Decided to make this thread to dump my Sonic Heroes ideas for the IDW characters. I only have the Diamond Cutters so far, but I have ideas for Team Surge later. I kept the writing fairly simplistic for Sonic game standards. I pitch basic ideas for action stages as well.
Team Diamond
Speed: Tangle – has a unique Home Attack where she pulls herself to enemies with her tail, and can maybe throw them at other enemies. With this skill, she can grapple onto higher targets. Her “tornado attack” is simply a spin attack with her tail, and her “Spin Dash” involves her teammates pulling her tail and sending her launching like a spring.
Flight: Whisper – using her Green Hover to fly. She can also collect other Wisps from capsules to use in unique puzzles or sections. Special attack is throwing out diamonds that reflect Cyan Lasers.
Power: Lanolin – using her Cowbell Wispon to strike obstacles. Special attack is making enemies dance with the ringing of her bell.
Team Blast: Lanolin plants her bell down as it grows larger. Both Tangle and Whisper strike it at the same time (the latter uses Blue Hammer), sending out a massive shockwave to destroy all enemies. The special bonus of this skill is that all other enemies (which were out of range of the attack) will be trapped in a dancing animation until the Team Blast bar wears down.
STORY CAMPAIGN
Intro Cutscene
Lanolin and Whisper are in the office. Lanolin is sorting papers while Whisper tunes her Wispon.
Suddenly, Tangle swings into the room and lands on the desk. “WHO WANTS SPIRAL ROLLS?!” She raises a plate of three cinnamon rolls.
“TANGLE!” Lanolin shouts as papers fly everywhere. “I spent all day on those!”
“Haha, sorry!” Tangle jumps down and eats her roll.
Whisper catches one of the papers: a photo of Jewel holding a pretty stone. “What’s this?”
“Hey!” Tangle perked up. “Jewel found a new rock!”
“Yeah, she mailed that this morning.” Lanolin said. “Maybe she’ll put it in her museum.”
Whisper gasps. “Wait! Look!” She indicates a tentacle-haired figure in the background beneath a shade. Tangle and Lanolin are horrified. “It’s… Mimic.”
“What could he be doing there?” Lanolin wonders.
Whisper looks down, her hand quivering. Tangle takes her hand as Whisper meets her resolved gaze. “Don’t worry. We’ll stop him. Together.”
Whisper looks down, concealing a blush. “Come on!” Lanolin runs out. “Let’s move!” Her teammates follow her. Tangle stretches her tail back to grab the plate of Spiral Rolls.
STAGE 1: SPIRAL BEACH
A coastal level below the cliffs near Spiral Hill. The ocean has several large maelstroms, and there are some spirally rock formations around the level. At the climax of the level, Whisper acquires a Navy Seal Wisp, in which her Wispon becomes a seal that they can ride across the ocean.
“Huh? I’ve never seen this Wisp before.” Whisper comments.
“A rare Wisp?!” Tangle exclaims. “This is so COOL!”
“Try to avoid the whirlpools!” Lanolin yells.
The stage concludes as they plummet into a massive maelstrom and land on a spiral-shaped area of ground.
In the following cutscene, Team Diamond searches the center of the area. “This looks like the area from Jewel’s photo.” Tangle says.
“Look.” Whisper finds a tape recorder on the ground. She plays it.
“Someone! Help! Sky City! He’s taking—AAAAH!”
“JEWEL!” Tangle screams. “Grrrrr! We gotta get to Sky City!”
“We can get there on the shuttle!” Lanolin says. “Hurry!”
STAGE 2: SKY CITY
Sky City appears as a high-tech metropolis amongst clouds, kept aloft by massive propellers. There are fluffy clouds to bounce upon, and they can glide in the currents of giant fans. There is a grind-rail area in which they ride through a dense fog.
“Hey! I can’t see where I’m going!” Tangle yells.
“I can blow the clouds away with my bell!” Lanolin says. “Better pay attention where to jump.”
First team battle
Team Diamond are walking through a city street. “AAH!” Lanolin screams as Team Babylon surf past and knock her down.
The birds step off their Extreme Gear. “Hahaha! That’s a new record!” Jet laughs.
“HEY!” Lanolin shouts. “You need to watch where you’re going!”
Jet turns with a shake of his head. “Says who?”
“You twerps don’t know who you’re messin’ with.” Storm fist-palms.
“Neither do you, buddy!” Tangle balls her fists and tail-fist.
“You need to learn a lesson.” Whisper says.
“Heh. Bring it on, sister.” Wave smirks.
Next stage intro
“Those jerks!” Lanolin shouts. “I hope they’ll do better from now on.”
“Yeah, but we’ve lost track of the trail.” Whisper says.
“Hey, this place looks fun!” Tangle points. “Let’s look for clues in here!”
“Tangle, wait!” Lanolin yells.
STAGE 3: PLAYTIME TOWER
The stage is a colorful tower, and the inside is made up of playgrounds and playrooms. The Diamonds ride down slides and launch off the end ramps for Trick Points, and build momentum on swing sets for high jumps. “Reminds me of my old playground!” Tangle exclaims.
“I bet the Wisps would love this place.” Whisper says.
The unique gimmick of the level comes in the playroom sections. There are magic switches that cause Team Diamond to shrink to toy size. “Hey! Did everything just get bigger?” Tangle asks.
“I think we got smaller…” Lanolin replies.
“This is unsettling.” Whisper follows. The trio then explores giant letter block sections, toy racetracks, and fights teddy bear Badniks. There’s also an area of giant rubber balls, which Lanolin can hit away. At the end of these sections, Team Diamond can hit another switch to return to normal size, followed by another playground section.
STAGE 4: FROZEN FACTORY
This level is a desolate warehouse atop a snowy mountain. In the prelude cutscene, Whisper notices some suction cup footprints in the snow. “He’s here.”
“We can’t just rush in.” Lanolin says. “It’s gotta be a trap.”
“Doesn’t matter!” Tangle declares. “Jewel might be in danger! We can’t waste time!”
“He’s probably watching us as we speak.” Whisper says. “Anticipating any possible entrance. So, we might as well be direct.”
“Now you’re talkin’!”
Team Diamond grind across railroad tracks and have to dodge incoming freight cars. Tangle’s tail can grapple across crane hooks that shift between platforms. Whisper can grab Ivory Wisps and use their electricity to magnetically pull up rails hanging over chasms. There’s a part where they clamber across the side of the building, in which heavy winds blow them back. Tangle has to grapple onto points to endure the winds.
In the following cutscene, Team Diamond encounters Dr. Eggman atop a Boss Badnik. “Eggman!” Lanolin exclaims.
“No.” Whisper trains her Wispon. “Mimic.”
“Heh heh.” The doctor morphs back into his true form. “There’s no hiding from you, is there? Still, the doctor’s face has its perks. Check out this robot I managed to hijack. Just what I needed to CRACK some Diamonds!”
Whisper trembles furiously. She calms as Tangle holds her shoulder. “We’re saving Jewel and going home. But I don’t mind knocking your teeth in first!”
“That’s right.” Lanolin narrows her eyes. “We’re bringing you to justice!”
After boss battle
Team Diamond cautiously approach Mimic. “So, you finally caught me.”
“You’re going to jail.” Whisper aims her Wispon.
“Sure. But by the time you bring me there, she’ll already be gone.”
“Jewel?!” Tangle shouts. “Where is she?!”
“They’re taking her through the forest now. If you hurry, you might catch up. Hahahahahaha!” Mimic runs.
“GET BACK HERE!” Lanolin begins to chase. However, she stops, noticing her friends don’t follow. Tangle is looking elsewhere, her fist quivering.
Whisper takes Tangle’s hand. The lemur looks her in the eye. “Don’t worry. We’ll save her. Together.”
Tangle smiles and nods. The two run the other direction. Lanolin sighs and hurries after them.
STAGE 5: JUNKYARD JUNGLE
This level is a metallic jungle made of rusted, scrapped cars and robots. “It’s so… metal-y here.” Tangle says.
“Smells like burning oil.” Whisper replies.
The trio confronts broken, zombie-like robots that ambush them from scrap piles. “Z-Z-ZOMBOTS!” Lanolin screams.
“Tangle! Don’t touch them!” Whisper cautions.
“Wait, they’re just normal Scrapniks. Just beat ’em up!”
There are open areas where monster truck Badniks attack them, requiring Lanolin’s strength to fight. Tangle can grapple tire swings, and they must jump between collapsing grind-rails. Whisper collects an Indigo Asteroid Wisp to mow her way through a dense field of junk. In the level’s climax, the team runs from a burning garbage grinder.
“AAAAAHHH! RUN FOR IT! We’re gonna get mulched!” Lanolin screams.
“I don’t wanna be junk food!” Tangle cries.
“Another Wisp!” Whisper can grab another Asteroid Wisp to crumble all the scrap in the way. When she builds the celestial body large enough, she can collapse the garbage grinder.
“YEAH! You grinded the grinder, Whisper!”
“I took out the trash, as it were.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Lanolin sighs.
Second team battle
Team Diamond sees Team Surge up on a pile of wrecked cars. (Belle the Tinkerer is with them.) “Well, look who it is.” Surge says. “That little wolf with all the Wisps.”
“You…” Whisper aims her Wispon.
“BELLE!” Tangle shouts. “You’re with them?!”
“It, it’s not what it looks like!” Belle says frantically.
“I knew it!” Lanolin shouts. “Once a Badnik, always a Badnik!”
Belle gasps and begins to cry. “Hey, that wasn’t very nice!” Kit shouts.
“You guys done it now!” Surge says. “You’re goin’ down!”
Next stage intro
“Hey, Lanolin?” Tangle begins. “Do you think we should’ve listened to Belle?”
“They wasted enough of our time.” Lanolin argues. “They weren’t even involved with Mimic.”
“I hope we aren’t too late…” Whisper says.
“Whisper, you don’t think…?” Tangle trails out.
“Never mind. Let’s hurry.”
STAGE 6: MOONSHADE VALLEY
A beautiful, starlit valley of cyan grass and purple mountains. Tangle can grapple up shooting stars to climb great cliffs. They later platform across large, floating stars and grind-rail across comet streaks. “Look, Whisper!” Tangle points. “A full moon!”
“Yes.”
“Weeeeeeell, you’re a wolf, right?”
“I don’t do that.”
“Oh, okay. AWOOOOOOOOLLLLL!”
“AWOOOOOLLLLL!” Whisper howls. “T-Tangle!”
“Will you two get a grip?!” Lanolin shouts.
The level steadily has them climb up into outer space, platforming asteroids or a Saturn-like ring. The Goal Ring is on the moon itself. (But when the next cutscene commences, they are casually back on earth.)
Next stage intro
Team Diamond are at the doorstep of a fortified mansion. “Jewel has to be here.” Whisper says. “There’s nowhere else.”
The wolf hums contemplatively. “What’s wrong?” Tangle asks.
“I’ve… been thinking. Mimic only wants to get to me. That’s why he targeted Jewel. If…If I keep staying here, he’s only going to keep hurting you. I feel like I should-”
“Hey, what’re you thinking?!” Tangle looks her in the eye. “We promised we would stop him together, didn’t we?”
“I…I know, but…”
“We’re a team! He hurt you, and he took Jewel! I’ll never forgive him! And no matter how much he tries, we’ll stop him as many times as it takes!”
Whisper looks away. “She’s right.” Lanolin says firmly. “He tricked me… Tried to turn me against you two.” She turns, curving her eyes in guilt. “I’ll never forgive him.”
“Whisper, this means as much to us as it does to you now. So, we’re sticking by you no matter what!”
Whisper raises her head and nods, resolve in her closed eyes. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s time to show him… the return of the Diamond Cutters.”
Tangle laughs and grabs her friends in a group hug. “You bet! Because the DIAMOND CUTTERS ARE UNBREAKABLE!”
“Okay, we need to have group meetings before you decide slogans for us.” Lanolin says.
“But it’s so cool though! Right, Whisper?”
“Seems like something Slinger would come up with.”
“Hehehehe! Okay… let’s go!”
Tangle and Whisper race off. Lanolin stalls, noticing Team Surge taking another entrance. She bows guiltily at seeing Belle. She hurries after her team.
STAGE 7: OPOSSUM MANOR
The mansion is full of security guard Badniks, electrified swimming pools, security lasers, statues of Clutch, etc.. “This is Clutch’s mansion.” Lanolin observes. “They must still be working together.”
“Our priorities come first.” Whisper says.
There are some areas where Team Diamond has to maneuver around searchlights, which spawn more dangerous enemies. “Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky…” Tangle hums.
“Tangle, we talked about this.” Whisper sighs.
After completing the level, Team Diamond enter a large room. “JEWEL!” Tangle beams seeing her friend unharmed.
“Tangle! Everyone!”
They run to each other for a hug! …But Whisper gasps. “No, Tangle!”
‘Jewel’ smirks and grabs a knife under her outfit. But Tangle smirks and jumps the swing of the knife, kicking the fake backward. “What, do you think I’m an idiot?”
Whisper sighs in relief. Mimic growls and changes back to normal. “I see you’ve grown a backbone. But I’m not about to let you ruin our deal. So, let’s finish this! Tangle! Whisper! Sheep girl!”
“SHEEP GIRL?!” Lanolin shouts.
“Sorry. Don’t quite remember your name.” Mimic shrugs nonchalantly. “You were never that remarkable.”
“GRRRRR! I’ve had ENOUGH of you!”
In the boss fight, Mimic wields knives in each of his tentacles. He is able to stretch and thrust them with sudden speed, perform spin attacks, or throw them from far away as he draws more knives. When he thrusts tentacles, Tangle can Tail Grapple them and pull herself toward the villain, but Mimic will swiftly evade her as subsequent Tail Grapples are required. When he does spin attacks, Lanolin must jump and do a smash attack. Mimic will also thrust his tentacles underground as the knives jut up from beneath the group: they must elevate with Fly Formation as Whisper throws her teammates into Mimic.
Mimic will also spew ink all over the player’s screen. “AUGH! I CAN’T SEE!” Tangle screams.
“Tangle, use your spin attack to shake it off!” Lanolin yells.
But after the ink is cleared, there will be a horde of regular Badniks in the room. “Where’d he go?!”
“He’s disguised!” Whisper says. “Find the right one before he ambushes us!”
If they take too long to hit the correct Badnik, Mimic will lunge for a successful attack. When Mimic is on his last sliver of HP, he will ink the screen again. Whisper lets out a grunt, and when the ink clears, they will see her Wispon has been knocked away, and Mimic has changed into her.
Both Whispers engage in close-quarters combat. “Hurry! Stop him!”
“No! That one’s Mimic!”
“Oh, no.” Lanolin says. “Tangle, how do we figure this out?”
“I-I’m working on it!”
The player must determine the correct one by searching for a flaw on the character model, while the two are fighting. They will have 30 seconds before Mimic KO’s Whisper. If Tangle attacks the wrong Whisper, she will be knocked out. “AAH! WHISPER, I’M SO SORRY!”
“HAH! You’re not as clever as I thought!” Mimic will then repeat the tactic, but this time, take Lanolin’s form as her Wispon is knocked away.
“You jerk! Don’t you even dare wear my face!”
“I’m not… Tangle, it’s me!”
“No! Don’t listen to him!”
If the player fails this guess, it results in an automatic loss. Mimic will say, “Wow, Tangle. You betrayed your own teammates. ’Guess I had an impact on you.”
Tangle cries. “What’ve I done…”
If Tangle guesses the correct Whisper fake, Mimic tumbles onto the ground and grunts, “Ugh… How?!”
Whisper takes Tangle’s hand and says, “Because there are some things you can never imitate.”
However, if Tangle only gets it right on the Lanolin attempt, the villain will smirk. “Oh well. You can’t win them all, right?”
“Whisper, are you okay?!” Tangle helps her up. “I’m…”
“It’s fine, Tangle. I’m not mad.”
However, Tangle will look ashamed during the victory screen, and will miss out on bonus points.
Ending cutscene
Mimic lays defeated on the ground. “Heh… I guess their legacy… really lives on.”
Tangle runs to a nearby door and pulls it open. “JEWEL!” Her beetle friend flies out as they hug. “Tangle!”
“Why did you kidnap her?” Whisper asks.
“She’s a rare type of beetle. Would’ve fetched a high price.”
“It’s always about money with you.” Whisper knocks him out.
Lanolin glares at the villain. …Her eyes curve sadly as she looks elsewhere. “Hey. I saw Belle earlier. I’m gonna go look for her. I’ve been thinking I should apologize.”
“Go ahead.” Tangle pats her shoulder. “We’ll take care of things here.” Lanolin nods and runs off.
“Tangle…” The lemur turns to Whisper. She bows her head. “Thank you for… being there for me.”
Tangle smiles tenderly. “You were there for me, too.” Whisper blushes.
“Alright, you two.” Jewel pats their shoulders. “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry. Anyone up for Spiral Rolls?”
“SPIRAL ROLLS?! YAHOOOOO!” Tangle grabs Mimic in her tail and runs off as their theme song plays. Whisper and Jewel share a sigh of disbelief and chase after her.
Bonus Missions
As a unique bonus mission, Jewel requests Team Diamond to look for three rare minerals in each level. Tangle jokes that, “These Diamonds will get ya your jewels!”