Recursion Error

Episode 58- Goodbye, Chaotix

"You know, Knuckles, it would have been really great if you, I don't know... mentioned you died at one point and the Neo-Walkers helped bring you back. Woulda been real helpful helping me cope with the whole dying thing."

Thanks to Nicole, the news that Sorun was up and about had reached Team Chaotix up on Angel Island. He'd made friends in them, too, so naturally they'd wanted to see him with their own eyes, and Sorun wanted to say goodbye to them before he left for Earth.

Unfortunately, Sorun didn't want to go outside of New Mobotropolis. Frankly speaking, he didn't want to leave the safety of the city by stepping outside of its borders, especially now that he was powerless once more. Likewise, the Chaotix weren't too keen on leaving the island, even if it was to visit a recently revived friend. The answer to this dilemma came in Sorun using a communication system that had been set up some time ago so the people down here could keep in contact with those up there on the island.

So that lead to this point, with Sorun sitting in a room in the science center staring up at a big monitor displaying Knuckles' face. The entire team up there had already been briefed by what happened with Sorun and his revival by, once again, Nicole, and Knuckles, seeing how he'd gone through the same process Sorun had for coming back to life, had understood immediately and hadn't questioned it at all. So the call was less an interrogation and more a friendly chat.

Or at least it was until Sorun brought up Knuckles never mentioning his own death and revival.

"H-hah, yeah, about that..." The echidna made a nervous cough and looked to the side of the camera that was transmitting his image. "Well, it never really came up, so..."

Sorun had risen an eyebrow at seeing the echidna's expression. Under the relieved smile there were hints of tension and nervousness. The same look the Freedom Fighters had when he confronted them all post-revival. He understood it well- Knuckles probably had some small amount of guilt in him, too, with what happened to Sorun since he and the rest of the Chaotix helped in the decision to bring him here. Perhaps he felt even more at guilt for never bringing up his revival. It was a sight that made Sorun sigh.

"Knuckles, would you relax?" Sorun requested in an annoyed tone as he waved a hand. "I'm not mad at you or anyone else. I'm not upset anymore." He blew past his lips and sat backwards in the rolling chair he was sitting in. "It's over and done with and I get to go home now. All in the past, yeah? 'Sides, not like I even blame anyone for what happened."

Knuckles had started a bit at Sorun's words, and for a brief moment the mask he wore dropped and his nervousness was very apparent. But then he'd sighed, relaxed his shoulders, and he took on a more easy expression as the red Mobian faced the camera once more.

"Yeah. Sorry about that, Sorun," he apologized. "We all felt bad hearing what was really going on with you, but I'm glad to see you're alright now. But you're really going back to your own zone?"

Sorun nodded. "Mhm. Got all the Emeralds, and Rotor and Tails already flew out to get the parts for the portal machine. They're gonna set it up here for me."

"Huh. Well, good for you. Glad you finally get to go home," Knuckles congratulated with a sincere tone. "Julie-Su wanted to come say hi, too, but she got wrapped up in an errand with Saffron and Ray. They all wanted to see you again, actually, but they're not gonna be back for a while."

"Just give them my regards, please," Sorun said. "I don't really wanna stay on too long. I'm leavin' tomorrow and I got some last things I wanted to do."

"I getcha." Knuckles nodded at him and flashed a grin. "Well, don't let me keep ya-"

The rest of Knuckles' sentence was lost when a small, black and yellow form shot in from out of the camera's view and right into the back of the echidna's head. Sorun had widened his eyes in surprise at seeing the act being displayed on the monitor, while Knuckles, interestingly enough, looked more annoyed than anything.

"Is that Sorun!? Is it!? Is it!?" The human watching the screen let out a laugh when he recognized the voice and saw who it was clinging to Knuckles' back while staring towards the camera. Knuckles wasn't nearly amused, and began waving his arms up in an attempt to try and swat the newcomer off of him.

"Charmy, get off!" Knuckles had barked out. The bee, in response, had buzzed his wings and flown off from Knuckles with a small pout on his face, while the echidna himself rubbed the back of his head while turning back to the camera. "I gotta go, Sorun. Happy to hear you're doin' well. Uh... goodbye, I guess. Hope it all goes well for you."

He gave Sorun one final smile through the camera, and then wandered off-screen. All that was left was Charmy, who was floating right in front of the camera while giving it a quizzical look. And then he seemed to recognize the figure in the screen on his end as Sorun, and he immediately flew so close to the camera that he almost rammed into it. He very well might have, seeing as the screen briefly shook as Charmy took hold of the camera.

"Sorun!" The amount of happiness exuding from Charmy's face was downright explosive from how he looked, as well as infectious due to the fact Sorun had felt himself crack a wry grin at seeing the bee's reaction. It was enough that Charmy's eyes had gone slightly glossy from seeing him. "You're not dead anymore! We heard you came back and we were all really happy 'cause you died and we found out why from Shadow and-!"

"Charmy, Charmy, give him some room!" A green, scaled arm came into the screen and pushed the bee away from the camera. A crocodile Mobian's face then appeared within view, scowling at Charmy. "Geez, he's all the way on the other side of the planet and you're somehow smothering him!" The scowl left, and in a split second the crocodile with a gold chain around his neck turned towards the camera and gave Sorun a wide, tooth-filled smile. "Sorun! Heard you were back in the land of the livin'! How's life?"

"Life's, uh... life, I guess," Sorun answered, still smiling a bit as he shrugged. "Vector. It's nice to see you."

"Same, same. Ain't just me here to see ya, though." Vector stepped to the side, letting two more Mobians into the view of the camera. A purple chameleon with a yellow horn and an armadillo with a smooth, red shell that Sorun instantly recognized.

"Mighty, Espio." Sorun's smile grew a bit wider when he saw the two walk into view. "It's great to see you both."

Both of the Mobians smiled in turn when they saw Sorun on their own screen, though theirs were much wider than his own. Mighty was the first on to speak, saying, "Sorun! It's great to see ya!"

Espio, in turn, nodded at him. "Indeed. I'm relieved to see you're no longer deceased."

"Yeah, tell me about it. So how are things..."

It was a breath of fresh air to just idly chat with friends like this. No crises, no nerve-wracking topics, nothing even remotely negative. They'd just talked. Sorun about his revival, plans for going home, and how he was generally doing really well now. The reception he'd received in turn from the others had been warm, though Charmy had been a bit disappointed Sorun was leaving so soon since it meant they couldn't celebrate Sorun's return to both life and his home.

But, otherwise, it was a relaxed conversation. They'd talked about how things up on the island were going, which was to say, pretty slow and uneventful. Knuckles was still dealing a bit with everything that had happened with the echidna people, but otherwise, things had been quiet up there. It was good for Sorun to hear. He felt like things going "slow but peaceful" is what he'd been fighting for this entire time. It helped to reassure him that he was making the right choice in going back. Things on Mobius were alright now. Nobody had to worry about anything anymore.

He was glad. It was the least these people deserved. And it meant he could go back without feeling any guilt.

"... But, yeah, that's pretty much the long and short of it." This had marked the end of a small story Mighty had just finished telling Sorun of how the Chaotix had lost track of Charmy one day and had spent an entire afternoon looking around for him. Apparently he'd just been taking a nap behind the Master Emerald's altar, which had gone on to upset Knuckles some amount. Charmy himself had on a sheepish look the entire story, while Sorun kept smiling and laughing softly through the whole thing. It was such a mundane, boring story, but it was for that reason alone Sorun found so much joy in it. In such a mundane, harmless thing. So much better than everything else he'd been dealing with all these months. "So you're goin' tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," Sorun confirmed with a nod. "I don't imagine you all will be coming to say goodbye."

Mighty, Vector, and Charmy both glanced towards each other, while Espio looked off to the side. "The island's really far away from New Mobotropolis..." Mighty began, appearing to grow a bit uncomfortable.

"Yeah, that'd be kinda a long trip for us to take just to see you off," Vector finished off. "Sorry we won't be able to make it, Sorun. But hey, at least we got this."

Sorun waved their concerns away with a sweep of his hand. "Don't sweat it, guys. I get it," he said, making the four of them looked relieved. "I wouldn't expect you guys to drop everything just for my sake. It's fine. Saying goodbye through this is more than enough."

"Aw, well, I'm sure gonna miss you!" Charmy beamed out. "I'll go ahead and tell Saffron you said goodbye for her!"

"I'll do the same for Ray," Mighty volunteered. "Sorry they couldn't be here to say goodbye with us. They got caught up with something."

"It's fine, it's fine," Sorun assured them. "I'm just glad I got to see you all one last time."

"Same here, pal. Same here." Vector gestured a peace sign at the camera as Mighty stepped next to him while Charmy floated by his other side. "Welp, Sorun, it's been real nice knowin' ya! Don't let the portal hit ya on the way out when you finally hit the trail for home, y'hear?"

Sorun nodded. "I hear you, Vector, I hear you. Stay well, all of you."

With some final nods and smiles, the three finally left the view of the camera as they walked off to tend to their own devices. All that was left was Espio, who was still standing in view of the camera. His arms were crossed and he had his usual stoic expression and stance, though even he couldn't avoid grinning just the slightest bit given current events.

"I wanted to wish you safe travels as well, Sorun," Espio said to him. "I'm pleased to hear the way to your home has been opened to you, and that you've decided to take it. We'll make sure to look after things here on our end, so please try and not worry too much over us."

Sorun chuckled a bit, while the Mobian ninja's own grin grew just the slightest bit. "I'll try not to," he assured him. "They aren't too loud for you, are they? The others? I know you like your quiet time for you meditation and stuff."

Espio shrugged. "Even they are not loud enough to interrupt my meditation exercises. Even so, there's enough quiet spots on the island for me to hide myself away in," he added in with a slightly bigger grin. "I understand that you lost your abilities?"

"Yeah. Same thing happened with Knuckles if I heard it right," Sorun said. "I'm not too broken up about it. Not having years taken off my life is nice, and I get to go back home now. So it all worked out."

"That it has," Espio agreed with a nod. "I can't say I'll be missing that katana of yours."

Sorun rolled his eyes in an amused manner. Espio still had a dislike for katanas, the same as always. "You never change, Espio," he said. "Vector still tease you about not liking katanas?"

"He usually doesn't, but there were many times when you and that sword came up in conversation that he'd mention it and everybody would jump on the same bandwagon," Espio grumbled out. "It's my fault for starting it in the first place. He didn't even know what a katana was until I told him when he asked about ninja tools and weapons this one time."

The sentence caused Sorun's eyes to widen and, following him snapping his fingers, he pointed towards the screen. "Ha, so you admit it! Ninjas do use katanas!"

Caught by his own words, Espio became startled enough that his arms uncrossed and surprise flashed over his features. He composed himself a second later, and then a mixture of amusement and annoyance crossed his face as his grin returned. "I'll admit that they may not be entirely exclusive to samurai. But you'll never find this ninja using one."

"What about me?" Sorun asked. "Am I samurai material?"

At that, Espio made a single, low, controlled laugh. "Not in the slightest. You're way too undisciplined," he said, making Sorun slump back in defeat. "You're quite good with a sword, though. And your stealth skills are... passable, to an extent. If somewhat unorthodox."

The human perked up a bit in pride at hearing the compliments. "You're really not letting that box go, huh?" Sorun blinked, and then tilted his head as a thought suddenly came to him. "Hey, how do you know what a katana is?"

The grin fell off from Espio's face. He stilled a bit, and then asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well... it just came to me. None of the Freedom Fighters here knew what a katana was when they first saw the Yamato. Not even Shadow. And according to you Vector and the rest just knew because you told them," Sorun explained. "I kind of just assumed katanas were something only found in the eastern continent, so that's why nobody here knows about them, but... I thought you were raised in the chameleon community up on Angel Island." He made a shrug. "It's just a bit weird."

"Some of the founders of that community hailed from Yurashia," Espio smoothly answered, making a shrug of his own. "They brought some of the culture from there and passed it down over the generations. It's where my ninja techniques and weapons originated from."

"Ah, alright. That makes sense." Sorun blinked again. "Didn't Angel Island originate from Downunda, though? How'd chameleons from Yurashia wind up there to begin with?"

Espio shook his head. "I'm unsure, Sorun. This was all well, well before my time, and I never delved too deep into our history before I began tagging along with Knuckles and the rest."

With that, Sorun shrugged in acceptance. Weirder things had happened on Mobius. Much weirder things. He didn't see the point in looking any further into it. He didn't even want to, really, since he had way more important things to focus on. Like home. And, well... generally speaking, everything else. Upon thinking about it further, Sorun realized he didn't actually care all that much about this entire topic.

Espio didn't like katanas. That's as far as he needed to think about it.

"Well, Espio, I don't wanna take up anymore of your time," Sorun said. "This is goodbye. Keep Charmy out of trouble for me, would you?"

"I'll endeavor to do my best." Espio gave Sorun one final smile, and then, in an act that made Sorun smirk in amusement, flattened his arms to his side and bowed at the camera. "Farewell, Sorun. I greatly enjoyed our time together. Thank you for everything you've done for us."

"It's been an experience, Espio. Peace."

And with that, Sorun hit a button on the side of the console he was sitting in front of, right below the monitor he was staring at. The screen went black upon the communications being cut, followed by Sorun getting out of the chair and stretching his arms and legs a bit after having sat down so long.

That had been nice. The Chaotix were doing well like everybody else was. Sorun was glad for it, and was happy that he got to say goodbye to most of them. He found that he'd be missing them just as much as everyone else.

"Ah, well. They'll all be fine." Sorun turned around away from the monitor. "I have faith things here will work out. All's left is for me to hit the road."

He began making his way towards the exit of the room. A camera that was right above the doorway swiveled towards Sorun's way, and at the same time there was a small swirl of green pixels besides the doorway as Nicole's form materialized in front of Sorun. He greeted the lynx with a wave, who looked towards him with a neutral face and with her arms held behind her back.

"Hey, Nicole," Sorun greeted, "I just finished talking with the Chaotix. They're all doing well. Thanks for letting me use the-"

Without a word, Nicole disappeared before Sorun could even finished speaking. He blinked in surprise as a result, and then looked where she'd disappeared from as he scratched the side of his head in confusion.

"Okay...? What's up with her?" He didn't know her to just disappear like that while somebody was talking. She was way more considerate than that. "Eh, whatever. Maybe she's just caught up with something," Sorun reasoned to himself with a shrug.

He left the room right after, wondering to himself, "So what was I gonna do next...?"