You were successful in repelling the robots attacking the city, but you've been left with far too many questions. For once, Tails doesn't have any answers for you, and a gloomy uncertainty has fallen over your three allies. It probably doesn't help that everyone had a rough time of it last week. A win is a win, but it doesn't really feel like a win when you're not even sure who this unknown threat is...
Regardless, life goes on. Things are a bit different this week in Chicago, however.
THE CITY
You'll need to be careful now more than ever when heading out into the city. Though Eggman's usual robots are still present, their numbers have been cut drastically. Far fewer drones patrol the streets, with only the occasional tank or B33 to be seen. You can still find and fight them, and they will still call for backup, but it seems like you all really have destroyed a lot of them.
But there are the new additions to Eggman's forces. Unlike the white chrome versions, these are here to cause problems. You can find them patrolling sometimes... but usually you'll find them in the city proper, destroying whatever they can. Whenever they catch sight of you, they will stop at nothing to try to pursue you and destroy you.
The city itself is still undergoing changes, with more of that white chrome spreading throughout, as if infecting the structures themselves. The Badniks will still destroy even that, though; it's more like they're mindless machines than carrying out any precise orders.
But in a stroke of good luck, occasionally you'll find that some of the humans recognize the danger they're in. It's only when confronted with a robot - but you might hear a scream, or see them try to run away, and if you save them, you may even be able to get a few words in before they simply return to their monotonous lives. You won't be able to get any truly valuable information from them, but they will thank you repeatedly for helping. They don't seem to realize that they're being controlled by someone else, even if you ask them about it.
VISIONS
If you thought last week was a lot, get ready for the madness of week 4!
You may still have nightmares. You may still be pulled into each others' nightmares (same as last week, if you'd like to play out more of these). Or maybe you'll finally be able to catch a break and get some z's, but even if you are lucky enough for that, you'll still be dealing with everything else.
You may find yourself randomly teleported into the city. This happens at random, and can happen to multiple people at the same time. One minute you may be waking up, the next you'll find yourself surrounded by robots ready to kill you. And yeah, the robots are a feature, not a bug. No matter how it happens, you will always be facing down robots whenever you're brought into the city. Enjoy!
But maybe your luck holds out and you're unaffected by that. Well, there's still the visions to deal with!
There are two different kinds of visions that may happen.
The first are the more minor ones - where you may see the people closest to you (positive or negative). They will appear for others as well, and they will gladly speak with you - though they aren't exactly behaving in the way they should. They will torment you, reminding you of past failures and imperfections, and speaking as though everything is your fault. They will follow you wherever you go, and will only fade when someone else has helped you come to terms with the horrid things they're saying. These visions are a manifestation of a character's psyche and thus are based on their own perceptions of their friends/enemies and their own faults. They're incapable of interacting with the world or the characters, but they sure can insult you!
The second are much larger in scope. No matter where you were, you may find yourself pulled into friend's memory. These memories are one-for-one versions of what exactly happened, though now you're here! Are you playing the role of someone else, or are you just a bystander in all that's happening?
The character having the vision may or may not be aware of you initially, but once they're made aware of your presence, the vision will still play out as the memory would. The only way to stop it - aside from simply letting it play out in its entirety - is to drastically alter the memory in such a way that it cannot get itself back on track. Considering the trauma some of the people in this game have, it might be a good idea to help break them free of it.
Regardless of which happens to you (the nightmares, the teleportation, or the visions), your vision will turn bright red for a moment afterwards - it vanishes quickly enough, but it leaves you with the eerie feeling that you're being watched.
SHARDS
Your powers are growing, and you'll find you're able to defend yourself with your power in some way, even if yours is a power made for support. All characters are now able to fire off a blast of energy in their shard color to defend themselves - this attack will grow stronger in time, but at least everyone should be able to defend themselves (somewhat) now?
As you fight with your allies - particularly those you have a close bond with, positive or negative - you may feel the tug of something in the back of your head; it tells you that you can do more. Together, you can become more powerful. You can use your shards together. Doing so will grant you a new power, or strengthen the one you already have. The more you trust one another, the easier this power will be to use.
It might be good to experiment with these new powers; after all, you never know when you may need them.
TAILS' TASKS
Like last week, Sonic Team is still in need of rings. Rings are still annoying to get. You'll probably need help to get them, but they're worth collecting. So make sure to grab some for Tails!
You may also be tasked with tracking Chaos Energy. Like with tracking rings, Tails will give you a device that can pick up on the signature. You should be careful in approaching, especially if the signature is a large one, considering the three enemies you faced last weekend. Still, Chaos Energy may lead you to more of Eggman's fake Chaos Emeralds, which could prove useful...
Tracking the source down will lead you to one of the weekly enemies with a shard somewhere on its body. It will be much harder to kill than the regular versions of that enemy, and capable of some kind of special power (players' choice). Crushing the shard will weaken the enemy and bring it back down to its normal power level, making it fairly easy to defeat, but if you manage to defeat it without breaking the shard, you can bring it back to Tails for examination.
ENEMIES
Though you can still find the enemies from previous weeks in Chicago throughout the city, their numbers have thinned. Mostly, you'll be running into new faces - robots that don't look anything like Eggman's usuals. They are very rarely actually patrolling or idling, instead focused on destroying parts of the city or attacking any people unfortunate enough to get in their way.
Moto Bugs are... rather cute. They roll around on their singular wheel and can slash with their front claws, though primarily they deal damage by ramming into things at fairly high speeds. They're fairly weak, all things considered, especially by now. They're completely powerless when knocked over or onto their backs. Though one Moto Bug is weak, you will never find them alone - instead, you'll usually find at least 3-5 of them in a group.
Crabmeats are robotic crabs. Where does the meat come in? Unclear. Regardless, they're stronger than Moto Bugs and are capable of both bashing with their massive claws and snipping, and either way they are capable of a good deal of damage if you get hit. They're slower though, which means getting out of the way shouldn't be too hard. Like Moto Bugs, these usually are never alone, often working in pairs.
Buzzers are bees. Did you think we were done with bees? We are absolutely not done with bees. These bees function almost identically to the B33 models in that they're capable of firing lasers from their stingers, divebombing to try to sting, and generally be(e)ing a nuisance. Unlike the B33 models, they do not have a glaringly obvious weak point and are a bit harder to hit and destroy as a result. Though you may rarely encounter only one of these bees out in the wild, usually you'll run into groups of them and they will not be(e) happy to see you.
Anyway, Percy opens his mouth to respond, but then there's a hooded figure that appears. The figure goes through the entrance of the bank, past Percy –
bang! Bang!
Screaming. So much screaming, people are fleeing. Percy is one of those that's stunned, because he should know what's going on but he looks anyway. And that is his biggest mistake.
[Whuh oh. That can't be good. Now, the right thing to do here, especially given that this is a vision and thus no lasting consequences for Fukuda, would be to try and intervene. To help.
But also that seems hard and like it would probably hurt? And besides, it's a vision which ALSO means he wouldn't be substantively changing anything. So he just. Stands there and watches this play out.]
[ Arguably, perhaps doing nothing is the better play here, given that the memory cuts off pretty abruptly.
It ends with the gunman exiting the area and seeing a frightened Percy staring right at him. It ends with the gunman holding up their weapon with zero hesitation and pulling the trigger.
It ends with the bullet going through Percy's head.
The memory starts fading to black...until it starts to repeat itself. ]
[Them having this discussion while Percy dies on loop in the BG ]
Because it made it so I could think clearly.
[He pauses, a moment. Hm he's seen Percy's moment of vulnerability. Fair trade for;]
To be honest... When I drilled the hole, I didn't think I was going to survive. But instead, my hole fixed the problem that had caused me to make it in the first place. Life's funny like that, sometimes.
To reward this conversation a little, let's say the memory...gets a little quieter. Especially since it's not as close to the forefront of his memory right now. ]
...
It...fixed your brain. Your way of thinking. Is that what you mean?
Before I got my hole I was always... Surrounded by numbers. I had to count things, repeat things I did multiple times. Trying to resist the urge made my brain feel like it was getting all twisted up. I... You probably think that sounds stupid. Most people did.
Not really. I think people just kinda have their own things they get hung up on like that. Sometimes it's numbers. Sometimes it's grief.
[ Which is a simple answer in his mind. He doesn't really think it's stupid – he gets hung up on things like teddy bears, so he doesn't really think he's in a position to judge. ]
Mm... I suppose. But at least with something like grief, people understand. It's a logical response to a situation. You can explain why you feel that way. I didn't want do what I was doing. I couldn't explain why I had to. That's why I drilled the hole.
[ Hm...he doesn't know what to say to that, mostly because Percy has always wanted to live his life – though he has probably felt similarly in some situations, like when his sister died or when he lost his partner, but... ]
...Well...I wasn't officially dead. As far as mortal stuff goes, yeah, I died, but after that, I wound up in the place between heaven and hell. And I was forced to go through a trial to fight for one of two things: another chance at life, or to move on to the next part of the afterlife.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
cw gun violence from here
Anyway, Percy opens his mouth to respond, but then there's a hooded figure that appears. The figure goes through the entrance of the bank, past Percy –
bang! Bang!
Screaming. So much screaming, people are fleeing. Percy is one of those that's stunned, because he should know what's going on but he looks anyway. And that is his biggest mistake.
The Percy in the present is covering his ears. ]
no subject
But also that seems hard and like it would probably hurt? And besides, it's a vision which ALSO means he wouldn't be substantively changing anything. So he just. Stands there and watches this play out.]
no subject
It ends with the gunman exiting the area and seeing a frightened Percy staring right at him. It ends with the gunman holding up their weapon with zero hesitation and pulling the trigger.
It ends with the bullet going through Percy's head.
The memory starts fading to black...until it starts to repeat itself. ]
no subject
Percy... You didn't want me to know you died?
[Also how are you here if you died but that's a question for later.]
no subject
[ He's assuming a lot here, but...yeah. ]
no subject
It's no good if it killed you. Just because I like holes doesn't mean I think people should die.
no subject
[ To him, it is, anyway.
But that's a good answer, regardless. ]
cw: mention of attempted suicide
]
Because it made it so I could think clearly.
[He pauses, a moment. Hm he's seen Percy's moment of vulnerability. Fair trade for;]
To be honest... When I drilled the hole, I didn't think I was going to survive. But instead, my hole fixed the problem that had caused me to make it in the first place. Life's funny like that, sometimes.
cw continued
To reward this conversation a little, let's say the memory...gets a little quieter. Especially since it's not as close to the forefront of his memory right now. ]
...
It...fixed your brain. Your way of thinking. Is that what you mean?
no subject
Before I got my hole I was always... Surrounded by numbers. I had to count things, repeat things I did multiple times. Trying to resist the urge made my brain feel like it was getting all twisted up. I... You probably think that sounds stupid. Most people did.
[Sometimes you just have crippling OCD.]
no subject
[ Which is a simple answer in his mind. He doesn't really think it's stupid – he gets hung up on things like teddy bears, so he doesn't really think he's in a position to judge. ]
cw: further suicide references
no subject
You felt like that was the only way to make it stop, huh?
cw: still with the suicide this man
[He shifts uncomfortably, clearly unused to talking about this at length.]
But if you were killed, how did you end up here, Percy?
cw continued
...Well...I wasn't officially dead. As far as mortal stuff goes, yeah, I died, but after that, I wound up in the place between heaven and hell. And I was forced to go through a trial to fight for one of two things: another chance at life, or to move on to the next part of the afterlife.
I guess that's what Sonic saved me from.
no subject
Oh, huh. So you were in limbo... Does that make you technically a ghost?
I wonder what will happen after we're done here. Like, will Sonic just send you back there? That seems less than ideal.