[Open] there goes the neighborhood

[spinsandneedles]

WHO: Sonic & Knuckles YOU
WHERE: Temba, The Warrens
WHAT: That Time a Volcano Happened
WHEN: All Over August
WARNINGS: None, will update if needed



1. Lava Reef City Zone Act 1: August 10th, early morning

With one guy giving kinda vague instructions and another guy TYPING AS LOUD AS HE COULD (???) on the network, and the alien lady hopping on the network giving equally vague and harder to understand instructions, all saying to get everyone underground (instead of evacuating which would have made more sense to Sonic but hey, not his clown, not his circus), the hedgehog springs into action pretty much immediately. Well actually, he was just woken up in the middle of the night by his communicator screeching at him, so he's less springing into action and more groaning and rolling his eyes at the clock and stumbling out of bed into action, but hey, he's still quick about it. Either way, he's up and hitting the streets, peeking into places he knows some people to hang out if he doesn't already see them up and about, knocking on doors and windows and stuff, y'know just being as annoying as he can be since this is kind of an emergency.

"Helloooo, you awake in there? It's kinda Doomsday, you might wanna get up."

He doesn't sound too urgent, but that's just because he has a pretty skewed sense of danger. They have ten whole hours! It's not even a big deal. (It's a pretty big deal.)

2. Lava Reef City Zone Act 2: August 10th, too close to explode time lol

Oookay actually, it turns out they don't have quite as much time to prepare and get to where they need to be as Sonic thought. Just because he doesn't own anything that he's attached to enough to want to move to the mines doesn't mean nobody else does, and as far as he can tell, that's what seems to be slowing people down the most. The earthquakes aren't really helping. As stupid as being out here is, Sonic's still out and about looking for stragglers, and he's not shy at all about running right up on anyone he finds.

"Hey, we're kind of about to die? Do you need help moving anything? I can carry a lot more than I look like I can, load me up!"

3. Sonic Underground (no not that one): The remainder of August, wooo hooo

3a: This is weird and cramped and it sucks and Sonic's always hungry and he hates it, but he tries not to complain too much. They are, after all, alive, and Sonic is of course grateful for the little fungus dudes and the creepy looking little berry guys. Since he's cut off from the outside and is thus pretty much incapable of moving around like he's used to, he spends a pretty significant amount of his time just watching them do their thing and trying to find ways to help them out. Which would be easier if he could, y'know, communicate with them? Maybe someone can try to help him figure out what these little dudes are saying so he can actually be helpful.

3b: The rest of the time he's on the look out for people to hang out with or drag into exploring with him, but a lot of the time he just vanishes and heads deeper into The Warrens to explore by himself. Which is probably not the smartest thing to do, seeing as this place is basically a maze. It's probably fine, though.

Except that he's completely lost. Not bothered by it, though. It's just an excuse to explore further in, right? (How has he survived LIFE for this long?) Anyone else that's out this way for whatever reason may run into Sonic following pipes, standing on machinery (why???), creeping around in dark rooms looking for anything he might be able to bring back with him, or checking out the big, mysterious blast doors. And by 'checking out', I mean spin dashing into and bouncing off of, to no avail. Weird that they're here, right?

Comments

3

[newmemorywhodis]

Really, it doesn't take much to get Link to go exploring with Sonic. If fact it takes no convincing at all, considering that Link is already exploring himself, when he runs into Sonic.

"...Hi," he says, apparently unbothered by Sonic standing on the machinery. In fact Link is so unbothered that he decides to join Sonic, climbing up to stand beside him.

[spinsandneedles]

"Hey, bud! How's it goin'?" Same as it's been since the eruption, surely, but y'know. Gotta try for that small talk. Sonic scoots over to make room for Link.

"For the record, I don't know what this thing does. I just wanted to feel taller."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link...shrugs.

Volcano exploded. Stuck underground. Bored out of his brain. It's not really good, but it could be worse.

Everyone got out alive. Which was more than could be said for the Calamity.

As for Sonic's wish to be taller, Link considers this a moment. Despite the fact that Link is shorter than nearly everyone in Hyrule - and most of the people here - it's not a desire he's experienced. Why would he need to be taller? He can always climb something, if he wants to be up high.

"...You want to stand on my shoulders?" He might not possess the same desire, but he could help Sonic live it anyway.

[spinsandneedles]

Oh my god Link, Sonic was joking about wanting to feel taller. It's fine though, Sonic finds it amusing. Link's a pretty literal guy, huh.

"Heh, no, I'm good. Thanks for the offer, though. Have you found anything interesting down here yet?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link, alas, is not always the best at picking up other people's jokes. Which is an odd kind of irony, as his own tendency for blank-faced expressions means his own humour can be hard to pick up as well.

"Pipes. Doors I can't open. More weird machines." Which was interesting, even if Link didn't really understand what it was all for, or how it worked.

1.

[ashwantstobattle]

Ash could probably sleep through a hurricane and maybe even a volcano so even with knocking on the door he remains fast asleep and snoring softly. While Ash is a particularly heavy sleeper, Pikachu is not.

He opens his eyes and takes a moment to register that someone is knocking on the door. Then he hears the bit about doomsday and he crawls up to Ash's face to poke it to try and wake up his sleeping trainer.

"Pikapi. Pikachu." Pikachu says insistently but Ash sleeps on. Pikachu lets out a sigh. "Pika..."

If Sonic is still outside the door he'll see a flash of bright light followed by a started yelp and the harsh 'Thud.' Moments later Ash Ketchum is opening the door, looks jolts of static in his hair and Pikachu perched 'innocently' on his shoulder.

"Hey Sonic, what are you doing here so early?" He whines.

[spinsandneedles]

Of course the flash and the noises that follow are alarming... but it's probably fine. See, Ash is answering the door and he's mmmmaybe a little electrified?? That's probably normal.

"Hey, guys! Sorry to wake you up so early. I take it you haven't heard about the volcano yet?"

[ashwantstobattle]

It's far more normal than it probably should be but don't worry about it. Ash is used to it.

"Yeah, of course we have. But I don't have any of my rock or fire type Pokémon that could stand that level of extreme heat." Meaning there's not much Ash can do to help against a volcano.

[spinsandneedles]

"...I don't now what that means or how it's relevant, but the Agrii and a couple randos on the network are sayin' we need to get into the mines for safety," which sounds insane to him, but he's rolled with stupider plans. "The volcano's supposed to blow in a few hours. I know it's early, but the sooner we get everyone to safety, the better, right?"

[ashwantstobattle]

"Huh?" Ash blinks and then fishes the communicator out of his pocket. He checks to see he seems to have missed a few important messages.

"Pikapi! Pikachu Pika pi pikachu." Pikachu says, sounding irritated.

"Sorry Pikachu, I don't always think to check this thing." He says sounding a little too sheepish for someone that missed an evacuation notice. "How come they want us to go the mines? Wouldn't the lava flow down there too?"

3b

[quark_assassin]

Dustin has taken a similar approach to exploring the Warrens (leaving by himself without warning to just go wander somewhere new) and for similar reasons (profound boredom mixed with anxiety-induced restlessness). He is, however, in a very different boat when it comes to directions. Dustin doesn't forget things, which makes navigating mazes kind of trivial. He doesn't even bring anything to document his travels with; his eyes and brain are good enough for the task. This leaves his hands open for things like picking up and idly taking apart various loose debris from the hallways and floors that look interesting.

Which is what he's doing when he tries to open a door to a branching room and finds he has company already opening it from the other side.

Dustin himself is a bit of an odd customer, by human standards: Short and slight teenager, made just a little bit taller by the exoskeleton suit wrapped around his back, arms, and legs like he's being gently supported by a series of metal claws, wild dark hair that has at least been washed at this point. But that's nothing compared to Sonic the Motherfucking Hedgehog. Dustin has had a few months to get acclimated to seeing the little blue alien's portrait in the 'Dictionary,' but it's not quite the same as looking down and seeing him in the flesh. He noticeably flinches backwards before his memory kicks in and informs him that this isn't some terrifying, as-of-yet undiscovered Warrens monster ambushing him from a dark room.

"Shit," he breathes with a scowl, like this is somehow Sonic's fault. "What were you doing in there?"

[spinsandneedles]

"Practicing my jump scares."

So he says, complete with a shithead little gremlin grin, but he'd been just as startled by Dustin appearing in the doorway and Dustin had been of him. Even so, he manages to relax and crack jokes rather than acting on instinct and spin dash this poor guy over or something. His reflexes are shit right now anyway, he hasn't been eating nearly as much as he needs to and man he is feelin' it.

[quark_assassin]

Dustin's expression goes flat. It's not that he doesn't recognize (and on some subconscious level appreciates) the attempt at dry humor, it's just that he was scared and his ego is now too bruised to accept levity.

"Well--you're lucky you tried that on me, then," he sniffs, rolling his shoulders. "Someone else might've thrown you across the room or something. What were you actually doing?"

[spinsandneedles]

"If they could catch me, that is."

Aw, too bad. Sonic's going to continue being in an annoyingly good mood.

"At this rate though, I'd welcome someone trying to bounce me off the wall. The only fun to be had around here is accidentally spooking people. As for what I'm doing, I'm just checking the place out. Seeing if there's any excitement to be found, y'know."

He's very bored and thus very chatty, sorry bro.

[quark_assassin]

At first it seems like Dustin's content to just brush Sonic off entirely. He tsks at the gloat, stepping past the strange little alien and into the room he just came from. One of the first improvements Dustin made to this exosuit after it mysteriously appeared in his workshop so many months ago was to install a flashlight; it comes on with a thought, the bundle of LEDs over his right shoulder illuminating a wide beam through the dark.

There's...nothing there. Of course. Another empty, worthless room. Dustin breathes a sigh, deflating noticeably, and turns back around.

"I guess, if you'd found any, you wouldn't be wasting our time bothering me," he mumbles, as if he'd never disengaged from the conversation in the first place - as if Dustin has anything useful to be spending his own time on, anyway, but it's the principle of the thing.

3b

[thepurpleone]

Exploring the place is an excellent way to distract from the situation above ground, so Donnie's not at all objecting to being dragged along, and truthfully he doesn't mind the company.

Sonic's more or less become an unofficial sibling by this point, informally initiated by proving he can survive an act of brute force, which in this case consisted of accidental lobster clobbering but you know. Okay, so there's other stuff, but it's nice to know you can get away with that level of unintentional violence on someone, that there's family!

...this prerequisite may be slightly skewed.

Donnie's trying to do some thorough mapping, mostly so they won't get lost during their explorations, although he supposes when you move as fast as Sonic does, you can get away with just going down every path until you figure out which way you came from. Not ideal when you don't, of course.

[spinsandneedles]

Oh yeah, Sonic's gotten himself lost more than once by now, but he's fast enough that he can find his way back pretty easily. No biggie. Right now though, he's taking it slow and sticking with Donnie. You don't invite a guy along to explore and then ditch him just so you can go faster.

"How much of this place do you have mapped out already? have you found anything that's like, actually cool?"

[thepurpleone]

The effort has been noted, and Donnie appreciates not being abandoned. After all, who knows what's down here?

"I've been going tunnel by tunnel. There's some machinery here and there, but of course it's shielded in a blatant suggestion of 'off limits' so not as cool as they might have been," he sighs.

[spinsandneedles]

God Sonic would love for some kind of horrible monster or murder robot to show up right now.

But that doesn't happen. Instead, Sonic's lifting up some broken piece of something-or-other and peeking under it, as if he's going to find anything at all down here.

"Yeah, I've seen all kinds of machines, a bunch of pipes. I've tried following where they go, but everywhere you turn is a dead end. Even found some doors that won't open."

[thepurpleone]

"What's the point of having doors if you can't open them?" Donnie shakes his head. He pauses in his line scrawling to glance over at whatever Sonic's found, his thoughts already shifting towards 'what is that and what can I possibly use it for?'

"I hate saying it, but it's almost like the other place we were stuck in. Except without the creepy welcome message and rooms that make you sleep at a given intervals."

Little shroom shenanigans. Shroomnanigans, if you will. Starting pretty soon after kaboom time

[spinsandneedles]

Once people are finally settled in, or as settled in as they can get, Sonic is on the hunt for things he can do to help out. This includes hanging our near the little Funfronds and trying to find ways that he can make himself useful. It might be easier if he knew how to communicate with them, but they don't seem to be shooing him away, so me must be doing something right?

[trpmods]

It probably helps that there are a lot of the Funfronds around, as it seems they themselves have come into the safety of the shelter. They linger around the walls, staring at the He Rows with leery nerves. Some of the oldest ones, with withered caps hung with strange fibers, seem to draw the attention of other Funfronds, ones with smaller ones near them. The creatures all dance at each other. A conversation is taking place.

But the little ones, they seem bored with this. Bored enough that they shake their caps and stomp their feet and finally seem to wander away. Toward the nearest strange animal. Which in the moment is Sonic.

[spinsandneedles]

Sonic is most certainly the strangest animal here. It's fine, he's comfortable with that.

When the little Funfronds come over to check him out, he crouches down to get a better look at them.

"Heh, you little dudes look like you're havin' as much fun as I am."

[trpmods]

When he crouches closer the little ones almost fall over themselves backing away. It's almost like the motion itself scared them. Perhaps it did. Might seem predatory.

[spinsandneedles]

Oopsiedoodle, don't wanna freak them out. Sonic slowly (for him) stands back up and takes a few steps, back hands up hopefully in a way that the Funfronds don't find aggressive?

"Easy, little dudes. I don't wanna eat you or anything weird."

He has no idea if they even understand speech. They seem to just dance around to chat with each other? He doesn't wanna start breaking it down and accidentally declare war on them or something, though, so he'll just stick to what he knows. Mouth words.