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sonicringbond · 3 years

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Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey - Scene 22

Like before, a fair bit of exposition this chapter.

I hope everyone will forgive me. For the most part it’s part of why I have Rosy narrating most of it, as it helps show her knowledge and how she is seeing the world. I hope it’s been working and keeping everyone engaged. But I guess you really can’t engage if I keep yapping, so please enjoy...

~As I said before, Rings are amazing! Through a Ring Bond two people can share so much between each other. It really makes me mad that Ix would use a Ring Bond to steal things from people. I really hope I can straighten him out, and if not that I can stop him before he really hurts a lot of people. And if not me, then hopefully Draw.

~Bringing Draw along will be difficult without Zooey or Sonic though. I’m sure I could carry him well enough, though I don’t think that he would like that. But it’s not like I can really make a Ring Bond either. I really don’t know how, though I know I’ve tried in the past to figure it out. I guess I just don’t have a good instinct for.

~Ooh~! It’s so frustrating!

~It’s not just Sonic and Ix though who can form Ring Bonds. Or at least some of the affects. As Rings make up the world itself when they’ve used up most of their energy, they can sometimes pass their abilities into the objects they make up. Just like the tiny little floating islands I discovered while climbing up one of the fingers of Point Beach with Draw.~

“What are you doing now, you crazy weirdo girl!” Draw called out in disbelieving panic as Rosy deftly leapt from one floating piece of rock and vegetation to another.

“Collecting Rings of course,” Rosy smiled and waved back at Draw as she landed, nearly fell, and then collected the Rings on the new island. “Though we’ll have to be careful when we get to the top. I bet there’s another mean priest waiting at the top ready to smack the Rings out of me!”

~I think Draw might have been confused why I would feel that way, but it made sense to me.

~At the top of the particularly thick “finger” that we followed the long winding plank walkway up there was an airship port. It was particularly busy too. But maybe Draw had never flown before and didn’t realize that Rings can appear all the way up into outer space even. It really is amazing. Tee-hee! But I’m getting distracted.

~Another amazing thing about Rings, at least back home, is that they can be used to fuel airships. If I’m remembering what Tails told me once, they are even used in the construction of them to help them float and ignore some of the rules about air-o-something-or-other. Anyway, that’s also why they have balloons built into their bodies and are covered in sails, wings, and propellers; to help them fly through the air. The thing is though, the airships here look a lot like they’re built the same way and I couldn’t help but look at them. At least until we got to the top of the finger.

~Unlike the coral reef look of the homes built into the old buildings that made up the finger mountains, everything up top was brand new. The roads were still paved with seashells, but the stone brick buildings were all a lot newer looking. They were still covered in plants like everywhere I’ve been, but it was really pretty, like a garden built that way. I couldn’t leave the search for Zooey waiting any longer though.

~After avoiding the priest I knew would be up there, holding up a lot of travelers too, Draw and I began looking for people familiar with the “Queen of the Sky”. Tee-hee~♪ Zooey had made it harder to track her down than I expected though as she had become quite famous since I last saw her. Everyone on top of the finger knew who she was. If I hadn’t seen the poster, I would have never found anyone who had actually met her.~

“Really!” Rosy exclaimed excitedly as the old orangutan cloud sailor she shared a café table with tapped the photo Rosy showed him.

“No doubt about it. Aye, that’s the Queen of the Sky alright. I’ve never lost an air race so badly before until I met her. She’s a devil in the guise of an angel I warn ye.”

“And she’s a friend of yours?” Draw asked as he gave Rosy a sidelong glance.

Indignantly puffing up her cheeks, Rosy defended her friend. “Zooey maybe scary sometimes, but she’s really sweet and caring. She just wants the best for her friends. I’m guessing after we all got separated that’s why she got into racing. It’d be a lot easier for us to find her if she was famous, and she doesn’t really stand out like the rest of do.”

“Can’t say that ye do lass,” The orangutan countered and rubbed his chin. “Ain’t heard hide or tail about any of the other’s in this pic. Seeing how happy she is though; I don’t doubt that you’re all good friends with her. The thing is though, the Queen of the Sky ain’t so easy to catch up with.”

“You’re just saying that cause you lost,” Draw criticized the old cloud sailor.

“Draw, that’s rude, even if it’s true.” Rosy had not meant to be so rude herself and gasped as she covered her mouth with her hands and photo as the old sailor frowned. “I’m so sorry! I really shouldn’t have said that.”

“Ye might have well of lass. Ye was thinking it, and that’s all there is to it. And perhaps I do have a sore spot still. Us cloud sailors make a living on our skills, so losing a race like that… Well, it’s a shame as a sailor and an engineer.”

“Wait!” Slamming his hands on the table in the café they had found the old orangutan in, Draw rose to his feet in shock. “You have more than one occupation? I don’t understand, everyone–”

“Has only one they dedicate their lives to?” the cloud sailor finished for Draw with a sly smile. “Only for ye ground dwellers perhaps, but the Engineers aren’t fond of the life that the Preservers force on everyone. It stifles our creativity and keeps the world stagnant. That, and ye never know when a Ring Shift will take ye off course. I hear there are still a lot of sailors missing after that big red Ring showed up in the sky.”

Her mouth falling into an “O” shape, Rosy was glad that she was still hiding her mouth. Looking down at the picture again she thought about the sapient frog who had taken it and likely had it processed. She had helped him out quite a bit too and if she was right, she may have made even more trouble for the Engineers.

“So then, I guess Ring Thieves work with the Preserves?”

“Preservers lass, and ye ain’t wrong about that. But I wonder why it is that you ask. Ain’t no good that comes from getting involved with their ilk.”

“Hee-hee. I’ve heard that back home too. Our whole way of life is dependent on Rings, so Ring thieves aren’t really liked. They’re considered really bad people.”

Draw was not sure what was going on between Rosy and the Orangutan, but he knew that they were suddenly not being very direct. It seemed odd for the normally blunt Rosy from what he had seen of her, and he grew more curious. More so that anyone would steal Rings and that it would give them a reputation other than that of a heretic. “So, what’s the big idea about a Ring Thief?”

“Eh?”

The orangutan’s response was all Rosy needed to confirm her suspicions and Rosy jumped on the opportunity. “It’s because airships can’t function without them!”

A long awkward silence fell over the whole café as Rosy blurted it out. Sidelong glances were exchanged between the patrons and a nervous whisper filled the air. The orangutan merely gave Rosy a bewildered look which she challenged with a confident smile while her tail began to wag enthusiastically. Eventually the orangutan conceded and slumped down with a sigh.

“I suppose ye are friends with the Queen of the Sky. It was only natural that ye’d know.”

“Of course!” Rosy smiled, as she leaned back into her seat looking very happy. Draw was still staring at her curiously though as he tried to grasp the whole situation. The writing on the back of the photo she still clutched tightly really was bugging him and he questioned Rosy ignorantly of the consequences of his words.

“Then you know a Ring Thief? I guess that shouldn’t surprise me with a weirdo girl like you.”

Leaning back and placing his hands on the back of his head, Draw grew even more confused as Rosy’s smile became very strained and the eyes of the patrons grew wide with shock. “Ah~ Draw! I just wanted to get help finding Zooey! I knew if I mentioned Gill everyone would get mad!”

“Gill you say!” one patron asked indignantly. “You don’t mean that scoundrel Mach Frog Bradley do you! Why I lost a whole month’s worth of time due to that meddling creep once. It was a relief when he disappeared!”

“Ha!” another patron scoffed at the first. “Well I’ve lost a lot more to that scoundrel. Scourge of the world I say!”

“Ooh~! I knew Gill had probably gotten himself into all kinds of trouble being a Ring Thief, but he was so nice to me.”

“Well ye’ve been duped lass,” the orangutan scowled as he lost any sympathy in his eyes. “And put into a bad spot too.”

“Wait,” Rosy waved her hands in front of her pleadingly. “I really just want to find Zooey and the rest of our friends and try to get home.”

“Ye really think I’ll trust ye hearing that you’re affiliated with that slimy crook?”

“Is it really that bad?” Draw asked as though he was adding fuel to the fire. He was having a hard time grasping that the airships he frequently saw overhead were powered by Rings and that anyone who stole Rings was more than weird.

“Draw! Please don’t make this worse!” Rosy practically begged as she looked at the increasingly angered patrons as they seemed to loom about their table. “Gill helped me out, but I know Ring Thieves are bad people, and everyone here has been hurt by him too. And since I helped him out a bit too, he’s pretty much hurt me now too. Ooh~! Gill you dummy! Why did you have to hurt people too!”

~It was so frustrating. It felt my like lead to Zooey had been lost in that moment. Just like her pretty title made it sound, she was so far away from a hedgehog with her feet on the ground, even if some people thought I had lost my head in the clouds. But the funny thing is, sometimes people are a lot nicer than anyone realizes they are. A lot more forgiving too. Gill had hurt all of us, so it was only natural that we helped each other. And I’m always happy to help. Especially when it makes people smile and sets me on another adventure!~

Scene 22 · CLEARED Queen of the Sky, End

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And there we have ourselves a fun little change in direction. My frog OC, Gill hasn’t shown up in a while, but he’s still able to much things up regardless. And Rosy probably never should have asked about Ring Thieves, but her curiosity has been eating at her since Scene 16 so it was time to bring it to a head. I’m also curious what everyone thinks of Draw so far. He’s a fun little trouble maker to write and give’s Rosy a consistent person to chat with, but does everyone like him or is he just annoying and/or boring you? I hope he’s enjoyable so far. You’ll be seeing more of him for a while yet! Until then, stay well!

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Special Thanks to Cutegirlmayra Story by @JoshTarwater/SonicFanJ Inspiring Song – Wind of Beginnings – Nobuo Uematsu – Granblue Fantasy Original Soundtrack

Fair Use Disclaimer

Sonic the Hedgehog and all affiliated characters and logos are the express property and Copyright© of SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS used without permission under Title 17 U.S.C Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976 in which allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. “Fair use” is use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be considered copyright infringement. The Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey alternate universe (AU) consumer written work of fiction is a non-profit transformative work primarily for personal use and can and will be taken down without warning or prior notice at the request of the copyright holder(s) should it not be recognized under “fair use”.

*Sonic Ring Bond logo created by DEE Art – twitter.com/daryliscute.

Sonic Ring Bond AU and Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey are the creation of Joshua David Tarwater/ynymbus/sonicfanj/@Joshtarwater and is to be, including all contents herein considered for all legal purposes the property of the Sonic the Hedgehog intellectual property (IP) and copyright owners, SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS. All story contributors via prompt, suggestion, written scene, art, and all and every other contribution acknowledge that all contributed material is forfeit for legal purposes to SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS upon official request from SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic fan fiction #sonic au #sonic au series #sonic ring bond #the journey #classic amy #amy rose #rosy the rascal #au amy #amy redesign #sonic oc #patch #draw the koala

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keelywolfe · 4 years

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FIC: Severed Bonds (Chapter 16)

Summary: Edge, Jedi Knight, is lost in a Galaxy without the Jedi Order and the only one left to him is one who already betrayed them all.

Tags/Warnings: Spicyhoney, Star Wars AU, Darkfic, Angst, Minor Character Deaths, Friends to Enemies to ?, Hatesex…?, Trauma, Implied Possible Insanity, Rough Sex, Lemons, Mentions of Prostitution, Violence, Possessiveness, Attempted Rape

Notes: PLEASE READ: Just a reminder that this story is very dark and that you should read the tags.

Severed Bonds: a Spicyhoney SW AU

CH1 | CH2 | CH3 | CH4: Interlude | CH5 | CH6: Interlude 2 | CH7 | CH8 | CH9 | CH10 | CH11 | CH12 | CH13 | CH14 | CH15

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Read Chapter 16 on AO3

Read it here!

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By the time Rus returned from his scrounging through the bounty hunter’s ship, Edge was drowsing where he sat leaning against the wall. He jerked awake at BD-7’s blat of warning, tensing as the door slid open only to reveal Rus striding back in, a couple large carrysacks slung over one shoulder.

“come on,” Rus said. The contents of the bags clunked as he leaned down to help Edge to his feet, steadying him as he shuffled cautiously towards the door.

“Pants?” Edge asked, blurrily. The exhaustion still coursing through his system was making thinking somewhat difficult yet, but he did know that he wasn’t interested in heading out into the wastelands in nothing more than Rus’s outer robe.

“yeah, don’t worry, i got you covered.” It took a moment for the pun of it to filter through and Edge stopped, staring at Rus in disbelief.

He only grinned in return, eye lights glittering with deep amusement. “what, it’s the truth! come on, we’ll get the clothes issues ironed out. not too much further now. this ship ain’t that big.”

Edge followed Rus’s guiding tug, but it wasn’t the puns giving Edge pause. It was that in this moment, Rus seemed more like himself than he had since the day he’d vanished. It made something rise in Edge’s soul that he didn’t dare name, tamping it down as they shuffled through the narrow corridor. It was a good thing that this ship wasn’t better than their own, considering the amount of corpses they passed as Rus finally led him out of the maze of the hold. Cleaning it out would be more trauma than it was worth.

The further they went, the more difficult it became for Edge to keep up. His legs were cursedly wobbly, probably an aftereffect of the stunners they’d use on him. The faint soreness lingering between his legs from Rus’s possessiveness morphing from gratifying to an annoyance.

To his confusion, Rus led him to a lavatory instead of the exit and when Edge looked at him in mute question, he only shrugged. “planet’s in occlusion, no one will be able to take off or land for at least six more hours. may as well use up their resources instead of ours. not like they’ll need them.”

True, but it hardly needed said like that. Rus stayed with him, his blatant staring forcing Edge to forgo any modesty as he shed the robe. By now there was little Rus hadn’t seen of him and any mystery Edge still possessed was only in the corners of his mind. His body he’d given Rus willingly, what right did he have to complain if Rus took his due?

BD-7’s presence was slightly more unnerving but then, droids didn’t have the foibles of living creatures when it came to nudity.

Sonics would never be as satisfying as water, but Edge couldn’t hold back a groan of appreciation as the filth was cleansed from his bones, dust from the planet, blood from the Gamorrean, and Rus’s come, all of it dissolved beneath the sonics.

He felt better when he was clean, but his knees still tried to buckle as Edge stepped out of the stall. Only Rus catching his arm kept him from falling heavily to the floor. He supposed that was one good reason for Rus to keep such a close watch.

Even if his old clothing wasn’t shredded, it was still filthy, both from crashing the speeder earlier and his captivity. Edge couldn’t help his relief as Rus yanked some items from one of the carrysacks, helping Edge to pull a pair of too-loose trousers over his legs, tying them tightly at the waist to keep them from falling right back down. A tunic followed, large and billowing over his slender bones. At least his boots were his own and he wouldn’t need to stuff the toes to keep them from falling off his feet.

Once Edge was dressed, he reached for the droid waiting impatiently nearby. BD-7 nestled in his arms with a weary-sounding chirp and Edge gave him a gentle pat. At least his hurts would heal, BD-7 would have to wait for repairs and he would need to depend on Rus for it. That at least they had in common, both of them depending on Rus.

Edge didn’t question what else might be in the bags that Rus scooped back up, slinging the straps over his shoulder even as he helped Edge towards the ramp that led to the dusty ground.

There were several speeders to choose from and Rus inspected each of them with a mechanic’s jaundiced gaze before deciding.

It was only when he tried to guide Edge onto the chosen one did he balk. “If I drive one, we’ll be able to take two with us.”

“if you drive one, you’re going to plow right into a rock,” Rus retorted. He was rummaging through the bags once more, pulling out a long scarf in muted crimson. He wrapped it around Edge’s skull deftly, tucking it here and there before plonking down a helmet on top of it. “i didn’t go through all this trouble to end it in death by stupidity. get on.” There wasn’t much possibility of countering that argument and Edge did as he was told, riding pillion with BD-7 nestled into the front of the jacket Rus liberated for him from somewhere. Or someone.

He kept his face buried into Rus’s back, partly protection from the blowing dust, and partly...he didn’t know. His inner equilibrium seemed as unsettled as his outward, tipped off-balance and ready to collapse at the first unkind touch. Part of him was braced for it to come from Rus. A cruel taunt, a rough hand laid upon him, any seemed enough right now to break him apart.

It didn’t come. The speeder slowed as they came up on their ship and Rus drove it right up the ramp into the hold. He helped Edge climb down from the seat with uncommon gentleness, steadying him while he pulled BD-7 free from his shirt. The little droid hooked on to his shoulder clumsily with its damaged feet, huddling in close to Edge’s vertebrae.

Rus didn’t seem to notice their combined wariness, securing the speeder while Edge leaned against the hold wall, watching him.

“there is one bright spot,” Rus said cheerily. He held up one of the bags and from within came a muffled jangle. “between them, they were carrying enough credits for us to get off this rock and have a nice nest egg besides.”

“So you’ve decided where we’re going?” Edge asked, cautiously.

“yeah.” He didn’t elaborate and Edge didn’t ask. The journey was of little matter to him, anyway. Wherever Rus went, he would follow. “we’re going to have to head over to Gonser to fuel up.”

Edge winced. Gonser was a port town on the opposite side of the planet, existing for little more than refueling and a hot meal for any travelers passing through. Going there was a risk; if those bounty hunters found them, others wouldn’t be far behind, but there was nothing for it. They needed fuel and the small mining community he’d been working at wouldn’t be able to provide nearly enough, no matter how much coin they had.

“if we time it right,” Rus went on, reaching for Edge to help him limp up to the main deck, “we can get fueled up and get the fuck out right around the time the planet clears the gas giant. might be able to keep anyone from getting too curious about us before we leave.”

Edge nodded. He drew a little away from Rus’s grasp, testing his balance. Not perfect but he should be able to walk on his own two feet. “I can get supplies while you’re refueling.”

Rus went still, the soft orange of his eye lights flaring, “you aren’t going fucking anywhere.”

“It will be faster,” Edge tried. He could manage at least that much for them.

“yeah? how about being reasonable?” Rus shoved him against the wall and Edge would have fallen except for Rus catching hold of the front of his too-loose shirt, hauling him upright. “you’re not steady on your feet, you don’t have a lightsaber, your connection to the force is sketchy as fuck, don’t think i haven’t noticed. we don’t need any supplies, we’ve got enough to keep us afloat for a while. get over it. plus, our faces are plastered all over every holoviewer within a million kliks and our disguise didn’t survive the attack from the hunters.”

Being reasonable. Edge almost laughed, something close to hysteria bubbling up. Reasonable was the last thing any of this had been.

“But you’ll go refuel with your face hanging out,” Edge snapped. His own guilt at losing the breathing apparatus they’d been using as a disguise hung heavy at the back of his mind. Useless, he couldn’t protect himself, couldn’t protect BD-7. Couldn’t protect Rus against the hunters that were coming and he didn’t need to be one with the Force to know that.

“your little droid is giving us a hand with that. while we were otherwise occupied, he was playing scrap hound and found this.” Rus held out his hand. In his bony palm was a small, flat disk, spirals of metal leading to a central opening.

“Is that a disguise matrix emitter?” Edge asked, disbelieving. Highly illegal in the days of the Federation and difficult to acquire. In all his days as a Jedi, he’d only ever seen a picture of one.

“yeah, and it’s a damn nice one, not even a dent in the case. good find,” Rus reached out to pat BD-7, jerking back when the little droid hissed warningly. His mouth twisted into a rueful grin. “wish they’d had a couple of ‘em. must’ve been from someone’s personal arsenal.” He tucked the emitter back into a pocket and jerked a thumb in the direction of their sleeping quarters. “i can handle the fuel. you. go meditate, get your head facing the right direction. heal, if you can.”

Edge didn’t move, kept his shoulders against the bulkhead. This...this was not what he’d come to expect from Rus, no underlying mocking with the cusp of cruelty dripping from each word when he spoke of Jedi techniques. “Now you want me to meditate. Shouldn’t you be busily trying to coax me to the dark side?”

“nah,” Rus said, carelessly, but Edge saw that little dig land, the not quite hidden flinch. “can’t say the title sith lord suits me much anymore, does it.”

It never did, Edge did not say.

“go on, it’ll take a couple hours or so for us to hit the port, anyway. bd-7, stay with me,” Rus lifted the bag and shook it, letting out another rattling jangle. “lets see if we can get you back into fighting shape.”

To Edge’s shock, the little droid crawled awkwardly down and went to him, even giving a hopeful, if grudging, chirp. Whatever happened between them while Edge was captured seemed to have dimmed at least some of its animosity.

Rus scooped up the little droid and strode off in the direction of the helm, leaving Edge to stare wordlessly after him.

He seemed...oddly together, brisk and efficient with dry humor coating his words. More like the Rus he’d always known. Edge wasn’t sure what to make of it. He wasn’t enough of a fool to believe it would last, but a stupid kernal of hope tried to light in his soul, anyway.

At last, he pushed off the wall and made his way unsteadily to their quarters. He didn’t bother pulling off his boots, nearly falling to his knees to try and stitch the ragged fabric of his composure together enough to meditate.

It was harder than it had ever been to allow the Force to soothe over him, the touch he’d known since birth finally cradled him, keeping him from ever being alone. It surged within him without judgement, filling him, but then, it always had, hadn’t it. Judgement came not from the Force, but from those who used it, from the Universe itself that chose to give it balance, lightness and dark.

Edge pushed those thoughts aside, focusing instead on the power inherent in the Force, guiding it to help him heal. Physically, it was still easy enough, bruises fading away, tiny cracks in bones vanishing beneath his coaxing influence. But he was unsteady with more than simply his injuries. Everything that happened kept throwing him off kilter. He’d find his space legs and then gravity would shift again and again, and it had been happening far longer than since Rus’s tantrum earlier or even the moment he joined the Jedi team designated to hunt Rus down. Edge wasn’t sure he’d had his balance since…

Since Rus left the Jedi.

Distantly, he felt the ship lift off, accelerating to an easy cruising speed in the direction of the port.

There was some measure of relief at leaving the mines behind, abandoning that exhausting, filthy work. What he and Rus earned here plus what they’d taken from the bounty hunters would hopefully last them a little while.

Edge returned his focus to healing, allowing the Force to fill him to the brim, settling him body and soul. There was nothing hovering on the edge of his perception, no unknown ghoul ready to swoop through his bond with the Force to drag him into darkness. His fears melted away beneath that familiar force-touch and soon he felt much better, energized. Only then did he reach out to brush lightly against the closest force signature to him.

Rus.

The brief flare of shock came from outside, then within, flowing through their nascent bond. Rus’s touch, usually so shattered, the jagged breaks cutting into Edge whenever he opened their bond, was softer, tentative, and if it didn’t echo the love that Edge cautiously offered, neither did it reject it.

What was going on, what, why was Rus being like this, what was happening

The unexpected voice that answered him came from nowhere, everywhere, from inside Rus but not from him, One Of Us Needs To Keep It Together, And If It Isn’t You, It Has To Be Him. Figure Things Out, Jedi, It hurts, He Can’t Do This For Long.

The gentle pulse of the bond between them did not change and Edge realized with distant shock that Rus hadn’t heard that voice.

He didn’t care about that, it was a mystery for later. For now, their connection was flowing, better than it ever had, and what Edge sent along the bond next was anything but gentle.

Rus’s shock at the pulse of pleasure reverberated back into Edge, followed by the impression of glee and a return pulse. It was like nothing Edge had ever attempted before, only heard of in whispers. To use the Force and their bond to send ghostly ecstasy trailing along nerves, through winding passages of the mind, echoing and growing between them, and their peak was a shared one only within the Force surrounding them.

Edge was panting when he eased out of their bond and his new quivering was only from aftershocks. He took a moment to change into clothes that actually fit him, shrugging into a fresh robe before he headed for the helm.

When he stepped inside, Rus was in the pilot seat and he threw Edge a look that was more amused than anything. “i was working on your droid when you pulled that little stunt, you know.”

“He doesn’t seem any worse for the distraction.” In fact, BD-7 looked as well as he could have possibly hoped. His paint would need redone, but that was something Edge could do. Considering he had no idea where they were heading after this, he might well be grateful for the distraction.

One of the rucksacks was still at Rus’s feet and he reached down to dig through it, one hand still on the steering column. After a little blind rummaging, what he pulled out was the handle of Edge’s lightsaber, handing it back to him wordlessly. Or more accurately, it was what remained of his lightsaber. The damage made him sigh inwardly. Repairable so long as the crystal wasn’t damaged, but it was far more important than a droid’s paint job and impossible to be done by the time Rus headed out to refuel.

Especially since they were landing now.

A check of the chronometer showed they had less than an hour before the planet cleared the gravity well of the gas giant that currently prevented orbiting ships from landing. Any of them could hold more bounty hunters, there wasn’t time for negotiating. They’d need to go with Rus’s plan.

At the gangplank, Rus paused crouched down to shaking a stern finger at BD-7, “you’re in charge while i’m gone, got it? it’s on you to keep him safe, think you can handle it?”

Whatever the little droid burbled made Rus wince, then he laughed, “yeah, okay, that’ll work. i’ll be back soon.”

He was still laughing as he turned on the disguise matrix, his appearance shifting convincingly to slender Quarren, the tentacles that made up its beard twisting and curling with amusement. The species was similar enough to their height that Rus wouldn’t seem absurdly tall and they were known for being relentless bargainers, so it was likely the fuel master wouldn’t try to drive up the price. They were also considered unattractive to most species and Edge couldn’t help wondering if there was a dark joke buried there, considering how Rus usually paid their way in the past.

“Good choice,” Edge said dryly.

“i thought so,” Rus said in a liquid, burbling voice. He turned on his heel, heading down the gangplank. Edge watched him go, then hit the button to close the plank.

There was nothing to do now but wait.

It was the better part of an hour when Edge heard the gangplank lowering again and the sound sent prickles of warning across his senses. It should have been locked down from the outside, Rus should have needed to use the intercom to ask to be let in.

His lightsaber was currently useless, spread out in pieces on the table, but Edge wasn’t above using a blaster when necessary. He hushed BD-7 when it blatted a protest, heading in the direction of the ship’s entrance.

Footsteps, only one set, booted feet that weren’t bothering to disguise themselves.

“Come on out, you bony bag of space wizard, I know you’re here!”

Cheery and loud, a voice he knew somehow, and when Edge peered cautiously around the corner, he could see white, needle-sharp teeth cutting through the dimness, shaped into a grin. That grin widened as its owner caught sight of him, tossing her head to send the long fronds of her slender fins cascading down her back.

“Well, hey there, Jedi,” she called, “you’re pretty hard to find.”

“Undyne?” he whispered, disbelieving.

“Even remember my name, good deal.” Her wide grin dimmed into something more serious. “I owe you one and I don’t forget my debts. So when I saw the bounty on you, I signed up, thought maybe I could find you before any of the bucketheads did.”

Edge met Undyne only once on a mission for the Jedi, years before. A smuggler by trade, for a hefty price she’d nonetheless agreed to help him and Rus evacuate a ragtag group of orphans from a planet before the Neimoidians purchasing it could ‘assign’ them parents and bind them into what was little more than legalized slavery. She’d been shot by a droid trooper while running towards the ship with one of the children and only survived due to Edge’s healing skills.

Back then, she’d sworn to Edge that she owed him a favor that she would someday repay, something he’d quickly forgotten; such promises were common to Jedi and rarely fulfilled. Since last they’d met, she’d lost an eye, a fresh scar showing around the edges of a patch, but that smile of hers was unchanged.

She cocked a hip, hands tucked easily into her pockets. “Okay, now that I’ve found you, laserbrain, what are we dealing with?”

“The empire wants me dead,” Edge admitted.

Her eye didn’t so much as twitch, but Undyne sucked on her teeth loudly, considering, “Knew that much. When you dive in the soup, you go headfirst, dontcha.”

“he did, but he didn’t hop into the main course alone.”

From behind Undyne came the sound of a lightsaber igniting but brighter yet through the shadows was the burn of sockets brimming with glaring orange, crackling offshoots of lightning surrounding that hellfire glow.

There was no time to think. Edge flung himself forward, stepping bodily between Rus and Undyne in a move borne of pure desperation because he knew if a fight began, it wouldn’t stop until one of them was dead.

“Don’t,” Edge said, sharply, meeting Rus’s glare with one of his own. With his hood up, he looked every particle the Sith he claimed no longer to be, his skull dull and gray against the black cloth.

Edge braced himself, ready to defend Undyne, a faint, dismal hope rising that perhaps Rus would remember her and at least allow her off the ship. What Edge did not expect was to see a sudden thread of crimson running from Rus’s nasal aperture. It widened quickly, a ribbon instead of a thread. Scarlet trailing over his teeth to drip from his chin, fat droplets welling and pattering to the ground.

His blazing eye lights sputtered, dimmed, then rolled upward, lightsaber extinguishing as it fell from his hand to the ground. Edge lurched unsteadily forward and caught him before he could crack his skull open on the decking, lowering him to the ground as Rus began to convulse.

“Fuck,” Undyne sounded uncommonly shaken, “Listen, I dunno what’s wrong with your boy, but we can’t hang around here waiting for a doc or your healing mojo, we need to move. Occlusions over, anyone with a tracking fob can find you on this planet.”

“Can you fly this ship?” Edge asked. The wellspring of his calm was currently little more than a muddy puddle, but Edge drew on it as much as he could. He stripped off his robe, tucking it under Rus’s head without sparing a thought to the staining crimson that began soaking it.

“Does an ewok shit on their boots? Come on, let’s hit space.” Undyne’s feet clunked on the planking as she ran in the direction of the helm. BD-7 hestated, its optics taking in Edge and Rus worriedly, but in the end, it scrambled after her, obviously intending to keep a sharp eye on this new companion.

That was probably for the best. The convulsions racking Rus stopped as suddenly as they began, leaving him bloodied and unconscious. Edge lifted him into his arms with a grunt, staggering as the ship lifted off and headed towards the outer atmosphere.

One of them needed to keep it together, that unknown voice had told him and it seemed as if now was Edge’s turn.

Carrying Rus towards their sleeping quarters, Edge couldn’t help hoping sourly that he could. Just lately it seemed all they ever did was break apart.

~~*~~

tbc

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #star wars au

25 notes · View notes

saiilorstars · 4 years

Text

The Beginning of Everything

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: Female OC x 10th Doctor

(OC Face claim: Marjorie de Sousa)

// Story Masterlist //

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Ch. 7: Partners in Crime

Chapter Summary: Renata struggles traveling with the Doctor after Martha's departure. She tries to follow the Doctor through his crazy ways of helping people but she just can't help but point out how many rules they break! And the Doctor doesn’t make it any easier when he tries to argue with her.

"It's crazy-"

"Of course humans wouldn't be able to detect any-"

"-what you're saying-"

"-extraterrestrial signals but I have the-"

"-I mean what's the point of-"

"-TARDIS constantly checking for anything strange and there it was," the Doctor pushed the monitor so that it was in front of Renata. "Adipose Industries. Bunch of conspiracy theories-"

"Doctor, the humans are always looking for crazy theories-"

"Well it happens that these are not so far off. We really should just pop in and check to make sure everything is alright."

There was a clear 'why' written across Renata's face. "What is your obsession with planet Earth?" That was one question she'd been asking ever since she met the Doctor on Gallifrey. Up to now, she suspected there wasn't a clear answer.

The Doctor just smiled at her question. "Renee, I really think we need to check it out. Just a couple of investigation scenes and-"

"Which will involve us breaking in and lying to officials - no, no way!" Renata turned away from the monitor, intending on going into the corridors so that she wouldn't have to listen to anymore of the nonsense.

"Oh we're not going to be doing anything bad!" the Doctor reached forwards and grabbed her arm.

"Really?" Renata pulled her arm and crossed them. "What does your little plan entail, exactly?"

"Just, you know, bit of the pyschic paper and-"

Renata stopped him with a hand in his face. "Psychic paper? You mean that little portable lying booklet?"

"That's...a strange name to give it but...sure," the Doctor nodded his head.

"And in that little paper we're going to lie and say we're some other people to get ourselves into the Adipose headquarters?"

"Um...yes," the Doctor had to contain himself under Renata's scolding face. To him, honestly, it was both funny and a bit scary how serious she got sometimes. He'd come to learn that it was often.

"Do you hear yourself?" Renata raised her hands in front of her, making it clear she wanted no part in this plan. "You're going to go in that building, interrupt business and for what? Conspiracy theories?"

"Renee, I'm going," the Doctor left it clear, turning for the console and preparing the controls to land on Earth. "Question is, will you be coming to make sure I don't get into trouble or will you be here."

Renata's eyebrows raised almost increduliously. "Am I to be your babysitter?"

"Well, no, but you seem so determined to give yourself that role…"

"Doctor!" Renata huffed.

"Well, you are!" the Time Lord turned around to defend himself before she decided to smack him on the back.

"We've been at this for a month-" Renata gestured between them, "-and you can't seriously understand that I am against the lying and breaking in?"

"You didn't have trouble in 1913," the Doctor mumbled under his breath.

Renata's eyes widened. "I was doing that to fit in! Not to break in all silly-nilly!" A small smile began spreading across the Doctor's face. "Why are you smiling?" Renata crossed her arms, expecting there to be some joke she hadn't caught like usual.

"You said silly-nilly, but somehow I'm the one that uses childish words."

Renata air-strangled him but brought her balled hands to her mouth. "Sometimes I just can't with you!"

"So you've said in this past month," the Doctor said all proudly which only irritated Renata even more.

One month she had been in the TARDIS with the Doctor after Martha left them, and somehow she hadn't strangled the Doctor into his next incarnation. Yes, the Doctor had done everything in his power to make sure she felt welcomed in the TARDIS - which she truly did. And yes, he was never purposely rude to her and he was always attentive to what she needed or where she wanted to go. But that didn't stop him from frustrating her with his childish antics and constant rule breaking and running.

Renata honestly wondered how he had made it this far without regenerating again.

Every day he had somewhere new he wanted to go and almost every time there was something he just needed to help and save which would then bring along danger and a lot of running. When they weren't travelling, the Doctor was 'fixing' the console and causing things to break. He was a fast talker when he was excited and thus had Renata's ears nearly fall off when they were together discussing things of home or some experiences they've had.

It truly felt like they were those young Time Lords again still messing around in her foundation.

Renata tried pushing those feelings away, every day, but being so close didn't help. Now there she was...bickering away with him...and remembering everything she'd fought for so long to forget.

"Renata, c'mon, it'll be fun," the Doctor smiled incredibly wide and held out a hand for her, wiggling his fingers.

She hated herself. She truly did. Renata took her hand, ignoring the Doctor's face momentarily go smug, and let him bring her back to the console.

~ 0 ~

A couple of hours later, the two embarked on a journey for Adipose Industries. As the two walked along a busy street, Renata continuously looked around like they were already going to get caught. The wind blew much of her blonde hair on her face, making it more difficult for her to keep a 'look out'.

"I see it," she said to the Doctor once she caught sight of the large building meant to serve as headquarters for the company. "But there's plenty of security check, I'm sure."

"Good thing we're going through the back," the Doctor pulled her to the left to go along the building towards its back.

Renata's head did a double-take in the process. "The back? What? Like actual thieves?"

The Doctor preferred not to get into a whole argument on the technicalities of what they were doing. Renata grew even more self-conscious as they arrived to a fire exit.

"What are you doing?" she nearly hissed when she saw him pulling out his sonic screwdriver.

"Getting us in," he motioned as he flicked on the sonic.

"Oh my God, we're actually breaking in - ah," she put a hand over her chest and looked around, properly frightened.

The Doctor hid his amused smile in his work. It was actually rather adorable the way she got so worked up over things he did so normally. When the door opened, they crossed into a set of solitary corridors. All the noise came from their quick strides.

"Doctor," Renata had another near attack when she saw a security guard walking opposite of them. Her arm curled around his on instinct.

Without conflict, he just pulled out the psychic paper and flashed it at the security as they passed on by. "John Smith, Renata Cartwright, Health and Safety."

"How do you do that so calmly?" Renata whispered to him despite leaving the security guard well behind.

"Do what?" the Doctor repeated rather cluelessly.

"Great," Renta unwinded her arm from his and sighed, "You don't even realize you do it anymore."

After making it to the higher levels, they discovered that there was to be a private lecture from the very head of the company herself.

"You don't think they'd notice two unregistered people waltzing into the lecture room?" Renata had to ask as she followed behind the Doctor in a hallway.

"That's why we're not going there, clearly."

"What?" Renata stopped, dumbfounded. "Then where are we going?"

"Projector room, c'mon!"

Renata slowly continued to follow. "But...how are we getting in?"

~ 0 ~

"Health and Safety. Film department," the Doctor once more showed his psychic paper to a man working the computers in the projection room set right above the lecture room.

Renata shook her head behind the Doctor.

They were able to see the head, a blonde woman with glasses who went by 'Miss Foster', describe the components and process of her company's products to the small audience. "Adipose Industries. The 21st century way to lose weight. No exercise, no diet, no pain. Just lifelong freedom from fat. The Holy Grail of the modern age. And here it is. You just take one capsule, one capsule, once a day, for three weeks. And the fat, as they say…the fat just walks away."

Renata couldn't help scoff as she listened. "Do all the humans have an obsession with thinness?"

Beside her, the Doctor nudged her to be careful with her words. He motioned to the man working the computers who was giving Renata a curious look for her statement.

"U-uh," Renata flustered and looked at the window again. "I meant...the lot of humanity."

The Doctor gave a discreet shake of his head, fairly amused. Renata was one woman who did not know how to travel. That was novelty.

~ 0 ~

"Don't you think we're playing our luck here?" Renata walked right beside the Doctor through an aisle of small cubicles.

The Doctor had a bright idea to go to one of the employees and pick up a couple more information.

"Just relax, Renee," the Doctor wondered if he would ever get tired of telling that to her. Because everytime they traveleld somewhere, it was the same thing. She was overly nervous about getting caught.

They came into the cubicle of a young, dark-skinned woman who was in the middle of a call with a customer.

"John Smith, Renata Cartwright, Health and Safety. Don't mind us," the Doctor whispered so as not to interrupt her phone call. He let Renata take a seat first then took the one next to her.

Soon as she was done, the Doctor got straight to questioning. It truly amazed Renata how well he did it. There was no faltering, no stuttering, not a trace of nervousness in his face.

"If you could just give us a list of some of your customers we'll be on our way," the Doctor finished it off with a big nice smile.

The employee, Clare, seemed more than happy to oblige.

"That's the printer there?" the Doctor stood up for a moment, unknowingly giving Renata a hearts attack thinking he might get caught by Miss Foster. She'd only been in the room 15 minutes ago, what's stopping her from coming back?

"By the plant, yeah," Clare nodded.

"Brilliant," the Doctor beamed but Renata yanked him down to his seat again. Soon as her hand let go of his arm, he sprung right back on his feet. "Has it got paper?"

"Yeah, Jimbo keeps it stocked," Clare found him amusing.

Renata did not. She grasped the Doctor's arm and pulled him down with all her might. "Sit down!" she hissed. She then smiled at Clare. "Anyway, if you could print that off. We'll be on our way. Thanks."

The employee typed on her computer for a moment before giving them the 'ok' nod. Renata stood up followed by the Doctor but stopped when she heard the Doctor ask, "Oh, what's that?"

Renata turned around to see Clare giving him a piece of paper.

"My telephone number," the woman answered his question.

Renata raised her eyebrows.

The Doctor looked between the paper and Clare. "What for?"

There came a smirk across Clare's face. "Health and Safety. You be health, I'll be safety."

The Doctor stammered for an excuse. Renata...did not.

"I am going to report you!" she threatened the woman as she snatched the paper from the Doctor and slammed it on Clare's desk.

"What-"

"You can expect a call from your superiors tonight!" Renata grabbed the Doctor by the arm and yanked him out of the cubicle.

Honestly, she thought. Where was that human's professionalism!?

~0~

Night time fell and instead of going back to the TARDIS like Renata believed, the Doctor dragged her to continue investigating. This time they were set to pose as employees of Adipose Industries who made house visits. As the Doctor flashed his psychic paper to a lucky customer they were visiting, Renata rolled her eyes on the side and began to count the many times he'd done something like this and gotten away with it.

She couldn't count that high without losing her place.

Now sitting in the customer's, Roger's, living room, they listened to him how the pills had worked for him in so little time.

"I've been on the pills two weeks now, I've lost fourteen kilos!" he finished excitedly.

"That's the same amount every day?" asked the Doctor.

"One kilo exactly. You wake up, and it's disappeared overnight. Well, technically speaking, it's gone by ten past one in the morning."

Renata's brows knitted together. "I-I'm sorry...how...how is that?"

"That's when I get woken up," Roger answered in a matter of fact tone. "Might as well weigh myself at the same time."

"U-um…" Renata glanced at the Doctor to see if he was as confused as she was.

He was. "Could you...could you tell us more about that please?"

"Ten minutes past one, every night, bang on the dot without fail, the burglar alarm goes off. I've had experts in, I've had it replaced, I've even phoned Watchdog. But no, ten past one in the morning, off it goes."

"But with no burglars?" Renata asked to be sure.

"Nothing. I've given up looking."

The Doctor still did not falter. "Tell me Roger, have you got a cat flap?"

Renata made a face at that but nonetheless she followed the plan. Roger showed them to the cat flap on his front door, more than happy to show another person in case this one actually figured it out. "It was there when I bought the house. Never bothered with it. I'm not a cat person."

The Doctor had already begun screening it with his sonic. "No, I've met cat people. You are nothing like them," he murmured.

He's met cat people. Renata inwardly sighed. Of course he's met cat people.

"It's that what it is then? Cats getting inside the house?" Roger frowned.

"Well, thing about cat flaps is that they don't just let things in, they let things out as well…" the Doctor said slowly, still coming up with ideas to follow.

"Like what?"

"The fat just walks away..." The Doctor pushed himself back on his feet and turned to Roger with an excessive smile. "Well, thanks for your help. Tell you what, maybe you could lay off the pills for a week or so."

"Probably forever," Renata added. "You could just try the regular eat healthy and exercise thing..."

The Doctor stiffened when he heard a small 'bleep' from inside his jacket. "Ooh, we gotta go, sorry."

"What-"

The Doctor hurriedly opened the door brought Renata along with him. He reached inside his jacket to pull out a device he'd hand made earlier that day.

"When did you make that!?" Renata gave a face at the device, fearing it would explode like the last thing he made.

"This morning! Now hurry!" He let go of her completely and picked up his pace. Renata was also not good at running.

Groaning, Renata did her best to keep up.

She managed to catch up when he made a stop by the corner of one street. He banged a hand on his device, ignoring Renata's sarcastic 'that'll make it work' then ran off again.

"What are we looking for!?" Renata panted when they stopped again.

Not answering, the Doctor held up the device for a better signal. He waved it around then lowered it to check the readings. When it dinged, he beamed and ran again.

"Oh my God," Renata groaned and chased after him. They were nearly ran over by a rushing van in the process. However, soon as it passed by, the Doctor turned in the same direction to follow it...apparently, the signal was coming from it.

He finally came to a stop at an intersection and was disappointed to find the signal gone.

~ 0 ~

Much later would find the Doctor examining one of the golden capsules of the Adipose company. He was looking at it through a magnifying glass, far interested in its components. "Ohh, fascinating!" he gawked. "Seems to be a bio-flip digital stitch, specifically for…"

"Are we still on that?" Renata's voice stopped him in the middle of his discovery. He glanced back to find her leaning against the corridor's threshold.

"Well, uh, I was…" the Doctor motioned the magnifying glass still in his hand then lowered it.

"Still investigating," Renata finished for him, giving a small shake of her head. "Honestly Doctor, don't you ever get tired of fixing everyone's problems?"

Because she had asked in a simple, curious manner, the Doctor entertained it. "What do you mean?"

Renata shrugged her shoulders as she came off the threshold. "I mean just what I said. You always go and find a problem - like Sto's government and a broken water pipe - that you have to fix. Last week it was some planet's default engineering settings and today it's…" she had come up to him in the while of her explanation and took the Doctor's magnifying glass from, "...Adipose," she looked at him through the magnifying glass, her brown eyes enlarging from the glass.

"Are you asking me why I help people?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, finding the question too far even for her uptightness. Because yes, it only took a month to realize that Renata was uptight.

Knowing how that sounded, Renata ventured to clarify herself. "I don't mean that you shouldn't help people I just…" she thought about it for a second, "...isn't there the Shadow Proclamation to help with cases like these? They are the police and it should be up to them how things get fixed. I don't see why you have to keep doing it."

"The Shadow Proclamation is never that good," the Doctor gave a roll of his eyes, clear dislike for the place. "And I like helping. I can do it, don't see why I shouldn't."

"Yeah, I can see that you like to," Renata chuckled.

"And I can see that you not so much." And the Doctor truly appreciated how Renata was doing her best to keep up with him in his shenanigans.

"I do! You have no idea how much I love to help people, but...when I did it...it was with...our people."

"You don't like to help the humans, then?"

"I do, if I have the chance then...sure," Renata nodded, but it was easy to tell that she wasn't all that into the idea. "But in the end...they're just humans to me. For so long they were only a means to hide myself from the rest of our kind. I miss helping my kind, you know? People I can share my ideas with, my perspectives, my everything. People that would understand me."

The Doctor tilted his head, a faint smile writing itself across his lips. "Renee, what did you used to do back on Gallifrey?"

The question set Renata into nervous state. "U-uh...l-like my...my job?"

"Yeah," the Doctor didn't catch any of her nervousness, too curious imagining her in different positions. "Cos you're all uptight and-"

"Hey," Renata pointed at him but he went on.

"-strict on rules so...I would think of you as one of the teachers at the academy."

Renata blinked, for a moment in disbelief. "You think I was a teacher?"

"Well," he straightened up. "Were you?"

"No," Renata shook her head. "I wasn't."

"Then, what were you?"

Renata stared at him for a minute, the ongoing battle within her taking a bit more than she thought. It wasn't like she hadn't thought about telling the Doctor more about herself - in fact, she already had. Bits and pieces had been exchanged between the two about their past lives on Gallifrey but Renata was always careful not to disclose too much about herself that would risk her identity with the Doctor.

"I...was…" her eyes flickered to the side, "...I worked at a foundation."

Technically, she wasn't lying.

Those were the rules she set herself for. Loopholes.

"You did?" the Doctor became even more curious.

"Mhm. I worked with all sorts of people in need. Children who weren't quite ready for the academy came for some lessons. People who just needed help, whether emotional or physically but didn't have the resources were always welcomed to stop by," Renata looked into the distant, remembering more and more about her foundation. She missed it so much. She missed her workers, her kids, her friends…

"Renata?" the Doctor gently shook her arm to get her out of her thoughts.

She realized she'd let herself think far too much and released an awkward breath, smiling in a flushed manner. "Sorry," she waved a hand at her face.

"No, it's okay," the Doctor softly said, reaching for her waving hand. He liked seeing her remember their home due to the fact she hadn't disclosed much about herself on Gallifrey. He had made it his mission not to get overexcited and push Renata to tell her stories when she wasn't ready. To say, she hadn't even said whose family she was from. But still, the Doctor was forcing himself to be patient.

"Do you want some dinner?" Renata was the one to pull him out of his thoughts this time. With a warm smile on her face, she took his hand. "It's all set up like usual."

The Doctor smiled, forgetting his investigation from then on till the next morning. Renata made it a custom that they were to have dinner every night like normal people. She made pretty damn good meals.

"C'mon," Renata said quietly, still smiling as the two headed for the corridors.

~ 0 ~

The next day, Renata was not the least bit surprised to have the Doctor practically pounding on her bedroom door shouting for her to wake up because they had to go back to Adipose Industries. Swooshing herself out of bed, she got ready and came out of her room...and then smacked the Doctor on the chest and stalked for the console.

"I hate mornings!" was the only explanation the Doctor got for being hit.

They left the TARDIS in an alleyway close to the Adipose Industries building and once more used the fire exit to gain entrance. The Doctor led the way down the same empty corridor but this time stopped midway and turned to a storage closet.

"What...are you doing?" Renata blinked as he opened the door to the small room.

"We need to hide, c'mon," the Doctor didn't wait around for her to warm to the idea and pushed her inside first. As he sonicked the door shut, Renata raved with her back to him.

"Are you mad!? This is wrong!" her hands waved above her head. "First of all, we're bound to get caught! Second of all, it's just wrong!"

The manner in which Renata had said her last statement made the Doctor turn around questionably. "Why? What's wrong?"

In her moment, Renata whirled around to face him and bumped into him because he was literally standing right in front of her. Her eyes blinked rapidly trying not to overthink it. Meanwhile, the Doctor was still demanding to know why she was so freaked out.

"Renata? Why did you say it like that?" his eyebrows knitted together in the manner they always did when he was confused.

Renata slowly looked up to meet his gaze and soon wished she hadn't. She found that she was vulnerable to his long look no matter how she felt at the moment. It threatened to give her identity up.

"Renata?" the Doctor finally broke through her thoughts which, admittedly, were making her face warm. "Well?"

"...it's just inappropriate…" Renata quietly said, turning away and walking the most she could inside the small room which turned out to be seven small steps.

The Doctor scoffed, giving a sway of his head. "Really? But it's not to live inside a TARDIS with me?" the moment turned sideways with alarmed eyes the Doctor regretted his response. "N-n-n-n-n-no! Forget I said that!" and he rushed up, but because of the small room he nearly rammed into her.

"Doctor! Just stop!" cried the blonde, swatting him away with her hands.

With a big sigh, the Doctor listened and retreated to the door. He took a seat on the floor, back up against the door. He watched Renata look for a spot of her own until she settled for a small box positioned over another.

"Renee…?"

"Hmm?" Renata wearily glanced over to the Doctor, hoping that whatever came out of his mouth would not send them into another round of bickering.

"On Gallifrey...were you part of...high society? Before you married off, of course."

"Why would you think that?"

The Doctor made a gesture at her. "Just...just the way you act...the way you think. It has all the...makings of a high class Time Lady."

Renata looked down, her fingers fiddling with each other. "And you hate that," she recalled from oh-so-long ago.

The Doctor wasn't about to lie and say he was best friends with that part of their people. "I mean, they weren't particularly the best people for me to spend time with."

"So then why do you tolerate me and my...uptightness?" came Renata's honest question. She knew she was not the ideal companion and she doubted she ever would be.

A warm smile spread across the Doctor's face. "Because I like you of course - you and everything I know about you so far. You're not like the others of your class and I'm happy. Otherwise it would have been a real shame for such a pretty woman with big hearts to go to waste."

Renata's face softened. "Doctor…"

"You working at a foundation just proves it," the Doctor shrugged. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask.. " he cleared his throat, suddenly nervous, "The foundation...did it...did it happen to be…the Auxilium Foundation?" It was like Renata's whole world just stopped. The Doctor was too delved into his own memories to notice it. "There was only a couple foundations and...and you seem the sort to want to help Gallifreyans despite what Time Lord society thought. Was it?"

Renata couldn't bring herself to lie more, at least not in that moment. It was too many memories, too many fond memories she couldn't get rid of. "Yeah…" she passed a hand down her hair, secretly shooting him a glance. "How do you know about it?"

The Doctor released a breath, a dreamy one actually that sped up Renata's hearts in the second."Oh, I, um...I knew someone there…"

"You need to see it, Zuriah. I bet the pictures don't do Earth justice!"

Zuriah laughed softly while the Doctor rambled onto her about what he'd learned of Earth that morning. She shook her head at him and moved on around the empty tables, soon to be filled up with their daily visitors, to set up some of the materials. "Now I know why you probably failed some of your coursework in the Academy. Did you ever stop talking in those classes?"

The Doctor sent an unamused glare her way. "I'll have you know I have my moments of silence."

The scoff Zuriah gave in return was one of clear disbelief. "Just help me out here, please?" she motioned with her hands to the mess of toys on the ground. "Some new recruiters' kids found my stash of toys and didn't exactly learn the rule of 'put it away'."

The Doctor rolled his eyes but got up to help. "So, do you think you could somehow incorporate this planet in your activities?"

Zuriah waved him off. "I don't know. We haven't done the schedule for next week. Perhaps..."

"Oh c'mon! You know you'd love to!" the Doctor hurriedly threw some toys into the bin she'd set up. He followed her around the tables, rambling on about the benefits her people would get if she incorporated Earth into activities.

"Look, Doctor, maybe we could - AH!" she had stepped on a toy and slipped backwards. Her basket went flying in the air along with the materials. She herself would've fallen to the floor if the Doctor hadn't caught her.

"Hm, didn't take you for the klutz," the Doctor smirked at her. Zuriah looked up, her face flushed when she realized their closeness. The Doctor felt it too, but he didn't think about telling her of it. Although he did take notice of how many freckles were over Zuriah's face...they were lovely...

Renata was utterly stunned to see such a soft look on the Doctor's face. He was clearly remembering something...

"Zuriah, that was the, uh..." the Doctor shook his head out of the memory but no matter how much he tried, the freckled-face ginger still smiled at him. It'd been so long since he thought about her...

~0~

After a full day passed, the Doctor finally declared it was time to leave and investigate. Since they had fallen into bits and pieces of conversation after the foundation topic, Renata was itching to get out of there. She was afraid that the Doctor would begin to ask questions about 'Zuriah' which was her before she picked her graduating name.

You can't hide it forever, Renata. The same sentence passed her mind over and over but somehow she still couldn't act.

"Where exactly are we headed now?" Renata inquired once they were striding down the dark corridors.

"Up to the office of course," the Doctor flashed a smile that warned it wasn't technically literal.

Renata would have questioned further had it not been for him pulling her into a hasty walk. They found the staircase and went up...and up...and up…

Of course he meant the roof. Renata actually blamed herself for not seeing this earlier.

The Doctor went straight for the edge and sonicked the cables holding…

"What are you doing?" Renata slowly approached the edge, eyes glued onto the Doctor who was in the process climbing into a window cleaner's cradle.

"Getting a look at the office, what else?" the Doctor shrugged then motioned with a hand for her to join him. Instantly, Renata incredulously blinked. "Don't give me that look! C'mon!"

Nervously, Renata inched closer to the edge and took one look down to the high view. "Um...is this a bad time to tell you...I have a fear of heights…"

"Not surprised," the Doctor said. He then reached over and grabbed her arm, pulling her slowly. "But for another time!"

"Doctor…" Renata struggled to let the Doctor bring her into the window's cradle.

"In you go," the Doctor slipped his other arm around her waist to get her into the cradle.

As soon as Renata felt the cradle wiggling a bit she gasped and latched onto the Doctor for dear life. "We're going to die! We're going to die! We're going to die!" she cried with eyes shut.

There was a fierce determination in the Doctor not to laugh. But he was still thankful that she couldn't see his face right now.

"This is it! This is where you finally kill me!" and because the Doctor didn't know who Renata was, he thought she was just talking about their short time together...when in reality Renata was remembering all the adventures their younger selves took because of him.

"Calm down, it's not moving," the Doctor peeled her off him and aimed the sonic at the controls. Renata gasped again when the cradle descended. "And duck!" he ordered when they were nearing Miss Foster's office.

"You're gonna get us caught," Renata whispered.

The Doctor ignored her and poked his head just slightly above the cradle to peer into the office. He saw a young dark-skinned woman being tied to a chair by body guards while Miss Foster watched. Unknowingly, an old friend was also watching from the other side of the office, right in front of its door.

"What's going on?" Renata curiously asked, still not taking the risk by peering herself.

"Can't hear much," the Doctor mumbled. He could see Miss Foster showing her prisoner a capsule.

"Well, it is a window-"

"Donna!?"

Renata made a face and looked up to find the Doctor, stunned, staring ahead. "What? What is it?"

'Donna?' she watched the Doctor mouth.

What she didn't know was that across the office stood the Doctor's old friend, Donna Noble who was also stunned to see him there.

"DOCTOR!' she excitedly mimed back, her face right in front of the door's porthole.

'But... what? Wha... What?!'

Renata tried following along but the Doctor was just opening and closing his mouth to her.

'OH MY GOD!' Donna continued miming happily.

'But... how?'

'It's me!' Donna pointed her thumbs at herself, as if the Doctor hadn't yet made the connection it was in fact her.

'Well, I can see that!' the Doctor gestured his eyes then pointed at Donna. Beside him, Renata was still hopelessly lost. She was not risking herself to see who it was.

'Oh this is brilliant!' Donna would have laughed if she could.

The Doctor, on the other hand, was perturbed. 'But what are you doing there?'

'I was looking for you!' Donna pointed at him.

'What for?!'

Now Donna, being Donna, did her best to mimic what she was saying which went along the lines of…

'I, came here, trouble, read about it, internet, I thought, trouble = you! And this place is weird! Pills! So I hid. Back there. Crept along. Heard this lot. Looked. You! Cos they…' But when she happened to jerk a thumb to her right she found that Miss Foster, along with the tied-up woman and her body guards, were staring at her.

The Doctor too had caught it.

"Are we interrupting you?" MIss Foster loudly, sarcastically called to Donna.

'Run!' the Doctor urgently mimed for Donna then aimed the sonic ahead to lock the door of the office and give Donna time to run. Without notice, he waved the sonic above and pulled the cradle above.

"DOCTOR!" Renata nearly cried when the cradle shot up.

"Sorry! Sorry!" the Doctor hopped out of the cradle fast and turned to help her out.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on!? Besides probably getting caught - like I told you!"

"Old friend of mine-" the Doctor grunted as he pulled her out, "-in a bit of trouble! Hurry!"

They ran back for the door that laid the staircase. Despite Renata asking questions of who this 'friend' was the Doctor didn't answer many as he was focused on helping Donna out before she was hurt. They came down another set of staircase where they bumped into a redhead. Donna had encased the Doctor in a big hug, ecstatic with finding him. Renata's eyes just flickered from one to the next.

"Oh my God! I don't believe it!" Donna laughed but suddenly stopped to give the Doctor a look over. "You've even got the same suit! Don't you ever change?" The Doctor sarcastically rolled his eyes. "Yeah thanks Donna, not right now."

"Well…" Donna finally noticed that the Doctor was not alone. "Hey-" but that was all she could say to Renata before the Doctor saw the guards and pulled them both up the stairs.

"Doctor! There are guards!" Renata had looked below to see several guards coming after them.

"Yes, I've noticed!"

Donna was too cheery to be affected by the guards coming for them. As they made it back to the roof she explained the events that led her to the building. "Cos I thought, how do I find the Doctor? And then I just thought, look for trouble and then he'll turn up! So I looked everywhere, you name it - UFOs, sightings, crop circles, sea monsters. I looked, I found them all…"

During this, the Doctor had started working on the cradle controls with his sonic. Renata had half a mind to scold him for even thinking about using the damn thing! But she was quick to discover Donna had a rambling mouth much like the Doctor.

"...like that stuff about the bees disappearing, I thought, I bet he's connected. Cos the thing is, Doctor, I believe it all now. You opened my eyes. All those amazing things out there, I believe them all. Well, apart from that replica of the Titanic flying over Buckingham Palace on Christmas Day, I mean that's gotta be a hoax!"

"What d'you mean the bees are disappearing?" the Doctor picked the sentence up by random.

"I don't know. That's what it says on the internet!"

"Doctor!" Renata helplessly watched the Doctor get back into the cradle, and was even more astonished to see Donna so easily getting in as well. "Aren't you even going to question why you're getting in?" she demanded from the ginger.

"I figure it was to escape?" Donna glanced at the Doctor but quickly looked back to Renata. "I'm sorry, what's your n-"

"Renata, get in!" the Doctor urgently said.

"What for!?" Renata argued. "They'll just bring us up again! I'm not here to go up and down like a stupid amusement park ride!"

"No no no, cos I've locked the controls with a sonic cage. I'm the only one who can control it," he promised. "Not unless she's got a sonic device of her own. Which is very unlikely."

The door burst open again and out came Miss Foster.

"RENATA!"

Flinching, Renata clambered into the window cradle. Soon as she was in, the Doctor made it go down.

"How are we getting out!?" the blonde held onto the railing as they went down and down, but suddenly they started going dangerously FAST faster.

The Doctor managed to stop it with the sonic but the force knocked all three down for a moment. Being the first one to get up, he aimed the sonic at the window. Up above, Miss Foster ordered to the building to be deadlocked.

The Doctor retracted the sonic. "Can't get it open!"

"Well, smash it then!" Donna had grabbed a large spanner from the floor and used all her might to shatter the window.

Renata helplessly looked from Donna to the Doctor, wondering how much worse it could get. Her answer came in the form of sparks and smoke from the cradle. "She's cutting the cable!" she shrieked after looking up and seeing Miss Foster aiming some sort of laser pen at the cables. At her words the Doctor and Donna instinctively grabbed on but Renata hadn't had the time and so when the cable broke and the cradle lurched to the side, she was flung back screaming.

"RENATA!" the Doctor wanted to go in after her but calmed after seeing her feet dangling under them.

She'd manage to get ahold of the broken cable and was currently, and dangerously, swaying back and forth. "DOCTOR!"

"Hold on!" the Doctor tried reaching for the cable sustaining her to pull her back up but he just couldn't.

"Doctor!" went Donna this time who was staring up, seeing Miss Foster about to break the last cable.

Angrily, the Doctor aimed the sonic above just at the right moment to make it spark and fall out of the woman's hand. He caught the second sonic and climbed up the cable to another window. He managed to get it open and ordered Donna to follow him.

"I'm not gonna fall am I!?" Donna asked for the blonde below who was crying out in terror.

"Get in! Get in!" the Doctor didn't want to waste time answering obvious questions. His hearts was racing unbelievably fast as he thought of Renata so close to danger (and because of him).

Meanwhile, Renata was crying out to be helped. Her eyes were stinging with tears and from the hard wind hitting her from every direction. She was sure her hands were slipping from the cable and that at any moment she would fall and splat on the ground like the television showed.

Oh God I was wrong - this is how he finally kills me! And yet Renata felt not an ounce of anger with the Doctor. It was just so like him to get near danger, like a taunt, and then get away from it like nothing. It was actually one of the things that attracted her after getting to know his ways. Her hearts pounded like never before yet it was not a new sensation for her.

"AH!" she screamed all over again when she felt hands on her ankles. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO!"

"Renata, it's me!" the Doctor managed to cut through her screams. "I've got you! Stop kicking!" He slowly pulled her down and into the office he and Donna coordinated would be the room of the next window down. "There we go! I've got you!"

"Oh my God! I thought I was going to die!" Renata clung to him with teary eyes. "Oh you stupid, stupid man!"

The Doctor soothed her with a hand on her back and regretted he couldn't do more at that moment on account of still being on the run from Miss Foster. "We have to go, I'm sorry," he pulled away and felt a pang of guilt seeing her tear-stained face.

He took her and Donna out of the room but not before untying the journalist in the office and telling her to go home. They only made it to the call center because Miss Foster and her guards were already waiting for them.

"Well then," Miss Foster pulled off her glasses and raised her head at the trio, "at last."

"Hello," Donna nervously laughed, the thrill of the chase still clouding bits of her.

The Doctor was just the Doctor who said 'hello' to everyone. "Nice to meet you, I'm the Doctor."

"And I'm Donna!"

Renata crossed her arms, deciding the Foster didn't need her name.

"Partners in crime," Foster concluded, eyeing Renata who seemed to falter every now and then from her brave stance. "And evidently off-worlders, judging by your sonic technology."

"Oh yes, I've still got your sonic pen. Nice, I like it," the Doctor raised the sonic pen to give another look. "Sleek, it's kinda sleek." He let Renata and Donna give it a glance as well, but Renata lowered it down.

"I don't think it should matter the form of the thing that nearly killed me."

The Doctor winced and retracted the pen from Renata. "Now-" he looked at Foster, " if you were to sign your real name that would be...?"

"Matron Cofelia of the Five-Straighten Classabindi Nursery Fleet. Intergalactic Class."

"A wet nurse?" Renata gawked for a second. "What...and you're using humans as surrogates?"

Foster gave a curt nod. "I've been employed by the Adiposian First Family to foster a new generation after their breeding planet was lost."

"But who gave you the right to use humans as cows for your reproduction methods!? It's against Shadow Proclamation rules!"

Beside Renata, the Doctor silently laughed that she would ignore a planet being lost because of 'rules'. "How do you mean lose a planet?"

"Oh, politics are none of my concern. I'm just here to take care of the children on behalf of the parents," Foster made a gesture, shrugging her shoulders.

"What, like an outer space super-nanny?" Donna crinkled her nose.

"Yes, if you like."

"So... so those little things they're, they're made out of fat yeah, but that woman, Stacy Campbell, there was nothing left of her." Donna still couldn't shake off that horrible feeling of seeing a nice woman like Stacey disappear into little white blobs of...fat?

"Oh, in a crisis the Adipose can convert bone and hair and internal organs. Makes them a little bit sick, poor things."

"What about poor Stacey!?" Donna incredulously returned.

"Enough," Renata's sharp edged voice cut through the womens' conversation, and the hand she had for Donna was, frankly, irritating the ginger. "Seeding a level 5 planet is against galactic law - you should know that!" she said to Foster who merely raised her eyebrows.

"Are you threatening me?"

The Doctor then put an arm in front of Renata. "We're trying to help you, Matron. This is your one chance; cos if you don't call this off, then we'll have to stop you."

Foster smirked. "I hardly think you can stop bullets." And just as she said it, her guards flanking her took aim.

Alarmed, Renata stepped back.

"No, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, one more thing, before... dying…" the Doctor settled for the blunt word. "Do you know what happens if you hold two identical sonic devices against each other?" he once again gestured to his sonic and Foster's sonic pen.

"...no?" Foster doubtfully answered.

"Nor me, lets find out!" the Doctor happily pointed both sonic objects at each other, activating them at the same time. A high-screeching rang in the room, causing everyone to squirm uncomfortably and a glass pane behind to shatter.

"Come on!" Donna was the one to pull both aliens out of there.

In the process, the Doctor took the lead and ran them down an empty corridor, stopping by a door of a cupboard.

"No more cupboards!" Renata nearly pleaded. Small spaces meant more talking and more talking meant more chances to risk her identity.

"Not quite," the Doctor opened the door and started throwing out the storage's supplies.

"You can't just throw those things out!" Renata said, scandalized as he created a wad of mess on the floor. "Those are some employee's utensils!"

"Another time, Renata!" the Doctor rolled his eyes, this time a smidge of honest annoyance for her lack of priorities.

"Renata?" Donna repeated the name, looking a bit confused as she studied Renata head to toe. "So you're not Rose, then?"

Recalling the name, Renata scowled. "No I am not! Why would you think that?"

"Dunno…" Donna shrugged, "...blonde...and stuff."

"I'm not her," Renata's eyes briefly glanced at the Doctor and saw him working. There was glowing green machinery built into the wall.

"Well, I'm Donna Noble by the way," the ginger held a hand to Renata, realizing that they hadn't been introduced properly.

"Renata," Renata shook Donna's hand. She looked over at the green panel and frowned. "Okay, what's this for?"

"It's the inducer. For the Adipose. It's wired up the whole building...I...I'll need some time," the Doctor paused, running a hand through his big hair.

"Then get to it," Renata made a motion. "I'm not sure if I can distract but...but I can certainly try." The Doctor made a face at the prospect of that idea. "I can to you know," the blonde insisted now more than ever.

"Okay."

Renata bubbled with instant anger. "Listen to me you idiot," she began sharply, "I nearly fell off a window's cradle because of you!"

"Which I will make up for later, I promise!"

"That's not the point!" Renata's voice cracked and she took it a sign to calm down. With a sigh, she put a hand on her forehead and took a moment for herself. "Sorry," she said a minute later, truthfully.

"I get it, I do," the Doctor didn't stop his work but gave her an honest face. "You're making an effort and I do see it and appreciate it." Renata lowered her hand from her face and smiled.

Donna silently studied the two aliens in front of her, a bit curious of what they were and just who was Renata overall. Renata crossed gazes with her and realized she had yet to ask something important.

"How do you two know each other?" her finger pointed from Donna to the Doctor.

"I met him on my wedding day - the big starship in the sky at Christmas?" Donna waited for Renata to remember. "That was us."

Renata blinked as something donned. "It was you who drained the Thames!" she turned on the Doctor with an accusing finger. The Master had never clarified the happenings of that evening, but then again she wasn't exactly in the mood to be talking to the Master during that period.

"It was such a crazy day," Donna continued. "In the beginning, I thought he kidnapped me actually," Donna had a small laugh.

"You too!?" Renata incredulously asked of the Doctor. "What, did you throw her over your shoulders too?"

"No, I didn't!" the Doctor defensively said.

Renata huffed. "Well, that's unfair."

"What do you mean?" Donna fit in the pieces together quick. "Did he do that to you?" Renata nodded and gestured being thrown over a shoulder. "Doctor," a great smirk took over Donna's face as her eyes landed on the Doctor, "I didn't know you were that sort of man."

The Doctor looked mortified at her assumption. Renata face palmed. "I meant a thief!" she exclaimed.

"I was not a thief!" the Doctor stopped for a minute to argue. "You-" he pointed a finger at her, "-were being stubborn!"

Renata's eyes blinked rapidly and her mouth parted slightly. "M-me? You're saying it was my fault? What part of 'you threw me over your shoulder and brought me into the TARDIS' did you forget about?" The Doctor said no more but his scrunched face said the words alright.

Donna burst into laughter, making the argument stop. "I'm sorry, but...what?" she couldn't believe what she was hearing honestly. The Doctor had actually slung the poor woman over his shoulder and forced her into the TARDIS? No, hold on, the woman had to be forced in the first place? Who wouldn't want to travel the stars!?

Grumbling, the Doctor returned to work.

"It's really not that funny," Renata crossed her arms and muttered. "Least Martha didn't laugh."

"Martha?" Donna repeated. "Was that a friend at the time?"

"Yeah. My only human friend who I still keep in contact with," Renata thoughtfully said, since Joan was dead and she had left the family in 1959.

"Is she here? In the TARDIS?"

"No," the Doctor said then. "She was brilliant... but... I destroyed half her life."

Renata's annoyance was gone the moment she saw his guilt-ridden face. "You did not," she softly said then looked at the surprised Donna. "Martha decided it was time for her to go back home. But she's fine. She's good."

"Oh," Donna nodded then thought for another moment. "What about Rose?"

"Still lost," the Doctor mumbled, missing Renata purposely looking away. He had yet to tell her anything of Rose and he frankly didn't know when. He actually thought that perhaps Renata would be scandalized to know he had developed an attachment to a human. He was, for a lack of a better word, scared of her reaction.

Renata, on the other hand, thought his lack of explanation arose from the fact she wasn't trusted enough, and that perhaps he didn't see her as a friend at all. By this point, she knew who Rose was. The Master had taken joy rubbing it in her face that the Doctor had exchanged her for a human.

"I thought you were going to travel the world?" the Doctor suddenly remembered it was Donna's grand plan after her failed marriage.

The cheery face on Donna was quick to fade away. "Easier said then done. It's like I had that one day with you and I was gonna change. I was gonna do so much. Then I woke up next morning, same old life. It's like you were never there. And I tried. I did try, I went to Egypt. I was gonna go barefoot and everything. And then it's all bus trips and guidebooks and don't drink the water and two weeks later you're back home. It's nothing like being with you. I must have been mad turning down that offer."

"What offer?" the Doctor failed to recall.

"To come with you." But now Donna was a bit nervous that since Renata seemed to be on board maybe the Doctor was good on companions.

"You didn't want to go into the TARDIS at first?" Renata was a smidge more impressed with the woman. Usually, every human jumped at the chance to get into the TARDIS.

"I didn't understand," Donna tried to explain herself. "I was...I was all emotional...and-and...just…"

Renata swayed her head till she met the Doctor. "I mean...I wouldn't mind, honestly."

The Doctor was surprised to hear such easy acceptance from her. "Really?"

"Yeah, maybe we would bicker less," Renata recalled that was her excuse for when Astrid Peth had asked to come with them. It was true, as much as she loved the Doctor - and boy did she - there were moments where she just needed a break...or at least someone to stop her from strangling him. She was sure that the feeling was mutual.

"Oh yes!" Donna cheered.

'Inducer activated.'

Renata peered into the cupboard to see the green machinery. "What's it doing now?"

"She's started the program," the Doctor groaned.

'Inducer transmitting.'

"And...what does that mean?" Renata now stared wide-eyed at the machinery.

"Up to now the customers have only been losing weight but the Matron has gone up to emergency pathogenesis."

"Oh no." Renata glanced at the end of the corridor where they could see doors. She was sure that outside swarms of little Adipose were going to be gathering real soon pathogenesis.

"That's when they convert…" Donna, too, remembered.

"But that's skeletons, organs, everything!" Renata exclaimed. "A million people are gonna die!"

"Gotta cancel the signal!" the Doctor took out the golden capsule they'd gotten the previous day and pulled one of its end to reveal a chip inside. "This contains the primary signal. If I can switch it off the fat goes back to being just fat." He hooked up the capsule to the machine hoping to God he was right.

'Inducer increasing.'

The Doctor panicked. "No no no no no, she's doubled it, I need... Haven't got time! It's too far, I can't override it! They're all gonna die!"

"Can we do anything?" Renata asked, Donna nodding her head in agreement.

"Sorry, this is way beyond you - and I mean no disrespect but I have to double the base pulse, I can't…"

"Doctor, tell us what do you need," Donna sternly cut him off. Rambling was no good to anyone.

"I need a second capsule to boost the override, but I've only got the one. I can't save them!"

Donna blinked, remembering something very important. She reached inside her pocket to take out a second gold capsule. Renata laughed when the Doctor froze in shock.

"Here!" Donna waved it in front of his face till he snapped out of his stupor. He nabbed it and hooked it into the green machinery, making all its lights shut down.

A couple seconds, a loud horn filled the place.

"What the hell was that?" Donna frantically looked around.

"I suppose it would be...the nursery ship," Renata said.

"But when you say nursery you don't mean a creche in Notting Hill?"

"Nursery ship," Renata repeated.

'Incoming signal.' the machinery had come back to life for a minute and began with a voice that spoke a different language.

"Hadn't we better go and stop them?" Donna made a gesture for them to leave.

"Hang on, instructions from the Adiposian First Family," the Doctor put a finger on his lips to listen in. "She's wired up the tower block to convert it into a levitation post!"

"But now she's the one in trouble," Renata said soon after she heard.

The Doctor didn't waste a chance and hurried back for the roof. Renata and Donna ran after him. When they got up all they saw were blue beams levitating thousands of Adipose babies into the large nursery ship in the sky.

Most of them were smiling and waving at the trio.

"What you gonna do then? Blow them up?" Donna curiously asked the Doctor beside her.

"They're just children," the Doctor made a face for a brief moment. "They can't help where they come from." Besides, something told him that if anyone threatened those children they would come across a raging Time Lady. God help those fools.

"Doctor, there she is!" Renata called as soon as she spotted Foster coming up in one of the blue beams.

The Doctor ran up to the edge with Donna. "Matron Cofelia, listen to me!"

Foster stopped right at their lever. "Oh, I don't think so, Doctor. And if I never see you again, it will be too soon."

"Oh, why does no one ever listen? I'm trying to help! Just get across to the roof. Can you shift the levitation beam?"

"What, so that you can arrest me?" Foster's eyes briefly flickered to Renata.

"No, you're going to want to listen," Renata promised. "Because the families you worked for know that it was a crime to breed on Earth. So what's the one thing they want to get rid of? Their accomplice!"

"I'm far more than that. I'm nanny to all these children."

"Exactly!" the Doctor frantically waved a hand. "Mum and Dad have got the kids now, they don't need the nanny anymore!"

And just then, the blue beam sustaining Foster disappeared and she fell all the way down screaming. Donna hid her face in the Doctor's shoulder and Renata covered her mouth.

Sometime later, when the police arrived to the site, the Doctor and Renata, along with Donna, exited the building. The Doctor chucked the sonic pen into the nearest trash bin.

"Oi, you three!" the journalist the Doctor had thought followed his instructions to go home was coming up to them...tied to a chair again.

"Didn't you let her go?" Renata whispered to the Doctor, blinking rapidly.

"I did," the Doctor defensively replied.

"You're just mad. Do you hear me?" the journalist cried. "Mad! And I'm gonna report you... for madness!"

Donna silently watched the woman leave, barely able to hold her laugh back as she said, "You see, some people just can't take it."

"No," agreed the Doctor.

"But some people can. So, then - TARDIS!" she excitedly said and grabbed the two aliens by the arms, pulling them away.

They headed back to the alleyway where the TARDIS had been left...and apparently Donna's car as well.

"That's my car! That is like destiny!" Donna laughed. "And I've been ready for this." She rushed up to the car's trunk and opened it to reveal a series of suitcases. I packed ages ago, just in case. Cos I thought, hot weather, cold weather, no weather…" she pulled out the top luggage and loaded them into the arms of the Doctor, who was too stunned to say a word at the moment. "...he goes anywhere, I've gotta be prepared." She then loaded more into Renata's arms.

"You've got a... a... hatbox?!" the Doctor found his words after Donna loaded him with one last box.

"Planet of the Hats, I'm ready!" Donna declared and shut the trunk of her car, excitedly heading for the TARDIS. "Do I need injections though, do I? Like when you go to Cambodia, is there any of that? Cos my friend Veena went to Bahrain, and-"

Renata suddenly began to laugh hard, making Donna stop just outside the TARDIS doors. Even the Doctor was oddly staring down at the Time Lady. Donna eyebrows furrowed together, thinking Renata was laughing at her.

"Oi! What's so funny!?"

"This!" Renata motioned with her arms to the luggage and then the situation in general. "You're so funny! I love you!"

The Doctor gaped. "Wow…" he had never seen such a reaction from Renata, so lively and happy…

Renata walked up to the TARDIS, sobering slowly from her laugh. "I like you, I do. Doctor, can we take her?"

"I'm not a dog," Donna made a face. But it did feel better to know Renata wouldn't mind if she came along with them.

"It's really fine with me," the Doctor admitted, staying right where he was. "It's just...it's a funny old life, in the TARDIS."

Donna knew that sort of tone well. It came when one was fired or the casualness from her mother. "You don't want me."

"I'm not saying that-"

"But you asked me," Donna frowned, glancing at Renata for some help.

"Doctor, it really is okay with me," Renata shrugged. "It's your TARDIS. You can bring whoever you want." She wished he would make up his mind faster because Donna's luggage was getting heavier by the second.

"I wouldn't mind either. In fact, I would love it," the Doctor clarified, letting the luggage in his arm drop to the floor. "It's just...the last time, with Martha, it... it got complicated. And that was all my fault. I would want nothing more than a mate-"

"You just want to mate?" Renata blinked, eyes impossibly wide. Beside her, Donna was losing it believing in what Renata heard.

"You're not mating with me, sunshine!" Donna shouted.

The Doctor had a hard time keeping up with both women who'd heard horribly wrong. "Renata! I didn't say that-"

But Renata was trying to control herself after her first outburst. "No, no, that's fine. What you want to do in your TARDIS is your business-"

"What - no!" the Doctor once more tried to cut in but then came Donna.

"He better find someone else cos I'm not into that sort of alien thing, no sir!"

"STOP!" the Doctor finally cut over both of them. "I said a mate! Nothing more!" he frantically waved his hands.

"...oh," Renata looked away, embarrassed yet relieved.

The same applied to Donna. "Well just as well, because I'm not having any of that nonsense. I mean you're just a long streak of... nothing," she motioned to the Doctor who took it with an unamused face. "You know, alien nothing." She then passed a casual glance at Renata and shrugged. "You could probably find yourself someone quick. Kind of curvy."

Renata laughed.

"There we are, then. OK," the Doctor was glad to have things clarified and corrected.

"I can come?" Donna anxiously asked.

"Yeah. Course you can, yeah."

"I'd love it!"

"Great," Renata pushed the TARDIS door open to begin bringing Donna's things.

"Car keys!" Donna suddenly remembered, gasping.

"What?"

"I've still got my mum's car keys! I won't be a minute!" she held a finger to them and ran away.

Renata started to laugh again as she returned. She stopped at the doorway and smiled. "I think I'm gonna like her. She's so...spunky."

"Yeah, she is," the Doctor agreed and left his part of luggage inside.

"And you know," Renata stopped him just outside after he came out, "It really is your TARDIS - even though you stole that too," she mumbled and the Doctor rolled his eyes, "So you can bring anyone in without having to consult me. And...do whatever you want inside."

"Yeah…" the Doctor sucked in a large breath, "...no thanks."

Renata couldn't help the stupid smile that quickly set on her face. She forced it away as best as possible. "I-I mean...it's it's your choice…"

"Renee," the Doctor tilted his head, close to laughing at the subject they were somehow talking about again.

"I'm only saying! I respect rules and...and in here-" Renata gestured to the inside of the TARDIS, "-they're whatever you want-"

"Renee! C'mon," the Doctor laughed. "None of that please. We should focus on the fact we're having a new guest in the TARDIS who I am sure is going to love your dinners."

Renata smiled. "You think so?"

"Oh yeah! Who wouldn't?" the Doctor reached for her hand and brought her inside the TARDIS.

A couple minutes later, Donna came rushing in, happy than ever. "Off we go, then!"

"Here it is, the TARDIS. It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside…"

"Oh, I know that bit," Donna interrupted the Doctor's favorite bit. "Although frankly, you could turn the heat up."

"So, whole wide universe, where do you want to go?"

"Oh, I know exactly the place," Donna smiled widely with just one spot in her mind. "Two and a half miles, that way!" she jerked a thumb to her left.

Although confused, the Doctor and Renata obeyed. It became clear where they were headed when they saw a street lined with similar houses. Donna hurried to the doors, to get them opened. It was almost an instant when she saw her grandfather looking up into the sky through his prized telescope. She waved ecstatically below. Renata and the Doctor waved from behind, although neither was sure if the grandfather would see them. Still, it didn't hurt to be nice.

Afterwards, when all was calm, Renata started for the corridors. "I'm just going to get dinner started. Donna, allergic to anything?"

"N-no…" replied the finger, fairly confused. "Though if it's alien meals then I wouldn't know would I…?"

Renata chuckled. "Fair enough." She disappeared soon after.

Curious, Donna looked to the Doctor who seemed quite at home. "Uh...since when do you do dinners? Last time I asked you disappeared into the night."

The Doctor smiled and looked up from the console after setting them in the time vortex for a peaceful night. "Oh that's just Renata. She does that every night. Sort of our tradition actually."

"Sorry, I never asked...are you and her…?" Donna gave a meaningful tilt of her head.

"No!" the Doctor quickly clarified before word made it to Renata. "No, we're not! Actually," he moved around the console, "Renata is one of my people. She's a Time Lady. Last one."

Donna didn't know what happened to the Doctor's home but she assumed it was not good. It was incredibly good to see that the Doctor was not alone anymore.

#10th doctor x oc #ocappreciation #ocapp #dw imagines #10th doctor imagines #doctor who #10th doctor #noblecrescentedit #oc: Renata Cartwright #donna noble #10th doctor x original female character #10th Doctor imagine #dw fanfics #doctor who fanfics #fic: the beginning of everything

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mobius-prime · 4 years

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199. Sonic the Hedgehog #131

Deep breaths, guys. I know what the cover page says. I know. We'll get to that. Just hang in there. I think you might like what I have in store.

Home (Part 2 of 4): The Gathering

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Ron Lim Colors: Jason Jensen

So not much actually happens in this installment of Home other than the various characters talking to each other about and preparing for the upcoming battle. Since Sonic has been gone, a new Freedom Fighter Special has been constructed that can cut travel time dramatically around the globe. A journey that in the Tornado or on foot (in Sonic's case) would have taken up to two hours can be completed in a mere half hour now, thanks to Rotor's engineering prowess. And thus, Sonic and Tails head out to Old Megaopolis to stop Eggman's twin nukes from launching, along with an… interesting backup team, to say the least.

Man, remember Fiona? It's been ages since we've seen her! It appears that while Sonic was in space, she joined up with the crew in Knothole and has been helping them fight Eggman. That's definitely a better life for her than to be running with the likes of Nic the Weasel, eh? Meanwhile, Knuckles, Julie-Su, Amy Rose, and the other two (active) members of the Chaotix head to Fort Acorn, where General D'Coolette is giving a speech to the soldiers under his command. We've never even heard of this fort before, but according to the general it's been here for ten years, keeping a forward watch on Robotropolis, and this watch has been maintained even after Robotropolis' destruction in case of just such a situation as the current one. With their reinforcements from Knothole, the crew at the fort prepare to defend the city against a massive swatbot assault to lower the forcefield keeping the radiation in check. Back in Knothole, extra measures are being taken to make absolutely sure that even if the worst happens, the citizenry will be safe.

Station Square, for their part, has sent a squad of GUN commandos to help in the battle at Old Megaopolis. The commander of the military is baffled by this decision, wanting to send in their full fighting force, but the president instead opts to trust his allies from Knothole - though just for insurance, he's sent one of his own operatives along for the ride…

Now that's what I like to see! It's about time Rouge got herself some proper screentime. As all this is going on, Eggman waits aboard a docked battleship in the harbor of Old Megaopolis with his assistant M, and orders A.D.A.M. to begin the missile countdown. However, almost immediately, the sound of a biplane puts them on high alert, and Eggman is shocked to see Sonic and Tails bearing down on his location, not having expected them to be able to get here nearly so fast. See, Eggman, this is why you resist the siren call of your ego and keep your damn plans to yourself. All you did was give your enemies ample warning to prepare to foil your evil plot, you idiot!

Mobius 25 Years Later: Prologue

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Jensen

Okay, guys. This is it. We've reached the most Penders thing of all time. This is something that has been hinted at here and there from all the way back in the Sonic In Your Face special to now, and we're finally seeing the culmination of all of that buildup. All the intricate worldbuilding, all the complex character arcs, all the intrigue and political spider webs and back to back wars and everything that the world of Mobius has been through up until now - there's so much to explore, so many directions it could have gone. We're about to see what this world might look like twenty-five years into the future, and with so much rich history to draw from, what might you imagine this story might look like? What genre might it fall into? Well wonder no longer!

It's a drama. It's a teen drama.

There's a reason that Mobius 25 Years Later is widely considered to be one of the worst parts of the comic. The tone of it is just so far off anything else we've experienced so far that it clashes horribly with what we've come to expect. It's not some masterful subversion of expectations or something - in a lot of ways I consider it to be a genuine insult to the rest of the preboot's material up to this point. It's painfully and immediately clear that this is a story Penders has wanted to tell for a while, but, not being able to fit his "middle-aged adults adulting everywhere and being so adult-like while ignoring the feelings and difficulties that ordinary teenagers face" plot anywhere into the rest of the comic, he's opted to just fire the world a couple decades into the future, pair all the major characters off into weird and oftentimes arbitrary heterosexual marriages, give everyone 2.5 children and a titanium picket fence, and then throw in some allusions to the old "war against Doc 'Botnik" here and there lest we forget, entirely understandably at this point, that we're reading a Sonic the Hedgehog comic here. This thing goes on for nineteen whole issues, taking up each subsequent issue's backup story, and ultimately has no real impact on the actual story involving the characters we already know and love. However, this is technically canon, or at least a version of canon (as when you play with alternate realities and multiple timelines, futures are bound to get mixed up here and there), so we're gonna be covering it - all of it. I wouldn't be tempted to skip it anyway, as by delving into each chapter in this trainwreck, we can actually explore why this whole thing fails so hard, and why it's therefore so loathed in the fandom. Plus, I do recognize that some people actually do enjoy this arc for various reasons (one of my close friends does, and has a whole AU of her own relating to it in fact), so I do plan to at least try to be fair in my review - but I really can't hide that I find this whole affair boring as hell, often downright offensive, and ultimately completely out of place. With all that in mind, let's dive in!

We begin with a full page of exposition delivered to us via high school lecture, because everyone knows the best way to establish your worldbuilding is by infodumping it directly into your audience's eyeballs. Apparently, over the last twenty years, Angel Island has been heavily developed into its own independent republic, with a new city, Portal, acting as the center of trade between the island and the mainland below. We're once again introduced to Lara-Su, who, instead of being the badass time-traveling young adult whom we followed before, is now an ordinary teenager taking ordinary high school classes among a bunch of ordinary high school echidnas.

One of the biggest failings of this story is that Penders writes every teenage character how he thinks teenagers act, from his point of view as a middle-aged adult. This becomes abundantly clear the longer you read, as every teenager is a hormone-fueled, authority-defying, entitled, whiny, fickle child who just doesn't understand how the real world works, while every adult is a wise, experienced, and highly logical individual who always knows more than their younger fellows and refuses to pay attention to the whims of mere children. Like, I'm not even exaggerating here - I'm going to be pointing out every instance of this kind of behavior over the entire rest of this arc, and you can't stop me, so nyah nyah. Penders shows so little respect for the mere concept of teenagers, which is a terrible attitude to have not just in general, but especially if you're one of the head writers for an entire series about teenagers saving the goddamn world! Anyway, case in point: the teacher, instead of admonishing Rutan for being a bully, merely snaps at Lara-Su for not acting enough like a "young lady" and tells her to stay after class. Ugh.

Later that day, Rotor arrives on Angel Island as a liaison for the royal ruling couple, Queen Sally and King Sonic, because yes, Sonic literally becomes king in this timeline. He catches a ride from Harry - hey, good to see our favorite dingo still doing well for himself at least - and meets with Espio, who is now apparently Knuckles' secretary or something. At least, that's all I can assume from this weird-ass conversation.

As a matter of fact, yes, Sonic and Sally are bringing their two children, Sonia and Manik, to the family dinner! How very mid-70s domestic family unit of them! Espio informs Knuckles of this over a television screen as the latter broods around in some kind of high-tech facility. Unlike what we've seen of Espio, the years have dramatically changed Knuckles' appearance - his right eye is missing, replaced with a mechanical one, and he sports the cowboy hat that Hawking gave him in the past (you know, the one we never saw again after he received it). While I actually quite like the idea of a main character in the comic losing something as important as an eye, I feel like there's a huge missed opportunity here - instead of just thrusting us into an alternate future where everything is fine but one character is inexplicably missing an eye, how about actually showing us the story of how that eye was lost? Show us a Knuckles who's learning to cope with the loss of an important body part, and having to adjust to his mechanical prosthetic! Go into his feelings about the subject, as someone who has so long been opposed to a faction that thrives on mechanical prosthetics, instead of just skipping over what has the potential to be the most interesting part of this story! Ugh, sorry, there's just nothing that gets to me more than a missed opportunity like this. Knuckles and Espio exchange some tortured small-talk about their kids for a little while, with the only interesting part of the conversation being their discussion of Rotor's arrival and how he's likely here to see someone named Cobar, with whom he apparently has a history. More on that later. Knuckles excuses himself from the conversation, as he has to be home in time for his daughter's "Unveiling" tonight, and as the call ends we zoom out to see that apparently nowadays, the Master Emerald is hooked up to all sorts of technology in this facility, presumably maintaining everything automatically. However, this story isn't done throwing weird curveballs at us yet - it's time to see what our former villains are up to in this future!

There is so much to unpack here. Dimitri, feared overlord of the Dark Legion, is now an amiable cyborg-head-in-a-bubble. Lien-Da, the treacherous second-in-command who regularly spoke of betraying Dimitri and taking the Legion in her own darker direction, is now apparently a single mom who's embraced the domestic life, taking care of her rowdy teenage son while, predictably, complaining about the behavior of kids these days. And weirdest of all, apparently everyone is just fine with these literal former terrorists living in their midst and doing ordinary mom and grandpa things, with Lien-Da even apparently amenable to the idea of trying to make up with Julie-Su because "they're family," despite her history of, you know, erasing Julie-Su's memory multiple times and killing her biological parents as revenge for her birth. I mean, is this what Penders thinks adulthood is? Is he even entirely sane? Does he know the definition of terrorism?

Any-goddamn-way, Knuckles arrives home to his eerily sterile-looking steel-plated mansion that looks more like the lobby of a pharmaceutical laboratory than a place where people live, and greets his loving housewife Julie-Su, who's gained a cute giant ponytail but lost absolutely everything else that made her unique, including her own cybernetic parts and just her personality in general. She informs Knuckles that Lara-Su has locked herself in the bathroom and is having herself a mighty tantrum, refusing to come out to get ready for her Unveiling ceremony, which is apparently the equivalent of a Quinceañera for echidna girls. Knuckles, instead of doing something reasonable like asking her why she's upset, starts aggressively demanding that she come out of her room this instant, while Lara-Su repeatedly yells about how she doesn't wanna. Ugh, teenagers, amiright?

Seriously, I just can't get over how little respect Penders has for teenagers in his writing. Like, yes, I acknowledge that teenagers aren't always the most logical of beings, but they're also not goddamn three-year-olds either. They're old enough to articulate their desires and express their unique opinions, and often do so in very mature ways, especially if they're raised well and treated with the same respect you'd afford any adult. I should know, I was one myself. I would have assumed Penders was one as well at some point, but perhaps he just popped into the world one day as a fully-formed 43-year-old, full of disdain for those younger than himself. It would certainly explain everything we're seeing here.

Anyway, it turns out that the reason Lara-Su is upset is because Knuckles refuses to train her to be a Guardian, and so she whines and yells about it from behind the door like a petulant child as Knuckles continually refuses to actually give her a solid reason why he won't let her be one. When Julie-Su basically forces him to calm the hell down and explain himself, he reluctantly explains that since all the duties of a Guardian have by now been taken over by other functions of their society, he feels there's no longer any need for one, himself included. This is apparently enough to make Lara-Su immediately happy enough to burst out of the bathroom and grab her father's arm, suddenly totally excited to go to her Unveiling as long as Knuckles promises her the first dance. Ah, the fickle mind of a silly, silly teenager!

Kill me.

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 131 #writer: karl bollers #writer: ken penders #pencils: ron lim #pencils: steven butler #colors: jason jensen

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innovacancy · 5 years

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Periphery House of Blues, Boston, MA 12 September 2019

I’ll start this one off with a disclaimer – I don’t know much about metal. While I’m quite familiar with where the genre intersects others, I’m woefully uneducated on metal when it’s not prefixed or suffixed with a hyphen connected to something more familiar, nor the various subgenres and styles like djent that exist therein. What I do know is that Periphery moves with an energy unlike any other band I’ve listened to, and their latest record, Periphery IV: Hail Stan, continues the trend of blistering blast beats supporting sweeping progressive metal sagas.

HAIL STAN is a true journey of a record, beginning with the band’s longest song to date, ‘Reptile’. Like many of the songs on the record, ‘Reptile’ is a tale of blood and war and carnage, in this case following a drug addict named Billy who leads an ultimately doomed resistance against the titular reptilian menace. On ‘Blood Eagle’, vocalist Spencer Sotelo takes the perspective of a Viking, recounting the clashes between their polytheistic, nature-focused, and often brutal beliefs with early Christians.

The album is awash with death, violence, and brutality, and for much of the album the music strives to match the lyrical content with an equal dose of high-adrenaline sound. Founding guitarist Misha Mansoor leads an arsenal of guitars that backs Sotelo’s wild vocals with a wall of the classic djent sound, which – coupled with drummer Matt Halpern’s vicious, superhuman kicks – creates the noisy, machine-gun grind that defines Periphery’s music. It’s endlessly engrossing to listen to the band form that titanic engine of sound, pause to let one or two of the guitarists dive out with an interesting riff or solo for a breather, and then just as quickly meld back into their trademark churning cohesion. Across its 16 minutes, ‘Reptile’ also contains a number of spacious choruses, owing to the band’s history in the progressive metal genre. It’s undeniably thrilling to hear a song carry itself between such soaring highs and profoundly undulating lows.

Live at the House of Blues on a late-summer evening, Periphery brought Stan to bear nearly in full force, performing two thirds of the album’s tracks including ‘Reptile’’s vast expanse, which seemed even more monstrously epic before the nearly sold-out crowd that had been digging on the new record since its release in early April. Over the past five months, the Periphery devoted have been nursing their desire to mosh to these new tracks, and the pure catharsis was evident in across all the present faces, as well as the circle pit that formed between the stage and soundboard, bodies crashing together wearing their latest Periphery adornments, including a nearly ubiquitous hoodie reading “We Come For War”, an iconic line from ‘Blood Eagle’.

The band performs with an astounding ferocity, with Sotelo at the head of the pack, goading the crowd and stoking the fires in each audience member, raising their voices in unison with him. Guitarists Mansoor, Jake Bowen, and Mark Holcomb all stalk the front of the stage as well, peering into the crowd and giving them a close-up of the inimitable technical skill that makes the band’s music possible. Only Halpern remains at the back of the stage behind his kit, a king on this throne of sonic creation. At one point, Sotelo leaps into the pit between the stage and barricade, climbing up the wall and leaning head-first into the crowd, losing himself in the sea of outreached hands and agape mouths singing his lyrics alongside him. He moves across the entire barrier, stage right to stage left, bringing as many people as he can into the ritual.

Everything about Periphery is a bit extreme – the gory narratives of their lyrical world; the physical skill with which they write and play music; and the performance of Sotelo as the masthead that united band with audience. Even as a relative metal outsider, it’s not hard to imagine how the band has won so many eardrums through the years. They exude passion in every note with the technical chops to match, and regardless of one’s background in music, it’s practically impossible to witness something of this caliber and not be enthralled and enticed to dive deeper into Periphery’s oeuvre.

#periphery #hail stan #periphery iv #house of blues

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theteenagetrickster · 4 years

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The 30 Best R&B Albums of 2019 - Rated R&B

If 2018 was the year of endless R&B releases, 2019 was definitely the year of anticipation for more intriguing R&B LPs to drop.

In the first half of 2019, diverse artists like Chaka Khan, Khalid, Ciara, and Eric Bellinger, grabbed the limelight for their solid projects.

Later in the year, there was a mighty rise in the genre, as even greater albums started to show up on retail and digital fronts.

Among this elite list of artists to flex their R&B muscles were BJ The Chicago Kid, Elle Varner, Raphael Saadiq and Fantasia.

Here are the top 30 R&B albums of 2019, as chosen by our editorial team: Anders, Antwane, Danielle and Keithan.

30. Leven Kali: Low Tide

Where the mellow and hazy “vibes” take president, Leven Kali breathes an energetic spirit into the current music climate. Low Tide is a satisfying offering of musicianship in a little over 30 minutes. Kali displays his musical range from the smooth jazz-inspired “Cassandra” to the warm and funky “Do U Wrong” featuring Syd, while the overlooked gem “1 on 1” pays homage to the art of the ’90s slow jam. For his full-length debut, Kali pieces elements of R&B and some of its subgenres to create a refreshingly bright project. — Danielle

29. Nicole Bus: Kairos

Hailing from the Netherlands, all ears were on Nicole Bus’ Wu-Tang-sampled single “You” before fans knew who she was. Kairos is an assortment of genres spread over R&B and soul with contagious boom-bap drums as the centerpiece. Her smoldering tone adds texture to gleaming tracks like “Rain,” a simple yet hard-hitting number that allows her vocals to cut through. With a radio single under her belt and releasing her first American LP not long after, the timing couldn’t have been any better. — Danielle

28. Shay Lia: Dangerous (Deluxe)

If you’re a fan of KAYTRANADA, then you should be familiar with Shay Lia. Both from Montreal, the pair have collaborated in the past but Lia steps out on her own for her first full-length project Dangerous. The project connects all 11 tracks with a consistent bounce for this airy, ’70s-inspired compilation. Dangerous picks up the energy by track five, “Want You” featuring UK rapper Kojey Radical, a percussion laden song where the two effortlessly feed off each other. Lia closes things out with the smooth retro-leaning “Rock Baby,” allowing her vocals and the stripped-down production to come to the forefront. — Danielle

27. Raheem DeVaughn: The Love Reunion

Anyone familiar with Raheem DeVaughn knows that he has crowned himself as The Love King over the years. The Washington, D.C. native has dedicated his entire discography, which spans over 14 years, to all-things love. On The Love Reunion, DeVaughn brings his signature sound to the forefront on passionate tunes like “Just Right,” “Any Everywhere,” “Ballerina” and the title track, to name a few. There are a couple of moments when DeVaughn taps into other genres. “Kissed By the Sun” hears DeVaughn experimenting with Afrobeat, while the Edley Shine-assisted “Magnet” brings reggae vibes. — Keithan

26. Lion Babe: Cosmic Wind

Cosmic Wind is the appropriate title for Lion Babe’s sophomore LP, a breezy and fluid collection of heavenly jams. Vocalist Jillian Hervey and producer Lucas Goodman combine their talents to create an infectious harmony of electro-soul and dance. Known for producing vibrant energy, the duo’s ability to oscillate between the slinky and rhythmic “Anyway You Want To” to the sexy and jazzy “Never Before” is a testament to their varying, yet solid influences. — Danielle

25. Kyle Dion: Suga

As his alter-ego SUGA, fledgling soulster Kyle Dion takes listeners down a famed-dazed path that involves sultry funk and futuristic soul melodies on his first proper album. Tackling the fast-track rise to stardom, Dion reflects on losing normality and strifes over maintaining a glamorous image in a “Glass House” where everyone is constantly on a stakeout. There are some moments on this groovy burner when Dion recalls Bruno Mars’ and The Weekend’s thunder like on the trend-borrowing “Spend It” and the colorfully warm “Teach Me.” But his own sound highlights creep out on “Not All Your Way,” a mellow speed bump targeted at a revved up partner who he wants to take his time loving. Dion laces “Somethings We Can’t Do,” a breathtaking closer based on personal contentment, with his best wails on this 40-minute set. – Antwane

24. Summer Walker: Over It

While everyone was enjoying their hot girl summer, Summer Walker was gearing up to put the world back in its feels in the fall. The Atlanta-based singer-songwriter had already set off a chain reaction of women being open and honest about their sexuality on her hit song “Girls Need Love.” Now, she was ready to open up to the world in a whole new way on her debut album Over It. Walker’s effort showed the world a more vulnerable side to her, as she added on to a catalog of great melancholic R&B. The London on da Track-helmed project not only received a co-sign from Usher on “Come Thru,” but it debuted at No. 2 the Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest female R&B debut in nearly 10 years. — Anders

23. Tinashe: Songs For You

Tinashe has been fighting to get her sound heard for nearly half a decade. After leaving RCA Records due to “lack of creative control” earlier this year, the R&B virtuoso finished the most defining year for herself with the release of her super-personal independent album Songs For You. Tinashe’s fourth LP details the highs and lows of the singer’s past relationships on songs like “Save Room For Us” and “So Much Better.” It also reminds listeners of the California native’s incredible talent as a songwriter and record producer, as she wrote and produced nearly every track on this genre-bending set. – Anders

22. Chris Brown: Indigo

How much music does Chris Brown have stored? Seriously. Just two years after dropping his 57-track album Heartbreak on a Full Moon, Brown returned with another extensive project, Indigo, which is packed with 32 tracks. While the album’s singles (“No Guidance” featuring Drake, “Heat” featuring Gunna” and “Undecided”) got a lot of love on the Billboard charts, there are plenty of gems that may go unnoticed if the listener isn’t willing to sit through two hours of music. There is something for every mood on the album: sensual (“Come Together” featuring H.E.R. and “Throw It Back”); dance/party (“Wobble Up” featuring Nicki Minaj and G-Eazy and You Like That”); laid-back/chill (“Don’t Check On Me” featuring Justin Bieber and Ink, “Dear God”); and much more. — Keithan

21. Fantasia: Sketchbook

Nobody knew what to expect from Fantasia’s follow-up to her so-called “garbage” The Definition Of… album in regards to her contrasting pre-album cuts (“PTSD” featuring T-Pain, “Holy Ghost”). But, as one might expect, Sketchbook further adds to her last two experimental album run. Vocally, Tasia is concerned about having more control than oversinging as highlighted on the adult-oriented love ballad “Enough” and the dramatized number “Bad Girl.” Musically, the soul performer continues to explore sonic freedom that gravitates towards her iconic rock influences (“Warning”). While this solid long-player doesn’t include her prematurely-discussed and uncleared collaboration with Brandy and Jazmine Sullivan, Fantasia refuses to stunt her desired artistic growth for fans or critics. – Antwane

20. PJ Morton: Paul

Paul takes listeners on a journey through PJ Morton’s mind as he ponders about his ambitions, his love life and his experience as a Black man in America. It is a solid album that is packed with positive affirmations to comfort anyone who is going through a tough time. If there’s anything to learn from this short-and-sweet project, it’s to never lose sight of who you are and to remain optimistic, period. – Keithan

19. DAWN: New Breed

DAWN is exactly what music needs: a passionate trailblazer who unabashedly resists industry tyranny for the sake of authentically connecting with their listeners. Celebrating her New Orleans origin, New Breed rids the toxic “this is a man’s world” view and hits on all the times women of color, particularly Black women, had to pander men in personal and professional situations. With a strong focus on vivid expressions regarding disappointment, perseverance, and self-acceptance, DAWN ignites a new fire in Black women on empowerment anthems like “Spaces” and “We, Diamonds.” Everything on this amped-up set isn’t so serious, though. The indie superstar samples nightlife on the easy groove “Dreams and Converse” and trolls an Instagram groupie on “Jealousy,” a fluid slow jam. – Antwane

18. Johnny Gill: Game Changer II

When you’re a legend like Johnny Gill, you can play by your own rules. After promoting his Game Changer album for three years — five singles in total — Gill kept the theme going with a sequel. This time around, he switches up his creative approach by gently tapping into other sounds outside of R&B. To help his vision come to light, he teamed with super producers like Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Blac Elvis and Ralph Stacy. Gill doesn’t stray too far from traditional R&B sounds. He quickly delves back into his comfort zone with tender R&B tunes like the album’s lead single “Soul of a Woman,” “Perfect” featuring Ralph Tresvant, “Bed on Fire,” “Home” featuring Kevon Edmonds and more. – Keithan

17. Louis York: American Griots

Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Bruno Mars and Britney Spears all have something in common: they’ve worked with Louis York — Claude Kelly and Chuck Harmony — to create hits that their fans will continue to play from years out. This year was the year for Louis York. Their debut album American Griots exemplifies Black Excellence. The carefully-curated sonic experience is a celebration of Black people’s influence on music. Although R&B is the essence of Louis York’s music, they consciously decided to incorporate sounds from other genres that Black people had an impact on. American Griots is an ode to Black musicians and artists who pioneered what we refer to today as American music. Although the album contains a mix of different genres, it flows in a way that makes the listening experience seamless. — Keithan

16. Johntá Austin: Love, Sex & Religion

Johnta Austin’s musical resume is full of hits he’s written for artists like Usher, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and the list goes on. This year, it was all about Johnta Austin the artist. On his debut effort, the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter dabbles into love, sex and religion. There is more emphasis on love and sex, with religious nuances sprinkled in between. “Everyone has their own feeling of love, their own connection to the creator and their own connection to sex,” Austin told Rated R&B in an interview. “As long as it is pure, beautiful and you’re not hurting anybody, then this album is for you.” — Keithan

15. Rahsaan Patterson: Heroes & Gods

After an eight-year hiatus, Rahsaan Patterson made a divine return with Heroes & Gods — and it was well worth the wait. On Heroes & Gods, Patterson explores themes on love, self-empowerment and spirituality. The 13-track offering fuses experimental sounds that effectively showcase Patterson’s well-textured tone and pristine vocal range. Patterson’s signature sound can be heard on songs like “Catch Me When I Fall” and “Sent From Heaven.” He gives listeners a chance to let loose on the dance floor with upbeat songs like “Rock and Roll,” “Soldier” and “Silly, Love, Fool.” Listening to Heroes & Gods is just another reminder that Patterson is criminally-underrated as a vocalist and as an artist. — Keithan

14. Mahalia: Love and Compromise

Mahalia, another promising newcomer from the U.K., makes the best use of her past love situations on her sterling debut set. Having a songwriting credit on each song featured on Love and Compromise, this rising talent has grown into a woman that demonstrates unique power after overcoming interesting romantic experiences far beyond her youth. Original and reminiscent at the same time, this emotionally vulnerable album plays in the street of vibrant twists and turns on tuneful tracks like the pressure-free joint “Good Company” and the in the grey feeler “What Am I?” Her irresistible collaborations with other new acts Ella Mai and Lucky Daye are genuine co-signs. In all, Love and Compromise is a strong indication that R&B’s future is in good hands. – Antwane

13. Elle Varner: Ellevation (EP)

It’s not easy to make a comeback after seven years, but Elle Varner returned like she never left. Although her Ellevation project is labeled as an EP, it feels like an album. Running six minutes shorter than her debut album Perfectly Imperfect, Ellevation is packed with all kinds of feels. In a span of 35 minutes, Varner takes her listeners on an emotional journey as she navigates through her broken heart. The project opens with “Coffee On the Roof” where she catches feelings with a potential love interest. However, things quickly take a turn on the second track “Pour Me (Think bout u)” featuring Wale. She tries to save her relationship on “1 To 10” but is ultimately unsuccessful. While the core of the project is sadness, Varner picks her head up on “Kinda Love” and outlines what she wants in her next relationship. – Keithan

12. Baby Rose: To Myself

A cure for healing a broken heart: any tear-soaked track from Baby Rose’s critically- lauded debut outing, To Myself. Possessing vocal dynamics and nuances of music great Nina Simone, Rose proves that her seasoned sound is as trusting as the touchy lyrical substance she yearns. She factors in a painful narrative of mistaken domesticity on the exhausted opener “Sold Out.” Cuts like the one-sided love affair “Over” and the indecisive highlight “Borderline” are dominated by deep sadness and nocturnally complex arrangements to drive it all home with intense emotional prowess. To Myself should be the album to make it not only to unfledged listeners but those with mature minds, too. – Antwane

11. Gallant: Sweet Insomnia

“I called the album Sweet Insomnia because, lyrically, every song is bittersweet,” Gallant said in a previous press statement. “Nothing is 100% positive and light-hearted. Nothing is 100% brooding and cynical. It’s very balanced and real – like an unretouched photo.” For Sweet Insomnia, the follow-up to his Grammy-nominated debut album Ology, he opted to experiment more with an early 2000s R&B sound. The standout track “Sleep On It,” and arguably one of the best R&B songs to release this year, brings back those contemporary R&B vibes felt on Usher’s 8701 album. The Maryland native doesn’t hold back on his ear-piercing falsetto notes. His vocals soar on songs like “Hurt” and “Crimes. While the subject matter on Sweet Insomnia may be a little dark and emotional, the overall nostalgia brings light to the listening experience for true R&B lovers. — Keithan

10. SiR: Chasing Summer

Switching seasons from November, SiR takes flight into sunny yet turbulent skies on Chasing Summer. Inglewood’s finest takes listeners through the less savory aspects of romance from a true to life perspective. SiR pulls from his earlier works and ties it in with his current sound to form an album that pleases new and old fans alike. Steadily in the mid-tempo pocket, the TDE singer flows with ease on songs like ‘Wires in the Way” and “You Can’t Save Me.” The listening experience of the hazy and melodic body of work feels akin to the favorable season coming to an end, savoring every last moment until it comes to a close. — Danielle

9. Raphael Saadiq: Jimmy Lee

The fifth studio album from Raphael Saadiq may well be one of the year’s most dramatic R&B releases. Most everything on Jimmy Lee, the well-respected musician’s first full-length effort in eight years, tends to be a tribute to his deceased brother’s battle with addiction. Lead single, “Something Keeps Calling,” is a soul-inflected comeback hit that describes his constant fight against a sea of nagging second thoughts. There are only a few songs that don’t address substance abuse in any capacity. While he makes heady drug references on “I’m Feeling Love,” focused on dependency, it’s disguised as a love ode. Sticking to his eccentric, jazz-funk sound, Saadiq mixes in dark nuances and heavy lyrics on Jimmy Lee to showcase boundary-pushing moments. – Antwane

8. BJ The Chicago Kid: 1123

The title of BJ The Chicago Kid’s second album (1123) may appear random to many people but there’s a bigger meaning behind it: It was inspired by his birthday, which is November 23. To celebrate another year of life, BJ gave the world the gift of music. “Most people receive gifts for their birthday but I wanted to give something for my birthday,” he told Rated R&B earlier this year. The something BJ is referring to is an unforgettable experience that comes from listening to the album. He instantly captures the listener’s attention on the opener “Feel The Vibe.” The Anderson .Paak-assisted groove sets the mood for the rest of the album. With lyrics like, “Come on in, close the door and feel the vibe” and “Talkin’ shit with the old heads / Mama dancin’ to some Al Green,” BJ paints a picture of a summertime get together at a Black household. The rest of the album is packed with lush R&B sounds that acts as solid proof as to why the album is up for a Grammy nomination. — Keithan

7. Anderson.Paak: Ventura

It’s a bit unbelievable that Oxnard and Ventura were made at the same time. The softer, more soulful of the two is the perfect example of when Anderson. Paak gives into his R&B side. Instrumentation plays a significant part in his fourth studio album, while the star-studded features (Smokey Robinson, Jazmine Sullivan, Brandy) are a worthy enhancement. Ventura provides a consistent smoothness with a flare that goes far beyond a common groove. — Danielle

6. Solange: When I Get Home

In one of the most richly textured R&B releases of 2019, Solange delivers an intriguing project powered by tight songwriting, lush musical arrangements, and beautiful vocal stylings. Recorded in various parts of the world spectrum, including New Orleans and Jamaica, the “warm, fluid, and more sensual” synesthesia she hinted in The New York Times Style Magazine last fall are rendered in slower numbers like “I’m a Witness” and “Jerrod.” Much of When I Get Home’s sonic appeal comes from Solange’s hometown Houston. The music she sings and vibes to on trippy, screwed solos “Stay Flo” and “Almeda” date back to the trademark DJ Screw era of the early 2000s. By the authentic sound of Home, it is baffling to think that Solange once expressed fear ahead of sending this astonishing Black art into the atmosphere. Of course, this collection of retro musical moods doesn’t repeat the purposeful intent of A Seat at the Table; but it’s a good thing it didn’t. – Antwane

5. Snoh Aalegra: Ugh, Those Feels Again

It has been a long time coming for Swedish soul crooner Snoh Aalegra as she released her first project First Sign under the stage name Sheri in 2010. Nearly 10 years later, Aalegra released one of the most intimate R&B albums of the year, – Ugh, those feels again. A project seemingly sent straight from the heavens, Aalegra’s sophomore LP serves as the sequel to 2016’s FEELS, and it features an introspective look at the tell-tale signs of falling in love, as heard on the album’s lead single “I Want You Around.” As a songwriter, Aalegra shines with her unforgettable hooks and haunting melodies on tracks such as “You” and “Whoa.” While her road to success has been a lengthy one, Aalegra’s breakthrough effort – Ugh, those feels again will remain a marveling stop along the way for R&B fans everywhere. – Anders

4. Jamila Woods: Legacy! Legacy!

Jamila Woods knows how to make a statement. Starting with the album’s track list, each song title is named after a significant person of color. Bridging blues, funk, hip-hop and soul, Woods summons and intertwines their energy on each track, which are individually significant in their own right. Weaving aspects of Blackness and womanhood, LEGACY! LEGACY! embarks on an elegantly expressive journey of finding and accepting yourself in a world where the cards aren’t always in your favor. — Danielle

3. India.Arie: Worthy

The fact that India.Arie continues to be a potent example that evolves the thought-inspiring messages she sings on every album 17 years after her fulfilling debut again lends to her meaningful position in the R&B world. On Worthy, her incredibly polished new album, it’s no different. The soulful veteran is back full force with refreshing, love-longing, and enlightening compositions that strike a chord in listeners. Clearly inspired by the state of the world, Arie evokes lyrical healing with momentous anthems like the funky “Rollercoaster” ride and the spellbinding track “What If?”. “That Magic,” a warm-weather love song, gloats on her masterful songwriting. Among the traditional R&B gems on Worthy is “Steady Love,” her inaugural number one hit on the urban adult-oriented radio format. Thanks to Arie for another mind-stimulating project; it’s just what the world needs. — Antwane

2. Lucky Daye: Painted

Lucky Daye may have seemingly appeared out of nowhere but his presence has been welcomed with open ears. The artistry of this New Orleans native was built in the latter half of his life, providing him with an expansive canvas. Daye balances traditional and innovative R&B stylings to craft his highly anticipated debut album, Painted. Roping listeners in with full-bodied vintage-inspired production, Daye’s official introduction to the world has left a rousing first impression. – Danielle

1. Ari Lennox: Shea Butter Baby

With comparisons to R&B greats such as Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill, Washington, D.C. native Ari Lennox stole the attention and hearts of R&B fans with her debut album Shea Butter Baby. As the first lady of J. Cole’s Dreamville Records, Lennox became a pillar of the label and helped bring it to the forefront of music this year.

She appeared on Cole’s song “Change” in 2016, but it was the Minnie Riperton-esque “Whipped Cream” where she shined on her own. Lennox brought this tender, yet soulful sound to her album, along with some sticky hooks, heard on tracks like “BMO” and “New Apartment.” Not only that, Shea Butter Baby introduces this generation to a unique voice easily comparable to Badu, as Lennox’s voice is almost instantly recognizable.

Shea Butter Baby’s titular song is certified gold by the RIAA, and the album snagged three Soul Train Award nominations. While the project did not receive many accolades during its run, it remains a staple piece of the late 2010s, sealing Lennox’s status as one of R&B’s reigning princesses. – Anders

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This content was originally published here.

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nervouswreck-96 · 7 years

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Supernova - Chapter 2

“Knuckles? Can you hear me, Knuckles?”

Deep in the back of his mind, Knuckles the Echidna had to be wondering to himself how he even got caught up in this mess in the first place.

Were it not for a sense of personal responsibility, chances were high that he wouldn’t be doing this in the first place. Now, not only was the Master Emerald missing, but he had managed to get himself lost, surrounded by vast monochromatic catacombs of glossy concrete and stainless steel that all looked virtually identical to the naked eye. The echidna relied on his own sixth sense to lure him closer to his destined jewel. Sure enough, throughout his journey, his mind had been receiving signals from beyond.

Unfortunately, they were not the kind of signals he asked for.

A shrill, childish voice entered his left ear, and only his left ear. “Knuckles? It’s Tails! Requesting your position! Knuckles, are you there?!”

Perfect. Just perfect. This is exactly what I needed.

Knuckles had forgotten about those silly two-way radios that everybody had been told to shove in their ears. He wanted to raise an objection to them before they launched their last-ditch mission to infiltrate the ESS-1, but ultimately held his tongue. After all, he had far more pressing concerns to address.

One message in, and he remembered exactly why he had the objection to begin with. He figured it would be quicker if he just got this reply out of the way sooner rather than later.

“Eighth deck! No, I haven’t found it yet! Over!”

He made sure to shout as loud as possible, as he wasn’t sure if the radio would pick up speech at his normal volume. Nor did he care, since he had resolved for this to be the first, last, and only time he would ever use the thing.

Reaching in with the most delicate touch he could handle, he – somehow, with what was essentially an oversized boxing glove – extracted the unit. It was a simple contraption, little more than a foam earpiece with a plastic cap at the end which concealed the electronic components. It was all too easy for someone to crush into dust…which is exactly what Knuckles had in mind when he held the unit above his head, one second away from throwing it to the ground with every bit of his strength.

At the last possible moment, a thought crossed his mind.

No…I might need this later.

Instead, Knuckles opted for the far more sensible solution of toggling the nearly undetectable on/off switch.

With that distraction out of the way, he pressed on, scouring Deck 8 of the ESS-1, twisting his neck at every turn to more effectively scan all possible angles of the route that lay ahead of him. Something deep inside his head told him he was getting closer to his goal. In fact, that “something” turned so painfully loud in its attempts to call out to him that he had to clutch his sinuses in a futile attempt to calm them down. The further he walked, the less control he had of his own basic senses. All sensation of hearing disappeared, replaced by a constant, high-pitched ring that stabbed at his eardrums, as if someone rang dozens of doorbells directly in front of him. No matter which way he turned, the ringing felt exactly the same, throwing off all sense of direction. To Knuckles, this could only be a good thing.

Yes! It’s close! I can sense it!

But then, just as quickly as it began…

“No…no…damn it! Stay with me!”

…the sensation vanished. He could hear clearly again. Yet he couldn’t see or hear any trace of the jewel he was bonded to by destiny. Once again, he had been led down the wrong path.

By this point, he had lost count of how often he had gotten a trace on the Master Emerald only to lose it within seconds. He did know one thing, however; it was one too many. He looked off into the distance and found nothing but white walls, white floors, grey ceilings, as far as the eye could see. Did this hallway even lead anywhere? Had he somehow been led back the way he came? Was there even an end to this grim death march? He didn’t know. He just didn’t know.

And this was just one deck. On the flight here, he and the others could make out close to 40. At least.

Not knowing what else to do, the echidna slinked desperately onto the steel floor and pounded his spiked right fist into the surface with enough white-hot fury to leave a permanent imprint. As if things couldn’t get any worse for him, he felt the cold, hard press of an arm cannon against the back of his neck.

Terrific. Just terrific.

“HALT. STATE YOUR BUSINESS.” said Egg Gunner model #E-P455XLY, in its distinctive monotone.

Fortunately, Knuckles’ years of martial arts training on Angel Island hadn’t gone to waste, as he detected the looming shadow before it even said a word. The security droid could not get a shot off before the echidna twisted his upper body toward the right, and a massive spiked fist flew from nowhere to knock the gun into the air. Without even turning his head, Knuckles bent backwards and grabbed the Gunner by its torso, tossing it over his head in a classic wrestling move.

The Gunner’s sturdy construction ensured that it stayed intact even as it hit the ground. That was just fine by Knuckles. He needed it alive. Just to make sure that it wouldn’t escape, he grabbed the droid’s head and pinned it to the floor with an unflinching grip.

Knuckles chose to get straight to the point. “Where are you hiding the Master Emerald?!”

Even though the echidna held the robot by what would be considered its throat, its internal speech processor was not affected. “CLASSIFIED INFORMATION…CANNOT DIVULGE UNDER PENALTY OF DESTRUCTION…”

“I’m not asking twice, punk! Tell me! Or meet a fist!”

As Knuckles tightened his headlock, the bolts holding the robot’s head to its shoulders grew more fatigued by the second. A total structural failure was imminent, and the machine’s on-board diagnostics ensured that it could sense its own demise. Regardless, the Egg Gunner simply could not do something it was programmed not to do.

“CLASSIFIED INFORMATION…CANNOT DIVULGE UNDER--”

Okay, that’s it.

Knuckles wouldn’t even wait for it to finish its sentence before burying a spiked glove deep within the robot’s back. Whatever secrets it carried inside its internal memory would go with it to the junkyard regardless of what he did or didn’t do. Whatever secrets it carried inside its internal memory would go with it to the junkyard, regardless of what he did or didn’t do.

“Well…that was a waste of time,” he said, as he struggled to free his hand from the sparking and sputtering carcass of what used to be Egg Gunner #E-P455XLY.

The stubborn subordinate had given him absolutely nothing of value, except for what little satisfaction he could muster in destroying it. And even that meager reward brought him no closer to the Master Emerald. He was short on time, and even shorter on leads. There was no choice. He had to go back the way he came, back to the original “sweet spot”.

There was, however, one small consolation in all of this. This time, Knuckles didn’t need to hold back his speed to check every possible route, angle, or hiding place. This time, there was one route, one angle, and one target.

“I swear…” said Knuckles, under his breath. “…I will bring you back home. No matter what it takes.” The guardian set off, waiting for the nauseating sensations of the Master Emerald to consume his consciousness once again.

“Come on…come on...”

Like the two tails of his that unconsciously jabbed and slammed into each other as they wagged to and fro, two sides of Tails’ brain were locked in a brutal struggle. The cold, brutal realist in him said there was next to no chance of a successful trace, that Eggman just wouldn’t be that careless. The curious, inventive side of him, the side responsible for the creation of the MilesElectric portable tablet currently in his hands, was simply eager to take its newly-programmed “signal interceptor” function for a test drive. So far, the test looked like a certain failure, if the static blue screen and the blinking white words “SEARCHING FOR SIGNALS…” were any indication.

Certain thoughts ran through the fox’s head. Perhaps the problem wasn’t that Eggman was one step ahead. Was his machine even working? Could there be something wrong with the program he wrote for the signal interceptor? There was no way to tell at this point. The noises emanating from the device were no louder than those from before he started the test. The urge to quit out of the program further enveloped him with each second of inaction. And yet, each time he hovered his finger over the back button whose touch would have ended the process, he could not bring himself to do so. He had to let it go on. After all, a scientist cannot validate the results of his experiment if he backs out while the experiment is still in progress.

Instead, he stood on that spot in front of the engine control room, shutting out the entire universe around him, staring unblinking at his screen as the words “SEARCHING FOR SIGNALS…” seared itself into his retina and into the rather cheap LCD screen he had procured with what little resources he had at his disposal.

All of a sudden, something came from behind him and twice tapped a finger on his left shoulder.

Tails reacted accordingly to the rude destruction of his personal bubble, emitting a piercing shriek that echoed off the walls of deck 6. When the shock finally settled down, animal instincts took over as he turned around and spread his legs in a fighting position, swinging his two tails in front of him like a furry shield, only to find…

“Sonic?” he asked.

The hedgehog had been standing right behind him for God-knows-how-long, tapping his foot at the speed of a sledgehammer as he waited for any semblance of a response. Now he had it. Tails disarmed himself when he finally realized he was a few seconds away from tail-striking his own friend’s head clean off without even knowing it.

“Oh my gosh, Sonic! I am so sorry! I didn’t—”

But much to his relief and surprise, Sonic just laughed the whole thing off. “It’s okay, big guy! It’s just that sometimes you get a little…uh, howdoIsayit…focused every now and then, dontcha think?”

Tails had no reply, simply staring at the ground as his face turned red. The two made a silent agreement to not discuss the incident any further and shift the conversation toward business.

“So…what were you just lookin’ at?” Sonic asked.

“Oh, yeah! It’s a long shot, but I thought I’d try and save us time by tracing the origin of any wireless signals that pass through here. Basically, it works by a crude system of echolocation wherein the device transmits its own carrier signal, which I encrypted with a special…”

That’s “basically” to this guy? Sonic felt like blurting out, but managed to hold it in the back of his throat.

Watching Tails ramble on about his inventions was almost as much of a wonder to behold as the inventions themselves. Somehow his sapphire blue eyes seemed to glow brighter with each long, technical word that Sonic hadn’t even heard of, let alone knew the definition. Under normal circumstances, the hedgehog could have let Tails finish the way he planned to finish…assuming he ever planned to finish at all. However, these were not normal circumstances. The two were on a time crunch. Knowing this, Sonic stuck his open hand out in front of his body, indicating ‘stop’.

“So, did you get any of that?” asked Tails, not even stopping to take a breath.

“Well…” said Sonic, his hand cupping his chin as he struggled to come up with an answer. “I did get the ‘save time’ part. That’s for sure.”

Tails buried his face in his right hand. Yet again, he realized that he had failed to take into account what different worlds they both came from.

“Okay…” said Tails. “…In short, this program could help lead us straight to the server room!”

“Now that’s what I wanna hear!” said Sonic. “At this rate, we’ll be in and out of this trash-heap in no time!”

“If it works,” said Tails, waving a finger in the air. “Like I said, it’s a long shot.”

“Hey, if you built it, I’d bet my life on it! And if it doesn’t?”

Tails hissed at the most likely possibility. “Well…we’ll probably have to search each deck one by one.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with a li’l’ more exploring? I’m always game for that!”

“Uh…” Tails had no real answer to the question; after all, he really didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Suddenly, both were taken off-guard by a series of beeps from the MilesElectric that came with such abruptness and volume that it nearly caused the fox to drop the machine. When he looked for himself, he noticed that the monotonous blinking message had finally, mercifully, disappeared from the screen.

“What’s going on?” Sonic asked, as he rushed over to take a peek at the screen. “Don’t tell me somebody’s making a phone call all the way up here!”

But Tails paid no mind to his friend’s attempt at humor. His eyes were locked on the screen, toward the wealth of information that scrolled by him. At first, mere vocabulary escaped him. He wasn’t sure whether to believe its authenticity or not, and kept any thoughts of the notion tucked away to quash any false hope. But when the final confirmation appeared, the words finally came to his tongue.

“We…we got one. Sonic, we’ve got a signal here! Look at this!”

Slowly, Tails turned his gaze over to Sonic, who stood silent, more than willing to let his younger but far more technologically capable partner take the reins for the moment.

“It’s…I’ve got a lock on the location!” said Tails, half-gasping each word. “It’s…yes…”

The MilesElectric’s speakers gave off a single, sustained beep, this one even louder than those that came before. Sonic and Tails both leaned in to see what action this noise represented on the tiny LCD screen. A set of three numbers appeared, all changing with every infinitesimal tremor of Tails’ clammy gloves. Like the conductor of some electronic symphony, the fox waved the device back and forth, side to side, up and down, keeping his eyes fixed on the screen to make sure the numbers changed according to his movements. They did.

“Th…these are the coordinates…X, Y, and Z, right here!” said Tails, trying to keep himself together. “According to this, the signal’s coming from…” He looked toward the ceiling, making an effort to estimate its height from sight alone and compare the estimate to his readings. “…I think it’s two decks above us! The server room must be right there!”

“You did it, buddy!” said Sonic, leaping into the air. “I told you it would work!”

Tails only stared down at the shimmering floor of brushed steel, struggling to think of something to say as he absorbed a fur-ruffling pat on the head from the hedgehog. “Heh…I guess today must be our lucky day!”

As Tails’ head was still pointed toward the floor, Sonic reached over and grabbed his hand,

“You ready for this?” Sonic asked.

Tails’ head shot up. As soon as those sapphire blue eyes of youth and innocence locked onto fiery emerald eyes of passion and determination, any lingering doubts within the fox gently washed away.

“You bet I am!” said Tails.

“Let’s make this fun! Last one there pays for lunch!”

“Ha! You’re on! I’d like to see you fly up two floors!”

“Oh ho! Well, if it’s a challenge you want, it’s a challenge you’ll get!”

With their eyes locked on each other, both crouched and lowered their hands to the floor. Tails revved up his twin appendages until they reached such a speed that they seemed to the naked eye to create one solid, gyrating form. Soon, his tails generated their own field of wake turbulence as he held himself in place, waiting for the right moment.

At the same moment, as if an imaginary starter’s pistol had fired, they set off.

Somehow, Sonic had a gut feeling that the end his latest adventure was waiting for him at the hypothetical finish line on Deck 8. One more battle with Eggman, one more trashed baddie, and he would have things wrapped up in a neat little package. Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted. Still, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the ride. He would make every remaining second of this adventure count.

None of this made any sense.

Knuckles returned to the spot that gave him the most fleeting hope of recovering the Master Emerald. He fully expected the first encounter to have been a glitch, his mind simply playing tricks on him…or worse, Eggman playing tricks on him…with his Emerald. But one step into the “sweet spot” undid all of those theories. The very same signals flooded his mind upon re-entry, flooding his ears with shattering noise.

But why? Knuckles had searched this entire area piece-by-piece, and searched it again. He couldn’t even see any device or shrine that could harness the power of the Master Emerald, let alone the fabled jewel itself. There had to be something he was missing here.

You’re hiding from me…I just know it.

However, finding a place where one would hide a four-foot-tall emerald proved to be a daunting challenge. Without a conscious thought of the action passing through him, he turned his head toward the floor while he contemplated this theory…leaving his eyes to stumble across an unremarkable maintenance shaft that rested against the far side wall.

A lightbulb went on over Knuckles’ head – a flickering lightbulb, but a lightbulb nonetheless. He could remember seeing maintenance shafts just like that one, usually in pairs that stood directly across from each other against the walls. A closer look at this one told him that it ran through the floor, up the face of the wall, and directly through the ceiling. Much to his surprise, if his theory held true, it was just wide enough for him to snuggle his body inside and through.

It was worth a shot. As far as the Master Emerald was concerned, anything was worth a shot.

The echidna hardly expected anything special to happen as he trundled uncertainly toward the maintenance shaft. But with each step he took, he listened intently as his unlikeliest theory was confirmed. The monotonous ringing in Knuckles’ ears grew gradually into a static-like roar of white noise that reduced all other sound around him to meaninglessness.

With the sensations of the Master Emerald rejuvenating his spirit, he charged at the shaft with reckless abandon, fists swinging back and forth. With one step to go before reaching the target, Knuckles delivered a charged punch at the steel piping, shifting all of his body weight into his right arm at that exact moment. A solid chunk of steel broke away, driven all the way into the back of the shaft by the sheer force of Knuckles’ blow. The end result was a hole just large enough for an echidna to crawl through to enter the surface.

Not wasting any time, Knuckles shoved his head through the opening, letting his eyes behold the utter blackness below. He had left just barely enough room to slide his left hand through, but as soon as he was ready to force his right hand through, he saw something out of the ordinary. Indeed, to even be able to see anything was out of the ordinary in a narrow shaft with almost no sources of light…but this was different.

The back of his left hand emitted a faint, yet noticeable glow. A green glow. A shade of green that Knuckles was all too familiar with.

The Master Emerald! It’s here!

No sooner had Knuckles made the realization than he heard the familiar sounds of metal feet clopping against the floor, echoing from both sides of the shaft. The buzzing and ringing from the emeralds had persisted long enough for him to develop a temporary tolerance to it, enabling him to briefly hear other sounds again while still detecting whether the sensations were present. Though he was in no position to turn his neck to see it for himself, he could sense the danger regardless.

More of them?

“YOU HAVE ENTERED A RESTRICTED AREA,” said an Egg Gunner, charging after the echidna with its own built-in weaponry.

“THE PENALTY IS DEATH,” its identical partner added.

Seriously? What’s the penalty for jaywalking here, then?

His only option for survival was a daring escape through the maintenance shaft. But there was a bit of a problem with that scenario, as most of Knuckles’ body was still trapped outside, exposed to enemy fire.

The footsteps drew closer and closer. He frantically tried to shove his right hand through a crack in the opening. However, with each attempt, his entire body rocked back and forth, pushing the hand out of the shaft and undoing any progress. Knuckles growled and seethed with each second that went by with him stuck in the threshold.

“YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS TO COMPLY,” one Egg Gunner said. The next thing Knuckles heard was the familiar sound of the Gunners’ arm-rifles being readied for fire.

“Get…in…there!” said Knuckles, swinging his right arm back and forth as far as it would go, hoping to somehow will his massive hand through the tiny crack. Eventually, with his mightiest swing yet, he forced four fingers to squeeze through. To his dismay, however, the rest of the hand did not seem to want to follow. He tried pushing once. Twice. That didn’t work. He tried swinging his arm backwards to prepare for another attempt. That didn’t work either. Knuckles was now well and truly trapped.

“YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO COMPLY.”

It wasn’t long before the pinch of the tiny opening began to take its toll on Knuckles’ blood circulation. No longer could he even make the attempt to force his hand through. He couldn’t feel its presence. He didn’t even know where it was. Pins and needles stabbed at his body from all angles, and they weren’t coming from any Egg Gunners.

With no other ideas, and his body locked in a position where any other maneuver was out of the question, Knuckles played his last roll of the dice. It was an idea so simple he wished he had thought of it earlier, when he didn’t have a mere five seconds to live.

He simply shoved his head forward.

“THREE.”

Miraculously, with that one massive exertion of force, Knuckles felt the pinch released from around his torso. In the split-second between the moment and the realization of the moment, he braced for an onslaught of pain from the sharp steel edges of the hole, only for it not to come. The low blood circulation throughout his body numbed him beyond all feeling.

He had more important things to worry about.

“TWO.”

His spiked gloves had embedded themselves in the inside of the shaft, leaving his entire backside open to fire. With Knuckles carrying two dead arms, one dead hand, and a body ready to give up the ghost, there was only one strategy left in his bag.

“ONE.”

It took more effort than he felt was necessary, but with just milliseconds to spare, Knuckles managed to free his gloves from the wall. Nothing held him back now. It was all up to gravity to ensure Knuckles’ safety. And gravity can only carry someone so fast.

“FIRE.”

A barrage of bullets burst forth from behind Knuckles’ position. The echidna shut his eyes and braced for the searing pain of white-hot lead.

But when the first shots were fired, the only impacts Knuckles could hear were inches above him. All he could feel was the sweet, sweet feeling of air rustling his dreadlocks. With each second that passed, the jarring metallic pings of .44 caliber striking against steel receded off into the distance above him.

Somehow, some way, he had gotten out of this one alive.

As soon as they reached the first dead end, Sonic and Tails forgot about their supposed race. Both figured that they were better off working together than against each other. (More to the point, neither of them carried any Rings to pay for lunch in the first place.)

Two scorching skid marks on the floor gave away the spot where he slammed on the brakes – and helpfully gave away his location to Tails. When the two reconvened, they closely examined what kind of spot they had gotten themselves into. They had left the cramped, color-coded monotony of Deck 6 behind, only to find themselves in a wide-open jumble of steel beams, pipes, and rotating gears that must have been placed there purely for the sake of intimidating decoration. There seemed to be no end to this room – whatever it was meant for, it was as wide and as tall as the ship itself. It felt like the two had stepped through a portal into another dimension.

Tails stood fastened to the ground and gawked at the ceiling. Somehow, the fact that the room was this vast just didn’t translate well in the fox’s mind. He could see a ceiling, and depth perception gave him an idea of how high it was, but the rest of his brain refused to accept it. Eventually, the clash between senses took its toll on Tails, causing his head to go light. He stumbled backwards and consciously had to prevent himself from falling over.

Meanwhile, Sonic kept his head pointed straight ahead.

“Uh…Tails?” asked Sonic. “You sure your signal’s coming from here?”

“Huh? Oh, right!” said Tails, recovering from his bout with dizziness. Once again, he pulled out the MilesElectric to perform a quick check. “Uh…yeah, looks like we’re getting closer.”

“Does your Electric thingy come with a map of this place, by any chance?”

“What?” Tails asked, speaking in a manner as if Sonic had just told him he swallowed a whole can of lighter fluid. “Um…no. Why?”

In lieu of a verbal answer, Sonic pointed straight ahead, at the crimson-red wall that stood where an open pathway was supposed to be.

Both inched backwards in order to get a better view of the top of the wall. Staring at them from above was a series of overhanging ledges that led to the decks above, but from where Sonic and Tails stood, there was no way to access any of them directly. There was no turbo-lift, elevator, escalator, spring, magic cloud, or even so much as a bloody staircase that could help them advance. They could even see directly into some of the lower floors, as if the very architecture of the ESS-1 was mocking the two interlopers, teasing them with the promise of access only to yank it away like a carrot on a string. The only alternative now was to turn back and go against the directions from Tails’ device.

“Who designed this place, anyway?” Sonic asked.

“Um…Eggman did?”

“It was a rhetorical question.”

This was hopeless. It was almost as if Dr. Eggman had designed the ESS-1 to be inaccessible to any outsiders unless they happened to have a private plane or a helicopter at their disposal…

…which Sonic did.

Without warning, Sonic reached his right arm behind him and held out his hand, exactly in front of where Tails stood at that moment. The fox didn’t need Sonic to say anything. Years of experience told him exactly what this gesture meant. He clasped hands with Sonic and held on tight as if their lives depended on it. With one swish, Tails set his brushes into a gyrating motion that gained speed with each rotation, eventually growing powerful enough to lift him and Sonic off the ground.

The ascent was slow and methodical, as Tails had to account for a weight imbalance in flight. The MilesElectric was nudged in his left armpit for safekeeping, immobilizing that side of his body for the time being, meaning he only had the use of his right hand to carry Sonic. Despite Tails’ efforts, the hedgehog swung perilously from his arm like a pendulum.

“Steady…steady…” said Sonic.

The danger only provoked Tails to push himself harder, if only to get the ordeal over behind them as soon as possible. With each foot they gained, the radius of Sonic’s oscillation only grew wider, pulling Tails along with him. The fox closed his eyes and kept his mind on the flight, compensating for direction and speed. The more he thought about who was dangling from his arm, the more chance there was he would lose his grip.

Hold on…just hold on…how much longer can this go on?

“We’re here!” said Sonic.

Tails opened his eyes and let out a contented sigh. Just above him, he could see the beginning of the floor of the eighth deck, and its obvious lack of any walls or bars that would separate anyone from accidentally falling over the edge (then again, if any of Eggman’s robots were faulty enough to just walk over that edge, they were a lost cause whether they lived or died).

“Um…Sonic?” Tails asked.

“What’s up?”

“I think someone’s beaten us here.”

A crackly monotone blared over the sound of Tails’ whirring blades. “PRIORITY ONE: HEDGEHOG.”

Draped across Sonic and Tails’ entire field of view were the distinct shadows of five separate Egg Gunners, all spread out in a “V” formation along the ledge of Deck 8. That was the extent of the information they could glean before everything descended into chaos. The combined voices of five Egg Gunners formed a discordant, yet all-too-understandable command: “FIRE.”

A hail of bullets burst forth, all converging on one pre-programmed target. The fact that the Gunners had managed to hit nothing but the floor in their haste to hit the pre-programmed target made little to no difference. The mere sound of the ammunition caused Tails to flinch. Every muscle in his body expanded and contracted within a millisecond. Unfortunately for Sonic, that also included Tails’ fingers.

As soon as he realized there was nothing pulling down his right arm, Tails took a quick look below him. He needed to make sure that the last thing he could’ve hoped to happen hadn’t happened. It had. He’d let go of Sonic.

Luckily for him, Sonic’s reflexes were even quicker than his own mind. Using his other hand, he’d managed to grab ahold of Tails’ outstretched wrist. The momentum of the sudden reconnection dragged the two of them back down, forcing Tails to rotate his namesakes faster and faster to correct for the sudden plunge.

The dull ache in his vestigial muscles quickly spread to the surrounding tissue in his upper legs and lower back. He pushed his body harder and harder, straining and tearing against the ever-growing agony, and yet all that effort failed to translate into any tangible movement. No matter how hard he pushed himself, ascent did not happen. He might as well have hit an invisible ceiling. He could practically feel his heart, his lungs…heck, his entire circulatory system bursting at the seams now.

And that was before he noticed his left arm had also been jarred loose of something important.

The MilesElectric!

“No!” Tails shouted at the top of what was left of his lungs.

If he didn’t already feel like throwing up, he certainly did now. The success of the entire mission rode on that one little device. And yet…he couldn’t just swoop down and retrieve it, at least not with Sonic in tow. Not even a circus contortionist would be able to perform that act. If he really wanted to get the machine back, he would have had to drop Sonic to do so, and that was never an option.

He closed his eyes and cringed for the inevitable fate of his hard work…only to feel Sonic kicking, tossing, swinging wildly on his arm. He was up to something.

The next sound he heard could only be described as a plastic “thunk”. When Tails opened his eyes, he saw his device still in the air, still in his direct line of sight. Sonic had swung off to perform a bicycle kick to the MilesElectric as if it was a soccer ball, just to keep it within his arms’ length. The machine was just about to fall toward Sonic’s only free hand. With no time to spare, he flung his arm forward and…

“Gotcha!” said Sonic. He had saved the MilesElectric, quite literally by the tips of his fingers.

Tails heaved a gaping sigh of relief. “Thanks, Sonic,” he said. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“Don’t mention it,” said Sonic. “Here ya go!”

The hedgehog handed the device back to Tails, who examined it for any signs of severe damage from whatever miracle Sonic had performed to keep it within reach. Aside from a minor dent in the plastic surface, which matched the curvature of Sonic’s shoe, nothing important had been damaged. The screen continued to flash vital information as if nothing ever happened.

For a few uneasy seconds, the two hovered in place just inches away from the wall, moving neither up nor down. The two weren’t nearly high enough to see who wanted them dead or how many there were, but they stayed just low enough to conceal themselves from gunfire. That was, until they noticed the visage of an arm-rifle peeking over the ledge. Then another. Then another. Before he knew it, Sonic could feel the searing heat of three separate laser sights, all aimed at the exact same spot on his forehead.

“Tails, now!” said Sonic.

Perhaps it was the adrenaline of the moment, or maybe it was a deep well of strength he never knew he had. But much to even Tails’ own surprise, the next great push of his tails catapulted him upwards like a rocket, straight into the Egg Gunners’ line of fire.

“Uh-oh…” said Tails, surveying the scene. “Sonic, pull in! Swing up! I dunno, do something!”

“Aye aye, cap’n!” said Sonic, giving a hearty salute. Hoping not to mangle his friend’s clavicle into gelatin in the process, he gently swung on Tails’ right arm, keeping his legs tucked in to provide as small a target for the firing squad as possible.

He is having way too much fun with this… Tails thought.

Now with visible targets, the Egg Gunners fired at will, but Tails’ flight was just too fast for their built-in weapons to catch up with. He dipped. He dove. He dodged. He did whatever it took to keep Sonic out of the way of the merciless and incessant gunfire, almost taking visual cues from the stunts he put his own plane through on a daily basis.

Soon, enough was enough. Sonic realized he was putting Tails in more danger by hanging on for the ride. Now was the time to strike. With his one free hand, he held up his middle and index fingers, arranged in the traditional V for Victory sign – a signal the two of them had arranged before arriving onboard. Operation Special Delivery was a go.

With one final push, he swooped up toward the nearly unreachable ceiling of the cavernous hall, his flight path forming a tall arc. Just before the apex of the arc, he gently released his vicelike grip on Sonic’s hand. The hedgehog descended into unrestrained, terminal free-fall. All five Gunners stood rooted to their spots, firing blindly at a blue dot off in the distance that took the form of Sonic’s super-spin.

The unlucky Egg Gunner that stood at the front of the “V” formation was the first to go, standing right in the line of fire. A single spin-dash to its steel frame reduced the once-formidable machine to a pile of junk. Sonic sprang upward from the momentum of the collision and uncoiled himself from his deadly cocoon, taking a brief moment to seek out the next target before curling up again. Just as quickly, in an act that defied all known laws of physics except his own, he burst out of the arc of his bounce and propelled himself toward the nearest Gunner. It met the exact same fate as its brother.

Regardless of the surviving Gunners’ attempts to disrupt it with their rifles, the deadly cycle continued. Bounce. Uncoil. Aim. Recoil. Fire. Rinse and repeat. After the fourth knockout left only one droid standing, Sonic – purely on a whim – uncorked and executed a dizzying series of twists, flips, and somersaults unfathomable to any other athlete, all the while laughing to his heart’s content as bullet after bullet harmlessly brushed him.

By the time he hurtled back toward the ground, he planted his foot toward the one surviving Egg Gunner. A focused kick to the head disintegrated it upon impact, sending the hedgehog tumbling through the ensuing junk pile. One effortless handspring later, Sonic regained control of himself and landed without a hitch.

Once he finally got the chance, he rose to his feet, observed the smoking ruins of the Eggman Empire before him, and let out a brief whistle. Sometimes he even impressed himself.

With the job done, he turned around to look for Tails. He spotted the fox lying face-down on the floor several yards away, hyperventilating, utterly devoid of energy, his face turned a bright crimson. Despite the gradual development of his special ability over the years, his tails were never meant to withstand that kind of physical torture. The first thing Sonic did upon seeing him was help him to his feet and stabilize his wobbly stance.

“You okay?” Sonic asked, rubbing sweat off his friend’s brow.

“I’ll…” Tails stopped to cough when his windpipe constricted. “…live.” Despite his weakened state, he did hold up his hand for a high-five, which Sonic enthusiastically accepted.

“Hey, don’t quote me on this, but I think Eggman tried to pull a fast one on us!”

“Yeah, I’m with you on that. Just give me a sec.”

To test the theory, Tails pulled out his machine, now that he was sure it was safe and sound. The results flummoxed him. He pulled at his bangs, conceiving numerous possible scenarios that could explain away the inconsistency. But he was just as soon able to debunk each one of them. Nothing made sense.

“No…” Tails muttered. “No, this isn’t right.”

“What’s going on?” asked Sonic, peeking at the screen even though he knew he had no idea what any of the numbers were supposed to represent.

“You destroyed all those robots, and yet I’m still picking up the signal. It should be long gone by now. In fact…hey, wait a minute…” He looked more closely at the numbers. “They’re counting backwards, and we’re just standing still. This is a countdown of some sort!”

“So…if I’m getting this right…” said Sonic. “We were never moving towards this signal at all. The signal was moving toward us!”

“Exactly!”

Sonic’s face swelled with pride. For once, he could keep up with Tails.

“Which means one of two things have happened. Either there’s been a catastrophic mistake in my original program, or…”

He took one more look at his screen to make sure thing number two held up to scrutiny, and he didn’t like what he saw. In fact, Sonic could see his face melt with shock. The fox‘s command was short, but effective.

“Run like hell.”

Too late for that. Before either of them could carry that out, a tremendous crash shattered the surface of the floor where the two of them stood, sending them flying in opposite directions.

Both Sonic and Tails hit the steel-reinforced walls head-first and crumpled to the floor on their respective side of the corridor. Before either of them could take so much as a second to comprehend just what was going on, Sonic saw an undefinable silver mass rocketing towards him. Noticing the weapon, he rose off the canvas and made his move. But with his vision clouded by a thick curtain of vivid, color-changing stars, he didn’t notice the object until it was too late.

Sonic managed to dodge the missile, allowing it to strike the wall head-on. But like in the game of horseshoes, being close enough actually counted for something. The resulting fireball consumed Sonic, embracing him in its warm, searing arms, scorching every exposed atom of his body and clothing, until the shockwave propelled him back into the outside world. The force of the explosion threw him along the floor, limbs flailing from side to side like a ragdoll.

Tails helplessly shouted Sonic’s name into the ether. With his own senses thrown into disrepair by the attack, he couldn’t tell what exactly happened. But when he heard a scream from the other side of the room, he knew something happened, and he knew Sonic was involved. And he knew it was bad.

Grunting and screaming as he did so because his mind told him he had no other choice, Sonic eventually rose to his feet. He noticed that everywhere his fur had been blue before, were obscured by tinges of soot from the blast. The few patches of actual skin he had that he could directly see – on his chest and arms – were already encrusted with hideous boils and scabs dealt by the fireball. Though cowed to the point where he had to turn away, he brushed it off, figuring the issue would be dealt with when they got home.

When the attacks, the noise, and the agony finally let up for a moment, both Sonic and Tails could take a moment to stop and ask themselves the obvious question: What on earth just happened here? Sonic only needed to look above the hole in the floor to see the culprit. He wasn’t even sure how he had missed it before, since its very presence smothered the room in gold light that wasn’t there before.

At the center of it all, floating effortlessly like some kind of holy apparition, was something oddly familiar to Sonic…yet different. He could tell it was roughly his height, but covered head to toe in gold that reflected every surface around it. Its form factor resembled Sonic himself – from large head to smaller body to rod-like legs to larger feet. Yet where normally Sonic’s hair would protrude downward, the spikes on this entity rose toward the heavens, almost defying gravity were it not for the fact that these “quills” were clearly constructed from a metal alloy.

No…no, it couldn’t be…

The glowing red eyes, stabbing into Sonic’s soul each time they flashed against a murky black backdrop, provided the final piece to the puzzle.

“You…” said Sonic, the very word slithering from his tongue.

“Well, Sonic?” said the entity. Even its voice was Sonic’s, only with a distinct electronic tinge to it. “Are we game for that…rematch?”

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #sonic fanfic #supernova #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna

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sonicringbond · 3 years

Text

Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey - Scene 32

Today’s scene is perhaps a little different from most, as it’s really time to start breathing life into the plot of the AU with some world building. And it is perhaps a lot, but hopefully everyone finds it entertaining in...

“Mote says that wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Really? Rosy asked and looked over at Draw.

~Our travels had taken us far and wide, but today we had ended up in small river town. Almost everything was made up of bricks from the buildings to the roads. The exception of course were the steam pipes that lined the city and powered the massive machine at the heart of the city that directed river traffic and moved water from the river into brick walled canals. The canals took water away from the city and out into the surrounding farmlands. It was pretty amazing considering a single Ring Shift could up end everything. Though there were plenty of signs of new construction, and even abandoned drills here and there.

~But the city was far from what had caught my attention that Draw and Mote warned me against. There was a poster that had been put up and it was advertising a Knight’s Banquet. It was to be hosted by a knight by the name of Claymore the Purple. The thing is though, looking at his photograph on the poster… well, it was obvious he was an autogolem. His gears and pistons were clearly visible under his armor. It was really sharp looking armor and with his long pointy helmet made him look like he was designed around a sword. Still, it was weird Draw didn’t want to go after him. I wonder if there was something special about him.

~We had already heard word about him as it was too. The black robed priests, the Preservers I guess, had been making a fuss about him everywhere we encountered them. They warned that any who still committed the heresy of interacting with the Rings would be put to the good knight’s sword. Honestly, that doesn’t seem very knightly or good to me. But he must have his reasons. I’m sure of it.~

The story of Claymore the Purple was not one Rosy was likely to hear in any detail any time soon. Rather, just the rumors surrounding the autogolem knight. The Preservers themselves had thought that the member of the Sword Knights was but a relic of a forgotten age who had long since stopped functioning. But then the day came when the second Red Star Ring rose into the sky and a bolt of red lightning tore across it from one horizon to the other becoming a permanent scar and crack in the sky. As the world stabilized from the onset of sudden Ring Shifts and opening of Ring Gates all over, the purple armored autogolem came to life with violet glowing eyes and stood for the first time in ages under its own power.

“Oh, to wake again! Hohoho! How many ages has it been I wonder?”

Striding confidently from the temple that housed his slumbering form, Claymore observed the city of Tower Point. It was a religious city that was a mess of towers and bridges stretching into the sky. The architecture of every last one of them was as though meant for a gothic cathedral, save where great telescopes watched the ominous little planet in the sky. Though as Claymore strode across the bridges and terrified the clergy who called the city home, the telescopes were watching the red crack and the world beyond it.

“Hmm, I hear radio chatter, but it seems to be a rather primitive use. Has the world fallen further than we anticipated? Ho! It best be then that I seek out answers to my questions.”

Claymore seemed to lack any real sense of direction towards his goal and simply asked the first black robed priest who fell over and could not flee in terror.

“Ho good Preserver!” Claymore greeted them with a raised hand and boisterous mirth. “You seem fearful of my visage so I must presume that it has been some ages since your order was founded to keep the world safe from Yoluku. I see the foul orb still hangs in the sky as well, but I sense not it’s presence. Would I be wrong in presuming then that Yoluku has not woken?”

“N– no!” the priest managed to stammer out. They nigh screamed though as Claymore squatted down halving his three-meter height and rested his forearms on his knees.

“Yet your words hold question good Preserver. Has the name Yoluku been lost then? To think the Rings could absorb even that much. Have the Preservers then failed in their mission to keep the people aware of the evil of the Rings and Yoluku?”

“No– No!” The priest exclaimed in adamant denial. Managing to get to their feet, they looked upon the gleaming purple autogolem and swallowed fiercely, but their pride and faith gave them strength to address the knight. “The Rings are taboo. Only heretics such as the Engineers would make use of them.”

“Heretics you say. Ho!” With a mirthful laugh Claymore again rose to his tremendous full height. “A few heretics are to be expected. But that they wear not the name Yoluku, then surely, we are fortunate. The foul evil may have been forgotten, but it holds no influence. Yet this scar…”

Stepping forward, Claymore took his pointed chin in hand and gazed upon the cracked sky. “Someone remembers and they are afraid. A Sword Knight would not be woken otherwise.

“Tell me good Preserver,” Claymore again turned his full attention onto the priest, “how many Red Star Rings have you seen rise into the sky? And fear not should you not remember, I shall but wake my companion who can make use of the cursed Rings. After all, the Rings will always remember.”

“…Two…,” the priest managed to answer staring in awe at the knight, and not the least bit free of confusion either. “And within recent enough memory. We can give you no definitive time, but children have far from become adults since the first one was seen. That a second and now this crack across the sky have appeared… The people are afraid–”

“Good Knight,” Claymore interrupted the priest to remind them to properly address him. “I am a knight and will be addressed with the respect I am due good Preserver.”

“Of– of course Good Knight!”

“Glad to hear it. Ho!” Claymore patted the priest’s back gently in affirmation of his good cheer. The priest could still barely contain his horror however at the autogolem and needed prompted to continue. “Now, as you were saying about the good people.”

“They are afraid–,” a look came from Claymore as the priest nearly left out proper addressing of the knight and they near bit their tongue to correct themselves,” Good Knight. They fear that the world is at its end.”

“Ho! Only to be expected. Such is the fear they should hold of Yoluku. But tell me, do the mediums hear Yoluku’s whispers?”

“Mediums, Good Knight?”

“Ho!” Claymore exclaimed in surprise. “Are there none left who speak with the gods? Ho! Completely preposterous. Surely there are some. There must be! How can you know it is time to wake the Sword Knights if there are no mediums to warn you of Yoluku’s whispers?”

“I’m afraid I do not know, Good Knight. Fortunetellers and such witches are at most a curiosity and a mockery of a good occupation. None take their ramblings seriously, and any who do are usually swindled of their time and hope. They are crooks and charlatans.”

“And surely none of which are mediums. Ho!”

Turning away from the priest and again to the sky, Claymore rested his fists on his hips as his cape fluttered down around him. “Yet I stand woken, The scar tears across the sky. There are those who seek the evils of the Rings. Ho! Surely it is a mystery. Could it be that one of my companions stands woken? We must know good Preserver.”

“But how can we, Good Knight?” The priest regretted asking as soon as Claymore turned around and bent at the waist to lower himself to the priest with a raised finger.

“Why by hosting a banquet. And one that all far and wide are welcome to. In such a fashion any of my woken peers will come, and we will be able to find any mediums in their wake. And the sight of a Sword Knight will surely alleviate their fears. We stood victorious once against Yoluku and the Traitor, so there is little doubt that we can prevent Yoluku’s awakening. Ho!

“Now go good Preserver. Gather your fellows and tell them that Claymore the Purple calls for a banquet. And to ready the world for its salvation! Ho!”

As unlikely as it seemed, the autogolem had his way and plans for the banquet were made known far and wide. Pressing a finger into her cheek, Rosy tilted her head as she continued to study the poster.

“What’s the hold up? Sonic asked as he walked up behind Rosy.

“Oh! Sonic!”

Turning to Sonic, Rosy missed Draw tear the poster from the wall and crumble it up.

“Nothing,” the young koala dismissed the whole event. “Just this weirdo gushing about how cool you supposedly are.”

“Supposedly?”

“Take that back Draw! Sonic really is really, really, cool!”

~I guess Draw did a good job of distracting me. Calling Sonic only supposedly cool though. Hmph! How could he? Sonic is infinitely cooler than some golem knight.

~But he is an autogolem, so does that mean that he’s powered by a fairy like Mote?~

Her playful pursuit of Draw losing its energy, Rosy again pressed a finger into her cheek as she tried to catch a glimpse of the yellow fairy who avoided her at all cost. Naturally, she did not spot Mote and grew thoughtful as she looked back to where the poster had been.

~I wonder why it is that Mote is so against me meeting them? Could they be a really strong golem like Ix? Or are they his ally. Maybe, maybe they’re the one who put Mote and their friends in those first auto golems I saw.

~Ooh~! I really don’t know what is going on anymore, and my friends are all still out there somewhere too. What am I supposed to do when I don’t know enough?~

“Something wrong kid?”

“Nothing now that you’re here,” Rosy squealed and grabbed onto Sonic’s hand as it landed on her shoulder.

~That’s right~ Sonic’s here~♥ In that case, I know everything will be okay. We’ll find our friends, find a way home, save Mote’s friends, and save the world too if we need to! As long as Sonic’s here, we can do anything!~

Scene 32 · CLEARED And After That, End

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And there we go. Maybe a little off from expectations for a Sonic story, but it’s necessary to really start building the world and starting with a strongly out of place element is a good start as I get to slowly blend it together into a cohesive whole. It’ll take some time, but I hope everyone will bear with me while we travel down what will hopefully be a long and enjoyable Journey.

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Special Thanks to Cutegirlmayra Story by @JoshTarwater/SonicFanJ Inspiring Song – Lumacie Archipelago: Mystic Woodland – Tsutomu Narita – Granblue Fantasy Original Soundtrack

Fair Use Disclaimer

*Sonic Ring Bond logo created by DEE Art – twitter.com/daryliscute.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic fan fiction #sonic au #sonic au series #sonic ring bond #the journey #classic amy #amy rose #rosy the rascal #au amy #amy redesign #sonic ocs #patch #draw the koala #mote the fairy #claymore the purple

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