The ring deposits you all safely outside the base and seals up afterwards. Neo Metal Sonic doesn't chase after you, which is something of a mercy.
What's significantly less of a mercy is the sky - it's gone dark and ominously stormy, though the clouds spark not with lightning, but with that same green Chaos Energy you've been facing this entire fight. Worse still, there are now far, far too many robotic planes filling the sky - the Egg Fleet seems to go on endlessly, as far as you can see. Though perhaps it would be more accurate to call it the Neo Metal Sonic Fleet.
Sonic and friends arrive shortly, looking pretty banged up but otherwise still healthy enough to make it here, though they stare up at the sky with obvious concern.
"O...kay, this is definitely not what any of us were expecting."
"We will have to take the fight to them, it seems."
"Easier said than done, I'm afraid... I'm not sure how to pinpoint their leader's exact location to send you all with a ring..."
A jolt of green lightning flashes across the sky and Neo Metal Sonic's voice rings out.
"I expect to see you onboard my fleet in one week's time. That includes you, my loathsome copy."
It seems you don't really have much of a choice. For now, tend to your wounds and try to regroup; you've earned a break after today.
[ Despite feeling a little bit sad about it, More pulls back when Turo does, and meets his eyes with a gentle smile. ]
The worst in you does truly not seem so terrible to me.
[ It's human Turo that he has conflicted feelings about, but the AI is blameless in More's eyes. Being turned into a weapon does not reflect on his character any which way. ]
But I'm glad... I'd say that most of that work has been your own doing, but if the time we've spent together has been at all a help in the process, I could not be more overjoyed to hear it.
Of course it has! I do not know if anyone can really change, all by themselves.
[At least, he feels like the past few weeks have lasted so much longer than his lonely months prior. Even though none of that really makes any sense.
He sort of regrets letting go as well, now. But he's also pretty sure he can't just go right back to hugging him. They certainly can't just go on doing that all night. He remains where he is, though, hovering close.]
[ More looks surprised by this sentiment for just a second but then his smile widens. ]
Those are wise words, my friend. Attempting to endure all in solitude may be the greatest mistake one can make.
[ And he was oh so guilty of it before. Certainly, it wasn't by choice that he was so isolated, but he took no measures to break out of his cage either. ]
I asked you how you learned from me, and immediately I learn from you in turn. You truly are a treasure.
[ Hovering close it is. After the day they've had, it's comforting to stay this way. ]
[ Honestly, they didn't immediately start to even make strides towards it until literally the week before this very battle. If it took them this long...a being who has existed for 50,000 years...
Sill, they don't respond to that at first, letting a silence come over them as they battle their own thoughts. Maybe, it isn't quite as simple as numbers because they lived so long in isolation and spent only a couple free of that so far. In essence...the gap continues to be quite small as a whole - or maybe, they are simply being delusional in imagining it. ]
Do I? You may not know entirely what it means, in one sense. What form those steps are taking. But, I can tell you have started to grasp it. I have watched you well, and it feels you have made strides towards it.
And...I don't believe it is quite fair to yourself to deny that. Not completely.
[ They look at him a bit more, at Turo. They're still picking up the pieces, but in this conversation they realize that the man looked up to them so much. Somehow, it makes them feel less on shaky ground, even if the pain of that indignity remains. Even if it has shaken something so profoundly from their mind. ]
Just as you believe in myself right now, do know that I do believe in you.
[ Void Archives lets out a chuckle, saying this... ]
Hm, that said...I suppose that you are correct that I am lively. To the point where I'd even seem or appear more alive than most individuals. It is one of my best qualities. [ An echo of their usual confidence trickling in. ] Perhaps I should try to grasp the notion of those affirmations of yours quite a bit harder - the last that you are trying to convey to me. After all, you haven't lost the faith despite this display you saw before you.
Do take to heart that your words are appreciated quite a bit, Turo.
[ before this game ends, wolfwood is going to give void archives one of those pet shaming signs for them to wear. somehow this will happen and when it does wolfwood may find the exhaustion he feels nice be worth it. ...though he really doesn't want to think about how things would be if vash was here. for a multitude of reasons. ]
The guy's worse than ya are about compliments and praise. If I ever said anythin' like that to him, he'd probably explode.
[ given the sort of person that wolfwood is, that shouldn't be too hard to believe all things considered. wolfwood, a man who holds his compliments and praise close to his heart and will only offer them when the time seems appropriate. or something like that. either way, he'll raise an eyebrow when they seem to be surprised about wolfwood's suggestion.
was it really that much of a surprise? here he was thinking it would have been the most logical step to take. why worry about what to do about the next time if you can just avoid it entirely. ]
I was also thinkin' of bein' able to break out of it on yer own but if ya could resist it entirely then that's just bein' an overachiever at that point.
[ Always up for stupid, comedic hijinks, so it'd be absolutely hilarious. They would own up to their nonsense as always. Or maybe they would find some way to make it worse and make Wolfwood want to smoke a lot or drink with however they managed it. ]
Really now? I can't imagine it would be that bad...
[ Beat. ]
...Would it?
[ It sounds like it'd be kind of amusing to watch go down, though. When Wolfwood raises an eyebrow at their reaction, they cross their arms immediately as if to give a nonverbal questioning to the inquiring look. Yet when they speak again, it is a bit of a different story. ]
Well, I suppose the possibility I came to would be far too implausible to make happen in the first place. I am not that level of foolishly idealistic. And although I can only imagine for that level of strength it would be simply miraculous, the best that I can hope for without intervention would be to break out of it myself.
I wouldn't know where to begin. With Eggman, when we believed he was human, it would have been the usual threat of eternal damnation. This world isn't so different from my own that it wouldn't be a fer on some level.
But I don't know if that person would fear such human concepts.
[ Something close to an amused glance since he refused to use the name (which, valid) And, they do so happen to listen closely, tilting his head as the man provides his reasoning. They...do understand that. With Eggman, he seemed like he may have much to lose from such an ending.
Briefly, they mull on when they hypothesized a silly theory that it was the Master Emerald controlling him, at some point. But, it seems he ceased to simply be—it is unlikely the machine would allow him to live, from their perspective. Though, who knows? ]
It is hard to know for certain. Though, beings such as he can very well do so, as even the inhuman can fear human concepts. But, we do know something certain about him, hm? He wishes to be ruler of all the worlds in a myriad universes. Ours and even beyond our own.
I suspect that one of his core fears would be ... "lack of control", as he seeks to be quite indomitable. But, do you believe the potential punishment you mentioned would have sufficed?
[Dorothy listens to Oscar while she takes a sip of her own glass of wine, looking out into the sky.]
That's exactly what I'm thinking. I expect that we should be prepared for any sort of ambush before this week is over; nobody should go out alone on any sort of supply run, and we'll need to ensure that he doesn't find a way back to our base.
...If we can keep ourselves safe and get prepared, we may have a shot at this. I truly do believe in our ability to face him down, but it will not be easy.
I won't deny that it did; I certainly dealt with plenty of it's affected, of course, but...well. It's hard not to notice sometimes, you know.
[This isn't like them. Even after some of their worst experiences, they've always managed to deal with it always with some kind of witty retort or the same self assured confidence as ever. This is...
Well. Dorothy should be happy about it, but she can't help but feel some kind of pit in her stomach as she pours her own glass of wine.]
...I take it that in all of your time alive, nobody has managed to get the better of you in such a manner.
[ They gulp down their glass, instead of the careful, mild sips they usually take and then fix her a sign of emotion; a crooked smile that echoes an unsettling light previewed in their eyes. ]
Hah...alive...I do wonder...
It's a complicated matter. It may surprise you to hear myself say this, but for most of my life, I wasn't in control.
For almost 50,000 years I was in complete isolation or simply being used by someone else, to explain it in simple terms, but yet is nothing less than the truth. The only difference this time is that I lost that freedom of mind I had only just recently gained. Even my own freedom of movement.
Can you imagine...the feeling of stepping into that light, glimpsing that freedom you desperately sought for so long, and experiencing it for so little time, only for it to be snatched from you in a single moment? That it can be undone with someone's mere thought?
[ It felt like their whole entire world shattered and something inside of them splintered so thoroughly that they are forced to pick up the pieces. They can convey these words with ease right now, but...
The pain they experienced of feeling trapped, when associating with Lucheni or even Otto, of subconsciously seeing no way out from that programming...it mirrors that bottomless void of despair they felt so long ago. ]
[That's all he wanted, really. That's what he was made to do. Turo isn't so sure that he's made any particular strides in any direction, but it is at least nice of them to say so.]
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