#where she finds out that eggman living and sonic being around made shadow be released from the cryofreezer the day before maria did

[mephiles-the-jester]

its 12am for me and i have many thoughts about this au where i just traumatise two older sibling sonic characters (and make metal a transgirl dating amy)

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #1053: Extending the Family Tree (Sonic)

9:15 a.m. at Angel Island: Knuckles' Living Room......

Rouge: (Takes a Deep Breath Before Speaking) So, Doc, you mind telling us what brings you doing here in our establishment? In the middle of the morning?

Shadow: Besides giving us a headache?

Omega: And giving me approximately one thousand, three hundred, and sixty-two ways to exterminate you?

Knuckles: (Growls While Slowly Cracking his Knuckles) And the words "Master Emerald" better not come out of that mouth of yours either.......

Eggman: Oh will you relax? I'm not here for the Emerald. At least not yet anyways.....

Knuckles: What was that?

Eggman: Nothing! B-But anyways.....('Clears Throat') I'm came here today because there is someone I would like you all to meet, given we're now in the New Year or whatever.

????: Angel Island.....

Everyone in the room turn their heads to see Metal Sonic walking inside the room with a little girl holding his robotic hand.

????: Such beautiful, historic landscape for one to live and look after peacefully, don't you agree, Big Brother- (Suddenly Gasps and Points at the Black Hedgehog in her Viewpoint) It you!~

Shadow slowly points at himself in silence and a bit of confusion.

????: Yes, you. (Hovers her Way to Where Shadow Sits At) Are you really Shadow the Hedgehog? (Eyes Begins to Sparkle) The Ultimate Lifeform?~

Shadow: That....is what most people refer to me as, yes.

????: Amazing. (Hovers Around the Ultimate Lifeform as She Observes Him) Father has told me so much about you ever since the day I was firstcreated. But to have the opportunity and privilege to meet you in person is truly an honor to behold.

Shadow: (Starts Smiling a Little) Well, I believe it's an honor to finally meet you in person too, Sage-

Sage: (Suddenly Gasps Loudly Again Before Hovering Over to Omega) And you!~

Omega: (Slowly Points at Himself).....Meep.

Sage: (Starts Observing Around Omega) Such enhanced machinery and a menacing yet very well-made design. You are the most powerful E-Series robot my father has created thus far. (Smiles Brightly) Which makes us SIBLINGS!!~ (Happily Hugs Omega)

Omega: (Points at Sage Hugging Him) Who this small, floating child?

Eggman: (Smiles Brightly) Sage Robotnik, my pride and joy!

Metal Sonic: (Turns to Eggman With a Glare) ('Mechanical Sounds')

Eggman: (Sighs While Rolling his Eyes) Alright fine.... Both Sage and Metal Sonic are equally my pride and joys. (Glares Back at Metal Sonic) Happy!?

Metal Sonic: (Holds Up an "Okay" Sign with a Smile on his Face (Albeit with Only his Eyes Closed in an Satisfied Manner))

Eggman: (Turns Back Everyone Else Present in the Room) Anywho, ever since the day she has been reawaken as a full fledged being, Sage here has nern interested in leaving out the laboratory to explore and experience the actual outside world in her perspective-

Sage: Which I adored very much, by the way~

Eggman: Yep, loved it instantly. So much so that she wants to start making new friends and learning more about her family lineages for her New Year Resolutions. And I figured: "Hey! What better place to start than to come here and meet the Ultimate Lifeform who helped me find the exact codes and instructions I need to restore my daughter from a brief, digital comatosed state and the robot I considered as one of my proudest creati-

Omega: (Suddenly Slams his Hand on a Coffee Table in Front of Him) Do NOT try to deceive us with your false assumptions!!!

Rouge: (Immediately Gives Omega a Motherly Glare) Omega!

Knuckles: (Crosses his Arms at the Robot) What did we say about slamming your hands on the coffee table?

Omega: (Stares at the Glaring Couple For a Brief Second Before Sighing in Defeat) Never release your frustrations towards tables or any other suitable objects around the area. Especially if that said frustrations is aims towards Dr. Eggman.

Sage: (Frowns Worryingly) Omega, what did father do to make you this upset?

Omega: (Angrily Points at Eggman) He wasted my potential as the Ultimate E-Series Combatant by deactivating me and sealing me away inside an abandoned base for five and a half weeks!

Sage: (Gasps Once More Before Turning to Eggman With Genuine Shock) Father, is what Omega said is true?

Eggman: .....Well. I mean....I....(Slowly Shrugs While Put On an Awkward Smile on his Face) May or....may not have done something like that in my time....

The rest of the Team Dark Members (including Knuckles) shakes their heads at the doctor in silence, all while Metal Sonic some remarks under his mechanical sound system.

Eggman: (Angrily Points at Metal Sonic) Quiet, you! Or so.help me, I'll-

Sage: Father!

Eggman: (Gets Startled Before Slowly Turning Back to his Daughter) Y-Yes, dear?

Sage: (Slowly Crosses her Arms With a Disappointed Glare on her Face) I am appalled at you. How could you be so cruel into locking up one of your greatest intentions for weeks on end without giving him a proper chance to be put in use?

Omega: Yes, doctor. (Crosses his Arms as Well) Enlighten us.

Eggman: Look, I have a perfectly good reason for doing so! I had Shadow kept inside the generator tube in that very same base until further notice at the time. So, I figured.....since you were created to be the strongest out of all the E-Series Robots, that.....you'd be capable of guard duty and look after him, in case everything goes south, of course. (Smiles More Brightly and Awkwardly)

Omega: But have you ever assigned your previous E-Series iteration to do guard duty at one point in their short-lived existence?

Eggman; (Raises his Finger to Answer....Only to Realize He Couldn't Think of Anything) Uhhh.....Not really, b-but come now! There has to be some good out of being in that base for so long, right!?

Omega: .....Well, I suppose the day I've met Shadow and Rouge for the first time is the only life changing positive I can think of. These are first two companions I will forever cherish for the rest of my lifespan including the new faces I have met thus.

Rouge: (Heart Immediately Begins to Melt as She Gives her Robot Baby a Loving Hug) Oh honey!~

Shadow: (Smiles Softly) We love and cherish you too, Omega.

Omega: I didn't say the love part.

Rouge: Didn't have to. We know how much you adore us~ (Kiss Omega on the Cheek)

Omega: (Felt the Hint of Blush Formong on his Mechanical Cheeks) Mother, not in front of the guests......

Eggman: (Smiles Proudly) Well, would you at that? My case & point has been thoroughly proven today-

Omega: (Angrily Points at Eggman Again) Don't ruin the moment!

Eggman: (Immediately Shuts Up) Sorry.

Sage: Omega?

Omega: (Turns Back to Sage) Yes, small, floating child? State your business.

Sage: (Nervously Has Her Hands Behind her Back) U-Umm....I know there is no definitive way to excuse my father's flaw and idiotic life choices-

Eggman: Hey!

Sage: But please believe me when I say that alone will never stop me from admiring you.

Omega: You....admire my presence?

Sage: (Happily Nodded) Why, of course! I've been reading through your data not too long ago and couldn't help but to admire your sheer willpower and determination into destroying any that comes your path, no matter how difficult the objectives get. It's such a shame that my father never took the time to appericate it as I do.

Omega: You appericate my existence?

Sage: Wholeheartedly. And I will forever do so for as long as I shall live. (Properly Bows her Head to Omega) I only ask in return that you would accept my offer as being my big brother? Pretty please?

Omega: Well.....you seem to be kind, honest and less arrogant and thick-headed as your father-

Eggman: I can hear you, you know!?

Omega: (Stares at Sage For a Few Seconds Before Simply Nodding) Very well, if this is the request of what you wish for, then.....(Starts Looking Away While Scratching Behind his Head) I suppose having you as sibling wouldn't be too much of a hindranc-

Sagae: (Happily Cheers in Rejoice) Yay!~ (Pulls Omega into a Very Loving Hug) I promise you will not regret your decision in the slightest!~ (Gives Omega a Kiss on the Metal Cheek)

Rouge: (Immediately Gushes at the Whole Exchange) Oh my gossssssh!~ That's so sweet!~ Wait! (Quickly Picks her Phone Up From the Coffee Table and Holds it in Front if the Newly Sibling Duo) Sage honey, would you be a dear and kiss your big brother on the cheek again for me?

Sage: (Happily Nodded) Yes, mommy!~ (Kiss Omega Again on the Cheek)....A-Am I allowed to call you that?

Rouge: (Already in Tears) Yes, sweetie. ('Sniff') You can me that whenever you want~

Knuckles: (Rolls his Eyes Softly) Oh great, now you got the water works staring.

Rouge: Hush, Knuckies! Don't be rude in front of your daughter!!

Knuckles: My WHAT!?

Rouge: You heard me: Daughter! Which we will look after on occasions.

Knuckles: You can't be serious....

Rouge: DEADLY!!

Shadow: (Chuckles Lightly Before Turning his Attention Back to Sage) You know, if you like, I can introduce to my new extended family back in the mansion.

Sage: (Happily Nodded) Of course. I hope I can get along with them.

Shadow: Oh I wouldn't have a problem with that. Most of them are pretty friendly all things considered, mother and father especially.

Sage: (Smiles Brightly) Then I shall accept your offer to go!~ If it's okay with father of course.

Eggman: (Shrugs) I see no problem with that. (Turns to Metal Sonic) Right, Metal?

Metal Sonic: (Nodded in Agreement)

Sage: Wonderful!~ I cannot wait for the rest of our day to begins!~

Knuckles: We can start by having your dad getting your robot brotheren away from my Emerald.

Curbot: (Outside in the Distance) Ah nuts, he's on to us!

Orbot: Perhaps it's time we run and hide?

Curbot: How can we run if we don't have legs?

Orbot: Let's just go already!

Eggman: (Turns to Knuckles) You heard this whole time, haven't you?

Knuckles: Yeah, you're not slick. Now get the hell out.

@keyenuta

@26shann

@cyber-wildcat

@caleb13frede

@ma-lemons

[another-sonic-blog]

How about one where Amy discovers Shadow in stasis instead of Eggman?

By Accident 2k ShadAmy

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When Rouge told Amy about the rumor that a hedgehog was being held captive at G.U.N's Prison Island, she didn't doubt that it was Sonic.

She knew that it was a crazy thought. Even the bat told her that Sonic couldn't be there because the base in Prison Island had been shut down a long time ago. Nothing could go in or out without a fight. Still, the pink hedgehog's mind was filled with the 'what if's.'  

Amy hasn't seen Sonic for months and there was no news of him. She watched the TV, listened to the radio and even looked online whenever she could just to see where he was. The doubt that Sonic was hurt somewhere in the world haunted her mind and there was nothing that would stop Amy Rose from finding out where the love of her life was.

It was an abandoned base, so how hard could it be? It was just a matter of getting in, check out if Sonic was there or not, and then get out.

Or at least that's what she thought. She had been followed by robots and had to destroy them. Lasers, bombs, guns and all other kinds of military weapons have been used against her. Even if this wasn't Sonic, what was G.U.N trying to hide so badly? She finally reached the main room. No robots were following her now. Walking around the large space of the room, she was amazed at how dusty it was. She let out a sneeze as she dusted off the control stand. Technology wasn't her forte and for a moment she wished she had paid attention when Tails tried explaining her about computers, machines, and such. Amy pressed whatever buttons there was, yellow, green, red and nothing seemed to work. In the end, she was running out of time and patience. The pink hedgehog only wanted to see if Sonic was there or not. She took out her hammer and with all of her might, she smashed it against the panel control.

That did just the trick and she smiled as she noticed that something was coming out of the groud. A capsule raised up, almost touching the ceiling but then it came to a sudden stop. Amy continued to sneeze as the capsule had released a lot of dust and as it opened some type of fume was released as well.

Amy watched with amusement as a figure began to come out of the capsule. Her heartbeat began to raise and she twirled around in happiness at the figure above her.

"Sonic, I found you!" Amy screamed loud enough for her beloved to hear her. "Now come down here! What were you doing inside that thing?"

Amy kept her smile but it slowly began to disappeared when seconds passed and there was no answer coming from the blue one ... Was it blue?

"Sonic?"

"My name is Shadow,"

Alright, this was definitely not her Sonic. Now that her eyes were better adjusted to the darkness of the room, the figure on top of the capsule was a black and red hedgehog. His voice was deeper than Sonic's and Amy began to wonder just what in the world did she released upon herself?

"Since you were so kind to release me, my master ... I'll grant you one wish."

Amy gulped and suddenly she felt herself freeze as vermillion eyes stared at her. The stare pierced through her soul, her whole being felt electrified with such imposing manner coming from the black hedgehog. It was as if she was experiencing greatness without being part of it.

Suddenly, her trance was broken as multiples robots crashed into the main room. Shadow jumped from the top of the capsule and landed next to Amy who instinctively took out her hammer. The pink one placed herself in front of the black hedgehog, stopping him from getting any closer to the guard of robots.

"Stay behind me, I'll protect you Shadow," Amy looked side to side, trying to think of a way they could scape without Shadow getting hurt. If she throws her hammer at the robots, then she could create a path in which they can rapidly get to the exit ... if they were fast enough.

"Hey, Shadow ... Can you run fast?"

Amy quickly looked behind her to get any type of response from the black hedgehog. However, she found something unexpected. The majestic hedgehog that came out of the capsule was no longer there instead, his eyes were full of surprise and his mouth was a bit open adding to his astonishing look.

The pink one didn't have time to think about that right now. She looked back at the robots and without thinking too much about it, she threw the hammer at them. That distracted them and Amy rapidly held Shadow's hand and began to run through the path she created. She successfully got out of the room where lasers were waiting for them. Amy snapped her fingers and her hammer appeared in her hands again. She threw her hammer at the lasers and once they were destroyed she continues to run.

Amy looked back to Shadow who seemed to be lost in a trance. As if he was trapped in a dream, in a place where he had lived through this before. Terror filled his eyes and the only thing Amy wanted to do at the moment was to console him. She had never seen such a sad look on someone's face and her kind side took over. However, right now it wasn't the moment. They needed to get out of Prison Island safely first.

But there was no time. The robots were shooting at them, guns coming out of the walls was a problem as well. Amy came to a sudden stop in which she immediately turned around and looked at Shadow.

"I'll stop them as much as I can," Amy said loud enough for Shadow to break out of his trance. He looked like he was lost but immediately he gained consciousness of where he was. Seeing that Shadow was back to his self, Amy proceeded. "There is a small airplane in the jungle, run towards the east and it will be there. If I am not there in within 5 minutes, leave."

The moment Shadow heard her words come out of her mouth, an electric shock ran through his body. Suddenly, his sense were back to him, he knew what to do next.

Protect the pink hedgehog no matter what.

"I'll take care of this," Shadow said as he walked towards the robots. "It won't take long."

"No, Shadow-"

Amy tried to stop him but wasn't able to as Shadow ran towards the guard of robots. Fire coming out of his shoes, he jumped, kicked, punched, and even fly as he destroys every single robot, laser, and gun.

He was as fast as Sonic but different from the blue one, he had technique. Amy like the fighter she was, knew that he was well versed in kickboxing, different types of martial arts and Chaos ... he is good.

It took him five minutes to finish and when he did he just casually walked back to Amy, no a scratched on him. Amy still didn't fully process what just had happened and she only had a question on her mind.

"You could have done that all of this time?"

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"You can take the guest room, there are water bottles and some snacks in the kitchen."

After getting out Prison Island and returning the plane to Tails, Amy was ready to go back to her apartment to get some sleep. Shadow just followed her quietly, with excitement and amusement on his face. Amy smiled whenever Shadow looked at something interesting and his eyes would light up. The room where she found him was very old, and it made her wonder just how long Shadow was in stasis inside that capsule.

"I'll cook something in the morning and we can talk then," Amy said as she approached her room, Shadow still following her. She came to a stop right in front of her room's door. The pink hedgehog smile kidly at the black hedgehog who only had a serious look on his face.

"Your room is right over there," Amy said as she pointed at a door that was across the hallway. "Use it however you want ... Goodnight."

Shadow nodded and with an awkward smile on Amy's face, she closed the door to her room.

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Amy almost fainted when she opened the door and found Shadow standing right outside her room.

"For Chaos! Did you stay there the whole night?" Amy tried to catch her breath as she placed a hand on her chest, feeling her racing heart.

"Yes."

The pink one didn't expect an answer but she got one and what an answer it was.

"You didn't sleep?" She asked.

"I don't need to, I slept for a long time," Shadow said. "Besides I just wanted to make sure of your well being ... Yesterday, you were sneezing quite often. Sneezing may be due to a cold or allergic reaction. With your current health, we can't allow sneezing to go unnoticed Maria-"

"Maria?"

Shadow was surprised that her name came out of his lips. It came out like a whisper, like a dream. Almost impossible to come out, how many years has it passed since he last said her name?

"My apologies Master, I-"

"Do you want some food?"

Amy watched as Shadow's face soften. His hard and serious expression had become now of a surprised one. The pink hedgehog was very perceptive, she knew that there must be a reason why Shadow was kept at Prison Island. His eyes showed those of terror, pain, and a complicated past. It pained him to remember and Amy didn't want to be the cause of that.

"Let's go to the kitchen, I'll make us some pancakes."

The black hedgehog watched every single move she made. From mixing to putting the pancakes on his plate. Amy would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy someone watching her cook so eagerly.  

"Bon appetit!" Amy finished with a smile as she placed three pancakes on Shadow's plate. She sat in front of him on the dining table and began to eat. A few seconds passed in which there was complete silence.

"Why are you doing this?"

Amy looked up to face the hedgehog who once again had a serious look on his face. Camly she placed her utensils down. "What do you mean?"

"You freed me from my slumber, let me inside your house, and even feed me ... And you don't even know anything about me."

"To be honest with you, I was looking for someone when I found you by accident," Amy made a pause, the tick-tock of her wall clock was the only sound that could be heard at the moment. A certain nervousness overtook her but still, she overcame that. "And for the rest, well ... I don't care about your past. You protected me against that guard of robots! I know you are not bad, I trust you Shadow."

Words couldn't leave his mouth. Her kind words pierced through him and his heart skipped a beat the moment she smiled at him. A pure, innocent smile, full of life.

Shadow mentally shook his head, getting rid of the thoughts crossing his mind.

"Before I said that I shall grant you one wish ..." Shadow said. "But due that you have shown me such kindness, I'll grant you two wishes. It can be anything-"

"For you to eat your pancakes," Amy responded.

"But Master-"

"And for you to stop calling me Master."

A few more seconds passed in which Shadow thought the pink hedgehog was playing with him. However, it just seemed like the female hedgehog in front of him was full of surprises. She was very serious about her request and this intrigued Shadow even more.

"Are you serious?"

"I am not gonna lie, with your strength and speed, it would be easy to find Sonic, but I won't force you." Amy added, "Besides you have been asleep for a long time right? I am sure there are a lot of things you want to do now that you are free."

Suddenly, he remembered why he was here. Space Colony ARK, G.U.N., Professor Gerald Robotnik, the Eclipse Cannon, Maria, and the promise he had made to her ... to destroy the world who killed her.

"There is one thing I need to do actually," Shadow looked down to his food, although the food looked pleasant and smell good, he wasn't hungry. "But first I need to go home and to do that I need a Chaos Emerald."

"Oh? I can help you with that! Not to show off but I am great at finding people and things! I believe there even is a Chaos Emerald in the city," Amy said, once again giving him a smile. "I can take you there if you want!"

Shadow thought about it for a second. In all honesty, there was not too much to think about. He was unknown to the place, and the pink one seemed like she could be trusted. Not only that, he wanted to destroy the world but he didn't want to destroy it when the pink one is in it. He could take her to the ARK and keep her there while he finishes his business and to do that he needed to keep her close. If she wanted she could even bring that person she was looking for to keep her company.

"In return of you helping me, I'll help you find that individual you are looking for," Shadow replied. Amy's eyes shone and a beautiful smile decorated her face and once again, Shadow's heart skipped a beat.

"You will help me? Really?"

The pink one stood up from her chair, her hands placed on the dining table. Amy tilted her head and without noticing her ears lowered and her tail wiggled from side to side in an excited manner. The black hedgehog just began to wonder how such a cute hedgehog was able to live in such a rotten planet.

Shadow nodded once again a soft smile placed on his lips. "Yes, I will help you Master."

Amy's let out a small laugh trying to hide a little bit of her embarrassment. "Please, stop calling me Master ... I don't like it."

"How should I refer to you then?"

The moment Shadow heard Amy's soft laugh, he discovered he wanted to hear it again. Maybe if he calls her the way she wants to, he will hear it again.

As if Chaos heard his prayer, Amy smiled and giggled at the black hedgehog satisfying his need to hear her laugh once again.

"Just call me by my name," she said. "Amy Rose."

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A/N: I loved writing this! This could even turn out to be a small fanfiction series but we will see about that. Thank you so much for the nice prompt! This really inspired me!!

[maxerikson]

The Character Development of Sonic the Hedgehog: A Character Analysis

The Sonic the Hedgehog video game series is one that does not require very deep or complicated stories to go with their games. Due to the simplistic nature of the franchise, its characters are probably best described as two-dimensional, which would be fine, because they don’t require that third dimension of depth. The main character himself, Sonic the Hedgehog, doesn’t even have much character development throughout the series; at least at first glance that would seem to be the case, but I am here to tell you all that Sonic the Hedgehog has gone through a lot of character development throughout his adventures, making him very three-dimensional. There are four key character arcs that Sonic has gone through over the course of the main series, and I’m going to go over all of them while examining Sonic’s development in the major installments.

-

From Loner to Team Player

I believe at the very start of the series, Sonic the Hedgehog was a loner, who had trouble making friends and might have even closed himself off to others. In Sonic the Hedgehog 1, Sonic was the only playable character, and the only other character in the whole game was the villain, Dr. Eggman. More characters appeared in later titles, many more, but none of them are people Sonic knew before Sonic 1. They were all strangers to Sonic when they first appeared. Another piece of evidence comes from Amy Rose. Several years ago now, Sega did a mock Q&A with Sonic, and one of the questions asked of him was why he wasn’t interested in Amy. His answer was because he was too busy with his adventures to have a relationship (although there’s also an inappropriate age difference between the two, with Sonic being 15 years old, and Amy being 12).

It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think that this makes it hard to form any relationship, whether romantic or platonic. Being able to move as fast as he can, the world around Sonic is just too slow for him, and the people that were in his life before Tails and Amy likely just couldn’t keep up. Not only that, but his powers and his status as a hero likely make him a target, which would make him dangerous to be around, as if his super speed didn’t make him dangerous enough already. However, Amy would force her way into Sonic’s life, not minding the danger, and in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic met Tails, who was able to keep up with him thanks to his propeller-like twin tails, and tagged along on his adventure to stop Eggman from destroying West Island in his search for the Chaos Emeralds. Tails may have been Sonic’s first real friend in who knows how long, maybe even ever.

That being said, Sonic still saw Tails and Amy as people he had to protect, and he had trouble getting along with people like Knuckles, who was also quite the loner, although much more so than Sonic. Then Sonic Adventure 1 took place, and it seemed like Sonic’s fears were coming true. When the Tornado 1 was shot down during the first attack on the Egg Carrier, Sonic and Tails were separated. Sonic had no idea if Tails was OK, so he needed to find him quickly, but Amy just had to show up asking for him to help a lost birdie. Sonic never agreed to this, but when Zero arrived to capture Amy and the bird, Sonic was determined to rescue them, but Zero escaped with them. Sonic had failed to protect his friends, and he wouldn’t have needed to if he was their friend in the first place.

Sonic didn’t have long to dwell on this failure, however, because Tails almost immediately appeared in his Tornado 2, which he and Sonic used to attack the Egg Carrier, and this time successfully made on board, where they find out that Amy had already escaped custody...with help from an Eggman robot, no less! In this moment, Sonic has learned that his friends can take care of themselves, meaning he can have friends without putting them in danger.

The story for Sonic Adventure 1 had a central theme that was used as the inspiration for the main song, Open Your Heart. The story was all about how you need to open your heart to others, because closing yourself off will create a cycle of pain and hatred. This lesson was put into words when Sonic gave his speech to Tikal before the final boss battle, telling her why they shouldn’t just seal Chaos back into the Master Emerald. I believe Sonic wouldn’t have been able to make this speech at the beginning of the game, because it’s a lesson he’s been learning since the beginning of the series, and it had just sunk in. That speech is the climax of Sonic letting his friends be part of his life, but it isn’t the finale.

In Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic found himself framed for a crime he didn’t commit and thrown in Prison Island. How did he escape? He didn’t—at least not by himself. It was actually Amy who released Sonic from his cell while Tails was keeping Dr. Eggman busy. Not only could Sonic’s friends take care of themselves, but they can even be relied on to save the day when Sonic can’t. Sonic is shown to have learned this lesson when he gets trapped on the ARK, and about to be jettisoned to his apparent death; during that scene he tells Tails to take care of Amy, letting him know that Sonic has full faith in him to be a hero in Sonic’s absence. By Sonic Heroes, Sonic has become a true team player, treating Tails and Knuckles as equals as they worked together to stop Eggman.

A lot of this is intertwined with the next area of development I’m about to talk about, which is….

-

Sonic’s Confidence

Sonic the Character is well known for his confidence. A lot of people view him as cocky, but I’ve never seen him as such. However, I believe that’s because by Sonic Adventure 1, he’s already lost a good chunk of that cockiness (all games before SA1 had what I like to call ‘video game stories’, with little-to-no dialogue or cutscenes). One way a person can combat loneliness is by convincing themselves that they don’t need other people in their lives—they’re awesome enough by themselves! Sonic in particular wouldn’t need to try that hard to convince himself of this. He was able to defeat Eggman and destroy his base in Sonic 1 all by himself, and no-one even died. He got some help from Tails in Sonic 2 and 3, but he was basically support. Speaking of Sonic 3, this game basically started with Sonic, as Super Sonic, getting the super knocked out of him when Knuckles caught him by surprise. That definitely would have been a blow to Sonic’s ego. First Metal Sonic and now this gullible Knucklehead? Sonic keeps finding opponents who can actually go toe-to-toe with him.

Still, as far as Sonic was concerned, he needed to be as unstoppable as he believed himself to be. No-one else can do what he can, which means saving the world was his responsibility alone. Now I would like to point out something I said in the previous section: “Sonic had failed to protect his friends” in Sonic Adventure 1. Sonic experienced his first real failure, and what happened? Tails and Amy turned up OK without Sonic saving them. Sonic doesn’t always need to protect them, something that is further proven in Sonic Adventure 2, which also featured more of Sonic’s failure. First, he’s captured by G.U.N. after being framed by theft, then he meets Shadow—the guy who framed him—and learns that this lookalike can outclass him. First Knuckles, now this faker? Sonic keeps meeting people who can make dents in his ego. Speaking of which, he’s immediately captured by G.U.N. again, and needs Tails and Amy to rescue him. Then there’s the final boss battle, during which Shadow—who was fighting alongside Sonic—apparently dies, and although the two of them saved the planet from destruction, Sonic couldn’t save Shadow.

Sonic has realized that he’s not invincible, but he also doesn’t need to carry the whole weight of the world on his shoulders, because his friends can help. We know Sonic has learned this lesson, because at the end of Team Sonic’s story in Sonic Heroes, Sonic admits to Knuckles that he wouldn’t have been able succeed in this journey without him and Tails, and thanks him; and you know this is a big deal because Knuckles responds with an expression of utter shock! Does this mean Sonic Heroes is the end of this particularly character arc for Sonic? No, because now Sonic was underconfident. Once someone realizes they’re not as amazing as they believed themselves to be, they begin feeling inadequate. This is best illustrated in Sonic Unleashed. At the beginning of this game, Sonic is at his lowest point. Eggman  not only defeated Sonic’s super form, but used the power from it to split the planet apart. As a result of this failure, Sonic was turned into a beastly werehog, and he accidentally gave someone amnesia (or so he believes).

Later in the game, Sonic is found by Amy, but she thinks she’s confused a stranger for Sonic, so she apologizes and runs off to find her crush. Considering how much Sonic finds Amy’s crush on him annoying, you’d think Sonic would be delighted by this, but nope! He’s clearly saddened by this, and we get a mopey werehog. That’s because his werehog form is a reminder of his failure, and of his self-perceived inadequacy; but then Chip regains his memories and reveals he’s actually Light Gaia. Sonic theorizes that this is why he’s still himself on the inside when he turns into a werehog, because Chip was with him that whole time, but Chip tells Sonic that it was all Sonic. It was Sonic’s own willpower that kept him sane. I would also like to point out that this is the first main series game in a long time in which Sonic is the only playable character. That’s why I think it’s very important that the main theme of this game’s story is about Sonic realizing the power he had inside himself all along, regaining his confidence and becoming Super Sonic once more to defeat Dark Gaia.

In short, Sonic went from being overconfident to underconfident to confident. However, he’s still very impulsive.

-

Chaos Impulse Control

It only makes sense that someone with super speed would lack patience, and while Sonic has always been shown to be pretty impatient, it wasn’t until Sonic Lost World that it came to be an important part of a game’s story, at least explicitly. I feel like there are examples throughout the main series where Sonic’s impulsiveness was reflected in gameplay and level design. The only examples I can think of from the top of my head though are two from Sonic Adventure 1. Perhaps one of the reasons that orca attacked was because it was startled by Sonic running through its enclosure at such high speeds? Maybe Sonic was the one who accidentally caused that avalanche he had to snowboard away from? Who knows? All I do know, is that Sonic Lost World was the first game that really made full use of Sonic’s impulsiveness.

In SLW, Sonic recklessly got rid of the conch Eggman was using to control the Deadly Six, which made things worse. Sonic’s impulsiveness then got Tails captured and almost roboticized. In the end, Sonic acknowledged his mistakes and apologized to Tail; so does that mean Sonic has learned his lesson? Well, yes, but I believe this will continue to happen. Allow me to repeat myself: Sonic has super speed. Living life with such a power is definitely going to be like living with attention deficiency and hyperactivity. The world is always going to feel too slow for Sonic, which means he’s always going to be in a rush to make things faster. It’s something he’s probably going to live with for most of his remaining life, even if he’s aware of it. Luckily, he has friends who can support him by helping him reign himself in, or by helping him fix his mistakes when he is unable to.

-

Before I move on to the fourth and final area of Sonic’s character development, you may have noticed that there are three major Sonic games I haven’t mentioned so far. That’s because Sonic doesn’t go through any development in Sonic Colors or Sonic Forces. On the surface, that seems to be the same for Sonic Generations, but just think about it for a few seconds: Sonic is traveling through his past during this game. He is seeing a lot of reminders of his past, which could make him think back and reflect on the lessons he’s learned since beginning his adventures on South Island, reaffirming those lessons onto himself; and don’t forget, there are two of him in this game. While Modern Sonic is reflecting on his past, Classic Sonic is getting a glimpse of his future; of the person he could eventually become and the lessons he’ll need to learn to reach that point.

Still, that’s mostly headcanon. It would have been nice if it were more explicit though, and Sonic actually talked about this stuff at least a little. At least we got Sonic telling his past self that his future “is going to be great,” clarifying that Sonic is happy with where he is in life, and that he doesn’t hold any regrets. Which begs the question: What else is there left for Sonic? Well, there is one more part of himself that Sonic is still learning about….

-

Sonic’s Powers

How is Sonic able to move so fast? So far, fans haven’t been given an answer, and Sonic doesn’t appear to know either. Remember when I said Sega did a mock Q&A with Sonic? Well, in that Q&A, Sonic revealed that he was able to run at super speed for as long as he could remember, with no idea how or why he has this power. Although we have yet to be given an answer in these games, we have  gotten at least one game where Sonic was shown to be thinking about it, and one where he might have been.

When Sonic and Shadow were working together during the final boss battle in Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow exclaimed that he figured out that Sonic is the ultimate lifeform, not Shadow. How...is this possible? Shadow was supposed to have been created by Prof. Robotnik to be the ultimate lifeform. There are hints in the game that Robotnik took inspiration from Angel Island’s hieroglyphs, which we know from Sonic & Knuckles depict Sonic, but I want to focus more on the game’s final scene, which shows Sonic thinking about what Shadow said, and how Prof. Robotnik was trying to create the ultimate lifeform.

“Am I really the ultimate lifeform? What does that mean exactly? Does it have anything to do with my speed?” These are likely the questions going through Sonic’s head after these events. That scene hinted at Sonic having questions about his own origins, and he might have been given his first real clue; but has this come up again at all during the series? Perhaps it did, in Sonic Unleashed.

Remember how Chip said Sonic was still Sonic even when he was a werehog because of the power inside of him? Is that just Sonic’s inner strength and willpower, or could it also have something to do with him being the ultimate lifeform? That’s probably what Sonic’s thinking at this time, but who knows?

-

Conclusion

Sonic began his adventures as an arrogant loner with impulse control issues, but over time he has grown into a humble team player with impulse control issues. It doesn’t seem like a huge difference, but I think it’s pretty important. The next, logical thing to do with Sonic as a character is to explore the origins of his powers, at least if we want to see more character development, but it isn’t the only option. Another path writers could take is relapse, and I think Sonic Forces has created an opportunity for this route, despite its awful story. At the beginning of this game, Sonic gets defeated and imprisoned for six months. During that time, Eggman conquered most of the world, all because Sonic was there, basically proving Sonic’s former belief that he needs to be the one to save everyone as correct.

If I had to choose though, I’d rather see more about Sonic’s powers. Still, what should Sega do if Sonic’s character becomes fully developed? Is it time for a reboot? No, not necessarily. There’s nothing wrong with a flat character arc, after all. Instead of having Sonic improve himself, future stories could exclusively portray the characters around them going through character arcs as a result of Sonic’s actions and his relationships with them. That’s technically already something we see in most Sonic games, but that’s while Sonic is going through his own character arcs, at least in the major installments. In minor main series Sonic games, like Sonic Rush, it doesn’t seem like Sonic goes through any development, but the characters around him do. That could become the norm if Sonic completes his development, and that’s OK.

Here’s the big question though: Was any of this character development intentional? Probably not. At the very least, I doubt it was planned by Sega’s higher-ups, and more like the result of individual writers each trying to create the best stories they can, and then all of that work put together created a happy accident. Honestly, it doesn’t matter. Sonic lived and learned to open his heart, and to work with his friends to become stronger together, while also acknowledging the endless possibility of what’s inside of him. Sonic the Hedgehog is my favorite video game character, and realizing all of this just makes him even better in my point of view. With this analysis, I hope I’ll get people to appreciate his character as much as I do.

[seventeendeer]

you've mentioned shadow in some of your other responses about rouge and omega, but what's his deal? afaik he was created in a lab of some kind as the "ultimate lifeform"? why? who's maria? why does shadow have a grudge against sonic? :oc

Shadow’s story is arguably the longest and most needlessly complex in the series, so I’ll boil it down to it’s basic beats!

around 50 years before the games’ present time, Eggman’s grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, was tasked by the military with unlocking the secret to immortality. Gerald initially hesitated, afraid that his research would be used for waging war - however, he soon realized that it may also help him cure the illness of his beloved granddaughter, Maria, and despite his fears, he relented and started the project.

far away from Earth, on a space colony called the ARK, he began his work. the first round of experiments was a failure, and he soon realized that in order for his work to go anywhere, he would need help. he soon came into contact with an ageless alien named Black Doom, who agreed to let Gerald use his DNA in his experiments, on the condition that when Black Doom returned, the resulting life form was to help him retrieve the seven chaos emeralds (most people outside the fandom know about these, they’re basically super-powerful magic rocks that make crazy stuff happen if you can get all seven). Gerald agreed, and from his new experiments using Black Doom’s blood, Shadow was born.

(there’s also a whole little side-plot about how Gerald based Shadow’s physical appearance on some ancient imagery he found in some ruins depicting a being that looked a lot like Sonic, hence why Sonic and Shadow look so similar, but this plot line was never elaborated on or explained - maybe Sonic gets into some time travel shenanigans later in his life, who knows)

now, Gerald was a smart dude, and decidedly Not a fan of the military, so in order to prevent Shadow from being used for evil, he had given him sapience and a good heart, in the hopes that even if someone tried to force him to be a weapon, he would be able to refuse to carry out their orders. this was a success, and as Shadow developed, he became a part of Gerald’s family. Maria, who lived on the ARK with her grandfather, as her illness made her vulnerable and unable to survive outside of the sterile research facility, especially bonded with Shadow, and the two of them were as close as siblings. they promised each other that one day, they’d go down to the planet’s surface and see the world together when Maria was better and Shadow was ready to be set free.

however, the military soon learned about the immense success of Shadow’s creation, and they became scared of his power. in the end, soldiers were deployed on the ARK and tasked with killing everyone aboard and arresting Gerald. at the last moment, Maria managed to stuff Shadow in an escape pod, before she was killed along with Gerald’s research team.

unfortunately, after Shadow’s escape pod crashed on Earth, he was quickly located and brought to Gerald, who was forced to continue to experiment on him under supervision, presumably to try to make him safe for the military to use. when Gerald learned that Maria had been killed, he lost his mind to grief, and instead altered Shadow’s memories so that once Shadow was released, he would believe himself to be a link in a plan to destroy the world. Gerald was eventually executed, and Shadow was put into stasis for fifty years.

in the game where Shadow first appeared, he was woken up from stasis and followed what his false memories told him to do, while the other characters fought him and eventually helped him remember what really happened. at the last moment, Shadow fully recovered his memories and chose to save the world he nearly destroyed. he almost died in the attempt and his memories were fully wiped in the incident, and then he went on a three-to-four game long journey to get them all back and find out what the whole deal with Black Doom was all about. in the games’ present day, he’s aware of his past, but has chosen to leave it behind in order to become a full-fledged hero who protects the world from evil. he’s still a little rude and aloof about it, but there’s never any doubt that he means well.

as for his grudge against Sonic, honestly, it seems like he just thinks he’s annoying. they tend to clash because of their differing methods in dealing with conflicts, but they’re actually friends. Shadow just refuses to acknowledge it unless Sonic is actually dying or dead or about to die, he’s just that kind of person

[mobius-prime]

266. Sonic Universe #1

The Shadow Saga (Part 1 of 4): Living Weapons

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: Jason Jensen

We've finally arrived at the comic's most long-standing sister series, Sonic Universe! Like its predecessor KtE, SU ran in arcs of several issues, though the arcs were made up of four issues at a time instead of three, and largely focused on side stories that ran at the same time as the main plotline, usually following the adventures of characters other than Sonic. This allows us to get a greater insight into what the expanded cast of the comics is up to without taking the focus of the main comic's plot away from its titular hero. If we're being honest, some of my favorite stories from this era were contained within SU, as I'm very attached to a lot of the secondary characters of this universe and only following Sonic tends to get boring after a while (one of the reasons I actually liked KtE). As the name implies, this first arc focuses mostly on Shadow. I will note before we get started that since the issues of SU were released alongside those of StH, one per month, the stories of SU often end up intersecting with the main plot. Most of SU's arcs can be read in full four-issue chunks without interruption, but I've deliberately split this one into a couple parts based on context clues about how exactly it intersects with StH's next four issues. Thus, we'll be covering the first issue of the Shadow Saga, followed by two issues of the main comic, and then the other three issues of the Shadow Saga before we finally make our way back into the main comic for the 200-issue milestone special.

This issue picks up right where we left off last time, with Shadow teleporting himself and Metal Sonic away from Moebius to a new zone, though there's a bit of a twist. See, the other sister series I haven't been covering (but might in the future, depending on a couple different factors) is the comic's continuation of the Sonic X anime, which ran for forty issues, with the final one being released just before this one. I haven't covered it because technically it's an entirely separate canon from the preboot, with the only point of intersection being its final issue, when Shadow initially ends up teleporting himself and Metal Sonic to… you guessed it, the Sonic X zone. That issue ends with them teleporting away once again, which lands them here, in the Sol Dimension, hovering above the waters of a vast ocean. Shadow tries to get Metal to stop fighting for a second, reasoning that he's a living weapon that can think for itself and therefore should reject working for Eggman, but Metal doesn't listen, instead calculating that Shadow's rocket shoes are all that's allowing him to hover and that he likely has very little swimming ability. So naturally, it shoves him down into the water and zooms off in search of this zone's equivalent of Eggman.

I have no idea if the implication here really was meant to be that Shadow is bad at swimming, or if Metal was just mistaken and Shadow deliberately only surfaced after it had left, but either way, Shadow is taken aboard Marine's boat, where he explains why he's here to Blaze. Blaze, recognizing him as being from Sonic's world, explains that he's ended up in her own dimension, and all the while an excited Marine, her Australian accent out in full force, continually tries to interrupt and do some explaining of her own. Shadow irritably suggests she captain the boat back toward the nearest port, which she promptly does, wanting to show off her captaining skills, while Shadow and Blaze continue to talk. This gives Blaze the opportunity to explain to Shadow - and therefore, us - exactly what happened in the offscreen "adaptions" of Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure that Ian never showed the full picture of. Interestingly enough, it seems that the entirety of the former basically didn't take place at all, with Sonic's relationship with Blaze being entirely centered around the events of the latter. Apparently, Blaze's problems began when the Sol Emeralds she was sworn to protect went mysterious missing, and she began having dreams about Sonic and Eggman. She ended up finding her way to the Cosmic Interstate and into Mobius, where she had her first, very hostile encounter with Sonic. From there, she evidently went immediately back to her own dimension, and not long after Sonic and Tails somehow ended up there after a freak storm (which is interesting in itself, considering the equivalent events of the games are implied to have taken place at least several months apart). Marine found them, as well as the green Chaos Emerald, and when the robot pirate Johnny stole it they enlisted Blaze's help to chase him from island to island, hoping to get the gem back.

Thanks for your entirely-factually-sound addition to that story, Marine! I love that she includes the detail of Blaze apparently having a giant friend crush on her. Soon enough, the boat pulls into the nearest harbor, while Shadow muses that if they still have the Chaos Emerald, his mission - to breach the Special Zone and retrieve one - may not be a total bust after all. However, it becomes apparent as they dock that the island they've arrived at is cloaked in a layer of ominous smoke. They quickly disembark to find that Metal has already reached the island, setting several buildings ablaze and grabbing random terrified citizens to question them on their version of Eggman's whereabouts.

Blaze in the preboot is actually significantly more prone to outbursts of anger and violence compared to her relatively more composed and calm counterpart within the games, something which I actually appreciate. She's knocked aside by Metal, and Shadow joins the fray, trying to once again teleport the two away to help protect Blaze's world, but is thrown aside before he can complete a Chaos Control. Marine jumps in next, grabbing onto Metal's head and whooping and throwing some very Australian insults at it while it tries to shake her off, and Shadow can't get a proper shot in for fear of hitting her. Finally Metal manages to throw her off, and Blaze runs over to check on her while Shadow once again confronts Metal about its purpose in life.

I like this. It makes total sense that Shadow would see a part of himself in someone like Metal, given their somewhat-comparable backstories. I suppose it makes more sense in this context as well, given that the events of Heroes never really happened here and thus no recent instance of Metal Sonic has ever rebelled against its creator. Metal processes Shadow's words for a second, and then replies that as Shadow currently considers protecting Mobius and its inhabitants his own purpose, they're still both just living weapons, weapons with conflicting purposes. Shadow regretfully calls on Blaze to attack with her fire, then he spindashes Metal into the air, where Marine, having rushed back to her ship, deals the killing blow with a shot from her cannons. The three then get busy with helping put out the fires around the village, and when Marine won't shut up about how badass the fight was, Shadow irritably reminds her that Metal was the only hope he had of getting back to Mobius in the first place, and then makes a request that leads into one of the most hilariously famous series of panels in the entire preboot.

That grumpy frown. I adore it. Blaze steps in to vouch for Marine, considering she's like, literally six, and then offers Shadow the Chaos Emerald, saying that with its help she's found enough of the Sol Emeralds that she won't need it anymore to find the rest. Shadow thanks her, and they part on good terms, with Shadow performing one last Chaos Control to send himself back to his home dimension.

Hey, Hope, good to see you! I'm still a bit sad that she feels she can't go back to the Mobians, but at least she seems to be doing well for herself, working as an engineer for GUN. Shadow reports to Tower that his mission was technically successful, even though he didn’t manage to breach into the Special Zone like they'd planned. Hope is happy that even though her transporter didn't work as expected Shadow still succeeded in retrieving an emerald, and Tower informs Shadow to get ready, as he's already being assigned another mission which will begin that night. Of course, we won't be seeing it for a couple of days, since as mentioned before we're taking a quick detour back to the main comic for now.

[cutegirlmayra]

Ember Commission Receipt

@marydragneell​ commission for another continuation of Ember the Immortal Wolf series - The Fire’s Scourge.

Time: After hearing what was desired for the chapter, I began researching and plotting points together. Then I wrote about 44 pages for the overall story. It has been through one round of Author edits before the rough draft was presented to the customer.

Review:  OMG I FUCKING LOVE IT,  I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT, I LOOOOOOOOOVE IT AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH. Ember is the right amount of badass and sassy, but at the same time just perfect with the jokes. Protective sibling shadow🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 And manic just awesome and want to be flirty and affectionate 💚💚💚💚but since the bro is there he just try to not show it XD. That part was so cute and hilarious at the same time XD I think it’s my favorite part of that chapter, shadow being like " wtf is going on with those two".  Like always its perfect ^^ - @marydragneell

Note: I love you too, Mary! ^^ It’s always fun writing for you and Ember! You’re so sweet and I always work hard so I can see your happy comments. You’re adorable, my friend!

Paid amount: 50$ (This price was offered by the Customer, I’d like to thank her for her generous decision. ;//wn//;)

Product preview (ROUGH DRAFT ONLY, with permission fo the customer):

The Fire’s Scourge.

Commission for the lovely Marydragneell

By: Cutegirlmayra

Dear Manic,

Your song lyrics are so funny, not everything has to rhyme or sound like a poem. But I appreciate it, it’s great to read. I’d rather hear it though! Or at least sing it! When do you plan to visit me? It’s gets boring here sometimes… especially when Shadow bosses me around about being all ‘responsible’ and ‘acting my age’. I’m the same age as him! I was even created before him! I’m practically the oldest… anyway, I’m grumbling on paper, haha! Send me a mix-tape sometime and don’t be afraid to write back. I enjoy these letters.

I enjoy scrapping my claws against the thin paper as I write to you.

Sincerely, The most epic wolf you’ll ever know! Ember

P.S: Ember is easy to make songs out of, try and be more creative next time!

It was the last letter she had written Manic… before the letters stopped coming.

Ember lightly made sure her claws wouldn’t crease too much of the paper, deciding to write another letter in hopes he may respond this time. Like he used too…

The letter folded neatly into an envelop as Ember sealed it with a lick. She held it close to her face, letting it touch her nose as she excitedly withheld herself from getting her hopes too high.

Again…

She had been pen-paling Manic The Hedgehog, Sonic’s brother, for a little while now. Ever since Rouge gifted her a writing kit, trying to make peace with her since they sometimes had to work together, she’d been writing him back and forth like this.

She hopped down from the G.U.N HQ’s desk she was at and went to put it in the mail chute when Shadow stormed up to her.

“Where were you?”

His voice sounded annoyed, not like his normal, causal brooding…

“I was… um…” she hadn’t told Shadow about her little crush…

He looked at the letter in her hands, but she quickly stuck it in her tail and smiled nervously to him, “I’m just writing Santa!”

“Hmph.” He shot air out of his nose at her humor. “When are you going to start-“

“Acting my age?” Ember rolled her eyes, “Get to work? Be nice to Rouge? Hang out with people? I thought we were passed this already, I’m a grown woman! Let me live my life!” she folded her arms before exaggerating her independence, “I do jobs for G.U.N, don’t I?”

“Speaking of which, there’s been a portal breach near where you’re supposed to be patrolling.” He glared her down, seeing her trying to wiggle the letter out of her fluffy tail and get it in the mail chute.

When she saw him staring, she pretended she was just wagging her tail in excitement.

He pinched the middle bridge of his nose, “What am I to do with you?”

“Love me?” She moved back a bit, not sure if he’d find that funny.

His look certainly showed he didn’t.

“If you’re not going to take this mission seriously, I’ll go myself.” He grabbed what looked like a brown, dirtied cloak with rips all throughout it, but Ember immediately reached forward, grabbing a bit of it.

“No!”

“No?” he pivoted, “What do you mean, no? I thought you were ‘enjoying your life’?” he seemed to be spitting the same wording she had used in previous discussions right back at her.

Ember sweated a bit, seeing how angry he really was at her, but realized he was trying to cut her some slack. “You’re a good brother, Shadow. Whether you want to be or not.”

He raised an eyebrow, but she slowly began to tug the cloak off of him.

“And you do make a valid point… I need to prove I can handle this. You’re always worried about me-“

“-And for good reason.” He fully faced her, his tone full of distain.

She gulped, folding the cloak in her arms and continuing as she draped it over her arm. “B-but that’s why I’m going to show you I can do it! I’ve done big missions before, I can do some recon too.” She stood confidently, placing the cloak back on the hanger and tugging her own tighter onto her back, flexing it forward. “Trust me a little, I won’t let Eggman kidnap me again!”

Shadow’s eyes turned softer then, his shoulders going limp.

“Sonic said you passed out, turned insane again… how can I-?”

“I do reckless things, but most of the time, I’m only trying to make you proud.” She took his hand, shaking it lightly. “And do what’s right.”

“…Do you even comprehend what’s right?” He muttered the sentence out, but worried about her maturity level…

It was more tender a question than she had realized, and she quickly was caught off-guard.

Not wanting to continue the topic further, feeling a bit of hurt by those untrusting words, she let his hands go and tried to look chirpy.

“Well, brother. I promise to at least try and not get into trouble… of my own accord… if I can… deal?” her inputs made it all the more unbelievable.

He shook his head but conceded with a shake.

“I just don’t want you getting hurt…”

“I won’t!” She embraced him, knowing he wouldn’t embrace her back but still.

Shadow flinched at the touch, but relaxes after a moment, knowing this is just how Ember shows her affections.

She only gave hugs like this to him, anyway.

He was about to put a hand up to her head, attempting to reciprocate some family love before Rouge intervened, flying down with a sweet smile on her face.

She stretched her wings out a moment before retracting them back behind her. “Aww… look at the cute little siblings… finally getting along?” she teased.

Shadow quickly turned his head and hand away. “Ugh…”

Ember released him and glared at Rouge, sticking her tongue out. “You ruined our moment!”

“Oh? Did I?” Acting innocently, Rouge placed a finger up to her mouth. “Hadn’t noticed.” She winked, being playful. “Shadow, command wants to know about that portal…”

“Ember’s on it.” Shadow looked over his shoulder at her, and then back to Ember. “I hope.”

“Hope is enough!” she waved him off and dug through her tail, getting the letter she stashed out and dumping it in as quick as lightning.

“What was-?” Shadow peered down the mail chute but Ember was already booking it away.

“Bye, bro!”

“Wait! Ember!” He called after her, but she had already raced out.

“Wild one. How ever are you going to tame her to be a good little soldier like ourselves?” Rouge put her hands together and struck a very fake pose, she was clearly mocking the fact that Shadow was in charge of Ember’s training.

He sighed, still watching where she had run off too. “Sometimes… I worry I don’t know her full strength… as well as I pretend too.”

“You of all people should know her best. She doesn’t hide anything from you.” She walked up next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, showing more comradery than teasing now. “To her, you’re family.”

“…She is the only thing I have to an actual family.” He muttered out, as though admitting it aloud for the first time.

“Oh my! What a declaration.” Rouge took her hand off him and covered her mouth, but smiled at his tender comment. “Such a softy under all those quills…”

“Hmph.” He moved away from her, trying to signal he was done talking but she flew off after him anyway.

“Do you know who she’s writing with my little present?”

He froze, looking back at her.

“Someone who may be close… but differently, compared to you.” She fluttered her wings and took off, giving him just enough to drive him crazy with questions.

He openly showed his teeth, frowning deeply. “At least she has a friend… that’s what she meant… wasn’t it?”

However…

Below where the letters are delivered, a few shadowy figures lurked. One suddenly caught the falling mail and tapped it against his shoulder, opening it up and pretending to barf. He shredded the letter and snickered, writing his own back with a click of a pen.

“Hehehehe… Dear Manic… Get lost.”

The other shadowy figures snickered a moment.

The mailman came and the new letter was sent, as the old one’s remains drifted down in steady, shredded pieces…

“And now, boys… let’s go catch a spark of flame~” A devious voice spoke through the darkness, and the gang all raced out to follow Ember’s figure disappearing into the woods…

----

Ember couldn’t remember much, which she wasn’t used to with such a profound memory. She could only recollect something hard had struck from behind, knocking her out pretty hard and leaving her mostly unconscious. Now, as she woke up, she noticed the jerking of a brown, dirtied bag squishing and bobbing her between mysterious footfalls that carried her in the bag.

“She’ll probably have portal-lag. Might as well set her down here till she wakes up.” The voice wasn’t familiar to her. It wasn’t from Sonic or from his gang, so she figured she was just kidnapped.

‘Kidnapped!?’ she plugged her mouth immediately after thinking that awful thought. ‘No, no, no! I just told Shadow I wouldn’t be kidnapped! Ohhh! Now I’m mad!’ She squirmed a bit in the tight space, her tail taking up most of the free space. ‘I’ll thump’em! I’ll trounce them! I’ll- I’ll-!’

“Are you mad?” Suddenly, she did pick up on a voice. Her bag was gently lowered and she could feel the swinging weight of her body finally rest upon cold ground.

Was that… Sonic?

Was this a joke!?

“We have a powerful entity on our hands… I just want the fiery babe to feel comfortable enough to not burn the whole place down to smithereens!” His sudden tone change,… that sarcasm,… the joke about the portal-lag…

Was she in another dimension?

“Tsk. I don’t see why you’re so fixated on chaos power again.” Another voice spoke out a grumbly tone, feminine this time. But…

Could she maybe..?

She tried to wiggle her finger around the opening of the bag, seeing if her claw could get the band on the bag a few more inches loose.

“…You don’t get it?” Sonic’s voice turned dark again, and she flinched a minute as her ears tried to adjust to the strange rhythm it had. Sonic was always full of life, vigor, and general velocity in his actions and words to match his quick feet. This… couldn’t be Sonic.

She felt a shift and the bag toppled over. Ember had to keep silent but could feel a breathy ‘yelp!’ escape her lips just barely. She instinctively plugged her mouth again, and quickly.

“What do you think I’m running here, Fi? You worthless Destructixs are in this for me. Got it? We broke out of jail for the sole purpose of lighting this world on fire with my iron fist pounding it into submission! To light the world… we need a match.” Ember could hear a fist pound into something, probably the other hand, but felt the shift in atmosphere… as though eyes were on her.

‘Light the world on fire..?’ She thought a moment, ‘Destructixs? Where have I heard… Ah!’ Ember suddenly recognized this speech pattern wasn’t Sonic’s at all! She remembered perfectly the name, where she had heard it too. Immediately, she decided she couldn’t—No, wouldn’t stay quiet and hide forever!

She had faked her unconsciousness to get information, but now, she was getting impatient.

‘Gerald Robotnik created me for good! To defend! I know who these guys are now…’ She flexed her claws, getting ready...

It only took a moment of further silence before the bag was shredded in seconds, and Ember rose up with a quick swipe toward where Sonic’s voice had previously come from.

“Scourge!” she cried out, “You rascal!”

“Woah. The kitty’s awake.” He smirked, stepping back to dodge her assult before tugging on his black, flaming jacket. “Boys?” he gestured to the gang as Ember’s arms were thrown behind her.

“Pfft. Who thinks they can hold me down—Ohhhhh…” She struggled a moment before turning her head around to look up at a large, imposing figure. “A big boy.”

The extremely large and tall giant growled down at her, at least, that’s how she saw him.

“Simian, make sure our guest knows her place.” He began to walk toward what looked like a stone throne. Around Ember was a large, black and blue stoned castle, or the remains of what looked like one.

She was able to fight a bit back and get her arms almost away from her back, but Sgt. Simian’s strength was certainly a match for her.

“Okay… Not so easy to break out of.” She grumbled, disliking the change in the situation.

“Stone, babe.” Scourge tapped the stone beneath them, looking at her over his shoulder. “Want to have a go at making this place light up?” he teased, moving over to his throne and sitting rather reclined in it. “Welcome to my realm. Not much. But all mine.” He put a hand up to his chin to rest his head on, “Well… anymore.” He snickered as the rest of the team seemed to chuckle back.

He motioned for the rest of the gang to come forward. “You know how hard it is to track down a little firefly like you?”

Ember spat on the ground, “Call me a firefly one more time…” she tried to resist being dragged forward from behind, her feet scuffing at the stones below her, but there was no traction strong enough to withstand Sgt. Simian’s brute strength. He basically dragged her towards Scourge at his request like a vacuum cleaner across a rug.

“Tsk. Like I care!” Scourge responded, watching as she was pushed forward towards him.

In protest at being man-handled, her feet began to spark against the stone, but no fire was produced.

‘Shoot!’ she thought to herself, ‘I’m surrounded! And on top of that? I’m not even in my own realm! Guess back-up’s out of the question…’

“You think we have time for a new carpet? This place is fireproof, baby! Hahaha!” He leaned his head back and laughed and laughed.

“Whoo… I have to hand it to ya. You’re one hard dame to find…” he clapped a little with his hands, as though congratulating her and rubbing some ‘tears’ out of his eyes after his such a good laugh. “Had to send every mercenary I could intimidate on the hunt for you. Glad you remember me though.” He winked.

“So… I was kidnapped, I’m in a different world, and you’ve sent spies to figure out where I was. Am I missing anything?” Ember raised an eyebrow, being rather composed as she relaxed. She was hoping it would make Sgt. Simian’s grip on her arms loosen, at least let his guard down, but that didn’t seem to be the case…

A red fox walked up to Scourge, turning around to face Ember and folding her arms, clearly not liking the other girl’s presence. Ember assumed this was the girl he called ‘Fi’, simply because she was the only girl in the group. So? Deduction stands that she must be the feminine voice she had heard previously...

“Show some manners and don’t directly talk to the king.”

“Wow. You even got her playing pretend.” Ember snapped a quick line back as the girl tensed up, her tail flicking in rage but Scourge just raised a hand.

“Feisty, feisty, feisty… I like it. But you’d do well to remember what situation you’re in.” he took his raised hand and leaned forward, snapping. “Snap!”

Suddenly, there was a harsh spark of pain in her arms. Ember was lifted up in a painful hold as Sgt. Simian held her suspended in the air.

Her eyes flinched, but she kept any grunt or utterance of pain at a minimum.

“Aaaaannnddd… Hold for dramatic effect… Snap!”  Scourge reclined again and snapped, having Sgt. Simian put her down again.

Her arms twitched under the uncomfortable position, and she swore a few jerks would have had her shoulders pop out of their sockets.

“Do I have your attention now, little spark?”

“It’s Ember.” Ember gritted her teeth. “And when Shadow finds out what you’ve done-!”

He suddenly rose to his feet, “I’ve defeated Shadow! And Sonic! At the exact same time!” he swiped his arms out, growing annoyed. “Don’t you dare think you can threaten me!!!”

“Tsk.” Ember emoted, not seeming to have known that before. She sweatdropped, nervous now if Shadow could even jump realms… ‘Maybe I should have laid low a little longer…’

“Scourge.” A hawk stepped forward, as though gently reminding his leader of his purpose.

“Hmph. I know!” Scourge dismissed the comment, swiping a hand at him, “In my own due time!”

He turned back to his throne, “As you recall, I was trying to lure out Sonic through a staged ‘setup’ if you will…”

----

It was a vivid memory—though Ember’s memory never failed her anyway. No matter… how hard she would try and forget.

Scourge had run into her vigilante G.U.N attire, not having fully recognized her as she continued to foil his criminal activities of trying to seize control over the world. Sonic and his friend would naturally call upon the Freedom Fighters to put a stop to his plans, but this time was different.

G.U.N had actually assigned her to stop a village fire,…

Little did she know it was a trap.

The citizen’s screamed in terror as wood and falling debris littered the skies, their homes and city collapsed around them in the flames.

Their city was deep within a crater formed in the earth, with sharp, jagged cliffs encircling them. There seemed to be a drainage system in place for floods, but for some reason, the drains had been clogged and the fire had no where to escape too. If they tried using water to put out the massive fires, which started up sporadically in different locations, then they would be trapped within the crater.

What made matters worse is that the fires had burnt the electrical powers, so even their way out was blocked besides long, carved stairwells which would be too dangerous for a mass of panicked people to scale in an efficient manner.

So what was Ember to do..?

“Help! Someone!” A woman cried from within a building as Ember quickly leaped up and scaled the tall skyscraper with her claws.

“Haaannnggg ooonnn!!!” she ripped through the flaming surroundings and grabbed the woman, rushing down and helping her to safety. “Does anyone know who started this?” Ember set her down lightly as the woman frantically turned around, wanting to aid as much as possible now that she was out of harm’s way.

“They called themselves ‘Destructix’. They said-“ as the woman began to cough and mutter, a voice suddenly rose from the flames atop a hill.

“Too bad! Looks like Blue didn’t have time to save any of you. Guess you’ll just burn straight to the underworld then!!!” A figure stood looming above on a cliff. He looked like a light green hedgehog with bright sunglasses, having the city’s flames dance in their shades, tugging on his jacket. He flicked his wrist as a few other figures came up: a monkey, red fox, frog, dog, hawk, and wolf. They stepped ahead of him and poured what looked to be gallons of gasoline down onto the streets below.

Like a skillet having oil poured on it, firing up everything for a split second of pure horror. The flash blinded the citizens as the heat swept their breaths up and burst the rest of their hope they had at survival.

People shrieked as he smirked, turning away before Ember’s rage couldn’t contain itself anymore.

Her fingers twitched, head pulsed with trauma as she saw children rushing away from the quickly moving flames…

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

She couldn’t control it. It was too much on her heart.

The cursed emerald pulsed, cloaking her in a bright white as her eyes covered in pitch black smoke that rippled along her eye sockets. In this hysterical super form, she covered herself in chaos energy and burst through the trailing gasoline.

It was like an arrow through water, she would thrust one hand out and burning gasoline would splash out of her way onto the buildings and away from the cowering citizens. One hand at a time, she propelled herself through the streets. Her power turned the flames into nothing more than burnt oil stains against the city’s skyscrapers, extinguishing them as fire swarmed her being. With enough force, she had spared the majority of the city while they continued to evacuate. Some had burns, but it looked as though no one had died, miraculously.

“B-Boss!” The shaking hand of the Wolf gestured behind him towards the powerful streak of Ember’s power charging like a swift beam of light towards them.

“…Hmm?” Scourge turned around, his glasses suddenly shining with the light she was emitting as he strode back up to the edge and peered down at her. He smirked, his eyes completely consumed in the image of her magnificent flaming display of power and skill.

She scaled the ledge, climbing in a ferocious tantrum towards them. Below, people cheered and huddled close to their loved ones, scaling the escape route out from their precious homes now destroyed to mere ash.

Some of Scourge’s men got ready to fight, but he rose a hand up to stop them. “Wait!” His sharp teeth glistened when his tongue licked over their dry frames. The chaos energy and the flames left a streak of dry wind, smoky to the smell, and excited Scourge for a moment.

“Well, well… I think I remember you.” He backed off, “We’ll meet again, little spark!” he then escaped in the nick of time, just before Ember ripped through the skyscraper in her way, leaping straight through it, and landing off into the mountain’s cliffside. She attempted to pursue him in her fury, but his buddies and him had portal capabilities, and were gone without a trace.

Ember huffed and puffed, standing away from the fires still licking at the lightly fuming city before she collapsed and gripped her head. “How could… How could people like that still exist..? I thought… G.U.N was the only organization capable of being so cruel… I’ll find them. I’ll stop them no matter what it takes!!!” Ember’s oath was never forgotten, but she hadn’t found a rumor about the mysterious Destructix’s since.

----

So while Scourge finished his recollection of the story, Ember was still locked inside her own perfect memory of the event. The smoke that rose from that black pit… the reports of missing individuals that some witnesses say they saw escaping up the stairs… the families being left with nothing but soot on their faces and half-burnt clothes on their backs…

Scourge didn’t seem to notice her shaking pupils, but did see how quiet she was, staring off at the ground as she began to realize what a mad man he really was.

He took off his sunglasses, his eyes widening in glee. “That power was something else, babe. Mind telling me why you’re not summoning it now?”

She flicked her nose up, ‘Is that what he’s after?!’ and looked away. ‘At first it was to find Sonic… but now he might do something horrible like that… to find me.’ She couldn’t bare to think about it, biting her jaw tightly shut as she tried to hold in her rage. ‘What… what awful things did he do while he searched for her instead of Sonic..? Was it her fault..? That more people were hurt by his crazy, terrorist attacks?’

“Playing coy?” He teased, jumping down from his throne and walking over to her, standing by her side and checking her out. “That power’s not asleep, is it? Hate to wake it up…”

His threats fell on deaf ears, which she twitched to show her ignorance of his roaming eyes…

Her tail maneuvered itself between Sgt. Simian’s legs… waiting for a good opportunity…

“I remember how you looked, sweetheart. Covered in the light of flames and spouting oil this way and that.” He gestured with his hands, flinging them out left and right to show a live demonstration of her feat. “You almost made me think you cared for all those people down there…”

She growled.

After seeing his eyes light up at her reaction to him, she forcing her mouth shut again, but she refused to let him taunt her.

He wanted a fight, but she wouldn’t give it to him.

He put his glasses back down over his eyes, his smirk fading slightly. “You’re not one to talk back or pick fights, are you? Caution is the most annoying trait, babe.”

Ember sighed, “You want my power. That’s annoying in and of itself too.” She lowered her head, playing into the ‘I give up’ motive and waiting for Simian to drop his guard.

She felt his hands loosen with her bending body and knew the moment wouldn’t be too far off now.

Just a little longer…

“Well, yeah. I find it hot.” He suddenly lurched forward, straight at her face. It startled her, but he reached directly at her chest and grabbed her emerald, sticking just slightly above her shirt as she felt the Master Emerald’s power suddenly rejecting it, inflicting Ember’s essence with its powerful, pure chaos energy.

“AHHHH!!!” she flung her head back as he poured some of his chaos energy into her, causing immense pain as the cursed emerald seemed to be repelled when it wanted to fight back and defend itself.

“Hahaha! So it is cursed!” Scourge kept his grip tight, laughing as the fox girl saw where his hands were and quickly grew defensive.

“That’s enough, Scourge!”

Her jealous burst made him stop laughing, turning to look at her with a frustrated expression as his hand released Ember.

She fell to her knees, taking a moment to recover from that torture before she felt Sgt. Simian’s hand let go of her, now holding her with one. He did so to avoid falling with her, since he was much larger than her anyway.

Now was the time, she just needed her strength first.

“Fiona, baby, I’m working here.” Scourge began to walk up to her, seeming calm but Fiona knew his act all too well.

She stepped away a moment, seeing him immediately grow hostile and grab her neck.

He screamed in her face, dipping her down and gripping her to him, hollering down her throat. “Don’t interfere!”

When he let her go, she fell and coughed, clutching her sore neck before pointing towards Ember, “She’s nothing! You’ve seen me take down stronger foes than her! Let me fight her! I’ll prove how useful I can be-!”

“Pfft. Save it, toots. You and I both know little spark’s far more devastating than some freaky kung fu moves.” He waved her off, making Fiona look down and slam her fist to the ground.

“She’s the freak with the moves… I can do it. I can beat her if you’ll let me just-“

“Quiet!” He swiped an arm out, silencing her again. “You’re getting on my nerves. Take a chill pill and walk, Fi!” Immediately, as though understanding the context of his words, some of his men came up behind Fiona. She looked behind her, getting upset as she struggled and glared to Ember.

Ember didn’t have anything against the girl, besides that she followed a lunatic, but the look she gave her made Ember feel even more irritated.

Fiona shook off the men’s arms and got up, silently walking away with the men, clearly having some resolves.

“Hmph. Women, am I right?” he folded his arms and then looked back to Ember with a joking, sinister smile.

Now!

Ember tripped up Sgt. Simian, wrapping her strong tail around a leg and pulling him back to fall down behind her. He was already bending over to keep one hand on her, it was his own fault for thinking she couldn’t recover fast enough.

She got her arms back and pounced towards Scourge, raising a clawed hand up. “HAAA!!!”

“Oh! Something interesting!” he chimed, jumping back and out of her way as her claws dug into the concrete of the old castle, near his throne.

The stone bricks flew out of place and crashed all around, tink, tink, tinking onto the ground as rubble and chalky dirt launched everywhere into the open air.

Scourge wiped his mouth of the grey dirt and readied himself, looking thrilled at some violence. “Finally… I was thinking you were just gonna lay down for me, sparkz.”

“Ember.” She growled.

“Right, right. Well, you either have two options. As far as I see? It’s join me-“ he flicked off some rubble that was sticking to his shoulder, “Or death.”

Ember also got into a fighting position, summoning all her strength she had regained from resting a moment to her hands and feet.

“And it’s not really a request…”

Ember felt her power soar through her being, the cursed emerald still pumping chaos through her in a means to recover after that last attack.

She flung her arm out again, but it was a feint. Soon as he tried to dodge, she gripped the ground and swung a foot into his stomach.

“Offph!” She watched him recline back from the pain, his lips pushing forward at the intensity of the hit.

“Heh.” She had the advantage and wouldn’t let it slip away! “Here’s a taste of my power you want so badly! Have itttttt!” she roundhouse kicked, knocking his head back but he lifted an arm up to grab her other leg as she circled for another blow and threw her down.

Quickly getting back up, she saw his hands come together and slam down on the concrete where she had just rolled away from.

‘This is gonna take more than strength…’ she recognized that his strength was equal to that of her powered cursed emerald. He must have been powered by the Master Emerald too… but how?!

She didn’t have time to dwell on that. She wanted to prove, not just to herself but to Shadow too, that she could complete a mission on her own!

She summoned some power to her chest and filled her claws with chaos energy, making them grow out like beams of light. “Try dodging this, don’t underestimate me!” She leaped up and feinted a swipe as though about to cast Shadow’s Chaos Spears.

It worked. Scourge recognized the familiar motion and went to dodge what he thought was the onslaught of chaos energy spears, but she pushed off the wall nearest to her, her eyes twitching, ‘There! An opening!’

She kicked off the wall and threw herself fully at him, “Haaaa!!!!” she slashed his already permanent scar with fresh new claw marks across his chest.

“Agh!” he was blasted back, the pulse from her Chaos Claws sending the cursed emerald’s power through his body and having it repel his own stolen Master Emerald power.

The two didn’t mix well, the power kept blasting the other back, but at least she knew she could push him back if she summoned her power faster than he could counter it.

He still had that advantage… but for that moment, he wasn’t using it at its full potential. Even Ember could see that…

She landed a bit away from him, watching him grip at his chest. He seemed surprised to see no blood. “The damage was more to your energy.” She slowly rose up, the power in her claws fading as she returned to her usual twitch of sharpening her nails. “But I still got’cha…”

Indeed, she saw the wounds reopen on his chest, only a little blood oozed out but just enough for Scourge to look down and see the delayed reaction.

His face shifted to lines of anger stretched up from the dip in his narrowed eyebrows.

As though refusing to let loose his full power just yet, his energy subsided and he just looked back up at Ember, fixated on her form.

“Interesting…” he licked his lips, getting up. “Very interesting…” he still held his chest, some blood on his glove now, but the bleeding would stop momentarily as the chaos energy began to reform again.

She disengaged and stepped away, feeling the power in her claws slowly dwindle. “Tsk.” She kept sharpening them as sparks flew around her. ‘His attack on me from before weakened the cursed emerald… I can’t do what I normally can now… is that why he so directly attached the Master Emerald’s power to it? By doing so, he probably knew it would cripple me somewhat… I’ll have to play a bit of a waiting game to get my lost power back.’

She smirked.

‘Perfect. I’ll keep him talking…’

“So? You really think you’re going to somehow get me to join your little uprising?” She decided to play along, swishing her tail and moving back as to lure him up and think she wasn’t going to strike anymore.

“Heh… do you really think me that stupid?” He growled. She could feel his own chaos power recharging, and knew he was probably adopting the same strategy.

“You’re lucky, you know… I haven’t even begun to fight!” he suddenly let loose a Chaos Blast, shattering the ground and exploding outward as Ember couldn’t react fast enough to block against it.

She was blown into the wall, crashing hard against it and getting a headache when she landed back to the ground with a hard thump!

She groaned, trying to sense her surroundings again when a foot was pressed on her back, keeping her down.

Then… she felt a hand move through the back of her hair, gripping some strangled strings as smoothly as moving through water. But then her head was ripped back, forcing her to turn toward him.

“Erk!” it hurt like none other, but she could hear him shifting his muzzle through her hair, pulling her head back to lean and press against it.

“My, my… Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?” he mocked with an alluring pleasure to his voice. “I’m not.”

“Back off!” she threatened, flailing a moment but his touch never wavered.

“You’re so enticing, Ember… like a warm fire that burns anyone who dares to touch it.” His words hissed in a pleasure-seeking tone that made her uncomfortable. What was that? Some sort of intimidating praise or actual flirting?

From back in the front of the castle, the gang watched on, having all scattered back after that fight.

They knew when not to intervene with Scourge, but Fiona couldn’t contain herself.

She lurched forward, only to have a hand grip her shoulder and the frog shake his head. This time she gritted her teeth, seeing how they all weren’t keen on Ember, but wouldn’t dare disobey Scourge again.

She held silent reservations, but looked on and held herself back. “I hate her…” she mumbled.

The rest of the team sighed in tense pockets of air, letting them go gradually. They seemed to be silently agreeing with her.

Maybe this girl was more a problem than a useful pawn…

“You know what’s crazy good about you, Toots?” Scourge smelled her hair in a deep, creepy whiff. Ember reached her hands back to get him off her hair but he gripped her wrists and spun her around, pinning her on the ground.

“Ack!” she felt the cruel stone scrape against her back. Her clothes survived the Chaos Blast, but some of it had ripped somewhat.

“You know what..?” He moved close to her face, his fangs skimming her forehead as his tongue taunted her eye.

It was disgusting, she twitched her eye and finally turned away, giving into some fear deep inside herself.

“After I broke out of jail for the hundredth time… I decided, hey, wonder how my dear emotionally distraught castaway was doing.” He pulled back and winked. “Found you again… a dog to those goody-two-shoes, and it’s been sparkz ever since, Cinder~”

“Ember.” She growled, as though cursing loudly, she tried to push against his strength.

For a moment, it was working. She could feel her power returning to her, inching him off little by little and getting her hands to lock in his own and steadily push him away.

But he only smiled, watching her struggle must have looked like a game to him.

“Whatever. Still on fire.”

“Ugh, What is?”

“My heart and your body, babe.”

She rolled her eyes, “I’ll make a fire in you, alright… one that burns you to a crisp!” she started to summon her own Chaos Blast, struggling under him.

However… his head jerked down and his fangs gripped her emerald.

“Ack!” she blushed before another huge wave of the Master Emerald’s power shot through her and electrified her body. “AHHH!!!”

Again, Fiona could not remain still, so as she went to leap forward, about to call out his name when the rest of the Anti-gang grabbed her and pulled her back, covering her mouth.

“Tolerate it.” the Lynx threatened. “He’s only getting what he wants.”

Her eyes were green with jealousy, but her face was red with anger and revenge.

Scourge let go and Ember collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily as it felt her entire insides had been fried.

“Ever since you raged from that burning town,” He wiped the spit off his mouth, letting her go and looming over her. “I’ve always had the hots for ya.”

She coughed and breathed heavily, sliding herself out from under him and leaning against the stony wall. She gripped it for support, rubbing her imbedded cursed emerald before gathering enough strength to speak again. “Me? Or my power?” she turned back to him, playfully folding her arms, faking that she was fine.

“Boo, it’s all in the same body.” He lowered his sunglasses down to get a better look at her. “What’s the difference?”

He must have called her bluff, because he moved right back where he was, pinning her against the stone and letting his nose skim her muzzle. He whispered, “What to do… what to do…” As though taunting her feeble state. “What ever should I do to you first..?” he smirked, looking back at her.

Ember ignored the power-plays, quickly changing the subject and trying to restore her strength back, struggling to push him away again. “My power isn’t me. I-I mean… I’m more than my abilities!” Her head rolled a moment, feeling nauseated from the two chaos powers conflicting each other.

“Sure, sure. But my abilities could send you to a whole new world…” He gave her a suggestive eyebrow movement.

Ember couldn’t let him just toss her around like a ragdoll! No matter how much his chaos power repulsed and diffused her own… she would have to fight!

Ember chuckled, trying to still play cocky as best as she could, even if she was stuck against a wall and a madman. “I’m already in another dimension.”

“I know, right? Exciting, isn’t it?”

He suddenly let her go.

It was then that Ember felt her body fall back to the ground. Was she unable to keep going?

She tried to slide her feet under her, but they skid back to being weakly shaken upon the ground.

She began to panic. ‘No… No-no-no, get up! You can’t let him win!’ She was growing more and more anxious and worried, but he just watched her face as her internal struggle grew more and more dire.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Someone can’t admit when she’s beat.” He chuckled right back, turning his head a bit upside down to get a better look at her. She hid her face and he gripped it with his hand, forcing it back into view and up to look at him.

He stroked with his pinkie the side of her cheek, still humming a bit of gleeful victory before flicking his head, flirtatiously. “Join me and we can have a bonfire later tonight~”

He moved dangerously close to her lips, “You and me… no sounds but the constant cries of you wanting more…”

She gagged. “Do you honestly think girl’s fall for that?”

Fiona had been taken away, pushed against another wall by her comrades, her fierce rage rising with each sentence she heard from the other room. She gripped at her captors backs and threatened to scratch and peel their skin off, but for her sake, they didn’t let go. “Sorry, not into ‘green’ fads.” Ember spat out.

“Ouch.” Scourge’s smirk was replaced quickly with a frown. “Touchy, touchy.”

“You seem to be.” Ember tried to bite at his wandering hands, but he pulled them back, apparently turned on her by actions as his eyes widen with intrigue.

His head perked up, and he mimicked a cat’s ‘rawr’.

“Ohhh… look who’s talking back. I like you.”

“Clearly…”

“Only… my love’s a little conditional. Pricey as it seems, I’m a man of material desire.” As he slipped a hand around her waist, she punched him back, summoning everything into that blow that forced him away.

“Grrk!” he gripped his eye, where she had punched.

Ember rose up and began to deal more hits, taking him off-guard as she spun and whacked him with her foot, leaving him prone before diving onto him with her knee, continuing the onslaught.

As though summoned by the sudden shift, the Anti-gang pounced and let Fiona go.

“W-what!?” Ember was tackled down, fighting for her life again as the Anti-gang began to beat down on her, protecting their so-called, ‘king’.

When they moved away, Ember was left utterly beaten and weak. Bruises forming along her muzzle and arms now… The only visible ones, anyway.

“Y… You cheated.” Ember stated, gritting through the pain as she crawled to try and get back up again, but was failing miserably. “I overpowered you… overcame… I would have won if-!” she was kicked across the room by Fiona, leaving her rolling along the cobble floor. “You… played fair.” She finished her sentence, but at what cost? She gripped her stomach and got up to her knees, panting as Fiona’s face looked like seconds away from murder. The Anti-gang turned to Scourge, who was getting up with a wobble in his step, gripping a hand over his eye.

“I’m starting to lose patience with you…” he muttered under his breath. “You say you don’t like green… but I know a certain hippie drummer boy you tend to write through G.U.N’s mail delivery service..! Too bad most of those letters don’t always end up in his hands…”

Ember was confused at first, not understanding before her eyes widened. “Are you talking about..?”

He didn’t let her finish, “I’m not one to be jealous, honestly. Only possessive. Which brings me back to my earlier demand…”

Suddenly, the Chaos Emeralds floated out from behind Scourge’s flowing jacket, revealing themselves as they gently swayed in a circle around his body. He approached his throne but stopped, turning his head back to her with another evil look of desire and pre-victory gloating.

“I want you… but all of you.” He turned back around and spread his arms out, the emeralds stopping their turning and remaining still… his presence was extremely intimidating, and Ember could feel she wasn’t at full power yet… The healing would need more time!

‘He knew about Manic? What else did he know!?’ She couldn’t continue on like this. Her panic was reaching its maximum capacity. She could feel the Cursed Emerald wanting to retaliate with the dark madness she knew all too well. ‘He knew how to reverse the Cursed Emerald’s power onto me… He knew about G.U.N, Shadow… what else is he hiding up his sleeve?!’ she felt the world caving in on her. ‘Shadow… Sonic… Manic…’ she closed her eyes, remembering her dear friends she had collected along the way. ‘What if they can’t save me..? He clearly gathered and stole all the Chaos Emeralds from our world… he’s… so powerful now. He can trump me at every turn!’

She looked to his team, slowly withdrawing with a sick sense of gloating in their boss’s power, staring at her and waiting for him to deal a finishing blow. ‘I… I can’t do this, can I? Shadow was right…’

Then… a letter returned to Ember’s memory.

Those words…

“Won’t happen.” She suddenly felt a courage spark in her.

“I won’t let you win.” She felt her fist tighten. The words her friend wrote her sang in her ears now, the last letter she had read from Manic…

Dear Ember,

What’s up? Sorry I haven’t written in a while! I hear it’s been pretty rough for you. Shadow sounds a bit like a downer, man. In all honesty, you gotta keep your head up. No matter what rain falls in the summer, it just turns to snow in the winter, and then a pleasant shower in the spring. I guess that’s super poetic, heh. But you like that kinda stuff, right? Anyway, what I mean is, don’t let things that seem hard keep you down. You have a really unique spirit, Ember. Kinda like your name, you’re a spark to the flame. Riding and gliding, you’ll always be the same, but evolve toward your name. Ember, Ember. Spark and shine. Embers and cinders, lighting the night! It’s hard not to write lyrics for ya, I know you laugh at me when I do, but it’s so easy for me to get inspired off of ya. You must be some kind of muse to me. Is that okay? Whatever, I’m not a very good letter writer, but I hope you know…

You aren’t just the embers, but the spark to the flame.

- Manic The Hedgehog

Her head reared up, his lyrics giving her strength as her heart pumped rapidly and her power swiftly returned to her.

“You want to see fire and brimstone?” She blasted her energy out, her super form taking effect again. It would cost her this time… but for once, she felt her mind just a little more clearer—it peeked through the haze of crazy power, and gave her the confidence to remain calm.

“We’ll see about that.” Scourge’s evil, scheming smirk reappeared. He lowered his eyes, attracted to her rebelliousness but also trying to not get frustrated again. “I’m not very patient.”

“I’m not very outspoken, and yet, here we are.” She smirked back, unwilling to be intimidated by his confidence. She proved she could beat him once. Time to do it again…

“This time, I’m going to push you around!” She took a few steps forward, her power sucking away at her now, like one last shot of adrenaline to end it all or be ended herself. “I’m speaking out against your bad fashion sense.” She egged him on.

“That’s it! I’ve put up enough with this! I’ll just take you here and now!” he blasted a deep purple, much like her Cursed Emerald’s power. His chaos had turned negatively charged and dangerously unstable.

At least she had some practice with being an uncontrollable mass of destruction.

“Bite me.” She threw her hand out, spiking out artificial chaos claws a few inches ahead, glowing purple in radiance once again. Her white form and black eye-sockets fanned like a raging fire, waiting for him to come at her.

“I’ll try!” his smile turned devilishly crazy, as though it was blood-hungry now.

The two clashed in what looked like an array of lights, flashing and blinding the other Anti-gang members as they held their arms out to shield themselves from the aftermath. The force tossed them back and around, skidding on their feet to avoid falling back.

“They’re gonna kill each other!” One of them shouted out, but it was hard to tell who with the constantly clashing lights that blinded their sights, and the rapid whipping of force pounding them in different directions as Ember and Scourge duked it out with everything they had.

“Dang it, Scourge! He’s going to take the whole fort down with him!” That one sounded as though it was Fiona, but before anyone could say anything more…

There was a large explosion, blasting the stone walls as Scourge shoved stones off of himself. He looked enraged, huffing and puffing a moment, wiping some blood off his chin.

“Heh… heh… Okay, doll. You’ve got my attention.” He breathed as though exhausted, bruised up and singed in different locations on his fur. “That power has a kick to it. Mind if I take a bit of it?” He shot up through the air, “Or how about all of it!?”

He rocketed down to Ember who had let her super form take over her actions. Though she was conscious and aware of herself, her reflex was stronger than her mind could keep up with. It was the ultimate instinct, a great offense to his aggressive—and unconcentrated—attack style.

She was battered and bruised though, but countered most of Scourge’s hits. This wasn’t looking good for either of them. They had different ways of utilizing chaos energy, both in dangerous ways, but with grave consequences on both of them. Especially mentally…

“Urk!” Under his sunglasses, which had fallen with the swing of his head down to his eyes, he suddenly winced in a bit of fear. “W…What-what gives you all this power!? Why won’t you just give in to me!?” It was almost pathetic, his sudden realization of how far Ember’s power could take her, but Ember liked to hear she was getting the advantage again.

She strained against his energy, him charging at her again, her pushing him back and holding her own as she tried to summon enough strength and sanity to speak again.

“It’s… because…”

Shadow… Sonic… Rouge.

“I have…”

Cream, Amy, Knuckles, Tails…

“P-people…”

Her memories, Maria… Dr. Gerald Robotnik.

All of her experiences.

All of her strife and happiness, pain and sorrows.

…Manic…

“I want… to protect!”

She sent a large energy wave out of her, rippling through the air as he remained stunned at the intensity of her Cursed Emerald’s power.

It was almost as though her very chest was shaking, the Cursed Emerald looking as though it was being rocked from her very core. Her soul taking full swing at him, him locked in her grip as she refused to let go.

“How’s that possible!?” he cried out, but it was too late now…

“I have all 7 Chaos Emeralds! You have only one!”

“Guess you didn’t do your research, but this little emerald was cursed for a reason!” She formed a beam at the tip of her protruding emerald, Scourge’s eyes glazed over with its wild radiance as he pulled his head back, whincing as he knew…This was gonna hurt. A lot.

“HAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

She spread a beam of dark purple energy out from her chest, propelling it into him as she held his fighting hands in place. A direct shot. A finishing blow. All she had left to give.

 She left him with nowhere to dodge.

 She had grappled him, causing his flimsy form to fly out in front of her, being forced to remain in the shock-blast of her immense power.

To keep from having the power push her back against the wall, she dug her feet into the ground of the cobble floor.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” the hit finally died down and caused Scourge to fall flat down on his face when she released him and backed away.

She gripped her arm, feeling the fatigue as her form disappeared and she fell down too. “You may be ticked… hah… hah… but no amount of fighting… hah… will keep me from forgetting… hah… hah… my friends.”

That was all. The last of everything. At least, she thought it was. Her vision so blurry and her body so numb.

The Cursed Emerald faded… as though Ember was left only to her mortal capabilities now.

“Grr…” he gripped the ground beneath him, “…Ow.” feeling the Chaos Emeralds shoot out from him, he forced his crisp self to get up, still steaming from the hit.

 “YOU LITTLE-!” he reached out to her. “Whether you join or not, I’ll just kill you and dance on your corpse!”

While the two were distracted, they didn’t notice a portal open and his Anti-gang getting beaten in their attempt to block out their powerful and heated light energy.

“You can’t win! Ahh! Ow! Hot! You can’t burn me! I’m raw to the core, babe! I’m-… I’m not done,… I’m well done! Haha! Ouch… Get over here…” he began to crawl to her, and it was pretty impressive that he had even survived her attack.

‘How?’ Ember’s eyes were too exhausted to shake in fear, her body too tried to fully react to his advances toward her. ‘He’s totally beaten… He can barely move… the Chaos Emeralds… He must have used them to block some of the attack… but they’re drained too. How… How powerful is this guy?’

“I won.” She countered.

He fidgeted in his painful crawl towards her.

His face and belly were scraping against the floor, his knees skidded with fresh burns that only made the stone sting further against the cold, rough touch. The surface was like sandpaper on his blackened hide, but he kept moving, he kept crawling… his gloves ripped and his sunglasses blasted like a comic book page’s BAM. He kept coming. He wouldn’t back down.

“I’m not just gonna lie down and die! I’ll take you with me!” he raised a crazy eye and gripped her head.

She was powerless to stop him, she could barely move her body, let alone keep her eyes open.

“You… cheated.” She muttered again as he attempted to use her head to push him off the ground, but she didn’t have enough strain and just toppled with him.

“Dang it…” he finally let out what sounded like his own acceptance of his defeat. “You and I… we’re too alike.” He just managed a smirk. “You and I… we’re bad to the bone.”

“No…” Ember breathed out and managed to look him in the eye.

“I’m nothing like you.”

Then…

“Scourge!”

Scourge stopped in his pursuit, still gripping Ember’s head. She was so close to fainting that she couldn’t move out of his grasp.

He turned to the sound and noticed his gang tied up and on their knees, looking ticked at three figures who walked into the shadows of the room.

Scourge quickly removed his hand and grabbed Ember by her neck, forcing himself up while pulling her with him.

He wobbled to his feet, clearly annoyed and struggling to find a joke in the situation. “So much interference… Can’t a man feed his ambitions first?” he licks his lips. “What is this, the Calvary?”

The figures halted.

“Heh. Might as well make a lasting impression, hmm? Fire girl’s mine! You’re too late to save anyone!” He was fibbing. It was all a fake show to mask the fact that he knew he was beat. He couldn’t do anything and neither could Ember now. His strength to rise to his legs was nothing but a mortal attempt to look like a god. He was really just a rag-doll with his stitches coming undone, the fluff of powerlessness inches from snapping out of him and spreading like dandelion fuzz around the air.

For a last kick, a final punch, icing on the cake of trying to reclaim an authoritative stance, he leaned in to kiss her…

“I… won’t… lose…” his façade was failing him, he was about to collapse. He pushed his thumb up to get her chin to rise…

A moment away from some petty form of victory… not willing to admit defeat…

But a noble drumstick hit the side of his cranium.

His eyes blinked, dazed and confused.

One figure stuck a hand out into the light where Ember and Scourge had made the ceiling fall apart, but some of it dared to stay intact.

One pointer finger rose up and wagged itself in broad daylight. “No, no, no… that’s no way to treat a lady, dude.”

Scourge squinted his eyes as Ember slowly began to go limp in his hold.

She was too exhausted to try and look and see who it is, but ever ounce of her felt it knew that voice. Like a steady drum beat… like a rhythmic pound within the sound of the man’s voice.

“And you are?”

“When Ember’s letters started turning sour, I figured something wasn’t right.”

That voice… She knew that voice…

“Sonia said they were forged when we compared handwriting with previous other letters she had written me.”

It couldn’t be… but Ember’s eyes struggled to force themselves open just a little longer…

Hoping for a glance of him…

Of…

“I went to Sonic for some answers. Turns out Shadow was looking for her too and well,” he shrugged, but his voice was immediately recognizable to Ember.

 “M-…Man...ic?”

 “Well, now we’re saving my luscious lady from your filthy little hands!” Manic, Sonic, and Shadow both stepped out of the shadows, revealing their forms as Shadow narrowed his eyes, a deep glare upon his broad brow as he noticed the state Ember was in. Sonic was also acting a bit more serious than Ember had ever seen him look before, but that soon changed to a proud smile when he noticed Scourge was thoroughly beat-up by her before they had even gotten there.

“L…Luscious?” she could barely get any air to escape her throat and respond to him, but he seemed to be proceeding with caution, noticing her frail state. Still, it made her want to chuckle, bringing a corner of her lips up to a smile at hearing his ridiculously outdated talk start-up again. It wasn’t nearly as annoying as Scourge calling her ‘spark’ or ‘baby’. She’d rather hear Manic say it than him.

“It means you’re rocking!” Manic drummed the air, hearing her faintly whispered reply to his shenanigans. “But in a- ‘pretty and wonderful personality’ kinda way.”

“This is annoying.” Scourge lowered his eyelids, tilting and trying to regain his lost balance again. It was clear he wasn’t ready for a round 16… as he had previously already taken Ember on a good number of times.

“This is the bozo I have to rival with?” he looked comically to Ember, as if not understanding her taste. He pulled on her hair again to get her to look up at him, and through the pain, she laughed a moment.

“He’s the right… shade of green.”

Scourge showed his fangs on that comment, not liking it one bit.

“I can still take him.” Ember protested, but weakly pawed her claws at him. This only made the scene funnier and more desperate.

“Right. Don’t mean to steal your thunder, babe, but let me and my bros handle this.” Manic turned back to the Anti-Gang as Sonic and Shadow leaped forward.

Scourge’s eyes widened, not ready for this new encounter at all.

With that last comment, Shadow darted up and launched a Chaos Spear, which forced Scourge to jump back. He released Ember, leaving her to drop like dead-weight on the ground, flopping a bit and not even trying to stop the fall… even just a little bit.

She wouldn’t call out for help though, she just tried to keep breathing and keep her eyes from fully shutting. She wanted to see this. Shadow kick some butt, Sonic do his thing, and Manic… she just wanted to stare at him as long as she possibly could.

It was good to see him again. So, he didn’t hate her? All those sent letters never reached him? What awful things was Scourge writing to him, under her name?

Scourge was injured and woozy, so when Shadow’s feet hit the ground, he was still unsteady.

Shadow dealt a number of powerful blows, causing more noticeable blood to spit out from Scourge’s mouth, revealing the internal injuries were getting just as bad as his outer appearance…

The Chaos Emeralds were flung from his being— Pik, pik, pik!

They bounced against the ground, tumbling, and finally rolling through a half-demolished wall’s jagged holes where stones had been hit out of place.

Sonic watched the emeralds scatter and raced along the still remaining walls, letting his hand skim their grainy exterior before rolling into a ball and ducking into the holes of the same wall after them.

“I’ve got Scourge, you get Ember!”

Sonic’s voice rang out as he sped through the barely hanging walls of the destroyed castle, revealing his super from as he blasted the remaining structure away. With that wall gone, the whole place started to shake and loosened stones began to fall around them.

The Anti-Gang looked up, realizing the whole place was about to go down.

Scourge’s super form immediately faded with a knee to the face as Sonic easily began to pummel him down while Shadow turned his attention back to Ember.

Right before she fainted, she felt Shadow quickly scoop her up. A tight, firm grasp upon her sides made her flinch a bit in pain, but his words made her happy in their weird way. “Stupid girl, what did I tell you about making enemies!?”

“Only twice a day?” she joked, and then her eyes rolled and she fell unconscious.

She only vaguely remembered voices. Shouting from Scourge, mostly. She did hear Manic and figured he must have been the one who rushed over, skidded to his knees, and felt her face…

But she could have imagined it…

The next morning, she admitted what she had done was reckless, and should have tried to escape instead of fight.

Manic had tended to her wounds with Rouge and other G.U.N officers, but Sonia was the one who helped create the portal to get her out of that mess.

She personally thanked her before Sonia had to return and govern her own kingdom that Sonic and Manic willingly gave off to her. Neither wanted to rule, but Sonia was a natural leader who was born for the role, quite literally.

Laying on the gurney, she slowly blinked her eyes to adjust to the light, having taken a long rest since then. Shadow, Sonic, and Manic had stayed at different times to check on her as she dozed off repeatedly back to her deep, recovery slumber. However, this time, they all seemed to be in the room.

She immediately opened the conversation, weakly and groggy at first, with a gentle explanation of her behavior for why she didn’t try to run but fought instead.

“I just wanted to see how far our little ‘game’ would go.” She withdrew herself back from Shadow’s glare as she rose from the gurney. “Who defeated him in the end… might I ask?”

In her heart, she still believed she succeeded. “Cause honestly,” she began, unable to keep it to herself. “He cheated.”

The men had different reactions to that. Sonic chuckled while Manic rolled his eyes with a smile on his face, and Shadow just grumbled something under his breath… probably a curse she was glad she didn’t hear. Maybe he was holding back..? Due to her condition?

Shadow turned to Sonic, who looked back at him and then over to Manic. They seemed to be thinking the same response…

“We all kinda chipped in.” Sonic stated, before Shadow shook his head and sighed.

“Far to modest… I completely obliterated him.” Shadow immediately bit back at Sonic’s rather ‘humble’ comment.

“What!?” humbleness went out the door as Sonic suddenly spun to confront Shadow’s claim, “We all fought him! And besides, I beat him up waaaaaay before you or Manic stepped in!”

“I believe you have failed to recall how I dealt with him swiftly first. You’re the one who called me off to get your own share of the action.” Shadow folded his arms, turning at an angle away from Sonic’s childish behavior. “Honestly, you’re no better than her at claiming all the glory…”

“You’re the one making a fuss!” Sonic pointed an accusing finger before looking over to Manic, “Well? Am I right? Or am I right!”

“I’m a peacemaker, yo. A pacifist at heart.” Manic drummed the side of the gurney, refusing to be apart of the contention. “But for you, I couldn’t help but summon my old drum set. Sent beats of righteous justice his way.” He winked to Ember, admitting that he did join a little bit in the fight, even if it was indirectly and through the power of his sick, twisted beats.

“You were ranged, but still effective.” Shadow still didn’t know how to address the fact that his so-called ‘Sister’ was writing a complete stranger. To him, anyway, he didn’t know anything about this ‘Manic’ fellow but trusted him after all he’d done to find and save Ember. “However, you have yet to explain your side of the story…” Shadow turned to Ember again, “How exactly do you two know each other?“

“It’s been a while since you’ve fought, Manic.” Sonic smirked, turning his attention away from Shadow’s stubborn crossed-arms, not willing to admit it as a team effort, but also avoiding his brother and his possible girlfriend from having to admit anything.

“I did most of the work, though…” Sonic muttered through the side of his mouth, pulling up a hand to side-mouth the statement towards Ember, grinning widely as he winked to her.

This only made Ember smile, seeing them all try to lighten the mood for her.

“You merely distracted him as I got Ember to safety and defeated him only after I had stepped in.”

“I had to let you have a few blows, you were acting like the angry big brother all the way there! And what? Are you trying to look ‘cool’ in front of your sister now or something?” Sonic teased, calling Shadow out with a hint of casual backstabbing.

He leaned towards Shadow, lowering his eyelids with a wicked sense of pleasure on his face, waiting to see Shadow’s reaction to his words.

“Why?” Shadow closed both his eyes, refusing to give Sonic what he wanted. “I have no need for that. She already looks up to me far more than she should.”

“Yeesh, what a double-edged sword.” Sonic sweat dropped a bit, flinching back at how arrogant Shadow could be when provoked.

But… Ember noticed that he didn’t protest Sonic’s words too severely… It made her heart lighter than air… hearing him accept her being called his little sister without too much of a complaint.

“We searched a few realms before finding the right one. Sorry for being a tad late—not so fashionably—But it was far out and about, man.” Manic twirled his drumsticks into a holster and walked over to Ember, subtly reminding the other men in the room that it was about Ember, not them.

He leaned on her bedside, “Just glad you’re alright.”

His smile melted her worries away, and she tilted her head towards him, wishing to be closer to that positive aura his smile gave off. She tilted her chin down with a faint blush…

Then something crossed her mind, just as quick as her blush disappeared.

“T-those letters, though… the fake ones. W-wha-what did they say?” Worriedly, Ember’s face turned sorrowfully up to him with regret. “If I had known…”

“Don’t worry about it.” He flicked a finger under her chin, tapping it playfully but remaining at a distance. Especially with Shadow around… she took a quick glance at him before pulling a bit away from Manic, respecting that he was just as nervous with being affectionate around her with Shadow in the room as she was towards him. “I’m just glad we were able to nab that bad dude. He should be in prison now, right?”

“Him and his goonies.” Sonic nodded as Shadow took a few more turns looking back and forth between Manic and Ember.

‘Just what the heck are you two, anyway!?’ was the expression on his face, leaving Ember to awkwardly look away and wag her tail as Manic scratched behind his head and nervously laugh the constant double-glances Shadow gave him away.

----

Far away, and in a dusty jail cell, Scourge and his team were separated.

He was thrown into quarantine with a ripped-up jacket that freed his arms from their insanity hold around his waist, gripping the bars. “I vow to never rest till Ember’s blood is burning on my hands, or at least something of hers..! I will have my REVENGE!”

“Keep it down over there!”,

“Ahhh, shut up!”,

“Is that..? Ah, man. Why’s he back with us?”

The other inmates could hear his ranting cries clear across the courtyard, where Fiona and the gang pop some bubble gum. She stuck it to a nail file and threw it up over the wall. Quickly moving through the bars of his small, rectangular window, it flipped a few times before descending and clinging its gummy, pink, and spit covered substance against the wall.

It stuck to the inside of his cell, slowly being pulled down by the weight of the nail file and stretched towards him. Finally, with Scourge leaning up against the wall, grinding his teeth together in frustration, he heard it tink just above him.

He stopped scowling and looked up, seeing the metal gleam in his eyes, his sunglasses upon his head also reflecting their bright, silver exterior.

“First freedom.” he smiled with evil glee.

“And then, that day… will come soon.”

Laughter echoed the walls of the isolation unit.

End.

[jouska-the-deer]

A Short Quiz

Chapter 17: Unpleasant Memories, Part 2

“You sure you’re okay to be out of the hospital? If you just want me to bring you home I can.”

“Sonic, it’s fine. The doctor said I had no severe injuries. No fractures, no concussion. All I really got from the whole thing was a headache.”

Amy looked around at the city streets of Station Square as Sonic carried her to the park. His pace was a light jog, keeping the trip as smooth as possible to not disturb Amy’s injury.

“If your headache is bad I can get you something for it,” Sonic said, slowing down and waiting for a reply.

“Again, I’m fine,” she insisted. “I got a little pain medication took a pill before we left. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Sonic slowly increased his speed back to a jog and continued toward the park. Amy could still see the worried look on his face, and wouldn’t stand for it.

“You know,” she began with a grin, “I’ve heard that hedgehogs are really good at not getting hurt after falls. Apparently, there have been two that that fell from space and are still alive today.”

Sonic rolled his eyes and lightly chuckled, and Amy smiled in success.

When he looked forward again, he saw the sign for the park Amy had given him directions to. He approached it, reading as he slowed down.

“Station Square Park,” he said, stopping and giving Amy an amused look. “I’ve got to hand it to them, that’s a very creative name,” he remarked sarcastically.

“Yeah,” Amy said in agreement. “Um, do you think you can bring me to a bench, I kinda just want to sit down for a bit.”

“Alright,” Sonic replied, speeding up to a light jog once again.

It wasn’t long before he found an old metal bench by the path. He brought Amy to it and carefully set her down, then she slowly sat on the bench. Thinking that it would be awkward to stand around as Amy sat, Sonic took a spot on the bench beside her.

“This place looks pretty nice,” Amy said, looking around at the pleasant scenery. “You know, despite the ‘creative’ name.”

“Yeah,” Sonic said with a small chuckle.

He looked around, taking in everything around him. Despite the park being in the middle of a large city, anyone there could hardly tell with how dense the number of trees was around the park edges. The grass was nicely cut, and flowers were planted near some of the path intersections. Every so often, a gentle breeze would blow the scent of healthy flowers across the park, giving the place a pleasant spring atmosphere. The final touch to add to the park's beauty was a center fountain. While it appeared to be very old, it seemed well maintained. Sonic watched the falling water for a moment, letting the events of that morning come to memory.

“Did I thank you for saving me earlier?” he asked, turning to Amy.

“Um, I don’t think so. But, it was mostly you doing all the saving anyway.”

“Well, thanks for saving me. It really means a lot.”

“You’re welcome?” she replied in an unsure manner. “I mean, I couldn’t just let you drown, and you did most of the heroic stuff. I should be thanking you right now.”

“Are you kidding? You were very heroic,” Sonic said. “You risked your life to save me, that’s about as heroic as it gets.”

Amy blushed a little at the compliment.

“Well, I still think you deserve most the praise,” she replied. “Even though I fell into the river, you still came to rescue me. You faced your greatest fear and dived into the water after me, even though you could have drowned.”

Sonic was about to say something, but Amy quickly corrected herself.

“Sorry. I forgot drowning apparently isn’t your greatest fear,” she said, watching Sonic relax back on the bench. “But, I don’t remember if you told me what it was.”

“I didn’t tell you. I’ve only told Tails and Knuckles.”

“Um, can you tell me?” Amy asked. “I understand if you don’t want to.”

“It’s fine,” Sonic assured. “Just, don’t tell anyone else, alright?”

Amy made a motion similar to zipping her lips shut, making Sonic lightly smile.

After taking a short breath and awkwardly scratching between his head quills, he told her.

“Well, uh, I’m uh, most afraid of having to live through a friend's death,” he admitted.

“Oh,” Amy quietly spoke, collecting her thoughts. “It must have been really scary this morning then, if my heart really stopped.”

“Yeah.”

“And, when Tails nearly died…” Her mind trailed off. She knew Sonic and Tails were close. Pretty much family. Even six years ago, they were still basically brothers. Amy figured that if her near death was scary for Sonic, Tails’ must have been petrifying.

“You must have been even more scared,” she said, watching as Sonic lowered his head.

“I was,” he quietly replied.

"Do you think you could talk about it?” Amy slowly asked. “You still haven't told me everything that happened during the final fight with Eggman.”

Sonic thought about it for a long moment, and after concluding that he really should finish talking about it, he let out a sigh.

"I'll try."

After taking a second to think, he looked up at Amy.

"I uh, don't remember where I left off."

It had been a month since they last talked about it, so Amy understood why Sonic would have a little difficulty remembering. She happened to remember what he said pretty clearly, though, so she helped him recall what it was.

"You talked about how you made Shadow bring Tails to the hospital, then got the chaos emerald from him. Then you said you transformed and were planning something, but you didn't say what it was."

A short whine of discomfort escaped Sonic's throat, so Amy took her hand and gently rested it on Sonic's arm for comfort.

"It's okay, Sonic. I know you can do this."

He looked to her hand for a moment, then rested his own on top of hers, giving it a small squeeze. He then took her hand, and gently pushed it towards her, with Amy resting it on her lap and Sonic returning his hand to his knee.

"Alright," he said, soon taking a deep breath.

"After, after I transformed, I went down the halls to find, Eggman."

Sonic showed great discomfort in saying his name, but Amy didn't understand why. She didn't say anything, not wanting to interrupt Sonic and possibly make him too uncomfortable to continue.

"I, I went pretty fast, probably faster than the speed of sound." He paused for a moment, recalling something. "A few weeks ago, when you said you could've sworn you heard the sound of me breaking the sound barrier before, well, I think this is when you would've heard it."

Amy took a moment to think back to six years ago.

"Oh yeah. I think I heard it while running out of the base with Omega and Rouge. It was pretty loud."

"Yeah. I probably destroyed a few things while I was going that fast too..."

A moment went by with Sonic not saying anything. He only stood still in thought, which worried Amy a little.

"Sonic?"

He glanced up at her.

"Oh uh, sorry. I'll uh, I'll keep going."

Another deep breath later, he continued.

"I found him pretty quickly. Well, he wasn't really that hard to find. He was probably waiting for me."

Sonic looked down started fidgeting with his gloves, similar to the last time he tried talking about what happened.

"He had a big mech he was controlling waiting in a big room. There were a ton of robots around too."

After taking a deep breath, Sonic released it, uncomfortably shifting in his seat.

"I destroyed pretty much everything really quick. All the small bots were gone before they even had a chance to fire. Eggman, was harder to defeat, though."

Sonic continuously tapped his foot on the ground, unable to stay still.

"He had some sort of force field around the mech he was controlling that hurt to touch, and he kept firing a ton of stuff at me. It was even harder to defeat him than usual."

A short whine escaped Sonic's throat, but he continued.

"I still got him, though. I just used the robots I destroyed before to throw at him. The force field thing broke, and after that, I attacked the mech with full force."

Sonic's breaths became quick and heavy, with no more words being spoken. He turned away from Amy, covering his face with his hands.

"I can't do this anymore."

"What? But you were doing great."

"I'm sorry. I just, can't."

"Sonic..."

Amy slid across the bench closer to him, once again offering comfort.

"I know you can keep going."

Sonic let out a shaky breath.

"You'll hate me if I say anything else."

"Of course I won't," she assured. "Why would you think that?"

"I can't tell you. I can't say anything else."

"Sonic." Amy guided his head to face her. "I don't care what happened. I just want you to talk about it so you can feel better. I know it's tough, but, I know you can do it. And, nothing you say will ever stop me from being your friend."

He faintly smiled, said, "alright," then let out a long breath.

"Just as the mech started breaking down, I flew toward the Egg Mobile and sent it flying up to the ceiling. It smacked it pretty hard, then hit the ground while the mech exploded."

Sonic trembled as he continued speaking, but was calmed somewhat by Amy's presence.

"The glass on the Egg Mobile broke, and he fell out and landed a bit away. I walked up to him. I was really angry."

Amy became more uncomfortable with what he was saying.

"He looked really scared. He tried throwing a few punches at me, but I dodged them all. Then, I grabbed him, and, I threw him against the wall."

Without knowing what else to do, Amy continued to listen without saying anything.

"He, he told me to think about what I was doing, but I already did. I thought about it before, and I already knew what I was gonna do."

Sonic covered his eyes with his hand.

"He told me to stop, but I didn't. I, I wish I did."

He sniffed and continued to hide his face.

"I, I-I, I charged at him at full speed. Then, then I..."

Sonic brought his knees to his chest and covered his head with his hands, letting out a whimper.

"There was so much blood..."

His voice cracked, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"I killed him..."

No longer able to hide everything he had been feeling for so long, Sonic began crying to himself on the bench.

Amy stood there horrified. It was hard to believe that he had done something so gruesome, but there he was, crying about it. Even though what he did was terrible, Amy was now more concerned with how sad Sonic looked. She had never seen him cry before, or even ever heard about him crying.

After a moment of thought, Amy reached a hand out to Sonic and pulled him a little closer. He fell into her arms and wept on her shoulder, hugging her tightly as she hugged him back. Still trying to think of something to say, Amy let Sonic cry while continuing to offer him comfort.

"I'm a horrible person," Sonic whimpered, catching Amy off guard.

"What? No, you're not."

"Yeah, I am. I should be in prison right now."

"You don't deserve that."

"Yes I do; I killed someone."

"Sonic..." Amy continued to hold him, trying to calm him down. "Eggman destroyed a lot of things while he was alive, and his destruction caused the deaths of so many people. I know you feel bad for what you've done, but tons of people would think of you as a hero for stopping him."

Sonic pushed Amy away, looking at her in anger with tear filled eyes.

"I wasn't being a hero, I wasn't trying to put an end to his evil, and I wasn't doing it for the greater good." A few tears fell down his cheeks. "I did it because I hated him, and I wanted him dead. That doesn't make me a hero, that makes me a villain." Sonic turned away and covered his face with his hands.

Amy took Sonic's hands away from his face and gently guided his head back so he faced her. "You're not a villain," she said while wiping away his tears. "You're a guy who did something bad because he was upset. We all do things we'll regret sometimes, that doesn't make us evil."

"I killed a man just because I was angry at him. How does that not make me evil?" Sonic tried to turn his head away, but Amy just guided it back.

"If you were evil, you wouldn't regret what you did." She wiped away his tears again. "And I can easily see that you regret what you've done."

After pushing away Amy's hand, Sonic looked away again.

"Sonic."

With a sigh, he returned his eyes to her.

"I've known you for a long time, and if there's anything I couldn't be more certain of, it's that you're not evil."

She moved her hands to Sonic's arms, hoping she was giving him some sort of comfort. He continued to give her his attention, so she figured it was working.

"You've done so much good and helped so many people. You've made tons of friends and saved a lot of lives. You're a good person, and I've known that for a long time."

Sonic took in a deep breath, and released it slowly, continuing to focus on Amy.

"Your friends all know you're a good person too, and they are there to help when you need it."

Amy gave Sonic a feint, hopeful smile.

"And I want you to know, that no matter what happens, I'll always be there for you."

Sonic breathed a shaky sigh of relief, and smiled as he felt the comfort he had needed for so long. For the first time in years, he felt certain that he was going to feel better, and he knew Amy was going to be there to help him along the way. In an act of pure relief and joy, Sonic rushed forward and met Amy's lips with his own.

Initially, Amy sat in shock, unable to comprehend what was happening. Soon though, she gave into the wonderful feeling of Sonic's kiss, closing her eyes and enveloping him in her embrace. Sonic wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, tilting his head and fully enjoying the warm press of her lips.

The kiss ended when they both slowly leaned away, their eyes still closed and minds in a completely different world. They rested their foreheads together for a moment, and Sonic let out a content sigh, with Amy soon doing the same. For a while, they were completely removed from reality. All they knew was the loving presence of the other. But when reality started to seep back into their minds, Sonic didn't know what to do.

His content smile faded as he realized what he just did. Sonic's eyes shot open and he backed his head away from Amy's, breaths becoming more rapid as he began to panic. He had no idea how he could have kissed Amy, and he didn't know what to do or say. Amy reached out a hand to calm him, but he was already too far gone to be helped. He jolted up from his seat and his eyes darted around. He tried saying something, but no words would come out. Completely in a state of panic, he bolted away from the park.

Amy sat completely puzzled. She didn't know how to feel. While her kiss with Sonic was something straight out of her dreams, it ended with him running away. She looked around the park from her seat on the bench, hoping he was still around, hoping he would come back, hoping he would explain.

"S-Sonic?"

[iamspok]

Top 10 Video Game Sidekicks

Modern day gaming is a much more collaborative experience, geared towards often fast-paced, multiplayer or co-operative gameplay, whether you like it or not the days of the story mode is in it’s twilight with many of the bigger developers now opting to either forego the traditional single player experience or incorporating it into an overall online mode (see Destiny, Titanfall, Star Wars Battlefront) and while gamers have pushed back, there is no doubting that the further into the future we get, the more integrated we are.

But for many years, there have been characters who were designed to help you on your path and simulate that collaborative experience, some of which became beloved heroes of the gaming community and some, well, not so much (I personally still have nightmares about Natalya from Goldeneye and her casual stroll through a hail of AK-47 gunfire)

This article is dedicated to the characters that made the game a better experience, whether it be for gameplay or purely for the story, they live on with the legacy of each game on the list.

Dogmeat (Fallout)

The idea that dog is man’s best friend always seems to have been prevalent in everyday life but never has it been more important than in the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout.

Dogmeat would do anything to protect you, he would attack anyone or anything at anytime, he sniffs out valuable items that aid your survival in this unforgiving world, he will follow a scent for miles and he is your only remaining family, if that’s not enough to earn this dog a place on this list, then you obviously aren’t a dog person.

Cortana (Halo)

Cortana is the first blockbuster sidekick on this list that was introduced to the world in the incredibly successful Halo.

The supercomputer would assist you by hacking rogue alien systems, providing tactical assistance and decoding transmissions essential to your mission and gives Master Chief his only human link (ironic) in the entire game.

To put into perspective how successful this sidekick would become, she now resides on tens of millions of PC’s around the world as a virtual assistant that helps operate the Windows system, if that’s not a sign that you’ve been important, I don’t know what is.

Otacon (Metal Gear Solid)

‘’Snake, you of course know the saying ‘one for all, all for one’. It’s from ‘The Three Musketeers’ - the book, not the candy bar’’

In one of the most intense gaming series of all time, often with cut-scenes that were obscenely longer and more detailed than anything that had come before it or since, Otacon brought a lighter tone to the world of Metal Gear Solid.

With his often ill-timed explanations of totally random subjects (see pre-ripped jeans, daylight savings, Chinese proverbs) he became a cult favorite amongst hardcore MGS players, the fact that he used to help Snake through various missions with his codec updates is only an added bonus that gets him on this list.

Weighted Companion Cube (Portal)

‘‘It’s just an object..it doesn’t even do anything’’ said absolutely no one who has ever played Portal. This little cube was pretty much your only ally in the entire game, starting out as just a lump that you would use to hit switches or complete a puzzle it eventually became a friend (yes, I said a friend) and as the game presented more challenging obstacles it became invaluable.

Then came the incinerator, I struggle to think of anything else in pop culture that felt as crushing a blow for the loss of something that was not even alive in the first place (maybe Wilson from Castaway)

Godspeed trusted companion cube, we will meet again.

Yoshi (Super Mario World)

Step aside Luigi, because Yoshi is the one true sidekick to Mario.

First introduced in 1990, Yoshi first came about simply as a mode of transportation for the famous brothers but soon became very useful on their adventures. You could ride him (which was cool as hell anyway) you could sacrifice him to get over obstacles or just throw him away when he wasn’t needed, he would help you take care of those pesky enemies and I defy you to name any other sidekick that pooped out power-up’s at the rate he did.

He’s stuck with the series over the years and has even managed to get a few game’s of his own (Yoshi’s Island, Yoshi’s Story, Yoshi’s Wooly World to name a few) which is something that only one other character on this list has managed to accomplish, impressive.

Claptrap (Borderlands II)

Let's be honest, usually when you have a sidekick whose main purpose is to provide comic relief it falls flat on its face, but in the world of Borderlands, it is exactly what you expect and what you need.

Despite the fact he raised an army and tried to kill you at the end of Borderlands, by the time you come across him in Borderlands II all is forgiven after a few minutes, mainly acting as a guide through the wastelands of Pandora, the game quite literally would not have been the same without him. Not just satisfied to be the life and soul of the party, Claptrap will also open doors for you and help you open those magical loot chests that you lust after.

Leonardo Da Vinci (Assassins Creed 2)

Assassins Creed 2 was an excellent game, ranking as either many gamers favorite of the franchise or most important, it overhauled the game mechanics from the original which had been hailed as a storytelling master stroke, but showcased cumbersome climbing and fighting physics that often made the game feel like a chore, it’s hard to put into words just how much this installment lit a fire under the series that has since become a juggernaut, reaching as far as Hollywood.

Among the riveting missions, the outlandish, often villainous supporting characters and mysterious storyline set in the various visually stunning cities of Italy, you had the chance to meet the one and only Leonardo Da Vinci.

At first you’re excited about how he fits into the narrative of the story but when you realize that he’s building you item’s that the game hasn’t presented to you before, the real fun starts. First, there was the hidden blade, he then introduced you to some new fighting techniques, which in a game like Assassins Creed is very important to keep things fresh, along with the ability to poison enemies (honestly, is there anything more satisfying than poisoning just one guard in a group and seeing him go crazy? no) but this all lead up to arguably the best mission of the game in sequence 8...WHERE YOU FLY OVER THE ROOFTOPS OF VENICE IN A GIANT DAMN WOODEN BIRD!

Tails (Sonic Series)

There may be no more important entry into this list than Tails. In 1992 when the beloved character was first introduced, gaming culture was still in its relative infancy on the mass market and was about to take a big upward swing over the next few years and Sonic The Hedgehog would play a major role in its development.

Sonic would become one of the most popular games on the Sega mega drive and its marquee title, with its addictive side scrolling action and it’s fast-paced boss fights, it was in the rarefied atmosphere only shared by Super Mario Bros at the absolute crux of the gaming community, but where Mario had his trusty Luigi, Tails would be a more useful sidekick to Sonic, his power of flight would occasionally be invaluable for successfully completing a level and without him, there would be no biplane to take down Dr. Eggman’s wing fortress.

I’m sure anyone reading this article who had a younger sibling and had to share a mega drive would also agree, Tails is the best!

Ellie (Last Of Us)

Although being a playable character later on in the game and spawning a spin off (Left Behind) there could have been no list without the incomparable Ellie from The Last Of Us.

This is widely regarded now as the greatest video game of all time and the character of Ellie provides a huge reason for this, as you navigate the post-apocalyptic world following an outbreak that ravages the United States, you lose your family and your hope for a new humanity until you are introduced to Ellie, the 14-year old girl who could potentially hold the fate of humanity inside her.

A connection with any character in a video game this intense is incredibly rare as she becomes increasingly important, not just to the story but to you as the player and explains the mixed emotions at the end when Joel would essentially rather see the human race die then have Ellie taken away from him, totally fair in my books.

Elizabeth (Bioshock Infinite)

The best AI sidekick of all time? I would say so.

Bioshock has always been an immersive story-driven experience, through the underwater steampunk world of Rapture featured in the first 2 installments, gamer’s were presented an extremely dark, often terrifying experience as we learned to deal with the psychopathic enemies that lurked in the shadows, by the time Bioshock:Infinite was released, we were ready to ascend to the clouds of Columbia.

Often times, ’escort’ missions in video games are incredibly tedious so if I were to tell you that Infinite is basically one, long escort mission, many would simply not bother playing it but Elizabeth proves to be the most helpful and one of the most interesting sidekicks in video game history.

She keeps herself out of the way of danger, she tosses you supplies and ammunition when it’s needed most, she can find money and open locked doors and if you played the game on the hardest difficulty like me, she is absolutely necessary.

I can still say to this day that the feeling of accomplishment I had upon completing Infinite is unparalleled and Elizabeth is the very definition of what a video game sidekick should be.

[mobius-prime]

214. Sonic the Hedgehog #146

The Good, the Bad & the Unknown (Part One): Prototype

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Jason Jensen

We begin in media res, with Sonic and Shadow beating on each other in the middle of some hidden technological facility! Why? Who knows! After a bit of fighting, Sonic, who has been taking some bad blows, hits Shadow with a gush of water from a pipe to distract him and runs for it, leaving Shadow behind to take in his situation. He considers chasing after Sonic, but upon hearing voices calling for Sonic decides he'd rather not face multiple people alone in a fight and heads the opposite way. The voices turn out to belong to Tails, Bunnie, and Tommy, trying to figure out where their friend has gone and wondering if his disappearance means the facility is more dangerous than they suspected. Shadow, meanwhile, heads down a side path into a hidden room, where he meets up with someone quite unexpected - a golden clone of the E-100 series of robots, whom he addresses as Isaac. Isaac asks him why he stopped fighting Sonic, as he's apparently been tracking Shadow's progress through the facility, and this prompts Shadow to go into a lengthy explanation of just how he ended up here. It seems that after he left Locke's lab, he detected a signal that matched what he knew of Gerald's old digital signature, and followed it to this place. While arriving he accidentally triggered some kind of security measure, which accounts for the explosion that the Freedom Fighters' instruments detected, but survived, and upon entering the facility found an airtight compartment which, upon opening it, released Isaac.

Upon looking into the files of a nearby computer, Shadow determined that Isaac was a staggering ten millennia old, possibly even older, and that his creators were in fact humans from before the Xorda's attack on Earth, meaning this facility somehow survived that whole ordeal up until now. This is fascinating, because it essentially means that Eggman somehow has encountered robots like Isaac before, and used them as inspiration for creating his own E-100 line, even though he never met the first of them all. As this is going on, Rotor and Fiona find Sonic, slumped over a console and clearly winded from his fight with Shadow. He describes how while his allies were busy checking the computers he decided to take a solo look around the place, and found himself running straight into Shadow.

Come on, Shadow, why so violent? This issue suffers from the same problem as last issue, with Penders apparently somehow thinking Shadow isn't supposed to be a biological being but instead some kind of mechanical one. I mean, anyone who's played Shadow's titular game will know that he's part Black Arms, so I guess Rotor's comment isn't technically inaccurate, but seeing as they haven't made a single appearance in the comic thus far, fans of only the comics would have no way of knowing that. As the two teams regroup in the facility and figure out their next moves, Eggman arrives on the scene, having detected both the earlier explosion and the subsequent arrival of the Freedom Fighters. He's certain that this place either contains something that he could use against the Freedom Fighters, or conversely, something they might use against him, so of course he's interested in finding out what all the hubbub is.

Dun dun duuuunnnn! It's been a while since we saw Metal, huh? The last one gained a soul at the last moment before being buried alive in a torrent of lava, but who knows what this one will be like once Eggman sets it loose on the heroes…

Out of Your Shell

Writer: Romy Chacon Pencils: Ron Lim Colors: Jason Jensen

This story is simple but very sweet. So think about what we know of Tommy so far. He's… uh, slow, and he… gets captured a lot? Now that we think about it, we really don't know what he's like personality-wise. He's been living with Rotor since being rescued, but he's slowly slipping into a bit of a depression, as Rotor and everyone else are too busy every day to hang out with him. One day, when Rotor (whom he still refers to as "Boomer" - remember, he knew the Freedom Fighters during their very early childhood, back when that was Rotor's nickname) gets home, he dejectedly talks about how he feels useless and has nothing to do around Knothole, since everyone's too caught up in the war to spend time with him. Rotor tries to reassure him that everyone has something they're good at, and he's sure Tommy will figure it out in time, but for now, he really does need to get to work.

Ding! Can you hear the lightbulb going off above Rotor's head? Apparently Tommy's organizational skills are spectacular, and after admiring the new filing system for his work, Rotor invites Tommy to begin helping him out properly in his lab, offering to teach him everything he knows in exchange for Tommy keeping the place clean. And once he brings Tommy into his messy, unorganized lab, Tommy appears delighted at the sheer amount of things there are for him to organize. I suppose this story takes place before last issue, as by then we already saw Tommy helping Rotor out in his lab. But good for Tommy! Glad he's found a good friend in Rotor - or Boomer. *wink*

Circuit Me

Writer: Romy Chacon Pencils: Al Bigley Colors: Jason Jensen

One day shortly after the above story, Rotor calls Sally into his lab for some help. Specifically, he needs Nicole to run some tests on power rings, as he thinks he has a way to increase their power output as a clean energy alternative to Eggman's favored fossil fuels and pollutants. Sally walks over to help Rotor hook Nicole up to his systems, but trips on a wire on the way there, which zaps both her and Nicole silly.

Oh boy, it's one of these! That's right, Sally and Nicole have switched bodies - er, systems? - and while Sally is frustrated at suddenly becoming software, Nicole finds herself disoriented by being in a physical body. Rotor tries to walk Sally through the steps of diagnosing exactly what went wrong, something that doesn't come naturally to her since she's, well, not normally stuck in a computer, but Nicole, dazed by the experience, wanders outside in Sally's body.

Careful Nicole, don't go becoming infatuated with Sonic now! The body-switching effect luckily lasts only a couple minutes, and soon Sally and Nicole are back in their respective bodies, but the experience still leaves Nicole with some residual feelings of attraction to Sonic. Man, Nicole, you just got hit with the full force of angsty 16-year-old hormones all at once for the first time in your life! For someone who's usually only used to digital feedback, that's gotta be a trip.

[cutegirlmayra]

OK so I need you to find some prompt memes that I can pick from for you to write shadamy and sonamy to cuz I got a craving now thanks to you 😃

(I confess, I don’t know what a prompt meme is XD But~)

Here is a list of SonAmyShad prompt ideas I like :)

(x)

1. Sonic is about to sacrifice the remaining chaos power he holds to stop a meteor from crashing to the planet. Amy cries desperately from below, speaking words of love and begging for this not to happen. Shadow, standing by, hears her cries, and in some way, is filled with compassion. Realizing no one would ever cry so fiercely on his behalf, he flies up and pushes Sonic out of the way, taking severe damaging, but living through it. He wakes up to find himself being nurtured by Amy, who gives a beautiful speech of gratitude, and Sonic, although slightly upset he ‘stole his thunder’, though being sarcastic mostly about it, thanks him as well. “I didn’t do it for you.” Shadow turns away, though he did it so Amy would be happy… and he knew that smile would only stay if Sonic were still yet alive.

2. Sonic holds back every ounce of desperate, torturous misery as he hears of Metal going around and trying to kill his friends. Shadow and him are currently locked away and sealed in what seems to be a trapped room, impossible to escape. Seeing Sonic so helpless, Shadow reveals a chaos emerald. The two rush to save his friends, though find out Amy was already attacked, and destroyed Metal. However, she’s losing blood fast, and Sonic desperately looks for a way to save her. Shadow, suggesting a ‘forbidden chaos stream’ from the ancient Echidnas, uses Chaos to heal Amy… However, they are forever connected now. Sonic grows envious and jealous of this bond, because Shadow and Amy now suffer and feel what the other endures, and also emotionally as well. They grow close because of this connection, and finally, Sonic admits his frustrations, stating, “I should have never let you do it, Shadow… You should have given the emerald to me.” “You didn’t know how to perform it. She would have been dead by the time you learned how too.” “Tsk!” It’s a drama and angsty flick, but Amy can’t help but feel something powerful for Shadow after that… wanting to get closer to him… following the promptings of the forbidden chaos stream that pulls her to his side. He… is also suffering from similar effects.

3. Shadow finds an old letter from Maria in a house they used to live in when they dwelled on earth. It’s a journal dating back to before he had fully formed and developed into a living creature, and stated all her hopes and dreams for him. “I truly do hope Shadow… above all things… that you find someone to love. Who will love you back. Just the way you are. I never want you to feel that you’re not normal, and don’t deserve love or joy in this world. But please know, you were made as a hope for humanity. I trust in your light, Shadow. I hope you never suffer anything in life alone. This… is my sincerest wish.” Shadow then is on a mission to stop Eggman from G.U.N, where he runs into an imprisoned Amy. Expecting him to release her, he doesn’t, giving her the cold shoulder. They have some banter as he tries to avoid detection and plan out his next step, before Amy convinces him with the lines, “Don’t leave me all alone here, Shadow! I know it’s not apart of your mission, but… please, Shadow! I won’t be a burden! Can’t you just… try and find the light inside your heart and show mercy? I trust it’s in there, Shadow!” Her words triggered the letter’s memory. He ends up risking the whole mission to free her, succeeding and having a small moment with her, where she recognizes the good in him. “I love the way you are, Shadow!” Amy teases, “Grumpy and all!” Another trigger, and suddenly, he can’t stand to be annoyed or frustrated with her anymore. Sonic comes to take her away, but it leaves Shadow wondering… Could anyone ever love him?

There, that’s all for now xD What’s your favorite?