John Wick the Edgehog™️ has just landed, how’re we holdin up?

Sonic x Rouge Cover Story (Part 2)

Translator note: Thank you for checking out Part 2 of Rouge’s cover story. I have no idea why it was separated like this, but it’s fine in the end. I am not fluent in Japanese and I am still learning how to be a better translator. Please note that there will likely be mistakes in my work here, but I hope you enjoy the story. Also, I am busy with work and didn’t have the luxury of working on my laptop for this one. While riding a Shinkansen, I typed this out on my phone. If there are any mistakes, please forgive me.

Within the center of Eggman Land, there is a deep vertical hole deep in the ground that goes over 100 meters down.

This was the site of the “Gaia Temple.”

The temple, which once stood for the "healing" of this planet, was tucked into the underground of Eggman Land, but emerged during a big battle and is now sleeping deep in the depths of the planet.

At the bottom of this hole was a figure that landed silently. After looking around carefully, this person said in an overly satisfied tone:

"Huh. It seems that all those robots that gathered together to get Sonic. All for little ol’ me! ♪"

This person was Rouge the Bat. When she looked at the radar she was carrying she could see Sonic was a ways off; just as planned.

"Everybody should get a friendly little hedgehog friend!~"

It seemed certain that she pushed the enemy towards Sonic and to drive them as far away as possible. Then, on the contrary, Sonic was heading for this very spot.

Soon after reaching the deepest part of the tall rock spires of the temple, Rouge found a stone that was dimly shining through the darkness, picked it up, and gracefully pressed it against her cheek.

“I finally found you! And you’re just such a cutie!”

"... Who are you talking to and what are you saying?"

When asked from behind, Rouge looked blankly forward with the stone still on her cheek.

"Oh ...? Did you abandon your work? That’s pretty naughty, Sonic."

Rouge's expression, as she slowly looked back and asked, returned to her usual graceful smile.

“Well, I know you’re the worst kind of lady and I couldn't help it," Sonic answered with an obnoxious grin.

Knowing the location of the Chaos Emerald with the energy detector, Sonic noticed Rouge's plan to use him to allow her a chance to take the gem and so… he quickly showed up here.

The communicator that was informing her of his position would still be spinning on rotation.

"So, what are ya going to do with that Chaos Emerald?"

Rouge smiled and returned without any fear.

"Well, I was thinking that I’d bring it home … What do you say to that?"

Rouge continued, shifting her gaze from the ring on Sonic’s left hand to the Chaos Emerald.

“You’ll soon realize the value of a better gem when one comes around.”

With that said, she slammed a smoke bomb, that she took out from in-between her breasts, on the ground.

<< BANG! >> >>

The area was covered with white smoke.

"Hey! What about our deal earlier!?"

When Sonic shook off the smoke, Rouge had already grabbed on to a large escape balloon and was rising into the sky.

"... Well that takes care of that! My investigation has already ended ♪ You were very useful for the time being, so I will share my intel as promised. Eggman Land’s power restarted because of that seven-colored shooting star ... and the Chaos Emerald accidentally fell here. "

The setup was a little crazy, but Rouge got the Chaos Emerald anyway. She began talking to earn time to escape.

“Well look at that, the Gaia Temple that was previously here was also a power spot for the Chaos Emeralds, right? Perhaps because of that, it seems the underground temple responded to all that Chaos Energy and began to spread energy around the area.”

Sonic didn’t seem to move at all.

"Well, I gave it some thought... If I were to come down here then I might happen upon a Chaos Emerald myself.”

So that was it. Sonic began to speak back.

"OK, but the Chaos Emeralds don’t really belong to anyone. They’ve just been used by some of us when the world was really in a pinch.”

It didn’t matter to Rouge as she let out a soft, “But…"

"But what?"

“But… isn’t it just great to be able to dig in and steal it?”

The next moment Sonic grinned as he dashed towards Rouge.

"!?"

Sonic used the slopes of the rock pillars to spin dash into the sky. As he crossed by Rouge, he grabbed the Chaos Emerald right from her hand.”

"Oh! You thief!"

With a wink, Sonic fell to the bottom of the vertical hole with a huge smile across his face. Rouge was at a loss for words and swooped down to catch up to him!

<< RUMBLE ...! >> >>

Suddenly, all the lights in Eggman Land shut off and the planet shook violently.

A plethora of dazzling streaks of light rose from the very bottom of the vertical hole. The lights shot out in countless directions, and the entire place was engulfed with light once Sonic landed.

The five Chaos Emeralds that Sonic had in his possession started to shine brightly as if they were responding to the lights below.

"What is this......!?"

A glow returned to the darkened and drained Chaos Emeralds.

Maybe it's because five Chaos Emeralds were gathered in the same place where the Gaia Temple used to be. Perhaps it was because Sonic has a deep connection with the temple. Either way, some slumbering power had “found” the Chaos Emerald.

Rouge, who was watching this from the sky, was completely awestruck at such a beautiful scene.

Moreover, the darkness that has spread across the entire temple was washed out as huge particles of light seemed to cut out through the engravings along the side of the large hole. They became even more gorgeous as they shined in seven bright colors.

It looked like a fancy jewel placed on top of high quality black velvet fabric.

"...!"

Rouge glanced at its beauty with longing eyes as she let out a sigh.

For the realist that Rouge was: gems that are unobtainable are truly worthless. However, the hint of "better jewels" still being out there made Rouge happy.

... She could hear Sonic calling from far below her feet.

"Hey! Are you going to come back for it?”

Sonic was shouting with the Chaos Emerald in his hand. It was if he wasn’t going to put up a fight at all.

Of course, she wasn’t going to give up on this real jewel. Right now, no matter what went down in Eggman Land, people’s hearts don’t change. Rouge squinted her eyes and made a confident smile. She pretended to give up and assessed her chances for a surprise attack.

“Well… I lost. I don’t need a sneaky hedgehog’s emerald anyway! Besides—”

<< Crack ...! >> >>

As Rouge flew, the circumference of the hole began cracking apart as the planet shook again.

<< RUMBLE ...! >> >>

"What!? What’s happening this time!?”

A vertical hole that was originally struck in an unnatural shape ... I couldn't stand the torrent of light. The vertical hole couldn’t withstand the barrage of light. The buildings and attractions of Eggman Land fell as if they were caught in an avalanche. The whole thin collapsed.

...... Now’s the time to strike!

If Rouge could get off a surprise move now, she could possibly get all five of Sonic’s emeralds! However, Sonic was able to avoid a giant Eggman statue that had collapsed and fallen in. Sonic slipped back and fell into the smoke.

Sonic would be fine in a situation like this. Rouge, however, concentrated all of her cunning towards an overhead surprise attack once the smoke settled.

But then ...

"I'm sorry to have kept a lady waiting, but I can’t give much more of an apology, right? By the way, what were you trying to tell me earlier?"

Rouge was hearing Sonic's cocky voice from the communicator.

Rouge dropped her head in sadness. Sonic had already escaped. Also, his communicator must was very far away from where he was ... Rouge realized that it was impossible to catch up with him.

Really, this guy does every single thing he wants to, doesn’t he?

"It's so annoying. I now have nothing!"

Saying that, Rouge got rid of her communicator and let her escape balloon go too. She then angrily flew into the sky.

Sonic, on the other hand, almost instantly returned to his usual demeanor with a cheeky expression. Before running off, he left a last message on his communicator despite the fact that nobody would hear it.

"Well, Rouge. Did you enjoy yourself today?"

The night was soon erased by a wave of light. Morning had come to Eggman Land, the place for hopes and desire.

The amusement park, which welcomed two guests during its bustling night of resurrection had collapsed and fallen completely silent. Now, it seemed nothing more than a set of ruins. Casting a dark shadow onto the new morning.

With that in mind, Rouge, who ended up going home empty-handed, was flying in the sky with horrid thoughts in her mind. However, she suddenly went silent when she thought about the jewel of light she saw.

Even so, it was overwhelming. That unrealistic beauty it had... What if Rouge could just know how valuable it was?

"... Well, you’ll just have to find it for yourself then!"

"Motivation" is the "ideal jewel". Maybe there was some value in this, depending on how you think about it.

Let's leave things as they are. Rouge was in a good mood as these thoughts raced through her mind. She then flew off into the sunrise.

“I'll definitely get all the jewels I want anyway! All jewels in the world are my mine to keep! ♪”

Emotion Sickness: Diary Entries from Shadow the Hedgehog (Part 1)

Select entries from Shadow’s diary were found and compiled by Sonic (with Shadow’s permission) as an homage to both Shadow’s development and their relationship together. The entries were made between March 2009 and October 2013. This part of the compilation contains the entries made between March 2009 and December 2010.

10:53 PM - 4 March 2009

Hmph. Another day behind me. I crossed paths with Sonic today and he offered to have lunch with me. The request was somewhat flattering, but I turned it down. I don’t really need to eat.

Why is Sonic always so nice to me? It’s a liability to be within ten feet of him at this point, considering how much trouble he gets into. Whatever. I’m better by myself anyway.

5:02 PM - 19 July 2009

Amy visited me today and said she was here on Sonic’s behalf. Don’t know why, but she wanted me to know Sonic was offering to have me over at his place.

Sonic has a permanent home? Who knew?

I thought about it for a bit, but I declined. Again, I don’t understand why Sonic continues to do nice things for me even though I’m the most miserable being on the planet. It’s not that I hate them or anything, but I just can’t get close to anybody else. What if they reject me? What if...

Forget it.

I can’t think about this stuff. I’m going to take a nap. My thoughts are the last thing I need to be with right now.

6:46 PM - 30 November 2009

Wouldn’t you know it, that stubborn blue hedgehog turned up at my door today and again asked me to spend time with him. I was about to just tell him to piss off, but something about this interaction was different. I don’t know what, why, or how, but... it actually sounded appealing this time?

Very hesitantly, I said I’d think about it but don’t expect me to take you up on the offer. He just smiled, said okay, and left. 

Maybe I should at least try to be somewhat charitable for once. I called up Rouge and told her about what had happened and she just teased me over it before hanging up. You know, typical Rouge.

But she did tell me that it was ultimately my decision to make.

Hm. I think I might go after all.

12:25 PM - 2 December 2009

Just got back from having breakfast with Sonic. He was actually surprised I showed up. Honestly? I was surprised, too.

I didn’t talk too much, but Sonic... oh boy, Sonic. It’s like he never ran out of things to talk about. He’s smiling the entire time he’s with me, too. It was almost alluring just how much his bright demeanor contrasted with my moody self.

One of the things Sonic talked about was his friends. I was fully ready to just stop him right then and there (it rubs me the wrong way when anybody mentions friendship), but then he told me I was a “good friend” to him.

I asked him if he was serious. Sonic said yes.

In retrospect, it was certainly more eventful than most days. Perhaps little meetups like this would be healthier for me if I did them every once in a while.

3:59 AM - 28 May 2010

I can’t rest. I keep thinking about Sonic.

We’ve been meeting occasionally like I said I should. The longer I’m with Sonic, the more I begin to see in him what I could’ve been.

He’s a caring, generous man with everything going for him. People like him. He has a purpose in life. He’s coolheaded, rational, and valuable to society.

So why on Earth would Sonic be spending time with me, a reprehensibly depressed alien who is so completely worthless and undeserving of care? How could he possibly like me when I don’t even like myself?

I’m tired and tears are pricking at the corners of my eyes. I need to talk to someone in the morning.

1:51 AM - 29 May 2010

I called Rouge and told her about last night. She wasn’t very vocal, but she did offer a little encouragement. She said I don’t get enough sleep and that a little bit of rest would put me at ease for a bit. But I’m still on edge. What does Sonic see in me that I don’t? Or am I just overthinking this? My thoughts are erratic right now, so I’m sorry to anyone reading if this doesn’t make sense.

Ugh.

I can feel tears welling up in my eyes already.

I’m so weak. I’m so pathetic.

Who would ever want to spend time with someone like me?

All I do is brood in the corner of the room all day and be an asshole to everybody. I don’t understand how anybody could be tolerant of me, much less a “friend.”

Yet... I’m still drawn to Sonic. For whatever reason, he’s just so inviting. He’s nice. Too nice.

11:32 AM - 8 August 2010

Over the past few months, Sonic and I have been visiting each other more often, and not much has changed.

From me, at least.

Sonic has been growing even kinder towards me than before. Sometimes, he’ll give me small gifts like a scarf. Other times, he’ll ask me about myself. If I were ready, I would’ve just spilled my true feelings about myself right then and there.

But I wasn’t ready. So I just talked about the very few things I did find enjoyment in. Gardening, space, and Chao. I begged him to never tell anybody about what I said to him, and he looked at me like I had three heads but vowed to keep it a secret anyway.

I just don’t know. Sonic’s a good guy, but... I can’t bring myself to be friendly with him. If I start growing close with people, they’ll just die or leave me and I’ll be heartbroken again just like last time. I can’t go through that again. I’m not strong enough.

I appear tough on the outside. But the truth is, I’m always on the verge of breaking down. My mental state is so volatile and virtually uncontrollable.

Chaos damn it, just get out of my head already!

3:40 PM - 23 December 2010

The holiday season. A time for joy, reminiscing on the past, looking forward to the new year, and exchanging gifts.

For everybody else, that is.

Ever since I came here, I’ve spent every Christmas alone.

All the others have a big gathering at Sonic’s house, having a good time (allegedly). I was never interested in these and I always declined every single invitation I got from Sonic. Yet, like clockwork, he still sends me one every year. Maybe hoping that I’ll change my mind one year.

After a lot of self-reflection over the past year, though, I’m not sure how much more invitations I can reject before Sonic gives up trying.

I crumble in social situations. Interacting with anybody other than Rouge, Omega, or Sonic for more than ten seconds takes an insane amount of willpower.

Something has to give. Either I go for once or they stop trying.

12:48 AM - 24 December 2010

I’ve decided I need to go. Maybe bring one of my Chao if things go wrong. I’m not necessarily doing this because I want to go. In fact, I’d be a lot happier if I didn’t go because at least I know things can’t go wrong if I’m by myself.

But I can’t stop thinking about Sonic and his friends. It drives me crazy.

9:21 PM - 24 December 2010

Party’s tomorrow. Note to self: don’t fuck this up.

11:17 PM - 26 December 2010

How quickly things can change has always amazed me. Tonight proved that.

Everybody was really surprised to see me showing up, but they said they were all grateful I showed up. Sonic, of course, was the first to welcome me, giving me a hug that admittedly felt like a breath of fresh air after so much time alone. Then again, I have a reputation so I needed to act like he was crushing me to death.

I didn’t spend much time talking with other people, though I did exchange some small talk with Rouge. The usual.

As the party grew longer, I found myself being... complimented by others?

Knuckles said he hoped I was “doing well.” Cream gave me a single flower while wishing me a merry Christmas. Tails shyly waved at me (I put on a smile and waved back). Omega said I was “one of the only creatures made of flesh” he trusted.

I’m sorry. Did these people forget who they were talking to?

Dinner was fine, though I was particularly eager about the sweets. Oh, right, I forgot to mention I have a knack for candy. The more you know.

Of course, then it was time for gifts. I swear you could fill the Grand Canyon with the sheer amount of presents under the tree. I guessed that roughly three of those were for me, ready to be mailed to me if I didn’t show up.

So you can imagine my surprise when I saw eight presents being dropped into my lap and all of them reading “To: Shadow.”

We all took turns opening our presents. I had two presents from Amy (a coffee mug and a Chao toy), one present from Espio (a kunai), one present from Tails (a bag of coffee beans), one present from Knuckles (a Kill la Kill DVD) and... three presents from Sonic?!

The first one was classic Sonic stuff. A sweater with the word “faker” sewed on the chest. He thought that one was really funny. I didn’t really care.

The second one was more genuine. A pair of rocket boosters for my shoes. My old ones are just about dead, so this was welcome.

The third one... subverted all expectation. It was a small box that contained a piece of paper. It read:

“Dear Shadow, stay after the party and meet me upstairs when the others leave. Signed, Sonic.”

The others were curious about what Sonic meant by this. Silver joked that I was being sent to the principal’s office.

Eventually, the party came to a close and people left. I went upstairs as Sonic had told me, and there he was sitting on the edge of the bed.

He motioned for me to take a seat next to him. I sat down and asked him what he wanted me for, half-expecting something stupid.

“I understand you haven’t had the easiest life...”

I instantly got up to leave. No way I was sticking around to hear this again.

But Sonic grabbed my arm and yanked me back to the bed, his face now spelling genuine concern.

“...I know you mean well. Sometimes, you do things that we think are dumb but actually turn out to be smart. Other times, you just do dumb stuff. But that’s not the point. The point is, I want you to know that I’m still here for you. I can tell you’re bothered by your thoughts. But the bottom line is that I, and we, care about you. We love you, Shadow. I love you. Please don’t think you’re not worthy of being cared about. We have our ups and downs, but we always work it out eventually, right? I know your thought process works differently than mine. That does not make you any less deserving of respect. My greatest wish is that you would love yourself as much as we love you.”

I was stunned. That bastard. Quickly losing my composure, I began blubbering about how I couldn’t stand the thought of getting close to someone just to lose them again. How I’m so terrified that I will just be manipulated and used by people pretending to be my “friend.”

Sonic told me that he would never go away and that he would never “use” me.

Fuck. Fuck.

Sonic embraced me and I’m embarrassed to admit that I began sobbing as I wrapped my arms around him. I swore to myself that I’d never show any kind of weakness around them.

“It’s okay to cry,” he told me. “Don’t be afraid anymore. I’m here now. I’m here.”

“And I always will be. That’s a promise.”

Happy birthday to Brian May! Here’s a little story to go with the art:

---

Excerpt from The Creation of Erit: The God of Light Creates the Stars

Many years ago, before the great cities and even before the first wars, the people of Erit existed in harmony with each other.

But at night, the world became a dark place, wherein even the cleverest of the gods' children would trip and fall as they made their way home. The God of Light in his infinite wisdom summoned the moons from their slumber deep at the heart of the Galaxy. For a long time, the moons lit the way for the people of the planet, and so the people sang praises, giving thanks to the moons and the God of Light.

But the moons were like gods, though not as powerful. And sometimes the moons would wander away to conduct their own affairs. When they did, they skies fell into darkness once again.

So the God of Light traveled to Erit to look for a solution, taking the form of a badger as his disguise. He traveled over mountains and through rivers. Into the deepest trenches of the ocean and through the hottest deserts.

One day, he passed through a valley and found a long-forgotten hunter's snare, and it was at that moment that he understood what must be done. Laughing to himself, he slid his foot into the snare and trapped himself.

For five days and five nights he called for help. The fauns were too preoccupied with their own thoughts to even notice. The harpies--who flew high above the earth--would not get their talons dirty to save him. Even the duarrow, who lived deep in the earth, would not come to the surface to see who called.

Finally, a young human, who'd spend five days and five nights climbing down from  his mountain home, knelt next to the God of Light. With practiced ease, he freed the old badger from the trap and said, "Off you go."

But the badger did not go. He said "thank you for saving me. Please tell me your name."

At that moment, the young human recognized the badger for who he was. Bowing until his forehead touched the ground, he said, "My name is Brian. I am your humble servant."

"Please," the God of Light said. "Sit with me as my equal. I have a favor to ask of you." So Brian sat in front of the god, in awe of his down-to-earth nature.

The God of Light said, "Look around you at the million-billion flowers that grow here in this valley. You must take them and hang them in the sky. In that way, your path shall be illuminated at night for the rest of time, and you will be able to see your homes, even at the darkest hour."

"But," Brian said, bowing again. "You are a god. Surely you can place these flowers in the sky with more precision than I."

"Ah," the god said. "But I am the God of Light and Dark. My fellow gods and I can see even in the deepest shadow. We do not understand the plight that has befallen our children. We do not understand what you need because we are not of this world. Take these flowers and place them in the sky in a way that will best serve creation."

And so Brian spent another five days and five nights gathering every flower in the valley. The God of Light recruited a hundred hedgehogs to help him, and soon Brian had a pile of flowers as tall as ten castles, each of them a brilliant, sparkling gold.

The God of Light gave Brian a bag and said "put all the flowers into this bag, and I will lift you into the heavens." Although Brian did not understand how so many flowers could fit into such a tiny bag, he did as he was told. Soon, there were no flowers left in the valley. When he looked into the bag to see how every flower had fit, he found they'd all transformed into beautiful, glowing shapes, which he decided to call "stars."

As promised, the God of Light lifted him into the heavens, and with his infinite supply of stars, Brian decorated the dark expanse. Sometimes he even formed the stars into pictures, which would become the constellations the people of Erit would sometimes search for at night. Sometimes he would form paths with them, which lit the way even through the darkest reaches of the planet.

Soon, the denizens of Erit began to call him the Starchaser.

It is said that Brian had so many stars that he was unable to finish his task within the normal human lifetime, and so the gods blessed him with immortality. If you see a new star appear in the sky--one you've never seen before--you can rest assured that the Starchaser is still there, ensuring the night sky will remain beautiful and bright for the rest of time.

Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 14: SCOURGE

............

............

......Huh?

Oh, hello there! My name's Lutrudis, pleased to meet you. Judging from that look of surprise on your face however, it's evident that you weren't looking for ME per say... What's that? You want to know what this is? Right, of course, my apologies.

Well, this is a mini-series belonging to... ahem, my creator, in which he goes into slightly more detail about his thoughts on the villains in Sonic's history, and why he thinks they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). Usually he gives his stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. He also stresses that these are just his own personal thoughts, and that whether you agree or disagree, you're free to share your own thoughts and opinions.

Unfortunately, as you may have gathered, it seems he's a bit occupied for today, and is thus unable to do a review... is what I WOULD be saying if he didn't let me cover for him! That's right boys and girls, I'll be filling in for him today, by doing a little review of my own! Please forgive me if I prattle on for extended periods, but I sincerely hope my efforts in assessing the Wrong'un of the Week are of the utmost quality. Truth be told, it's kind of nerve-wracking, but I'm happy to give it my all for you guys. ❤️

So then, let's carry on with the show, shall we? Welcome to a new edition of Sweet or... Sour. Welcome to Sweet or Sour. Yes indeed, heh heh... (Is the creator's language normally this gratuitous? I hope Cream hasn't seen his posts...)

Anyhow, for today's review... well, this is quite interesting. Normally the creator prefers to keep his reviews focused on game-centric villains, but I guess he made an exception with this one. Today, we'll be directing our attention to a notorious copycat of our blue hero in the Archie continuity, and legendary connoisseur of 70's fashion: Scourge the Hedgehog.

The Gist: Once upon a time, in the land of comics, there was a world known by all as Mobius. But there was also a parallel dimension called Anti-Mobius, or as it would later become known as, Moebius... one E makes all the difference, apparently. Anyway, in this dimension, everyone and everything that existed in Mobius had an identical equivalent in Anti-Mobius, but things operated a bit differently, in the sense that they were largely the opposite of what we were familiar with.

Putting aside the rather disturbing implication that this world might not have had any real will or independence if it existed purely to do the opposite of what Mobius did, this meant that it had a Sonic the Hedgehog of its very own, as well as a father to that Sonic. Sadly though, this Sonic's father was not that kind to him. In fact, he was said to be a rather poor excuse for a father, as evidenced by how he didn't give his son enough attention, and... oh, that's it.

How awful.

I'd say his choice of attire is the real crime presented here.

Anti-Mobius in its original form experienced a period of Great Peace, but alas, it was not to last. It soon became a shadow of its former glory, which seemed prophetic in hindsight, as it was by this time that this world's Sonic the Hedgehog - Evil Sonic - murdered his own father in cold blood, and then threw his world's incarnation of King Maximilian Acorn into the Zone of Silence. He quickly became a dictator to the people of Anti-Mobius, with his only immediate opposition coming in the form of the kindhearted counterpart to Dr. Ivo Robotnik... or should that be Dr. Julian Robotnik, in this continuity...? Hmm, I suppose it doesn't matter anymore...

Naturally, the laws of the universe saw fit to correct this wrong. Just as water is wet, and fire is hot, Sonic gives evildoers a right kicking. And lo and behold, our magnificent hero did eventually meet his evil duplicate. The two were evenly matched in speed, but the good-natured Sonic triumphed regardless, possibly because he had more wittiness on his person.

Pictured: Quality banter.

Evil Sonic later brought along the rest of his gang to aid him, who predictably mirrored Sonic's own band of Freedom Fighters. They were just as much of a match for our heroes, which is a polite way of saying they weren't. You really shouldn't expect anything exquisite when they looked like this.

Maybe you should call your group something else then...

These parlor games went on for a while, with the status quo never truly changing. But then, after one final showdown with Sonic, the evil Robotnik of Mobius kicked the bucket, which among other things, inspired ANOTHER Robotnik to fill the void. This Robo-Robotnik took Evil Sonic along with him to commit many acts of dastardly intent, an act of generosity that proved to be tragically undermined by Evil Sonic getting caught and trapped by different people time and time again, to the point where even his old gang had long replaced him with a new leader. He did go on to escape the grasp of one Zonic the Zone Cop... only to later get arrested again by the same guy. So far, so adorably incompetent, right?

Still, he did bust out once more, and he proceeded to turn the overall universe into a glorified soap drama by pulling the moves on numerous ladies in Mobius, which in true Evil Sonic style, achieved precisely nothing of merit. Even after he briefly teamed up with Rouge the Bat, his luck persisted in not manifesting. But things were about to get even worse... for us. On a meta level, if you know what I mean.

After one final botched attempt at pointless thievery, with the Master Emerald being the prime target in this particular case, Evil Sonic's attempt to gain himself a super form was halted midway with great force by none other than Locke, the notorious father and attempted microwave murderer of Knuckles the Echidna. Rather than kill him however, all this did was change his fur to green, and leave him with some hardcore scars.

He promptly renamed himself Scourge. Because he's a real SCOURGE to good ideas, har har.

New kid in town, do not steal.

With his first act of villainy as a new man tattering to pieces due to foolishly invoking the wrath of Shadow the Hedgehog, he soon crossed paths with Dr. Finitevus, an albino echidna who otherwise looked exactly like Knuckles (good heavens, how many of these can one muster?), and spent some time on his side by aiding a new gang of lovely gentlemen called the Destructix. Together, these functioning psychopaths committed more mindless evil.

He also managed to swoon over Fiona Fox to his side, a miraculous modicum of success considering you need some sort of charm to be able to do that, of which Scourge has shown nil. I'm hardly an expert on dishing out romantic advice, but I'm willing to bet there's plenty of superior fish in the sea, Fiona...

How about “Oh my god, did I seriously die to THESE losers?”

Eventually, Scourge and Fiona broke away from Finitevus' allegiance after the deadly and boring Enerjak was unleashed on Mobius. He returned to Anti-Mobius, and it turned out that any repairs made since the last time he was king didn't amount to anything substantial, because he went and conquered the entire land all over again. Rechristening his old gang as the Suppression Squad, he continued Being Evil™ some more, until the aforementioned Suppression Squad betrayed him for constantly being abhorrent to them, which led to him being stuck with Rosy the Rascal for a while, yet another shameful derivative of a close friend.

In his last days, at long last, he finally achieved a super form with the power of an Anarchy Beryl... only to get soundly thrashed once again, get thrown in prison, and then just when it seemed he'd be back in business, he got wiped out by the Genesis Wave. Tch, Mondays, am I right?

As you can tell from my words alone, let alone in an extremely abridged format, he did a fair amount over the years... and yet at the same time, when you really think about it, he ultimately did so very little.

Oh, and there was also a Metal Scourge at one point. I'm aware that the man who made him has never been all there in the head, but I still find myself questioning why he saw fit to go through with this nonsense.

I shouldn't need to say this, but that's a disgrace to the hostile Eggman robot that I know and detest.

The Design: Well, he started off as a Sonic, so it's to be expected that he'd look exactly like the lovable goof. Since this was ~Evil~ Sonic though, he was determined to remind us at all times that Grease was in fact the word.

~You're the one I don't want, you're not the one for, no-ho-ho, honey~

Then he turned green, and... yeah, he turned green. All I can say, really.

Please excuse me, I'm utterly beside myself with amazement.

It doesn't quite strike the imaginative chords, needless to say. And neither does his super state, which... I'm sorry, it's not normally my cup of tea to chide others for their appearance, but just look at this tripe for a moment.

No, I don't think I will.

When you combine his already ridiculous self with black eyes and a tiara... what exactly is the intent here? Am I supposed to be intimidated by this display?

Keep this between us if you can, but personally, I'm more intimidated by staircases than I am by this fiend.

The Personality: You would think that since a Sonic is a Sonic, Scourge would share a lot of his personality with our Sonic. And that is true... in the most superficial sense possible.

Sure, he's jovial, cocky, and prone to moments of overconfidence, which is enough to sound very familiar to us on paper. Beyond that however, that's all they really have in common beside their appearance. In every other category, you could argue that Scourge is the exact opposite of Sonic.

For instance, whereas Sonic is supremely loyal to his friends (trust me, I’m grateful to know!), Scourge treats his gang like fetid garbage, and that's when he's not outright abandoning them, neglecting them, and putting them in danger. Likewise, whereas Sonic is a blue bundle of bravery no matter the odds, Scourge is a poor little chicken when the going gets tough, despite all his ramblings about being Sonic's full potential.

This means that for all the acclaim he receives as Sonic's evil doppelganger... he shares very few similarities with who he's replicating. He's barely any different from all the other ruffians that Sonic faces, so what point is there to him being a Sonic at all? If he had a different name and design entirely, what would honestly be lost in translation?

But then, maybe he would just become Mephiles the Dark instead.

Or Mimic the Octopus instead.

Or Eggman Nega instead.

Or Ken Penders instead.

Or... sheesh, they all kind of blend together after a while, don’t they?

The Execution: If my general tone has thus far not been enough of an obvious indication, I do not rank Scourge with any particular favouritism when it comes to Sonic's rogue gallery.

Mind you, ANYONE who threatens our world and tries to kill my friends is nothing but rancid at their core, and as long as they remain unrepentant, I would never support any of them. Asking me which dangerous maniac is “the best” is like asking me which sewage stinks the least, after all. But even I can understand that there's a right way to do bad, and a wrong way to do bad. Scourge, Evil Sonic, whatever you wish to call him, falls squarely into the latter category.

How I'd love to shove an arrow up His Majesty's rear end.

First of all, his motivations were poorly structured, and that's putting it tactfully. Most of the time, we're led to assume that he does evil for no other reason than because it's evil, so we're already not looking at masterpiece material. But as it turns out, as I mentioned way earlier on, he grew resentful of his father for not giving him as much attention as he felt he deserved.

So when he killed his dear old dad, and went on to do everything else to bitterly stick it to his dad's memory, we're supposed to... sympathise...? Understand his point of view, perhaps...?

Well, I dare say I'll be sticking my nose up to THAT presumption, because there is no pathos to be had here. None at all. It's just a selfish brat becoming a violent and murderous selfish brat, and nothing more. By doing everything for evil's sake, intertwined with this sorry excuse of a tragic backstory, it's as if he's trying to have the best of both villainous worlds, without understanding what makes either of them work.

Secondly, for what little success that Scourge actually had to his name, few of them were by his own hand so to speak. As much as it pains me to give Dr. Eggman even a veneer of kudos, it does require mentioning that for all of the doctor's contemptible attributes, he truly is single-handedly responsible for a great majority of his own... achievements, if you wish to call them such. By contrast, this stinker rarely worked for his moments, instead often relying solely on others to get anything done efficiently, whether it be Fiona, Finitevus, his gangs, or the Anarchy Beryl. Without them, Scourge was always nothing.

Thirdly, as mentioned, he failed to fulfill even the basic concept of what Sonic would be like if he became evil, since he has virtually nothing in common with the hero he's trying so desperately to present himself as the corrupted counterpart to. While I'd obviously prefer not to entertain the mere notion of an evil Sonic anyways, since I know deep in my heart that he would never go down that path, I know him well enough to reasonably assume that even if he did lose his way, he would still be recognisable in some capacity, since there are countless aspects to his personality that remain so... inherent to how his mind operates.

I guess what I'm saying is that if an evil Sonic came to be, he would exist as a darker mirror of how Sonic actually is, and not... something that is not at all like Sonic beyond the physical.

What's the matter? Not used to a horse seeing you for what you really are?

Finally, remember when I said he was considerably more cowardly than Sonic? I wasn't simply referring to life or death battles and similar heat of the moment situations. Even when the scenario is of lower intensity, when the odds are completely in his favor at that, Scourge proves himself to be what Sonic isn't. Remember when he broke into the house of Sonic's father, with the intent to intimidate and kill said father... only to be scolded into submission by him? We're expected to believe this guy is a big baddie who ranks high in threat level, yet getting a telling off is sufficient enough to shoo him away?

If only Eggman was this easy to deal with...

Now granted, it's to my understanding that all of Scourge's failings are occasionally explained as him being a parody character. But, and correct me if I'm wrong here... aren't parodies supposed to be, you know, parodic, even if done subtly? As opposed to being played completely straight with no trace of irony, which is exactly how Scourge was portrayed throughout the entire duration of the comic's run, with no exceptions whatsoever?

Despite how often the comic insisted otherwise, and despite how often he received it, Scourge was not a villain who warranted importance. He was not a master planner, or a legendary conquerer, or a malevolent force of nature. He was bottom of the barrel, a wannabe at best, who thought he was made for bigger stripes, but remained little more than a walking pile of fresh manure, with nothing to show for it till the very end. His credibility was often alluded to, and handed to him, but never in any stretch was it properly earned. A punk who occasionally got lucky is hardly worth the rank of arch-fiend, in my humble opinion. He was a disgrace who simply had the luxury of wearing Sonic's skin to mask his shortcomings, and I can’t say I’m crestfallen to see him go.

And quite frankly, anyone who impersonates Sonic in the first place reeks to high heaven anyway. To think this trash heap thought he could ever compare in the slightest to my darling... Oh goodness, did I say that out loud?

Lutrudis Gives Scourge a: Thumbs Down!

Estar fuera de anónimo me pone nerviosa pero eh. Ya que. Tengo una request en la que Shadow y la lectora son amigos cercanos y ambos trabajan en G.U.N., un día, mientras que los dos están en una misión, la lectora es herida gravemente, se recupera pero Shadow se siente terrible y ahí es donde ella quiere tratar hacerle hablar y Shadow explota, soltando que el gusta de ella y revelandole como sentía y entonces le confortamos. (Estaba inspirada lol, dime si crees que es muy detallado 😅)

Being out of anonymous makes me nervous but hey. As. I have a request in which Shadow and the reader are close friends and they both work in GUN, one day, while the two are on a mission, the reader is seriously injured, recovers but Shadow feels terrible and that's where she wants try to make him talk and Shadow explodes, letting go of his liking and revealing how he felt and then comforting him. (I was inspired lol, tell me if you think it's very detailed 😅)

it's ok hun! here you have it (the next post is going to be the original in spanish!)

Shadow T.H x Reader

"Protect you"

enjoy!💖

-----

Welcome to G.U.N, "Guardian Units of Nations" for its acronym in English. I work here as an agent for a few years now, doing my part to protect this world from constant threats, to protect people, and I am happy to do so!

  It seems that we are always in focus of some attack, because something new always happens, be they aliens, an ancient beast that rises to cover the world in darkness or, an obese human accompanied by a humanoid black hedgehog.

who would say it, that hedgehog joined us after a while.

Shadow became an official agent of G.U.N after a while of seeing us in action, just as we took the time to analyze whether to recruit him. I did not object sincerely, honestly it seemed great to have another mobian to work with.

because yes, I am one of the few humanoids here, one (f / a) to be exact. And while I get along almost with most agents (one of the keys to being here is teamwork), I was never completely close to any. After each mission it was and still strange to go out somewhere, to eat, to dance, nothing.

Nor can I boast of being the most sociable person in that regard, and Shadow was not in turn.

He did his own business and things in his own way, we seemed his assistants to some extent, I will not lie. His power surpassed almost everyone. But that's what happens when you're a lonely person, right? I suppose...

From the little we knew exactly about this coal hedgehog, it was that one of its notable characteristics was not that of working in a team. That if he had done it was in his own interest, and at first I doubted he was here for it. I don't know, but I missed something about him.

One day I decided to gather courage and face it.

Apart from the typical eye contact, or some words in certain missions to which we went along with other agents, we never started a conversation. It wasn't that easy anyway. And at first he didn't like me at all.

He did not like that I faced him clearly.

He said that he was only there to help fulfill a mission outside of G.U.N, and there it was. He did not deign to tell me anything else. The answer did not leave me at all calm either.

It was until they sent us on a mission together, alone, that we had to interact again. Neither of us wanted, but orders are orders.

It was not until I cut him off that Shadow realized that it was NOT HIS mission, but OUR mission. We were forced to work as a team even if he didn't like that.

At first he did not deign to answer, until he sighed and responded with a simple "ok".

And if we are done, it was a success!

Since then, Commander Tower has sent us both together to accomplish all kinds of missions, whatever. Even if we were accompanied, the requirement was that we were both in front. While I was in control and strategy, Shadow had the strength, and obviously, when the formula works, does it repeat itself?

At first we did not like this. Shadow still saw me bad just as I didn't want to have him close. But we get used to this routine of working together.

All this led to Shadow and I becoming close, I would say we became friends!

He was still the same cutting hedgehog that he showed to be from the beginning, but he was much more gentle with me. That I was around to open more with me, and I with him. He never wanted to tell me about that mission that did not belong to G.U.N, nor did those who knew tell me where he came from. But I tried to respect that, if it made him feel uncomfortable. Well, I saw how every time they spoke it I could lower my guard for a few moments, especially with that name.

"Maria".

The little I know about her is what Shadow himself told me, that he was her friend and that tragically died. Nothing else.

It is in those moments when I tried to comfort him, but he always rejected my attempts, my hugs, saying that he was fine, that he appreciated the fact of wanting to help. The few times I could get him to smile, even partially, they occurred at that time.

And I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed seeing that smile.

In the missions it became common for us to take care of our backs at all times, so as time progressed, I worried more and more about him, just as Shadow always looked and asked to be sure I was still there.

When I felt bad I could count on him to tell me something to help. He was not the best to give advice, in itself he's not good to tell how he feels in general, but my heart was glad only the fact that he wanted to help. I felt I had done well to face him on that mission. It was worth someone I could trust, even if sometimes I doubted him.

I didn't even know exactly what you felt for him, but I didn't pay much attention to him.

But everything changed.

It was a normal day, a routine mission. Shadow and I were together, about to enter one of Eggman's bases. Strange movements had been registered on the part of the doctor, and G.U.N wanted to make sure that another danger to humanity was approaching.

Everything went as usual, I analyzed how to go without being seen, the possibilities, while Shadow carried me in his arms so I could enter as quickly as possible. Whenever he did it, I blushed, today that has not changed either.

After a few moments, I told him where to go safely, where to leave me and what to do next. We would not separate unless necessary.

And it was. The base was immense, and we needed to travel it as soon as possible. A look and evidence was what we needed. However, we didn't even get to that.

My boots slipped and I fell to the ground, leaving me at the mercy of the security cameras. I got up and tried to get out of there quickly, while calling the hedgehog with a special watch on my wrist. It soon appeared, and charged me again to leave, however it was already late.

The alarm system had been activated, lasers everywhere.

While Shadow was able to dodge them, and we left, the missiles hit us before. One hit near us, and we both flew out together, I hitting my chest fully against a tree and falling from a considerable height. I started to lose consciousness at that moment. Shadow ran over, and the last thing I heard was his voice, worried, calling me repeatedly as I rose gently. After that, darkness.

I woke up connected to several machines, a serum bag, and a shadow next to me,holding my hand

At first I didn't recognize him, until I saw his red lines and his eyes . I could see his eyes light up when I smiled at him.

- What happened? - asked.

- I brought you Emergency here. You broke almost the entire ribcage, as well as some bones of the arm and pelvis. he replied.

I was shocked for a few moments, until I saw the bendages in my body, which I reacted again.

-Thank you...

-You don't have to thank me, it was my duty to protect you anyway. said the hedgehog from nowhere. I looked at him for a few moments, feeling like my heart was beating at those words. Silence invaded the small room for a few moments, until I asked:

-I can go back to G.U.N in no time, right?

-I don't know if you consider a few months for a long time.

-I don't believe it, as long as they don't cancel me ...

Shadow looked at me and lowered his head for a few moments, sighed and looked at me again.

-They won't unsubscribe you, but I'm not going to work with you anymore.

That hurt a lot more than my bones.

-But why? If it was a commander's decision I can go to ...

-It was my decision. - the hedgehog released, seriously, interrupting me, leaving me stunned for a few seconds. He stood up from his chair and opened the window.

-You don't want to work with me then?

-Not that, is that ... -he wanted to explain, however the words just did not come out. I could see it in his gesture, confused, frustrated.

-If it is because, I don't know, I'm very weak? You could always have told me that.

-No no, that's not why, let me explain it to you well ... -he looked increasingly frustrated.

-And then why is it? I asked annoyed.

Shadow exploded.

-I don't want to lose another loved one! I don't want you to be at risk of dying again because of me! I don't want you to be in the same position as Maria ... I can't lose someone I love again. - he exclaimed, while looking out the window, without being able to face me. His breathing was more agitated than normal, and he sighed so he could calm down and regain his composure again. He had been really vulnerable with me.

He said he loved me.

I watched him as my heart sped up even more. My cheeks were red like the color of their betas. The hedgehog continued.

-I ... my mission was to protect you, even when G.U.N didn't assign it to me like that. I was determined to make sure nothing happened to you. To do what I couldn't for Maria. That mission is what Maria left me. She would have wanted me to protect humanity and that I am trying to do. I can't alone, and in you I found someone who helps me to do it. Someone understanding, hardworking like You. Someone who knew how to make the best of me. I...

-Shadow, come closer. I said interrupting him. He looked at me confused. I put his hand between mine, and looked into his eyes. I sighed before releasing:

  -I love you, Shadow.

His lord changed to a surprised one, and when he relaxed him, he smiled.

-Me too, (Y / N). he replied, while kissing my forehead.

------

aaah, what memories ...

wait, we were talking about you being the new recruit right?

sorry! I'm really sorry, the same thing always happens to me. Come, I hope I didn't bore you, because you have so much here to hang out with!

please read the forbes review of new horizons

also under the readmore bc i know that site can be jank

It looks, at least at first, like a vacation. You book your ticket through Nook Inc., by all appearances a cheerful travel agent, coordinating with Dodo Airlines for a trip to a deserted island somewhere in the hemisphere of your choice. But it’s different. For whatever reason—personal, political, biological or otherwise, it will never be clear—your cheerful little character has decided to book a one way ticket. I wear a sailor shirt and jeans, and I am never going back.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the latest entry in Nintendo’s pleasant little life simulator series, but the setting marks an interesting break. In the past I was just moving to a town, a normal thing that one might do, even if the town is inhabited by strange and friendly anthropomorphic animals. Now, I am striking out into the wilderness to build a utopia on a deserted island. My guide is Tom Nook, a scheming raccoon whose calm, half-lidded eyes belie the essential fervor with which he will pursue his latest venture, a grand social experiment far beyond the construction business he ran on the mainland. My companions on this first day are a disaffected pink rhino and a fitness-obsessed elephant, their motivations for abandoning society as unclear as my own. Joining us are Tom Nook’s two sons, Timmy and Tommy, the mother nowhere to be seen and never mentioned. We pitch our tents on the first day, and I go out to shake cherries out of a tree at Nook’s request. We gather around a bonfire and drink cherry juice as the sun goes down, toasting the start of our new life without a thought to what we left behind. This is life now, here on the island. And we will make it a good one.

It’s impossible to review Animal Crossing: New Horizons here on March 16, 2020, without writing in the shadow of the coronavirus. That might not be true of all games—DOOM Eternal will still be DOOM Eternal, even if it is perhaps more needed now than it would have been last year. But there is something about the particular escapism of Animal Crossing’s simple life that feels particularly vital at a time when death tolls and infection rates are rising, whole cities are shutting down, the global economy is fumbling to a halt and millions of people are choosing to spend their days indoors, alone. In the past few weeks, a collective howl to just release the game early has come up on social media in a way that it can’t quite for any other game. We need a new life right now because this one is looking tenuous.

The game is simple: you live on the island and you make it better. You start in a tent, you upgrade to a house, and then you improve the house. You catch butterflies and fish. You collect fruit, and you sell them to Tom Nook’s sons as Nook Sr. talks constantly about “the island way”. You give gifts to your friends and they reward you with clothing and housewares. If you support Tom Nook’s amorphous goals, he will give you “Nook Miles”, which you can use to fly to even more isolated islands to find lost souls camping out alone in the wilderness who can be persuaded to join your growing community. There is a museum where you can bring all the bugs, fish and fossils you can find to create a slowly expanding record of your own achievement: for the most part you are alone in its silent, impressive beauty, but sometimes you will see another island inhabitant peering into the fish tank that you stocked. You can build a wardrobe at your little workbench, choose a custom color and place it in your house to put on a hat when it rains.

It’s a game of rhythms. There are always bugs and fish, you can spend your spare time catching those when there’s nothing else to do. Every so often you can go to the beach to check for seashells. You can hit a rock for minerals once a day. If you find a rare fruit not available on your island you can plant a tree, but it will take a few days to grow. If you request construction, it will be available in the morning. Larger buildings might take a full day to complete. I haven’t seen it in the review period, but as the seasons passes we will see different fish and bugs, different environments and different clothes on your friends. You could put on warmer clothes in cold seasons, but you don’t have to. It is— after all, utopia.

Two weeks into my play and my island is unrecognizable from when I first moved in. My and my friends’ tents have been replaced by permanent houses, my own with three rooms stocked with haphazard furniture, an espresso grinder on the floor next to my record player. My two original companions are joined by a friendly green eagle, a squirrel with a flight helmet, and a small, nervous, bearded creature of indeterminate species. I found a drunk seagull on the beach one day that I haven’t seen since. They’re joined by the owl that runs the museum, a hedgehog that sells clothes on the weekends, a travelling carpet-selling camel, and a weird little rodent thing that sells turnips on Sundays. The turnips fluctuate wildly in price, and you can make a lot of money selling them at the right time throughout the week because this utopia veers wildly between aggressive capitalism and essential collectivism. I’ve got a sleeping bag that I put on the beach next to a little camping lantern and a palm tree that will be full grown at the time of publication. I lie on it sometimes.

There are games that you play in quick sessions, and there are games that stretch into weeks, months, and years. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of the latter. These games are never about what they are about, whether you’re shooting aliens to earn powerful guns, slashing demons with axes to collect ever grander armor, or planting orange trees so that you can see them blossom. That’s just window dressing. They are about the feeling that you get when you log into the game every day and make progress: that you can earn your bells and build your island, and that nothing can really take it away from you. Not a stock market crash or a malicious strand of RNA worming its way through cells and society. Furniture and clothing are made available randomly through rotating stocks at stores and the whims of your gift-giving friends. But even if you throw something out, it’s added to a list where you can buy it again as long as you want. Nothing is lost, ever.

Much has been made of Nintendo’s decision to limit Animal Crossing: New Horizons to one island per Switch, with limited cloud saves and a procedure for recovering data that would have felt dated a decade ago. I can understand, in a practical way, why these are insane, anti-consumer decisions that are bound to cause unnecessary heartbreak. But I also understand them. The utility of Animal Crossing relies on a sense of being real. There’s only one island on on Switch because that island is real, and it lives on that Switch. You’re not meant to change date to switch the season because it’s just not that season yet. It seeks peace in surrender, core to the Animal Crossing experience.

I haven’t talked a lot about the game itself, really. There’s a bunch of stuff old and new here, like the ability to choose where people live, the way the island evolves, the DIY system that lets you make your own stuff, streamlined inventory management, the multiplayer system, the way you can now create and destroy land at a whim, etc. If you want to know more about that stuff, I’m sure there will be lots of other reviews that will go into them. But know that if you’re overwhelmed with the world, stuck inside, or adrift in a life that you know will look totally different next week — get Animal Crossing.

For a score, I’m going with 10. It is by no means perfect, but, we would never want it to be.

Platform: Nintendo Switch

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Release Date: March 20, 2020

Price: $59.99

Score: 10 out of 10

Roommates AU Chapter 1; Meeting the Neighbors

A cab parked by an average looking apartment building. It was a normal city-type complex, so no one really paid attention to it. A pink hedgehog, around the age of 19 had gotten out of the cab. She looked around, and then looked at her phone. ‘This is the place, I guess.’ She took her bags out of the taxi, and went to door number 15. Out came a whiteish-grey hedgehog.

    “Hi! You must be the new girl! I’m Silver the Hedgehog.” The hedgehog introduced himself to the pink girl.

    “Hi. As you might know, I’m Amy. Amy Rose.” Silver chuckled. Amy had a puzzled look on her face. Why was he laughing? Was there something on her face?

     “Sorry. It’s just that, all the hedgehogs I’ve ever met usually have ‘The Hedgehog’ as their last name.” Amy giggled.

    “Well…not me. My dad wasn’t in my life, and so I had to go by my mom’s maiden name. Rose. But, she wasn’t really in my life, either. She left me when I was three and I grew up with my aunt and uncle.” She looked up with determination that Silver didn’t know was possible for the young girl. “Ehh. She probably died. But that’s okay.” Silver was very surprised now. He opened the door fully, and helped her bring her bags in.

    “I was wondering when you’d get here, I was about to call a group meeting. Now that you’re here, we can begin!” Silver told her to put her suitcases in an empty room. He then led her into his living room where a bat, three hedgehogs, a cat, a fox, and an echidna were sitting in. There was a specific blue hedgehog that had caught Amy’s eye. He was staring back at the pink hedgie. They both blushed and looked away.

   “Okay Silver, we’re here. What do you want?” a black and red hedgehog asked.

   “Shadow, relax. First of all, the landlord won the lottery, and said that as a surprise, he’ll decrease the rent.” Everyone cheered. “Secondly, we have a new neighbor. Amy Rose.” He scooted to the side, so everyone could look at her. She froze at the attention.

    “U-Uhm, hi? I’m Amy Rose. I’m 19 years old, and I am a college student at Mobius University. I also have a bakery nearby that’ll be opening in two days. I hope we all become good friends, thank you.” She stepped behind Silver again.

   “Let’s all introduce each other as well.” Silver gestured over to Sonic, who was sitting at the far end of the couch. He looked away from the pretty pink hedgie, and cleared his throat.

    “Hey, I’m Sonic the Hedgehog! I’m fast at everything!” The turquoise hedgehog girl sitting next to him scoffed.

    “Everything, BUT, relationships.” She stood up. “I’m Lyra the Hedgehog. I’m Sonic’s little sister, and I’m also a medical student training to become a psychiatrist. (giving my OC the job I’m studyin’ for LOL) I love coffee, the night, and I really hope we become good friends, Amy! You seem really nice! I even hope my brother fal-” She was interrupted with Sonic smacking his hand over her mouth.

    “Ugh. I’m Shadow the Hedgehog. I am not in anyway related to Faker over there, or his annoying and ugly sister, or Silver over there.” Silver seemed to be in a daze, so Amy snapped her fingers to break him out of his trance. There was a purple cat next to Shadow, who looked all professional and had the aura of a businesswoman.

    “I’m Blaze. Blaze the Cat. I am an accountant, and I live in the middle floor with Rouge the Bat. Speaking of roommates, who’s yours?” Silver spoke up.

     “Me.” They all nodded. Sonic looked a little less cheerful, making Amy wonder why his emotions changed all of a sudden. Silver turned towards the twin-tailed fox.

     “I’m Tails the Fox! I’m a mechanic, so if you have a car in need of fixing, just let me know! I’m also a scientist studying at Mobius University, so I might see you often.”

     “Don’t fall for him, Ames. He’s a womanizer.” Sonic said, chuckling a bit. Amy didn’t focus at what he said at all. She only focused at what he called her.

Ames.

She didn’t recognize this feeling, and didn’t know how to feel except hot. At the cheeks and ears.

      “What do you mean, womanizer?” the bat asked, intrigued at where this conversation was going.

      “He’s two-timing innocent little cinnamon rolls.” Lyra answered, taking out her phone.

      “And who might they be?” Rouge asked leaning over to Tails, getting the red echidna next to her upset.

      “Guys! The introduction?” Silver yelled, trying to get them out of their gossiping state. They all shut up, and leaned back in their seats.

      “Hi hun, I’m Rouge the Bat. I love to party! I’m an FBI agent just like Shadow over there.” She jerked her thumb over at Shadow.

       “Rouge, why is it that you’re trying to tell the whole world what our jobs are?” He asked, clearly annoyed at her.

       “Because why not? She doesn’t seem like the type to go around doing bad stuff.” Rouge said. Shadow made a ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’

       “Are you actually-? You know what? I’m not even going to argue.” Shadow stated, not attempting to explain to her that she shouldn’t be assuming things.

      “Anyways, passing whatever all that was…I’m Knuckles the Echidna! I-”

      “TAKE STEROIDS!” Sonic yelled, interrupting what Knuckles was about to say. Everyone, including Amy began to laugh.

       “NO I DON’T!” Knuckles yelled back.

       “YES YOU DO!”

        “I SEE WHERE THAT ANNOYING HABIT OF INTERRUPTING PEOPLE CAME FROM, LOOKING AT YOUR SISTER!” Knuckles shouted at him. Lyra put her hand to her chest, as if she were offended, but she actually was.

        “LISTEN HERE YOU HOT-HEADED ENCHILADA, I WILL NOT HESITATE WHEN YOU CALL ME ANNOYING!” Lyra screeched at Knuckles, trying to get her point across. Sonic cleared his throat, as if saying that she wouldn’t hesitate in her brother being called that either. “or my brother. Still, you better watch your words, or your dick will be chopped off, and I will shove it down your throat.” She threatened, having the red echidna sink all the way into the couch.

      “Maybe threaten something else that isn’t his dick?..” Rouge asked. Knuckles glared at her with fury.

      “…Um…Amy, why don’t you go check out your room? I need to talk to everyone.” Amy nodded, and slowly walked to the room where her suitcases were. It wasn’t a very big apartment, just two bedrooms and two baths. She heard Silver’s voice and couldn’t help but eavesdrop on their conversation.

      “Seriously guys? I just wanted you to introduce yourselves, but no, you just had to go and start yelling out the most stupidest things! Now Amy’s going to think that we’re freaks, and move out as soon as possible!” As soon as the phrase “Amy’s going to think we’re freaks,” she heard Sonic yell “NO!”

      “Don’t worry, Silver! I think that you guys are amazing, and I’m staying, no matter what weird things I might catch you all doing!” Amy found herself saying, as she stepped from behind the wall.

       “You definitely are. You see, anytime someone moves here, we always have this test to determine their personality. You, have passed this test. Beware, for there are more tests to come.” Silver said. Amy only nodded, as everyone got up and started going back to their apartments. Sonic, the blue hedgehog, seemed to linger. Once Amy was in her room, she turned to the door to see Sonic at the doorway.

       “Hi!” Amy exclaimed, a little too excitedly. Sonic blushed red, and put a hand on his neck.

       “Hey.” Was all he said, which made Amy internally swoon. “Um…You said you own a bakery nearby?” He asked.

       “Yes. It’s called Rose Cafe. It’s going to open in a few days.” She said, while unpacking her suitcases and putting her clothes in a closet.

       “Nice…So…ya need any help with unpacking?” He questioned, as he walked over to her bed and sat on it.

        “No thanks, I’m fine. Now, before we start talking anymore, tell me about the others. The people that live here. What’re they like, and how willing are they to make friends?” She asked, as she took out a red halter dress, pausing to take a piece of lint off.

        “Well, I’ll start with Shadow. He usually never talks, but if he seems a little open to you, that either means you might mean something to him, or you’re a suspect of a crime without even realizing it.” She rose her eyebrows in interest. “Then there’s my sister, Lyra. She’s a chatterbox, but she’s also a bit comforting. Children love her for some creepy reason, and you should never get on her bad side, because she can smell your weaknesses and use them against you. She’s like Shadow and Rouge, but more idiotic. She likes Shadow, but I feel like he’s looking at Silver. If he were to look at my sister, I’d kill him.”

       “Do Shadow and Rouge work together?” Sonic nodded at her question.

      “I guess you could say that their partners, but also friends with benefits. Rouge loves to party all night. She can gather information really quickly, and uses seductive charm on people to get it. Even through girls. Even if they’re straight.” Amy looked petrified at that. Sonic chuckled at her reaction. “Then there’s Tails. He’s really nice, but is a Ladies’ man. Probably because they all think ‘Oh, he’s cute as a button!’ or ‘He’s so polite!,’ well, don’t fall for that, he’s already got two girls who don’t know about the other.”

         “Why is he dating two girls at once?”

         “He claims that he loves them both, and I guess I understand?” He shrugged, and continued talking. “Knuckles says he’s not on steroids, but I’m pretty sure he is. Why do you think he’s so bulk?” Amy giggled at Sonic doing an impression of Knuckles flexing his muscles. “He’s dating Rouge, but she’s constantly cheating on him. He’s too dense to notice, and it annoys me. Poor guy doesn’t deserve that slut.” Amy thought that what he had called the bat was rude.

      “Sonic! Even though she may seem like a slut, maybe there’s a reason she does so!” He only scoffed at her comment.

       “If you say so. Anyways, then there’s Silver. He’s really close to the landlord, who lives three cities away. He’s kind of like the leader of the place. He’s really nice, and he also likes Shadow. It causes some rivalry and competition between him and Lyra to win his affections. Although, I don’t think he notices either of them. I think that’s all-”

       “You forgot Blaze the Cat.”

       “Oh. Well, I don’t know much about her, seeing as she’s always in her office, I think she likes Silver, and doesn’t like talking, but when it comes to Rouge doing something that pisses her off, she starts going off like an airhorn.” Amy giggled. “At least there’s another girl here. You could stop them from arguing. Lyra would do that, but she always gets herself into the argument as well.” Amy smiled.

       “Yes, sir! I will try my best, and won’t stop until the war has been won!” She saluted him playfully, making the two laugh. She put her suitcase in the closet, and put her p.j’s on the bed. Sonic hopped off, and went towards the door.

        “It was nice meeting you, Ames. See you tomorrow!” And he walked out, leaving a shocked Amy.

He called her Ames again. She made sure to lock the door behind him and squeal in delight. They’ve known each other for barely a day, and he’s already gave her a nickname. What a guy.

🤔 How about...a Amy vs Omega prompt...with Sonic cheering for Omega in the background just to mess with her!

(This was the only image I could find of the two. lol)

@cutegirlmayra is usually the one who does Prompts… but I can give it a go?

Friendly reminder, Cutegirlmayra is on Prompt Shutdown, meaning I’m also not taking new prompt requests. Please keep your ideas safe and sound until she reopens them on her blog again. :)

How does she start these things off again? Oh right!

Prompt:

The Sonic Heroes blazed a trail into the new era following Metal Overlord’s demise, however, they still had an appetite for adventure and battle! To determined which team was the strongest, they held a competition…

The Team Battles!

One player from each group would be assigned to compete in different activities and sets, and funny enough, Team Rose was down to their last contender, Amy Rose.

With determination in her eyes, she pulled her fists up forward and had a spark flare up in her heart. “This is my chance.” She looked to the screen, seeing that Knuckles had beaten Shadow and Cream in the last arena.

That was simply for tactical advantage though, the game was to find something in record time. Cream was almost going to make it but Shadow Chaos Controlled near the location. Right before reaching for it, Knuckles burst from the ground and clamped down on the item with his mouth, refusing to let it go till he was declared the victor.

It ticked Shadow off, but Cream and Cheese flew back to Amy safe and sound.

“We’re sorry, Miss Amy…” Cream’s eyes bent in submission, clearly disappointed she couldn’t score a point for the team. “I wasn’t quite as fast enough as Mr. Shadow… nor as ingenuitive as Mr. Knuckles…” she hunched forward, her little Chao repeating the same action with his cute remarks as well.

“Chao, Chao…”

“There, there. You two did your very best.” Amy’s compassionate heart couldn’t be limited, and especially not here, with her friend looking so down and blue. “The next test is going to be primarily about keeping the upper hand. It’s like king of the hill, but we have to keep one primary spot till the timer runs out. I think this is about power and speed.”

“Endurance too… Maybe…” Big shrugged, smiling as usual in his cheery way.

“Right.” Amy turned back to him and nodded. “Big’s already won the Flicky challenge. Gathering them all up last second by lassoing his fishing line around the other teams Flickies.” she giggled at that, motioning what had happened with her hands. “I’m sure I’ll come out on top with this one too.”

“You sure sound confident.”

Amy’s heart gasped with the familiar-sounding voice, doing an Irish jig in her chest as she slowly turned around to see the man of her dreams.

His smile could slay millions of frowns, dry up a billion tears, and keep the world a better place… if it’d only look her way, it could do far more!❤️

“Sonic!” She swooned, holding her hands together and up by her left cheek as swarms of hearts fluttered in her eyes.

Sonic looked to Cream then, “Great work out there, Cream! You really put everything into that challenge! Me and Tails were really impressed!”

“Y-You were?” she blushed in pride, comforted a bit more than before. “Thank you, Mr. Sonic! Mr. Tails!”

Tails blushed too in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head, “Ah, gee. It’s the honest truth!” he then nodded to Amy, “So, you’re going up against Sonic and Omega next round?”

Amy’s face suddenly looked as though a large bell had smacked her on the head, draining the color from her face and leaving her condemned. “S-Sonic… And Omega?” her knees suddenly trembled slightly, and she had to turn away, shivering at the idea of facing not only her true love but also a behemoth of a killer robot!

“What’s wrong, Amy?” Sonic raised an eyebrow, deciding to play the teasing jokster of the bunch. “Scared you can’t take on the big boys?” He narrowed his eyes, smirking.

The challenging tone of his voice sent a new wave of thunder throughout Amy’s body from her core, reaching out from the center and giving her new vigor and life.

Her eyes, shining white with heaven’s lightning turned back to Sonic, “I’ll see you on the field!” she bolted as fast as she could to the entrance arena, where Omega was also speaking strategy with Rouge and Shadow.

“THERE ARE NO EGGMAN ROBOTS PRESENT IN THESE COMPETITIVE ACTIVITIES. REQUESTING TO ABORT UNNECESSARY ACTIONS AGAINST YOUR FAMILIAR LIFEFORMS.” Omega seemed to be asking permission, but something about his body language made you think he was begging.

“Don’t worry, Omega. I’m not all too thrilled to be participating in these strange contests of strength and unity either.” Shadow stated, looking off to see Amy rushing by them. “It does seem pointless… but Sonic and his friends are offering Chaos Emeralds to the champion team. That’s incentive enough for me to compete in these ridiculous feats.” He walked up to Omega, seeming to side with him on this one. “We’re choosing you for this match. You’re sturdy. Plant your feet on the ‘X’ and keep the others from budging you off. We should be fine.”

“Hmph, I wouldn’t be so sure.” Rouge flew down beside the two.

“What have you heard?” Shadow crossed arms.

“Sonic is the next pick for his team, and I hear Amy is taking the slot as well.” Rouge dusted off a wing and then some of her arm. “Shame, I thought you wanted to have a go at Sonic again.”

“I’m only after the Chaos Emeralds now… But our time will come.” He narrowed his eyes, “He’s rash and leaves people apprehensive. Amy will most likely be distracted into fighting either with him or against him. It just means Omega has a safer chance at securing this game more easily now.”

“Oh? You doubt she’ll side with him?” Rouge seemed to lean more on the fact that she’d help him win. “Why do you suppose that?”

“From their interactions… it looks like she’s got something to prove.” Shadow concluded, “I honestly don’t think she’d just back down in front of him.”

“ANALYZING EMOTIONS.” Omega turned to Amy, scanning her from a distance.

His eyes lit up momentarily and Amy turned around with a ‘Hey!’ instantly.

He turned his head in an owl-like movement back to his teammates. “IDENTIFIED. SHE APPEARS TO BE FUMING WITH MOXIE.”

“You better believe I am!” Amy cried out, “Let’s up the anty a bit, shall we?” Amy turned to Sonic, who had just raced up to the starting line as well.

“Oh? A wager?” Sonic flicked his nose, “Now that’s my style!”

“If I win, you have to marry me!”

“Pass.” Sonic disregarded the statement quicker than when he joined in the topic. He placed his hand on his right cheek and looked up to the sky, immediately bored by the once interesting prospects and began tapping his toe, waiting for the timer.

“Awoohhh! You’re not being very fun!” Amy complained.

His head rose a second, and he swung around to her, “What was that?”

“Fight me! I’ll show you I can go head to head with the fastest hedgehog alive!” she beamed with a brilliant drive in her, but Sonic just stared…

He shook his head, “Better idea… I know you can take me head-on, Amy.” Sonic seemed to happily consent to that fact. “But what about Omega?”

“What about him?” Amy’s gaze pierced through Sonic’s subtle hinting.

“Heh.” Sonic seemed to regain his mischievous nature, and continued, “Let’s see how long you can go with Omega. He’s not like the usual trash-heaps Eggman throws at’cha. What do you say?”

“It’s a trap.” Shadow and all of Team Dark walked over to the starting line then, Shadow clearly not having any of Sonic’s ploys.

“Oh?” Sonic leaned away from Amy, “Easedroppers. What are you so afraid of? A girl and her mighty hammer?” There was a double-edged sword in his words, but Amy just glared at him, not pointing it out right now.

“He’s only trying to get you to focus on Omega and let him seize the prize.” Rouge countered, but Sonic just turned himself away.

“She’s right, Amy. But man, I would have really loved to see that fight.”

Amy felt a bit torn, hearing him say ‘love’ so casually like that…

“Word of advice,” Rouge didn’t particularly like Amy, but she could see what Sonic was trying to pull here. She turned to angle herself towards Amy and make an even bigger distance between her and Sonic. “Don’t let men so easily manipulate you.”

Manipulate?

The word clung to Amy’s ears. It stung. Sonic may be playful at times, but he would never hurt Amy with lies.

Now her head was reeling… who should she go for?

Omega moved into position, along with Sonic, both to her right and left and in front of her.

Tails began the countdown till the timer started.

She studied their backs, gauged whether to go for Sonic or Omega first. She couldn’t not go after one of them… but if she went after Sonic, she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop Omega’s large frame from sitting pretty on the target. As for Omega… many would think she was working for Sonic, being… 

Manipulated.

“On your marks!” Tails’s voice boomed.

Amy’s eyes settled to the ground, her head lowered in conflicting feelings that battled one another. Victory and defeats in a matter of seconds, an entire age of war waged on while Tails’s voice continued.

“Three!… Two!… One! Go, Heroes!”

Amy took off, immediately figuring out what she would do next.

She wouldn’t be the only one to play cleverly in this game…

She went for Omega.

Her hammer slammed into his shoulder, knocking him slightly off stride as he swung an arm back at her.

“PINK HEDGEHOG HAS ENGAGED. PREPARE FOR OFFENSIVE MANEUVERS.”

“Bring it on!” Amy cried out.

“Woo! Go Omega!” Sonic called from the front, booking it to the spot they needed to claim on a hill.

Amy’s anger spiked then, ‘Did he lie about not wanting to see this match!?’ But he sat high and mighty on the hill and clapped, looking eager to watch the two squabble.

Amy swung another hard hit into his side, but Omega stopped running to focus primarily on stability.

“Tsh, that girl.” Rouge was enraged and disappointed, seeing her do exactly what she thought she would. “You’d think a girl would be smarter than that.”

Shadow watched intently… Seeing something that perhaps Rouge hadn’t noticed yet.

“Don’t swing so hard, Omega! She didn’t mean it!” Sonic’s commentary was annoying Amy for once in her life. She actually wished he would just stop. “Remember that one time you told me not to blow up that robot, Amy? Can I ask the same from you? Heheh.” Sonic snickered, not realizing his jokes were falling on deaf ears. “Woo!!!”

Tails also sweatdropped, not exactly proud of Sonic’s behavior. “He’s acting rather… eccentric now, isn’t he?”

“Eh, should have known.” Knuckles sighed, folding his arms. “Amy wouldn’t want to hurt Sonic. She’d rather see him succeed than have her hero fail because of her, you know?”

Cream and Big looked down a little worriedly to the match too, not sure as they both turned to each other.

“Do you think Amy’s okay?” Big asked.

“Don’t worry, Big. I’m sure Miss Amy has a plan to get us that point!” Cream tried to stay cheery.

“Chao, Chao!” Cheese also looked determined to not give up on her.

Omega looked up to Shadow and Rouge, “REQUESTING ADDED FIRE POWER SUCH AS MACHINE GUN EXTENSIONS.”

The two shook their heads, very adamantly.

“THEN… SECONDARY WEAPONRY WILL BE ENGAGED. BRUTE DESTRUCTION.” He rose his arm and was about to swing it down on Amy.

“Woah!” Sonic’s eyes widened, “Amy! Look out!”

Amy heard that, but only Shadow noticed her smirk.

The arm came down… the dirt and dust seemed excessive, but Sonic was already looking over Omega’s shoulder, having raced up to see if Amy would be okay.

Something red was laying on the ground…

“Amy!” Sonic whacked back Omega, crouching down by it. “Amy..?”

When the dust cleared, it was Amy’s red headband, but nothing more.

“Huh?”

“OPPONENT DISENGAGED. HEADING TO TARGET LOCATION.” Omega turned around before his scanners picked up on an image at the location. “PINK HEDGEHOG SPOTTED. INGITING BOOSTERS FOR MAXIMUM MOVEMENT.”

“What?” Sonic turned around, seeing Amy plant her mighty hammer down on the ‘X’, claiming it as her own.

“Some match, eh, Sonic?” She grinned.

Rouge looked amazed, “She fooled him?”

Shadow smiled, closing his eyes. “It appears she has fooled you as well.” He looked back over to Rouge who looked slightly appalled by the idea but conceded and sighed.

“I guess you’re right. She took his own dirt and flung it right back in his face.”

“Sonic’s not going to let a friend of his get hurt. She used that to her advantage as he had used her fondness for him against her.” Shadow explained, “Well done… Amy Rose.” he seemed to smile for a moment.

Cream and Big cheered, holding each other’s hands and jumping for joy, exclaiming, “She did it! She did it! She did it!”

But there was still a while left on the clock, she had to hold her position.

Sonic recovered from the mixup and headed right to her, making it there far before Omega did and throwing out a kick.

“That was a cheap blow!” he teased, but was in good spirits.

She blocked, keeping a stable footing and flinging him behind her.

“Ahh-yoh!”

“Remind me to show you how mighty my hammer can really be!” Avenging her honor felt sweet, but not for the big titan…

“SAFETY MEASURES DISABLED. PREPARE FOR IMMEDIATE SHOVING.” Omega blasted forward through the air, only hovering somewhat as he angled his shoulder to ram into Amy.

She moved her hammer into place.

“10 seconds on the clock!” Tails shouted out.

Now the intensity was rising…

Amy held her hammer firm in her hand, taking a deep breath.

‘9…’

She counted.

Omega swung his arm at her, Sonic came up from below to grab her leg.

‘…8.’

She let Sonic pull her to her knee, saving her from Omega’s hit but resisted being fully pulled off the hill.

‘7.’

She took Omega’s force and used it against him, hammering into his legs and then slipping her hammer in a fluid motion behind her and hooking Sonic’s side.

‘6.′

It was all slow motion clockwork, as she flipped Sonic into a twirl that he quickly got out of, but momentarily was unaware of Omega stomping down on the spot Amy was trying to procure.

‘5.’

Amy tossed her hammer, having Omega’s robotic eyes follow it as his primary threat level was hyper-focusing on it.

‘4.’

She watched his head completely turn to leave her in his blind spot, and with him toppling over, grabbed his arm to toss him over her.

‘3.’

Aiming for Sonic’s disoriented body that was just now landing back to the ground, getting ready for a comeback.

‘2.’

Sonic’s eyes widened as he had just gotten back his footing, but now Omega was being launched through the air at him, his thrusters still on!

‘1.’

Amy watched as the hulking mass of Omega slammed into Sonic and pinned him to the ground. She steadied her footing, and watched in amazement as the bell donged her ultimate triumph.

“Amy wins!” Tails exclaimed, completely flabbergasted as was everyone.

“I knew Miss Amy wouldn’t let us down!” Cream excitedly wrapped her arms around Cheese, embracing him in a victory hug as Amy stumbled back from the top of the hill, gasping for air.

“S…Sonic?” She motioned a hand to him.

A little blue head wiggled out from below Omega.

He gruffed in defeat, clearly annoyed, but smiled up at Amy. “I deserved that.” he winked, “But next time… no tricks!”

“Only if you’ll hold to it.” She sighed in relief, he wasn’t too upset with her.

“Now, uh… think you can… help get him off of me?” Sonic sweatdropped.

“Emm… No.” Amy’s eyes turned devious.

“Wha-what?” Sonic’s eyes shrank, knowing that look.

She approached him on the ground…

“W-wa-wait a second, Amy!” He struggled to get loose, but Omega had swirls in his eyes. “D-don’t do this!” he stretched his frown out to show his teeth, terrified as she came in for a smooching!

“Emm~ Muah, muah!” she kissed all over his head, making him cry out as though in pain.

“No! Stop! Help! Someone! Ah! Heeelppp!!”

She laughed and giggled, as Rouge shook her head, looking to Shadow who looked uneasy at seeing the open display of affection.

“How awful…” Shadow muttered, not even wanting to approach and help his friend while the act of ‘pecking one’s cheek’ was being done repeatedly under his poor fainted friend.

“Well, well. Looks like two can really play the same game.” Rouge looked a bit too proud to watch Amy get back at Sonic, placing a hand daintily by her cheek and lowering her eyelids to the two. “Women perfect everything. Even deception~”

“Let’s not go that far.” Shadow seemed to not want to agree with that, and moved to Omega’s head, hitting it a few times as Omega came back to life.

“OPERATING FUNCTIONS. SYSTEM STABLE. IT APPEARS I HAVE BEEN BAMBOOZLED. I REQUEST UPDATES TO RECTIFY THIS ASTONISHING FAILURE AT THE EARLIEST CONVENIENCE. REQUESTING THAT BE NOW.”

“Yeah, you’re not the only one. But you’ll be alright.” He patted his friend’s head and squatted down beside him. “Knuckles, Big… Care to join me?” Shadow humorously gestured to helping Omega off of a trapped Sonic, still getting pelted with Amy’s love and affection.

They all seemed a little awkward when approaching, but agreed.

Sonic tried not to underestimate Amy’s abilities ever again…

Fanfiction Entry 599 (x)

Look I wrote something kinda rushed for sonadow week. I know it’s like 4am but I haven’t gone to sleep yet so it’s still the 7th to me. For day 1!

Don’t judge it too harshly.

Jan 7th: Competition/Teamwork 

           Shadow always found Sonic a bit hard to understand. He seemed to show up in Shadow’s life more times than he was initially wanted. Shadow used to find Sonic to be something of an annoyance, but recently his perception of the blue hedgehog had begun to change. His feelings for Sonic were ones he would never have imagined himself feeling before. He almost couldn’t believe it was real. Him? Attracted to Sonic? It was ridiculous. It was embarrassing. He could try to deny it to himself all he wanted, but it was all too real. That’s why he couldn’t resist that day when their paths crossed again. That day when Sonic asked.

           “How about a little friendly competition?” Sonic asked with a smirk on his face. His green eyes met Shadow’s gaze and for a moment, he felt frozen in place. He wasn’t used to this kind of eye contact, especially not from someone he… Well, especially not from Sonic. What did that look in his eyes mean? Shadow blinked, and turned away. He hoped how long he kept Sonic’s gaze wasn’t too noticeable. What would he think if he knew?

           “Hmmph, sure,” Shadow grunted, trying to shrug it off. “I hope you know what you’re getting into, Sonic. I’m the ultimate lifeform. I won’t lose.”

           “Wow, you seem pretty sure of yourself, bud,” Sonic teased, smiling even wider. “Why don’t we make this a little more interesting?”

           “How do you propose that?”

           “Well,” Sonic began. “I say that if I win you owe me a favor. One that I can pick after I win. Anything I want.”

           “Well that’s not an unreasonable request at all, is it?” Shadow responded, narrowing his eyes. Shadow imagined it would be something like making him spend more time with him. That wouldn’t be so bad, actually, but Sonic was unpredictable. What did he really want?

           “Yeah! I was thinking the same thing. Not unreasonable at all. Oh, nope. If you’re really the ultimate you know you won’t lose and you know you won’t have to worry about anything I might ask you to do, huh?”

           “Correct.” Shadow nodded. How had Sonic read his reaction like that? Shadow had put up layer after layer around himself. Nobody should have been able to see any of his self-doubt like that. But had Sonic just seen it? Or was he just being his regular cocky self? Damn, was he doubting himself because of these stupid feelings for Sonic? His heart beat a little harder in his chest. Keep up the façade. He told himself that in his head. He asked, “So what happens when I win?”

           “Pigs fly I guess. Since that’ll never happen.”  He laughed for far too long at his own joke, before turning back to Shadow and continuing, “Okay, okay. I guess if by some miracle you win that I’ll have to do whatever you want.”

           “Will you leave me alone?” Shadow asked, snapping out a bit. He almost immediately regretted saying that. For a split second only, he could tell that Sonic seemed hurt by what he said. That ever-present sparkle in his eyes dulled just a bit, but as soon as Sonic blinked again was back. Damn, that hedgehog was so good at being an optimist. Or was he just trying to hide his pain the way Shadow did? Shadow hated how much of his mental energy he was spending these days trying to figure Sonic out. He was frustrated at these ridiculous feelings and wanted them to stop, but was Sonic leaving really for the better? Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it was, but he sure knew he didn’t really want him to.

           “Dang Shads, I didn’t know you felt that way.”

           “I-“

           “It’s okay dude, I know you don’t mean it. I know you love me.” Sonic waggled his finger at Shadow. Shadow immediately felt thunderstruck. His heart skipped a beat.

           Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. That wording

           He knows? That I? That I love? Him? That I love him? Love?

He knew Sonic hadn’t meant it like that but, goddamn.

“Don’t interrupt me when I’m speaking,” was all Shadow could manage to say.

           “Alright, alright. I won’t do that anymore. Promise.” A moment of awkward silence passed when Shadow found himself at a loss for words once again. Luckily, Sonic continued speaking in his place. “So you ready to get this started or what? I’m bored of just standing around.”

           “What exactly are we going to do for this competition? A race I presume? That’s your thing, after all.”

           “You bet! Aww, Shads, you know me so well, don’tcha?”

           “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

           “So, we’re near the shore of this little island we’re on. I’d say we’re maybe about ten miles in max. There’s a real nice spot to the north by the water! It’s a beach! Super pretty. We can watch the sunset there if we make it in time.”

           “The sun’s about to set right now.”

           “Yep, I say we’ve got about five minutes. Should be plenty of time! Or is that too fast-paced for you?”

           “Not at all,” Shadow responded, extending his arms to start stretching them. He cracked some of his joints. “So, you’ll say when?”

           “Now!”

           “Wait, now?”

           “Yep, now!” Sonic began before dashing off. Shadow could hear a “bye!” carrying from the direction Sonic ran off in.

           Shadow quickly sprang into action himself.

Getting a headstart. That’s totally fair.

Fair? What was he saying? Talking like Sonic was his equal. Shadow was the ultimate. He didn’t need things to be fair for him to win. Life was never fair to him. Shadow quickly ducked his head to miss a tree branch that was far too low to the ground. It was good to see that his reflexes were as good as ever.

Was that what Shadow liked about him? That he was the closest thing to an equal he would ever come across? Sonic was a strong ally. Just like himself, he hated to lose. He couldn’t accept failure. He always wanted to prove himself the strongest, staying determined against all odds.

Shadow pushed himself further, putting more strength into his legs with each stride. Faster. He had to go faster. Soon, he was able to see Sonic’s form running in front of him.

“So, finally catching up, eh? Took ya’ long enough.”

“I’m just warming up,” Shadow shot back. “We can’t spend all our energy at the start, can we? Then we’ll falter right before the finish line.” He took the lead and smiled, feeling pretty proud of himself.

“Wow, that’s some strategy. Mine’s just to run as fast as I can the whole time, but I guess you’re stuck back at having to pace yourself. That’s pretty lame if you ask me.”

“You-“

“Later!” Sonic waved a hand at Shadow before gaining speed and running off. It seemed like a field of blue energy had just gathered around Sonic, and he’d sped off at a pace Shadow had never seen from him before. What was that?

Shadow breathed in and out with each stride he took. He couldn’t lose his cool. Not in the middle of this race. He had to calm down. He felt the wind on his back with every step he took. The wind also felt cool on his face, in contrast to the summer heat. It was refreshing. This was kind of nice. Before meeting Sonic, Shadow had never found running to be an enjoyable experience. It was just something he did to get his mission done. It was all about the objective, not the journey. But now, things were different. Things weren’t the same since Sonic had been around. For some reason, even though Shadow was behind, he smiled. He was having fun.

But he had to go faster. It would all be for nothing if he lost so horribly to Sonic. If he was going to run beside Sonic as an ally, as a friend, even if he would never be what he really wanted to be to him, he couldn’t put on as pathetic of a performance as he was right now. He pushed himself even further past his limits. He felt the muscles in his legs start to go numb from the force. Then he felt an energy form from deep within his chest. It grew, and in an instant, his lungs felt overfilled with air. His whole body was tingling with force. He saw an orange field of energy form around his body similar to the one he had seen on Sonic before, and Shadow’s speed reached new levels.

It felt exhilarating, for a lack of a better word. His reflexes even felt better. He barely had to dedicate a thought to dodging out of the way of obstacles. It was great. It was exciting. It was fun. He saw Sonic’s form from behind once again, and this time he didn’t stop to chat. He took the lead without a word, focusing on the path ahead of him and the adrenaline he was feeling throughout his body. It barely felt like 30 seconds before he could see the ocean on the horizon. The goal was right there, in sight. He was going to win. He pushed his speed more. Sonic couldn’t catch up now. He could see the waves washing into the sand. He was so close now. So close, and then-

“Here I come!”

Shadow turned, horror-stricken as he saw a blue blur speed past him at the very last second.  He was only about twenty feet back when he saw Sonic reach the beach and then slide into the sand, stopping in his tracks right before reaching the water. Shadow jogged to a stop, and stood beside Sonic. He decided to take a step forward and dip his shoes a bit in the water, as if that made any difference.

“I win!”

Shadow’s heart sank. This was humiliating. Embarassing. Losing to Sonic. He faced the ground and closed his eyes. He suddenly felt a force on his back. He turned up to Sonic to see that it was from his hand.

“But you did a great job, pal! Put up an awesome fight.”

Shadow didn’t feel like that was good enough. He should have won, but it did give him a lot of comfort that Sonic of all people was trying to reassure him. Sonic kept his arm on Shadow’s back, and Shadow turned from the ground to meet Sonic’s gaze once again. He had such a nice smile. It was good to see Sonic happy, even if Shadow’s ego was bruised and broken right now. He didn’t want to draw attention to the prolonged physical contact that was happening. He wanted to pretend he didn’t notice, because the Shadow that Sonic thought he knew would want nothing to do with it.

Sonic pointed ahead with his other hand at the horizon. “It’s pretty, isn’t it? Told ya’!”

“Yeah.”

It was. Shadow found that some of the most beautiful things on Earth were the things that he never got to experience on board the ARK. Sunrises. Sunsets. Past him never could have imagined seeing these kings of colors, these kinds of shades of orange, and even a little bit of pink peeking through. He breathed in, trying to savor the moment before it faded into memory. Past him could also have never imagined seeing this kind of thing with Sonic and enjoying it so much.

           When it was all down and dusk covered the sky, Sonic broke the silence. “So, about that favor,”

           Oh no.

           “I was thinking that, maybe,” Sonic said, sound a bit nervous when he spoke. Nervous? This was unlike him. “Well, I was thinking…”

           “What? Out with it already, please.”

           “Give me a minute, dude! Sorry, it’s just. It’s weird. I can’t believe I’m really saying this.” He put his face in his palm for a moment before chuckling. “I wasn’t serious about you having to do what I want, y’know? Feel free to say no to this but-”

           “But what?” Shadow’s heart was beating a bit faster.

           “Will you go on a date with me?”

           Shadow couldn’t believe his ears. Was this really possible? Was Sonic just playing with his emotions? Did he know somehow and just want to mess with him? Or did he really feel that way? Was it really possible?

           Shadow just looked at Sonic, trying to give a serious expression, but failing miserably.

           “What?!”

           “Are you asking me that for real?”

           “What? Of course! Why would I joke about something like that, dude? Aaauugh, dude, I’m sorry. I knew this would be weird!” Sonic’s face was all red, and he buried it again, this time in both hands.

           “Yes,” Shadow spat out before taking any more time to think and overanalyze. “I will.”

           Sonic peeked out from his cover, showing a big smile. His face was still red. “Really?”

           “Yes really,” Shadow answered, feeling his own face feel hot. “Just don’t,” he started, before looking down and trying to hide his own face. “Just don’t make it weird.”

           “Woohoo! Awesome! That totally went better than I expected.” He gave Shadow a thumbs up.

           Gosh, what a charmer.

           “So, uh, what do you wanna do?”

           “Oh! Oh, uh, I know this place not too far from here with these ice cream sundaes! Chocolate chip sundae supremes. I got them with an old friend a’ mine a while back. Do you like ice cream?”

           “I’ve actually never had ice cream.”

           “Dude, that’s a total crime! Next you’re gonna tell me you’ve never had chili dogs!”

           “Nope, never.”

           “Okay, we are going to get you some good food on this date right now. That is the mission now. Let’s go! Guess the loser is gonna extend a few more favors,” Sonic said with a wink.

           “Just shut up and lead the way.” Shadow’s face had never felt as warm as it did now in his life. How was he attracted to this man? He’d probably never know.

This isn’t my longest works but I hope you enjoy!

Tea Time

.

Everything was peaceful in Canterlot on this bright day. The citizens went through their daily routines, children played and knights trained. Everything was in bliss except for the beloved king Sonic who at the moment was listening to his advisor talk about current matters in the kingdom. Well listen was putting it lightly in all honesty he hasn't had a clue on what he's been saying for the past half hour. He's instinctually grown the ability to tune out his advisor when their daily meetings went on for too long and too long for him was ten minutes and he's gotten that good thanks to Caliburn. Speaking of the sword it was floating right next to his throne listen with intent to what his advisor was saying since the sword knew his companion wasn't. The advisor, who was a white hedgehog, went on with the many of reports like he was tasked to do but he could feel he was losing the kings interest. He stopped his talking to look at Sonic to see him gazing in his direction but his mind wasn't here. He cleared his throat to gain his attention,

"Your majesty I know that these meetings aren't your favorite. But I must get your word on certain matters to help keep daily life peaceful. So please just one of these days could you pay full attention the whole time?" he asked. Sonic started at the hedgehog with full attention and a shred of hope shined his eyes that maybe finally his words had gotten through,

“I never noticed it before but you and I have the same eye color. Cool!” replied Sonic with a smile. Any hope the advisor had shattered with that line. He sighed and rubbed his temple but Sonic got up and placed a hand on his shoulder giving him his famous smile,

"Relax Soler you worry too much. There haven't been any sighting of evil forces trying to invade in months. So things will be cool trust me." though that smile usually helped ease most people but, Soler couldn't just ignore his duties,

“Sir I understand that but-”  Sonic placed a hand up silencing him,

“I know, I know but hey listen I got someplace to be, so let's save this lecture for when I get back ok?” The king dashed out his courtroom without even hearing Soler reply. The advisor sighed yet again,

"Will he ever learn?" he complained to himself. Caliburn moved over to him,

“Don’t be too hard on him. I think his time here is starting to wane on him.” the holy sword said. Soler looked to him questionably,

“What do you mean by that sir?”

"Well if his recent patterns have spoken much for anything then I know exactly where he's gone. Don't worry I've been keeping track of everything we can discuss matters," he told him. Though Soler would prefer to talk to the King about this Caliburn is basically always by the king's side so he would be as good as any.

"Alright then I'll take you up on that kind sir." with that he resumed his report to the sword.

***

With Sonic he was currently making his way to his rendezvous with a certain lady. He made it to the Misty Lake with ease, the journey was just muscle memory by now and he quickly made his way down the wooden path to the white pavilion. He slowed his pace to a walk and as he approached he could make out the figure of the Lady of the Lake sitting and prepping some tea. Once a bit closer he smiled and waved,

"Hey Nimue!" he shouted out. Nimue looked in the direction of the call and smiled sweetly when she saw it was Sonic. She slightly bowed and waited until he got closer to speak. Sonic came and took a seat next her his smile still as big as ever,

“How are you doing today?” he asked her. The smile was infectious for even she smiled,

"My day has been well. It's typically very quiet around the lake but with your visits, it has brightened the mood," she responded. Sonic couldn't help but feel a little twinge of something after hearing that,

"Hehe, it's no problem. I mean you do make some great tea and it's always fun talking to you," he responded. Nimue just smiled and began to pour them said beverage. Handing him his cup and taking her's the two began to talk. It was mainly Sonic going talking about events going around the kingdom, from training new recruits or having to make public appearances at places. He spoke of the boring meeting he has with his advisor. Nimue enjoyed hearing his tales and only ever interrupted to ask questions or comment on things. Currently, he was regaling the tale of a training session with Lancelot, which was getting a lot of giggles from the Lady,

“Did Lancelot really get that intense with the training?” she asked him between giggles.

"Oh yeah, he did. He always gets so competitive whenever we train together or some other knights. At times it can be a hassle but I enjoy the workout."  Sonic boasted. Nimues giggling ceased as she looked at the last bits of her tea lost in thought now. Sonic noticed the change and gazed at her curiously,

“Hey something on your mind?” he asked. Nimue just smiled though it looked as her mind far off from here,

"I was just thinking on how Lancelot has grown since I nursed him back to health," she responded,

"Oh yeah, I remember hearing stories of you caring for him as a kid. I remember him speaking about it once or twice. The guy can be a chatterbox when it comes to knight stuff but is as quiet as a mouse when it comes to himself." Sonic commented. Nimue nodded,

"Yes, that's Lancelot. He's always had a strong sense of duty but it's so hard to get him to open up. From what you've told me he's opened up a lot more."  

“Really?” he asked astonished. She nodded back,

"Oh yes. You seem to have that effect on others that lets them open up when around you. I can see how you've been named king though you are from another world." Nimue looked at him and gave him the sweetest smile,

“I thank you Sonic the Hedgehog.” the blue blur couldn’t stop the redding of his cheeks so he just looked away and rubbed his finger under his nose to try and hide it,

"It's nothing Amy don't sweat it." Time seemed to stop as the words left his mouth. He himself froze at his slip up and quickly tried to recover,

"Wait I didn't mean-" but the damage was done. Nimues still held her smile but he could see it wasn't as bright as it was before,

“It is fine Sir Sonic. I know that I resemble that friend of yours. You did mistake me for her when we first met.” she said.

"Well yeah I did but you know I didn't mean it Nimue." he tried to explain. Nimue didn't respond back, this time she was quiet and it was obvious she was thinking on something. Sonic feared he just ruined everything he's been building with the Lady but that just begs the question on what it is he's been building. His thinking ended when she spoke again her voice was quieter,

“Is the reason you visit because I resemble her?” the question hit him hard. It was an obvious question with everything that’s transpired, but it was still a hard question nevertheless. But the hedgehog had to be honest with her and himself,

"Well when I first started coming to see you, yeah it was.' he could feel her mood sink even more after that but he had to explain, "Now before the mood drops anymore let me explain. See when I get sent here I had to save the world from a dark King Arthur and stop his shadow army, and find the sacred swords and then find out Merlina was the true enemy and stop her. I'm glad I did stop her and help her change her views and all but it was still a lot, to begin with. Anyway when I came here and saw that a lot of the people here looked like my friends it made me feel homesick. It hit a lot harder when after the adventure was over I couldn't find a way back home and then I became king. I thought that you guys would be similar to them and you guys are in ways. So it led me to want to spend time with you all with you being the forefront." he explained. Nimues saddened mood turned into one of curiosity,

“Why was I the forefront?” she asked now shifting ever so closer to hear his answer.

"Well because you resemble Amy so much It felt natural to do so," he answered. She wasn't expecting this response but the answer made her at ease more and as a small smile came back,

"This Amy you talk about. It sounds like you were very smitten with her," she answered back. Sonic's face instantly went red at that,

"What? No, no I wasn't smitten with her. I mean well hmm." he was fumbling with his words now which got a laugh out Nimue,

“It’s quite alright. If I resemble someone you fancied it’d make all the more sense to interact with them more. It’d be the best way to spend that time with them even if they weren’t completely like them.” she spoke the words as truthfully as she felt but there was a hidden sadness behind them also. A sadness that even Sonic couldn’t have missed. Sonic composed himself to respond back properly,

"Nimue don't make it sound like that. I mean yeah you Amy share appearances but you're personalities are different," he said back. She looked back at him intrigued yet again,

“How so?” Sonic took a moment to gather his thoughts before responding,

"Hmm well between you and Amy I say hands down you are way calmer compared to her. Geez, I can't really explain without starting from the beginning huh? Well then let's see when I first met Amy she had followed me to this planet-" Sonic spent the next half hour telling Nimue all about Amy and their adventures, while all the while coming to a conclusion on his earlier thought. Once he was finished Nimue's grasp of her greatly improved,

"She sounds like a very nice girl. Though her fondness of you can seem a bit out of hand," she said. Sonic sighed,

"Yep, our right on the money with that one. Amy is a great friend don't give me wrong but somewhere along the way the thought of romance with her might've slipped through the drain. It's not because I just don't like her or her company in fact after a point I was glad that she tagged along with some of my adventures. I saw it as a better chance to keep her close and keep her out danger while also being able to watch her grow. And believe me, she calmed down a lot on her marriage proposals since when we first met but I feel I've always seen her as a sister to me. It's like I care for this person a lot and want to see them grow, but I don't like then in a romantic sense. Does that make sense?" Nimue simply nodded,

"Yes, it does. To want to care and nurture someone else and see them do great things. I understand the feeling completely." Sonic eased a bit glad she understood,

“But if I may ask where does that leave me?” and just with another question the ease was gone and now he was facing the core of everything. He tried to keep his cool but as he looked into her green eyes that were anxiously waiting for his response it was hard but he’d have to manage,

"Well, that's what I've been thinking about. I might've thought one way when I first came here but as I spent more time with you my original thoughts have changed.' as he spoke Nimue was slowly getting ever so close to him, "I thought that you'd be somewhat like my Amy and you are in the caring department but you two differ a lot. You're a lot calmer compared to her which I think helps me stay at ease. In general, after I've sat down and talked to you more I'm just generally more at ease. You help me slow down coincidentally enough which I think is something I need. All in all what I‘m getting at is that I think I care for more than just a friend." he finally said and his face couldn't be any redder. Even Nimue face had grown a blush but she couldn't help but giggle which confused the poor lad,

"I don't mean to laugh but I don't think someone has confessed their feeling for me in such a manner before," she said. Sonic wanted to be huffy but he couldn't help but see what she meant and chuckled a bit himself,

"Ya got me there. If we're being honest this was my first time confessing so I think I can get some slack," he said. The last of Nimue giggles ended and she gazed at Sonic with an, even more, sweeter smile than before,

“That was evident but it was very cute nevertheless.” Sonic simply smiled and enjoyed the moment with her. Unknown to either of them their hands had been intertwined but neither cared and just wanted this moment to last.

"I figured you'd be here." the moment shattered at the new voice and the two looked to see Caliburn was resting at the entrance of the pavilion giving Sonic a knowing look. The two finally paid attention to the hand holding and both released each other's hand with blushes on their faces,

“C-Caliburn what are you doing here?” Sonic asked. The swords sighed and bounded over to him,

"If you would have listened to Soler earlier would have heard he said that there was a disturbance going on in the eastern borders that requires your attention. Though now I see you're attention was elsewhere," he said looking over to Nimue who was trying to hide her blush. Sonic got up and quickly grabbed the blade,

“Well it couldn’t have waited until I got back?” he questioned.

"No it couldn't have and if you know how long it took me to get here then you'd at least show the decency to investigate," he answered. Sonic sighed knowing Caliburn wasn't going to let this go,

"Well, it seems we'll have to resume this later. Duty calls and all. So same time tomorrow?" Nimue nodded,

"Yes, that would be splendid. Farwell Sonic, Caliburn," she said with a wave. Sonic winked at her and he and Caliburn ran off to handle a king's works."

ShadAmy Week 2018: Day 5&6: Pink&Black/ AU or CrossOver

ShadAmy Week 2018 Day 5&6: Pink and Black/AU or Crossover

Modern Amy & Shadow X Boom!Amy & Boom!Shadow Crossover

. . .

“Yes, whatever you say, Mr. grumpy”

“Just give me the Shattered Crystal Shards, pink hedgehog!”

“Come here and make me, black hedgehog!”

   Amy and Shadow were in their typical fights of the day, ever since Shadow accepted to be part of ‘Team Sonic or Team Knuckles”.

“I cannot tell you that!”

“Then, I shall not give it to you!”

“You know what! I am this close to punching you in the face and just steal the crystals from you!”- Shadow got closer to Amy so close to fighting her.

“Bring it on you jerk!”

   That’s when Amy and Shadow run towards each other, Amy taking out her hammer and Shadow in a kickboxing stand.

“HOLD UP!”

   Sonic got in the middle of both, Amy and Shadow quickly stopped.

“Move out of my way Sonic, I want to kick her pink butt!”- Shadow quickly looked over to Amy and Amy was quick to snap.

“Yeah, move away so I can actually break those black legs of this!”

“Guys please calm down! Its only been five minutes since we all gather together!”- Tails stood up from his sit. Knuckles and Sticks watched from afar, the sight already familiar to them, so they weren’t amused at all by the scene.

“I have been helping you and your pathetic team save the world for a damn year! And I think this is enough. Be careful Rose, one of this days, those Crystals will disappear from your possessions!”- Shadow then, walked out of Tail’s house as he slammed the door.

   Everyone fell silent, everyone got used to having Shadow around, it was a year after all... and for him to suddenly to just get out of the team seemed to unreal at the moment.

“Amy, can I talk to you for a sec?”- Sonic looked Amy, to which she nodded in answer. They both went out of the house and as Sonic closed the door behind them, he kept looking at Amy.

“Amy-”

“I know, I know! I was wrong”- Amy, looked down at her feet in disappointment.

“It been a year since Shadow join us, but you seem like you can’t trust him still”

“It's just, I don’t know...Every time I am near him, he gives me this weird feeling, I-I”

“I am not telling you that should give him the Crystals, they are yours after all but I am just telling you that should try and give him a chance. You might actually end up liking Shadow haha”- Sonic said, smiling at her.

“Oh, hell nah!...But, I do think you are right...I’ll go look for him”- Amy said as she began to walk away.

“Good luck, Ames!” . . .

   Amy didn’t take long at finding Shadow. however, the bag that she was currently carrying behind her back contained all seven Crystals. He was at his usual place, the village nearby lake. This used to be Amy’s usual place as well, but as Shadow came to stay in the village, she stopped coming once in a while. It was either she was here first or Shadow. He was sitting in front of the lake, still thinking about his previous actions. Maybe he was the one doing wrong? Maybe he didn’t work hard enough to gain Amy’s trust?

“Hey, Shads!”-Amy patted on his back and Shadow quickly flinched at the touch. Amy was never friendly like that...at least not to him. Amy sat down next to him, looking at the moon.

“Shads?”- Shadow asked him, Amy had never called him Shads before. Only the rest of the gang.

“Look, Shadow... I know, we have problems but...I think is my fault for not trusting you. Its been a year and well, whatever happened with Lyric should stay in the past...its just that whenever I am near you, I don’t know I just feel weird and-”

“Are you confessing your love to me, Amy Rose?”- Shadow teased her.

“Only in your dreams blackie!”- Amy playfully punched him in the arm.

“Right back at you pinkie”- Shadow laughed a little, but he quickly stayed quiet as he wanted to keep his cool.

“Oh, actually I brought you this”- Amy showed him the bag she brought with her, and as he opened it, he was surprised to see all the shattered Crystal.

“Wait, why are-”

“You used them, make sure to give it back to me tho!”

“You don’t want to know what I am going to use them for?”

“If you don’t want to tell me, then I respect that...I trust you Shadow”- Amy smiled at him,  and at that moment he felt glad Amy was with him.

“...I want to use this...to learn about my past”

“Uh?”

“Have you ever heard of alternate dimensions?”

“Um, yeah...but Shadow, what may happen in another dimension, doesn’t mean it will be the same as ours”- Amy didn’t want to disappoint Shadow, but at the moment it was for the better.

“I know, but...Its been so long since I stopped searching for my past... I just want to know...how is the other me doing? Does he know about his past? And if he does, how did that affect him? Was his past good? bad? Did he ever stop looking for that blonde girl I see in my dreams? Maybe, I can get some answers....”

“Shadow...lets do it!”

“What?”

“Let's travel to another dimension!”

“No, It might be dangerous, that's why I didn’t want to tell anyone! I don’t want anyone to be in danger because of me-”- Shadow realized at what he said and stopped himself from speaking up his mind.

“Oh, Shadow...I would hug you but I know you hate hugs”    So, all of those times Amy didn’t want to hug him in ‘group hugs’ was because she knew he didn’t like hugs?

“But, just like I trust you, you have to trust me that I can take care of myself...so please let me go with you”

   Shadow took a moment to think...and in the name of the Ancients, he hoped he was making the right decision.

“...fine, let's do this as quickly as possible...and let's not tell the other ones”

“Let's do this!”

   Amy and Shadow placed the Crystals on the ground in circle form, they were soon in the middle of the circle made out of Crystals.

“Ok...Amy...hold my hand”- Shadow said, and Amy didn’t complain and she quickly did as he told. Shadow quickly flinch again, goosebumps going through his body... damn it, Amy.

“Oh, shredded Crystals... show me the way to the answers I want to find”    The Crystals began to glow and move around them.  

And then, they disappeared. . . .

“OUCH!”

“I thought this would be a pleasant ride, Shadow”

   Amy and Shadow had landed in a beautiful landscape, a forest behind them, a cliff with an ocean view and a beautiful sunset in front of them.

“HEY, THAT’S MY MOTORCYCLE YOU ARE ON TOP OF!”

   Shadow instantly recognized that voice, he didn’t know his answers will get this quick. Amy and Shadow both stood up as they landed on the not so stranger’s motorcycle.

“Amy, what are you doing here with that FAKER? We were supposed to have a date today”

   Shadow then looked at Amy up and down, he got closer to her and smelled her scent.

“HEY, STAY AWAY FROM HER!”- The other Shadow said as he grabbed Amy by the hand and putting himself in front of her in other to protect her from himself.

“You are not my Amy”-Shadow then look at his motorcycle to make sure she was fine but....

“YOU IDIOT! YOU BROKE ONE MIRROR!”- Shadow said as he bent over her.

“I-AM-GOING-TO-KILL-”

“SHADOW!.....and friends?”

   Shadow turned around to see his Amy coming closer to him and noticing both equal parts of them. They wanted to speak but before that, Amy interrupted.

“Are you names, Amy and Shadow?”

“Yes”- They both quickly responded a bit surprised at their simultaneously.

“Ok, before we start...Shadow will be Black and Amy will be Pink...and we will just keep our names... you know just so there’s no confusion”- Amy smiled, and they both just agreed, anyways they were used to calling each other ‘pinkie’ and blackie’, so this should be fine for them.

“Get out of our world before I destroy you for destroying my bike!”- Shadow threated Black.

“Shadow, it was just the mirror!”- Amy said to him, trying to calm him down.

“But you gave me this bike Amy, I wanted for her to stay the same way as you gave it to me...now I have to make changes”- Shadow pouted at her.

“Let's repair it together shall we?”

“Fine”

“Wait... are you guys...dating?”- Pink asked both of them as they watched them interact.

“Yes”

“What?!...Wow, we are actually in a parallel universe, aren’t we blackie?”- Pink teased him, laughing a little.

“Anyways...what are you both doing here?”- Shadow asked them.

“I need to know...about my past... I have no clue about it, and I thought maybe you could tell me something about this blonde girl that I keep seeing in my nightmares”- Black asked and Amy instantly looked at Shadow.

“Amy, could you take Pink to another place? I want to talk to Black for a second”

“Sure things Shads...come with me pink! Let’s talk about our boyfriends”- Amy said giggling. She also wanted to have some alone time for them and male all kinds of questions to her. As soon as Amy and Pink came out of Shadow’s sight, he signed and looked at the horizon in front of him.

“The blonde girl that you see in your dreams...her name is Maria... and she was murder by humans”

“Wh-att?”- Black was astonished, how can humans be so despicable?

“She was my only friend...you see, I was created by scientist in order to become the Ultimate Form, with my powers, I will bring world peace and create a better world overall, but world authorities were afraid of my powers, and they came here to kill me...but my friend Maria gave up her own life in order to save me...This is what happened to me, but that doesn’t mean that it happened to you”- Shadow wanted to conclude his story as quick as possible, even though he was over his past, it still hurt remembering Maria being killed in front of him.

“Why? Why didn’t you go after them? You should have taken revenge!”- Black almost yelled at him and Shadow looked at him.

“I was going to...I was going to annihilate the whole human race once and for all...but”

“But?”

“Someone reminded me Maria’s wish...her wish was to protect and save everyone from danger, that’s why I was created...after that, I wanted to forget everything forgets my past and star brand new”

“Isn’t that good?”- Black asked again.

“It's not bad that you want to move on from the pain...but it is wrong to forget people that have loved you and care for you”

“Who is that person who made you remember? Maybe I can find that person in my universe and that would-”

“You already know that person”- Shadow said interrupting him.

“...Amy?...Um, Pink?”

“Yes, and don’t act like you don’t like her, I see the way you protected her...the way you look at her...Its just like I do with my Amy”

“I won’t deny that...Amy, um I mean Pink...she was the main reason I joined Sonic and his gang...there’s something about her...that I really like...even though we fight most of the time...but I guess is just me trying to hide my attraction to her”

“And it took you to travel to another dimension to find that out? I don’t blame you, I realized I loved Amy after Sonic took me to a club, made me drink and after passing out,  he tricked me into believing I slept for 10 years”- Shadow added a bit of the spice and didn’t want to look ‘un-cooler’ in front of him.

“How would, I know she feels the same way as me?”- Black asked a bit shy about the topic.

“She traveled to another dimension, put her safety aside just for you...I think she likes you...but she doesn’t know it yet”

“Look...I don’t know if after what I told you, you still want and look for an answer to your past but one thing I am sure of...If Amy is with me in my present and my future...I can let go of my past and live again...I believe you should stay with her”

. . .

“So, how are things with Black?”- Amy asked Pink teasingly.

“Well...we are not dating”- Pink said blushing,

“Yet”

“What?”

“Shadow was quick to find out his feelings for me but...I took longer to realize that...Maybe you as well haven’t figure out your feelings towards him?”- Amy said they were already going back to Shadow and Black as they made their walk longer than expected and Amy didn’t want Pink to leave with giving her some answers with her current relationship with Black/Her Shadow.

“Well, ever since he joined ‘Team Sonic’ in my universe, we fought all the time... it wasn’t until a few hours ago, that I realize that it was my fault for not trusting him...is just that everytime I am with him, I don’t know.. I feel..weird and different”-Pink was quick to answer, what better advice she could get than from herself?

“That’s what I felt when I was around Shadow...It didn’t take long after that to realize that I was actually in love with him”- Amy teased him as she was telling her the truth.

“But...How do I know he feels the same for me?”- Pink asked a bit worried.

“He lets you come to another dimension with him in order to discover together about his past...I think he does like you, we may not have the same Shadow, but I don’t think any Shadow from any dimension would trust anyone that much to open up about his past.”

. . .

“Shadow! We are back!”    Shadow and Black turned around to see Amy and Pink come together to the place they previously were.

“Just in time!”- Shadow said as he looked at Amy.

“Did you get the answer that you were looking for?”- Pink asked as she got closer to Black.

“Yeah, my answers were right here...all of this time”-Black looked straight into Pink’s eyes and she blushed knowing that her Shadow didn’t mean this place, but her.

“Well, sorry to interrupt but Amy and I have a motorcycle to repair”- Shadow said a bit annoyingly.

“Aww Shadow, remember we were like that when we first dated?”- Amy said as she intertwined her arm with his.

“No, when we first dated a blonde hedgehog was screaming at me and you instantly called me your boyfriend”

“It-it was to protect you!”

“Yeah, can you send us back already, with your um...Chaos Control, or something like that you were saying?”- Black said as he grabbed Pink’s hand.

“Alright...Chaos Control!”- Shadow pointed his hand towards the couple and a Chaos Energy surrounded them...and quickly they disappeared back into their dimension.

“Do you think they will be fine?”- Amy asked Shadow “I think they have a whole adventure ahead of them”- Shadow answer.

“Just like we do, don’t we?”

“Yes...but first I need to fix my bike!”

   Amy giggled if she was with Shadow, she knew her adventures will never end, and she liked it that way.

. . .

A/N: Sooo I combined two days prompts due that I was already two days late for ShadAmy Week, so this ain't my best but I hope you still enjoy it! Ah, I just came up with good ShadAmyBoom! Story but I don’t think I will make it any time soon haha. See ya guys later!

~hani

“Mike Miller’s Second Day”, an Ede Valley story by Hedgehog.

Mike Miller’s second day at St. Adelaide’s School for Gifted Youth opened rather abruptly at approximately 3:30 in the morning. Gradually, a series of bumps and scraping noises jostled him awake. Not that he’d been really that asleep anyway, strange bed and all. Was someone trying to break in? If so, they were being awfully loud about it.

After a minute he rolled out of the small bed, and approached the door. Mike didn’t have anything to defend himself, but he played soccer. He could just kick them. That’s how it worked, right? To his still half-asleep mind, anything was possible.

Mike opened the door an inch and peeked outside. There was someone in the room, fumbling with Doug’s door. He almost went in to tackle the intruder, but as his eyes adjusted to the dark he caught the faint glow of white hair. It was Doug who was trying to break into Doug’s room. Wait. That wasn’t right. Mike blinked, trying to wake himself up more.

“...and herd. Seems to make it all just a little bit...” Doug mumbled to himself, fumbling with his key.

“Doug?” Mike asked, opening his door a little more.

Doug turned slowly, the mere quarter revolution almost seeming to make him dizzy. He blinked several times. “Oh, hey Mike,” his words slurred a little. “I... forgot you were here.”

Frowning, Mike took a step towards his roommate. “Dude, are you high?”

“What?” Doug leaned back dramatically, and almost fell over. “No, no. nononono. I’ve just had a rather... shocking evening.” He paused, as if he had just now processed the words that had come out of his mouth. “‘Shocking evening,’ that’s a good one.”

“Are you... sure you’re okay?” Mike asked. He certainly didn’t look okay.

“Oh, yeah.” Doug nodded lazily as he finally managed to get his key into the hole on the doorknob. “‘S nothing I ain’t used to.” The door opened, and Doug almost fell into the room. “Good night.”

Mike bit his lip as Doug’s door closed again. That, to say the least, was weird. He hadn’t really seemed drunk or high. That was... something else. But he shook himself. What Doug got up to was really none of Mike’s business. He was older than him anyway. Mike was concerned, but there was nothing he could do about it right now at 3:30 in the morning. He went back into his room, plopped down on the tiny, hard bed, and tried to go back to sleep.

He maybe got another hour or so of shut-eye before his alarm woke him at seven. Mike had never been able to sleep well in new places, but knowing this didn’t make getting up any easier. Breakfast wasn’t until eight, but Mike wanted to give himself extra time to make sure he wasn’t late. He didn’t need it, because fifteen minutes later, Mike found himself all ready with a lot of time to kill. Eventually he decided to take a walk in order to shake off the weirdness of this morning.

Briefly, Mike considered asking Doug to go with him, but he found his door shut with the light off. He decided that it would probably be best to let him work off whatever he was on earlier. So he passed by Doug’s room and went out into the hallway.

It was cloudy and dark out, he could tell right away from the lack of light in the common room ahead of him. What lovely weather for his first day of class. The common room seemed devoid of life, at least to the point when he reached the stairs. Just then, Jilli unpeeled herself from the shadows in the corner and smiled, waving.

“Good morning, Mi-kun,” her grin widened as an exasperated look crossed Mike’s face. “You’re up early.”

“I don’t sleep well in new places,” he said, a little lamely. “I could say the same for you.”

“I don’t sleep well period.” She laughed, a little bitterly. “Comes from years of 5AM rehearsals, I guess.”

Mike’s eyes widened. “Were they really that early? I mean, I’ve heard some stuff about the idol industry, but that just seems too crazy.”

“No, it’s true. When you’re an idol, you have to live and breathe your work,” she explained. “You start to feel like a singing robot, or a certain voice synthesizer.” They both chuckled a little at that. “And sometimes it gets a little... claustrophobic.”

“How so?”

“Well, the managers and agents can be a little overbearing,” Jilli made a strange face. “Our image is controlled even more so than a lot of pop singers over here. We can’t even have boyfriends. Of course, most of us did anyway, but the pressure and paranoia tend to get to you after a while. I remember a lot of girls having really nasty breakups when their managers found out, or when they couldn’t take the secrecy anymore.”

Shaking his head, Mike’s eyebrows knitted together. “Jeez,” he said. “Sounds really depressing.”

“It is,” she admitted. “But you know, I do really miss it. The singing, I mean, and the performance. I was just about to graduate before my, uh, incident. If I’d been able to hang in just a little longer, I might have been able to become a solo artist.”

“You still could.” Mike smiled. “I haven’t heard you sing, but I’m sure a lot of people would want to hear it.”

Jilli laughed, though there was a hint of sadness behind it. “You’re a sweet kid, Mi-kun,” she patted him on the head. “But, enough about me. It’s almost time for breakfast. Have you seen Doug?” She noticed Mike’s sudden frown immediately.

“He was... out really late last night and, uh, came in a little messed up,” Mike confessed. “I thought it was probably best to just leave him alone.”

“Good call,” Jilli nodded. “It was most likely one of his sessions.”

“Sessions?”

She grimaced. “Yeah, there’s an on-site staff of psychiatrists here.” She paused momentarily as Mike’s face twisted in confusion. “Rich kid school,” was the only explanation she needed to give. “Only the best for our screwy little brains.”

But Mike was still concerned. “So, Doug...”

“I mean, he’s Doug,” she shrugged. “I don’t know, I’ve never noticed anything explicitly ‘wrong’ with him. But who knows. All I know is that every once in a while, those creepy people in white lab coats come to take him away, and he comes back all fucked up. He’s always back to his annoying self soon enough though.” Jilli tried to appear nonplussed, but Mike could tell that she was worried.

“What can we do to help?”

“Pff, hell if I know,” she said with a hint of frustration. “He never talks about it. Believe me, we’ve all asked. Victor, Sonia, you name it, not a word.” Jilli shook her head. “But if he really needs help, he’ll come to us. Anyway, should we get going? Sometimes they give out donuts to the early kids.”

Unfortunately, there were no donuts on this particular morning, just a large, drab room with many tables of assorted sizes scattered around its area. Metal beams stretched across the high ceiling, casting unnatural half-shadows on the tile floor. The cafeteria was about a third of the way full of students milling about or eating an early breakfast.

From somewhere in the quiet crowd, Sonia stood and waved to the two of them, and Mike followed Jilli over to a round table in a small, out of the way corner. “Good morning, Jilli, Mike,” Sonia beamed. “Is beautiful day, da?” Ah, so that’s where the sun went. Sonia had stolen it all from the sky.

“Beautiful?” Mike glanced out the long, thin windows to the vaguely miserable skyline. “I don’t know about that, but whatever you...” He broke off as he turned back to see that Sonia was no longer looking at him. Instead, her gaze was drifting away towards an empty corner, her eyes glassy, as if trying to see something she couldn’t quite make out. “Uh, Sonia? Are you—?”

“It’s alright, she does that sometimes.” Jilli waved it off. “We told you about it yesterday, didn’t we?”

Mike nodded, remembering. “That’s right, you did. Is she gonna be okay?”

“She’ll be fine,” rumbled a deep voice as Gil came up behind them. He put his hands on her shoulders. “Sonia?” He whispered, and her eyes fluttered a bit as she focused again.

“Oh, Gil,” she smiled again. “Good morning. I apologize,” Sonia bowed her head towards Mike and Jilli. “I was just, uh...” she looked confused herself. “Never mind.”

“Clearly, it was a spirit attempting to contact you from beyond the mortal realm.” Gil said sagely, placing himself in the chair next to her with that smooth, nearly catlike way which he did most things. “You must remember that you are most sensitive to these things, my lady. I will do some research in my Tomes of Knowledge and we shall see if we can communicate with it.”

“You really think it’s possible?” Sonia’s eyes widened. “Ooo, I can’t wait! I am wondering what kind of spirit it is? Perhaps a Viking! Great warrior with magic sword!”

Gil nodded. “Indeed. The possibilities are endless.”

Mike couldn’t help noticing how his smile fell half an inch, but at that moment, Jilli turned to him, raising an eyebrow, and they laughed silently as Gil and Sonia kept up their dialogue.

One by one, they went to get breakfast, and Mike couldn’t help noticing the gathering of faceless men and women in lab coats that were surrounding the perimeter of the room. They must have been the psychiatrists that Jilli was talking about. By the time the cafeteria was mostly full, there must have been a good ten to fifteen of them. Mike didn’t like it; they gave him the heebie-jeebies. But none of the others seemed particularly disturbed by their presence, so he tried to ignore the growing feeling of unease in his gut.

Just as Jilli got back to the table with a plateful of fruit and waffles, one of the psychiatrists moved to the platform on the far side of the room. The students quickly fell silent, so much so that you could have heard a pin drop. “And now,” the psychiatrist said, “a word from the Director.”

There was a crackle, and a burst of static that reverberated around the room. Mike looked up to follow the noise, and saw for the first time the speakers perched in the upper corners of the room. A strange noise came through suddenly, like someone clearing their throat, but he couldn’t quite tell because it sounded so distorted.

“Good morning, students. The new semester is here at last.” The voice boomed across the room, altered by static and modulation, but decidedly female. Probably something about its tone and inflections, Mike decided. “To those now joining us, welcome to St. Adelaide’s. To those old faces, welcome back to your home away from home.”

Jilli scoffed, and even Gil rolled his eyes. Sonia, on the other hand, had zoned out again.

Mike didn’t like this. The voice sounded pleasant enough, but there was something about it, something Mike couldn’t quite put his finger on. There were shivers running up and down his spine.

“Remember that you are all the most gifted students in the country, possibly the world, and we look to you all as the hope of the future. And it anyone has any concerns, questions, or snide remarks, feel free to talk to the friendly men and women in lab coats. They are here to help.”

The Director continued on for a few minutes, mentioning a few other events and announcements relevant to the student body at large, before finally wrapping up her address. “Thank you as always for your patience,” she said, “and enjoy your first day of the new semester.”

With another small crackle, the speakers fell silent, and gradually the students began to converse once more. “Well,” Mike muttered, “that wasn’t ominous at all.”

Jilli and Sonia both began to laugh. “Do not worry,” Sonia reassured him. “You will become used to it after a while.”

“I’m not sure I want to.” He frowned. “It all seems a little ‘Big Brother’ to me.”

“What sort of daemonic older brother do you have?” Gil asked, looking horrified.

Jilli sighed. “1984, Gil.”

He blinked. “Ah, yes. Of course. My apologies.”

The four continued talking as they ate breakfast, which if Mike was honest, was not very good. The texture of Aunt Marma’s Totally Genuine Maple Syrup™ stuck to the roof of his mouth. Finally, Jilli looked up at the clock and saw the time.

“Well,” she stretched, “first period begins soon. What’ve you got, Mike?”

“Uh...” he pulled out the slightly crumpled piece of paper from his pocket which had his schedule. “Ugh, Algebra II.”

“What instructor have you been assigned to?” Gil asked.

“Vantas,” Mike added after looking back at the paper.

Gil nodded, a determined expression settling into his pale features. “Then this is a battle we share, my friend. If you would have it, I would accompany you to our battlefield.”

As he blinked, Mike wasn’t sure he’d gotten a word of that. “Uh...”

“He has the same class,” Sonia translated. “He wants to know if you want to walk there together.”

“Thank you, my lady.” Gil bowed his head as he took her hand. “That was my question exactly.”

“Oh, um, sure! Thanks.”

Jilli stood, grabbing her trey. “Well, Sonia and I are off to choir, see you losers later.” She waved. “Oh, and Mike, tell Doug hi for me if you see him, yeah?”

“Will do,” he nodded, standing as well.

“You coming, Sonia?”

“I will catch up with you in few,” she smiled, before beginning to zone out again.

Gil’s gaze seemed to linger on her for a moment before he shook himself. “Come, young apprentice,” he said to Mike, his coat swishing dramatically as he began to walk. “The battle of mathematics awaits us.”

Mike would have probably gotten lost in the crowd had it not been for the fact that Gil stood out like a sore thumb. Students seemed to give him space wherever he walked. He didn’t seem to mind. Gradually, as the crowd broke away into the various directions of their classes, Mike was able to hear himself think again. Gil was silent a few steps ahead of him, seemingly lost in thought. Mike wondered just what went on in his head. He seemed like a really smart guy, so why did he persist in his delusions? Did he honestly believe that he was a warlock with infinite power? Or was there some other reason? Mike didn’t think he had the guts to outright ask him.

“So, Sonia,” he asked instead. That was what guys talked about, right? “Are you two—?”

“Our love transcends time and space,” he intoned. “I have loved her for four-thousand years, and I will love her for four-thousand more.”

“So, it’s complicated, huh?” Mike didn’t know what to say to this guy. He felt like he was stuck in the middle of a role-playing game with method actors.

There was almost no one in the hallway anymore, and Mike was sure he’d seen that motivational cat poster just a second ago. This place was like a maze. “Hey Gil,” he asked. “Are you sure we’re going the right...?”

Gil looked to the left and the right, then abruptly turned on his heel to face Mike. “A warning for you, Michael Miller.” His golden eye almost seemed to freeze Mike in place. “Your wariness of this place is not unwarranted. Don’t ignore your intuition. It may just save your life.” He wasn’t joking. “There are forces at work in this school that will attempt to pull your very being apart. I’ve been affected by it, Sonia, that ignoramus you call a roommate, all of us have. If I were you, I’d watch where you step.” It was not a threat, more like a warning. Gil seemed genuinely worried. And for a moment, Mike thought that he might actually understand what he was trying to say.

But the second passed as quickly as it came, and Gild grinned knowingly once more. “Now, on to slay this dragon built of overly complicated equations.” He started walking again, laughing manically, and after hesitating for a moment, Mike followed him.

Needless to say, he didn’t pay any attention during class that day as teachers handed out syllabi and repeated the same information over and over until Mike thought he’d never forget that three absences equaled a tardy. But he had too many questions running through his mind to care about any of that. He had had this lingering feeling that something was strange here, off even, except that everyone around him seemed so used to it that he thought he might be the weird one. “Don’t ignore your intuition,” Gill had told him.

But wait, why was he listening to Gil? He was delusional! It was probably just one of his wizard roleplaying things again. Yet something about what he’d said, the look in his eyes, the sincerity of his words. Gil had known what he was talking about. That hadn’t been some sort of weird fantasy metaphor, Mike could somehow tell. He was right, something was wrong here, Mike could feel it. And he thought the others could too, even if they didn’t talk about it.

There were so many mysteries, so many questions left unanswered. Mike decided to make a list. That would help him organize his thoughts.

1). Who was the Director? Yes, she was a crazy, modulated voice over a speaker system, but why? Why bother hiding her face and voice from the student body? It certainly made her intimidating and slightly creepy, but wasn’t enough of a reason by itself.

2). The psychiatrists. He didn’t know of any other school that needed ten of them. And the explanation of “rich kid school” simply didn’t cut it. To be honest, they seemed more like a security force than a group of doctors.

3). Why was everyone here so weird? Not just in their personalities, though the school was nearly stranger than a superhero’s rogue’s gallery in that respect. But more so in the way everyone seemed so nonplussed about all of these other questions Mike had. They didn’t care about the psychiatrists, or the Director, or the other host of strange things. Or maybe they were just really good at hiding it. And finally,

4). Doug. What the hell were they doing to him in his “sessions” that made him act like that? He’d hardly been able to walk properly. In addition, though he hadn’t really known him for that long, it seemed entirely out of Doug’s character to not talk to anybody about it. Most importantly, why was everyone not harassing him about it non-stop until he gave in and told them what was going on? That was the only way that they could help him, after all.

Maybe these questions wouldn’t be so confusing after he’d been here for a few months, but to be honest, he didn’t want to become numb to the strangeness like everyone else. He couldn’t handle not knowing these things. And if no one was going to help him, then he guessed that he’d just have to find the answers himself.

Of all the questions he had, one stuck out as the easiest to answer: Doug. He also had the distinct feeling that if he answered this one question, then all the others would begin to fall into place. Like dominos.

The rest of the day passed slower than paint drying, all of the thoughts and confusion cycling through his mind every time he saw a lab coat pass, especially whenever the students turned away from them. Finally, classes were done for the day, the final bell rang, and according to his schedule there was an hour before dinner. So Mike headed back across the snowy path to the dorm. Maybe Doug would be feeling better by now. Either way he needed to drop off his backpack, which was as good an excuse as any.

The light was on in the room, Mike could see it in the wide gap in the bottom of the door from the end of the hallway. At the very least, Doug was up. Mike didn’t know if he had known him for long enough to just knock on his door, but he ended up being lucky. When he pushed open the heavy door, Mike turned to see Doug at the bathroom mirror, trying in vain to smooth down his hair. He hadn’t noticed this morning in the dark, but now Mike saw that Doug’s hair was now even more static-y and gravity-defying than it had been yesterday. His sweatshirt sleeves were pulled up to prevent them getting wet, and Mike couldn’t help noticing a strange, metallic bracelet on his right wrist as it caught the bathroom light.

“Oh, hey Mike,” Doug grinned lazily as he saw him though the mirror. His speech was still a little slow, but he seemed much more normal now. Or at least, normal for Doug anyway. “How was your first day of class? Want to jump off a bridge yet?”

He didn’t even know, but Mike decided not to open that can of worms just yet. Maybe just peek inside the lid. “Almost,” he nodded instead. “Maybe give it another day.” Alright, now was the time. “Hey, so what happened last night? You were in really late.”

Doug paused for a second, before rolling his sleeves back down and turning to properly face Mike. “I’m sure the others told you about my ‘sessions’ right? Jilli, I’m guessing.”

“Two for two.” Mike nodded.

Sighing, Doug shook his head. “Listen,” he began, “the last guy I told even a little about what really goes on in this place, he disappeared. Just gone from the dorm one day and never came back. I don’t want that to happen to you, or any of the others. The only reason I’m even telling you this much is because I know you’ll just keep asking about it if I don’t. You’re that kinda guy, right?”

Mike looked down sheepishly. There went his whole plan down the toilet. “That makes three. But if you tell us, maybe we can help you.”

Much to his surprise, Doug started laughing. Whatever the joke was, Mike didn’t get it. “Your optimism is admirable,” Doug admitted. “But in this case, optimism alone won’t cut it. If I tell you not to go asking questions you’ll probably just do it anyway, so I’ll say this instead: keep your head down, Mike. That’s the only way you’ll get out of this place alive.”

He began to scoot past him towards the door. “Now, I hear that Jilli and the nerds are playing a rousing game of Dungeons and Dragons. So I’m gonna go crash it. If you want to come along, first one in gets to make the wizard cry.”

As he watched Doug wheel himself out of the room, Mike hesitated. That was the second vague warning he’d received today, and Mike wasn’t sure whose advice to follow. Doug told him to keep his head down, but Gil had told him to trust his intuition, which in turn was telling him to start asking questions and solving mysteries.

As much as Doug warned him against it, Mike really wanted to help him, and part of him couldn’t ignore the weirdness of this place. So, okay, he guessed he’d step carefully, but that didn’t mean he had to stop asking questions.

“Yeah,” he grinned at Doug, who was waiting in the doorway. “Let’s do it. I’ve always wanted to make a paladin fall.”

Open up your EYE (Thoughts on MLP Movie)

Has the show gotten one of those characters that doesn't know what a sense of humor is and fights back with combat?  Or am I thinking of a lot of reformed characters from other media? Spoilers down below.  Haven't seen the movie?  Well the DVD/Blu-Ray aren't far behind.

Um...so that was the movie I had almost missed out on, huh?  Well it was.........something... Ok, so I'm afraid this "review" is going to be EXTREMELY difficult to judge because the night before I actually watched Disney/Pixar's Coco first (by the way, 10/10, would DVD/Blu-Ray again).  And sitting down to watch this movie second was probably a huge mistake as this movie left me with a rather sour taste in my mouth.  Perhaps if I waited to see Coco later, then I wouldn't feel this...negative.  I'm the kind of person that goes to the movies a ton so I'm pretty much judging this movie along with all the other movies I've gone to see in the past several years. So let's get an obvious good thing out of the way first; the movie's return to 2-D or 2.5-D animation.  Never in a long time since Princess and the Frog in 2009 have I been glad to see the return of hand-drawn styled animation.  It's actually quite interesting when you learn that the movie characters were actually made 3-D FIRST before becoming 2-D characters in a 3-D world.  Speaking of which, a major chunk of the pony characters don't feel like repeatedly used poses like in the TV show.  They've been given a similar design to the show but more expressive and created with greater, fluid movement in a few areas.  So of course Pinkie Pie would be the one to mostly get the spotlight in this area.  I think people were worried about the 3-D landscaping dampening the style, but I'll let it slide as they did create the landscapes beautifully.  Plus 3-D environments have worked for 2-D movies in the past.  Talk to a good chunk of Disney Renaissance movies like Beauty and the Beast's Ballroom. An interesting way to segue into this next part.  Whereas the Disney Movies were mostly the movie first and merchandise later, Hasbro's the company that will make a product first then get their animators to make an episode or movie around it.  Also I am aware that Hasbro has one hell of a leash on these animators.  They've probably had a ton of amazing ideas for a My Little Pony movie to appeal to all audiences instead of the targeted one.  But what I was given to view not fell into my low expectations...it went even LOWER!  Perhaps being exposed to Coco first had ruined my enjoyment for this as there was much needed room for improvement. See if I can sequence this a bit.  Let's start with the story.  Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship has created a massive party in an unusually-styled Canterlot that's looking a bit spacious than the busting city I'm usually seeing in the show.  Through some comedic introductions, a song and a series of show-related cameos we are given the things that the outside audience needs to know.  Things get shaken up when Tempest Shadow, an broken-horned unicorn visitor representing for the Storm King, arrives with an army to take over the entire kingdom in order to siphon the magic out of the four princesses.  Now it's up to Twilight and her five friends (not six, Starlight Glimmer got shoved out of the spotlight) to find aid outside Equestria and take back their home capital. Interestingly enough, the one hour and forty-four run time actually felt kind of long when normally I'm sitting for two to three hour-long movies...but then it quickly sped through the story in a poor pace to show off their new toys/playsets and have money left in their budgets.  I'm probably not the first to say this movie was poorly paced, am I?  From memory, I think the longest we've stuck with a setting outside Canterlot was probably the desert city of Klugetown.  You could probably argue that perhaps it was Hippogriffia/Seaquestria but events there kinda made me WANT to make it go faster.  Get to that part in a second. Songs?  As a 90's kid, you know that most of the songs are either set aside or forgotten (like the ones in this film) for the most important one:  The Villain Song.  And Tempest Shadow's Open Up Your Eyes (currently having its instrumental being spammed repeatedly during this typing) is indeed worthy of the title "Villain Song".  The setting, the lighting, the flashback made by a different team (according to the credits), I loved it all.  I'd say it reminds me of Unleash the Magic from Friendship Games but I rank this song much higher. Honorary note for Sia's Rainbow.  I'm being told by some reviews that the song felt a bit too somber for a finale but I don't know, this felt like a calm, perfect way to wrap up the movie with.  I haven't a clue what the problem with it was. Finally, how about the characters.  We've got your familiar TV show cast along with a ton of celebrity voices, including Sia as Songbird Serenade at the beginning and end of the movie who is literally modeled after one of her actual outfits.  I chuckled when I dug up her photo, I don't know how she manages to see through that hair.  Other noteworthy celebrities that got a good chunk of screen time were Kristin Chenoweth as Princess Skystar, Liev Schriber as the Storm King, Zoe Saldana as Captain Celaeno, Michael Peña as Grubber the Hedgehog and Taye Diggs as Capper the anthropomorphic cat.  Most have been given the appropriate amount of screen time while others (STORM KING, MAIN ANTAGONIST OF THE FREAKING MOVIE), were held off until the end.  Oh yeah, that one Parrot Pirate with the squawking and demolitions.  Loved that guy. Sadly, the weakest of the group was the Storm King himself and not just because he was saved for the climax.  Previous TV show antagonists have ranged from either self-motivated tyrants to strategic conquerors for their own kind.  This knucklehead is literally announced as "evil" from Grubber and there just wasn't much from him to label him as an awesome villain.  Even his own funny moments couldn't save him.  And this is coming from a guy who isn't very fond of Starlight Glimmer yet she's still WAY more interesting than this cloud yeti.  Oh well, maybe next time don't model your villain to be a lazy, wacky monkey. On the other side of the spectrum, however, is Emily Blunt as Tempest Shadow, the true antagonist of the movie, picking up all the work for the Storm King to restore her cracked horn.  Compared to "her boss" this character has her own goals and motivations, sort of like a bounty hunter or mercenary. Kudos there as those areas would reach up into the top three MLP:FIM villains on my list.  Sadly, as the movie is indeed called "Friendship is Magic", she's (OMG) reformed much like many of the other unicorns in this show (Anyone seeing a trend here?).  Regardless, when she was a villain, this was a skilled and probably self-trained fighter trying to regain her happiness through any means necessary, even serving a clown.  Even gave me a chuckle when she lost her cool in Canterlot in front of Grubber before realizing and calming down. The Mane Six and Spike are mixed in their performances and what they're given to do.  I'll have to rate them all from best to worst...you're not gonna love who's on the bottom. Pinkie Pie stuck out the most with previously mentioned animations and tons of interactions with the girls and the strangers they came across.  Side-note:  She is mean with a barge of cupcakes; had they been red-frosting, that fight scene might have been banned.  We even get a serious moment with her and Twilight where--getting ahead of myself.  Getting there soon, promise. Rainbow Dash, despite causing some extra trouble, gives the "awesome" the movie needs including getting the Parrot Pirates off their rears to face off against their former employers...that doesn't last long. Rarity's charm and generosity got Capper the cat to not only change Tempest's army's course but gather the other characters for a full on pledged climax fight. Fluttershy has hardly anything except the funniest moment in the entire film regarding opening up with a Storm King soldier.  Honestly want to know what became of those guys now. Spike, you trustworthy pal and weapon.  The TV show might have given you terrible episodes but who would have thought you'd become a necessary Pyro tool?  TF2 Workshop!  Make a mod!  NOW! Applejack...sold apple juice and roped a few people and rocks.  That's uh....that's about it. ....you all hate me now for this:  Twilight Sparkle ends up on the bottom heavily and deserves it all from actions, character writing and poor pace.  Our beloved Princess of Friendship is still the nerdy and orderly princess aimed at saving her home kingdom enough to act grumpy, annoyed and careless in her actions.  Said carelessness led to attempted robbery and created the biggest and most painful moment of the movie:  When Twilight angrily lashes out at Pinkie by saying she'd be better off without friends like them.  Not only was this stupidly painful, but it was the necessary tool for the whole "We're not friends anymore but then we get back together later" bit.  And said apology was being shoved in a climax to be ignored for comedic effect.  Now if perhaps both Twilight and Tempest were together during the end of the battle for apologies, that would not only be forgivable but an excellent moment for the movie.  But no...more like the Princess of Pace-dumping. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh....I know, I know, this is a movie targeted towards children, but so was Coco.  It would really help if some of that Disney magic could save the MLP Movie from its Hasbro chains.  I know if the team wasn't being held back, they could have gotten away with much, much more to save the film from me giving it a 4/10. Well, this is the West Coast Psycho, and in the words of Max G, "I hope ya hated it."