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dark-dracari · 9 months

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Chapter 2: The Test

Quest stands before the queen of Ilsonath and she evaluates him to see if he's capable of satisfying her and the position she wants him to fill.

Tags: Fantasy biology, master/slave dynamic, dubcon, edging, orgasm delay, sex toys, size difference, overstim, multiple orgasms, vibrator, mild humiliation

The room was brightly lit by a mix of torches and braziers and suspended crystals that reflected the light across the room. White curtains fell across the far walls while the wall to the right was made entirely of glass. Quest was right in that they were high up, he could see all the way to the desert. Beside the glass was a table set with two chairs.

To the left was a bed, and on it reclined a dragon.

Even when in a vaguely humanoid shape she was huge, probably twice Quest's height when standing, and though she was called the 'golden' dragon, her scales reflected so many more colors than that. Warm copper started at her shoulders where it smoothed into a rich gold. The scales on her body were mostly black while those closer to her chest were ivory, and flecks of dark silver layered over everything.

She had two heads, both covered in a mane of fur that glinted pale gold in the firelight. Two pairs of golden eyes peered down over the edge of a book, and when she noticed her guests, she set the tome aside. "This is the last one?" she asked.

"He's the one," Dizarous agreed, cheerful as ever.

Unsure of what to do, Quest bowed and prayed he didn't look up to see his fiery death engulf him.

"An obedient one, hm?" the golden dragon said, sounding amused. She shifted to the edge of the bed and stood, and Quest didn't dare look up.

"He didn't give me any trouble." Dizarous shrugged and took a step back toward the door. "I'll come get him in an hour, yeah?"

The dragon hummed thoughtfully. "No, if he's the last one, I'd like to savor this. You can collect him in the morning."

"He's pretty sturdy, so I imagine he can handle it." Dizarous gave Quest a pat on the head. "Have fun, Sol!"

Quest swallowed hard and stared at the floor. Maybe death was the kinder fate for him after all.

The dragon stepped closer. "Raise your head, tiny thing," she said. "I would like to look at you properly."

Quest swallowed hard. He slowly straightened up, lifted his chin until he could see her face, er, faces.

She was so tall. Quest was half her height, but just barely, his eyes level with the pale scales that gleamed across her belly. Her claws were long and hooked and could gut him in an instant. Both heads leaned around, peering down at him. He thought he saw the ghost of a smile on one of her mouths, but he might have imagined it.

"Just choose one to address," The dragon said. "It makes things easier on both of us." She gestured for him to follow her to what looked like a table set in the corner on the other side of the bed. An ornate lounge curved in a half-circle around it.

Quest approached hesitantly, unsure of what he was supposed to be doing but still feeling like he was doing it wrong.

"Up," the dragon commanded, and to Quest's surprise, she gestured at the table.

Still unsure of exactly what he was doing, he obeyed. Standing there, he was almost at eye level with her, and the thought was terrifying. His heart was pounding so hard he was sure she could hear it, and he didn't miss the way she smiled, revealing teeth as long as knives.

She looked at him in the same way a cat eyed a mouse, and he'd never felt more like prey than in that moment.

"Do you know me?" she asked.

"Y-yes, your majesty," Quest all but squeaked. He tried to bow again, but she stopped him.

The dragon, Solaris, cupped her hand and tilted Quest's head so he couldn't look away from her. She was gentle, but he was far too aware of the massive claws that curled just inches away from his skin.

She leaned in close, until their noses were almost touching, and Quest was sure she could hear the blood pumping in his veins, or hear his heart hammering away behind his ribs. She could tear him apart. She was the one who was going to decide whether he lived or died. He had never been more terrified of a dragon before in his entire life.

Solaris ran her thumb over his cheek, smiling just enough to reveal a sliver of the sharp white teeth inside. "Say my name, little thing."

"I know you as the Desolate Sun," Quest shakily said. "The one who came up out of the wastelands, the queen of Ilsonath, queen Solaris."

Two sets of eyes narrowed, and Quest held his breath.

Then the dragon started laughing, both heads making the same deep cackle that was nearly deafening at such close proximity. "Such titles!" she exclaimed as if he'd told the best joke she'd heard all week. Then her laughter calmed and both heads grinned down at him with a new and terrifying light in their eyes. "Are you truly so afraid of me?"

"Yes, your majesty," Quest replied, his voice cracking.

"Good," Solaris said and then took a step back. "I claim all the titles you recited and more, but while you are in my service, you will call me 'master'. Do you understand?"

He did, and though it was technically blasphemous, Quest thought the title fit. "Yes, master."

Looking satisfied, Solaris began to slowly circle the table, observing him from all angles. He felt like he was on display, like he was a desert the server brought out for her to consider.

"What are you called?"

"My name is Quest, master."

Solaris hummed thoughtfully and circled him one more time before stepping away. "You are allowed to speak freely unless I order otherwise," she continued and opened a set of cupboards above the lounge. She withdrew a glass bottle and set it on the table. "I don't mind talk, but understand your place."

That was surprising. "May I ask questions?" Quest tentatively asked.

A sinister grin tugged at the dragon's mouth. "You can ask."

"What... am I here for?"

"That is the eternal question, isn't it?" Solaris mused. "Take off your clothes, little thing. Let me see what I have to work with."

It was a command, not a request, and Quest knew better than to argue. After months of slavery, it's not like he had much modesty or pride left anyway.

All to aware that she was waiting on him, he quickly shed his shirt and pants. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest as he straightened up and tried not to look too terrified. Modesty aside, it was still intimidating to stand naked on a table while the queen of Ilsonath studied and appraised every inch of him.

At the very least, Solaris seemed pleased by what she saw. One head maintained his gaze, golden eyes boring into his and daring him to look away while the other leaned closer to better look over his body.

"You seem to be recovering well from your time in the desert," she remarked. "I presume that you've been comfortable while staying here at the Vantage?"

Quest nodded. "Yes, master, I am most grateful for your hospitality."

Solaris snorted. "Such manners," she said, amused. Apparently done with her examination, she stepped back and grasped the bottle again, pouring its contents into the glass and then handing it to him. "Drink."

Quest decided not to risk questioning it.

The sweet nectar that filled the cup burned a path down his throat and warmed his stomach. It tasted of something familiar, something he recognized, but couldn't name.

A pleased smile spread across Solaris's face. "Show me," she said. "Lie back and hold yourself open." She leaned further on the table, watching, studying. "And don't cum without my permission."

Too fuzzy headed to consider arguing, Quest did as she said. He couldn't believe what was happening, and he was getting more sensitive, gasping softly as he touched his slit and then pulled the lips back so Solaris could see inside.

"You have a nice cock," she told him, gently running the pad of her finger along the underside.

Even that little bit of contact had Quest gasping. He closed his eyes as she ran her fingers along his shaft. "Please..." he whimpered, but he was ignored.

"And what a pretty pink hole," Solaris mused, and briefly stroked along the outer lip. "Have you ever been penetrated here?"

"Yes, master," Quest replied and squeezed his eyes shut tight, trying not to think of the last time he'd gotten fucked. The slavers had not been particularly gentle.

"I see." One head tilted, looking thoughtful. "You do not seem to relish the memory. I suppose there is no need to ask what happened to you."

Quest really didn't know how to respond to that, though, to his horror, his body was reacting in a very specific way, slick arousal pooling in his slit and dripping down to his ass as he held himself open.

Being as close as she was, there was no way Solaris didn't notice.

"You poor abused and frightened thing," she said and leaned back a bit. "You are free to leave, if you wish."

Wait, what?

Quest blinked in confusion. "Master...?" he tentatively asked.

"If you wish, you are free to leave," Solaris repeated. "I will not keep you if you do not want to continue."

The implication made his head spin. He could just... go? She would let him? No, that had to be a lie. She was testing him, right? He'd be caught and punished the moment he stepped off the table.

His insides twitched and clenched down on nothing as he considered what she had planned for him. Really, it was probably safer to just let her do it.

"I'll stay with you, master," Quest told her.

This seemed to please her, and both heads grinned down at him as they leaned closer. "Good boy," one purred while the other nudged its snout between his legs and plunged its tongue deep into his aching cunt.

Quest arched off the table and cried out the moment Solaris speared him open on her tongue. He struggled not to move, letting go of his slit to dig his nails into his thighs as he fought the urge to buck his hips and take her deeper. Her tongue was bigger than any cock he'd taken before, but all he felt was pleasure as the thick muscle spread him open, tasting and teasing. He could feel it coiling deep inside him, rubbing up against his walls and filling every available bit of space, while her teeth scraped lightly over the skin of his hips.

His entire body writhed with the sensation and Solaris pushed harder, using her nose to pin him to the table as she continued to work him open. Her tongue made obscenely wet sucking sounds as it fucked into him and Quest all but sobbed as she touched places inside him that made his eyes roll back and tore strangled noises of pleasure from his throat.

He was losing his mind as the tension and pressure inside him wound tighter until he was on the edge of release. Solaris might kill him for coming without permission, but at that point, he didn't care; he'd never felt so good in his life.

And then Solaris pulled away from him and Quest sobbed as his cunt spasmed and throbbed around nothing. The emptiness was awful, and his hips writhed and bucked in a desperate attempt to get her to fill him again.

"Hush, tiny thing." Solaris lapped at the inside of his thighs in a surprisingly soothing gesture as Quest whimpered and gasped for breath. "My, you're so responsive. Did that feel good? Are you beginning to enjoy yourself?"

Quest didn't have to think about it this time. "Please, master..." He felt half delirious, his need for release momentarily overriding his fear. "I'll do anything you want. Please, please let me cum."

"Anything, you say?" Solaris purred. "Oh, how tempting that is. You're such a delicious little thing." She licked over his slit one more time before pulling away again. "I'd eat you out for hours, but if I did, I'm afraid I might devour you for real."

Quest whined. The idea should have horrified him, but in that moment he almost wanted to let her, wanted to feel what that would be like. No matter how horrible it would be, it would be worth it if she let him come on that incredible tongue.

"Ah, but you seem so desperate." Solaris pressed her thumbs to his slit and spread him open, revealing just how pink and wet he'd gotten in her absence. "Your poor little hole looks so empty that it's crying. I'm ready for this to end yet, but I can't bear the idea of you being so distressed." Quest highly doubted that, but he didn't protest if she might actually touch him again. "I'll let you hold something nice, and if you're good, I'll let you come on it."

Solaris let him lie there and pant while she retrieved something from a chest tucked beneath the lounge. She concealed the item in her hand, so Quest couldn't tell what it was until he felt something cool and round nudging against his entrance.

The object pushed slowly inside, and Quest whimpered as it stretched him. It was big, but not big enough to be uncomfortable, and he was so wet that it went in with very little resistance. He choked out a moan, hips rolling as the thing settled, and his inner walls clenched down on it, relishing the sensation of being filled.

"Oh, you must be more pent-up than I'd realized," Solaris remarked. "Your hole must have been starving to swallow that so quickly, and it seems to be enjoying its meal. Does it feel good, little thing? To finally have something for your dripping cunt to suck on?"

She had a way with words, Quest decided. Her choice in vocabulary should have disturbed him, but in his current state, it only made his slit clench and his cock pulse with need. "Yes, master, thank you," he gasped as he writhed, unable to stop himself from arching up. It was enough to have him teetering on the edge, and it would take nothing more than a touch or a single thrust for him to tip over into release. His body felt so hot, and his hips rolled again, desperate to get even more of that wonderful thing into him, but Solaris held him still.

"Now, now," she chided, her tone still teasing, but she punctuated her words with the threat of her clawtips against his skin. "You're doing so well that I'd hate to stop and punish you. You do remember the one rule I gave you, yes?"

Quest could barely think. The toy felt good, and his mind was clouded with lust. It would be so easy to slip his hand down, rub at the base of his cock, or thrust the toy just a little bit more.

"Y-yes..." he breathed.

"Say it back to me."

"I-I will not cum without permission," Quest echoed.

"Good boy." Solaris gently stroked his cheek with a claw. "You learn quickly, which is a trait that I appreciate. Now, take a moment to collect yourself, and then we can continue."

That was easier said than done. Between the feeling of her tongue and the toy, he was near painfully worked up. It would be far too easy to get himself over the edge, the consequences be damned. He couldn't remember the time he'd been able to get off, and he was certain he'd never climaxed as hard as this one would be. Even if she killed him on the spot, it would probably be worth it.

And yet...

He couldn't explain why, but it felt nice to be told he was being good. Maybe he was just high on endorphins, but the idea of him doing well for her pleased him. He'd been forcibly penetrated before, and had orgasmed that way, but this was entirely different. Sure, he was being ordered to do it, but it felt good and her comments felt more teasing than demeaning.

All things considered, it was actually kind of nice.

As Solaris sat back on the lounge, Quest stared at the ceiling and took deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. He forced himself to relax and stop trying to get off on the object lodged in his cunt. The disappointment nearly made him cry, but he let the thing settle inside of him and slowly backed away from the edge. His cock still throbbed and ached, precum dripping steadily from the tip, but after a few moments, he no longer felt like he was going to explode.

"Good boy," Solaris crooned and stroked the backs of her claws over his belly. "That was lovely to watch. You're quite captivating in the throes of pleasure. I'm sure your actual climax will be breathtaking."

The praise brought a warm feeling to his chest, and Quest wasn't sure what to say to it. His mouth and throat felt dry and he swallowed, still trying to catch his breath.

Meanwhile, Solaris got back to her feet and retrieved another glass, this time filling it from a pitcher that sat beside the bed. She offered it to him, but didn't order him to take it.

Quest accepted it anyway and took a tentative sip. It turned out to be plain water, and he quickly drained the glass. He hadn't realized he'd been so dehydrated.

"Good," Solaris said again and took the glass back. She cupped his face with her other hand, thumb brushing his lips. "Open."

Quest obediently opened his mouth and she pressed her thumb inside. She traced the points of his teeth and rubbed over his tongue in a way that felt a lot nicer than Quest would have thought.

His eyes closed and he whined softly as she slid her thumb deeper.

"Oh, you sweet little thing," Solaris said, sounding amused. "Are you enjoying this?"

Quest whined with a little more purpose. He couldn't explain why, but he was, and he really wanted her to continue.

However, she soon drew her hand away from him again. "You still look desperate," Solaris told him. "How about this: I will give your mouth something a bit bigger to suck on. If you do well enough, I'll show you what the toy you're holding can really do." She brushed her thumb over his snout. "Do you agree?"

"Yes, master." The words came out a bit breathless as Quest took in the implication behind her offer. He'd never liked using his mouth that way, but his body was still burning. He could endure it if it meant he'd be allowed to finally come.

"On your knees, then."

It took a few attempts for Quest to obey. The first time he rolled over, the toy pressed against his entrance in a way that had him panting hard. His cunt clenched down on it, trying to get some relief before he could force himself to stop. When he regained control, he gingerly raised himself into a kneeling position.

Looking satisfied with the obedience, Solar slowly got to her feet. Her long member strained from between her legs, the tapered head writhing in its neglect. She reached down to stroke herself a few times before directing her attention back to Quest. "Let's see how that pretty mouth of yours handles a cock."

Her voice sounded rougher than before, and Quest couldn't help the little flutter of pleasure he got when he saw the evidence of her arousal. She hadn't just been teasing him.

Quest swallowed hard as she leaned forward, letting the shaft rub against his cheek. Her skin was hot and slick, and the heady musk of her arousal made his head spin. He was surprised at how clean she smelled, the scent strong but earthy and primal in a way he couldn't describe.

"Go ahead, little thing," Solaris said, drawing back until the twitching head brushed his lips. "Take only what you can, but be aware that if I feel your teeth, I'll rip them from your mouth."

The threat was a familiar one, and Quest felt a flutter of unease. His stomach twisted as he squeezed his eyes shut and opened his mouth and prayed he didn't choke too hard.

But she entered him slowly, resting the tapered head on his tongue before gently gliding it back and forth. "Do you know how?" Solaris asked him.

Not really. The few times the slavers used his mouth, they pried his jaws open, held him down and fucked his throat until he nearly blacked out.

"I'm sure you've touched your own before," Solaris said, sounding amused. "Use your hands on what you can't take into your mouth. That's it," she purred when Quest did as he was told. "Good. Move your tongue as well. You're getting the idea."

His lack of experience made him nervous, but there was something strangely arousing about how she coached him, and Quest tried his best to please her. The taste and smell of her pre filled his senses and almost made him dizzy, but it was a lot more pleasant than most, and he found that he didn't really mind. He let himself relax a bit as he stroked and sucked, moving his tongue along the thick veins on the underside.

Solaris placed her hand on his head and Quest tried not to panic. Her cock was big enough that it could easily tear his esophagus open if she shoved into him too hard.

"Easy," she told him and stroked his hair until he stopped shaking. "You're doing well," she continued. "You've got a soft mouth and you look lovely while taking my cock. You've made it this far, so you don't need to be afraid. Breathe for me, little thing, and relax. I have no intention of injuring you." She slowly rolled her hips. "I just think you can take me a bit deeper than that."

Perhaps he was truly losing his mind, but Quest thought so too, and he really wanted to try.

It took a few moments as he continued to work, but he slowly took more of her throbbing shaft into his mouth and then down his throat. He nearly choked a few times, but then he figured out a rhythm that let him breath a bit easier, so he pushed harder until his jaws burned.

Above him, Solaris gave a breathy laugh. "Oh, my good little Quest," she groaned, sounding delighted. "You don't have a gag reflex, do you?" She pressed forward, until he was sure she could see herself distending the line of his throat. "I think you might've been born for this," she purred, working her hips just a bit faster.

The change in pace caught him off guard a bit, but Quest quickly adjusted until he could breathe again. She was big enough that taking her that far was uncomfortable, but he felt a strange kind of satisfaction as she claimed the back of his throat that it was almost enjoyable.

"You feel wonderful," Solaris said, her voice growing rougher."I think I'll give you a taste of your reward now."

Quest had just enough time to wonder what she might mean when the object in his cunt started vibrating. It startled him, but he managed not to jump. The vibrations weren't terribly strong, but it still felt good, and Quest found himself moaning the next time Solaris's cock slid down his throat.

"I wasn't expecting you to be such a slut," Solaris said. She was panting, hips beginning to roll against him, forcing herself even deeper. "But oh, your desperate noises sound even nicer when your mouth is full." Her hand returned to petting his head. "Take a deep breath, Quest," she hummed.

Alarmed, Quest did as he was told.

Solaris held him still as her hips rocked a bit faster as she fucked his throat. She pushed in deep and didn't stop when Quest started to choke, his throat bulging from as he tried to swallow around her thick girth.

By then, he should've been completely panicked, but Quest could only feel pleasure as she fucked into him. Her thick shaft plunged in and out of his throat deep enough that he couldn't breathe properly, but not so deep that it truly hurt. He could hear her groaning in pleasure and panting praise as she used him, her hand maintaining its firm but gentle hold on the back of his neck.

Meanwhile, the toy's vibrations only grew stronger.

Quest's eyes were watering, tears streaming down his cheeks and his heart pounded fit to burst. Pleasure pulsed hot and intense between his legs, and arousal ran freely down his thighs to pool on the table below. He would've screamed if he had the breath, hips grinding down even as he choked. His focus narrowed to the feeling of Solar's cock dragging across his tongue and the toy buzzing hard inside him. Really, he was little more than a toy himself, a wet and vibrating hole for Solaris to use for her own pleasure.

"Good boy," Solaris snarled as her cock began to throb against his tongue. "Such a good little slut. You may have your reward. Come for me, little thing."

She released him just as he tipped over the edge and Quest screamed. His body seized with the force of his release and he fell to his side as his back arched out of his control. Pleasure pulsed hard and intense from the toy inside him, and Quest sobbed as he thrashed. It felt so good it almost hurt, waves of pleasure rolling through him, each one stronger than the last. His hips jerked and bucked and his cunt clenched down like it was trying to swallow the toy still ravishing his insides as his cock spurted long lines of his seed across his belly and chest.

And it didn't end. The toy kept vibrating, and just as it felt like his orgasm was beginning to subside, he was thrown into another one. He wound up curling into a ball, shaking as the waves tore through him one after the other. He felt like he was coming apart at the seams, his body contracting and convulsing, drowning in his own ecstasy.

Finally, finally, the vibrations began to weaken. Quest continued to shake and pant, every nerve feeling like a live wire. Everything still felt so incredibly good, but the intensity of it all left him exhausted and aching. His thighs quivered and shook as he struggled to come down and he wasn't able to make any sort of sound beyond soft panting and whimpers.

"Oh, you poor thing," Solaris sighed, kneeling beside him. "I think I overdid it, but you really are breathtaking like this." She stroked his hair and smiled at him. "Rest now. You can just lie there and enjoy this next bit."

Quest wanted to ask her what 'next bit' she was referring to, but all he managed was a small, tired whimper. At that point, he was far too tired to panic, but he felt a bit uneasy when he realized that Solaris had more in store for him.

Solaris eased him onto his stomach and shoved a sturdy pillow under his hips to keep his ass up. He felt the heat of her breath against his skin and then that incredible tongue was on him again, lapping softly at his tight pucker.

There was no way Quest could orgasm again even if he wanted, but the contact still felt oddly nice. He closed his eyes, breathing soft pants into the table. The feeling of the slick and smooth surface of her tongue gliding over his sensitive skin was almost relaxing, and he could feel his rim softening under the attention. It didn't take long for him to loosen enough for her to slip inside of him to gently coax his hole to open further.

"Good boy," one head murmured as the other continued to lick him. "Just relax. You're opening up beautifully. Just a bit more, now."

She drew back and then Quest felt the head of her cock nudge at his stretched and softened rim.

Quest gasped softly as she entered him. She didn't press in too far, stopping before she stretched him to the point of discomfort. Then she went still, and Quest could hear the wet sounds of her stroking herself.

Solaris let out a low, shuddering groan and her hips shuddered with the effort it took not to slam in any deeper. "I'm not used to the sensation being so strong," she remarked, her voice trembling with her own need. "Oh, my little slut, you are incredible. So tight and so warm..."

She didn't push in any deeper, but Quest could feel her hand swiftly working over the rest of her length. She began to shudder as the head of her cock remained nestled just inside of him, throbbing with her pleasure.

Quest moaned when she came inside of him. Her seed was thick and hot and she pumped it into him in hard spurts. It was oddly satisfying, feeling it flood his insides, hearing the sound of her soft snarls of pleasure.

A flood of her seed spilled from Quest's ass when Solaris finally withdrew. She'd stretched him open so far that his ass wouldn't fully close on its own, and he could feel her spend pouring from his hole and dripping onto the table below.

He didn't know what Solaris was doing, but he could hear her move about the room. She didn't say anything or even acknowledge his existence.

So, that was that.

Too spent to care about what his fate might be, Quest closed his eyes and let sleep drag him under.

#Constant Writing #Black White and Gold #fantasy nsft #nsft txt #nsft edging #nsft overstimulation #nsft dubcon #monster fucker

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rubywolf0201 · 11 months

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The Sonic fandumb likes to give Elise flack over the "I don't care about what happens to the world" scene in 06.

Elise was forced to run a Kingdom and keep a sadistic demon at bay ever since she was a small child and was forbidden to cry. She did not choose to be in that role not did she want it. To add insult to insult to injury, she didn't seem to have any friends at all growing up as she was too busy with her royal duties (not that she could socialize with randos anyways). She was lonely AF.

She had been selfless all her life, always putting her people first , herself last . Hell she even offered herself up to Eggman to protect her people from him.

She meets Sonic, who shows her freedom and genuine kindness. He was her first genuine friend and during the "I don't care what happens to the world" she was facing the fact that she would forever lose him, her only true source of comfort and joy. Sonic was her ray of sunshine .

Could you blame her for having ONE "selfish" outburst at the possibility of losing(er never meeting )him?

Her "selfisness" becomes kind of a moot point since she willingly womanned up and did the right thing in the end by blowing out Solaris' candle, erasing the demon from existence and saving the world.

Yep. That’s what I said really.

#rubi’s ask #sonic the hedgehog #princess elise #princess elise deserves better

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agent-flyingfox · 8 months

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I- Uh- Yeah! How did you know? I worked as a technician- I made some of Zoraxis' stuff and even helped Solaris on the Death Engine. (In my defense, nobody told me what it was for.)

I spotted the agency once while I was working on a gi- uh- secret project for Zoraxis. They spotted me back and started talking to me. Eventually, they convinced me to join them rather than stick with Zoraxis' team.

I've been a reformed villain since! Now I'm stuck as an agent-in-training (with nobody really teaching me anything because they're all scared).

I'm going to stress the question of how did you know I worked for Zoraxis heavily because I'm either bad at remembering faces or you were not one of the agency members who talked to me that one day.

',:/

-Agent Felix

P.S. I did not know anyone knew my full first name.. that's.. interesting, yet funky. I always use funky in a positive way. Thank you for using it!! I've actually been waiting for someone to call me Felixian :D

I probably shouldn't push my luck....I've been too reckless about this, blabbering all over the place. Let's see...

*Covers watch as a safe measure, knowing that it doesn't muffle as much as she would like*

"I knew you looked familliar! Lets just say I er. If you may pick up what I'm saying... I knew someone who worked with you in my universe. A thief, helping behind the scenes gathering research and stealing gravity crystals from highly guarded science facilities for the Death Engine.

I have to say. Leaving Zoraxis isn't easy. Especially as you're so young. I'm so sorry that no one is here to train you. It's been difficult enough for me as a fellow new agent - I don't even have a TK implant! I do hope the EOD in your universe is kind to you.

Here's the thing. I have my boyfriend, Agent Nightjar helping me with training. He's an incredible agent, arguably the best in the EOD when it comes to bomb diffusion (I'd say better at it than the Phoenix themselves - But I'm clearly biased)

I know I don't have much of a say in how another universe's agents are trained..but if you need any advice, Nightjar and I are happy to help you where we can.

Please...know that you aren't the only one. I'll be here if you need me"

Best regards,

Emara Aziz

Agent Flying Fox

Emara Aziz

P.S

I...must have gotten your name from that thief. I hope that's alright. I'm happy to keep calling you Felixian if it works well for you.

#Agent Felix #IEYTASK #IEYTD Ask Blog #I Expect You To Ask #IEYTD Askblog #Zumblr #((ooh i dont know if i should be open about it ummm. I Know A Friend Who Did This. ))#((flying fox indesicion arc. to be fair she still hasnt recieved clear instruction on the need to know basis of her background))#((theyre doing their best))#Long Post

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bitter-sweet-coffee · 1 year

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I saw your oc fact swap reblog so I'm here to share!! This will technically be two ocs

They are lesbian warriors named Lila and Catnis, Lila is a big buff woman who is an absolute sweetheart at around 6'9", Catnis is small(er) and petite at around 5'5" who is always ready to murder somebody, but yknow they love each other very much

They also have red/blue colour dynamic going on, it's great I love them, constantly rotating them in my brain

!!! i get TWO!!!! okok aaaaaAa they sound so. so lovely. if you like, gimme drawing specs i would be honoured to draw the lesbians because. i love lesbians lesbians are the best and warriors too!!!!? ncndmdkdkdk passing away please do send more asks my dear anon

RIGHT! i was supposed to say some oc facts too. well, i guess if we’re doing duos i should mention noir and selina. noir is rouge’s nephew/nibling who is too loud and full of himself to succeed at being a spy; his wings are all tattered but he doesn’t amputate them because of the “grunge gothic city vibes” aka he likes how they look. selina is a result of the paradox caused by sonic 06 and the personified flame of soleanna (since solaris never happened but remnants of mephiles survived… therefore the flame and iblis-ifrit did too!) she’s all the worst fashion from y2k red carpet flops but is too adorable and optimistic to be hated for it! they’re genderfluid besties with a knack for dumb shenanigans aka the gay agenda

#bsc anons #bsc ocs #rotating the lesbian warriors in my head rn

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jinkiseason · 9 months

Note

hiiiiiiii elif!!! idk when your gonna see this and i know you didnt ask but i want to rant in someones inbox again so here you are 🤗

im gonna talk about SOL!! my other zb1 oc. so hes an 05 liner and his birth name is technically yeo hansaem but he absolutely hates his birth name because he was named after his father who is literally the worst person ever (this is self projection) so he goes by his english name solaris (sol for short) um hahahahahahah

hes from new zealand so hes got that fancy accent!!! hes the second youngest of six kids, he has a twin sister born two minutes after him, but she passed away when they were thirteen and he's since had ptsd from the incident, he was forced to move in with his aunt all the way in seoul after the incident and then he decided to join the taekwondo demo team k-tigers until he auditioned for jellyfish entertainment in 2021!!!

on much lighter notes (sorry for that angst), his main love interests are gunwook and junhyeon (trust me i have no idea) and he's just kind of.. controversial in a sense because he's much too honest!!! but anyway, your probably gonna like him very much because he is very traumatized :))

sorry for coming into your inbox so suddenly but i love you elif :>!!

OMGOGMGOGM SOL YESSS

(fuck fathers mine sucks ass too) HES GUNWOOK AGE insert that ronalde crying gif here SOLARIS‼️

he got a fucking accent AYO BRUV PASS ME THE WA ER

HIS TWIN ⁉️ DIED ⁉️ NOOO NOT MY SCRUNKLY?????

oh he does taekwondeidkekeo GOS DAMN😍

hes part of jellyfish.... idk is jellyfish bad or good i have no idea

GUNWOOK AND JUNHYEON WE CHEERED

HES JUST LIKE ME FORREAL

#eliftalks ☆#isa ☆#ISAAA UR MIND #bites ur walls #I LOVE HIM ALREADY MY SCRUNKLY

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crusherthedoctor · 3 years

Note

Can you list anything you unironically like in the games (and cartoons and comics) that you don't like?

I won't bother mentioning music, since that goes without saying and is to be expected for a Sonic game... unless you're Chronicles.

Sonic Adventure 2 (mixed gameplay-wise, annoying story-wise) - While I prefer Sonic's SA1 levels for a number of reasons, I still think his and Shadow's gameplay in SA2 is fun on its own merit. I also don't mind the treasure hunting gameplay returning or how big the levels are this time around, since Knuckles and Rouge are still fast and not '06 levels of slow. It's mainly the gimped radar that creates the unfortunate domino effect of making them a problem.

- Introduced Rouge, one of my favourite characters for how playful she is and how she's a lot more nuanced and intelligent than you'd expect.

- Some genuinely good scenes, like Eggman's trap on the A.R.K and Sonic escaping from the G.U.N. helicopter.

- Had some good ideas going for it, like the Pyramid Base and the Biolizard as a scientific monster instead of an ancient one.

- Despite my thoughts on the backstory itself (or rather, its execution), Shadow has enough depth and subtle qualities and occasional unintended hilarity to stand out from the typical dark rival characters you see in media.

- The Last Scene's music in particular is one of my favourite cutscene tracks in the series.

Sonic Heroes (mixed gameplay-wise, loathed story-wise) - The gameplay is fun when you're not being screwed over by repetitive combat, overly long levels and/or ice physics.

- Boasts some of the most consistently Genesis-worthy environments in the 3D games, up there with SA1's and Colours'.

- The in-game dialogue that isn't the same tutorial drivel repeated ad nauseam can be interesting, funny, etc.

- Reintroduced the Chaotix, which provided me with another character I quite like in the form of Vector.

- Bringing Metal Sonic back in full force and front and center in the plot after a long absence (not counting cameos and the like) is a perfectly fine idea. Just... not like this.

Sonic Battle (decent yet repetitive gameplay, mixed story-wise) - Emerl's arc is compelling, and it earns the emotional weight of having to put him down at the end.

- While some characters are iffy (read: Amy), other characters are extremely well-handled. Shadow is probably the prime example.

- Gamma's belly dance healing animation is fucking hilarious.

- When I was young, and the game was first announced, I was really excited about being able to play as Chaos. This proved to be my downfall when it turned out he was arguably one of the worst characters in the game due to being slower than me during the writing process, but I still recall that excitement fondly.

Shadow the Hedgehog (comedy classic) - The sheer amount of legendary stupidity this game has going for it makes it practically impossible to actually hate. It helps that it's not quite as white-knighted on the same level as '06... usually. You know you're in for a unique experience when you hear a gunshot every time you click something in the menu.

- By extension, Black Doom never gained an unironic fanbase like Mephiles/Scourge/Eggman Nega did, which means I'm a lot more willing to take Doom's dumbass brand of villainy in stride. He even has a unique design... a terrible one that rips off Wizeman granted, but alas, even that is a step-up from Fridge Shadow and Bumblebee Eggman.

- Despite being... well, Shadow the Hedgehog, some of the environments would fit right in with any other Sonic game, like with Circus Park, Lava Shelter, and Digital Circuit. Even the Black Comet levels look pretty cool.

- This game understands amnesia better than IDW does.

Sonic '06 (what do you think?) - The obvious one: Shadow's character was handled pretty well, even if it came at the cost of everyone else being a dummy and being forced to interact with Mephiles.

- Like SA2, there are some good moments, like the Last Story ending sequence with Sonic and Elise.

- In the greatest form of irony ever, I like Solaris as a concept and design(s), and its backstory has potential to serve as a parallel with Chaos without being a complete ripoff. Iblis sucks, Mephiles sucks, but I'm fine with Solaris.

- Introduced legendary characters like Sonic Man, Pele the Beloved Dog, Hatsun the Pigeon, and Pacha from The Emperor's New Groove.

The Rivals duology (apathetic outside of Nega-related grumbling) - There were some cool zone ideas in both games that were sadly let down by the restrictive and limiting gameplay. I particularly like Colosseum Highway for thus far being the only full-on Roman level in the series instead of merely having a couple minor hints of Roman, and Meteor Base for the unique scenario of the space station being built into an asteroid. These level concepts and others deserve a second chance IMO. (At least Frontier Canyon got a second chance in the form of Mirage Saloon, amirite?)

- Ifrit has a better design than Iblis. Not saying it's amazing, but the Firebird motif it has going on is a lot more interesting for a fire monster than the Not-Chaos schtick they had with Iblis.

Sonic and the Secret Rings (a very frustrating gaming experience) - Erazor Djinn, A.K.A. Qui-Gon Djinn, A.K.A. Dr. N. Djinn, A.K.A. I'll Take It On The Djinn, A.K.A. Not From The Hairs On My Djinny Djinn Djinn, is one of the best villains not associated with Eggman in the series. He's a Mephiles-type character done right, and there's actual weight and reason to his actions, however sinister or petty.

- I don't have strong opinions either way on Shahra as a character, but the Sonic/Shahra friendship is sweet and well-handled.

- The ending is one of Sonic's greatest moments. The sheer contrast between how ruthlessly he deals with Erazor and how comforting he is towards Shahra speaks volumes... Still gonna make fun of the mountain of handkerchiefs though. (Before anyone lectures me, I understand the significance of it and can even appreciate it from that angle... doesn't mean I'm not allowed to poke fun at it. :P)

- Another game with some redeeming environments. I love the aesthetic of Night Palace, and Sand Oasis looks gorgeous too.

Sonic Chronicles (my personal least favourite game in the series) - Uh...

- Um...

- Er...

- I like Shade's design?

Sonic Unleashed (overrated game and story IMO) - The obvious two: the opening sequence and the Egg Dragoon fight deserve all the praise they get.

- Seeing Eggmanland come to life was an impressive moment to be sure. While part of me does feel it didn't quite measure up to what I had in mind (ironically, the Interstellar Amusement Park ended up being closer to what I had in mind), it still looks badass and works well for what it is. I also don't mind the idea of it being a one-level gauntlet... key word being idea.

- Obviously, the game looks great. Not a fan of the real world focus (real world inspiration is fine, but copy-pasting the real world and shoving loops in it is just unimaginative), but it can't be denied that the environments look good.

- This game pulled off dialogue options a lot better than Chronicles did, since they didn't rely on making Sonic OoC.

Sonic and the Black Knight (just kind of boring all around) - Despite my gripes with the story (Merlina wasn't nearly as fleshed out as her unique anti-villain status deserved, which ends up severely undermining the ambition of the plot in more ways than one, and the other characters go from being useless yes men for King Arthur to being useless yes men for Sonic), I will admit it provides interesting insight into Sonic's character.

- Like '06 and Secret Rings, the ending is very nice... well, aside from Amy being an unreasonable bitch ala Sonic X at the very end.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (apathetic) - The admittedly few new concepts sprinkled within had promise. They may not have been as fleshed out as they could have been, but level concepts like Sylvania Castle and White Park, bosses like Egg Serpentleaf and the Egg Heart, and story beats like the Death Egg mk.II being powered by Little Planet, all could have been brilliant had they been better executed.

SatAM (apathetic outside of SatAM Robotnik-related grumbling) - I'm not a fan of the environments on the whole due to them looking too bland or samey, but there are some exceptions that look pleasant or interesting, like the Void.

Sonic Underground (apathetic) - The character designs make me feel better about myself.

- Does "large quantities of unintentional meme material" count as a positive?

Sonic X (mostly apathetic outside of Eggman's handling) - Helen was a better human character and audience surrogate in her one focus episode than Chris was throughout his entire runtime.

- Actually, most of the human characters not named Chris were legitimately likable. Including everyone in Chris' own family not named Chris. Hilarious.

- Despite arguably having the most Chris in it, I actually don't mind the first season that much, partly due to slight nostalgia from seeing it on TV when it was new, but mostly because Eggman actually acted like a villain for the most part, and certain other characters weren't quite as flanderized yet. It's season 2 and onwards where things started going off the rails IMO. (Incidentally, Helen's episode was part of season 1...)

The Boom franchise (apathetic) - Along with Chronicles, the games provide yet more proof that just because someone isn't SEGA/Sonic Team, that doesn't mean they're automatically more qualified to handle the series.

- The show had some good episodes here and there, and Tails' characterization was probably the most consistently on-point out of the cast.

- Despite not exactly being favourite portrayals for either character, even I'll admit that many of Knuckles and Eggman's lines in the show on their own were genuinely funny.

Archie Sonic (pre-reboot is mostly terrible, post-reboot is mostly... bland) - Whenever I doubt myself as a writer, I think back to Ken Penders, and suddenly I'm filled with a lot more confidence.

Sonic the Comic (apathetic) - Fleetway isn't a comic I tend to recall much of aside from how much of a loathesome cunt Sonic is, but IIRC, Robotnik's portrayal is pretty good. Different, but good.

IDW Sonic (stop pissing me off, comic) - Putting their handling aside (and being too obviously "inspired" by MGS in the latter's case), Tangle and Whisper are good characters IMO.

- Same goes for Starline, before he was killed off-screen and replaced with Toothpaste Snively.

- Execution aside (noticing a pattern?), the zombot virus was a fine concept on its own and an interesting new scheme for Eggman.

- I get to remind myself that I've never drawn scat edits and posted them publicly on Twitter.

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amor-immortalem · 3 years

Text

I think I'm OKAY part 2

Once she’s fully asleep, Mammon wraps her up in whatever blankets he can find. It was colder tonight than it usually was so he wanted to make sure she was all bundled up before he flew them home for the night. He locked up the House before transforming into his demon form and taking off for home.

------------------------------------------------------

The only one up at home when Mammon landed was Arella. She opened the door for him as he carried their daughter inside and set her down on her bed before rejoining his wife down in the living room. He frowned as he sat on the couch.

“We’ve been horrible parents,” Arella says as she leaned against his shoulder.

“Her greed is eating her alive... She’s just skin and bone...” The demon lets out a sigh as he leans back against the cushions of the couch. “Where did we go wrong?”

Arella doesn’t answer because she doesn’t one. After a short silence she sighs. “What’s done is done. All we can do is make up for the damage we caused with her now before it gets any worse. We should look into therapy for her too.”

“She’s not gonna talk ta a shrink, you know that.” Mammon looks over at his wife. “She only talks ta people she trusts...”

“Yes, I know, honey, but if she won’t talk to us about these things, she needs to talk to somebody. And stranger things have happened so you never know what could happen. I’ll spend the rest of the night with Azalea in case she wakes up and see if I can get her to be honest with me. If not, then I’ll call Lucifer in the morning and see who he sends Solaris to see for his therapy.”

“Solaris is in therapy? Since when?”

“After finding out about his mother’s death. Your brother thought he might be harboring some guilt over it so as a precautionary measure he put Solaris in therapy. It’s always good to have someone to talk to and be sure it won’t get back your parents somehow, you know?”

Mammon nods. “Alright... as much as I think she’ll just end up wasting their time... it couldn’t hurt either... I know I’m s’pposed to go out with the boys tomorrow but I think I should just spend it with ‘Zay instead.”

“I think that’s a great idea. I’m sure the boys will understand. And if they don’t, I’ll just explain what’s going on right now.”

The Avatar of Greed nods as he sits up and rubs his eyes. “Ya know, I had ta pick the lock on her door ta even get in ta talk to ‘er... She wouldn’t even answer the door for me and then I immediately stuck my foot in my mouth- jus' like I always do. It makes me wonder... what happened to us? She and I used ta be so close- practically inseparable and now I can’t even talk to her for two seconds without getting inta a yellin’ match with her. ”

“We’re always so busy with everything that she got left behind when we didn’t mean for that to happen. It doesn’t help that every time she gets herself in trouble lately, we’ve done nothing but yell at her instead of doing what we should be doing and getting her side of the story... I think we need to take a different approach to all that. Actually sit down and have a proper conversation about what happened.”

“It’s probably cuz she’s seekin’ out our attention- you know how the sayin’ goes: any attention is good attention... I can’t believe I didn’t see how it works for her sooner. Ya’d think as the Avatar of Greed I should know every possible way it would manifest- and I do but... but I just assumed that since both Cyrus and Aurelius are satisfied with money and material objects that it worked the same for our daughter but it doesn’t... I feel like I failed as her father.”

“I know you feel horrible about this- I do too,” The human pulls him into a hug. “But things are going to get better now.” She kissed his forehead. “Go on and head off to bed. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”

The white-haired demon only nods as they both head upstairs only Arella continues down the hall to check on Azalea. She stops just short of the door when she notices that there’s a lamp on and there’s a whispering noise coming from inside the room.

------------------------------------------------------

“Why didn’t you tell anyone that it was literally eating you alive?” Aurelius’ voice is soft to keep their parents from hearing their conversation.

“And what was I s’pposed to say, ‘Relius? ‘Hey, mum, dad, you’re killing you child because you refuse to pay attention to her’? I’d panic them and then they would only be spending time with me out of pity. I only want to spend time with them if they genuinely want to spend time with me and... I don’t think they do. They’d rather spend it with you two or the baby...” Azalea grumbles as she leans against her brother’s shoulder.

“That’s not true. They’re just busy with-”

“Cyrus?” she cut him off with an annoyed tone. “Yeah, I get it.”

“I was going to say life,” The teen deadpans. “What’s your deal with him anyway? You really don’t have a right to be upset with him about anything.”

“It’s not him I’m upset with- I don’t really care one way or the other about him. It's our parents- well more like dad... I feel like he lied to me all my life. He could have at least told me I wasn’t next in line... I built my entire identity on being his heir and now that I’m not... well I don’t know who I am or what to do with my life anymore...”

“Well, what are you good at? I can list a few things.”

“Yer full of shit. ‘m not good at anything but getting into fights, fuckin’ things up, and causin’ trouble.”

Aurelius rolls his eyes, “No I’m not. You’re good at playing video games, you’re the only one that I know who can match Dad’s skill level when it comes to card games, you like to sing and you’re pretty decent at it too. You can draw pretty decently too and you like to sew as well.”

“None of that shit’s a viable career path though.” She grumbles. “What’s it even matter though? I don’t have a purpose anymore.”

“Do you need a purpose right now though? I still don’t know mine yet either, but my take on it is this: live right now and we’ll find our purpose for existing later. If you really need one right this minute, make your own. Not the next Avatar of Greed? That’s fine, you can be the role model that teaches our little brother how to stand up for himself, be proud to be a part of this family and not take shit from other demons who only want to tear him down for being a half-demon. And when you fulfil that think of something new.”

Azalea snorted at that. “I’m not role model material and aint no way in hell am I teachin’ that pipsqueak how ta stand up for himself. That’s something he’s gotta figure out on his own like we did or learn it from mum and dad.”

“My point was that you don’t need a purpose to live, ‘Zay.” Aurelius sighs. “Just be happy in the moment and worry about the rest later. Besides, being constrained to one thing your whole life just isn’t a you type of thing. Whenever I turn around you’ve always got your hands in something new so just follow that and you’ll find what you want to do with the rest of forever.

It was at this that Arella decided to make her presence known to the twins. “Aurelius is right, Princess.”

At the sound of their mother’s voice both twins stiffened.

“Mum?”

“Thank you for trying to make your sister feel better, dear. Go on back to bed and I’ll sit with her now.”

The boy only nods as he gets up with his spot soon to be replaced by Arella. She sat down next to Azalea who was still wrapped up in the blankets Mammon had brought her home in. They sat in silence for a while.

“You can go to bed. Don’t wanna keep ya up all night, Mum.” Azalea says as she draws the blankets closer around herself.

“No, that’s quite alright. I want to spend the time with you right now when I can be sure no one is going to come along and try to snag my attention elsewhere. Even if we have to sit in silence.”

“Ya really don’t have ta... I know you’re tired.”

“No, I’m really fine. I want to spend this time with you. If you don’t feel like talking about what’s going through your mind, we can talk about other things. So... did you ever finish that book you bought recently?”

The teen pauses as she eyes her mother from the corner of her eye debating on whether she should answer- whether she should let her back into her life after months of hurting her. “... Yeah. It was really good. I’m glad Uncle Satan recommended it to me.”

“He’ll be happy to hear that. And how’s school going? Still perfect grades?”

“Yeah, it’d be better if we weren’t practically breezing through our course material.”

“Are you struggling with it? You can always come to me and Dad if you have questions and we’ll try to help the best we can.”

“I don’t think either of ya would be much help,” Azalea turns her head away. “Thanks, though.”

“And why’s that? It’s not like we’re unfamiliar with the curriculum completely.”

“It don’t really matter, just... trust me on it.” Should she tell her? She probably wouldn’t care. “Jus’ know it’s a lotta work.”

“Advanced courses tend to be. I already knew we wouldn’t be of much help but I still thought I’d offer anyway- leave the door open for you as an option.”

“Wait, you already knew? Why didn’t ya say anything sooner?” Now Azalea just feels a little hurt that her mother knew and never told her she was proud of her.

“Dad and I have known since the end of middle school. I didn’t want you to think I was snooping in your personal business since you’re a teenager now and don’t need your parents constantly in your business. I was waiting for you to tell us but I guess you already tried and we just weren’t paying attention, huh?”

“Yeah...” the half demon laughed softly, “I tried to show ya my report card from the final year of middle school, but y’all just didn’t wanna see it. I mean I guess it wasn’t really all that important since my grades and citizenship marks were the same as they always were. In hindsight, I prolly shoulda just came out and said it.”

“Yes, probably, but your father and I should have also asked you about it as well. We know we’ve messed up really badly and if you’ll let us, we’d like to make it up to you.”

“Just don’t ignore me anymore... there aren’t any more meets to go to this year since the season ended today- we won by the way thanks to my record settin’ high jump.”

“That’s amazing, baby. I’m so proud of you.” The human wraps her arms around her daughter. “I knew you’d be amazing at this. We should do something tomorrow to celebrate it, just the two of us.”

“R-really? But... don’t you have things to do tomorrow? You’re leaving for the human world again soon right? Isn’t there stuff you have to finish up before you leave? And doesn’t Dad have plans with Cyrus and Aurelius tomorrow. That means you’ll have Mahlon.”

“It can wait. Believe it or not, you’re more important to me. And I’m sure Dad would take your little brother to help us out.”

Azalea blinked, unsure. This is what she wants right? It’s all she’s wanted for some time now and yet she can’t bring herself to accept the invitation because it would mean inconveniencing one of her parents.

“N...No... that’s alright. Another time... Maybe after you get back if you still want to. Your work is important so you shouldn’t put it off just for me.”

“Baby... your greed-”

“It's alright,” she looks away, “Really, it is...Look, I’m tired. I just wanna go back ta bed right now.”

Arella frowns as she studies the sudden shift in mood in the half-demon. It almost looks like she thinks... “Azalea, do you think you’re not worth Dad and me putting our work on hold for a few days?”

The blue and gold eyed girl shook her head as she looked anywhere but her mother’s face. She wasn’t good enough for them before this. Why would she be good enough now?

“I see. Honey, I think you should see a therapist... if there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that you shouldn’t bottle these feelings up like this. It’s only going to hurt you more.”

“I said it was fine, Mum. I don’t need ta see a shrink. What, do ya think I’m crazy or something? That there’s somethin’ wrong with me and I need ta be fixed?”

“No, of course not. But you need to talk to someone and I know from personal experience it can be very hard to talk about feeling unwanted, or abandoned, or neglected with parents or people close to you. I just... I want you to feel okay again and I promise you it will feel so much better once you get it off your chest.

And if you’re still iffy on the idea, know that everything you talk about is confidential in there. Dad and I won’t hear a word of it unless you are actively planning to harm yourself somehow, okay?”

“Okay... I’ll try it- but only cuz ya asked me too. Don’t the wrong idea ‘bout it.” She laid down on the bed and pulled the blanket over her head. “G’night.”

“Good night, Princess.” Arella says as she has to hold back a laugh. Sometimes she’s reminded of just how similar her daughter and husband are.

------------------------------------------------------

It’s two months later and things seem to be going better. Thanks to her conversation with her twin that one night in combination with therapy and small doses of anti-depressants Azalea had found herself at peace with not having a purpose- the abandonment issues and general feelings of being unloved and unworthiness were still there, just not as prevalent as they had once been.

As the teen girl hops into the front seat of her father’s car, he wakes with a start.

“Damn, kid, yer gonna give your old man a heart attack.” Mammon rubs his eyes behind his sunglasses. “Ya gotta gimme at least some warnin’”

“Yer the one that fell asleep in the car,” She teased. “What, are ya getting that old where ya jus’ fall asleep at odd hours of the day? Maybe we should put ya in a nursing home and let Cyrus take over your job if yer at that point.”

“You are a horrible child, makin’ fun of my age like that, lil’ girl. I’m still plenty young, for your information.” Mammon starts the car. “So, whatcha wanna do now?”

“I kinda just wanna go home. I could use a nap myself before that mma match on tv starts...” she hummed. “Maybe that’s something I could do in the future...”

“Please don’t,” the demon pales. “I don’t think I could handle watchin’ ya get the snot beat outta ya if ya get an opponent that’s stronger than you...”

“Nah, I’ll be fine. No one can lay a finger on me.” She gives her father a toothy grin as he drove them home.

“Later, we can watch a movie or somethin’ together, yeah?“

“I’d love that,” The half-demon smiles as she watches the city fly by outside the window. For the first time in years, Azalea is finally... happy.

Masterlist

#obey me #obey me next gen #obey me shall we date #obey me swd #obey me! shall we date?#obey me mammon #obey me angst #mammon angst #obey me oc #arella #azalea #aurelius #obey me fluff

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ssolari · 3 years

Text

» ◟ ALL POSTS ! ◞ »

৲ name: solari ( pen name ).

৲ pronouns: she / her.

৲ zodiac: gemini.

৲ occupation: full-time hoe for haikyuu characters + enha members 😌

৲ location: somewhere in bokuto’s thighs ✋🏼😩.

৲ status: mentally married to sakusa kiyoomi ( 03 / 01 / 22 )

৲ currently (re)watching: love lasts forever

» ◟ POSTED A NEW STORY ! ◞ »

﹄ top 3 ( husbands ) :

Sakusa Kiyoomi

Park Sunghoon

Yoon Jeonghan

﹄ top 3 ( side hoes ) :

Suna Rintarou

Gojo Satoru

Lee Heeseung

﹄ top 3 ( best friends ) :

Kim Sunoo

Minatozaki Sana

Boo Seungkwan

» ◟ THROWBACK ! ◞ »

﹄ top 5 ( songs ) :

Body and Mind by Girl In Red

Binibini by Zack Tabudlo

Bumalik Ka Na Sa’kin by Silent Sanctuary

Strawberry and Cigarettes by Troye Sivan

﹄ top 5 ( k.songs ) :

Lion by (G) I-DLE

Oh My God by (G) I-DLE

Cry For Me by Twice

LO$ER=LO♡ER by TXT

The Feels by Twice

﹄ top 5 ( movies ) :

Four Sisters and a Wedding

My Brother Loves Me Too Much

Me Before You

200 Pounds Beauty

Train To Busan

﹄ top 5 ( series ) :

Alice in Borderlands

Haikyuu!

American Horry Story

Love Lasts Forever

Playful Kiss (korean and japanese)

﹄ top 5 ( books in wattpad ) :

Teachers Bet by exolexact ( Haikyuu )

Marco Polo by imagineaworlds ( Call Me By Your Name )

24/7 by cliffordpunkrock ( Harry Styles )

Mister Clean Freak by _starryhobi_ ( Sakusa Kiyoomi )

Physical Attraction by Lyra_T94 ( Hong Jisoo )

﹄ top 5 ( kpop groups ) :

Seventeen

Mamamoo

Blackpink

Red Velvet

Enhypen

as of 03 / 01 / 2022.

Be the sun today

You never know

Whose rainy day you’ll lighten up.

- jonapoetry

#ssolari #solari #about me #masterlist #navigate #i don't know what else to tag so bye :)#about solari

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unmeisenshi · 4 years

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Bellum gave a grumble as he walked around the town. He was looking for his brother, he needed him for something. It was, er.. Advice. And Bellum being Bellum, he didn't really want too, but he needed too, no matter if he wanted it too or not. Thus him being grumpy and sometimes giving nasty looks to people that got too close. He was not in a happy mood, nor chatty.

A small request came in to the team. Someone was causing some discourse in the village nearby. Zane and Solaris went to check out the situation, finding an Umbreon. Was it Joseph? No, it wasn’t, this Umbreon had yellow rings instead of blue ones, but he also walked on two legs. Was he related to him? Only one way to find out.

“Hey, buddy, mind telling me why we’re getting complaints about you?” Solaris asked. He didn’t mean to be brash, but this Umbreon looked like he could cause trouble fast.

@dimensionhoppinghybrids

#dimensionhoppinghybrids #original duo: zane and solaris #request complete!: answer

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gamenu · 4 years

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@hariolor

“Neat!”

How wonderful! Nicole had hoped she agreed. Granted...it was a bit of a surprise, and a welcomed one at that. Nicole could only hope she wasn’t inconveniencing Solaris. Especially since she had no idea what she was doing. But...she had agreed so effortlessly. Maybe she wanted to spend time with Nicole too?

“I ain’ truly sure wha’ kinda flavor I wanna ge’...peanu’ butter? ‘er maybe cookie dough...? I know eitha way my teethf’ are gonna hate me fer i’.”

#hariolor #Pls Lust she loves you #even tho she has no idea who you rly are

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eldritchsurveys · 4 years

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1015.

5k Survey LXIX

3501. Is 'no glove, no love' your STRICT policy? >> I don’t have policies for activities I don’t participate in in the first place.

3502. What is the best Epic movie (examples of epics: ben-her, gone with the wind, last temptation of christ)? >> I don’t know what else falls into the category of “epic movie”, so... can’t really answer. 3503. Finish the sentance. Hey, Hey we're the: Monkees People say we: But we're too busy: The time to hesitate is: now You're too: physical It's a nice day to: start again 3504. Have you ever had 'missing time'? >> Only in the context of being intoxicated (and that one botched suicide attempt). 3505. Have you ever sent an electronic greeting? >> Maybe a long time ago.

3506. If you could send anonymous tips to people you knew who would never ever find out who sent them who would you send the following tips to? doesn't know when to leave: poor crotch hygenie: talks to much: band/art/dream is going nowehere: most likely to get arrestted: needs to get their life together: bad taste in clothes: bad taste in music: needs a hobby: 3507. Are you more likely to download porn or disney movies? >> I don’t download much of anything, really. Streaming has become my default mode of consumption. 3508. What is it with people? >> ??? 3509. Do you eat too much sugar? >> I can assure you that I do not. 3510 Imagine you have aband. Let's name your band. Adjective: Animal(plural): Your band name is (adjective) (animals) Under Glass! Could be better? Let's try again. Adjective: Noun (plural): Your band is (adjective) (nouns) With Puppets 3511. Are you desperate but not serious? >> I have no idea what this means. 3512. Was there a time when you were younger and it took less to get you excited? What did it take then? What does it take now? >> Honestly, I have no recollection of excitement experiences as a child. I do know that excitement is difficult for me nowadays because 1) I’m still pretty emotionally blunted, particularly for positive emotions and 2) I automatically attribute all physical feelings that could suggest excitement to anxiety instead (because I’m still learning the difference). 3513. Remember learning to write in elementary school? We spend 2 years learning to print..then they throw that out the window and teach kids cursive. Why? If cursive is so important and easy to read then why aren't books printed in cursive? Why aren't cursive computer fonts more popular? Why do buisness forms always say 'please print'? Schools are so preoccupied with teaching kids the complicated but traditional skill of cursive writing that more emphasis is put on that than on teaching kids how to clearly express their ideas through writing. I move that cursive writing become a jr. high school elective instead of a grammer school priority. Who's with me? >> This seems like a personal rant based on your own experiences and I have no dog in this fight, dude. I think of penmanship like art -- script writing is an art form and being adept at it can lead to some pretty results. Just don’t use it if you don’t care for it. Also, I’m pretty sure very few (public) schools care about cursive writing in this era, lmao, so this is also an outdated rant. 3514. Can you think of anything else (besides cursive writing) that is unhelpful, or unuseful, yet traditional and unquestioned? What? >> Whatever. 3515. Name one female celebrity who you would guess wears size ___ clothing: 0? 5? 12? 16? 20? 3516. Have you ever been to a place where the restrooms were named in a clever way rather than just saying men's and woman's? I've seen Hens and Roosters, Bart and Lisa, Dudes and Babes...what have you seen? >> Yeah, I saw “Pirates” and “Wenches” once. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen others but I can’t remember what they were now. 3517. What is the 'message' or 'point behind': Fight Club? Donnie Darko? AI? Minority Report? Solaris? A Walk to Remember? You've Got Mail? 3518. have you seen, and what are your thoughts about these movies: Drumline? >> Now this is a question block I can actually answer. I did see Drumline, but I was 13 at the time so I have no real recollection of my feelings about it. The Hot Chick? >> Nope. Maid in Manhattan? >> Nope. Star Trek: Nemesis? >> Nope. About Schmidt? >> Nope. Okay, maybe I can’t answer this question block after all. What are most of these movies...? Evelyn? >> --- The Guys? >> --- Intacto? >> --- The Jimmy Show? >> ---

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers? >> I did see this, but I don’t remember much of it either because it was at least half a decade ago. I do assume I enjoyed it. Gangs of New York? >> --- Two Weeks Notice? >> --- The Wild Thornberrys Movie? >> --- Smokers Only? >> --- Treasure Planet? >> --- The Santa Clause 2? >> --- 3519. START this sentance: ....and I think to myself, what a wonderful world." >> ---

3520. What is: insanity? normal? farenheit? 3521. Tell us about yourself in the third person for a bit: >> I’d really rather not attempt that. 3522. If someone breaks a law, should they be punished if they did not know it was a law? >> Oh, I don’t know. This is a concept that can get real thorny real fast. 3523. If it's so much easier to learn languages when we are very young (and it is, something to do with the developing brain) why do they wait until jr high and high school to teach them? >> I don’t know anything about the justifications behind public-school curricula, dude. 3524. Name a band you sort of like: Dream Theater. You are wearing that band's t-shirt in a store. SUDDENLY some guy you don't know comes up to you and goes, "Hey! You like (insert name of the band here)??!!" This is obviously a really stupid question because if you didn't like them you wouldn't be wearing the t-shirt. Your witty reply is: >> It’s not a really stupid question, first of all, because it’s a conversation starter as opposed to a straightforward inquiry. I’d assume he’s excited that someone else seems to be a fan of a band he likes, and is opening the floor to talking about it. Which is great! Let’s talk about prog metal! Now, on the other hand, if the tone of “hey, you like Dream Theater?” is skeptical, like he’s assuming I’m just blithely wearing the shirt without actually liking the band or whatever, then I’d probably just give him a simple “yep” and see what happened after that. I’m not going to immediately be sarcastic or “witty” until I am positive about what kind of interaction is happening. 3525. If you were organizing cd's in a music store what section would you put each of the following in (don't forget the 'bargain bin' section!): Blink182 Depech Mode Weezer Led Zeppelin The Doors Avril Lavigne Nelly Manfred Mann Iggy Pop Pink Floyd Guns N Roses Shakira Britny Spears Tool Ozzy Osbourne Madonna The Rolling Stones The Beatles Motley Crue Bon Jovi 3526. Does coffee stimulate your mind or body more? >> It stimulates my anxiety drive, is what it does. 3527. Can you do 'six degrees of seperation' to anyone famous? >> I assume not. 3528. What's the oddest thing in your home? >> Me. 3529. Do you find it odd when people who are not handicapped use the handicapped stall: in the bathroom? >> No, I’ve used it because the close quarters of the other stalls wig me out sometimes. Or I’ve used it because the other ones were disaster zones. Or I’ve used it because I was also getting changed in the stall, or something, and needed the room. in the parking lot? >> You need a whole placard (or handicapped license plate) for those, so there are obvious rules. 3530. Do you sometimes find yourself talking to yourself? Do you answer yourself back? >> No, I talk to the Inworlders, not “myself”. 3531. In your head do you call yourself 'I' or 'you' or both? >> Er... “I”? 3532. What is the best excuse for why you haven't done your homework? >> --- 3533. Someone tells you 'well there are black people, and then there are n*ggers'. What do you think? >> I think that person’s an out-and-out bona-fide bigot, obviously? What the fuck else am I going to think (besides “I have to leave immediately”)??? 3534. Does culture shape behavior or does behavior shape culture? >> Yes. 3535. What determines whether a person will be: intelligent? pretty? happy? sucessful? 3536. What is social loafing? What is groupthink? >> ??? 3537. I have an idea. let's change the english language by making the words fewer, shorter and more concise. What do ya think? >> No. 3538. What are the physical symptoms of: joy? fear? shame? 3539. Here's the scenerio...your little eight year old brother is hangin out in the house when you come in..and catch him watching the playboy channel! What do you do/say? He says, "Why can't I watch this?" What is your response? Why do you respond that way? >> I don’t have an eight-year-old brother and I don’t know anything about how I would respond in a sibling-dynamic situation because I’ve never been in one. 3540. Who REALLY has a higher sex drive, girls or guys? How can you tell? >> --- 3541. are you usually carefree? >> No. 3542. Do you generally prefer reading to meeting people? >> This is an odd comparison to make. 3543. Do you often long for excitement? >> No. 3544. Are you mostly quiet when you are with others? >> It depends on what kind of situation I’m in and what kind of day I’m having. And who the others are. And where we are. Context, people. Details. Please. 3545. Do you often do things spur of the moment? >> No. 3546. Are you slow an unhurried in the way you move? >> Sometimes. If I’m doing something I hate or that triggers me, then I tend to be a lot more hurried. 3547. Would you do almost anything for a dare? >> I wouldn’t do anything on a dare. 3548. Do you hate being in a crowd who plays jokes on one another? >> Er... 3549. Do you enjoy wild parties? >> No. 3550. Have you ever paid for something priced more than $5.00 in only change? >> No, but I was with someone that did. We had to scrounge for change in her car so we could buy enough gas to get us the rest of the way home, lol.

#surveys #survey #5000 question survey #not for reblogging *glare*

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jennikkugoesoff · 5 years

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Jennikku goes off about a Sonic the Hedgehog Reboot.

If you follow me at all or have read many of my other rants, you’ll know I love Sonic the Hedgehog. A lot, with all my heart. I met my friends through Sonic and it’s a franchise that’s changed a lot in my life, for better, for worse and everything in-between. It’s the reason I started to draw, to write and to really give creativity a chance.

It’s a series that has been through many twists, turns, up and down and all arounds over the course of it’s long, 28 (as of the time of writing) year lifespan, and has stood the test of time, being heralded either as one of the best video game franchises of all time, or, well, one of the worst out there, becoming more and more dated by each passing day.

But, it didn’t start out that way. Everyone’s told the long, terrible story now about Sonic’s massive rise to the top of 1990s American Iconography and his massive plummet into the depths of Hell, dragging his now-bitter fans down with him following the turn of the century and segwaying into the modern age, so I won’t bog you with the details you already know, but here’s the main point.

Sonic the Hedgehog... kinda sucks.

And that’s because it’s a mess. An astronomically confused, tired, and beaten mess. In the 28 year lifespan of Sonic the Hedgehog, it’s canon has become massively tangled in knots. Inconsistent games, inconsistent comics, inconsistent cartoons, and so on and so forth. Anyone who’s a fan of Sonic comes from a place where they heard about Sonic, be it the games, the cartoons, the comics, and so on, and therefore, have a different mindset about what Sonic the Hedgehog should be, which is the cause for much of the heavy, almost unpleasable climate the fan community gives off.

Really? The only way I see the series being salvageable is to wipe the slate clean and begin... at least somewhat anew, and see how these scatted pieces of broken glass we call the ‘Sonic canon’ can fit together.

This has been tried once, with Sonic Boom, but it didn’t really end well, and I’d like to change that, so let’s have this hypothetical reboot take the same form as Sonic Boom, as a potential ‘new face’ for the entire series, rather than a spinoff continuity. (I feel like this was the original intention of Sonic Boom, but due to the backlash, was revoked.)

Are you comfortable? Let’s go. It’s gonna be a long-ass, tiring, winding post.

(Seriously I spent fucking 3 days just writing this post. For that reason, there may be a few gRaMatTcul eRors here and there, just bear with me, okay? I’m tired and I just wanna heave out this monster of an idea.)

Housecleaning and on wiping the slate clean

Ok, before we actually get into redoing the series, I wanna make this clear, when I say I want to ‘wipe the slate clean’, that’s sort of an exaggeration. I don’t think Sonic needs to be completely rewritten from scratch, and certain elements of the series DO work very well, so it’s more we’re gonna ‘wipe the slate clean, but immediately redraw things back on, except bigger and better than they were before.’

The reason why is, Sonic the Hedgehog has a kind of ‘hoarder complex’ when it comes to his franchise. As I established earlier, the main problem with rebooting Sonic the Hedgehog as compared to another franchise like, say, Ducktales, or Ghostbusters, is that Sonic the Hedgehog has a lot of lore. Too much lore. Think about the crazy amount of lore surrounding Solaris, Mephiles, Dark and Light Gaia, the Wisps, Chaos, and Tikal, Shadow and the Black Arms, Silver, the Sol Dimension and Blaze, Eggman Nega, the Nocturnus Clan, the list goes on and on and on. It’s head-spinning, it’s confusing, and most of all, obtrusive to what’s actually important in the Sonic Canon versus what seems important.

This isn’t helped by the fact that Sonic has never really had a consistent ground to stand on in terms of his world and where he lives because where he lives changes with every game or new thing Sonic is in. So, introducing these new, complicated gods and grand, sprawling history all of a sudden doesn’t give the world Sonic lives in any ground or any real meaning if it’s just going to be ignored later on when Sonic Forces completely rewrites the world map from Unleashed. (This is a problem I have with the Mario and Kirby series too.)

Even if you claim something like the Sonic Archie comics have consistency in their setting, think about how much the comic’s version of Mobius changed over the course of its lifespan after not only being completely rewritten (thanks Ken Penders. I’m sure your horrific 3d render children are proud.) and two crossovers, not to mention all the subtle shifts and changes the comic made from its debut comic to its cancellation.

So, if we’re going to do this, we need to get this straight right now.

A new Sonic reboot will NEED to cover EVERY base of the Sonic continuity. Games, Comics, Cartoons, Merchandising (with the exception of maybe some anniversary stuff), The Whole Echidna- er, Enchilada.

If the problem with Sonic as it is, is that the continuity is messy because it keeps adding new stuff? THEN STOP FUCKING ADDING NEW STUFF!!

NO ONE’S GONNA LIKE THE NEW STUFF ANYWAY!!

PEOPLE FUCKING HATE CHANGE!!

THIS FRANCHISE IS SO FUCKing MiSTReATED!- FUCK!!

Nah, but seriously. If this reboot is gonna work, then it needs to BE a proper reboot. Not a side-series like Sonic Boom, not an ‘alternate dimension’ to dip into for mainline games, not a one-off series of animated shorts, no quills, no pillows. If we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna go all in. At least in terms of continuity.

So, you know what we’re gonna name this reboot?

Sonic the Hedgehog

Just, Sonic the Hedgehog. Yep. All in, indeed.

Audience, Tone, and Genre

I feel maybe I should’ve split these into multiple sections, but, they really all go hand-in-hand.

If we’re gonna remake Sonic, we gotta first decide how Sonic should feel, and who he’s going to appeal to. So, let’s consider what we’re working with first, based on the history of who Sonic has appealed to.

The whole point of Sonic’s young, hip, snarky personality was to appeal to the American youth of the 1990s (kids, teenagers, and young adults), the young, hip, snarky and coolest people around. Sonic sought to identify with these kids by being a little bit ‘edgier’ and ‘cooler’ than most other cartoon characters of his era, but still with the capability to be as cute, wholesome and inherently charming as his competition. Like the perfect little blend of the sarcastic wit of Bugs Bunny and the lovable personability of Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat.

Many Sonic clones of the 1990s like Bubsy, Aero the Acrobat, and Zero the [CENSORED] Squirrel tried to piggyback off of Sonic in this manner by trying to play up Sonic’s edgy, snarky appeal, but what they lack is that more wholesome, laid back, simple, round and friendly aspects of his design. It’s why Sonic can look like this:

but also like this

like this

but also like this.

It’s why Sonic works so well as a cartoon character in animated shorts and cartoons, as well as an action character in high octane blood pumping action anime, and one of the reasons why I think his design is so appealing. It’s this, this perfect balance between cool superhero and cuddly, wholesome cartoon character that makes Sonic such the iconic character he is.

So what’s the point of me telling you that?

Well, lots of people disagree on what Sonic the Hedgehog’s tone should be, and what audience Sonic should appeal to. Many argue Sonic is a series strictly meant for children, and therefore shouldn’t take any risks and be cutesy, wholesome and bouncy. Others argue Sonic should market itself to teenagers and young adults by pushing its envelope with it’s material and turning itself into a giant melodrama with three-dimensional characters, intertwining relationships and giant, epic Dragon Ball Z style showdowns with blood, guts and the crunching of noses and teeth.

You know what’s popular right now though and seems to have been for a while? A blend of those exact two things.

It sounds dumb but, think about it. Video games and cartoons have been taking this turn toward being a little bit of the best of both worlds. Steven Universe, Undertale/Deltarune, Star Vs. The Forces of Evil, even stuff like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, that sort of thing.

So, I think a new Sonic reboot should be an Action/Adventure-Comedy. It’s a series about long, lengthy quests and the ongoing war between nature and machine, but it’s also about a quick-witted cartoon character having fun picking on an overconfident evil scientist and his lackeys.

And you know what? I think Sonic is and has shown that this is the environment he flourishes in. Think about why Sonic Mania Adventures and Team Sonic Racing: Overdrive work so well, or why OK KO: Let’s Meet Sonic! is so great! It places Sonic and co. in an environment in which they have the opportunity to be funny and cartoony, but also leaves itself open to lead into more strict action sequences or serious, emotional moments, should it feel the need to. It lets the characters be the characters, without being impeded by everything needed to be babyproofed, but also not interrupted by fanfic-tier melodramatics every 2 and a half minutes. And, considering how much any media featuring Sonic relies on its characters to garner appeal, this is important.

Besides that, this is also important for something I think is going to make this reboot go from good to great.

: ✧･ﾟ: U N I F I C A T I O N ! :･ﾟ✧ :

I’ve said this before in my other essay on how I’d reboot Sonic, but I truly feel that bringing together a lot of different elements of Sonic’s history together for this reboot is a top-notch idea for not only bringing the series back together whilst maintaining a wide appeal but also broaden the scope of potential characters, settings, and plot points we can work with, rather than just limiting it to just the classic era, or just the modern era, it also might leave veteran fans wondering just who or what was going to show up in the next game, or next episode!

Why limit ourselves to just a classic-style series or just a modern-style series? Why not mix it up a little?

Let’s take the cute classic stuff and mix it with some of the cool modern stuff!

I mean of course there’s gonna be purists but, hey, if we have a little bit of both we might just start seeing eye to eye!

So, what does that mean for the audience? Well, I think in that sense, Sonic should be able to appeal to, about anyone, really. Adults, Kids, Teenagers, anyone. It’d be like going to see a Marvel Superhero movie in the theaters or watching Spongebob on TV, yeah, it’d be something kids enjoy, but also something young adults can appreciate too. Although if we absolutely have to stick to a demographic, I’d say the ideal targets for a Sonic the Hedgehog reboot are two groups of people specifically.

Older fans of the series who grew up with the Adventure and Classic games, and Younger people who are more familiar with the modern games. As far as drawing new people or embittered old fans in?... Well, we’ll get to that.

Plot synopsis

It may seem like a no-brainer what the plot of Sonic the Hedgehog is, right? Well, of course it is. It’s been the same for over 20 years, and, I think the premise? Is fine.

“Sonic the Hedgehog is the fastest thing alive and a protector of nature who loves adventure. He’s smarmy and mischevious, but with a heart of gold and an unshakable sense of justice with a can-do attitude. His archnemesis, Dr. Eggman, wants to take over his natural, sprawling home and begin building his planet-conquering empire in its place. It’s up to Sonic and his group of friends to defeat Dr. Eggman, and restore peace to the world, and the green back to the hills.”

This? Right here? This is Sonic the Hedgehog. No matter who you ask, from any branch of the franchises thousand-foot tall family tree, this is Sonic the Hedgehog. There’s a couple of doodads and twists here and there depending on the specific game, but that’s really honestly it when you break it all down, that’s the plot of almost every Sonic game. But this can easily get lost and bogged down between all of the God-summoning and all that shit that other Sonic media does.

So, let’s keep the focus on this, and this alone. Just the ongoing misadventures, setbacks, leaps forward, threats and triumphs between Sonic and Co. and the forces of evil.

...(But let’s add the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald, I don’t think I can stand having a Sonic continuity without them and they make for good plot fodder, plus, I’ll be damned if I’m not seeing Super Sonic by the time a series finale or end-of-game hits.)

Setting + Background Lore

So, to set a location, let’s dumb down where Sonic actually lives. (Figuratively anyway, Sonic has no true home, just places he likes to be at any one time.)

In the Genesis days, Sonic lived on a tiny island called South Island, and the game’s settings often took place on South Island or on it’s neighboring islands Westside and Angel Island, and, given how important these old zones, like Green Hill and Chemical Plant Zone, are to the current Sonic Canon, I propose that maybe the setting for this potential reboot takes place on said islands, with one island for each of the cardinal directions on a compass, but also some of the other islands that are included in the Sonic series (as well as some adjusted ones!)

And, as a reference to the days of yore, we could even call it

The Mobius Archipelago

Each of these islands would have their own unique areas (referred to as ‘Zones’ for both nostalgia and convenience’s sake) based on the different levels from Sonic games. I’m unsure of the exact geography of these islands in question, but, you get the idea if you’re at all familiar with the canon, South Island has all the zones from Sonic 1 (16 and 8 Bit), Sonic Chaos and Sonic 2 (8-bit), Westside Island has all the zones from Sonic 2 and a couple from Sonic Mania, Angel Island has all the Zones from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, North Island is essentially a fusion of all the different Eggman Zones (Crystal Egg, Sleeping Egg, Scrap Brain, Metropolis, Eggmanland, Robotropolis, Robotnik Winter, the zones from SegaSonic the Hedgehog, etc.), Flicky’s Island has all of the zones from Sonic 3D Blast, Cocoa Island has all the zones from Tails Skypatrol and Tails Adventure, Mirage Island has all the zones from Sonic 4 and also Never Lake, and Little Planet (and hence all the zones from Sonic CD) you get the idea.

I’m unsure what exactly Eastside Island would have on it, but I figured that Sonic games have so many zones and levels across so many games, surely something would find a nice home on that island, perhaps some of the zones from Sonic Mania, Sonic Blast, maybe even the Adventure games, who knows? But, inevitably, space is going to run out on those other islands and we’ll likely have zones or locations that’ll be good for the series to have.

And then, we also have a mainland sprinkled with City. This is where your Adventure/Modern style cities are, Station Square, City Escape, that sort of thing.

It may not seem like much, considering some Sonic games have settings that span entire planets, but when you think about how many zones are crammed into a few little islands in the genesis titles alone, it’s hardly a limited setting.

The natives of this island chain would be Mobians and Mobini. Mobians are your typical Sonic characters, your Sonics, your Tailses, your Knuckleses, and so on and so forth. They’re the more humanoid animals. Mobini, on the other hand would be all of the smaller animals, the kind that Sonic frees from badniks or are just knockin about doing little woodland creature things. For more information on Mobini, I’ve included a little blip about them in the ‘Side Protagonists’ part of this little shanty ‘pitch guide’.

Humans would live on the mainland, although some researchers and scientists would visit the Archipelago every so often because of it’s mysterious ‘new frontier’ kind of appeal, even if Mobians find their research a little weird.

Generally, Humans also keep to the mainland, and Mobians keep to their islands, but, make no mistake, Mobians and Humans don’t hate each other. Some Mobians and Mobini have taken to the urban lifestyle, whereas some humans have taken to the natural wonder of the Archipelago, starting environmentally friendly cities and towns in the sleepy groves and corners of this untamed wilderness.

This Archipelago would be the point of focus for our Main Characters because, well, it’s their native home, and it’d draw our Main Villains because this island is also home to the Seven Chaos Emeralds, and their Master Emerald.

The Chaos Emeralds are the main MacGuffins of the Sonic series, and for good reason! Gathering all seven of these things grants their holder infinite access to chaos energy, a kind of force that will turn their thoughts into power, whether positive or negative. While most Mobians would prefer to leave the Chaos Emeralds alone, due to them causing, well, chaos, villains seek these gems out on purpose so that they can easier accomplish their goals. However, if a hero were to gather all seven chaos emeralds, and had enough purity, desire for good, and strength in their heart, the emeralds will grant them immense power, too.

Upon a vast amount of energy being used however, the Emeralds will scatter across the Archipelago, waiting for their next holders to come, and initiate chaos once more.

And then, there’s the Master Emerald. The Master Emerald is very similar to the Chaos Emeralds, and contains tenfold the amount of energy of a full set of Chaos Emeralds, but also acts as an on/off switch for the Chaos Emeralds. The Master Emerald can completely drain the Chaos Emeralds of their power, or multiply their power exponentially if one knows how to control it, making the Master Emerald incredibly valuable too. However, villains usually tend to opt for the Chaos Emeralds instead, not only because legends of the Master Emerald are believed to be false, or even if it is real, no one knows how to control it, but the Master Emerald is also said to have a guardian. A very, very angry guardian.

There’s also the lesser-known Time Stones.

The Time Stones reside on Little Planet, an anomalous celestial body that appears only once every year over Never Lake on Mirage Island. These stones seemed to have formed in a similar fashion to the Chaos Emeralds, but rather than bending SPACE to the will of their holders, the Time Stones will instead, bend Time. The Time Stones, for this reason, are even more dangerous than the Chaos Emeralds and are responsible for many of the temporal anomalies within the Archipelago. Due to their danger, the Time Stones see much more infrequent use than the Chaos Emeralds, and keeping them on Little Planet as opposed to bringing them to the surface of the Earth is much safer, as the Time Stones will only seemingly affect the time stream of Little Planet and not the Earth.

The Time Stones won’t matter until later in the series when Sonic and Co. start tampering with time, and for a while, the focus will remain on the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald.

But enough about where Sonic lives, let’s look at him and the rest of our colorful main cast, shall we?

Main Protagonists

Hooh, boy I am not gonna make many friends with this decision, am I?

This is kinda where my reboot starts to get a lot little tiny bit more personal, but, I have reasoning behind picking who I pick. The characters I’d pick to be the main protagonists, as in the characters that the viewers of the cartoon series, readers of the comic, or players of the games are going to be:

A) Playing as

B) Rooting for

C) Following throughout most of the adventures.

are as follows:

Sonic the Hedgehog

Miles “Tails” Prower

Knuckles the Echidna

Amy Rose

Mighty the Armadillo

Ray the Flying Squirrel

The first two seem obvious enough, Sonic and Tails are the two spotlight protagonists of most Sonic games and are the two chief playable characters in most games of the Genesis Era. Knuckles should come as no surprise either for the same reason, although I’ll touch on Knuckles later when I assess the protagonists on an individual level.

I chose Amy as one of the leads because, well, Amy frankly hasn’t seen that much time in the sun as a true character, and I feel like that’s a shame given her longevity in the series, being with us ever since CD. Her most complex appearance was in Sonic Adventure 1 and even then, she’s kinda reduced to the same traits as her white-bread, palid, boring, Genesis counterpart. While I would like to have another female character so Amy isn’t a ‘token chick’, I don’t really want to shake up the formula too much.

Mighty and Ray are a little bit different. With the release of Sonic Mania Plus though, I feel that Mighty and Ray are more relevant now than they ever were, and considering their placement as main characters in Mania Plus, I think that we could really benefit from their addition to the main lineup of Sonic’s friends! Sure, Mighty and Ray don’t have much personality, but maybe this is where we can change that and give these lost stars a chance to sparkle as main characters after spending so long in the shadows of the past!

However, I do wanna state, that I understand if some people feel Mighty and Ray are irrelevant. I get that, really, I do. It’s one of the things in this projected reboot that I feel is much more personally appealing to me than it is ‘what I think is best for the Sonic franchise’. Put plain and simple, Mighty and Ray are just... not as popular as other Sonic characters. And, adding these two to the roster of main characters means that the main character count skyrockets from an easily manageable 4 to 6, which can seem like a bit much to some people I’ll agree, and means that they’ll likely see more screentime than other popular protagonist characters like Cream, Silver or even Blaze. But, at the same time, I also feel that if they’re popular enough to be included in Sonic Mania Plus, then there at least is some interest in the fan community of them being relevant, regular characters again. And, what better niche for them to fit into than being two of Sonic’s close friends again while going on adventures with him regularly?

(Side note, I also felt like including Sticks as a main character, and I may come back to that idea later if I end up making any content for this reboot, but as it stands I felt 7 main characters were just a bit too much, although it would’ve been cool to have a character for each Chaos Emerald, and I think there are a lot of real, genuine comedic possibilities, as well as some unique action choreography from her.)

I also don’t think Sonic’s design or the design of his friends need to be changed around too terribly much for a reboot? (Although there are some characters I think could benefit from a rework, but Sonic and MOST of the main characters are okay imo) There’s a lot of contention on Sonic’s design in any sense but, personally? I think Sonic’s designs can actually be pretty well unified, all things considered. I think Sonic could benefit from a few design ADJUSTMENTS, but maybe not a full-scale redesign like Sonic Boom.

For instance, these early concepts for Dreamcast Sonic are an excellent starting place, as I feel they capture the spirit of all three versions of Sonic pretty well all things considered, save for their quills being a little long. the proportions on them are a little off, however, with a couple of adjustments, I think this could actually be a really good idea.

Nendoroid Sonic is also pretty close to what I think a unified Sonic design could look like, if someone held a gun to my head and told me to pick an ideal new design for Sonic, it’d probably be very close to this.

(Credit to JaysonJeanChannel on DA for this render of Nendoroid Sonic.)

Or, even moving back a little bit, “Toei Sonic“, although kind of overrated in my opinion, is a really nice compromise between the cutesy, cartoony nature of the original versions of Sonic, while still updating Sonic to be more obviously sleek, sharp and spring-loaded for his modern audiences, and is full of personality. That’s not to say I think Toei Sonic should be the new face of Sonic the Hedgehog for years to come, but it’d be a great starting point to work from, given that Toei is a version of Sonic suited for intense, rubberhosy, slippery animations.

In the end, the only thing that truly matters is that Sonic looks like Sonic, and not like a weird little blue goblin if the backlash on the first pass of the Sonic Movie is any indication? We shouldn’t try to fix what isn’t broken, I just think that maybe trying out a hybrid between classic and modern Sonic to see how people feel about it might be a nice compromise between those who prefer Classic Sonic vs. those who prefer Modern or Adventure Sonic, again, unification, the best of both worlds.

That being said, let’s have a look-see into each character individually, shall we? For this, I’ll give a name, my projected voice actor for them, and a little blurb about their personality, as well as a short list of their abilities.

I’ll also try to justify my reasons for some stuff that people may consider odd after all of the character bios.

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Voice Actor: Ben Schwartz/James Arnold Taylor

Sonic is heroic, ambitious, and a complete adrenaline junkie. He'll take on any challenge that's given to him in the history of forever, even if absolutely knows it's impossible or he could get hurt trying to do it or he's absolutely not skilled enough at what he's doing to do it. Hence, Sonic is extremely competitive and gets easily absorbed in things he does, even around friends. Sonic tends to not look before he leaps as he's able to get himself out of situations so easily, preferring to live on his feet without thinking too hard about anything, although he's not dumb by any stretch of the imagination and will slow down and strategize if he absolutely needs to, and will always be willing to slow down for someone in need. Sonic is cocky, snarky, and believes a little too much in himself, he has an ego the size of the sun and will do anything he has to protect his image, especially how he views himself. Sonic also has an incredible amount of attitude and makes fun of people he doesn't like or thinks deserve it with insulting nicknames or cruel jokes, often being sarcastic and witty even at the worst of times to be. Although Sonic tries as hard as he can to keep his cool a lot of the time and prefers to live without consequences or regrets on his mind, when he's angry, sometimes he can lash out at people and can become downright completely rude when upset. Sonic is also something of a juvenile delinquent, often breaking rules just because he can or he thinks it's fun or funny, which often gets him into trouble. Sonic EXTREMELY Dislikes being called 'slow' or things being faster than he is (often wanting to prove his mettle against whatever is faster than him even if it hurts him), and has even less patience for slowing down unless he absolutely has to. He hates to wait and hates to be kept waiting, oftentimes getting bored and leaving in mere seconds if a situation doesn't matter that much to him, although he's known to show much, much more patience when people are hurt, or upset, and has an affinity for relaxing for long periods of time with friends after lengthy expeditions and adventures. Sonic hates to see innocent people cry or have their feelings hurt and will often get extremely upset at the cause depending on the person/situation, and believes that any situation he can tend to is important (as he often can do things so quickly it's often no trouble for him.)

Abilities:

Insta-Shield (Allows Sonic to deflect incoming projectiles with precise timing. This also extends Sonic’s hitbox a bit so it can inflict damage, and gives him invincibility frames!)

Wall Jump (Sonic can wall jump, but they need to be timed properly, as when Sonic lands on a wall, he’ll begin to slide, sliding down a wall for too long will cause Sonic to slip and eventually fall.)

Super Spin Dash (Sonic can rev his spin dash up much faster and much more efficiently than other characters, Sonic’s spin dash also has higher maximum propulsion, and will break walls much quicker.)

Super Peel Out

Light Dash (Using the light dash on a trail of rings will allow Sonic to pick up vast amounts of speed instantly by traveling along a trail of rings, being slingshotted out of the trail at an intense speed, the longer the trail of rings is, the faster he’ll be when he comes out of the trail, but also the more vulnerable he’ll be when he’s flung out of the trail. Sonic can also easily reclaim his fallen rings by light dashing, but there’s no guarantee you won’t go flying into the hazard you just tried to avoid when you do.)

Can use the abilities of elemental shields

Miles "Tails" Prower:

Voice Actor: Collen Villard

Tails is Sonic's closest friend. Tails is very intelligent and is something of an amateur technician, roboticist and mechanic, although he specializes in work with aircrafts, small-scale robotics, and computer systems. Frequently he prefers a much slower, methodical approach to problems as opposed to rushing into everything headfirst like Sonic does. Often relies on his intuition over instinct. Tails feels he and Sonic hold a kind of 'mutual responsibility' over each other to keep each other safe, hence Tails keeps Sonic out of trouble or from doing things that are REALLY REALLY stupid, but most of the time, Tails likes to indulge in Sonic's antics with him and even enjoys being kind of silly or being a rebel with him. Tails really looks up to Sonic and wants to have the same kind of respect, cool and wit that he does, however, in doing this, because of his low self-esteem, Tails will often ignore a lot of his more positive traits and attempt to mimic Sonic instead in an effort to seem 'cool', which can really make him do some out-of-place or seemingly strange things at times when he doesn't mean it because he can be a little shy to be himself. Tails is a firmly humble inventor and often attributes his successes to the support of others more often than his own work, and he will not ever invent anything for the purpose of competing with someone or for the sake of jealousy, believing that his best work comes from his heart.

Abilities:

Flying (This would be nerfed significantly from Sonic Mania and S3&K so Tails couldn’t just fly over everything. Tails’ gameplay should encourage exploration in more ways than just one.)

Spin Dash

Tinkering (Allows Tails to reverse conveyor belts, turn off sawblades, and do other shit to help him get through mechanical levels.)

Ring Bomb (Short range projectile at the cost of rings, explodes in a small radius)

Remote Robot (Allows Tails to explore places he can’t otherwise get to at the cost of 1 ring per second)

Knuckles the Echidna:

Voice Actor: Dan Green

The key word to Knuckles is STRESS. Knuckles is the guardian of the Master Emerald, and boy does he take his job seriously, being the very last living Mobian Echidna, and being very in-tune with his family and extended tribe's history. He has an inherent connection with the Master Emerald that allows him to sense it's location, wherever it might be, if this feeling of his is tampered with only slightly, it sends Knuckles into an incredible, panicked rage that can only be quelled by returning the gem to where he left it, or by retrieving the gemstone from whoever stole or moved it. He will only leave the emerald alone for long periods of time once he is one-hundred percent confident no one will touch it or move it (and even then he oftentimes gets worried about it anyway) and hence, interacts with Team Sonic on a more infrequent basis because of this (although he still has plenty of moments dedicated to him.) However, when not guarding the Emerald and forced to loosen up and relax, one can find that Knuckles is rather stoic and full of quote en quote 'sage-advice' (or rather stuff that seems and can be profound but can also be kind of insane ramblings from someone who spends too much time alone with some rock.) He often doesn't understand Sonic's more urban lifestyle, preferring his more traditional, simple 'off the fat of the land' kind of life, but he's surprisingly receptive to new things (unless said new thing gets the emerald stolen of course.) Knuckles is also incredibly suspicious and paranoid of people, even believing people he's close to having the capability of turning on him, and because of this, he's incredibly gullible when it comes to people 'changing' or 'turning evil' or 'wanting to take the Master Emerald', although he's usually smart enough to not fall for the same trick twice... or at least, not for a while after it happens once. Because of his ability to be tricked so easily, and because tricking him often leads to bad things, Knuckles' temper and patience are very short, and very small things easily can make him very upset. Knuckles actually has a weakness for romance, being such a lonely soul, he often gets shy and acts noticeably different (read: Happier) around people that can charm him, but often won't admit it.

Abilities:

Gliding

Climbing

Spin Dash

Burrowing (works sort of like the burrow mechanic from Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, except Knuckles can remain and move underground for a bit to be invincible, although this ability is very limited and cannot be done on metal or synthetic flooring.)

Melee Attacks (Knuckles can punch things in a short range, nuff said.)

Amy Rose:

Voice Actor: Kristen Schaal

Amy is positive, bubbly, loud and honestly kind of a silly airhead sometimes. Although at first, it seems there's very little to her, there's actually a lot more to her than her outward appearance would suggest. Amy tends to not judge people by their looks or by their behaviors, and is very open-minded and emotional, often getting choked up over things she really doesn't need to. Amy is also pretty selfless, willing to help people without any benefit to herself or any reason besides being a good person, although that's not to say she just lets people walk all over her. Amy is also something of a social butterfly, having connections with about everyone anyone else even remotely knows, and can easily tell you all about them and will want you to meet them upon even the mention of their name. Her inherent energy makes her a lot to deal with at once, even people like Sonic, Tails, and Mighty can get tired of her very quickly, even if it's very clear that she means well. She also makes for a great therapist and is willing to help anyone with problems they might be having, even if they push her away at first. However, Amy isn't all the girly girl she seems sometimes and has kind of a violent edge, anyone who pushes her around or says anything bad about her friends is gonna get walloped with her hammer, and believe me, you don't ever quite forget a feeling like being Piko'd by Amy Rose. On this note, Amy also kinda... doesn't know her own strength, and can seem stronger than Knuckles, or even Mighty at times because she just absolutely does not know her limits, expect lots of spine-crushing hugs.

Abilities:

Triple Jump (Amy can jump three times in succession, however, each jump significantly degrades in height boost. Her normal jump will go the highest and her third jump will go the lowest. Because of this ability, Amy also does not spin when she jumps, meaning she can’t defeat Badniks or damage enemies by jumping on them, she won’t take damage from bouncing on them, it just won’t destroy them.)

Hammer Smash (A mid-range melee attack that will destroy most enemies instantly.)

Hammer Spin (Both an Aerial attack to make up for the fact Amy can’t spin jump and a dash attack to make up for the fact Amy can’t spin dash.)

Peel Out (Functions similarly to the peel out in Sonic Advance or Sonic 2: Pink Edition, replaces the Spin Dash.)

Mighty the Armadillo:

Voice Actor: Beck Bennett/Travis Willingham

Mighty is one of Sonic's oldest friends and is his foil in a lot of ways. He prefers to take his time with a lot of things and doesn't really mind going slow. Mighty is something of a 'meathead', he's naive, and kinda absentminded at times, even if he doesn't mean to be. Mighty is very strong and takes incredible pride in his abilities much like Sonic. He adores his own strength and quote en quote 'manliness' and will do anything to keep his ego inflated and his muscles bigger than everyone else's' (as opposed to Knuckles who views his strength as a humble reward for his years of training). Despite this, he has a very brotherly (read: dudebro) sense of personality though and likes to call people 'bro' and 'sis', and has a habit of saying 'not cool' when things don't go right or when people wrong him. Most of the time, Mighty's slow and naive ways can make him easily influenced into believing things (like conspiracies and the idea protein powder actually does things), and he's not afraid to speak his mind, often coming off as insensitive (which is how he got kicked out of Team Chaotix), when really, he just doesn't happen to know any better, although most of the time he really does mean well. Mighty also really likes to hear himself talk, oftentimes telling long-winded stories or going on long-winded rants or explanations. He tends to butt heads with Sonic and Knuckles, who get annoyed sometimes by his easygoing, borderline dim-witted nature, oftentimes reminding him of obvious things that are happening/have happened. However, Mighty greatly cares for his friends, and the one thing he absolutely will never bend on is he will not ever hurt someone who didn't do him wrong, and despite his naivety, Mighty's incredible sense of justice always triumphs over his unassuming nature. He's also Ray's best friend and will defend Ray over any other person.

Abilities:

Natural Armor (Allows Mighty to take one free hit from spikes, and defeat spiked enemies without being harmed. If a projectile hits Mighty while he’s spinning or jumping, the projectile will bounce off of his armor. This is only while Mighty is spinning, attacks from the back or while Mighty is running will still land.)

Hammer Drop (A ‘stomp’ attack that allows Mighty to crush most Badniks instantly, and will also instantly crush breakable objects and solid blocks much faster than other characters.)

Spin Dash

Mighty Arm (If Mighty presses an action button near an enemy, monitor or breakable item, Mighty will pick it up. While picking something up, Mighty will move slower and his jump will be downgraded, but he can throw the item to deal heavy damage to whatever it hits! And, picking up certain enemies or items may just come with some surprises!)

Super Wall Jump (Mighty can wall-jump much like Sonic, but upon sticking to the wall, Mighty will hang there, and will only slide down at the player’s discretion.)

Ray the Flying Squirrel:

Voice Actor: Debi Derryberry

Ray is neat, quiet, shy, easily disturbed and has a bit of a stutter to his voice. Ray tends to be sort of asocial compared to other members of Team Sonic and prefers not to get in the way if he thinks he's being a bother. However, despite this, Ray is much smarter than he might seem and has a level of resourcefulness to a point that even trumps Tails (who is much more intelligent) at times. Despite being so shy and cowardly, when he gets the chance, Ray is more than willing to do whatever it takes for the greater good, even if he's afraid to do so. Mighty is his best friend, and he gets obsessively worried about Mighty when he's not around, often worrying that he's wandered off or might have been hurt, kidnapped, etc. this often leads to Ray trying to find his friend or panicking that he's 'gone missing', even if Mighty was right under his nose the whole time, ironic, given his intuition and incredibly eagle-eyed nature. Much like Mighty as well, Ray can also be a little bit naive, although usually less so than Mighty himself.

Abilities:

Soaring (Ray will glide and can sweep upwards to gain height at a cost of speed, but also dip downwards to gain speed at a cost of height.)

Lite-Climbing (Ray can climb, and he can climb much faster than Knuckles, but players will need to position themselves carefully, as Ray can’t climb forever, and will eventually slip and fall, the more speed Ray has when Ray collides with the wall, the faster and longer he can climb it.)

Scout-Sense (Ray is able to detect hidden items nearby like Giant Rings, 1up Monitors, and power-ups, once Ray moves close enough to an item, an exclamation point will appear above his head, and the item he notices will be outlined in yellow.)

Dismantle (With similar timing to Sonic’s insta-shield, Ray can choose to land on a badnik instead of destroying it (even if he lands on something like a Shellcracker’s claw or Bubbles when spiked out), and he will begin to unscrew the badnik until it breaks. This rewards Ray with rings or more hidden items, and can make tricky badniks like Asteron and Shellcracker more bearable to deal with! This also works on bosses, except dismantling a boss will only cause a hit of damage to the boss, although Ray can stay latched on to deal multiple hits of damage if he isn’t knocked off!)

Hookay, if you’re not winded by all those character bios, let me try to explain some of my reasoning. I won’t be doing this with later characters because this post is already the size of a fucking dump truck, but, here we go anyway.

Yes. I chose Ben Schwartz over Roger Craig Smith and Jason Griffith for Sonic. No. I don’t hate Jason Griffith or Roger Craig Smith’s voices for Sonic. Yes, I realize Ben is going to play Sonic in the Movie. I know. But, you know what? I think Ben is the perfect person to play Sonic, he’s able to inflect a real smarmy teenager vibe and I DO like that a LOT. But Ben can also play a deeper or moodier teenager too, and I feel like that’s important for Sonic’s character just as much. Jason Griffith and Roger Craig Smith make a 15-year-old sound like he’s 24. Moving on.

I think Sonic needs to not be such a prep sometimes like he is in Colors, Generations, and Forces. Like, I get that Sonic is all about doing the right thing, but, Sonic is also a smarty-pants delinquent who disrespects authority because he can. There’s this great video on the design analysis of City Escape from Sonic Adventure 2 that shows just how much of a jerk Sonic is toward people he doesn’t care for, and how he feels about obeying rules and regulations. I feel being an asshole toward people he doesn’t like, is part of Sonic’s character, it’s just we need to make him an asshole in the right direction. Sonic can be a Bugs Bunny if we let him, it’s just that it shouldn’t be completely overblown... otherwise, we get STC Sonic.

Tails needs to do more things, and not sit on the sidelines like he does in Unleashed, Colors, and Forces. He does things in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Boom, hence this version of Tails is based more on those versions OF Tails. I don’t hate Unleashed and Colors Tails, but I feel the objectively superior version of Tails comes more from Boom (who I also feel captures all of the good things about Modern Tails ANYWAY) and Adventure (which is Tails at his most resourceful, intelligent and helpful.)

Knuckles needs to be not stupid. We can make other characters stupid, but Knuckles is not stupid, Mania made Knuckles stupid and I hate that because it’s never been who Knuckles is. Sure, he’s a bit of a dense knucklehead, but he’s not dumb, just dense, which is my problem with Boom Knuckles. There’s more to his reasons for why he does things the way he does than he doesn’t know better. He’s stubborn, he’s prone to anger, he’s traditional and very much centered on the past he never had, he worries, he panics. I don’t think Boom Knuckles is a bad character, I just think making KNUCKLES the character to get this personality was kind of a bad idea.

Amy just needs a better-developed personality. Seriously, she’s, already kinda set in stone in terms of who she is, it just needs to be expanded upon. But, Amy kinda already has the groundwork laid out for her with Boom and Modern, it’s just it needs to be molded a little bit.

Mighty comes from the classic era, and he, therefore, has no real, defining personality traits besides being a wall-jumping armadillo. I think Mighty could easily inherit Boom Knux’s personality, (as I feel a character named ‘Mighty’ would have kind of a strongman, meathead personality) but maybe changed up a bit. Instead of being just, dumb, I think Mighty being more oblivious than just stupid is better, plus, at any one time, most of the characters in-game or onscreen are able to deduce what’s going on instantly, having Mighty be a contrast to that is interesting. I also think a slow, easygoing lifestyle is kinda befitting to the Mighty we’ve seen recently, given that he doesn’t seem to emote all that much when Ray finally finds him after he’s been missing for, well, a good while, and doesn’t seem to know his own strength all the time. The only other information I know about Mighty is that he doesn’t like to fight all that much and he’s similar to Sonic, so I tried to include aspects of Sonic in his personality, but also make him kind where he can be.

If Ray’s SegaSonic sprites are anything to go by, Ray just might be a little bit of a scaredy-cat. And, I think this would make for an interesting dynamic between Ray and the rest of the team, he’d make a nice Luigi to everyone’s Mario, a character who is afraid, but willing to set aside his fears for the greater good and even for himself. He’d also be #relatable to the stressed-out teenage and young adult audience he’d be appealing to.

Side Protagonists

Here are my choices for side-protagonists in this reboot. These are ‘friendly characters’, characters that the main 6 characters regularly interact with, but are just not focused on as much. These characters would probably not be playable (except for Silver and Blaze MAYBE.)

The Mobini

Espio the Chameleon

Charmy Bee

Vector the Crocodile

Cream the Rabbit (and Cheese the Chao)

Big the Cat (and Froggy)

Silver the Hedgehog

Blaze the Cat

Now, I know what you’re thinking.

wHerE’s TeaM DaRK?!

Just, chill out..., okay? I’ll get to Team Dark in a minute.

I’d also like to clarify if this became a series, Silver and Blaze are probably not going to become relevant characters until much LATER in? I feel like Silver and Blaze should be saved for a very specific time in the reboot’s continuity and I’ll explain that later when we get into how I’d set this series’s continuity up, but there’s a very specific reason why I want to save Silver and Blaze for when the time is right, not because I hate Silver and Blaze, but because I think it’d make the most sense.

I also feel like the Chaotix should appear a lot more and play more of an active role in this new hypothetical reboot than they do in most modern Sonic games... and let’s make them a team of vigilantes instead of detectives. A team of vigilantes that uses TEAMWORK!... And combi-rings!

...Oh and while we’re here, let’s make Cheese a Hero Chao, mkay?

But enough talk about general things! Let’s dive into each of them individually!

The Mobini:

Voice Actor: Various, it’s likely mobini won’t need voices so much as varying sound effects.

The Mobini are the local, native, feral fauna of the world of this new Sonic reboot, all your normal birds, insects, lizards, fish, mammals, et cetera are all Mobini. Mobini, are mysterious creatures, as they harbor an inherent connection to the Chaos Emeralds, and are believed to contain small fractions of the Emeralds’ infinite energy. The Mobini are what first drew Dr. Eggman to the Archipelago in which South Island resides, as with this small portion of infinite energy within them, they can be used as organic batteries to power machines indefinitely!... Although this makes them very unhappy. Contrary to what you may think, Mobini are actually sentient, and remember friendly faces... and unfriendly ones too, so be kind! If you’re ever in trouble or lost in the sprawling forests of the Mobius Archipelago, Mobini may just be able to help you out. The most curious kind of Mobini are Flickies, small little birds native to Flicky’s Island and South Island (although they’ve seemed to branch out more recently), who are said to have an even closer connection to the Emeralds, and can even hold a super form! The phenomenon of Super Flickies is incredibly rare, but when it happens, Super Flickies will be more than willing to lend their power to someone who needs it.

Chao are a special type of genetically unstable Mobini that have no ‘Earthly’ counterpart. From the time a Chao is born to the time they pass away, a Chao will gain the traits of its parent, it’s friends, and or it’s caregiver. This makes Chao ideal pets, as their personality will adapt to suit their owner, this makes Chao not only incredibly diverse but surprisingly intelligent. Just be kind to Chao... you don’t want to know what kind of horror being unkind to these little creatures can lead to.

Espio the Chameleon:

Voice Actor: Phil LaMarr

The de-facto leader of the Chaotix, and the most responsible of the team, Espio is a lot quieter than most of the main cast, and much prefers the sound of a rushing, serene stream over loud, punchy rock music. With a powerful, free-flowing fighting style inspired by martial arts, Espio is an honorable fighter, believing only in fighting fair and straight and without exploiting an opponent’s extreme weaknesses. While he tends to be sort of reclusive and becomes easily annoyed by the antics of the Chaotix and Team Sonic, he’s a lot more unshakable than he looks, and actually kind of likes the excitement from time to time. He also has a long, sticky tongue which he happens to be embarrassed by, but sees more use as a tool than he’d like to admit. Espio will often dictate his mood or state of mind to people by changing his color.

Espio’s weapons of choice are giant shuriken, which he seems to be able to pull out of hammerspace.

Abilities:

Color changing

Partial Invisibility (Espio can cloak himself to appear invisible, as long as he stands still and isn’t connected to anything. This ability sees more frequent use when Espio is alone, as it doesn’t really apply much when he fights with his team.)

Combi-Ring Fighting Style

Tornado Spin (Similar to Sonic’s Spin Dash, except Espio spins horizontally instead of vertically, the tornado spin is very slow compared to the Spin Dash, but it’s just as deadly.)

Tongue (Much like Yoshi, Espio’s tongue can be used to grapple onto things with a surprising amount of force, either to pull them toward Espio, or Espio can ‘tongue punch’ things. He hates to do this.)

Charmy Bee:

Voice Actor: Sam Lavagnino (Ideally anyway, I understand if he’d be unable to, but imagine it! Catbug as Charmy Bee!)

A ‘junior member’ of the Chaotix, Charmy is a little bee in training to become a vigilante! However, he’s a little too excited about that fact sometimes. He’s meant to be cute and lovable, but also a realistic child fighting against things he probably shouldn’t be fighting against. It’s hard to hate him when he means so well though and tries his very best at anything he does. In this new reboot, Charmy also gains a small affliction toward electricity!

Abilities:

Flight (no duh.)

Combi-Ring Fighting Style (Charmy is surprisingly adept at carrying his fellow Chaotix members around with a Combi-Ring in hand, with Charmy around this can make for some high-octane, high-momentum fighting due to Charmy being so lightweight and quick.)

Volt Sting (Charmy can use his stinger, and believe me, it hurts. Fortunately, Charmy can sting more than once! and his sting will deliver an electric shock to anything it touches, this is bad news for anything mechanical, or wet!)

Thunder Shoot (Charmy can instantly ground any flying enemy by electrifying an ally and tossing them at the flying enemy!)

Vector the Crocodile:

Voice Actor: Keith Silverstein (Although I’m open to someone else if everyone else if sick of FIND THE COMPUTER ROOM!)

The Chaotix’s greedy, but fiercely defensive ‘leader’ (he’s able to make tough decisions a lot better than Espio, but he isn’t very responsible in many ways). Vector got into the whole vigilante business because of the money he could gain from it, but after meeting Charmy and Espio, his whole world changed, and the rough-and-tough reptile has found a new calling, being a leader. Although Vector is often harsh, blunt, and dismissive, he’s also incredibly resourceful and has an eye for small details, so if he does push you away, it’s likely because he has a hunch on something related to it.

Abilities:

Air Dash (Vector can dash in any direction while in the air. This does not protect him from harm.)

Death Roll (Vector’s trademark donut-like Spin Dash, it’s a bit less controllable than a traditional Spin Dash but it’s immensely powerful because of Vector’s spiked back.)

Combi-Ring Fighting Style (Vector specializes in a ‘wrecking ball’ sort of display with his fighting style, performing a Death Roll followed by his opponents flinging him into something by way of Thunder Shoot or Espio’s speed.) Vector can also achieve the same effect by flinging Charmy or Espio into an opponent, or by ‘holding’ (think Knuckles Chaotix) them.

Fire Combination + Volcanic Dunk* (While Espio is tornado spinning and Charmy is spinning as well, Vector can grab the both of them to make ‘fighting gloves’ of sorts. With this, Vector can perform the Volcanic Dunk, in which he turns Espio and Charmy into powerful fireballs which can smash into enemies to deal tremendous damage!)

*Yes I know this is what Team Sonic uses in Sonic Heroes but do you honestly want Vector Breath to be something that’s regularly used?

Cream the Rabbit (and Cheese the Chao):

Voice Actor: Michelle Ruff (I’d list a voice actor for Cheese too but... do I HAVE to? Chao can be easily voiced with stock squeaks or Chao sounds from SA2.)

A pleasant little girl who seems to get caught up in the ongoing war between Sonic and the forces of evil. Like Charmy, she’s a kid, although Cream is much more patient and polite than Charmy. Cream in this reboot would sorta fill the niche that Tails filled in SatAM, rarely going on adventures, but looking up to the main cast and always being ready to support them in times of need.

Abilities:

Flapping (Cream can flap her ears to gain a little extra height, although it’s made very clear this isn’t exactly equal to Tails’ flight and is very limited.)

Cheese (Cream can sic Cheese on anything she wants, although Cheese isn’t very tough, he’ll do his best until he’s knocked away!)

Big the Cat (and Froggy):

Voice Actor: Jon St. John

Big is large, and not very bright, even less so than Mighty. But he’s terrifyingly strong, he may just be one of the strongest characters in this new reboot in terms of raw damage output, probably second only to Omega actually. But, Big’s not a fighter and prefers to spend his days by the lakeside, fishing with his companion Froggy.

Unbeknownst to him, though, Froggy harbors a dark secret, and, in fact, is the current owner of the tail of the ancient God of Destruction, Chaos. How Froggy exactly came upon Chaos’ tail is unknown, but it’s gotten Big and Froggy into trouble before.

Abilities:

Super Strength

Fishing Sense (Big can sense what kind of fish or how many fish, or even foreign objects or other animals are in bodies of water. It’s unknown how he does or knows this, but he does.)

Silver the Hedgehog:

Voice Actor: Scott Menville

Silver is from an alternate future, a long-forgotten timeline in which Robotnik succeeded in conquering the world, But his massive cities and factories were later laid waste to by the sands of time, and ancient forces of nature, throwing the future Silver resides within into complete Crisis. And now, filled with a sense of vengeance and justice, Silver has come back to the past, determined to find the one responsible for whoever did this to his future, but... there’s just a couple problems.

He’s only fourteen years old.

Silver is also rather bright-eyed and gullible, and him messing with the streams of time might have a bigger domino effect than he realizes, even if he has no intention of messing anything up.

Abilities:

Psychokinesis (Silver can move, and throw objects with his mind. Silver’s telekinesis is limited only by his focus and stress, as if Silver gets too stressed, he may release some of the objects he’s holding, the same goes for if he becomes unfocused. Using said telekinesis can make Silver very physically exhausted though, especially if Silver moves HIMSELF with his mind, which he can do to hover in the air for a while. Objects held by Silver will freeze, suspended in whatever state they were in when Silver grabbed them, and the objects Silver holds are denoted by a cyan aura.)

Psychic Knives (Silver can condense his energy into crescent-shaped blades of energy, which he can fire off at his discretion, again, only limited by his physical exhaustion)

Teleportation (Silver has the limited ability to teleport short distances, although he doesn’t seem to have a very good handle on it, as he often messes up his positioning and seems to almost... forget he can do it?)

Blaze the Cat:

Voice Actor: Tara Strong

Like Silver, Blaze is from an alternate future. Blaze is Silver’s best friend, but also kind of a sisterly figure to him. Blaze is older than Silver, and is much more reserved, mature and wary than Silver is, although she’s still more than happy to help Silver, and ensure a good future for both him and herself. Blaze is proud, trying to make the best out of her situation by trying and believing herself to be the best around, in a way, she sort of views Silver more like a sidekick, even if Silver does tend to pull his weight.

Abilities:

Pyrokinesis (Blaze can summon, control and is immune to fire. Her ability to do so is limited, although her fires are known to become more intense whenever Blaze is enraged. Blaze can use her fire either for offense by spraying jets of flame from her hands, or defensively by cloaking her entire body in flame, or using the power of fire to float for short periods of time.)

Tornado Spin (Like Espio, Blaze tends to spin horizontally rather than vertical, this, combined with her pyrokinesis, makes her incredibly fearsome to deal with.)

Main Antagonists

You know what the fuck’s going on already. These are all my picks for Major Villains in the reboot. The big bads. The guys who are gonna come in and try to take all those Chaos Emeralds and Time Stones and shit I was talking about and wreak havoc on the peaceful Mobius Archipelago.

They are as follows:

Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik

Orbot and Cubot

Metal Sonic

Heavy King (And the Hard-Boiled Heavies)

Great Battle Bird Kukku XV

Chaos

Emerl

Mephiles, Iblis, and Solaris

In the end, it was hard to decide on what villains to choose to be big bads, Sonic has so many good ones, but this is what it all bled down to eventually. I feel kinda like Dragon Ball Z or... like, any fucking action anime or cartoon ever tbh. I wanted to give some more underrated villains a chance to shine like Kukku and Emerl, while also bringing back some old favorites like Chaos and Mephiles.

...ALSO, I’M GONNA GET TO TEAM DARK DON’T WORRY!

Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik:

Voice Actor: Mike Pollock (as if there were any other choice.)

Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik is the biggest bad in this reboot, as he should be. Robotnik was formerly a young, gentleman scientist, who arrived on South Island with his colleague, Dr. Madonna to study the Mobini that lived there, however, using the grant money meant for his research, and not much caring about nature himself, Robotnik instead betrayed Dr. Madonna to begin forging an empire with his own two hands, an Empire he believed would eventually be able to conquer the world. And he would’ve gotten away with it, too... if all not for a meddlesome blue hedgehog child, who REALLY liked to compare the doctor to an egg. Since his first outing against the blue blur, Dr. Robotnik tried tirelessly, day and night, to get his empire up and into the air, coming back with bigger, and better firepower each time, even succeeding in conquering South Island and collecting six of the seven chaos emeralds at one point, but he was thwarted by this blue hedgehog, and later, his friends each time. This war has gone on for over 5 years now chronologically and maybe more in the actual scheme of things, and all those years of trying have really quite nipped at the doctor, who had gained a significant amount of weight, became a social pariah and had torn all his hair out, save for his mustache, which has overgrown and has become frayed, and the doctor had taken the name ‘Eggman’ as a shallow attempt to mock the blue blur. It’s not to say that Eggman hasn’t succeeded, his conquest and lust for power had bled everywhere, his Badniks, a series of small robots built by him, are an epidemic across the archipelago, he has factories, operations, and eyes everywhere, and Robotnik eventually succeeded in taking one of the Archipelago's many islands for his own, renaming what was once ‘North Island’ into ‘Eggmanland’, this little island is only a twisted glimpse into the madness of what a world under the doctor’s control could look like, his own personal carnival of evil, smog and dust, celebrating him, and only him. It’s these little successes, as well as his never-ending stubbornness and undying believe that man can and will always triumph over nature, that has warped Dr. Eggman from a nefarious, dashing gentleman, into a balding, crazed, nasty old coot. If trouble’s brewing on the islands, and you smell smog wafting by, you can be assured Dr. Eggman isn’t very far behind. To call him a ‘mad scientist’ is an understatement, but even through his delusions and megalomania, he really is a genius.

Orbot and Cubot:

Voice Actors: Kirk Thornton, Wally Wingert

Orbot and Cubot are the Doctor’s trusted aides and second-in-lines, and... probably the Doctor’s only friends as of current. Orbot and Cubot have special AI hand-crafted by the doctor and are arguably his most advanced and most sentient creations crafted by his own two hands. Orbot is serious, intelligent, and bitingly sarcastic, as he was meant to relay information about factories, schemes, and developments back to Eggman, whereas Cubot is dim-witted, slow, and lazy, as he was more meant to perform basic duties like keeping Robotnik’s living space neat and tidy (although he doesn’t always do the best job at this.) However, Orbot and Cubot have become more than that as time has gone on. Unlike the Modern games, Orbot and Cubot can actually hold their own in combat... well, sort of. They have their own unique ‘Scratch and Grounder’ style of dealing with Sonic and Co. and they don’t usually make much progress or get much done in this regard. In this reboot I want Orbot and Cubot’s designs to be updated besides being just ‘ball’ and ‘cube’ so that they can fight alongside Eggman and just look a lot more interesting in general.

Metal Sonic:

Voice Actor: Ben Schwartz (with an intense, robotic filter) if we HAVE to give him a voice. I’d really just prefer Metal to be silent or voiced by music cues and sound effects.

Metal Sonic is Dr. Eggman’s greatest creation. Designed and built by a Dr. Eggman from the future, Metal was sent back in time to aid the Eggman of the past, this, however, proved to be a mistake, as with Metal under his belt, the Doctor became easily overconfident in his victory, thinking now that he had his supposed greatest creation to aid him, nothing could possibly stop him.

Which made it all the more disappointing when Metal Sonic inevitably failed and was defeated by Sonic.

However, that wasn’t the end of it for Metal Sonic, after being recovered from the future on Little Planet, Metal was repaired, and sent to do reconnaissance on Sonic and Tails during their visit to Mirage Island. In the process of getting there, however, Metal absorbed an artifact while patrolling around the Lost Labyrinth Zone, which superseded the limits of Metal’s hardware, and not only restored Metal to his former greatness but gave Metal something that few of Eggman’s creations can ever claim to have. True sentience.

Now fully aware of who he was, and what he was doing, Metal easily made it to Sonic and Tails, and upon seeing his organic counterpart for the first time in so long ever since their duel on Stardust Speedway, Metal was filled with rage. Rage, unlike anything The Mobius Archepeligo had ever seen.

The artifact has given Metal all sorts of mysterious abilities, like the ability to manifest a near-indestructible shield, the power to harness the electricity flowing through his circuits to send himself into overdrive and utilize his own overloading as a weapon, and along with being a creation of a Dr. Eggman who has seen the fall of the Earth...

Who knows what kind of sadistic, inhuman thoughts lie behind those synthetic, glowing eyes?

Abilities:

Hyperspeed Thrusters (Metal’s thrusters easily make him as fast as Sonic, and, like Sonic, Metal can still spin, although Metal can also fly with his thrusters.)

Black Shield (Metal can form a defense matrix around him using the power of the artifact he absorbed in Lost Labyrinth, the Black Shield is completely indestructible. Nothing can break through it. Not even something as powerful as Super Sonic could even crack it.) The only caveat is, using the Black Shield renders Metal completely immobile, and unable to attack, and it has a slight warmup and cooldown period.)

Overdrive (Metal can use the artifact he absorbed to utilize the electricity flowing through his circuits to send himself into Overdrive. While in overdrive, Metal Sonic’s entire body sparks with electricity, and Metal can manipulate how he uses that electricity, whether it’s to cloak himself in sparks to beef up his physical attacks or create pillars of sparks and arcs of electricity to attack foes from a distance. The only thing is, Metal cannot do this too much, as doing this can easily cause Metal to overheat, or completely overload and have a ‘blowout’... in other words, explode.)

Heavy King:

Voice Actor: Jim Cummings (Yes, I know Jim did SATAM Robotnik but that’s not the voice I’m imagining for Heavy King. Jim can do more than just Robotnik you know, even though my decision was partially influenced by it being a nice callback. Again, these voice actors are only projections.)/Barry Humphries

Heavy King used to be EggRobo, a robot (which later became a line of Robots) built in the image of Dr. Eggman himself and meant to serve as a decoy for him, and as a stand-in to carry out his own ends.

But the energy of the Phantom Ruby changed that.

Now, Heavy King is the leader of an elite squadron of his EggRobo brethren known as the Hard-Boiled Heavies. They used to serve Robotnik, before breaking free of his control and serving their own ends, beginning a new (albeit, much, much smaller) empire under their own names. He and the other heavies are a force to be reckoned with, few are able to match the ruthless, cold, metallic hand of Heavy King. Despite this, however, Heavy King is known to be much more diplomatic and reasonable than Robotnik, ironically enough, because he believes himself to be vastly superior in every way to organic life. However, his inflated ego pays a steep price if you catch him at the wrong time. However, Heavy King is the current holder of the Phantom Ruby, and that alone should scare you.

(Also I won’t go over each of the Heavies individually because I don’t feel like it, but, I will list their voice actors.)

Heavy Gunner: Patrick Warburton... or at least a cheap impression of him.

Heavy Rider: Eliza Schneider

Heavy Magician: Alexia Khadime

Heavy Shinobi: Seth Green (I picture Shinobi having much more of a nerdy weeb voice than having a serious Japanese accent like Espio.)

Great Battle Bird Kukku XV

Voice Actor: Tom Kenny

A lesser-known big bad, or rather, big bird, Great Battle Bird Kukku XV (he gets upset if you don’t say the full name), is the leader of the Battle Bird Empire, a battalion of birds who, at one point, sought to take over the archipelago in a similar manner to Dr. Eggman, however, Great Kukku XV was thwarted by Tails. Tails, funnily enough, doesn’t remember him at all, in fact, no one does. As a villain, hardly anyone takes Great Kukku XV very seriously, even with his massive armies and capability. Fact is, Great Kukku XV is just a little too immature to be a leader, and hence, he’s not very dangerous. However, his battalion did give rise to a certain, screwy, trigger happy, fellow green bomb-throwing bird who happens to be a defector of his...

In this reboot, there would probably be a lot of jokes about people not knowing who Great Kukku even is, or how dangerous he is, but don’t worry, he’ll get his time in the sun eventually.

Chaos

Voice Actor: N/A, Chaos only speaks in water sloshes.

Chaos is one of the many original forces of nature that populated the Archipelago many years ago. Legend has it that Chaos was responsible for the mass extinction of the Echidna on Angel Island, and was the one responsible for flooding Hydrocity Zone, and the former Hidden Palace Zone. Chaos was formed when a Chao, who happened to be very old and unhappy due to the Echidna tribes of the day treating his people very unfairly, mutated due to the exposure of Chaos Energy to the Chao’s genetically unstable body. Chaos is a being of pure hate and pure destruction. It’s almost entirely composed of a thick, water-like substance that can take on liquid or solid properties at Chaos’ discretion. His body hungers for Chaos Energy, and he is willing to destroy anything that stands in his way to have it, specifically by absorbing the Chaos Emerald. With each emerald Chaos absorbs, Chaos only becomes bigger, and stronger, becoming harder and harder to defeat. And if Chaos gathers all Seven of the Emeralds? You’d better hope you can find some way to calm this Great Old One down, otherwise, your world may just end up underwater. Luckily, Chaos was sealed inside of the Master Emerald by its former guardian, Tikal, and there he shall remain... for now, at least.

Emerl

Voice Actor: Various (copies the voices of others. To speak it splices lines that it’s heard together.)

Originally created directly to counter Chaos whilst the Echidna tribes were facing extinction, Emerl is a Gizoid, a kind of Robot created to copy the physical data of others. Although one can initially defeat Emerl pretty easily, it’s advised not to vary your tactics too much, as Emerl’s original purpose, and his ultimate capability, is to copy any behavior he’s seen, in order to not only replicate it, but replicate it better, and hence, conquer its original user. Terrifyingly, Emerl can even copy phenomenon that he otherwise wouldn’t, or shouldn’t be able to use, such as Chaos Control, Sonic’s Maximum Speed, or Tails’ intellect. The only thing truly limiting Emerl... is the kind of opponents he faces. And, if you give Emerl to someone who understands him and knows how he works, you may just be dealing with one of the most fearsome fighters the Mobius Archepeligo has ever known.

Mephiles, Iblis and Solaris

Voice Actor: Dan Green (Mephiles only) (This is just because Dan also voices Knuckles ideally but, again, if Dan doesn’t wanna come back to Sonic after being replaced, I understand that.)

If Chaos was the patron saint of water, Solaris is the patron saint of fire. Born from a sacred flame created by the Echidna, Solaris was worshipped by the surviving Echidna as a force that could potentially vanquish Chaos, as the ‘’sun’ to dry the rain. However, the tribes’ malicious intents caused their newly formed ‘God’ to become more of a beast, and it only helped Chaos in driving the Echidna extinct. Solaris later retreated to the bottom of the ocean after all was said and done, slumbering beneath the surface in an underground cave, in a damaged, unstable state.

Solaris has re-awoken twice since this has happened, and both times, his unstable shell split and formed two halves, it’s raw power, known as Iblis, and it’s mind, and spirit, known as Mephiles. The two halves of Solaris first re-awoke in an Alternate Timeline where Robotnik had conquered the world, re-awakening as the folly of the dictator had driven the Sun God’s split soul to awaken when the intense greenhouse heat began to boil the ocean. Mephiles’ primordial form simply died off in the intense heat, but Iblis remained awake, laying waste to the already horrible wasteland that was Robotnik’s Bad Future. Many survivors who reside within this future came to blame Iblis for their problems, even though Robotnik was what had destroyed it centuries earlier.

As for the other time The soul and body of Solaris re-awoke?...

Well... we’ll get to that. Let’s come back to someone I’m sure you’re all waiting for.

Antiheroes

HERE HE IS, OKAY? YOU HAPPY? I was saving him for a good reason! I actually want Shadow (and Rouge, to an extent, she kinda keeps her evil side tbh) to start out as a big bad! After Shadow’s done BEING a big bad though, he’ll become similar to his post-adventure 2 self, specifically how he behaves in Sonic 06 and Sonic Heroes, except with a bit more sympathy. Modern Shadow has a lot of brooding, edgy bite to him, and while that’s cool and all, I feel like there should be more to Shadow than just brooding and standing around crossing his arms and saying ‘tch’ all the time.

Shadow the Hedgehog

Shadow the Hedgehog:

Voice Actor: Anyone that’s not Kirk Thornton. I actually don’t have a good answer for who Shadow’s voice actor should be but, honestly, anything would be better than his current one in my honest opinion.

Shadow was synthesized fifty years ago on a small, man-made satellite called the Space Colony ARK by the brilliant scientist Dr. Gerald Robotnik. He was born from a desire to find a cure for the seemingly incurable disease for his granddaughter, Maria. However, due to an accident when splicing the genes of the quill of a Mobian Hedgehog, and experimental biomaterial found on the fragments of an asteroid that collided with the Earth millions of years ago, the doctor accidentally created something he absolutely didn’t intend, Life. And thus, Project Shadow was born. Gerald felt attached to his creation, viewing the resulting creation, which he called ‘Shadow’ as one of his own. Shadow developed rapidly, quickly maturing into an infant, and then juvenile, yet seemingly normal Mobian Hedgehog. Shadow’s equivalent age later capped once Shadow was done growing, and he remained that way, immortally perfect. The Ultimate Lifeform. Tests with Shadow later showed his destructive capabilities, as it seemed the asteroid’s DNA had morphed Shadow to be far beyond the capabilities of any normal Hedgehog, even in peak physical condition at that age, capable of creating explosions, firing bolts of energy, and even freezing time, appearing to ‘teleport’ in the process. Despite these curiosities, Shadow grew fond of Maria in his stay at the ARK, although Shadow couldn’t help her recover, he did make her much happier. However, a raid on the Space Colony by the mainland’s military led to a massive capsizing of the project, with the intention to destroy Shadow, who was viewed as a dangerous, alien, unholy abomination. Before he could be killed though, Maria shot Shadow down to Earth in an escape pod, where he subsequently landed deep in the jungles of Cocoa Island... but, Maria was murdered in the process of doing so. Shadow was later recovered by Gerald’s other grandson, Ivo Robotnik, 50 years after the tragedy. Hesitant to release Shadow immediately, it’s known that Robotnik has spoken to Shadow in his pod, although about what matters is unknown. For now, Shadow slumbers deep within the confines of Eggmanland, waiting for his proper, strategic time to be unleashed and to wreak his horrible vengeance upon the Earth.

I’ll bring up Shadow again later when we talk about how I project the series to actually go, for now, just sit tight and let’s talk about the rest of Team Dark... and some familiar faces.

Abilities:

Spin Dash

Homing Attack (Shadow can automatically home in on opponents while also performing an Air Dash.)

Burning Rollout (Inspired by the flame ring of Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow can cloak his spinning form in fire by turning on his shoes when rolling, doing this will significantly up the strength of his spin, and make a nice little ring of fire around his spinning form.)

Chaos Control (Can be used as short-distance teleportation, as a way to buff Shadow’s speed immensely, or as a way to freeze or dramatically slow Shadow’s relative perspective of time by dramatically increasing his speed.)

Chaos Spear (These are green bolts of pure, chaos energy. The energy used to form these bolts is so unstable that once hurled at something, the ‘spear’ will likely explode, although, if it doesn’t, it will easily pierce through whatever it hits. Shadow likes to shout ‘DISAPPEAR!’ before hurling these at things for some reason.)

Chaos Blast (Shadow’s Chaos Blast can be considered his ‘ultimate’ attack, Chaos Blast sees Shadow creating a kind of ‘mini-singularity’ with chaos energy that will detonate after a short time, easily eradicating anything caught in the explosion’s radius, even the ground around Shadow. The only problem with this is, doing this is a huge strain on Shadow’s natural supply of Chaos Energy, so a lengthy cooldown period is inevitable.)

and of course, we can’t forget

The Roundhouse Kick

Minor Antagonists

These are characters who are villains but are also more likely to show up in arcs that are only a couple episodes long or are side or off-boss fights.

I’ll be honest, most of you know these characters already, so I’m just gonna run through them super quickly and give my suggested changes and my justifications for them.

Rouge the Bat

E-123 OMEGA

Dave the Intern

Fang the Sniper (Nack the Weasel)

Bean the Dynamite

Bark the Polar Bear

Rouge the Bat:

Voice Actor: Karen Strassman

Rouge is a thief and a treasure hunter but is also working for the military agency of the mainland, G.U.N. Rouge is sly, sneaky and has a silver tongue, easily able to manipulate people into what she wants by pure wordplay alone. Rouge is a lot less active of a fighter than Sonic and Co. as she prefers to stalk quietly in the shadows, and strike when the time is right. In this reboot, Rouge is gonna wear something a bit more modest. I’m sorry, I hate Rouges’ clothes in canon. That fucking catsuit? has gotta go. She can still look cool and... *gag* “”sexy”” but, I’d rather her not wear... THAT? But, I do want her personality to remain mostly intact because in full honesty? She’s not a bad character on paper. Like Shadow, though I do kinda want Rouge to be a straight-up antagonist at first, and a very greedy one at that.

E-123 OMEGA:

Voice Actor: Vic Mignogna

What can I say? Omega doesn’t need to change much at all, really. He works in about any Sonic setting tbh. He’s loud, and he likes to blow things up, and he doesn’t emote very well, what else is there? In this reboot though, Omega will be the only E-Series Robot, or rather the only... surviving one. And, yeah, like Rouge and Shadow too, I think Omega should start out as an antagonist.

Dave the Intern:

Voice Actor: Ben Schwartz (What? We gotta keep up the tradition of Dave sharing a voice with Sonic!)

An odd choice for a minor antagonist I know, but Dave the Intern is REALLY funny? And I love the idea of a character just hating Sonic for no discernable reason other than ‘he’s popular and cool and I’m not.’ I also thought it’d be cool if Dave frequently got way in over his head with the shit he does, and put himself into trouble that Sonic (reluctantly) had to get him out of. Plus, I really wanted to include some representation of Sonic Boom in this reboot because Sonic Boom as a show is really funny and really good, and I think taking a page from it might be good, plus, Boom is a part of Sonic’s history too!

Fang the Sniper (Nack the Weasel):

Voice Actor: Dwight Schultz

Fang is the leader of Team Hooligan, and in a similar vein to Great Kukku XV I think he’d take himself way too seriously, but would play off of other characters. In Fang’s mind, he’s a trained assassin, like an evil Aussie-accent Batman or something of that stretch. But, really? He’s just a sleazy conman with a popgun. I feel like a good joke to make in this series would be Fang reaching for what he thinks is his actual pistol, but then he’d pull it out and fire it and it’d be one of his fake popguns. And, do I even need to make a joke about the comedic possibilities between him and Shadow using guns? Also, his real name being Nack the Weasel but he wants everyone to call him Fang the Sniper is funny. I’m sorry but ‘Fang the Sniper’ is just a silly name and I like the idea of Fang being the equivalent of one of those nice guys with Otaku Katanas who think they’re WAY cooler than they actually are. I wanted to choose Fang as a minor antagonist in the reboot just because of the kind of character I think he is, he thinks he has everything under control and has all the cards laid out in front of him when in reality, this setup of his just fails dramatically. The kind of interactions between him and Sonic this could spell out are amazing.

Bean the Dynamite:

Voice Actor: Eric Bauza

What do you get when you throw Daffy Duck and Woody Woodpecker in a blender and make him an unstable arsonist? Bean the Dynamite, that’s what. I’d want Bean in this reboot to be an off-the-wall, screwy, but surprisingly resourceful and clever, explosion-crazed maniac. He wouldn’t be... *gag* ‘insane’, so much as he would be just hyper and unable to calm down, again, like Woody Woodpecker or Daffy Duck. He’d be quick-witted, fast-talking and zippy, even more than Sonic himself is. (In the end, Sonic would always outpace him, but the reflexes on THIS bird are crazy.) Also, I feel like the idea of Bean being a defector of the Battle Kukku Armada is just... great, considering they’re all bomb-throwing birds, but THIS one was a little too off-the-handle for even them? He’d be a real character and a surprisingly dangerous threat for Sonic and Co.

Bark the Polar Bear:

Voice Actor: I’m... actually not too sure who to cast Bark as tbh. Mostly because I see him being very quiet and not... speaking, much at all?

Bark is a quiet tough guy. He’s smarter than he looks, but he’s big, he’s mean, he’s tough, and he will Hulk slam at least one character in the length of this reboot. I don’t really have much idea on where to take Bark, I just think he deserves a place as a minor villain.

Projected direction for canon

So, we have all the pieces of the puzzle, let’s see how they all fit together! I’ll be going through these with the assumption that one game can be made to represent each season of the show in its entirety.

For this, I honestly think it would be best if we split this reboot up based upon Sonic the Hedgehog’s current history with its elements. Think, almost, the way Sonic Generations told its story. We’ll start with something with a more Classic Vibe to it, then move into something more Adventure-like, and then, finally, we do something a bit more Modern! It’ll be a little less linear, and we’ll double dip here and there, but it’ll all line up!

Because of this, I’d like to establish what games have already PASSED before going into this series. This is what all has happened going in, in roughly the chronological order they happened in.

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 (16-bit)

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 (8-bit)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)

SegaSonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-Bit)

Sonic CD

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles

Sonic Chaos

Sonic Triple Trouble

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episodes 1, 2, and Metal.

Sonic Mania

The intention is to begin sort of... around the time JUST before Sonic Adventure 1 happened in the old rudimentary timeline before Sonic Forces came out and clarified Classic and Modern Sonic were different beings.

Season 1/Game 1: Genesis

The first few episodes of the series will be more dedicated to introducing the characters and Sonic’s new home. We’ll see the new Sonic, the new Tails, the new Knuckles, Amy, Mighty, and Ray for the very first time, and we’ll also get to see some of the characters’ new capabilities as they take on some minor villains or assaults led by Orbot and Cubot for the first couple episodes; but not at all subtly tease at something bigger and better coming, although we’re also shown how frequent scuffles between Sonic and Eggman exactly are, as we see plenty of mention of the Doctor, but he never physically appears.

Then, I’d say at about Episode 5 or 6 out of say, 22-24? Eggman steps in and introduces us to his new Master Plan, as he does. To build a new Death Egg (which, Sonic obviously chides him on doing the same thing a THIRD time.), but, as Robotnik does, he turns out to be serious, and the episodes from there on out are a race against time for Sonic and co. to gather all the Chaos Emeralds from various different zones of various different challenging geographies, fight off villains and giant robots, learn valuable morals, run into some familiar faces, and have a couple laughs along the way.

The climax of the season would come with a few episodes left, where Sonic and Co. finally have all the Emeralds, and they chase Eggman down to the New Death Egg, maybe there could be an encounter with Metal Sonic along the way because nostalgia and to introduce Metal into the continuity, and of course things’ll play out from there, Robotnik gets the upper hand and shows his shit, gets in a giant robot, dukes it out with Super Sonic, and BAM! End of Season/Game!

At the very end of season 1/Game 1 though, I’d like to include a little teaser for Season 2/Game 2 in the form of a familiar-looking escape pod in the middle of a jungle, full of green bubbling fluid, and a flash of red eyes.

Season 2/Game 2: Chaos Emerald Chaos

Right out of the gate in Season 2/Game 2, we’re back in the game as Sonic and Eggman are seen duking it out a while after the first game/season has ended, but in a much different area than we’d seen in Season 1/Game 1. This fight would lead up to the pod in the teaser after Eggman lures Sonic into a dark room with the green glow in sight. By one way or another, maybe on purpose or on accident, this pod breaks open, and something is released from it. Sonic is understandably confused, but then, is knocked down, and a panning shot reveals one of three of our major antagonists for the season/game, Shadow the Hedgehog.

Shadow fucking wipes the floor with Sonic in this first encounter, but instead of finishing him off, Eggman instructs Shadow to leave him be and search for the rest of the Chaos Emeralds instead. Shadow nods and simply leaves via Chaos Control. Eggman, on the meanwhile, begins transporting Sonic back to North Island via dropship, revealing by surprise that this isn’t on North Island, but rather a much smaller place Eggman was using as a trap.

Meanwhile, Sonic’s friends (with Knux noticeably absent) are confused to learn that Sonic has been... committing crimes, upon his return back from a scuffle back with Eggman, and seeming very much unlike himself, always hiding away in the dark and staying away from everyone. When they go to confront him, it turns out that this was actually Shadow, disguised as Sonic, who was simply searching for the emeralds for Dr. Eggman.

Sonic’s friends demand to know where Sonic is, but Shadow kicks all their asses instead, and something about the Master Emerald is mentioned after the fight. We then cut away to Knuckles, who is soon confronted by Shadow.

Shadow puts up a hard fight, but, with the help of the chaos emerald he already had, defeats Knuckles, and goes to take the Master Emerald. But, in a last ditch effort to save the gem, Knuckles shatters the Master Emerald, causing the shards to scatter all across the islands. Shadow, understandably frustrated by this, scoffs and leaves, seemingly fooled into thinking the Master Emerald WAS destroyed. Unknowingly, however, shattering the Master Emerald caused Chaos, slumbering within the Emerald, to awaken.

Knuckles, obviously horrified by what he’s done, abandons Angel Island and sets to work on finding both the pieces of the Master Emerald, and any Chaos Emeralds he can, to stop Chaos before anything goes wrong.

At this point, we go back to Sonic, who finally escapes as the dropship taking him to EggmanLand and, by extension, escapes from the city as he hurries to try to reunite with his friends and tell them what happened.

From there, a combination of the events of Adventure 1 and 2 (with the addition of Metal Sonic and some other characters of course.) would transpire, with Rouge the Bat getting involved with Knuckles due to her finding the shards of the Master Emerald, and the Chaos Emeralds trading hands several times, all up until the Season/Game’s climax.

It would all build with Robotnik planning to use Chaos to terraform the Earth by transforming him into Perfect Chaos, who, once he takes form, begins wreaking havoc on a coastal city on the mainland. At this point, the Chaos Emeralds seem shut off, and even though the Master Emerald is restored, it seems like there’s nothing that can be done. Shadow, having already begun to go through a change of heart when he sees the kind of destruction the doctor’s plans have wrought, and after some choice words from Amy, decides instead to join Sonic and Co. in what seems like their darkest hour. And, Shadow mentions that Chaos only absorbed the negative energy of the emeralds, being in-tune with Chaos Energy himself, he’d know this.

And so, Super Sonic and Super Shadow defeat Perfect Chaos together, Knuckles and the spirit of Tikal work together to seal Chaos back inside the Master Emerald, and the city begins to drain.

Shadow, having felt satisfied with this, then decides to go off on his own for a while, and mentions something about ‘wanting to discover himself’, and ‘trying to decide what Maria would have wanted me to be.’

Oh, and Eggman is finally thrown in prison for literally capsizing an entire city. But don’t worry, he’ll be back.

End of Season 2/Game 2.

Season 3/Game 3: Triple Trouble!

This Eggmanless Season/Game would feature a ‘Triple Threat’, in the form of 3 major villains! And all three of them brand new to the series! We’re introduced to Emerl in this season, as well as Great Kukku XV, and Heavy King.

The entire season would be intense, Team Sonic rushing to get the Chaos Emeralds once again, while the Battle Birds (frequently interrupted by Bean the Dynamite, calling out to his ‘brothers’) and Heavies scramble to get them before the team does.

All the while... Emerl grows stronger and stronger by the minute.

And, in a surprise twist, Emerl, having copied the data of Great Kukku XV and the Heavies, among many others, grows the strongest he ever has, and, like Mecha Sonic in Sonic 3, uses the Master Emerald (likely stolen by Heavy King or Kukku at this point) to attain a Super form, and Emerl becomes a terrifying conglomerate of everything that has led up to this point, Perfect Emerl, the thing originally meant to take down PERFECT CHAOS.

But, luckily, Kukku and King realize when they’ve been beaten, and decide to help Super Sonic take down Perfect Emerl.

End of Season 3/Game 3. But like Season 1, let’s end off on a teaser. How about a small, flickering flame, with a visible shadow?

Season 4/Game 4: Return of Solaris

This is the final season/game I have planned out, although that’s not to say more couldn’t be done with this concept, it’s just about as far as I got. Essentially I was thinking this season could be a retelling and retooling of Sonic 06 with some details omitted or changed up like, for instance:

The romance between Sonic and Elise being outright axed! Matter of fact, while we’re at it, let’s just NOT make Elise a focus character so she doesn’t eat up screentime?

The weird time shit in this season/game being altered with Time Stones instead of Chaos Emeralds!

Less plotholes!

Focus on NONLINEAR timelines with LINEAR storytelling.

Silver is less silly!

Metal Sonic!

The Chaotix! AND THEY’RE HERE TO ACTUALLY BE HELPFUL!

Important Sonic characters being important!

Hey guess what? Eggman’s back and busted out of jail and he’s kicking ass! And he’s totally gonna release Solaris even though that didn’t work out so well for him last time!

Mephiles is still a cool villain! And he gets cool new designs for this series too that don’t stray too far from his original form!

I feel like this season/game would be kind of a hard fusion of Sonic CD and Sonic 06, with elements of Sonic CD being changing the past to ensure the future, and the future/present changing as a result.

The climax of this series would be, well, you know by now. Sonic getting shot in the back, but then revived using the Chaos Emeralds and Time Stones together. But, even with Super Sonic, all seems hopeless, but, Sonic and Knuckles seem to have an idea, and it leads up, to our grand finale:

Solaris, the extra-dimensional being of ultimate power.

Versus

Hyper Sonic, Super Shadow, Super Silver, Super Tails, Super Knuckles, Super Amy, Super Mighty, and Super Ray.

With Solaris finally felled, Sonic and Co. use the last of the energy of their super forms to do two more things.

Vanquish the flame of Solaris and Mephiles, and ensure that Solaris may never return to any Time Stream.

Silver’s future, although still broken, now looks much brighter, and the world is saved for the final time.

End of Season 4/Game 4.

I’m sure these ideas could be tweaked or changed around to span more seasons/games if certain characters or aspects of the series become popular, or if demand for certain characters appearing gets to be enough. Sonic has an immense library of games to do over or retell in this reboot, why not?

And, this is just my idea for it, it doesn’t have to go this way explicitly. My only goal with this was to try to unify the Sonic lore in an interesting, unique manner, but also in such a way that it was new, fresh, and it made sense, most of all!

Opening

This really applies more toward the cartoon part of this reboot, that’s not to say the video game COULDN’T utilize the cartoon’s opening or something, it’s just that the opening is more for the show than it is for the games.

There’s a number of ways to go here, but in my mind, the best way to open a Sonic cartoon? Is the way you’d open a Sonic game. How about a condensed ‘remake’ of Sonic CD’s opening, with a few short clips from the first few episodes thrown in there to get people curious and excited about the show when it first airs?

There’s a cover of Sonic Boom by Crush 40 and Cash Cash just waiting to be used for this very thing!

I also think a condensed (that is to say, censored. I hate to censor a great song but ‘kicking-ass fast’ is a bit much for a show that’s likely gonna be PG-rated.) version of the Zebrahead (aka the BEST) version of His World would make for a GREAT opening.

Or if we wanna piggyback off of the recent success of Mania, how about a condensed version of Friends? Maybe we could even end the intro off on a remake of Sonic Mania’s title theme if we wanna have like, a classic Sonic emblem at the end of the opening.

I’d say the opening should be about... 60% new animation with Sonic platforming around and parkouring like he does or whatever, and about 40% old animation of various clips from the show or maybe even the games if we’re feeling kinda frisky to show off the series we’re about to watch, but also for budgetary reasons and to, again, get people interested in what’s actually IN the show, or maybe we could even do it like Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure’s part 1 opening or something where a couple of important scenes from the very beginning of the show or games are re-animated in a flashy way to achieve the same effect, but also wow the audience. That'd be a huge budget sink though and going a classic clip-show-and-new-shit route may just be the ideal compromise.

Marketing

This next part is also a lot more cartoon oriented, and kinda heavily depends on who’s gonna be sponsoring the show and who’s gonna be running it, but, hear me out.

Part of Sonic’s rise to popularity in the 90s was controversial, competitive advertising. And you know what? I haven’t seen anything really quite like this in a long time (except maybe for cleaner commercials), but, lots of people remember how pushy and in your face these commercials were, and how much they really pushed the superiority of the product they were advertising. So you know what? Let’s bring this back. Let’s bring back Sonic’s violent guerilla marketing campaigns.

It’d be a great throwback as well as a statement about Sonic REALLY comin’ back and comin’ back hot; which might get some new people interested to at least watch a few episodes, and in the process of that, they may find they like the new show/games a lot!

(NOTE: I DON’T HATE NICKELODEON, AND THIS ISN’T EXACTLY WHAT I THINK THE SHOW’S SONIC SHOULD LOOK LIKE, THIS IS JUST A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT OF WHAT I THINK THIS SHOW’S ADVERTISING COULD LOOK LIKE)

Or, if we want to opt for more positive, passive marketing strategies, why don’t we revisit an idea that was misused and make it better?

Idk about anyone else but I actually really like the ‘blue streaks to show where Sonic’s been’ idea that the movie posters did, and I think it has potential to make a really memorable-looking advertisement.

Or, why not opt for a more nostalgic passive approach and recreate some of Sonic’s old box art?

Again, it’d be a great throwback as well as a way to get people interested in the show. Although, if we go this route I WOULD say maybe we should make it a little more interesting than just ‘Sonic 1 pose on a black grid or popart background’? Maybe we should combine these box arts and add the pop-art details for little pops of color while Sonic bursts out of this black-grid frame with a richly detailed drawing of Green Hill in the background? I dunno.

Conclusion

Okay, so. I didn’t get to everything I wanted to explain (like other marketing stuff, merchandising, the new actual GAMEPLAY for these new games, how to write the characters and humor, how I think the general ART STYLE of these new cartoons and games should look, etc.) as a matter of fact, I still have a ton more ideas for this reboot, but, here’s the main point:

Sonic the Hedgehog, right now? Sucks. Because it’s such a mess. It has too many ideas that are going off in too many different directions. The best way to change that, in my eyes, is to start over and try to unify all these broken-up ideas into one. I believe this is possible, while still maintaining a pretty widespread appeal and giving broken, old ideas a second chance to shine, but still being fresh and new enough to have a lasting impact and leave the door open for new content later.

I’m really bad at ending posts like this, but, if you went into this post thinking that Sonic can’t or shouldn’t change, I hope I’ve at least provoked thought on the matter. And, maybe, all those hardworking people at SEGA will decide one day that things need to change, whether by a reboot, rewrite or just... doing something a little bit different.

Maybe then, just maybe.

Our blue blur will really shine again.

- Jenny, of @jennikkugoesoff and @jennikku

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Sonic the Hedgehog Reboot #Sonic Reboot #Sonic #sth #jennikkugoesoff #my rants #my essays

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aweebwrites · 5 years

Text

Celestial Influence 6

Three months have passed since the disappearance of the ninja and Ninjago has been prospering- that is until villains realised there was no ninja to stop them and attacks all across the continent happened daily. Certainly the other elemental masters stepped in, some doing so reluctantly but as great as their fighting skills and powers were, they weren't the ninja's level and only hot the villain half the time. The only fighter out there that almost always got the villain was Samurai X but Pixal was only one person and the villains were many. People were torn. They still thought that they were better off without the ninja but others were tired of the high risks and damages. Without Ninjago's heros around, things became… Difficult. People lost hope. There were many who tried to find the ninja, tried to convince their old Sensei to bring them back but he couldn't help them, even if he wanted to. The ninja's locations were unknown to all but themselves. But he had confidence they would return when they were ready.

He had to.

_____________

"Ready boy?" Kai asked as he held a large ball of semi cooled lava in hand, grinning at the dragon no bigger than him that was made of red fire, scales looking like fine cracks along his skin.

Said dragon gave an affirmative growl, flicking his tail side to side as he crouched, horned wings spread wide.

"Alright." The fire elemental grinned then tossed the ball hard, leaving it to rocket into the Forest of Tranquillity.

Flare was quick to dart after it, his wings flapping quickly, leaving a trail of red fire as he caught up to the lava ball. He opened his maw, ready to catch it- when a blur of orange snatched it. Flare gave a confused sound as he looked around, hovering in place. He looked back to the Temple of Fire then noticed the orange form of his sister flying back with the ball in paw and Flare gave a protesting whine.

"Oh boy." Kai chuckled as Spark flew before him, dropping the ball then dropped on all fours, her tail wiggling eagerly as she looked at her creator, wanting praise. "That wasn't very nice Spark." He says as Flare landed then rushed over to him, burying his face into Kai's abdomen as he chittered and whined.

"See? You've made Flare upset now." Kai says, stroking the red dragon's scales, between the bumps on his head that suggested growing horns.

Spark's wings drooped at being reprimanded and seeing her brother's unhappiness. She looked down at the ball then took it up in her maw and nudged the red dragon. Flare looked back at the orange dragon then blinked once she dropped and nudged the ball towards him. Flare turned away from his creator then hesitantly turned to her. She settled on her stomach with her wings pressed flat to the ground, showing she meant no harm. He then looked at the ball then at her before walking over and sniffing at the ball. He then moved passed it and nuzzled his sister with a soft, forgiving croon that Spark eagerly returned, her tail wagging happily. Flare then picked up the ball and turned to Kai now, tail wagging eagerly, making the fire elemental chuckle.

"Good job." He praised then looked over to Spark. "You too Spark. Both of you can keep playing but don't go too far- and try not to set the forest on fire again." He told them and they chirped then took air, Flare tossing the basketball sized ball at Spark who wacked it with her tail and they both flew off to get it.

Kai shook his head fondly then walked off the bridge into the temple he's called home these past three months. He's done some renovations so it actually looked like a temple. It was one big space because walls were choresome, especially when he had no affinity for earth. The only reason he could slightly manipulate lava was because of the heat it held. He walked towards the high platform and up the golden steps there towards his bed. It was more of a very cozy nest if he were to be honest. It took a while to get the soft materials to not catch fire just from the heat of the temple but he managed. He made four separate nests at the base of the platform for the creation of his fire, his dragons. They were made when he spent his first week on his own messing around with his new powers, undergoing trial and error. His intentions were to just make fire shaped dragons, not actual dragons but he had them now and he loved them to bits. Speaking of…

"Heath, Solaris really?" Kai sighed at the blue and almost golden looking dragons that laid sprawled out in their large nest.

Solaris made a curious sound as Heath only grumbled.

"Your nests are just as big." Kai says, putting his hands on his hips. "Go on, shoo." He fanned them off, golden bracelets glinting as he did.

They grumbled but moved, climbing down into their own nests. Kai flopped down into his with a sigh, staring up at the sky through the open skylight directly over all of their nests. Rain wasn't a problem. It always evaporated before getting anywhere remotely close to the temple. The heat was that intense. Not that Kai minded or could even tell. He just knew that the volcano the temple was attached to was quite happy with his presence. It has erupted once or twice but it shows no sign of sleeping. The sky was getting darker. The sun was setting. Today was the day. Each week, they all reserved one day to give a sign that they were ok. They… His friends. The ninja.

Could they even call themselves that anymore? He didn't know. But he missed them all. He reached a hand up towards the sky, focusing his powers to send fire streaking lightly across the sky once the time was right. Then he waited. He doesn't think he'd ever get over the consequences that came with earning this power but he does know that he's willing to work towards at least trying to make it up to everyone.

A small smile tugged his lips once he notices the flashes in the sky from Jay. It was nice to know that he was alright. But he couldn't help but wonder if he really was. He was hit harder than all of them after all. He watched as the moon slowly peeked over the skylight growing full as it shone down over him. Zane was alive and well. Good. He missed the Nindroids logic and wit. Yes, he was a little upset that he hid it from them, the fact that they've taken lives but… He understood why. The full rainbow appearing around the moon brought relief to his heart. Nya was also ok. He wasn't used to being away from her for so long but they both needed a break, needed time alone. He knows that he's kinda overprotective but you can't really blame him. Not when they grew up alone. Ah… They should really check in on their parents...

The low rumble of thunder filled his ears, a clear sign Cole was thriving. He liked to imagine that wherever Cole was taking a break had cake available 24/7 but the chances of that is unlikely. He was pretty sure none of them were near any city, village or anywhere with a population. The bright aurora travel across the sky made him smile a little. Lloyd's alright too. Good. He was glad. He really didn't want to leave him alone. He was just as much of a brother to him as Nya was his sister. He sighs softly as he watched the brilliant streams of light dance on then ebb away. He missed them. He blinked once he spotted Flare out of the corner of his eyes, looking at him with big golden eyes. He turned over, looking at all four of them as they gave him large eyes before he sighed.

"Fine. You can sleep with me for the night." He caved then found himself in the middle of a dragon pipe, all four of them nuzzling him, purring happily. "Yeah, yeah. You're welcome." He smiled, stroking their snouts.

Heath lifted his head then growled, covering his body with his intense blue flames and Kai sat up, frowning as the other three followed suit, glaring at the space behind them, at the passageway below that lead to the empty back of the temple he hadn't figured out what to do with yet.

"Woah, easy. I'm a friend, not a foe." Kai gasped at the familiar voice then pushed his way forward, past his overprotective dragons.

"Cole?!" He gasped, seeing the Earth ninja standing there with two skulkin behind him.

"Kai?!" He gasped, eyes wide before he grinned. "Kai!" He yelled, running towards the fire ninja as said ninja hopped out of his nest, floating down to meet him halfway.

"Cole! Boy am I glad to see you!" Kai laughed as they hugged tightly.

"You took the words right out of my mouth! So how've yah been?" Cole asked with a grin as he pulled back to look at his friend.

"Not bad, not bad. How'd you find me though?" Kai couldn't help but ask.

"Coincidence! I use the old passageway between Ninjago and the Underworld every once in a while. I ended up there, the skulkin kinda immediately declared me their leader and I rolled with it." Cole shrugged, gesturing to his two generals Kruncha and Nukal. "They mentioned something about Garmadon but eh." He shrugged.

"The Underworld? Not bad. I forgot about that old passage. At least I know what to do with the area now. I've been living here the whole time with these guys." He says, gesturing to his dragons as all four approached, their flames low but they were still wary of the newcomers. "This is Flare, Spark, Solaris and Heath." He introduced and Cole looked over the multicolored dragons with an impressed look.

"Nice. I didn't know that more dragons lived in Ninjago." Cole says, crossing his arms.

"There aren't. I sorta made them with my powers." Kai shrugged, a grin on his face.

"Really." Cole says, intrigued. "That's pretty cool. So you're dragon king now?" He asked, gesturing to his clothes.

Kai looked down at his shirtless form with gold bracelets on his upper arms and wrists, at his dragonscale necklace, at his red ripped jeans tucked into high black boots. He adorned gold earrings and a thin circlet just under his bangs that dipped down to the middle of his forehead in a V shape. All that combined with the fur lined cape must have given him that impression.

"Er. Not exactly. I found an old mine in the forest full of gold and lava. I messed around and kinda just… Made these. Then the dragons eat animals and brought this pelt back so i thought why not? Solaris burned my shirt on accident while figuring out her powers so yeah." Kai shrugged then eyed Cole.

"So what about you Mr. Grim Reaper?" He asked with crossed arms and an arched brow.

"I thought why not go with the flow." Cole shrugged.

He adorned a black cloak that had the hood down as well as a black tank top and black skinny jeans that held several chains and glinting metal with matching combat boots to top it all off.

"I'm in the Underworld, I have a Scythe so why no dress up for the fun of it?" Cole grinned and Kai laughed.

"Good point." Kai nods. "Come on. We have a lot to catch up on." Kai gestured to a nearby stone bench and both males walked over to it.

___________

"... You should visit sometimes." Cole smiled after telling him all about his time in the Underworld.

"Probably. Spykors still give me the creeps. Especially with how big they can get." He says with a grimace stroking Heath's head as he laid his head in his lap.

"They won't bother you as long as I'm in charge, don't worry." Cole smiled, stroking the ever excitable Sparks' head, leaving her purring happily.

"Man, I still can't believe I missed you using the passageway." Kai chuckled as he leaned back against the bench.

"Well you weren't always the sharpest tool in the box." Cole chuckled.

"You didn't notice me this whole time either." Kai pointed out and Cole laughed.

"Fair point." He hummed then sat back, a comfortable silence settling between them.

That silence gave way to a mutual thought.

"I've been thinking…" Kai spoke quietly.

"That we should check up on the others?" Cole asked and Kai grinned and nodded.

"Yeah! Exactly!" He says eagerly then took Heath's face in his hands, nuzzling the dragon's snout with his nose. "I mean, three months is enough time to at least visit, right?" Kai asked, looking to Cole as Heath watched Kai unimpressed.

"I think so. The real quest would be finding everyone." Cole says, and Kai nods.

"I think the only place Zane would go is his pop's old place." Kai says, thinking aloud.

"I wanna say Jay's at his parents' junkyard but I don't think he would be there. I mean, I'm pretty sure this whole mess killed everything between me and my dad after all." Cole says sadly.

"I doubt it. If he really thinks any of what happened was willing and intensional then I'll 'talk' some sense into him." Kai says determinedly and Cole shot him a thankful smile. "Lloyd's the one we need to find. Once we do, he'll find everyone else." He told Cole who nodded.

"We can use the Aurora to find him." He told the fire nin who then frowned.

"But that means waiting a week." Kai pointed out and Cole frowned, rubbing his lightly stubbled chin.

"How about we use the week to try and find the others. If we don't then we'll find Lloyd instead." Cole suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Kai grinned then grimaced when Heath licked his face with a forked tongue, just to be an asshole. "Heath!" He yelled as Cole laughed.

_____________

"Alright. I'll be gone for about a week but I'll be back. Heath, you're in charge." Kai told his dragons eat the next day, all but Heath looking sad to hear he was leaving. "Don't worry. I'll be back soon. Until then, don't leave the forest. There's plenty of animals in the forest for you all to eat. Stay safe, ok?" He says, stroking them all, pausing once he came to Heath, smiling at the blue dragon.

"Don't worry Heath. I know you'll miss me, no need to show it." Kai chuckled, stroking his smooth scales.

He wasn't very comfortable with leaving them alone. They were babies when he first created them and they still are, only learning how to fly a month back. He gave them all a lingering look and a heartfelt goodbye before turning to Cole.

"Let's go find Zane." He says and Kai nodded, both of them taking air.

Kai heard the goodbye calls of his dragons and felt his heart clench. Here's to getting this all done in a week.

____________

"Nice to know this place hasn't changed." Kai says, his breath coming out as fog as he and Cole walked through the Birch forest, their boots crunching in the fresh looking snow.

"Yeah." Cole agrees, keeping his ears open. "There it is." He spoke up, spotting the thicker tree.

"What's that?" Kai asked, noticing something white dart by up ahead.

"I didn't hear anything. I hope it's not those pesky treehorns again." Cole says, looking around warily.

"No. It looked like some kind of bird…" Kai says with a friend as they came to a stop before the tree house.

"My Falcon to be exact." They whirled around once an awfully familiar voice spoke then gasped, seeing Zane smiling shyly behind them in a full suit of white, his trench coat holding white fur around the hood that matched the tops of his shoes.

"Zane!" Both males yelled, rushing over to hug their friend.

Zane couldn't help his smile as he hugged them back, missing them so.

"It is good to see you friends. I had feared…" He trailed off as his smile fell.

"Ah ah! None of that crap. You're our friend and you always will be." Kai huffed but grinned as the white falcon landed on Zane's shoulder, looking like he originally did- but white with ever glowing blue eyes. "I have a feeling we have a lot to catch up on." He says lightly and the Nindroid smiled hopefully.

___________

"So wait- am I the only one who hasn't been testing out my powers?!" Cole asked as they all sat in the trunk's hollow, sipping hot cocoa.

"It appears so." Zane mused with a small smile as the Falcon sat comfortably in his nest not too far away, preening its white feathers.

"But I don't get it. No offense Zane on what I'm about to say but it's the best way I can express what I mean." Kai forewarned and Zane nods his permission. "The Falcon was just a piece of machinery on your bike. A tool even. How did it go from transformer bird to- well… Realistic bird?" He asked, confused as he set his empty cup aside.

"I can't provide you with the specifics unfortunately. I had started to feel… Lonely after a few days so I had gone to the Samurai X cave and retrieved my friend. It only reminded me that I am not particularly fond of its new design. I was hesitant to attempt to use my powers on him but I wanted him to feel like I did. To feel…" Zane struggled a moment to find the right word, meeting their eyes as he did. "Alive." He whispered with awe and both Kai and Cole shared a look, minds thinking the same thing.

They hadn't stopped to think of the physical changes their new powers may have caused though they should have. After all, Lloyd had horns when he activated his powers. Zane still looked like a Nindroid but he felt… Different, alive. They didn't feel any different. Although… Now that the topic crossed their mind, ever since Kai had unlocked these powers, there's been a warmth that has settled itself into his chest. It felt alive, flickering like flames but it was subtle enough to be easily forgotten. Cole had also felt more solid than ever. It made him feel almost invincible.

"I took that feeling and channeled it into my Falcon and it became like this." Zane finished and they smiled, happy for him at least.

"That's really cool." Cole smiled as he set his empty mug down. "I didn't think you'd have food items around being a Nindroid and all." He commented, noticing the plates neatly stacked away.

"About that… While it still isn't necessary to eat, it appears that I have somehow regained my previous abilities to consume food items. I discovered this during an internal assessment." Zane told them as he stood, taking up the cups as he stood then walked over the small sink to rinse them. "I'm curious to learn what changes these powers have brought forward in each of you physically. Certainly Lloyd has horns but something tells me the changes are much more subtle. Perhaps we could find out once we're all in one place again." He suggested and Kai grinned.

"Funny you should mention the others. We're planning on finding everyone. It'll be just a checkup but if we're all in agreement, we can be a team again." He shrugged and Zane looked hopeful.

"To be honest, I… I have missed you all. I'd very much like to be a team once more… If everyone else is in agreement…" He says with a one shouldered shrug, not very confident they would want him with them still.

Not after how he had lied…

"Heck yeah!"

"Of course!" Were Kai and Cole's immediate responses, a grin adorning both of their faces.

"We just need to find the others. Nya and Jay. We'll find Lloyd whenever he uses his aurora again." Cole says, resting his cheek in his hand.

"Nya and Jay…" Zane says in consideration. "I doubt Jay would stay at his parent's place but it's the only place I could think of. I'm positive he wouldn't be anywhere near New Ninjago City." He says and Kai nods.

"We were thinking that too. Doesn't hurt to check…" He shrugged and Zane nodded.

"But first, I should get us something to eat. I hope you don't mind. I've picked up hunting a little for meals." He pointed out and Kai grinned, showing off sharp fangs Zane didn't miss.

"Well what do you know? So have I…" He hummed, summoning one of his sword.

____________

"Mmm! I won't lie, I've missed your cooking Zane." Cole grinned as he leaned back, stomach pleasantly full.

"And I won't lie. I missed cooking for my friends." Zane smiled as his Falcon preened itself from his own meal.

He seems to like the fact he's able to function and eat like a true bird of prey. He enjoys hunting a lot and often spares Zane from hunting by bringing back ninja rabbits and more.

"We might as well hunker down for the night. We'll go out looking for Jay and Nya tomorrow." Kai says, taking the plates to the small kitchenette on reflex.

He was always after Zane in the plate duties.

"Uh. I'm not sure the bed can hold." Cole says, looking down at the bed they were using as a couch.

"Oh I don't sleep up here." Zane says and they turned to look at him.

"Up here?" Both Cole and Kai asked him at the same time.

The Falcon squawked as it flew out from his perch then landed on the ground in the middle of the room. It then pecked the ground and a circular piece of the floor sunk down before the ground began to collapse down into a spiral staircase supported by ice.

"Woah." Cole says as he stood then headed down, awing at the huge room filled with ice and crystals.

There was a work table at one corner, a small library in the other, a sort of living space everywhere else and two different sets of birch doors on opposite sides of the walls.

"The door to the right leads to the bathroom and the one to the left leads to the sleeping areas." Zane informed Cole as he came down the steps, Cole looking around in awe.

"This place is way cool…" Cole says in awe as he walked over to the large white couch that had a light gray fur blanket thrown over the back. "How did you even afford all of this?" He asked Zane, looking to the Nindroid who only smiled secretively.

"I have my ways." He says lightly.

"Woah. This is epic. Makes my Fire Temple look like nothing!" Kai says as he came down as well, drying his hands still.

"Actually, I'd say your fire temple would be slightly above Zane's place here but only because of the gold and red scheme." Cole says lightly, flopping down on the couch. "What are the chances of you having a TV?" Cole asked, sitting in an actual couch making him realise how much he missed the device.

"It's certain." Zane says, picking up the remote from the ice table before it and pressing a button.

A panel in the ground shifted back and the flat screen tv came up, turning on once it was fully out.

"No seriously. Where do you get the money for this?" Kai asked, flopping down next to Cole as he accepted the remote.

"Well…" Zane says, thinking back to when he first arrived, distraught to see the forest with barely an inch of snow.

He had rectified that immediately with a snowstorm but the lack of thick snow revealed bits of valuable rock crystals he broke from the soil and stone…

"Let's just say I got lucky." He says, walking past them to pick up the small piece he kept for himself then tossed it towards them.

Cole caught it without looking then brought it into his line of sight.

"Oh. Nice." He says, looking over the clear crystal with Kai and Zane smiles.

____________

"See if you can find the others." Zane told his Falcon the next day and the ivory bird of prey squawked then flew off from Zane's arm, taking air and flying far.

"With the Falcon, we should be able to find everyone quicker." Cole says as he and Kai walked over. "Who knows? Maybe he'll find Lloyd." He grinned.

"For some reason, I don't think finding Lloyd will be that easy." Kai says and Zane nodded his agreement.

"We should get going. We have a long journey ahead of us." Zane says and they nod, taking flight themselves.

____________

"Ah. Now that I'm here, I'm kinda nervous…" Cole says as they walked towards the junkyard.

"I know what you mean." Kai says with a weak laugh.

"All we can do is put our faith in their understanding." Zane says, being the pillar they needed as support, despite his unstableness.

He too feared how they would react, feared even more Jay wouldn't be as forgiving as Kai and Cole.

"Let's get this over with." Kai says, lifting his chin stubbornly and Cole nods, all of them quickening their steps as they walked into the junkyard.

The first thing he noticed was Edna seated outside knitting as Ed worked on something close by. Edna lifted her head then saw them and gasped, all hut scrambling out of her chair towards them, startling the three.

"Where is he? Where's my Jay?!" She asked them urgently and their spirits fell, realising that he really wasn't there.

"Actually, we were hoping you could tell us. We're looking for him ourselves." Cole says quietly, wincing once tears welled up in Edna's eyes.

"Oh Edna…" Ed says as he walked over, pulling her into a hug as she cries into his shoulder. "He hasn't stopped by. We've been hoping he would after everything that happened but…" The elderman gave a sigh.

"He will visit." Zane spoke up and they all looked to him. "If not on his own then we'll bring him. We'll find him and bring him back to you." He reassured, walking forward to rest a comforting hand on Ed's free shoulder.

"You-" Edna paused to hiccup. "You will?" She asked him hopefully.

"It's a promise." Kai says before Zane could and they all nodded their agreement.

"When you do find him, tell him…" Ed says then took a breath. "Tell him we know. But he isn't to blame." He says quietly and Cole's back stiffened at his sincere words.

"It's none of your faults. You're all ninja. You would never have let what happened happen if you had control over it." Edna says and Ed nodded. "It may not mean much from us but… You're all still the ninja we know and love." She managed a smile, brushing stray tears away.

"You know it!" Ed grinned but their words really did impact all three of them hard.

They didn't believe it. Won't for a very long time if ever but… Having two persons that believed in them still was...

"It means more than you think." Cole says, managing a smile. "Thank you. We'll bring Jay back. Don't worry." He reassured them and the elderly couple nodded, smiles bright and full of hope.

With that, the three took off again to continue their search. They may not have the slightest clue to where Jay was but that won't stop them from fulfilling their promise.

__________

An entire day had passed with no signs of anyone but they didn't stop searching, going anywhere with a remote chance that any member from the other half of their team would be. They did run into a familiar two in a remote village however.

"Hold it." Ash says, appearing before the three. "Cole, Zane, Kai." He immediately identified and they looked at him wide eyed.

Despite their hoods being down and despite the hat Kai snatched along the way, they were still easily spotted.

"Oh? Interesting to see you three here." Shade commenting, appearing from the shadows himself. "What are your plans now? Rip the village apart with your earth powers? Freeze it? Burn it to the ground?" He all but accused and all of them looked hurt at that.

"Look pal. We didn't do any of that on purpose. You don't even know our side of the story!" Kai huffed, glaring Shade down.

"Defensive aren't we?" Shade says, lifting a brow.

"So what? You accidentally ripped Ninjago apart and caused continent wide destruction?" Ash snarked and Cole tried not to let his words hit him too deep but it was hard…

A low rumble echoed as a slight tremor passed through, alarming the other two elementals and putting them on edge.

"Watch it Cole, we'll put you down if we have to." Shade says, narrowing his eyes.

"You've already put me down." Cole says, half-heartedly glaring at him.

"Look. Clearly this village hasn't seen hide not tail of the others. Let's go before I do something I'll regret." Kai ssys, shooting the element masters a glare.

"We aren't intentional enemies. Right now, we just want our friends back." Zane says quietly before they took off, soaring through the sky with their cloak, cape and coat fluttering behind them.

"Ugh of course they'd think we did this all on purpose. They won't even consider things from our side!" Kai growled, frustratedly as he began to glow red with his anger and hurt.

"We can't let them get to us Kai. We know the truth. It may not be much but we have each other to lean on, even if all of Ninjago turns its back on us." Zane says, looking at them both.

"Yeah…" Cole says softly, keeping his eyes ahead. "It's not much but…"

He looked across at his friends, his brothers and managed a genuine smile.

"It's enough." He whispered.

___________

"Where else can we look?" Cole asked later on as they took a break for a snack as the sunset.

"I'm not sure." Zane says, frowning. "We've checked everywhere we could think of that they would most likely and unlikely to be. Despite our powers, tracking down one of our own is not an easy task." He says, leaning back as Cole and Jay slurped their noodles.

"Tell me about it." Kai says after swallowing. "If o-" Kai cut himself off once he noticed rain starting to fall.

"Oh? But there's no cloud in the sky." Zane says with a frown, reaching a hand out to touch the rain seeming to fall around them.

"Wait a minute…" Cole says as Kai's eyes widened.

"Nya?!" Kai asked eagerly, looking around to see if she was there.

"Who?" A guy asked as he paused in his walk by the cliff on the outskirts of Hiroshi's Labyrinth, holding an umbrella.

"Oh. Sorry, not you." Cole apologised, as disappointed as Zane was.

Kai on the other hand looked at the figure carefully then smirked.

"You'll have to try harder than that to fool me Nya." He huffed, confusing his friends.

The male chuckled, his voice rising in pitch and becoming feminine, clearly belonging to Nya.

"I should have known you'd see through me big brother." She says, shifting back to her true looks.

She adorned a close fitting dark blue bodysuit that only had one sleeve and a semi-transparent lighter blue material over it that parted at her covered stomach, extending backwards as a short trail. The bodysuit ended mid thigh on her body as she wore blue matching slippers that criss crossed up her strong calves. She even added several small but colourful seashells to her clothes as well as her hair.

"Nya!" Kai grinned, scrambling to his feet to hug his sister.

"Long time no see." Nya grinned, hugging him back.

"Indeed. But, how did you find us?" Zane asked as he and Cole approached the duo.

"A little birdie gave me a tip. White looks good on the little fella." Nya says as she and Kai pulled back.

"Here's to hoping he finds Jay along the way." Cole says, hugging her too and she smiled then paused.

"You haven't found Jay? Are you trying to get everyone back together?" She asked them.

"No, we haven't found him as yet. Locating everyone is a means of checking up… And an opportunity to become ninja again if we're all willing." Zane told her and Nya frowned.

"That's strange. I thought out of all of us, he'd be the easiest to find." She says then frowned, recalling the moment they split. "Then again…" She whispered to herself.

"We'll find him. Then we'll find Lloyd and we'll all be a unit again." Kai reassures her and she smiled at him.

"... Still gold crazy I see." She says dryly and Kai sputtered.

"It's a very compliant metal." He huffed defensively and she laughed along with the others.

"It's dark. We should probably find somewhere to settle down for the night." Zane spoke as he looked towards the sea where the sun had disappeared.

"You guys can stay with me." Nya says, intriguing them. "Follow me." She urged, taking flight.

__________

"I'd never even consider here." Cole says as Nya lead them inside her humble cave-esque abode at the Spirit Coves.

"Exactly." She says then flicked the lights on.

Naturally the massive underground sea carved cave looked like the Samurai X cave but noticeably homier. To one side of the cave, there was completed vehicles and gadgets, at another was blueprints, tools and half finished projects and at the final corner had a cozy living space with a couch set, TV, kitchen and a discreet bedroom hidden by curtains, all placed around pools of seawater that no doubt lead out to the sea. The shells and sea plants made it more appealing to the eye however.

"I don't have spare beds but the couches are big enough and comfortable enough to hold you guys." She says as she headed towards the living space to her right.

"Forget that! Are those new mechs?!" Kai says, leaping over the large pool of water to land on the display platform of the uncoloured mech.

"Yeah. But they aren't for us. We don't need them. Not with these powers." Nya says, changing course to head over to where he was, Zane and Cole following her.

"Then… Who are they for?" Cole asked her as they all stood before the mech.

"The other elementals." She says quietly. "They had to take our place and I've seen first hand that it isn't easy. So I thought I'd use my skills to help them instead." She shrugged and Kai gave her shoulder a squeeze, giving her a proud smile she returned.

"That's a great idea Nya. Once we round Jay and Lloyd up, you bet we'll help you and them out too." Kai says, grinning at his friends when they agreed.

"Anyone up for seafood?" She asked after a moment.

"I thought you'd never ask." Cole grinned and they all laughed.

___________

Three days have passed with the four looking everywhere they could for Jay and even with Nya's help gadget wise, they were out of luck. They couldn't find any signs of Jay. It was as if he had fallen off the map. It made them… Worried. But they never gave up. They started each day with determination. Kai, Cole and Zane made a promise to his parents they intended to keep.

"Ok, so he's not at the lightning farm. Where else haven't we checked?" Cole asked them.

"We've already covered the entire northern half of the continent with no success. The southern remains." Zane informed him and Cole only nods, refusing to let frustration take him.

"Alright. While Lloyd would probably be able to find him quickly, let's not give up. His parents are still waiting to see him after all and I'll be damned if I break my promise to them." Kai says determinedly.

"If we split up, we-"

"Hold on." Zane says, cutting Nya off as his eyes glowed even brighter.

They watched him as he remained quiet and assessing before finally speaking.

"My Falcon found him." He says and they gasped.

"Well what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Cole says, lifting off his feet.

"Right. Keep your eyes sky bound. He's resting on a cloud over central Ninjago, just a few short miles away." Zane says, taking flight as well, leading the way.

______

Jay yawned as he laid on a beanbag sized cloud, his legs and arms hanging off but he doesn't really care. He ran out of things to do and explore quick. He's been drifting around on random clouds just because, switching to another whenever the original dissipates. He pushed back his curly hair from his face as he passed under a slightly higher cloud, really appreciating the coolness that passed over him.

I should probably wear sunscreen…

Though he knew he didn't have to. He's been floating around on clouds for about a month now and the sun hadn't changed his skin tone or burned him in anyway. Sure with his outfit; a blue sleeveless turtleneck shirt pulled over slightly darker blue leggings with a waist cape and blue combat boots, coveted him plenty but his arms were still pretty much exposed. He knew he didn't have to but it was a sort of reflex thought for him.

Once the cloud passed, he blinked, realising there was a tiny white cloud circling him from above. No. Wait. That's a bird. Weird. Why was it circling him? He sat up then stood on the cloud, frowning as he looked up at it. He blinked once it swooped down, letting out a very familiar squawk.

"... The Falcon?" Jay whispered but shook his head.

That can't be right. The Falcon isn't white and it looked far more… Mecha than that. But it really does look like it. Is it? He stuck his arm out, blinking once the falcon landed on it, looking at him with a tilted head, eyes unnaturally blue and mechanical upon closer view. Oh yeah. It's the Falcon.

"Hey buddy! Woah! You sure did get an upgrade!" Jay says, looking him over and the Falcon puffed its feathers up proudly.

Jay laughed then stroked the soft feathers of its head- then blinked as something came to mind.

"Hey. If you're here, then-"

"Jay!" He blinked then turned around- only to be tackled into a hug, a startled yelp leaving him. "Oh man! I was actually getting worried we wouldn't find you!" Cole laughed as Jay gathered his bearings from his crushing hug.

"Cole?! What are you doing here?!" Jay finally managed to sputter out.

"Looking for you obviously." Kai huffed with a grin and Jay looked over Cole's shoulder to see him, Zane and Nya floating over.

"You guys… But… I don't get it. What are you doing here?" He asked as Cole finally let him go.

"We wanted to check in on you." Kai says, pulling him into a hug and Jay blinked but hugged back.

"You're surprisingly hard to find, you know that, right?" Nya says, hugging him as well.

"Not intentionally." Jay says sheepishly, shock giving away to happiness. "Man, I missed you guys." He admitted, not even realizing how lonely he was until now.

"Missed you too yah nerd." Cole laughed as they all came in for a group hug.

"We also came to fulfil a promise we made." Zane spoke up and Jay looked to him curiously.

"Yeah." Kai nods. "You see, while we were looking for you, we checked in with your parents to see if they would know…" His voice tuned out to Jay as mortification filled him.

"I can't!" Jay says, cutting off Kai's explanation. "I can't see them! Are you crazy?! Not when I've- I've-!" He sputtered then gripped his arm tightly as he looked away.

The group shared a concerned look.

"It's not like that Jay." Cole says softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "They know, of course they do but they know it's not your fault. That it's not any of our faults." He told him but Jay scoffed, not believing that.

'When you do find him, tell him…' Jay's head jolted up to hear his father's voice.

He looked to Zane, watching as he projected a hologram of his parents before them. He noticed his mother, Edna and how sad she looked. How sad they both looked. It squeezed his heart painfully.

__________________

Pt2

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lunar-lattice · 5 years

Text

Solaris Caelum (8)

Asuka's hindsight leads the gang to NERV when the power goes out right in time for an Angel attack.

Mirrors in reblogs.

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8. Not So Itsy Bitsy Spider

It was an exceptionally hot day in Tokyo-3, the kind that made one wish Second Impact had made Japan suffer an eternal winter rather than an eternal summer. It seemed as if no one wanted to do anything but yet this day found a group of NERV employees at the laundromat. Ritsuko sighed as she withdrew a stack of her laundry from the washer, "The cost of doing laundry...it's been killing me."

One of her companions, Maya, laughed softly, "I don't even have time to wash my clothes most days..."

Aoba grumbled, "At least you can sleep in a home off-base."

Maya sighed, "You could have requested to be placed off-base, you know?"

Aoba only grumbled more in response as he followed them out. All that sort of thing was too much work but being so close to work made him wish he had done it now. Not that he would admit that.

From there, they boarded the train to see the Vice Commander. Ritsuko greeted him, "Good morning, Vice Commander," and sat by him with some distance between them.

Maya and Aoba snapped to attention, "Good morning, sir!" they cried in unison.

Fuyutski lowered his newspaper. He nodded to acknowledge them, "Morning," and went back to reading his paper.

Maya and Aoba stood, holding onto the bar. "You're quite early," Ritsuko commented to Fuyutski.

"Well, I have to go up top in Ikari's place."

"Ah," Ritsuko nodded in understanding, "Isn't today the City Council's regular meeting?"

Fuyutski rolled his eyes from behind his newspaper, "It's a pointless job. Ikari has always thrust the sundry tasks onto me. Without the Magi, I'd be lost. "

Ritsuko nodded once more, "Speaking of which, the city elections are approaching up there, right?"

"The City Council is merely a shell. The municipal government, after all, is in fact run by the Magi."

Aoba arched an eyebrow, "The Magi? The three super computers?"

Fuyutski nodded, "Government by majority decision of three different computers. It's a system that is properly in line with the fundamentals of democracy."

Maya looked at Aoba, "The council obeys their decisions too! That's a city of science for you!" she sighed and smiled, "It really is an era where science reigns supreme."

Aoba furrowed his eyebrows, "Talk about an old-fashioned line. Sounds a little shady but I guess if it gets the job done, it doesn't really matter,"

"That's why you're only on the bridge!" Maya teased.

Aoba huffed softly and glanced away.

Fuyutski glanced at Ritsuko, "Come to think of it, you're running an experiment on Unit 00 today, right?"

Ritsuko nodded, "We need to make sure there's no issues with it after the cross-synch with Kaworu. So we're running the second prolonged activation test at 10:30."

Fuyutski nodded, "I'm looking forward to good news then."

An hour or so later, there wasn't much good news to look forward to. The emergency alarm blared through the testing facility. Unfazed, Ritsuko glanced at Maya, "Abort the experiment. Cut the circuits."

"Switching circuits."

The testing room went dark for a moment before the lights came back on. "We're still having a problem here..." Ritsuko murmured, looking over Maya's shoulder.

"Yes, we're getting closer though," Maya assured her.

"Good. We don't need one of our Evas acting up. Lower the reciprocal conversion rate but 0.01 and recommence the activation experiment."

"Gotta love having a short day!" Toji stretched as they left school.

Asuka huffed, "Not for us! We have to check into NERV later!"

Toji snorted, "Sucks for you. Me and Ken are gonna hang out at his house!"

"Yeah, I gotta tell my brother about that parent-student conference. I mean, he is my guardian for the most part," Kensuke shrugged.

"Ah, yeah! Gotta ask my dad! See if NERV will take a second to let him off," Toji paused, "No offense. "

"None taken," Kaworu answered, "I'm not sure who will check in for me though. Perhaps Misato."

Toji blinked, "Someone has to have been taking care of you!"

Kaworu shrugged, "Not here, as far as I know. And I doubt my guardian in England would want to deal with that."

"I guess I'd have to tell my dad," Shinji slumped at the mere thought of calling him.

"Shinji!" Asuka cried, making him jump, "I'm pretty sure Misato is charge of that! Remember her scolding us about our grades!"

"Oh..." Shinji sighed, "You're right."

"You can't really want him to show up!" Asuka said.

"I mean, I just..." Shinji paused, rubbing his arm, "I dunno. I just want him to be involved somehow..."

"Well, best if you don't call. He might yell at you!" Asuka said, "Then we'd have to get onto his case."

"Getting onto the Commander's case?" Rei echoed, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, hypothetically. I wouldn't be surprised if the man's office was booby-trapped!" Asuka waved her arms for emphasis.

Shinji chuckled and Asuka smiled, "Let's just head on to NERV. We won't really have the time to go home then come back."

Misato herself was on her way to her personal office to get the day's paperwork over and done with. It was a thankless job but it was hers so she couldn't opt out. She stepped inside the elevator, preparing to press the button to go up.

"Hey! Hold up!" came Kaji's voice down the hallway.

With a stony expression that would make the Commander envious, she pressed the button, watching the doors slowly close on Kaji.

A hand darted through them and the doors stopped, opening once more to show a relieved Kaji. Misato huffed, redirecting her expression away from him. He stood by her, catching his breath. He glanced at her, "Man, that run really took a bit outta me!"

He turned to face her, "You've certainly got a black expression."

Misato turned her nose up at him, "It's from seeing your loathsome face first thing in the morning!"

Kaji laughed, unperturbed by her. Misato rolled her eyes, "Really nothing bothers you, does it?"

"Well, nothing you're doing right now."

Misato sighed and leaned against the wall, watching the floor tick up. Then the lights went out and the elevator was flooded with an orange gloom. Kaji looked at Misato, "What do you think?"

She met his gaze, "Er, it's bound to switch to the backup power supply soon."

A few minutes passed.

"I hope."

Hyuga was the only one of the main bridge staff not at base. To his credit, the day was supposed to be a slow one. He sighed as he adjusted the bags in his arms, "Man, she can be such a lazy slob. Can't Katsuragi pick up her own laundry?"

He looked at the bag full of her clothes and sighed, "Yet, I never say no. And not because she's my superior..."

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked up at the crosswalk light to see if it was time to cross. It went dead. "What?"

Back in the testing chamber, it was dim. Maya, ever dutiful, reported, "The main power supply has been interrupted. Voltage is at zero," she looked at Ritsuko.

Along with every other tech in the room. Ritsuko chuckled nervously, "Well, it wasn't me."

She turned, "Let's get to Central. I don't think the power failed only here."

Maya stood and followed her to the door. She asked, "What do you think is going on?

Ritsuko hummed in thought, "The power is off. But it's not coming on. That makes me suspicious."

Maya frowned, "I hope it's just a fluke."

"As do I."

In the Command Center, Aoba was shaking his head as he sat at his station, "It's no good, the backup circuits are not connecting."

Fuyutski, who had come down from his usual lofty perch, cried, "This can't be! Reroute all remaining power supplies to maintaining the Magi and Central Dogma."

Aoba spoke up, "But that will interfere with life support systems."

"I don't care!" Fuyutski snapped, "With the Magi, we'll get everything back up sooner!"

"Huh," Shinji raised an eyebrow as Rei swiped her card and the doors to NERV did not react.

He swiped his with similar results. "Try yours, Kaworu," he suggested.

"I don't think it'll work if either of yours didn't," he said.

"Door could be broken. Or power is out," Asuka suggested.

"That is unlikely," Rei spoke up, "NERV has sufficient backup power."

"Well, just in case, let's go around the side," Asuka gestured with a jerk of her head.

A few more minutes passed in the elevator and Misato sighed and crouched, inspecting the buttons, "This isn't normal."

With a tilt of the head, Kaji asked, "What's the power system here?"

"There are three main systems, main, sub and reserve. It's unthinkable for all three to fail simultaneously."

"Which would mean..."

"We should not assume that the breakers didn't fail on their own, but rather were taken down on purpose."

Fuyutski had returned to the top tier of the Command Center with the Commander, lighting a candle as he listened to the Commander. "Regardless of cause, this is not an optimal situation. It would be disastrous if an Angel attacked right now."

As if on cue, a military installation had just picked up something off the coast of the former Atami region. The commander of it commented, "It's likely the eighth one."

One of the officers spoke up, "I agree."

Another asked, "So what is the plan?"

"We go on alert status for now, as is procedure."

The second officer said, "It's most likely going to Tokyo-3 anyway."

He muttered under his breath, "Where else? There's nothing we will need to do."

A few minutes passed and one of the techs reported, "We have no response from Tokyo-3."

"What?!" the first officer cried, "What are those NERV guys doing?"

The second officer raised an eyebrow, "It's unlike them to slack off."

Ritsuko and Maya were still navigating their way to Central, climbing up a ladder as they did. "I thought gangway ladders were decorative holdovers from the past. Who would think we'd be using them?"

"Well, to prepare is to prevent!" Maya said from behind her.

Ritsuko chuckled, "You're just full of those, aren't you?"

"I'm right, aren't I!" Maya cried.

"Of course. One would never know what will happen."

"Nothing's working," Shinji commented, having run his card again.

"None of the facilities are working. That is odd," Rei turned to Asuka, "You may be correct."

"Damn right, I am! I bet something happened below."

Rei nodded, "A natural assumption."

"Let's get in contact then with the headquarters then," Shinji suggested as he picked up one of the emergency phones.

All he got was silence for his efforts, "Phones aren't working. I think Asuka is onto something with the power. What do we do now then?"

Rei sat, opening her bag to retrieve a small booklet from it. She opened it and began to study it. Shinji asked, "What are you doing, Rei?"

"It's the emergency manual," Asuka explained, "I have one too. Rather, we all should."

"Do not bother pulling them out. I say we go to headquarters," Rei put it back and rose to her feet, "I'll lead."

She pointed down the walkway, "We can get below through Route 07 over here," and without waiting for a response, began to walk down that way.

"Yeah, let's follow Rei. She must know the place better than us," Asuka nodded.

Rei lead them to the door, "Correct. I have been here longer."

"How long?" Shinji asked.

"...all my life."

"Wow, really? How come?" Shinji blinked in surprise.

Rei didn't miss a beat, "My guardian is the Commander so I've never lived anywhere else."

Asuka dared to glance at Shinji. Unlike his father, he did not know how to mask his emotions so his face shifted between surprise then annoyance then full on anger then resignation. Asuka looked away, "At least we'll get to base in a timely manner."

Rei's response was frustrating. Rei's origin was something Asuka never actually figured out. It seemed like she knew everything else but there was a missing piece that eluded her. Rei was a parentless child who was the ward of Commander Ikari and eerily obedient to him. So her saying she lived there her entire life was not a lie. But how did she come to be here? A child of former employees, the child of Commander Ikari, a test tube baby even?

They stopped in front of the door, "Will the doors work?" Shinji asked.

"Manual door," Asuka smiled, "Go on Shinji, Kaworu."

"Wow, you really rely on other people for this," Shinji sighed as he took a hold of the crank and pulled.

"Oh no, just you and Kaworu are standing around a whole lot."

Kaworu joined Shinji and with a heave, the crank began to squeal and turn. The doors opened and Kaworu smiled, "Let's go,"

Back at the military installation, there was still little luck, "Still no response from Tokyo-3."

The second officer snapped, "Damn those Joint Staff bastards! They only rely on us at times like this!"

The commander, ever cool, said, "What does the government say?"

The second officer rolled his eyes, "Those bastards in Tokyo-2? They're apparently getting ready to run!"

A cool but withering look from the commander sobered him up. One of the techs said, "The Angel is still active and advancing."

The commander looked forward again, "In any case, we need to get into contact with NERV."

"But how?" the second officer asked.

"By actually going there," the first officer said.

Hyuga was on his way to NERV, as there wasn't much else to go. Going home was useless and ay any case, NERV needed every hand. If Tokyo-3 was down, NERV was too. The two were inexplicably connected.

A large military plane flew over, its broadcast drifting over the dead Tokyo-3, "This is the third district ASDF! An unidentified object is moving toward this area. All residents must move to their designated shelters."

There wasn't much else an unidentified object could be so Hyuga realized immediately. "Big trouble!" he gasped, "Must be an Angel!"

He took off at a run, "I've got to report this to Headquarters at once! But how?"

A van drove down the rode in the distance, droning election propaganda. He watched it then grinned, "Lucky me."

In the dreaded elevator, it was hot. It was beyond hot. Misato has stripped off her jacket to her tank top up and was fanning under it. She sighed, "Boy, it's so hot."

"Yeah, the air conditioners are out too. Katsuragi, if you're so hot, why don't you take off your shirt?" he flashed her a grin, "No reason for shyness between us. After all, it's nothing I haven't seen before."

Misato hissed and snatched her jacket off the floor, putting it back on and zipping it up to her chin, "Don't get any funny ideas just because we're in this situation."

Kaji chuckled and looked away, "Oh no, the "love in the elevator" situation is far too cliche for me. I only have your best interests in mind."

"How about you? Those long sleeves must be hot too!" she smiled smugly at him.

Kaji blinked, "If you're asking for me to take off my shirt, you could just ask," he went to unzip his shirt.

"Wait, no, I didn't mean it!"

Hyuga, along with the driver and speaker he had dragged into his mission, tore through the empty streets. The speaker cried through the intercom, "Pursuant to the declaration of a state emergency, emergency vehicle passing through!"

"Wait!" she cried, pointing to the blocked off tunnel they were speeding towards, "That's a dead end!

"It's alright! Charge!" Hyuga cried, "This is an emergency!"

The woman speaker wailed, "No, no! Stop the car!"

The driver grinned like he was having the time of his life, "Roger!" and charged through, breaking the barrier.

Meanwhile, Fuyutski sighed, fanning his face, "This Geofront was designed to be a self-sufficient colony even isolated from the outside. Theoretically, it's impossible for all of the power sources to fail at once."

Ritsuko had come up to the top tier to talk with him once she arrived. "It's not supposed to happen," she cut in, "To me, that means someone did this deliberately."

The Commander said smoothly, "Their purpose would be likely to investigate this facility."

"So they could determine HQ's structure through the process of restoration," she turned away, "I'll run a dummy system through the Magi so it'll make it harder for them to get the full picture. I'll have it restore us out of order too."

"I'll leave it to you."

"Yes, sir," and with that, she departed.

Fuyutski shook his head, "The first havoc wrecked upon our Headquarters directly, not caused by an Angel but rather our own kind. Just goes to show."

Gendo said from behind his hands, "Ultimately, the enemy of mankind is mankind. It would not do for us to forget this."

"This would normally only take two minutes. Is this really a corridor?" Shinji asked.

"An emergency corridor, yes," Rei said.

Shinji frowned, not quite believing her but not one to complain. "We'll get there sooner or later. We have time," Asuka shrugged.

"You're very calm..." Shinji said.

"Well, Rei knows her way around!"

"So...you trust her?" Kaworu asked, an eyebrow raised.

Asuka quieted him with a withering glare. "Quiet," Rei said, holding up her arm in front of Asuka.

A voice drifted from somewhere below, quiet but just loud enough to be understood. "Is that Hyuga?" Shinji asked.

Hyuga's voice got closer, "An Angel is approaching! Repeat, an Angel is approaching!"

Shinji gasped in surprise, "An Angel is approaching?!"

"Then let's get moving!" Asuka cried.

"I know a shortcut. Follow me," Rei said, walking forward to a vent in the wall.

She daintily pulled it out and set it on the floor before pulling herself up into it, "Come on," .

The other three followed her in. A few minutes passed in the tight space before Shinji asked, "Say, Asuka. What do you suppose the Angels are?"

Asuka would have looked back at him if she could, "That's a weird thing to ask right now."

"I mean, they're Angels. Messengers of God, enemies named after them at least. Why are we fighting them?"

Asuka considered her next words carefully, "I don't think they're like actual Angels, like out of heaven. Plus, they're attacking us so really we're just defending ourselves."

"I wonder why they're attacking us then. We haven't done anything to them."

"Beats me," Asuka shrugged.

It wasn't like she could tell him that they were after something NERV had. She had a hunch about what that something was but she hadn't found out last time nor did Kaworu tell her yet. Something else on the list of what to ask him.

"We get out here," Rei said from the front, pushing another vent out where it hit the floor with a metallic clang.

She climbed out and surveyed their surroundings, a forked crossroads. She pointed to the left, "I think we go left."

Asuka looked down the dim hallway, "Left, it is."

The hallway sloped downwards, a good sign. As they walked, Asuka asked, "What are these for anyways?"

Rei answered, "Most were put in here when construction began as a means to move around. So they are mostly unused now."

"Does anyone use them now?" Asuka poked for information.

"We are,"

In the back, Kaworu cracked up. "Shut it, Prettyboy!" Asuka snapped, "I meant anyone else."

Rei hummed softly, "Perhaps to move things but other than that, not that I know of."

Down in Central Dogma, Hyuga's "borrowed" van came squealing to a stop as he cried, "Angel is approaching! Immediate Eva dispatch will be necessary!"

Maya, who was looking down to the bottom of the command center cried, "Oh no!" she turned to the bridge in surprise.

The Commander rose, "Fuyutski, I leave this to you."

Fuyutski raised an eyebrow, "Ikari?"

He stepped onto the elevator, "I'll start preparing for the Eva launch in the cage."

"Don't tell me...manually?"

The Commander was annoyed which only showed in how he grabbed the rail, "There's an emergency diesel generator."

Fuyutski raised an eyebrow again, "No pilots."

"They will come," he said curtly and with that, he departed.

"We are close, this way," Rei said as she lead them.

They walked in silence for a few minutes more. Asuka asked, only to dispel the silence, "Rei, the Commander is your guardian, right?"

"Correct. I am his ward."

Asuka paused, debating for a moment. Then she scoffed, "He should treat you better."

"He treats me adequately."

Asuka glanced behind her and was surprised to find Shinji annoyed. Upon seeing her looking at him, he looked down. Asuka shook her head, "That's not the point. I bet he won't come to that conference either."

"Most likely no. No one will."

"That's...really depressing," Shinji said.

"I never thought of it that way."

"It is," Kaworu piped up, "A parent or guardian has a duty to their child and he does not fulfill it to you or Shinji. He has failed this and thus, is not a guardian."

Rei appeared to think on this but then said, "He is still my Commander and is yours."

Asuka sighed, "It's not like we have a choice to disobey him on that front."

Rei's next words were slow, thoughtful, "And neither do I."

After that, it was quiet. They came to a section of the hallway that was full of rubble. "Can't open this," Kaworu quipped.

"Then we go through a duct. Or break through one," Rei picked up a pipe, testing it in her hands for weight.

An audible click went through the chamber as the final entry plug was loading into place. The techs and the Commander let their ropes go, the techs shuffling awkwardly at the Commander's presence. The Commander himself walked away to the side. Maya, peering through a pair of binoculars, reported to Ritsuko, "The plug is fixed and ready."

Ritsuko nodded, "Now, for the kids. Let's sit down to wait."

They had just settled back in when a racket came from above them with a bunch of voices. Ritsuko looked up, her lips twisted in confusion. With a final groaning clatter, the vent opened up and deposited three teenagers onto her floor. Rei dropped from it with a dainty landing.

Ritsuko smiled, "There you are!"

Asuka bolted up, "We are prepared to sortie!"

Shinji picked himself up, "But how will we? There's no power, how are the Evas?"

"In standby," Ritsuko jerked her head in the direction of Unit One, head bowed and the entry plug set in place.

Shinji blinked in surprise, "But how?"

"All done by hand. It was the Commander's plan actually."

"My father's...?"

A cry came from below, "Preparing all units for entry!"

Shinji walked over and looked over the rail to find his father with the techs, pulling the entry plug to load it into Unit One. He looked to his side to find Rei, looking down at the Commander with a passive expression. "Commander Ikari had faith that you would come and prepared everything," Ritsuko said.

Shinji gasped softly, this new piece of information only adding to his confused feelings. His father...having faith in him? Beside him, Rei's face twitched but she betrayed nothing. Shinji turned away and prepared to suit up.

Below them, the techs buzzed with activity. Once the pilots were inside, a key was turned and with the rough rumbling of power, the entry plug screwed in.

Maya reported, "Plugs inserted."

Ritsuko nodded, "All units activated using backup power supply."

The Commander, beside them, said, "Release the primary lock bolts."

The techs took axes to the thick cords holding the lock bolts in place. Red fluid sprayed from them and with a mechanical click, the bolts disengaged. "Zero pressure. Each unit is free." Maya reported.

The Commander nodded ever so slightly, "Go ahead. Each unit, force open your restraints under your own power! Head out!" he yelled.

With the groan of straining metal, each unit pushed out of their restraints. Above, the Angel, a spider-like creature on spindly legs stopped and crouched over the base. False eyes were patterned all over it in colorful hues but at the bottom of it was a single real blue eye. It began to weep an orange acid that sizzled and ate through the concrete below it.

In Central Dogma, Hyuga cried, "The target appears to have stopped right above us!"

Ritsuko flinched, Hyuga's voice bouncing around the chamber from his speaker. She recomposed herself in a moment, "Get ready! Hurry up!" she cried to the pilots.

Maya cried back, a similar speaker in her hand, "The emergency batteries are loaded!"

Ritsuko stood tall, a knowing and confident smirk on her face, "All right, we can do this! Launch!"

All three Evas walked past them, the ground shuddering beneath their feet. Asuka climbed first into one of the shafts that lead out of the chamber, Shinji and Rei clamoring after her. Kaworu stood beside the team, watching them leave with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"We're approaching the vertical shaft," Rei reported, only a few seconds into their climb.

"Wait for me. I'll check it out," Asuka gestured at them to wait with Unit Two's hand.

She poked her head out into the shaft. It was silent. She glanced up, unable to see the top. "Asuka, we have limited power..." Shinji warned.

"Wait, I'm thinking how we get up there," she said.

A low sizzle filled the chamber before daylight flooded the shaft. Following it was a thick orange liquid fell just inches from her face, hitting the floor at the bottom of the shaft and eating through it. "There's acid," she reported.

"So it appears its using it to invade HQ?" Rei asked.

"Acid?! How do we get through it? We only have three minutes." Shinji asked at the same time.

Asuka chuckled, "You forget you have a master strategist here! I have a plan that will get it done in three minutes flat! Less if we're lucky."

"Wow, Asuka! You're a genius!"

Asuka smiled to herself. Yes, she was a genius but she also had the power of hindsight. "Here's the plan. One of us defends, the other shoots and the last acts as backup."

"I will def-" Rei began.

"I will defend, you will act as backup at the bottom of the shaft, alright?"

Rei was quiet then conceded, "Alright. What will I be doing?"

"You will go to the bottom of the shaft, in case one of us falls or drops a rifle. You will also give Shinji yours?"

"Why?" Shinji asked.

"You're offense. Double the firepower. You'll be in the middle of the shaft and shoot the Angel when its open."

"What is your role?"

She grinned, "Defense. Not only will I defend you from the acid but I will use my AT Field to neutralize the Angel's AT Field. Thus, I'm at the top of the shaft. So Shinji, don't get into position until I am? Got it?"

"Got it! But are you sure you'll be safe?"

"I'll be fine. Think of it as me repaying the favor from last time. Are you ready, Rei?"

"I understand."

"Then let's go!" she swung out into the shaft, grabbing the sides of the shaft and crawling upward. Above, she could see the Angel's single blue eye. Below, she could hear her comrades getting into position. The eye blinked and a wave of acid fell onto her, setting all her nerves on fire. She bit back a cry and hissed to herself, "This...is...nothing," images of flying white figures coming to her mind unbidden.

A cry came over the comm, breaking her from the images, "Asuka, get clear!"

She swerved out of the way, a rain of shots racing by her, into the Angel and out the other side. The Angel stood on its own for only a moment, then slumped, its legs going awry. Asuka sighed in relief, her skin still stinging somewhat, "Angel is dead."

Back in the elevator, neither occupant even knew there was an Angel, much less it had been defeated. But what one did know is she really wanted to get out. So that's how Misato was perched on Kaji's shoulders, trying to pry open the emergency door at top, "Oh damn it! Why won't it work!"

Kaji glanced up at her, "Misato, be caref-"

"Don't look my skirt!" she kicked him in the back

"Yes, ma'am..." he had only wanted to make sure she wasn't going to fall.

The lights clicked on, the mere shock of the bright light causing Misato to recoil...and fall over. Kaji himself yelped and fell over, her falling onto him in a heap. With a ding, the elevator opened, revealing Ritsuko, Hyuga and Maya.

Hyuga cringed, Ritsuko slapped her hand to her face and Maya sighed, "Really?"

"Oh no! Love in an elevator is far too cliche!" Kaji cried

"Shut it!" Misato hissed.

Night had fallen over Tokyo-3, the stars twinkling above in the absence of unnatural light. The three pilots had trekked out of Tokyo-3 and set their Evas on the ridge overlooking the city like a trio of silent guardians. The pilots themselves had laid on the ground, watched the sunset and now stargazed. Asuka spoke, breaking the silence, "Seeing the city like this makes me feel...alone, like I'm alone in the universe."

Shinji looked over at her then the city then the sky, "Yeah. I feel so small."

The lights flicked back off, Tokyo-3 awash in an electric glow. "There," Asuka smiled, "The universe feels a little more crowded again."

Rei spoke up, her quiet voice drifting into the night, "Man has always feared the darkness, carving away at it with fire."

"Well, the darkness is frightening. Who knows what is in it..." Shinji trailed off, "Do you think that's what makes mankind a special species? Why the Angels keep attacking us?"

"I think it's more than that. Who knows why they're attacking," Asuka shrugged, "We just need to do our jobs and protect humanity."

She turned to Rei, "What do you think, Rei?"

Rei hummed in thought then said, "Eva is our bond to humanity and we are bonded to Eva. Our bond to Eva and humanity dictates we do what is in humanity's best interests. Right now, that is defeating the Angels."

Asuka paused then smiled, "I'm glad you said that."

#nge #neon genesis evangelion #evangelion #fanfiction #fanfic #wildcat writes #solaris caelum

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