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nite-shay · 4 years

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A leg to Stand on - Togata Mirio x Reader

AN:

Idea: Character finding out their S/O has a prosthetic limb. (Think automail from full metal alchemist).

Sorry for any misspelling or grammar mistakes.

Togata Mirio x Reader

He wasn't supposed to find out, at least not like this.

You were going to tell him, of course. It wasn't something you could hide at least, not for long. A mechanical prosthetic leg wasn't common even in the world of quirks and heroes. While you weren't ashamed of your leg, it wasn't something you flaunted. You were proud of yourself for your body and your accomplishments, but... life felt simpler when people saw you for you, not for what you were missing.

Your love life, if you could call it that, was proof enough of that. It's incredible how many assholes there are in the world. What was more incredible was how you seemed to attract said assholes and DATE them.

One broke up with you after on a treadmill at the gym. Coward did it over a text message.

Another one though your leg was a weakness and bad for his future image.

And then there was your most recent ex. While they were accepting of your metal limb, they thought it would be best for you to get out of the ‘hero business.’ They kept saying how dangerous it was for a 'normal' hero, but for someone like you, it was a death sentence. After a few fights, they played their final card; It was either them or the hero's life.

You could never give up being a hero.

After that, you swore off dating and decided to just focus on your career.

Everything was going great for a while.

Then you met, Togata Mirio, also known as the hero Lemillion.

The sunshine boy wasn't like anyone else you ever met. You ran into him and your coworker Amajiki at a ramen shop near your work. After a shy introduction from Suneater, Mirio invited you to join them. You two really hit it off and chatted like old friends. Amajiki (per request of Mirio) started inviting you to their outing, and you quickly built a friendly relationship with Amajiki, Mirio, and Hado. You were enjoying your time with them, especially with Mirio, but you never could work up the courage to ask for his number.

Luckily, Hado shipped the two of you... hard….

Hado blunt comments about how you two would make beautiful babies (she even went as far as finding an app that merges pictures together to show you what your child might look like), along with other playful ‘hint hint’ comments force the blonde in making the first move. Two dates and a couple of weeks later, you two were officially boyfriend and girlfriend.

Dating.. hell just being around Mirio made you the happiest you had been in a long time...

Maybe that's why you hesitated when you thought about how to bring up your leg.

It's just… you were nervous. You liked him...alot.. maybe even loved him. Of course, Mirio was a hard man not to fall for. And it went far beyond just his looks. His passion, his personality... ok, his looks. Everything about him radiated positivity and life. Put a half-dead plant near him, and the damn thing will jump back to life.

If he did have a flaw, it was he was too perfect. You knew in your heart he would be accepting of your leg and your career, but...

You didn't want to mess anything up, and you really hadn't been dating too long...

Six months might seem like a long time but, given the fact that you were both heroes. It made your schedules a little... wonky, to say the least. Though six whole months have passed, you've only gotten to spend a month actually together in total. But that was the hero's life for you.

While it wasn't always ideal, you both understood, and fortunately, you had technology on your side. Texting, emailing, and calling made the time apart more bearable.

You felt like a giddy school girl as you checked your phone throughout the day. Reading the little message he sent you throughout the day, helped with getting through even the toughest of days.

But today was different.

After weeks of planning, both of you finally had a day off together and planned on spending as much time as you could together.

There was going to be a festival held in a local park nearby that you loved going to every year.

Mirio was dying to see a new comedy movie that just came out and, of course, no date we complete without a nice dinner at the local ramen house, the one you first met at.

Your day was set!

You had just finished brushing your lush (Y/Hair color) hair when you heard a knock at your door. You quickly check your appearance in the mirror before welcoming the expected visitor at your door. Your outfit was simple, (cute/cool) and appropriate for the adventurous day before you. A pair of your favorite pants and (favorite color) tank top. While it wasn't summertime yet, the day was going to be warm and slightly humid.

Mirio arrived at your apartment earlier than expected, and he looked amazing. He stood in the doorway, wearing a black t-shirt and tan cargo shorts that fit him too well. Not that you're complaining, you would soon cut your own tongue out before telling him ‘ya know babe, your butt looks too good in those shorts. You should go change.’

You haven’t taken that many hits to the head yet.

Without any hesitation, you stepped into his warm, welcoming embrace. The feel of his arms around you reminded you that it really had been way too long since you’d gotten to see him. So long, in fact, that it took the two of you a little longer to leave than planned when a quick greeting kiss turned into a heated ', I missed you so much' makeout session. The moment your lips touched, the world around faded away, and there was only the two of you. But before things went too far though, one your neighbor, old miss nosy, interrupted. Apparently, neither of you remembered to shut the front door for some privacy. The sharp huff and her snide comment about hormonal young people these days were enough to pull you from your daze. After rearranging your clothes and locking your door, the two of you were off to enjoy your day.

And oh, what a wonderful day it was.

Even with the slight change of plans.

Aizawa called Mirio around lunchtime and asked him to pick up Eri after school. The UA teacher was being called out to an emergency assignment and wouldn't be back till later that night. Mirio felt bad after telling you over lunch, but you weren't upset. In fact, you were excited to see Eri again and suggested that you include her in your outing. You enjoyed spending time with her. You especially got a kick out watching her and Mirio interact. The brotherly and sisterly bond they shared never failed to bring a smile to your face.

Everything was perfect…

… until a villain attacked…

The three of you were making your way to the festival. You walked beside Miro while he carried Eri on his shoulders. You'd been in an in-depth conversation with the curious young girl, and before you realized it, you reached a rough part of town. Unfortunately, this was the shortest path to the fairgrounds. But with the two of you being heroes, you weren't too worried.

Oh, how wrong you were…

You should have taken the bus.

You through as you dodge another attack from the villain in front of you. You had to be mindful with attacks you dodged, Mirio and Eri were crouched on the ground behind you. Mirio took massive damage from the villain's surprise attack. Parts of his face, the exposed skin on his arms and neck were an angry red and blistered. His breathing was harsh and uneven.

Eri huddled up next to him, was scared but uninjured. Even with Mirio's injuries, he kept himself between the young girl and the man you were fighting. The villain had a dangerous quirk, allowing him to attack with scalding hot steam. Thank goodness for the quick reflexes of your blonde boyfriend. The villain came out of nowhere with a blitz attack aimed right at Eri. With speed only a skilled hero would have, he simultaneously pushed you and Eri out of the way of the blast. But doing so left him completely defenseless, taking the full force of the attack.

In slow motion, you watched Mirio fall while you were left holding the young girl in your arms. Your fury rose as you eyed your injured lover and grinning villain. Quickly you tell Eri to run before you rushed the attacker in front of you. He was preparing for another attack, but before could, you hit him with a hard left, drawing his attention to you.

At some point, Eri ran over to check on Mirio.

"Mirio." you dodge another attack " If you can move, get her out of here. I got this guy!" You tried to counter

"I'm not going to leave you!"

"Just go!" Your quirk was strong, but it wasn't suited to fight the man in front of you. Your best bet was to hold him off until another hero arrived. His steam made it hard to dodge and even harder to get close for a counter. Every dodged, every counter made your skin boil. Finally, after what seemed like forever, you see an opening.

"Gotcha!" You yell, aiming your fist for the man's face.

The villain grinned as he emitted a burst of steam around his whole body. The skin on your hand and arm were instantly burned by the heated moisture of the air. You couldn't help but shout out in pain as you jump back, cradling your injured arm.

"(Y/N)!" Eri's voice echoed through the alleyway.

"You don't stand a chance. So just give me the kid, and I'll let you and your little boyfriend live." He taunted before gesturing over to Eri, who was shaking in Mirio's arms.

"No way. I won't let you take her…"

"What are you? Some hero wannabes?" He sneered.

"Try the real deal." You scoffed back at him.

"Ahhhh, I thought I recognized you… your (Y/Hero Name), aren't you? And is that Lemillion, behind you?" He laughed. "Oh, this is too perfect! I get to kill off two heroes and rid the world of that demon child too? Today's going to be a good day!" He attacked you again with even more determination than before. You manage to dodge most of his attacks and even land a few blows of your own. However, the little damage you could do was nothing compared to the damage you were receiving.

"Are you blind or stupid? Why are you fighting so hard to protect that little brat?"

"What can I say? I tend to take my work home with me."

"That's not what I mean. I mean, why would you fight to protect her?" He rolled his eyes. "It's her fault, Lemillion is quirkless."

" Do you really have nothing else better to do than pick on a little kid?" You weren't going to fall for whatever trick the villain was trying to pull, but a slight look of confusion must have shown on your face.

"You don't know, do you?" He taunted

"That's enough!" Mirio yelled as best he could before he started coughing.

"What Lemillion? Didn't you tell her what happened to you?" He was now looking passed you to your boyfriend behind you. Eri had started shaking as she tried to bury her face into his chest. Whatever the villain was talking about, was clearing affecting the two behind you.

"Shut up!" You attack again. You hated seeing Eri so upset. But what scared you was the look on Mirio's face. Typically, he smiled, even in the face of danger. You could count on seeing his dazzling grin to get you out of the toughest of situations. Not this time, though. You could see anger but also a look of sadness as he hugged Eri close to him, whispering something you couldn't quite make out.

"Let me fill you in little hero. That brat behind you, she's the reason your loverboy back there lost his quirk. It's because of her that he'll never be the hero 'should' have been. All because of her and her damn quirk." He smirked as he continued. "You see, she has the ability to destroy other quirks." You were shocked as you listened to the villain in front of you. You never really asked what Eri's quirk was or how it was they met. Of course, you heard rumors that Mirio was quirkless. You never saw or heard of him using his quirk, so you never really asked about it. Honestly, you really didn't care. He was a damn good hero and an even better person. "Don't you see how dangerous that kid is? She could destroy everyone's quirk! Your's, Mine, Everyone! I'm doing the world a favor by getting rid of her." He chuckled menacingly. "Guess you could call me the hero in this situation!"

"Who the hell do you think you are…" Your teeth ground on each other as your anger rose to a new level.

"What?"

"What gives you the right…" Your voice rose as you took a step towards the villain.

"The right? Honey, I'm a villain. I do what I want when I want." He chuckled.

"Villian or not. That wasn't your secret to tell…"

"Huh?" That confused him.

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TELLING SOMEONE ELSE'S SECRET?!" You launch yourself at the man. "You have no right to do that to someone!" You throw another punch only to meet a wall of steam. It wasn't as hot this time. You must have caught him off guard. That or you were just too mad to feel the pain. "People process things and will let others in at THEIR pace, not yours! People have secrets, and that's fine!

It's also okay for them not to tell anyone, but it's never okay for someone else to tell it FOR them!" You jump back to catch your breath some as you prepare for your next move. You looked back over your shoulder and beamed at the teary-eyed girl and your now smiling boyfriend.

"Mirio… Eri... I understand why you didn't tell me about your quirk or your relationship… I get it... That's a big secret to have. But know this, I will protect you, and I will never see you any different from before. I know what that feels like." You winked. "I have a secret, too, ya know… Something I haven't told either of you yet…" You turn to face the villain who had just gotten his second wind and charging up for the attack. And a powerful one at that. Without any hesitation, you rush the man in front of you.

"(Y/N)! "Eri's fearful voice echoed through the alleyway.

"This is where you die (Y/Hero Name)!" The man engulfed his body in vapor hotter than before. Without any hesitation, you swing your leg in a high kick at the man's face. The vapor destroyed the material of your pants to reveal shiny metal where soft flesh should have been. While you weren't able to see, you could feel the impact of your attack. The contact you made was sold and amplified by your rage, sent the man flying to the alley wall behind him, knocking him out cold.

Adrenaline still pumping, you run over to check Mirio and Eri. Just as you reach them. Backup finally arrives. A couple of offers and some heroes swarmed the scene. Apparently, someone had called in the fight happening in the alleyway, but with the festival going on, it took longer for them to respond.

"Mirio! Are you ok?" You crouched down next to him, checking over both him and Eri.

"Yeah, I'm ok… What… about you…. Eri?" His breath was uneven and hard as he spoke.

"Were ok." You said in unison.

Two EMTs arrived, immediately running over to the three of you. They were more concerned about Mirio and wanted to take him to the hospital. He, of course, fought them, saying how they needed to check you and Eri first. True, the burns on your up arms and hands were severe but weren't life treating. Mirio, on the other hand, had more pressing injuries. The first attack from the villain damaged his throat and lungs. So the paramedics were more focused on getting him to the hospital.

Without hesitation, you and Eri jump in the back of the ambulance with him. Much to the protest of one of the EMTs who was bandaging your burns. The ride back to the hospital was quiet. Eri didn't look at you the whole time. You felt bad. She was shy and to have someone say all those mean things about her... A kid… made you want to go back and kick that villain one more time for good measure. But Eri's safety and Mirio's health comes first. The doctors quickly got Mirio into a room and hooked up to a line of oxygen. One of the nurses was able to apply some minor healing to make his breathing a little easier. However, he would have to wait a little while before someone with the proper quirk could heal his lungs completely.

So there the three of you were. Eri didn't look up at you for the longest time, and it finally took Mirio talking to her to get her to look at you. The villain's comments really upset Eri, and she thought you now hated her because of what happened to Mirio. After a lot of reassuring, tears (from all three of you) and hugs (lots of hugs), Eri finally smiled at you again.

About that time, Aizawa entered the room. His mission got canceled last minute. He heard what happened and rushed over to check on Eri. After a few more reassuring hugs and promises to see each other later. Aizawa took Eri home, leaving you alone with Mirio. You were quiet for a while as you sat in silence, not sure what to say. Luckily, Mirio being Mirio, knew just what to do. He slowly slid over as much as the small bed would allow and raised one of his arms up.

"Come here..." He gave you a soft smile, and without hesitation, you climbed into the bed with him. This was something you both need right now. After some careful adjustment due to your injuries, the two of you found a comfortable position. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my quirk or about Eri."

"It's fine, believe me when I say I know a thing or two about what to bring up and when." You joked as you patted your metal leg. "Some things... aren't first date or even six months of dating conversations." He couldn't help but chuckle before finally getting a good look at your leg.

"I... didn't know about your leg... What happened?"

"There was a villain attack when I was a kid..." You whispered as thought back to that day. After telling him the whole story, he couldn't help but hold you tighter to himself. "After that... I decided to be a hero. I'm sorry I didn't tell you soon... and that you had to find out this way... Bet it was a bit of a shock, huh?" You glanced away slightly but stayed in his embrace. You felt bad for not telling him sooner. You mentally scolded yourself as you stare at your exposed metallic leg; if you hadn't been so afraid of telling him, you could have ended the fight sooner. It could have ended better. Mirio knew you were kicking yourself about the attack. He leaned down and gave you a sweet kiss on your lips. The blonde man knew you well, and you leaned into the kiss. True to his nature, the sunshine boy could break through the darkest doubts you had about yourself.

"A bit but not in a bad way... I was just surprised! But... now that I think about it... it does make sense..." His sheepish expression made you feel better until you fully comprehend his answer. After a kiss like that, you almost forgot you asked a question.

"Huh?"

"Well.. you have a little cans of oil in your medicine cabinet, and you have an unusual amount of tools for someone who doesn't have a vehicle... "He quietly reflected before a look of surprise washed over his face. "And on top of that...Tamaki said that Fatgum stepped on your foot last week, and you didn't even flinch!" He examined with his trademark grin.

His expression, along with his remarks through you into a fit of laughter. Hearing your laughter made his heart soar as he joined in. The fit was made worse as you remembered the look on Fatgum’s horrified face when he realized it was your foot and not a bunched up part of the carpet, stepped on. He apologized profusely and was surprised when you brushed off the incident.

"Poor guy. I thought he was going to cry!" You roared as you both continued to laugh until a coughing fit from Mirio finally claimed you both down. "So…. Do you have any plans tomorrow?"

"Not really. Bubble girl gave me the next few days off to rest up. What about you?"

"Fatgum was upset I got injured. I believe his exact words were, 'now, as much as I love fried chicken, don't bring your extra crispy butt into work for the next few days? Got it chickadee?'" You did your best to imitate the BMI hero's accent, which only causes you to go into another laughing fit.

"How about we hang out at my place tomorrow? What is Hado called? Netflix and chill?"

"I'd like that." You grinned as gently snuggled against Miro's chest.

Thanks for the read! If you want see the other stuff I’ve done, click the link bellow!

MasterList

#bnha x reader #mha x reader #togata mirio x reader #mirio x reader #bnha imagines #mha imagines #togata mirio #lemillion x reader

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crusherthedoctor · 4 years

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Sonic & Tails: Beyond the Stars - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Dunes of Intrigue

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“No.”

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

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

“No.”

“Little Planet?”

“Nope!”

“The Gaias?”

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

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

“...Babylonians?”

“Ha ha! NO!”

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

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

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

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

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

Then, calmly, he clicked his fingers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Ahhhh!” Amy screamed.

“Woahhhhh!” Tails cried out.

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

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

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

---

“URK!”

“Eck!”

“FFUH!”

“Ungh!”

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

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

And Sonic?

Well, naturally, he landed face first.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

Dune Borders Zone

Act 1: Dark Canyon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amy: More crystals?

Tails: Out here in the open?

Sonic: Grey crystals, just like in the mountain!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cream: What's that rope thing over there?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

Act 2: The Badland Express

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

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

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

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

Returning Enemies: Roller Cactinaut Bulldust

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Has someone visited here recently...?

---

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

“Ooooooooh...” Amy let out.

“Ooooooooh...” Cream repeated.

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

“Agreed,” Amy added. Cream simply nodded.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“In a book...?”

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

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

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

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

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

“An evil genie?”

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

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

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

“Oh dear, really?”

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

“Goodness...”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wait.

“AIEEEEEE!!!!!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

BOSS: Metal Sonic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Crystals. Now.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Hey there, blue boy.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What, am I his caretaker?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

Act 3: The Great Oasis

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

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

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

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

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

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

Returning Enemies: Sol

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

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

“Could you, uh, stop that please?”

“Hey, that's not yours!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cream: It's so pretty out here!

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

Amy: What? Up here!?

Tails: Seriously?

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

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

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

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

---

Act 4: Petroleum Province

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

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

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

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

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

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

Returning Enemies: Sol Bomber Skorp Neo Djinn

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

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

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

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

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

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

Their cleanliness, on the other hand...

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sonic: Whew, what a relief!

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

Sonic: Well, no, but...

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

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

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

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

Sonic: Ugh, not THIS guy...

Shinobi: Hello.

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

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

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

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

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

Amy: What the heck is THAT?

Rouge: You're asking me!

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

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

BOSS: Desert Goliath

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chao: Chaoooo!!!

Cream: Hold on, little guys!

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Don't care.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Whuzzat?”

“Nothing.”

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

“Ooooooh...?” Cream beamed brightly.

“Ooooooh...?” Cheese repeated.

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

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

---

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

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

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

“Well?”

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

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

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

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

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

“Footage...?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A chilling laugh echoed throughout the desert.

---

Back to Chapter 5...

To Chapter 6-7 Interlude...

#Sonic & Tails: Beyond the Stars #Crusher's Fanfiction #Sonic the Hedgehog #Fanfiction

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vcg73 · 5 years

Text

Witch!Kurt Ch 39: In Search of Finn

This piece is shorter than intended because I decided to break it in two - the setup and the search.

~*~*~*~*~

"I think Finn would approve even if he got a little weird about it. And he might not. He'd come a long way by the time we became brothers."

"What are you two talking about?" Carole asked, ears pricking up at the mention of her son.

She gave Kurt a smile as he and Adam emerged from their bedroom hand in hand, the privacy spell having been banished with a spell-word from Adam. Kurt's vast collection of hygiene and grooming products had been put to good use, so that outside of the satisfied glow they both carried the two young men did not give any obvious signs of a couple who had just taken a quick roll in the hay.

Kurt smiled back at her, his cheeks pinking as he said, "I was just telling Adam that Finn would have approved of the honeymoon requirement for a Joining. He was disappointed when he found out that all gay couples didn't go directly from first kiss to, um, more than kissing. Apparently he had assumed that two guys would always go from zero to sixty without a second thought. Weirdly enough, when I told him that didn’t happen, it seemed to dispel the last of his latent homophobia. In the days before you and Dad made us brothers, I think he was afraid I would be overcome by his virile masculine pheromones one day and just pounce."

The sarcastic statement drew a laugh, including a rueful one from Burt, who admitted, "I’m sorry to say that a lot of straight guys have that misconception, son. I know I did.”

“Well a lot of guys do go directly from handshake to handjob without worrying about anything but fun,” Sebastian cut in, nudging Elliott in the ribs with a wicked grin as he added, “Thank God.”

“Hey!” Kurt objected, glancing over at Mercedes and Sam, who were sitting on a sofa together listening with big grins on their faces. “Watch it. Parents, children, and straights present.”

Another chorus of laughter and derisive noises met the warning. Adam’s little brother threw a popcorn kernel at Kurt’s head for the ‘children’ comment, and Kurt telekinetically flicked it back without a moment’s hesitation, bringing a startled look and then a beaming thumbs-up from Donnie, who had clearly not expected the quick defense.

Adam grinned at their playfulness. “I think you and Finn could both be forgiven for your youthful misunderstandings, darling. We all have at least one embarrassing incident in our past that was necessary for growth and development. Dad and Gran certainly helped me over a couple of bumps that aren’t fun to look back on now.”

Before he could go on, all three of his siblings exchanged a glance and crooned, “Katelynn!”

“Who?” Kurt said with a laugh, astonished to see Adam’s face turn beet red.

Bethany jumped in. “A school chum of mine when we were kids. Adam used to lurk in doorways whenever I had her over, mooning like a pathetic little puppy dog.”

Celeste giggled. “Kate was in the class year between Adam and Bethy and she used to earn a few quid babysitting for Donnie and me after school. Not that I needed a minder by then, but we always had good times and it was a scream watching Adam lurk about with that lovesick expression on his face.”

“See, he was a bit confused in those days,” Donnie added, giving his brother a condescending pat on the arm, followed by a cheeky grin when Adam made a half-hearted swipe at his curly blond head.

Adam sighed and admitted, “She was very good about it when I finally declared myself, turned me down gently and whatnot, but it should come as no great shock to learn that my first and only girl-crush grew up to be the butchest woman in Chelmsford.”

“I ran into her the other week,” Bethany said helpfully. “She has a bright blue crew-cut, sleeve tattoos, and biceps bigger than your head. Still a complete sweetheart, too. She told me to pass along congratulations on your wedding.”

Amidst the laughter of their group, and Dani slyly suggesting that they pass the Crawfords’ old friend her phone number, Adam held up his hands in surrender. “Thank her for me, but I think that proves my point. Fortunately for us all we grow up and, if we’re lucky, gain some perspective. And in this case, things happily seem to have turned out exactly the way they were meant to do."

“I’ll drink to that,” Kurt said, helping himself to a large mug of coffee from the pot some blessed soul had freshly brewed and gulping down a large, slightly too hot sip. Ahhhh, bliss. They hadn’t been allowed to drink anything but water over the preceding 24 hours and he was dying for a good shot of caffeine. Especially since . . . “Speaking of things turning out the way they’re meant to, I’m ready to get started if the rest of you are. I’m just about jumping out of my skin with excess energy. If I don’t focus it soon, I’m afraid I might accidentally blow up the loft.”

“Then let’s not waste any time,” Adam agreed. This intensity would not last for much longer, he knew. He could already feel the giddy charge of carrying some of Kurt’s shared power beginning to ebb. The rituals, the surrounding aura of High magic, and the passion of their recent bout of lovemaking made him feel upbeat and wide-awake, but it would act on Kurt’s deeper magical sensitivity like an intense high, and he would feel a driving need to use it.

It was the entire reason they had chosen this day to attempt the rescue. Kurt’s heightened power and sensitivity to magic was what made Kurt a coven leader and the rest of them ordinary witches. He might not even require the boost; Adam’s own rescue from the Void argued to that point, but Adam still wanted him to have every advantage.

“As we form the power circles, I’d like Adam to trade places with Sam,” Kurt said, unconsciously making the words an order. He looked at Adam with apologetic eyes. “I know you wanted to anchor me, but neither of us knows how you’ll react to being so near an open Void, and I’d rather not risk it. I want you to be protected no matter what happens, and I hope this doesn’t sound harsh, but I remember how badly it knocked me off stride when I shared your panic attack in Lima. Considering how much concentration it took all of us to search the Void for you, I don’t think I can risk being pulled in two directions if this experience triggers you.”

His tone was regretful but his reasoning was sound. The coven belonged to them both, just as it belonged to Tubbington, Santana, Dani, Monica, Elliott, Brittany, and Johnny, but Kurt was the captain of this particular ship, as well as the one who would be risking himself. So Adam simply nodded, kissed him for good luck, and moved to the back of the room, gently pushing Sam towards the center.

“Don’t worry, son,” Henry said to Kurt, who was looking at Adam as if he was already being pulled in two directions. The older man put an arm around his boy’s shoulders and gave him a reassuring squeeze. “We’ll look after Adam, the cats will look after Sam, and your mates will look after you. You just go in and concentrate on doing what you need to do.”

“Thanks, Henry,” Kurt replied gratefully. One distinct advantage to having such a large group of witches here today, family by both blood and choice, was that it freed up Kurt to do what he needed to do without worry. “I must admit I’m kind of nervous. The first time I did this, I had the advantage of not being afraid because I didn’t actually know what I was doing.”

The rest of their coven-mates exchanged satisfied glances as Kurt, in spite of his admission, moved to his place in the center of the ward and began quietly conferring with the Familiars. There were glad to see him so confident and strong as he began his preparations. A little fear would keep him grounded, whereas overconfidence in this situation might prove dangerous.

Whispering a word in his grandmother’s ear, Adam, with his father to one side, and his brother, and sisters next to Dad, deliberately took the empty space next to Carole, while June moved to take her other hand. June and her grandson had agreed at a glance that this experience would, in some respects, be harder on Carole than anyone else in the room. They all wanted Finn back, but she was his mother and she would be on tenterhooks the entire time Kurt was ‘gone’.

Because no matter what happened today, there would be an amount of heartbreak at the outcome. Either Kurt would fail to find Finn and Carole would have to face her son’s death once again, possibly even more agonized by the addition of dashed hopes, or she would get him back in spirit but not in body. Regardless of the outcome today, the tall young man with the innocent brown eyes and his father’s crooked grin, the physical form of the little boy Carole had borne and raised, hugged, kissed, and comforted throughout his life, would never return. Finn would be sharing space with Sam Evans now, wearing Sam’s face and form, and that would be hard, no matter how much of a blessing it would be to know that his mind and heart lived on.

The group rearranged itself for maximum usefulness, the three Familiars resuming their protective triangle and setting themselves a bit farther back to allow Kurt and Sam enough room to sit cross-legged on the floor. The remainder of the coven, sans Adam, positioned themselves in a pentagon around the cats, leaving the rest to stand in a rough circle on the outside where they could lend power if necessary.

Burt and Mercedes, the only people here with no magic to contribute, reluctantly moved to the breakfast bar where they could see everything without being in the way. They last thing either of them wanted was to distract, or worse, compromise the safety of those working. Mercedes was not a witch herself, but she came from a magical family and was familiar enough with the principles of a Major Working to allow her to quietly commentate the event for a bemused but grateful Burt.

As Kurt closed his eyes and centered himself, the three Familiars, once more in their feline form, began a low synchronized yowling that made the hair on every human’s neck stand on end. The sound was picked up in a harmonic hum that spread through each layer of the circle, as though they were chanting without words and the special wards they had set earlier snapped back into place with a surge of energy so powerful that the ward actually became visible for a split-second.

Burt stared wide-eyed, whispering to the young woman by his side, “Did I just see what I thought I saw? Was that . . .?”

He had no words, but Mercedes nodded and whispered back, “Magic. They’re shielded like layers of a cocoon, protecting Kurt and Sam, but also protecting us and everyone else in the building in case anything goes wrong.”

“Do I want to know what would happen if they didn’t do that and something went wrong?”

She thought for a moment and then patted his hand. “No.”

Burt grimaced and scrubbed his other hand over his scalp, trying to push away the impossible sensation that his hair was standing on end.

In the center of the warded shapes, Kurt took a deep breath through his nose and let it go slowly as he lowered his personal shields. He felt strange and uncomfortable without them, as if he was suddenly naked to every eye, but he would have to allow himself this vulnerability to reach the in-between spaces. He would need to hold himself fully open to the magic and trust his family to keep him safe.

He reached a thread of power out to Sam, needing to re-familiarize himself with Sam’s aura. Every living being, regardless of magical status, carried a unique signature. It was what made them visible to a witch with Sight or allowed those with psychic Sensitivity to identify a particular person in a crowd.

He steeled himself not to flinch when he touched that poor corroded soul. Sam would never know, but it felt like a betrayal of their friendship to react to any part of him with revulsion. And it was difficult not to. Kurt had not realized it before when he had only glanced briefly at Sam with his Sight, but there was a slimy feeling to the damaged aura that carried with it a distinct signature. Touching it, Kurt could almost smell the peculiar mixed odor of light sweat, spicy cologne, and too-sweet raspberry hair gel that was so uniquely Blaine.

Kurt wanted to pull away, but if he was lucky enough to find Finn, he would need to open another link to his brother and to hold both men in place, using himself as a go-between until Monica and Johnny completed whatever means they had devised to bind the damaged souls together.

Finally, he felt as if he had a lock on Sam and he pulled back the thread with intense relief to no longer be directly touching that spiritual rot.

Opening his eyes, Kurt looked at Elliott. Tubbington was the leader of the feline trio, but Elliott was his Familiar, his guide and truest friend. “How do I begin? When I went searching for Adam, I had his physical body here in the form of that Apples poster. I need something of Finn to concentrate on.”

From the outer circle, Carole called out a reply before Elliott could think of anything. “Use your pendant. The one your dad gave you at Christmas. It’s like mine, isn’t it? It has a little piece of Finn’s memory. His soul.”

Kurt smiled at her. “That’s perfect.”

“It’s brilliant,” Adam agreed, giving Carole’s clammy hand a warm squeeze. “I never would have thought of that.”

Elliott and Tubbington were both nodding in approval, and Sebastian looked as smug at his charge’s wise suggestion as if he had come up with the idea himself. Unable to project words in his feline form, Elliott looked at his mentor who said, “Good idea, Carole. Kurt, you never take that necklace off so it should be deeply imbued with your own magical signature by now, which will also have strengthened the traces of both Finn and Adam that were spell-cast into it.”

Kurt beamed. His necklace also carried the trace of its giver, and of the witches who had so lovingly woven their own magic into the casting of the charm. Plus Adam wore the matching pendant, infused with the same spells. If Kurt used the jewelry as his focus, he could remain psychically anchored to the people who loved him best.

“Perfect,” he said again. Wrapping one hand around the little silver knot-work pendant, he pulled the braided chain off overhead and held it out in front of him, concentrating on the tiny green stone in its center. It took a moment, but as he concentrated on memories of his brother, Kurt found the trace of Finn that had been woven into the metallurgical magic.

Following that feeling, he closed his eyes, centered himself and let go of the physical world as he gave himself over to the search.

#Witch!Kurt #One Three Hill Coven #Kadam #Kurt and Adam #Weaving bits of earlier chapters into this

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austennerdita2533 · 2 years

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Yes me too! Sometimes the ones that come out of nowhere are the ones that work best or I love most. Also I’m LOVING the derek/mark brotp and slexie!!

Oh my god I can’t imagine how hard it would’ve been to watch it live and wait for each episode!

It’s like you took the words right out of my mouth, haha. I’m either obsessed or what’s the point.

Ahhh yes the pilot!!! The way merder met is SO GREAT and I’m tempted to write a fic of klaroline meeting a similar way lmao.

I can’t imagine the stress watching Meredith fall in and having to wait, omg!

I THINK I KNOW THE ELEVATOR ONE YOURE TALKING ABOUT I JUST WATCHED IT AHHHH

I’m so excited for season 6! I’m dreading the next few seasons because I know what happens in 11, but your comments have me still excited for what’s to come before I get there! :)

You're so right. A lot of the character dynamics I love most in books and shows are the ones that come out of nowhere. Derek and Mark have such a nice friendship, don't they? I love watching it develop from that contentious place in s2 after all that went down with Addison. They have such a long history together. They're like brothers and it makes me emo.

AND SLEXIE. AHHHH. They're one of my favorite ships from the show!!! They're so darn cute together. I can't get over it.

I miss those days sometimes. Being on the edge of my seat waiting for new episodes. I was in high school when the show first aired and everybody would be talking about what happened on the show the next day between classes. It was an iconic time.

Umm, you should totally write a fic where Klaroline meet like Merder did!!!! I AM IN FULL SUPPORT OF THIS. If you do, I will seriously be so excited! You'll be able to hear my squeals from space. The angst and can't-date-you-denial of early Merder would be so fun to fuse into KC's dynamic.

That elevator scene is just *chef's kiss* I've seen it so many times now but I get giddy and emotional every single time I see it.

If I'm remembering this right, parts of s6 are a little slow. That is, until you get to the last couple episodes of the season. There's this suspenseful plot point that takes OFF, changing the course of everything and shaking all the characters to their core. I'm literally biting my nails right now as I type about it, remembering haha.

What happens in S11 is somber, for sure, but there are a lot great moments coming up yet for you to enjoy. I'm excited to hear what you think!

#anonymous #replies #the loveliest of lovely people #ashlee bree talks grey's anatomy

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touchmycoat · 3 years

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lev!anon: YES this is EXACTLY the kinkiness of formal wear and hair pulling I was looking for. Smoothing the shirt down ALL THE WAY. Bondage with the silk tie! The absolute dom move of yanking on his hair while tightening that tie... (and the hair pulling in your tags? YES HOMG YES). And what really gets me is LQG's reaction to it all - just how responsive he is to HX's possessive bastard moves. I love how well they fit each other. And I love love love the non-apology and the almost apology

(cont'd 2) kiss and the very strategic (and mellow) apology. HX's BRAIN. And I am just DYING at LBH of all people calling LQG a slut bc if SQQ ever called him to heel he would be on the floor kissing his feet. AND I LAUGHED SO HARD at SQQ trying to bribe LQG to - ahem - get HX into a good mood. *crying from laughing too hard* Ahhhh this entire fic just hits EVERYTHING! LQG frantically touching that scar and asking for HX to make a promise that he knows is impossible but he just needs to

(cont'd 3/3) hear it from him to settle himself... my heart just clenches at how LQG must've been feeling this entire time. How could SQQ and LBH have expected him to NOT answer when HX called? As always you do a great job making the kink a part of the FEELS. I love this AU SO MUCH!!!!! (Will need to go back and see if I can reconstruct that ask - tumblr is so hit or miss!)

NDJFNJD BABE YOU'RE TOO SWEET!!!!! the inherent eroticism of a well-tucked dress shirt and motherfucking TIES, dude. the moment i saw your prompt i was giddy with conceptualizing all the pulling i wanted to do, and as always, our man Liu Qingge—deep sigh of satisfaction—rises so well to the challenge. HX really said "okay, I pulled a dick move and I fully intend to apologize, but how do I come out of this still the winner? I know, call Liu Qingge" AND LIU QINGGE THE ABSOLUTE SLAG GOES RUNNING, HAVING FEELINGS LIKE AN ABSOLUTE AMATEUR.

(i reread the smut dialogue prompts fic from last time to edit/post on AO3 just now and i think the conclusion is that leverage!AU-LBH is just a dirty rotten hypocrite. He's called LQG a slut, he's accused LQG of having daddy issues—c'mon man, look at yourself. "Binghe, come help me with this." "Coming fath—I mean dadd—I mean 哥.")

(meanwhile SQQ's his canon self, "how can I exploit LQG of every service he's willing to provide" lskdfjnksjdfksdfk)

fuck me tho, imagining that revelation on the pier that HX has been shot? LQG having been on the exact same ship, beating himself up for ages afterwards 'cause had he taken care of the goons faster (never mind them outnumbering him like a billion to one) maybe he could've done his job and protected HX?? And knowing HX's old trauma with prisons, HX's eating disorder caused by prisons, LQG feeling partially responsible for not being able to keep HX from going back in?!??!?!? aaaaahhhhhhh

#leverage AU #ugh i'm pissed at tumblr for the missing asks ;; sorry again

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i-am-the-balancing-point · 3 years

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🧥, ⌛, and ✨ for your Deputy?

🧥 If someone your OC cared about was found wearing their favorite jacket whilst asleep, how would your OC react? Would they find the scene adorable/cute? Would they feel annoyed that their s/o is wearing their clothes?

I have already answered that ✨here✨ but have gotten more info on The Girls™ in the meantime from the og creator hehehehe

Willa: someone will die >:( Gigi: of fun! :D

(I legit think what initially sparked the ship was me half-jokingly offering F to draw fanart of them railing each other lmao I love our chaotic Deputies!)

⌛ If your OC had the power to change one thing from their past, what would they change, and why? Would changing their past benefit them in someway? Or would they leave things as they are now?

to be honest, I have not thought too much about my Girl's past yet (and idk yet if I really actually wanna explore/build that as much). but since Gigi is literally just me, except a little older, from Missoula and wearing a funky little yeehaw hat, I can base that answer on what I feel would be fitting for me and the little bits about her past I actually have come up with.

something that I would simply L O V E to yeet from existence are definitely past experiences of sexual assault. it is something that, unfortunately, in most cases at least, touches on and shapes almost every aspect of one's life after having had to go through it. I think Gigi (and I for that matter) has gotten out of it without ... the worst damage but is still impacted by it. she is able to deal with it and at least it has helped her understand to be better at supporting and protecting other victims and survivors.

✨ What is your OC’s favorite holiday, and why? Do they change how they present themselves, appearance and personality-wise? Or do they stay the same? Does this holiday hold some important meaning to them? Or does it just give them an excuse to party or be different?

I absolutely adore this question! ahhhh <3

Gigi generally enjoys holidays, mainly because it means she'll be surrounded by loved ones and gets to cook and eat tons of good food. She will simply be giddy and energetic (except for after meals, borderline comatose in that case) and bounce around the place even more than usual. gift giving is her favorite part because she just loves making her friends happy but she usually forgets to shop and always gets surprised by any holiday season so her gifts are often a little improvised but always well-meaning. ʸᵃ ᵍᶦʳˡ ʰᵃˢ ᵃᵈʰᵈ ᵒᵒᵖˢ even though she is not religious she can also get behind the occasional church (or temple or mosque or other place of worship, if a friend invites her to come with) visit. less for the content of what's being preached and more for the feeling of community. It also was important to her family when she was a child so it is also a place tied to nostalgia to her. this however does not prevent her from wanting to get railed in Joseph's church. we are simply taking Christianity and sexualizing it now, babes. whatever it is we're having to do to survive or smth idk I don't have a masters in psychology

BUT Gigi's absolute most favorite day in the entire universe and history of mankind is 👏 her 👏 own 👏 birthday 👏 that girl just loves to celebrate herself and thinks it should be considered a national, if not international holiday! I like to imagine she puts on a birthday hat (I mean,,, I like to put on a birthday hat. yes it's got sound effects, in case you were wondering.) which is still a cowboy hat just in funky colours and it says birthday girl or something like that and goes all out partying with her friends the entire week.

hehe thank you so muuuuuch, I loved coming up with answers for these! <3

–send me an emoji to find out more about my OC–

#I am literally so fucking sorry I just busted in with my own stupid fucking sob story #but I feel it is important - at least to me - to be somewhat open about it #Gigi is literally my fun little self insert lady #and as unfortunate as it is SA has been part of of my own story #and it fucking sucked and the aftermath sucks but I do not want to deny that part of my life experience because it is not a flaw I would #want to disguise or anything #so idk I hope you get me..?#I am not making this part of my OC to make them suffer or make others suffer who engage with my oc content #it is rather something that has happened and shaped her #shaped me #and there is neither shame nor beauty in it #it simply happened #ok sorry monologue over sorry sorry #let's think about Gigi celebrating her birthday with Sharky's best of disco playlist #ask meme #my dep #answered asks #aceghosts

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bouncyirwin · 6 years

Text

Spreading Some Love

Personally, I’ve been having shitty weeks for like two months now and I’m exhausted. I do need some positivity and I figured others might, too.

So here’s how this works. Pick 5-10 mutuals you know/or just enjoy seeing on your dash, tag them and let everyone know exactly why you like them so much! (only if you want)

@denilmo ; Deni (or Kori) is a very lovely human being. Not only is she incredibly supportive and kind, but she never fails to give just the right advice when you need it the most. She also happens to be my beta. Without her, I wouldn’t be so confident about posting my work online. That said, this woman is an incredible writer! It’s so much fun working with her, and even more fun to just brainstorm ideas together or fangirl over our favourite ship. She’s just delightful to talk to and I adore her.

@sayurinomoe ; Sayu (or Illaria) is one of my favourite people on this earth and definitely one of the best friends I’ve ever made. She’s the first person I think of when something exciting happens to me, just like I’d immediately seek her out whenever I have a shitty day because she just always knows how to make me feel better. She’s so sweet and lovely and it’s so sad that not many people know that. She’s a little shy and doesn’t talk much on this site but I’m very lucky I could be an exception! She’s an incredible artist and one of the most supportive people I know.

@moonfox22 ; Kit Kat (or Kaytlin) is a cupcake. Possibly the sweetest girl I’ve ever met. She’s downright adorable and makes me wish I could reach throught the screen and pinch her cheeks. She’s always a nice company to have and I enjoy chatting with her. She’s such an incredible and supportive person. She has this strange ability of starting a conversation in moments I really need somebody to talk to, it’s like magic. She’s so much fun and an incredible writer and her work never fails to make me smile like an idiot.

@silmaril-br Silmaril is someone I know from ff.net before Tumblr. We don’t exactly talk but I recognise her as a constant reviewer on almost all my writings and her support is so incredible and moving and seeing her pop up in my reviews makes my day every time. I’m very lucky to have a fan like her.

@sarahbearah1914 ; Sarah is one of the nicest people I’ve met on this site. She’s so sweet and strong and supportive and I love her and her cutie little daughter to pieces. Conversing with her is always fun and talking to her always makes me feel happy and generally better. A very supportive and nice friend.

(I’ll take a moment here to say that I’m very blessed to have beautiful supportive friends who are always there for me when I need them, without them my life would be incredibly shitty)

@mouseymightymarvellous ; ahhh where do I ever start with this one. Maus is... incredible. We’re not particularly close but whenever she pops up on my dash with a new piece of writing I get so giddy and excited I do a little dance. She’s protective and smart and sweet and so very smart and mature and incredibly talented and I really do look up to her. She betas my time travel fic and helps me feel so much better about my writing. I’m very glad I know her.

@natanije ; Anyone who knows Misha will probably tell you she’s an adorable bean. She’s such a lovely and caring friend, she’s always there when I’m not feeling well and talking to her cheers me up. <3

@skittledoodles ; and we have skittle of course. My favourite artist on this site. She’s just so damn talented and amazing and lovely. Her work makes me smile so huge my cheeks hurt. You rock skittle, and I love ya.

@meliss-cake ; melissa, the sweetest infamous monster I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. Her art is A+ and seeing her on my dash gets me so excited! She’s so incredibly talented and awesome and I’m a very big fan of her work.

@eeearnest ; Liz is a pleasure to talk to any day. Her art is a m a z i n g. She colours like she freakin’ invented colouring, I’m so in love with her work. She’s so supportive and lovely and always there for a chat when I feel crappy. This person is amazing and I love her.

(I’m going over limit I know omg but one last one <3)

@fineillsignup ; Yunyu, because I can’t possibly finish this post without including her. One of the most talented, creative, smart and educated individuals I’ve ever, ever had the pleasure of meeting. I just so adore it when she criticises Boruto and the plotholes in Naruto and we have discussions about the whys and hows of the naruto verse. Without her, I wouldn’t know half of the people on this site and I’m just so endlessly grateful for her I have no words. Half of the people mentioned above I’ve met through her and I can’t thank her enough for it.

(one last one I swear)

@mister-kh ; Krista is hilarious. She roasts hard and it makes me laugh each and every single time. Talking to her is a breath of fresh air, to be honest. I lost count of the number of times I’ve stalked her blog but its just that amazing. I feel like most people on here just don’t know exactly how much of an incredible person she is but talking to her on the KS group has given me an insight on her person and it’s been an absolute pleasure. She’s amazing.

Ahhhh there’s so many more lovely people that I know of course. My beautiful KS group that’s just my little piece of heaven on this earth, I love them all, but that;s it for this post! Spread the love!

#appreciation post #naruto #my lovely mutuals #whom I adore #tags

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freereignastarwarsstory · 5 years

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Chapter 16: Foreshadowing

Disclaimer: We (@zazabelle and @draksisreborn) own nothing but our OCs. Star Wars belongs to Lucasfilm and Disney. Please review and enjoy this latest installment.

The shadow raised the glass to her lips.

She enjoyed the burning feeling as the liquid slid down her throat, but she pointedly let the darkness within swallow the giddiness of the drunken state, leaving her with only the fleeting moment of calm. She’d sated that pit within for the time with her offering, but the drinks were never enough… Never enough.

The shadow stood, her long dress rustling, as she sensed a presence approaching. She let her hand slip away from her now empty glass, and left it to the air. It hovered for a moment before being guided back over to the counter space in her private quarters.

The door to her room slid open, the dim lights from the hallway casting colors of gray into the shadow’s room. As well as the shadow of a creature with horns.

“Aemay,” The shadow spoke with her sharp but flowing accent, “Have you ever heard of knocking?”

“Yes.” The Zabrak woman responded.

The shadow did little more than shake her head; she was used to the girl doing as she pleased, “Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere, Inquisitor?” she added sarcastically.

“Yes.” She responded again, “But I lost the target once they left the spaceport in Nar’Shaada and their movements have been irregular so I came back to collect Myros for his assistance tracking the youngling…”

The shadow sensed the pause in her voice, “...And?”

“I believe there’s someone with her. Another sensitive.” Aemay pressed a button on her wrist comm and an image blinked to life from the holo-projector in the center of the room, “He’s old enough, mistress, to be one of the fallen.”

The image was of the youngling with odd markings, accompanied by a Mandalorian from the looks of the armor, and a human male with blonde, slicked-back hair. The three of them appeared to be walking past a slum-located alleyway. The shadow flicked her finger and a button on the projector’s console clicked, beginning a scan of facial recognition. The shadow noted that nothing popped up on their database for possibly surviving Jedi or apprentices, but the screen did read a match in a different category.

“Cenden Sondron, Imperial nurse… and you say he’s Force-sensitive?” The shadow asked.

“Yes, mistress. Is this going to be a problem?”

“No.” The mistress of shadows said as she turned, “In fact, this makes your job much easier.”

Her attention flicked back to the screen as another match came up in the facial search.

“Was this image taken on Nar’Shaada?” She asked Aemay.

“No mistress. This was taken back on Tiss’sharl. I would’ve taken my opportunity on Nar’shaada if the youngling had left the ship. Why?”

“Because a match just came through the Holo-network on Tiss’sharl’s bounty. It’s not a public bounty, looks to be a personal quarry, but it seems as if someone else is hunting this little mercenary group.” The mistress of shadows mused, “You find this hunter, you’ll find his prey,” she turned to the young assassin, “And our own person of interest shouldn’t be far behind.”

Aemay nodded before the shadow continued, “Do not waste Myros’ time with this. It’s one child. Use the talents that got you this position in the first place.”

As she spoke, the mistress strolled up to Aemay. The shadow’s piercing yellow eyes met with Aemay’s light brown ones. She’d remembered a time when she’d had color in her own eyes, and thoughts behind those eyes. Maybe there’d been ambitions there too but it had been so long since she’d heard a voice calling her forward towards purpose. And even longer since she’d listened to that voice.

She hated Aemay.

Aemay hated her.

That’s the way it would always be between mistress and assassin, yet they’d never do anything else but loathe eachother out of fear of punishment from someone who knew what to do with hate much better than either of them did.

“Be careful my dear. Come home successfully.” The shadow said as she lifted the young girl’s chin.

“I will. Thank you.” Aemay left the shadow to once again become invisible in the darkness.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Nek’s feet pounded down the ship’s corridor, his split shadows growing about him in the red lights lining the wall of emergency backup power as he ran for the engine room.

The entirety of the ‘Raving Titan’ vibrated like a tuning fork that had been struck by a hammer, as the ship’s hyperdrive had been knocked out as it was attempting to jump. It was a wonder that hadn’t been blown to pieces…

“NEK. HOW’S IT LOOKING DOWN THERE!?” Soron’s voice blasted through his comlink just over the sound of the buzzing ship.

“WORKING ON IT!” Nek yelled back as he half-slid half-jumped down the service hatch ladder to the lower levels of the ship.

“GET US OUT OF HERE! AND HAS ANYONE SEEN VIS!?” Soron continued, but Nek didn’t respond.

A horrible smell of smoke and water vapor filled the engine room compartments as the ship attempted to cool the overheating hyperdrive but couldn’t quite compensate for the heat and pressure build up in the engine compartment, he’d have to first relieve the pressure before the cooling system could attack the overheating in the engine and make it’s way to the hyperdrive…

Nek scrambled to one of the overhead compartments for his wrench set, yanking open the metal cupboard,

An arm fell out.

Nek shrieked and jumped back in surprise only to find the arm attached to Vis.

“VIS!? YOU NEARLY GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK.”

The girl had squeezed her small form into the tool’s cupboard; her freckles were shifting about in a frenzy of colors and her wide eyes were filled with terror, “NEK. IT’S HAPPENING AGAIN. We’re all going to dddiiiiieeeeee…” She lamented as she tried to shrink herself down even further into the tube-shaped metal cabinet.

Nek climbed up onto the stool to look inside, “We’re not going to die! I just need to get to the wrenches back there!”

WHOOSH- TING!

He was knocked backward off the stool as a wrench suddenly flew out of the cabinet and struck the engineer straight across his face.

“Ahhhh,” Nek hissed as he rubbed his jaw and picked up the wrench, “Thanks!”

Taking deep breaths to calm his shaking hands, Nek tightened the wrench around some bolts holding the cooling system together. Prying several of them off, more smog mixture proceeded to explode from the holes of the damaged coolant system but it wasn’t enough…

Suddenly a shadow loomed behind Nek. Moving through the smoke, a soft blue glow permeated the gloom. Nek jumped as a metal claw grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back.

BX slammed his three-fingered hand in between the slats of the coolant tube, prying the sides apart and allowing smog to now pour out of the system, relieving the pressure in the engine.

Nek watched as the droid then proceeded to stride towards the control screen and tapped the screen a few times, evidently redirecting power from the engine to the hyperdrive. Not exactly what Nek had been planning on doing but it worked just as well and just as fast. Maybe faster. The engineer squinted suspiciously at the droid, observing BX as he contacted Soron telling their captain they were safe to jump. The blue light now dulling in the droid’s chest.

The ship lurched and the control panel near BX flashed the signal that the hyperdrive had been activated. Lights flickering, and they jumped to hyperspace.

In the now quiet and not battle ridden path of in-between space, Vis’ cries could now be heard over the still vibrating ship. Nek took a step towards the cupboard where she hid, but BX was already there. Opening the doors, the droid looked inside.

“See? We didn’t perish as you suspected.” BX’s deep metallic voice rumbled.

Vis sniffled and smiled.

“You know, this reminds me of when Soron found me. Except I had been hiding behind a ventilation system panel…” BX explained as he helped the girl climb out of the small space and, surprisingly, began to recount the tale of when and how Soron had discovered him in an old Separatist ship.

After their encounter with the bounty hunter Cad Bane, BX had needed repairs so Nek took it as the opportunity to install the data table design into BX’s chest, including wedging that old lightsaber in there. Now they could access information from the holocrons back on Vis’ temple moon using their orb. Nek didn’t really know how it worked, he’d just installed it, which worried him for several reasons.

Ever since the installation, BX had been acting… Well in technical terms, Nek could only describe the behavior as weird. It was still BX. He talked in the same way, responded to questions in the same way, still had his compulsions when things weren’t organized right, there was just this extra… something to it. Like BX but more, alive?

Nek figured it maybe had to do with the kybercrystal possibly interfacing with BX’s original system? He’d meant to ask Cenden or Vis or just run his own tests, but that’s hard to do when for the past week and a half you’ve done nothing but almost die.

Beebs had not made any idle threats. For the past week (weeks plural according to the various planets and star systems they’d been across) the crew of The Raving Titan had been on one smuggling mission/money retrieval after another with some of Beebs’ more… difficult customers. So far, their crew handled everything from the ground. With Cenden’s foresight and Vis’ ability to see where people had been, they’d been able to successfully locate everyone they’d needed to and “persuaded” everyone without involving Vis or endangering their ship… Until today.

This last client was VERY set on keeping their dues out of Beebs’ reach AND they had ties to the mining guild. The aerial attack on The Raving Titan had been a surprise even to Cenden’s grasp of foresight. And Vis’ warning of, “Something’s going to happen,” wasn’t exactly helpful.

Nek’s wrist comm blinked with an incoming message, “Hey Nek. How’s everything looking down there?” Lerti’s voice came through slightly garbled.

“As good as it can look after that whole mess of a grab and go.” He responded looking around the compartment still swirling with smog.

“BX reports that you were, quote ‘No help at all.’” Lerti said with a smile in her voice even through the static that was breaking the message slightly.

‘Odd.’ Nek thought, ‘That sounds like interference… but there can’t be interference while we’re in hyperspace.’

The thought wasn’t a deep revelation, just a quick passing observation that was instantly replaced with a dozen or so other thoughts immediately upon conception.

“Of course he reports that because he did my job for me, but you don’t hear me complaining,” Nek snarked, looking over where the droid sat with Vis, the droid listening to her talk sullenly at the floor, her freckles a deep blue. “By the way, I wanted to talk with Cenden about BX, is he still at the lower gun?”

His question was instantly answered as Cenden came over the comms, “Please tell Vis to meet me in the upper deck training room.”

“We only have one training room Cen.” Lerti responded.

“Now, please.” The way Cenden said “please” made Nek think it hurt something inside Cenden to say it.

Vis obviously overheard the conversation and rose tentatively from her trench coat bundle on the floor to hurry out of the room. This left Nek alone with BX.

He watched the droid for a few moments, trying to see something more. A difference in the way he moved, a difference in the way the whine of his operating system sounded in the silence, a difference of… anything.

Slowly, Nek reached out his hand the way he’d seen Cenden and Vis do when they were attempting to feel something. He closed his eyes and focused. ‘Feel something… Feel, anything. Come on Nek.’ He urged himself.

Wait… Maybe he did feel something? A change in environment? Like…

Nek jumped as he opened his eyes and BX stood right in front of him. The enormous commando droid was looking down on the small Devorian man, seeming to observe him the same way he’d been moments before.

Nek blushed, “Uh, hey BX. How’ve your system functions been since I installed the data table?”

BX cocked his head, as if he didn’t understand the questions before his head gave a slight twitch, “Systems have been functioning properly.” Was the only response he gave before he turned and strode towards where Vis had ran off.

“So when Force stuff happens you’re allowed to act all weird and distance, but when I do that I need ‘to pay attention and stop daydreaming’? Pssf.” Nek said to himself with a roll of his eyes and got back to work on the engine.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

“Vis! Pay attention and stop daydreaming!” Cenden snapped at me.

All of the little threads I’d been stringing between people on the ship suddenly snapped back to my mind with enough “force” to actually cause me to wince, “Sorry…” I mumbled. He knew that’s not what I was doing. I just couldn’t believe everyone was alive! I was sure something was happening today that was just going to be the pits…

“Vis! Again!” Cenden snapped one more time as I realized he’d been talking to me.

“Sorry.” My vision snapped back to the sparring room we stood in on the ship’s upper level where I’d been receiving my lesson in combat and Jedi-stuff from Cenden.

“Stop saying sorry just do it. Listen or leave, don’t pretend to be here if you’re not.”

“Do or do not?” I said recognizing the frame of reference.

“Yes. You know that one do you? Well then you probably recognize this one: ‘Fear,”” Cenden emphasized, “‘Leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering.’ Fear, by its nature is one of the greatest roots of evil actions as it causes one to focus only on the desire to survive without thought to the Force’s will. Emotions cloud sound judgements in general, but especially fear. Which is why your actions today cannot happen again.”

Something twitched inside me, “But I have good reason to be afraid of being a ship UNDER ATTACK! My entire family died in a fiery crash! And I’m not scared of me getting hurt! I’m scared of you guys getting hurt!”

From the look on Cenden’s face, I knew I’d said the wrong thing the moment it came out of my mouth. Thinking back, I remembered from a lot of the studies I’d done in Jedi philosophy that they valued the whole “feel nothing and be one with the Force” thing a LOT. And seeing as my freckles had turned the bright mixture of yellow and red, I was NOT doing a good job with that.

“Sorry. Wait! Not sorry! I mean I am sorry, I’m just I’m not saying it again! AH!” I tried to shut myself up.

He sighed, “We’ll talk about that later. For now, Lerti? BX? You can come in now.” Cenden said, sensing their presence outside the door.

As Lerti walked in she looked kinda… embarrassed? Why? Because she’d been caught listening in? She should’ve known by now Cenden was good enough to know that! I actually hadn’t noticed Lerti so much as I’d heard the little song the kybercrystal was playing from inside BX’s chest. The little bit of crystal liked his new home and it was nice to hear the song!

“Alright Vis. We’re not shifting schedule just because of a little attack on zhe ship. We’ll be continuing to practice fighting techniques without weaponry. Remember to gather the Force around you as you move, it will help your movements be quicker and more precise.” Cenden explain for the thousandth time as if my guide hadn’t totally helped me kick his butt back at the temple!

Lerti took position in front of me.

That’s when the world started swimming a little around my vision as my adrenaline suddenly spiked again after having lulled a bit from ALMOST DYING just a while ago!

I took a breath.

My hands waved slowly through the air and my guide pulled in, swirling through my mind and muscles and then settling over Lerti and her mind and muscles. I felt her body tensing and relaxing with each breath.

She felt familiar with the stance, and it was odd to sense her sensing me in her own kind of way, seeing my stance and movements, and attempting prediction.

Lerti was supposed to try to hit me in three different ways and I was supposed to use any of the stances Cenden taught me to block or attack. Despite Cenden’s thousand-reminders streak, I could already sense I’d need a thousanth and one more of those pointers.

‘I may have kicked his butt once, but I’m pretty sure you’re just letting me learn this one on my own, huh?’ I thought to my guide. It was annoying to know you were going to lose before we’d even started.

“Ready!” Cenden called.

‘Shouldn’t think like that.’ I thought as I crouched lower.

“Set!”

‘Don’t think. Just react.’

“Go!”

My body swelled with the Force.

I spun about where Lert’s fist sliced through the air. My shoulder undamaged.

‘She’ll spin, her leg will knock me down. Don’t let it hap-’

Lerti spun and her leg hit me clear across the chest.

The world around me went gray and fuzz for a moment and panic spiked through me as the wind was knocked from my lungs. I felt the Force gather about me to console my defeat. I felt it attempting to put air back in my lungs as I wheezed and attempted to smile.

“I- I knew that would happen…” I pushed out of my compressed lungs from my place on the floor.

Lerti reached down to help me up and I felt the bruise forming on my chest even through my armor chest protector I had donned as she helped me to my feet .

“Knowing somezing in advance doesn’t mean squat if you can’t react to it.” Cenden chastised, “We’re going to try somezing else.” Cenden ushered over BX.

“BX is going to try to hit you.”

“Cool.” I responded.

“You will follow zis pattern: right, left, duck. Right, left, duck. With this knowledge in mind, you can focus only on reaction rather than prediction.”

I nodded. We’d practiced these movements before and despite BX being an enormous… metal, killing machine… Well Cenden thought I could do it, so I can! It makes sense to practice against commando droid models too! BX said he was designed to be able to fight Jedi! ...Wait.

“Alright! Take your positions.” Cenden commanded. I fell into stance and BX did the same.

‘The little song in his chest washed over Vis and she found her voice attempting to imitate the sound flowing about her head.’

I shook my head and I noticed I was humming. It was the hum of one of those songs that didn’t exist. Just something that danced into my head every once and a while…

“Ready!”

‘Focus. Right, left, song. nO! Dodge!’

“Set!”

‘Right, left, duck! Rightleftduck. Riledu.’ I was humming again.

“Go!”

The Force swirled about me as I exploded into action.

BX held nothing back as he swung.

Right, left, duck. Right, left, duck.

The pattern did not fail and neither did my mind. I resonated with the movements and somewhere in the distance I could feel Lerti’s surprise and Cenden’s approval and Soron’s annoyance and Nek’s boredom, and Chol’s sadness…

I hummed the sound as I moved, I flowed with the movements. I was finally here.

The sound suddenly became deafening in my ears. The sound of the kyber.

‘Rightleftdodge. Rightleftdodge. Riledu. Riledo. Hello.’

My face was impacted.

Cool spike of metal pounded through my jaw and I sprawled out on the floor.

I blinked in surprise but couldn’t even cry out in pain… It wasn’t fair! I was in the zone! I’d been distracted by that voice! ...A voice. Where did that come from?

My vision finally cleared and I saw Soron walking by the training room talking into his commlink. He felt concern for me and stress towards the voice on the phone, “Yes, Beebs, we got your quarry and we’re heading to the next rendezvous point now,” he covered the commlink with one of his clawed hands, “Hey guys? Could you put some pillows on BX’s claws or something? Thanks. Yes! I’m still here!” He said as he moved on.

I heard a hiss slide between Lerti’s teeth, “I’ll go get some ice.”

“And apparently we also need pillows.” I could hear the eye roll in Cenden’s voice.

I gave a raspberry sound in defeat, and winced at the stinging warm pain in my face.

The cool night air flew past me in chunks as I cut through it’s invisible ranks. The lightsaber I’d found back in my temple sputtered and spurted in my hand. The cracked kyber inside it’s hilt pumped light to the blade like the beat of a heart. That’s what all kyber felt like to me though, heartbeats.

I was standing on the flat roof of The Raving Titan.We were on some planet called Sicemon, which I was told was also called “the grass planet” as most of its surface was covered in rolling hills of tall grasses, even in the northern and southern hemisphere. We were here waiting for Beebs’ guys to rendezvous with us and go to our next mission.

After Cenden’s training session which consisted of BX giving me the experience of an extreme pillow fight against a droid, I’d decided to come up here to get grounded again. No space travel for five years and suddenly I was a professional star-system jumper was not great for the ol’ noggin.

It felt odd to be on my own with my guide in this moment. I’d been so involved with my new crew, adventuring around the galaxy that I’d forgotten the feeling for a time. The feeling of focused loneliness, and some part of me knew it wasn’t healthy, but I liked that version of loneliness. There was a good version to every bad feeling. That’s what it felt like anyway… There was a balance.

‘I’m not afraid of the ship crashing. I’m being… shrewd! Yeah, that’s a good word. Shrewd. Purposeful fear focused on avoiding a problem.’ I thought to myself as I continued the practice of pretend fighting.

The Jedi didn’t believe in fear. Well emotions in general. Using the Force out of fear, or anger or surprise would be wrong… But what if I use the Force just ‘cause I’m happy?

‘I’m happy to be here with my guide and it’s happy to be here with me! Right?’ The Force swirled about me in agreement. I laughed and spun about at the response, my lightsaber making a green arc of color about me. Slowing down, I left the saber;s hilt retract and I stared off into the inbetween, watching the invisible Force swirl about existence in waves and ripples. Dancing about like the wind.

“What was that warning all about today?” I asked as I reached out and ran my fingers through my invisible friend. “I know it’s hard to communicate sometimes, or sometimes it’s best if I just figure out stuff for myself but this felt important! Was the attack on our ship the important thing?”

In the dark, starry sky, I felt my hand enclosed around another invisible something; a feeling. The Force handed the feeling to me like a grandma handing over a precision family heirloom; a little bit of the future.

I sat down cross legged and began to unwrap the feelings-ball in my hands. I don’t really know how to describe any other way that that. In the in between space where your eyes can see nothingness and your feeling look like colors, I pretended to unwrap a package from the Force.

I watched my freckles shifting about in colors, and I watched a lot of red, yellow, and purple. Anger, fear, and questions. But about what? Best to play it out.

Igniting the lightsaber again, I stood and swung the blade about in the air to get a feel for some characters.

The Force swirled around something behind me. A person.

I squeaked and spun around to face my sneak-attacker. My lightsaber switching off.

Soron.

I breathed a sigh of relief, “Hey Soron! Wassup?”

The ol’ captain was standing a ways off still next to the hatch to the roof, so he probably hadn’t been standing there long.

He shrugged, “Nothing, just coming to check on you,” he walked over and I could see him squinting in the darkness, “How’s your face?”

“Eh it’s fine! It was cool getting punched by a robot! Besides, in the heat of battle, there’s no time to worry about bruises, only victory.” I said that last part like some old war veteran whispering dramatically about his days in the field.

Soron chuckled at that and looked out over the moonlit horizon. Probably noticing how the grass under the planet’s one moon kinda looked like rolling waves, or maybe not. It’s hard to tell sometimes how other people thought about stuff.

I liked how Soron treated me. He acted like… well kinda like my mom. He genuinely cared about me and my well-being which I imagine wasn’t normal coming from a hardened mercenary, and based on how the rest of the crew acts around me. But I would get to them. They’d be happy and laugh at my jokes just like him, and it’d be great!

He looked back down at me, “You closed the blade.”

“Huh?”

“Your lightsaber,” he pointed down at the hilt resting in my hand, “When you thought you were under attack, you closed the blade, why?”

“Uhhhh, well I didn’t want to hurt you?”

“You didn’t know it was me.”

“I didn’t want to hurt anyone?”

“Good.”

At that he smiled and I smiled back. Why did this feel like what I expected Jedi training to be like? Deep conversations about nothing that would equate to something later?

“What was she like?” I said as I sat down, “Your sister?”

Soron sighed and sat down next to me. He’d told me about her after Nek had mentioned it in passing. It made sense that the captain had some ties to another Force-sensitive considering his interests and beliefs.

“She was… incredible. She was by far the alpha twin, but we kept each other in line. We were a great team, and she never left me out of anything. Despite her calling to the universe and her abilities in the Force, she always included me.”

“Did she teach you to talk like that?”

“What!?” He laughed.

I felt my freckles turn light red, “I mean, all deep and stuff. Ya know, ‘cause she was Force-sensitive?”

He let out another deep laugh, “Ha! You know, despite my lack of abilities to use the energy of the universe to chuck people across the room, I do consider myself to be very Force-sensitive!”

“Really!? Why?” I asked with genuine interest. This was so cool.

“Well, because I pay attention.” he shrugged, looking out over the fields again, “I’m sensitive to the planets I visit and the flora and fauna they produce. I’m sensitive to the glint of stars, and the glow of suns. I’m sensitive to the feelings of other people around me, especially if they want to kill me. I pay attention to things, just like you do. And all of those things are connected to the Force. So, yes, I consider myself to be just as Force-sensitive as my sister ever was, just in a different way. And in the same way that you’re connected differently.” He concluded by closing his eyes as a breeze blew through his words, carrying the thoughts along the currents of wind.

“Wow… You’re much better at this.” I responded also closing my eyes.

Without even needed to ask what that meant, Soron replied, “He’s that bad, huh?”

“No… He’s just the tough love sort of teacher, without the love part.”

“Any idea on why he’s like that?”

“Eeeehhhhh no. Everytime I start playing out his story, my brain starts feeling all blocked. It’s like he can sense when I’m trying and gets in my head which is annoying that the Force lets him do that to me.” I said while giving a stink eye to the air.

“Well then, maybe your guide doesn’t want you to know him in that way yet. Maybe he needs to tell you himself…” he paused, “Vis?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you trust Cenden?”

The question hung in the air for a moment as I tried to sort out how to respond to that.

“Um… Yes? Well I mean, I trust all of you guys right? Enough to have barely known you and get and on your ship and let you put me in danger and stuff!” I responded firmly.

“Yes, true, but do you trust him? As an individual? Not as our group, but just him?”

“Well… I think so. I dunno. There was this thing I sensed when I first met him and he blasted me across my temple ‘cause I was winning our fight. It felt, angry? Or ashamed? ...Why are you asking anyway?”

“Just making sure I guess. You’re apart of my family now and I want you to feel comfortable with whatever and whoever you’re dealing with. Even if that’s another family member.” Soron affirmed.

“Dangit. You’re just the best. I don’t even know you, and you’re like the coolest grandpa I never had.”

“Grandpa?” Soron mused.

“Fine fine! Great uncle! My point being I wish you were the one teaching me how to get beat to a pulp and not Mr. Grumpy-Angry Man.”

“I don’t know how much Force stuff I could teach you but how’s about I teach you some hunting strategies sometime, Shistavenian style?” Soron said as he leaned back on his arms.

“YES! I’D LOVE THAT! WH-”

My words cut off as something twitched in the Force just as Soron’s head also suddenly shot up and peered into the horizon. Small flashes of light could be seen coming from over a hill in the distance. They disappeared as quickly as they’d been seen, but somehow the wind began to feel different.

The breeze picked up again and Soron stood. Nose to the air, his superior sense of smell working in time as he began to search for something on the breeze. A pit dropped in my stomach as my guide swirled about me in warning. Everything around me became very loud, and it felt like everything was moving about me.

“My guide says something’s happening. I think it’s one of those bad-somethings.” I watched as he didn’t respond but continued smelling the air. After a moment he flashed his commlink on.

“Chol, we’re about to be ambushed, get the engine’s prepped.” Switching his gaze towards me he snapped, “Vis get inside now.”

“Okay!” I didn’t argue as I stood and began to scramble towards the hatch.

“What!?” I could hear Lerti’s voice come through the comm, “Are you sure it’s not just Beebs’ guys here to get their quarry?”

“I’m not sure. But I smell a lot of smoke off in the distance, smells like burning fuel but it’s far enough away not to be seen. This isn’t an Imperial controlled planet and there’s not a town around us for miles. Beebs’ men may have been stopped from reaching us I don’t know! Something’s up and I’m sure it’s-”

The sound of a ship suddenly appeared overhead. The wind whipping around us as a blinding spotlight suddenly shone down from above. ‘The ship had been cloaked?’ I wondered as I made it to the hatch and opened in.

Looking back I realized Soron wasn’t moving, but he also wasn’t armed… Wait. Where’s my lightsaber?

I heard the blade ignite and sputter in Soron’s hands, the glow of green becoming like an aura around him. He took up a stance similar to what Cenden had shown me and squinted up at the light. Above the sound of the whirring engines I could hear Soron reconnect his commlink.

“Lerti, it’s something else alright. And you’re not going to like it. I think it’s him. Is it time for running, or revenge?”

#Free Reign: A Star Wars Story #Free Reign #free reign chapter 16 #star wars #star wars fanfiction #zazabelle9200 #zap #draksisreborn #foreshadowing #fanfiction #star wars rebels #star wars clone wars

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