WEEK 7

[shardmods]

Though it may not have been easy or fun, your time in the Void was ultimately productive; you've become far stronger than you were when you entered, and you may have even made a friend(?) or two. Shadow insists on remaining behind in the Void because he does not want to interfere with this world or potentially cause problems with this world's Shadow (wherever he may be), but Infinite is free to either accompany you or stay behind and fight Shadow, depending on whatever you guys would like. Surprisingly, he'll respect your wishes without complaint (though this may be because he wants to fight Shadow).

You return to the outskirts of Chicago, and it seems that the city has changed some in your time away...

THE CITY

Eggman's chroma has taken over damn near everything. The buildings, the streets, even the wildlife. It seems that the changes have only hit the city itself, as the outskirts (where the base is located) are mostly chroma-free. Still, it's a stark change - you haven't really been gone for all that long, have you? It's kind of hard to tell judging from your time in the Void, but if you check a calendar you'll find that approximately two weeks have passed. All this in two weeks seems a bit much...

The city itself still retains the same landmarks, shops, and people - though the former two are Eggman-ified. The people are back to going about their business as lifelessly as ever, completely heedless of the robots even if they do get in the way... but even the robots are back to patrolling as usual. There are far more of them now, however, and they aren't the same ones you're used to. Sure, you can still fine drones, B33s, and tanks here and there, but they've mostly been replaced by newer, tougher foes.

You're going to have to fight if you enter the city for any reason. The robots will recognize you as a threat and try to kill you on sight, and there are far more of them now than there ever were. But you're stronger now, so you can certainly keep up, if not destroy them easily.

THE BASE

The new base that Sonic and friends have moved you all into is quite different from the last one. This one seems to have been an office building at some point; a simple two story building with plenty of large rooms and smaller offices that have been repurposed as bedrooms. You can room with the same people as before, or you can even claim your own room! There's plenty of space here, after all. Knuckles will even move beds around if you want to rearrange things and can't lift them yourself.

Unfortunately, this base isn't nearly as furnished as the previous one. Sonic Team has managed to get all the bedrooms functional in the span of a few days, but everything else? Well... You're going to have to help with that, aren't you? The kitchen is barebones, there's no rooms for entertainment, training, or anything else, and security is minimal. Tails is still working on getting his surveillance up and running, let alone all the various research he's been working on. In short, you've got your work cut out for you building this place into something you can truly call your own.

But it is located on the outskirts of Chicago and it is is safe. After all, you've got each other to rely on.

SHARDS

Shadow's test may not have immediately had any sort of effects on you, but as you return to Chicago and resume fighting, you'll realize that controlling your shard and its power is innate at this point. You won't be struggling with it anymore - in fact, you've completely unlocked your shard's power. You're capable of a great many more things with it now than you were before. You should be able to use your shard for offensive and defensive purposes - which yes, means our healers can do the equivalent of averaging their HP with the enemy in order to deal damage to them. Fun times all around. You'll find that bonding with another shardbearer is also easier, and you can bond with many more of them now. You're growing stronger; maybe your time away in the Void did some good after all.

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

Returning to the old base is ill-advised, but you can take a ring and hop over there if you've got someone to accompany you. After all, Tails would appreciate more of his old gear back, and you've probably left things behind there too. You'll find that the place is simply swarming with robots - they're on patrol rather than smashing your things, almost as if they were waiting for you all to return. Bring back whatever you need or whatever will prove useful - and be careful about it.

Of course, rings are running low again... so you know what that means. Scour Chicago and the outskirts in search of those pesky rings and make sure to bring them back! As always, they'll be found in increasingly bizarre and frustrating locations, but you'll be able to find them easier now than you could before. You won't even need a radar - your shards will innately draw you toward their location now!

ENEMIES

While you're undoubtedly going to find yourself running into familiar bots from the previous weeks, there are many new ones to contend with - and they are far stronger than the others. Eggman's army has more or less taken over Chicago, meaning that you'll be running into some sort of enemy frequently. The outskirts of the city are practically deserted, with the exception of your old base, that is.

Assault Drones have more or less replaced the majority of weaker patrolling drones. Unlike those, these are built for combat and they will not hesitate to engage in it. Capable of both shooting lasers, exploding, and sending out a loud siren call for reinforcements, they are not fun to fight. Still, they're the weakest of the new enemies by a long shot... though if you aren't quick enough and they get that loud siren out, they're going to be joined by those stronger enemies.

E-1000s are robots with gun arms that want you dead. They're capable of limited flight, shooting many lasers, and are quite durable... and to make matters worse, some of them even have shards allowing them access to a knockoff copy of one of your powers. The E-1000s usually patrol solo, without any other robots for backup, but they can and will call in reinforcements of the previous weeks' smaller robots when necessary.

Shadow Androids are basically what you'd expect. Shadow androids. They not only look like a certain black and red hedgehog, they also act like him, moving quickly and striking with hard hits and utilizing their fake Chaos Emerald shards for Chaos Control to both warp and temporarily freeze any opponent they face. They usually patrol in pairs - two Shadow Androids or a Shadow Android and any other assortment of weaker robots. Chaos Control is far more useful when someone else can take advantage of it, after all!

NAVIGATION

Comments

[tworo]

[Turo is generally subdued after the move to the new base. He'll pitch right in with getting everything set up, of course! Mostly, he helps with the surveillance system. With so many engineers around, though, there's really no particular need for him. So he'll do some supply runs too. Maybe carry some of the larger appliances back; he can be useful that way at least. When he is around, it's typically just a stop-off to make some deliveries.]

I'll be going back out soon. Do you need anything?

[He's dressed in black slacks and a plain black turtleneck throughout. He has more than learned his lesson about trying to choose his own clothes!

He does also spend some time in the city outskirts, still trying to train. It doesn't feel the same without the company of those Pokemon...but it isn't worth wasting a ring over. He'll set up some targets of his own, trying at a distance to hit them with flying crystals. He'll also spend a little while trying out new maneuvers with them - a shield, a targeted ridge, a cloud of tiny sharp shards that just floats in the air to pose a hazard. In an actual fight, he may not have the time or focus to actually use any of them, but it's sort of interesting anyway.

At some point early in the week, he does also take a moment in a wild area, or at least the nearest thing he can find. He takes Squirrel out of his pocket one last time and kneels to set him down in the grass.]

Go on, then. You're free.

[Whatever care he's provided has not improved the animal's condition. He's in no situation to be trying to care for anything in the first place; the loss of the first base plus getting caught in the void for so long certainly proved that. So - it's better this way. Squirrel will be better off somewhere free and happy, and far, far away from him. Just like Miraidon. Just like Arven.

He sits there in the grass for a long time.]

wild area

[lavenfallen]

[ At first, Gyles has no intention of letting his presence be known. Rooming with Turo means he's familiar with Squirrel, but he knows a private moment when he sees one.

But then Turo sits in the grass. And sits. And sits. And sits. So he moves from his spot to sit beside him, breaking that solitude. ]

... Somethin' on your mind?

[tworo]

[He has no idea Gyles witnessed the entire thing, so Turo immediately hides everything he might be feeling!]

No, not at all. Hello, Gyles.

[lavenfallen]

[ buddy??? no???

But if he's not going to say it, then Gyles will just nod and stretch, bracing his arms behind him. ]

Mind if I stay a bit, then? Feels nice to touch grass after those weeks in the Void.

[tworo]

[Nope! He's doing it!]

Of course not. It is nice.

wild area

[morningstud]

[Lucifer doesn't see Turo set Squirrel free, but he does notice Turo sitting in the grass by himself. So he takes a seat next to him.]

You seem... lost.

[That Squirrel isn't around is noticeable, though he doesn't ask.]

Not literally of course, but...

[tworo]

Yes, I suppose so.

[No sense in pretending otherwise, really.]

[morningstud]

You've dealt with quite a lot since coming here.

...Do you have an idea of what you want to do after?

[He'd usually punctuate the question with a joke, but refrains.]

[tworo]

Haven't we all?

[But it's rhetorical.]

No, I don't.

[morningstud]

Well... there are a multitude of worlds we can access with the rings.

[You don't need to go back to exactly your own, he means.]

I'm certain there's somewhere.

[tworo]

That is true, but I still don't know what I am going to do.

[The incredible array of possibilities actually makes that worse!]

[morningstud]

I understand. Our situations are very different, but that... conundrum is similar. The uncertainty of all of it.

[tworo]

...are you not returning to your home after this?

[He knows More isn't, but Turo had simply assumed everyone else would.]

[morningstud]

I am. I owe it to too many people not to.

[There's a huge "but" in there.]

I just don't know how I'll explain all of this. Though I don't lie, it's all very far-fetched. Even my brother will likely assume I suffered some manner of blow to the head.

[tworo]

.....this is very far-fetched for you?

[Didn't you just banish your mother to another dimension? And also you're all ageless immortals who created humanity or something?]

train;

[divinevoid]

[ There has been pretty much a good deal of progress when it comes to increased power behind everyone else's abilities, and probably the sheer amount of effort that others will put in as events have continued to ramp up...but, finally allowed some sort of reprieve.

It's logical to continue honing one's skill, for a variety of reasons, though when they make their way towards the city proper, looking for live targets, they catch this. ]

I suppose that so-called test had some form of benefit to everyone after all, hm?

[tworo]

Do you think it was related? I hardly practiced at all last week, given...all of that.

[He's certainly noticed the increase in power, but it's seemed to be increasing consistently since he received the shard; Turo had put it down to nothing more than time, or perhaps habituation.]

[divinevoid]

Oh, I don't think it's impossible for it to be related.

I'd always presumed that practice would naturally hone our skill as well as general range of ability with the shards, but if this is the result from hardly much time for you to do on your own end, then I am ever the more certain.

[ ...or, it could really just be a consistent increase irrespective of the training, but the test had been pushing them mentally, so it stands to reason that it's probably in line with it as well. ]

[tworo]

I didn't feel like those were very helpful at all.

[Well - maybe they helped him think a few things through, but Turo would have rather just done that without all of the, you know. Mindscape stuff.]

But I suppose he did have a point. There's certainly nothing we could do against Dr. Robotnik as we are now.

[divinevoid]

Hah! I didn't think of it as traditionally helpful, either.

I wasn't sure what was even the damn point might have been until now.

[ They give a little shrug after that, though. They seem to have figured there was after feeling so much capable of more - it was a notable enough difference that for them they made a connection. ]

I also thought his words were rubbish. Even if there was a point about us being not exactly on the same level as that fool of a man; but, I suppose that the truth sometimes is hard to accept.

Yet, now is quite the different story, hm?

[tworo]

Is it? He controls reality itself - I am not sure how we could be up to par.

[divinevoid]

[ A light chuckle escapes them as they hear this...but they do say: ]

He controls reality, and has been like that for quite a long while now.

However, there are clearly limits to that control. This man has been taking his time in conquering different worlds, and we certainly haven't seen him properly create the rings, hm?

He is a man limited by his own thought...and therein that shall lie his own weakness. He has not even a trace of comparative resolve; of many minds working together in tandem. Such a force will shatter his useless plans with prejudice. And whatever exploits we can witness by his faulty thinking will be revealed when we face him at last.

How can a man like that claim true victory, when he is nowhere near being any better in earnest?

[tworo]

By tearing us apart on an atomic level, probably.

[Though, some of what they say brings to mind an interesting point...]

...do you know about Stone? The doctor's former assistant?

[divinevoid]

[ Okay, that initial gets a snort out of them, and then they sigh, shaking their head. ]

...Come on, now.

[ As for the question, they shake their head. ]

Unfortunately, I do not. I have spoken to Shadow about the Doctor, who seemed to have agreed that his actions indicated that his control over the gem must at the least have been a sign of something 'lacking', or something to that effect. But I hadn't the chance to inquire to Infinite about his history with the Doctor or his potential workmates.

Thus, I have not yet gained knowledge upon this assistant. What are you able to tell me of him?

[tworo]

Not much, I'm afraid. Stone was highly loyal to him, doubtless working with him since before all of this. He was allowed to keep his mind.

[Stone as a person is not exactly the interesting part to Turo, though.]

But...Infinite said that he has not seen him for some time now. He also said that the doctor has changed. When he first met him, he was excited and talkative, but he seems like a different person now. Colder and more controlling - more obsessed with the concept of removing free will. Of course I do not know what might have happened with Stone, but I have difficulty believing that the two changes are unrelated.