Your fight against Infinite didn't go as expected. You've now seen what the false Chaos Emeralds are capable of and how their powers can be used by someone accustomed to that power. Though Infinite is no longer a threat, Eggman certainly is - and you're in no position to return to Chicago to try to take him down right now.
Focus on recovering and regrouping; you're going to need a plan to oppose Eggman from here on out.
THE VOID
Maybe you've grown complacent over your time in Chicago. You won't be seeing the city this week. Tails is adamant that it isn't safe to go back and insists that you remain here, within the Void between worlds. It is a still, silent abyss of nothingness, broken up only by gemstone-like shards that serve as platforms or obstacles, with very little else to see.
Gravity doesn't work properly within the Void, meaning you can float and even zip around at high speeds once you've figured out how it works. You can also stick yourself to shards no matter what angle you're at, resulting in walking upside down or otherwise getting stuck to one without being able to escape. Thankfully, this wonky gravity only applies to the Void itself, and you'll naturally come to master it as you spend more time here.
There are some shards that are shaped differently from the ones you can use as platforms, however. These are almost hexagonal, with a dark center that may flicker whenever you approach one. If you're lucky, the surface will flicker like water and show you images of another world - usually you will see Chicago and the robots rampaging through the city streets - but occasionally you may see glimpses of your home world or of other worlds. No matter what you do, you cannot interact with these visions. Since they do seem to be water, punching them will do no good; your hand won't even get wet, as it will go through and dispel the image entirely.
Settle in, it seems like you'll be here for awhile. Oh, and try to ignore that unnerving feeling of being watched - there's no escaping it when you're in the Void, after all.
RINGS
There is one bright spot in being stuck within the Void, and that's that your colorful little pals have rings. If you've been diligent about collecting them from whatever ridiculous places they've ended up in, you may even have a good amount! Though it will take a day or so for the rings to actually work, as the week goes on, you'll be able to world hop to your heart's content.
Which yes, means you could absolutely go home. Be mindful of your mission and just how long you spend there, because you will need to return eventually, right? Though time may work differently in the Void, it mostly works the same between worlds. Try not to spend more than a week back home.
But there is something a bit strange about world hopping; you can't really control where or when you'll end up.
You may arrive back in your home world at the wrong point in time entirely, either in the past or the future. You may end up in an alternate reality of your world (canon AU or fanmade AU) or you may even end up in someone else's world entirely! You all aren't used to using rings just yet, so it makes sense that there's some confusion.
Two of you attempting to use a ring together will have more success... but even then, failures can still happen and you can still be sent to the wrong places.
You may visit any world to exist except any Sonic worlds. Worlds where Sonic shows up as a cameo (Super Smash Bros, for example) are fine. Which yes, means I am barring you from visiting Sonic Underground, you'll have to forgive me.
SHARDS
Though you're stronger now than ever before, your power pales in comparison to Infinite's, let alone Eggman's. You're going to need to be much, much stronger if you want to stand a chance of fighting back. Maybe it would be worth it to visit a world full of monsters to practice using your shards.
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
Rings can only be found in certain worlds, which means your worlds are safe from them. This does mean there are only a limited number of rings, however... so please keep this in mind when world hopping! This week, Tails does not have any tasks for you aside from continuing to train and develop your shard powers. Oh, and to stay safe, of course. Please don't get yourselves killed in some other world.
ENEMIES
Surprisingly, you will encounter none of Eggman's robots this week. The Void remains still and silent for the whole week and your worlds are free from Eggman's influence. You're welcome to beat up any enemies native to your own worlds, of course.
There are organized martial arts in my world, but for people to seriously engage one another in direct combat is rare in this day and age. In any case, I had not really spent any significant time around other people before I ended up here.
Wow, really? It's hard ta imagine a world like that, seein' as my world's practically the exact opposite.
[Imagine it's Legends Arceus and all the Pokemon want to kill you all the time. Terca Lumireis is like that.]
Welp, [He sucks in a breath and rolls up his sleeves...which does nothing because they're loose enough to just slide right back down. Whatever, it's for the effect.] guess we'll start from the ground up!
[I am not strong enough to figure out a whole training session.
But let's just say Raven proceeds to take Turo through the very basics of combat: correct posturing, the right moves to defend himself, and some simple hand-to-hand moves. He's actually a competent instructor, too. He gives off the impression that he's done this many, many times, which may or may not be surprising considering his usual goofy demeanor.]
We can incorporate a weapon into this later if ya feel like pickin' one up, but let's master this stuff first.
This is enough for now, I think! Especially with shard powers. I would probably rely on that before a weapon.
[A person might be disarmed or something, after all, and he has trouble imagining himself carrying a weapon regularly. Anyway, Turo is picking this up quickly! He's a learning machine, after all, so watching Raven alone is often enough for him to mimic the moves and postures directly. It's a little weird how precisely he's imitating, maybe, but those things tend to evolve over time.]
[The shard powers are potent, especially since even the people with more supportive and defensive base powers also have something offensive to work with now.
That aside,]
You're a quick study, Turo! I've got a feelin' you'll have this down pat in no time.
[He shouldn't be too surprised. All the robots in the group are amazing at picking stuff up.]
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no subject
[He pauses as he reflects on what he remembers Turo doing in previous fights.]
If ya don't have much combat practice, I s'pose I can give ya pointers too.
no subject
I don't. But I would appreciate that.
no subject
It's no problem. If we're gonna take on Eggman, we're all gonna need ta be stronger. Might as well put in my part ta help with that.
Lemme establish a baseline first. How much combat experience do ya have?
no subject
[Sort of like: why would he have any of that?]
There are organized martial arts in my world, but for people to seriously engage one another in direct combat is rare in this day and age. In any case, I had not really spent any significant time around other people before I ended up here.
no subject
[Imagine it's Legends Arceus and all the Pokemon want to kill you all the time. Terca Lumireis is like that.]
Welp, [He sucks in a breath and rolls up his sleeves...which does nothing because they're loose enough to just slide right back down. Whatever, it's for the effect.] guess we'll start from the ground up!
no subject
[He watches, and then rolls his own sleeves up in imitation. He's wearing a button-up, so they actually do stay in place.]
no subject
But let's just say Raven proceeds to take Turo through the very basics of combat: correct posturing, the right moves to defend himself, and some simple hand-to-hand moves. He's actually a competent instructor, too. He gives off the impression that he's done this many, many times, which may or may not be surprising considering his usual goofy demeanor.]
We can incorporate a weapon into this later if ya feel like pickin' one up, but let's master this stuff first.
no subject
[A person might be disarmed or something, after all, and he has trouble imagining himself carrying a weapon regularly. Anyway, Turo is picking this up quickly! He's a learning machine, after all, so watching Raven alone is often enough for him to mimic the moves and postures directly. It's a little weird how precisely he's imitating, maybe, but those things tend to evolve over time.]
no subject
[The shard powers are potent, especially since even the people with more supportive and defensive base powers also have something offensive to work with now.
That aside,]
You're a quick study, Turo! I've got a feelin' you'll have this down pat in no time.
[He shouldn't be too surprised. All the robots in the group are amazing at picking stuff up.]
no subject
[At least he's not some shoddy art AI...]