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#originally this was going to just have sonic and shadow but i always have to throw silver into things
sonknuxadow · 21 days
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idk how to word my thoughts so sorry if this is incomprehensible but its really cool seeing sega portraying shadow as like. heroic and cool and highlighting his positive traits and making him the protagonist of an upcoming thing. after so long of just reducing him to asshole rival and even occasionally going as far as to label him (and the rest of team dark) as a villain or place him in the same category as characters like eggman. please for the love of god let sxs generations be some good shadow food
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flashanimated · 1 year
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BEEN DOWN THIS ROAD BEFORE,
ALREADY KNOW THIS STORY.
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punkcherries · 10 months
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sonic prime so cool ............
#cherryz txt#me shaking netflix WHERES the rest of it!!!!!!!!! (in due time. hopefully.)#i hate u streaming services and ur power to kill the things i love....................#sonic#sonic prime spoilers#<- in the following tags. be wary .#sonic and shadows interactions have been so delightful . i wish sega let shadow have friends and like Feelings#sonics writing overall has been very good . very people-focused trying to save everyone he can but just#very ahead of himself and how that lack of forethought causes so many of the conflicts for him#very inline for yknow . fastest hedgehog around.#REALLY enjoy seeing him look like a sad wet puppy when shit goes to fuck . boy just wants to go home!!!!!!!!!#i do wonder if something insane will happen if all the shatterversions of characters congregate#like . we didnt See thorn interact directly with rusty or black rose. just that the latter 2 saw her and were like Woah...................#also . i love u nine . baby son . he wanted to show sonic his lil grim home so bad and then sonic wasnt into his idea and im SADDD#HE HAD LIL PALM TREES!!!!!!!!! WAHH.............#the way nine talks about what might happen to him after the prism is in 1 piece in ghost hill makes me wonder also#the shatterspaces are implied to essentially be the product of original green hill being torn to bits .#so one would assume thats true for the characters in them yea? so does nine think he might get 'absorbed' into og tails?#theres always been a vibe to me that all the shatterversions of the cast are essentially like . distinct aspects of their whole characters#in some way anyhow . like a pirate for knuckles makes sense as a kind of manifestation of his focus on like#defending the master emerald . in a world Without the master emerald hes essentially crazy for any replacement he can get?#so its interesting to think that nine could in a similar vein be like tails' resentment of being Just a wingman#and the frustration of being picked on as a babby . and how that might tie into a feeling of like#'i would be nothing without sonic' bcus sonic was the one to stand up for him back then right?#INTERESTING. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! idk if any of tihs holds any water im just brain vomitting at this point but WAHHH#obviously all the shatterversions are and wish to be seen as their own individual people but like. NARRATIVELY speaking#u know?????? u understand. ive decided this for u the person reading this You Understand.
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reidsaurora · 1 year
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"Overnight" ~ S. Reid
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Summary: When Spencer offers to clear out a drawer for Y/N in his dresser, it has him explaining some things he'd been hiding from her.
Pairing: Spencer Reid x GN!Reader (i think? i don't remember using pronouns in this lol)
Word Count: 814 why is she so short
Content Warning: allusions to sex but nothing in detail, mild mentions of nudity i guess, this whole fic is basically aftercare lol, lmk if i missed anything!
Genre: Fluff, what else did you expect out of me?
Extra Notes: i truly meant for this to be posted on time, i'm so sorry guys
Based On the Prompt: "The Things In That Drawer" from this year's @domaystic prompts
Originally Written: 05/08/2023
Beta Read By: @dungeons-are-too-cold (i love you literally so much)
Criminal Minds masterlist can be found here!
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Nothing could get Spencer Reid in a sappy mood like a night of slow, passionate sex. Something about moments like these—the way he showered you in kisses, the sweet compliments he'd give you, the love he'd show you—just felt right. Like his embrace was exactly where you needed to be.
Spencer's hand settled on the soft skin of your hip, drawing various shapes with his fingertips. Your head rested against his chest, your hand moving up to his tummy. He placed a soft kiss on your hair, the scruff of his five-o'clock shadow scratching against your forehead lightly. "I love nights like this," he told you.
You craned your head to face him, kissing his cheek. "I do too. I just hate that it always ends so quickly," you said, thinking about the work nights where you had to head home early, not quite ready for the night to end but knowing that you needed to go home for a change of clothes.
"You know," he said, pausing to flip the two of you over, his body hovering over you, "I could always clear a couple drawers out for you."
Your eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. You'd been hinting at the idea for a while, lamenting about needing fresh panties or complaining about missing your skincare regimen. But Spencer hadn't seemed quite ready to take that step yet, so you didn't pressure him.
"Wait, are you serious?"
He nodded, bending down to kiss you on the lips this time. "I'll even let you pick out which one you want."
You practically pushed him into the floor as you jumped up. Spencer chuckled as you ran over to the dresser, pulling his boxers back on.
You pulled out the second drawer, where you knew his tee shirts were, grabbed one of his giant ones and tossed it on. "Any of them?"
"Mhm," he hummed, walking over and settling his hands on your waist. "Whichever one you want."
You considered it, eventually deciding on the bottom drawer. "What about-"
"Wait, Y/N, don't-" he shouted, reaching out to stop your hand.
He was too late, though. You pulled open the drawer, revealing an entire drawer of nerdy memorabilia. The lightsaber was the first thing that caught your eye, followed by a sonic screwdriver, and a couple geeky Pop Figures, among other things.
"You have a lightsaber," you examined.
Spencer scratched awkwardly at his neck. "Yeah, I guess I do."
You grabbed the lightsaber from the drawer, your face lighting up as you turned it on. "You have a lightsaber!"
He chuckled as you poked him in the ribs with the lightsaber. "You're having too much fun with this."
You set the lightsaber down on top of the dresser, turning back to the drawer. Next, you pulled out the infamous Jason Voorhees mask, holding it in front of your face. "Please tell me you've scared your coworkers with this."
Spencer let out another chuckle, taking the mask from your hands. "I got Morgan with it one time. He nearly choked on his coffee."
You continued snooping through the drawers, sifting through Polaroids of Spencer and his friend Penelope at various conventions, some D.C. comics, and a couple signed posters. Your heart nearly flipped when you spotted a picture of him dressed as the Joker. "Who did your face paint?"
"You're loving this, aren't you?"
A squeal escaped your lips as you threw your arms over his shoulders. "Spence, this is adorable! Why would you hide this from me?"
He sighed, somewhere between relieved and exasperated. "I didn't want you to think I was weird. I mean, I'm a grown man and I have a collection of legos and Batman comics?"
"Spencer, I think it's cute that you have something you love so much. You don't have to be afraid to show how much you love and support it."
He bent forward to kiss you again, pulling your body flush against his. "You really mean that?"
"I mean, any man that has the balls to wear makeup like that in public is sexy in my book," you kidded.
Spencer diverted your attention back to the drawer, pointing his chin toward the dresser. "Is that really the drawer you want?"
"Does it come with all the nerdy memorabilia?" you teased, poking his chest.
"In your dreams. I spent good money on those things." He rolled his eyes, leading you to the bathroom. His hands were warm and big on your bare skin, the feeling absolutely heavenly. He placed a trail of kisses along your shoulder up to your head before hooking his chin over your shoulder.
You lifted your head to face him, kissing his jaw. "Hey, does this mean we can go as the Joker and Harley Quinn for Halloween?"
"You know what? I think that might just be something out of my dreams."
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-> taglist: @lowsodiumfreaks67 @drayshadow @alexxavicry @nomajdetective @kbakery @leigh70 @darkloverfox @sammyrenae68 @cherrycandle @asgardprincess97 @gh0stgurl @esposadomd @randomwriter1021 @eddieharrington @lunar-affection @givemeth @lavhoes @rhyanishere @cat-lockwood @danielle143 @marsmallow433 @handsupforamiracle @topguncultleader @mente-sindescanso @reverieofmgg @spencer-reids-adventures @ah-blossom @encyclo-reid-ia @reidselle @thevisionthedream @dungeons-are-too-cold @wwwonzeee @louderfortheback @reidsbookclub @annahalstead5021 @cwritesforfun @soapiebear @maelartasch @buckyyyismahhlife @cynbx @hellooitsrose
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ramblingguy54 · 10 months
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Nine’s Betrayal: A Predictable Route, But Important Execution.
     To no surprise, the idea of Nine becoming more antagonistic in Prime came to pass, but I’d like to breakdown why it just works so well in execution. Prime from the get go had set up Nine was a super vulnerable kid. Obviously, a kid with a high IQ in having great mechanical talent, although still a hurt and highly jaded child, nonetheless. Nine has easily been one of my favorite parts of Sonic Prime. Taking such a simple concept of reverse good guy doing something more interesting with it. He isn’t just a run of the mill polar opposite, rather one whom has been dealt a bad hand in turn lashing out at everyone and everything. Nine hasn’t ever taken chances in opening himself up after countless times being abused for his two tails. It wasn’t until Sonic arrived in his dimension, Nine began slightly letting his guard down.
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     This moment between them in Prime’s very first episode is extremely crucial because it sets up the real solitude of Nine’s characterization. Immediately I felt sympathy for Tails’ polar opposite, given his unfortunate circumstances. Nine had to fend for himself with no real mentor figure to guide him, other than his own experiences. Nine buried away any sense of identity, or happiness, in favor of going full on coldly detached. Hiding those two tails in shame because it made Nine feel like a freak of nature. Suddenly, a happy go lucky guy, like Sonic, comes crashing into his reality. Boldly stating they’re close companions praising his natural gifts and calling those other mechanical tails seriously amazing.
     Nine has become desensitized to being seen as some disfigured individual, yet here someone is not mocking or assaulting him just because of his appearance. He didn’t know what to do in emotionally processing the fact someone is saying, “Embrace who you are! It doesn’t matter anyone else thinks!”, in a world where fears rules with an iron fist as their status quo. Perhaps, Nine reluctantly saw someone he could call a friend at long last, even if the kid didn’t want to fully admit to himself. As I had hoped, Sonic & Nine’s dynamic in Prime is a big aspect of the story getting explored. Honestly, with the way things have been handled thus far, I’d arguably say Sonic & Nine’s dysfunctional bond may pan out to be my favorite iterations Sonic & Tails iconic brotherly concept. There’s more going on underneath in their friendship.
     Shadow had warned Sonic from the start about being weary of Nine, to which he severely opposes him on said notion. Sonic’s optimism of seeing the best in others completely 180′d on him in the worst fashion. Nine’s highly self-conscious, jaded nature, and intelligence brought him to the same conclusion Shadow previously reached. If he returns all the Shatter pieces to normal, then there’s a likely chance he’ll disappear in exchange for restoring Sonic’s home world. He realized this after seeing the other Tails’ counterparts. Especially looking directly at the original Tails whom started it all scoffing at him. Any affection, or respect for that matter, Nine had toward Sonic began to fade away.
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“You just assumed I’d go along with you, no matter what! Did you ever consider what I wanted!?”
     Nine was putting the pieces together in his mind realizing, “Sonic only likes me because he believes I’m just like his Tails. That I’ll agree to what he says and thinks.”, feeling very hurt by this revelation. He always had different intentions of what his “happy ending” was going to be. Seeing someone disregard his beliefs in favor of comparison to what is supposed to be an original counterpart did more to Nine than just sting. It felt like he been stabbed in the back after opening up his heart to someone. Something this poor kid hasn’t done in a very long time. Who’s to say Nine wasn’t questioning his place in all of this, as well?
    Throughout these new batch of episodes, Nine has been trying his best to give Sonic a helping hand. Putting his life on the line, so he can get a chance to return the favor of helping Sonic. Sonic had made Nine reconsider maybe there’s more to a life than simply a preference of being just another loner in a world where everyone fends for themselves. Only to have it thrown to the way side because Nine came to that same conclusion as Shadow did before. If Green Hill is to be restored, then himself, the Shatter-verse, and all other realities must apparently cease to exist. It not only terrifies him, but also makes Nine view himself as just another small cog in the system. A means to an end.
“Look’s like I can’t ever be happy.”
“Sonic doesn’t see me for who I truly am.”
“My very existence is irrelevant.”
“I don’t matter.”
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     Wouldn’t surprise me if these thoughts were bubbling around in his mind before this heated confrontation happened. Nine doubles back down on his loner attitude because ultimately it has been what kept him getting hurt for so long. Getting dealt yet another hard dose of truth that Sonic stuck to his guns on Nine because he thought they would see eye to eye, like his own Tails. However, Shadow was completely right about Nine being different from who they know. Nine has been through a ton of emotional torment, even though there is still good in him. Any kindness is buried underneath a mountain of insecurities. Hence, the whole outcry of, “I AM REAL! Just not your real friend...”, is Nine hardly reaffirming his value as a person. That he isn’t defined by anything.  
    It’s what makes their dynamic so refreshing to watch between Sonic & Nine because he can’t just simply give an uplifting speech to make Tails feel better about himself. He’s gonna have to show some strong actions to Nine about his existence having significance. Breaking through those mental barriers of his isn’t gonna be easy after this falling out they’ve had. Nine has assumed Sonic didn’t genuinely ever care about him, despite standing up for him against Shadow earlier. To say I’m excited for Prime’s third season would be an understatement.
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     Prime’s central conflict being centered around Sonic & Nine’s dynamic was a terrific idea, instead of simply going against different incarnations of Eggman. This makes matters a lot more dramatically complex. It isn’t simply about Sonic fixing his serious mistakes, but having to battle someone he never wanted to hurt. Sonic is gonna have to acknowledge his major oversight in not treating Nine for who he actually is. Nine isn’t Tails. He’ll never be Miles Tails Prower. Nine is a child molded by a world that was cruelly unfair to him and told he could never been proclaimed as an equal, ever. He had to do growing up on his own.
    This shot hurts to look at because you can see every ounce Nine’s remorse written all over his face thinking, “I should’ve known better than to ever put faith in someone other than myself. Why did I get my hopes up for thinking anything good would come of it?”. All the aspirations of wanting a clean slate with someone he deeply valued only to find out it was based on an empty comparison shattered Nine’s own hopes and dreams in the process.
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“The only person I can ever trust is myself...”
     Sonic Prime Season 2 ends with our iconic protagonist hurting someone he never intended to, turning him into the next bigger hurdle to overcome. The writers took such a basic straight forward idea on paper making into an emotionally charged story testing Sonic’s resolve in facing down a friend.
     Taking well known tropes in stories should never be viewed as a bad thing. It’s what you go about doing with these ideas that truly matters. Sonic Prime is simply another reminder of that with Sonic & Nine’s contrasting personalities.
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ponett · 14 days
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Do you think the Sonic franchise should memory hole certain characters? Like, Chaos Gamma, Elise, Mephiles for example (I would’ve put Black Doom here but uh, he’s a bit more around now huh)
I mean, lots of one-off Sonic characters like these already ARE memory holed. They only really exist in the games they originate from. (Ian Flynn bringing up the thought of using them in a podcast does not count as them being relevant again)
I get the desire to play with all the toys in the toy box and give old ideas a second chance that fans (and Ian) have, and there are definitely a handful of currently unused or underused characters I'd like to see come back. (We REALLY need Sticks back, and the Classic comics desperately need more Honey.) And I'm glad we're in this era where the Sonic series is less ashamed of its weird history. But also, like. Some of those were genuine missteps, and we've moved on for a reason
It feels like every month I see more and more Gen Z Sonic fans who weren't even old enough to have played the games when they were new reminisce about how "cool" it was to give Shadow a gun, or how "awesome" 06's story was, and how we should go back to that "peak" era for Sonic, and I just cannot get on board with that. It was called the Dark Age of Sonic at the time for a reason. I had to actually play those games when they came out. I was hyped for them and really, REALLY wanted to love them. But they were janky, ugly, unfun games with terrible stories that abandoned so much of Sonic's identity in favor of chasing contemporary trends. They were Sonic games that wanted to be anything BUT a Sonic game. There may have been some stuff I liked in that era (the Rush games, and honestly I always liked Black Knight), but it was miserable not knowing if we'd ever get another truly good 3D Sonic platformer again
Maybe it's easier to look back on certain elements of those games fondly now that time has passed and we know we did, in fact, get more Sonic games after them that were actually good. But Sonic is in a WAAAAAYYYYY better place now than it was when I was in middle school. I do not yearn for Mephiles and Elise to come back. It would be funny if they did, but I don't think we need them
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kaylatoonz · 3 days
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Context
I have always loved how Amy always has faith there’s good in everyone even if they don’t believe in it themselves. Most of her allies and sometimes enemies view this as a strength, but what about those that view it as a Weakness who would take advantage of it? Surprisingly I haven’t seen that much content that has someone take advantage of Amy’s kindness and compassion. So what if when Amy first arrived on earth in the SCU someone took advantage of Amy's trusting nature?
(Like her origin in the game) Amy does a tarot card reading that leads her to Earth in search of her hero
She arrived a couple of months before G.U.N. Locate and release project shadow
Unfortunately, G.U.N. are the first humans Amy encounters who gladly accept Amy’s offer to aid on their mission
They were even kind enough to gift her a new outfit and high-tech pack that would be more practical for the “adventure” they’re going on.
In reality, the “gift” was Eggman's old tech that they refurbished to keep new intergalactic arrivals in their control (they were originally going to use it on Shadow once they found him).
The pack on her back is meant to send a controlled shock to keep the chosen subject in line
Sadly By the time Amy discovers that these people are up to no good she is already in too deep, experiencing her first shock at her first act of defiance.
Since then, Amy unwillingly works for G.U.N alongside Shadow (and eventually Rouge too).
Despite the circumstances, Amy remains kind and compassionate toward the humans she works with.
She even won the hearts of some of the more compassionate agents who worked at G.U.N (unfortunately they couldn’t help as much as they wanted to).
She still retains hope that she find her hero, and they’ll put their heads together and get her out of this mess.
Until then, she begrudgingly obeys orders and tries her best to wait out the storm (and maybe try to find her way out).
Shadow is the opposite of Amy, he is a lot colder and sometimes even aggressive towards other humans (especially G.U.N. Operatives).
He just works with G.U.N. For his own means to an end ( like the game shadow has amnesia and his memories have been tampered went to exact his revenge on humanity for Maria’s sake).
Despite his cold nature toward those around him, he forms a genuine bond with Amy Rose (and eventually Rouge too).
Amy is one of the few people Shadow finds comfort and peace in despite her sometimes overwhelmingly bubbly and energetic personality.
He can’t help but be reminded of Maria whenever he catches Amy taking in every nook and cranny of what Earth has to offer whenever they’re on their missions.
G.U.N. Takes notice of this and eventually takes full advantage of this to keep Shadow in their control
Shortly after Shadow was released, Rouge arrived on Earth, her sights set on the legendary master emerald.
Fortunately, Rouge was able to keep her distance (and guard up) enough to not let G.U.N. pull something similar to Amy (much to Amy’s relief).
Rouge and G.U.N. Do strike a deal, if rouge works with them the emerald is her’s (at least it is what they lead her to believe)
The team officially form intending to apprehend Sonic and his friends
Throughout their missions and training sessions, Shadow and Amy's bond grows stronger along with their new teammate Rouge.
Shadow and Rouge form a friendship built on trust and respect.
While Amy and Rouge's friendship is rough around the edges (they bicker a lot), they do have some form of respect for each other (they kind of have a sister relationship going on that neither of them would admit).
Rouge eventually gets curious about what is in it for Amy working for G.U.N. Which gets Shadow curious. they both know Amy is not the type to work for these goons to get something out of it.
Amy hesitantly replies that she wanted to help them out, but things got… complicated, so now she’s here.
Amy doesn’t want to worry Shadow or appear weak to Rouge, nor does she want to get them too involved in her problems.
Shadow and Rouge are suspicious that there’s something more going on between Amy and G.U.N that she’s not telling them.
Sadly, their suspicions are confirmed when one of their missions goes wrong and Amy takes the brunt of the blame.
shadow and Rouge witness firsthand what the pack on Amy’s back is meant for, and they both don't like it one bit
Shadow steps in to stop them while Rouge comforts Amy the best she can
with the confirmation that not just Shadow but Rouge cares deeply for Amy, G.U.N. not so subtly threatens Shadow and Rouge that this could happen again if they aren't so compliant on their next mission.
As Shadow comforts Amy, his hatred for G.U.N and humanity has cemented if it wasn’t already. He promised himself that he would stop at nothing to get Amy out of this place and make every last one of these agents pay. Unbeknownst to him, Rouge had made a similar promise to herself (but not to the full extent of ending all of humanity).
Eventually, the team encounters their target Sonic heroes, which leads to a lot of conflict
Amy is certain that Sonic is the hero that she was destined to meet and that they should accept the help they are offering
Shadow disagrees, feeling that Sonic is nothing but an idiot who can’t save anyone (and besides he didn’t need saving).
Amy is willing to take that chance with Sonic and attempts to accept his help but Shadow quickly intervenes when he notices the two warning beeps and her pack starting to activate.
Before the final warning, shadow grabs Amy (unintentionally sending the message that Shadow is taking Amy hostage to the heroes and pissing Amy off).
Realizing that G.U.N would never let Amy go so easily (assuming that the pack would terminate her if she were to side with the enemy). Shadow decides to take a risk with the heroes.
Before Shadow Chaos controls away with his teammate/hostage, he gives the heroes a good look at Amy’s pack and glares down at the heroes stating “If you’re truly looking for someone to save then pay attention!”
Sonic and Knuckles are enraged by Shadow's cowardly and low action of taking the girl hostage to escape their fight.
That was until Tails showed his brother what unit managed to pick up on Amy.
The brothers are horrified by what could’ve happened if Shadow hadn’t intervened in time. They all agree to take things carefully when trying to help Amy.
Sonic wants to help Shadow reignite after learning what he is willing to do to save Amy (he was just gonna be a tough nut to crack).
Rouge later gives the heroes blueprints on the pack to aid them in safely getting Amy free
Eventually, thanks to the help of Rouge and Tails’ careful planning, they were able to free Amy from their control.
With Amy safe, Shadow finally initiates his revenge against G.U.N and humanity.
Amy isn’t having it, so she confronts Shadow who doesn’t understand why after everything the government/humans have put her through she would still defend them.
She calmly replies that yes, she has experienced the worst of humanity, but she also witnessed the good in humanity with her brief time on earth.
Amy’s heartfelt speech strikes a chord with Shadow, reminding him of his true promise to Maria.
Wanting to make things right Shadow makes a new promise to Amy before aiding Sonic in saving the world.
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pand1on · 7 months
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MATILDA PRIME!!!!!!!!!
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hi i definitely didn't forget to finish these so i could post them in a timely manner 😌
a bit about each of them under the cut :]
the thing they have in common is that instead of chaos energy causing the transformation from ant to mobian, it was the prism shards (which is why the eye colours are different)
maddie (new yoke)
she represents matilda's fighting side
a feisty member of the resistance who delights maybe a little too much in fighting
her closest friends are rebel and, shockingly, knux
they took her in after she escaped from the council post transformation
she's really intense, with less self control than matilda, she's always got a wild grin on her face in battle, and its a bit scary sometimes
her and knux started making bets on who can smash the most bots in a given fight
tilda
tilda is matilda's connection to nature and her origin as a little ant
she's just a little guy who lives in the woods with her ant friends
she transformed during thorn's rampage and got a bit of a beating before she really knew what was happening
she doesn't speak (she didn't learn how) and instead makes little noises she picked up from different critters
the little bugs and animals are her friends!!!!
sonic named her (he's not very creative)
there's a loneliness about her
tempest
tempest is matilda's revenge played completely seriously. she's on a mission and is not at all interested in fun
oh tempest.....by far the most different from matilda
a member of dread's old crew, she fought against the idea of him taking the shard, due to feeling connected to it
it didn't go well and left her with some scars
which sets her on a quest for revenge
tempest is matilda without much of matilda at all. she's focused, intense, and angry
I'll go into more detail eventually...but she ends up leaving her shatterspace with sonic, reluctantly working with him to ensure the safety of the shards
she interacts with shadow the most. it goes. very well
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fishgirl514 · 4 months
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sonic prime s3 rewrite:
im going to try to fix a bunch of things i was unsatisfied with from the end of the story.
such as the whole “work together” lesson that sonic learned somewhere in the last 6 episodes really vaguely. also im going to fix sonic and shadow’s vague friendship arc. i might also take a crack at fixing knuckles the dread’s conclusion bc he was the most interesting variant lets be honest and he was nearly forgotten. maybe in another post. this is future me talking i spent hours writing this.
im also going to make the “we’re back home” ending WAY longer and actually have there be an emotional resolution for the #notgay “brothers”
and the most egregious sin (imo) of season 3 was the fact that all the worlds just. stayed. and that was it. huh????????
THIS WILL BE LONG AND MIGHT BE ASS IN YOUR OPINION LOL ITS CHILL. IM NOT A SEASONED DAY 1 FAN WHOSE READ EVERY COMIC AND PLAYED EVERY GAME AND KNOWS THESE CHARACTERS BETTER THAN THE WRITERS OR ANYTHING IM JUST HAVING FUN AND SHARING WHAT I THINK WOULD HAVE MADE MORE SENSE
THE SHARDS:
ok first, we have to go back in time a little bit. i think each shard should have been the heart of its respective world instead of just the random place it happened to be sitting in. the shards create the world around them, and whoever holds the shard of a world basically controls reality for that world. the shards are always originally centered on the palm tree of their world (the chaos council found their tree and stole the shard, this is why the tree is so important to the resistance, they need to return it to restore balance. NO ONE IS MEANT TO WEILD THE SHARDS, IT ONLY BRINGS CHAOS. THIS IS A CENTRAL THEME.) when a shard is removed from its world, the world begins to slowly collapse on itself. the more shards are taken the more the WHOLE shatterverse starts to become unstable. THIS is why the shatterverse begins to decay, not just because there was “too many portals” or whatever.
THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: when the paradox prism is fully recreated and brought back to its place in ghost hill, green hill will be restored and the shatterverse will cease to exist. it was created by the shards being split, bringing them back together brings the world back together into one.
sonic does not realize this at first. he finds out the shards are in different worlds and starts trying to find them all to put them back together, saying he needs to recreate his world, not thinking about the logical consequence for the shatter spaces. nine hears this and thinks he could create his OWN world wherever he wants using the power of the prism. he is wrong. (find out why later)
SHADOW:
for the most part, shadow is in the right about everything. his only issue is that like sonic, he doesn’t want to work together. sonic is too impulsive, but shadow is too stubborn. they learn to overcome this together throughout the series. while shadow is stuck speaking to sonic from the void, they are constantly disagreeing on what to do. shadow is being too bossy and demanding that his plans be followed to the letter, and sonic is making split second changes and forgetting to tell him. this at some point nearly ends in a MASSIVE disaster and they both realize they need to get it together. wasting time fighting is part of what caused this mess in the first place- shadow is also slightly at fault here. we do a flashback to the day of the incident and they agree to try to cooperate. it’s a little rocky, but by the end they’re fighting side by side in perfect sync, recognizing each other as valued friends.
NINE:
nine for most of the series can stay the same. an important plot point for me is his insistence that he is NOT tails. however, instead of this being something sonic has to learn is true, it’s something nine has to learn is false. when nine goes to ghost hill and sees the old tails, he’s unnerved by this hollow shell of a version of himself. while he is alone putting the shards back together on the mountain, he realizes that just like the shards are unstable fragments of the paradox prism, the shatter spaces are unstable fragments of green hill. he is a fragment of tails. this sets off a minor identity crisis on top of the realization that he is not supposed to exist. none of the shatter spaces are supposed to exist. that’s why they’re all so out of wack. no place is flooded and ruled by pirates, the boscage maze is a suffocating jungle, new yoke is a dystopian nightmare, and the grim is a lifeless wasteland. they all exist in a fragile state of balance and are already falling apart. they were already on shaky ground but have been on a direct path to destruction since sonic showed up. he still has hope in his ability to make the grim into his own world, but deep down he’s refusing to let himself realize the truth: even with the power of all 5 prism shards the world will continue to decay until they are reunited. nine takes the shards and leaves.
SONIC:
dear god. sonic. where do i even begin.
first of all, i would prefer to see him being a little less chatty and scatterbrained. i think a little of it would still make sense considering the story he’s living through, but in general he needs to be a little more tethered to his old unshakable self until it comes to the really important decisive moments. sonic isn’t an emotionless character, but he just seemed extra…. smushy..? idk this isn’t something i can articulate well ehe XP
i LOVED the parallels and flashbacks from seasons 1 and 2. where did they go??? i go crazy for a good parallel, so i say they keep happening in season 3. obviously. like of all the times to mirror the beginning, it’s the final fight???
i want to have the final battle directly and clearly parallel the fight from episode 1. this way, there can be a Moment where sonic stops to look back at his experiences and make the choice to do things the right way this time. to fix the problem he created he needs to fix his personal problem that created the problem. i want a very obvious scene where he finally finished connecting all the dots lets this lesson sink into his head.
speaking of which, let’s get back to present time and talk about the final fight.
FINAL BATTLE:
nine has all 5 shards kept far apart and protected, but still close enough for him to draw on their power. the world is decaying rapidly and he has to constantly use the shards to ward off the imminent destruction.
sidenote: at some point when nine is trying to pick off sonic, he sends the birds to search the empty space in the shatterverse. one finds shadow’s chaos emerald in the void and brings it out. shadow gets it back from the bird or whatever later. it was so weird that the void stopped being relevant and they just never got the green emerald back.
heading into the final fight, sonic is sad about nine’s betrayal, but he only gives him one chance to give up. when he and shadow confront nine, sonic tells him that the shatterverse is falling apart and no one has a home left to return to anymore. nine hesitates for a moment, he knows there is a chance that even with his enemies gone he won’t be able to stop the decay, but he refuses to give up. sonic knows what is at stake here and he takes it seriously. he doesn’t want to fight nine but he has no choice, besides, nine is hurting his friends, and that’s not acceptable.
sonic still isn’t sure what to do about the moral dilemma of wiping out the shatterverse to bring back his world. after all, wouldn’t that make him no better than nine? but right now there is an immediate threat: nine accelerating the decay of the universe by holding all the shards in one shatter space.
during the final fight (which i would also make WAYYYYY shorter) i would have him try to go for nine himself, thinking that he knows nine best, and is the most well equipped to defeat him. everyone else is on shaky ground with each other as alliances between the different groups, especially with the eggmans, haven’t been solidified. because of this lack of teamwork everyone struggles to fight off the robots nine creates.
sonic stops. he’s seen this play out before, and the stakes weren’t nearly as high. he is the throughline of the whole group so HE has to bring everyone together (“theres only one hedgehog they’ll follow into battle”). He gets everyone to understand that right now they’re on the same page, so they all formulate a plan together to keep the robots away and get the shards back one by one. sonic and shadow fight nine in person while everyone else collects the shards and brings them each to sonic and shadow, who use the power of the shards to help defeat nine. but when they remove nine’s power source, the world starts decaying really fast again. nine panics, takes the shards back and starts trying to fight off the decay, but it’s too much to fight anymore. he falls to his knees in defeat, he knows his goals were always unreachable. at first he lashes out at sonic, but then he stops and just cries.
he tells sonic how he just wanted a place to call home, even though he knew it wouldn’t be possible. sonic says that maybe it’s still possible to restore the shards to their worlds and stop the decay, shadow interjects that they need to bring back green hill, but nine says there’s no point in trying to bring back the shatter spaces. they’re beyond repair, and they were never meant to be in the first place (the others hearing this are shocked and uneasy hearing this). he was wrong to try to destroy everyone’s worlds to make one just for himself, at least sonic was trying to bring back his friends. but sonic comforts him and reassures his feelings and also apologizes for asking him to stop existing. but nine says that’s actually what he needs to do now. the only option left is to restore green hill. they’ll pour all the energy stores they have left into the kraken to get sonic and shadow back to the decaying ghost hill.
sonic tries to object, asking if nine is sure he’s ok with disappearing. nine says he won’t really stop existing, he and all his friends were always with him and always will be back in green hill. nine thanks sonic for always being his friend. here is the big brother hug moment. nonetheless, they all say goodbye (for now), and shadow and sonic head out of the grim.
RESTORING GREEN HILL:
blah blah there’s some debris and maybe they *almost don’t make it* but in the end they just barely get to the gateway in time.
sidenote: instead of shadow needing to go through weird side cracks to get through the gates, he is able to because of the instability of the prism energy not keeping him out the way it did before
shadow is almost blocked at the gateway. he’s pushing through, but the world is falling apart. sonic grabs the shards from him and tosses them into ghost hill so he can pull shadow through. shadow exclaims something about the shards and sonic says he won’t leave him behind. shadow is touched <3 (they’re holding each other desperately this whole scene and when they fall through, this is me making up for cutting the princess carry im so sorry i had to).
they get to the mountain, return the shards, and a huge blast of energy knocks them back. sonic opens his eyes and cue the regular sequence from the final episode. i liked this bit, it was such a relief to see the world put back together lol. after they fight eggman, sonic brings everyone in for a big group hug like he tried to in new yoke and says he has to go find shadow.
sonic asks shadow if he still remembers everything, and he does. sonic breathes a sigh of relief and jokes that he was worried all that friendship building effort had gone to waste, shadow gives him a (very) small laugh. he tells sonic that he may have started this by being himself, but he also fixed it by being himself. sonic whizzes around him asking if that was a compliment, and shadow says it’s just good to be back home. sonic says “it wouldn’t be the same without you. it wouldn’t be the same without ME either” to which shadow rolls his eyes and tries to hide a smile. sonic uses shadow’s shoulder as an arm rest as the two look out at the sunset. sonic says they make a pretty good team when they fight WITH each other. there’s a pause before shadow responds, “yeah.”
the next day goes on like it did in the real episode except shadow is there, and when the gang remarks on sonic’s odd demeanor they also comment on his suddenly improved relationship with shadow. the show ends like it did before with sonic about to explain but interrupted by eggman. life is back to normal, happily ever after the end.
OK THATS IT!!!! i hope whatever few people had the endurance and determination to read all of this enjoyed it, ive been writing it out for hours omgggg i could never write fanfiction i would die LMAO. i had such a clear vision of what i thought this season was going to be that i figured it wouldn’t take too much effort for me to write it all out. like i said before it’s definitely not perfect and i refuse to re read this for errors for 24 hours but i hope you enjoyed ok bye :3
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pyjamaart · 1 month
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Breaking Bot (read more for some rambling about mega man fully charged)
Mega Man Fully Charged has been on my mind again lately, which made me realize that there's literally a robot named Chemistryman who worked as a chemistry teacher. Not using him as a Walter White stand-in would be a criminal offense.
I'll have to admit I started getting back into Fully Charged again after seeing some asshole on twitter complain about the character design for the hundredth time. I just can't stand that kind of negativity. I swear to god, Fully Charged is like the Sonic Boom of the Mega Man franchise. Personally, I really enjoy the FC designs. I've probably said this before, but I feel like the redesigns give some of the more forgettable robot masters way more character. Like, do I care for Classic Drillman from Mega Man 4? I mean, yeah, I do, but I wouldn't care as much if it wasn't for his Fully Charged incarnation.
I also really enjoy most of the original robot masters. I already talked plenty about Blastowoman and why I love her so much, but I want to talk about the others this time.
Take for example Chemistryman. Comparisons to Walter White out of the way, I feel like his character was a really fun idea. God knows I had teachers who put me to sleep back in the day. For me, it wasn't chemistry though, it was my economics teacher. I always compared her to a story teller at a Christmas market who would read children stories out of her big fairy tale book. Only that in reality, it was stuff like the minimization/maximization principle. Most of my notes for that class were incomprehensible chicken scratch, because I just couldn't keep my eyes open. In the end, I slept through like half her classes, lol. But I gotta say that I still always got a B or higher in the end. Somehow. I thank god every day that I never have to step foot in a school again.
I really wish Chemistryman got a little more time to shine though. Two episodes is just way too little. I would gladly take three more episodes with him over those gross Gutsman episodes. I know I love talking about wasted potential with this show, but I wish there was an episode that focused on Chemistryman outside of the school setting. I get that his whole character is "boring, bitter teacher", but I'd really like to see what he gets up to when he's not trying to force children to listen to his chemistry lectures. Like having Aki try to talk him into going into retirement for good. And then he tries to find hobbies for him so that he doesn't bore himself to death. I can see him getting into building model ships or something like that, lol.
Now that I'm already writing up a storm again, I might as well talk about some other headcanons I have about the FC bots. Since Woodman was in sleep mode for 30 years after the war ended (I don't know where I got that number from. I rewatched his debut episode, but the exact number doesn't appear anywhere. Oh well, let's just pretend this is canon, even if it isn't.) we got kind of a Shadow the Hedgehog type situation on our hands. All of his friends and family got to live their lives in this new, peaceful world of harmony between robots and humans, while Woodman spent 30 years powered down in a bush or something. Completely forgotten about. Like, why didn't they go look for him after the war ended? I don't think Aki and Suna wandered that far into the forest for their school assignment. If you really think about Woodmans back story for a moment, you realize how fucked up it actually is. 
Now my explanation for this goes into heavy heavy headcanon territory. When Suna calls the principal about Woodman, he warns her that Woodman is dangerous and to get away from him immediately. Now why would he say that? The principal also calls him "ruthless" in that same explanation. What I think happened back then was that Woodman actually planned to assassinate the human armies leader. (Possibly Sgt. Night?) The leader of the robots caught wind of his plan and put him into sleep mode himself, since he and Dr. Light were on the brink of finding a way to end the war peacefully. In my mind, this leader is the FC version of Swordman. Don't ask me why, he was just the first guy I thought of. And then it just stuck.
I know this makes Woodmans back story even more fucked up, but I just love putting my favorite blorbos through hardship. Don't even ask me about my headcanons for Drillman. They'd actually put me in prison.
Now all this culminates after Woodman is reactivated by Suna and Aki. Finding himself alienated from all his former friends and comrades (Maybe the other Mega Man 2 robot masters?), what was he supposed to do? He couldn't spend the rest of his life isolated (and homeless) in the forest, could he? And this is where season 2 could have delivered. But I'm done whining about that. If Capcom doesn't deliver, I gotta write my own season 2. Simple as that.
Anyway, getting back to Chemistryman, since he's pretty old, I imagine that he was already working as a teacher when Woodman was still around. Maybe he even was his teacher at some point.
And since I love having my favorite characters interact, I also thought of a scenario where Drillman wanders into the forest out of frustration over his miserable life, only to meet Woodman by coincidence. In the end, Woodman helps him work through his daddy issues and his body dysmorphia, while Drillman helps Woodman reintegrate and manage this (for him) completely new world of peace. Another great headcanon of mine is that Chemistryman is actually Acidmans father. Just because I think it would be funny. And as Fully Charged has confirmed: robots in that universe do indeed have parents. (Flashback to the time I drew Dr. Light beating the shit out of Drillman's father)
Speaking of Drillman.... For being one of my favorite Mega Man characters of all time, I haven't drawn him nearly enough. That will probably be my next project.
This might also be a great time to tell you that I've never watched Breaking Bad before, lol. Everything I know about it comes from RTGame's Stardew Valley playthrough and the RTVS Half Life parody.
Sorry for all the yapping. But if I don't talk about robots at least once a day, I might die. This is a serious condition.
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corffee · 1 month
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Alright but hear me out.
In the original sa2. The emeralds were vital for Gerald's plan, they needed them for the giant laser or whatever. And they were "easy" enough to get in the game world were they are usually scattered across the world.
But in the movie universe they are all together as the M.E. guarded by Team Sonic, and while Shadow is a powerhouse and he'll probably have some help idk if they would just go attack them like that, at least not when there's really nothing stopping say, Sonic, from just using the powers of the emeralds to go super and kick their asses (I don't think sonic would do that immediately but if I was a villain I wouldn't risk it).
So what if they have to be sneaky about it, like oh I don't know, maybe using the fact that they have a nubian on their side...one with speed that would surely spark Sonic's curiosity, one that just happens to be the same species as him, the one other hedgehog he has ever met, maybe said hedgehog arranges an "accidental" meeting with Sonic, with the intention to get closer to him, either to get his trust and access to the ME or to capture him and use him as a bargaining chip, to make the rest give it up to save Sonic.
Or at least, that was the plan. Because maybe, the races,games and random competitions, start to be a little fun, maybe the way Sonic can't stop talking becomes a little less annoying a a little more endearing, maybe, as he is dragged around town, blue arm around his shoulders, he finds that maybe vengeance isn't the only thing in his mind.
(Then something happens that reminds him of how terrible people can be and he betrays Sonic who, at some point during the breakup arc, will call out Shadow for been a traitor. A liar. A faker, if you will.)
(Inspired by me randomly remembering this one fic I read AGES ago where shadow decides to befriend sonic in order to betray him. It was really good but I always forget the name lol)
Oh I definitely sense a betrayal or a hint of a change of heart in Shadow or even Sonic at some point. Like for Shadow, “why does the doctor think this hedgehog is the root of all evil/the only reason why the doctor wants to destroy the world. He literally almost cried when he tripped on a rock. I can’t even make him worse cause he’s so stupid.” And for Sonic, “why is this guy even working with Eggman??? Dude doesn’t even know how to eat a chili dog. OR EVEN KNOW WHAT A CHILI DOG IS!! It’s like he was just born yesterday! You know what, I can fix him.”
And as for betrayal, I wrote something up for a past ask about my betrayal idea scenario: Sonic goes on his own and returns back to his home for safety and Shadow follows him there. They meet but don’t fight, just talk. Sonic shows him around town and talks about how he grew up alone and without a proper home (also showing him his old hobbit hole), and how when he met Tom, all of that changed. Tom, Maddie and Green Hill accepted him and his brothers. “It became my home, and it can be yours too.” Sonic shows Shadow his house and introduces him to Ollie (that’ll be so cute). They have a bonding moment but all that gets interrupted by Stone’s drones since he can track where Shadow is. Sonic comes to realize it was a trap, but Shadow never intended it.
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sonknuxadow · 3 months
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they should do sonknux unleashed next i think that would be so awesome
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waywardcollectionchai · 8 months
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Since I started being part of the Sonic fandom and the Sonamy fandom i've noticed both of them had quite simmilar misunderstoods towards amy's character.
And it's... Amy never was created to be an "obssesive girl" "an obssesive fangirl" "an obssesive girl who only thinks about Sonic and nothing else"
And this is a consequence of the bad localization Sonic had in the West and how they didn't understand Amy's character, a girl who was created with many qualities japanese people love but the west considers it "weird", still affects her character to this day at this point we're many hear by mouth and mouth how Amy is but never had the thought of thinking "all of this is true?"
Look at this comparison between japanese!Sonic and American!Sonic and how different they treat Amy (minute 1:50 - 3:29)
https://youtu.be/PiSVTpRCGXA?si=cF_eEzFO5N3BPFQO
Thanks to this majority of western fans thought Sonic was always mad at Amy when in reality that was not the original intention and destroys all the concept of "obssesive" and "fangirl" were she cared for birdie and protected Gama from Sonic.
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A girl who always tries to be better, helping people many wouldn't pay attention but she knows they need help.
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A girl who is conscious she has to work hard than his friends with super powers
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And Sonic being one of her main inspirations 'cause he represents what she wants to become: being free, going on your own having adventures, the excitement everything against the boring
And you would say "but in heroes she was an obssesive fangirl😭"
No, the fandom scaled the proportions and couldn't handle a single innofensive joke
Amy knew exactly exactly what she was doing telling him to "Marry him" as a joke. He would low his defenses and cause him to feel embarrassed and nervous 'cause she knows he's terrible at romance or i'm general, feelings
And many forgot that in the game Amy didn't know exactly why Sonic, Tails and knuckles we're together. In the beggining Amy saw Sonic in the paper and told us she hasn't seen Sonic in weeks and when she saw them thought they were just hanging out.
I'm talking about the girl who all the game supported,encouraging Cream and Big to rescue Chocola and Froggy and they needed someone as determinante, courageous as Amy who reminded her friends how brave they are
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She even shows appreciation and love for the landscapes (just like Sonic)
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"But- but in later games she was so obssesive and fangirl for Sonic 😭" Again bad localization for the west when in the original sources she was handled bit better than the West.
Also, Western has an obssesive to always point out the bad interpretations of female characters and saying why they are "the worst" "the most annoying characters" when at the same time try so hard to prove why this interpretation of a male character is not "bad enough" or "not the worst" and why even with bad characterizations he is still the best **cough****cough** Sonic and shadow respectively **cough****cough**
The character is not perfect, that's a reality.
She has strenghts and flaws that made her unique on her own. Her love for her friends (yes, this includes Sonic), the animals, the good and "Bad" robots and even characters who we're "devil"... She saw good, hope and love for them. She decides to help them being at their sides to show them there's always the option to chose a good path
She is the heart of all teams, she brings happines and hope to everyone. That's why all the cast loves and appreciates her and never refered to her like fandom does. That should tell you something
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Personally I don't agree with the idea of "Amy is not an obssesive girl anymore and now she is a strong cute girl" when she has a l w a y s been a strong cute, bubbly, sassy, kinda bratty, compassive, energetic, silly girl but many think this is new when it's always been in front of you, you just decided to finally see the character and not prejuices
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tenebraevesper · 3 months
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Shatter Me, Entry 1: Ambivalent
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''Always, you are fearless, like a cat absorbed in what it loves. The reason you feel dazzling is surely because I was looking at you. A circuit of stimulating thought, it draws me in. Blue, blue, I'm still not reflected in those eyes, you are the same as always today. Swaying, swaying, these feelings remain somewhere, now I'm just looking at your profile here.''
– Ambivalent by The Apothecary Diaries
xXxXxXx
Sonic ran across Green Hill, simply taking in and enjoying the lush scenery and the familiarity of his home. Sure, going on adventures, exploring new places and meeting new people was something he absolutely loved to do, but after his experience in the Shatterverse, he wanted to enjoy the comfort of the place he called his home just a little bit longer. Besides, Dr. Eggman had just attacked them once again the other day, so he and his friends needed to deal with that. Fortunately, they beat the mad doctor once again and decided to take a well-deserved break.
However, Sonic felt a little restless. He still hadn't told his friends about the Shatterverse, thanks to Dr. Eggman's attack literally interrupting him just as he started his story, and when things had calmed down, he forgot about it. But now that it was on his mind, he wondered whether he should come clean in regards to accidentally shattering the Paradox Prism, the whole adventure through New Yoke City, Boscage Maze, No Place, The Grim, Ghost Hill and The Void, and how he had managed to fix reality and save the world once again.
''Admittedly, I didn't save it by myself. I had help,'' Sonic said to himself as he ran through Hedgehog's Pass. He still remembered how all of the Shatterverse Variants of his friends and even the Chaos Council united to help him to get to the Paradox Prism, their own homes being slowly destroyed by the rifts in reality. However, there was one person Sonic had to give credit to, as without him, he didn't believe that he would ever make it home. He skidded to a halt, looking around and then leaning against a nearby palm tree. ''Speaking of which, where is Shadow?''
Sonic hadn't seen his rival since the battle at the cave that contained the Paradox Prism. He was genuinely happy to see him, having understood Shadow's plan of using the Chaos Emerald to keep the Paradox Prism safe. However, after the battle was over, Sonic actually wanted to invite Shadow to the picnic on the beach, but he couldn't find him. Admittedly, that wasn't unusual, since Shadow usually kept to himself unless the world was in danger, but Sonic had hoped that he would at least stay around for a little bit longer.
''I wonder where he is,'' Sonic said aloud, talking to himself, then chuckled. ''Maybe he decided to pull a Knuckles and become the Guardian of the Paradox Prism.''
''Who are you talking to?''
Sonic's head snapped towards the origin of the voice, his heart leaping when he saw a familiar figure standing on the elevated bridge-like road of Hedgehog's Pass. Shadow the Hedgehog was staring back at Sonic, his arms folded across his chest, his black and red quills fluttering lightly in the breeze.
''Shadow!''
Sonic suddenly rushed up to Shadow, a wide smile spreading across his lips as he pulled the ebony hedgehog into a tight embrace, nuzzling his cheek. Shadow's crimson eyes widened for a moment, having been caught off guard by Sonic's sudden and unexpected action. However, he didn't step away, just standing awkwardly as he let Sonic hug him and hoping that the azure hedgehog wouldn't hear just how loudly his own heart was beating as it picked up the pace. Finally, Sonic let go of him, instead placing his hands on Shadow's shoulders, still having that wide grin on his expression.
''Dude, where were you? I wanted to invite you to our victory lunch at the beach!'' Sonic asked, stepping back to give Shadow some space.
''I've been busy with finding a proper hiding place for the Paradox Prism, so it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands again,'' Shadow explained.
''Figures,'' Sonic muttered, only to give him a curious look. ''So, where did you leave it? In a cave? A shrine? Oh, I know! In your basement!'' Shadow furrowed a brow, rolling his eyes at all the guesses. Sonic pouted. ''Aw, com'n, at least you could tell me…''
''Have you forgotten that you were the one who shattered it?'' Shadow responded, feeling a sense of satisfaction when he saw Sonic frowning at that reminder.
''Hey, it's not like I'm going to shatter it again-'' he protested, only to shut up when Shadow rose an eyebrow, giving him a non-verbal 'Really?' look. ''You know, I did learn my lesson about listening to others. I promise that me shattering another magical crystal won't happen ever again.''
''I'm not telling you anything,'' Shadow responded in a firm tone. Sonic deflated, giving Shadow a pointed look.
''Right, trust issues.''
Shadow narrowed his eyes, glancing aside as he lowered his gaze. Sonic was a bit surprised by his reaction, tilting his head and clasping his hands on his back as he bowed over to meet Shadow's gaze. The ebony hedgehog seemed to be bothered by something, but as usual, it appeared that he wasn't going to share what was on his mind, choosing to keep it to himself. Sonic faltered, realizing that Shadow wasn't going to respond in the usual manner.
''Hey, you know that I didn't mean to hurt you… Shads?''
Shadow just sighed in response, giving Sonic a rather indifferent look, as if to say that it didn't matter. ''I'm fine.''
''Thanks for saving my life back there. I wouldn't have survived without you.''
Shadow gave Sonic a surprised look, having not expected the azure hedgehog to thank him for saving his life. ''I was simply settling a debt. You have saved me from The Void.''
''Riiiiight, but you gotta admit that would be really boring for you if I wasn't around anymore.'' Sonic smiled cheekily. Shadow narrowed his eyes, staring at him for a moment.
''Hmph, I suppose I wouldn't have you constantly bothering me,'' he replied, feeling a slight sense of amusement when he saw Sonic giving him a displeased look. ''Or cleaning up the mess you create.''
''Yeah, yeah… I get it,'' Sonic replied, although he had to admit that he was glad to hear Shadow bantering with him. ''Hey, how about we go for a race? Maybe have a sparring match? I'm kinda bored.''
''So, you want me to beat you up again?'' Shadow asked in a snarky tone.
''Again? I recall winning our last battle,'' Sonic boasted, not really caring whether his statement was true or not. He was issuing a challenge to Shadow here and he hoped that his rival would accept it.
''Maybe I should remind who the real winner was,'' Shadow said, now taking a step towards Sonic, who felt quite excited.
''Sure,… but you first have to catch me!'' Sonic responded, before quickly dashing down the road. Shadow immediately followed him, taking note of the smile Sonic had flashed at him, followed by a laugh, showing that the azure hedgehog was having a lot of fun.
As for Shadow, while he wouldn't admit it out loud, he did enjoy a good challenge, and chasing Sonic fit the bill. He still had the green Chaos Emerald on his person, making that he could easily warp ahead to get as close as possible to Sonic, but he wanted to test his own limits first before going all out.
Sonic was still ahead of Shadow, but he did notice that the rival was getting closer and closer, so he leapt from the road and onto the soft grass below, deciding to speed between the palm trees to shake Shadow off. Unfortunately for him, his ears picked up the familiar sound of Shadow warping through space and time, having used to the Chaos Emerald to get in front of him, only for Sonic to dodge him, managing to keep the momentum.
''I don't recall agreeing to using the Chaos Emerald, but I guess this makes things even more exciting- Woah!''
Sonic's eyes widened when he glanced back, having to bow to dodge Shadow almost kicking him in the head. He skidded to a halt in a tri-point stance as they entered a clearing, and turned back to his rival, grinning. He dodged another punch from Shadow, then did a sweeping kick, trying to knock the latter of his feet, but Shadow did a backflip, before leaping back at Sonic, trying to punch him in the gut. However, Sonic managed to catch his fist, and attempted to kick Shadow, only for the latter to catch Sonic's leg and swing him around, throwing him towards a nearby palm tree. Sonic felt a painful sensation in his back, but he smirked as he saw Shadow getting closer, getting on his feet and landing a punch in Shadow's gut. Shadow backed away, but a smile spread on his tan lips as he saw Sonic giving him a taunting look, only to quickly speed away.
The chase resumed, with Sonic narrowing his eyes in thought. He knew that Shadow was a difficult opponent, especially with him being a better strategist and more focused on his task. Nevertheless, Sonic was quite creative in battles, trying to think outside the box… and then he realized what he could do. He glanced back at Shadow as he warped closer. ''You gotta do better than that, Shads! You'll never be able to catch up to me otherwise!''
This seemed to have struck a nerve with Shadow, furrowing a brow as he suddenly sped up, but Sonic was actually glad to see Shadow putting more effort into the chase. The azure hedgehog then turned his attention to the mountain above them, the one once hid the Paradox Prism deep within its cave. He wondered if Shadow had also noticed where he led him, but figured that Shadow already knew. Therefore, he had to make sure that Shadow won't realize what Sonic's true plan was.
As for Shadow, he was a bit puzzled when he realized where Sonic was going, but he still followed his rival, as he knew that, even if they get into the cave, Sonic wouldn't be able to escape him. It was a scenario where he could win easily. Once again, Sonic, you're not paying attention. Huh?
A cloud of dust was kicked up when Sonic sped into the cave, with Shadow quickly getting inside, squinting and placing his arm over his eyes to adjust to the sudden lack of vision. ''You have nowhere to go, Sonic! You might as well give up now!''
Suddenly, there was a flash of blue, with Shadow feeling a grip on the arm that held onto the Chaos Emerald, and in the next second, he found himself pinned against the wall of the cave. His gaze turned towards Sonic, who used his elbow to keep Shadow pinned against the wall, while holding the green Chaos Emerald in his other hand, grinning widely.
''I wouldn't think so, Shads. I got you cornered,'' Sonic replied. However, instead of feeling frustrated to have lost to such an easy trick, Shadow just smirked back in response.
''So, you actually are thinking things through this time,'' he replied, with Sonic stepping back. He still kept the Chaos Emerald out of Shadow's reach, throwing it and catching it with one hand, before balancing the tip on his finger.
''I'll take that as a compliment,'' he responded, only too look around the empty cave. ''Man, this place really is something.'' He then fell silent for a moment. ''I wonder how Nine and everyone else are doing…''
The smirk on Shadow's expression vanished, and his gaze fell. It was clear to him that, even if Sonic had moved on to his next adventure, he still thought back to what had happened within the Shatterverse. It was no surprise though, as those events were still fresh on his mind, and given how he had to leave in a hurry, he never got the chance to make sure that all of his Shatterverse friends would be fine. It was no surprise that he would still be worried about them.
Unfortunately, Shadow couldn't share the sentiment, as he had his own thoughts of what happened to the Shatterverse and the Shatterverse Variants, but he still could understand how Sonic felt. These were the people he bonded and fought with to restore their homes, and he would never see them again.
''Do you want to take a break?''
Sonic was surprised to hear this suggestion from Shadow, but then nodded in agreement. Both walked outside the cave and sat side by side on the cliff outside, observing Green Hill below them.
''You know, even though visiting the Shatterverse was an interesting experience, nothing beats being at home surrounded by your friends… at least until the next adventure,'' Sonic said. Shadow just raised an eyebrow, glancing at Sonic.
''So, you're claiming that destroying our universe and sacrificing your life to restore it is an 'interesting experience'?'' Shadow asked in a deadpan tone, with Sonic giving him a sheepish smile. ''Of course you do. I suppose I forgot to whom I was talking to for a moment.''
Sonic just chuckled in response. ''Nice joke, Shads!''
''That wasn't a joke. That's literally what had happened,'' Shadow replied in the same deadpan tone. Sonic just kept smiling, with Shadow taking note that, even if their Shatterverse adventure wasn't anything to smile about, he still understood why Sonic saw it as something he had thought about fondly. Nevertheless, it didn't make him feel less puzzled. Just when he thought that he understood Sonic, the hedgehog found new ways to surprise him.
''Yeah, that's true… and I'm glad that you could tag along for the adventure,'' Sonic replied, his tone still light, but also a bit more thoughtful. ''I guess I really needed you back there to…''
''I needed you too.''
Sonic trailed off, his ears flicking and his heart skipping a beat when he heard Shadow's response, his green eyes darting towards the dark hedgehog. Shadow was just staring ahead at the lush greenery below and the blue sky above them, showing no reaction to what he had just said. Sonic could feel his heart beat loudly in his chest, but chalked it up to the residual adrenaline from their fight. A sly grin spreading a cross his lips, he scooted closer to Shadow, almost leaning against him.
''So, when did you finally decide to admit that you need me?'' he asked. Shadow didn't dignify this question with a response, trying to ignore it. His expression did change in a subtle manner, and it was obvious that he was already regretting telling Sonic that, because the azure hedgehog now refused to stop pestering his rival about it until he got a reaction from him. ''Com'n, Shads, you can talk to me about it. I promise I won't tell anyone.''
''You won't leave me alone until you get the answer you want, will you?'' Shadow asked, arms folded across his chest in the typical fashion. To his grief, he was met by an eager look bordering on puppy-dog eyes from Sonic. Shadow then sighed, well aware that he could just stop this conversation then and there, but for some reason, he didn't want to leave. Despite his reservations, he actually felt comfortable in Sonic's presence. ''I thought that it was obvious.''
''Obvious?'' Sonic blinked in surprise.
''You were the key to restoring the Paradox Prism. Obviously, I'd have to rely on you to save our home,'' Shadow replied. Sonic let out an amused huff, aware that it wouldn't be so easy to get Shadow to admit anything in a direct manner. Shadow then fell silent for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he clearly thought about something important. He then turned to Sonic, giving him a resolute look. ''One thing is certain. I won't let you tease me anymore about my friendless background or lack of trust in people.''
Sonic was genuinely surprised by this sudden response, wondering what was going through Shadow's head. He then smiled joyfully as he realized the implications. ''Wait, so you actually started to trust someone? That's great! Who is it? Do I know them?''
''It's you.''
Sonic felt a strange sense of warmth spreading through his chest, a sense of happiness and pride bubbling inside him, but there was also something else, something he couldn't quite understand. He wanted to respond, but for once, the words couldn't escape his mouth. He didn't even know how to respond to this confession.
Shadow, in turn, felt weird for admitting this secret to Sonic. Over the course of their adventure, he found himself drawn closer and closer to his rival, having found himself becoming very protective of Sonic, especially after finding out about Nine's scheme and the fate that awaited him if he relinquished the Prism Energy. Any anger the had initially felt after being warped into The Void had completely vanished, and instead was replaced by a strong desire to not only save the universe, but to make sure that Sonic would return back home in one piece. Despite his immature and careless behavior, he had learned, or rather, re-learned, that Sonic was someone he could rely on no matter how dire the situation was. Therefore, Shadow decided to affirm this trust to Sonic, even if it left him with a strange warm sensation that made him wonder if was getting sick or something. But, he was the Ultimate Lifeform; he couldn't get sick now, could he?
''I heart you too, Shadow.''
Shadow's attention snapped back to Sonic, who finally decided to respond with a wide smile and a heart shape he formed with his fingers. It wasn't the first time he heard this response, having heard it during their banter in the middle of a battle against the Chaos Council, but unlike last time, where he just let it pass, he felt that he could no longer ignore it this time. Well, at least he could try to pretend to ignore it for the time being until he fully understood why he suddenly felt like this.
''Hmph.''
Sonic gave Shadow a curious look when the dark hedgehog suddenly turned away from him, wondering if he had said something wrong. Fearing that he somehow offended his rival, he decided to drop the topic for now. ''Hey, do you want to go for a sea dog? I had figured out the recipe from when I was with Captain Dread's crew and I can guarantee that it is 100% the most delicious thing you'll ever try.''
''I guess that's fine,'' Shadow replied, turning his attention back to Sonic only to catch the green Chaos Emerald that was thrown into his lap.
''Great! I'll meet you at the beach for a picnic, since you couldn't be there the first time!'' Sonic replied, waving at him before rushing down the mountain.
Once Sonic was gone, Shadow let out a deep breath, pressing his hand against his forehead, sincerely hoping that Sonic did not notice the initial shade of red that had spread across his tan muzzle, as well as trying to calm down his rapidly-beating heart.
''Why… Why do I feel like this?''
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I so badly wanna know what's going on with Sonic in your Voices AU!!! (This is an invitation for you to info dump if you so desire)
OK so originally I had this MONSTER essay on what this was about but im really really bad at explaining things and I don’t want to leave you hanging forever so instead I’ll just give you a basic rundown of the concept and all the plot points. Also, important thing to mention, I HAVEN’T FINISHED SEASON 2 YET. Y’know, where the majority of my AU takes place. Haven’t finished that. Haven’t even seen Chaos Metal Sonic. Sorry, sorry, I know, I’m a fake fan but in my defense every time I turn on the show I want to bang my head against a wall, tear all my skin of, and run in circles at the speed of light (in a good way) (but also in a bad way) (a good bad way). Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I need to quickly explain the concept behind this. In the first episode of Season 2, Avoid the Void, Sonic doesn’t realize that he can run out of the Ghost World. He’s stuck there. This also means that he can’t save shadow from falling into the void (this is why shadow doesn’t have his arm or his leg in my au illustrations, he wakes up before he can be fully disintegrated, but he did lose some limbs.) Back to Sonic, since he has nothing better to do, he tries to take a nap at the beach where his friends are at and starts “taking” to Tail’s projection. Then, the voice comes. I don’t really know how to describe this. There is a voice, like the name says, but it’s also a lot more complicated than that. When “it” comes, Sonic can’t hear anything; or, well actually he can hear things (sometimes the noise feels oppressively loud) but he doesn’t know what people are saying, so to him it just sounds like gibberish. Also, this isn’t always true, (it just depends) but his eyes won’t focus properly and they get really blurry, like can’t see what’s in-front of you blurry. Also, headaches! Because apparently we needed to make this even worse for him for some reason!!!!! It’s not at its worst here, but as you can expect, he is pretty disoriented after it’s done. Shadow comes back to the ghost world, Sonic is understandably surprised by HIS LACK OF TWO LIMBS, he gets the tech and bounces, yadayadayada, all the stuff. More importantly, now we get Nine back! Chapter two; Sonic goes to Boscage Maze, they’re ripping the place up, Sonic goes to help Thorn, mini “voice” episode (as an appetizer), he gets a tech upgrade from Nine, he goes to fight, gets the main course “voice” episode, Nine gets in trouble cause emo tween egg boy caught him talking to Sonic trying to figure out what’s wrong with him and why he’s talking to himself, Sonic gets the shard from Thorn, he runs of with it, emo eggboy sends a message that they’re gonna kill Nine unless Sonic gives them the shard, Nine tells him not to, he goes anyway and THROWS THE SHARD INTO THE OTHER SHARDS THE EGGMEN HAD COLLECTED SO HE CAN SAVE NINE, (he tries to get the shards back but they got swarmed by robots) and finally they get out and go to the ghost world. Shadow is really, REALLY mad at him for trading a SHARD just to save his little kit boy and ALSO mad because Sonic wants to keep Nine there, to keep him safe. Eventually, Shadow gives in after Nine mentions that he could build Shadow a prosthetic, but he adds the clause that the moment Nine finishes the prosthetic, he leaves. After that, Sonic goes to get the rest of the shards back while Nine makes Shadow’s prosthetic at Tail’s workshop. For the next few chapters, Sonic get into some sort of a routine; Try to get the shards, come back to the ghost world to rest, squabble with Shadow, chat with Nine for a little, and repeat. Some important things to mention from this period are: 
Nine is intentionally taking his time making Shadows prosthetic (Sonic’s idea) as well as making it break really easily & adding a secret “feature” that allows him to $&@!?ING electrocute him from afar using a remote implanted in his mechanical tails (both and especially the last one NOT Sonic’s idea); 
Sonic doesn’t actually sleep during this time, he just takes 3 hour naps so he can get back home quicker, which only worsens the voice thing; 
Shadow, (who doesn’t understand anything about what’s going on with Sonic other than the vague sense that something’s wrong with him, unlike Nine who got a basic lil explanation from Sonic after asking wtf happened at boscage maze) is getting increasingly frustrated with Sonic because of how long it’s taking for him to get all the shards, as well as his continual trusting of Nine.
This continues for a while, those “episodes” get worse and worse, Sonic grows closer to Nine and tension keeps building between Sonic & Shadow until <drumroll………>
THE EGG COUNCIL COMES!!!!! Again, since I still haven’t seen season two of Sonic Prime, I don’t really know how this is gonna happen, but I do know it’s gonna happen. (btw Nine finishes Shadow’s prosthetic & leaves like a day before the egg council comes.) This is a massive battle and I have like a whole thing on how it’s gonna play out but the important things to note for the story are: Shadow finally sees Sonic’s “episodes” play out in front of him and he is understandably confused and concerned, but their in a battle right now so he can’t really do anything about it and <another drum roll please…..>
SONIC TRIES TO CHOP OFF HIS F$!?KING ARM! Ok, I definitely need to explain this a little more. During the first occurrence of the “voice,” it mentions something about them and Sonic being the same person, & basically says “I am a part of you, Sonic. The only way to get rid of me is to get rid of you.”  Edgy stuff like that, y’know? Well, during this one, it repeats that phrase again and in true Sonic fashion, he decides to do something incredibly stupid, risky, and drastic based on even dumberreasoning. You see, the voice said it was a part of him, not all of him. It also said that in order to get the voice out, he’d have to “get rid” of himself too. So, using this logic, if he only gets rid of a part of him, then he gets to keep living without the voice constantly haunting his every move! This is admittedly pretty silly logic, but he was in the middle of what is essentially a scaled up panic attack, so cut him some slack, OK? He tried to use a piece of scrap metal that fell off the robot to remove it, which unsurprisingly doesn’t work very well. It only ends up cutting halfway, but Sonic can’t really tell that it’s still attached since he’s so tired, & “it” did shut up after he stabbed his arm open soooooooo¯\_(ツ)_/¯. He manages to drive the egg council off to their own dimension before passing out from blood loss, leaving Shadow to rush him to Tail’s workshop so he can get bandaged up, made harder with Shadz’s new leg getting absolutely trashed. When Sonic finally wakes up, Shadow is confused, deeply concerned, and angry with him for almost killing himself for seemingly no reason. Sonic, however, is incredibly calm about the whole thing and nonchalantly explains why he cut off his arm during the battle, until he realizes his arm is still attached to him 
Here’s a comic page of the next scene:
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He leaves to go get more shards and get Nine back to fix Shadows leg, which Shadow predictively grumbles about. This is a pretty light chapter, besides the ending:
Nine and Sonic are hanging out, having fun, the usual. Nine points out how cheery Sonic is right now, and Sonic starts to explain why he’s in such a good mood while Nine passes a small knife for him to hold while he does other things. Sonic, in the middle of his explanation, is cut off by…… “it” and proceeds to frantically rip off his bandages and try to cut the remainder of his arm off with the knife Nine gave him. Nine, who has no idea what’s going on, tries to wrangle back the knife from Sonic. In the struggle, Sonic ends up permanently scaring Nine on one of his eyes. It was an accident of course, but Nine bolts out of the workshop and zaps the door so Sonic can’t chase after him all the same. Sonic breaks down. 
After a bit, (about 30 minutes or so,) and after seeing and briefly meeting with Nine to ask where Sonic has been since he should be with him at the workshop; Nine responded with a suggestion to check for himself, Shadow decides to take Nine’s advice and go. Here’s the scene I wrote for this, as well as the comic I made (they have some dialogue differences, but the general idea is the same.)
“Sonic,”
He didn’t even look up. He was completely unfazed, almost expecting it.
“Sonic!”
Finally realizing who it was, he made a soft gasp, which, however small, was enough for Shadow to know he was listening.
“Do you know how big of a mess you’ve just made?”
They both stayed silent.
“Let me get this straight: That, … thing came back,”
The blue hedgehog sitting on the floor appeared perfectly still in the darkness of Tail’s old workshop.
“So you decided that it would be a good idea to try to cut your arm off again, even though it clearly didn’t work the first time, and I explicitly said not to, because we didn’t have the medical supplies to patch you up after,”
This time, he made a slight nod downwards.
“And when the fox tried to stop you, you hit him in his FUCKING eye? Is that all? Does it get any worse than that?”
The hedgehog didn’t respond. He was focused on something else.
“Are you even listening?”
Complete. Silence.
“Of course not. Of course you’re not listening. You never have, so why start now, huh?”
Shadow broke into a grin.
“You can’t listen to anyone, can you? Not your friends, not your allies, not even your own family! You’re Sonic the Hedgehog. The arrogant, narcissistic, naive, idiot hero who destroyed his own world because he couldn’t slow down. That’s all you are.”
Still nothing. He got angrier.
“I’m TIRED of your NONSENSE! I’m TIRED of you just sitting around having a PITY PARTY over something YOU CAUSED YOURSELF!”
Shadow grew quiet.
“I’m tired of your games, Sonic.”
A cold, hard, stare crossed the black and red hedgehog’s face.
“SO GET UP ALREADY!”
He forcefully pulled him off the ground, and for the first time during this whole conversation, Sonic spoke. He… screamed, a scream so loud you could hear it from a mile away. 
Shadow let go. 
Then, he slowly lowered his hand to his face, and …. No. The hedgehog gazed into the person standing before him, looking for something, anything, any semblance of the hedgehog he knew, but all that met him was an empty husk that he could barely even recognize.
“I-”
Sonic ran past him. He was gone. And Shadow didn’t know if he would ever come back.
“I’m sorry.”
———————————————————————
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Sonic runs into the New Yoke rebel base and patches himself up. He’s able to get two shards from the egg council, but the rebel base is found in the process. There’s only one left, besides the Grim shard. Before Sonic leaves, Shadow tries to talk to him for a moment, but once he got a hold of him, he doesn’t know what to say. Does he apologize? Would that make things worse? Is he just supposed to wait it out and hope Sonic’s friends will help him? Sonic is still able to collect the shards, so they’re still getting back home, but what will happen after that? As much as Shadow hated to admit it, Sonic and his friends were just about the only force that could stop The Doctor from completing whatever world ending scheme he cooked up that week, other than himself. If he …. If something bad happened to Sonic after this, and he couldn’t get back up from it, and if he couldn’t pick up the slack, then….
He didn’t know what would happen. 
Shadow is barely able to get a word in before Sonic leaves to get the last shard. There’s nothing left to do.
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Before we move on to the next plot point in the story, i want to talk about Nine for a second, since we haven’t really gotten the chance to explore him at all yet. A quick little thing I want to note is that Nine knows what the plan is in the AU. Get the shards, put them together, and save this world. He is planningto betray Sonic in this. At the same time, he’s also a lot closer to him. They hang out more, they chat more, and both of them feel the other is the only one on their side right now. Nine reasons that he can just convince Sonic to come with him, since they’re friends after all. He doesn’t really pay Shadow any mind, just thinking of him as an antagonistic coworker, not a real threat. The zapper he put in his leg was just a backup plan, incase he couldn’t fight him himself for one reason or another. Sonic and Nine were a team. They wouldn’t hurt each other. Until they did. Until Sonic did. After the incident, all of the trust between the two is gone. Nine doesn’t blame Sonic per say, he knows that Sonic was just desperate for it to stop, but he’s still angry. He’s angry at himself for trusting him. For trusting that he wouldn’t get hurt. From this point onwards, neither of them try to talk to each other. Nines plan only changes slightly.  He won’t try to convince Sonic to come with him. He won’t make that mistake again. 
Sonic’s feelings are a bit more complicated than Nine’s. He wants to fix everything, but he can’t. He wants everything to go back to normal, but too much has happened for that to even be a possibility. He wants everything to just stop for a minute, to just let him rest, but no matter what, it won’t. He just has to keep going. He just has to keep moving forwards. 
Sonic gets the last shard (Sonic and Shadow have to fight off the egg council again; it’s pretty awkward), and Nine finally puts his plan into motion. Using a machine he built while Sonic wasn’t around, he creates a portal to the Grim, his new home. Sonic begs Nine not to do this, that they’re friends, but that only makes Nine angrier. If they were friends, then Sonic would want to help him, if they were friends, then Sonic would’ve listened to him, and if they were actually, really friends then Sonic WOULDN’TV’E DONE THIS TO HIM.
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Shadow had been outside the whole time listening to this, and he has heard enough of Nine’s ramblings. He lunged straight at Nine, but just as he’s about to reach him…. ZAP.  They both stare down at Shadow’s limp, burned body. Sonic’s head started spinning rapidly. He couldn’t tell who was in front of him, he couldn’t tell what was going on, he couldn’t tell where he was or who he was or why he was doing any of this at all. All he knew was that Shadow. Was. Dead. Because of him. Because hedecided to trust him. He spin-dashed straight into the kit’s chest, pressing him deeper and deeper into the rough, ragged cavern floor. One of his mechanical tails snapped from the shear force the spin dash on his body. Sonic slowly picked the broken hunk of metal, held it above the little fox’s body, and …
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He ran as far as he can go. He ran and ran until he just couldn’t anymore and broke down in the middle of f@!king boscage maze. They’re dead. Both of them are dead. And it’s his fault isn’t it? If he had listened to Shadow about Nine then he wouldn’t had gotten electrocuted. If he had listened to Nine then Nine wouldn’t have betrayed them. If he had listened to his friends then none of this would’ve happened in the first place. But he didn’t. And now they’re all dead. So why even try? Why even try to help people if you only end up hurting them? What’s the point? What’s the point of anything anymore? Sonic’s grip on sanity finally snaps, when someone finally finds him….
It’s Thorn. She’s been watching Sonic this whole time and is understandably disturbed by the whole, watching someone have a meltdown thing. Seeing that Sonic has seemingly calmed down, she reaches to ask what happened to him, why he was so scared, but it was too late. Sonic grabbed Thorn by the neck, just before Mangey, Prim, and Gnarly came looking for her. Meanwhile:
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Shadow tackles Nine, shoving him into the portal and just barely managing to close it before he got back. But now, both Shadow and Nine are both stranded. Without the shards, Nine can’t create a portal to escape the Grim. Shadow can’t enter any of the shatter spaces, so even if he could leave the ghost world, he’d still be trapped. They’re both stuck. 
Back with Sonic, the boscage maze crew are still trying to snap him out of it as he attacks them and their home. Prim keeps arguing this is pointless, that they should just beat him up until he leaves, but Thorn won’t let that happen. Sonic’s still in there. He has to be. This gamble fails, the forest is mostly destroyed and Mangey is injured. (btw the boscage maze stuff I just talked about isn’t very plot relevant, just wanted to mention it cause I could.) When Sonic finally leaves boscage, he plans to go to the other realities as well, destroying them one by one. But, for some reason, he decides to go to the Grim instead. He’s not quite sure why, but goes anyway. Why not, after all? 
Nine has been on edge the entire time he’s been in the Grim. It made sense, after all. Sonic was still alive, and presumably, still looking for the last shard. His best bet was to try to find it before he found him. Nine had been searching for about a day and a half, getting increasingly desperate by the hour. He wished he had stolen the tech he gave to Sonic, or made another one that could help him track where the shard was. Suddenly, Sonic arrives. And Nine’s not exactly happy to see him again. Sonic immediately starts attacking, Nine trying as hard as he can to get a hit in. As they’re fighting, Nine has a realization. He can use this to his advantage. All he has to do is keep Sonic chasing him and his shoes will tell him where the last shard is. Then, try to trigger the “voice” so he can get the shard. Finally, finish. the. job. Unfortunately, the second step doesn’t go to plan. He’s able to get the shard but…….
Sonic gets to him before Nine could run off with it.
And when he watched him bleed out, when he watched the blood pour out of his chest, when he realized that he was dead, that there was no way he could come back from this, no way he could still miraculously be alive, no chance that he could ever fix what he had done, Sonic fully accepted what he had become. A mindless, murderous, monster.
Shadow has been waiting this whole time; waiting for Sonic, waiting for the last shard, and waiting for a chance to actually apologize for what happened at the workshop. But that chance had already passed, it seemed. Sonic slowly walked into the cave, where everything started, Grim shard and metal tail both in hand. The two hedgehogs met eyes. Sonic stood in shock for a minute, then smiled. One last person to kill.  He hopped down from the cave’s mouth, tossed the shard to the side, and gripped the bloody scrap metal harder. Then, he lunged. They start battling it out as Shadow tries to put the pieces together on what happened. Sonic keeps teasing and joking with Shadz while they’re battling it out. Eventually it just devolve into rants about how stupid everything is, and how stupid he was for ever thinking he was a good person. When Shadow finally gets a good look at how deteriorated Sonic’s mind has become, he can’t help but wonder what he could’ve done to stop this. But it’s too late for that now. He was too slow. Shadow eventually gets the upper hand and corners Sonic, toppling him over. Here’s the passage I wrote for the next scene: 
——————————————————————
Shadow grasped the jagged piece of metal and held it just above the blue hedgehog’s skull, shaking with what he couldn’t tell was rage or fear. Sonic’s eyes stared up at him, his maniacal grin completely wiped. Instead, a blank expression crossed his face. It wasn’t exactly fear, it wasn’t exactly shock, it wasn’t exactly sadness and it wasn’t exactly relief. It was…. everything, all mashed into one giant, unreadable expression. For once, Shadow felt he genuinely understood Sonic. For once, he knew exactly what he was feeling. Shadow dropped the blade. He hugged him.
“Wh-?”
“Because you need it.”
Sonic couldn’t hold back any longer. The tears that he had been repressing for so long now streamed down his cheeks like waterfalls as he leaned further and further into Shadow’s embrace. All the words he had wanted to say for so long spilled out of his mouth in a giant river, jumbled and broken and completely incoherent as he tried to explain it all, as he tried and tried and tried to apologize for everything he had done. 
“I-I didn’t-”
“Shhh”
“I j-just-”
“Shhh”
“I c-couldn’t”
“It’s OK. Sonic, look at me.”
He lifted up Sonic’s tear stricken face with his hand, staring into his eyes, tinted with pain.
“It’s all gonna be OK.”
the end.
———————————————————————
And that’s it! This took a while to write, so thanks for sticking around through it all, that was really cool of you. A few little notes about the epilogue & after story.
Epilogue:
I need to clear something up before I can start discussing what happens in the epilogue. You may have noticed some of the Sonic art I’ve posted (mostly the ones with Sonic using a prosthetic arm) mentioned something about an epilogue. This is a mistake. What past me was trying to say was that this was from the after story. I just forgot the word for it, sorry! With that out of the way, let’s begin. After Sonic’s finally cried it all out, they both get up and he thanks Shadow for the hug. Shadow accepts, and there’s a cute lil scene where the two of them are just… talking, while they go to grab the last shard from the top of the mountain to put it back in its place. After they’re done, Sonic hesitates for a moment. Should he go back to them? After everything, he doesn’t really believe that they would want to see him, not after what he’d done. But Shadow reassures him that if HE could forgive Sonic, then his friends probably would too. They both go their separate ways, and Sonic finally gets to see his friends again. He (tries) to explain what happened, why he’s missing an arm and covered in blood, all that stuff, and they are understandably horrified at…. EVERYTHING he’s saying but ultimately forgive him. They all leave to get chili dogs, and we end with the whole gang minus Shadow having a picnic and Sonic FINALLY taking a nap on Tail’s tails.
After Story: 
I don’t have much of this part planned out outside from a prosthetic design for Sonic and the BAREST of story outlines so I’m just gonna make a bullet point list.
Eggman steals the paradox prism
Everyone (including Shadow) gets together to make a plan to steal it back
Sonic messes up the plan somehow and starts freaking out
Shadow yells at him, making it worse
Sonic runs away and has a panic attack 
After he calms down a little, Shadow goes to apologize 
They go back and come up with a new plan
It works & they all go get some food (including Shadow, after a lot of convincing)
———————————————————————
Final, FINAL Notes: OH MY GOD THIS TOOK SO LONG TO WRITE THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DONE IN ONE WEEK OH MY GOD. thank you again so much for reading all of this this is so long oh my freaking god why’d I make this so long? uh, this mostly serves as a reference sheet so you know what scene im drawing so I can stop getting questions on what is going on. speaking of questions, if you have any, ask! im bad at explaining stuff, so im sure there’s PLENTY. just to make sure im not getting anyone’s hopes up btw, i dont know if I’ll actually end up making this a full fic, mostly cause ive never made one before & i dont know how to use ao3 yet :( feel free to use any and all ideas mentioned within this mega-essay with or without credit, i support you! with this last, last, LAST note, I think I will leave you be.
(also sorry that this took so long to write, it got deleted 3 separate times so I had to start over haha :))))))))))
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son1c · 1 year
Text
festival time :3c
falling stars fic masterpost
The construction zone was long and winding. Sonic and Shadow's race took them all the way through it, and the farther in they got, the more metallic their surroundings became. Green steel dominated everything, and hazards were abundant. Whatever they were building here was still far from finished.
The motobug swerved around cones and barriers, and even weaved in and out of stray beams whenever it felt like Sonic could fit. They had lost sight of Shadow awhile ago, but his dusty footprints were illuminated by the tall street lights lining their path, so they knew he wasn't far ahead.
After leaping over a small gap in the lattice floor, Sonic spotted something crumpled on the ground up ahead, and made sure to snatch it as the motobug drove past. It was a poster.
Eventually, the construction zone came to an end. Shadow was waiting for them at the foot of a flashing billboard. In big, shimmering letters, it read: WELCOME TO STARLIGHT, THE CITY THAT SHINES IN THE DARK.
"You certainly took your time," Shadow said, his smirk from before still on his face.
"Hey! Not my fault Buggy wanted to do a little sightseeing." Sonic stuck his tongue out at Shadow, teasing him. The race had put him in a good mood, even though he had lost.
Shadow rolled his eyes. "Blaming the robot for your defeat, hedgehog?" His smirk faded, and his attention fell to the poster in Sonic's hands. Then, he asked, "You picked up a souvenir?"
Sonic shrugged. "Eh, it's not much. Just figured it shouldn't be left around as litter." He smoothed out the poster, looking it over curiously. When he read through it, a smile appeared on his face. "Looks like we showed up right on time! These guys are having a festival right now!"
"Let me see that," Shadow said. Sonic handed him the poster, and then Shadow confirmed the blue hedgehog's statement. "The Starfall Festival?" he murmured. It didn't ring a bell, but according to the advertisement, this would be the 100th annual celebration.
"Can't go wrong with a festival," Sonic said. "There's always food, drinks, and fun! Sounds like a real bash to me--we should totally check it out!"
Shadow rubbed his thumb thoughtfully over the poster. Sure, it sounded like fun. However, "Fun isn't my priority," he said. "I'm more concerned with the truth. About myself--and about you, as well."
Sonic considered this. The motobug beeped, also considering. Sonic reached down and scratched its cheek, causing the motobug to beep again, happier this time.
"Well," Sonic began, "if there's one thing I know about parties, it's that most people like 'em. So, there's bound to be a bunch of people at the festival, 'specially one as big as this. Maybe someone there will know something about what happened to us?"
Shadow was satisfied with that answer. He figured that Starlight City wasn't too far from where they had originally woken up, and so the likelihood of them encountering someone who had information about their situation was non-zero. At the very least, that crater they had found themselves in and the damaged forest that surrounded it was sure to have made a lot of noise. Enough noise to have been heard from the next city over, if they were lucky.
But first, they would need to get inside the city. And that proved to be a problem when, after walking up to the security checkpoint, the lady at the counter paled at the sight of them. She pointed a shaking finger at the robot Sonic was riding on, and said, "No, no! I won't allow it!"
Sonic and Shadow looked at each other. The motobug chirped nervously.
"You got a problem with robots?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.
The security officer reeled back. Only her eyes were visible now, peeking out from over the top of the counter she was hiding behind. She seemed unwilling to take her eyes off the motobug. "Yes! Yes, when they're… those robots."
Sonic made a face. Then, he looked down at the motobug. The robot looked back up at him with its wide electronic eyes.
After giving the little robot a reassuring pat, Sonic asked the lady, "What's wrong with them?"
The security officer's nostrils flared. Her fear retreated to make room for anger, and she stood up to her full height--though she remained behind the safety of the counter. "Those little beasties are the reason why I can't sleep at night!" she spat. "They're like locusts! If they'd never come to our town, I wouldn't have to deal with all the jackhammers trying to rebuild everything!"
Shadow remembered his reservations from earlier. He frowned at the motobug before turning to the lady and asking, "Your town was destroyed by robots like this one?"
The lady's eyes flashed. Her wool, which was already very puffy, puffed up even more at the question. "Destroyed?" she repeated, her voice dripping with hatred. But then she sighed, and her death grip on her clipboard loosened slightly. "No, no," she said, sounding tired now. "Not destroyed… but almost. Pest control took care of it--or so I thought. Guess they missed one."
Shadow's eyebrows furrowed. That would explain why they had found the robot alone, deserted in the middle of the construction zone. And why it had been terrified at the sight of them. It was probably thinking they were there to finish the job, and exterminate it.
The motobug tapped its claws together anxiously. Shadow saw this, saw Sonic still riding on its back and as such, able to rest his broken leg, and decided to drop whatever reservations he still had about the little robot.
"It won't do you any harm now," Shadow said seriously. "We will make sure of that."
Sonic flashed the lady a thumbs up. "If you guys can rebuild, so can this little guy. Turning over a new leaf starts with being given a second chance, right?"
Pressing her lips into a hard line, the security officer looked down at the motobug. It spun its antennas in a slow circle, its eyes pointed at the floor. It looked so different now from how she remembered it--all caught up in a swarm of hundreds, thousands of them, their sharp metal pincers smashing through windows and breaking down doors.
They had almost ruined the festival. Almost.
"You hedgies better not make me regret this," she muttered. Then, she set down her clipboard, and pulled out a big yellow sticker from a drawer behind the counter. It was in the shape of a star. "Put this on it," she said, holding out the sticker to Sonic. "It's a pass. For the Starfall Festival."
Sonic grinned. He took the sticker from her eagerly. "Thanks!" he said.
Shadow watched as Sonic peeled the sticker off the sheet, and then stuck it on the motobug's forehead. The little robot looked up at it curiously, and to itself, it wondered what Eggman would think of the sparkly new decal. But it was best to reserve its meager processing power for the blue hedgehog, so it quickly stopped wondering.
Gesturing towards the city, the security officer said, "Head to Main Street for the directory, we've got a few extra events this year for the anniversary. There's a bulletin posted around somewhere too. Oh, and"--she cast a cold glance at the motobug--"if I hear anything about your beastie, I'll get pest control on the phone before you can say 'vermin.'"
With that threat in mind, the motobug drove Sonic to Main Street with Shadow walking alongside them. The city unfolded in front of them, big and bright and exciting. There were twinkling lights strung up on every corner, guard rail, and street lamp. More than that, there were people everywhere; some of them were holding sparklers, some of them were enjoying a yummy treat from one of the festival's many vendors, and some of them were painting murals of the night sky on the ground.
It was a welcome change from the oppressive emptiness of the ghost town. Even though the abundance of noise set Shadow on edge, it felt good to be heading towards a goal again. This time, the goal was a vendor, and the hedgehogs had the straightforward mission of finally getting some food.
The directory in the middle of Main Street showed them the way. And after turning a corner, they found themselves in the middle of a grassy pavilion.
The pavilion was filled with games, rides, and most importantly, food. Sonic urged the motobug towards the closest one, a chilidog vendor. The smell wafting from the cart enamored Sonic and made his empty stomach growl loudly.
The vendor chuckled at this, his blotchy red cheeks softening with a smile. "Enjoy," he said as he handed Sonic a fresh chilidog. He didn't ask for payment--the festival goodies were always free.
The gooey cheese, the tall stack of chili, the perfectly toasted bun… it all came together to create the most beautiful work of art that Sonic had ever seen. He was sure that it would've tasted amazing even if he wasn't starving, but his empty stomach cranked up the deliciousness factor to 11. He barely held himself back from eating it all in one bite--but he knew it would be really embarrassing if he choked on it. So, he ate it in two instead.
"Stripes, you gotta try this!" Sonic said, his eyes sparkling like a hundred million diamonds. Yes, he was really that excited about it.
Shadow looked uncertainly at the chilidog the vendor was holding out to him. He wasn't smitten with it like Sonic was. He was finally starting to get a little hungry, though. So, he took it, and took a single mousy bite. Sonic waited intently for his reaction, and was somewhat disappointed when all he could say about it was, "It's edible."
Sonic's disappointment was forgotten, however, when Shadow handed him the chilidog.
"I must admit," Shadow said, the tiniest hint of amusement in his voice, "I wasn't expecting to uncover a truth about your past so soon."
"Oh, yeah? And what's that?" Sonic asked, already done eating the second chilidog and looking happier than ever. His face was a disaster, his cheeks covered in cheese and chili.
Shadow grabbed a napkin and dropped it on Sonic's head. "You're a mess."
Sonic snorted. "I was hungry!" came his indignant reply. He still took the napkin, though.
They continued on through the pavilion. There was a vendor for everything from spaghetti to ice cream to spaghetti ice cream, but none of them appealed all that much to Shadow. That was, however, until they came across a stand selling cakes. The irony was not lost on him, but when he cut into the slice of coffee cake and saw no green slime pour out, he figured the joke ended there. And it did--the cake had a bitter edge, and he found he liked the taste.
Meanwhile, Sonic tried his own slice of coffee cake and hated it. He had better luck with the more savory cheesecake.
By now, a few people in the pavilion had started staring at the motobug that Sonic was using as a scooter, and so Shadow quickly threw his plate away and ushered his companions out of the pavilion. The street they stepped onto was tighter than the wide open pavilion, with booths set up on both sides of the street. Festival goers had to squeeze past each other to get to the more popular booths.
It was when they passed by an unpopular booth that Shadow's ears perked up. He heard the woman at the table mention something about real shooting stars. He motioned for the motobug to stop, and it did, parking itself in front of the woman's ornate golden table.
The woman flashed a dazzling smile. "That's odd," she said, her big glasses catching the festival lights like a kaleidoscope. "I know everyone, but I don't know you. Are you folks new in town?"
"Brand new," Sonic replied. "Gotta say, I wasn't expecting all this fanfare, but I'd never flake on my own welcome party!"
"Ha!" The woman leaned forward, her eyes glittering. "Funny guy. I like you." She slid over a photo album from where it was sitting on the other end of the table. Then, she pushed it forward, in front of Sonic and Shadow. "This festival has a lot more history than you might think. See for yourself."
Shadow flipped open the album. Inside, there was an old black and white photograph of the night sky. Although it was grainy, the focal point of the photo was clearly the white smudge in the middle--a shooting star? When Shadow turned more pages, he saw that every page had a similar photo, one for every year from the past 100 years.
And the one from this year…
"Weird, right?" the woman said. "Every year we've seen a falling star, but this year we saw two."
Sonic and Shadow looked at the picture. It was in full glossy color, so the details were easy to pick out, like how the two stars seemed tangled together. Their twin tails streaked across the sky in an array of colorful fire, plummeting down to the forest below.
The two hedgehogs shared a look. Then, Shadow asked the woman, "When was this taken?"
With a long, bejewelled fingernail, the woman tapped her chin. "That one? Hmm… Three days ago, maybe four." She sighed wistfully. "It's a shame you folks didn't get here sooner. It was quite the sight to see! And right after that hubbub with the moon, too."
Sonic's ear twitched. He looked up at the clear night sky, and stared at the broken moon. It stared back at him silently.
"The sky's been a busy place recently," the woman continued. "First the moon, then the space station, and finally that pair of falling stars. It makes me wonder if that little planet will pay us a visit soon, too. I guess only time will tell!"
Shadow was quiet. He was thinking about what the woman had said. It caused one of the echoes to get louder in his brain, bouncing down the empty hallways of his mind until it was all he could hear. The space station… he knew it. He could picture it. See himself, pressing his hand up against the window. Looking down at the pale blue planet below.
Gently, Sonic nudged Shadow's shoulder.
The dark hedgehog snapped out of the memory instantly. "What happened to the space station?" he asked.
The woman blinked. "Oh, I'm not sure. I think it's still up there somewhere." The strange look on Shadow's face gave her pause. Then, she added, "They've been talking about it on the news for awhile. I just don't care to listen, since most of the reports are sponsored by G.U.N."
Shadow frowned. That uncomfortable acronym again…
The woman placed a small sack on the table. "Well," she said, "thanks for listening to an old crow squawk. In honor of the centennial celebration, please take this."
Sonic grabbed the sack with interest. Inside were two golden earrings shaped like stars. Grinning, he clipped one on immediately. Then, he held the other one out to Shadow. Shadow, however, wasn't nearly as enthusiastic about the jewellery, and was about to say as much, when Sonic asked slyly, "What's the matter? Afraid of a little bling?"
Scowling, Shadow snatched the earring from him and clipped it on with a huff. "Of course not," he said. "Don't be ridiculous, Blue."
Then, Sonic waved goodbye to the woman at the booth, and the two hedgehogs continued down the crowded street. They were now headed towards the tallest building in the city, the one with the bulletin board posted on it. They could see the screen glowing bright white as they approached it, but it wasn't until they were directly under it that they could read what was on it.
Make a wish for the hero, Sonic the Hedgehog. Late, but never slow.
There was a blurry photo under the text. It was of a hedgehog, but his features were unclear thanks to the low quality of the picture. Shadow couldn't help but wonder why they chose that one. Maybe every photo of the guy was a blur of motion?
Sonic turned to Shadow. Then, he looked back at the bulletin board. "Hey, Stripes," he said slowly, "that guy looks kinda like you."
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