Skye Prower

Tails, Island The young fox blinked a few times.  The hedgehog seemed like an almost unchecked ball of energy, the way his conversation bounced around.  “I… I’ve read about how to fly a biplane,” Tails responded.  “I’m pretty sure I could manage it!” he added, with a surprising degree of confidence.  “Wait!  ‘Flying things’?  I saw that!” the vulpine continued, with growing excitement.  “There was a massive fight between one of the Battle Bird Armada’s airships and these two other gigantic airships, which blew it out of the sky!  Someone called ‘Robotnik’ said he was in charge!”  Tails caught his breath, trying to fight the slight feeling of panic that competed with his excitement as he thought back. His mind returned to the present as he saw the hedgehog’s outstretched hand.  For a moment, Tails hesitated.  Here was a chance for a new start.  Someone who didn’t know him before.  Maybe… someone who wouldn’t judge him.  Should he wipe it all away… even choose a different name? But nothing came to mind. “I’m… I’m Tails…” the orange fox finally said with a little hesitation, taking Sonic’s hand.  Somehow, he felt he could trust this Hedgehog.  Maybe it was the way he’d been so willing to praise the fox’s talents.  “Nice to meet you Sonic.  I uh….” He hesitated again…  Did he need help?  Not in that sense… but… “I… I don’t need help,” Tails continued, shuffling his feet.  “But… I would like a friend.” ----------- Robotnik, Wing Fortress With powerful strides, Robotnik entered the robot activation bay, taking a moment to admire the walking arsenal for Omega on front of him.  There was a hiss as the doors to the bay opened again, admitting Beta into the room. “Excellent, both my spearheads are here,” grinned Robotnik.  “We are en route to Mobotropolis,” he began, striding towards a large screen and activating it, showing an arial view of the Mobian city. “Omega, you will lead a force here, to the South of the city, where most of the military units are already stationed.”  An arrow on the screen appeared to show Omega’s target.  “Cause as much chaos as possible.”  The Doctor turned to Beta. “Once Omega’s forces are engaged, Beta, you will lead a force on the east side of the city.”  Again, an arrow appeared.  “But as well as destruction, capture and convert as many Mobian’s as possible.  The forces here are thin, and they will be forced to call in reinforcements.  Almost certainly from the palace guard.  When they arrive, concentrate on keeping them pinned down.” “This will leave the palace weakened, and the King ripe for capture.  With orders from him to surrender, the city, and the rest of his savage kingdom will swiftly fall.”  Robotnik rubbed his hands in glee.  “Oh, this is almost TOO easy!” ----------- Skye, Feral Forest “Yes, they were,” replied Skye, turning and seeing the halted Mighty.  She jogged back, trying to pull him by the arm.  “And so will we unless we keep moving.  There’s a small village just a couple miles away.  We might find a vehicle there to reach the city.  C’mon!” she pleaded. ----------- Sleet and Dingo, Mobotropolis “I have a job for you two,” the King spoke after a moments consideration. “We’re listening, your Majesty, if you are paying,” Sleet replied, a hint of a smile on his face. “I will be, a tenth of the royal treasury,” the King replied.  For once, Sleet’s composure failed. “A… a t-tenth?” he stammered in surprise, wondering if he had misheard, or if the King was addled. “Yes, you heard correctly,” Max replied, unphased.  “I want you to get my daughter out of the city, and keep her safe, until this ‘Robotnik’ is dealt with, whatever it takes.” “What?” the King’s daughter exclaimed in shock, and a note of anger.  “I’m NOT leaving!  I…” “Sally, we need to ensure the Royal line continues,” Max replied, his tone more fatherly than kingly as he addressed his daughter. “Head to Knothole, hopefully there will be safe.  But if not, keep running.”  He turned back to the Mercenaries.  “Do I have your word?” “Sire, for such a price, I’d protect her like family,” Sleet replied with a bow. “I didn’t know you were related to royalty!” Dingo said to Sleet with surprise, causing the wolf to sigh. Outside, the guard regarded Johnny. “I cannot let you just interrupt the King’s meeting,” he spoke.  “But if you tell me what you know, I could relay it to the King, or let you speak to him if it is important enough.” ----------- Casino Night Zone The approaching Swat Bots marched towards the centre of the city, weapons raised. “Canary, Priority One,” was their repeated, electronic mantra as they approached, opening fire on the group with their stun beams as soon as they could draw a target.

Very nice!

Sweet design there!

A very Happy Birthday to Danny Felixe!

Thanks to Thire!  And yes, now my turn to pass the Birthday wishes onto Seviper!

Thank yo... wait what?

Thank you guys!

After I have lost count of how long away, I've jumped back into Fire Emblem Heroes again.  The game seems to know this and has been weirdly generous with the summons since I returned....

Happy birthday to CT!

Happy Birthday Geoffrey!

An upcoming ASO arc that I am working on: https://twitter.com/Sonic_Online/status/1245218609166721024  

I saw the Sonic Movie last night.  And it was pretty much how I expected.  Spoiler free (assuming you've seen the trailers) thought below. Firstly, I wanna say up front I did have fun.  Looking at the film objectively, it’s a decent, run-of the mill ‘live action human befriends a CGI critter’ film.  Not amazing, but certainly far from bad.  What really buoys it up is Jim Carrey having a blast as Robotnik.  So if you’re a Jim Carrey fan, that’s gonna be a big boost for the film. For Sonic fans, Sonic himself is treated with heart.  He’s different to regular Sonic, but in a way that makes sense for the film, and the core of his character is still there.  One thing that did surprise me is how small scale it is, given all the big event superhero films, and the kinda threats Sonic usually goes up against.  But here it’s just Sonic trying to escape Robotnik.  And to be honest, I liked it.  It was a nice change of pace.  And seeing as the film is pretty much 'Sonic Origins' it fits. While there are a fair few small niggles I have with the film, there’s only on big one.  And that’s how generic it is.  Given how unique and crazy some of the Sonic lore is, seeing it just be a standard ‘human/critter’ film was disappointing.  But having said that, the final scene, and the mid-credit teaser, pretty much scream that if there is a sequel, the crazy is coming with it. And that was my biggest surprise from the film.  While my response to the film was ‘yeah, it’s fun’ the main thing I took away is that I am HYPED for the sequel.  Here’s hoping it makes enough to get one. Which brings me to the 'should you see it?' question.  Yes!  You should.  Even if the aforementioned generic 'man and his CGI pal' plot is off-putting, even if you think you hate that, please, go see it.  Because the more money it makes, the more likely that sequel will come, the more likely that sequel will get a good budget, and the more likely we'll a proper, full blown Sonic The Hedgehog film.

Zzzzzz.... Are there still zombies?  There are.. oh... *goes back to sleep* Sorry, I've been keeping abreast of what's happening.  But the whole zombot thing is just so off-putting for me.  And, tbh, the worst things get in story, the lower the stakes become to me.  Because the more likely it is that the final cure will be a complete reset button with utterly ZERO lasting effects. This is like when Shadow died in the Archie crossover.  It didn't raise the stakes.  It signalled 'NONE OF THIS WILL MATTER!'

We've hit our milestone.  ASO 250 is now here!  

Pokemon Research Centre – Scabbard Town   Steam rose from the warm tea as Professor Alistair Pine picked up the mug and heading towards the glass fronted conference room of the Pokemon Research Centre.  With this being the day of his tenth anniversary as a professor in Scabbard Town, some joker had left a happy birthday card in his office.  But as the badge with the card showed a Squirtle, his own starter years ago, he was wearing it with pride on his lab coat.   Through the windows of the room he could already see the pink haired Nurse Joy setting up the room.  She looked up a little surprised as Pine entered.   “Professor?  You’re up early!” she commented, looking at the clock above his head which showed a few minutes past 6am   “And you think our new group of trainers won’t be?” asked Pine with a smile.  “They might not be due till ten but believe me they’ll arrive early so we better be ready for them.”  He looked around the room appraisingly.  “But you seem to be well head of me Nurse.  By the way, the kettles just boiled in the canteen if you would like a cup of tea.”   “Thank you, I’d love one,” replied the Nurse.  “Don’t go yourself, I’ll get it.”   “If you insist,” Pine replied.  “I’ll get the cases out.”  Joy nodded and left the room while the Professor began checking the cases labelled with the names of the new trainers.  Each contained a Pokedex, half a dozen empty Pokeballs, and their starter Pokemon inside a Pokeball, except for a couple who were bringing their own starters..  As he looked through, the Professors eyebrow rose and he turned to look at the returning Nurse Joy, tea cup in hand.   “Nurse, is there a mistake with the shipment?  There seems to be a lot of Fennekins here!” asked the Professor, sorting through the cases.   “I’ve double checked the manifests,” replied Nurse Joy, taking a sip from her cup.  “Fennekins seem to be popular with this group of trainers.”    “I see.  I suppose these trends do come and go.  Like two years ago when every starter chosen was from the Kanto Region,” mused the Professor with a chuckle, though something seemed to be bothering the Nurse.   “Professor?  Maybe… we should postpone this group.  There are those stories of Trainers going missing…” began Joy, but the Professor gave a small wave.   “You’re worrying too much.  Trainers often go off the beaten path, and you know how unreliable the holocaster signal is in Ganlo.  It’s not the first time it happened, nor the last,” said the Professor reassuringly.  He took a final gulp of tea and put his empty mug on the desk.  “I’m going to check on the training facilities.  Give me a call if any of our young… or old newcomers arrive.  With a nod he left the room, humming happily to himself as a small Lillipup came out of his office and started walking at his heels.   -------------   Day Care Centre – Scabbard Town   “C’mon Amber, hurry up!” called Kimberly, more commonly known as Kimi, to her twin sister.   She skated in circles around her sister, her ginger hair flapping behind her in a ponytail.  Amber however looked nervous, clutching the Eevee egg which had been gifted to her.  The two girls were at the end of the road junction which led to their parents Day Care centre, a short way outside Scabbard Town.   The twins had already said their goodbyes, but their older brother had followed them to the road end, both to see them off and to check on the pair of Ponyta’s the Day Care was looking after.   “Do… do you really think I should do this Michael?” Amber asked her brother, looking up at him.    “Of course you should.  I never wanted to do anything but work here, but going was still a great experience, and one you girls should really do!” Michael replied with certainty.   “I still don’t get why you didn’t at least TRY to join the League Championship.  You had all your badges,” Kimi shot back, coming to a halt.   “Like I said, that’s not where my interests lay.  I didn’t want to be stuck with a title I’d need to defend all the time,” he retorted with a smile.   “Seems silly to me!” shrugged Kimi.  “But let’s get started.”  She started skating away.   “KIMI!” called Amber, but her sister was already on her way.  She gave one last look towards her brother.   “Don’t worry Amber, your egg will hatch in time,” said Michael anticipating his sister question.  “And you’ll have fun, I know it.”    Amber gave a weak smile, then ran after her sister, calling her name.  

Cool work!

I think many of us still have them as our avatars

Nice, though beefier than I'd have expected!   If you're wanting to do more you could do the whole series of the Shinomi drawn avatars!

The design, yes The trailer, nahhhh

Well, it's dropped. Is it better, yeah. Is it good.....    

Happy Birthday Thire!  Have a great day!

Given that hacking a single swatbot won;t make much difference I vote for warning Shadow.

Really great work as always Shinomi!