With your battle complete, and your injuries sort of patched up, you're finally free to catch your breath... at least until the terminal flares to life again. Your brief conversation with the person on the other end may have left you with more questions than answers, but they are true to their world. Next to the terminal, a glowing golden portal suddenly appears - blinding in its light and large enough for only a couple of you to enter at a time. Regardless, it remains open, showcasing a strange, warehouse-looking building on the other side, with a long hallway and several closed doors. It's not entirely clear where this new location will be, but at least it doesn't seem to have spider robots or be out in space.
/// L O A D I N G . . .
I've got everything ready on my end.
I'll explain everything to you once you're here.
No more secrets, I promise.
Please watch your step, and make sure everyone comes along!
Staying behind is not an option. Whether you trust the person on the other end of the terminal or not, it seems this is your only path forward. Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and step through the portal.
THE BASE
The light begins to clear as the last of you enter the portal and come out unharmed on the other side. You'll notice immediately that the portal displayed the exact place you've ended up - a fairly run-down warehouse, with you all standing in a hallway that extends in front of you, lined with doors that are shut. Before you go wandering off, you might want to turn around - after all, you can hear the whirring of machinery behind you.
You'll find that there's another set of doors there - one that is closed and another that leads into a larger room that seems to be a makeshift lab and control room all rolled into one. There are monitors carefully (but a bit haphazardly) strewn across the room, the wiring capably done but rather unprofessional. One of the screens shows a diagram of a gemstone, another shows a list of coordinates that don't make any sense, a third seems to be showing security cameras... basically exactly what you'd expect for someone's base of operations.
And that base of operations is staffed by... well, you'll have to look down, as he's not exactly human height.
Standing before you is someone unfamiliar to all of you. He's not very tall, but he stands out from the crowd with his yellow fur, bright blue eyes, and twin tails. He's an anthropomorphic fox and he's looking at you all a bit nervously, waving a hand in greeting.
"Um, hi." He says. "I'm really sorry about the confusion. And the robots. And your missing memories. And your injuries. I really didn't expect things to turn out like this..." He trails off nervously, scratching his cheek before forcing a smile again. "But thank you so much for agreeing to help us. My name is Tails. I'm one of the members of the resistance.
"There are medical supplies here, for you guys to use. I'm sorry, I'm not a medic..." Sure enough, you have access to quite a few medical supplies present in this room! Go right ahead and patch up your friends with the good stuff. You've even got painkillers here!
He clears his throat and continues. "Like I said, no more secrets. I couldn't tell you everything while you were in that other world, because I was afraid of my transmissions being picked up by the Doctor. You guys are the only hope for this world, because the three of us can't beat him alone. So we had to turn to help elsewhere.
"Doctor Robotnik - or Eggman, as we call him - is a genius scientist. He's made a lot of robots and gadgets, but that's not the reason why we need your help. He's got an item of immense power - the Master Emerald. With it, anything he thinks and desires can become reality. He made a giant robot from pieces of cars, trucks, trains, you name it! And that giant robot alone is enough to pose a huge threat to the city, but he didn't stop there.
"The entire world is controlled by him. He even controls the minds of all the people native to this world. They can't fight against him. They act like mindless drones, going about their daily tasks with no way to fight back. And he's created a lot of robots - they might even outnumber the people, at this point! Everything and everyone is under his control."
A brief pause as Tails breathes and steadies himself. "But my friends and I are able to fight back. We have to fight back. And you guys agreed to help us. I'm sorry that you don't remember it, but my friend Sonic spoke with each one of you. He told you about what's going on here and he asked for your help. And all of you said you'd come help us.
"I'll do my best to answer any questions you have. But right now, I'm the only one here. I lost contact with Knuckles at the start of this week, and I've been trying to figure out what happened. Sonic's been trying to find help in other worlds, so communication with him has been spotty. But I'll let him know that you guys are here now, so he should return soon!"
Tails exhales and forces a smile. "Together, we can defeat Eggman."
THE AFTERMATH
Though it's a lot of information to take in, Tails will happily answer any questions you all may have. He tells you that this warehouse is their base of operations, hidden right under the nose of Eggman's forces. Unfortunately, they need to be very careful because robots are always on patrol - and are specifically looking for the three of them. For now, it's best for you all to remain near the warehouse and travel in pairs, if you do go out into the city for any reason.
You'll find that those closed doors lead to rooms that have been set up for all of you. They're a little lacking, with only two beds, two desks and chairs, and two trunks for you to store your belongings in. Though you do have some changes of clothes in the closets, the designs may not be to your liking. They were picked out for you by three animals who only wear shoes and gloves, so...
Get ready, because it looks like you've a lot of work ahead of you.
[ Nuh-uh. Though her nerves feel taut, her instincts screaming for her to smooth it over, not talk about anything that could hurt—she's trying so hard, so very hard to be a good friend again.
So she walks up and gently places a hand on his arm. ]
I'm not giving anything I don't want to give. I mean it, Percy.
[ The touch on his arm gives him pause, and he looks up at her – just slightly, not wanting her to see how he's really looking right now – before he ducks his head again. He makes no effort to push her away. ]
...Her name was June.
[ ... ]
My only sibling. My sister. And now...my parents have no kids left. We're both gone.
Six years ago. She wasn't killed like I was. Natural causes.
[ She just got sick all of a sudden and didn't recover. It's incomprehensible, even now. ]
This bear's one of the only things I've got left of her. And that hat was a gift from...that ex I mentioned earlier. She saw the bear, knew about what happened and wanted to do something kind for me.
But...it's fine. There's nothing I can do to change any of that.
[ It's not fine but the latter part is certainly true.
He loosens his arms, not realizing how stiff they'd gotten...and then he lifts his head. His eyes are slightly pink, but – they did this last week, so – he gently places his hand over hers, the one on his arm. ]
I just...gotta focus on who's in front of me now. Right? Like my new roommate.
[ The hat... God, that's so sweet. That's such a nice thing to do for someone. ...Did she do anything, after—
Percy's lukewarm hand rests over hers and once again she swallows down this ugly, hot bubble of self-hatred. When he looks back up, she hopes that he assumes how sad she looks is just empathy for him. ]
It's terrible... [ She gives his arm a small squeeze. ] Don't, um- just don't think you have to hold this stuff back, okay?
[ A small blush does emerge on her features, when she really thinks about that last bit that he's said—but, just like he's determined not to make it weird, so is she. ]
That's what good roommates do? I think. I've never shared a room before, so...you're the expert.
[ why are they just the same person round 200000 ]
...I appreciate it, Ashley.[ He lowers his hand and lifts it to give her his usual hair ruffle instead. ] And yup, I'd say that's good enough.
[ He looks over at the little plate of food he has. Which. Is just on the bed next to the bear, so he grabs it moves to put it on one of the desks. Then, he pulls up a chair for her as an offering. ]
Well that's all I've had to compare it to, for the last week, so right now, it's high end!
[ It feels a little weird to be snacking and joking. Honestly, her appetite's been weird since the mountain. It feels more like she's eating just to make sure she doesn't starve, not eating because she wants to, or eating to feel better.
She doesn't like thinking about it. ]
Where even was that, did, uh, Tails mention anything like that?
Mmm he seemed so busy, though. Don't get me wrong, I want to pick his brain about all of it, but... He's been just one kid doing all this by himself, since his friends took off. It seems like so much already.
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So she walks up and gently places a hand on his arm. ]
I'm not giving anything I don't want to give. I mean it, Percy.
cw death mentions
...Her name was June.
[ ... ]
My only sibling. My sister. And now...my parents have no kids left. We're both gone.
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God, she hates that. ]
...I'm so sorry, Percy. That's... I- [ can't imagine? Yes you can. ] I'm just...sorry.
How long ago, was she...?
1/2
[ She just got sick all of a sudden and didn't recover. It's incomprehensible, even now. ]
This bear's one of the only things I've got left of her. And that hat was a gift from...that ex I mentioned earlier. She saw the bear, knew about what happened and wanted to do something kind for me.
no subject
But...it's fine. There's nothing I can do to change any of that.
[ It's not fine but the latter part is certainly true.
He loosens his arms, not realizing how stiff they'd gotten...and then he lifts his head. His eyes are slightly pink, but – they did this last week, so – he gently places his hand over hers, the one on his arm. ]
I just...gotta focus on who's in front of me now. Right? Like my new roommate.
no subject
Percy's lukewarm hand rests over hers and once again she swallows down this ugly, hot bubble of self-hatred. When he looks back up, she hopes that he assumes how sad she looks is just empathy for him. ]
It's terrible... [ She gives his arm a small squeeze. ] Don't, um- just don't think you have to hold this stuff back, okay?
[ A small blush does emerge on her features, when she really thinks about that last bit that he's said—but, just like he's determined not to make it weird, so is she. ]
That's what good roommates do? I think. I've never shared a room before, so...you're the expert.
no subject
...I appreciate it, Ashley.[ He lowers his hand and lifts it to give her his usual hair ruffle instead. ] And yup, I'd say that's good enough.
[ He looks over at the little plate of food he has. Which. Is just on the bed next to the bear, so he grabs it moves to put it on one of the desks. Then, he pulls up a chair for her as an offering. ]
Hungry? We can start snacking now if you want.
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You're welcome.
[ She gently bats his hand away. Another reason for her to always be wearing a hat once her hair is dry, hair ruffles. ]
Ohh, you know, I didn't realize, that I was hungry? But yeah, I think I'm craving those high end Lunchables.
[ She sits and digs in, constructing a little cracker sandwich. ]
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Heh, high end, huh? They're not that fancy, really.
[ But he will take a seat and start munching! ]
Way better than the food we had on the spacecraft, at least!
cw kind of disordered eating from cannibalism trauma why is my canon this
[ It feels a little weird to be snacking and joking. Honestly, her appetite's been weird since the mountain. It feels more like she's eating just to make sure she doesn't starve, not eating because she wants to, or eating to feel better.
She doesn't like thinking about it. ]
Where even was that, did, uh, Tails mention anything like that?
crying
[ He's not quite putting two and two together, sorry Ashley... ]
Oh, uh, I don't know. I just assumed we were in space or something. Unless we weren't! Who knows!
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How can you just accept it like that? Aren't you curious? I feel like I should've asked him a thousand questions, just to start.
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[ He was pretty chill with being in a new place that wasn't [purgatory equivalent] so. ]
You can probably catch him sometime tomorrow?
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[ He hadn't even considered that. ]
Maybe in a few days, then? Hopefully one of his buddies will come back so he's got less on his shoulders.
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[ ...Man, she really is pessimistic lately, isn't she? Ashley doesn't want to think about young Tails' friends not coming back, so— ]
I just hope he's getting some sleep, at least.