#misc au

[I.D. Two fake screenshots of ROTTMNT Bishop, a white man in a suit with curly black hair. The first shows him standing in front of a row of storefronts, leaning forward and holding the front of his jacket. His eyes are covered with sunglasses and he smiles in a mildly unsettling way. It's captioned "not evil anymore I want to be loved now". The second image shows Bishop in a lab, spinning a clawed weapon on a chain menacingly. His suit jacket is gone and the sleeves of his shirt are rolled up. The image is tinted an eerie, dangerous red. It's captioned "evil again". End I.D.]

"bambi did you seriously make fake screenshots of rise bishop so you could make a textpost meme" yes. yes i did. enjoy this meme that will make probably little to no sense to people who are not in my head. heart emoji

thank you for joining the star raid!

Sonic was floating. Pearly white mist swirled around him, languid and serene, and Sonic let it sink into him, relaxing and sinking, sinking, sinking... 

"Can you hear me?" The mist asked. 

"Yes." Sonic agreed, his eyelids fluttering. Were they open? Shut? He didn't know... and it didn't matter. Nothing mattered but the peace and the mist. 

"Excellent." The mist brightened, a warmth at the praise filling Sonic so completely a lazy smile stretched across his muzzle. "What is your name?" 

"Sonic the Hedgehog." Sonic hummed. 

"What age are you?" 

What an odd question for the mist to ask. But since it did ask... "Seventeen." A tingle skittered down his back, something not quite right, and Sonic made a noise of discontent. The tingle disturbed the peace, and he wanted the peace to remain, to float and sink sink sink. 

"Where were you born?" The mist asked. 

The mist was chatty. But the mist was peaceful and nice and so Sonic would answer. "Christmas Island." 

Another tingle. Sonic's quills trembled with the tingle, bristling slightly before lying flat and smooth again, and Sonic frowned. Something wasn't right...but the mist was thick and deep, and so the tingle went away without much more acknowledgement. It was probably nothing. 

"To whom were you born?" The mist demanded to know. 

Sonic furrowed his brow. Fuzzy memories flitted before his eyes, too fast and slippery for him to catch. "I don't-" 

"Who are your parents?" The mist insisted. 

"I... don't know." Sonic confessed. What was happening? Why did the mist ask about these things? They were unimportant. The mist clung to his fur and he sunk further...but it wasn't a peaceful descent... Did he want to fall further? Further into... where? 

"Where does your speed come from?" The mist demanded. The tone was harsh, biting, and Sonic tried to get away. He didn't want the mist touching him, dragging him further down. He was Sonic, free as the wind, he didn't want to... 

The mist turned to shadows, pearly white to insidious black with an oily grip that slithered up his arms and legs, and Sonic writhed. No. No. He didn't want to fall further, to succumb to these shadows...

A speck of light glittered like a distant star, flying closer and closer, and the shadows hissed and rescinded. The tiny star floated in front of Sonic's face, shimmering, glowing, pushing the shadows back and back....until there was nothing but light and warmth again.  

The light swirled around Sonic's head like a comet, leaving a trail of shimmering sparks. "Hello, little blue." The comet greeted. 

"Umm. Hi." Sonic blinked. "I'm dreaming." 

"In a sense." The comet agreed. "The one you call Doctor Eggman has captured you and attempts to invade your mind. He seeks answers about your past, with the hopes to use those answers to destroy you."

"The shadows." Sonic realized. 

"It has become easier within recent eons for darkness to lurk within light." The comet sounded sad. "However, light — true light — shall always be able to stand against it. I sensed the danger, and came to defend you, young one."

"Heh. Thanks." Sonic thumbed his nose and grinned at the comet. 

The comet seemed to shine brighter. "It is the least I can do, young one. But I am afraid the threat has not yet passed. You are still a captive of Eggman, and the neurotoxin he forced upon you will not wear off enough for you to make an escape."

Sonic tapped his foot. "I feel fine."

The comet bobbed in the air, and sort of chiming sound reverberated from it. "I expect you do." Amusement coated the comet's tone. "But only because I am shielding you from the effects, and we are currently within the deepest chasm of your own subconscious. If I were to leave you, and you wake, you will be in no shape but to listen and answer every question the doctor poses to you."

Sonic crossed his arms and frowned. "So, I wait for the drug to wear off?" 

"No. The doctor would only imbue you with more." The comet disagreed. "You must escape."

"How?" Sonic demanded. 

The comet halted in its revolution around Sonic's head and hovered in front of his eyes. "I shall aid you. Should you allow me, I will join my consciousness with your own, and I shall move through you, and my power will be more than sufficient to flee the doctor."

"You want to possess me?" Sonic jerked back. The comet followed him. "I thought you were here to help protect my noggin, not, ya know, cook it." 

"I have no desire to take you as a slave, child." The comet disagreed tenderly. "If it were possible, I would allow you to use my power while retaining yourself, but the mortal mind is a fragile thing. You would burn. And I would loathe for you to experience such an agonizing end. My child," The comet lightly bumped against his cheek, warmth and affection blooming from the touch so thick and fierce that Sonic swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. "It would only be for a moment. Just long enough to return you safely to those you care about. You'll sleep, and when you wake, you will be safe and among your friends and family. I give you my word, my son."

"…Okay." 

----------

Eggman frowned, leaned over the blue hedgehog's face with a hand on his chin. Sonic had stopped answering his questions several minutes ago, and while Orbot's scanners had confirmed the neurotoxin still flowed thick in his system, the rodent failed to react to any outward stimuli. Sonic's eyes were shut, his breathing even...but he couldn't be asleep. Cubot had proven that with a scan of his brainwaves. 

Eggman snapped his fingers under Sonic's nose. Nothing. "Blasted rodent." The doctor muttered. "What could- eeeek!" 

The high-pitched shriek from the doctor's mouth was nothing compared to the look in the blue hedgehog's eyes. Sonic's fingers curled tight and unforgiving around Eggman's mustache, the pain bringing little tears to the doctor's eyes as Sonic floated to an upright position, towering over the pseudo-conqueror with that look in his eyes. 

The look that threatened to put a quiver in Eggman's knees. The look that had Orbot and Cubot ducking nervously down into their compact forms. The look of pure malice, of rage and loathing... A look within eyes that glowed solid white-blue... eyes that held no recognition for his arch nemesis, none of the familiarity or mercy that his enemies normally found, even when the blue hedgehog was beyond furious.

"Ivo Robotnik." The voice that spoke with Sonic's mouth was not that of the blue hedgehog. It rang with eternity and echoed with authority, and Orbot and Cubot rolled under the desk, quaking in their shells. "Sonic" paid no attention to the badniks, his focus on Eggman and nothing else. 

"N-N-Now S-S-S-Sonic-," Eggman stuttered. "Sonic" smiled. Eggman hesitantly smiled back.

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

"-Relief crews are still digging through the rubble, but reports have confirmed the site was a compound of the known evil scientist, Dr. Eggman. Witnesses recall hearing multiple sonic booms before the explosion, could the destruction be the result of another battle between Eggman and the renowned hero, Sonic the Hedge-," The television screen clicked to black with the press of a button, and Amy turned to Sonic worriedly, who'd fallen silent at the start of the report. 

"And you don't remember anything at all?" The pink hedgehog asked gently. 

Sonic shook his head. "S'all fuzzy. Just... going for a run, then lights out. Then I woke up back here." 

"Whatever happened, perhaps you finished Eggman for good this time." Amy suggested with a light smile. "No one's seen him since."

Sonic tilted his head. "He's vanished and returned before, Ames. He isn't gone until he's in the ground for everyone to see." Amy sighed but nodded. 

"I'd love to know what happened, though." Amy mused. "What if you have some secret power, locked away, and it's finally revealing itself?" 

"Why don't we find out?" A large cardboard box supported by a twin set of twirling orange tails floated into the living room, settling with a loud rattle on the coffee table, and a pair of eager blue eyes peered over the top of it. "It took some tweaking, but I'm positive this baby will give us the answers we need." 

Sonic and Amy stood and peered into the box. Sonic paused. "Is that my Dreamcast?" 

"Er, well, I-," Tails blushed. "I'll buy you a new one, promise. Now here." He shoved a black metal diadem adorned with silver circles into Sonic's hands. "Put that on and sit down." 

"What is it?" Amy wondered as Sonic carefully rested the diadem on his head, the circles touching his temples, forehead, and cheeks. 

"The Recaller." Tails beamed, pulling a thick black box out of the cardboard and connecting a wire between it and Sonic's diadem. "Able to recall memories otherwise lost or buried within the subconscious. Simply put: I press a button, and Sonic will be able to remember what happened at Eggman's compound, no problem. Ready, Sonic?" 

Sonic gave him a thumbs-up. "Beam me up, buddy!" Tails rolled his eyes but pressed the button, he and Amy holding their breaths. 

The silver circles lit up and twinkled, and Sonic jolted, his ear twitching. "That's weeeird..." He sagged, speech slurring as his head slumped forward, chin resting on his chest. 

"Sonic?" Amy cried. "Tails, what-" 

The fox was tapping at the Recaller with a furrowed brow. "I don't- ah!" He yelped when it sparked.

Sonic's ear twitched, and he straightened, inhaling deeply with his eyes closed. "Sonic?" Amy whispered. Sonic opened his eyes. Amy gasped, her hands flying to her mouth, and Tails pounded the keys on the Recaller. 

Sonic's eyes were glowing white-blue. "Hello." The voice that greeted them so pleasantly didn't belong to the blue hedgehog... it was far too ancient... far too powerful. "Please, do not be alarmed, young ones. I mean you no harm." 

"Who are you?" Tails demanded. "You aren't Sonic. So, who are you?" 

Not-Sonic smiled warmly. "Clever kit you are." He purred. "I am... a very old friend of Sonic's." 

"Friends don't possess friends." Amy bit out. 

"I suppose that is true." Not-Sonic concurred. "But I would not call this... possession. I am not using Sonic against his will. I am merely... speaking through him." 

"Why?" Tails demanded. 

"You desired to know what occurred at the stronghold of the one you call Eggman seven days ago." Not-Sonic shrugged and grinned benignly. "Only I have those answers, so I came to grant them to you." 

"You were the thing that caused the explosion." Amy realized. 

Not-Sonic grinned, pleased, folding Sonic's hands over his lap. "I believe the phrase is 'Guilty as charged.' Sonic was in grave danger. Eggman sought to invade his mind, to learn secrets that would have destroyed him. The doctor's digging stirred me from my sleep, and I immediately acted to protect him from harm." 

"You’re...sleeping inside Sonic?" Amy echoed faintly.

"The mind is a truly magnificent and vast space, beloved Rose, if utilized properly." Not-Sonic explained. "I sleep deep within Sonic's subconsciousness; he grants me solace and safety, and in return, I sleep so he may be undisturbed by me."  

"But why remain with Sonic at all?" Amy pressed. "Surely you could find a better place than in his head!" 

Not-Sonic laughed. It chimed like bells. "I suppose I could, but I have grown quite fond of Sonic, beloved Rose. His memories of his adventures provide fantastic dreams for my slumber. His pure heart and free spirit is uplifting; with gifts such as those, I do not sleep in darkness, but in a sky of stars, all plotted by Sonic." Not-Sonic smiled affectionately. 

"You... truly care for him." Tails shook his head. "What's your name?" 

Not-Sonic tilted Sonic's head. "I suppose...since that time has long since passed...you may call me Aephyr." 

Amy's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. She staggered and plopped down on the sofa under the weight of the revelation. Not-Sonic...Aephyr...watched her with solemn but kind eyes. Eyes that bore the burden of time... that had seen the birth of the universe, had a hand in its creation, ruled the Skies for thousands of years... "I-" 

Aephyr held up Sonic's hand. "The time has long passed, beloved Rose." He insisted quietly. "Now we sleep in peace, if you will allow us such." 

Amy caught the beseech in Aephyr's tone and nodded. Her heart ached, and she couldn't begin to understand, but she would put a pin to her curiosity. Perhaps, one day, she could gain the opportunity to speak to Aephyr again, and he would be more willing to share? Aephyr winked at her, then turned to Tails. "I do not wish to abuse the allowance Sonic has given me, so I would like to return to sleep, and restore Sonic to himself. However, if he should like to speak to me, he need only call, and I shall hear." 

Tails nodded. "Thank you, Aephyr." He tapped a button on the Recaller, and Sonic's head fell forward, his eyes fluttering. "Sonic?"  

some of the main cast of misc so far . individual always subject to change .

formatted in name / occupation / general description .

"Orion Pax. I do not believe we have met. My designation is Shockwave. Megatron sent me to help aid with your research on the Iacon Database."

They nod in greeting, and turn to face the screens.