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.
Yes, indeed. We cannot always predict what will happen, of course, but...please do try to keep that in mind. We wouldn't want to go without our reliable Raven, guiding us with such a bright light forward.
[She seconds this sentiment deeply. Thankfully they're getting close, so--]
Besides that, Yeager would get incredibly lonely without you. We can't have that, now can we?
[Dorothy says that with a cat-like smile, firing back the levity right at him!!!]
[They haven't spoken much at all, but sometimes people bond over the most reckless of things. And having someone throw themselves into harm's way to protect him is one of those things. This isn't about owing a favor, either.]
Anytime, Viktor. You are someone quite dear to me, and I'm glad for the assistance; do let me know if you need any assistance in matters of moving forward too, hm?
[she's in her normal outfit, but she's going to almost certainly be discarding it once this battle is done. putting the past to rest, so to speak--]
Ah--the Blitzcrank did quite the good job today, I must say. Poor thing took quite the beating, though...is it going to be an easy fix, you think, or will you need assistance?
I will admit that I am not certain, as these shards were created using data from other worlds' versions of the Chaos Emeralds. As such, they may work differently than the ones of this world. Regardless of the outcome, combining all seven would undoubtedly lead to great power - either the power to shape reality as the Master Emerald does, or great personal strength as it does in other worlds.
[Congrats, Wolfwood, you stumbled on the exact right idea for the week 8 event!!!]
[Dorothy does not like Void Archives. That much is obvious, but...
Seeing what happened to them today, she does eventually change into her more casual outfit and she brings a bottle of wine with her. She knows not if they partake, but she has two glasses at least in case they need something.]
...Void Archives. Would you prefer to be alone right now, or might I offer some company?
[Tails nods. Dorothy's summed it up very well. But she continues and his smile doesn't fade any.]
You're welcome to stay as long as you want, of course, but you'll always be able to come back as long as you have rings. So don't worry too much about it, okay? Go have fun in Raven's world!
[you think he didn't notice?????? he totally did.]
[At that, the shadow of a smile flickers onto his face, and he gives a slight shrug. He still isn't quite used to people wanting to thank him for that sort of thing, yet at the same time he doesn't hate it, either.]
I've had worse. Happens when you're a soldier.
[The jagged scar on the side of his face is testament to the truth of that statement, at least.]
[Viktor made a noise best described as a floppy disk drive under strain, which was...probably a laugh.]
It is primarily magic in origin and structure. It will self-repair over time, but I will have to speak with a healer to properly function. Regardless, I am not in mortal danger somehow.
It might not be a bad idea--going into the city is, eh, likely to be an endeavor. Better not to do as much alone, no?
[glancing up at the hell fleet overhead. this is gonna be a long week.]
Not terribly difficult. It's an older design I repurposed, I only had to miniaturize it to compensate for this world's different materials as well as for practicality's sake. Much as I would have liked to deploy a ten foot tall mining robot, that would have taken time and resources we do not have.
[ here i am...trying to not have wolfwood have a braincell for this entire game but tragically it was not meant to be. at least...
maybe....he'll share it with the class. ]
Ya don't say.
Would ya think that there be any kind of drawbacks of attemptin' somethin' like this? Nothin' bad has happened to us so far but not many of us have tried more than three. I don't have an issue with tryin' somethin' risky but others might.
[Dorothy laughs brightly at poor Yeager's expense, but the second Raven's off to get looked at she is going to hold his hand a bit. There there, Yeager, she promises she loves you no matter how much she teases. 💖
Once Raven's all healed up and back, though, Dorothy looks openly relieved. And if Yeager hasn't let go of her hand, she'll offer her free one to Raven with a smile.]
[Turo closes his eyes, comforted by More's touch. A lot happened, but the image of him dying on the floor still looms large in Turo's mind. His blood is still on Turo's hands.]
He probably wasn't thinking too hard. [ And he doesn't mean this as an insult, just...well, that's what Lark basically did for Mafuyu too. ] Sometimes the body just moves before you know it.
[shoves the braincell on wolfwood against your will.
Anyway, Tails answers that one.]
I can't imagine there would be, but it hasn't been tested before. It will be harder to maintain with seven of you, but as long as you can trust one another, it should work out.
The fox is right. You all have proven yourselves capable of bearing the power in smaller amounts; I cannot imagine that wielding all seven would cause issues for you all besides some potential exhaustion.
[He chuckles a little at how huffy Viktor sounds, but just gets them moving rather than commenting further. He is seven feet tall and a lot stronger than he looks, sir, you will not win this non-existent argument anyway.]
Blitzcrank... That would be the robot you'd brought with you, I take it?
[Obedient, functional, offensive capabilities... really, he's surprised Viktor got the programming reworks figured out so quickly.]
We'll see what salvage made it out of the fight. I'm... constantly impressed at how fast you work with our limited resources. Ah, hold on a moment -- [Gently shouldering the base door open and ducking his way through, being tall sure is a pain.] --Was that your first test run of him back there?
[Dorothy's gone and changed back into her casual outfit by the time she goes and looks for everyone she can--she's not expecting to find Oscar out here, admittedly, considering the injuries he took, but...
Well. She can't offer physical healing, but she does have wine and a couple of glasses with her.]
Could I interest you in a vice to share, after today?
[She offers an empty glass to Oscar, if he wants.]
[ NOOOOOooo.... he's the healer. he can't have this level of responsibility!!!!! ]
All it'd take is if we all trust one another, huh?
[ here is wolfwood quickly running through each color and thinking of whether he likes someone in each one well enough to do something like this with. surely there is seven of them that will like each other enough, right??? even if it's Just For That Moment. ]
If there's no harm then 'suppose that means there's no reason not to try it. Probably best if we tested it out first before aimin' to do the real thing under pressure.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Page 7 of 17