You hop through the ring portals, barely escaping Eggman's forces and making it through (mostly) unscathed. On the plus side, you're all here - in fact, you'll find Tails and Vakama nearby, with the fox having brought your pal here too.
But unfortunately, "here" is not exactly the best place to be.
"Back here again...? Sheesh, I really can't catch a break.
"What is this place, Sonic?"
"This is the space between worlds. The void, I guess you could call it."
Everywhere you look there's a whole lot of nothing. Gemstone-like shards litter this reality in all sorts of shapes and sizes, serving as obstacles or platforms; they're sturdy enough to walk and stand on, but this world's rules are a little different from what you're used to. For one, gravity doesn't really work properly - you may find yourself floating or walking upside-down on a shard you didn't mean to end up on, and it's going to take some getting used to.
There's not really much to do or see here either - at least, not for now. You're welcome to explore this strange place, but you won't find anything particularly interesting... with one notable exception as seen in the comment below.
No matter where you go, no matter what you do, you'll feel like you're being watched.
[Turo at least will probably have her arm, at least, which is thankfully functioning now. Dorothy pauses a bit.]
I believe my knee needs to be looked at, and...I'm not sure if there's anything that can be done about my core.
[It thankfully glows, not a bright red now that it's not active in battle, but a softer one that pulses like a heart.]
My core acts as a heart might. [...] I have the pieces of it that go on top to protect it, if you can weld them back onto my chest. But my knee isn't in good shape either, if that is more comfortable.
[Dorothy can't really move much, unenergized as she is, but...]
...You have my thanks, Viktor, for everything. Are you okay yourself?
It would not bother me, but unfortunately everything I was using for welding is back at the base. You should ask one of the healers to see to that, considering their abilities seem just as able to repair us as anything else. For now, I can work on your leg even with what minimal supplies I have.
[He took the usual basic toolkit out of his collar, electing not to address the question immediately as he examined the damage.]
[...Ah, the hex laser would probably be too much, wouldn't it...
Dorothy nods her head.]
Understood. Thank you.
[Considering it got fucked then healed then fucked again, it's looking a little worse for wear, and at the very least the joint looks like it needs some work. And the wiring needs to get put back into place more than anything. But it could be a lot worse, and it should be manageable.]
...I'm glad. I would have been upset if something happened to you. I hope you were not tormented too badly.
Of course he did. Outside of our group, I do not have anyone else.
[That was said evenly as he worked on her knee; a simple statment of fact.]
The illusion was as simple to break now as it has been this past week; Jayce does not speak my native language, but a hallucination understood it easily. I just...
It is not yet impossible. If I could be defeated, so can he.
[His hands paused for just a second as he thought, before he kept working with concentration written on his face.]
...It may have been Jayce that truly stopped me, but there was someone else who bought him the time. Someone with an imposible power that matched my own and caused an explosive chain reaction.
It is only a half-formed hypothesis, and I do not know enough of this world to truly understand its workngs on this level. But if we can find a way to match--what did Tails call it, the 'Master Emerald'? If we can meet it with equal power on a similar wavelength, then in theory the two may cancel one another out.
...I believe that is what he called it, yes. Viktor, that's brilliant--I think that could work, if we could find a way to do such a thing.
But I suppose therein lies the problem. How do we do that? Especially without getting the Doctor's attention. There's no doubt in my mind that he could likely track some kind of signature like that....
That is not necessarily certain. Even I could not detect a second Anomaly until it was quite literally about to hit me in the head.
[viktor,]
However...it is possible he has devices made to detect exactly that kind of power. If that is the case, we would have to develop this theoretical secondary Emerald either in this space, or on another world entirely. While it may not be wholly beneath notice, it would be less obvious.
Dorothy is doing the herculean feat of keeping herself composed, which is thankfully easy when she's low on energy but--]
That would make some semblance of sense. [Hm...] I assume we did gather a great many rings. Perhaps while we have time here, we should go out and travel to see if we can find something like that. I imagine Eggman will be occupied for at least a bit while he tries to get things back under control...
I think that would be a good idea. Introducing my world's magic to this already delicate situation would be a risk, but there may yet be other resources we can consider. With a little fortune, our efforts may go beneath notice for a time.
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no subject
Our resources are, as you may have guessed, limited. But what can I do to help?
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I believe my knee needs to be looked at, and...I'm not sure if there's anything that can be done about my core.
[It thankfully glows, not a bright red now that it's not active in battle, but a softer one that pulses like a heart.]
My core acts as a heart might. [...] I have the pieces of it that go on top to protect it, if you can weld them back onto my chest. But my knee isn't in good shape either, if that is more comfortable.
[Dorothy can't really move much, unenergized as she is, but...]
...You have my thanks, Viktor, for everything. Are you okay yourself?
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[He took the usual basic toolkit out of his collar, electing not to address the question immediately as he examined the damage.]
...No, I am not. But I am relatively unharmed.
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Dorothy nods her head.]
Understood. Thank you.
[Considering it got fucked then healed then fucked again, it's looking a little worse for wear, and at the very least the joint looks like it needs some work. And the wiring needs to get put back into place more than anything. But it could be a lot worse, and it should be manageable.]
...I'm glad. I would have been upset if something happened to you. I hope you were not tormented too badly.
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I will be fine in time. I only...wish I had not faltered as much as I did.
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He used Jayce, didn't he?
[Dorothy's expression darkens at that; not at Viktor, though]
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[That was said evenly as he worked on her knee; a simple statment of fact.]
The illusion was as simple to break now as it has been this past week; Jayce does not speak my native language, but a hallucination understood it easily. I just...
...I did not want to believe it was false.
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...That nuisance truly knew where to strike us, didn't he?
I understand. Completely. I...scarcely wanted to leave my own vision, either. They certainly had a way of tormenting us with all we wanted, hm...?
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...This was far too close. Yet I do not know how we can even begin to prepare for all we still have to face.
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[It's do or die time Viktor, and we've already proven we don't want to die here.]
He'll likely seek us out eventually, one way or another. We need to get stronger. Somehow.
...I'm not sure what we can do either, but we stopped having that luxury a while ago, I think.
no subject
[His hands paused for just a second as he thought, before he kept working with concentration written on his face.]
...It may have been Jayce that truly stopped me, but there was someone else who bought him the time. Someone with an imposible power that matched my own and caused an explosive chain reaction.
I wonder if that is what we need here.
no subject
[It's a quiet, staticy noise that comes out, but the rest of that...]
What are you thinking, then? At this point, we need every advantage that we can possibly get, so if it's something we can do...
[Then, like. Obviously she's gonna help???]
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...I believe that is what he called it, yes. Viktor, that's brilliant--I think that could work, if we could find a way to do such a thing.
But I suppose therein lies the problem. How do we do that? Especially without getting the Doctor's attention. There's no doubt in my mind that he could likely track some kind of signature like that....
no subject
[viktor,]
However...it is possible he has devices made to detect exactly that kind of power. If that is the case, we would have to develop this theoretical secondary Emerald either in this space, or on another world entirely. While it may not be wholly beneath notice, it would be less obvious.
no subject
Dorothy is doing the herculean feat of keeping herself composed, which is thankfully easy when she's low on energy but--]
That would make some semblance of sense. [Hm...] I assume we did gather a great many rings. Perhaps while we have time here, we should go out and travel to see if we can find something like that. I imagine Eggman will be occupied for at least a bit while he tries to get things back under control...
no subject
I think that would be a good idea. Introducing my world's magic to this already delicate situation would be a risk, but there may yet be other resources we can consider. With a little fortune, our efforts may go beneath notice for a time.