#anyway much more fun to imagine eggman with my problems

[thesarcasticism]

happy tax day everyone!

i commissioned my friend @weird-hoodie-kid to draw this to further my headcanon of "eggman is the only sonic character who pays taxes."

#sth #sonic the hedgehog #sage robotnik #eggman #dr eggman #us taxes #tax season #posting this to distract myself from the amount of taxes i owe on this day. independent contractors be like #anyway much more fun to imagine eggman with my problems #really love how it turned out

[zosonils]

Crossover you say 👀

OKAY SO. SONIC COLOURS/MEGA MAN CROSSOVER

i don't have much in mind story wise, but i'm thinking it takes place under the same conditions as worlds collide, which i insist on believing also happened nearly identically offscreen in the game timeline because nobody can tell me otherwise. fairly basic setup of eggman and wily teaming up to cause problems on purpose and sonic and rock working together to stop them, and now there's wisps in the mix >:O i'm sure i could think up a fun excuse plot for why sonic colours happens twice and also mega man is here now, but mostly this was just an excuse to put the special interest in the hyperfixation and come up with some fun weapons for rock based on my first and favourite sonic game

each robot master is based on a wisp from either version of the original colours, which causes a little confusion given that you end up with two burst men and drill men but these ones have different EWN-XXX serial numbers and are entirely unrelated to their canon mega man counterparts. i haven't actually drawn the robot masters yet or thought up designs or personalities, just come up with their weapons and what stage they'd inhabit, but maybe i'll do that sometime. the robot masters are something like this

EWN-010 BURST MAN - weak to drill dash, gives bursting blaze, sweet mountain stage

EWN-011 ROCKET MAN - weak to cubic satellite, gives rocket jump, terminal velocity stage

EWN-012 DRILL MAN - weak to spike spin, gives drill dash, tropical resort stage

EWN-013 HOVER MAN - weak to rocket jump, gives hovering shockwave, starlight carnival stage

EWN-014 LASER MAN - weak to frenetic void, gives prism laser, aquarium park stage

EWN-015 CUBE MAN - weak to prism laser, gives cubic satellite, wii game land stage

EWN-016 VOID MAN - weak to bursting blaze, gives frenetic void, asteroid coaster stage

EWN-017 SPIKE MAN - weak to hovering shockwave, gives spike spin, planet wisp stage

i wrote up some really detailed information on how all the weapons work but i'll put that under a cut to prevent this post from getting too long! if you don't feel like reading massive paragraphs of game design ideas, here's the microsoft paint scribblings i did of all of them [sonic is there too]

BURSTING BLAZE

a chargeable attack that blasts out a sphere of fire to deal damage. charging it longer sends the fire out further and increases its damage output, but costs more weapon energy. without any charging it's a pretty standard low-range attack, but at maximum charge it functions as a screen nuke on par with the likes of rain flush, tornado blow, or astro crush. if rock takes damage while charging bursting blaze, he'll automatically release it at whatever charge level it was at when he got hit. in addition to the obvious usefulness of a fucking screen nuke, a less- or uncharged bursting blaze can be a handy way to quickly get some personal space in a tight situation.

cost: 1 unit when uncharged, 7 when fully charged [28 uses uncharged or 4 fully charged from a full gauge]. has five in-between charge levels costing 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 units from least to most powerful.

i came up with this name first because i wanted it to have blaze in it because i fucking love blaze the cat.

ROCKET JUMP

an explosion that launches rock much higher than a normal jump would take him, about the height of one screen. in addition to the explosion at the bottom dealing damage, rock's body deals contact damage until his upward momentum stops, which tears through enemies with low health or a weakness to rocket jump but doesn't protect him against bulkier foes or stage hazards. while he can still move left or right while rocketing upwards, the only way for rock to stop moving upwards is to either naturally run out of momentum, hit a ceiling, or take damage.

some platforms can only be reached by using rocket jump.

cost: 3 units per use [10 uses from a full gauge]

obviously a joke based on the rocket jump technique in a lot of video games, lmao. rock blows himself up and ragdolls so hard he clips out of the interstellar amusement park and sonic watches as he falls past every kill plane and into infinity forever

DRILL DASH

a dash attack slightly faster than the slide going straight down, sideways, or diagonally down-left or down-right, similar to the pile driver but shorter and without upwards reach. has fairly low attack power, equivalent to two mega buster shots, but pushes surviving enemies back, allowing them to be hit again and again with a chain of drill dashes. underwater, it moves significantly faster and further, and can be fired up as well as down, unlocking eight-directional dashing.

if rock hits a solid wall he'll bounce off of it, but if he hits certain types of dirt-like walls he'll drill into them, which can uncover helpful items like health and weapon refills and occasionally 1-ups or e-tanks [probably in scripted locations].

cost: 2 units per use [14 uses from a full gauge]

i've never played mighty no. 9 but i've seen footage of like the dash thingy he can do? because it probably looks kinda like that.

HOVERING SHOCKWAVE

fires a shockwave that doesn't hurt any more than a standard mega buster shot [unless the enemy in question is weak to it], but stuns most enemies and has a fairly decent range. if you fire it in midair and then hold down the attack button, rock's falling speed will decrease dramatically, and he'll continue to float until either he hits the ground, the attack button is released, or he takes damage. hovering will cost additional energy, and if hovering shockwave is used in midair it can't be used again until rock hits the ground at least once.

cost: 1.5 units per use [19 uses from a full gauge], plus an extra 3 units per second of hovering, for a total of a little under 9 seconds of hovering taking the initial shot into account.

this one's pretty directly lifted from the hover wispon in sonic forces.

PRISM LASER

a laser projectile that either bounces off or goes through anything it hits a set number of times, maybe three to five. if it destroys an enemy its movement is unchanged; if it hits a wall or an enemy that doesn't immediately die to it then it bounces instead. can be fired in all eight directions, but once fired its trajectory is out of the player's hands. basically imagine gemini laser, then imagine it being obscenely better in every conceivable way. best used in enclosed rooms where it can bounce around a lot and doesn't have much opportunity to get lost offscreen.

some rooms have prisms in them like the ones in colours that automatically redirect prism laser, guiding them to destroy enemies blocking paths and the like.

cost: 6 units per use [5 uses from a full gauge]

cyan laser was my favourite colour power when i was a little baby because haha bright colour funny sound go wheeee. prism laser is probably overpowered because of this bias lmao.

CUBIC SATELLITE

summons four [?] orbiting cubes that shield rock from one hit each. they deal damage to enemies they touch unless said enemy is immune to the power. standard shield weapon, blue cube is a lame overly situational gimmick and i couldn't think of anything better. rock can still fire and charge his mega buster while shielded, but obviously can't use any special weapons. every time a cube is destroyed, the remaining ones spin faster, looking something like the tubinaut badnik from sonic mania. that's just a visual effect i don't know what else to write here it's a shield weapon.

cost: 3.5 units per use [8 units from a full gauge]

i think i'd like shield weapons more if i knew how to use the attacking ones to actually attack. i used leaf shield about 3 times in mega man 2 and every time i flung it in the wrong direction and got hit anyway.

FRENETIC VOID

sucks in any enemies that rock is facing for as long as the attack button is held down, drawing them to a point just in front of him. when released, the blasters on his arms [which in this form morph to look like the purple frenzy mouth] crunch down in front of him, dealing slightly more damage than a charged mega buster shot to anything that's been pulled in close enough and knocking back anything that isn't destroyed. rock can't move while using frenetic void, and if anything hits him while he's vaccuuming he drops the move without the finishing bite or knockback. this move can also draw in most types of bullets, which are absorbed and disappear if they reach the void, or continue in whatever direction they were pulled in if the move ends before they get there.

cost: 3 units per use [10 units from a full gauge]

i thought it'd be cool to combine purple frenzy and violet void somehow. i used void for the robot master name because i believe in sonic colours ds port supremacy, but the decision was ultimately pretty arbitrary.

SPIKE SPIN

what top spin wishes it was. a close-range attack where spikes emerge from rock's body as he does a speen, giving him a somewhat bigger hitbox. when he hits an enemy, he bounces off of it in a manner similar to the way sonic bounces off of everything he hits. the move lasts as long as the attack button is held down, draining weapon energy over time, and rock can still walk and jump while speening. some projectiles will bounce off of spike spin [generally small bullets like those from mets or sniper joes will bounce off while anything stronger will still hurt], and holding the move makes rock immune to spikes, allowing him to walk over them safely until his weapon energy depletes.

some items may be tucked away in places that are difficult or impossible to reach without walking over spikes, requiring the use of spike spin to reach them.

cost: 4 units per second, for a total of 7 seconds of spinning from a full gauge. the first unit is depleted the moment the button is pressed so the move can't be scummed into lasting longer.

honestly now that i'm thinking about this i might change spike spin to act a little more like how pink spike spindashes, but i was overcome by a desire for justice for top man.

i don't know how to end this post lmao but i've been thinking about this crossover for days on end. i know damn well it's a pipe dream but right now i'm in just the right mode of hyperfixation that if sega and capcom announced a sonic/mega man crossover in a video game that isn't smash lmao i would ASCEND

#i had so much fun drawing those shitty microsoft paint mega men lmao #just fucking whatever #mega man #sonic the hedgehog #sonic colours #mega colours #that's what the .txt file i'm writing this all down in is called so that's what i'm tagging this crossover as in case i post about it again #i have a whole bunch of other miscellaneous ideas for how this'd go but the main thing was coming up with funni weapons #i could apologise for making such a long post but i am not going to i think. i used a readmore i have no excuse to feel bad about dash clog #can't wait for all the speedrunners to go for drill man first and spam drill dash for the entire game #sonic forces me to answer questions #aprofessionallurker

[crusherthedoctor]

Crusher Elaborations #1: Thoughts on the Aesthetic of Sonic’s World

If someone came up to me and asked “Which do you prefer, Classic Sonic or Modern Sonic?”, my answer would start off with “Well, technically Classic Sonic because...”, and then I'd get cut off by the other person immediately lecturing me on why I'm wrong and why I'm the worst kind of fan imaginable. Should they finish their rant, I would then explain to them in the midst of them basking in their flock of easy Twitter likes that I didn't necessarily mean it in the way they predicted.

If we were talking about the games, the characters, or the character design, I'd be fairly neutral, since I like both halves equally for the most part. In fact, when it comes to characters, Modern might actually have the edge believe it or not, since the sheer number of characters introduced from SA1 onwards naturally means a lot of my favourites were introduced from that point on, such as Tikal, Rouge, Gamma, Omega, Blaze... But then again, Classic introduced Eggman and Tails, and the Hard-Boiled Heavies are technically Classic as well despite being relatively new...

Anyway, the point is, I'm not talking about any of that today. I'm talking about the world that Sonic and his multicolored chums live in. Or rather, the aesthetic of it.

NOTE: This is purely about the game universe. While I do have my thoughts on Sonic’s world as presented in other continuities, that won’t be the focus here.

If you're familiar with my blog, you'll know that as a general rule of thumb, I much prefer colorful and creative worlds in my Sonic universe, and that rings true for my reasoning here. And I know what you're gonna say: “But Crusher, isn't there plenty of that in the Modern games as well?” Yes, there is, and I appreciate them very much. But this is why I feel the need to make a post of this sort to begin with, because I'm NOT saying “Classic cool, Modern boring” and calling it a day. There's a little more nuance to my tastes here.

When I say I prefer the Classic aesthetic for Sonic's world, I don't mean it in the literal sense of disregarding everything about the Modern aesthetic. Let's put it like this: when you're asked to paint a picture of these two sides of Sonic's universe in your head, a specific image will likely come to mind. When you think of Classic, you'll probably think of Green Hill first and foremost, whereas with Modern, you'll probably think of something like City Escape or Rooftop Run before anything else. In other words, when you think Modern Sonic, you're probably imagining the more realistic kind of locations first. And between the two mental images that come to mind, I personally prefer the Classic image. Shock, horror.

I wish I could swim in a sea that’s probably radioactive.

Now keep in mind, I'm not saying that City Escape, Rooftop Run, and all similar environments in the series look bad, because they don't. Unless they're painted with the '06 brush, they generally look fine, and the locations in Unleashed in particular are undeniably beautiful from an graphical standpoint. The problem is that although I can picture this as a world that Sonic could be in, I can't necessarily picture it as Sonic's world specifically. Because when it comes to the more realistic environments, I feel there's not much of an attempt to let it branch out as its own thing.

I know that might seem harsh, especially for Unleashed, since the real world angle was the deliberate theme of that game. And Sonic taking cues from real places is a fine concept, there's no issue there. I'm not gonna complain if there's a France Zone with an Eiffel Tower in the background. In fact, Sandopolis Act 1 has one of my favourite aesthetics in a Classic zone (mainly because the background is really pleasant to look at), and that zone is essentially Egypt Zone. But if you're making a Real World Zone, there needs to be more to it than that, otherwise you don't truly get a Sonic interpretation of our world... you instead have our world as it is with Sonic characters awkwardly stapled on.

When I look at City Escape, it may not be completely unfitting for Sonic (the posters and billboards in particular are actually a really nice touch), but when I look at it, I don't see Sonic's interpretation of San Francisco. I see San Francisco with Sonic shoved in. When they morph these places to Sonic's liking, they'll add rings, loops... and that's it. They rarely take the concept any further, which is a huge shame, particularly in the case of Rooftop Run, where I otherwise do like its visuals a lot, but it just doesn't go far enough with the concept for my liking.

At least you get to murder car owners, and give G.U.N. a legitimate reason to arrest you.

So which Modern games do I feel did the best job at making Sonic's world... er, Sonic's world? Well the truth is, most of them actually do a decent job in this area, regardless of the level design quality or the game’s quality period. SA2 has Pumpkin Hill, Eggman's Pyramid Base, and... SOME levels aboard the A.R.K (mainly the “outside” ones, like Final Rush). Shadow the Hedgehog, a game that reveled in how brown and gritty it was, still had highlights like Circus Park and Digital Circuit. Even '06 of all games had Aquatic Base, which was pretty cool from a conceptual standpoint. And although Unleashed as a whole might be a touch too vanilla in the creativity scale, it still had the glorious Eggmanland at the very end. But if I had to say which of the Modern installments did the best job overall...

- For starters, I'm gonna give a shoutout to SA1, because even though it was the first Modern game, and thus it was technically responsible for the more focused angle of realism in Sonic's world in the first place, it didn't take it quite as far as later games would, and although it may not be a perfect 1-to-1 representation of the world we saw in the Classic games, it does well enough with what it brings to the table that I can still accept it without any issue at all. Some of that has to do with the fact that you still have wilder areas like Windy Valley and Red Mountain to balance things out, but even with the other half, the game's use of colour is enough for it to go a long way, oddly enough. Take the At Dawn section of Speed Highway for instance:

From innocent times, when the radar wasn’t a piece of shit.

Technically, it's really not that different to the urban environments you see in SA2 or Unleashed. But something about the sleepy morning approach gives it a subtle, almost dream-like edge to it that I really dig, and despite it being pretty similar to the likes of City Escape, somehow I have an easier time buying into the idea of this place being part of the same world as zones like Sky Sanctuary.

And seeing how I already mentioned Red Mountain, let me compare it to Flame Core:

Yes, I know bringing '06 into this discussion at all is inherently and hilariously unfair, but let's put aside the game that Flame Core comes from for a moment. Aside from maybe the purple crystal caves indoors (and that's assuming you can even see where the fuck you're going in there), Flame Core is pretty boring to look at as far as Sonic levels go. Red Mountain is vastly more interesting, even though it's basically the exact same concept, and a lot of that has to do with - you guessed it - colour. Sure, it's day time, that's one thing, but you'll also notice that for a lava/mountain stage, it surprisingly has a few grassier sections, sort of like Hill Top in that regard. A little bit of green among the brown and red, and a great contrast to the volcanic nightmare you'll experience when you head inside.

Now this might seem like a fairly minor detail... and yeah, it is, but the thing that SA1 does so well is that it combines so many of those small details to make a complete, well-rounded package. This is why SA1 meshes well with the Classic style despite not being an exact replica, because just as the Classics excelled at, it wasn't afraid to use colour in interesting ways. It understood that a fire level could have more than just red and orange, in the same way that a grassy level could have more than just green and blue.

But of course, as I mentioned, SA1 is not an exception. There are other Modern games that did a great job on the whole...

- Heroes is an obvious answer, since it's translation of Genesis-style environments to 3D is probably one of the most recurring praises the game receives, and rightly so. Not much to say here, except that Hang Castle is still cool as hell.

And plenty of opportunity to admire the not-broken-in-half moon.

- Colours is another obvious one, though something of an ironic one given that the premise of the game involved going to other worlds, and those worlds were all converted against their will by Eggman. Yet, they did an equally superb job at creating fun, unique locales, and Aquarium Park in particular remains a favourite of mine.

Gotta love that red/blue contrast.

- The Riders series has a more futuristic bend compared to the rest of the series, but even when it's not all high-tech, it's got some pretty cool environments of its own, and I feel they even do well at mixing the real world side of things on top of that. Gigan Rocks comes to mind, as does Aquatic Capital.

Reminds me of when Perfect Chaos peacefully protested against Station Square.

- Regardless of my thoughts on the game itself, Secret Rings had some undeniable winners in this depertment. You tell me with a straight face that Night Palace doesn't look amazing.

A wonderful palace for a domestic abuser.

- And lastly, they might have had an early advantage since they're already 2D, but the Advance trilogy and Rush duology deserve a mention. They had some fantastic ideas for zones, like Planet Sonata Music Plant, and they did great with the colours as well. Hell, throughout these five games, the sky was practically every shade of the rainbow at one point or another.

Oh look, another completely whole moon.

Also, quick shoutout to another minor detail akin to the grassy sections of Red Mountain: these pink tunnel sections in Ice Mountain. No elaborate point to make here, just another perfect example of how much I adore these games' use of colour and contrast.

Seriously, I could go on for hours about good contrast.

Although I do bring up these small details for another reason, and in turn, another layer to my more nuanced take on Sonic aesthetics. By this point, we get the basic jist: Crusher likey when Sonic levels unique and pretty. But this can - and has - lead to a couple of misconceptions, so I'd like to address those and then laugh at them.

“So you want Sonic's world to be exactly like Mario?”

A common complaint that Lost World received was that it was too much like Mario, in more ways than one, and part of this was to do with the game's visual style. The zones may have been upbeat, but they often consisted of a bunch of things floating in the air and not much else, ala 2D Mario. While I didn't outright hate it, it’s definitely not what I have in mind for Sonic.

Of course, all complaints about being too much like Mario suddenly turn into praise when Eggette gets brought up...

And why is that? Because yes, I like my Sonic locations to be fun and lively... but I also want them to be firmly established within the context of this universe. The Lost World approach is fine with Special Stages and the sort, but outside of that... well, Studiopolis is a perfect example of what I'm talking about:

On one hand, it's very unique when compared to other cities in this franchise, and it's full of quirkiness, great use of colour, and all that good stuff I've went on about. But at the same time, it's grounded just enough so that it still feels like an actual city that the people of Sonic's world could feasibly live in, rather than a basic and empty video game level with a tacked on city background. Studiopolis may be a level from a video game, but you can totally believe it's a fully fleshed out place from its own perspective.

Naturally, this praise also rings true with the Modern games I listed earlier, and is yet another reason for why I approve of their settings.

“So you think Sonic can't have darker locations?”

It might be easy to take my compliments at face value, and assume that I'm immediately opposed to a zone that's not brightly colored. This is... very obviously false, as even the Classic games have their share of less-than-cheery areas, such as Scrap Brain and the Bad Futures in Sonic CD.

However, when you're making a grittier location in Sonic's world, regardless of the context, it still needs to be interesting. The problem with a lot of them in Modern installments is that they're boring. Crisis City is a generic city on fire. Westopolis is a generic city with aliens firing lasers from above. The prison levels in SA2 - and the indoor ARK levels not named Cannon's Core - are just grey hallways for the most part. That shit isn't exciting, and it doesn't get my mind speculating. It just makes me want to move on.

Let the eggsperts take care of this.

By contrast, Eggmanland is a prime example of how to do it right. Eggmanland is a magnificent theme park as envisioned by the good doctor, but it's also, at its core, a giant metal hellscape fueled by the energy of a dark entity, and it only gets more ominous the further you go through it or try to before you give up because it’s too fucking long and you died at the end. So it sets the mood to be sure, but it's still visually compelling to look at, and interesting to think about.

And since Eggman is apparently the only one who can show us how it's done, here's a shoutout to Titanic Monarch as well:

Like Heavy King, but Heavier and Kingier.

When comparing the final zones in Sonic games, I especially love this zone's visual approach, because it manages to be dark and colorful at the same time, and in a strangly organic way. It's got a spooky atmosphere, with a moody moonlight backdrop to match, and the titular robot is foreboding as hell as you climb up it and traverse through it... all the while having red floors, green and yellow wires, blue and pink buildings, and stained glass windows of Eggman and the Heavies for you to marvel at. So even putting aside the unique scenario of climbing up and then through a Kaiju-sized mech, the mood of the zone alone manages to be extremely memorable.

So what have we learned from all this? Aside from the fact that I’m way too interested in this subject? We now know that when I say I prefer the Classic “style” over Modern when it comes to the way that Sonic's world is presented:

- I don't mean that literally.

- There are certain qualities that although both of them possess, they tend to be more immediately associated with Classic in the collective consciousness, even within the fandom.

- The environments that I love the most in Modern games are often the ones that would also fit perfectly in the Classic style.

So whenever I express the basic nature of this opinion in the future... just imagine a small asterisk at the end of my sentence.

#Crusher Elaborations #Opinion #Sonic the Hedgehog

[l-sincline]

Cybernetics- Cyberpunk!Sonic AU- Chapter 3

Amy Rose has been working tirelessly at her broken down booth for as long as she can imagine. Ever since Tails left their work to join forces with the revered hero of Mobius, ‘The Blue Blur’, she’s grown lonely and desperate to make her life exciting. A strange customer comes in one day asking her to fix his cyborg arm, what she didn’t know was that he would be the catalyst for a brand new life.

AO3 Tags:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Amy Rose/Shadow the Hedgehog, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Amy Rose (Sonic the Hedgehog), Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles “Tails” Prower, Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik, Rouge the Bat, Whisper the Wolf, Cream the Rabbit, Knuckles the Echidna, Badnik (Sonic the Hedgehog), E-123 Omega, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Angst, Slow Burn, Partners in Crime

AO3 Link

Previous/Next

Amy struggled to follow her mystery customer that weaved through the crowd with ease, it was now no surprise to her that he had managed to sneak up on her the first time they’d met, he practically floated through the crowd. Ducking and weaving through the tightest of spaces and the closest of people, while she clumsily followed with quiet ‘excuse me’s and ‘sorry’s. As she trailed behind him, she took this chance to take in the rest of his appearance in the light of the street lamps. His cloak was heavy, practical, and it was a deep gray with only a few tears and ragged edges. The only other thing she could really see at the moment we’re his shoes, and they looked about as mechanical as his arms. They looked heavy, but he seemed to have no problem walking in them despite their strange metal material. Maybe she’d ask about them if she got the chance, but he seemed to close up at any topic surrounding himself aside from when he’d told her his arms were custom made. 

She’d been so focused on trying to figure out his shoes that she hadn’t noticed they’d traveled out of the outer ring of the city. Now, instead of dirty streets and flickering street lights accompanied by the mass of people, they walked among street lamps in better condition and shops with some neon signs flashing in the windows, there were even a few cars parked on the side of the road, though they weren’t as upper class as the cars she’d seen in magazines and they seemed to be quite old, perhaps from a time before Earth had come to attack Mobius. There were significantly less people milling about in the middle ring, and she finally found herself able to catch up to her mystery customer. 

“I haven’t been to the middle ring in a long time- it seems like it’s cleaned up a bit more though. My friend works here now.” She started enthusiastically, wanting to have a conversation. 

“Wouldn’t you be here more often to visit them then?” He opted to ask more about her friend, which deflated her slightly, but at least he was talking. 

“Ah, well, I’m not allowed to know anything about where exactly he works and he’s constantly on call so... I can’t really just pop in and visit.” 

“What’s he do?” 

Amy paused, she doubted she was supposed to just go around spilling the beans that Tails was the Blue Blur’s personal mechanic, and thought she felt slightly bad to lie, she reminded herself that she would just be saying a partial truth, and that the mystery customer himself hadn’t exactly been spilling his guts to her either. 

“He’s a mechanic too, just on call all the time instead of having working hours.”

“Privately hired then...” he responded, more to himself than to her, but she ‘hmm’ed in confirmation anyways. 

After that, she chose to look around at the buildings they were walking past. A few bars, some convince stores, a reclaimed food place, and eventually they walked by a mechanics. The shop was large, and it had a neon sign in the front with the shops name- it was much nicer than her little booth, Amy could hardly imagine how nice it would be to work in the middle ring, and even past that how amazing it would be to work in the inner ring. Her thoughts were interrupted as she nearly bumped into the mystery customer. 

“We’re here.” He gestured to the building they stood in front of. 

It was a little rustic, made of brick, and without any windows showing the inside. A neon sign hung on the wall next to the entrance that read “Lions Den” in a bright blue. 

“Looks real inviting.” Amy announced sarcastically, this seemed to get some sort of good reaction as he snorted quietly in response. 

He stepped past her and opened the door, pushing it open wide enough for her to follow him in without having to touch the door. The inside was much different from the outside. She stood next to him in awe as he tried to wave over a waitress. It was slightly packed by all sorts of mobians, some cyborg some not. But the most impressive part of it was how it so easily echoed what she imagined the Inner Ring of the city looked like. 

The tiles on the floor were mirrors, as was the ceiling that was lined with bright blue neon lights. The bar was plexiglass, back lit by more bright blue lights as the people at the bar drank neon drinks with straws that glowed in the black light. There were rounds tables that were dotted randomly throughout the large room, mobians sat at them and drank and ate happily, occasionally pointing at the large ProjScreens that took up some blank space on the wall, projecting a live game of whatever sport was currently going on in the Inner Ring. Booths lined the wall with the same flowing plexiglass, but the seats were made of some plastic-y, metallic material that shone in all the light. 

Amy felt something smooth to the touch grab her arm and tug her in a different direction, and soon realized it was her mystery customer dragging her along to follow the waitress that was seating them. They got sat at a booth, and it was when she was handed a menu on a ProjScreen that she got to get a good look at the waitress. It was stunning, a fully automated Android was serving them. She mostly ever saw robots, ones with wheels that looked more old time-y, but the android in front of her had the exact same shape and build as your average Cat mobian. Her metal was a sleek black, and her eyes glowed blue as she handed the man across from Amy his ProjScreen menu before folding her hands behind her back once more. Her tail swished soundlessly, no metal grinding or clinking. 

“May I get you both started with something to drink?” Even her voice seemed perfect. 

“We’ll both have the Strawberry Lights.” He responded. “And some time to look over the menu, please.” 

“Of course. I’ll be back with your drinks, shutting off your ProjScreen menu will alert me that you are ready to order.” She informed before turning and walking away, blending perfectly into the chaos of the bar as she went to get their drinks. 

“Ordering for me?” Amy teased. 

“Well, I’m paying, and I think it’s fun to guess what you’d like.” He shrugged, pushing her ProjScreen towards the wall so she wouldn’t be able to look at it as he swiped through the projections on his. 

“Would it be out of line for me to ask if you plan on keeping your hood up the whole time?” She asked. He paused. 

“...Yes.” He finally replied. 

“Is there at least something I can call you?” Amy pressed, it was getting a bit strange to continue to call him her ‘mystery customer.’ 

“You can come up with something if you want.” He offered. “Seems fair, since I’m making a game out of ordering your food.”

Amy ‘hmm’ed in thought at this, quickly becoming distracted by her own thoughts as she ceased to listen to his muttering as he scrolled through the menu. Mystery customer was a no, she was trying to get away from that. Cloak boy? No, that was dumb. She could do some iteration on Cyborg but that was probably tacky, especially to a man who hid both his cyborg arms. 

“Myst! Spelled with a Y to be cooler.” She suddenly announced proudly, crossing her arms over her chest with a smug smile. 

She could feel his eyes boring into her own, before she could even worry that he thought she was strange again, he laughed and shook his head. 

“Sure.” He relented, shutting down the ProjScreen menu. 

Amy wasn’t sure what to say afterwards, so she was glad to see their waitress heading back over to them with two drinks in hand on a tray. She almost ‘ooh’ed out loud at the sight of them as the cat Android elegantly set them down on the table. 

“You’re ready to order?” She asked as she reached over the table and collected the ProjScreen menu ‘Myst’ had put aside earlier before grabbing his as well and holding them gently. 

“The flamed mango on the compact milk bread for her, and the enhanced beef stir fry for me.” He spoke loudly enough for his voice to be heard over the chatter of the restaurant. 

“Of course, enjoy your drinks while you wait.” She bowed her head slightly before walking away. 

Amy looked back to the drink and inspected in with interest. The bottom of it was bright pink, and it had a slushy like texture to it, the rest of the fancy glass was filled with what seemed to be some sort of clear soda, sitting at the bottom of the soda was a darker pink syrup that she assumed was strawberry flavored as well as the slushy. One strawberry was artfully poked onto the rim of the glass, and the metal straw poking out of the glass was also pink. She looked over to see ‘Myst’ using the straw to poke at the drink and stir it up, so she began to do the same. Eventually it got to a point where it seemed it would be fine to drink, so she did. She was first hit with the strawberry slushy, quickly followed by the strawberry infused soda- it was pretty good. 

“Wow- good guess on the drink. I think I’ll be happy with the dinner then too.” She commented. 

“I’m glad you like it, I don’t come here often but it’s what I usually get.” He replied. 

“Really? You seem so dark and mysterious I’d assume you’d get like something squid ink based, honestly.”

“Squid ink doesn’t sit well with my stomach.” He defended incredulously. “Besides, you just said yourself that this is good.”

“Okay okay!” She giggled before taking another sip of the drink. 

“So what was that woman talking about earlier? The prototype? For what?” He questioned suddenly. 

Amy was unsure if this was his way of starting a conversation or if he was genuinely after this information. Did he have something against Whisper? The previous thoughts of how she knew nothing about him flooded back into her mind and worried her. 

“Why? Do you know her?” She shot back, a bit more biting than she’d intended. He leaned back in the booth seat and shoot his head. 

“No- sorry. I know I must seem untrustworthy to you, I was just curious. I don’t know who she is.” He replied, almost reading her like an open book. She took another small sip of her drink before responding again. 

“Her name is Whisper, she’s a weapons mechanic. Ever since my work buddy left I’ve felt a little more vulnerable so I wanted to have something to defend myself with. I chatted with her a bit and put some units down for her to make me a prototype, she agreed that she would give me the prototype and let me finish it if I paid her extra.” 

“Feeling vigilante-ish?” He asked, maybe she could even say he sneered. 

“Gods no.” She responded. “I’m defending myself, that’s all. That’s more of Tail’s thing.” After the words of defense had spilled from her mouth, she zipped her lips into a straight line, she hadn’t meant to name drop. 

“Tails...?” He echoed quietly, as if he was thinking about something. 

“Yeah- he’s just a friend of mine, sorry, gosh, I shouldn’t have said his name as if you’d know anything about who he was.” She attempted a quick cover up with a bout of short, nervous laughter before covering up said nervous laughter with taking another, larger sip from her drink. 

“It’s just an interesting name is all.” He responded calmly before reaching for his drink as well, clearly still thinking hard on something, which didn’t ease her nerves, but he at the very least seemed relaxed. “Can I ask more about the prototype?” 

“Sure.” She let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. 

“What kind of weapon is it?” 

“A collapsible hammer.” She started. “The hammer itself is hollow, so when I fold the handle away I can take out a strap and turn it into a side bag and store things in it, but even though it’s hollow it’ll be made out of a strong metal so it doesn’t break easily and can still hit hard.” Amy explained. She was pretty proud of her idea, though it was quite simple, she loved it dearly, and thought it had a touch of her personality and would work well for her since it could double as a heavy duty duffel bag. 

“That’s creative.” He complimented. “I’ve never seen anything like that, it seems like it would work well for you.”

“Thanks- I designed it myself.” Amy smiled slightly and took another sip from her drink, the only other person who she’d told about her weapon was Whisper, who after being around weapons for many years was thoroughly unimpressed with its simplicity. It was nice to hear someone say her design was creative. 

“Your food.” The cat waitress’ voice suddenly cut in, setting the two plates of food down on the table. “Enjoy your meal, I will be back to collect the units when you’ve signaled your done by pressing this-“ she gestured to a button at the top of the table. “-button.” She walked away just as elegantly and quietly as she’d arrived, and Amy’s attention was directed back to the table when she heard the clinking of utensils and ‘Myst’ declare, “Time to dig in.”

#sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #Amy Rose #My writing #fanfiction #sonic fanfiction #Shadamy #cyberpunk au

[sonicfanj]

Why I dislike Amy’s Piko Piko Hammer

I’m a relatively strange individual in that over the last couple of years I’ve come to dislike Amy’s Piko Piko Hammer. I know that it’s an iconic part of her character but I just can’t bring myself to like it any more. As it has become a topic in most discussions that I seem to have anymore I wrote up a 6300 word explanation to try and detail why i dislike so it would be easier for others to see where I’m coming and thought I’d share it here too. So here it is

Amy Rose, one of the most well known and controversial characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise since her adaption into the games back in 1993. Debuting as a fangirl damsel in distress who Sonic rescues and subsequently flees from, she would continue to persist in the franchise in spinoff appearances interacting with the rest of the cast and continuing her crush driven pursuit of Sonic. Come 1998 she was granted her first chance at being in a mainline platformer entry in Sonic Adventure. In this game Sonic Team experimented with giving every character their own unique way of playing through the game with each playstyle being further and further from Sonic’s own, and the one that put the franchise on the map to begin with. Some were reasonably accepted and others weren’t. Amy’s was one that was criticized primarily for a lack of speed and made the toy hammer she used in Sonic the Fighters a staple of her character. In time the hammer would become an element of Amy’s design that I would come to dislike and not even believe that she needed at all. To understand the many problems I have with the hammer, the role it has in gameplay, in its use, thematically, and Amy’s reliance and affiliation on/with it, I must first provide a retrospective of my own history with the franchise and how my viewpoint of the series changed when I looked back on it with the announcement of Mania.

At the age of five in 1991 I was living with my parents in the house they had just bought. My dad was a diehard SEGA fan who hated Nintendo with a passion and owned both the Genesis and Master System and he was finally allowing me to start playing video games. I immediately became attached to Alex Kid and though I was no good at the games I absolutely loved them. Then one day my dad brought home Sonic the Hedgehog. It was unlike any game I had played or seen my dad play and though I was not good at it, it completely enthralled me. Then came 1993 and Sonic CD, and my mind was blown away again. From the diverse levels and time traveling experience to the amazing opening and ending animations it was the game that solidified my interest in Japan and that I finally got good at playing Sonic games with. I was the first of my family to beat it and everything about the game won me over and Sonic, Amy, Metal Sonic, and Eggman won themselves permanent places in my heart. To me anything American made was dead and to this day I still do not know how I knew about Eggman and Amy’s Japanese names at that time as they were not used in the USA. Then though the dream was over as my dad sold his Genesis and Sega CD. I would not be able to see Amy again until my dad bought Sonic Jam for the Saturn and she appeared in the updated version of the CD ending as well as the CGs that were included in the game. For years I played the original trilogy with my younger brother but those games never captured me like CD did. Then Adventure came and I was enthralled all over again. But things were different, there was voice acting that was nowhere near as good as the Japanese voices in the OVA trailer included in Sonic Jam and Amy and Eggman had been redesigned almost beyond recognition and Amy suddenly had a hammer which origins I learned about through game magazines at the time. But back then that didn’t matter to me. I could play as one of my favorite characters and it was awesome with me loving her Hammer Vault more than anything else she could. I would spend hours just running around Station Square Hammer Vaulting over and over again because it was just so much fun. Then my sister one day brought home Sonic R and Sonic CD for Windows and the magic of that game was rekindled. I would play for hours and it was the greatest thing in the world. It was Sonic at his purest and nothing compared, not even the uniquely enjoyable Sonic R. I enjoyed Sonic Adventure 2 when it came out, but it was not CD and Amy had been removed from play except in competitive mode where she was just a slower Sonic, who himself disappointed me beyond instant Light Speed Dash compared to Adventure 1. Then the end seemed to come as SEGA withdrew from the console market and I was faced with the fear of Sonic having come to his end. Fortunately that was not the case as Sonic Heroes debuted across all platforms and I played it on my older brother’s Xbox. The game had everything in it that should have made it my favorite, but the cheesiness and way Metal Sonic was handled just disappointed me. There was also Amy who though playable again, was lacking her Hammer Vault from Adventure still and stripped most of the fun out of playing her for me, and when combined with her teammates and easy mode difficulty left me almost never revisiting the game as even Sonic was missing that purity that I so loved. Not surprisingly I returned to Sonic CD and mostly just watched my sister and younger brother play Shadow. Then 06 was revealed and something about it captured my imagination like nothing else had in a long time. Even with the game’s problems I was one of the few who was fortunate enough to not have that many glitches appear as I played the game and generally enjoyed it. But there were more disappointments and my family pretty much stopped caring for the franchise at that point beyond my younger brother who mostly stuck to CD like I had for year before as well. When Unleashed was first teased I remember being apprehensive about the Werehog idea but then that first trailer with Endless Possibilities won me over and everything about the game seemed right. Sure I was disappointed by the Werehog and how Tails and Amy weren’t playable, but they seemed so much better represented than anything I saw in what little I watched of Sonic X. It was a grand adventure again and Sonic was Sonic again, at least during the day. At that point though, while my younger brother played Unleashed even he had pretty much given up on the franchise having forward progression and pretty much stopped talking to me about the franchise. Fortunately for me I had discovered the SEGA forums around this time and between the community and the wikis my eyes were opened up to so much more. I learned a great deal about the Archie Comics which I had previously ignored due to my preference for the Japanese side of things and discovered so much more. I just soaked up as much of the franchise as I could. When Sonic Colors came out for Nintendo only it was disappointing but the forums kept me informed and in the game to an extent. Then there was the day of Sonic Generations reveal and my dad showed it to me when I got home from work and it was a game I had to have. But the more I studied it, the more it was wrong. Classic Sonic was round and chubby instead of sharp and dynamic. I was exposed to the belief that he was always cute in greater form than I ever was when I first heard such comparisons drawn by Morgan Webb on X-Play back when Heroes released. Everything seemed wrong but I bought the game anyway and was blown away by what was being done level-wise for Modern Sonic but was disappointed by so much of the game that I couldn’t revisit it. It wasn’t just Generations though, everything was going completely sideways from what I knew and loved about the franchise and I could no longer even retreat to Sonic CD because the PC it ran on had pretty much died and all of the working PCs could not run a Windows game that old. Christian Whitehead’s remake was a godsend in a way, but it too was wrong. I was able to finally experience the Japanese soundtrack for the first time, which immediately won me over in game context, but Sonic felt so heavy and slow compared to the Windows version that I just stopped playing because it didn’t feel right. Somewhere around this time I managed to finally be able to watch the subtitled version of the OVA with my younger brother and it was one of the most nostalgic experiences we had ever had. Sonic was Sonic, Metal Sonic was Sonic. Tails was fast and competent, and Knuckles was probably the most enjoyable I had ever seen him even though he was removed from his role in the games. It was everything I wanted though, bar Amy missing, and it made me wonder how much I was missing from the old days of the Japanese side of the franchise that never made it over. It was at that time I found Sonic Retro’s archives and my world was opened up again in ways that the Mania previews couldn’t touch.

Of all the arguments that never made sense to me in my time in the fandom it was that Sonic was a children’s franchise so it should be full of weak comedy and Teletubby levels of childish harmlessness. It was an argument I had never seen pre-Shadow the Hedgehog and made no sense in the context of Sonic being a teenage rebel with an attitude as I had been introduced to him back in 1991. I found myself frequently siding with Adventure diehards in the belief that the games were so much more but I had no real context for what I was talking about. But I finally realized that Sonic really was a children’s franchise when my younger brother translated the story in the first Sonic Drift and I saw that Amy addressed Sonic as Sonic-sama. It’s so hard to describe what it was that clicked due to the use of that Japanese honorific, which implies utmost respect and on occasion even admiration, but in that moment I realized that characters around Sonic’s age actually undermined the franchise being a children’s franchise. Sonic was a character of the nineties, a character who parents feared being a bad influence on their children because of his rebellious ways and cheeky attitude yet here was this eight year old girl who looked upon Sonic with such admiration and respect. And why wouldn’t she? She was a hedgehog and adventurer herself in a world where Sonic was the most famous hedgehog in the world, so much so that even a fox (a hedgehog’s natural predator) wanted to be like him. He was a role model. He was the cool teenager that your best friend’s older brother was. The problem solver. The one you wanted to be like because he was that awesome. That was who Sonic was and I had forgotten that at some point in the years since I was first introduced to him. I wanted my brother to translate more of the untranslated material from the Japanese side but he refused for reasons unknown to me so I instead started reevaluating the series and what it was. Everywhere I looked where another character around Sonic’s age was introduced it smothered the influencing effect he had on young children in favor of the Shonen Jump tenet of friendship, and Sonic changed over time from being the cool teenager who young kids looked up to into this shining beacon of righteousness who corrected the path of everyone he met. But who he was was no longer there and Tails trying less and less to be like his hero as the years went by nigh completely erased that aspect of Sonic’s character. But back then even Amy had that idolization of Sonic, instead of a hammer that she swung at him with if he refused to go on a date with her. Her idolization was gone in favor of violent jokes played off her infatuation. She was not the genki girl I loved but some green eyed monster who was routinely accused of being a stalker and yandere. While plenty of arguments were made in her defense it was not enough for me. I had to see what was missing from Amy’s character and so I studied the games and discovered some amazing things. Amy was introduced as a damsel in distress, but how much of a damsel was she? If I went by Sonic Adventure she should have been perceived as a helpless damsel before then but this clashed with her tomboy description and Rascal nickname from CD so I would have to look at her from before then. My starting point was again the Japanese manual of Sonic Drift where, according to what my younger brother translated, the car that Sonic drove was praised by the hedgehog for being nearly as fast as he was. That meant that since Amy was competing that she was driving a car that could nearly keep up with Sonic. Taken in context that means she had the strength and reflexes to control such a car and actually race against Sonic. This was taken to its extreme in Sonic R where Tails supposedly upgraded her car and she was now competitive with a cast of characters who could keep up with Sonic on foot in one way or another. She was significantly more impressive than some average person or damsel in distress. But how much further back could I trace this astounding competence of Amy’s. As it turned out, all the way to Sonic CD where she debuted and Sonic Team Japan presented her as a damsel in distress. What they did not do though was make her helpless. She traveled to Never Lake under her own power led on by nothing but a message from her cards and a love for mysterious things. Upon arriving she didn’t just hang around the lake but got herself up on Little Planet which the only demonstrated way up within the game and manual was Eggman’s chain, which can be inferred to mean that Amy made her way up there by that method. Then on Little Planet she demonstrates enough strength to hold Sonic in place if he is moving slowly enough and makes it through Palmtree Panic to Collision Chaos before Sonic. Later in the game once she is rescued from Metal Sonic she appears at the end of Metallic Madness after Eggman’s defeat, but is shown catching up with Sonic. This can be inferred to mean that she made it through Metallic Madness on her own, navigating all of the death traps designed to stop Sonic himself. But what about her being a damsel in distress? Considering she was captured by Metal Sonic who even Sonic cannot straight up defeat in head on confrontation instead having to simply outrun him, then Amy’s capture makes sense. She’s not as fast as Sonic and even Sonic can’t beat Metal so of course she is captured. Not because she is helpless, but rather because she was simply outclassed by something beyond her abilities. In light of this, when discussions about Mania and Amy being included were ongoing I proposed that Amy did not need her hammer and could be included without it. This resulted in me being ostracized due to a general love of Amy’s hammer and her Sonic Advance 1 gameplay amongst the community. Faced with such a reaction I decided to look at the place of Amy’s hammer in the games and the more I studied the more I disliked the hammer and the more I believed that Mania was a chance to re-explore Amy without it as it had no place in Naka’s original rolling gameplay that gave birth to the franchise itself, no less Sonic the Hedgehog, the object of Amy’s affection and the hedgehog who she has enough respect and admiration for to use the -sama honorific in pre-Adventure content.

I don’t recall where I first heard the story but I have seen it revisited several times over the years; how Naka when tasked with creating a paltformer franchise created rolling momentum based gameplay based on the movement of a ball so as to allow continuous movement without stopping to attack, instead bumping into enemies to defeat them. While that formula was tweaked heavily over the years, and even abandoned for a time, it is still something that is genius in its execution and simplicity. Using a hedgehog, a creature that naturally curls into a ball to defend itself, was even a further stroke of genius as it created the necessary imagery to connect the concepts of attacking and rolling together due to a hedgehog’s quills and the motion of a ball. When Sonic curls into a ball you know instinctively that a ball of spikes will do damage, so it is naturally affiliated with attacking, especially since when Sonic jumps he curls into a ball and damages any enemy he bumps into. Then the fact that Sonic curls into a ball when he ducks tells the player that if Sonic curls into a ball while running he will roll and carry any momentum that he had while running. It is absolute genius simplicity that provides both depth and ease of play. There is no memorizing numerous button inputs and combinations, just running and curling into a ball. Deceptively simple, but when combined with solid, engaging, and imaginative level design the possibilities are near endless, and above all, fluid. The intention of achieving continuous movement is met with this simple design that is both easy to pick up and play and provides as much depth as the levels have variety. It is this formula which the franchise built itself upon and that always pulls me back on the gameplay side of things. As much as I enjoyed Amy’s Hammer Vault in Sonic Adventure it was never as engaging beyond just enjoying doing it. It required sometimes excessive effort to pull off and in turn was frustrating in level where it was meant to be used. The compromise for this was to create a complex command system for Amy that has been described by many as a hard mode in Sonic Advance and excludes all traces of the original rolling gameplay to defeat enemies by bumping into them. Simplicity was gone and what should have been intuitive instead required major experimentation to even begin. Yet in the same game the traditional gameplay still existed and could be used to complete the game without the use of any other ability tacked on. So why make Amy so complicated? I’ve heard plenty of arguments, some ranging from thematically to others that argued for uniqueness. None though could ever address the fact that Amy is a hedgehog who lacks her natural ability to curl into ball and take advantage of the original gameplay design. But gameplay complications further arise from there

Jump /\ /__\ Run       Roll

Jump /\ /__\              Run           Swing Hammer

Take the two triangles above. They describe the basic gameplay that the franchise began with and Amy’s gameplay. While they are similar, 1/3 of Amy’s gamplay is completely different and leads into a series of complex additional commands as well as a focus on melee gameplay which requires stopping to fight instead of maintaining the flow of continuous movement. As the versatility of “Swing Hammer” becomes even more in depth the triangle become unbalanced and you no longer have a platformer but a brawler with platforming elements. It is fairly disingenuous and betrays the simplicity and intention of rolling so as to not need to stop to defeat an enemy. It puts an emphasis on combat based gameplay instead of movement based gameplay. When approaching Mania and its return to the top triangle and the simplicity it relies on there is no room for the hammer, and thus Amy if she must have it. As someone who wanted Amy playable in Mania and was starting to have a desire to see how she could be explored without the hammer in a setting where it was not as much a part of her character, the insistence that she had to have that overly complicated gameplay even in a setting that thrived on the use of simple gameplay played into my dislike of the hammer. In a way, it was keeping one of my favorite characters and gameplay styles separate. I could not have both and that just seemed wrong since Amy originated in that gameplay era.

Further discussions I would have about Amy’s hammer and its use in the franchise would only fuel my dislike of it as I began to see it as a rather twisted and horrible tool. To me, Amy is a genki girl, or a girl who is overwhelmingly positive, optimistic, energetic, and is always trying to get everybody to have as much fun as she is so that they too can be happy. She is joy incarnate in a way, yet the hammer is the very opposite of that. While it is designed as a toy, a hammer is technically a tool for building things but that is far from what Amy primarily uses it for. She doesn’t build anything with it beyond fear as she wields it as either a sledge hammer or war hammer destroying everything that gets in her path. This destructive use of the hammer combined with the temper introduced to her character in Sonic X would convert what was once a silly toy into weapon of entitlement where any time Amy would not get her way she would bring out her hammer and get her way in an instant. She was no longer a genki girl, but an over entitled brat that no one would put in her place for overwhelming fear of her hammer. If she didn’t like something, just swing the hammer and the world would fall in place, a far cry from the bubbly and energetic girl who could win people over with kind words and a smile by calling out their inner good. To make matters even worse, she would turn that same hammer against Sonic, the very hedgehog who holds her affection and who she was once demonstrated as having enough respect and admiration for to use the –sama honorific when addressing him. But even beyond Sonic, her supposedly best friend Cream is also an unfortunate victim of hammer abuse if some her lines throughout the franchise are anything to go by. As the lead heroine of the franchise I find this type of behavior from her completely inappropriate, and further, as someone who sees the franchise as a children’s franchise it is content that can teach children all kinds of twisted values. It shows that if you want something bad enough you just have to swing anything you can make a weapon out of, even your toys, as hard as you can and everyone will fall in line. It’s a horrible lesson and not one that should be being taught on any level. For example, take Knuckles and his ability to punch. In his debut game he is demonstrated punching on a number of occasions, including at Sonic and Tails, but once he is playable his punching is a not an option for the player unless they try to use his glide leaving him instead to use Sonic’s special abilities. To a small child this can appear as only villains punch people and it is very hard for a good guy to punch anything, but instead a good guy has special abilities that they use to defeat bad guys. This can leave a profoundly positive effect on a child and can even potentially lead to a child having an interest in learning the right ways to deal with bad guys and maybe even becoming real life heroes like our police, firefighters, doctors, and soldiers. In contrast, Amy’s hammer encourages a more villainous approach of using weapons to get what you want and that if you act sweet enough everyone will let you get away with. It is disingenuous and is a horrible message to pass along to children. But it gets even worse. When Amy is using her hammer against her friends they are shown as weaker then weapons which undermines the roles of the heroes having special abilities to beat the bad guys. But then, if you take Amy’s hammer away from her she is usually made to be completely useless and helpless promoting a need for weapons and self armament. It is spectacularly tonally dissonant with the rest of the series and her optimistic ways.

Over the years the Sonic franchise has gone through many changes but one thing has stayed consistent; the image of a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog running with a confident smirk on his face to his next adventure. It is so iconic an image that at one point back in the nineties I remember hearing that Sonic was more globally recognizable than even Mickey Mouse. It’s lavish praise for a simple blue hedgehog who loves adventure but it speaks strongly of his image; red shoes for running and a shade of blue that evokes the freedom of the open sky and peacefulness of that scene. He may have a strong sense of justice and won’t stand for injustice but at the end of the day even he enjoys the peaceful times when he can run to his heart’s content. And that brings me to the image of Amy’s hammer. What does it imply if not combat. When it comes out everyone knows that Amy is intending to do harm. That does not evoke the peace that Sonic fights for and represents just by being. It instead evokes the very images of the conflict that Sonic puts an end to and is an opposite image of the optimistic girl that Amy is supposed to be. While it can be said that combat is as much a part of the Sonic franchise as adventure, to me part of what works is not glorifying traditional combat and instead using the fantastical specialness of a hedgehog’s ability to curl into a ball. It makes Sonic and his cast of characters unique from other franchises and can make any blue ball evoke thoughts of Sonic, or yellow with Tails, and red with Knuckles. But what about Amy? Well, when I see hammers I think of construction work, or the Animaniancs, or Thor and his hammer Mjolnir, or even Harley Quinn from Batman with the Tales of series usual being my first thought when I see the type of hammer that inspired Amy’s. It also doesn’t help that a hammer does not make me think of Sonic gameplay in any way and it does not conjure up images of rolling and running. As an Amy fan who wants to see more of her this lack of strong identifying imagery means that most people outside of the fanbase would not think Amy if you showed them a picture of a hammer limiting demand to see her. Even in fanbase it is not good as her hammer is usually affiliated with her violent representations where she uses the hammer in ways as to make people feel like she is a yandere, a type of character who harms those who show interest in their affection even going so far as to kill their affection so no one can have them. Further, when the hammer appears arguments for combat centric gameplay arise and sense of adventure is washed away in the wake of a clamoring for action. Praise is constantly heaped onto the hammer for its deep and involving platforming and combat. No mention is made of exploration and discovery with the worst parodies of the hammer simplifying Amy down to a cheep Incredible Hulk knock off. Imagery like this while made in good fun in some cases is disingenuous with Amy’s character. When you can show her on one hand as a bright and cheerful girl who you can’t help but smile at and then on the other where she is a hammer wielding force of terror it can be horribly jarring. While it could be argued that it shows multiple facets of her personality it can also be argued that she is treated almost as a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde character due to how different the personalities are. This change in imagery though is all controlled by whether or not her hammer is out. When there is no sign of it she is typically cute and adventurous with an all around cheerful disposition. Once the hammer comes out though, she becomes something else which is almost always affiliated with combat and destruction. This dual imagery is not conductive for a character that is intended to have a single image, especially one of being, curious, optimistic, cheerful, and adventurous. By affiliation with her hammer Amy is portrayed as having two extremes she can exist in which, while reconcilable are rarely shown as such with her either being in hammer mode or normal mode. As a fan of Amy’s character, hammer mode feels like a detraction to me that smothers the genki girl that she is at her best.

Amy’s affiliation with her hammer does more than just give her an unneeded violent image, it also affects her interactions with those around her. The first thing that typically comes to mind even in universe when Amy’s hammer appears is typically fear. Or occasionally in the reverse the sign of hammers will make the characters think of Amy. Her affiliation with her hammer makes her interchangeable with the sight of any hammer, effectively reducing her role to just hammer. If something needs hammered everyone thinks of Amy. It is a gross simplification of her potential in the franchise. She is never addressed as an adventurer or someone who has a great sense of intuition, or even just someone who can listen to your troubles and lend a hand. Her affiliation with her hammer and overreliance on it also cuts off her own potential for growth. As mentioned above, I see Amy as spectacularly competent and that she has been since Sonic CD when she debuted in the games years before she was given the hammer. Like Tails, she idolized Sonic and made every attempt to chase after him. Unlike Tails though who was gifted with the concept of flying like a helicopter to keep up with Sonic, Amy was given nothing back in that period and when she finally was adapted into a main game she still was not given gameplay that would reflect her pursuit of Sonic. Instead she was severely undermined and was even slower than Big the Cat. In a platformer series where you run fast and plow through enemies without stopping by curling into a ball she was made excruciatingly slow and provided a weapon that brought her to a stop every time it was swung unless she was going fast enough to Hammer Vault. In fact, her affiliation with her hammer at that time required you had to be going fast enough to attack without slowing down which was counter intuitive with Sonic design up to that point where you attacked by rolling so you did not slowing down. In other words, her hammer represented slow methodical gameplay in a franchise that was about moving fluidly with speed as a reward. Amy was instead rewarded with fluidity for moving fast but to tell you that you were going fast enough to be rewarded you had to wait for her hammer to appear, an almost cruel reminder of what it was that was keeping you slow in the first place. Even when the problem was resolved in the Sonic Advance series by giving her speed, she was still deprived of the classic rolling gameplay which allowed for fluid play as soon as you picked up the controller. But her hammer association would not get better from there as her next and final in her modern design platformer gameplay appearance in 06 sacrificed everything she had built up in prior games. From there it would not get better. Her violent image continued to get worse outside of the games and she was only considered relevant if she had her hammer. Her hammer became so relevant that when the Archie Comics did their 25th anniversary celebration with the Mega Drive Comic, Amy was only allowed to follow along because of her hammer and how it was useful with Sonic even then seeing her as at risk if Eggman decided to go after her. Her hammer is treated as so representative of her that when Eggman is bested in Cascade Temple Zone and everyone attacks him, Amy is left off screen with only her hammer being visible. In the next volume things get even more out of hand with the hammer as it is practically the only reason Amy, Tails, and Knuckles are able to best a dragon robot as swinging the hammer keeps Amy safe from its attack. Yet in the same issue her hammer is then useless against an animal container that Sonic can plow through with ease using the classic spin attack which is shared by Tails and Knuckles. She is again shown as useless if her hammer is unavailable even though she herself is a hedgehog who chases after Sonic and should be able to imitate him if Tails can. The fact that she doesn’t at all also cuts off some of her potential as a motivating character. Her and Tails were both introduced as characters who idolized Sonic and chased after him with Amy being the optimistic and cheerful one and Tails being the one who struggled to be confident. From a narrative standpoint it was a perfect opportunity to create a relationship between Tails and Amy as Amy cheered on Tails’ efforts to be like his hero even going so far as to give her best examples to show him that one could be like Sonic without being Sonic. Unfortunately it was a wasted opportunity and now outside of Sonic Mania even Tails has not attempted to be like his Hero in well over a decade. Amy meanwhile is waiting for a game where her hammer can fit in so she can finally be playable again. If she was not so affiliated with and dependent on it she would already be playable again and accomplishing who knows what. Just like Tails, the game she was introduced in showed she could keep up with Sonic and make it through Eggman’s death traps with only the most extreme of circumstances being beyond her, in her case a metal doppelganger of Sonic even he could not directly fight in game. It was a theme at that time that could have been followed to spectacular effect showing how Sonic could motivate young children to be all they could be in pursuit of what motivated them without fear of what others thought while subtly hinting at what is good and bad. Instead Amy out of all of the main cast, barring games like Sonic and the Black Knight and Shadow the Hedgehog, was the only character to be given a permanent weapon and not to have any lessons attached to it creating an image dissonance between a sweet bubbly character and nightmarish over entitled brat who even her friends were terrified of. It brings nothing to her character or her best moments, but her affiliation with it bars her from more traditional takes on the series and leaves her with a violent psychopathic imagery at its worse.

Though argued by many, I, after my long history with the franchise was able to look back and see it as the children’s franchise that it was supposed to be. A story about a blue hedgehog and his adventures and all of those he met and inspired along the way. As a children’s franchise the characters who best represented that were Tails and Amy, but where Tails was able to be like his hero for a while Amy was left out until she was given a hammer that did not allow her to truly belong. In light of the current times where equality and equal opportunity for all is being fought for in the public eye again, as well as equal representation for women, it really is a shame that Amy is held back from being able to achieve what Tails did in favor of a hammer. A message is left with Amy for any girl who wants to chase their dreams and that is that they will never be able to catch up to their heroes and so they might as well take up arms and make a ruckus until the world bends over backwards for them. That is one reason amongst the many above that I have detailed for why I dislike Amy’s hammer. I acknowledge its iconic place in the franchise but I would like to see Amy put it down for good and become a character like Sonic who fights for what is right and what she believes in without relying on the way of villains. I want to see her smiling brightly as she chases after Sonic with her heart on her sleeve and believing that she can catch up him. To me, as long as she holds onto her hammer she never will, because all she will be is the one who hammers, and not Amy Rose.

Whew that’s a lot. Anyway, I hope anyone who took the time to read this can at least see where I’m coming from. Not trying to change anyone’s mind, just trying to help them see why I have the stance I do.

#sonic the hedgehog #Amy Rose #piko piko hammer

[smashingatsonicspeed]

Smash Bros. Character Merit - Sonic the Hedgehog

Quick Disclaimer: I’m not very confident in any 3rd Party franchise getting a 2nd rep. But being the Sonic fan I am, I thought I’d give a specific section for this should it happen. I don’t think it’s the unlikeliest thing in the world as I’ll explain. But I doubt it comes anytime soon.

Miles "Tails" Prower

My Level of Want

If you didn't already know, Tails was who I voted for in the Smash Ballot. Perhaps it's a little greedy for me to suggest a 2nd Sonic rep over some Nintendo characters that could use some love. But when it comes to the one character I want most in Smash now that Sonic has already made it. Tails is it. Though a bit of a disclaimer, I won't be disappointed one way or another if Tails doesn't make the cut. Cause Sonic was already that dream inclusion fulfilled for me. Every new character that'd made it in Smash that I happen to like since Sonic got in is equivalent to whip cream on my glorious ice cream sundae. But Tails would be the sweet, sweet, sweet cherry on top. Tails is just my favorite Sonic character, and he just happens to be the franchise's equivalent of what Luigi is to Mario. Perhaps he's not treated or even portrayed as well as that nowadays but you'd be pretty hard pressed to suggest that someone else deserves the title of Sonic's Luigi. And what I mean by Luigi, as in the other character that often pops up in your head whenever you hear the franchise's name. The main character always pops in your head behind them, but not far behind them you usually imagine their sidekick, brother, or whichever role the player 2 character plays as right besides them running through the levels. When I think Sonic, I picture Sonic running through levels at a fast pace with his buddy Tails close behind. They're just one of the most iconic duos in gaming and despite being what would be another Sonic rep at face value, I count Tails as much of an icon of gaming as any. There would be naysayers if it were to happen, but Tails is absolutely the most iconic choice for another Sonic rep in Smash. It would absolutely make my entire life to see a Sonic & Tails Vs. Mario & Luigi battle be possible in Smash Bros. It's just one of those things I could die happy knowing that I got to see happen.

Estimated Chance

Sorry if that got a little gush-heavy over my most wanted character. But it's time to delve into a little reality. I'm not confident in it happening much at all, and I'm ok with that. As much as I said things about dying happy about it. Sonic being in Smash in general is also kind of already that. I don't think it's an impossibility, despite the ups and downs over the years the Sonic franchise is still one of the most popular franchises out there and as such the Sonic franchise would be the one to break the mold should they decide to break the only one character per 3rd Party franchise rule. For that to happen a character should have have to be arguably just as iconic to gaming as the main character and I think Tails fulfills that well enough. It might not be quite enough right now but should they look at it by the time Smash 6 (Or again 7, if you're like Sakurai) rolls around that he'll become an ever stronger possibility as Sonic would have a strong foothold in the series. I can keep my two fingers crossed for the two tailed fox. But I'm certainly not going to count on it. I understand that other companies' reps would probably provide more diversity and not everyone wants one of Sonic's "annoying friends" in Smash. So Tails isn't impossible but he's nowhere near a strong possibility. But if it ever happens, it'd be the one character that would probably put me in Etika-was-shown-Mewtwo-DLC kind of excitement

Main Game or DLC?

DLC is the only way this happens at all. It might also provide a little bit of a compromise that don't want any more Sonic characters in the game. If you wouldn't like Tails in Smash, then don't buy him.

Dr. Eggman

My Level of Want

If Tails can't make it, then Eggman would probably be the next best thing. And probably more neutrally accepted even amongst those that aren't big fans of the Sonic franchise if it were to happen since Eggman isn't one of Sonic's "annoying friends". I think the only problem might be a bit more difficulty on deciding how he'd fight. Best I could think of is something akin to Bowser Jr. only bigger, heavier. And in the Egg Mobile with obviously a different toolset. It'd be absolutely fun though to have Mike Pollock record lines for Smash as he's an absolute blast as Eggman. I do think it'd be more fitting if say they ever included a Sonic related Boss rather then as the 2nd Sonic character. But I certainly wouldn't complain.

Estimated Chance

3rd Party franchises getting 2nd reps are going to be quite low in chance. Once we hit the DLC period though anything goes. So who really knows. As for Eggman himself's chances of being the character to break that rule. Not to sound biased but I think Tails out prioritizes him for a few reasons. Maybe even Knuckles before Eggman too. Not that I think Tails is that much more likely (I'll be covering that next actually) But we did get Luigi in Smash before Bowser. You could say that was because Luigi was easier to make because he was more of a clone of Mario back in Smash 64. But you have to think that when it comes to 2nd reps, the iconic 2nd player and/or sidekick tends to get in over the main villain. Even if the Mario example isn't enough. Reminder that we still don't have K. Rool but we've had Diddy since Brawl. As I said earlier I'd rather Eggman represented as a boss should the Sonic series ever include one for any reason. It'd be fun to fight him with all the different characters that way.

Main Game or DLC?

DLC, per everyone in this post

Knuckles

My Level of Want

I do like Knuckles a lot and if there was room for 3 Sonic characters I might get behind him more. But as is when it’s doubtful if we even get more then just Sonic, Knuckles isn’t a priority to me personally like Tails is. Sonic & Tails is a really iconic duo of gaming. Knuckles is less so. Mainly people want Knuckles because they view him as a more “cooler” or more viable as a fighter despite Tails having been in Sonic fighting games before too. Still, I would feel it’d be like getting Wario before we got Luigi. Wario is more fit for fighting then the “coward” Luigi and is an iconic character of the Mario franchise in his own right. But he isn’t famous Player 2/Sidekick status like Tails is

Estimated Chance

Knuckles only gets chosen if Sakurai feels a character more well known for seeming like someone to fight over should be prioritized over someone that’s been in there longer whether it’s Tails or Eggman he would be picked over. And I don’t think Sakurai has ever gone that way with anyone. In my dreams, Sonic would get 5 reps to make all the Sonic fans happy. Get Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Eggman, and Shadow in there to appease all the Sonic fan wishes. But I know that only happens if Sega was bought out by Nintendo. And understand that’d be incredibly greedy in a game that’s supposed to be mostly Nintendo

Main Game or DLC?

DLC, per everyone in this post

Shadow

My Level of Want

First I want to say, that Sonic Adventure 2 is still my favorite Sonic game in the franchise. It’s what introduced me to Sonic, I have a lot of fun whenever I go back to play the game and one of my biggest wants for Sonic is a game going back to the Adventure formula that is streamlined for modern audiences. I understand the big complaint with the Adventure games is they haven’t aged that well, but that’s why a modern game with the adventure-style that’s cleaned up to the expectations of modern game could be a good idea for the Sonic franchise to take. My biggest hope is a kind of Sonic Odyssey where like what that game did rediscovered the gameplay of Super Mario 64 and cleaned it up for a new game that most people enjoy a lot. However, despite my love for SA2 there’s one character that made his big debut that’s been a pretty controversial subject. I do first want to say that I did like Shadow a lot… but pretty much only in SA2. He was a perfectly fine character in that game and a good foil for Sonic with an interesting past. And it quickly made him one of the most popular Sonic characters. Unfortunately, Sega took that popularity the wrong way and they forced him back into as many games as possible. At first Shadow returning wasn’t so bad, Heroes implied the Shadow in that game wasn’t even the same Shadow from SA2. Simply a clone that Engman created. But the Shadow the Hedgehog game retcons that. The Shadow in games past SA2 is indeed the same Shadow who somehow got rescued by Engman’s robots on his plunge down to Earth. For the exception of Sonic Battle, every game that’s not Sonic Adventure 2 has him just as one of the most polarizing characters in all of gaming. He has diehard fans that have supported him since SA2 and won’t ever shake off their love for him. But he’s also somewhat become a bit of a scapegoat for hate on why the 3D Sonic games fell as hard as they did. His story bringing too much of the franchise trying to take itself seriously as well as basically the poster child for the edgy meme when it comes to video game characters. He has reasons why he’s very popular, but he also has just as many reasons if not more on why people would utterly despise his inclusion from both the Sonic fanbase and outside of it. Combine that with the fact there’d probably be similar disdain on the level Dark Pit got, and Shadow’s inclusion would be one day where every single Smash Bros. discussion is simply filled with anger.

Estimated Chance

Shadow’s popularity probably at least had him score among the highest out of Sonic characters in the ballot if not the highest. But I still think Sakurai would choose a more classic character anyway. Shadow’s done fine enough in the Assist Trophy role. Let him stay there.

Main Game or DLC?

DLC, per everyone in this post

#Super Smash Bros. #Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Switch #super smash bros. switch #Smash Bros. Character Merit #Sonic #Sonic the Hedgehog #Tails #Miles Tails Prower #Dr. Eggman #Dr. Robotnik #Eggman #Robotnik #Knuckles #shadow #Tails the Fox #Knuckles the Echidna #Shadow the Hedgehog

[cutegirlmayra]

so now that you know what infinite is like more in depth, would you do anothet infinite x amy prompt?

( x used with permission from the artist! Please support them as well! *If you’re an artist, or know good artist friends, please consider allowing me to use your art as ‘preview images’ for these prompts! I always credit and am very grateful for the permission! Thank you! And I hope you enjoy these prompts ^^ )

Wahh!? You want me to portray Infinite in love!? Isn’t that… a weakness!?!? Then again… it could also empower to a dark degree as well…

Prompt:

The final battle.

The last showdown.

I knew these pathetic rebels were no match for my power… nor my new strength.

Infinite folded his arms, floating above the mortal ordeal and looking down with judgment upon all who fought below…

Illusions… resistance… all are simply intangible… and fleeting…

He lifted a hand to caress his Phantom Ruby… Fully powered and operational… even after their attempts at destroying its power source…

I allowed myself to experience the utmost pain and agony through having the Doctor work on my weak and mortal frame… the pathetic existence that shook before a real challenge of pure, immortal power..! Heh, the fools…

He clutched tightly to the Ruby,… before shaking his head and peering down at the resistance, desperately fighting now that the sun was gone.

He would soon have to face Sonic again… which… wouldn’t be a problem.

He lowered himself a little in the air, searching…

His tail swished with each slow movement, having absolute precision. After all… although the Ruby was perfect and flawless… so much power in him caused some caution to be considered…

He had to hold back… only when making small adjustments with himself… but had no problem letting it loose… to reign over the disgusting filth of this world; smelling like fear, tasting of dust and the creatures below it… All were lower than sand. All were nothing more than frightened animals… he was now perfect. Empowered and powerful! What more could he want? What mere sacrifice on their part could stop him? What begging… he already let one go and now look what it did.

My mistake.

He chuckled in his mind, still searching for Sonic and the one that got away…

He slowly floated over the battlefield. “Next time… I’ll leave no root for hope to grow…”

Then he heard a sharp cry of might from the battlefield.

“What?” He was spooked at first and silently cursed himself for it. He would never admit it, but as his fist clenched back his futile human emotions… he knew he could never fully be the Phantom Ruby’s perfect surrogate host….

“That girl…”

He peered down, seeing more fully that a pink hedgehog charged and whammed her hammer into an illusion, shattering it’s red-cubed appearance and becoming nothing more than a faded memory…

…She’s so small…

He watched carefully, finding it amusing that something seemingly so weak and vulnerable was actually something that most flawed creatures might fear.

He swiped his body away and turned, holding his clawed hand up, his eyes still lingering on her strong image behind him. “I once had comrades of the same kind.” He tried to fight back the passing memory…

Their red blood on his hands…

“Heh. She’s not entirely like her though…” he looked back, remembering his pack’s sister…

Amy leaped skyward, the air catching her a moment to still her as if she floated in the air. The Shadow illusion looked around, before up to her swift approach.

She smashed down and shook the earth as his illusion-body was crushed before the hammer even hit the ground.

“..Impressive..” Infinite abruptly tilted his body in her direction, before she looked up. He stood as if a king above her, and held his head up to reflect such a status. “For a worm of the earth…”

“Grr…” Amy tightened her hold on her hammer, bending down as if ready to jump up and challenge him.

“You’re the one that hurt Sonic!” She spat out, “Ohhh!!! I’ve been hankering to take you down myself for what you made us all go through! Especially Sonic!”

“…Oh, you have?” He found this strangely amusing and mocked her passionate tone. He dipped his torso as if to fully see her and possibly intimidate her.

It was strangely intimate… him bowing to look more deeply into those orbs of brightly colored green… full of wrath and intoxicating love for revenging her fallen hero…

“….I would love to see you try… but…” He leaned up, as swirled his hand around her small frame from his point-of-view, floating away. “All I see is a fearful rat.”

Amy gasped as she saw the swarm of illusions, surrounding her and then advancing to ambush her.

Their soulless eyes…

She glared up at Infinite again, “You think you’re somehow better than us?!”

Offended, his prideful wrath stopped him from moving any further away. His eye widened in fury, but he remained calm to listen to what other last words she’s like to mutter…

“You’re not immune to fear!” she cried out, as she swung her hammer to strike up dust, causing the illusions to look around the dust cloud and some run into each other, tearing the other apart.

A Zavok one looked around, before being taken out by a silhouette in the dust.

“Fear can have many forms… but even the most powerful can’t predict the unknown..”

Infinite flew down, landing a foot to the ground, then another, and searching for her instead of Sonic…

“What..? You think a little trick of the dust is going to stop me?!” he lightly took some floating dirt in his hand before crushing it, and then turned to spray it at a shadowed figure…

A Metal Sonic was revealed, before something gripped his foot and tripped him, dragging him back into the dust cloud as he frantically tried to grip the ground and crawl away.

Once he disappeared, Infinite felt something odd.. a pang of his heartbeat that he had long-since thought dead.

He felt his breathing growing more rapid, and in rage at this feeling being familiar, he burst his power out and created a large wind that blew the dust away.

All there was… were illusions knocked unconscious on the ground… bursting as they faded into red cubes…

His arms pulled back, “How can this.. Where is she?!” he spun himself to and fro, looking for her.

“Rrraaa…RAAHHHH!!” he summoned another fleet of illusions that tore through the resistance, trying to find her…

“Infinite! What are you doing!?” Eggman’s voice snapped him out of his insane fixation on the girl…

“Huh?” he swiped his crazed eye towards the pulsing glow of his mask and ear… Eggman continued.

“You don’t have time for squashing insects! Have your fun AFTER you finally destroy Sonic!”

“…Consider him already deceased…” Infinite held a hand to his mask, rising up from being hunched over, mad with the thought of her blood on his hand… to mingle with the rest of the stupefied creatures that fell to his supreme power…

He was going to create this new world… he was going to rule it. Run it with power, with absolute certainty that nothing ‘bigger’ or ‘better’ was above him. He would be the ultimate… He would destroy heaven and hell itself if he had too… He would become-!

Well… there was Eggman to consider…

His technical creator…

“What are you standing around for!? Infinite! Destroy Sonic!”

…The red of his blood will soon trickle down his claws…

Just as Sonic’s would…

And all his little friends…

“As you wish… Doctor.” It was like a death sentence, but Eggman only sneered from a distance.

Hanging up, Eggman turned in his eggpod, looking down to the creation that would soon replace Infinite…

“There’s no way Sonic could win again…” Eggman thought out loud, “…But If he doesn’t…” he watched as Orbot and Cubot jumped up into view from the machine, and gave him a thumbs-up, revealing the patchwork and repairs were all ready to go!

Eggman nodded, leaning up from looking down. “This is my only real defense… against Infinite.”

-After Sonic Forces Ending-

While the team began to head home, there was a shrill through the army, and Sonic and the team turned back to see the recruits stepping back, crying out as Infinite rose flew with a hand clutching his arm…

He stepped to the ground… only to fall to his knees.

“Impossible…” his eye shook…. “How…” he looked at his hand, shaking…

“I’m… I’m still… this can’t be!!!” He leaned his head up, roaring—“NOOO!!!!”

He bent down and hit the ground furiously, before heavily breathing and about to collapse.

Amy… walked out of the crowd, only lightly stopped by Sonic reaching his hand out, but seeing she was already ahead, he withdrew it back.

“Amy… What are you doing?” Tails asked, but Knuckles quickly shook his hands out, as if trying to convince her of a point.

“Amy! You’re nuts! That’s Infinite! You know, the guy that’s been playing hacky-sack with all our forces!”

But Amy bent down anyway, without hesitation.

He glared up at her, before swiping a claw at her.

“GRAH! Get away from me!”

She leaned back, dodging, before looking with pity in her eyes.

“I don’t need your sympathy… I’ll rip out your eyes and let them stare at your ripped corpse!”

Sonic fidgeted, his feet barely moving but his whole frame splitting forward before his heels grinded the ground at Amy’s words-

“Don’t.” she didn’t even flinch or look back at him.

Dust spiraled behind his trail. No one even saw Sonic lift a leg or anything. It was just muscle reflex and clearly too fast for the naked eye…

Amy then reached forward… feeling the mask under her fingers, she gripped the corners.

She took it off to reveal it could come off.

Everyone gasped, as Infinite’s true face showed him shaking, trembling, mouth-gaped open in absolute, terrified fear.

“…This is the ghost of your nightmares?” Amy got up, before gesturing to them; an open hand towards Infinite.

Shadow’s eyes scanned the face. “…So it is you…”

Infinite ducked his head, “Tsk..!”

“This is no being of imaginable power.” Amy threw down the mask, as Infinite stared at it… defaced… by someone so small and fragile… so weak and pathetic… however…

“You’re just like the rest of us.” Amy looked over her shoulder, sorrow in her eyes. “Just because Eggman built more into you… doesn’t mean you aren’t the monster you made yourself to be. You’re not Infinite… you’re just a man.”

He spiked himself downward, grunting as if someone stabbed him in the back.

He clutched his chest, feeling a mix of the robotic parts inside of him start slowing down now that Phantom Ruby’s power was destroyed…

“You feel pain. You feel weakness… but worst of all… you let Eggman take your humanity, your heart, and you’re conscience. Without Heart and soul, friendship and will… you are no longer one of us…”

With murder in his eyes, he clutched his teeth, and slowly rolled his head up to her…

She was now on the throne that he once thought he controlled…. And he was the worm beneath her feet…

“I thought you said I was one of you…” He readied the last of his power…

“…You will always have what you were born with.” Amy didn’t even noticed the build-up, didn’t even see his hand slowly moving behind his back.

“…But you will never be more than us.”

“DIIIEEEE!!!” He swung up but was cut off by a powerful hand gripping his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

Amy stumbled away, placing a dainty, closed hand to her chest…

Sonic’s powerful aura and dominating glare froze Infinite once again in fright, and he trembled as Sonic fought against his pathetic strength left to him… and moved him down, back to his knees…

“Gr…grk…” Infinite struggled, squinting an eye as he felt his heart begin to metallic give way…

“…” Sonic only stared, before he lifted his head up. “…You are just a man…”

Infinite felt the last beat of his heart as the most painful thing he could feel.

And then toppled over.

Sonic looked down at him, already seeing that he was withering away in strength beforehand… but then closed his eyes… and gave the dead some respect.

“What… did you mean?” Amy stepped forward, “By that?” she looked down, and gasped when she realized he-

Sonic turned and put an arm to block her, turning her from seeing something so horrible as death.

He lightly whispered in her ear, “As sick and twisted as it may sound… I think he fell for your words, Amy…”

Amy twitched, unsure how to respond to that.

“He…” she could barely speak it, taking some dryness in her mouth and forming spit, swallowing it in to try and attempt at calming herself down. “..Loved me?”

“No, not loved.” Sonic correctly, gently nudging her away from the body as the crowd started to murmur and swarm around it.

“…He envied your strength. The natural strength I don’t think… he could ever obtain.”

“My… strength?”

“Your heart and insight, Amy.” Trying to shield her from the reality of morbid things, he covered her eyes a second after winking to her, as the army began kicking the body and screaming out names of those he had killed in his path to dark power.

“You were too much… for someone who had lost everything. Seeing someone who already had everything… I guess you could say he was envious.”

“Sonic…”

Amy let him lead her blindly, but he could feel the tears slightly forming, seeping through his glove.

“It’s okay, Amy… but he doesn’t deserve your tears.”

She dipped herself down and pushed her hands up against own, crying into his hand…

“Why!? Why didn’t he understand! Why was he so obsessed with-?”

“Amy…” Sonic felt a little uncomfortable, but knew that Amy would cry over anyone’s death… no matter how evil… she would mourn for the despair of an ended life.

He smiled though, that was part of her charm.

He rubbed her back, “Don’t worry. Life doesn’t always provide the answers to those questions… but sometimes… there really is none.”

“Sonic… what does power mean to you?” Amy removed his hand and looked up to him.

Looking down at the soaked glove, Sonic smirked slightly before gripping it tightly, feeling the wetness… then nodded to Amy.

“You, Amy.”

It was the most sincere and confusing thing she had ever heard.

“Power means to protect you… and everyone else that needs it. I won’t turn my back on a friend who needs me.”

Amy tenderly accepted that reply, and then looked to his hand. “…But what… Does power mean to me?”

He shook his head, “Now you’re thinking too hard about all this.” He patted her hands under his wet one, trying to cheer her up, but glad her mind wasn’t on Infinite anymore.

“Just trust me. You have an inner and outer strength to ya. But it’s the inner one that terrifies the living daylights out of most men.” He winked charmingly, a compliment that came out a little bittersweet, but Amy sighed in relief to it.

“Okay…” she faintly replied. “I guess I’ll accept that answer.”

“It’s probably the only one life will grant ya.” He continued joking, taking his hands away and placing them on his hip. “Shall we?” he offered for her to move further away from the scene with him.

She almost looked back but he quickly blocked her sight with his hand again.

“Heh… best to not dwell on the past… right?”

She realized then that he was keeping her from the brutal scene… and also from looking at a dead body too long too… she had never seen death before….

She nodded, averting her eyes at his indirect command, and letting him defend her from that world…

The world… Infinite sowed himself…

(I think this is how Infinite would show interest in his current -true to game state-, just because he had already lost so much humanity… but, anyway,... I hope this works :) )

#infinite #sonic forces #amy rose #infinitexamy #amy #sonic forces amy #sonamy #sonicxamy #sonic the hedgehog #cutegirlmayra #sonic forces prompt #infinite prompt #amy prompt #sonic prompt