarot @crystals-cave @beautygoddess44 @venusianstorm @venusmidheaven @sleepingsagittarius 💛✨

[theofficersacademy]

The warmth of the Goddess’ blessing has blanketed the land in a rich array of color, and the people whisper their prayers for the year’s crop to grow bountiful under her care. As they wait, hearts and minds turn to thoughts of love and friendship, women weaving fresh petals into lush garlands as gifts for close friends, or to court the attention of a hopeful lover. Overhead, the skies open, and rain pours down in sheets, marking the beginning of another fertile — but also potentially dangerous — rainy season.

At Garreg Mach monastery, there have been reports of this year’s rain being more potent than usual, badly affecting many surrounding villages. It’s too much for just the clergy to handle, so a call goes out from the administration, to the Black Eagle House:

Black Eagles Mission: Assist villages damaged by the rain!

Welcome to TOA’s second season, and our first that is house-centric! This season’s mission will be focused on the Black Eagle house, but there are also non-mission tasks available as well. (Please see the FAQ for details on how this works, even if you’ve read the FAQ before.)

Aside from the BE mission, there’s other fun things taking place! This season will run from Garland-Blue Sea Moon in TOA canon, but since it’s October-November in real life, some of our non-mission tasks are going to be in honor of Halloween! (Fodlan celebrates Halloween in June now, I guess.) Take a look!

BE Mission Task Board

Safeguarding towns against the floods and mudslides of the rain calls for a lot of heavy lifting, but it’s rewarding work and it needs to be done. Reinforce houses, assist in handing out emergency supplies or building sand bag walls. The more hands, the better. [Grants Heavy Armor +1]

A lot of extra help is needed at a nearby farming village. The flooding is driving people out, and worst of all, all the animals need to be moved before they get caught in the floodwater. Anyone know how to round up cows, chickens, or even a pig or two?

A group of local Alliance merchants have decided to donate their supplies to devastated areas as charity instead of to their intended destination. But their supply route is being blocked by debris and downed trees, and they need help getting through! To make matters worse, Lord Acheron has showed up to express his displeasure and force them into their scheduled delivery. Looks like the supplies were originally meant for him...

While passing through a flooded riverbank, shouts are heard coming from nearby. There’s a family stuck in the river swollen with rainwater, their wagon tipped over, supplies washing downstream. But even more distressingly, their child is also caught in the rapids! Surely you have to help! Didn’t Oregon Trail teach you anything? Never ford the river.

Escorting villagers displaced by flooding to Garreg Mach is grueling enough work. Morale is low, and people have suffered and lost their homes and, in some cases, more than that. Unfortunately, there are those who would use the opportunity to prey on the vulnerable. En route, shouts erupt and chaos ensues in a matter of seconds. A bandit ambush! [Grants Any Weapon Skill +1]

NEW! As you escort a family to safety, the rain picks up. You’re able to find shelter in a small cave, but it doesn’t look like the rain will let up anytime soon. The exhausted parents are quick to fall asleep, but the day’s excitement leaves their three young children wide awake and terribly, terribly bored. Know a story or two? [Grants Authority+1]

NEW! Just as important as helping villages during the flood is helping them recover in the aftermath. Remire Village itself has escaped the worst of the flooding, but the overflowing river swept half of their harvest away. It’s not too late for Remire to replant what was lost, but they’ll need all the help they can get.

Non-Mission Task Board

The Pages of the Blessed Incunabula, a book club, is hosting a costume contest! Dress as your interpretation of characters from songs and stories and enter to see if you win! There is a category for each house, encouraging students to use their own country's folktales. Winners get the special Lion's Garland, a gigantic wreath of flowers that is traditionally refused by the victor and granted instead to a close friend or (potential) lover. Make your costume and fantasize about who you'll give the Garland to (or grumble about why you can't keep it for yourself).

The Sorcerer's Order, a club of amateur spellcrafters, has set up their annual Haunted Chamber behind the sauna! It looks like a regular dorm room, but it's actually a gauntlet where you must survive three grueling rounds of random objects being thrown at you (ranging from pieces of paper to frying pans to the dreaded wardrobe), unarmed. Because of the potential danger, the students keep it a secret from the faculty so that it doesn't get banned. There's no shame in losing, but winning means a special secret prize. [Grants Gauntlet +1]

The Inter-House Reception is a traditional event on the 29th of the Garland Moon intended to bring down walls between students of different backgrounds at the academy. Many professors are giving out extra credit points for studying or completing classwork with a student from a different house. Others are assigning projects that ask students to familiarize themselves with the cultures of places outside of their own homes.

Sweet-tooth Week is the second week of the Garland Moon, but who says humans should be the only ones allowed to celebrate? The staff needs a few students to help acclimate some of the new horses to carrying riders, so try taking them for a spin in the closed pastures, or even the riding trails if you’re feeling brave. Spoiling them with sugar cubes might make them less likely to bite or throw you. Maybe. [Grants Riding +1]

NEW! The Rite of Rebirth is one of the most important days of the year, and in some ways also one of the most dangerous. With the Holy Tomb open to visitors for a single day, security needs to be tight to handle the massive crowds coming from all over the continent. Students with availability have been asked to help patrol. Hopefully no one causes a commotion.

NEW! Saint Cethleann is well known for her fondness for fishing, and merchant stands all over sell collectors’ fish hooks just for St. Cethleann Day. But the real tradition is making one yourself, from scratch, cutting your own tree, carving your own wood, and everything! [Grants Axe+1]

NEW! The sight of the Blue Sea Star, where the goddess is said to dwell, brings memories of home to all who gaze upon it. During the second week of the month, the monastery kitchen hosts a Head Chef Challenge, encouraging any and all to participate by cooking and sharing traditional meals from their homelands with those around them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the divided task board work?

This season’s mission is assigned to the Black Eagles. Therefore, tasks from the ‘BE Mission Task Board’ must be undertaken by someone from the Black Eagles house. However, they may choose to perform the task with someone who is not from their house as well. In logistical terms, this means that if you play a non-BE muse and want to do a mission task, you must ask someone who plays a BE muse to thread with you. All thread participants will still receive any skill point rewards.

Tasks from the ‘Non-Mission Task Board’ have no house restriction and can be undertaken by anyone.

These aren’t the only threads I can do, right?

Of course not! These are just prompts to help give some ideas of possibilities. You’re always free and encouraged to make up your own threads.

How do I claim the skill points?

In order to qualify for the skill point, the thread must clearly allude to the listed task and preferably feature the task being completed. You do not need to message the masterlist to claim your skill point.

Can I only do one task?

Nope, you can do as many as you’d like with as many different partners as you’d like! You can do the same task with more than one person! However, you can only claim any skill points once.

What if my partner leaves or drops a skill point thread?

If the dropped thread has at least 5 notes (not counting likes, only reblogs with replies in them) and you have hit at least 400 words on your end, you may still claim the skill point.

Remember to use (and track!) the #toa open tag for any open threads, and you can also post a link to your open thread on the appropriate Discord channel! If you have any other questions or concerns, shoot us a message through the masterlist or on Discord!

[the-shadow-of-atlantis]

Truth in Blood (Part 4)

Summary: Not wanting to focus on what happened Annabella decides to keep herself busy.

Tagging: @lizartgurl @thespacebuns @melyaliz @coffee-randomness @speedypan @gobydana

A/N Special thanks to @thespacebuns and @coffee-randomness for helping me with this chapter

Read Earlier Parts Here

Sunlight poured into the room making Annabella groan as it hit her in the face. Rubbing her eyes she shifted in the bed turning her back from the direction the light was coming in from and wrapped herself tightly in the blanket. Her eyes slowly opened feeling heavy from crying, the numbness hadn’t gone away making her want to just lay in bed. It had been a long time since she felt like this, her face fell as she remembered the days the followed Jason’s funeral. Shaking her head she forced herself to get up.

Get your stuff organized first, she thought. Nodding to herself she got off the bed and grabbed her bag. There was one dresser in the room and Annabella organized her clothes, she had enough for three nights and wondered if she would be allowed to stay that long.

“Oh great.” Annabella muttered to herself as she dug through her bag.

Out of everything she could have forgotten how did she forget to pack her brush?? She looked up and caught her reflection in the mirror and saw her hair looking like a lion's mane. She glared at her self a bit before sighing well looks like she was just going to have to buy herself a new one. Along with a charger because apparently she forgot that too.

Great. She paused as she noticed something in her bag that she definitely did not pack, reaching in she grabbed the small wooden box that made her leave her home in the first place and glared at it. What the hell was this doing in here? Then she wondered if it was somehow like those type of magic items that you could never lose once it was bonded to you. Great that was going to be annoying.

Annabella felt her stomach growl and slightly jumped. How long had she been asleep? Better question, how long had it been since she ate? She tossed the box back in her bag and organized the last of her stuff then turned to walk out the door but noticed a small slip of paper on the ground.

Annabella,

There was a league emergency, I did not want to wake you. You are free to do what you wish, if you have to leave there is a spare key in a small drawer in the kitchen.

Kaldur

Annabella stared at the note for a bit feeling slightly jealous at his penmanship, she put it on top of the dresser and walked out. She looked around the small house on her way to the kitchen, she had only been here once which was during Kaldur housewarming party. It really hadn’t changed much, the pale blue walls were pretty bare, the living room had one couch and a recliner, a small coffee table, a small flat screen tv hung from the wall with a small media stand underneath it filled with little knick knacks that upon closer inspection Annabella realized they were the little stuff she would bring back from her trips.

She looked at the mantel over the fireplace and saw it had some picture frames, she smiled as she remembered some of them. A group picture of the team from their first year. A picture of Kaldur with his surface grandparents during Christmas wearing matching sweaters. Another group picture of Kaldur with his friends from Atlantis that had come to the beach of Happy Harbor one day, that water volleyball game had been very intense. One picture Annabella never realized he had was one of her helping the little sea turtles go back into the ocean Kaldur was standing next to her in the picture smiling in the direction of the ocean. She sighed as she thought how simple life had been just a few years ago, turning away she finally went into the kitchen.

The fridge was also a bit bare, a small carton of eggs, a couple jugs of water, some butter and bread. The sight was a bit sad. However when she checked the pantry Annabella almost cringed and the amount of canned food and fruits quickly checking the freezer she found it was also stacked with microwavable meals. Suddenly Annabella began to wonder just how long Kaldur tended to stay in his own house or better yet how often he visited it.

After checking to make sure the eggs and bread were good she made herself a small breakfast and inspected the furniture. There was just a small layer of dust. Taking a deep breath she looked around munching on her toast. The little Alfred in her head seemed to be screaming at her to help and Annabella had to admit she was tempted.

“Well… he did say I could do anything.” She mumbled to herself.

Nodding she scarfed down the rest of her food quickly washed the plate and went up to her assigned room to change. She did her best to comb her hair with her fingers and knotted it together to keep it out of her face. She found the spare house key and attached it to her car keys. She got into her car and drove off.

It had taken her moment to realize where she was people more than likely didn’t recognize her. So shopping was pretty fun, until the cart started getting full and she began wondering how much she was going to have to pay for it all. She only kept so much in cash because even though she could defend herself she also made it a point to not carry too much to draw attention. Biting her lip she decided to take a gamble on using one of her cards after all Kaldur wasn’t the only one from the team who lived in Happy Harbor she could possibly be staying with, she also hoped her father had the decency not to track her but that was a stretch. Making a mental note to take a page from Question and open up several accounts that couldn’t be linked to her she paid for the groceries and headed back to the house.

When she came back she was a bit glad that Kaldur had apparently still hadn’t come home yet. She was wondering how she was going to explain the giant haul of groceries and cleaning products. She had to make several trips from her car to the kitchen. Once everything was organized she got to work on cooking. She had all four stove tops occupied and had the TV blaring music as she bobbed her head mixing the food together. Soon the entire fridge was now stacked with containers of home cooked meals that Kaldur could easily heat. Good, now onto the cleaning.

Luckily the house was small, also like she noticed earlier the only thing the house really needed was dusting. She figured she was the first one to use the guest bathroom since the shower did look fairly clean still she figured it couldn’t hurt to disinfect it. The guest room she stayed in was easy since there was basically only two pieces of furniture it made her wonder how Kaldurs room looked like but she resisted the urge to go in. Besides she figured it would more than likely look like his old one from the cave, bedsheets so tight you could bounce quarters and drawers with his clothes color coordinated. When she moved into the living room she smiled as she cleaned the media center remembering the times she had gifted some of the small knick knacks.

Then a thought slowly dawned on her as she polished a small stone pyramid, she remembered some of these from his room in the cave, but if that was the case were these salvaged from the wreckage? No they couldn’t be they still looked like new, except for the dust, but then did that mean he take them with him when he went undercover? Or did he put them somewhere for safe keeping? She tried to remember if she ever went into his room after it was discovered he left to ‘join’ his father but no memory came to mind. Then another thought came to her, is that why she came all the way here to see him? Because he’s been through something similar? Being lied to about a dangerous parent. She shook her head trying not to focus on it too much on it.

“Just keep going.” She muttered to herself. “You’re almost done.”

“Well that was fun.” She mumbled when she finally finished and plopped herself on the sofa as she adjusted herself and frowned when she felt something poking her side.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her keys.

“What the?” She mumbled as she looked at the keychain.

A piece of it had come off and was exposing what seemed to be an end of a flash drive. Annabella sat up looking at it, she knew Question always kept this keychain on. She never realized it would have doubled as a flash drive then again he was full of surprises. Was this flash drive for her? If not what was on it? But then again her dad did say Vic wanted to leave the car to her. And she knew there was a laptop in there.

Getting up she went outside and rummaged through her car finally finding the hidden laptop. She went into her room and turned the laptop on. She looked over the laptop which was basically wiped clean of any files though it had some cool features, it reminded her of a smaller batcomputer possibly even better. She fidgeted with the flash drive finally caving and inserted it. She clicked on the little file when it popped up and saw that it was filled.

“Geez what the hell?” Annabella muttered as she scrolled through the list.

Well just click on the first one and see what happens, she thought as she clicked on it and a video popped up. She blinked when she saw Vics face staring at her, his real face, his brown eyes tired, his red hair thinning. Slowly she pressed play.

“Well like every cliche way videos like this start I’m going to go with if you’re watching this them I’m guessing the cancer has finally kicked my ass and its your birthday. You’re dad must’ve given you the car that’s good hope you’re still enjoying it, you always did like that car.” Vic smiled and Annabella stared at the video in shock.

“It must be your 17th birthday, which means you must’ve found out the truth about who you are. Trust me I’ve tried telling you many times but something seemed to keep hold me back, remember our deal no secrets between us. I figured your dad must’ve done something from making others tell you, so I gathered what I could on your mother, figured they would tell you about her but not everything. For now in this video I’ll tell you the basics, after that you can look through the files yourself.” Vic paused and coughed.

“Sorry about that, this shits getting worse. Anyway, your mother, I know you know she use to be an actress, that she stopped working after time and went dark till she showed up when you were 7 and tried to kidnap you. I’m guessing you know about your magic now and how it works. Well after you were born your mother tried her best to get her magic back. She joined cults made deals with some unpleasant people anything she could to get a small taste of her magic back. She managed to achieve her goal but it never seemed to last long. Eventually she began betraying those who helped her.” Victor paused and sighed as he rubbed his eyes.

“Your mother is dangerous Annabella, she’ll stop at nothing to get what she wants, and with her options being so limited I think you might be her next target when you discover your magic. You’ll need to prepare and as upset as you are you need to speak with your grandmother she can guide you, help you. I’m sorry I’m not there to help you myself I wish I could have told you all of this in person. No more secrets Annabella it's time for you to learn the truth, to learn everything, no matter how bad those things are.” Vic smiled sadly at the camera suddenly there was a knock and Annabella looked up confused till she realized it was coming from the laptop.

“Q you in here? Are you feeling okay for training.” Annabella’s voice came from the screen.

“Come in Shadow.” Vic called out and the screen went black.

Annabella blinked as she stared at the blank screen trying to process what her dead mentor left behind for her. Seriously what was up with all these hidden gifts being left behind by the dead??? She shook her head and closed the video the little arrow hovered over the next file and Annabella bit her lip nervously, then she clicked it.

She wasn’t sure how long she spent looking through all the files. So much stuff that her mother did, the horror, the betrayal, so much death and destruction. And for what? Just so she could use her magic again? There was a knock at the door and Annabella jumped.

“Annabella? Are you in here?” Kaldurs voice came through.

“Um yeah.” Annabella rubbed her eyes and closed the laptop. She got up and opened the door. “I was just checking my emails.”

“I am sorry I was gone for so long the emergency took much longer to handle than it should have. I was not sure if you have had dinner yet and was wondering if you’d like to join me.” Kaldur paused as he studied her and she slowly felt worry begin creeping off of him and wrapping around her. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Annabella rubbed her eyes. “Sorry, I’ve been staring at the computer for a long time. I’ll um I’ll be down in a bit.”

Kaldur seemed uncertain but slowly nodded his head and walked away. Annabella closed the door and sighed her head swarmed with the information dump it just received. She rubbed her temples as she tried to calm herself. When she looked up she noticed her bag and frowned. She was pretty sure the box inside was mocking her, but then again, Vic did say she was going to need to talk to her grandmother again. Feeling her stomach growl she sighed. Later, she decided, first she was going to have food… and then explain to Kaldur why his fridge was suddenly full of Tupperware.

Like What You Read? Donate.

[sohannabarberaesque]

“Underwater America with Peter Potamus” (episode 5: Monterey Bay, California)

Herewith, another contrived transcript for another episode of Underwater America with Peter Potamus, imagined as a syndicated documentary series in the early 1970′s where Peter Potamus leads a crew of close friends in a series of SCUBA-diving misadventures to demonstrate the fun and friendship inherent in SCUBA.

[The inevitable corny aerial view of the Monterey Peninsula and Monterey Bay to open the show, with a rather reechy-sounding--perhaps 78 rpm--rendering of “In Old Monterey” to try and evoke attraction to the scene, when--]

PETER POTAMUS, standing near Point Lobos and with a decent view of the Lone Cypress in the background: I’ve heard it been said that the waters off Monterey, where I’m standing now, are something of a paradise for the diving fraternity, rivalled only by Catalina Island. Admittedly chilly by virtue of location, but just picturing our diving company in such waters ought to be rather interesting in and of itself ... particularly considering where yours truly happens to be rather fat himself ...

[Whereupon we find the three lupines of the company, Loopy De Loop, Hokey Wolf and Mildew Wolf, come up on set almost unbidden ...]

HOKEY WOLF, going into Sgt. Bilko-type histrionics: Uh, Peter, if I understand it correctly, doesn’t Point Lobos translate as “Wolf Point” from the Spanish?

PETER POTAMUS: Now that you mention it, Hokey ... indeed, it does. And it’s rather interesting to note that Point Lobos is one of the better spots on the California coast for beach-based diving. After all, getting a dive boat anchored in the middle of the kelp forests offshore without digging up kelp when the anchor comes up is probably a crazy sort of scenario to be imagined ... 

LOOPY DE LOOP, trying not to get obnoxious in the “charm offensive”: Yet I believe we were reading somewhere heading up that you’ve got some rather diverse marine life here--sea otters, sea lions, harbor seals, grouper, sea bass,--

PETER POTAMUS: Point taken, Loopy! [Trying to get back to rational--] Steinbeck aside, what with Cannery Row itself in decline, Point Lobos was chosen for the dive here in Monterey Bay because, as Loopy pointed out, you’ve got such diversity of sea life to be had in a beach-entry diving scenario. And yet you don’t want to look ridiculous entering the water in a normal sort of manner, especially when it’s chilly (generally 50-60 degrees the year round) and yet you want to be natural for the most part ...

[The action goes into a sort of “flashback” during a breakfast session in a diner not far from the Cannery Row district, which, at the time this show is imagined as in production, was down but to one operating cannery in contrast to the half-dozen such running when John Steinbeck’s novel came out in 1945.]

Over breakfast, which is how our crew likes planning dive misadventures--no doubt including much in the way of coffee (although Wally Gator prefers orange juice)--

WALLY GATOR, explaining: I’m one with a rather tender stomach for coffee, and besides, being the Florida type myself, I’d rather prefer OJ for my breakfasts, don’t you know?!

PETER POTAMUS, getting back to track: --we do a little research from dive-spot maps picked up at a decent little dive shop down the way. Not to mention the waitresses, one of whom is a regular Monterey Bay diver and acknowledges some experience with the local waters....

JILL, the waitress in question: I was rather stunned to find such a diving party as a hippo, three wolves, a gorilla, a polar bear, an alligator, a lion, a hyena and an octopus as underwater cameraman at breakfast ... but I admit to having much acquaintenance with Point Lobos as a dive spot, so I felt like recommending it.

[Onward to the preparations, which include not just the gearing up and the safety lecture, but also some advice on dealing with the colder waters than accustomed to in previous dives--and on the beach, at that!]

PETER POTAMUS: And so it was on Point Lobos that we assembled for an early evening sort of dive. Not unlike the late-afternoon sort of scenario which surfers call “the evening glass,” which finds milder water temperatures and calmer seas. As well as clearer waters, but still, expect Monterey Bay to be as chilly. [Several divers getting ready to leave take notice of such an anthro diving party suiting up, and must be rather perplexed themselves] And as it’s one of those “beach entry” sort of dive spots, we walk in backwards, just to make sure we enter on the safe side of things ...

[The dive-in ... taking underwater ballet-type entrances to sillier and sillier extremes, or maybe not. And it’s in the middle of a major kelp grove such as Point Lobos is legendary for in the diving world]

BREEZLY BRUIN, taking stock of the dive some time later: Just picturing such massive kelp plants, their stalks approaching the surface of the water ... you don’t find such off Alaska these days, let alone some giant crab....

MAGILLA GORILLA, likewise: How exactly it is that I took up with Peter Potamus’ crowd and joined such a crazy diving troupe is anybody’s guess ... especially after the near-fiasco with the surfer crowd at Gremmie Gulch, if you still remember that one. But for a gorilla like myself, sensing such spectacular kelp groves as these has got to be something new.

[We soon can discern Peter Potamus pointing out a surprising-looking underwater cave about 30 feet down, which finds a couple of sea otters at play as if guarding the cave for some reason otherwise mysterious]

PETER POTAMUS, commenting on the discovery: I could never get too much over this moment of a couple of rather playful sea otters, part of a rather substantial colony which inhabits Monterey Bay, acting as if they were guards to some underwater treasure not otherwise known among the diving crowd here ... but somehow, those sea otters, once hunted almost to extinction for fur pelts, can get to be rather likable critters.... ohhh, here comes one such, pointing out a bed of abalone shells somehow interesting-looking ...

And we could never get over such oversized kelp groves, reminding me of those giant redwood trees in Yosemite and further northward in California, past San Francisco even ... [Witness the sheer astonishment of all in the party at such a kelp forest as they never experienced before, not even off Catalina ... and with twilight coming on, time to surface ... eventually to find our party hilariously reacting to a warm-up fire in a fire pit at a park near Point Lobos beach, with some chicken stock heated up as well]

I must certainly admit, though, for the experience, Point Lobos would have to be the kind of dive stretching all possible adjectives just to describe such diversity of marine life ... even when a couple of sea otters jealously looking like guards to an Aladdin’s Cave of sorts underwater turn out being playful. Even if one such tried to bite at my finger, which, thankfully, was gloved.

[And even as twilight descends on Monterey Bay, the Lone Cypress can still be discerned in clear view, a sort of sentinel of the Monterey Bay experience ... even as the whole pans out aerially to find the last sunset rays discerning in the waters of Monterey Bay and the Pacific to finish out this episode.]

[praise-suns-and-chill]

Rules:

1. Choose an OC.

2. Answer them as that OC.

3. Tag 5 people to do the same. (Tag as many as you wish)

I was tagged by: @ariela-of-aedyr

I’ll tag: @giripans-googlehistory, @d-joana-a-shippadora, @vexey1999 (I do not know that many people with OCs, much less in this fandom xD So I will just go with three, outside here. Btw, Icey here if you guys are curious!)

–

1. What is your name?

Name is Maelvina Alagadda! Nice to meet you!

2. Do you know why are you named that?

I picked my first name myself. My last name I changed as well from mes Réi, to the last name of my brother.

3. Are you single or taken?

Single! Have never been anything else, to be honest...

4. Have any abilities or powers?

Well, I am a Watcher! And then there are my... admitted, still pretty weak abilities as a Cipher. I am still training.

5. Stop being a Mary Sue.

A what?

6. What’s your eye color?

... I... Actually do not know. I cannot see my eye colour in the mirror. Stupid face plates...

7. How about your hair color?

Do not have any hair! Except you would call this black cloudy stuff hair.

8. Have any family members?

Alive ones...? Because my Mother could still be alive, maybe. I do not know. As for my brother, I hope he is. But... I just do not know. I haven’t seen him in around... seven years?

9. Oh? How about pets?

I do have a liking to have lots of pet’s around now! But first of all, of course, there is Alcestis. A lion and my loyal partner!

10. That’s cool, I guess. Now, tell me something you don’t like?

I guess I have never met my mother, but... From all I do need to choose? It would be her.

11. Do you have any activities/hobbies that you like to do?

Mhh... I like singing, but really only as a hobby. I used to sing a lot with my brother as a child, so it has something nostalgic. Otherwise, caring for Alcestis or training with him.

12. Have you ever hurt anyone in any way before?

It was my duty before, sort of. And in the time I have been around, yes, sadly quite a bit.

13. Ever… killed anyone before?

Indeed I did.

14. What kind of animal are you?

I am not the Animal, that is Ces. But if I would be an animal... Not sure sure. Maybe a black cat.

15. Name your worst habits?

Probably that I can still get very intimidating if I do not quite think about it. Also, maybe nail biting, but I swear I have it under control.

16. Do you look up to anyone at all?

Mhh... My friends. Some of them went through so much shit, just to be blunt. And they can still continue on, and be happy! I really admire that.

17. Are you gay, straight or bisexual?

Mh... I think bi. I think I would not mind either! As long as the personality fits.

18. Did you attend school?

Tell me how many slaves you know that showed up in school, please.

19. Ever want to marry and have kids one day?

I cannot have biological kids, being a Godlike is... Troubling, in that regard. However, I do have Vela! And I think I would be happy with adopted kids just as much! Married, maybe, who knows?

20. Do you have any fangirls/fanboys?

Hehe, I wish. Godlike are not exactly popular, and even Berath priests are more the... emotionless type. So nothing there either. However, I do hope I can be example for other Godlike! I got quite far, and hope I can, at some point, also build up a safe haven for Godlike as well and give them a better life and hope!

21. What are you most afraid of?

Good question. I think going back to being a Slave, or my brother really being dead.

22. What do you usually wear?

Depends on my mood, mostly anything that is comfortable. But I like to wear stuff that hides most of my body. My skin looks rather scary.

23. What’s one food that tempts you?

Mhmhmhh... Fruits. Fruits are great. Best ones are cherries!

24. Am I annoying you?

Not quite, I like answering questions, do not worry.

25. Well, it’s still not over!

Nice!

26. What class are you (low/middle/high)?

Former slave, so I started out lowest class. Now though, Lady of Caed Nua, so I made it to the high class in just about two years, for that matter.

27. How many friends do you have?

A few! And I am quite happy with that, I still try to be in contact with them, even after we split ways for the time being.

28. What are your thoughts on pie?

As long as it is fruit pie, it is good.

29. Favorite drink?

Sweet wine, probably, does not exactly matter which taste.

30. What’s your favorite place?

It is a small place. A round stone circle behind a cave, with a strange machine on it. It may sound weird, but when I had the first vision there, my life did change for the better after all. I am happy I was there, even if there have been struggles with each step I took away from it.

31. Are you interested in anyone?

Possibly... But I will most certainly not tell who. Or in which way to begin with!

32. That was a stupid question…

Not quite, but I still won’t tell.

33. Would you rather swim in a lake or the ocean?

The Ocean! I love the sea, I truly do! There is nothing better then to just watch the waves come and go.

34. What’s your type?

I... never really thought about it. Before, I didn not exactly have time during my duties, and that I was supposed to scare people away. I only went around for a year before I then got into that trouble, and since then, I have been busy in Caed Nua and have also been busy with trying to raise Vela. I have interest in someone, but to be honest, I do not even know if he is my “type”.

35. Any fetishes?

To be honest, I do not know. Never had a partner before, or ever got into that stuff.

36. Camping or outdoors?

Depends on the weather! If it isn’t raining and if possible not snowing, then only the sky above me!

[youremyplayground]

Beauty of the Shore Chapter 5

Confusion filled Hannah’s gut. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she needed to talk to him. Like he had something to tell her. She was brought out of her thoughts by Aaron and Tori asking if she was coming as they walked towards the boat. As she went to step onto the boat, she saw a flash of red in her peripheral vision and looked over to see another boy around her age wading in the water, this one with bright red hair. He also was glaring at Hannah. She had never seen him before yet his stare held so much hatred.

“Whoa, wonder what his problem is,” Hannah said to Aaron and Tori.

   Kun slapped himself as soon as he went back underwater, he could’ve gotten caught by her. Sure, that mother and her daughter didn’t think anything of his tail, but who knows if Hannah would be the same. He knew the way he went under, exposed his tail, but all he could think of was getting out of there as fast as he could. He sighed to himself and swam to the bottom of the ocean and laid there, staring at the boat he assumed Hannah was getting on.

 To his surprise, the flash of green and red swam above him. Taeyong swam to the surface and looked straight at the boat. Kun furrowed his brows and swam up to him, staying a little further away. He could see Taeyong was staring directly at Hannah as she climbed onto the boat before going back under the surface and making eye contact with Kun. The look of immense anger was quickly replaced with surprise and the same childish glee he had yesterday.

 “Oh, Kun! I didn’t see you there! What are you doing here? Just human gazing?”

 “Uh, yeah. What about you?” Kun asked him, glancing at the boat Hannah was on as it’s motor started and began to take off.

 “Same. I like to see what they’re doing when they’re at places like this. It’s really interesting to see them get around swimming in the ocean.” He smiled widely.

 Kun couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something about this man. Like this cheery attitude he had was a facade.

 “Alright, well I better get back to looking for my sister! Have fun watching the humans!” Taeyong chirped, swimming away from him and heading towards the open ocean as Hannah’s boat took off.

 Kun’s instincts told him to follow Taeyong and see what he was up to, that he wasn’t actually looking for the missing mermaid, like he said he was. Although, he did misjudge just how fast the redhead was. It worked out for the stealth portion of following, but no so much for keeping up with him. It was clear that Taeyong was very adept at speed.

 Eventually, Taeyong turned towards an island and swam towards that. Kun noticed Hannah’s boat was still in the open ocean and people began to jump off the side of it and went diving. Nervousness started to bubble in his stomach. He really didn’t want to get caught. Knowing full well he should just give up on chasing Taeyong, he continued to follow him until he turned into an underwater cove. Kun slowed down and instead focused on listening to what Taeyong was doing. He wracked his brain for an excuse if he got caught by him.

 “You wench! You said you had taken care of her! Why didn’t you tell me you left her alive?!” Kun was brought out of his thoughts by Taeyong screaming, “My clan is looking everywhere for her because one of the youngest had a vision she was still alive and with a merman of a different clan!”

 “Lower your voice boy. I may not have killed the rat, but I made sure to keep her away of your kind. Your youngling is making it up.”

 “See, that’s how I know you’re lying because there is a male from another clan hanging around here.”

 “I can assure you I know what I’m doing. I’m assuming by the anger you’re displaying that you’ve seen her. As a human.”

 “She may look human, but I don’t know if I trust your damned spells. That one you had me give my dreaded mother didn’t kill her either.”

 “Listen here, fish. I have never cared about your familial problems. I got an experiment out of this deal. Now leave before I turn you into sushi.”

 Kun’s eyebrows furrowed. That voice sounded familiar.

 “This isn’t over, human. I will make sure she dies. I won’t let her take my crown.”

 “Lay a finger on her and rest assured, your crown will never make it to you.”

    “Hannah, are you sure you’ll be okay by yourself?” Tori asked, fitting her flippers on.

 “Of course, just don’t break the camera. It was really expensive!”

 “Why do you think Aaron isn’t holding it?”

 “Hey! I heard that!” Aaron’s voice came through the radio.

 “That was the point!” Hannah laughed.

 Tori grabbed the camera off the table and made her way to the side of the boat before jumping into the water. Hannah looked at the tv and got her notebook out, ready to take notes. Luckily for her, she never had to set a toe in the water to study the wildlife in the ocean. She just had to send her two classmates that she’s friends with into the water with a camera.

 “Tori, that starfish, am I seeing it wrong or is it feeding on a salmon?”

 “Yes, ma’am. It looks like the salmon was injured by what I’m guessing is a sea lion. I wonder why it didn’t eat all of it.”

   Kun swam a little ways away to hide before Taeyong would see him at the beginning of the cove.

 “It probably got spooked by something.” Kun heard Aaron’s voice coming from nearby and his eyes widened.

 He was between a rock and a hard place now. He’ll either be spotted by a human or by a potentially homicidal merman. Looking around frantically, he tried to find another place he could hide. Aaron crested the rock formation a little ways away and got distracted by the coral residing on it.

 “Oh wow, Tor, come look at this!”

 “What is it?”

 “A massive brain coral!”

 Kun needed to move, now.

  “Let me see!” Hannah exclaimed into her radio.

 This was the downside to being terrified of the ocean. She absolutely loved everything to do with it, but at the same time, she about had an anxiety attack when her professor instructed them to go discover what flora and fauna lived in the nearby coral reef. She thought about just saying screw it and put on diving gear, but knew if she did she’d panic.

 “Hold your horses, woman. I still have to make my way over to him.” Tori laughed, pointing the camera at how far away Aaron was from her.

 As she swam closer to him, Hannah swore she could see the flash of a teal tail swim behind him. Leaning forward, she squinted her eyes as if that would let her see clearer on the monitor.

 “Aaron, what just swam next to you?”

 “What do you mean? Nothing.”

 “I just saw a teal tail behind you.”

   “A teal tail?” Aaron’s voice sounded super confused.

 Kun’s heart was beating out of his chest. He had to make a move to hide in a cave behind Aaron. It was way too small for them to fit in with all their gear, but he knew it was a risky move.

 “Are you sure you’re not seeing stuff, Hannah?” Aaron laughed.

 Suddenly a pair of hands appeared at the mouth of the cave. Kun tried his hardest to squeeze himself further back, but it was too narrow even for him. He just had to hope they wouldn’t see him.

 “Could it have been a parrot fish?” Tori asked.

   “No, it was way bigger than a parrot fish would be. I can’t think of what would be that big and that color.” Hannah said, frustrated. She so wanted to jump into the water and go investigate herself.

 “Stick the camera in this cave, Tori,” Aaron suggested.

 “No, I can already tell that’s too small for whatever I saw. Um, just look around. There has to be something.”

 “Uh actually, I think we should leave,” Tori said, sounding nervous.

 “Why?”

 “Apparently it’s lunchtime for the sharks and I may not be as much of a baby about the ocean as Hannah, but I don’t want to test my luck with sharks.”

 “Hey!” Hannah exclaimed.

   “Alright, we’re heading back.” Aaron laughed, his hands disappearing from the mouth of the cave. Kun could hear them talking as they got further away.

 Sighing in relief, he relaxed and noticed he had been pressing his body against a very annoyed looking octopus and immediately moved away from it. Not that it understood him, he silently apologized to it. Suddenly, the light streaming in from the mouth of the cave was blocked. This time by a bright head of hair.

 “Oh! What are you doing here?” Taeyong asked, looking at Kun with curious eyes, “Ah! Did you follow the humans’ boat and almost got caught?”

 Taeyong’s voice sounded like he knew exactly what happened. That Kun had followed him and not the humans. Kun needed to think up something, any excuse he could so that the redhead wouldn’t try to bait him into admitting that he followed him.

 “Where my clan is from there are no humans, especially diving ones.”

 “Oh, yeah that must’ve been your first time hiding from them. My clan lives pretty close to the land so humans snoop in our land all the time. Luckily they can’t ever fit in the entrances, neither can their equipment. But, man, did you get lucky. I saw you swim in here and the humans headed this way so I made the sharks come over here.”

 “Wait, you MADE them?”

 “Well yeah. I found some and brought them over.”

 “How?!” Kun was shocked. His clan had fish as pets, but they were all small fish. Even then, they could only train them to do small tasks like clearing out sand from hovels and things like that.

 “Ah, secret of my clan I’m afraid. Can’t reveal that to you.” Taeyong winked, holding out his hand to Kun. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I’m afraid I can’t tell them to not eat you and the octopus looks pretty pissed off you’re in its home.”