While your conversation with Shadow may have shed light on a few things... it's obvious he doesn't think you all are up to the task of saving the universe from Eggman. Which also means that now you're dealing with his test, starting immediately. Some of you may be whisked away with no time to even blink, while others may find themselves wandering the Void aimlessly. Regardless, it seems this week won't be a particularly easy one.
THE VOID
Nothing has changed in the Void. Nothing ever changes in the Void. It's impossible to track the passage of time in here, and your only escape are the rings... though you should be careful with them, as there's far fewer this week. You're free to travel between worlds as you see fit - Shadow won't stop you - but you can be snatched up from wherever you are at any given moment and pulled back into the Void. Maybe don't plan on spending to long anywhere else, because it won't end well for you if you do.
The hexagonal shards will still show you visions of other worlds... but this time they all show the same thing. You'll see worlds - maybe even your own - taken over by robots and Eggman's chroma, reduced to smoldering ashes or being rebuilt in Eggman's image. Your friends, allies, and enemies may even be going about their lives just as listlessly and dutifully, heedless of their surroundings. You may even see alternate versions of yourself among them. Regardless, it seems all these shards have to show you this week are all the possibilities of failure - that other versions of shardbearers in other timelines have already lost.
MINDSCAPES
Shadow's usage of the Phantom Ruby and his own fake Chaos Emerald shard have caused quite the problem for you all - namely, you'll find yourselves traversing each other's innermost thoughts and dreams. Exactly how this mindscape manifests depends on the individual, but one thing will always remain true: you won't be able to find the owner of the mindscape easily.
As a reflection of these inner thoughts, mindscapes can be any sort of place. Perhaps they are a reflection of the owner's inner demons and fear, or perhaps they showcase a bright future they want to work towards. Regardless, this is a dream and one the owner must be awoken from... which means finding them and bringing them back to reality. That's easier said than done when traversing through this dream-like state, where the rules are made up by the owner and you're a foreign being that the dream recognizes as a threat (even if you aren't).
You may encounter familiar places or people within these mindscapes. You may not. You may end up fighting for your life in here... or you may not. Each one is individual, and the experience can vary wildly from person to person. No matter what you face, you must find the owner of the mindscape and bring them back. You must ensure you're strong enough to support them... and protect yourself.
Curiously, you can activate your shared shard power with the owner of the mindscape at any time - or bolster your own power if you share shard colors - even without them being present. Will this make it easier or harder to help bring them back? It depends on the person, your bond, and the mindscape itself...
Waking them up is as simple as convincing them that they're dreaming - that this isn't real and that they still have things to return to - but that may be easier said than done depending on the person... or the mindscape itself. There's no telling what you'll encounter, after all.
SHARDS
You'll find you're capable of more now than you were before. You're really adapting to using your shard powers and fighting with others. Those of you who share shard colors will feel the strength of your shards increasing even more when working together.
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
Given that your allies are being pulled into mindscapes and are unable to break free of their own, your task this week is to help your friends. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are off dealing with their own mindscapes, but whenever they are around, they're adamant about the importance of making sure everyone is freed and prepared for whatever comes next.
ENEMIES
Like last week, you will not encounter any of Eggman's robots. The Void is still free of enemies, though other worlds may possess their own threats. Mindscapes are a bit of a different beast; each one varies, and you may or may not encounter threats of any sort in them. Best be on your guard.
The Void [While Fukuda is glad they didn't have to fight Shadow, being left as they are (and perhaps some other things eating at him) has him once again low energy this week.]
What if Shadow's right? What if we're just not strong enough to take down Eggman with the power we have?
[Mulling this over while observing the invasions in the hexagons. Really, it's him that isn't strong enough, isn't it? But if he's part of this team, then... It's more an issue of him not deserving to be on the team.]
The Well (Broad CW: Body Horror) [The individual elements of the world you find yourself in are in a way, completely normal. Normal buildings, normal cars, normal roads, normal trees. However, the world itself is profoundly abnormal because it's all been shattered into pieces. The blocky disjointed fragments float in a vast white void. There's so many pieces it's impossible to tell if they'd all go together to make a complete whole.
There's an odd sterility to it, a lifelessness. While you see cars, none are moving. There's no animals. In the fragments of roads and exposed insides of houses you can see, there's no people. Everything just floats in place quietly.
But you have larger problems at this exact moment. As you come to, you'll find your own body coming apart like the rest of the world. Probably something you should address immediately.]
[ More has just gotten somewhat accustomed to the various dreams, memories and other oddities that keep drawing them all in. It feels a little routine now, to take in the environment and see about getting the bottom of the sentiment that caused the distortion to appear, but--
Hey. Why are his arms being sliced to pieces?? Presumably just reaching for his parts with his already severed hands does not work??? ]
[They aren't so much being sliced as it feels more like they're just sort of popping off??
Anyway glad you asked because actually as More tries to operate his severed hands he'll find he actually can still move his hands. Feel free to combobulate yourself.]
[ WELL, being able to move is just swell! Now the question is, do his arm bits reattach if he tries to puzzle them back together? Or is he just... a lot of movable floating pieces now? ]
[They reattach seamlessly as if they'd never been separate! More will also have an inexplicable sense that if so desired, he could probably separate them again easily.
In any case, with this matter addressed, More might notice the following;
There is also a section of his leg missing entirely. But like with his arms, he can still move the leg despite the gap.
He is standing in... Well calling it a room would be generous with how much of the ceiling and wall is missing, but it has a wooden floor and a full door in the section of the wall that is there.]
[ ... okay he's going to have to address the missing leg problem soon enough, but as long as it doesn't hurt and his body is functional, it's... probably fine... for now... that a slice of him is gone...
Were the surroundings not so intensely abnormal otherwise, Vakama would think he was back in another vision of his own. But his visions never show beyond his home, never touching on those he's met in the last month or the surroundings anything like that of Chicago.
But really, he has no time to think about it too horribly as he notices his limbs start to separate and detach. Hello??????????? Can he still move them to try and re-contain himself, or is he stuck just kind of letting this happen?]
[He can actually!!! It seems that even detached, his arms still work as usual, even with gaps in between them, they're all there.
Other parts of him though... Are just missing chunks like everything else here. But similarly, despite being visibly broken apart, everything seems to work? And there's no pain.]
[Nothing of particular note on this particular chunk of land! It's a road, or part of one. Grass sprouts through cracks in the pavement and the white dotted line that continues onto the nearest few chunks of land is barely visible.
Beyond the dilapidation, there's nothing that stands out much, besides the patch of bright red that's staining the edge of the street a few chunks ahead.]
[Good thing this dream is happening several weeks into watching humans get hurt in interesting ways otherwise he would have no real sense of alarm at something being vibrantly red other than "huh. weird."
But no, that... looks like it could be blood, among any other matter of things. So he will start to head in that direction.]
[With how bizarre everything looks, it feels like something out of a dream. Nothing would ever look like that in reality, and the lack of life and movement just adds to the unreality of it all.
When his body starts to fall apart, he just... watches. That's just... Huh??? Is this turning into another one of those nightmares?]
[Love him not even trying to handle the situation. Very wet cat of him.
Anyway yeah, they just sorta float, but eventually just sort of slow to float about impotently. Worth noting that Joker can still feet his fingers even though they're not attached to his body.]
[He is the saddest, wettest cat I've ever played. This is a fact.
The fact he can still feel his fingers despite now being pieces is interesting, though, and that has him wondering if he can still move them. He tries to stretch out his arm to prod at one of the random floating objects, just to see what happens.]
[It's a good thing that Raven has a vague of idea of modern cities at this point thanks to Chicago, or he'd been even more lost in this shattered hellscape. Not that his surroundings are his biggest concern right now.
He gapes in a comical fashion as his limbs begin to separate from his body.]
[He can! They stick right back on, though worth noting there was no pain when they were detached and he could still feel and move his hands as they were. Still, probably easiest to have them back intact.
In any case, his shouting got someone's attention. A young lady is running to his... Aid?]
[Phew, thank goodness. Even if he could maneuver like that, he'd rather not have weird spaghetti arms if he can help it.
He's in the process of looking his arms over when the woman calls out to him. He probably shouldn't be excited about a woman coming to his aid but like...he's Raven. So he is. But alas, his dreams are dashed. She's just here to yell at him. u_u
No, we can't do that. Finding other worlds to settle in is technically an option, but after everything we have seen, it does not appear to be a guarantee of safety.
[Not to mention that...well, it would be an awful thing to do. Turo is trying to be factual. Factually, they could give up and run away. But he doesn't know how he'd find any peace if he did.]
I suppose we just have to try anyway. There is really nothing else to do.
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[While Fukuda is glad they didn't have to fight Shadow, being left as they are (and perhaps some other things eating at him) has him once again low energy this week.]
What if Shadow's right? What if we're just not strong enough to take down Eggman with the power we have?
[Mulling this over while observing the invasions in the hexagons. Really, it's him that isn't strong enough, isn't it? But if he's part of this team, then... It's more an issue of him not deserving to be on the team.]
The Well (Broad CW: Body Horror)
[The individual elements of the world you find yourself in are in a way, completely normal. Normal buildings, normal cars, normal roads, normal trees. However, the world itself is profoundly abnormal because it's all been shattered into pieces. The blocky disjointed fragments float in a vast white void. There's so many pieces it's impossible to tell if they'd all go together to make a complete whole.
There's an odd sterility to it, a lifelessness. While you see cars, none are moving. There's no animals. In the fragments of roads and exposed insides of houses you can see, there's no people. Everything just floats in place quietly.
But you have larger problems at this exact moment. As you come to, you'll find your own body coming apart like the rest of the world. Probably something you should address immediately.]
The Well
Hey. Why are his arms being sliced to pieces?? Presumably just reaching for his parts with his already severed hands does not work??? ]
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Anyway glad you asked because actually as More tries to operate his severed hands he'll find he actually can still move his hands. Feel free to combobulate yourself.]
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In any case, with this matter addressed, More might notice the following;
There is also a section of his leg missing entirely. But like with his arms, he can still move the leg despite the gap.
He is standing in... Well calling it a room would be generous with how much of the ceiling and wall is missing, but it has a wooden floor and a full door in the section of the wall that is there.]
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Time to see if that door leads anywhere! ]
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the well
Were the surroundings not so intensely abnormal otherwise, Vakama would think he was back in another vision of his own. But his visions never show beyond his home, never touching on those he's met in the last month or the surroundings anything like that of Chicago.
But really, he has no time to think about it too horribly as he notices his limbs start to separate and detach. Hello??????????? Can he still move them to try and re-contain himself, or is he stuck just kind of letting this happen?]
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Other parts of him though... Are just missing chunks like everything else here. But similarly, despite being visibly broken apart, everything seems to work? And there's no pain.]
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Uneasy as this is, there's not much point in standing around if he's able to push himself forward and try to figure out what's going on here...
Anything of note in his immediate surroundings? If not, it's time to take a walk.]
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Beyond the dilapidation, there's nothing that stands out much, besides the patch of bright red that's staining the edge of the street a few chunks ahead.]
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But no, that... looks like it could be blood, among any other matter of things. So he will start to head in that direction.]
CW dead body, implied murder
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When his body starts to fall apart, he just... watches. That's just... Huh??? Is this turning into another one of those nightmares?]
Oh dear.
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Anyway yeah, they just sorta float, but eventually just sort of slow to float about impotently. Worth noting that Joker can still feet his fingers even though they're not attached to his body.]
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The fact he can still feel his fingers despite now being pieces is interesting, though, and that has him wondering if he can still move them. He tries to stretch out his arm to prod at one of the random floating objects, just to see what happens.]
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Anyway he touches the object. He could probably even grab it if he wanted.]
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Is anyone else here...?
[Or is he just all alone...]
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He gapes in a comical fashion as his limbs begin to separate from his body.]
Whoa! H-Hey, I need those!
[Can he like...try to reattach them...]
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In any case, his shouting got someone's attention. A young lady is running to his... Aid?]
Quiet! He'll hear you if you don't keep it down!
[Or maybe not so much aid.]
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He's in the process of looking his arms over when the woman calls out to him. He probably shouldn't be excited about a woman coming to his aid but like...he's Raven. So he is. But alas, his dreams are dashed. She's just here to yell at him. u_u
He lowers his voice.]
He? Who's he? [Ah,] And who're you?
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Anyway, despite her somewhat silly outfit she folds her arms, all business in her demeanor.]
Who I am isn't important. All you need to know is I'm a brilliant detective.
But "he" is John Walker. He's behind an elaborate string of murders and we've finally tracked him to this location.
the void
[Turo's a machine. He can't totally ignore the logic at play here, or the number of times he's seen the entire party almost be wiped out by rocks.]
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Then what should we do? Just stay here forever? That doesn't sound like a good plan... But I don't have a better one.
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[Not to mention that...well, it would be an awful thing to do. Turo is trying to be factual. Factually, they could give up and run away. But he doesn't know how he'd find any peace if he did.]
I suppose we just have to try anyway. There is really nothing else to do.
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[He pauses.]
If it were just me, honestly I'd probably just run. But with everyone else around it feels more complicated.
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[Though he does see how it's more complicated in other ways.]
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