Between the mysteries of last weekend, the increasing number of visions and unexplained phenomena, and the attack on Vakama yesterday, everyone is likely on edge. When Tails calls you into his lab around noon, you all are likely already aware of how this is going to go.
Once again, a surge of Chaos Energy in the city is what draws you in, though this time it is a much larger burst than before. Sonic and Knuckles are here with you as usual, with Tails remaining behind to look after Vakama and the base. Unlike before, you aren't met with robots or destruction. In fact, this city block looks remarkably peaceful, aside from where Eggman's chroma has overtaken most of the buildings.
"So good of you all to finally arrive."
The voice comes from up above. You recognize it as the one you heard last week, through that gemstone the Tails Doll had. Perched on one of the buildings is a... fox? No, he's larger than Tails, and wearing a large silver mask that obscures most of his features. In one hand he holds Vakama's missing mask; his other is extended with six gemstones floating around it, a soft teal glow from beneath his black glove marking the seventh. There's a different gemstone on the center of his chest as well, though it doesn't look like the fake Chaos Emeralds you've seen before.
"You all have the pleasure of fighting me, Infinite. I am the Doctor's trusted ally... and I have been watching you all. Your struggles with my nightmares and illusions were so... delicious. You have my thanks for the show."
He kicks off the building, floating towards you all and the ground, though stopping high enough up, still out of reach. And for those of you getting any bright ideas, a deep red begins to fill your vision, tinting the corners of it as the very world itself begins to warp around you - this isn't exactly Chicago anymore, you see. The buildings still exist, wrapped in white chroma, though they bend and twist in ways they shouldn't, making it hard to tell what's real and what isn't.
"I'll snuff out your lives here and now for the Doctor's ambitions! Let's see what you're made of!"
[Unlike last time, you do not have the luxury of time. You won't have a chance to try to come up with a plan or prepare yourselves for battle - Infinite isn't giving you that opportunity.
Instead, he summons four other enemies for you to fight. They appear in a moment, a glitchy red effect being replaced with them as Infinite creates a barrier of that same bizarre-looking energy around him. These Phantom Copies are of beings you don't recognize - a black and red hedgehog, a robotic hedgehog, a watery creature, and some kind of devil? You'll be facing Shadow, Metal Sonic, Chaos, and Zavok this phase. Infinite himself will automatically dodge or dispel all attacks aimed his way.
Though these copies look like the originals, occasionally their bodies will glitch out into red particles before reforming themselves immediately, so quick you'd miss it if you blinked. They are ultimately just illusions - though they're very physical illusions, capable of beating you to a pulp.
Speaking of.
Shadow uses Chaos Control - a power that will freeze Gyles and Lark, preventing them from all action this round. This is immediately followed up by Zavok going in to smash them both with a fierce punch - though they cannot move this round, others can use their actions to protect them or otherwise try to stop the damage (roll a 1d20 for success)!
Chaos shoots water jets from his body, aiming at Dorothy (x2) and Percy while Metal Sonic's speed allows him to simply vanish from sight - trying to strike Raven and Dorothy (again) from behind with his claws when he returns.
Your current enemies are: Shadow, Metal Sonic, Chaos, and Zavok. You may dodge and attack this turn, even if you fail your dodge roll(s).]
[Turo doesn't even bother trying to attack on his own this time. As soon as he sees the shitstorm headed for Dorothy in particular, he lunges forward, arm outstretched to grant her Tera power.]
[ The water hurts (8), but at least his arm is fully functional again thanks to Wolfwood. Percy has his hoverboard from Viktor in tow, so he hops on it – ]
Ah, shit-!
[ ...and he flies towards Zavok, in front of Gyles. He gets off of the board, and like Mafuyu, he...well! He's doing something he didn't realize he could do, but he summons a large shield (thanks Redd) and slams it into the ground. ]
[ well, given how things have gone the last few times and the current state of this man, he's not going to do anything rash. after all, it wouldn't be good for the healer to go down immediately, right?
he'll instead be ready to jump on and help people back up as soon as it's relevant or needed. ]
[Oh, this is already a rousing start. Dorothy is going to try and protect Percy and Raven as best as she's able--which means that while she dodges one of Chaos' lasers, she gets hit by one of them and Metal Sonic's attack to start with, knocking over to the ground and busting one of her knees open.]
You--
[Dorothy summons multiple water bullets around her, some of her coolant mixing in too while she stands up and her eyes go wild for a moment in anger and rage.
She's pissed enough that Vakama is hurt, but you target the Dorothy? You target the Dorothy with your shitty illusions???
DEATH.
Dorothy aims a volley of watery bullets at Metal Sonic and Chaos, purple eyes practically ablaze.]
You have something that belongs to a dear friend of mine. Either you, or your ally, I know not which and nor do I care.
[Is there a fucking hoverboard on his back, Viktor, what are you doing. One megalomaniac to another? He's not impressed. Nice weird eldritch location, dipshit, his was cooler.]
[Anyway. Threat assessment, Shadow was probably the biggest problem right now. So he'd take aim and shoot in his direction first.]
[We're really getting right into it, huh! He tries to swing at Metal Sonic immediately - better to take out the bitch who will (probably) explode when he can maybe catch some other enemies, right? Right.
Unfortunately, he whiffs it. Speedy boi too speedy.
So he'll put up his shard power to try drawing aggro for the next round.]
You talk too much. And you shouldn't have hurt Mr. Vakama.
[I know it won't work because of the meta text, but Fukuda doesn't so he's trying to shoot an energy blast at Infinite to make him drop Vakama's mask.]
So you're the one behind all those annoying dreams.
[Tch, they'll just have to figure out who to prioritize again once they see what their skillsets mean for battle, a tactic that famously went well last time. Oh well, there's nothing else for it!
Rio's going to entrust protecting the others to her companions, so for now we simply shoot lasers at Shadow since people getting frozen seems especially annoying to deal with.]
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