Fanfic / Sonic the Hedgehog: State of Decay

Sonic the Hedgehog: State of Decay is a 2014 Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic, co-written by DeviantArt users Dan Gleeson (Toa Arcan) and Jethro Robbins-Dyer (battlebrothertherix), which ran for forty-nine chapters, including the prologue and epilogue. The third co-written story between them, the chapters were split between both authors' pages, the even-numbered ones on Arcan's, and the odd numbers on Therix's, to ensure that both got equal attention. The series was a Darker and Edgier take on the blue hedgehog, set in a rough approximation of the Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics) continuity, set sixteen years after the events of the 2011-2013 storyline. The series ignored the events of Sonic the Hedgehog/Mega Man: Worlds Collide, as well as the subsequent Continuity Reboot in order to take advantage of the wider cast. The series also made heavy use of elements from Sonic Battle and Sonic the Comic in the form of Emerl the Gizoid and series Big Bad Metallix.

Suffering a fatal injury in battle with a new model of Metal Sonic named Metallix, Sonic finds himself waking up ten years in the future, lost and disoriented. In his absence, Mobius has been conquered by an alliance of villains and fallen heroes, while only a few scattered Freedom Fighter teams remain, nominally under the leadership of Nicole the Lynx. Rejoining his ragtag allies, Sonic takes it upon himself to bring down the Alliance, destroy Metallix, and free what remains of Mobius.

The series can be found between both writers' pages, or collated into an archive on Toa Arcan's journal.

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Tropes:

• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: New Mobotropolis is the front-line base of the Alliance, until the death of Ken and the defeat of Iron Sally.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Metallix's personality core deteriorates once there is no-one around to maintain him, causing some severe Sanity Slippage.

• Arm Cannon: Bunnie's weapon of choice. Emerl has one, which was copied from Bunnie's, and Fiona's energy reflector gauntlets can function like this when charged with enough energy.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Scourge subscribes to this view, believing himself worthy of leading the Alliance because he is the best fighter among them. Unfortunately for him, he is not the best fighter in the Alliance, and is shortly trounced by Metallix.
• The Atoner: Fiona Fox becomes this after a venomous argument with Tails, and becomes a double agent for the Freedom Fighters to make up for her previous betrayal. Auto-Fiona takes after her template in this regard, choosing to disobey Metallix and join the Freedom Fighters.
• Authority Equals Asskicking:
  • With Sally's family all seemingly killed, Sonic is the rightful king of the Acorn Republic. It shows.
  • Sally also has this, both as herself, using Powered Armour to fight alongside Sonic on even footing, and as the Iron Queen, wherein she was able to end battles by taking control of foes' technology, vehicles, and weapons with her Magitek.
  • Metallix is this as well, far surpassing even the strongest of the heroes in single combat.
  • For all his title means, Miles is still the King of Moebius.
  • Averted by Ken Khan and Robotnik, however: Neither stands a chance against Sonic in battle.
• Author Appeal: Frequently employed. Fiona's role as a hero is this, as is her relationship with Tails. Metallix as the Big Bad and Miles as a major protagonist are too.
• Avenging the Villain: Some of the heroes want to kill Auto in retaliation for her murder of Amy Rose. It's only when Fiona explains Auto's psychological issues that they agree to try and rehabilitate her.

• The Bad Guy Wins: How the series starts, with Metallix killing Sonic.
  • The Memory Lane arc, where the Mecha Destructix manage to recover the body of Auto-Fiona, enabling her to be retrofitted as a weapon for Metallix's use.

• Badass Normal: Nic uses nothing but a machete and a high-powered rifle, while Li Moon only has her sword. Both of them are dangerous fighters who have no trouble holding their own in battle.
  • Averted by Sally and Antoine, who use augmented armour to make themselves stronger, and Amy, who is easily subdued by Nic.
• Barrier Warrior: Mecha Fiona wields a pair of arm-mounted devices which absorb energy and redirect it for her.
• Battle Couple: Sonic and Sally, Tails and Fiona, Nicole and Emerl, Bunnie and Antoine.
  • To a lesser extent, Metallix and Mecha Fiona, Nic and Lightning, and Scourge and Amy.

• Berserk Button: Do not insult Sonic's friends, even the ones he's unsure of, like Miles. He will flatten you.

• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Miles comes to Sonic's rescue against Mecha Fiona in Chapter 1
  • Emerl flies in to destroy Ken's tanks, rushes to keep Iron Sally off of Sonic's back while he fights Ken, and makes a charge against Metallix to stop him from killing Tails in the New Mobotropolis arc.
  • Nicole turns Mobotropolis' defences against Metallix when Emerl starts to lose the fight in the same arc. Nicole later makes a drop into Mecha Fiona's processor to free her from Finitevus' mind control in Head Trip.
  • Emerl flies out to Auto's island to save Antoine from Scourge in Memory Lane.
  • Knuckles, Emerl, and Nicole pull this during the final battle. Tails and Fiona try to do the same, but arrive too late for Miles.
  • Arguably, the whole story is Sonic doing this for the Freedom Fighters.
• Bittersweet Ending: The heroes win and Metallix is destroyed, but plenty of the Alliance's victims remain dead, including Miles.
• Black Eyes of Evil: Metallix, Finitevus and Super Scourge all have black sclerae in their eyes.
• Blade Below the Shoulder:
  • Emerl employs these, copied from Mecha Sally, but they don't function properly and are destroyed by Metallix.
  • Metallix himself uses his own blades, which are in turn copied by Emerl. As the Metal Overlord, he gains an extra pair.
  • After her body is rebuilt, Auto-Fiona wields two of them.
  • Miles and Sally's powersuits feature these built into the forearms.
• Blood Knight: Emerl really enjoys fighting.
• Body Horror:
  • Metallix's second body is upgraded with parts of Shadow's roboticized corpse.
  • Miles takes his armour off in chapter 4, exposing a cybernetic left arm, shoulder, spine, legs, and a set of plugs to connect himself to the armour dotting his remaining arm and torso.
  • After the battle between Miles and Mecha Scourge, Scourge's deroboticization has overloaded and detonated his prosethetic lower body and armour ruining his torso and perforating Miles' exposed chest with shrapnel, ultimately killing them both.
• Brainwashed and Crazy:
  • Sally as Iron Sally, a cruel, stoic woman with a taste for the ostentatious.
  • Fiona as Mecha Fiona is a mindless zealot, worshipping her captors and trying to coax Tails into joining her.
• Brainy Brunette: Fiona, Auto-Fiona
• Break the Cutie:
  • Tails is gradually worn down into a reclusive shell of his former self by Sonic's death, the fall of Angel Island, the total destruction of GUN, Ken's manipulation of Sally and subsequent corruption, Sally's defeat and capture at his hands, and Fiona's public Roboticization.
  • Fiona has regressed to her ten-year old self after years of being mentally tortured.
  • Surprisingly, Emerl admits to being heavily affected by everything in Chapter 39.
• Break the Haughty:
  • Fiona, in a flashback, takes a brutal lecture from Tails, finally snapping her out of her delusions.
  • Ken Khan is easily defeated by Sonic, who holds back so that he has time to verbally pick apart his actions.
• Break Them by Talking: Tails' lecture to Fiona, which finally convinces her to think for herself, rather than relying on Scourge all the time.
• Cain and Abel: A later chapter reveals that Nack the Weasel joined the Alliance, while his sister, Nic, whom he was attempting to hunt down and murder, joined the Freedom Fighters. Nack attempted to use Fiona to lure Nic to him, only for her to stay at range and snipe him in order to save Fiona without blowing her cover as a double agent.
• Came Back Strong: Sonic, thanks to Miles' meddling with his DNA, can use his Chaos Powers without an Emerald on-hand, and is physically stronger.
• Casual Danger Dialogue: The heroes like a good chat while fighting their foes.
• Cerebus Syndrome: Invoked. The first chapter was deliberately written to be as safe and generic as possible. Then Sonic died.
• Character Check: Fiona's reaction to Amy's downfall serves to remind readers that, despite being a genuinely caring hero, she's not at all soft. She still has a sharp and cutting attitude, regardless of allegience.
• Chekhov's Skill: A Chaos Adept's ability to survive a normally lethal injury while hopped up on their respective energy type is introduced when Super Scourge survives getting cut in half. Miles later makes great use of it to survive getting stabbed in the chest long enough to deroboticize Fiona and return to Moebius to visit his family's graves, before finally dying.
• Chekhov's Gun: Miles' Morganite Sword is shown off to great effect, especially its energy-cancelling properties. At the end of the first Death Egg arc, he bisects Super Scourge with it.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Knuckles is mentioned to have survived in an earlier chapter, and appears on a comms channel when the Freedom Fighters are planning their attack on the Death Egg. He finally appears in person in Chapter 44.
• The Chessmaster: Metallix is one of these at first, before his core deteriorates.
• Chest Blaster: Emerl has one, which is later copied over into Nicole's Gizoid body.

• Childhood Friend Romance:

• Since Tails and Fiona are both adults now, they now count, despite both typically being below maturity.

• Cold Sniper: Averted with Nic, who is probably the most talkative and upbeat of the Freedom Fighters once they get stronger.
• Cool Plane: The transport that the Freedom Fighters use to return to Mobotropolis from the ruins of Robotropolis, as well as the Mecha Destructix's shuttle.
• Cool Sword:
  • Sonic obtains the Sword of Acorns and Sword of Light during the Battle of New Mobotropolis.
  • Miles' Morganite blade, Metallix and Emerl's energy blades also count.
• Crapsack World: What Mobius has become since Sonic's death.
• Crazy Enough to Work: Sonic's plans. Lampshaded by Emerl.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Metallix versus anyone.
  • Sonic versus Ken Khan
  • Miles versus Super Scourge
• Dark Fic: Sonic dies in the prologue.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Dark Sonic
• A Day in the Limelight: Occasionally, the less central members of the Freedom Fighter team get a mission to themselves, most notably Lightning, Li Moon, and Nic.
• Deadpan Snarker: Sonic, Emerl, Miles, Fiona, Nic,
• Death of a Child: Probably. The fates of Alexis Acorn and Cream the Rabbit are left unsaid for the sake of good taste, but their usefulness as Robians is limited...
• Death Seeker: Miles.
• Depraved Bisexual: Queen Alicia Prower. Scourge decides that she "seduced" Fiona, and kills her for it.
• Disney Death: Sonic and Emerl
• The Dragon: Metallix begins as this to Robotnik, later Mecha Fiona, and then Auto. to Metallix himself.
• Dragon Ascendant: Metallix
• Driven by Envy: Ken Khan is repeatedly compared unfavourably to the then-deceased Sonic, to the point that the Sword of Acorns rejects him and refuses to let him lift it. When he cajoles Sally into marrying him, the Sword rejects her as well.
• Dual Wielding:
  • Metallix, Mecha Fiona, Lightning, Emerl, Sonic, Ken, Scourge, Auto-Fiona.
  • Special mention to the Roboticized Bride of the Endless Reach, who uses six blades.
• Dying Alone: Miles invokes this, returning to the charred remains of Moebius in his final moments.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: And how!
• 11th-Hour Ranger: Knuckles, who arrives in Chapter 44. Auto-Fiona joins the heroes in chapter 42, and launches a mental attack on Metallix in chapter 47, before slowing down Quarantine Alpha's failsafe detonation.
• 11th-Hour Superpower:
  • Super Sonic, Dark Sonic, Hyper Sonic.
  • Sally's currently unnamed Chaos Emerald-powered Super Armour.
  • Metal Overlord.
  • Super Knuckles.
• Emergency Transformation: Fiona used Miles' robots to convert him into a cyborg after his near-death at Scourge's hands. Initially outraged that she didn't let him pass on, he later thanks her for giving him the chance to finish Scourge off. Similarly, Scourge is roboticized in order to save his life after he is cut in half.
• Establishing Series Moment: Sonic's death in the prologue.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Metallix genuinely cares for Fiona and Auto-Fiona, just in warped, deranged way.
  • Miles was this, before Scourge's murder of his family and Fiona saving his life led him to join the heroes.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • No-one agrees with Finitevus' plans to burn Mobius. Even Scourge, who considers Finitevus a friend and despises Metallix, sides with the android when it comes to deciding whether to destroy Mobius.
  • Scourge also regrets asking if Auto-Fiona is attractive once Metallix informs him that she resembles a thirteen year old in body below her armour.
• Evil Costume Switch: Ken, Sally, and Amy. Iron Sally's overdesigned dress is a source of great humour in Scourge's eyes.

• Evil Sounds Deep: Metallix has a baritone voice.

• Eviler than Thou: Scourge and Amy to Eggman, Metallix to them in turn.
• Expy: Metallix to General Grievous, specifically his role in Star Wars: Clone Wars.
• Eyes Do Not Belong There:
  • Emerl has a third optic sensor in the middle of his forehead.
  • So does Nicole after getting her Gizoid body.
  • As does Metallix in his Overlord form.

• Family-Unfriendly Death:
  • Sonic is Impaled with Extreme Prejudice.
  • Alicia was beaten to death in front of her crippled husband.
  • Ken is cut from shoulder to opposite hip.
  • Eggman is stabbed by Scourge and then crushed by Amy's hammer.
  • Finitevus is decapitated by Metallix.
  • Amy's throat is slit by Auto-Fiona.
  • Scourge is deroboticized and left to bleed out by Miles.
• Finish Dialogue in Unison: Sonic and Knuckles' surprise that each other survived their encounters with Metallix.
• Genius Loci: Quarantine Alpha, Metallix's polar lair.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Every robot and Adept.
• Golden Super Mode: Super Sonic.
• Good Is Not Soft: The approach Sonic and Nicole take in their leadership of the Freedom Fighters. Sally has no problems adapting to it, nor do the rest of the team.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Ken's fall is sparked mainly by being unfavourably compared to the deceased Sonic. This isn't just limited to Sonic's friends, his critics include The Source of All itself.
• Gut Punch: Several.
  • Sonic's death, for one, along with his discovery of his friends' fate.
  • Miles' backstory.
  • Nicole finding out how shattered Fiona is on the inside, despite her outer bravado.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: Both Miles and Scourge, by each others' hands.
• Happily Married:
  • Miles and Alicia were this, before Scourge got involved.
  • Bunnie and Antoine stay that way, despite everything around them.
• Hartman Hips: All Gizoids, as part of their androgynous design. Nicole calls attention to it, causing Emerl to decide he needs an upgrade with a thinner pelvis.
• The Heavy: Metallix and Mecha Fiona in early chapters. They are succeeded by Mecha Scourge and Auto-Fiona.

• Heroic Sacrifice: Emerl offlined himself to save everyone from the berserker, planet-destroying Ultimate mode when Sonic died.
• Heroic Second Wind: The whole story can be seen as this for the Freedom Fighters.
  • Tails and Miles get theirs against Mecha Fiona, when Miles' Anarchy Spear overloads her defences.
  • Miles later gets one, oddly, when Scourge delivers a fatal stab wound, knowledge of his imminent demise and reunion with his family spurring him on to tie up his loose ends.
  • Lastly, Sonic and Sally get theirs when Emerl, Nicole, and Knuckles arrive to turn the tables on Metal Overlord.
• High Collar of Doom: Iron Sally wears one.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • Finitevus discovers that decapitating Shadow will kill him. Finitevus dies when Metallix decapitates him.
  • Scourge cuts off Miles' legs and breaks his spine. Miles returns the favour.
  • Metallix builds his base in the arctic, where the lower temperature allows himself and Auto-Fiona to work better. The FF destroy the air conditioning, making it too cold, and bring cold weather gear to protect themselves.
  • Metallix impales Sonic through the chest with his arm-blade in the prologue. In chapter 47, Hyper Sonic rams the Sword of Acorns through Metallix's chest, killing him.
• Hover Tank: The Alliance uses them. Two of them are sent with Ken and Iron Sally to New Mobotropolis in the third arc. One is obliterated by Emerl's Chest Blaster, and he uses the other as an Improvised Weapon.
• Humongous Mecha: Eggman/Robotnik's specialty, as per usual.

• Incendiary Exponent: Knuckles can ignite his fists with Chaos Fire, based on one of his special attacks in Sonic Advance 3.
• Infinity +1 Sword: Sonic's Sword of Acorns can only be lifted by himself, and can be charged up by his own powers. It also makes any wielder an instant expert. The Sword of Light is similar, but less powerful.
• Infinity -1 Sword: Miles' Morganite Claymore isn't particulary special as blades go, but the metal it is made of enables it to No Sell the powers of Super forms, including their normal invulnerability.

• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sonic, Fiona, Emerl, Miles, Nic
• Karma Houdini: Auto-Fiona to an extent. She receives no real punishment for attempting to brainwash Fiona and killing two guards, swiftly followed by Amy. However, the psychological trauma from the latter is considered enough.
• Karmic Death: Scourge kills Miles' family and razes Moebius. Miles makes sure his demise is painful.
• Kill It with Fire: The only way to stop Metallix's Fluites.
• Killed Off for Real: Every death except Sonic's.
• Knight of Cerebus: Metallix
• The Lab Rat:
  • Miles passes his time in the lab, helping to keep his focus. Tails does the same.
  • Finitevus is their opposite number in the Alliance.
• Laser Blade: Emerl and Metallix. Emerl's are scanned from Mecha Sally, and, as such, are barely functional.
• Last of His Kind: Miles, after Scourge is roboticized, is the last living Moebian.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: Sonic dies in the prologue. The whole story is about his return from death.
• Light Is Good: Super Sonic has gold fur, and Hyper Sonic blazes pure white.
• Light Is Not Good: Metal Overlord initially has brilliant white armour.
• Long-Runners: 49 chapters, including the prologue and epilogue. Arcan's next-longest story is a mere 13.
• Love Makes You Crazy: Amy loses her mind when Sonic dies...
• Love Makes You Evil: ... which Scourge is happy to exploit.
• Love Redeems:
  • Played with: Miles' love for Alicia and Anima is what makes him a hero, but they're already dead, and he's just out for revenge.
  • Played straight with Tails snapping Fiona out of her funk, and Fiona helping Auto see the truth about Metallix.

• The Robians too, particularly Mecha Fiona, who, thanks to her weapons, remained untouched for six years.
• Sally in her Powered Armour takes multiple hits from Metallix that would've killed other people. She still manages to get up and cripple him.

• Manipulative Bastard: Metallix again. Auto is a little too moral for his tastes, so he manipulates her naivete and corrupted memory core to keep her on his side.
• Mean Boss: Scourge treats everyone working for him as little more than an object to be used, especially his girlfriends; Fiona (Who leaves him prior to the beginning of the series) and Amy Rose.

• Mid-Season Upgrade:
  • Sonic obtains the Sword of Acorns and the Sword of Light
  • Nicole gets a Gizoid body for use in the final battle.
  • Sally gains an Emerald-powered suit of armour.
  • Metallix is repeatedly upgraded, first by Robotnik and Finitevus, then later by himself.
• Mind-Control Eyes: Sally and Fiona have glassy red eyes after Finitevus is done with them.
• Mirror Boss: Fiona vs. Evil Fiona/The Warden during Head Trip.
• Misanthrope Supreme: Finitevus
• Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Robotnik/Eggman and Finitevus.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Auto, after killing Amy.
• My Greatest Failure: Miles' failure to protect Alicia and Anima.
• Named Weapons: The Sword of Acorns and the Sword of Light.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast:
  • Averted by Scourge, who is taken seriously by few of the Freedom Fighters and fellow members of the Alliance.
  • Metal Overlord, on the other hand, is a force to be reckoned with.
• Nigh-Invulnerable: Metallix, Mecha Fiona
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Metallix vs. anyone. He kills Sonic in his base form, only fails to kill Knuckles after an upgrade because he missed a fatal shot, and he even manages to beat down Emerl. The dark Fiona/Warden dishes these out to Scourge/Sonic and Mecha Tails during the Head Trip arc, before receiving one in kind from Fiona herself. Sonic deals one to Ken, and Miles delivers one to Mecha Scourge once he loses his grip on his restraint.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Mobius is ruined, the ARK, along with GUN in its entirety is destroyed. Most the heroes are either dead or Roboticized.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: While Scourge is generally treated as a joke and taken seriously by very few characters over the course of the fic, it must be remembered that he did wipe out Moebius and kill everyone there except for Miles, who he brutality crippled before murdering his wife and AI-daughter in front of him. He even ends up being the one to kill Eggman early on in the story.
• Off with His Head!: How Finitevus meets his end. Also, the only way to kill Shadow.
• Official Couple: Sonic and Sally, Tails and Fiona, Emerl and Nicole, Bunnie and Antoine.
• Oh, Crap!: Plenty of times. Meta example: Sonic's death caused this.

• One-Winged Angel: Metal Overlord.
• Portal Cut: Finitevus loses a hand this way during his brief altercation with Metallix.
• Power Copying: Emerl possesses the ability to scan the ability of any non-magical power, and use it equally well, if not better, than the original user.
• Power Gives You Wings: The Metal Overlord has twelve wings, three pairs on his back, and three wings on each hip.
• Powered Armor: Miles wears some. Mecha Fiona does too, which is later given to Sally, while it is modified to run on Chaos Emeralds.
• Prepare to Die: Sonic and Metallix both give far warning before killing their enemies.
• Pun: Sonic and Emerl are fond of them.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Sonic delivers a vicious one to Ken.
  • Fiona receives a similarly vicious one from Tails, leading to a wakeup call during a flashback. She later returns the favour.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Metallix, Mecha Fiona, Iron Sally, Super Scourge, Super Sonic
• Sanity Slippage: Metallix.
• Save the Villain: Averted, mostly, but Fiona chooses to save Auto-Fiona and help her regain her sanity rather than destroy her.
• Scaled Up: Metallix transforming into the Metal Overlord. Not as draconic as his design in Sonic Heroes.
• Sequel Hook:Auto-Fiona steals the core of Quarantine Alpha, and uploads it to her own computer in New Mobotropolis, since she can't face killing her "brother."
• Serial Escalation: The series starts with an all-out brawl between Sonic and Metallix, ending in the former's death. It goes up from there.
• Ship Tease: Nic the Weasel and Lightning Lynx.
• Shock and Awe: Ken's method of attack. Emerl copies it, of course. The Robian ninja clans are equipped with electrical weapons.
• Shout-Out: Plenty, and a common feature in the writing of both authors. Not just to Sonic lore, but to other franchises and series, including Justice League of America, Transformers, Star Wars, BIONICLE, and even Xionic Madness.
• Single-Stroke Battle: Miles versus Super Scourge
• Slasher Smile: Mecha Fiona, Scourge, Finitevus, and Amy display them.
• Smooch of Victory: Sonic and Sally share a particularly deserving one.
• The Starscream: Scourge to Eggman, Finitevus to Metallix
• Story Arc: Chapter 0: Downfall, Chapter 1-4: Strange New World, Chapter 5-9: New Mobotropolis, Chapter 10-11: Reformatting, Chapter 12-16: Airborne, Chapter 17-21: Head Trip, 22-24: Memory Lane, Chapter 25-30: Fortress Falling, Chapter 31-36: Automation, Chapter 37-39: Beginning of the End, Chapter 40-Finale: Metal Madness
• Super Mode: In order, Emerl, Scourge, Sonic, Nicole, Metallix, and Knuckles all get to display theirs.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Ultimate Emerl is mentioned, though when Emerl and Nicole use the form, they are able to maintain control of it.

• Take That!:
  • Several, to Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics) and SEGA's more infamous moments, Fan Dumb stereotypes.
  • The most common target is the final pre-Continuity Reboot Story Arc of the comic, which featured Mecha Sally. During a battle with Metallix, a pair of energy blades that Emerl copied from Mecha Sally are shattered, causing the robot to quip that "she never really worked right". Later, Sally herself initially refuses to use Mecha Fiona's Powered Armour, as the blue-and-white colour scheme reminds her of her own Mecha form, alluding to Archie Comics' initial plan to have the remains of Mecha Sally's armour and weapons become the new outfit for her organic self, had the Continuity Reboot not effectively separated the two designs.

• Thinking Out Loud: Several characters do it, Sonic lampshades it when he does.
  Sonic: Crap, now I'm talking to myself again...
• Took a Level in Badass: Li Moon and Miles are the best examples. Nicole also gets one when she acquires her Gizoid body.

• Trick-and-Follow Ploy: Fiona attempts to use Auto to track Metallix's base by letting her escape. Unfortunately, it allows Auto the opportunity to kill Amy.

• Unholy Matrimony: Ken and Iron Sally. To a lesser extent, Metallix and Mecha Fiona
• Unwilling Roboticization: Fiona is subject to this, as is Scourge, though both benefit from it in the long run. Countless other Mobians fall victim to this trope, notable victims including the Destructix, the Four Brides of the Iron Dominion, and Mina Mongoose.

• Villain Episode: A few of the chapters focus on the Alliance's issues instead of the heroes.
• Villainous Breakdown:
  • Iron Sally suffers one as Emerl repeatedly No Sells her abilities and prevents her from aiding Ken. She later has another one when she realises that she was engaged to Sonic before his death, and her memories of her real life return to her.
  • Metallix also suffers one as his programming decays.
• Villainous Rescue: Metallix arrives in time to utterly flatten Finitevus, saving Sonic the trouble.

• Wave-Motion Gun: The Death Egg's main weapon is referred to as such.
• Wham Episode: The series begins with one. The next chapter continues this, with Sonic discovering the means through which his life has been restored, as well as the fates of his home and one of his friends, followed by Miles' revealing himself as the one who saved him. The next chapter includes the reveal of just how much things have gone wrong lately. Robotnik's death at Scourge's hand probably counts too.

• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Miles could've killed Scourge whenever he wanted, but he was obsessed with deconstructing him first. As a result, he loses Alicia and Anima.

• Wrecked Weapon: Ken's Atom Bat, Emerl's wrist blades, and Mecha Fiona's Energy Reflector Gauntlets are all damaged beyond use in the series.

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