#multi's writing

(this takes place in an au where canon cal is dating a regular modern au bode, who hasn't yet figured out that his cute new boyfriend is a goddamn space wizard)

(cw: mentions of violence against a teenager)

--

bode and cal are lying together in bode's bed, warm and content, one lazy afternoon--cal flat on his stomach, bode on his back next to him, one hand idly rubbing cal's back.

A mini-fic for Issue 4. No one asked, but I felt the need.

Written by @multiisketch

~~~

Tails woke with a start, cold air rushing into his lungs and he sat up. Immediately, his hand flew to his forehead only to find it bare. The mind control device Robo-Sonic had placed on him was gone. Hours? Days? Weeks? Months? How long had he been out for the forest around him to be covered in a harsh winter?

Tails looked above to the pooling dark clouds and noticed the thin wire mesh they occluded. This was all an illusion. The mind control device must have connected his own mind to a fabricated world. A place set up to distract his consciousness from what was going on outside. He doubted he'd been out longer than a minute.

A large divot in the snow pile next to him caught Tails' attention. It looked like an upside-down egg. He wasn't the first. He doubted he'd be the last if Robo-Sonic was allowed to keep on.

The sky brimmed with electricity. Thunder erupted. Tails jumped and squeaked at the loud noise, hating the panic that coursed through him. His fear of storms was already bad enough, but now the sight reminded him of his best friend. He could still feel a tingle in his shoulder from where he'd been grabbed before. A tightness around his waist from the enerbeam whip. He held his legs close to his chest, unsure of what to do now as the memories of the past day stung his mind.

"…Tails…"

Tails' head shot up at the voice. It was distant and faint, but he knew it well.

"Sonic?" he asked the howling wind as he glanced around the surrounding area for some sign of his friend. He saw nothing but the dense forest. Was it even his Sonic? Or just another thinly veiled trick from his corrupted self?

"…Tails!"

Sonic's voice grew more insistent. Pained and yet fond. No, that tone was unmistakably his Sonic. It brought Tails to his feet as he cupped his hands around his mouth. "Sonic! Where are you?!" he cried.

There was no response.

Tails waited a moment longer…

"…Tower."

Tower? What tower? Tails looked around. The snowy haze around him blocked his view of anything beyond the immediate tree line. He needed a direction to follow and turned in circles trying to decide where to start.

"Stop," Sonic's voice ordered and Tails stood still, finding himself pointed toward a series of brambles. He broke into a run toward them before pushing off the ground and flying over the tree tops. The snowy haze grew thicker, but as long as he flew straight he figured he'd be fine.

Hours passed before Tails arrived at the base of a large tower. He didn't see it at first thanks to the snow and nearly collided into its side. The front door was wide open. As the storm whistled in his ears and thunder raged in the sky above, Tails headed inside.

The red décor was blinding and the statue at the front of the stairs an egregious display of how warped and twisted Sonic's ego had become under the influence of the Symbiote virus. But the flag it wielded was noticeably torn, half of it sitting on the stairs it framed. At the base of the statue, tiny and insignificant in its birth was Eggman and three vaguely familiar looking robots. Tails rushed over, noting that the robots appeared to be deactivated as they weren't moving. Though, then again, neither was Eggman.

When he got close enough to realize who the robots were modelled after, Tails' stride hesitated as his stomach dropped to the floor. Knuckles' chest plate had been smashed in, one of his clawed hands torn off as the stump sparked and fritz. Amy had her own hammer imbedded in her knee joint, keeping her on the ground. Her visor was also cracked. Tails' own robotic duplicate's twin turbines were blown out and an ear was missing. The display was brutal, though likely not undeserved. He'd need a hefty number of projects to work on when all this was over just to distract himself from the image imprinted now in his mind.

Although Eggman, surprisingly, was completely unscathed.

Tails neared, putting a hand on Eggman's shoulder, then jumped back when the mad doctor immediately cried out and went to punch him.

"What now?! Have you finally summoned a robot Sticks?" Eggman cried, his voice drunk. "I'll take care of her, too!"

Tails dodged several more swings as he spoke, "Woah! Hang on, Eggman! It's me! The real Tails! Promise!!"

At that Eggman paused and adjusted his glasses as his brow narrowed. He looked Tails up and down, recognizing his organic state and nervous smile. He then straightened and huffed. "So it is. About time you showed up. Sonic was getting worried about you."

"Where is he?" Tails asked.

Eggman nodded his head over to the large door at the top of the stairs. "Go, fox. He needs you now more than ever."

Tails' robot duplicate sparked and stuttered. Immediately, Eggman took his foot and pounded a dent in its head. It dropped dead. Tails looked after both, Eggman smirking in return, before he headed up the stairs.

---

Static screens lined the hall Tails found himself walking down, but the whispers of the memories that were once present remained.

"Eggman! You know my name is Dr. Eggman! You do that on purpose!" Eggman's voice teased the edges of his hearing.

"Do what, Egghead?" Sonic snarked in returned.

"Okay, guys, I'll be the first to admit that my speed-boost experiments were a tad inconclusive," Tails' own voice mumbled.

"I knew you were coming. But you will never obliterate Sticks, because Sticks is unoblite-- unobli-- unobliterary…You can't kill me," said Sticks, causing Tails to chuckle slightly at the memory.

"They'll call us 'zee three musketeers' and we will be saving the day, no?"

"O-oh, come on, Ant--I'm no hero…"

At the end of the hall was a larger monitor. Printed on the screen was an upload bar. Above it read the words, "Replacing 114,468,640 files from OS(C:)_Program Files_SonicHedgehog. 91% compeletion"

Below the monitor, standing inert, was Robo-Sonic. His hand was reaching out toward a large, red OVERRIDE button on the central console. Tails looked over Robo-Sonic with flared nostrils, hating what had become of him. Had the virus done it? Had it overwrote Sonic's personality with its own version of his friend?

Movement caught the corner of Tails' eye. He looked down to the hand hanging by Robo-Sonic's waist. A pair of organic fingers twitched beneath a sickly, pooling metallic crust.

"Sonic! It's you!" Tails realized, hugging the robot tightly. Sonic didn't move or react. Whatever was left of him was barely holding on.

Tails needed a plan. And fast. Old memories continued to echo from the hallway behind them. A console sat just off to the side of the onclave they stood in. Tails pulled away from Sonic, placing both his hands on Sonic's shoulders.

"I don't know what that virus has been telling you, Sonic, but it is inherently manipulative. It's trying to change you into something your not and you can't give into that, alright?" Tails said.

Sonic didn't respond. Tails headed over to the spare console and began typing away. "You must have a back-up save of your core memory files somewhere. I'll make sure you remember what this thing really is." Sweat marked his brow. "And then lets hope that buys us enough time for Amy to apply the anti-virus."

I assume it's a stolen chili dog (unless Dave gave it to him since he's yk evil?)

Early morning dew dripped off the leaves of palm trees spread across Hedgehog Village just as the sun began creeping across the horizon, alighting the village center in a haze of gold. Behind Mehburger's back counter, Dave peaked his eyelids open as the sun's warmth graced him and yawned. His midnight shift was over. The breakfast crowd would roll in any second now.

Stretching out his back and grabbing a mop, Dave set to work scrubbing the floors, resetting tables and chairs, refilling the condiments table, and pocketing left over pieces of Eggman's robots. Not every bit and bob got cleaned up from the previous days assault. What he wasn't required by Mehburger's policies to throw in the garbage, he took home. He hoped to one day build his own robot out of what he'd collected. But it was a far flung dream given his most prized find was merely a spike off the back of a Crabmeat.

A spike that was about to be overthrown. A glint of light in the grass just outside the restaurant caught Dave's eye. At first it looked like an unassuming piece of glass. Dave assumed it must have come off of a Motobugs eye socket, but the curvature of the piece was too wide and thick for that. Eggman hadn't deployed Mantisbots, so it wasn't part of their visors. Beebots and Crabbots were too small...

Vaguely, Dave could hear a jetpack cooling down nearby. It was Soar, he figured. The flightless reporter was always an early bird. Dave found a modicum of pleasure in punishing Soar for it by purposefully taking as long as he wanted with his cleaning duties. Today, however, his lack of focus was not entirely planned out. The origins of the glass was bothering him. What could have left it behind?

A shadow cast across Dave from where he was crouched over the grass. He rolled his eyes, "I'm on my break, Soar. I'll make you your fat free, salty mustard salad after."

"Try again."

Dave's eye widened a fraction at the familiar voice, not recognizing the coldness in its tone as the image of an overly positive spiky blue pincushion came to mind. Only the last time he'd seen Sonic, the hedgehog hadn't quite been himself.

Dave looked again at the glass piece in his hand, realizing why he hadn't recognized it immediately. It belonged to the chest piece of Sonic's new, half-robotic body. A design curtsey of Dr. Eggman and one Dave hadn't had the proper time to study yet before it'd been whisked away from his line of sight. Damaged. Broken. Nobody in town was sure if they'd ever see the hedgehog, again.

Swallowing so hard Dave could feel his Adam's apple bob in his throat, he rose to his feet. Then, like ripping a band-aid off, he took a deep breath, turned round, and gasped at the sight before him.

"Wooaaah!" Dave's voice was a hoarse whine as he took in the now fully robotic hedgehog with wide-eyed glee. Sonic, on the other hand, glowered after Dave as the intern began circling him, all fear leaving Dave's body as he marveled at Sonic's intricacies. "A new paint job, fully articulate limbs, an LED HUD with detailed expressions, a jet engine..." Dave cooed. "Eggman really gave you an upgrade, huh? I guess he had to on account of you almost--" He choked back the rest of his words, instead holding up the glass piece he'd found in the grass.

Sonic eyed Dave's treasure, gaze thinning. "I'm better now," he said plainly.

Dave glanced at the reddened glow of the circular plate against the robot's chest, comparing its hairline fractures to the broken-off piece he had. None of them matched. "Riiiiight."

Dave pocketed the piece, trying to appeal casual and not as terrified as he felt once the reality of his situation settled in. "So, is Eggman planning on invading again, or...?"

"Eggman is irrelevant," Sonic said.

"Robot uprising, I can dig it," said Dave.

There was a long pause.

"So, do you still like chilidogs, or...?" asked Dave. "Cos I'll make you one if it means leaving me outta whatever you're about to do here."

The robot's LED eyes widened a fraction, looking elsewhere, before glancing back at Dave. "I... don't know."

Dave shrugged and began walking back into the restaurant. "Can't hurt to try..." He could hear Sonic following behind him at an even pace. Dave hopped the back counter when he reached it and began gathering the needed ingredients.

He started to ramble, then. "So, what's it like? Being all robot like that? S'gotta be weird, right? Cos like, let's be fair, this ain't the type of stuff you'd see on a Saturday morning cartoon nowadays. Not since, like, the 90s at least." Dave sniffed a stale hotdog before placing it in the microwave. "How much of you is even still 'Sonic'? Or did Eggman, like, replace everything?"

There was a long pause before the robots voice hummed to life. "I've always been me."

The microwave beeped. Quicker than he'd ever made a chilidog before, Dave presented the delicacy to the robot. "Order up," Dave said, tiredly.

Sonic took the chilidog into his clawed hand and held it delicately. He made no motion to eat it, however.

"I don't have a mouth, do I?" he asked.

"'Fraid not. Cooler that way. Wish I didn't have to eat," Dave replied. "It's so tiring."

"Can't spin dash..." the robot continued.

"Sound rough," said Dave.

"But I'm better, right?"

Dave shrugged. "Is our deal solid?"

The robot offered the smallest of nods.

A mini-fic for Issue 1 in Celebration of the Dub Release

Written by @multiisketch

~~~

Sonic hung still in Eggman's grip as the doctor walked down the long hallway toward the control room. His breathing was hitched, his chest burning. None of the thoughts passing through his mind could find purchase, though at the moment this was preferred. It made listening to Eggman easier. Which was not necessarily preferred, but his programming made it agreeable for the time being.

"...Your chest plate shouldn't have broken so easily," Eggman muttered more to himself than Sonic, "I was in a hurry, so I didn't have time to fine tune the SG-1000's transmutation process to fur and bones. Frankly, it's a miracle you survived the process. Though, reasoning suggests your cyboric state will aid in fostering a smoother transition this time. What do you think?"

Sonic wasn't thinking. "I will undergo the process as instructed, Master Eggman," he mumbled. 

Eggman let out a short snicker. "My, if Mombot could see us now! We should visit her after all this is over."

"Yessir," said Sonic.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you look your best before then," continued Eggman.

"Yessir," said Sonic.

"Not much for conversation, are you, Robo-Sonic?" asked Eggman.

"No sir," said Sonic.

"Don't worry. We'll fix that too."

They made it to the control room. Sonic was set down on the SG-1000's gravity pad. It was switched off. His legs folded beneath him as he sat, staring at the ground.

"Hey! Look! The boss is back!" came Cubot's voice as he and Orbot floated in from the lab hall.

"And so is Sonic," said Orbot. "He doesn't look so good."

Orbot hovered up to Sonic, touching his finger slightly against Sonic's chest plate. Sonic tensed, feeling a sharp stab peel out from the plate across every nerve in his body. Orbot's perfectly circular eyes widened in a panic as Sonic heaved and fell forward into his arms.

"Oh, I've seen this in a Motobug once," Orbot sighed. "Don't worry. Once Eggman repairs you, you won't feel a thing! Right, sir?"

Eggman ignored him, focusing on the SG-1000s controls. He pressed a few buttons, then Sonic was lifting off the ground, floating above the platform, his body straightening out.

"Rest now, Robo-Sonic. You'll be better soon," Eggman said.

Sonic's throat burned. "D-don't do this..."

Eggman's fingers stopped a touch above the control board. His gaze cut across to Sonic, stealing himself as he caught the hedgehog's weak eyes. "You'll die if I don't." Firmly, he pressed the main button on the control board and the glass cage descended around Sonic.

"Chamber locked," came the smooth male voice of Eggman's computer system. Sonic's muscles tensed as the vocal vibrations pressed against his body.

"Intiating Starting Sequence..." came the voice again as heat began to choke the air as it did the first time. Back then, Sonic could feel that warmth beating away in his chest and wash down his face in drops of sweat. Now, though, everything he was felt icy. Like a knife made from Holoska's coldest winters was pressing itself into what was left of his heart.

Eggman was right. He was dying. 

"Engaging Repair Procedures," said the computer.

He felt nothing as the machine poured its miracle cure into his body. His heart beat stopped, his breath drew short--

yoinking the open tags from @vacantgodling and @void-botanist :3c the last thing i wrote was a smut fic that i don't really wanna post a quote from rn (lmao)

BUT i've been picking slowly at a write-up of the dark crystal oneshot i ran a few months ago, from my boy atja's pov. so here's a bit of the outlining i've been doing for that.

cut to a little later, and atja helping the sifan captains set up the sunrise hill for the opening ceremony. it seems he didn’t sleep well last night, in his excitement for the day, and he has yet to change into his appropriate princely attire. he has a few brief conversations with captain di’ya. each time, she asks to speak with him about something important, and he agrees to do so, but every time someone else pulls him away. di’ya gets increasingly frustrated, but atja is being pulled in a dozen directions at once and can’t help it. finally, he apologizes and asks if he can speak with her after the opening ceremony, she reluctantly agrees before excusing herself. with 30 minutes to go before the ships begin arriving in port, atja excuses himself to visit the grave site, where he says a prayer for his sister. he asks for her guidance and support for the day to come, and asks her if he’s making the right choice. of course, she doesn’t answer, but he feels an almost painful tingling in his hands as he grips the pendant around his neck. he tells her he’s sorry, and he feels a cold wind rustle his robes.

When Eggman took Sonic away, dangling in the grip of his Eggmobile claw, Tails ran in the opposite direction toward his workshop where his plane, the Cyclone, was waiting. He told the others to stay where they were. He'd bring the Cyclone to them. While they waited, Amy stared off onto the horizon. The little dot of movement they had been Eggman was already gone, but the sight of Sonic's transformed and weakened state stuck to her vision like glue. She realized, then, that sometime during the battle his scarf had fallen away.

She spent the next twenty minutes or so searching the grass. Even when Tails arrived, she kept searching, refusing to leave until she found it. Sonic loved that scarf. It was a very special gift he'd received years ago, just before their first adventure off Seaside island. A lucky scarf, he would sometimes call it--complaining if Amy made him take it off for special events. If she was honest, she understood why. He didn't look like himself without it.

She found the scarf between a pair of bushes a mile away from the Cyclone and held it close to her before pocketing it. She'd return it to him when Tails fixed this mess. Sonic would smile and thank her and maybe even let her fasten it into place for him. Everything would be good and normal, the last hour or so a bad dream.

Two extra minutes. That was all she'd taken before rejoining the others.

"Two extra minutes," Eggman sneered as he calculated the time it would take for the rodents to follow him home. "That's all I need."

Just give me two extra minutes, Sonic thought as he sunk beneath the sand, reaching out with his whole heart, wishing someone, anyone would take his hand.

Sometimes, when Dagan looks at Cal, he sees Santari.

Not in his appearance, of course. Both were--are beautiful, but otherwise, the two couldn't be more different physically.

Santari was all warm brown skin, a round face framed by curls as black as night, dark eyes that nonetheless shone like stars. She had a smile that could brighten even the darkest corners of the galaxy, and- her hands, he remembers her hands most of all, nimble and precise as they cradled his own. She was smaller than him, but she never looked small, full of effortless grace and authority, yet devoid of the self-centered vanity she used to lovingly tease him for.

(And in the late, lonely nights they spent together, she would curl up in his arms, and she was so small that she slotted next to him perfectly.)

Cal, in contrast, is pale, far too pale even with all the time he spends in the sun, his body lean and angular from years of hardship and starvation, his fiery red hair a vibrant spot of color against his face. His body is dappled with countless scars, hallmarks from a life lived in perpetual struggle. And where he isn't scarred, he's freckled, sunspots scattered over nearly every inch of his body. He's tall, too, but when he's not racing into danger he practically folds inward on himself, making himself so achingly tiny, like he's trying not to impose too much of himself on his surroundings.

(Dagan can't imagine doing that, making himself small. He hates that anyone ever made his burning star feel like he had to.)

But appearances are only skin deep, and both Santari and Cal burn in a way that leaves Dagan breathless. He basks in their warmth, though he knows he doesn't deserve it--he never did, no matter how much Santari praised him, no matter how much good Cal claims to see in his withered, rotting spirit. And where Santari was sunlight, Cal is a flashfire, but both of them are so bright and vibrant that he can't help but marvel in their presence. Marvel that, after two centuries trapped in a hell of his own creation, paying for his hubris and how he ruined the only one who ever loved him, the galaxy would see fit to show him such light again.

They're both so kind, so gentle, so righteous, so self-sacrificing for a galaxy that doesn't deserve them either. The kind of person that can only exist once in a lifetime, because there's never enough good out there to make two of them.