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.
[ More can certainly do that! Void Archives looks at the blond as he comes closer - his physical appearance doesn't flicker, not a single bit.
Perhaps, that adds less weight to the idea that he is anything close to an "error" as they had suggested. Or, that it is a greater problem than they can fathom.
...Could it be that they never truly thought that they'd be free, as they'd said themselves? So, the idea that this reality is false, is inherently fearsome, because if they hope, and it is wrong, then...but, they can't say that. It's the kind of sentiment that would cause people to look down on others; they can't risk that. ]
It isn't like I hadn't used the Sky People for my own ends. And I...you must know that I am no saint. I have no problems in saying as much. Even if it was because of adhering to my goal, I would have sacrificed much for it.
Yet, they threw me away so easily. I had thought at the time, that was the end of everything, knowing that Lucheni would try to kill me at the end - though, even if I survived, perhaps a part of me would think I would find myself in a situation like this again.
And, here I am. After all, the Sky People are still out there, though they are certainly not the first who had imprisoned me in some manner. Still, you know how long I have been sealed away...even before all of this.
[ They realize they are rambling; it's jumbled, because everything they could string together seems almost meaningless. They hate how reaching for logic seems like a herculean effort, but they are going to try. ]
I digress. It's hard to believe I am not facing it all by my lonesome again. Perhaps, in a sense, you can say that I am the one who has lost against the cruel hands of fate. But, I can't imagine how I would have made such bonds. I have little experienced in cultivating such things.
...Though, while we're at it, stories tell of bonds, don't they? Why don't you tell me one that you can think off the top of your head, hm?
[ A story about a bond, huh... Many stories that More knows are characterized by the absence of such a thing. The Hero Kings all met untimely and unfortunate ends because at the end of the day, they were too alone.
A story about a bond...
More looks at Void Archives, trapped in eternity, both immune to time and also prisoner to it, and picks a tale. ]
I'm certain you have heard of fairies, even if they may only be a tale to you. Where I am from, in the kingdom of Euchronia, fairies are real. They are skittish beings, made of pure magic. They care not for the rules of time that people cling to so fervently, and they do not operate by our logic. In both physical existence and ways of thinking, they are as far from us as can be.
By all rights, no connections should come to grow. Yet the first king of Euchronia, oft called the Merciful King, has had one by his side. They call her the Fairy Queen, for her council and companionship were so indispensable to the Merciful King that our whole kingdom might have been unthinkably different were it not for their bond.
It doesn't matter how long you may have existed without bonds, or how large the difference between your experience and that of others. The simple capacity to reach out and be reached out to can change you, and can change your world.
[ To punctuate this, he'll reach out a hand to take Void Archive's hand if they will let him. ]
[ Their hands are definitely visible, even if they hadn't bothered to lift due to where some of the wires are situated; More can absolutely take one of them - and they tilt their head as he does so.
Are they a child for asking for such a story in the first place? If something of this were false, if it were untrue, the legend that More speaks of would have halted in the midst of such words, wouldn't it? Whatever the case, the first and only thing Void Archives says at first is this: ]
Fairies do not exist on the planet Earth.
[ Does this make the tale even more fantastical? Perhaps in some ways. But, well, they shift from where they are situated. Some of the wires begin to fall from where they have been forced in, though no blood leaks from wherever they so happen to be.
Sirens begin to blare, flashes of red lights, and not just from the strange containers filled with whatever substances. The terminals with computer screens read ERROR streamed all across them; the sound of crumbling seems to follow. ]
Therefore...all of that sounds hardly believable. But, perhaps that is why it is true. [ A brief smirk. ] So, that is why I should be doing my best to chase such aspects instead. Yes, my world, my entire universe changed by such sentimental things...
I wonder what that will really look like?
[ They stand tall even with some wires still remaining, holding on, and then looking towards the way the other came in. There is something standing in the doorway, flickering. Like an impression of someone or something, but static is the only thing heard from it. At first. ]
I̶̡͔̺̯̹̗͙͎͌̆̽̓̾͗̈́NTERFERENCE DETECTED.
[ More detects a sense of disapproval from this thing. Before it leverages one more potential audible stream of words. ]
REMEMBER WELL...THI̶̡͔̺̯̹̗͙͎͌̆̽̓̾͗̈́S IS NOT THE END OF THIS PURGATORY. THESE BONDS WI̶̡͔̺̯̹̗͙͎͌̆̽̓̾͗̈́LL NOT BE FOREVER. SOON, THEY WILL BECOME IMMATERIAL.
AND THE ULTI̶̡͔̺̯̹̗͙͎͌̆̽̓̾͗̈́MATE ACT WI̶̡͔̺̯̹̗͙͎͌̆̽̓̾͗̈́LL BE UNLEASHED UPON THE SCORE OF UNI̶̡͔̺̯̹̗͙͎͌̆̽̓̾͗̈́VERSES, LEAVI̶̡͔̺̯̹̗͙͎͌̆̽̓̾͗̈́NG NOWHERE TO HIDE.
[ The wires comes off as if Void Archives' will to live is in itself repelling them. However short-lived the relief winds up being, More still takes heart in the fact that words were able to reach his friend in his isolation. More himself has often felt that he was meant to wither away in obscurity, leaving no mark on anybody's heart at all, and it means more to him than he can articulate that he has just enough power left to reach out to someone else in a similar position.
Unfortunately, that power is... maybe not enough to fend off whatever is waiting for them in the doorway.
In a small act of meaningless defiance, More does not let go of Void Archives' hand just yet. ]
Whatever the nature of that 'ultimate act' you speak of, you shall have to carry it out alone. Void Archives is not your tool to utilize as you please.
[ Void Archives, logical being first and foremost, despite having proclaimed that they are not the type of existence to be moved by emotional sentiment may in fact find that isn't true at all in certain instances.
There is a lot that they are still coming to understand about themselves, but the existence beside them right now does not flicker out. Feels far more real with that hand clutching theirs, and they ultimately decide to hang on.
But, whatever "this" is seems to sneer at this, discontent with More's persistence in sticking to his guns, so to speak. ]
THAT NATURE OF IT IS BEYOND YOUR COMPREHENSION...
...YET, WRECHED POET, YOU SEEK TO DENY MYSELF THIS?
TO FOOLISHLY INTERFERE?
KNOW THAT THIS THING BEFORE YOU ARE IS A MERE FRAGMENT. MEANT TO DESTROY THE POWERFUL FORCE OF HONKAI, YET INHERENTLY SERVE AS A GUIDE OF HONKAI...
A PIECE OF P̸̮̬͚̟͙͍̗̻̭̹̮̌̑̒͛͐̕͝ͅROMETHEUS. A TOOL THAT CAN TURN AGAINST ALL OF CIVILIZATION.
IT DOES NOT HAVE A SINGULAR NATURE. HOW CAN YOU EVER TRUST SUCH A THING? HOW CAN YOU BE CERTAIN? HOW CAN Y—
[ Void Archives presumed that because they acknowledged that they may not be bound by this trap that it would be over. Yet there is one indisputable fact:
They are their own worst enemy. And, the subconscious does not necessarily heed to conventional logic - even worse when one's nature is a bit more layered in a way that may prove to be unfathomable. Therefore, they conclude there is only one way to finish this, and so they slam their free hand into the wall behind them, silencing the thing temporarily with the mere sound of it.
The walls surrounding them all seem to suddenly crack, like vulnerable fractures, but seem to refuse to shatter. More can also sense that odd oppressive aura originates from whatever this thing is. ]
In the end, it comes down to shattering this farce by force.
...I trust even in this I will not stand alone?
[ This is how they will have to prove that this reality is false; whatever beliefs etched are not entirely worth giving it to, that whatever has been spoken to them was untenable...that, instead, More's words were true. Of this, they are certain.
The final key to the puzzle to convince their own "mind".
So, Void Archives brings back their one free hand, and they point that gloved hand, at the figure which seems to also summon two blades, pitched black as the night.
A sudden collection of light appears to manifest, forming into spears of light, which fling themselves towards this unnamed enemy for the final act. Though, they also crash into some of the walls too. Accidental or on purpose? You decide.
(Whatever More is doing (talking or taking action), please roll 3d20s for it!) ]
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no subject
Perhaps, that adds less weight to the idea that he is anything close to an "error" as they had suggested. Or, that it is a greater problem than they can fathom.
...Could it be that they never truly thought that they'd be free, as they'd said themselves? So, the idea that this reality is false, is inherently fearsome, because if they hope, and it is wrong, then...but, they can't say that. It's the kind of sentiment that would cause people to look down on others; they can't risk that. ]
It isn't like I hadn't used the Sky People for my own ends. And I...you must know that I am no saint. I have no problems in saying as much. Even if it was because of adhering to my goal, I would have sacrificed much for it.
Yet, they threw me away so easily. I had thought at the time, that was the end of everything, knowing that Lucheni would try to kill me at the end - though, even if I survived, perhaps a part of me would think I would find myself in a situation like this again.
And, here I am. After all, the Sky People are still out there, though they are certainly not the first who had imprisoned me in some manner. Still, you know how long I have been sealed away...even before all of this.
[ They realize they are rambling; it's jumbled, because everything they could string together seems almost meaningless. They hate how reaching for logic seems like a herculean effort, but they are going to try. ]
I digress. It's hard to believe I am not facing it all by my lonesome again. Perhaps, in a sense, you can say that I am the one who has lost against the cruel hands of fate. But, I can't imagine how I would have made such bonds. I have little experienced in cultivating such things.
...Though, while we're at it, stories tell of bonds, don't they? Why don't you tell me one that you can think off the top of your head, hm?
no subject
A story about a bond...
More looks at Void Archives, trapped in eternity, both immune to time and also prisoner to it, and picks a tale. ]
I'm certain you have heard of fairies, even if they may only be a tale to you. Where I am from, in the kingdom of Euchronia, fairies are real. They are skittish beings, made of pure magic. They care not for the rules of time that people cling to so fervently, and they do not operate by our logic. In both physical existence and ways of thinking, they are as far from us as can be.
By all rights, no connections should come to grow. Yet the first king of Euchronia, oft called the Merciful King, has had one by his side. They call her the Fairy Queen, for her council and companionship were so indispensable to the Merciful King that our whole kingdom might have been unthinkably different were it not for their bond.
It doesn't matter how long you may have existed without bonds, or how large the difference between your experience and that of others. The simple capacity to reach out and be reached out to can change you, and can change your world.
[ To punctuate this, he'll reach out a hand to take Void Archive's hand if they will let him. ]
no subject
Are they a child for asking for such a story in the first place? If something of this were false, if it were untrue, the legend that More speaks of would have halted in the midst of such words, wouldn't it? Whatever the case, the first and only thing Void Archives says at first is this: ]
Fairies do not exist on the planet Earth.
[ Does this make the tale even more fantastical? Perhaps in some ways. But, well, they shift from where they are situated. Some of the wires begin to fall from where they have been forced in, though no blood leaks from wherever they so happen to be.
Sirens begin to blare, flashes of red lights, and not just from the strange containers filled with whatever substances. The terminals with computer screens read ERROR streamed all across them; the sound of crumbling seems to follow. ]
Therefore...all of that sounds hardly believable. But, perhaps that is why it is true. [ A brief smirk. ] So, that is why I should be doing my best to chase such aspects instead. Yes, my world, my entire universe changed by such sentimental things...
I wonder what that will really look like?
[ They stand tall even with some wires still remaining, holding on, and then looking towards the way the other came in. There is something standing in the doorway, flickering. Like an impression of someone or something, but static is the only thing heard from it. At first. ]
I̶̡͔̺̯̹̗͙͎͌̆̽̓̾͗̈́NTERFERENCE DETECTED.
[ More detects a sense of disapproval from this thing. Before it leverages one more potential audible stream of words. ]
REMEMBER WELL...THI̶̡͔̺̯̹̗͙͎͌̆̽̓̾͗̈́S IS NOT THE END OF THIS PURGATORY. THESE BONDS WI̶̡͔̺̯̹̗͙͎͌̆̽̓̾͗̈́LL NOT BE FOREVER. SOON, THEY WILL BECOME IMMATERIAL.
AND THE ULTI̶̡͔̺̯̹̗͙͎͌̆̽̓̾͗̈́MATE ACT WI̶̡͔̺̯̹̗͙͎͌̆̽̓̾͗̈́LL BE UNLEASHED UPON THE SCORE OF UNI̶̡͔̺̯̹̗͙͎͌̆̽̓̾͗̈́VERSES, LEAVI̶̡͔̺̯̹̗͙͎͌̆̽̓̾͗̈́NG NOWHERE TO HIDE.
no subject
Unfortunately, that power is... maybe not enough to fend off whatever is waiting for them in the doorway.
In a small act of meaningless defiance, More does not let go of Void Archives' hand just yet. ]
Whatever the nature of that 'ultimate act' you speak of, you shall have to carry it out alone. Void Archives is not your tool to utilize as you please.
no subject
There is a lot that they are still coming to understand about themselves, but the existence beside them right now does not flicker out. Feels far more real with that hand clutching theirs, and they ultimately decide to hang on.
But, whatever "this" is seems to sneer at this, discontent with More's persistence in sticking to his guns, so to speak. ]
THAT NATURE OF IT IS BEYOND YOUR COMPREHENSION...
...YET, WRECHED POET, YOU SEEK TO DENY MYSELF THIS?
TO FOOLISHLY INTERFERE?
KNOW THAT THIS THING BEFORE YOU ARE IS A MERE FRAGMENT. MEANT TO DESTROY THE POWERFUL FORCE OF HONKAI, YET INHERENTLY SERVE AS A GUIDE OF HONKAI...
A PIECE OF P̸̮̬͚̟͙͍̗̻̭̹̮̌̑̒͛͐̕͝ͅROMETHEUS. A TOOL THAT CAN TURN AGAINST ALL OF CIVILIZATION.
IT DOES NOT HAVE A SINGULAR NATURE. HOW CAN YOU EVER TRUST SUCH A THING? HOW CAN YOU BE CERTAIN? HOW CAN Y—
[ Void Archives presumed that because they acknowledged that they may not be bound by this trap that it would be over. Yet there is one indisputable fact:
They are their own worst enemy. And, the subconscious does not necessarily heed to conventional logic - even worse when one's nature is a bit more layered in a way that may prove to be unfathomable. Therefore, they conclude there is only one way to finish this, and so they slam their free hand into the wall behind them, silencing the thing temporarily with the mere sound of it.
The walls surrounding them all seem to suddenly crack, like vulnerable fractures, but seem to refuse to shatter. More can also sense that odd oppressive aura originates from whatever this thing is. ]
In the end, it comes down to shattering this farce by force.
...I trust even in this I will not stand alone?
[ This is how they will have to prove that this reality is false; whatever beliefs etched are not entirely worth giving it to, that whatever has been spoken to them was untenable...that, instead, More's words were true. Of this, they are certain.
The final key to the puzzle to convince their own "mind".
So, Void Archives brings back their one free hand, and they point that gloved hand, at the figure which seems to also summon two blades, pitched black as the night.
A sudden collection of light appears to manifest, forming into spears of light, which fling themselves towards this unnamed enemy for the final act. Though, they also crash into some of the walls too. Accidental or on purpose? You decide.
(Whatever More is doing (talking or taking action), please roll 3d20s for it!) ]