Ruby Haze [Archie Sonic SI]

[weredrago2]

I've made a gallery of the different art I've gotten for this fic here. A couple of examples are below.

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1qdOgb1vt5_jprDBRJZUdZCgr7k_k2XyT

John Scarlet

Figment

Chat and Fifi

 

[weredrago2]

New art for the new chapter! Put in spoiler bars for image size and to build suspense.

Spoiler

This art is brought to you by NoniTheArtist!

 

[weredrago2]

RUBY HAZE DATAFILES
ENTRY #1: POST-XORDA FAUNA

The Quaternary-Mobian Extinction Event in PXE 0000 led to the extermination of 99.9% of all lifeforms preceding it. All life on the surface of the Earth was disintegrated into a slurry of biomatter, which congealed and evolved into new species at an accelerated rate.

Not counting the flora and fungi, there are two major categories of Post-Xorda fauna: Mobians and mobini. These categorizations exist independent of the strict designations typically assigned to species classifications; you can be a mobian pig or a mobini pig, but not both.

In the most basic of terms, mobians are a broad family of sapient, humanoid animal people. They average about three feet in height, but can vary in size greatly by "species" from a couple of inches to seven feet tall. The animal species that a given mobian corresponds to has little bearing on their capacity to reproduce with mobians from different clades. In such pairings, the results are either twins (one of each parent species with a few blended traits) or a hybrid child that strongly resembles one parent while retaining a striking physical feature from the other. These mixed couples are as common as those of matching species.

Mobians can be found all over Mobius… except maybe the Lethal Radioactive Zone. They tend to gather together based on loose families of similar animals, such as the busy bees of the Golden Hive, the insurgent gorillas of the Mobian Jungle, or the felidae warriors of the País Misterioso. Villages of multiple mobian races living together are by no means unheard of, but due to their general tendency to avoid congregating in large numbers, multicultural settlements with over a thousand residents are scarce. The cosmopolitan Kingdom of Acorn and later Kingdom of Mercia were exceptions to the rule, neither older than a few centuries before they were conquered by Robotnik. The mountainous Dragon Kingdom is another example of different mobian races living in close proximity, but to describe its warring factions as "coexisting" would be an embellishment. Aquatic mobians can be found in the Great Mobocean and connected bodies of water. These oddballs are descended from pre-Mobian marine life, and are significantly less anthropomorphized; anglers are encouraged to ask their catch if they are capable of higher reasoning before taking them home for dinner.

Culturally speaking, mobians across the globe have some commonalities. They tend towards kindness to one another, open-mindedness to new ideas, and generosity to strangers. They're rarely ones to partake in cruelty or xenophobia, though there's always counterexamples. Unfortunately, the mobian tendencies towards mercy and trust are sometimes taken advantage of by those who don't share them. Being a bit naive or amenable to peace does not make them foolish or defenseless, and a surprise attack or sudden betrayal from an unwarranted aggressor is often enough for people to reassess their stance on turning the other cheek.

In terms of attire, your average mobian fellow wears what he needs to go about his day and be comfortable in his environment, which is typically a good pair of gloves and shoes. Everything else is optional. The presence of fur and scales has made the concept of nudity a tricky one to articulate or reinforce shame about, though mobian women wear more than their male counterparts on average anyway. A mobian may wear extra clothes as deemed appropriate for their livelihood or social status. The occasional outlier may forgo wearing any clothes at all, which no one comments on or thinks is weird, and therefore probably not exhibitionism.

Mobini are thankfully much simpler to explain. They're organisms akin to Pre-Xorda fauna, most of them skewing towards being less than a foot in size. Exceptions exist, and such creatures are often massive apex predators that would give pause to the most foolhardy of trophy hunters. Mobini of either stripe are unintelligent animals for most intents and purposes. You'd be given the side-eye if you opted to engage in deep conversations with, say, a mobini frog. There's anecdotal examples of mobini pets showing uncanny insight or intellect.

The small size and mild temperment of your average mobini, while making them easier to tame, have led to less robust meat, wool, and leather industries. For bigger mobians, you'd need a couple of tiny sheep or a lot of patience to knit a sweater! The demand for quality hides remains high, and has inevitably given way to a robust market of plant-based alternatives. On the subject of diets, vegetarianism is common practice among mobians. The reasons vary from moral conscience, being too squeamish to slit a helpless critter's throat (thereby becoming vulnerable to being guilted into adopting them), being without mobiums to spare on livestock, or simply not wanting to compete with predators for a food source. At the bare minimum, most mobians adopt a quiet "I won't eat anything that has my face" policy. As has been the case for much of human history, a wealthy mobian can afford meat when they want it, and a practical-minded mobian will eat meat when they can get it. Mobius has a diverse array of meat substitute recipes for those who want their chili dog fix without somebody bringing up how a chili dog gets made.


That's all for this datafile, which may or may not be the first of a series. I considered going over the technology various mobian cultures use, but… no. That is its own can of sandcrawlers and I'm not touching it here. You'll note that I didn't mention the echidnas or overlanders at all, because they warrant their own datafiles, too.

For now, I'll leave you all with these questions.

• Where did Uncle Chuck get the meat for his chili dogs?
• Would Lanolin and other sheep sell their wool if the money was worth it?
• Which characters do you think are wearing real leather and which are wearing imitation?

 

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ENTRY #2: MOBIAN RELIGIONS
AUTHOR NOTE: Any resemblances these fictional religions may have to any real-world religions, while obviously not coincidental, are not worth the headache of bringing up in the thread. Let's not, shall we? I'd appreciate it.

The world of Mobius has several religions practiced by the people in it. The three largest, most widespread ones are the Church of the Ancient Walkers, Gaianism, and the Way of the Golden Lotus. There are also several others that will be mentioned here.

The largest organized religion on Mobius is the Church of the Ancient Walkers. The core belief of the Walkerist faith is that the world is watched over by three divine beings called the Ancient Walkers. They are the almighty, all-knowing, and benevolent stewards of Mobius in the Walkerist religion, represented in stained glass and frescos as a trinity of giants wearing ornate masks. One with wings, one bearing a staff, and another bearing a pestle. The three holy books of the Walker faith, the Tome of Recollections, Tome of Mysteries, and Tome of Prophecies, are among the most printed books on Mobius. A popular offshoot of the "main branch" Walker faith is Aurorism, which venerates the prophet Aurora, who penned the three Tomes and spread their words during her life, as an intermediary between the Walkers and the common mobian.

The Walkerist faith is widespread throughout Northamer, Eurish, and parts of Downunda, where it has given birth to colorful exclamations such as "By Aurora!" and "Walkers preserve us!". The religion promotes peace and harmony in all things, the Walkers' friars being regarded as the wise moral compasses of their community. In a break from their otherwise pacifistic nature, it is said in generations past that knights would be called on holy quests from the gods themselves to bring practitioners of black magic to justice. The Church and its followers traditionally frown upon sorcery as consequence, seeing the performance of miracles with powers not received from the Walkers themselves as highly suspect. However, a noble thaumaturgist acting in the service of the public good could be argued to be keeping the faith in their own way.

Rather than a specific religion, Gaianism refers to a broad category of localized belief systems with similar elements to them. These common elements include a strong respect of nature, the reverence of natural landmarks such as lakes of rings as sacred ground, and a concern for mobini welfare. The latter takes on a more frightful edge in places such as Soumerca, which contains widespread legends of terrible beasts that split the land with thunder, rain, and lightning as retribution against those who would abuse their protected flock. This respect of natural wonders also extends to dragons, which are seen by many as noble, graceful creatures that can spread no falsehood. A non-insignificant number of people who've seen Dulcy fail to land in a clear field in broad daylight suffer from crises of faith related to the "graceful" part, but no one's told her yet because she'd be absolutely devastated and start crying.

(Please pretend you didn't read that, for Dulcy's sake.)

If Gaianism was to be counted as its own religion, then its followers would outnumber those of the Walkers by a wide margin. However, since the Walker faith does not strictly conflict with the basic precepts of Gaianism, people in places where both are common go about their lives practicing a mix of traditions from both. A Walker wedding with an ordained priest, Gaianist rituals for the deceased that have been in the family for generations, celebrating Christmas (a popular holiday named after the island from which it originated), and so on. It was Gaianist principles that encouraged the Kingdom of Acorn and Wolf Pack tribes of Northamer to build eco-friendly cities in harmony with the natural world surrounding them.

In the Dragon Kingdom, where the Church of the Ancient Walkers hadn't taken root outside of a few missions to the far-off Yurashia, exists the Way of the Golden Lotus. Inspired by the teachings of the great dragons, who only experienced peace by letting go of the incendiary wrath that shaped the mountainous region into its current form, the Way encourages its followers to meditate. Only through meditation and letting go of the earthly attachments that chain your mind can one attain a state of enlightenment known as zen. The key figure of the Way is the Golden Lotus King, a powerful zen master who is prophesied to return from his journey to the west when the Dragon Kingdom needs him most. The Golden Lotus King is frequently depicted in art as a monkey of some kind; this has inadvertently led to countless statues of smiling orangutans clogging low-end market stalls throughout the land.

The Way of the Golden Lotus, in some form or another, is practiced all over Yurashia. The Golden Lotus Temples are frequented by the Free People, the humble farmers and tradesmen that hold no allegiance to the Four Houses or the Iron Dominion. These temples are treated as sacred ground by many, and are rarely touched by the warring factions. The avaricious bat ninja of the Yagyu Clan aren't ones to be kept away from valuable goods by convention, though the martial traditions of the Linshao Monastery have thus far protected their vaults of ancient relics from invasion. The monks of the Linshao temple believe that the Golden Lotus King will arrive not only as a spiritual leader, but as a protector of the Free People who suffer under the current status quo. Their warriors patrol their temple grounds for any threats to their way of life, and time will when those vying for those ancient scrolls will test the strength of their convictions

While the Overland was generally characterized as being fairly secular (if not "godless") by their counterparts in the Kingdom of Acorn, the overlanders had rites and rituals of their own. The average overlander holds their merited ancestors in great regard. The old noble houses had long genealogical records that detailed the achievements of every departed warrior and scientist, as an extension of the Overland's longstanding tradition of filial piety. The overlanders also had a zealous reverence for the office of the Overlord, around which the unity of the modern Overland was formed. The strength of this imperial cult waxed and waned with the popularity of a given Overlord, though they were all believed to have the will of the people behind them. The Overlord was to be loved, feared, and respected, as the sword and shield against the "animals" that would despoil their land if they were ever to breach the Overland's gates.

That was until Overlord Charlemagne's defeat at the hands of King Maximilian Acorn, in a duel between the ruler of one polity and the ruler of the other. The defeat of Charlemagne and his subsequent disappearance were catastrophic to the morale of Overland, whose people lost the will to fight. With the confidence in the infallible might of the Overlord shattered beyond repair, the trust the overlanders held in their own institutions unraveled shortly afterwards. The Church of Solaris, which had until this point maintained a minority presence in the Overland throughout its history, surged in popularity. In addition to the fact that the Overland was coming apart at the seams, it was doubtlessly the prospect of living closer to the holy land of the sun god's chosen people that encouraged many overlanders to immigrate to the United Federation.


Thus concludes my second datafile. I was going to post this tomorrow, but I thought it'd be really weird to post this on Easter. So I moved it along.

New chapter Monday!

 

[weredrago2]

ENTRY #3: GOLDEN HIVE COLONY

A beautiful flower on Northamer's western coast, the Golden Hive Colony is a city state whose contemporary existence is rooted in the most recent Day of Fury, in the early 3100s. The Queen Bee Dynasty is rumored to go as far back as the Forgotten Wars, though with practically zero records from this period surviving into the modern day, that may simply be Golden Hive-sponsored propaganda. This polity of pollinators has prospered where others have withered on the vine due to a combination of shrewd diplomacy and a motherload of money.

The founding myth of the Golden Hive is one of generosity. The colony began as a humble, agrarian hive, whose inhabitants were gifted with green thumbs and the benefit of foresight. After the Day of Fury unleashed an earthquake, the rivers receded, and the forests were stripped barren of life. While the bees were spared further hardship due to their sizable granaries, which were meant to feed the hive during harsh winters, the same could not be said for the Wasp Colony. For generations, wasp warbands would raid bee farms to plunder their harvests. The wasp hive was taken to the brink of starvation by the famine, so weakened by hunger that they could not so much as raise a sword against their former victims. Rather than take their revenge, the bee colony accepted the wasps into their hive as their own.

From this act of kindness, the seeds of an unbreakable alliance were sown. The unified colony traveled the deserts and prairies further south, establishing peace accords and economic ties with their neighbors to survive the harsh seasons following the Day of Fury. The bees made for good negotiators, and the wasps were their security against aggressors that might bully the miniscule bees into less than ideal arrangements. To this day, the demographics of the Hive Guard is skewed towards wasps whose families have been protecting the colony since its inception. The fortuitous discovery of rich gold veins near their colony after the disaster were seen as a sign that this new hive was destined to blossom. The world-famous gilded hexagons of the Golden Hive Castle were erected as the hive entered its golden age, and a creative arts renaissance was quick to follow. I've been told that their mead is to die for.

While a majority of those living in the Golden Hive are bees, followed by wasps, one doesn't have to look far to find ants, beetles, butterflies, or moths. Numerous mobians have immigrated to the hive in order to escape the strife plaguing the rest of Mobius. The Golden Hive has practiced neutrality for much of its history, opting to stay out of the Great War to continue this tradition. Hoverver, it has been rumored for years that the colony took money from mobians and overlanders alike under the table. Such an arrangement couldn't be made with Robotnik, as he's unlikely to be satisfied with a few drops of gold at a time when he could ransack the whole pot. The fortifications of the bees and their sheer distance from Robotropolis would make such a prospect an expensive one, rivaling how much he'd have to gain in the first place. Rather than invade now, Robotnik has settled for closing the distance over time, building up his passion project of West Mobotropolis and breaking down the Golden Hive's former trading partners. This embargo by process of elimination has not yet borne fruit, but being steadily isolated from the rest of Mobius has caused the citizens of the colony no small amount of distress.

The Queen Bee is the supreme ruler of the colony, though this absolute power is rarely expressed by overt means. Queen Melissa Bee, while a well-renowned patron of the arts, may not be diverting all of the money in the cultural enrichment budget towards commissioning grand works to keep her bees busy. The Rebel Underground, an infrequent pain in Robotnik's western front, may allegedly benefit from the Queen Bee's patronage as well. King Winsome Bee, in spite of presenting as another foppish trophy husband, has been an active participant in the intrigue games of the major guilds that have weathered the tumultuous Robotnik Era. Their daughter, Princess Apollina "Polly" Bee won't be of age to ascend to the throne for another decade, but it's common protocol to marry off an eligible male heir to a merited merchant princess so that there's a viable Queen Bee backup. He selected Saffron, heiress of the textile guild; an arranged marriage with someone Prince Charmant was already close friends with was expected to make the whole process run more smoothly.

Prince Charmy's acknowledgement ceremony has been indefinitely postponed for reasons undisclosed to the public. He has not been seen outside of the castle in over six months.


This is the third datafile, in which I gave myself two challenges.
1. Make the Golden Hive interesting, even though they only appear three times over three issues they aren't the main focus of and are then summarily killed offscreen, giving me effectively nothing to work with.
2. Don't use the word "honey" once. Until now, that is.

I was so annoyed by the whole Golden Hive amounting to nothing after being introduced at the drop of a hat that I determined I had to do this. I did so much bee research (as well as some light research on Switzerland and Florence) that it isn't even funny, but I am now armed with a swarm of bee puns to name future characters.


Next update will be revisions to Chapter 29, followed by work on Chapter 30.

 

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KINTOBOR FAMILY TREE - 1.0 VERSION

Normal Box - Canon character, mentioned or otherwise.
"Sketchy" Box - Ruby Haze addition.
† - Deceased.
- In space!

I was going to make a brief blurb and append an image to each one, but the final count is 25 people. Which is a lot to make up on the spot!

For now, anyone who figures out the joke/nods to the names of all the extra characters can give themselves a cookie.

 

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ENTRY #4: THE LOST TRIBE OF ECHIDNAS

AUTHOR NOTE: This datafile is derived from an original document brought to you by Storyteller222, with revisions from myself. You can check out his Ko-fi here.

The echidnas are an ancient people whose ruins can be found across Eurish, Soumerca, and the fabled Floating Island. What happened to them all has stymied historians for centuries, especially since the last Day of Fury cleaned the slate on most physical records predating it. While Knuckles the Echidna is the most famous of his enigmatic people in the modern day, he is not as alone in bearing the echidna name as the layman might be led to think.

By early 3235 PXE, the Lost Tribe of Echidnas are believed to be the last major population of echidnas on the face of Mobius. According to the Lost Tribe's dense oral history, this nomadic group has been wandering across the eastern hemisphere for the past six hundred years, ceaselessly searching for their "Journey's End" that was foretold in the Ancient Walkers' Tomb of Prophecies (Datafile #2: Mobian Religions).

Their origins are one of earthly ties, faith, and endurance; one spoken of few outside their own. As recounted by an anonymous member, their voyage began when an echidna spiritualist called Arakkis led his people on an exodus from their homeland. Forced to leave in the face of a great disaster to come, the first generation of the Lost Tribe took only what they could carry with them on their search for a new place to call their own. The city they left behind was said to be gifted with great technology, but little remains from that time. When their motor vehicles broke down, the Lost Tribe pulled their wagons by beasts of burden or walked. They are peaceful by nature, but when their weapons of self defense ran out of ammunition, the Lost Tribe learned to defend themselves in more simple ways. The Lost Tribe don't shun technology, so much as they are wary of becoming overly-reliant on fragile devices that can't withstand wear and tear, or advanced machinery that they would have little means of maintaining by themselves.

As itinerant travelers, the Lost Tribe move from place to place, seeking good land to forage, grazing areas for mobini livestock, and friendly towns where they can trade with the locals. Their non-confrontational ways mean that the Lost Tribe are tolerated in most places they stop to rest, but rarely are they able to camp for long. Seeking to avoid unneeded confrontations, either from hostile powers in the regions they pass through or the badnik patrols that have encroached on their old routes, the nomad caravans will change up their migratory patterns and travel in the dark of night. The Lost Tribe is composed of multiple distinct, but tightly-knit families; "brother" and "sister" are common terms of address amongst all members. It had become common practice for members to place permanent marks upon their fur to commemorate important events, of the individual or the Lost Tribe as a whole. Crimes committed by echidnas of the Lost Tribe against other members are sternly punished, and the worst sentence for such offenders is to be exiled from the exiles, leaving them truly alone in the world.

The Lost Tribe's religious beliefs can be described as a form of Walkerism that's tinged with strong Gaianist elements to the faith. They credit the Ancient Walkers for nature's bounty and venerate the natural world as accomplishments of their stewardship. Even natural disasters are respected, as their destruction gives birth to new forms of creation. A Walkerist hymn from the time of Arrakis has weathered the centuries, being passed down from parent to child:

"O Walkers, O Walkers please,
hear my plea. May I live to see destiny.
After the sand and sea…
The rustling of the water,
The flash of lightning across the sky,
the boom of thunder violently crashing.
The quaking of the ground beneath our feet.
Hear our prayer.
Our prayer of hope.
Our prayer of a shared dream.
A dream spanning ages old and young,
We dream of the end, the journey's end.
O Walkers, please,
Please hear our prayer, O Walkers.
The prayer of the lost."​

The leader of the Lost Tribe is known as the Mitre. A title descended from the priests of the ancient echidna caste system, the Mitre is both a leader and a spiritual guide. They're entrusted with the survival of the Lost Tribe in a world that has only become increasingly hostile to them, consulting the Tomes and (so it is believed) the Ancient Walkers themselves to aid in their decision-making process. Other members of the Lost Tribe will collect food, mend torn clothes, repair their equipment, barter for new goods, or scout for danger, among any number of minor tasks that need to be performed on a daily basis to ensure their survival. While he is not a member, to those who have encountered the Lost Tribe, it is perhaps poetic that one of the most famous echidnas in recent memory stands watch over an island that never stays still.

The phrase "the course has been decided" is one of great significance to the echidnas of the Lost Tribe. They have endured so much, and there were so many that came before them who lived their whole lives without seeing the Journey's End, but all within the Lost Tribe pray that they will reach the promised land within their lifetimes.


Another datafile is completed! I wanted this to come out after Chapter 31, but before 32. With that criteria, this was the only time I could've dropped it.

Once again, you can thank Storyteller222 for compiling the original document this datafile was derived from and giving me a lot of material to work with.

 

[weredrago2]

Here's a new picture of John Scarlet done by Adam Bryce Thomas!

Yes, THAT Adam Bryce Thomas! I saw him at Magfest and got a comm! Real cool guy!

 

[weredrago2]

The Phantom Friends (and How to Make One!)
The "Phantom Friends" are a friendly euphemism referring to the various mobini altered by John Scarlet into ruby mutants. Not wanting to be careless with who is selected for the process, the ruby wizard has Figment and others search out critters willing to accept the consequences of a fatal reaction to black magic. For those animals already on death's door, the alternatives to a chaotic life in his service are rather grim.

Any mobini that survive the process are irrevocably changed, with flesh and souls reforged into new forms possessing supernatural abilities. The mutations and powers derived from them are determined not only to the fickle whims of the Phantom Ruby, but the dreams and desires of the subjects involved. It's more an art than a science, and an art that John Scarlet has yet to work all of the kinks out of. As familiars remade by the warlock's hands, Phantom Friends are subject to a two-way telepathic bond, though some mobini have been more effective at using it to communicate concepts and share senses than others.

John Scarlet doesn't know what would happen if he tried to "befriend" a mobian, and hopes that he never has to find out.


The Successful Ones

Figment the Phantom Flicky
A foul-tempered flicky whose cardinal red feathers have molted away, leaving magenta stripes and a white scar that won't heal. Once a daring bird that flew too close to the sun and saw his whole flock burn for it, Figment alone rose from the ashes as a brutal phoenix.
Super Flicky: Figment is much faster and stronger than a flicky should be. By performing a Drill Dash, Figment can strike with enough force to pierce armor.
Paraloop: When he flies, Figment leaves sparkling trails of energy. Figment can complete a loop to damage targets, trigger an updraft, create a portal, or trigger other effects.

Brie the Phantom Micky
This micky wasn't born with a good head on her shoulders, and a bad experience with a mouse trap almost took it! Ashamed at her past ignorance, Brie redeveloped her brain into the picture of intellect, and is continuing to stretch her new mind's untested limits.
Cranium Rat: Brie is super bright! Her mental powers are still being explored.
Jaws of Life: This micky's bite has been strengthened, and she can chew through metal.

Bandit the Phantom Raccoon
For such a tiny critter, this racoon's bottomless gluttony made him willing to accept the tiny risk of death in exchange for being fed forever. Having grown to a scale that matched his appetite, it remains to be seen who got the worse deal out of this arrangement.
The Big One: Ruby mutation caused this mobini to balloon in size, until he was nearly seven feet tall and weighed over half a ton! While ponderously slow, Bandit is strong enough to pull a cart and tough enough to take a hit. As a raccoon, Bandit's more clever than he looks.

Mort the Phantom Cluckatrice
This clucky has seen things that clucky was not meant to know, and returned to tell the tale. Not that he would, as Mort only seems to say "cluck", "caw", or "cock-a-doodle-doo" to his peers. Unlike the fabled Chanticleer, who greeted the sun at dawn, Mort's crows herald the maddening moon and the bright light at the end of the tunnel.
Snake Eyes: Mort can paralyze any singular individual that enters eye contact with him at his time of choosing. He can maintain this effect as long as he doesn't blink.
Thousand-Yardbird Stare: Mort doesn't need to blink.


How to Make Your Own
Want to make an abomination in the eyes of the Ancient Walkers, too? Here's how!

The Rules

1. The submitted animals must be of a species that could be reasonably encountered by the SI during their regular duties.
   1. A succinct list of animals that'd count as mobini in this story can be found HERE or HERE. There are other non-anthro animals that might still count, but if you want that list, you're searching for it on your own.
   2. "Could be reasonably encountered" means it's an animal that passes the sniff test for something that you could imagine wandering around Mercia & Eurish. Mercia's based on England, France, and Europe in general, though the close proximity of the continents on Mobius gives you a bit of wiggle room. Soleanna is based on Italy, but it has giant lockies (eagles) that we'd normally associate with North America. Dogs and cats yes, unicorns no.
2. Most Phantom Friends get one "major" power or two "minor" powers as a consequence of their mutation.
   1. The powers/mutations a Phantom Friend can have are rather open-ended. Look at what John Scarlet is capable of, or an extant character trait that's been showcased in the franchise. Break one of those off, and you have a viable trait for a Phantom Friend. Getting really big, shooting eye beams, or growing bulletproof wool would be considered "major". Anything less than that (like having longer claws or a third eye) is "minor".
   2. Figment and Brie have two major powers because they're special, and are not the baseline. Bandit has one major power. Mort has two powers because I wanted to break them up into a joke with a setup and a payoff.
3. The name of the Phantom Friend should be something the SI would come up with on their own. Nothing too mean, but it may contain wordplay or a reference.
   1. If you aren't sure if John Scarlet would pick a given name, just ask me since this is an SI fic.
4. I am not under any obligation to use your suggestions, use them right away, or use a suggested Phantom Friend exactly as you present them. I'm trying to pace myself with how many characters trickle into the fic at a time.
5. Due to recent events, John Scarlet officially only attempts the ruby mutation process on live mobini. The five-second rule does not apply here.

With that out of the way: Have fun! No deadlines on submissions for Phantom Friends, so just kinda do it whenever you want.

Please ping me if you decide to make one, so I don't lose track of them.

 

[weredrago2]

John Scarlet's Powers & Assets [As of Chapter 34]

Our Self Insert has a lot of powers at his disposal, and picked up a lot of things on his journey, so I figured I'd make a thread-sharable version of the document I'd been using to keep track of it all in my notes. Enjoy!

NOTE: This writeup contains light spoilers for Chapter 35, primarily in regards to the SI's new scepter. Anything divulged for that here will be reiterated there when 35 is posted.


[] The Phantom Ruby
By John Scarlet's reckoning, the Phantom Ruby functions as a reactor for negative chaos energy. Any power goes in, and black magic comes out. Instead of producing chaos energy, the Phantom Ruby must ravenously consume power to work. In a matter of months, the Phantom Ruby had transformed John Scarlet from a complete novice in the long-lost "Ixian Magicks" to a capable adept. (Among other things it turned him into.) As a tradeoff for the great magical strength it offers, long-term exposure to the Phantom Ruby is hazardous to the body, mind, and soul. Permanent side effects may vary.

• [] Ruby Illusions: The Phantom Ruby can project realistic and fantastical illusions that fool the mind and trick the senses. The effectiveness of the illusions are dependent on the scope of these projections and the amount of power poured into making them "real". Minor illusions that affect one or two senses are much cheaper than grand spectacles that influence them all.
• [] Ruby Delusions: Foregoing illusions entirely, the John Scarlet can mesmerize others to obeying his commands. Unwilling victims can resist the mind hex, though most "non-heroic" characters will crumble under the weight of the Ruby's power.
• [] Elemental Magic: A system of codified "elements" John Scarlet can influence when they're near, or alter the local conditions for them to manifest. He can form defensive shields and barriers out of elements he has a Medium affinity or higher.
  • [] Fire: HIGH Affinity. Heat control, igniting fires, forming mirages, and hurling fireballs. Fire Shield with a Red Hot Kick attack.
  • [] Water: MEDIUM Affinity. Shifting tides, making bubbles, and freezing water into solid constructs. Water Shield with a Bounce attack.
  • [⌾] ???: MEDIUM Affinity. Establishing rapports with power rings, ring divination, and binding ring tethers. Magenta-toned Barrier.
  • [] ???: MEDIUM Affinity. Absorbing electricity, short-circuiting tech, and communicating with robots via extrasensory uplink. ??? Shield.
  • [] Earth: LOW Affinity. Softening earth, digging, and raising stones.
  • [] Wind: LOW Affinity. Gusts of compressed air, levitation, and holding breath for extended periods of time.
• [] Crystalline Magicks: The "fifth element" (ignore the other ones) that grants dominion over crystals. Requires a magic stone to access.
  • [] Crystal Ray: Laser beam that coats targets in crystals on impact.
  • [] Ruby Constructs: Crystalline constructs that can be shaped into myriad forms. Weapons, spikes, hands, domes, force fields, etc etc.
  • [] Crystallization: Inorganic materials covered in crystals become susceptible to direct magical influence, with vulnerability proportionate to the surface area covered. Applies especially to robots.
• [] Flight: In defiance of gravity, John Scarlet can fly at subsonic speeds.
• [] Null Space: An arcane pocket zone linked to the Phantom Ruby. Access to Null Space (or escape from it) without John Scarlet's consent is nearly impossible.
• [] Ruby Warp: John Scarlet can warp spacetime, allowing travel over long distances. Thus far, he can only go to places he's already been to.
  • [] Ruby Portals: Magenta vortexes that go from Point A to Point B, determined at the time of activation. The surface area, the amount of mass passing through, and the duration the portals are kept open determines how much energy these portals cost.
  • [] Ruby Snap: A teleport that is faster than a Ruby Portal, if less flexible. Can carry passengers.
• [] Healing & Mutation: After much trial, error, and deliberation, John Scarlet discovered that he can heal injuries, whether moderate or severe. However, without anything to flip the Phantom Ruby's negative energy into positive energy, the target runs the risk of becoming a ruby mutant.
  • Or dying.
• [] Conjuration & Enchantment: A lesser-explored field of his magic, John Scarlet can shape Phantom Ruby-generated matter to enchant items or create them wholecloth. This is where his outfits come from, new gloves whenever he rips them, and fresh hats whenever he loses them.
• [] Cantrips: Lastly, John Scarlet can perform minor "magic tricks" and mend broken objects at a minimal expenditure of power. Anything fixed this way has a red, pink, or magenta finish to indicate it has been touched by the Ruby.

NOTE: Powers marked with [] require the Phantom Ruby. Powers marked with [] can (theoretically) be performed with any kind of magic stone, but would be much more difficult because the Phantom Ruby is what John Scarlet is used to.

…

• [𓃥] Ø: Prestidigitation and card tricks aren't really the last thing that has to be said about the Phantom Ruby, is it? For a long time, John Scarlet knew that the damn gem had a mind of its own. Something that would take over and make decisions for him when he was pushed to the brink unless he wore a power ring to suppress its influence. A being that only spoke in "I", and only scarcely acknowledged that he wasn't alone in this body he was seizing. The voice was stirred to near-coherency by Enerjak, and worked with John Scarlet to defeat him, but afterwards? Silence.
  • Who is he?
  • Why can't he remember his face?

[] Phantom Friends
See the Phantom Friends post for details.


[] Permanent Mutations
The power of the Phantom Ruby has as many rewards as it has costs, depending on how you run the numbers. One man's debilitating, trauma-adjacent reminder of the humanity he has lost is another man's neat side perk.

• [] Power Type: John Scarlet is far stronger than your average human. While not exceptionally muscular in appearance, his raw physical strength and endurance are in the range of Olympic athletes.
• [] Elastic Ring Barrier: As much a consequence of his exposure to rings as it was the Phantom Ruby, John Scarlet's body became much more flexible, durable, and elastic than the human baseline. He can stretch his limbs to extend his reach.
• [] Elemental Resonance: Even when not using the Phantom Ruby, John Scarlet can influence the elements he has an affinity for at a much weaker scale.
• [] Ruby Eyes: John Scarlet was cured of his former vision issues, and can see in low-light settings as though they were illuminated in shades of red.
• [] Claws & Fangs: Unnatural natural weapons extend from his hands and mouth, durable enough to rip concrete. He can use the retractable claws to climb walls, and the fangs to bite his tongue whenever he forgets they're present.
• [] Emerald Radar: Over time, John Scarlet developed a sixth sense for chaos energy, akin to the mental radar possessed by Knuckles and Rouge. The range extends no further than line-of-sight.

[] Assets
Mobiums can't buy you happiness, and they can't buy you love, but they can buy you stuff like this. Then, where mobiums can't take you, there's always the Phantom Ruby!

• [] Morglay: An enchanted sword with a wicked edge. Also known as the Death Brand, Morglay cut a crimson swathe through Mercia during the reign of King Arfur. The sword and the red knight who wielded it were eventually slain, cast into the murky depths beneath Sylvania Castle by Sir Peredur, but not before taking several members of the Hound Table with them. [Obtained in Chapter 8.]
• [] The Door: Dense door of silvery oricalcum, which protected a wellspring of power rings beneath Sylvania Castle. John Scarlet has been lugging it around as a blunt instrument because it was the strongest thing he knew of, and has been trying to smelt it into something more useful ever since. [Obtained in Chapter 8.]
• [⌾⌾⌾] Ring Stock: A stockpile of power rings from the vault beneath Sylvania Castle, which John Scarlet has been using to charge the Phantom Ruby or expend for other purposes. Unlike the Lake of Rings used by Knothole, or the one on Angel Island, these rings are of a limited supply. [Obtained in Chapter 8.]
• [] Crystallized Robians: Mercian victims of the roboticizer that have, until such a day comes that they can be restored, been entombed in Null Space. Storing them in crystalline caskets is hardly an ideal situation, but this indefinite fate is far kinder than leaving them in the High Sheriff's clutches. [Obtained in Chapter 10.]
• [] Red Chimera: Lengthy, cruising extreme gear that doubles as a robust shield. Heavy weight and high top speed, but poor handling. [Obtained in Chapter 12.]
• [] Weapons Arsenal: A surplus of Overland-made small arms and light weapons (SALW) allegedly left over from the Great War. From the humble 1911 to far less humble Javelin. One might wonder where Wes Weasley keeps finding these things, but if John Scarlet did that, then they might stop appearing for cheap. Best not to look a gift pasha in the mandibles, eh? [Obtained in Chapter 14.]
• [] Crystal Ball: John Scarlet's scrying aid. When he loses one, he can remake it with the Phantom Ruby and use the orb to search around. [Obtained in Chapter 16.]
• [] Ars Ixia: An occult grimoire containing many spells and secrets from the long-dead "Ixian Order", of which only fragments of memories remain. How Amy of all people had this is in her home library was a mystery that had, with everything else going on, slipped beneath John Scarlet's notice. [Obtained in Chapter 17.]
• [] Cult of the Ruby Flame: We'll uh… get back to this one. [Obtained in Chapter 16, but John Scarlet didn't know about them until Chapter 21.]
• [] Mechanaut Factory: An occult installation that conjured into existence by Enerjak III, which he used to produce combat and labor drones called mechanauts. The entire structure was stolen by John Scarlet while he was still in his Phantom State (see below), but as the creation of a super echidna and super genius, there's only so many things a mortal warlock can tamper with before he runs the risk of breaking it. [Obtained in Super Scarlet Special 1.]
• [] Emerald Scepter: Powered by a cast-off shard of the Master Emerald, this petrified oaken staff is a safe way for John Scarlet to recharge the Phantom Ruby. While its power is as limitless as a complete Chaos Emerald, it is not inexhaustible. The Emerald Scepter becomes colorless after being drained, and must remain stored in Null Space until it recovers. [Obtained in Chapter 31.]

NOTE: Not included on this list are miscellaneous minor tools and items John Scarlet has accumulated that are too minute to warrant their own category.


[] Modes & Transformations
When nothing else will cut it, there's special modes and transformations to kick things up a notch. Each of these has their own requirements for activation.

• [] Disguises: Need to skulk through enemy territory? How about avoiding an awkward conversation, or sidestepping centuries of awkward racial strife? John Scarlet's glamours are an easy way to blend into a crowd, and he's able to improvise a cover story to go with his new face as needed. [Introduced in Chapter 12.]
• [] Mania Mode: John Scarlet can push the Phantom Ruby into overdrive, pulling the safeties off the gemstone and allowing for a burst of "infinite" power. When Mania Mode ends, the Phantom Ruby is left with minimal energy, and John Scarlet may suffer additional permanent consequences. [Introduced in Chapter 15.]
• [] Weredragon Scarlet: When the Phantom Ruby's careful balance of negative energy was thrown into disarray by Enerjak, this monstrous metamorphosis erupted to the surface. Driven by fear, anger, and other suppressed emotions, Weredragon Scarlet exchanges fine spellwork for the sheer, primal force of an elemental beast. The "Curse of the Weredragon", while currently dormant, was able to emerge in the presence of intense geothermal activity (such as a volcano) and the absence of natural sunlight. [Introduced in Chapter 24.]
• [𓃥] Phantom Scarlet: When supercharged by seven Chaos Emeralds and fifty rings (or the Master Emerald), John Scarlet can achieve a state of unity with the second entity inside the Phantom Ruby to become Phantom Scarlet. As Phantom Scarlet, the boundaries of the gemstone's powers over illusions are crowbarred off, giving them broad authority over what is "real" and what isn't. Reality, physics, and gravity are what they make of them, until the transformation threatens to tear the two conflicting personalities apart at the seams. [Introduced in Chapter 30.]

I'll try to keep this updated as the story continues.

Please let me know if I missed anything! Thanks in advance.